[epic] Orks vs Imperium, Englantia. Pitkä kuin nälkävuosi
Lähetetty: La 11.03.2006 18:44
After arrival of reinforcements from Imperial Guard, Space Marines and Legio Victorum tide of battle turned at last against the Ork hordes in Numenovian. Striking out from cities Imperial forces started to push back the Orks with ever increasing speed. Push from Capital City toward south-east and city of Barys was composed of 7 regiments of PDF and Imperial Guard and supported by strong battleforce from Legio Victorum. On northern plains of Natrak, on the scene of one of the most devastating loss of campaign so far, orks finally managed to halt part of advancing Imperial forces. After three days of running fights Imperium had to give ground as regiments were cut off from each other in furious counter assault launched by orks. Most devastating spearhead fell against PDF 86th and the titans of Legio Victorum who were by now holding center alone. Outnumbered heavily by onrushing orks princep Aurelius commanding titan group called in for immediate reinforcements. Grey Hawks answered the call and sent out Strike Cruiser Hawk's Talon with it's company of marines toward battle zone while yet more marines were sent in via thunderhawks...
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This is going to be fight and a half and no mistake. Purely from points involved this is The Largest Battle we have ever fought! With just short of 10k of orks and little bit short of 11k for Imperium there's over 20k points on the board...We used bit of special scenario(obviously
). Basicly instead of GT scenario we try to capture 9 objectives placed around board. 5cm from objective is required to control it(this due to amount of units. 15cm and it would be too easy).
Terrain: Hill on IG zone, another toward orks and right, on left of that hill largish open space and then 2 sections of forrests with slight gap between them(enough for titan sized model to run through). Another couple hills around orks.
Objectives: One on both Imperial flanks, one on top of hill in center of imperial center, another on the center-right hill, 3 more on the center plain with 1 relatively close to imperial hill, one somewhat outside ork deployment zone and 1 between them. 1 on the gap between forrest and last between imperial hill and forrests.
Then the armies. PDF and titan legion would start on Imperial deployment zone. Space marine reinforcements would come on turn 2 via drop pods or thunderhawks. Orks start all on board.
SM:
tactical detachment #1: 6 tactical marines, assault dreadnought 350 drop pods
tactical detachment #2: commander, 6 tactical marines 350 drop pods
assault detachmen #1t: 4 assault marines 175 drop pods
devastator detachment: 4 devastator marines, 2 tactical dreadnought 350 drop pods
tactical detachment #3: 6 tactical stand, 1 assault dreadnought 350 thunderhawk #1
tactical detachment #4: 6 tactical stand, 1 assault dreadnought 350 thunderhawk #2
assault detachment #2: 4 assault marines, commander 225 Thunderhawk #3
assault detachment #3: 4 assault marines 175 Thunderhawk #3
3xthunderhawk 3x200
strike cruiser 200
total: 3125
PDF:
infantry company #1: supreme commander, commisar, 12 infantry, blizen+trojan 250
infantry company #2: commander, commisar, 18 infantry 250
infantry company #3: commander, commisar, 12 infantry, blizen+trojan 225
infantry company #4: commander, commisar 12 infantry, blizen+trojan 225
artirelly battery: 3 howizer+3 trojan 150
artirelly battery: 3 howizer+3 trojan 150
400mm trenches and 2 bunkers 75
total: 1325
AMTL:
warlord – gothic(2xvulcan mega bolter, gatling blaster, volcano cannon) 825
warlord ”Fist of Emperor” – assault(melta cannon, chainfist, 2xplasma cannon), veteran princep 850
reaver – executor(gatling blaster, missile launchers, volcano cannon) 675
reaver - fire support(3xmissile launcher) 675
reaver – standard(2xturbo laser destructor, missile launcher) 650
2xwarhound – sweep(2xvulcan mega bolter) 550
2xwarhound – inferno(turbo laser destructor, inferno cannon) 550
tank group: 6 leman russ battle tank 425
mechanised infantry #1: praeotian commander, 7 praeotians, 4 chimera 250
mechanised infantry #2: praeotian commander, 7 praeotians, 4 chimera 250
mechanised infantry #3: praeotian commander, 7 praeotians, 4 chimera 250
paladin host: 3 paladin knights 250
hydra platoon: 3 hydra 150
total: 6350
Orks:
Great gargant: warlord, lifta droppa 850
Gargant #1: mega choppa 650
Gargant #2: 3xsoopagun 650
Big warband #1: 2 nobz, 20 boyz, 12 grots, 3 dreadnoughts, 3 killa kans 655
Big warband #2: 3 nobz, 16 boyz, 8 grots, 2 killa kans 460
Big warband #3: 4 nobz, 18 boyz, 10 grots, 2 battle fortress, gunfortress 845
Big warband #4: 2 nobz, 16 boyz, 8 grots 375
Warband #5: 1 nobz, 12 boyz, 8 grots 325
Warband #6: 2 nobz, 8 boyz, 4 grots, 5 battlewagons 435
Warband #7: 2 nobz, 10 boyz, 6 grots, 6 battlewagons 520
Warband #8: 2 nobz, 8 boyz, 4 grots 260
Stormboyz warband: 10 stormboyz 250
Big bliz brigade #1: 8 gunwagons w/2 soopaguns 350
Big bliz brigade #2: 8 gunwagons 250
Big bliz brigade #3: 8 gunwagons w/2 supa-zzap guns 350
Bliz brigade #4: 4 flakwagons, gunwagon w/supa-zzap gun 235
Bliz brigade #5: 4 gunwagons w/supa-zzap gun 200
Bliz brigade #6: 4 gunwagons 150
fighta sqwadron: 6 fighta bommaz 300
landa 200
Big kult of speed #1: 16 buggies, 2 skorchas 400
Big kult of speed #2: 16 warbikes, 2 skorchas 400
Big stompa mob #1: 6 stompas w/3 big gunz, 2 stompas w/ammer 575
Stompa mob #2: 4 stompas w/ammer 300
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So next up: Deployment. Starting with Imperials since there's less of them
From left to right: PDF company 3, assault warlord and inferno warhounds, PDF company #4 and executor reaver with mechanised infantry #1 behind, then comes hill which is flanked by 2 bunkers which are connected via trenches. PDF company #1 with it's supreme commander took position in them. Top of hill stands tank group and paladins. Behind these both artirelly batterys and mechanised infantry #2. Front of trenches are fire support and standard reavers, one on each side of trenches. Finally PDF company #2, gothic warlord and sweeper warhounds with hydras and mechanised company #3 behind them. Rather nasty front line for orks to assault.
Then to the orks...I'll assume swarm of orks won't satisfy so starting again from left comes bliz brigade #1 with warband #4. Behind warband was kult of speed #2. Continuing toward right come warband #7, warband #2 with killa kans taking shelter behind gargant with trio of soopaguns and stompa mob #1 front of them. Then great gargant with warband #6 taking cover behind enormous warband(those battlewagons aren't tough). Bliz brigades #6 and #3 behind the warband. Then on top of hill comes stompa mob #2 and gargant with mega choppa with warband #1 behind them. Behind warband comes warband #3 and bliz brigades #4 and #5 lurking around. Finally kult of speed #1 and warband #5 on extreme right with stormboyz behind whole lot on top of hill.
Plan was to have gargants lead the charge along with stompas and 2 large warbands with walkers alongside. I figured I would face such a torrent of firepower I would need my toughest troops to soak it. Mega choppa gargant would cut through the gap between forrest with big stompa mob heading toward forrest(with their walker ability should be safe to take that -1 to hit for cover!). Rest of infantry tries to find safety and fast stuff behind for reserves. Not much of a plan but let's see if ork waaagh will carry them through! Imperial front line certainly is pretty impressive...5 battle titans...Eeek!
