Pootle here, running out my Harlequins against the new Ork codex, who will be roared on by Kraken to celebrate the start of Orktober.
Kill-A-Klown
The new Ork codex is going great guns out in meta land, apparently. Can I capitalise on that? Bluntly, I don't care so long as I can give the red noses a black eye.
This is a thousand points of Brute Bosses (warbosses get a chance fight on death) and Madcap Meks (mek guns get random bonuses and a lethal/sustained/hazardous strat). Very few extra whistles and bells beyond two very nice relics, and then a lot of angry Boyz to get the killing done.
1000 points, Brute Bosses and Madcap Meks, Purge the Foe disposition
- Warboss with Kombi-rokkit and Kustom Choppa, Surly as a Squiggoth (2+ gets up again after death), leading
- 10 Boyz, one of all specials and a Kombi-skorcha for the Nob
- Big Mek with Traktor Blasta, Power Klaw and Mekwaaaagh Mastermind (his unit is always riled up), leading
- 20 Boyz with two nobz, double special weapons of all calibres
- 5 Nobz, 2 with kustom choppas, three with kustom krumpas, riding about in a
- Trukk, rokkit launcha and grabbin' klaw
- 3 Warnikers
- Deff Dred, extra klaw and scorcha
- Mek Gun, Smasha Gun
- 10 Gretchin to make up numbers
- Dats everythin'
Masque of the Red, Yellow, Blue, Green and Purple Death
- Troupe Master with Key of Ghosts enhancement (gives unit 6" Scout move), leading Troupe of 5 Harlequins
- Troupe Master leading Troupe of 5 Harlequins
- Troupe Master leading Troupe of 5 Harlequins
- 2 Skyweaver Jetbikes with Haywire Cannon and Zephyrglaives
- 2 Skyweaver Jetbikes with Haywire Cannon and Zephyrglaives
- Wraithlord with 2x Brightlances and Ghostglaive
- Starweaver with 2x Shuriken Cannon
- Wave Serpent with Twin Brightlance and Shuriken Cannon
Serpent's Brood detachment, 1,000 points
This list has a distressingly small footprint compared to the Orks and I'm acutely aware that although even a small Troupe can hit like a fast-moving scalpel, I've a lot of models with T3 and 1 wound. Almost everything (not the Dreadnought) has a 4+ invuln however and I can dance around like nobody's business. My plan is to pretty much ignore the mission to start with and try to focus on specific parts of the Ork army to kill. I definitely don't have the numbers to throw units forwards to be killed.
The Serpent's Brood detachment gives the Jetbikes and Starweaver Sustained Hits 1 (and also Sustained Hits 1 to any Troupe that's disembarked from a transport that turn). The Jetbikes have a nasty combo on their Haywire Cannon: Anti-Vehicle 4+ and Devastating Wounds with damage 3 so they can chew through vehicles.
Mission and Deployment
Both of us are playing Purge the Foe detachments, so that gives the appropriately-named Meatgrinder mission. This awards each side 4VPs if we hold an objective outside our deployment zone in our command phase, another 5VPs if we hold the enemy's home objective at the end of turns 2 onwards, 3VPs for killing an enemy unit each turn, and another 5VPs if we kill more than the enemy did the previous turn.
the Trukk with the Nobz goes in the middle with the Warboss and his lads,
The Gretchin cower in a ruin at the back right and the Deff Dred heads up the Big Mek's unit in the centre right. There is a plan: it's romp forwards and kill stuff.
The other two Troupes are both in the Wave Serpent, lurking in the centre of my deployment zone. They're supported by one of the Jetbike units.
The other Jetbikes and the Dreadnought are on my left flank.
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| I managed to get the map image upside down in our mapper. Luckily it doesn't really make any difference on a GW layout! |
I roll a 5 to determine who goes first, but luckily (for me) Kraken beats that with a 6. These days I don't think anyone wants to go first!
Orks: turn 1
If I have to go first, I may as well try and be kunnin' about it. Everyone who wants a scrap advances forwards and takes cover in the ruins ahead, staging for my next turn.
It's not a bad set of objectives for doing just that with. Centre ground is a relatively easy ask for next turn, I reckon, or for later if the Harlequins commit to a rush, and I can probably score Burden of Trust for the max.
With that in mind, the Gretchin start scoring it at the back, safe inside their ruin.
The Deff Dred takes the nearest middle objective and trusts in cover and general toughness to stay alive, backed by the Big Mek just behind (and the Warboss behind them).
And the Warbikers take the expansion objective on the left while the Trukk goes and hides along the middle, maybe eyeing up a push for the enemy home base later on. I outnumber the Harlequins, so threatening them on all flanks seems like a reasonable plan even if it makes it easier for them to pick me off one by one. Pootle will have to commit somewhere, and I'm ready to hurt whatever gets that job.
