Lord Pestulus was assaulted by another Daemon Prince of Nurgle following his victory over the treacherous Orks. Daemon Prince Blacker, looking to gain favor with Nurgle, tried to ambush Pestulus. The opposing forces were similar in size and composition, save the opposing Daemon Prince being of less stature than Pestulus, his Champions not as well equipped, and his forces including a Predator. Clearly he had more heavy support resources, but hadn't gained as much of Nurgle's favor.
The battle started with the two forces packed close to each other, except for Blacker's move to place a flanking force of a squad and a Defiler on the right of the field of battle. Pestulus countered with a squad of his own. This squad radioed in that they had found their foe, and as two Land Raiders rumbled into view of each other, battle was joined.
Pestulus's forces moved up quickly, opening fire on Blacker's troops. Weapons fire harmlessly was absorbed by the Land Raider and Predator, though a Marine hiding in a building was evaporated by twin plasma guns firing. Pestulus's Defiler found the flanking squad, smashing five of its members flat with its battlecannon. The two meltaguns of his squad on that flank hissed out a lethal song that killed the last two members of the squad.
Blacker's forces moved up and opened fire, killing a couple of the Marines attempting to take down the Predator from behind. The Defiler opened up and killed two of the Marines facing it. The squad in the ruins leapt out and assaulted the squad that had fired on them. Ttwo men died on both sides, and the combat was locked.
The Daemons of Nurgle answered the calls of Pestulus's Marines, and a unit of seven Plaguebearers appeared to aid the squad behind Blacker's lines. The Great Unclean One took possession of its daemon vessel, giving its side a clear advantage. The flanking Marines opened up on the Defiler with a meltagun and plasma pistol to no avail, while the Land Raider managed to blast a lascannon sponson off of its counterpart. The Defiler opened up on its counterpart, missing entirely. The Plaguebearers charged into combat, taking down two Marines at a loss of two of their own number. Meanwhile, the Great Unclean One felled two Marines, as the Plague Marines continued to beat on each other to no effect.
Blacker's Marines called in their own daemonic support, and two units of seven Plaguebearers appeared to charge into the combat going on behind the vehicles. The daemon vessel opposing the Great Unclean One gave over his body to another Great Unclean One, and a titanic battle was started. The Defiler, worried about its health, fired another shot, killing another Marine. In the major combat, Pestulus's Great Unclean One wounded Blacker's Great Unclean one, but suffered three wounding hits in return. The Marines did little to each other, as they were too awed by the presence of the Great Unclean Ones. With the fourteen Plaguebearers charging in to support his units, Blacker's forces had the upper hand in the battle behind his lines. The Plaguebearer had managed to tie up the Plague Marines as well.
The next few minutes of battle were a blur of combat and weapons fire. The Land Raiders traded damaging shots, Pestulus's Raider immobilizing Blacker's and being destroyed in return. The Defiler came out of cover to fire at and assault the unit that had been firing ineffectively at it, killing the last two members, while surviving fire from Pestulus's Defiler. Pestulus came out to fight, killing Daemon Prince Blacker and being assaulted by a fresh squad of Plaguebearers. He had fourteen of his own Plaguebearers to add to the fight, though, and they took down Blacker's Great Unclean One. Pestulus turned his attention to the Plaguebearers, slaughtering them in an orgy of destruction, and the last of Blacker's Marine squad were wiped out. The combat behind Blacker's lines turned deadly for the Marines involved, as Aspiring Champions danced among each other's squads and butchered each other. The last four Plaguebearers of Pestulus's were killed, but at the loss of four of Blacker's. The combat was a draw in terms of casualties, but Blacker had ten Plaguebearers still alive.
Freed from combat, Pestulus directed his daemonic support toward the Plaguebearers, and assaulted the Predator. He easily destroyed it with several vicious blows. His Defiler launched a shot at Blacker's Defiler, not damaging it, while it returned fire at the Plaguebearers and sent two of them back to the Warp. The remaining Plaguebearers assaulted the smaller pack of Blacker's Plaguebearers, easily destroying them while only losing one of their own, then moved on to assault the other Plaguebearers. Pestulus finally assaulted the Land Raider that had plagued his forces, destroying it as easily as he had the Predator. The Defiler, seeing that it had no chance to survive the coming onslaught, turned and fled the battlefield. Pestulus had won this round, but at a heavy loss to his Marines.
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