1000 point Orks Vs Vostroyan Imperial Guard: The ScouringThe Chimera rumbled over the road's cracked concrete, shaking the fillings in Olstaff's teeth. He clutched his uncle's ancient lasgun to his chest and hummed a few hymms to the Emperor. Please guide us in the darkness. Please guide Your vengeance through my hand. Please smite Thine enemies. Please save us from cowardice.
The other men in the unit seemed less concerned. One of them lifted the lit end of his flamer to light a lho stick. "The thing about the ork, shiny-boy, is he don't like flame." He smiled, showing an array of brass-capped teeth. "We bring him the flame, eh?"
"Yes, yes--that is why he doesn't like us very much!" said another, pointing to the fearsome scar running across one eye and down his neck, vanishing beneath the collar of his body armor.
The other men in the Chimera laughed. Olstaff laughed along, though he didn't understand what was funny. He turned to the lieutenant, who was crouching at the front of the transport compartment, flexing his power fist. "Please, sir, you will tell me our mission, yes? I thought we were going to relieve a garrison. Right?"
The Chimera's armor plating rattled with the impact of something--rocks kicked up by the convoy? Olstaff cocked his head to listen, as did the others. The laughter died.
The officer leaned forward into the pale green light of the overhead lamp, his augmetic eye whirring to focus on Olstaff's face. "We were. Now, there is
no garrison."
The green light of the lamp switched to red. The hatch unlocked.
Outside was hell.Vostroyan Infantry VanguardHQCompany Commander w/Bolt Pistol (Warlord: Inspiring Leader)
Tank Commander in Punisher w/Heavy Bolter Sponsons
ElitesPlatoon Commander w/Powerfist
Special Weapon Squad w/4x Flamers
--in Chimera w/Multilaser, Hvy Flamer
5 Ratlings
Veteran Squad w/3x Grenade Launchers, 1x Autocannon
Veteran Squad w/3x Grenade Launchers, 1x Autocannon
Troops5 Scions w/Plasma Pistol, 2x Plasma Gun
5 Scions w/Plasma Pistol, 2x Meltagun
Fast AttackArmored Sentinel w/Missile Launcher
Armored Sentinel w/Missile Launcher
Heavy SupportMortar Squad
Lascannon Squad
Ork Green Tide BattalionHQWarboss w/Power Klaw, Attack Squig (Warlord: Legendary Fighter)
Weirdboy (Smite, Da Jump)
ElitesNob w/Waaagh Banner
Troops20 Shoota Boyz w/Nob (Big Choppa)
20 Shoota Boyz w/Nob (Big Choppa)
30 Slugga Boyz w/Nob (Big Choppa)
Heavy Support10 Lootas
Deff Dred w/3x Klaws, 1x Skorcha
Mission, Terrain, and DeploymentThe board was set up to look like a kind of supply depot along a road. The road ran from the northeast corner of the board to about the center of the southern edge. Midway along this (loosely in the middle of the board) were two LOS-blocking buildings with pillboxes on either side, facing the north and south approaches. The road was blocked with tank traps and some razorwire around. Next to the northern building was a watchtower. In the southwest corner was a ruined building and a stockade fence, in the northwest corner was a large forest, and in the northern central area was another stockade fence.
Objectives were placed in the forest, the SW ruin, beside the watchtower, in each of the three pillboxes. The orks, my opponent, placed the last objective and so got to pick deployment maps. He chose Search and Destroy and chose the NE quadrant as his DZ.
As I had more deployment drops than him, it seemed very clear that he would be going first. Therefore I led off with deploying the Scions in their Aerial Deployment (which, by the wording, counts as its own deployment "drop," which I find interesting). These two choices forced my opponent to drop two units before I needed to deploy anybody and, thanks to my number of units, I was able to deploy several units after his entire army was deployed. Even though I lost the deployment map and the first turn, I wound up with a nice deployment advantage.
My opponent placed the 30 mob of orks in the far NE corner with the Weirdboy nearby to psychically teleport them away first turn. The Dred deployed as close as possible to board center, ready to run down mainstreet, the Lootas dropped a bit behind him and to his east, giving them command of any approach up mainstreet as well. The two 20-boy shoota mobz deployed along the western edge of his DZ, shielded from view by the buildings and backed up by the Waaagh banner and the Warboss.