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Turn 1: Strategy roll won by orks, handed out to Imperium.
”Princep Aurelius aboard Fist of Emperor to all titans. The orks are approaching fast. It is time to open hostilities. Our allies are seriously outnumbered and lack the blessed armour of Titans. Therefore we take the fight to enemy! Remember! We are here not only to hold the attack but to crush the enemy and regain the momentum! If we grind to halt here the counter push might stall to halt. We cannot allow this to happen! Astartes reinforcements are on their way so let's crush those xenos scum for good! Paladins! Stay back and prepare to counter charge any opening orks might get. Praetorians! Stand back untill we can cauge direction of their main assault. Aurelius to PDF command. We are taking the battle to the enemy. Stay on your post and watch the line. Provide supporting fire as you can. Once we have broken first wave move in to support.”
Standard reaver advanced forward and took aim at the lumbering great gargant ahead. With hail of accurate laser and missile fire massive warmachine found its power fields shorted out instantly and even one DC was caused!
First Gargant Bigga'n'Bigga with it's trio of soopaguns then doubled toward objective on hill. It aimed it's soopaguns at PDF company #2 with it's hordes of infantry. 4 stands were removed in hail of macro explosions. Paladins replied and sustain fired at same gargant but trio of battle cannons failed to hit it's mark.
Big stompa mob in the center then doubled forward firing hail of big guns at the standard reaver. 2 void shields were knocked down. Fire support reaver advanced side by side to standard reaver(seeking out mutual protection I suppose) and fired hail of rockets at warband #4. 4 stands of boyz were blown apart with extreme range shooting.
First artirelly battery opened up against horde of warbikes at the rear of ork formation. 2 stands removed. Smaller stompa mob then doubled into looming forrest, quite safely, and opened up on executor reaver and knocked one void shield down. Second artirelly battery opens up and...Fires at same target as first one. I get serious feeling he doesn't like warbikes as 4 stands more are blown apart.
More gargant goodiness as great gargant rumbles forward and settles between forrest and stompas. Shooting against standard reaver scores no hits nor does the additional template cause any damage to fire support reaver either. Blasted lifta droppa missed as well :-(
Tank group then sustain fires at great gargant and with hail of battlecannon and lascannon firing 2 more DC are removed and I start to reconcider wisdom of sending supreme commander forward so quickly...Warband #4 doubles forward and scurry around gargant. Hail of rokkit launchas aim at the standard reaver but to no avail.
It's worth noting that at this point BOTH players are more or less trying to buy time and try to force other to act first with main formations. Bit of ”cautious” start so far.
Sweeper warhounds advance forward along the edge of board and fires at advancing warband #4. 6 grot, 2 boyz and 1 nobz stand removed as casualties. To my suprise formation still isn't broken...
Fighta bommaz scream in and attack the standard reaver. Unfortunatly range is horribly misjudged and apart from 2 blizen guns the hydras are also in range. Out of 8 AA shots 2 planes come crashing down. Remaining 4 fighta bommaz all hit the target but apart from downing remaining void shields no harm is done. Reaver is however approaching broken status...
Inferno warhounds then advance front of forrest, but keeping eye on stompas, and fire hail of laser bolts toward mega choppa gargant. With unnerving accuracy entire salvo(needing 3+ to hit for Gorks sake!) hit the gargant but luckily armour of gargant survives the strikes as suprised mekboy realises all power fields have already shorted out.
Then came ork air assault. I decided to target pdf company #3 at the far right from ork perspective. Though this would bring warlord into range I had Da Plan. I had serious doubts about bringing mega choppa gargant forward due to that warlord(might have something to do with melta cannon, pair of plasma cannons and chainsaw...). I figured if I could clear that area of board and have strong warband there he might be reluctant to move warlord forward(as if). So in came landa. Pair of blizens tried to bring it down but to no avail. Then assault ensued. To my horror orks suffered horrendous casualty list(those 8 FF attacks from warlord HURTS!) but luckily half of them were grots. Then my orks decide to underperform and in the end I'm -1 before roll off...Which ends up in draw! With much less stands in range of warlord next round is bloodpath for Imperium as entire company is wiped out for no ork casualties. 2 nobs and 4 boyz stand regroup around objective. Shaken but howling at their victory!
Ork warlord then decide that time is right to give punchout and orders big bliz brigade with pair of supa-zzap guns forward and blow that offending standard reaver out of ork ground! Gunwagons race forward and one of big guns manage a hit which reaver armour deflects. Then comes pair of bright beams which...Miss. Much gnashing of teeth by ork warlord(even ONE point of damage would have been enough to break that darned reaver...).
Executor reaver then advances side by side with warhounds and though trees offer partial cover to mega choppa gargant volcano cannon scores direct hit! Large section of ork hull is blown apart(3 DC!) and fire starts inside the gargant.
Small bliz brigade without oddboy weapons then double alongside big stompa mob and fire...Yup the standard reaver. One of big gunz manage to crack armour open(first titan blood!) and shaken reaver backs off a bit. Gothic warlord then advances and turns toward the enormous hulk of great gargant. Vulcan mega bolters open up and must have found some weak spot as 5 shots score hit(5 out of 8 despite needing 5+? YIKES!). Coupled with gatling blaster this ensures yet another DC is removed while volcano cannon removes 3 more and start fire! Ork warlord suddenly suffers doubts. Is his fate already sealed?
With tide of battle slowly but surely turning against orks it was time for orks to do something to turn the tide. So far right flank had been most succesfull so orks decided to push from there and hopefully turn slight opening into wide gap. Warband #5 doubles forward as did kult of speed #1(which took position alongside landa assault force to protect them from any counter charges). All opened up on warlord and with hail of shooting warlord suddenly found itself without void shields.
PDF company #2 then marshalled around(removing all BM's) and shuffled around to control more space around objective around there.
Bliz brigade #1 then doubled forward and took position nearby the sweeper warhounds. Hail of soopagun and big gun fire downed void shields from both of the walkers but failed to cause any damage. Mega choppa was then ordered to double forward and take the objective between forrests but it took SC reroll to do that. Soopaguns nearly damaged the big titan but armour withheld, just. Flakwagons then doubled into side of forrest and Imperial player paled when he realised 2 DC from that supa-zzap gun and warlord breaks before being able to do anything. Zzap gun DID hit but d3 caused only 1 DC and warlord barely avoided being broken with 7 BM's...
With BM's mounting rapidly warlord marshalled but required help from SC. With help of princep all BM's were removed and plasma cannons opened up on gargant. 8 bolts of plasma fired and one DC was caused and this caused YET another fire aboard gargant.
Warband aboard fortresses then decided to double behind the gargant. I took bit of gamble and left them on board and made point to use them early next turn before they get shot.
Princep aboard Fist of Emperor then decided he needed help from PDF troopers afterall with large ork warband looming ahead. Nearby company #4 doubled front of titan and took defensive positions though situation wasn't exactly enviable with kult of speed looming on their left flank...Shooting meanwhile removed one stand of boyz. Bliz brigade #5 then doubled inside forrest and took position behind stompas. Shooting against warlord however failed to hit utterly.
Imperial player was aware of mounting problems on his left flank. However he still had ace on his pocket. One praetorian formation was nearby and could launch counter assault! Succesfully they surged ahead and assaulted warband, landa AND kult of speed with PDF company and warlord in support! First round of combat was bloody with landa and 5 buggies being destroyed. However return firepower took out 3 chimeras and 5 stand of praeotorians...Orks had BM, Imperium didn't, but remaining orks outnumbered remaining praetorians big time...Draw before roll-off! AND after roll-off! Another round of combat was fought and with orks not moving an inch(not wishing to bring yet more buggies into range of that infernal titan!) the combat proved to be total walkover and entire praetorian formation was wiped out. It seemed orks had secured that area of board. Well apart from that warlord that is
Warband #7 doubled then forward into slopes of hill on ork left with the objective. Disembarking front of sweeper warhounds 26 shots were shot against them with high hopes. One titan suffered 3 hits which was enough to cause 1 point of damage(Imperial player almost sweated when he failed initial set of rolls completely though). This meant formation had now 3 BM's so if they don't rally...It's two suppressed vulcan mega bolters then!
