Monday, April 28, 2008

Crimson Clovers vs Noteef's Orks

Since the last battle against John's Space Marines and having recently started reading the Horus Heresy novels, I was itching to play my Space Marines.

I found the time to travel out to my friend Dan's (AKA Boss Noteef) and take on his Orks in an 1850 point battle. I used my current 1850 point list.

He had a Warboss and a Big Mek with a Force Field leading the army. A large unit of Tankbustas and Mega-Armoured Nobz in a Trukk as Elites. 'Ard Boyz in a Trukk, 20 strong Ork mobs (x3) and a Deff Dread rounding out the Troops. A small unit of Stormboyz and a squadron of 3 Warbuggys with Twin-linked Rokkits. For Heavy Support there was a Battlewagon with 4 Big Shootas and a Kannon and a unit of 3 Killa Kans and another unit of 2 Killa Kans all with Big Shootas.

I won a Strategy Rating roll-off and elected to play a straight up Seek and Destroy mission as I didn't fancy my chances of holding objectives against the Ork horde. All our missions are Gamma level as Alpha is just too boring and Escalation is just too retarded.

I had my army split into two factions, but not too spread out as that's not the way to fight a horde. My Devastators and the melta-gun combat squad were my furthest units on my right, holding down a large building ruin that was slightly to the right of center of the battlefield. They were supported by an Attack Bike and the HB Razorback with the Dreadnought lurking between two buildings nearby. This group faced down 5 Killa Kans and 20 Boyz, all protected by the Big Mek.

Everything else was deployed on my left side of the battle field... the Twin Las Razorbacks and missile launcher combat squad in the far left corner had a good field of fire.


TURNS 1-2
Dan won the dice roll and took first turn. He shot a ton of Big Shootas at my marines and scored several hits but had piss poor rolls to wound and no marines were taken out of the fight on the first turn. Much the same happened in turn 2 but a few casualties were scored.

I concentrated fire on the Ork armour. The Warbuggy squadron was first to go as they were the most immediate ranged threat for my Crusader. I decided to also deal with the Killa Kans ASAP even if it meant directing Heavy Bolter fire meant for the Boyz at them. I succeeded in immobilizing 2 out of 3 Kanz. In Turn 2 the Battlewagon was Destroyed along with 6 or 7 Shoota Boyz that were being transported in it. I couldn't get a bead on the Trukks as Dan did well to keep them out of LoS behind the Battlewagon...

TURN 3
The Horde was bearing down but still out of Waaagh! range... the Trukks broke cover and fortunately for me the 'Ard Boy Trukk immobilized itself in a large crater (gotta take that Reinforced Ram), but the MANz Trukk with the Warboss in tow pulled in close against a large building, threatening to rip apart my army next turn if something wasn't done... Dan continued with some interesting rolls... scoring 8 rokkit hits out of 12(!!!) with his Tankbustas but then failing to roll a 6 to score any glancing damage on it...

I didn't want to commit the Anointed (AKA Death Company) to combat so soon but had no choice. The Land Raider Crusader lurched forward and all but annihilated the remaining Shoota Boyz as they pulled themselves from the wrecked heap of their Battlewagon... the Anointed were then disgorged with the intent on charging the Tankbustas. But my plasma squad that had been moving across the roof of the large building peered over the edge and saw the MANz Trukk below... waiting to pounce. I scored 3 bolter hits and a plasma hit. All 3 bolter hits then proceeded to glance (yes three 6s, life isn't fair) and the Trukk was destroyed dumping the MANz out in charge range of the Anointed who along with the Chaplain and Librarian wiped out all the MANz in their kill zone... leaving only the Boss and a single MAN who despite the carnage did not flee.


TURN 4
The Orks surge forward with a mighty Waaagh! and engage the Marines on multiple fronts:

The Anointed get charged by one of the mobs of Slugga Boyz and the Deff Dread. The Librarian struck first and used his Force Weapon to slay the Warboss with a single blow! The Chaplain with his Krak Grenades and the Anointed with their rending rage failed to bring down the final MAN or the Deff Dread who clobbered the Librarian in vengeance. The Power Klaw Nob killed 2 marines and the Orks won combat. The Fearless marines failed a No Retreat! armour save and a battle brother was swallowed up by the green tide.


The Tankbustas assault the Land Raider Crusader and attach 6 Tankbusta bombz to the hull of the Crusader but only 1 succeeds in breaking through the armour and Stunning the mighty vehicle...

The Stormboyz and 'Ard Boyz engaged in a joint venture in shredding the Rhino to bits... trapping 4 Marines inside while the other 6 manage to stumble out of the back ramp.

The other mob of Slugga Boyz surge forward to engage the marine Dreadnought by literal millimeters but are not able to get the Power Klawed Nob into the fight just yet as the Dreadnought squishes 2 boyz. Their numbers ensure the Slugga Boyz will be fighting for some time...


My Devastators destroy the squadron of 2 Killa Kans in spectacular fashion, both scoring penetrating 6s. The Razorbacks and Marines on the roof concentrate fire on the small but deadly unit of Stormboyz leaving only the Nob and a single Boy who turn tail and runz fer it.

Calling on the Power of the Machine Spirit the Stunned Crusader guns it directly forward a full 12", tank shocking the Tankbustas who are Fearless with their numbers... 1 Tankbusta is ran over by the massive machine in the ulitmate attempt of Death or Glory Hogging as yet another Tankbusta bomb fails to harm the Land Raider... My Attack Bike attempts to buy time for the Crusader to recover and charges headlong into the Mob of Tankbustas killing one and suffering a wound leaving the combat a stale mate...

The Chaplain and Anointed fail again to hurt the Deff Dread in combat. The Deff Dread whiffs against the Chaplain scoring only a single hit which is deflected by the Chaplain's Rosarius. 2 more marines are killed by Power Klaw and the Orks win the combat again, dragging down another Fearless marine.


