Ork-mented Reality: Orks vs Space Marines

'Ere We Go!

I, Pootle, am extremely keen to try out my newly modelled Warboss Bludteef in battle, as well as the Tempest of War card deck I've recently acquired. I, Stylus, hava volunteered to face them and picked a list from the Ultramarines.

Orks: Evil Sunz

• HQ: Warboss - Kombi-rokkit, Power Klaw, Warlord trait: Brutal but Kunnin; Relic: Super Cybork Body
• HQ: Weirdboy - Da Jump, Fists of Gork
• Troops: 10 Boyz - Slugga & Choppa, Nob with Power Klaw
• Troops: 10 Gretchin
• Troops: 10 Gretchin
• Elites: 4 Meganobz - 3 with 2 Killsaws, 1 with Kustom Shoota & Power Klaw
• Elites: Mek - Kustom Mega-Blasta
• Elites: Mek - Kustom Mega-Blasta
• Fast Attack: Megatrakk Scrapjet
• Fast Attack: 3 Warbikers - 2 with Choppas, Nob with Power Klaw
• Fast Attack: Warbuggy - Twin Big Shoota 
• Heavy Support: Deff Dread - 4 Dread Klaws; Specialist Mob: Big Krumpaz
• Heavy Support: Mek Gunz - Bubblechukka
• Dedicated Transport: Trukk - Kustom Job: Squig-hide Tyres

Battalion detachment: 998 points, 6CP

First name on the team sheet is Bludteef. This incarnation is magnetised (I'm really pleased with the update from the version I built in the early 90s - see this post for more) and I've chosen to use the basic version (no mega-armour, no attack squig) with Klaw and Komb-rokkit. He's got the Super Cybork Body relic because that's what he had back in Rogue Trader days, which these days gives him a 4++ and reduces incoming damage by 1. His warlord trait is quite tasty: in combat, after he's fought he gets an additional number of attacks equal to the number that didn't reach the "inflict damage" stage.

Bludteef is accompanied by a Weirdboy with Da Jump and Fists of Gork. The latter is to buff Bludteef some more - if cast a nearby character gets +2A at +2S (or even +3A at +3S if it was cast on an 11+).

Last time I played Orks I had quite a lot of Boyz, so this time I'm trying a different list. Only ten Boyz and a couple of units of Grots. The four Meganobz will be Bludteef's bodyguard, then I've got a faster moving units to make it feel like an Evil Sunz list: Warbikes, a Warbuggy, Megatrakk Scrapjet, Deff Dread (which is a Big Krumpa, so it gets a +1 to hit in combat) and a Trukk (for Bludteef and the Meganobz to ride around in).

Lastly I've a Bubblechukka, which is tremendously random and looks great fun - it has three profiles, but I randomly generate which profile it uses after selecting a target. There are also a pair of Meks with Kustom Mega-Blastas, who can kick out a fair amount of firepower, maybe sit on the occasional objective but are mostly there to accompany Bludteef in the Trukk so that if (when) it's destroyed I've some cheap troops to sacrifice to the inevitable ones for disembarking (just as long as I don't do what I did in this game and roll three ones out of four)

Ultramarines

• HQ: Captain - Chainsword, Jump pack, Master-crafted Boltgun; Warlord trait: The Imperium's Sword; Relic: The Teeth of Terra
• Troops: Tactical Squad - Sergeant Master-crafted Power Axe
• Fast Attack: Bike Squad - 3 Bikers with Chainswords, Attack Bike with Multi-melta
• Fast Attack: Land Speeder - Multi-melta
• Heavy Support: Land Raider Crusader
• Heavy Support: Whirlwind
• Flyer: Stormtalon Gunship - Twin Assault Cannon, Two Lascannons

Patrol detachment: 1,000 points, 5CP

I couldn't hold back from choosing the old school Whirlwind, and the list very quickly became fast and  mechanised after that. Bikers, Land Speeders, Stormtalon and a Land Raider with a bare bones tactical squad as my only boots on the ground.

The Land Raider is something of an indulgence at this scale - a Razorback would have been a more economical choice. I would like to say I had a cunning plan for it, but I think I was swayed by the old school charm.

And to cap it off: a Jump Captain with the Teeth of Terra and The Imperium's Sword - simple and classic.

Mission and deployment

I've not played the new(ish) Tempest of War cards out yet, so we're going to give them a whirl. I've a slight concern that the armies we have might not be best suited to this, but we'll see. 

I've set up a battlefield with plenty of LoS-blocking terrain but still lots of room for, in particular, a Land Raider to drive down streets, which should leave enough fire arcs for the marines to keep me honest.

The deployment will be Dawn of War and we place four objectives on the battlefield, one just in front of the Ork building to the north, one in the very centre of battlefield, one in the woods to the west and one in the woods in the south.