Harlequins: turn 1
No such aggression (!) in the centre: the Wave Serpent retreats right to the board edge as the Jetbikes zip in front of it to target the Deff Dredd.
Unfortunately despite all the guns available (Dreadnought, Wave Serpent and four notionally anti-vehicle Haywire cannon on the Jetbikes) I can only take 4 four wounds off the Deff Dredd. That's a huge problem for me.
Orks: turn 2
Huge problem? My ears are burning!
There are no great targets to be Tempting here, and Pootle chooses the left expansion in the end. I think I actually left the warbikers on it to pick it up, according to the photo under this, so ignore that map! Given that that the Orks could reach any of the objectives, I thought I'd try to keep the Warbikers out of the fight for another turn and not encourage the big mob of Boyz to come and murder the Wraithlord on my own near-expansion objective.
The Trukk keeps trukking towards the enemy base, everything else beds down into the midfield ruins. Everything except the Deff Dred.
That gets a pat on the bum from the Warboss to rile it up, and then it chonks directly for the Harlequin bikes. They overwatch in vain, there's no stopping this thing. They were definitely going to die, but with Sustained Hits one lucky exploding six might just have brought it down. As my luck would have it though, no sixes for me at all.
Before it can connect, the Mek Gun pops out of cover and fries two of the bikes. That's not a bad start!
And then the Dred piles in, tagging the other bikes and the Wave Serpent. Now, a smart player would have wiped the bikes out here, but I'm not that - I get greedy and try and kill the transport. If I can do that, it leaves the Harlequins footslogging out of their own deployment zone with no terrifying buffs, and I'd like that very much!
Alas, the Dred has underestimated Wave Serpent armour, and barely knocks three wounds off it. All the same, it's in a happy place!
Harlequins: turn 2
New secondaries this turn are Defend Stronghold and Display of Might. Both of those will (again) be ignored for now as I've bigger (claw-armed) problems!
One of the Troupes disembarks from the Wave Serpent, ready to aim Fusion Pistols at the Deff Dredd.
Fortunately, the Wraithlord Dreadnought, who has come back from the near-expansion objective to help defend the Eldar lines, saves them the trouble as its Brightlances both penetrate the armour and destroy the walker.
Meanwhile the Jetbikes who had been in combat with the Dredd fall back in good order to hold the near-expansion that the Wraithlord had previously been holding.
I've a bigger problem in midfield: the 20-strong unit of Boyz! I can't run two Troupes towards it as Kraken will overwatch one of them (I can and do use an Eldar Agile Manouvre ability to protect one Troupe - the second Troupe from the Wave Serpent - from overwatch).
The unit on foot hurls Explosives at the Orks, killing three before shooting up about as many again (the 5+ invuln save really helping Kraken). Then the unit inside the Starweaver take advantage of it being Open-topped and fire their guns in, alongside the two Shuriken Cannon on the transport itself, causing more casualties.
When I charge in there's still half the unit left. Those blasted invulnerable saves mean they manage to kill all the remaining Boyz, but the 3-wound Nobz are a problem - there are still two Nobz and the Big Mek left to fight back. I ride my own invuln saves and they only manage to kill four, leaving the Troupe Master and the Troupe Leader alive.
Orks: turn 3
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| These all got saved for later, there were pointy ears to murder. |
Time to counterpunch with what I have left, and that's really only the Warboss and his boyz right now. Never mind, that should do!
The Gretchin caper about uselessly in the background as the Warbikers slide into cover by the cathedral.
Then it's clobbering time. The Mek Gun smashes the hover transport and the Harlies leap out backwards, trying to avoid being shot up by the Boyz. That leaves them visible to the Trukk instead, but it can't pick anything off.
Harlequins: turn 3
New orders are Assassinate and Display of Might. The second option is out (I really should have discarded for an extra CP but I forgot), but Assassinate should be doable in the future.
First up, my Jetbikes scream forwards to threaten the Grots defending the Orks' home objective. They can't see them to shoot but a good charge will enable them to engage.
The Wraithlord lumbers towards the big fight around the ruins in the centre (the map is wrong!). He lands a shot on the Trukk and reduces it to four wounds left.
Because the Trukk is injured, the Wave Serpent goes on to ram it using Crushing Impact. Unfortunately it only does two mortal wounds from this (though does go on to cause another in melee, leaving it on only a solitary wound).
Unfortunately the Troupe Master locked up with the Big Mek failed his battleshock, so he elects to stay in combat and try to ride his invulnerable save again. He manages to do this and then kills the Big Mek by himself, earning valuable Assassination VPs!
My Warlord passed his battleshock test and fell back from the melee around the chapel, pointing heroically back at the enemy.
This leaves the full-strength Troupe to dash forwards and shoot and charge the Ork Warlord's mob of Boyz.
My Jetbikes pulled off a long-bomb charge and hacked down six of the Gretchin.
