The Vaults of Kekes'tular: Orks Vs Tzeentch Daemons, Prepared AssaultHrothmog the Rapacious, Bloodthirster of the Almighty Khorne, gazed down from his brass throne at the tiny, mewling shape of a Herald of Tzeentch. He did not speak. He roared. "WHY WOULDST I DO THIS FOR THEE, DISSEMBLING WRETCH?"
The Herald, which called itself "Q'Raip," cowered as the hordes of bloodletters that filled Hrothmog's hall howled at their master's dismay, banging their goblets of blood on the table and swearing foul oaths. When the furor had abated, the creature leaned on its misshaped staff and hissed from within its dark hood. "My Quixotic and Unknowable Masters have put much of their faith in Yggnao, their champion. He is powerful, O Mighty One, and disdains noble combat in favor of the most wretched of sorceries."
"AS DO THEE." Hrothmog drank deeply of a goblet of boiling lava and belched fire. The hall of bloodletters roared with laughter.
"Yes, yes--but I am just a miserable servant of the Changer of the Ways. I am slave to His ineffable will. This Yggnao styles himself 'warlord.'"
Hrothmog sat forward on his throne. "WHAT!? NO TZEENTCHIAN WRETCH IS LORD OF WAR!"
Q'Raip shrank to half his size. "Just so, just so, O Most Deadly and Violent One! It is for this reason that I come before you--to beg your aid and to make you a proposition."
Hrothmog cocked his horned head. "OF WHAT KIND?"
Within his hood, Q'Raip dared a smile, "One that will embarrass Yggnao the Pretender and enrage his masters." And return to me my Impossible Cloak,
he added silently to himself.
Hrothmog brooded into his smoking goblet. "VERY WELL--I GIVE THEE THREE OF MINE OWN KNIGHTS. USE THEM WELL."
Q'Raip quivered with glee. He prostrated himself at the foot of the throne. "Oh, I shall, Most Devastating One - I most certainly shall."The time has come at last for the armies of Tzeentch to make their play for possession of the Jungle Vault! This is the third battle in a ongoing ladder campaign me and my friends have going (Orks Vs Eldar Vs Daemons) which you can
check out here. The point limit is 750 points, the mission is Prepared Assault (more on that later). First, the lists:
Big Mek Grobsnubba's Killa KlankasOrk Combined Arms DetachmentBig Mek w/Shokk Attack Gun, Ammo Runt (Warlord: Kunnin' But Brutal)
10 Lootas
15 Shoota Boyz w/Big Shoota
15 Shoota Boyz w/Big Shoota
4 Killa Kans w/Grotzookas
1 Deff Dred w/2x Big Shootas, 2x Klaws ("Francis")
Tzeentchian Assault TeamChaos Daemons Combined Arms DetachmentHerald on Disc, Lv 3 w/Staff of Tzeentch (Dark Flame, Summoning, Infernal Gateway) Warlord: Daemonspark (BOOO!)
5 Screamers
Herald, Locus of Conjuration, Lv 2 (Incursion, Flickering Fire)
11 Horrors (Warpflare, Flickering Fire)
Herald, Grimoire of True Names, Lv 1 (Flickering Fire, Prismatic Gaze)
11 Horrors (Warpflare, Flickering Fire)
Burning Chariot
Terrain, Mission, and DeploymentSo, I went all-out for terrain in this battle, since I wanted the Jungle Vault to look especially cool. Given my rather limited array of terrain, I think the board looked damned good. Check it out:
This picture is from the NE corner of the board.
So, a giant temple (made of various ruin-ish-looking packing material) in the north, a river with some forest covering much of the eastern half of the board, and some other ruins and walls throughout the middle. I think this board looked badass. My opponent was upset I had things to hide behind.
As for the mission, Prepared Assault calls for an attacker (me) and a defender (him). There are 3 objectives: one in board center, one in the middle of the defender's DZ, and one other I can place in his DZ after deployment. The defender deploys first and has the whole table-half to choose from. I deploy second and have to stay 18" from any of his units. Nobody allowed in reserve. I go first on a 2+. We each got a few little chits of paper to serve as "bombardments" that we could drop on the table and, hopefully, kill something.
In the "Randomly Determine My Powers" phase of the game, I roll Daemonspark for my Warlord trait (which SUCKS) and still get it even with the re-roll. So, off to a great start. Since the Impossible Cloak isn't fully operating at a 2++, I make 2 plays for Cursed Earth. The first roll gets me Dark Flame and, as I've got a lot of Orks to cook, a torrent weapon is always welcome and I keep it. The next one was Sacrifice, which is honestly a pretty sweet summoning power, but not great on the warlord's unit, so he trades out for Summoing--hopefully I can drop some flamers on him again. The Lv 2 Herald gets Incursion (which is pretty handy, given this game, so I keep it) and Tzeentch's Firestorm, which SUCKS and therefore I quickly trade out for Flickering Fire. The Book Herald scores Prismatic Gaze, which might come in handy against that Dread at some point, and Flickering Fire as well. Both Horrors get stuck with Tzeentch's Warpflare and Flickering Fire, as usual.
When deploying, the Orks drop the Lootas on top of the temple (a commanding view) with the Big Mek. The Kans go in a line just shy of the center objective. Francis the Dred goes atop the steps of the temple. One mob of boys claims the east wing of the temple, and the second mob of boys squats atop their DZ objective.
