Mission
I set up the board as a simple enclosed maze. Karn, Argus, Boreas and Grigor started in the top right corner (at the infirmary), with the rest of the squad in the bottom right (at the training room). The top left corner had the main objective (the governor's chambers), the bottom left the secondary objective (the data center). So the guys on the lower lane could choose between going for the secondary objective, or helping the rest of the squad reach the main one. Line of sight was capped at 12".
Game
Both parts of Alpha squad advanced into the unknown, soon running into armed resistance.
The A-team gunned down a squad of palace guards turned cultists from behind. The noise attracted more cultists, as well as elite troopers and a rogue psyker.
The B-team ran into an enemy checkpoint.
The rebels were quickly eliminated, and the scouts quickly engaged the second squad.
Argus barreled into the cultist squad, after his squad mates had laid down suppressing fire.
The B-team faltered as a round of shooting did little damage to the cultists.
The gunfire attracted more rebels and a leashed spawn.
The scouts fired into the spawn, eliminating it in a hail of frag missile and sniper shell; then charged into the cultists.
The A-team was having its own difficulties, with a Chaos Space Marine appearing to reinforce the rebels.
Grigor's heavy bolter ripped into the traitor marine, but it withstood the assault and joined the fray.
The B-team eliminated the remaining resistance...
... and decided to abandon the secondary objective.
Argus left the melee to scout ahead... only to spot another enemy checkpoint.
With Alpha squad soon reunited, the scouts put down the remaining cultists, and advanced on their main objective. Looking past the remains of the enemy checkpoint, they saw a large number of enemy troopers firing through blasted doors into a large hall.
They advanced, while dispensing the Emperor's justice left and right.
Before engaging the enemy squads, they also noticed the two Chaos Marines at the door, also firing inwards.
There was no time to waste! Alpha squad tore into the rebels with fire and fury.
With the chaos forces distracted, the beleaguered defenders started firing as well, eliminating some cultists. But the true danger - the Chaos Marines - remained, and they locked the scouts in bitter melee.
After a few tense fight phases (and all remaining commands points blown on rerolling the random game length), at the end of the 10th and final turn, there were 3 scouts down and still a cultist and a traitor marine standing.
But through the doors then walked out Danicus himself! Disgusted, he gunned down the cultist cowering behind his heavy stubber, and rammed his master-crafted power sword into the back of the still-standing chaos marine!
Aftermath
So close to defeat, but still a minor victory. As far as the player knew, he had to kill everything in front of the door - he even contemplated not rerolling the final random game length die in order to preserve his squad. But as true Astartes, he never gave up, and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat! for a hidden trigger dictated that Danicus would break out if only 2 or less enemy models remained. This made the last turn even more tense for myself, as I saw with dismay that the scouts concentrate on the two chaos marines, instead of taking the easy kill with the cultist. But all's well that ends well! And of course, all scouts survived the game.
Oh, and that's Veteran Sergeant Danicus in the last picture, converted and painted up by myself as a gift to Danny, about... 9 months ago. He waited quite a long time on my shelf. Yes, this campaign ran through 3 years, with several major hiatus periods. And its not over yet! In the season finale, the scouts will face their doom... Will Danicus and Alpha Squad prevail?!
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