"Tech-3, Tech-3! Affirmative! You are cleared to land! Mission is GO! Repeat GO! GO Space Marines"

Mission: Tactical half-squads from Space Marine Chapters Blood Angels, Ultra Marines and The Imperial Fists to cause a diversionary raid on a flank (Grid Sector 55-2A) of Warp Ship Leviathan, prior to main assault going in. Event-21 (main assault) will trigger immediate evacuation to mother ship. Primary mission secure temporary perimeter without loss of assets until Event-21 signal received for immediate re-deployment to main assault formation.

And so the mission starts: Episode Four of The Space Crusade "A Quick in and Out!" What could go wrong?

Mission Transcript: Blood Angels Insertion Phase
[Sgt: Hammer] "Mission Control, confirm Blood Angels are down and bridgehead established. Preliminary scan complete .. residual alien traces detected behind bulkhead Z05, attack formation SPEAR OF DESTINY, Sergeant to the head .. door blown, I see it! Humanoid eliminated. Troopers form defensive perimeter to assess situation. Groc, Rookies! Don't cluster. I said no clustering, this Zone is still HOT! Spread out!  Movement detected in sector Red-2, multiple traces, high tech or mechanised trace signatures. Confirmed .. Enemy Chaos Marines. Iincoming round ... ...  Groc! Groc! Troopers Down!" pause  "All of them! Repeat "ALL OF THEM". It's a trap they came from the vents! Engaging Chaos forces, they won't take me so easy! Switching to head cam. FOR THE IMPERIUM, BLOOD ANGELS NEVER RETREAT!" [Transmission End]

The Blood Angels landing triggers an immediate counterattack by a half squad of Chaos Space Marines that (in fairness) manages to "get lucky" and target a cluster missile in the tight confines of a corridor. The damage effect of "three hits" exceeds the protective armour of two and takes out all the Blood Angel Troopers within the blast zone, "Gulp" (see below, Chaos never has it so good, thirty victory points to Chaos and it's still turn one!):

Seen from the killer's perspective, the Chaos Space Marine Heavy Weapon Drone (Note: Those of "keen sight" [GW modelling aficionados] may detect I am 'filling in' for the official figures (of Space Marines) with Tau ones, as I had the latter "close to hand and painted"). The Drone has "Line of Sight" (LOS) after moving out from its hidden position (see below, the Space Marine's mission already seems to be in jeopardy [ED: I can say with glee being the Chaos Commander]):

Mission Transcript: The Imperial Fist Insertion Phase
[Sgt Doom] "Fists down! All quiet. Repeat, All quiet. Scan reveals partial trace scan but all distant and receding. Troopers for m perimeter defence. Code: Epsilon. Caution, Accessing situation. Sounds of heavy incoming fire coming from Red-2. Repeat "bridgehead in sector Yellow-2 achieved! Praise to the Emperor" [Transmission End]

The Imperil Fist sector is strangely quiet (Sarge I don't like it [Ed: My eldest son was sitting in for the regular until he arrived so I wasn't trying to kill him fast]), most of the Chaos blips seem to be moving "away" from the incursion, regrouping? Then out of a concealed passageway a grotesque humanoid Chaos creature (a nominal orc) sprung out at a surprised Space Marine Trooper and engaged him in Hand-2-Hand combat (see below, middle right, [Ed: OK I wasn't going to be easy on him]):

Mission Transcript: The Imperial Fist Mission Post Insertion Update Data Burst
[Sgt Doom] "Trooper down! Trooper Down! Where did that THING come from? Form Perimeter defence. Mutual zones of fire, repeat no one gets isolated!" [Transmission Ends]

The Chaos "hit and run" tactics seem to be working better than could have been suspected (lucky dice [Ed: Slight pang of remorse, but no much as that is another 10 points]). The Imperial Fists hit back by dispatching a Gretchin/Necron (delete as applicable) servo droid but then all returns to "quiet" (see below):

Meanwhile in the Ultra Marine sector (Note: Nice decals) the Space Marines fan out and deploy. Again everything seems to be avoiding contact. The Space Marines are drawn forwards. All three half-tactical squads are separated from one another (giving no mutual support). The Ultra Marine Commander also forgot about his equipment card that could be used to reveal the identity of three random blips (Ed: To be fair so had I, but by now he should have been a veteran, it can be tough in the Corp). Then three of those random blips revealed themselves. Just a Dreadnought and two Kiler Androids.

