Havin' Annuver Go At 'Em!

ULANOR Campaign - Battle 2

Mission Source:     Chapter Approved 2019

Mission:                  Crusade

Points:                    2000

Armies:                   Imperial Fists / Evil Sunz and Bad Moons

Having had his mobs utterly gutted in their last meeting, it had taken Warboss X some time to gather up a new warband. After reviewing the last battle, he had come up with a new plan...charge the enemy, but faster this time! That meant trukks! And a Battlewagon. 

And away we go!

Army Lists

Space Marines - Imperial Fists - 111 PL - 2000 points

Imperial Fists Battalion
HQ Chaplain Krysaor, Bolter, Crozius Arcanum, Rosarius, Catechism of Fire, Litany of Hate
HQ Chapter Master Hektor, Grav Pistol, Relic Blade, Iron Halo

T Tactical Squad - 5 Marines, Melta Bombs, Gravgun
T Tactical Squad - 5 Marines, Melta Bombs, Gravgun
T Tactical Squad - 5 Marines, Melta Bombs

EL Relic Deredeo Dreadnought, Anvillus AC, Twin Heavy Bolters, Aiolos Missiles
EL Venerable Dreadnought, Assault Cannon, Dreadnought CCW, Storm Bolter

Imperial Fists Spearhead
HQ Librarian Xenocrates, Bolt Pistol, Force Stave, Wrack & Ruin, Chasm, Smite
HQ Master of the Forge Dexomenon, Bolt Pistol, Power Axe, Servo-arm
       The Eye of Hypnoth <WARLORD>

Devastator Squad, 3 Heavy Bolters, Missile Launcher, Armorium Cherub
Land Raider Achilles, Quad Launcher, 2 Twin Multi-meltas
Land Raider Crusader, 2 Hurricane Bolters, Twin Assault Cannon, Multi-Melta, Storm Bolter
Predator, Twin Lascannon, 2 Heavy Bolters, Storm Bolter, Hunter Killer Missile
Predator, Twin Lascannon, 2 Heavy Bolters, Storm Bolter, Hunter Killer Missile
Thunderfire Cannon

Imperial Fists Mechanized Task Force

Orks - Evil Sunz/Bad Moonz - 108 PL - 2000 Points
Evil Sunz Battalion
HQ     Warboss Da Killa Klaw, Attack Squig, Kustom Shoota
HQ     Weirdboy, Da Jump

T        29 Slugga Boyz, Nob w/ PK, 3 Tankbusta bombs
T        29 Slugga Boyz, Nob w/ PK, 3 Tankbusta bombs
T        29 Slugga Boyz, Nob w/ PK, 3 Tankbusta bombs

EL     10 Nobz, 1 Power Klaw, 9 Big Choppas
EL     9 Nobz, 2 Power Klaws, 7 Big Choppas

HS     Battlewagon, Deff Rolla ( invisible kind )

DT     Trukk, Big Shoota
DT     Trukk, Big Shoota


Bad Moons Battalion
HQ     Big Mek in Mega Armour, Kustom Shoota, Kustom Force Field
HQ     Big Mek w/ Shokk Attack Gun

T        10 Gretchin
T        10 Gretchin
T        10 Gretchin

HS     15 Lootas w/ Deffgunz

The Bad Moons Battalion, except for the Battlewagon...

The Evil Sunz Battalion.

Ork Game Plan
Nobz go in the Trukks.
Big Meks and Lootas go in the Battlewagon.
Evil Sunz Boyz advance on foot.
Overwhelm enemy quickly with bodies, perform multiple "bad touches" to prevent Marine shooting and lock enemy units in close combat to prevent getting shot.
Win!

Pregame

Warlord Traits
Imperial Fists - Hand of Dorn: +D3 Command Points
Orks -              Brutal But Kunning: 

You can re-roll failed hit rolls for your warlord in the fight phase. In addition increase the damage characteristic of your warlords melee weapons by 1 if he finished a charge move or performed heroic intervention this turn.

Psyker Powers
Imperial Fists:     Chasm, Wrack and Ruin, Smite
Orks:                   Da Jump, Smite




Deployment
The six objectives were placed in a symmetrical pattern to ensure a fair start to the game.

The Imperial Fists won the roll off, and chose to be the Attacker. As the Attacker they had to deploy first. This let the Orks choose the deployment map and pick a deployment zone. They picked Spearhead Assault to give them a narrow front to work with, and let them deploy as close as possible to the enemy, and respond to how the Imperial Fists deployed.

Dreads ready to move into the central ruins, Land Raiders
holding the left flank, Predators holding the right flank, and
15 Marines defending the rear edge, preventing a Da Jump
into the Marine rear.

Better view of the 3 5 man Tactical squads.

Thunderfire Cannon sitting on an Objective (under that Marine).

Deployed opposite the two Land Raider variants.

90 Boyz, screened by 20 gretchin, with a Warboss and
Weirdboy ready to storm the central ruins. There are 10
Gretchin sitting on an objective just behind that wall on the left.

Seize the Initiative

The Orks fail to Seize, so the Imperial Fists kick things off with a bang.

Turn 1 - Imperial Fists

The Chaplain is not on the board, so no Litany.

Devastator Doctrine is active.

The Captain and Librarian are also embarked.

The armoured line moved forward trying to get as many guns in range as possible.

There's some Orks down there around that corner...

Deredeo stands on the objective while the Ven Dread moves
into the ruins.

The Thunderfire goes to work with its first volley...

...and throws its second volley into the blue orks, but the
gretchin soak up most of the damage. The Predators also
fired up this squad.

The Ailos missiles from the Deredeo finish off the gretchin.

Score
Imperial Fists - 1 (First Strike)
Orks - 0

Turn 1 - Orks

The Orks Advance almost everything. The Battlewagon just moves forward 10".

