Vleast, Campaign Setting

Recently I have been creating the background story and setting to my Tau army, The Or'esha. I want to also create a background story which ties in all of my friends' and I's armies.

The Armies
I needed to include most if not all of the armies my friends play so I can make a story for each game we play. So I need; Imperial Guard, Salamanders, Space Wolves, Saim-Hann Eldar, Tau (Mine and my friend's), Tyranids and possibly Imperial Fists.

The Setting, Vleast
First I need to know where it is in the galaxy. This was fairly easy as it needed to be on the edge of Tau space  and as close to the Salamanders home planet as possible. I also placed it close to the general area where Tyranid Fleets have been spotted so that kind of ties in my Tyranids, I can say they are a splinter fleet. Lastly the Eldar and Imperial Guard are everywhere so no need for any mapping there.

Click to enlarge image. It is marked by the red circle, bottom right.

Now the planet itself. I want to have the planet reflect my board and vice versa so it needs to have been owned by the Imperium and then have Tyranids invading as my pieces are Imperial buildings with Tyranid infestations. This also helped with the story.

The Motivation
Next it needs to have a reason for the armies to be fighting over it. This was difficult but I figured that stopping a Tyranid Fleet was adequate reason for any army to be fighting. So the idea is that the planet is rich in life and the Tyranids invading want all the biomass to rebuild their dwindling fleet but the 'good' forces like the Tau, Eldar, Imperial Guard and Salamanders are trying to stop them. They don't need to work together to do so but it will work.



The Story
So when I can tie all this together I get this:

The planet Vleast was a large and very hostile planet, bristling with native life which was extremely dangerous even to the Imperium. The Imperium was there trying to obtain valuable minerals under the thick jungles (like Avatar). However, the native life became so dangerous that they were forced off the planet with only a few million people remaining and wanting to continue and make a living on Vleast.

After a few decades the Tau expanded into the area and took over the struggling human population and managed to use their advanced technology to keep the native creatures at bay. The Tau then began mining as well for the minerals.

But after only two years a small Tyranid Splinter Fleet found the planet and began invading. The Tau decided to evacuate as they didn't have anywhere near enough force to stop the Tyranids. However the Tyranids didn't want the Tau, they were only after the huge amount of biomass on the planet in the form of the jungles and native life. They would use this to rebuild their Hive Fleet and conquer the Tau Empire and surrounding planets.

The Tau soon realised this and immediately launched a counter-invasion with as much force they could muster, as quickly as they could muster it. But when they arrived they found the Tyranids were already being attacked by Salamanders and some Imperial Guard. They had arrived to claim the planet from the Tau and try to halt the Tau's advance but when they found the Tyranids immediately began cleansing the planet.

The Tau offered to ally but the Imperial forces refused so the Tau instead began assaulting a different position to that of the Imperial forces and fought against the Tyranids alone. However, the Tyranids were beginning to win the war as both forces didn't have enough power to fight the Tyranids. The Imperial forces had only expected a few Tau cadres and the Tau had rushed to gather forces and they did not expect how quickly the Tyranids would reproduce using the planets biomass. The Tyranid Fleet had doubled in size in less than 6 months.

It was looking bad for both forces before the Imperial Forces became desperate and allied with the Tau. But still this was not enough. The Tyranids were just too numerous as they used the planets bountiful biomass resources to overwhelm the attackers. But in the most dire situation, the Eldar arrived.

The Eldar had foreseen that if the Tyranids won and were allowed to control Vleast and grow with its resources then nearby Craftworlds and Maiden worlds would suffer and be slaughtered. So the forces of Saim-Hann decided they must intervene and so joined the Tau and Imperials against the Tyranids.

If the Tyranids win, they will conquer all nearby space and destroy the Tau Empire....

So what do you think?