Mission Transcript: The Ultra Marines Mission Post Insertion Update Data Burst#1
[Sgt Tosh] "Negate that. Landing Zone active, the big one is coming my way with two side-kicks in toe. Priming Mega Bomb, I'm gonna settle this thing Hand-2-Hand" [Transmission Ends]

Multiple things happen in quick succession. A Gretchin throws a fragmentation grenade that bounces off the two Space Marines playing "tail end Charlie" spooking them. The Hand-2-Hand combat goes very badly for Sgt Tosh and he disengages with a single  hit point left. A killer Android tries to follow up but is cut in two by the Ultra Marines infamous Power Chain Sword [Ed: Cannot have it all my own (Chaos) way].

Mission Transcript: The Ultra Marines Mission Post Insertion Update Data Burst#2
[Sgt Tosh] "Situation BLUE! Repeat situation BLUE. Initiating Medi-Pack Heal [Ed: Back to full hit points, damn]. No more Mega Bombs left but I'm going back in [Ed: Ooops Chaos may not get those good combat rolls a second time]" [Transmission Ends]

To the stunned horror of the gathered Space Marine Commanders (all Chapters) the Hand-2-Hand is almost an exact duplicate of the first one. Despite a "Double Attack" Order by the Ultra Marines the dice of Chaos laugh at the upstart Space Marines threat. The "Double Attack" becomes just a way of hurting Sgt Tosh twice. Grimacing Tosh again retires to the relatively safe bulkhead (with a single hit point again), only to then hear the piecing scream of two Ultra Marines dying with the sound of "Genestealer!" in his internal com unit. [Ed: Another fifteen points to Chaos, I have no fear of being turned into "chaotic primordial soup" for a bad performance now! In fact if I hold onto this lead I will be promoted and win the campaign. Careful, pride comes before a fall!]. The only "blot" on this turn is when I attempt to annihilate the last remaining Ultra Marine Troopers my "humanoids" are stopped in their tracks (see below, so are the unflattering whims of Chaos):

The Blood Angel Commander is surrounded and taking hits, though killing anything that dares to come within range of his sword arm. Still there are two Chaos Marines Heavy Weapons making his life hard, a hoard of green things in the distance and a Killer Android moving up close. Not looking good. Bad news comes from the Imperial Fists sector as they lose another trooper [Ed: Another five victory points]. There is no way out for the Space Marines. The tactical half-units are too battered to fight their way to give mutual support without being isolated from their docking claw exit points. The Blood Angel Commander will have to tough it out (see below):

Incoming Mother-Ship Transmission: 
[Commander Beal] Event-21 Recall [Transmission Ends]

"Event-21" is triggered (as the finite time duration of the game we set expires, people have things to do and families to go back home to). The Blood Angels and Ultra Marines have cannily kept "blind grenades" which mean a clean escape. The Imperial Fists briefly tinker with the concept of taking a few more Chaos with them but the thought of a Genestealer on the prowl, at least two androids and an undamaged Dreadnought soon change their minds.

So ends the "Space Crusade" in Sector "Olaf-Gamma-5" as Chaos begins its rightful place or rather reign in this small part of the mega-universe. The Space Marine Fleet hastily disengages (I am sure the Inquisition will have something to say about this debacle) in disgrace while the Chaos Commander is raised to the glory and status of being a Hero of Chaos, which on the downside means he gets assimilated with some strange Chaos creature that resembles a giant squid (but gets brilliant telepathic powers, that send him completely insane) .. his mother would definitely not recognise him now, she thought the tattoo was bad enough.

