Invasion of Asmodean Prime (now on part 2!)

[doctorclockwork]

Mission 1 of my Orks vs. Ross's Space Wolves in our Planetstrike campaign. We played last Sunday at Triple Play. Enjoy!

1850pts, the lists:

Tony's Orks
Warboss with klaw, bosspole, eavy armor, squig, cybork
Big Mek with KFF, cybork, eavy armor, burna
10 Nobz with all the trimmings, cybork, painboy, 2 PKs in a Battlewagon with Deffrolla, rpj, plates, grot riggers, and a big shoota
19 Boyz with klaw bosspole Nob
20 Boyz with klaw bosspole Nob
24 Boyz with klaw bosspole Nob and 2 Big shootas (the foot boys)
13 Stormboyz with PK bosspole Nob
Deffkopta with rokkit
Deffkopta with rokkit
Deffkopta with rokkit and buzzsaw
2 Battlewagons with rpj, deffrolla, big shoota, plates, and riggers

Ross's Space Wolves
wolf priest in runic armor
(x5)ten grey hunters in rhino with 2 meltas
15 blood claws
land raider crusader with extra armor and multi-melta
(x2)6 long fangs, five rockets

MISSION 1- PLANETFALL



The defender sets up his Long Fang squads in the bastion, their trigger fingers ready to blow up some green skins.



Five rhinos surround the structure, with the Land Raider dead center to lead the formation. Before the sun rises, the sound of shrieking Ork Roks falling from the atmosphere rends the sky. The Space Wolves cannot see a single Ork yet, but massive fireballs erupt around their Rhino formation as the attacker launches his firestorm. (Attacker chose Skorch the Skies and Dawn Assault as his stratagems)
The asteroids pound into the bastion and the grouped vehicles, but the thick ceramite plating does nothing but shake two of the Rhinos and the Land Raider. Unfazed, the Wolves prepare to face the onslaught.

TURN 1- ATTACKER
Two deffkoptas come screaming from the defender’s right flank and take up a position behind a ruined building.



The stormboyz’ rokkit packs bring them towards the battlefield, but they miscalculate their landing and have to pull up and try again (mishap: placed back into reserve). The boyz’ assault from the sky is similarly delayed, and they are forced to wait before landing (mishap: placed back into reserve).
Meanwhile, three hulking battlewagons roar onto the battlefield from the Orks’ distant drop zone. Big Mek Tinkernutz’s battlewagon leads the formation in the center, his glowing kustom force field protecting the boyz’ wagon and Warboss Gutslag’s Nobz in theirs. As the huge vehicles serve as a distraction, the deffkoptas fire on the Rhino behind the bastion and stun it.



TURN 1- DEFENDER
The wolves smell danger and rush forward. Two rhinos head to the left flank and two rhinos head to the right flank. The land raider with the wolf priest holds the center. The land raider fires at the wagon and the shots plink off. One unit of long fangs shoots at the koptas and kill one of them. The second unit tries to shoot at another wagon and they fail their night fight.



TURN 2- ATTACKER
This time the Stormboyz’ rokkit packs do not fail them and they drop down right on target next to the bastion, issuing out a roar of triumph as the Nob readies his power klaw. The Boyz don’t fare as well, once again a terrible tellyporta malfuction rocks the squad and they end up in the far corner of the battlefield. They look around scratching their heads, and the confusion prevents them from moving very far as the Nob tries to retain order.



The battlewagon phalanx rushes forward, and the Boyz’ deffrolla slams into a Rhino on the right flank, crushing it instantly. The Space Wolves struggle to free themselves from the wreckage and become pinned. The Warboss’s wagon turns a Rhino on the left flank into a flaming ruin. The Big Mek’s boyz take the opportunity and unload their slugga rounds into the Hunters as Tinkernutz cranks the nozzle of his burna at the Marines, killing 4.
The slugga boyz on the right flank hop out of their wagon and charge screaming into the pinned Space Wolves. The Grey Hunters are all but overwhelmed, and all of them fall beneath swinging choppas. One Hunter remains with his back against the Battlewagon, his meltagun held high.



Meanwhile, the Stormboyz charge at the bastion, but the Nob’s power klaw scrapes harmlessly off the armored building.





TURN 2- DEFENDER
The land raider moves back and swings around facing the storm boyz.



The second squad of grey hunters on the left flank hop out of the rhino to help the lone melta.