The combat against the marine Dreadnought sees 2 more Boyz crushed but is immobilized by the Nobz Power Klaw as the fight continues...


TURN 5
Impatient from the fact that the Mek has failed to fix the 2 immobilized Kans the mobile Kan leaves the unit to engage the melta gun combat squad closing in and squishes a marine bringing them uder half strength, but the Sergeant destroys the maching with his Power Klaw and closes in on the Big Mek...

The Chaplain and final Anointed fall to the Deff Dread and sea of Boyz, which sees the lone MAN consolidating onto the roof, engaging the plasma gun squad of marines while the Attack Bike and Tankbustas remain engaged. The 'Ard Boyz assault the remains of the Rhino Tactical squad pulling themselves out of the wreckage. Power Klaws and Fists send body parts flying in all directions... the Orks win the combat causing the Sergeant and a single brother to flee from the combat in an attempt to regroup.

The Tactical squad remnants continue to fall back as the 'Ard Boyz are within 6" but they stop inches from the table edge as the 'Ard Boyz are sent fleeing in the shooting phase from casualties inflicted by a Razorback and the missile laucher combat squad.

The Crusader turns aroud and brings it's weapons to bare on the Deff Dread but fails to inflict any damage to the ork war machine. One of the Razorbacks targets it and scores a glancing hit with it's twin-linked lascannon which destoys it with a glancing 6.

The MAN in combat on the roof succeeds in krumping a single marine before he himself is brought down by the sergeants Power Fist.

The melta gun combat squad which is down to the marine with the melta gun and the sergeant pummel the hapless Big Mek in combat while the Power Klaw Nob fails to hit the marine Dreadnought with any attacks as the ancient warrior crushes 2 more of his boyz.


TURN 6
The Slugga Boyz turn to face the Crusader to assault it and succeed in tearing off the Hurricane Bolters with 2 glancing hits from the Nobz Klaw. The Tankbustas are able to finally drag down the Attack Bike as the other unit of Slugga Boyz continue their futility and are only able to Shake the marine Dreadnought.

The final 2 Marines of the Rhino squad are able to immediately rally thanks to the ATSKNF rule and concentrated fire from them, the Razorbacks, the plasma gun squad on the roof, and missile launcher combat squad massacres the Tanbustas to an ork.

The HB Razorback and other Attack Bike which had moved into position to engage the unit of Sluggas assailing the Crusader all open fire and are able to bring the unit of Slugga Boyz assailing the Crusader below half.

In the final assault phase the Power Klaw Nob succeeds in detroying the marine Dreadnoughts close combat weapon but not before 2 more Boyz are pulped, bringing that unit under half strength also.

The Orks are left with only 2 squads of Slugga Boyz under half strength at the end of the game.

Thoughts: Well, the Emperor definately blessed the Land Raider Crusader in this game and in the end it was it's extreme luck that helped me win by as much as I did. Dan hit a lot with shooting but could not wound and what few times he actually penetrated any armour couldn't roll high on the damage tables. He also had some truly horrid rolls to hit with his Power Klaws. Seriously, the Land Raider Crusader should have probably been destroyed or crippled the turn 8 rokkits hit it, and if not then, then when 7 Tankbustas bombz detonated on it... but the machine would not die! Not to mention the marine Dreadnought which withstood 5 rounds of combat with the Power Klawed Nob! Things like that aren't supposed to happen but it did and I was able to stall the orks in combat and pick them apart. Thanks to the glorious sacrifice of my Heroes, Anointed and Attack Bike. These brave brother's actions will be recorded with honours in the Hall of Heroes. For the Emperor!

Space Marines

Like so many Warhammer 40,000 gamers it was the Space Marines that drew me in back in the day. The first thing I bought was the 1st edition box set of 30 plastic Space Marines. These came with Ultramarine transfers and so I painted them appropriately. Shorty after that I remember reading a battle report between Blood Angels and Eldar in an issue of White Dwarf. Inspired, I bought the pewter box set of Death Company but I ended up trading them for some long forgotten models... orks of some variety more then likely.

It's funny how Space Marine models seem to come into your possession easily even if you don't intend on starting an army of them as by the time 2nd edition came out I was in full Orky swing... but I had amassed a decent sized Ultramarine army that saw action every now and then.

In 3rd edition I went on a mini-marine kick and re-structured/painted my Space Marines into a new chapter: Cobra Marines. With the color scheme and naming inspired by G.I. Joe's arch-enemy.

When the new 4th edition Space Marine codex came out I was determind to finally paint a complete force. My gaming group contained many Chaos armies and a demon-hunting Inquisitor Lord by the name of BeJesus had entered my army along with the Purity Above All trait to ensure my Space Marine chapter was free of the taint of Chaos. With a fresh red paint scheme the Crimson Clovers were born and death to the foes of the Imperium was dealt out, culminating in a 3-0 showing in a 1250pt local tournament.

When 5th edition was coming and a new Space Marine codex looming... I had been using the Blood Angel Codex .pdf to represent the Crimson Clover's in anticipation and had even used the Dark Angel codex a handful of times for S&G's. But when the 5th edition codex came out for Marines the options were nigh infinite and I re-named my chapter yet again... The Crimson Cobras were born who also went 3-0 in another 1250pt local tournament. Go marines!

Currently I have 3500pts of Space Marines and roll out Crimson Fist style every now and then with Pedro Kantor (my Chapter Master's name is Jaim Kreese).

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Battle vs Marines: 4-19-08

I pitted my current 1850pt ork army against my friend John's (AKA Boss Kong) Space Marines this past weekend.

He brought a Space Wolf inspired list but used the trait system in the Marine Codex to give certain Tactical squads Furious Charge and Counter Attack/True Grit. His list contained a suped up Captain, Deep-Striking Terminators, Dreadnought, 2 Razorbacks with 6 man Tactical ML/Flamer, the aforementioned traited-up Tactical squads, a Land Raider and a Devastator squad. All his Tactical squads were led by plasma pistol and power fist/weapon toting Vet. Sgts. it seemed too.