Next stop ... a few summer nights in the pub discussing tactics ... and then Frost Grave in the autumn when the nights draw in. Thanks for the memories gents!

Confession: When in need for "Light Relief" and "Inspiration" .. I to turn to Science Fiction!

Why?

Because I view it as throwaway "fun" but intelligent "fun" and model-craft "fun". It is just "fun". In short it breaks the "Am I really doing this right?" painting block that can descend on me from time to time. Is that the right shade of WW2 French 1940 camouflage? Blah, for things that don't yet exist .. how can anything be wrong". The upshot is that I just 'bundle' into stuff and 'progress' is made on a great heap of otherwise dorment plastics. In this case it was preparation for my next "beer and pretzel" venerable GW Space Crusade game. It was also a great excuse to test out the Humbrol DecalFix, my least liked part of modelling, fixing "decals". So the Imperial Fists got some cute Space Marine decals (see below, left shoulder pad and very nice those 'fists' look too!):

Application of the magic DecalFix was to the "target" area on the model (in this case the Space Marine's shoulder pad) and the actual decal itself instead of water. This had the effect of creating a friendly landing spot and making the decal much more flexible and bendy to conform to the curved surfaces (see below, right shoulder pad: decal on decal, white arrow followed by a tactical Roman Numeral "I"):

One wash of the magical potion was not enough. The DecalFix dries shiny and the first application left bumps and ridges because the shoulder pads are in fact quite curvy. Another wash made the decal more pliable still (Note: Tip, watch you do not tear it) and the decal was simply pressed onto itself with good effect (see below, an ID mark placed on the Space Marine's boot, "skull" meaning "grunt" in my Science Fiction world, heavy weapon dudes got a "lightning strike" .. not as GW have it in but so what, please refer to the reason why I am doing this in the first place ):

I left them overnight to dry and then used Humbrol Matte Varnish to dull down the glossy shine and give a protective coating (see below, a half squad of Imperial Fists that simply cannot wait for their next Space Crusade mission):

A close-up shot for the Space Marines version of Signal (see below):

All-in-all a nice next step up from the basic paint job I had without decals. I may revisit these chaps at a later date with a view to doing something with those heavy weapons, a colour scheme revamp and perhaps drilling out the barrels of the guns. Pipe dreams at the moment.

They are certainly "combat ready" for the "beer and pretzels" outing number four in the Space Crusade campaign series! Watch this space for the AAR.

They came from Outer Space (5): Space Crusade Mission 3 Counter-Attack

Responding to a desperate Ultra Marine plea the Blood Angels in turn requested a "return to Space Hulk" directive. The Umpire in a fit of generosity (Ed: Eh?) broke several Space Crusade Game Book rules and acquiesced "in the spirit of fair play" (Ed: A dubious wargaming concept"). The combined Blue and red teams promptly charged down the corridor in "do or die" fashion (see below):

The Red Sarge took out "Android 1" while a well place missile took out "Android 2" (Ed: Drat, oh I mean well played Space Marines!). With the passage through to the Ultra Marines 'docking clear' now clear the game seemed over .. until what is referred to as the "Bleeper Incident" took place, generated by the last Alien Event Card draw (see below):

The Bleeper Incident: The Red Sarge saluted the Blue Teams survivors and made to leave. The Blue Sarge made to return the gesture but stopped, his attention  was drawn to an ominous bleep from his scanner (an advanced piece of intelligence equipment the like of which not known to the more aggressive attack minded  Blood Angels). The two sergeants conferred, looked solemnly at each other, this much was seen from the live video feed back to the Mothership. Then accounts differ (Ed: Heresy some say), but one thing is for sure, the scanner was no longer functioning when the Space Marines returned to the Mothership. The official line was that a automated AI self-defence mechanism reactivated shot at The Ultra Marines Commander and luckily for the Ultra Marines the scanner took the blow. The Blood Angels Commander discharged his weapon and neutralised the threat. Faint residual traces of Chaos Dreadnought activity shortly after the Space Marine departed have not been confirmed and denied by the Space Marine Heresy Commissar. Bleeper Incident File now OFFICIALLY CLOSED .. Blood Angels and Ultra Marine survivors assigned to next HIGH INTENSITY COMBAT OPERATION.    

