August 2014 – The Emprahs Mighty Flowry Meadow

Our Alaric Prime narrative campaign continues at the local FLGS. This battle was played against a different local Ork player who I’ve played several times, because it’s always an amazing game.

Aside: He’s recently doubled his army size for approximately $40 Canadian by way of garage sale, bringing it up to 14,000 points, a truly scary apocalypse army unto himself.

In general the campaign is going pretty well — the Orkz have made planetfall, and are generally being a nuisance for the imperial defenders. Apparently the Eldar captured a valuable facility, and egged the Orkz on into rigging the place to explode. For every gain the forces of the imperium make, the Orkz (urged on by the forces of Chaos and schemes of the Eldar) push right back.

In this mission, the Eldar took a key facility from the Imperium, and (probably with very little effort) convinced the Orkz it was a good idea to rig this thing to blow. Colonel Wishart and his mechanized company are ordered to break through the Ork lines and defuse the devices before the entire facility goes up. If any of the devices remain, the Imperium lose the battle, and the facility (KABOOM).

The Orkz objective is to protect the three demolition charges. If they even have one remaining at the end of the game, they win.

Without further ado…

The Combatants:

Astra Militarum

CCS w/ Chimera, Autocannon, Vox, Melta, Tank Hunter USR & Bellowing Voice WL Trait
Pask Punisher, Multimeltas, Lascannon
Leman Russ MBT
Veterans w/ Chimera, 2x Melta
Veterans w/ Chimera, 2x Melta
Veterans w/ Forward Sentries, 3x Plasma & Lascannon)
PCS w/ 3x Flamer, 1 Heavy Flamer
2x Infantry Squads, 2x Autocannons, Voxcaster
Hellhound
Vendetta
3x Armoured Sentinels w/ Autocannons
Wyvern
Aegis Defense Line, Quad Gun

Orkz

Warboss on bike, Powerklaw, Bosspole. Stealth USR
Painboy on bike
15 Bikerz, Nob w/ Powerklaw
6 Meganobz w/ Battlewagon, 4x Rokkits
30 Slugga Boyz, Nob w/ Powerklaw & Bosspole
30 Slugga Boyz, Nob w/ Powerklaw & Bosspole
Morkanaut w/ Grot Riggers
2x Traktor Kannons
Deff Dread

Deployment:

This is shortly after the Orkz first movement, which was really fast. Most of his forces were left in Reserve, including the bikes, Deff Dread, and one of the foot mobs. The Traktor Cannons are located in the ruins to the left. The battlewagon carrying the meganobz on the left side of the fortress, with the first footmob well ensconced in the battlements. The Morkanaut looms on the right side of the fortress. — This is shortly after the Orkz first movement, which was really fast. Most of his forces were left in Reserve, including the bikes, Deff Dread, and one of the foot mobs.
The Traktor Cannons are located in the ruins to the left. The battlewagon carrying the meganobz on the left side of the fortress, with the first footmob well ensconced in the battlements. The Morkanaut looms on the right side of the fortress.

Guard attempt to seize the initiative, but fails.

Ork Turn 1:

Not much doing for the Orkz, the Morkanaut takes one step behind the bastion in the middle of the field, and directs his fire onto the Wyvern, which is hiding behind the Vanilla Russ. Both the Wyvern and the Russ take hits from the big gun, but the Wyvern makes its 3+ cover save on the merits of Night Fighting.

The battlewagon surges forward, but otherwise doesn’t achieve anything with shooting.

Available weapons exhausted, its time for…

Astra Turn 1:

Both Melta-Chimeras and the Hellhound move flat-out to achieve a better position up field to close the distance and potentially cause problems when the Ork reserves come on.

Pask kicks his Leman Russ Driver awake, who hits the gas and promptly immobilizes the entire vehicle at mid-field (*FACEPALM*). Lacking any other viable target, Pask opens up on the Morkanaut located immediately in front of him, stripping off 4 of 5 hullpoints, immobilizing it, stunning it, and ripping off the big gun. This is despite being outside of melta-range on the sponson weapons too. Crackshot indeed!

Pask perforates the Morkanaut but its left standing in the end. Encouraged that the Morkanaut won't be charging, the Hellhound moves up to fill the gap of the now immobile Russ in the battle line. — Pask perforates the Morkanaut but its left standing in the end. Encouraged that the Morkanaut won’t be charging, the Hellhound moves up to fill the gap of the now immobile Russ in the battle line.

The rest of the army attempted to bring down the battlewagon which was partially obscured behind a ruin around mid-field. The cover proves effective, and only 1-2 hullpoints are removed by way of autocannon fire and a battlecannon round from the split-firing Vanilla Russ.

Lastly, the Wyvern opens his career knocking out 8 boyz stationed in the Fortress. This is enough to force a morale test, but the Orkz pass and no head-banging is needed by the Nob.