My deployment gave the Lootas no particularly good targets, dropping the Chimera and the Punisher on the opposite side of the watchtower from them and out of view. The Lascannon squad deployed out of Loota range but
in range of the Dred while the Mortar Squad occupied the SW stockade fence with one of the GLAC Veteran squads. The Chimera went alongside the Punisher, carrying both the Platoon Officer and the Special Weapons Squad, and was backed up by the second GLAC squad, which sheltered behind it. The Company Commander dropped in the SW ruin. The two Sentinels hid behind the other building, still obscured from the Lootas. Finally, in my first error of the game, I put the ratlings in the oh-so-enticing sniper's nest atop the watchtower. This was a bad call, as will become obvious soon.
After we deployed, it turned out the crucial objective was the one next to the watchtower and the weak objective was in the NE pillbox.
Deployment
Vostroyan DeploymentGLAC Vets backing up the Chimera They look so cool, you can see why I did thisOrk DeploymentTurn 1I failed to seize the initiative, even with spending a CP for a re-roll. Ah well. I've built myself a little castle, and now we see if it can hold.
My folly with the ratlings becomes really clear right away in two different ways. Firstly, the Lootas have nothing else to shoot at
but Ratlings, and so they pummel them with 20 Deffgun shots and the little guys die right away. Second problem is this: the 30 boys are tellyported by the Weirdboy into the forest just off of my west flank. Now, if I'd deployed the Ratlings
in the forest in the first place, they would (1) still be alive and (2) have prevented those 30 orks from breathing down my neck right away. Unfortunately I'd entertained grandiose dreams of seizing the initiative and assassinating the Weirdboy before he got off a power. Lesson learned.
First, though, I had to pay for my mistake. The 30 boyz attempted a charge at my GLAC Vets behind the stockade. As they were charging through the forest, this would add distance to their charge move, but since they were charging a barricade, they didn't have to get
quite so close (important safety tip, cover-huggers--read the rules on barricades and assaults carefully). After all is said and done, they need to roll a 10 to get off the charge. They roll a 6 and a 2 (yay!), but my opponent burns a CP to re-roll the 2 to get...a Yhwh-condemneded 5. Cursing my opponent's fiendish dice luck has not diminished with editions, I can tell you that.
Anyway, long story short, those Vets are completely obliterated in assault and the consolidation manages to lock the Punisher into combat, too. Bummer.
As for the rest of the orks, they advanced as fast as possible towards me, firing wildly with shootas at the Punisher and doing exactly nothing. The Deff Dred also stomped up mainstreet, making menacing buzzsaw noises.
Top of Turn 1
Aahhh! Orks in my face!Welp, *that* went well.In my turn, it's payback time. The Special Weapons squad disembarks with the platoon officer and moves to flank the ork mob along with the other squad of vets. The Punisher falls back (well, falls
sideways), occupying the space the Chimera once did, as it moved up to flame and then assault the closest band of Shoota boyz. It only kills 3-ish and takes 3 wounds in return, but that's fine--the point isn't to win, but rather to tie up those orks for a turn so I can handle all these slugga boyz in my face.
The melta scions drop right beside the Sentinels to get range on the Deff Dred while the plasma scions don't learn from the Ratling's example and drop atop the watchtower. The lascannon squad and the melta vets make short work of the Deff Dred. Then, the GLAC Vets, special weapons squad, Platoon Officer, mortars, and Plasma Scions gun down about 26 out of 30 orks. The remaining four are charged by the Special Weapons Squad, GLAC Vets, and the Platoon Officer. 3 boys die, leaving the nob, who kills two special weapons troopers. In the morale phase, my opponent elects to let the nob perish rather than burn CPs to keep him around. One of the Special Weapons Troopers runs away (Olstaff, I assume), leaving just 3 flamers.
Bottom of Turn 1
A thrilling counter-offensiveUp Vostroya!Turn 2The first ork wave has been sorted, but there are yet more orks to deal with. Finding no valid targets where they were, the Lootas called the Weirdboy over and he obligingly teleported them into the same forest as the last, ill-fated mob. Once there, the Lootas piled on the firepower at the Punisher and did...2 wounds. There is now a large dent some guardsman is going to have to buff out (probably Olstaff). Rather than falling back from the assault with the Chimera, the orks double-down and bring the Waagh Banner and the Warboss into range. The Warboss charges, but to get stuck in he has to circle around the mob. His power klaw makes short work of the transport and it doesn't even have the decency to explode, even though I spent a CP for the re-roll--ah, well. After consolidation, the warboss is in the awkward position of being the closest unit to my lines. The remaining shoota mob advances and fires very inaccurately at the GLAC Vets, taking a wound off the autocannon.