In the Psychic Phase, the Weirdboy manifests Da Jump and teleports a boyz unit to confront the two Predators.

Boyz flood the central ruins, eyeing the nearby objectives.

The Ork transports challenge the supremacy of their Imperial
counterparts.

Da best psyker power...

Throws these boyz over here.

The Lootas let loose twice...

...but only manage to strip half the wounds off the Crusader.

A random slugga round hits home.

A trukk, with Nobz still onboard, charges the Crusader.

The boyz get a 9 (on a re-roll) and charge in...

...then Pile In...

...and after doling out 7 W, they wrap and trap both Predators,
and they are in position to claim the objective just out of frame
in the lower right corner.

Score
Imperial Fists - 1 (First Strike)

Orks - 0

Turn 2 - Imperial Fists

Points are scored at the start of the turn.

Deredeo claims one objective.

Being Troops, I guess the Tac squad claims this objective.

Chaplain was not on the board at the start of the turn so no Litany.

Devastator Doctrine is active.

The Deredeo, Ven Dread and Thunderfire combine to wipe
out the rest of the mob that was lightly damaged in turn 1.

The Captain, Chaplain and Master of the Forge all dismount.

The Achilles doles out punishment to both trukks and the 
Battlewagon, but critically, doesn't actually kill anything.

Tactical Squad 3 charges in to help free up the Preds, but they
don't do much.

The Ven Dread also charged but can't contest the objective
to Troops.

The Boyz chop one of the Preds into scrap metal, damage
 the other and shift some boyz to deal with the Ven Dread.
(Blurry pic - sorry)

Score
Imperial Fists - 3 (First Strike, Claim 2 Obj)

Orks - 0

Turn 2 - Orks

Make or break turn for the Boyz. First, score some points.

Weirdboy ran back to claim the point the gretchin got
slaughtered on, but can't score it this turn. 

Boyz holding this objective.

One slugga boy is JUST inside 3" to claim this obj.

On to crumpin' stuff.

Nobz dismount, and go looking for an easy kill...

...they charge in...

...they Pile In, with the Nob looping around behind the Crusader,
yet staying more than an inch away...

...crush the squad with their Big Choppas, and then help
the trukk lock the Crusader in combat again.

Lootas in action again...

 

...and again they strip 8 W, but the Achilles has 19...

...so these Nobz and that Battlewagon are gonna help out.

The gretchin charged first to soak up the Overwatch. Then
the Battlewagon hit the Achilles with its Deffrolla, and then
the Nobz finished it off with their Big Choppas. And it didn't
even explode.

In the above pic, what you don't see on the board is the Librarian and Devastator squad that was in the Achilles when it got Wrecked. There was no where for them to disembark. Yep, kinda needed that firepower, methinks.

The Nobz then Consolidated into the Chaplain, who killed
 one of them for their impertinence.

The movement shenanigans are a vital part of playing Orks. If you don't fully take advantage of what the rules allow you to do, especially wrapping and trapping enemy units, you will struggle. This next series is a prime example of the maneuver when things go right.

One unit of boyz to work with (in the ruins)

The primary target here is the Deredeo and its gawd-awful bucket of shooting. Since it's in range of the Captain and the Master of the Forge, it would fire Overwatch hitting on 5+, re-rolling, and ignoring the Cover the Boyz are in (standing on yellow is in cover for infantry). So, not a prime choice to just charge into. Luckily, we have another unit to slingshot off of.

The unit the Orks want to lock in close combat, but would rather
avoid having to eat a lot of Overwatch fire.

Thankfully, this Ven Dread is nearby, and already in combat,
so no Overwatch.

The Orks only declare a charge against the Ven Dread, which can't Overwatch since it's already in close combat. They roll a 7, +1 for being Evil Sunz gives them 8" to work with.

One boy went and touched the Ven Dread, while 8" of charge
movement let the boyz double flank the Deredeo...

...the 3" Pile In lets them start to close the jaws, but still stay
1"+ away...

...and the Consolidate move snaps the trap shut after the
single boy ineffectively swung his choppa at the Ven Dread.

A major shooting threat has been tied up, and it didn't even get to fire Overwatch. That is one dead Deredeo, even if it doesn't know it yet.

On the other side of the table, the boyz finish off the last
Predator...

...losing one boy to the explosion, but it also killed two Marines...

...and they swarm onto the surviving members of the Tactical
squad, and the Ven Dread.

Score

Imperial Fists - 3 (First Strike, Claim 2 Obj)

Orks - 2 (Claim 2 Obj)

Summary

The Imperial Fists tapped here. Below is a pic that summarized why pretty clearly.

The Imperial Fists find themselves in a very unpleasant predicament.

And dont forget the Weirdboy...

Weirdboy on another Obj, with a trukk in position to help hold it next turn.

So, the IF find themselves, as a shooting army, with almost no shooting available. The only unit that isn't immediately threatened is the Thunderfire, but he only has a trukk and grots to shoot at. Granted, it will probably vlear the grots off that Obj, but it's just not enough.

These are some grim pictures.

The Chaplain can Fall Back, but there is nowhere safe to go
with his 6" of movement.

The Crusader will be locked until it dies, and that single Marine
won't last long.

While it is a tough kill with its 2+ armour, the Deredeo can't
extract itself from this tarpit.

After those three Marines die, all those Orks will be able to take
down the Ven Dread faster than it can deal with a mob of Orks.

Even though the score currently stands at 3-2 for the Imperial Fists, they are only going to score 1 point a turn, probably for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the Orks have the positioning to score at least 3 points a turn, and could even hit 5 a turn.

There you have it. When things go right, Orks are pretty strong. I guess you could say that about any army though. We'll see how things go next month in the rematch!

Until next time, happy gaming!