Seeing that he has done little to protect his western flank, I place the third objective there, between the temple and the SW ruins--close enough to my lines that I can get there with infantry, but far enough away from his guys to make it awkward to get to. I then put my Chariot and Screamers + Warlord in the SW corner, mostly hidden from the Orks. The two groups of Horrors go beside them, sticking behind the wall along the south. My plan, at least initially, is to refuse his flank and keep the Boyz largely irrelevant for much of the game while I find a way to tie up the Kans and the Dred and kill the Lootas. I figure he'll get to keep his DZ objective and I'll fight him over the central one while keeping the western one for myself.
Deployment
(note: the map doesn't show the temple as actual size--no terrain templates that were appropriate)
The Ork DefendersThe Sneaky Tzeentch AttackersTurn 1I get first turn, predictably enough given the mission. I shoot the Chariot forward and promptly incinerate 5-6 Lootas with some Blue Fire action. The Screamers follow it up while the Book Herald and his horrors clamber into the SW ruins. The Book Herald blesses the Chariot to keep it safe from incoming Loota fire. The Horrors with Q'Raip skooch forward a bit to get LOS/Range on the Killa Kans.
In the psychic phase, I get a solid 5 dice added to 10 base phase for a hefty 15 warp dice. I spend 7 to summon some Bloodcrushers right in front of Q'Raip's Horrors, and they trot up behind the wall, ready to assault the Kans next turn. I then spend the rest of my dice on a 2-die Flickering Fire from Q'Raip's horrors at the Kans, which causes a Perils that kills a Horror but also fails to do any damage. Q'Raip then tries a 3-die Flickering fire himself, but it gets denied. Blech.
The Warp Storm stirs up Nurgle. The only thing that happens is Nurgle farts on one of my Horrors' heads and he dies. So, yeah I've lost 1 Horror from each unit, which means I've lost 2 dice from my psychic phase from here on out. I knew it was going to happen, yeah, but happening on *my own turn* is a bit harsh.
Finally, I drop both of my bombardment chits. One hits two orks at the back of the reserve squad, killing one. The other takes a hull point off a killa kan. Fine--I'll take it.
Top of Turn 1
Bloodcrushers Join the PartyFirst Bombardment and
Second BombardmentI Roast Some LootasIn my opponent's first turn, the Killa Kans stomp forward and lob an ungodly amount of firepower onto the Book Herald's unit. The Blasts went everywhere--hitting bloodcrushers and the Chariot and the other group of Horrors and so on, but mostly only killed the book Herald's guys, knocking off about 3-4. The boyz moved forward, getting a few pot-shots off at Q'Raip's horrors, maybe killing one (don't quite remember). The Lootas opted not to tangle with the Chariot's boosted Invul and targeted the Screamers instead, but my saves held out (for once) and I only took one wound (I think). Francis the Dread clanked down the temple stairs and fired at the Chariot, but failed to do any damage.
Bottom of Turn 1
Turn 2In my second turn, the Bloodcrushers leapt gracefully over the wall and were blessed by the Book Herald to prepare them for some Kan smashing. The Screamers moved over behind the temple while the Chariot cruised to the valley between the SW ruins and the temple (and was just a *hair* too close to the Dred, but more on that later).
In the psychic phase I was hoping that I'd be able to summon another unit of some kind. Instead, I rolled a 1 for my dice, meaning I was down to a 9-die phase. I wasn't going to burn 7 of them on a summon when I had plenty of stuff to shoot at. The Disc Herald threw Dark Flame on the Lootas which, along with the Blue Fire from the Chariot, wipes the unit out, Big Mek and all. The rest was a pair of Flickering Fires from Q'Raip's Horrors that killed a fair number of the closest Shoota Boy Mob, causing a morale test that they pass. Still, not a knock-out blow--Q'Raip's 3 die Flicker netted me only 5 shots, which is pretty poor. The boyz pass their toughness test, to their mutations only make them stronger. Being Orks, they probably have a good laugh at Gonk's new third eye or whatever.
The Warp Storm was calm (thank God!), so the Bloodcrushers charged into the Kans without any trouble. They did a hull point with Hammer of Wrath and one with their attacks, so my opponent was able to spread out the damage. They took a wound in response, but stayed locked in combat, which was the whole idea. I really didn't relish the idea of being blasted by Grotzookas more than once.
At this point, my opponent was feeling pretty demoralized, partially because he was playing Daemons, as they have so many weird and freaky rules and he's pretty new to the game. Part of this is my fault--I was going kinda fast, trying to get through my very complex turn without bogging down play--but another part was, I think, my opponent's newness and him getting very upset every time he loses a unit. I told him, as kindly as I could, that if he's gonna play orks, losing units needs to be something he gets used to.
Top of Turn 2
Hrothmog the Rapacious Sends His RegardsIn the bottom of Turn 2, my primary mistake becomes clear--I am not far enough from Francis the Deffdred to avoid an assault. My opponent flirts with the possibility of joining the Kans in combat (during which time I cross my fingers and mutter "pretty pretty please!"), but instead he makes a run for the Chariot. It's a 9" charge, so odds are he misses it, but nope--an 11. Francis charges in and smashes the Chariot quite swiftly. Bummer--this creates complications of a rather severe variety.
Next up, the Shoota Boyz closest to me close in a bit and fire at Q'Raip's Horrors, killing one or two (he was rolling Ork shooting like a normal person this game--mostly misses. I guess that warboss I aced the last game kept his boyz at marksmanship practice). The reserve boys faded back a bit, hoping to ambush the Screamers as they came over the temple.
Finally, in the assault with the Kans, the Crushers kill a Kan and take another wound in return.
Bottom of Turn 2
1 Down, 3 to GoFrancis Looking Pleased With HimselfTo Be Continued...