PDF company #1 then went into overwatch as more and more orks appeared on the horizon. Warband #6 then doubled top of the hill on ork left flank and opened up on warhounds. 3 more hits were scored, this time on other warhound, and armour failed to protect it utterly! With it's pair blown apart second warhound then made hastened retreat! This was GOOD news for orks as those vulcan mega bolters are major pain in the ass!
Imperial left flank was still under pressure so second praetorian formation doubled toward them and shot at the warband. However no casualties was caused(even 1 casualty would have broken that formation! He did cause one hit but I managed to save with boyz stand...).
Warband #1 then doubled with lead elements reaching the forrest. One killa kan managed to fell a tree top of itself(too much enthusiasm with power klaw I suppose!) and was destroyed. Hydra formation then advanced forward and let stream of shots against big bliz brigade ahead. 2 gunwagons were crippled into state of non-combat effective.
Warband #2 finally doubled forward and took position among veritable horde of gunwagons and right behind big stompa mob. Last Imperial formation to move was the last Praetorian formation that advanced cautiously ahead. Ready to counter charge approaching orks.
Kult of speed then failed to activate so instead concentrated on removing BM's. 4 were removed without problems. Stormboyz then marched into ork right flank and took position where sweeper warhounds had previously been(no doubt taunting the destroyed warhound!).
Then to rally phase. Bliz brigade with 2 soopaguns rallied, so did 3 soopagun gargant, warband behind it which still had 3 BM's though. Great gargant removed 6 BM's as well leaving 4. Fire caused another point of damage though...Warband that had lost killa kan to forrest removed BM. Mega choppa gargant removed BM's as well. One fire was extinguished but second caused another point of DC vanish. Small bliz brigade rallied as well. So did warband on my extreme right. Buggy horde failed but landa formation removed all BM's. And finally warbike horde rallied as well. Fighta bommaz had to leave on wrong table edge so 4th BM was added to mix.
For Imperium sweeper warhound failed to rally(phew!). So did standard reaver! It decided to back further from enemy. PDF company #4 failed to rally but warlord did as did executor reaver.
Objectives held:
Orks: 4
Imperium: 4
Neutral: 1
So. Ork swarm is approaching steadily but gargants are suffering serious damage on the way in. Top of that marines are coming! Turn 2 appears to be interesting...
Turn 2: With a lot depending on the strategy roll...Orks won it! And obviously held it!
Assault gargant rumbles forward(with help of SC reroll). It moves alongside imperial titans and opens up on warhounds causing BM's on them, dropping one void shield and killing stand from PDF company #4. Then orks sent out warband #3 into the fire engaging pdf company #4 and warhounds at once! Warlord was left alone mainly due to inspiring(going to be hard enough already!). The combat turned out to be bloodpath with 10 grot stands, 3 nobz and 5 boyz stand dying in assault but in return entire company was wiped along with one of the warhounds! CRUNCH! This despite warlord AND reaver providing support fire(then again I had gargant providing supporting fire which took out the warhound).
Then it was time for marine reinforcements(first of them anyway). Strike cruiser called in for orbital bombardment that vaporised killa kan and 3 stand of boyz from warband #2 while 2 gunwagons were blown from bliz brigade #3. Also big stimpa mob was covered but armour withheld on them. Ouch! But worse was to come as company worth of space marines made drop on my right flank straight middle of them! First tactical detachment scattered a bit away from warband #4 but regardless 3 stands are vaporised by deathwing pods. Assault detachment OTOH landed straight middle of host in area that was narrowly big enough to land! Practically half my infantry warbands there were covered! Warband #2 suffered 13 attacks vs ork boyz, 7 against grots and 3 against nobz. Bliz brigade #3 suffered 3 attacks and warband #4 got 5 attacks vs boyz, 1 against nobz and 2 against grots...These resulted in warband #2 losing 3 boyz, 4 grots and 1 nob stand. Bliz brigade lost 2 gunwagons which broke them. Warband #4 suffered 2 boyz and grot casualties and this broke the neck of warband. Devastator detachment unnervingly steered straight TOWARD warband #2 which resulted in another 8 attacks against boyz, 3 against grots and 1 against nobz + 4 against gunwagons from nearby bliz brigade and 2 against stompa mob. These resulted in warband losing 2 boyz and nob, bliz brigade losing 1 and stompa mob none of their members. And to compound problems tacticals with commander flew toward same direction AGAIN which resulted in 5 stompas, 3 gunwagons and 4 boyz suffering attacks! Oh and gargant was now in range as well! Atleast only one stompa was lost...Space marines disembarked from drop pods and suddenly battle had turned into total chaos with marines inside the ork army!
To compound the problems marine commander led tacticals and assaults into joined charge against stompas, bliz brigade and warband! All in all 3 boyz stand, grot stand and 2 gunwagons were removed for loss of 3 tactical stands. Ork outnumber advantage was removed from BM's so +2 for marines before roll-off which turned into rout after ork player rolled double 1...This resulted in 2 stompas, killa kan, gunwagon, 2 boyz and grot stand being removed...
Orks then paused and wondered what the heck to do NOW with 5 formations having been wiped out just like that...Answer: Assault gothic warlord with warband #6! Hopefully I'll be able to break it via grots and regain some momentum. End result: 5 void shields downed, all 4 grots dead, so are 2 nobz stands. Orks are -1 at roll-off but Gork'n'Mork smiles at green boyz and warlord is broken! It simply backs to edge of battlefield while orks head toward PDF company #2. Great gargant then doubles toward that area as well. Lifta droppa hits warlord but only knocks last shield out.
Assault gargant then charges into warband #3 that caused so much damage. Result is nothing short of massacre with 2 battlefortresses, 8 boyz and nobz stand removed at the end. Rest back off behind warband coming from rear. Warlord suffered just one point of damage(and I was wishin I would be as adept at rolling 6's to critical as opponent is). Executor reaver then tries to sustain fire at mega choppa gargant but armour withstands missiles and gatling blaster and volcano cannon fails to hurt it(at point blank range!).
Trio soopagun gargant then decides that in the end marines in rear are of lesser problem and Imperial front line needs breaking so doubles front of PDF company #2 and shoots at them. Somehow no casualties are caused but atleast BM's are caused while stormboyz charge in. WAAAGH! Hydra's are conviniently nearby so they too are added into assault list. With another warband and gargant supporting the company stood no chance and was wiped out for loss of 4 stormboyz stands.
Fire support reaver continued to blast orks as it advanced toward the hill with objective. Warband #7 lost 2 boyz stands, 4 grot stands and even 1 battlewagon to hail of rockets(that moving artirelly company is major pain in the ass!). Then first thunderhawk flew in as tactical detachment assaulted that same warband. However orks are tough and only 2 boyz stand died to 1 tactical stand(okay I rolled silly number of 6+ armour saves). However BM's negated size bonus so marines had +1 for roll-off. 2 more boyz stands were removed as casualties as orks broke. Not wanting to withdraw from forward positions they retreated near the broken warlord(still out of 15cm though). Marines concolidiated around.
