1750 Orks vs. Iron Hands: The Four PillarsThis was a friendly game between McComas and I. He wanted to get some practice in with his Iron Hands and I wanted to try out some new stuff with my boyz. So we met up at a local gaming shop and had at it.
EnemyIron Hands Battalion
HQ:
Iron Father Feirros (Warlord w/ Student of History)
Librarian w/ Objuration Mechanicum & Psysteel Armor
Lieutenant w/ Power Maul
Troops:
Tactical Squad w/ Sergeant, 3 Marines, & Marine w/ Missile Launcher
Tactical Squad w/ Sergeant, 3 Marines, & Marine w/ Missile Launcher
Tactical Squad w/ Sergeant, 3 Marines, & Marine w/ Missile Launcher
Elites:
2 Contemptor Dreadnoughts
2 Dreadnaughts
Heavy Support:
Devastator Squad w/ Sergeant & 4 Marines w/ Missile Launchers & Armorium Cherub
Predator w/ Hunter-Killer Missile, Twin Lascannon & 2 Lascannons
Thunderfire Cannon
Flyer:
2 Stormtalon Gunships
Ork ForcesBad Moons Battalion w/ Dread Waaagh Detachment
HQ:
Warboss on Warbike w/ Attack Squig, Kustom Shoota, Power Klaw, Best Armor(Warlord Trait)
Big Mek w/ Da Souped Up Shokka
Troops:
10 Gretchin
10 Gretchin
10 Gretchin
Heavy Support:
Smasha Gunz
Smasha Gunz
15 Lootas
Evil Sunz Battalion w/ Kult of Speed Detachment
HQ:
Deffkilla Wartrike w/ Skargrim's Snazztrike
Big Mek w/ Kustom Forcefield
Weirdboy (Warphead) w/ Da Jump & Warpath
Troops:
30 Shoota Boys w/ Nob w/ Power Klaw
30 Shoota Boys w/ Nob w/ Power Klaw
10 Shoota Boyz w/ Nob w/ Power Klaw
Elite:
Painboy
Fast Attack:
5 Deffkoptas w/ Twin Big Shootas
5 Deffkoptas w/ Twin Big Shootas
MissionI wanted to try out one of the new missions from Chapter Approved 2019 and we ended up rolling The four Pillars. We first set up 4 objectives 15'' from the center of the map along imaginary lines heading toward each corner, making sure there was no terrain within 3'' of any marker. At the end of each round we'd score points based on who held more objectives and who killed more units that round, as well as first strike, Slay the Warlod and Linebreaker.
DeploymentThis was a different deployment than usual, we rolled off and the winner (me) would choose to be attacker or defender. I picked attacker. The defender then rolled Search & Destroy and picked the Northeast corner for his deployment zone. I then had to deploy my entire army in the southeast corner before my opponent deployed his army.
I put Lootas, Smasha Cannons, and Souped Up Shokka in a gun line,protected by 2 groups of grots to the rear to maximize where they could fire. One group of boyz, koptas, and warbikes were deployed aggressively on the edge of the deployment zone, covered by the painboy and Kustom Force Field. I deployed the other 40 boyz, 10 grots and the Weirdboy behind a ruin ready to move and/or jump.
The Iron Hands were mostly deployed inside a group of four buildings surrounding 1 of the objectives to provide them some cover. A pair of each dreadnoughts was deployed near the edge of the deployment zone to hinder the orks from getting into the ruins. The Tac Squads and Devestators were deployed in the ruined buildings, with the Predator and the HQs in the courtyard inside the ruins. The Stormtalons were deployed along the board edges, one in the north of the board and one in the east. The Thunderfire Cannon was deployed in a small building in cover in the northeast corner of the map. I then got to chose who went first, I picked my boyz, and McComas declined to roll to seize, wanting to go second.