We played a Gamma level Cleanse mission. I won the dice roll for Deployment and First Turn and despite raining down 2 Ordnance Templates (the Killkannon Battlewagon moved 12" so the Tankbustas could shoot at the Land Raider, but they failed to do anything) and a slew of dakka... I succeeded in only killing a single Marine and crippling the Dreadnought.

John's shooting was equally dismal as only 3 Slugga Boyz died and a single Big Shoota was blown off the Deff Rollin' Battlewagon. It was a good day to be an AV14 vehicle as lascannon fire just bounced off the Battlewagons.

The 'Ard Boyz unloaded into the Marines lines and ended up taking out the two 6 man Tac squads, the Devastators, and chased down a Razorback detroying that in the furthest table corner over the course of the game. And they finished OVER half strength capturing that table quarter! Definate MVPs of the game.

I couldn't touch the Land Raider (which detroyed my Killkannon Battlewagon) through the first 4 turns (but I got it in Turn 5 when the Trukk Boy Nob and Gargunki finally caught it) and his Captain and one of the suped up Tac squads unloaded from it and slaughtered the Slugga Boyz for only 2 losses in return through 3 rounds of combat. Caught in the open half of them were then gunned down by the Lootas after a dismal roll of armour saves. The Marine Captain would get his revenge though... wading through a hail of fire to dispatch the Big Mek and then single handedly see off the Lootas.

The Terminators deep struck after the Lootas but deviated out of LoS and had to settle for gunning down half of the Shoota Boyz instead. The Shoota Boyz shot back and failed to do anything and then assault them much to John's surprise. After a good turn of combat I did 9 wounds (yay Furious charge) and John promptly rolled four 1's for armour saves and the last Terminator fled from combat... but as the Terminator fled he shot the remaining Shoota Boyz with his Assault Cannon and broke them! The Terminator subsequently rallied because of the ATSKNF rule but was gunned down by the fleeing Shoota Boyz who stopped just inches from the table edge... John had once again rolled a 1 on only two wounds from shooting...

The Marines were left with only their heroic Captain on his last wound at the end of the game... The Orks had won a decisive victory.

Thoughts: I can't remember the last time I've lost to Marines using Orks. Hopefully their new codex will help them out with points reductions and free traits like Counter Attack would help. Not everyone wants to use cookie cutter lists with Drop Pods, Min/Max Las/Plas and/or 'mech-out' with 3 Predators and Land Speeders to have a fighting chance with Marines and you shouldn't have too. John had a chance, but after losing 1st turn and not being able to take out the Battlewagon loaded with 'Ard Boyz it was an uphill battle from turn 2 on.

The traits were great and helped the Marines from completely folding in combat, but they are too expensive. While the Terminators were unlucky it wasn't like a 1 in a million chance what happened to them... they got bested by a unit that is exactly HALF their point cost...

Once John gets Waaagh! Kong Bundy in order I'll play him using my Marines and see how it goes...

Monday, April 21, 2008

2000pts: Orks

This list can and will change from time to time. My current krumpy list is as follows:

HQ: Warboss Gargunki (105 Pts)- Power Klaw, Shoota, Stikkbombs, 'Eavy Armour, Bosspole, Cybork Body.
HQ: Warboss Fridgechukka (115 Pts)- Power Klaw, Twin-Linked Shoota, Mega-Armour, Bosspole, Cybork Body.

Elite: 8 Burna Boyz (150 Pts)- Burnaz (x8), +2 Mekboyz- Kustom Mega Blasta (x2), Mek's Tools (x2).

Troops: 7 Nobz (313 Pts)- Choppa (x3), Slugga (x6), Big Choppa (x2), Power Klaw (x2), 'Eavy Armour (x7), Bosspole (x1), Waaagh! Banner (x1), +1 Painboy- 'Urty Syringe, Dok's Tools. Stikkbombz (x8).
transport: Trukk (45 Pts)- Big Shoota, Red Paint Job, Reinforced Ram.
Troops: 4 Mega-Nobz (180 Pts)- Shoota-Rokkit Combi (x3), Shoota-Skorcha Combi (x1).
transport: Trukk (45 Pts)- Big Shoota, Red Paint Job, Reinforced Ram.
Troops: 26 Boyz (217 Pts)- Shootas, Big Shoota (x2). +1 Boyz Nob- Power Klaw, Slugga, 'Eavy Armour, Bosspole.
Troops: 19 Boyz (185 Pts)- Choppa & Slugga, Rokkit Launcha (x2). +1 Boyz Nob- Power Klaw, Slugga, 'Eavy Armour, Bosspole.
Troops: 19 Boyz (185 Pts)- Choppa & Slugga, Rokkit Launcha (x2). +1 Boyz Nob- Power Klaw, Slugga, 'Eavy Armour, Bosspole.
Troops: 19 Boyz (185 Pts)- Choppa & Slugga, Rokkit Launcha (x2). +1 Boyz Nob- Power Klaw, Slugga, 'Eavy Armour, Bosspole.

Heavy Support: Battlewagon (145 Pts)- Kannon, Big Shoota (x1), Armour Plates, Deff Rolla, Grot Riggers, Red Paint Job.
Heavy Support: Battlewagon (130 Pts)- Kannon, Big Shoota (x2), Armour Plates, Reinforced Ram, Grot Riggers.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Boyz

No ork army is complete without a 20+ wound Nob with a Power K... err I mean... a solid core of boyz!

Load Out: I run my Slugga Boyz in mobz of 20 led by a Nob with a Power Klaw and boss pole. I find 30 slugga boyz in a mob a bit too unwieldly to maneuver on the table. In most games 2000 points and under I'll run with two mobs of 20 Slugga Boyz to form the main fighting core.

