Xoxigar Campaign

The Xoxigar system has been the location of a narrative campaign we've been playing since the late fall of 2018 and, more recently, my current Wrath & Glory Campaign.

The system in positioned deep in the Ultima Segmentum - nestled between the Eastern Fringes and the burgeoning T'au Empire. When the Cicatrix Malledictum tore across the galaxy, Xoxigar found itself on the wrong side and has felt the light of the Emperor diminish in recent times, though not so much as to be completely forgotten.

Though seated in the Imperium Nihilus, Xoxigar does still have contact with the Imperium through a convoluted passage discovered by Rogue Trader Maedbh Chulainn. The Passage is treacherous, however, and only the best and most daring captains and navigators will attempt it. Many ships have been lost making the run, in the last decade.

The Xoxigar system has three inhabited planets.


XOXIGAR PRIME

So-named because it was the first of the planets in the system to be colonized. Xoxigar Prime was colonized by humans millennia before the rise of the Emperor during the Age of Technology.

At the time it was a originally colonized Xoxigar Prime was temperate world, lush with vegetation and native fauna with a human population in the tens (possibly hundreds) of millions. Over the last 25,000 years, however, the star at the center of the Xoxigar system has diminished and cooled considerably, leaving Primus now outside of the temperate zone. Many of the inhabitants emigrated to Xoxigar Secondus when the Forge World was established. Later, many more emigrated to the new colony on Xoxigar Tertium.

Now Xoxigar Prime is a nearly lifeless, frozen rock. The only inhabitants are the crew of a few disparate imperial stations and outposts and the last stronghold of the knight household which once ruled the world.


Knight Household

Once a great and mightly household that ruled over Xoxigar Prime for Millennia. After being brought back into the Imperial fold they served the Emperor in many conflicts across the subsector, but has been in steady decline over the centuries. Now all that remains of the once mighty house are the Lady, Dame D'Hiver, her consort, two children, and a few hundred household guard, servants, labourers, and support staff.


Imperial Stations and Outposts

The Adeptus Mechanicus still maintain a few facilities on Xoxigar Prime. It is rumoured that these are facilities used for testing newly acquired Archaeotech or Xenotech - far from the more populated planets of the system - to determine if the technology can be exploited by the imperium or if they are too dangerous and need to be destroyed. 

Along with the Adeptus Mechanicus facilities it is rumoured that the Inquisition maintains a few secret outposts. What reason they could have to be here is anybody's guess. Perhaps they are Ordos Xenos outposts for monitoring the mechanicus facilities that bring in and test Xenos technology


XOXIGAR SECONDUS

Xoxigar Secondus was the first of the system’s planets colonized by the Imperium after it was brought back into the fold during the Great Crusade. The Adeptus Mechanicus settled it for its rich mineral and promethium reserves. It eventually became a Forge World. Many of the wretched, starving inhabitants from Xoxigar Prime were relocated here to provide indentured labourers to help build the initial settlements.

Millenia of heavy industry and strip mining has left most of the planet surface desertified brownfield between the industrial facilities and hab-complexes. What little food is made locally is grown in expansive green houses or cultured in giant vats. Most food comes from Xoxigar Tertium.

Legio Amare Feles

Xoxigar Secondus hosts the once mighty Legio Amare Feles. At one point Legio Amare Feles boasted over fifty God Engines in it's ranks - but continual losses over centuries of brutal combat against the Great Enemy has reduced it to a single, understrength maniple of three (two Warhound Scout Titans and a Reaver Titan)


XOXIGAR TERTIUM

Xoxigar Tertium was uninhabitable when humans first came to the system – the planet was shrouded dense swirling clouds – Nearly all of the water on the planet was vapour due to the intense heat. As the star cooled over the millennia more liquid water was able to form on the surface and in a few short millennia (with the aid of a Departmento Munitorum terraforming and seeding program) the planet was teeming with life. When it had cooled sufficiently for human habitation, the planet was colonized in hopes that it would become an Agriworld. The growing conditions are superb throughout the planet, but optimal production has never been reached as the jungle constantly grows back nearly as quickly as it is cleared away!

Gais Norvus is the current Imperial Commander. The title is hereditary and the family has ruled over Xoxigar Tertium for hundreds of years. For over 20 years Xoxigar Tertium has suffered a brutal civil war. A number of cities and declared themselves independent of the rule of Gais Norvus and the Imperium. Norvus has used the Planetary Defence Forces to try and retake the break-away cities. Secessionists and Loyalists have clashed in bloody battle across the world, leaving cities in heaping ruins and fields burning – ripe to be retaken by the creeping jungle.


KNOWN FACTIONS WITHIN THE SYSTEM 

Imperial Intervention

For the longest time the Imperium took no notice of Xoxigar Tertium’s troubles, as Departmento Munitorum tithes were met, and the Imperial Commander did not request help (Commander Norvus was no doubt concerned that a request for aid would make him seem weak or he could be seen as incompetent and replaced). But as the war ground on, and with the arrival of the Orks (and other factions), production on the planet has been severely impeded and THAT has made the Departmento Munitorum take notice.