Top of Turn 2
Our scouts *swore* that forest was clear, dammit! Where do these greenskins keep coming from?The orks now have a rather serious problem: the Punisher is now fully operational. I, also, have a fairly serious problem, in that I still have 50 orks on my doorstep and I kinda need to remove most or all of them to avoid getting steamrolled next turn. Now, I can wipe out one of these mobs, sure, but all three? Not on my own--I need to use the morale phase to get most or all of them to run off. But how to do that when the damned orks can trade back and forth their Mob Rule shenanigans?
Well, you just need to cripple *all three* squads.
I split my firepower thusly: the Lascannons and two scion plasma guns kill the Warboss in short order. The remaining hellguns and plasma pistol shoot at the eastern shoota boyz, along with the GLAC Vets, killing about 12-13 of them altogether. Sentinels and two heavy bolters from the Punisher shoot the Lootas, killing 4. The remaining heavy bolter and the Punisher cannon as well as the mortars and the flamers from the special weapon squad pummel the center squad, killing 13 of them. In the morale phase, this leaves 5 orks in the east squad, 7 in the center, and 6 Lootas in the west and they need to roll morale checks of +13, +13, and +4 respectively. The eastern squad runs and/or is overwhelmed by my firepower. The center one eats 2 CP for Insane Bravery to stick around, and the Lootas pass their check. The damage, though, has been done--the spine of the ork army has been broken beneath the fearsome guns of the Punisher.
Bottom of Turn 2
Before......and After.Turn 3It's over--my opponent knows it as well as I do--but he wants one more swing at the Punisher. The Lootas open up on the tank and do nothing. The remaining shoota boyz gun down the special weapon squad and then charge the tank and I am delighted to realize that
tanks get overwatch now! 29 shots later, only 4 orks limp into combat. They do manage to do a single wound, so that's something. After that, my opponent concedes rather than endure the
coups de grace that would be the bottom of the third turn.
Top of Turn 3
Final ScoreVostroyans: 11 (2 objectives + 1 superior objective + Warlord)
Orks: 4 (1 objective + Linebreaker and First Blood)
Post-MortemWell, 8th Edition certainly moves faster! That game took half the time of many 7th Edition games I've played. One of the key factors, I think, is how simple cover is--you're either all in or all out and we don't need to haggle over individual saves and so on.
Though my ratling deployment error created a scary situation, Guard firepower was sufficient to turn the tide. I was particularly impressed with the Special Weapon Squad, as 4 flamers do a lot of damage, and the Punisher is as devastating as it always has been against light infantry (especially when it's a tank commander!). The Lascannon Squad was extremely deadly, as predicted. The sleeper hit here,though, were Scions. They were *extremely* useful both in the deployment phase and as a means to deliver clutch firepower to weakened areas. I'm definitely going to consider taking more of them, especially as they're troops choices now.
I'm kind of torn on the Vets. The grenade launcher is a much better weapon this edition, but I can't help but feel that taking 2 infantry squads would be a better buy than these squads were. Granted, the Autocannons didn't have any ideal targets, but I'd probably prefer my autocannons in a Heavy Weapon Squad anyway so they don't have to keep moving along to keep pace with the infantry.
The Armored Sentinels were underwhelming. Even though the Frag Missile is better, it still isn't *good.* Also, the Armored Sentinels really don't offer very much over the Scout Sentinels in terms of utility. I was thinking I'd be switching over anyway, and now I *know* I am. Also underwhelming (as I suspected) was the Take Aim and Bring it Down orders, which I used at various moments and almost never did anything. First Rank/Second Rank is a much better order, even if you only have 3-4 lasguns in a squad.
As for the orks, Da Jump is a *hugely* useful psychic power. Even if I did have any psychic defense, they never would have been close enough to stop the Weirdboy from dumping large numbers of orks on my doorstep.
Anyway, there you have it--my first 8th Edition report! Thanks for reading and thanks, as always, to my opponent!