Back in the olden days when Flash Gitz were just Shoota Boyz with bigger gunz, I used orks with modified Shootas (Shootas with an extended barrel) to represent them. They were then painted blue because to an ork, blue is lucky and anything requiring a to hit roll of 5+ needs to be lucky. Since Flash Gitz are more Nob-like ala the Dawn of War video game in the latest codex, all my Shoota boyz got painted with the blue jump suits and were joined by my 'demoted' Flash Gitz.

I mainly use my Shoota Boyz in a large squad of 30 and they will usually sit on an objective which usually guarantees they will capture it. Such a large mob is very useful for area denial as well. They don't usually advance as much as the Slugga Boyz so a big mob is not that much of a problem to move about and in fact try to actually stay in cover if possible.

Vark's 'Ard Boyz

Vark Ded 'Ard leads his Boyz to battle.

In the old codex my 'Ard Boyz doubled as Trukk boyz. Over time, I painted their armour the same red as their Trukk to represent their armour being salvaged from bitz of former Trukks that had been blasted out from under them. While they didn't have 4+ saves as Trukk Boyz the armour did work to represent the old 'Bailin' Out' rule... So suffice to say I was pleased to see that 'Ard Boyz were cheaper and moved to a 0-1 Troop selection that had a Trukk option available to them in the new codex.

Load Out: Let's face it, 4+ armour saves don't help much against the myriad of ballistics available in the 41st millenium. But it does help in a trukk crash and deflecting hits in close combat. To this end you won't see my 'Ard Boyz slogging it across the battlefield. They will ALWAYS be transported, either in a Trukk or a Deff Rollin' Battlewagon. I prefer the Trukk though as the 4+ save in conjunction with the Ramshackle rule works quite well to ensure that even if the 'Ard Boyz trukk gets blasted they're still gonna be in good shape.

Fluff: Leading my 'Ard Boyz is the infamous Vark Ded 'Ard. Vark and Fridgechukka have a long standing rivalry in Gargunki's Waaagh! When Gargunki disappeared, the two engaged in a pit fight to determine the leader of the Waaagh! Vark eventually got the upper hand in the fight, but Fridgechukka's cybork body saved him from what was perceived as the final blow (a gruesome impaling via boss pole) allowing Fridgechukka time to recover and clobber Vark from behind as he gloated over what he thought was a fatal impaling.

Vark's contempt for Fridgechukka's leadership came to a head when he refused to come to the aid of his Warboss in the infamous Battle at da Kamp (where his 'Ard Boyz failed 6 straight activation rolls.)

Upon Gargunki's return, Vark still leads his boyz into the heart of the enemy lines determined to be the first to get stuck in. Such is the success of Vark and his shock troops that Gargunki himself has even been known to accompany Vark's 'Ard Boyz into the thick of fighting... an honour normally reserved for the Nobz of the Waaagh!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Tankbustas

The rokkit has been my speshul weapon of choice for quite sometime. In the old codex I would always field Tankbustas in games over 1250pts. Imagine my surprise when I found out I could have an entire unit of rokkit wielding orks in the new ork codex! Then imagine by dissappointment at one of the most retarded rules ever written: Glory Hogs! Thanks for making a Tankbusting unit where the most effective army to field them against has no tanks at all (Tyranids)! Epic rules fail.

Rant aside, I already had a Nob and 3 boyz with rokkits that I used with the old ork codex so I raided my bitz box for any spare rokkit I could find and simply added them to the sluggas of the other boyz in the unit and I had 10 boyz with rokkits ready to go!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Nobz


Nobz are the best unit in the Ork codex. With 'eavy armour or cybork bodies and Feel No Pain from a Painboy they are all but immune to regular weaponry. They can have a Waaagh! Banner which ups their WS to a 5 for dirt cheap. The average Nob with a slugga/choppa will be swinging 5 times on the charge with I4 and S5 from Furious Charge. Each one can also be armed differently to play the wound allocation game. They can be put in a Battlewagon as a dedicated transport or they can be put on Warbikes to make one of the most feared (albeit expensive) units in the game. And if that wasn't enough they can count as Troops if you field a Warboss. Is there seriously a reason not to include them in any ork army?

Lootas


When I read the rules for the Deffgun I knew exactly what my first project would be for updating my orks: Lootas! I had 4 Lootas converted with lascannons that were of one of my most favourite units in the old book, even though I only used 3 and fielded them as looted Guard lascannons, cuz a looted Marine lascannon was just waaaay too many points, but I digress...) I was very pleased to convert these 4 lascannon toting Lootas and add to them 2 boxes of Lootas I bought. Lootas are an awesome unit and a constant in my ork force from here on out.

Load Out: Deffguns, son. Perhaps rivaling the Rokkit as my favourite weapon in the orky arsenal. These guys give orks what they so desparately need... which is long range, high strength, heavy weapons, with a potential high rate of fire. The Deffgun is the ultimate in medium to light vehicle annihilation. Just point this unit at any Rhino, Dreadnought, Falcon, etc. ... and watch it die.

I field 12 so if they take a hit or two they have a good chance of not running away. I deploy them where they have the best field of fire with the best cover available, but I will try to keep them out of range of anything too nasty as the enemy will be trying to eliminate them early.

I don't add any Mekboyz to the unit as the Deffgun has a 48" range and Mek weaponry is half that. You'll notice that I do have a Mekboy in my unit, but he's carrying a big-ass gun just like the other boyz (2 in fact!). He built them all anyway right? So why not have one fer yerself?



Warphead Morbo Krunk

Morbo Krunk and his Minder 'bodyguards'! When the new ork codex came out I was extremely happy to see the return of the Weirdboy Warphead. This old Weirdboy model is one of my most favorite models of all time and I couldn't wait for the chance to field this guy again. New ork arms and a fresh paint job later and he's good to go!

Even though there are 3 orks on the base, 2 Minderz and the Weirdboy, it works well as one model with the 2 wound Warphead stats. Imagine the Minderz getting killed and Morbo Krunk running for it to prevent his head exploding! Classic!