Initially a number of Imperial Guard Regiments were been deployed to the war zone. The conflict wasn’t, at that point, deemed serious enough to require intervention of the Adeptus Astartes. Later other Guard Regiments were deployed and Astartes Strike Forces occasionally made an appearance to deal with a specific threat, when needed, and then left to deal with other emergencies going on around the imperium.


Valhallans

The 275/341st Valhallan regiment is an amalgamated regiment – originally the 275th Valhallan Infantry Regiment and the 341st Valhallan Armoured Regiment. The two regiments have served together for nigh two decades over countless war zones. They have both been greatly reduced in strength over the years. The Infantry regiment, once ten thousand strong, has been reduced to a small handful of understrength companies of less than 200 each. The Armoured component, once boasted over twenty squadrons of battle tanks plus reconnaissance and support vehicles, is now reduced to a single, under-strength company of a dozen or so tanks and a few support vehicles.

Many regiments so reduced make up for their lack of numbers by being the hardest, bravest veterans. Not so the 275/341st. All that remains of the respective regiments are the basest of survivors, cowardly wretches, and invalids.

The combined regiment has been deployed to Xoxigar Prime as a small reserve and to provide protection for the few small imperial outposts on the world, should the conflict spread this far.


Tallarn

A small Army Group of Tallarn were deployed to Xoxigar Secondus to bolster the Mechanicus Skitarri legions and help with rooting out the Ork infestation and protecting the Imperium’s valuable installations and factoriums. Included in the force are the 382nd Tallarn (Desert Raider) Regiment and the 451st Tallarn Tank Regiment, who recently served together on Brind’s World, as well as the 17th Tallarn Super Heavy Tank Regiment with its Shadowswords and Baneblades.

As things have been lately quite on Xoxigar Seconds, and the insurgencies on Xoxigar Tertium have been intensifying, some elements of this Army Group have been redeployed to Xoxigar Tertium.


Guaiacan Commandoes

The 222nd Guaiacan Commando Regiment, which also had previously seen action on Brind’s World, has been deployed to the jungles of Xoxigar Tertium – where they are in their element!


Adepta Sororitas

The Adepta Sororitas maintain a small Convent of the Order of the Crimson Challice on Xoxigar Tertium.



Orks

Orks entered the system a dozen years ago aboard a couple of roks and a pair of Attack Ships. The Attack Ships were destroyed by Imperial Navy ships that happened to be in system at the time, but not before the roks detonated in orbit around Xoxigar Secondus and Tertium, showering both planets with meteorid entry vehicles.

Most Orks on the Rok bits did not survive planet fall, but enough spores did that, left in the deep, dark damp forests of Xoxigar Tertium, they were able to quickly grow into a significant force. Significant enough to

On Xoxigar Secondus only a few survived planetfall and have formed small groups of raiding parties that strike out of the desert and attack isolated outposts in less-well-inhabited regions.


Tyranids

Though spared the ravages of Hive Fleet Behemoth that passed through the region in a few hundred years ago. Rumours have been floating about telling of Genestealers in the forests of Xoxigar Tertium. This could be the vanguard of an unknown Hive Fleet that arrived in some sort of reconnaissance bio-pod or remaining tendrils of Behmoth the have remained dormant over the centuries. If the rumours are true, the Imperial forces need to quickly locate and annihilate this threat.

Unbeknownst to most Xoxigarians, Hive Fleet Behemoth did leave a lasting legacy on the Xoxigar system in the form of a Genestelaer cult that has been growing, steadily over generations. The Cult started in the southern regions of Xoxigar Tertium - where it remains the strongest - but has slowly spread across the planet.


Aeldari

Who can know the mind or reasons of the perfidious Aeldari? Rumoured sightings of different varieties of Aeldari have also arisen, what reason could THEY have for bring in the Xoxigar system, so far from any known craftworlds?


Necrons

A number of nearby systems have been found to be Tomb Worlds of the Necron Dynasties. It is not unreasonable to see these xenos as a very real and immanent threat.


T'au

The T'au have travelled to Xoxigar on occasion over the last century or so - mostly diplomatic envoys and traders.




ACTIONS IN THE XOXIGAR SYSTEM


First Shots - Xoxigar Tertium - 4.800.018.M42 - Drukhari and Harlequin Kill Teams meet in the Jungles of Xoxigar Tertium. Ork and Genestealers teams battle it out in a remote Munitorum compound. 

Guaiacan Commandoes Arrive on Xoxigar - Xoxigar Tertium - 4.812.018.M42 - a Patrol of Guaiacan Commandoes encounters a swarm of Tyranids in the Jungles of Xoxigar Tertium. Harlequins battle Orks who have taken up residence in the vast munitorum compound at the Xoxigar Tertium starport. 

First Contact - Ambush at Fellbunk Wastes - Xoxigar Secondus - 4.860.018.M42 - 3rd Squadron, 451st Tallarn Tank Regiment has it's first contact with Orks 

Fearless Foraging - Xoxigar Tertium - 4.868.018.M42 - Guaiacan Commandoes encounter Drukhari while foraging for supplementary rations in the jungles of Xoxigar Tertium.