Warband #5 on the ork right flank decided to assaulted assault warlord(safely from firefight. That chainsaw is no good!) for ork health! I didn't give much of hope of damaging that bastard(though maybe 1 DC might be caused) but atleast I could break it via grot screen. Round of combat did go according to plan with bunch of grots dying but I had +2 before roll-off. Imagine my look of terror when he then proceeded to drew combat! I already started to calculate how many orks I would lose but then he proceeded to only cut remaining 2 grot stands out and FINALLY broke. End result: Broken warlord at the one end of the path between forrests and warband had lost all 8 of it's grots. Small stompa mob also decided to bang on warlord as well(I really want that bastard dead). However to my utter horror 9 hits from supporting gargant and reqular stompa attacks fail to even dent that thing and MW attacks from stompas don't even hit! In return 3 stompas are shredded to bits and remaining runs away never-to-be-seen again...Gork o'where are you!
Second thunderhawk appears as 2 detachments of assault marines assault kult of speed and warband alongside it. This time they have bitten more than they can chew though and only buggy, skorcha and boyz stand are removed for loss of 2 stands from both formations. Commander being among dead...
Situation is fast approaching critical so time for sure things is over. Small bliz brigade in forrest tries to advance and succeeds! Moving to flank of warlord they hit it with 2 big gunz and supa-zzap gun! Big gunz bounce off the armour but zzap gun hits warlord straight and command bridge is lit by emergency lights as power output is cut off temporarily(3 DC! Take that! Only 3 more before it's dead!).
Huge explosion lits the battlefield then as leman russes open up against mega choppa gargant and blows it apart with series of accurate shots! Ork player groans at the sight of one of his prizeless gargants being reduced to hulk.
Warband #1 from the forrest doubles toward trench line in an bid to conquer that hill. Hail of fire from overwatching PDF company is voefully accurate though as 5 stands of boyz are removed as they charge.
Imperial command then suffers bit of confusion as praetorians on their right flank refuse to engage stormboyz(note Imperial player didn't use SC reroll for this). They just sit there(BM removed instead of moving). Then, as the bliz brigade composed of flakwagons advanced toward assault warlord the supa-zzap guns hits again with full power and annoying titan is crippled to state of powerlessness! WAAAAAAAGH!
Artirelly battery #1 then opens up on warband #1 and 5 stands of boyz are removed. OUCH! I have nasty feeling how THAT charge is going to end...
My luck then with non-doubles/engages runs out and bliz brigade on my left(with pair of soopaguns) fail the activation. With bunch of space marines around(and soopaguns suppressed) I didn't want BM's around so regrouped them away. Artirelly battery #2 then continues relentless bombardment of poor warband #1. This time blowing up 3 stands of grots. Now interference from Gork'n'Mork would be appreciated...
Warbikes then roared into action and charged the space marine devastators on my hill(that's MY hill. Get off it ya beaky boy!). Bloody combat erupts but since I managed to contact 3 devastators into CC it didn't matter that much they were assisted by tactical and assault detachments as well. In the end casualties were 2 devastators and dreadnought vs 2 boar boyz stands. Orks outnumbered them 2:1 but had BM's so +1 before roll off. However it was orks whose morale broke and they fell back! Marines grimly concolidiated around the hill.
Imperial player brought along last thunderhawk...But where? I thought he might try to block my right flank by assaulting kult of speed and warband again(despite lack of success from assault marines). He however suprised crap out of me as he assaulted warband #1 straight into middle! However this seemingly suicidial charge made more sense when I realised how much support fire he would bring along from trenches and nearby reaver titan...After all was said 4 grots, 3 boyz, dreadnought and killa kan were dead or fleeing while marines lost 3 stands of marines. Outnumber countered by BM's so +2 for marines to roll-off which saw 8 more units be destroyed...After this ork assault seemed extremely...Weak to say the least.
(note: Imperial player said he wasn't sure should he do this pretty risky action but in the end went for it since it would a) have devastating effect if it works and b) be extremely ”cool” in that it felt just right for space marines to do. Straight into middle of enemy guns blazing ripping the heart out of enemy assault! And I have to agree. It felt just right that the marines assaulted this and annoyingly felt right that orks were crushed as well...)
Buggy horde then marshalled around, cautiously moving forward while removing 3 BM's from the pile of markers they had collected. Marine detachment from pod assault that hadn't yet acted then doubled toward broken bliz brigade on my right(with pair of supa-zzap guns) and removed nearest by causing BM on formation. Fighta bommaz then NEARLY made attack run but failed by 1(drat).
Last Imperial activation was sustain fire from praetorians near kult of speed. 5 buggies and both skorchas removed as casualties and remaining 3 ran near the forrest. Ouch! Small warband then advanced forward and brought guns to bear on broken warhound(maybe I get lucky and destroy it). However it was not to be and not even hit was scored.
With that turn was over. Time to rally.
Orks: Broken warband on my extreme left rallied! Stormboyz failed but warband behind them did rally. However as nobz were dead BM remained...Great gargant rallied leaving just 1 BM left. Even fire was put out! Warbikes failed to rally and so did remnants of some warband on back of my lines which retreated far from space marines near them. On my backarea systematic rout ensures as 4 more warbands(including #1 and fortress warbands!) fail to rally. Neither kult of speed nor bliz brigade rallies either! Non-broken warband who had cleared woods fail to remove BM as well! Ditto for landa warband!
What a devastating rally phase! Now a question. What army do I have left?
For Imperium: Gothic warlord rallies. Sweeper warhound fails due to nearby stormboyz. Standard reaver rallies. So does executor, inferno warhound and all the marine formations. Oh dear oh dear oh dear...Thunderhawks fly into home safely.
Objectives held:
Orks: 4
Imperium: 3
Uncontested: 1
Turn 3: Strategy roll won by orks and OBVIOUSLY I'm not giving it to Imperium now!
Great gargant advances and fires at standard reaver. Since it was only 3 BM from breaking and had DC suffered I figured it was best target for now. Alas everything but lifta droppa misses and lifta droppa only knocks void shields out. I retain the initiave and try to sustain fire 3 soopagun gargant into it but fail. I'll shoot at it anyway. No damage but titan breaks(and who says 3rd soopagun is a waste!).
Fire support reaver then sustain fires at recently rallied warband. Though missiles only destroy 4 stands it's still enough to break the warband. Much to howling of ork player! Gothic warlord then fails to sustain fire so simply fires at nearby warband. 3 stand of boyz is all that dies though. Even volcano cannon fails to blow battlewagon!
Bliz brigade with pair of soopaguns then tries to sustain fire at nearby marines but fail even with reroll. However soopaguns blew all but dreadnought!
Executor then advances toward great gargant and lets go. Miraculously gargant survives the attention of the titan! Inferno warhound then cuts down remnants of landa warband. Burn orks burn!
Fighta bommaz then try to destroy those paladins but one is shot down by blizen and remaining ones fail to hurt the paladin formation.
Praetorians on my left then proceeded to assault both warband and stormboyz. Orks received support from gargant and great gargant and Imperium from warlord and reaver. In the end it was foregone conclusion as only 4 chimeras and 2 praetorians were destroyed for loss of 3 stormboyz, 2 battlewagons and 5 boyz. With BM's no ork was left into fighting condition and though praetorians broke it was small repayment.
With this orks decided to pull back and flee. Ie I decided that no point in trying to continue. Looking at board Imperium would have something like 7 objectives in their hands which is more than enough to satisfy victory conditions(turn 3, 4 and 5 check if either side has advantage of more than 2 which gives sudden death victory).
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So. What went wrong? Well apart from my inability to deal with titans cost effectively(now I was losing huge amount of troops just to buy some time!) I also fell victim to marine reinforcements. That pod assault quite literally blew huge hole to my center and combined assault just compounded into my woes. In part the effect can be explained by bit too small board for game(not so small understatement there though due to amount of expensive stuff problem was kept at reasonable level). Secondly those pods must have been guided by Emperor himself as the pods scattered into perfect positions to cause maximum death with their deathwing attacks which caused horrendous casualties and broke couple of warbands.