1. Always take the Warphead upgrade, the ability to reroll the psychic power choice for the turn is well worth the points. I use my Warphead in a large unit of Slugga Boyz with Rokkits, that way no matter which psychic power is rolled it will be useful (barring the 'Eadbang of course!).

Shooting powers: If it's Frazzle, then shooting at high armour save troops is in order. If it's Zzap then any enemy armour in line of sight gets blasted. These types of psychic attacks go hand in hand with the boyz armed with Rokkits.

Other powers: Warpath, a +1 attack to a unit of charging Slugga Boyz? That potentially 100 S4 attacks from just 20 orks! 'Ere we go, a huge mob of orks just appeared anywhere you want on the board, and there are also Battlewagons and Trukks baring down on the enemy, what's the enemy gonna do? Shit themselves thats what (just look out for template weapons). Waaagh!, nothing wrong with getting closer to the enemy, also makes first turn assaults possible for transported boyz (though you'd have to be lucky and possibly psychic yourself to pull that off).

The Warphead is great fun to use. Not exactly reliable... but that's what makes him so useful... as no one knows what this guy is gonna do, making it impossible for your opponent to defend against him!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Battle at Da Kamp

This is an older battle report, using the older Ork codex but it is an epic battle that needs to live forever on the inter-webs.

3 rival Warbosses get together to discuss duffing a common enemy but "talks" go horribly wrong and pretty soon the rival Warbosses and their armys are battling it out.

We used the rules as printed in White Dwarf #237 but altered it: We made our camp sizes an 18" radius from the camp center point instead of 12" (units 24" away from the enemy army and 18" from the friendly retinue was still followed). Also if it was your turn and your units weren't involved in close combat and the other 2 guys were, then they DID NOT fight in your assault phase. Scoring units were the usual kinds. We also thought that the amount of points left in your army at the end should maybe contribute to a final score but we didn't play it that way...

Mission: Keep your Warboss alive. Kill the other boyz. Bonuses for getting scoring units into a rival kamp and killing a rival boss with your boss.
Opponent: Them other boyz think they're better then you. Get 'em!

Lists:
Boss Noteef (Dan):
slugga/choppa, cybork body.
5 Nobz- 3 power klaw/choppa, 2 slugga/choppa.
Trukk -big shoota.

16 'Ard Boyz- 3 big shootas.
20 Sluggas- 3 big shootas.
18 Shootas- 3 big shootas. Nob- big shoota, choppa.
10 Burna Boyz- 4 burnas, +1 Mekboy- burna, toolz.
10 Tankbustas- 3 rokkits.
2 Wartrakks- twin-linked rokkits.
Dreadnought- 2 big shootas, armour plates.
3 Killa Kans- 3 big shootas, armour plates.

Boss Kong Bundy (John): big shoota, choppa, big horns, 'eavy armour, bionik bonce, cybork body, attack squig.
6 Nobz- 3 Mega-Armour, 3 skorcha combis. 3 'eavy armour, 3 choppas, 2 big shootas, slugga.

14 'Ard Boyz- 2 big shootas, 1 rokkit. Nob- power klaw/slugga, big horns.
15 Sluggas- 3 rokkits. Nob- slugga/choppa, iron gob.
15 Shootas- 3 big shootas. Nob- big shoota, choppa, big horns, 'eavy armour.
5 Warbikes. Nob Warbike- power klaw, 'eavy armour.
Looted Leman Russ- hull lascannon, sponson heavy bolters, armour plates, grot riggers.
2 Killa Kans- big shootas, armour plates.


Waaagh! Kong Bundy



Boss Fridgechukka (me): Mega-Armour, kustom shoota, cybork body, iron gob.
5 Nobz- 2 Mega-Armour, 2 rokkit combis. 2 slugga/choppa, 2 'eavy armour. power klaw/slugga, cybork body.
+1 Mekboy- kustom force field, choppa.
+1 Mad Dok- slugga/choppa, dok's toolz, 2 grot orderlies.
Trukk- rokkit, red paint, armour plates, grot riggers.

11 'Ard Boyz- 2 big shootas, 1 rokkit. Nob- power klaw, slugga, big horns.
10 Flash Gitz- 4 big shootas, more dakka upgrade. Nob- big shoota, choppa, iron gob.
17 Shootas- 3 big shootas. 1 Nob- big shoota, choppa, boss pole.
6 Burna Boyz- 4 Burnas. Mekboy- kustom force field, slugga.
9 Trukk Boyz- 1 Rokkit. Nob- rokkit, power klaw, cybork body. Trukk- rokkit, grot riggers.
Battlewagon- Zzap gun, 2 twin-linked big shootas, red paint, armour plates, grot riggers, turbo boosta.

I decided on a fairly tooled up group as I figured any Warboss would show he's got da best well equiped ladz and toyz.

Waaagh! Fridgechukka



I won the deployment choice and chose a camp point at the far end of the table which I hoped would force the other two ork forces to fight it out more. I deployed my retinue as close to my camp as possible. Noteef deployed his retinue closer to the Kong Bundy camp forcing John to deploy decidely far away from his camp and very close to Noteef's camp...

Deployment



Diplomatik like



TURN 1
Fridgechukka: I got turn 1 and succeeded in only activating my Flash Gitz who shot down 2 of Noteef's unarmoured retinue. Boss Fridgechukka and company moved a hefty 2" and promply rolled snake eyes on the charge into Kong Bundy's retinue... obviously wanting to still "talk" things over... With those putrid dice rolls I knew the gig was up for Fridgechukka...

Noteef: Activated only the Shoota Boyz who did nothing. Boss Noteef mounted up on the Trukk and sped away leaving the other bosses to duke it out.

Noteef buggin' out



Kong Bundy: Activated his Shoota Boyz who failed to damage the fleeing Noteef's trukk. Kong Bundy's retinue unleased Skorcha death into Fridgechukka and Co. and charged in. Mass power klaw krumpage saw Boss Kong Bundy and 1 remaining slugga/choppa Nob square off against Fridgechukka who held his ground.