The newly arrived Troupe tear through all the Boyz, but the Nob and Warlord are made of tougher stuff. However once again my invuln saves are on point and the Troupe Master just survives to fight on. That leaves me with a grand total of seven models at the end of the turn and still plenty of fight left in the Ork army...
Orks: turn 4
With so little left, I really want to focus on eliminating scoring options for the Harlequins. They've already done that to me, I reckon!
The Nobz are my last punchy unit. Leaping joyfully out of their ride, they head in to bale Bludteef out.
The Trukk isn't joyful, it's limping - it backs up to keep the possibility of tagging that objective open.
The Warbikers are also ready for their close-up - they have a go at a drive-by, but somehow entirely miss the injured Troupe Master. That's annoying, I wanted them piling forwards, but they'll have to try and kill him in melee instead.
The Mek Gun is out of juice, and blows a gasket instead of killing anything, and the Gretchin wisely run away from the jetbikes.
It's all sunshine after that, though!
The Warbikers very thoroughly pummel the dance elf into the floor, several times over.
And the Nobz do the same to the unit trying to pick off Bludteef, with enough spare to scratch the Wave Serpent a bit more too.
And that's it - party and bunting in the Cathdral, the job's nearly a good 'un! After a big early score, I'm slowing down a fair bit now. Got to hope I've done enough to keep my lead until the end.
Harlequins: turn 4
Secondaries this turn are Secure No Mans Land and No Prisoners.
The Wave Serpent stays locked up with the Nobz but takes a potshot at the Trukk and kills it, achieving Bring It Down, then the Wraithlord shoots and kills the enemy Warboss, though he turns out to be Surly as a Squiggoth and stands right back up again at the end of the phase.
My Warlord acrobatically leaps back into the fray, charging far enough to get into melee with the resurrected Warboss and slays him for a second time! I realised when writing this up that I think we entirely forgot the Brute Boss ability which would have allowed Bludteef to fight on death on a 3+; remembering that would've slain my warlord too, but guess it's far from unimaginable to think that Kraken rolled a 1 and didn't tell me.
The Wraithlord charges the Nobz, but only manages to kill one of them.
In the Ork back lines, my Jetbikes shoot and kill the Mek Gun (rolling exceptionally well - they'd have killed two uninjured guns) and then charge and finish off the Gretchin (the map has this happening next turn).
Considering I started the turn with only five models, I'm very impressed that I managed to kill five units (the Warboss twice, the Trukk, Gretchin and Mek Gun)! Stealing the enemy home objective means that I score a respectable 23 VPs in the turn. Can I turn this around?
Orks: turn 5
This is the flipside of getting to keep all your strats for later. Watching your flow slow to a dribble as your opponent romps relentlessly up the scoreboard is tense!
No lanky ghost is going to get away with blowing up the Nobz wheels. The Warbikers could easily off the enemy Warlord, but the sneaky git backflips down the cathedral stairs the moment they get close, so they settle for knocking a wound or two off the Wraithlord.
After that hefty broadside, they go piling in from behind and hack its knees out with axes. At the same time the Nobz smash the front of the Wave Serpent in, and I've left the Eldar with three surviving models. Surely that should thin his scoring out?
Harlequins: turn 5
My final objectives are Behind Enemy Lines and another I can't do. What I can do is Plunder the enemy's home objective with the Jetbikes and then sprint my warlord away from the Orks into their deployment zone to max out Behind Enemy Lines. That brings me another 19 VPs for the turn. Enough for a shock overturn of Kraken's game-long lead?
No, not quite...
Result: Orks win 83-71
Locker Room
That was great fun! The end result was very much closer than I'd dared to hope earlier in the game. By the end of turn three, when I was facing a 30 VP deficit, I'd pretty much given up and was playing for fun (which I definitely achieved). In situations like that I've found it's psychologically valuable to set little objectives of your own - like having your warlord kill the enemy warlord.
Never give up, I say, especially in this edition! It wasn't until the very last round I felt anything like safe, I've seen how easy it is to pull a massive underdog shift. Good stuff!
I was really impressed with the new Ork codex. The old Waaagh felt very overpowering for one turn only, but I definitely like how there are many ways to get Riled Up and feel the benefit of the 5+ invuln and the advance-and-charge mechanic.
Same here! Seeing the Orks lose steam as they got whittled down to a few choice scraps felt pretty narrative too. They seem to hit slightly less hard than last edition (in these detachments, anyway), but they certainly make up for it in sheer speed and gusto. Nice to see some love for Mek Guns, too!
Overall I'm really enjoying 11th edition. I like the way cover works, I like the way secondary objectives can be held over, I like the fast dice-rolling mechanic (though that didn't come up in this game), I like the mismatched but actually quite balanced missions (not today of course when we were playing a mirror match re missions). My only slight misgiving is on continued power creep, with many units becoming so powerful that they can and will blow away an opponent given half a chance, but that can be dealt with and it's been a factor pretty much forever.
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