We draw the Vital Ground mission primary: from round two we get 3VPs for controlling the home objective, 4VPs for controlling at least one midfield objective, and 5VPs for controlling the opponent's objective. Additional VPs are scored each round for killing enemy units (up to 3 each round). 

The mission special rule we draw just halves the cost of putting units into strategic reserve, which isn’t going to be relevant today.

All my foot troops (and jump captain) stuff themselves into the Land Raider, which parks itself on my home objective. The Whirlwind tucks itself behind.

On the opposite flank, the Bikers hide behind one piece of terrain.

The Land Speeder also sneaks away in the extreme right flank, backed up by the StormTalon. I'm relying on my speed to redeploy to good positions - my first priority is staying alive if I have to face all that dakka!

I spend 2CP to put the Deff Dread into the Tellyporta, and decide to be bold and load Bludteef, the Meganobz, the Weirdboy and the two Meks into the Trukk and stick it front-and-centre in the woods on the frontline. 

I had thought about hiding behind one of the rocky outcrops, but figured that the Stormtalon can reach me anywhere and the Land Speeder and Bikes would probably be able to do the same if they really want to. If I get second turn and then find that Bludteef et al are stuck right at the back of the table that would be really annoying. At least this way any survivors would still be able to pile forwards in their turn. The Bubblechukka also sits in the wood on my home objective.

The Bikes, Warbuggy and Scrapjet all deploy on my left flank opposite Stylus's Bikes and Land Speeder; I was leaving the Scrapjet in particular to deploy where it could go up against the Land Speeder as it has a decent chance of killing it and it's probably the easiest-to-kill significant threat (in addition to its mobile Multi-melta, it can boost the Whirlwind with a +1 to hit). I stick a unit of Gretchin there too to try to have numbers to sit on the midfield objective.

The second unit of Grots and the Boyz deploy just right of centre, aiming to either swarm onto the central objective or pile all the way through towards Stylus's home objective.

I win the roll-off for first turn, so with a waaargh (not an official Waaargh! though), we're off...

Evil Sunz: Turn 1

My secondaries this turn are to Capture Enemy Outpost (capture Stylus's home objective), Bring It Down (destroy his Land Raider) and Extend Battle Lines (hold my home objective and capture at least one in no-man's-land). I decide to keep both the former as although I can't do them this turn, I am intending to push forwards as quickly as possible. The latter objective will be straightforward.

On my left the Bikes and Warbuggy hare off towards the objective in the wood. Both have plenty of move to get within range of it. I realise later that as the Bikes have a natural -1 to hit from their Cloud of Smoke ability, I should have put them outside and the Buggy inside but it's not a major issue.

The Gretchin on the left trot around the rock and head towards the midfield objective, whilst the Scrapjet trundles out from behind cover and aims its weaponry at the Land Speeder. I'm more successful than I'd expected (considering it's Ork shooting) and drop the Speeder down to just a brace of wounds.

On the right flank, the other Grots pick their way through the ruins, threatening to make a nuisance of themselves on Stylus' home objective later in the game...and if he wants to spend time shooting them, he's more than welcome!

The main threat though is the Trukkful of Orks trundling down the middle of the board and (just) getting within 3" of the central objective.

The Bubble Chukka takes a speculative shot at the Land Raider, but doesn't do any damage (wrong sort of bubbles).

Orks 5 : 0 Ultramarines

Ultramarines: Turn 1

I think I got away with it there, and now I'm going to have to lay down some hurt onto the Orks.

My objectives are Raise Banner and Capture Enemy Outpost (both of which I ditch at the end of my turn - I'm not getting out of my tank or across the field any time soon!). More usefully, I get Grind Them Down, so all I have to do is kill one Ork unit to outscore kill points.

With only a few wounds left, I send the Land Speeder on a suicide run against its nemesis, the Scrapjet. It does rather well, and obliterates it from the field.

The Bikers rev their engines and turn their attention on their opposite numbers. The bolters don't make much headway against the Ork Bikers, but I do put a dent into the Buggy, which the Whirlwind manages to finish off.

The Stormtalon soars across the field, with the intention of taking out Bludteef's transport. Its lascannons and assault cannons wipe out the Trukk, losing one of the Meks in the explosion.

As Bludteef as his retinue spill out, the Land Raider's guns open up on them. Sadly, all that dakka doesn't make much of an impression against that toughness and armour, and only one Meganob falls.

I score myself 5VP for Grind Them Down, and an extra 3VP for each unit destroyed. I'm beginning to feel like I've made a promising start.

Orks 5 : 8 Ultramarines

Evil Sunz: Turn 2

My new Secondary mission is Hold The Line (5VPs if there are no enemy units (excluding Aircraft) within 3" of my deployment zone at the end of Stylus's next turn). That could be doable if I can kill as much as I hope to. I still have to kill the Land Raider and take Stylus's home objective.