All Bosses still alive after turn 1!




TURN 2
Noteef: Activates only the 'Ard Boyz. Shoots a few of Kong Bundy's Shoota boyz. Noteef turns the trukk around and charges both bosses! Da big boss scrum! Noteef vs Kong Bundy. Noteef does 2 wounds. Kong Bundy does 1. Fridgechukka attacks at Initiative against the lone Nob with Power Klaw against him and wounds twice... but a 6 is rolled to save the git and Frigdechukka is brought low by Noteef's Power Klawed Nob. Noteef wins the combat and Kong Bundy is promptly ran down by Noteef and given a taste of boot levva... +250 Victory Points to Noteef.

Noteef comin' back... while Fridgechukka and Kong Bundy duke it out.




Fridgechukka: I activate only my Shoota boyz this time. The combined dakka of the Flash Gitz and Shootas gun down Noteef and the rest of his Nobz. Take that! My Trukk blows up Noteef's Trukk with a well placed rokkit.

Noteef faces da wall o' dakka.



Kong Bundy: 'Ard boyz, Warbikes, AND Looted Russ are activated... ruh roh. Bikes speed into the middle of the battlefield. My boss Trukk is blown up and several Flash Gitz and Shoota Boyz are blown to pieces by the Looted Russ. (Interesting target priority situation arose where Noteef's units were closer but more of my units were in range oddly enough... the warbikes got the shaft after John failed target priority and was forced to shoot a single warbike into the closest unit (Dan's 'Ardboyz) and I was spared the full horror of 5 twin-linked big shoota shots...)

No Bosses alive after turn 2!




TURN 3
Noteef: Activates Slugga Boyz and Killa Kans. Pushes army forward and shoots down a bike and a few more of Kong Bundy's boyz (enough to cause the Shoota Boyz to take a morale test, and fail a mob size roll with 10 orks! DOH!).

Kong Bundy: Fails to activate his final unit: Killa Kans. The Shoota Boyz rally. Warbikes turn a 180 and shoot Noteef's 'Ard Boyz who lose a few but hold their ground. However another battle cannon shell is bang on target and blows away more of my Flash Gitz (now under half) and a few more of my Shoota Boyz.

Fridgechukka: I activate only my Burna Boyz who are in my confused Battlewagon... and I decide to keep them in there despite my argument that the transport should be unconfused once an activated unit is in it... (I guess you really shouldn't roll for a transported unit but rather roll confusion for the transport itself). I shoot a lot into Kong Bundy's 'Ard Boyz (I still have 9 Big Shootas active) but John makes 7 straight 4+ saves. All I can do is shake my head at my misfortune.

TURN 4
Kong Bundy: Fails again to activate the Killa Kans. Da Kong Bundy boyz start to shift towards Noteef's horde who is slowly but surely closing in on Kong Bundy's camp. Shooting is ineffectual... Looted Russ missing Noteef's Killa Kans by a mile. Warbikes psycho blast into the 'Ard Boyz and kill all but 2 (who hold their ground with a big low roll of 3!).



Noteef: Tankbustas and Dreadnought are activated (Burna Boyz and Wartrakks still remain). Klan Noteef continues the advance on Kong Bundy's camp. The last 2 'Ard Boyz who refused to break holding the enemy Warbikes in place are aided by 3 charging Killa Kans who crushed the Warbikes and advanced 5" further... closer to Kong Bundy's line...

Kan's ready fer stompin'!



Fridgechukka: I activate my Battlewagon and Trukk boyz... YES! WAAAGH! Fridgechukka surges forward, toward camp Kong Bundy and much dakka is brought down on the 'Ard Boyz who are not as fortunate with their armour saves this time around...

'Ere we go!



TURN 5
Noteef: Activates the Burna Boyz but not the Wartrakks. Things are looking grim for da Kong Bundy boyz... caught in the middle and not getting any chance for a turn... Several of Kong Bundy's orks are shot down, though the Russ survives a Tankbustin' rokkit hit... and the Killa Kans charge into Kong Bundy's Sluggas killing even more who have no hope of damaging Noteef's Kans.

Noteef's boyz closin' in...



Fridgechukka: I fail to activate the 'Ard Boyz for the 5th straight turn... I position my army for a big 6th Turn push into camp Kong Bundy. My Burna Boyz disembark from the Battlewagon and torch the woods where Kong Bundy's 'Ard Boyz are hidin'... out of 14 rolls to wound on a 4+ I wound 3 times but more dakka is to be had and the Kong Bundy 'Ard boyz are reduced to 2 models but I fail to roll high enough to charge them into the woods... oh well... atleast I have an army still.



Kong Bundy: Killa Kans failed to activate even though they are in plain sight of a massive fight... After taking 4 straight turns of heat it was time for a little pay back for Kong Bundy's boyz. The few remaining orks shot up my Burna boyz... (I failed ALL Kustom Force Field saves), they broke but mobbed up with my Shoota Boyz. Looted Russ deviated wildly again and killed nothing. Noteef's Killa Kans reduced the Slugga boyz to a handful or orks in the Assault Phase.



TURN 6
Noteef: Activated the final Wartrakk unit who sped towards my camp. Noteef's tankbustas blew my Battlewagon to pieces, and the Kans finished off the Kong Bundy Slugga boyz and advanced further into the camp ahead of a very large number of Noteef orkoids...




Kong Bundy: Activates the Killa Kans at long last! They fail to hurt my Trukk Boy'z trukk with shooting and fail to roll high enough to assault the Trukk boyz in the palm trees. The Looted Russ deviates wildy for the third straight turn at Noteef's boyz...

John (Kong Bundy) rolls a 2 for Random Game Length and Da Big Fight is Over...

End Result
Victory to Klan Noteef!

