Da Orks advance

The time had finally come. The Mekboyz had been true to their word and the constructs were all operational. The main force would advance on the Forge on Saturday night and in the mean time Zakdakka lead some of Da Boyz into advance positions.

Over the last few weeks the Red Skulls had been building intelligence. This had been achieved by travelling the little known passes to get close to the Forge itself. Now Zagdakka was making use of this knowledge to get some of Da Boyz as close as possible before the main event begun.

The Heavy Support units would soon pound the Forge and obliterate it from the face of this planet. No fortifications would stand in the way of the Waaagh! 

The true prize lay beyond, the Mining Facility, and that would be next to fall.

Ork Lessons Learned

A few days have passed and I have had a chance to ponder the big battle on Sunday.

The plan had been simple enough Da Cunnin Plan "Shoot da choppy and chop da shooty" !

Did I keep to the plan? Zagdakka pondered .... while kicking back with his new Painboy 'drug dealer' beside his wheels ;-)

Well now - I treated the Obliterators as potential 'shooty & choppy'. I shot them with the right weapons Killkannon and Power Vomit but they made some saves and in the end my Warboss Zagdakka chopped 'em up. Relative success. They did some damage in between times though.

I attempted to 'chop the choppy' when I launched my Waaagh at the berserkers. That was stupid. I tried to 'chop the choppy'!! Not only that but I played the Orks with T3 not T4 and forget to use Furious Charge which would have added +1 to their Strength. I let my Boyz down badly there! and even worse, complained about how fragile they were - I owe them another chance to show me what they can do! Eventually I 'shot the choppy' using the Killkannon and that worked as I took out some of the Iron Fist HQ.

I 'chopped the shooty' when I attacked the Noise Marines with my HQ and that was very successful indeed. My error was that I should have recognised the peril I was in once they were dead. Charge multiple units should have been the tactic. Lesson learned for the future!! Assess the medium term risk.

My Mega Nobs and Warboss chopped up the Chaos Marines and made short work of them so I reckon that is another 'chop the shooty' success.

My 'shooty' Warbuggies and Tankbustas struggled to get in on the action. The Tankbustas took out a Rhino which provided me with much needed cover - a real result. I am liking those Bomb Squigs - they did the business. I think that the buggies need more numbers to be effective. BS2 is just very low even when the Rokkits are Twin-linked.

The Tankbustas fired out of the back of the their Trukk but they were as pin pricks really. They survived to the end only because they were never the number one threat. I played them poorly I reckon!

The survivors were few enough.

But 'enough' is the operative word here. I was fully committed to the objective. I was not distracted and played ultra aggressive!! It is the Ork way and despite my playing the Orks too soft we got there in the end. I liked my 1500 point Ork Army choice and on another day it would have played much differently.

The Dark Templar has reviewed his own performance, a little harshly I feel. It was a battle that was very much in the balance. He spanked me good and proper in the early rounds.

2500 points is the next outing and I am looking forward to it already.

1500 point Ork Army List - the battle plan

So I suppose we must start with the army list. What did Zagdakka take to capture the communications array?

HQ
1 x Warboss, Mega Armour, Lucky Stick, Boss Pole (Zagdrakka)
1 x Painboy
1 x Weird Boy, Psyker ('Eadcrumpa)
2 x Mek

Elites
3 x Mega Nobs, 3 x Kombi Scorchas, Trukk, Ram
7 x Tankbustas, Nob, Bosspole, £ x Bomb Squigs, Trukk, Ram

Troops
15 x Slugga Boys
18 x Slugga Boys, Nob, Power Klaw, Bosspole
20 x Slugga Boys, Nob, Power Klaw, Bosspole

Fast Attack
2 x Warbuggies with Rokkits
14 x Stormboyz, Nob, Power Klaw, Bosspole

Heavy Support
1 x Battlewagon, 4 x Rokkits, Kilkannon, Grot Riggers
3 x Mekgunz, 3 x Tractor Kannon, 3 Ammo Runts

Plan = Battlewagon contains the 15 Boyz, Painboy, Mek and Warboss. Mek number 2 is with the Mega Nobs.

Mekgunz would shoot the flyers.

Weirdboy would deploy depending on what skills he obtained, probably with the 20 boys.

Use the Battlewagon to shelter the 2 Trukks, march the boys up the board, use the Waaagh on turn 2, have the Stromboyz and Buggies arrive turn two. Chaos should ensue as we come at the Iron Fists from the front and rear. Simples. The footsloggers should arrive to mop up at the end.

Reality Check time.

There were no flyers.

We rolled for mission type etc and ended up playing short table edge to short table edge with the communications array right at the back of the board. In short a funnel with and extra 12"s of distance for me to travel. Nerves began to jingle.

I rolled for my Weirdboy and joy of joys Da Jump and Power Vomit! Giggling like a mad person I put the Weirdboy with the large group of 20 Slugga Boys and set them up at the back of the board well out of range, ready to Teleport behind enemy lines. None of that running malarky for my boyz!!

You see, Ghazghkull was right. 'Eadcrumpa had a 'special' purpose!! Ghazghkull knows everything. Never doubt the great one.

Below are the set-up positions. (Buggies and Stormboyz in reserve)

You can see what I mean about a funnel. The Iron Fists had purchased Tank Traps to stop my vehicles and then had Fortifications behind that. These were anchored with tanks on either end. The Fortifications were manned with Oblitorators and Noise Marines. Things looked very hot down there!

I got to go first and decided to go for it in a big way. I pushed everything forward and went for Da Jump straight away. I figured it would be amazing if it came off. I also checked my movement to allow the Killkannon to go for a big shot at the Oblitorators. Guess what - it worked!!!

I successfully teleported into position (no big scatter), then I successfully used Power Vomit against the Oblitorators, they lost one guy and made an unlikely save, I successfully used my Kilkannon against the Oblitorators and they successfully made an unlike save. What a start to the game. I was out of breath all ready.

But then I got spanked for being too ambitious. Unit wiped out to a man as I was surrounded and shot to pieces. At least they were not shooting at the advancing force.

My reserves arrived in turn 2.

But I was not close enough to support them and guess what I got shot to pieces. Again, at least they were not shooting at the advancing force.

Time for the Waaagh!!

I launched my footsloggers (the 'Ighlanders) at the Iron Warrior HQ on the Iron Warrior left.

And in my main thrust for glory, I pushed my HQ down the throat of the enemy. This was it - my time had come - or so I thought.

Noooo - the 'Ighlanders were cut to pieces first by shooting and then at the wrong end of the Initiative sequence. I only had three guys left to hit with. Dreadful.

My HQ advanced and cut down a 5 man unit and then I could not move into the next unit. I had to stand there to be shot at. This seemed so wrong.

So my 'Ighlanders were no more and a the end of the Iron Fists shooting I had 3 guys left in my HQ. The Warboss, the Painboy and one of the Slugga Boyz. Look how close I am to the communications array, but it seemed like those few feet might as well be a few miles.

Then the Obliterators and  2 Iron Fists units attacked in the Assault phase. Go Zagdakka - you can get there!!!

I looked like I was in trouble but up stepped 'Zagdakka the Unmerciful'. Utterly amazing!!

He saw off the Oblitorators and broke the morale of one of the Iron Fist units before finally seeing off the remaining unit. Then the Tankbustas arrived to get in the final act of the day - owning the communications array!

It was a great moment. The Painboy was invaluable. My Warboss was amazing. We had a real blast and a hugely enjoyable day.

The game has changed a lot!! Like a lot. There is much to muse on - but for today I would like to say a great big thank you to the Dark Tamplar for what was a fantastic Sunday. 40k - we salute you!!

Ork Warboss - decisions decisions

The Warboss

Is he back? Will he find his way into the new Ork armies? Lets take a look at him.

First off he is 60 points and has some decent stats WS5, S5, T5, W3, A4 and Ld 9.

He comes with Waaagh! Once per game announce the Waaagh and the entire army can Run and Charge in the same turn. A must have in the Ork army and there are limited ways to get it.

Then comes the gear options and they are wide ranging! He can take items from Ranged Weapons, Melee Weapons, Runts & Squigs, Orky Know-wots and Gifts of Gork and Mork. He can also take Mega Armour for 40 points!

So the issue is - do you keep him cheap and cheerful to get Waaagh or do you invest some points in a potential monster?

I used to play this guy and had him as cheap as I could and armed with a choppa and slugga so he fought in Initiative order. I surrounded him with a Nob squad and together they could dish out some punishment.

Mega Armour

I have been reading the rules and where there are multiple Toughnesses in the unit rolls are resolved using the majority 'T' value however this is not the case when it comes to making saves. So the 2+ save will apply for the mega armour making him very hard to kill.

Obviously you get the Power Klaw so hitting last in challenges.

The down side with Mega Armour is that it is Slow and Purposeful so no running for the entire unit. I guess they could go in a transport but .... lets see.

Lets look at the Gifts of Gork and Mork: -

10 pts - Da Finkin' Kap - generate another Warlord Trait - risky

35 pts - Warboss Gazbag's Blitzbike - A cool bike that turbo boosts 18" and come with dakkablasters R24", S6, AP3, Assault 3

25 pts - Da Lucky Stikk - all models in the unit gains +1WS. If the Warboss is in a large unit then this really is value for money. The Warboss can also choose to re-roll failed To Hit or To Wound or Saves (but if he fails 3 in one turn he is removed from play) Imagine being in Mega Armour with this rule. Very hard to kill.

20 pts - Headwopps's Killchoppa - S+2, AP5, Melee, Decapitating Strike, Rending, Two-handed. Decapitaing Death means any To Wound roll of a 6 is Instant Death. A bit risky I feel and not worth the points.

15 pts - Da Fixer Upperz - 50/50 chance to repair a vehicle. Not really the Warboss's job.

5 pts - Da Dead Shiny Shoota - R18", S4, AP6, Assault 6, Stray Shot, Twin-linked. Yes sir - that is Twinlinked, Assault 6. Sounds great but remember that the Warboss is BS2 and the weapon is AP6 so  everyone will be getting their full saves. It is cheap though.

The stand out candidate for me is Da Lucky Stikk. The Warboss gets re-rolls and the unit gets +1WS.

Orky Know-wots

5 pts - Boss Pole (BP) - every Nobs friend as you get to re-roll on the Mob Rule table. A must have!

5 pts - Cybork Body - a Feel No Pain save on a 6+. Well its cheap .....

5 pts - Gitfinda - if you stand still you get a BS3 - a waste of time I am thinking

25 pts - Warbike - self explanatory

I am confused after that because there are other items on the Orky Know-wots lists but no points value for them on page 53. Emmm.

After this there are all kinds of choices for weapons. Do we want him hitting in Initiative order? If so the single handed and assault weapons can be favoured. I am liking the idea of a S10, Power Klaw myself perhaps with some kinda kombi weapon.

There are some decisions to be made and maybe even take two Warbosses to double the Waaaghs. There could be a full Mega Armour monster and then a cheap as chips guy. Two Waaaghs could be devastating in a battle.