Then the systematic use of thunderhawks to stop my attempts to gain initiave, culminating into heroic charge into middle of warband(hole created by artirelly barrages) and hasta la vista.
Speaking of thunderhawks. Bad bad idea to keep flakwagons in one formation. Thanks to that I couldn't really cause BM's to those thunderhawks which hurt me to no end in assaults...
And turn 2 mass retreat was final nail in the coffin. Guess orks knew already this was lost...
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This is going to be fight and a half and no mistake. Purely from points involved this is The Largest Battle we have ever fought! With just short of 10k of orks and little bit short of 11k for Imperium there's over 20k points on the board...We used bit of special scenario(obviously
). Basicly instead of GT scenario we try to capture 9 objectives placed around board. 5cm from objective is required to control it(this due to amount of units. 15cm and it would be too easy).Terrain: Hill on IG zone, another toward orks and right, on left of that hill largish open space and then 2 sections of forrests with slight gap between them(enough for titan sized model to run through). Another couple hills around orks.
Objectives: One on both Imperial flanks, one on top of hill in center of imperial center, another on the center-right hill, 3 more on the center plain with 1 relatively close to imperial hill, one somewhat outside ork deployment zone and 1 between them. 1 on the gap between forrest and last between imperial hill and forrests.
Then the armies. PDF and titan legion would start on Imperial deployment zone. Space marine reinforcements would come on turn 2 via drop pods or thunderhawks. Orks start all on board.
SM:
tactical detachment #1: 6 tactical marines, assault dreadnought 350 drop pods
tactical detachment #2: commander, 6 tactical marines 350 drop pods
assault detachmen #1t: 4 assault marines 175 drop pods
devastator detachment: 4 devastator marines, 2 tactical dreadnought 350 drop pods
tactical detachment #3: 6 tactical stand, 1 assault dreadnought 350 thunderhawk #1
tactical detachment #4: 6 tactical stand, 1 assault dreadnought 350 thunderhawk #2
assault detachment #2: 4 assault marines, commander 225 Thunderhawk #3
assault detachment #3: 4 assault marines 175 Thunderhawk #3
3xthunderhawk 3x200
strike cruiser 200
total: 3125
PDF:
infantry company #1: supreme commander, commisar, 12 infantry, blizen+trojan 250
infantry company #2: commander, commisar, 18 infantry 250
infantry company #3: commander, commisar, 12 infantry, blizen+trojan 225
infantry company #4: commander, commisar 12 infantry, blizen+trojan 225
artirelly battery: 3 howizer+3 trojan 150
artirelly battery: 3 howizer+3 trojan 150
400mm trenches and 2 bunkers 75
total: 1325
AMTL:
warlord – gothic(2xvulcan mega bolter, gatling blaster, volcano cannon) 825
warlord ”Fist of Emperor” – assault(melta cannon, chainfist, 2xplasma cannon), veteran princep 850
reaver – executor(gatling blaster, missile launchers, volcano cannon) 675
reaver - fire support(3xmissile launcher) 675
reaver – standard(2xturbo laser destructor, missile launcher) 650
2xwarhound – sweep(2xvulcan mega bolter) 550
2xwarhound – inferno(turbo laser destructor, inferno cannon) 550
tank group: 6 leman russ battle tank 425
mechanised infantry #1: praeotian commander, 7 praeotians, 4 chimera 250
mechanised infantry #2: praeotian commander, 7 praeotians, 4 chimera 250
mechanised infantry #3: praeotian commander, 7 praeotians, 4 chimera 250
paladin host: 3 paladin knights 250
hydra platoon: 3 hydra 150
total: 6350
Orks:
Great gargant: warlord, lifta droppa 850
Gargant #1: mega choppa 650
Gargant #2: 3xsoopagun 650
Big warband #1: 2 nobz, 20 boyz, 12 grots, 3 dreadnoughts, 3 killa kans 655
Big warband #2: 3 nobz, 16 boyz, 8 grots, 2 killa kans 460
Big warband #3: 4 nobz, 18 boyz, 10 grots, 2 battle fortress, gunfortress 845
Big warband #4: 2 nobz, 16 boyz, 8 grots 375
Warband #5: 1 nobz, 12 boyz, 8 grots 325
Warband #6: 2 nobz, 8 boyz, 4 grots, 5 battlewagons 435
Warband #7: 2 nobz, 10 boyz, 6 grots, 6 battlewagons 520
Warband #8: 2 nobz, 8 boyz, 4 grots 260
Stormboyz warband: 10 stormboyz 250
Big bliz brigade #1: 8 gunwagons w/2 soopaguns 350
Big bliz brigade #2: 8 gunwagons 250
Big bliz brigade #3: 8 gunwagons w/2 supa-zzap guns 350
Bliz brigade #4: 4 flakwagons, gunwagon w/supa-zzap gun 235
Bliz brigade #5: 4 gunwagons w/supa-zzap gun 200
Bliz brigade #6: 4 gunwagons 150
fighta sqwadron: 6 fighta bommaz 300
landa 200
Big kult of speed #1: 16 buggies, 2 skorchas 400
Big kult of speed #2: 16 warbikes, 2 skorchas 400
Big stompa mob #1: 6 stompas w/3 big gunz, 2 stompas w/ammer 575
Stompa mob #2: 4 stompas w/ammer 300
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So next up: Deployment. Starting with Imperials since there's less of them
From left to right: PDF company 3, assault warlord and inferno warhounds, PDF company #4 and executor reaver with mechanised infantry #1 behind, then comes hill which is flanked by 2 bunkers which are connected via trenches. PDF company #1 with it's supreme commander took position in them. Top of hill stands tank group and paladins. Behind these both artirelly batterys and mechanised infantry #2. Front of trenches are fire support and standard reavers, one on each side of trenches. Finally PDF company #2, gothic warlord and sweeper warhounds with hydras and mechanised company #3 behind them. Rather nasty front line for orks to assault.
Then to the orks...I'll assume swarm of orks won't satisfy so starting again from left comes bliz brigade #1 with warband #4. Behind warband was kult of speed #2. Continuing toward right come warband #7, warband #2 with killa kans taking shelter behind gargant with trio of soopaguns and stompa mob #1 front of them. Then great gargant with warband #6 taking cover behind enormous warband(those battlewagons aren't tough
). Bliz brigades #6 and #3 behind the warband. Then on top of hill comes stompa mob #2 and gargant with mega choppa with warband #1 behind them. Behind warband comes warband #3 and bliz brigades #4 and #5 lurking around. Finally kult of speed #1 and warband #5 on extreme right with stormboyz behind whole lot on top of hill.Plan was to have gargants lead the charge along with stompas and 2 large warbands with walkers alongside. I figured I would face such a torrent of firepower I would need my toughest troops to soak it. Mega choppa gargant would cut through the gap between forrest with big stompa mob heading toward forrest(with their walker ability should be safe to take that -1 to hit for cover!). Rest of infantry tries to find safety and fast stuff behind for reserves. Not much of a plan but let's see if ork waaagh will carry them through! Imperial front line certainly is pretty impressive...5 battle titans...Eeek!
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Turn 1: Strategy roll won by orks, handed out to Imperium.
”Princep Aurelius aboard Fist of Emperor to all titans. The orks are approaching fast. It is time to open hostilities. Our allies are seriously outnumbered and lack the blessed armour of Titans. Therefore we take the fight to enemy! Remember! We are here not only to hold the attack but to crush the enemy and regain the momentum! If we grind to halt here the counter push might stall to halt. We cannot allow this to happen! Astartes reinforcements are on their way so let's crush those xenos scum for good! Paladins! Stay back and prepare to counter charge any opening orks might get. Praetorians! Stand back untill we can cauge direction of their main assault. Aurelius to PDF command. We are taking the battle to the enemy. Stay on your post and watch the line. Provide supporting fire as you can. Once we have broken first wave move in to support.”
