500 Point Orks vs. Ad Mech, Behind Enemy LinesThis is the first battle of an escalation campaign put together by Wyddr for he and I and two of our friends. I am playing the Orks and Wyddr is playing Vostroyans. Our friend that played Eldar in our previous campaigns is playing Iron Hands and our new friend that is just starting is playing Ad Mechs.
The Setting:
Orthos IV is an agri-world technically under the authority of the Tetriarchs of Vostroya. Or at least it was. An ork invasion of its major urban and space-port facilities in the southern temperate regions has led to a long conflict between the Vostroyans and the Orks with few signs of abating. The Orks now hold most of the former agricultural territory as well as several cities, while the Vostroyans control the oceans, many islands, and both polar regions. Imperial reinforcements had been inbound to help annihilate the menace, but then the Crix Maleditrix cut Vostroya off and now the subsector is on its own. The battle is a stalemate.
The Adeptus Mechanicus, however, has found evidence that the orks, in their looting, have come across something priceless--an ancient cache of tools and materials dating back to the Dark Age of Technology. This is a find of unparalleled importance--far greater importance than some backwarter agriworld. The radical members of the Cult Mechanicus are marshaling their Skitarii and preparing to strike at the orks and find the tech, world be damned. They will use the Astra Militarum to club the orks and, in the confusion, make off with their prize. The Iron Hands, alerted by a less radical sect of the Cult Mechanicus arrive on the scene to put a stop to this tech heresy.
Ad Mech ForcesTech Priest Dominus w/ Volkite Blaster, macrostubber, and Omnissian Axe (Warlord)
Tech Priest Enginseer
5 Rangers w/ 2 Transuranic Arquebii & Omnispex
5 Vanguard w/ Aplha w/ Taser Goad & Arc pistol
5 Vanguard w/ Aplha w/ Taser Goad & Arc pistol
Onager Dunecrawler w/ Eradication Beamer
Orks ForcesWarboss on War Bike w/ Big Choppa, Shoota & Attack Squig (Warlord w/ Tenacious Survivor)
Weirdboy w/ Da Jump
30 Shoota Boys w/ Boss Nob
6 Warbikers w/ Boss Nob
MissionUnder cover of the Imperial assault on Arendt, a small AdMech task force uses the confusion to infiltrate ork territory and search for signs of the ancient tech. Current scans indicate a factory--under ork control--that may yield clues. The Skitarii deploy to seize it!
The first directive is to kill all orks who could hinder the advance of the techpriests. They mustn't be permitted to warn others.
Scenario: No Mercy
Deployment: Search and Destroy
DeploymentOrk Deployment
Ad Mech DeploymentI win the roll off and choose my deployment zone. I tried to deny my opponent as much cover as possible. I also had fewer deployments so should be going first. I set up my boyz and Weirdboy out of line of sight so they could use Da Jump. I set up the Bikers as close to the edge of my starting zone as possible so they could zoom across the board to get into combat range as soon as possible. My opponent deploys into as much cover as he can. He also seizes the initiative, leaving my bikers wide open to his firepower.
Top of Turn 1The Walker and Enginseer move back closer to the Dominus. The Vanguard hold positions. The Walker, Rangers and forward Vanguard take shots into the Warbikers and don't manage to do any wounds.
End of Ad Mech Turn 1
Bottom of Turn 1I move the Bikers closer to the forward vanguard unit to shoot them before charging them. They manage to take out 4 vanguard and they do 2 wounds to my boss nob. The Warboss follows the bikers but doesn't have position to fire or charge. The Weridboy jumps the boys into the Admech backfield. The Boys split fire into the Rangers and the Dominus. 4 Rangers fall and the Dominus takes no wounds due to his high save. I should have asked what it was before declaring fire otherwise it wouldn't have been wasted.
End of Ork Turn 1
Warbikes charge VanguardTop of Turn 2The surviving vanguard falls back so the Crawler, Dominus and other Vanguard can fire into the bikers before the Vanguard assaults them. They do manage to kill the boss nob but the vanguard losses 1 unit to overwatch and 2 units in the fight phase. The Rangers takes a wound off the Warboss and the enginseer moves to deny the boys a clear path to the Dominus.
End of Ad Mech Turn 2 Movement
For the OmnissiahThat didn't turn out like we thoughtBottom of Turn 2The Weirdboy jumps himself behind the boys so he can move into position to use Smite in the following rounds. The warboss moves up next to the bikers and takes some potshots at the crawler to no effect. The boys move closer to the ranger and enginseer and split their fire to kill the lone ranger and lone vanguard. They assault the Enginseer, who is surprisingly durable. He takes 3 wounds and kills one boy, but keeps them tied up in combat. The Bikers finish their fight with the 2 vanguard and consolidate closer to the crawler.
End of Ork Turn 2
Welcome to the Murder Pit!Top of Turn 3The Crawler moves and shoots at the Ork Bikers, killing 1 before charging them. No damage is done to either side in the fight. The Dominus Charges the boys fighting the Enginseer and neither manages to damage the orks in the fight. The orks manage to kill the enginseer and take 1 wound off the Dominus in their fight phase.
End of Ad Mech Turn 3
Bottom of Turn 3The Warboss moves to charge the Crawler, taking 2 wounds off with his Big Choppa. The bikers do nothing to the Cawler and the Crawler takes a wound off the Warboss. The Weirdboy fired off a smite in the psychic phase and takes 3 wounds off the Dominus, leaving him with 1 before the fight phase. The boys do 18 wounds to the Dominus, who makes 17 of 18 saves needed to survive.
The Omnissiah heard almost all the Dominus' prayersTurn 4The Crawler does another wound to the warboss but the Crawler manages to make it's saves and takes no wounds, staying in the fight. At this point my opponent concedes, he's only killed 2 bikers and 1 boy and is down to his final unit.
The Orks Move in for the Kill
Final ScoreOrks 8
Ad Mech 0
Post MortemFor me, I was able to use a lot of what I've learned playing against Wyddr to good use against my opponent. In deployment I tried to deny cover to my opponent and give myself good lanes of movement for my bikers. Using the Da Jump in tandem with Warbikers that could threaten my opponent quickly would force my opponent to either split fire or focus on one threat. The split fire shouldn't be enough to destroy one threat and focused fire would leave the other threat open to do damage. Granted, this was a small game but it was good to see theory work in play.
For my opponent, this is his second game in 8th edition, and he asked for my thoughts after the game. I thought he used cover fairly well during deployment and did okay in keeping me from Deep Striking into the middle of his units. At this level, the Transuranic Arquebii were too expensive and did too little. For the same price he could get another unit rangers with weapons that fire more shots. Against my Orks, volume of fire is going to be important. The ork mantra of boys before toys is a good one for most armies.
Overall, this was a fun battle and a learning experience for both of us. We both had fun and are looking forward to the next battle, hopefully in a few weeks. Thanks for reading and thanks, as always, to my opponent!