Da Aftamaff
What a match! This is definately going to be remembered for a long time. Dan (Noteef) totally deserved the win after coming back with his Boss to fight it out, when most would have probably sped away and hid the whole game. But like a true ork he came back to get stuck in.

After rolling double 1's on the 1st turn charge attempt I knew that it wasn't in the dice for Fridgechukka to win this one and my luck was just out right bad. But not as bad as John (Kong Bundy) having to face 4 straight turns of getting whooped on... that really sucked for him. That and it appeared his battlecannon shells were afraid of hitting Noteef's orks but loved blowing mine to bits... what's up with that?

Anyway, it was a well played and tough fight all around. Very fun, and that's what it's all about.

We failed 6 straight confusion rolls needing an 8 or less on 2D6 to activate!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Final Waaagh! 3rd Edition Codex

All hail the 3rd edition Ork codex and it's 9+ years of glory!

The time has come for Waaagh! 3rd edition codex! For 9 years you have served well, but it is time to move on to... err... greener pastures. What more fitting way to say farewell then an 1850pt. Rouge Trader Tournament? This would be the first RTT for my foot sloggers in many many years. But I was determined to go out in style even if I only got 3 turns in...

This event took place in December of 2007.





My list
Warboss Fridgechukka -Mega-armour, cybork body, iron gob, kustom shoota (more dakka, shootier).

11 Flashgitz -kustom job: shootier, 4 big shootas. Nob -big shoota, iron gob.

21 Sluggas -3 rokkits. Nob -power klaw, rokkit, cybork body, iron gob.
14 Shootas -3 big shootas. Nob -big shoota, boss pole.
10 Tankbustas -3 rokkits. Nob -rokkit, big horns, 3 ammo runts.
10 Burna Boyz -4 Burnas. 1 Mek -kustom force field.
20+ grots. Slaver -rokkit, squig hound.

9 Trukkboyz. Nob -power klaw, big horns. Trukk -rokkit, red paint, grot riggers, armour plates.
Warbuggy -Skorcha.
Warbugy -twin-linked rokkit.

Looted Leman Russ -hull lascannon, grot riggers, armour plates.
Battlewagon -Zzap gun, 2 twin-linked big shootas, red paint, grot riggers, armour plates, turbo boosta.
7 Lootas -3 lascannons.

Fridgechukka the Mega-boss would be leading his horde one more time into the fray. He'd be hitching a ride with the Trukkboyz to get stuck-in ASAP. The Flashgitz are one of my most favorite units... they miss a lot, but I love the unit and I love rolling a ton of dice even if they don't ever hit. I brought a variety of boyz from the codex. The usual big mob of Slugga boyz, a Shoota boy unit to add to the wall of dakka from the Flash Gitz, the Burna Boyz to roll in the Battlewagon, the Tankbustas for well... tankbustin'... and of course the game winners... da grots 'o doom! That's 5 different Troop selections, too bad I don't own any Stikkbommaz! Also present was my infamous Big Red Trukk, my favorite buggys, and my good old faithful Battlewagon which has never left my side (points permitting) and the ubiquitous Looted Leman Russ. Also appearing would be my Lootas with lascannons! My Lootas are another unit that I love but would rarely see action due to ineffectiveness... but forget all that today. This list wasn't about being effective or optimized... it was about taking some of my favourite units to the battlefield one last time!


GAME 1
Mission: Alpha level. Loot Counters FTW.
Opponent: Eldar

Eldar List:
Farseer
Autarch
6 Banshees -Exarch. (mounted in Falcon)
6 Fire Dragons -Exarch. (mounted in Falcon)
2x 10 Dire Avengers -Exarch. (mounted in Waveserpents)
Wraithlord.
2x Falcons -All the trimmings.

There were 4 loot counters and 4 large building ruins, 1 in each table quadrant. The first thing I notice on all the tables is the serious lack of terrain. If not knowing the rules of the game/your army is my biggest pet peeve then having less then 25% terrain on the table is close behind. I think there was an issue in procuring enough terrain though so I won't gripe... too much :-P Also most of these pictures were taken by the event organizer.

I knew that I would have to be lucky to take out the Falcons or they would just zoom in and contest any loot counters they pleased and win the game with a last turn objective grab.

TURNS 1-2
Eldar win the roll for first turn but give it to me (yup, they plan to zoom in and do an objective grab FTW.) I roll double 1's for the grot's difficult terrain movement and it stalls my advance as I don't want to venture the boys out in the open just yet. Nearly everything is out of range to shoot and the Russ fails to wound the Wraithlord with a well placed Battle Cannon shot.

The Farseer rolls: 1,1,3 for it's psychic test and is insta-killed as his Ghosthelm fails to save his mind being krushed by Mork (sorry, but I had to laugh at that). The Trukk gets popped and the Battlewagon glancing 6ed.


I miss with just about every shot in turn 2 and get shot up some more.

TURNS 3-6
Disembarking and blade storming Dire Avengers exact their toll on the boyz but get krumped along with all the other Eldar infantry over time.
Megaboss Fridgechukka accounts for a squad of Dire Avengers and the Fire Dragons by himself!

With all the Eldar vehicle upgrades and fast movement the best I could ever do was stun the Falcons, then they would fly off and recover behind one of the large buildings. Then come back and blast me. Then get stunned again. Then Fly off again behind the area terrain. Rinse. Repeat. And claim 2 counters in the final turn.

The Wraithlord which took 2 wounds from Loota lascannons made 9 3+ saves(!) from massed Big Shoota fire over the course of the game to claim a third objective and victory for the Eldar as I only had my Russ claiming an objective.

The only other above half-strength unit was the Lootas as the majority of my force was blasted away by massed shuriken and twin-linked scatter lasers.

End Result
Eldar win 3-1 Loot Counters.

Da Aftamaff
The double 1's to start the game for the grot's movement set the tone for the game. My shooting was awful considering the volume of dice. And when I did damage the Falcons, one damage dice was always a 1 or 2 from the Holo-field rules. But that's the way it goes.