The Imperial Fist "kill count": 
A couple of cleaning Droids (advanced sweeping actions) and four Orcs/Kroots. A poor return for 100% casualty rate. New Squad assigned for operations.

The Ultra Marine "kill count": 
Six cleaning Droids, thirteen Orcs/Kroots, a Genestealer, two Chaos Space Marine/Tau and a Necron Android (possibly two)

The Blood Angels "kill count":
Seven Orcs/Kroots,one Genestealer, a Necron Android, three Chaos Space Marines

The Chaos "Cull of Space Marines":
Nine Space Marine Troopers and One Space Marine Commander

The Result:
The point total was close, the Lords of Chaos were please enough to promote the Chaos Commander but the Ultra Marines squeaked them at the end.

Winner: The Ultra Marines promoted to Lieutenant (2) 2 Orders 8 Equipment Cards
Chaos Promoted to rank of Chaos Warrior (3) 2 Event Cards
Blood Angels (1) 6 Equipment Cards
Imperial Fists (1) 4 Equipment Cards

They came from Outer Space (4): Space Crusade Mission 3 Counter-Attack

The Imperial Fists Commander fell fighting heroically. A multitude of enemies blasted, hacked and stabbed at him. The deadly Genestealer monster licked its lips as it hauled the inert Space Marine Commander towards the depths of the Space Hulk (see below):

Genestealers were everywhere, lightning struct twice as another one appeared from the shadows and ambushed the Blood Angels felling an inattentive Space Marine Trooper (see below):

The surviving Space Marines seemed to be caught between a rock and a very hard place. Yellow  team had been wiped out, the Ultra Marines teetering at half strength and the Blood Angels had been "blooded". A dangerous Chaos pincer movement was developing. First things first, the ambushing Genestealer must be eliminated (see below):

The Ultra Marine Commander stepped up and took the Genestealer out (remember he was down to his last Hit Point). The Blood Angels seemed more intent in securing their "safe exit" to their 'docking claw', so much for team work. The Ultra Marines heavy weapons troopers calmly sited their weapons and awaited the storm. Auto-Cannon and Missile Launcher 'locked and loaded' let battle commence (see below):

The first "wave" was impressively scythed down thanks in the main part to the AI target selection of the auto-cannon. The deck was strewn with robot parts and Kroot limbs. The same fate befell the second wave (Ed: Pictures here are sadly missing, but the Chaos Commander was blubbing at the dice rolls), but the third struct hard and a deadly Necron Android got through and took out the Ultra Marine "Auto Cannon" Trooper (see below):

Note: The Blood Angels seemed to look on, ahem, does the camera ever lie?)

"Somehow," as in more by luck than planning, the Android was caught in a crossfire and taken down. The Red Team was half evacuated but the remaining Blue Team "duo" (Commander and Missile Launcher Trooper) had to fight its way through to their exit location, past two more Androids. A hard task!

They came from Outer Space (3): Space Crusade Mission 3 Counter-Attack

The 'badly wounded' Imperial Fist Commander ("Yellow Sarge") demonstrates considerable agility in out-running the little silver 'advanced cleaning droid' armed with 'advanced cleaning agents and anti-bacterial wipes' as the four inert bodies of his dead Space Marine Troopers are carried off by minions of Chaos to be recycled as new "zombified forms of unintelligent life" intent on attacking humanity (see below):

Chaos falls back into Quadrant Four daring the Red Blood Angels and Blue Ultramarines forward into a "trap" (see below):

Meanwhile the assault on Quadrant Four was highly synchronised by Red and Blue Teams, focused on taking out a batch of dangerous Necron Combat Androids, albeit not armed with "cleaning fluids" but the lesser "high energy plasma weapons"> The 'two Sarges' go hand-to-hand in a desperate struggle (see below):