The Guard kick it into high-gear, advancing with speed onto the Ork positions. A very productive first turn of shooting has neutered the right flank, but the left flank is very much alive. The Meganobz will likely be in assault this next turn, but they have options... Take the mobile force, or the blob squad...? — The Guard kick it into high-gear, advancing with speed onto the Ork positions. A very productive first turn of shooting has neutered the right flank, but the left flank is very much alive. The Meganobz will likely be in assault this next turn, but they have options… Take the mobile force, or the blob squad…?

Opposite view of the table after Guard 1.

Ork Turn 2:

Alarms ringing in the fortress, all of the Ork reserves arrive. The bikes and footmob deploy on the left to support the Traktor Kannons, while the Deffdread deploys on the right to support the stricken Morkanaut.

Ork reinforcements arrive. Yaaaayyyyy.... — Ork reinforcements arrive…

The bikes move to completely surround the Melta-Chimera on the left flank, an astounding 3 dying to dangerous terrain checks (ouch).

The Meganobz leap out of the battlewagon, crossing the aegis line, inflicting 17 wounds on the charge. The lone autocannon team falls off the back of the table. The Nobz consolidate under the cover of the Aegis Line.

My dear god in heaven, this is going to be "one of those days". — My dear god in heaven, this is going to be “one of those days”.

Astra Turn 2:

Not having anything better to do, Pask holds his finger on the trigger of the main gun a little bit longer until the Morkanaut is in two pieces, sawn in half by the Punisher Cannon. The MBT driver, taking a lesson from Pask’s experienced crew, manages to immobilize itself as it tries to leave cover. Regardless, it snaps a shot off at the Battlewagon across the table and barely misses the target.

The Hellhound changes directions with the new armour coming on the right flank, and roasts 5 Orkz on the parapet of the fortress. It could have been 8, but 3 ones to-wound will do that.

The Wyvern however picks the tightly packed foot mob which just came on the board, killing 12. This thing is legit. It has nearly doubled its point value within 2 turns of shooting.

Lacking targets, the Sentinels kill off the battlewagon which was lingering in mid-field, punching through the exposed side-arc.

The Chimera on the left attempts to tank shock the bikerz, but a Death or Glory attack against the front armour succeeds in immobilizing the Chimera. Having nothing better to do, the tank crew amuses itself by picking off one of the Bikers with Multilaser fire.

The Chimera on the right flank advances unimpeded, coming fairly close to the fortress, looking a Deff Dread square in the face.

The plasma veterans, looking a bit uncertain in their position, are ordered to ignore the cover of the meganobz in the form of the Aegis Defence Line, and kill 2 Nobz to plasma fire. The lascannon didn’t connect. They pass their leadership, which is just as well because among the casualties was the boss nob…

Still no sign of the Vendetta.

Ork Turn 3:

The bikers lose interest in the now immobilized Chimera, and start moving across the front of the fortress, tearing apart the Hellhound on the charge.

The Meganobz manage to get into assault range on the plasma veterans, and wipe the squad out.

To the Guardsmen's credit, at least nothing survives to be locked in combat. In this way I can still shoot them the next turn! (Still though, ow.) — To the Guardsmen’s credit, at least nothing survives to be locked in combat. In this way I can still shoot them the next turn! (Still though, ow.)

The Deff Dread on the right charges and puts 2 hullpoints of damage on the Chimera there. Some poor rolling led to only 2 hits out of the 5 attacks total on the charge. This Chimera is stunned though, and its passengers are snap-firing next turn.

Deff Dread trips on the way to the Chimera, stunning the crew.

Astra Turn 3:

Vendetta arrives, streaking across the width of the Board before knocking out the Deff Dread.

Unable to fully bring his weapons to bear, Pask swivels his turret around and lays into the Bikers, killing 3-4 of them. The MBT also finds home, killing a few more. The damage could have easily been much worse, but Jinking at 2+ is filthy, given the USR that the Warboss took as part of the narrative campaign!

One of the meganobz is vaporized via meltagun (ignoring cover) from the back hatch, but the Nobz once again pass their morale check.

The Wyvern continues to pound the fortifications, killing another 7 orkz near the objectives. 2 more die as the Nob maintains order in his unit.

Things are looking grim for the Guard. The Vendetta and the right flank remain mobile, while the left flank has been destroyed and things don’t look good for the centre.

Ork Turn 4:

The bikers continue their rampage through mid-field, destroying Pask and the accompanying Russ, who had not been able to distance himself from Pask in order to abandon him. In fact, both tanks were immobilized… sigh.

Similarly, the Meganobz opened up the CCS’s transport like a tin-can. The Command Squad bails out the back, but are pinned. They’re essentially doomed.

Astra Turn 5:

The Vendetta circles around the back of the fortress, not yet ready to deploy the Platoon Command Squad to the battlements below, which is still crawling with Orkz. The Wyvern continues to blaze away, killing another 7 in the barrage and leaving a confused Nob and 2 boyz by the end of the turn.

The Chimera on the right flank, no longer stunned, kicks it into gear and defuses the first explosive at the fortress’s right side. The centre and left sides remain, but quite a few orkz remain in those locations.