Ork Deployment
Iron Hands Deployment, Thundefire Hiding in Back BuldingTop of Turn 1one grou of deffkoptas moved north to engage 2 dreadnoughts while the other koptas moved east to engage the other 2 dreadnaughts. The Wartrike advanced north to support the deffkoptas there. The Warboss and boyz advanced to provide cover fire and possibly a second turn charge if needed. The weirdboy jumped a group of boyz onto the southeast objective. A group of grots advanced on the northwest objective, while the gun line stayed stationary. The lootas fired twice, the first volley to soften up the regular dreadnaught on the eastern edge of the ruins and the second to soften up the contemptor dreadnaught on the northern edge of the ruins by the Wartrike. The Contemptor and regular Dreadnought to the north died to massed small arms fire from the koptas, wartrike and the souped up shokka, leaving the Lieutenant open to charge later.
In the assault phase, the koptas on the east charged the Dreadnought, Contemptor and the Librarian, flying over them to attack from behind. They just managed to take the last wound off the regular dreadnought before the contemptor avenged it's brother by smashing 3 of the 4 koptas with its Iron Hand. I used command points here to keep the last kopta from fleeing, thus tying up the Librarian, Contemptor and Predator (from consolidation) in combat. The Wartrike took all but one wound off the Lieutenant. Meanwhile, the norther koptas attacked the Stormtalon, losing 1 to overwatch. This was mostly to get some free movement and threaten the Iron Hands rear next turn.
WAAAGH!
Pay No Attention to the Grots on the Objective2 Dreadnoughts DownChargeOne insanely Brave KoptaBottom of Turn 1The Iron Hands had limited options for movement this turn, 4 of their units were tied up in combat. One tac squad moved from a ruin to secure the northeast objective. The Stormtalons each moved toward the center of the board to have better line of site to the grots and boyz holding the northwest and southeast objectives.
One Stormtalon evaporated the grots holding the northeast objective, the other Stormtalon and Thunderfire Cannon killed half the orks on the southeast objective. The devastators and a tac squad took out the koptas to the north threatening to move into their rear.
In the fights, the Wartrike held up to counter attacks from the Lieutenant and the Iron Father and killed the Lieutenant in return. The remaining contemptor dreadnought grabbed the last kopta with its servo-arm and commenced to pound it and it's pilot into a fine green paste.
At the end of the round we had each achieved first strike, gaining 1 VP each. I held two objectives to McComas' one, gaining 1 VP as well. And finally, I had killed 4 units to McComas' 3 gaining another 1 VP.
Score: Orks 3, Iron Hands 1
Whoops, I Forgot to take photos of this round.
Top of Turn 2This turn the warboss moved to assist the wartrike in close combat with the Iron Father. The larger group of boyz, along with the painboy and kustom force field mek, moved closer to the southeast objective to reinforce the boyz already there. The weirdboy jumped the group of 10 boyz onto the northeast objective, which was covered in dead grots.
The lootas took aim at the Stormtalons, using 4CP for More Dakka and to Fire Twice. Under that heavy barrage of fire the two Stormtalons were blown out of the sky.
The warboss and the wartrike went toe-to-toe with the Iron Father but neither side could kill the other.
Keep 'em Focus inside the Building
We Captured another Pillar, Boss!Bottom of Turn 2Having had enough of fighting hand to hand, Iron Father Feirros withdrew from combat to let the Predator, Devastators and Marines finish off the Warboss and Wartrike. Meanwhile the Contemptor moved to assault the Boyz holding the southeast objective, taking out 8 between shooting and assault. The boys on the northeast objective take some fire losing 5 and then only 1 more from morale.
At the end of the turn, I gain another VP for holding more objectives. We both killed 2 units that turn, so neither of us got a VP for killing more units. Finally, McComas scored 1 VP for Slay the Warlord. We then had to call it as the store was closing for the evening.
Contemptor on the March
Boyz Love a Good FightNo more bikersFinal Score:
Orks 4, Iron Hands 2
Post MortemDespite having to call it early, this was a fun battle. I got to try out some new units and some different tactics than I usually use. The Wartrike and Deffkoptas did what I wanted them to do, get into combat quickly and tie up units and attract fire. The Wartrike with the relic, giving it a bump to toughness and an invuln. save was tough enough to draw extra fire to try and put it down.
The souped up shokka was meh in this game, I rolled well below average on the strength and number of shots each round. Even so, with a high -AP, even low strength shots have a chance to wound.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the report as much as I had playing. And as always, thanks again to my opponent.