Friendly Fire Incident on Xoxigar Secondus - Xoxigar Secondus - 4.037.019.M42 -In the dusty desert of the Southern Reaches of Xoxigar Secondus, a Tallarn Patrol mistook some Skitarii for the "Nee-Crones" they read about in the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer.

Titans versus Tyranids - Xoxigar Tertium - 4.140.019.M41 - Warhound Titans of the Legio Amare Feles (supporting the 222nd Guaiacan Commando Regiment) face a horde or Tyranids on Xoxigar Tertiunm - including a Hierophant Bio-Titan!

Ruins of Station 5743b  - Xoxigar Primus - 3.238.019.M42 - Emperor's Brethren Marines clash with Aeldari of the Biel-Tim fleet.

Get Morty!  - Xoxigar Primus - 3.305.019.M42 - a Warhost of the Biel-Tim fleet ambush a force of the Emperor's Brethren Marines to end a probability thread in the skeins of fate.


Battle of the Denfeld Wastes - Xoxigar Secondus - 4.347.019.M42 - (Part One - Part Two) - Asuryani of the Thaestalyrdaes Craftworld trying to recover their relics from a downed Order Xenos Aquila Lander - a Company of Tallarn infantry sent out to do the same.

Legio Amare Feles Walks - Xoxigar Tertium - 3.550.019.M42 - Legio Amare Feles returns to their home Xoxigar system. Again deployed to Xoxigar Tertium, this time they walk in support of elements of the 17th Tallarn Super Heavy Tank and the 451st Tallarn Tank Regiment as they clash against elements of Thaestalyrdaes Craftworld and the Biel-Tim Fleet.


Rise Up Campaign
The rise up campaign follows a the actions of band of Genestealer Cultists during an insurgency in Gehardog Fol - one of the southern city sprawls of Xoxigar Tertuim.

Background to the campaign:

Rise Up! ANOTHER Short Narrative Campaign for Warhammer 40K

Actions:

The Ambush - 4.515.020.M42 - The Genestealer Cultists ambush a freshly arrived Unit of PDF troops

Sabotage - 4.526.020.M42 - The Genestealer Cultists attempt to severely hamper the Imperial War Effort by blowing up supplies that arrived with a Regiment of the Imperial Guard that has been posted to the city to try and quell the insurrection.

Infiltrate! - 4.536.020.M42 - The Genestealer Cult escort a Sanctus (Cult Assassin) who is attempting to infiltrate the enemy lines and create a diversion by attacking artillery that is pummelling their positions within the city!

Break Out! - 4.567.020.M42 - The Imperial forces are closing in - the Patriarch orders a general breakout along the line!

CHAOS! 
Chaos cults which had been sewing the groundwork for a major uprising and potential take-over, across the system. Part of this took place in a Wrath & Glory campaign I was running online through the summer of 2020. One battle was played out on the tabletop... Sort of... 

The Battle off Xoxigar Prime - 3.585.020.M42 - Xoxigar Prime - a team of inquisitorial adepts have commandeered a ship to trace a lead to Xoxigar Prime, potentially involving the Imperial Commander and leader of a Knight Household. En Route an uprising of Chaos Cults across the system takes place. As their ship arrives in the vicinity of Xoxigar Prime, a Chaos Flotilla drops out of warp space on a course to intercept! 


There Is Only War
The campaign in Xoxigar contines - a new narrative campaign with the New Kill Team (and possibly a 40K9E Narrative Crusade Campaign). 

Enter the Den - Xoxigar Tertuim - 4.666.021.M42 - Kill Team Coranos enters a Warren of tunnels they believe will lead them to the Patriarch of a Genestealer Cult in one of the Southern cities of Xoxigar Tertuim. All they find are slaughtered Cultists. In the throne room, they find the Patriarch already deceased and disremembered, surrounded by the Shimmering forms of a Harlequin Troupe

Welcome (Back) to the Jungle - Xoxigar Tertuim - 5.688.021.M42 - After being besieged in their firebase for over a year, Hammer Troop pressed outward - patrolling the surrounding jungle. Instead of finding the Orks or Tyranids that had kept them hemmed in for so long, they run into a ragtag group of Genestealer Cultists escaping the city where their Brood Coven was all but wiped out! 

Aeldari Ambush - Xoxigar Tertuim - 5.697.021.M42 - The Ebony Vipers Genestealer Cult flees into the Jungle, but veer a little to close to ancient Aldari ruins that are under the protection of Maesenir's Rangers.

Destroy the Ruins - Xoxigar Tertium - 4.739.021.M42 - Lord Inquisitor Drusilla Kyros has obtained intelligence that a band of Aeldari have been operating in a area centered on an ancient ruin of some sort. A Deathwatch Kill Team has been tasked with demolishing one of the central edifices - to see if that dissuades the Aeldari from remaining in the region, so close to where a regiment of the Astra Militarum are operating. 

Recovering an Aeldari Artefact - Xoxigar Tertium - 3.859.021.M42 - Xoxigar Tertium - A Biel-Tymm Combat Patrol raids the underground lair of a Genestealer Cultists to recover an Aeldari artefact. 

No comments:

Post a Comment