GAME 2
I was really excited when I found out that my next game was against the other ork player there. His army was absolutely stunning and every model but 1 was converted in some way he said. He had similar ideas with the final Waaagh! 3d Edition Codex. While my army was heavy on my favorite specialist units, his was heavy on the boyz. We used his Big Mek model as the Take and Hold objective as neither of our armys had one and you could just see two rival ork hordes fighting for the services on the Big Mek to make them the best weapons to beat the other boyz with! It should be an interesting match-up, though I knew we would probably not be able to finish the game...

Mission: Gamma level. Take and Hold.
Opponent: Orks

Ork List:
Megaboss.
Painboss -Cyborks.
Small unit of 'Ard Boyz.
2x Large units of Slugga Boyz.
Large unit of Shoota Boyz.
medium-sized unit of grots.
2x Trukkboyz units.
Looted Leman Russ.
3x Killa Kans.

TURN 1
The game was played on the same table as my last game. I got first turn. My opponent wanted to have our Looted Russes engage in a duel with each other but like a weedy git I opted to drop a pie plate on all that mass of boyz and unleash a torrent of dakka instead!

He promptly glancing 6ed my Looted Russ with his Looted Russ on the next turn haha, just.



TURN 2
I advance slowly and don't commit any forces yet as I try to whittle down his numbers with my superior dakka destroying a Trukk full of boyz baring down on my firebase. My Lootas blew his Looted Russ apart with uncanny accuracy. Ah... sweet, sweet revenge. While his horde continues to advance and trade barbs.

TURN 3
I advance and shoot more... the grots are practically on top of the objective now intending to be a future speed bump for a counter-charge. I assault his 'Ard Boyz with my Trukkboyz and there is no clear winner. Fridgechukka is on-board with the Burna Boyz in the Battlewagon... content to stay in it's safe confines and burn the other boyz down to a more manageable number...


Somewhere in my 3rd turn the time warning is announced and it looks like we're only going to get 3 turns in. I suggested we not even play our last game so we could finish this one... It was just starting to get interesting! He rushes everything forward, kills a few more things and charges his Trukkboy Nob (the last surviving memeber of the unit) into cover against my Shoota Boyz. I attack with 5 Orks and do no wounds... he attacks back with his power klaw and his 5 attacks hit and kill all 5 orks to end the game!



End Result
I had the lead in Victory Points by about 150 or so, so we just called it a draw.

Da Aftamaff
I could imagine both our Warbosses grabbing the Big Mek and pulling him apart in an over-zealous tug of war! It would have been nice to get the whole 6 turns in but with around 250 models to push around and talking a bunch about orks, there was just no way. Too bad, cuz I think my boyz could have pulled it out! But this was all in good fun and a draw is fitting.



GAME 3
Time for the final battle of 3rd edition! I was determined to go out in style (and win atleast one game!). I would be up against a familiar foe: Space Marines... with a twist: Daemonhunters.

Mission: Omega level. Recon.
Opponent: Space Marines with Daemonhunter allies.

Space Marine List:
Chief Librarian. -Storm of Wrath, Fury of the Ancients.
Inquisitor Lord -about a half dozen henchmen.
3x Dreadnaughts -various load outs. Atleast 1 was Venerable.
2x Daemonhosts.
2x 10 man Tactical squads in Rhinos.
1x 10 man Tactical squad on foot.
5 man Scout squad.
Landspeeder.
5 man Devastator squad.

I'm pretty sure you can't take Daemonhosts with Space Marines... oh well, the guy certainly wasn't looking for an edge so I didn't care. Also loaded with Elites, probably took some Marine trait to allow it.

Escalation was in full effect. I started with pretty much my entire army on the board while my opponent's Dreadnaughts, Rhinos, and LandSpeeders were not. Lucky me! We said that the small terrain pieces that dotted the middle of the board could not be shot through by infantry and were difficult terrain, this added a bit more strategy to deployment and movement then just line up, charge, and shoot.

TURN 1
My opponent's firepower is crippled by Escalation and only a handful of orks die in Turn 1. My first turn saw me concentrate on the Devastators and kill all but 1.


TURN 2
My opponent's Escalation rolls see only one 4+ roll for a Dreadnaught, again only a few orks die to shooting.

My Escalation rolls are a flurry of 4+ rolls getting me almost everything in reserve. The newly arrived Dreadnaught gets severely crippled from rokkit fire, the last Devastator is downed, as are the Scouts and a Daemonhost.

TURN 3
Again Escalation only gets a Rhino unit and another Dreadnaught. Casualties are still light and the ork horde is poised to overrun the poor Marines...

The Dreadnought that came on gets blasted apart, as does the Rhino carrying the Marines though none of them die in the crash, the final Daemonhost also gets unceremoniously gunned down. My dice are on fire, rolling a continous salvo of 5's and 6's.


TURN 4-6
The piece meal arrival of the Space Marine forces and my hot dice are too much. My orks steamroll to an easy victory. Highlights from the last few turns include: Fridgechukka krumping an entire Tactical Squad by himself. The grots wounding the Inquisitor on the last turn of the game!

The Marines are left with a wounded Librarian and Inquisitor, and just a handful of Marines from one of the Rhino squads. While I only lost over half the Tankbustas, all the Trukkboyz, and the Rokkit Buggy.

End Result
Orks win big.

Da Aftamaff
Well, what can I say? I've been on the receiving end of the old Escalation screw-over. It ain't pretty and my dice were plasma-hot. Where were they in my first game? My opponent was a really nice guy despite this pummeling and was not upset at all. Cheers to him.

I ended up going 1-1-1 and had a great time. I think the army performed better then the 1-1-1 record would indicate and I'm very pleased Fridgechukka personally got some good krumpin' in. Everyone I played was a top notch sportsman. Overall winner was a Tyranid 'stealer shock list I think and the Best Army went fittingly to my ork opponent from Game 2.

Way to go out on a high note boyz! Bring on the new codex!
 
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