Standard reaver advanced forward and took aim at the lumbering great gargant ahead. With hail of accurate laser and missile fire massive warmachine found its power fields shorted out instantly and even one DC was caused!
First Gargant Bigga'n'Bigga with it's trio of soopaguns then doubled toward objective on hill. It aimed it's soopaguns at PDF company #2 with it's hordes of infantry. 4 stands were removed in hail of macro explosions. Paladins replied and sustain fired at same gargant but trio of battle cannons failed to hit it's mark.
Big stompa mob in the center then doubled forward firing hail of big guns at the standard reaver. 2 void shields were knocked down. Fire support reaver advanced side by side to standard reaver(seeking out mutual protection I suppose) and fired hail of rockets at warband #4. 4 stands of boyz were blown apart with extreme range shooting.
First artirelly battery opened up against horde of warbikes at the rear of ork formation. 2 stands removed. Smaller stompa mob then doubled into looming forrest, quite safely, and opened up on executor reaver and knocked one void shield down. Second artirelly battery opens up and...Fires at same target as first one. I get serious feeling he doesn't like warbikes as 4 stands more are blown apart.
More gargant goodiness as great gargant rumbles forward and settles between forrest and stompas. Shooting against standard reaver scores no hits nor does the additional template cause any damage to fire support reaver either. Blasted lifta droppa missed as well :-(
Tank group then sustain fires at great gargant and with hail of battlecannon and lascannon firing 2 more DC are removed and I start to reconcider wisdom of sending supreme commander forward so quickly...Warband #4 doubles forward and scurry around gargant. Hail of rokkit launchas aim at the standard reaver but to no avail.
It's worth noting that at this point BOTH players are more or less trying to buy time and try to force other to act first with main formations
. Bit of ”cautious” start so far.Sweeper warhounds advance forward along the edge of board and fires at advancing warband #4. 6 grot, 2 boyz and 1 nobz stand removed as casualties. To my suprise formation still isn't broken...
Fighta bommaz scream in and attack the standard reaver. Unfortunatly range is horribly misjudged and apart from 2 blizen guns the hydras are also in range. Out of 8 AA shots 2 planes come crashing down. Remaining 4 fighta bommaz all hit the target but apart from downing remaining void shields no harm is done. Reaver is however approaching broken status...
Inferno warhounds then advance front of forrest, but keeping eye on stompas, and fire hail of laser bolts toward mega choppa gargant. With unnerving accuracy entire salvo(needing 3+ to hit for Gorks sake!) hit the gargant but luckily armour of gargant survives the strikes as suprised mekboy realises all power fields have already shorted out.
Then came ork air assault. I decided to target pdf company #3 at the far right from ork perspective. Though this would bring warlord into range I had Da Plan. I had serious doubts about bringing mega choppa gargant forward due to that warlord(might have something to do with melta cannon, pair of plasma cannons and chainsaw...). I figured if I could clear that area of board and have strong warband there he might be reluctant to move warlord forward(as if). So in came landa. Pair of blizens tried to bring it down but to no avail. Then assault ensued. To my horror orks suffered horrendous casualty list(those 8 FF attacks from warlord HURTS!) but luckily half of them were grots. Then my orks decide to underperform and in the end I'm -1 before roll off...Which ends up in draw! With much less stands in range of warlord next round is bloodpath for Imperium as entire company is wiped out for no ork casualties. 2 nobs and 4 boyz stand regroup around objective. Shaken but howling at their victory!
Ork warlord then decide that time is right to give punchout and orders big bliz brigade with pair of supa-zzap guns forward and blow that offending standard reaver out of ork ground! Gunwagons race forward and one of big guns manage a hit which reaver armour deflects. Then comes pair of bright beams which...Miss. Much gnashing of teeth by ork warlord(even ONE point of damage would have been enough to break that darned reaver...).
Executor reaver then advances side by side with warhounds and though trees offer partial cover to mega choppa gargant volcano cannon scores direct hit! Large section of ork hull is blown apart(3 DC!) and fire starts inside the gargant.
Small bliz brigade without oddboy weapons then double alongside big stompa mob and fire...Yup the standard reaver. One of big gunz manage to crack armour open(first titan blood!) and shaken reaver backs off a bit. Gothic warlord then advances and turns toward the enormous hulk of great gargant. Vulcan mega bolters open up and must have found some weak spot as 5 shots score hit(5 out of 8 despite needing 5+? YIKES!). Coupled with gatling blaster this ensures yet another DC is removed while volcano cannon removes 3 more and start fire! Ork warlord suddenly suffers doubts. Is his fate already sealed?
With tide of battle slowly but surely turning against orks it was time for orks to do something to turn the tide. So far right flank had been most succesfull so orks decided to push from there and hopefully turn slight opening into wide gap. Warband #5 doubles forward as did kult of speed #1(which took position alongside landa assault force to protect them from any counter charges). All opened up on warlord and with hail of shooting warlord suddenly found itself without void shields.
PDF company #2 then marshalled around(removing all BM's) and shuffled around to control more space around objective around there.
Bliz brigade #1 then doubled forward and took position nearby the sweeper warhounds. Hail of soopagun and big gun fire downed void shields from both of the walkers but failed to cause any damage. Mega choppa was then ordered to double forward and take the objective between forrests but it took SC reroll to do that. Soopaguns nearly damaged the big titan but armour withheld, just. Flakwagons then doubled into side of forrest and Imperial player paled when he realised 2 DC from that supa-zzap gun and warlord breaks before being able to do anything. Zzap gun DID hit but d3 caused only 1 DC and warlord barely avoided being broken with 7 BM's...
With BM's mounting rapidly warlord marshalled but required help from SC. With help of princep all BM's were removed and plasma cannons opened up on gargant. 8 bolts of plasma fired and one DC was caused and this caused YET another fire aboard gargant.
Warband aboard fortresses then decided to double behind the gargant. I took bit of gamble and left them on board and made point to use them early next turn before they get shot.
Princep aboard Fist of Emperor then decided he needed help from PDF troopers afterall with large ork warband looming ahead. Nearby company #4 doubled front of titan and took defensive positions though situation wasn't exactly enviable with kult of speed looming on their left flank...Shooting meanwhile removed one stand of boyz. Bliz brigade #5 then doubled inside forrest and took position behind stompas. Shooting against warlord however failed to hit utterly.
Imperial player was aware of mounting problems on his left flank. However he still had ace on his pocket. One praetorian formation was nearby and could launch counter assault! Succesfully they surged ahead and assaulted warband, landa AND kult of speed with PDF company and warlord in support! First round of combat was bloody with landa and 5 buggies being destroyed. However return firepower took out 3 chimeras and 5 stand of praeotorians...Orks had BM, Imperium didn't, but remaining orks outnumbered remaining praetorians big time...Draw before roll-off! AND after roll-off! Another round of combat was fought and with orks not moving an inch(not wishing to bring yet more buggies into range of that infernal titan!) the combat proved to be total walkover and entire praetorian formation was wiped out. It seemed orks had secured that area of board. Well apart from that warlord that is
Warband #7 doubled then forward into slopes of hill on ork left with the objective. Disembarking front of sweeper warhounds 26 shots were shot against them with high hopes. One titan suffered 3 hits which was enough to cause 1 point of damage(Imperial player almost sweated when he failed initial set of rolls completely though). This meant formation had now 3 BM's so if they don't rally...It's two suppressed vulcan mega bolters then!
