Warhammer 40K Campaign: Retake Amerigo Chorale part 2

Last game is documented here.  The results dictated the forces of Chaos would either hunt down who was responsible for the planetary laser's destruction -- because let's face it, on a Chaos ruled world, one faction screwing around with another would NOT be unusual -- or, a portion of their fleet would poke around the immediate area and see if the Imperium had arrived in system.

The Chaos player decided on the latter, so it's off to space for Battlefleet Gothic!

Storyline:  The small Chaos task force did indeed discover a rather sizable Imperial presence in system, just beyond an asteroid belt to mask their approach.  With some quick thinking on the part of the navigators and Admiral, the Imperial ships were able to block psychic and practical transmissions from the Chaos vessels back to Amerigo Chorale.  The Chaos fleet had to run in order to warn the planet.

Setup:  The Mission is adapted from page 147 of the Battlefleet Gothic Armada rule book.  The "PlanetKiller" and the Mars classd battlecruise have been omitted from the scenario.




Chaos fleet: Slaughter Class cruiser -- Lamb's Head
                    Devastation Class cruiser -- Rabid
                    Iconoclast escorts (x3 squadron)--The lepers 

Imperial fleet: Tyrant Class cruiser* -- Hernando de Soto
                        Gothic Class cruiser -- Froom
                        Cobra escort (x4 squadron) --  Ice Squadron: Nervy; Fearless; Stalwart;
                                                                        St. Beard

*We don't have a Tyrant class cruiser so we are substituting a Dominator which looks very similar.

Objectives: Chaos:  For every ship that flees off the Imperial deployment side of the board, 2
                                randomly rolled planetary defenses will be maneuvered into place to engage
                                the Imperial fleet when they arrive to make orbit and invade.

                   Imperial fleet:  Prevent Chaos vessels from leaving the area and destroy them.

Gameplay:  Turn one saw the Chaos cruisers head directly for the asteroid belt in the center of the board.  Leper squadron  headed away 90 degrees from the cruiser to go around the asteroids.  The Imperial Captain of the Gothic cruiser Froom attempted to lock on to the Devastation class and failed, wrecking the special orders for the imperials that turn.  Ice Squadron fired torpedoes into the Leper squadron, knocking out two of their number immediately.

Turn two the Lamb's head Slaughter class cruiser rolled awesomely on the "all ahead full" orders, getting to scream away a full 46cm.  (Only 21 more cm to go to the end of the table!) The last of leper squadron cut loose with it's weapons battery, annihilating The Nervy from Ice squadron outright. And the Rabid put a critical hit on the Gothic Cruiser Froom, crippling it's engines.  In response, every Imperial Captain achieved their "Lock-on" orders, prompting the Lamb's head crew to roll for "Brace-for-Impact".   The tyrant was able to hit the Lamb's head, but no critical damage was scored.  In the meantime, the torpedoes of the Gothic cruiser permanently dropped the shields of the Devastation class cruiser.  At the end of the turn, the Gothic cruiser Froom repaired it's thrusters.

The third turn saw the Lamb's head get away from the scene, score chaos team.  The remaining iconoclast escort turned and threaded the needle of Ice squadron, running right past them.  They turned to follow, but awkwardly, their fire ineffective against the running Chaos escort.  The Devastation class ship would not get away, taking the fury of two Imperial cruisers and exploding into a debris cloud.   
In the end, Ice squadron couldn't turn in time to pursue the remaining iconoclast and Chaos earned another two defense satellites.

Next game:  Either a kill team to knock down some of the defense satellites, or the invasion begins with Battlefleet gothic...