An unexpected act of violence that shocked the confidence of the Space Marines in Quadrant Four as the Necron Android in hand-to-hand "self destructed" causing four points of damage to each adjacent "Sarge" leaving them critically wounded on only 1 Hit Point (see below):

"White or Yellow Sarge" (delete as appropriate) felt a surge of relief as he fell back onto the Ultra Marine perimeter line. As he was forming up with two Ultra Marine Troopers an unexpected "alien event" meant that a Genestealer appeared in their midst to cause havoc a wreck his hopes of stabilising thew situation (see below):

Two Ultra Marine Space Troopers fall to the claws of the dreaded Genestealer monster and next the clambering hoard of aliens (including dangerous cleaning droids) lead by a really deadly Necron Android (ask the Blood Angel and Ultra Marine Sergeants) surge down the corridor (see below, a pretty tight looking fix if you ask me):

Luckily all the hours Yellow/White Sarge had put into the "battle simulation Hollodeck" were paying off, as a cunning plan formed in his head. The first part of which was .. run away again as the Ultra Marine Troopers bodies were carried off by the Chaos monsters. (Ed: I can see a pattern forming here!)

They came from Outer Space (2): Space Crusade Mission 3 Counter-Attack

The Imperial Fists engage in vicious hand-to-tentacle(?) fighting but lose a Space Marine Trooper to a "freakish act of Chaos inspired chance" as a Kroot (which I am using in place of Space Orks)  shot pieces a weak spot in the Imperially blessed armour. More as yet unidentified 'aliens' are ominously moving up in the background (see below, orange dot counters representa aliens out of "Line of Sight"):

Adopting a combative stance the Imperial Fist Commander ("The Sarge") unhesitatingly orders an immediate counter attack, straight out of the operational tactic scrolls of the Corp. Huzzah! Sadly this plays straight into the hands of the Chaos player's "swarm attack" (Ed: Will try not to gloat at this point. Sorry failed, "Gloat!") particularly as a couple of Necron Androids appeared "as if out of nowhere" to bulk up the the Chaos "umpf". Three more Space Marine Troopers fall in quick succession to the complete disbelief of "The Sarge" his squad was "gone" and the holes in his battlesuit betrayed the fact that most of his Hit Points  had too (see below):

Meanwhile, at the other end of the sector, the Blood Angels are carving a path of gore and spare robot parts as the engage in a bit of room-to-room "Space Hulk" cleaning with "Red Sarge" Power Sword in hand leading the way (see below, two Kroots [aka Orcs] and a Chaos Space Marine [aka a Tau figure] fall):

So effective is he that the Chaos Commander elects to order a tactical withdrawal, taking potshots from a distance as they retreat [Ed: Ahem, in "good chaotic order"] to the next defensive position (see below):  

Buoyed by the apparent success of the Blood Angels the Ultra Marine Commander "Blue Sarge" makes an appearance taking out another Chaos Space Marine (aka represented by another Tau figure) clearing the way for an advance on the final unexplored quadrant the aliens seem to be massing in (see below):

The Space Marines seem to be advancing in one sector (with Blue and Red Teams) but are being annihilated in another (Yellow Team). Coordination seems to be somewhat lacking, or is it inter-chapter rivalry coming to the fore!

They came from Outer Space (1): Space Crusade Mission 3 Counter-Attack

Records of a game played circa Xmas 2015 have been discovered by the Imperium Librarians. Let the dark tale be told in all its gruesome detail.