PDF company #1 then went into overwatch as more and more orks appeared on the horizon. Warband #6 then doubled top of the hill on ork left flank and opened up on warhounds. 3 more hits were scored, this time on other warhound, and armour failed to protect it utterly! With it's pair blown apart second warhound then made hastened retreat! This was GOOD news for orks as those vulcan mega bolters are major pain in the ass!
Imperial left flank was still under pressure so second praetorian formation doubled toward them and shot at the warband. However no casualties was caused(even 1 casualty would have broken that formation! He did cause one hit but I managed to save with boyz stand...).
Warband #1 then doubled with lead elements reaching the forrest. One killa kan managed to fell a tree top of itself(too much enthusiasm with power klaw I suppose!) and was destroyed. Hydra formation then advanced forward and let stream of shots against big bliz brigade ahead. 2 gunwagons were crippled into state of non-combat effective.
Warband #2 finally doubled forward and took position among veritable horde of gunwagons and right behind big stompa mob. Last Imperial formation to move was the last Praetorian formation that advanced cautiously ahead. Ready to counter charge approaching orks.
Kult of speed then failed to activate so instead concentrated on removing BM's. 4 were removed without problems. Stormboyz then marched into ork right flank and took position where sweeper warhounds had previously been(no doubt taunting the destroyed warhound!).
Then to rally phase. Bliz brigade with 2 soopaguns rallied, so did 3 soopagun gargant, warband behind it which still had 3 BM's though. Great gargant removed 6 BM's as well leaving 4. Fire caused another point of damage though...Warband that had lost killa kan to forrest removed BM. Mega choppa gargant removed BM's as well. One fire was extinguished but second caused another point of DC vanish. Small bliz brigade rallied as well. So did warband on my extreme right. Buggy horde failed but landa formation removed all BM's. And finally warbike horde rallied as well. Fighta bommaz had to leave on wrong table edge so 4th BM was added to mix.
For Imperium sweeper warhound failed to rally(phew!). So did standard reaver! It decided to back further from enemy. PDF company #4 failed to rally but warlord did as did executor reaver.
Objectives held:
Orks: 4
Imperium: 4
Neutral: 1
So. Ork swarm is approaching steadily but gargants are suffering serious damage on the way in. Top of that marines are coming! Turn 2 appears to be interesting...
Turn 2: With a lot depending on the strategy roll...Orks won it! And obviously held it!
Assault gargant rumbles forward(with help of SC reroll). It moves alongside imperial titans and opens up on warhounds causing BM's on them, dropping one void shield and killing stand from PDF company #4. Then orks sent out warband #3 into the fire engaging pdf company #4 and warhounds at once! Warlord was left alone mainly due to inspiring(going to be hard enough already!). The combat turned out to be bloodpath with 10 grot stands, 3 nobz and 5 boyz stand dying in assault but in return entire company was wiped along with one of the warhounds! CRUNCH! This despite warlord AND reaver providing support fire(then again I had gargant providing supporting fire which took out the warhound).
Then it was time for marine reinforcements(first of them anyway). Strike cruiser called in for orbital bombardment that vaporised killa kan and 3 stand of boyz from warband #2 while 2 gunwagons were blown from bliz brigade #3. Also big stimpa mob was covered but armour withheld on them. Ouch! But worse was to come as company worth of space marines made drop on my right flank straight middle of them! First tactical detachment scattered a bit away from warband #4 but regardless 3 stands are vaporised by deathwing pods. Assault detachment OTOH landed straight middle of host in area that was narrowly big enough to land! Practically half my infantry warbands there were covered! Warband #2 suffered 13 attacks vs ork boyz, 7 against grots and 3 against nobz. Bliz brigade #3 suffered 3 attacks and warband #4 got 5 attacks vs boyz, 1 against nobz and 2 against grots...These resulted in warband #2 losing 3 boyz, 4 grots and 1 nob stand. Bliz brigade lost 2 gunwagons which broke them. Warband #4 suffered 2 boyz and grot casualties and this broke the neck of warband. Devastator detachment unnervingly steered straight TOWARD warband #2 which resulted in another 8 attacks against boyz, 3 against grots and 1 against nobz + 4 against gunwagons from nearby bliz brigade and 2 against stompa mob. These resulted in warband losing 2 boyz and nob, bliz brigade losing 1 and stompa mob none of their members. And to compound problems tacticals with commander flew toward same direction AGAIN which resulted in 5 stompas, 3 gunwagons and 4 boyz suffering attacks! Oh and gargant was now in range as well! Atleast only one stompa was lost...Space marines disembarked from drop pods and suddenly battle had turned into total chaos with marines inside the ork army!
To compound the problems marine commander led tacticals and assaults into joined charge against stompas, bliz brigade and warband! All in all 3 boyz stand, grot stand and 2 gunwagons were removed for loss of 3 tactical stands. Ork outnumber advantage was removed from BM's so +2 for marines before roll-off which turned into rout after ork player rolled double 1...This resulted in 2 stompas, killa kan, gunwagon, 2 boyz and grot stand being removed...
Orks then paused and wondered what the heck to do NOW with 5 formations having been wiped out just like that...Answer: Assault gothic warlord with warband #6! Hopefully I'll be able to break it via grots and regain some momentum. End result: 5 void shields downed, all 4 grots dead, so are 2 nobz stands. Orks are -1 at roll-off but Gork'n'Mork smiles at green boyz and warlord is broken! It simply backs to edge of battlefield while orks head toward PDF company #2. Great gargant then doubles toward that area as well. Lifta droppa hits warlord but only knocks last shield out.
Assault gargant then charges into warband #3 that caused so much damage. Result is nothing short of massacre with 2 battlefortresses, 8 boyz and nobz stand removed at the end. Rest back off behind warband coming from rear. Warlord suffered just one point of damage(and I was wishin I would be as adept at rolling 6's to critical as opponent is). Executor reaver then tries to sustain fire at mega choppa gargant but armour withstands missiles and gatling blaster and volcano cannon fails to hurt it(at point blank range!).
Trio soopagun gargant then decides that in the end marines in rear are of lesser problem and Imperial front line needs breaking so doubles front of PDF company #2 and shoots at them. Somehow no casualties are caused but atleast BM's are caused while stormboyz charge in. WAAAGH! Hydra's are conviniently nearby so they too are added into assault list. With another warband and gargant supporting the company stood no chance and was wiped out for loss of 4 stormboyz stands.
Fire support reaver continued to blast orks as it advanced toward the hill with objective. Warband #7 lost 2 boyz stands, 4 grot stands and even 1 battlewagon to hail of rockets(that moving artirelly company is major pain in the ass!). Then first thunderhawk flew in as tactical detachment assaulted that same warband. However orks are tough and only 2 boyz stand died to 1 tactical stand(okay I rolled silly number of 6+ armour saves). However BM's negated size bonus so marines had +1 for roll-off. 2 more boyz stands were removed as casualties as orks broke. Not wanting to withdraw from forward positions they retreated near the broken warlord(still out of 15cm though). Marines concolidiated around.
Warband #5 on the ork right flank decided to assaulted assault warlord(safely from firefight. That chainsaw is no good!) for ork health! I didn't give much of hope of damaging that bastard(though maybe 1 DC might be caused) but atleast I could break it via grot screen. Round of combat did go according to plan with bunch of grots dying but I had +2 before roll-off. Imagine my look of terror when he then proceeded to drew combat! I already started to calculate how many orks I would lose but then he proceeded to only cut remaining 2 grot stands out and FINALLY broke. End result: Broken warlord at the one end of the path between forrests and warband had lost all 8 of it's grots. Small stompa mob also decided to bang on warlord as well(I really want that bastard dead). However to my utter horror 9 hits from supporting gargant and reqular stompa attacks fail to even dent that thing and MW attacks from stompas don't even hit! In return 3 stompas are shredded to bits and remaining runs away never-to-be-seen again...Gork o'where are you!