The Sentinels attempt run interference, but fail to charge the bikers over difficult terrain.

In an effort to appeal to the Orkz bloodlust and draw them away from the fortress, the Veterans in the immobilized Chimera on the left flank commit themselves to martyrdom, leaving their transport and running head long at the ork lines.

The chimera's engineer disarms the first of three bombs, while the Vendetta flies overhead (we had to take it off its base to avoid a potential disaster with respect to gravity.). — The chimera’s engineer disarms the first of three bombs, while the Vendetta flies overhead (we had to take it off its base to avoid a potential disaster with respect to gravity.).

The way is clear to the remaining two objectives!

Ork Turn 5:

Col. Wishart falls under a storm of dakka. The bikes absolutely perforate the Company Command Squad.

Warboss Morgrim puts it to his opposite number, as his mob of bikers hold the trigger down longer than is probably healthy, turning the squad into a red mist. The way is clear for the Meganobz to attempt the charge on the Wyvern, which is located just beyond, but comes up just short on the charge. It will linger on the board, for now.

The traktor kannons force the Vendetta into evasive manoeuvres as it comes around the back corner of the fortress, but fail to connect.

The red foot mob, stunned that ‘umies would be willing to challenge the Orkz reputation at being the best at charging things headlong, utterly run the unit over, leaving no survivors. The unit will likely be martyred for their efforts.

While extremely good at killing, the mob has abandoned their post at the fortress, and may have left the door open…

Astra Turn 5:

The Chimera on the right flank advances through the remains of the Morkanaut, and disgorges the veterans into the battlements. On the opposite side, the Vendetta Gunship sets down, and the platoon command squad and engineers jump out.

The PCS, using 3 flamers and 1 heavy flamer burn the remaining orkz out of the battlements, as the veterans secure the middle objective, the Lieutenant secures the the left.

The veterans scale the battlements and disarm the central demolition charge.

The Platoon Command Squad leaps out of the Vendetta to flame the remaining orkz out of the battlements.

Explosives disarmed, but not willing to suffer further casualties, the Vendetta pilot clicks the “Bug Out” signal, requesting emergency evacuation for the remaining survivors. Smoke rounds from nearby artillery stations begin falling to cover the extraction.

From: Field Surgeon Krieger, Sanctus Reach
To: Field Marshall Paulus
Astropathic Link: Ulmar (the Incompetent)

Revived Patient Col. Wishart as requested for debrief. Patient Col. Wishart appeared lucid at time of statement, despite suffering 7 noted bullet wounds. It is not clear how he survived the extraction. Recommend further medical examination.

Patient issued following statement pertaining to engagement understood to have occurred at dawn.

Mission required removal of explosives from high value facility understood to have been recently captured. Ork presence anticipated per advanced scouting was nominal, Ork demolition crew present at time of opening salvo.

Ork response cunning, yet brutal. Fast response units held in reserve. Likely a trap? Suffered heavy losses, but objectives complete.

1st Platoon Veterans achieved martyrdom distracting demolition crews, allowing Vendetta 053 to deploy Field Engineers to safely dispose of explosives.

Called for emergency extraction. 13th Air Cav scooped up what they could, left the rest.

Patient sedated for further repair work. Will advise when lucid once more.

The Emperor Protects.

Hola!

In case you were curious about the (almost) 2 weeks of radio silence, I was out of town for a short-term mission to Roatan, Honduras.

There are many broken families down there, which struggle with substance abuse, extreme poverty (sometimes resulting from aforementioned substance abuse), physical abuse, infidelity and all sorts of other problems. The health, education, and social assistance services leave much to be desired.

Our focus was providing support for families, day camps for children, teens, and workshops for men and women. Our work was strongly supported and largely facilitated by the local churches across the island.

We distributed school supplies, and visited local hospitals and a Children’s home, and set up a “Free Shop” where those in need can collect solid clothing with dignity, rather than scrounging through the trash.

I feel like in the two weeks we were there, we made a real impact, particularly with the kids. Most of what they see from people from Canada and the USA are drunken tourists climbing off the cruise-ships that arrive Wednesday and Thursday, and leave the same day.

I pray our group was able to set a positive example, to show that there is a lot of love in the world, and that they don’t have to look further than Jesus for proof.

My one regret is that we couldn’t stay longer, because there is SO much need down there. Having said this, my wife and I are thoroughly exhausted, and thankful to be home.

Abby dances at the women's conference towards the tail end of our trip. — Abby dances at the women’s conference towards the tail end of our trip.

TL;DR — I’m back, and will resume posting! Cheers all!

Month: August 2014

FIGHTAN Eldar!

Battle Report: Astra Militarum vs. Chaos Space Marines (1,500 pts)

Battle Report: Astra Militarum vs. Orkz (1,750 pts)

This is what 1,750 points looks like…

Sooo… This is happening…

List Building: Infantry Heavy vs. Eldar & Dark Eldar

Back from Honduras!