Versus Match Imperial Fists strike team vs Death Star

[Tyzuris]

Basically an Imperial Fists strike team replaces the rebels that attacked the first Death Star in a New Hope.

The strike team is deployed aboard a Rapid Strike Vessel and consists of two Intercessor Squads, one Assault Intercessor Squad, one heavy Intercessor Squad, an Aggressor squad, a mixed Hellblaster-Eradicator squad, a couple of Inceptor Squads, a Vanguard Squad, and a couple of Librarians, Techmarines and Apothecaries along with their Demi-Company HQ units with a few Veterans as well.

The Imperial Fists do not know of the vent hole to the reactor weakness and instead their Rapid Strike Vessel has to fight its way through to the Death Star, deploy its Astartes on the Death Star, have the Astartes fight their way through to the reactor to attach an explosive charge to it, and then exfiltrate out of the Death Star.

How will this battle go?

 

[The Whispering Monk]

It's actually the ideal mission for Astartes.
Break up into 3-4 teams and head off to different objectives, sew chaos as you go. Tech marines hacks com-systems and scanners so they forces are harder to isolate/locate. Vader will know what's up so he'll likely be defending the Reactor or trying to attack one of the teams. Librarians will be a problem for Vader.

 

[Bassoe]

Librarians will be a problem for Vader.

 

[Lord Sovereign]

The DS1 battlestation also has approximately a million personnel onboard. In terms of sheer numbers those are not good odds for the Astartes.

 

[The Whispering Monk]

The DS1 battlestation also has approximately a million personnel onboard. In terms of sheer numbers those are not good odds for the Astartes.

The Astartes regularly deal with situations of similar nature. The numbers don't matter to them. The Imperials will NOT be able to focus that manpower on the Astartes, PLUS most of those personnel aren't actually combat personnel. Lotta storm troopers sure, but those PBIs are gonna get boned, hard.
The Space Marines will be able to get routes figured out pretty quickly, and they'll be looking to do all sorts of damage to the infrastructure. Fuel bunkers and arsenals are going to be prime targets b/c of the secondary effects they'll generate. C&C points to hamper response effectiveness. The Space Marines are the quintessential experts at this sort of fight. They've done it before.

Then ONLY thing preventing them from achieving this mission is the presence of Darth Vader. However, I think Vader falls if he tries to engage more than a couple regular Marines at a time. I'm still of the opinion that the Death Star falls to the invaders.

 

[Agent23]

I think that the Astartes will need a larger contingent to be able to take out the DS1 unless they know how to find a thermal exhaust port and lob a melta bomb in it.

Their space assets might also be insufficient to penetrate the DS1's defenses and infiltrate it, and no matter how good a Space marine is it is still possible to swamp him with too many bodies, Orks and Tyranids and various Chaos cultists and traitors have managed it in the past.

I am also skeptical that the Tech Marines will be able to infiltrate a totally different tech base so they will probably perform worse than your average R2 unit would where Wars tech is concerned.

It is not impossible for them to manage to sabotage the Death Star, but infiltration and exfiltration will be hard.

Also, remember, that the destruction of the Death Star was possible because Tarkin was overconfident and because small, maneuverable fighters were not considered a threat, a much alrger Warhammer strike vessel will be, and the DS1's defenses will work better against it, especially since at least IMHO it is a much smaller target as well.

 

[The Whispering Monk]

Their space assets might also be insufficient to penetrate the DS1's defenses and infiltrate it, and no matter how good a Space marine is it is still possible to swamp him with too many bodies, Orks and Tyranids and various Chaos cultists and traitors have managed it in the past.

The rapid strike vessel, probably just a Nova class frigate, is not the boarding threat...well, unless it's a chapter like space wolves who modify them as rams for boarding larger vessels.

The boarding threat will come from the smaller vessels such as Caestus Assault Rams and other small craft. Drop Pods are possible means of insertion as well.

I am also skeptical that the Tech Marines will be able to infiltrate a totally different tech base so they will probably perform worse than your average R2 unit would where Wars tech is concerned.

I'm not too worried about the Tech Marines capabilities here. They are practiced will all manner of alien tech, whether just countering it or subverting it.

 

[Agent23]

The rapid strike vessel, probably just a Nova class frigate, is not the boarding threat...well, unless it's a chapter like space wolves who modify them as rams for boarding larger vessels.

The boarding threat will come from the smaller vessels such as Caestus Assault Rams and other small craft. Drop Pods are possible means of insertion as well.

And the ship will need to be in range to launch those baording torpedoes, which IIRC were pretty short-ranged and not all that maneuverable from what I remember from BF:G and the new Space Hulk.
I am pretty sure that a sizable, unidentified and obviously armed and armored vessel popping up in close proximity to the death star will raise more than a few eyebrows,and make lots of itchy trigger fingers hit firing buttons.

I'm not too worried about the Tech Marines capabilities here. They are practiced will all manner of alien tech, whether just countering it or subverting it.

Source?

Mostly I see them interacting with known stuff, be it dormant Imperial/Human tech or tech manufactured by races they have been fighting.
And don't forget the Imperium's rampant fear and loathing of alien equipment as well as the usual Mechanicus attitude to xeno tech.