At the top of the turn, Bludteef calls the WAAAGH! This means everyone can advance and charge and will gain an extra attack in close combat. 

On my left the Warbikes drive out of the woods to leave a short charge in the Land Speeder if their Dakka Guns don't finish it off. The Gretchin nearby move to hold the objective - I may as well pop their guns at the Speeder as well but don't expect that to work... so imagine our surprise when Stylus manages to fail two saves and the Speeder falls to the Grots! I think the Bikers will be furious.

The Grots' success in shooting is particularly impressive considering that their diverse armament includes pogo sticks, bows & arrows, chainsaws and scarves; I explained to Stylus before the game that in my view the modelling is WYSIWIG, which explains why their shooting is normally so bad; I guess the couple of shotguns they do have are really powerful. Mind you, I'd hate to think what a pogo-stick thrown into an engine air intake would do...

Bludteef and the Meganobz sprint forwards towards the Land Raider, with the Weirdboy and Mek moving to occupy central objective. The Boyz get a massive advance (13" due to Evil Sunz boosts) and push forward to surround the Oddboyz in the middle.

The Deff Dread appears out of the Tellyporta and spends another 2CP on Ramming Speed (so it gets a 3D6" charge), which enables it to charge into the Bikes. Deff Dreads are now extremely scary in combat but even fluffing my dice rolls significantly I leave only the Sergeant and Attack Bike (on one wound) alive.

Bludteef and the Meganobz crash into the Land Raider (overwatch not having the effect Stylus hoped for) and the big tank doesn't stand a chance: I spend 2CP on Hit 'Em Harder to add one to the Meganobz Killsaws but it turns out that was unnecessary. One Tactical Marine succumbs to his wounds exiting the stricken vehicle.

After their monster advance, I realise that the Boyz only have an 8" charge into the Whirlwind - they make this and start dinging the tank. More importantly they have now stolen Stylus' home objective, achieving my other Secondary mission.

That was an extremely destructive turn and it's hard to see how Stylus can come back - but honour perhaps can be salvaged by killing Bludteef.

Orks 24 : 8 Ultramarines

Ultramarines: Turn 2

Yikes! I clearly underestimated how fast (and tough!) an Evil Sunz waaagh! was going to be. I'm lucky to have anything left on the field, and what objectives I draw don't really matter - I'm not getting objectives here. I just have to go for it, and if everything falls my way, I might just make a game (or a third turn!) from it.

What's left of the Bikers fall out of combat with the Deff Dread, using a stratagem to shoot and charge. Sadly, the multi-melta doesn't perform and the ork walker is left alive.

The Stormtalon hovers behind Bludteef and unloads into him - but to no avail. That rather scuppers my next bit of the plan, as I was counting on him being dead before my marines charge in!

Undaunted, the Tactical Squad runs into Bludteef, hoping to scrape off those last few wounds before he gets a chance to fight back, while the Captain hits the Meganobs alone.

Sadly, none of these attacks hit home and the boys in blue are quickly turned into paste. All that remains at the close of Turn 2 is the Whirlwind and the Stormtalon, wondering where it all went wrong.

Orks 27 : 8 Ultramarines

Victory to the Orks!

Locker Room

Well, that wasn't a great test of the Tempest of War deck: my battle plan of running forwards and killing the Marines wasn't really affected by the cards at all. I wonder whether at a 1,000 point level the increased deadliness of 9th edition these days means the objectives aren't as important and any mismatch in armies (for example if some well-meaning chap takes a Land Raider AND a Whirlwind in a list) can be punished. Maybe at 2,000 there are more boots on the ground to score objectives and more depth across the army to absorb losses; I've not played enough games at that level to really tell. I'll continue to try the Tempest cards out though as I did really love the way that a story often seemed to emerge from the randomness of the Maelstrom of War cards in 8th.

After a couple of games, I'm still not convinced by Tempest of War - I accept that it's a slightly more fun version of Tournament Play (but I'm a bit done with Tournament Play at the moment too), and it seems like it's the same story of moving into the centre to take and hold objectives. I remember the Maelstrom deck could throw out some really mad stuff that made for great play.

This is the third time I've played Orks vs Ultramarines and this is their first win (this game is an interesting mirror of their first outing). Bludteef's new incarnation was particularly impressive: the combo of warlord trait making him extremely killy with the relic giving him additional survivability is pretty nasty. And at only 100 points he's extremely good value.

In terms of tactics, I made something of a sow's ear of it. Not enough troops, no screen and too much dependency on the indomitability of my armour. Next time, if I bring speed, I should make better use of it (or just not try to out-speed a Speed Freaks army).

Nevertheless, thank you Stylus for the (brief) game; next time we'll try to sort a more balanced game out.