Unwilling to leave a ‘Umie stronghold so close to his forces before he commits to taking the ruins of Schenheim for himself, Gutrippa had his forces mobilize down the A100 toward the city of Persk, a pivotal location guarding the A100 and B66 crossroads. Whilst the humans still occupied the city, Gutrippa could not take Sachenheim without seizing Persk, else leave his army open to being caught between the Orks who currently occupy the city and the Xenos purging forces. His plan was to utilize the Outpost Beta-19 as an airbase for his LuftWaaaagh! to begin harassing the city from the air, while his forces simultaneously attacked from the mountains to the East of the city and from the South along the A100. As such, he ordered his forces to mobilize up the A100 while he secured Outpost Beta-19. However, the Imperials were aware of the formidable Ork forces moving up the highway and dispatched a force of Space Marines to ambush the Orks as they attempted to cross the Akerselva river. During the initial fighting on Steiermark, the imperials had destroyed the Brevik Bridge in an effort to slow down the Ork’s advance, rendering the main crossing over the Akerselva along the A100 completely useless. To make matters more difficult for the Orks, during the recent rainstorms, the normally fairly easily forded Akerselva had grown very large and the only reliable crossing point for the Orks was at Harrald’s Cross, a short detour off of the main A100 road through the foothills closer to the Austria mountains. The foothills at this crossing forced the Orks into a narrow formation, limiting the usefulness of their numerical superiority and this was where the Marines chose to initiate their ambush. The assault on the Orks was swift and deadly for both sides, but at the end of the day, the Imperials were able to claim a narrow victory. However, it was a short lived victory, because although the Orks may have been stalled, there are still considerable Ork reinforcements still moving up the A100 and it is only a matter of time before the Imperials will have to face them at Persk.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 20:48:48 +0000