’I’ve never met something that I couldn’t kill with a bit of faith in the Emperor and the right amount of firepower.’

- Captain Grayson of the 227th Storm Trooper Company- 112th Calixian Expeditionary Battle Group.

Despite the destruction of the Broodlord, Kill-team Kronus and the rest of the Imperial forces on Avalos find that the situation on Avalos is beyond hope. With the lost of Brother Mcleod, the remaining Deathwatch Space Marines, joined by the few scattered PDF forces and the lone Callidus Assassin, Syndalla, find themselves trapped in a city that is about to be overrun by rebel forces. The situation goes from bad to worse when four days after the destruction of the Broodlord the Imperial forces are unpleasantly surprised by the arrival of a massive Tyranid Hive Ship and accompanying fleet in orbit above the planet.

The Hive Fleet wastes no time and begins unleashing its deadly Tyranid cargo onto the planet’s surface. Mycetic Spore Pods bombard the planet’s surface and their deadly cargo of Tyranid organisms begin to neutralize the last of the Imperial resistance so that the Hive Fleet can begin stripping the planet of its resources. Things look grim for the Imperial defenders but hope comes in the form of the 112th Calixian Expeditionary Battle Group under the command of Fleet Captain Cobb. Cobb has arrived in response to the astropathic message that the Kill-Team manage to get out before the arrival of the Tyranid psychic blackout. In addition to his small fleet, Cpt. Cobb is accompanied by an Inquisitorial Agent named Titus Dorn and also a Deathwatch Space Marine named Timujin.

The Tyranid Fleet above Avalos is still too strong for Cpt. Cobb’s small fleet to attack directly and so he orders the evacuation of Kill-team Kronus, Syndalla, the Governor and choice members of the Governor’s staff. The Kill-team must fight their way through the Tyranid and rebel infested city to the starport. There they establish a strongpoint and hold off hordes of Tyranids before the evacuation force, which consists of a company of Storm Troopers accompanied by several Valkyrie and Vulture gunships, is able to reach them and take them to safety to the drop ship, and eventually off-planet to rejoin the fleet.

Aboard Cpt. Cobb’s flagship, and with the Imperial Fleet a safe distance from the Tyranid Fleet, the Imperial Forces are able to come up with a disparate plan, despite the odds, to liberate Avalos. The two-fold operation consists of Imperial forces deploying to the planet’s surface to slow down the tide of the Tyranid strike force by striking key enemies and targets. In addition, the Kill-team is able to recover the last of Inquisitor Jezehell’s Intelligence, which describes her findings of a mysterious stasis pod of Imperial manufacture that was brought to Avalos and used to unleash the Broodlord onto the city; the ones responsible for this act of treachery are unknown at this time.

With Tyranid operations temporarily disrupted, the Imperial Forces move to the second part of their plan- which is to attack the Tyranid Fleet. This plan involves a near-suicidal mission by Kill-team Kronus to board the Hive Ship and destroy one of its vital Hive Mind Synapse Nodes. The temporary disruption that this will cause should give the out-numbered Imperial Fleet a window of opportunity to launch a concentrated assault on the Hive Ship and destroy it. With the Hive Ship gone, the rest of the Tyranid Fleet should be more easily dispatched.

Accompanied by Captain Grayson, and his company of Storm Troopers, Kill-team Kronus boards the Hive Ship during the distraction of the space battle and makes their way to the Synapse Node. Encountering all manner of biological horrors inside the massive living ship, the Imperial forces are able to fight and navigate their way to the Synapse Node. Death is around every corner as the Imperial forces take on Genestealers, Termagants, Hormagaunts, and Gargoyles. Battered and bloodied, the Kill-team and a few surviving Storm Troopers arrive at the Synapse Node and a deadly battle ensues between the Imperial Forces and the Nodes guardians- a Tyranid Prime and several Tyranid Warriors.

The Kill-Team is victorious in its mission and they manage to escape the ship via shuttle, which is unfortunately disabled by a chance bio-plasma shot from the Hive Ship. Helplessly drifting in space the Kill-Team watches as the Imperial Fleet’s attack on the temporarily dazed Tyranid Fleet falters and the Tyranids regain the initiative and begin to crush the Imperial Fleet. It is only by the timely surprise arrival of a Space Marine Battle Barge from the Angels of Vermillion Chapter, and accompanying ships, that that Imperial Forces are saved from destruction and the Tyranid Fleet is destroyed.

The planet of Avalos has been saved but as to whom is responsible for unleashing the Broodlord onto the planet and the subsequent signaling of a splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Dagon, no one knows. Further investigation is definitely warranted.

• GM’s Note: This mission was ran with modifications from Fantasy Flight’s free adventure by Owen Barnes. It can be found here: