⚔️ The Kharon Reach Campaign
A Warhammer 40k Escalation League | Campaign Master & Player
Something Beneath the Planet is Waking Up...
"Kharon Reach was never meant to matter. An exhausted mining world on the edge of the Great Rift, its surface had long ago been stripped bare by industrial excavation. Acid oceans boiled beneath permanent ash storms, while the surviving population endured within refinery-habs and deep mining vaults carved into the planet's crust.
Then the disappearances began..."
📍 Campaign Map Progression
Watch the war escalate month by month as factions vie for control of Kharon Reach
The Beginning
June 2026 - 500pts
The war begins. Iron Warriors establish positions around The Maw Below, while Tyranids spread from the sinkholes.
End of June
June 2026 - 500pts
Territory changes hands. The Iron Warriors secure their foothold after the devastating 31-0 victory over the Tyranids.
July Update
July 2026 - 500pts
"Slow July with only one game... August we move to 750pts and games planned at the outset."
The IV Legion Fractures
August 2026
"Two Warsmiths. One Legion. One planet. This will not end quietly."
August Update — The Green Tide
August 2026 - 750pts
"Ghazghkull Thraka has arrived. His first clash ended in the destruction of an Eldar scout force. The war just got louder."
The Engines Roll On
September 2026 - 1000pts
"With the swarm butchered and the battlefield buried in xenos dead, Morne's forces rolled straight through the ruins and seized Sectors 13 and 18."
Mutual Annihilation
September 2026 - 1000pts
"Technically the Iron Warriors claimed the victory. In reality, there was barely an army left on either side to celebrate. Both forces advance."
🔥 Heroic Moment: Yann Ashenfury
The Last Stand
In the heat of battle, surrounded by enemies, Yann Ashenfury made his final stand. Though he fell that day, his sacrifice would not be forgotten.
Even in death, Yann Ashenfury still serves. His broken body will be interred within the cold ceramite of a Dreadnought, his fury preserved for eternity.
⚔️ Battle Highlights
The Battle for Sector 26 – The Maw Below
Mission: Take and Hold (Iron Warriors) vs Reconnaissance (Tyranids)
The Iron Warriors formed disciplined gun lines and dared the Tyranids to attack. The opening salvo was devastating.
"A brood of Gargoyles attempting to seize the initiative was annihilated almost immediately, leaving the Tyranid advance blind and fragmented."
"The engagement became little more than an execution. The Tyranids were almost completely annihilated, while the Iron Warriors remained firmly in control."
Intercepted Vox Transmission
"Ironhold, this is Vossk-pattern relay three. We have contact.
Initial auspex returns were false. Repeat: false.
The force occupying the northern green zone is not Salamanders...
Eldar.
They have been wearing the signal-shadow of the XVIII Legion to mask their arrival. Every faction on this world has been watching for green armour and flame icons while the xenos dug themselves into the northern territories.
Clever. Irritating.
The Wolves Arrive
"The Space Wolves will not tolerate the wanton destruction of brave Imperial citizens! And if we manage to hew many xenos and potentially recover lost artefacts before they fall into the hands of Chaos then what an Epic Saga t'will be!
Howl my Brethren! For the Wolves of Fenris approach Kharon-Reach and let none stand in our way!
AROOOOOOO!!!!
The Iron Warriors Civil War
Warsmith Drokhar, 77th Grand Siege Cohort:
"By decree of Perturabo, we came to this world with a single purpose: reclaim the vaults beneath Kharon Reach and deny them to every rival. We wage war as our father taught us—with discipline, precision and inevitability."
"Yet already I hear whispers spreading through the ranks. A name. Kravek Morne."
"He preaches strength through anarchy. He offers glory instead of victory. He promises freedom from discipline and the right to seize whatever spoils a warrior can hold."
"He mistakes rebellion for strength. He mistakes ambition for purpose. He is wrong."
"The Iron Warriors did not endure ten thousand years because we chased favour from the Dark Gods. We endured because stone does not betray itself. Iron does not argue. Siegecraft does not care for ego."
"Any warrior who abandons the Cohort to follow Morne abandons the Fourth Legion itself."
"Effective immediately, all forces loyal to Kravek Morne are declared renegade even by the standards of the IV Legion."
"The civil war begins."
The Fall of Bastion XII
The withdrawal of the Astra Militarum from Kharon Reach was not a strategic redeployment. It was a rout.
Warsmith Kravek Morne smashed through the Imperial fortress lines in a relentless offensive. The 143rd Cadian, the Vostroyan 9th and elements of the Steel Legion were annihilated attempting to delay the advance.
"This is Lord General Castor to all remaining Imperial personnel. Operation Iron Lantern has failed. Kravek Morne now controls the primary Imperial landing zone. Without orbital reinforcement, Kharon Reach can no longer be held. Emperor forgive us."
The last troop transports clawed their way into orbit, leaving millions of civilians trapped on the surface. Across the eastern hemisphere, the banners of the Imperium were torn down. In their place rose the black-and-yellow hazard stripes of the Iron Warriors.
Yet victory brought no unity.
Even as Kravek Morne consolidated his newly won fortress, Warsmith Drokhar refused to acknowledge his authority. Drokhar marches beneath the unbroken colours of the IV Legion, his armour bearing the scars of ten thousand years of war but little of the corruption his brothers have embraced.
The Imperium had fallen. Now, the IV Legion itself stood divided. And somewhere beyond the shattered front lines, the Tyranid hive fleet continued to feed, utterly indifferent to which banner flew above the ruins.
The Green Tide Arrives
"We thought we were alone."
"The skein showed no warning. No fleet translation. No engines in orbit. No approach vector."
"Then the ground began to shake."
"They came over the ridge in a wall of smoke, gunfire and screaming."
"Orks."
"Not a raiding party. Not scavengers. A war host."
"And at its centre… him. Ghazghkull Thraka."
"I had heard the name in the stories of lesser races. A crude thing. A barbarian king. I thought the Mon-Keigh exaggerated him."
"They did not."
"Our first volleys struck his armour and vanished into it. He did not slow."
"I saw Ghazghkull seize an Aspect Warrior in one hand and throw him through the hull of our transport."
"We killed dozens. It did not matter. Every Ork that fell seemed only to make the others louder."
"We were not fighting an army. We were standing in front of an avalanche."
"I survived because they stopped chasing. Not because they could not catch me. Because they found something else to kill."
"Warn the others. The greenskins are here. And their warlord is looking for a fight."
A previously unidentified Ork force has made planetfall on Kharon Reach. The first confirmed encounter ended in the destruction of an Eldar scouting force, with only a single survivor escaping the slaughter.
At the head of the invasion is Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka.
His purpose on Kharon Reach is unknown. Given the number of armies currently fighting across the planet, Imperial strategists have suggested one likely explanation:
He heard there was a war.
Escalation to 1000 Points
The war for Kharon Reach escalates again. September games are now officially 1000 points.
Armies are getting bigger, the neutral ground is disappearing, and the scattered skirmishes of the opening months are starting to look a lot more like a proper planetary war.
"Unusual activity has been observed behind Warsmith Drokhar's siege lines."
"For several days, forge crews have worked without pause. Heavy lifters have been seen moving enormous armour plates beneath camouflage screens, while power readings from the encampment have repeatedly exceeded those expected from conventional Legion vehicles."
When questioned about the construction, an intercepted IV Legion transmission contained only three words:
"Endure. Reduce. Advance."
Whatever Drokhar's Warsmiths are building… it is almost ready.
The Engines of Kravek Morne
Mission: Iron Warriors (Kravek Morne) vs Tyranids — 1000pts
The Tyranids came in numbers. They came fast. It did not matter.
The first organisms emerged from beneath the surface and died almost as quickly as they appeared. Trygons burst from the ground into waiting guns. Hormagaunts streamed across the open ground only to disappear beneath disciplined volleys of fire.
At the centre of the line stood a Defiler. A Trygon charged it; the daemon engine tore the beast apart. Two broods of Hormagaunts followed and were butchered in turn. Then came the Raveners, their bodies shifting and adapting as they crossed the battlefield — they never reached the line intact.
Around it, Forgefiends hammered the swarm with warp-charged fire while Legionaries calmly picked apart anything that survived long enough to advance. And above it all stood Vashtorr the Arkifane. Watching. Judging. Perhaps approving.
"The Tyranids had come expecting prey. Instead, they found a wall of iron, daemon-flesh and gunfire. There was no breakthrough. There was barely even a battle."
"You cling to the old ways because you fear what we have become."
"Look upon this battlefield."
"Then tell me again that we are weaker for embracing it."
Somewhere across Kharon Reach, Warsmith Drokhar received the message. Kravek Morne had not simply won a battle — he had made his case.
Away from the lore, the best line of the day came from the Tyranid player, playing his first ever games of 40k in person:
"Was awesome getting to finally play my first in person 40k games — and really cool to see my models actually on a board."
Two Turns, Two Dead Armies
What started as a battle turned into a two-turn mutual annihilation. Terminators and Legionaries were swallowed by the melee while Drokhar's Iron Circle smashed into the Squighog riders on the flank.
On the other side of the field, Ghazghkull Thraka headbutted a Knight to death — only for the dying war engine to detonate and take Ghazghkull with it.
"Technically the Iron Warriors claimed the victory. In reality, there was barely an army left on either side to celebrate."
Both forces advance.
Campaign Recalibrated
Running a league is as much about keeping people in it as it is about the story. After a few months of watching how the campaign was actually going, I slowed the whole thing down to take the pressure off painting, buying models and finding time for games.
Armies now grow by 250 points every two months rather than every month, and the campaign finishes at 1500 points in February rather than 2000. The target is two campaign games per two-month period, played whenever people can genuinely manage them.
The underdog bonus got simpler too: for every territory your opponent controls more than you, you start the battle with +1 VP. It scales automatically, and makes it much harder for an early leader to run away with the planet.
Nothing about the campaign itself was reset. The map, the territories, the characters and everything that has happened so far all stand exactly as they are.
"Paint cool armies, play games, move little coloured areas around a map, and create an increasingly ridiculous story about Kharon Reach."
🏛️ Elsewhere: The Horus Heresy
This is not part of the Kharon Reach campaign. Different game, different era, different rules — and armies roughly four times the size. It happened on a separate weekend entirely, and none of it affects the campaign map above.
Heresy Day
First game: Iron Warriors vs Custodes and Solar Auxilia — 3000pts.
Second game: Iron Warriors vs Salamanders — 3500pts (3000pts plus primarchs).
"Massive primarch duel in the middle. Loads of tanks exploding everywhere. Utterly brutal!"
📸 Action Shots & Paint Progress
"As larger armies descend upon Kharon Reach and the war escalates month by month, one truth becomes impossible to ignore:
Something beneath the planet is waking up.