Cue thematic music .. Space Marine counterattack. Mission brief: Wipe out all alien creatures as per Space Marine prime directive, "If in doubt - Shoot to Kill." Especially since no Dreadnought is ' known' to be deployed. So no heavily armoured nasty blasty, blasty thing is in town for the minions of Chaos (boo hiss). In go the Space Marines (see below):

Red Team (aka The Blood Angels) go looking for 'critters' and find one which is neutralised rather inhumanely (see above and below, note in the background Blue Team, the Ultra Marines, seem to be having an Op Group or are playing cards while the Blood Angels 'string out' [Oh for a Genestealer attack random event]):

The Space Hulk level seems strangely quiet, is it a trap? The Chaos player is playing the 'long game' awaiting attrition to the "Space Marine Corp" through as many random event cards he can get into play. Blue, Read and Yellow teams (the infamous Imperial Fists, bodyguards of the 99% dead Galactic Emperor, nice one lads!) go hunting for little green men and silver robots hiding in dark corner. No luck until Sgt "Very Lucky" from The Fists finds "the corridor of death" all by his little lonesome (see below):

The clatter and discharge of heavy bolter, spore guns and other hideous items of chaos weaponry brought the rest of the Imperial Fists Space Marine Troopers running to form a protective bodyguard around their beloved leader, as befits their tactical operations manual (see below, whew another dangerous situation stabilised):

Meanwhile the Blood Angels had stumbled into a room full of dangerous Terminator Necron Androids and Chaos Space Marines armed with heavy weaponry thatbmade loud, big bangs and were designed to make large holes in nice Space Marine armour. An exchange of fire started immediately after the door opened with patent Star Trek "hiss" (see below):

Operation proceeding to plan. Noisy, messy and utterly chaotic, with the Ultra Marines no where to be seen where there was a remote bit of danger ;)

Just Another Day in the Space Marine Corp (4)

With the primary objective completed and no further Chaos minions to despatch it was time to exit before the computer operated (via a simple countdown timer) attachment clamps disengaged the Docking Ports back to the mothership. The Imperial Fists were situated close to their exit but the Ultra Marines had to traverse the whole length of the Space Hulk's sector. This lead to an amusing series of random event rolls whereby the Chaos Overlord (aka me) was hoping to get a Genestealer into play to 'make my day'. As 'befit to the fickle whims of Chaos' the Genestealer appeared only 'after' the last Ultra Marine was safely behind the bulk head door. Aw shucks! No amount of 'creative' cajoling by myself and the other Space Marine players could entice the brave Ultra Marines back out (see below, "I'll huff and I'll puff"):

Counting the Cost: The Deadpool

The Blood Angels:

Despite suffering 100% casualties the official report showed that The Blood Angels showed "Good Heart & Soul" [The Chaos Commander glibly added "and  liver, spleen and brain matter all over the floor and walls of the Space Hulk"] in their combat, but they faced overwhelming odds and unlucky dice rolls in combat. Fate favours "lucky generals." Zero Points. The Blood Angels are currently in the process of recruiting a new batch of Space Marines heroes for their next mission, apply within (see below, some Chaos kills but horrific casualties):

The Imperial Fists:

Despite losing two Space Marines the Emperor's Elite Bodyguard brought in the goods with an impressive bounty of kills, including the primary objective (aka, the Dreadnought, see below). The Imperial Fists were declared the game winners and the Space Marine Commander was promoted from the ranks of a lowly Sergeant into the bottom rung of the Space Marine Officer Corp. How this 'Sharp-like' character takes to the formality of the Officers Mess is still another matter. Still as a reward The Imperial Fists get plenty of extra equipment cards to play with on the next mission as well as a second Command Card, "Oooh!" Well done (see below, a haul of dead Chaos minions both major and minor):

The Ultra Marines:

A very 'canny' (as in clever if not cautious) performance that preserved force integrity (no casualties, not quite the Space Marine Corp if you ask my humble opinion). Clipping their way through the Chaos minions and taking out the dangerous Recon Android showed tactical prowess. Some would say The Ultra Marines were a tad risk adverse but they are at least are ready to "go again," now tooled up with some extra equipment. Their mettle will be truly tested next time  methinks (see below, the kill total really needed that androd):

Chaos:

Yes, all his (or rather my) minions were dead or destroyed, but already the strange Forces of Chaos were twisting and threading their parts together, reconstituting or spawning a new army of minions. Aided with plenty of new Space Marine biological matter, diabolical horrors will await the Space Marines. The toll of Space Marines [seven all told including a precious Space Marine Commander] greatly pleases the warped Chaos entity. The Chaos Commander has earned the right to pick a "Random Event Card" of their choice as a backup 'trump' so the Genestealer is now a definite for the next game [evil laughter] so he eagerly awaits the next scenario in anticipation, especially as it promises him an additional three androids to play with (see below, these Space Marines did not make it back to their 'mothership'):

All said and done a really good night of fun, dice and beer. Fab, cannot wait for the next one!

Just Another Day in the Space Marine Corp (3)

The ferocious Dreadnought unceremoniously pushes the inert body of the Blood Angels Commander, supported by the last Chaos Space Marine Trooper they engage in a firefight with the last two surviving Blood Angel Space Marines. Bolters versus a Plasma Gun and Autocannon. The Bolter bounce harmlessly off the armoured hide of the Dreadnought (see below):

Predictably the Space Marines are gunned down by the superior heavy weaponry of the Dreadnought. The Blood Angels true to the spirit of their cadre have taken 100% casualties (see below):

Their work done on the Blood Angels the Dreadnought and surviving Chaos Space Marine (now nick named 'Bud') hunker back into the 'Alamo' and await the Imperial Fists and Ultra Marine teams "to have a go". Time is on the side of Chaos as for every turn the Space Marines delay an "interesting" Chaos event card is drawn. The Chaos Commander eagerly awaits an opportunity to play a Genestealer on teh reduced strength Space Marines (see below):

Showing tactical brilliance along with bravery of the highest order the Imperial Fist Commander goes headlong into the fray with a Dreadnought busting Megabomb equipment card in hand. A spectacular roll of double three (6 damage points) and an additional one and three (four damage points) from his power sword in hand-to-hand combat splits the Dreadnought down the middle, leaving is a fused bunch of spare electronic parts, radiating noxious fumes. All hail to the Imperial Fists (see below):

The last combat act was the execution of the remaining Chaos unit on the table, despatched by a tooled up Imperial Fist touting an Autocannon (see below):

In the last few rounds Chaos' fortunes had crashed from the high of wiping out an entire Space Marine squad to being smashed up by a no-nonsense 'Alamo' clear-out. The Ultra Marines emerged from their tactical positions (being somewhat gun-shie after rolling a lot of double zeroes all game they deduced that discretion was the better part of valour! All the Space Marines had to do now was survive a series of random event cards until they got back to their 'shuttle entry points'.

Next: Run, Run, Run Away ... I mean Mission Accomplished Tactical Withdrawal in Progress

Just Another Day in the Space Marine Corp (2)

Space Marine teams penetrate deeper into the "Space Hulk Abomination". The Blood Angel team gets caught up in a vicious fire-fight with a renegade Chaos Space Marine Commander sniping down a Blood Angel grunt (see below):

Incensed the Blood Angel Commander takes out his opposite number mano-on-mano style (see below, scratch one servant of Chaos):

All three Space Marine teams had made excellent progress room-clearing minor Chaos minions. The Imperial Fists commander had taken issue with the Chaos Space Marine Heavy Weapons gunner that had taken out two of his troopers (see below) while the Ultra Marines had taken out the potentially deadly recon android. All that was left was to find the Dreadnought, kill it and then get out of "Dodge".

The Blood Angels were the 'lucky' team to find their "Primary Mission Objective" hunkering down in its "Alamo" bolt-whole, a Space Marine Trooper paying the price for the "reconnaissance by contact" strategy (see below):  

The Blood Angels reacted the only way they know. The Commander takes on the Dreadnought hand-to-hand with his power-sword. Alas, the Chaos Force effect was strong with the dice (evil laughter) and he fell "a hero to the corp", but dead nevertheless (see below):

Two remaining Blood Angel Troopers faced off against the deadliest of alien killing machines, the final Chaos Space Marines and a dirty "reptilian" Orc Grunt. The Imperial Fists and Ultra Marines teams were heading as fast as they could to the critical battle-zone but will they be quick enough to save the beleaguered Blood Angels?

Next: Face-Off against the Dreadnought!