Second thunderhawk appears as 2 detachments of assault marines assault kult of speed and warband alongside it. This time they have bitten more than they can chew though and only buggy, skorcha and boyz stand are removed for loss of 2 stands from both formations. Commander being among dead...
Situation is fast approaching critical so time for sure things is over. Small bliz brigade in forrest tries to advance and succeeds! Moving to flank of warlord they hit it with 2 big gunz and supa-zzap gun! Big gunz bounce off the armour but zzap gun hits warlord straight and command bridge is lit by emergency lights as power output is cut off temporarily(3 DC! Take that! Only 3 more before it's dead!).
Huge explosion lits the battlefield then as leman russes open up against mega choppa gargant and blows it apart with series of accurate shots! Ork player groans at the sight of one of his prizeless gargants being reduced to hulk.
Warband #1 from the forrest doubles toward trench line in an bid to conquer that hill. Hail of fire from overwatching PDF company is voefully accurate though as 5 stands of boyz are removed as they charge.
Imperial command then suffers bit of confusion as praetorians on their right flank refuse to engage stormboyz(note Imperial player didn't use SC reroll for this). They just sit there(BM removed instead of moving). Then, as the bliz brigade composed of flakwagons advanced toward assault warlord the supa-zzap guns hits again with full power and annoying titan is crippled to state of powerlessness! WAAAAAAAGH!
Artirelly battery #1 then opens up on warband #1 and 5 stands of boyz are removed. OUCH! I have nasty feeling how THAT charge is going to end...
My luck then with non-doubles/engages runs out and bliz brigade on my left(with pair of soopaguns) fail the activation. With bunch of space marines around(and soopaguns suppressed) I didn't want BM's around so regrouped them away. Artirelly battery #2 then continues relentless bombardment of poor warband #1. This time blowing up 3 stands of grots. Now interference from Gork'n'Mork would be appreciated...
Warbikes then roared into action and charged the space marine devastators on my hill(that's MY hill. Get off it ya beaky boy!). Bloody combat erupts but since I managed to contact 3 devastators into CC it didn't matter that much they were assisted by tactical and assault detachments as well. In the end casualties were 2 devastators and dreadnought vs 2 boar boyz stands. Orks outnumbered them 2:1 but had BM's so +1 before roll off. However it was orks whose morale broke and they fell back! Marines grimly concolidiated around the hill.
Imperial player brought along last thunderhawk...But where? I thought he might try to block my right flank by assaulting kult of speed and warband again(despite lack of success from assault marines). He however suprised crap out of me as he assaulted warband #1 straight into middle! However this seemingly suicidial charge made more sense when I realised how much support fire he would bring along from trenches and nearby reaver titan...After all was said 4 grots, 3 boyz, dreadnought and killa kan were dead or fleeing while marines lost 3 stands of marines. Outnumber countered by BM's so +2 for marines to roll-off which saw 8 more units be destroyed...After this ork assault seemed extremely...Weak to say the least.
(note: Imperial player said he wasn't sure should he do this pretty risky action but in the end went for it since it would a) have devastating effect if it works and b) be extremely ”cool” in that it felt just right for space marines to do. Straight into middle of enemy guns blazing ripping the heart out of enemy assault! And I have to agree. It felt just right that the marines assaulted this and annoyingly felt right that orks were crushed as well...)
Buggy horde then marshalled around, cautiously moving forward while removing 3 BM's from the pile of markers they had collected. Marine detachment from pod assault that hadn't yet acted then doubled toward broken bliz brigade on my right(with pair of supa-zzap guns) and removed nearest by causing BM on formation. Fighta bommaz then NEARLY made attack run but failed by 1(drat).
Last Imperial activation was sustain fire from praetorians near kult of speed. 5 buggies and both skorchas removed as casualties and remaining 3 ran near the forrest. Ouch! Small warband then advanced forward and brought guns to bear on broken warhound(maybe I get lucky and destroy it
). However it was not to be and not even hit was scored.With that turn was over. Time to rally.
Orks: Broken warband on my extreme left rallied! Stormboyz failed but warband behind them did rally. However as nobz were dead BM remained...Great gargant rallied leaving just 1 BM left. Even fire was put out! Warbikes failed to rally and so did remnants of some warband on back of my lines which retreated far from space marines near them. On my backarea systematic rout ensures as 4 more warbands(including #1 and fortress warbands!) fail to rally. Neither kult of speed nor bliz brigade rallies either! Non-broken warband who had cleared woods fail to remove BM as well! Ditto for landa warband!
What a devastating rally phase! Now a question. What army do I have left?
For Imperium: Gothic warlord rallies. Sweeper warhound fails due to nearby stormboyz. Standard reaver rallies. So does executor, inferno warhound and all the marine formations. Oh dear oh dear oh dear...Thunderhawks fly into home safely.
Objectives held:
Orks: 4
Imperium: 3
Uncontested: 1
Turn 3: Strategy roll won by orks and OBVIOUSLY I'm not giving it to Imperium now!
Great gargant advances and fires at standard reaver. Since it was only 3 BM from breaking and had DC suffered I figured it was best target for now. Alas everything but lifta droppa misses and lifta droppa only knocks void shields out. I retain the initiave and try to sustain fire 3 soopagun gargant into it but fail. I'll shoot at it anyway. No damage but titan breaks(and who says 3rd soopagun is a waste!).
Fire support reaver then sustain fires at recently rallied warband. Though missiles only destroy 4 stands it's still enough to break the warband. Much to howling of ork player! Gothic warlord then fails to sustain fire so simply fires at nearby warband. 3 stand of boyz is all that dies though. Even volcano cannon fails to blow battlewagon!
Bliz brigade with pair of soopaguns then tries to sustain fire at nearby marines but fail even with reroll. However soopaguns blew all but dreadnought!
Executor then advances toward great gargant and lets go. Miraculously gargant survives the attention of the titan! Inferno warhound then cuts down remnants of landa warband. Burn orks burn!
Fighta bommaz then try to destroy those paladins but one is shot down by blizen and remaining ones fail to hurt the paladin formation.
Praetorians on my left then proceeded to assault both warband and stormboyz. Orks received support from gargant and great gargant and Imperium from warlord and reaver. In the end it was foregone conclusion as only 4 chimeras and 2 praetorians were destroyed for loss of 3 stormboyz, 2 battlewagons and 5 boyz. With BM's no ork was left into fighting condition and though praetorians broke it was small repayment.
With this orks decided to pull back and flee. Ie I decided that no point in trying to continue. Looking at board Imperium would have something like 7 objectives in their hands which is more than enough to satisfy victory conditions(turn 3, 4 and 5 check if either side has advantage of more than 2 which gives sudden death victory).
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So. What went wrong? Well apart from my inability to deal with titans cost effectively(now I was losing huge amount of troops just to buy some time!) I also fell victim to marine reinforcements. That pod assault quite literally blew huge hole to my center and combined assault just compounded into my woes. In part the effect can be explained by bit too small board for game(not so small understatement there though due to amount of expensive stuff problem was kept at reasonable level). Secondly those pods must have been guided by Emperor himself as the pods scattered into perfect positions to cause maximum death with their deathwing attacks which caused horrendous casualties and broke couple of warbands.
Then the systematic use of thunderhawks to stop my attempts to gain initiave, culminating into heroic charge into middle of warband(hole created by artirelly barrages) and hasta la vista.
Speaking of thunderhawks. Bad bad idea to keep flakwagons in one formation. Thanks to that I couldn't really cause BM's to those thunderhawks which hurt me to no end in assaults...
And turn 2 mass retreat was final nail in the coffin. Guess orks knew already this was lost...