The green rhino on the right zooms past the boss’ wagon. In the back field, the grey hunters hop out of their stunned rhino and head towards the storm boyz. The shooting phase is where things get nasty. The land raider fires at the storm boyz killing 7. The green rhino has 2 meltas shoot out and toast the boss’ wagon (he accidently moved towards my rhino just far enough to be out of kff range). The explosion does little. The long fangs open up on the nobz and kill 5 nobz between both squads.



In assault the grey hunters (all 3 of them) charge the nobz. You can guess what happened to them. In the backfield, the grey hunter squad just reaches the storm boyz and kill all but the nob who then takes a few out before he runs away (and eventually off the board). On the left flank the hunters charge into the assault mobbed around the lone melta. That combat is rather ineffective as the hunters only kill a few boys and the boyz to little in return and they stay locked.





TURN 3- ATTACKER
The Boyz’s empty wagon surges forward and wrecks the Rhino in front of it, but stops just short of barreling through to hit the Land Raider behind. The Mek’s wagon drives up between the Land Raider and the bastion. Tinkernutz and his boyz pile out, sluggas blazing at the Grey Hunters, eager to avenge the slaughtered Stormboyz. Warboss Gutslag and what remained of his Nobz run up to the bastion, power klaws at the ready to tear it asunder.
The deffkopta swooped in from the right flank to assault the Grey Hunters that were punishing the Boyz. The Warboss’s power klaw shreds through the supports of the bastion, and it comes crumbling down. The resolve of the Long Fangs within does not falter, and they stand ready to fight in what remains of the building. The Grey Hunters fall in combat to the Mek’s Boyz, and they consolidate toward the smoking ruin of the bastion.



Meanwhile on the right flank, the combat begins to turn in the Space Wolves’ favor as the deffkopta’s buzz saw misses entirely and they Orks lose the assault. As the green skins run away, they are effortlessly cut down by the Marines. The deffkopta manages to zoom into cover in one of the ruined buildings.



TURN 3- DEFENDER
The green rhino moves back towards the bastion and the nobz and disembarks the hunters. The land raider moves back and disembarks the deathstar blood claw unit. The land raider shoots a wagon but only manages to destroy a weapon. The long fangs open up on the nobz again and this time they wipe out all of them but the boss. The hunters behind the boss fire at the boss and kill him. In assault the blood claws charge the boy squad with the mek by the objective. 60 re-rollable attacks predictably wipe them out to a man and the mek flees.



The hunters that are still locked with the boyz manage to kill a few and win the combat by one. The boyz get unlucky and decide to flee and in turn are swept and wiped out. The sun comes up and it is no longer night fight.



TURN 4- ATTACKER
Tinkernutz feels the pressure of being surrounded by Grey Hunters, and seeing no living green skins in his vicinity, continues to run back to the drop zone. His wagon’s driver sees him run past and decides to go the other way, revving his deffrolla at the Long Fangs, killing 2 of them as his vehicle comes to rest in the bastion’s ruin.



The other empty wagon slams into the Land Raider and tears its tracks apart, immobilizing it. The lost boyz squad continues their inexorable march to join in the fun, but are still far from the fight.



The last remaining kopta shoots a rokkit from behind a building, but it just skims off the Rhino’s hull.



TURN 4- DEFENDER
The claws move to surround one of the wagons. Hunters embark into the green rhino and move behind the second wagon. The rhino in the back that had been stunned the whole time moves toward the kopta. The hunters in the rhino melta one of the wagons to death. The long fangs shoot at the other wagon and only manage to immobilize it. In assault the claws charge the immobile wagon and explode it with the cost of 2 claws dead.



TURN 5- ATTACKER
The Big Mek continues to run, entering a ruin in the hopes of it providing cover from the rockets of the Long Fangs. The boyz get closer, almost within range of some of the Wolves’ Rhinos. The kopta continues to fire his rokkit to no effect.



TURN 5- DEFENDER
The long fangs shuffle around the crater. The claws move into the crater. The rhinos move inbetween the boyz squad and the objective. Shooting sees the big mek die, but not before shrugging off two melta beams. A bolter round finally knocks him out and the fangs that didn’t move kill a few boyz from the squad.

TURN 6- ATTACKER
The deffkopta turbo-boosts towards the crater for one last chance at securing the objective.



The boyz surge forward and assault the nearest Rhino, but they are unable to penetrate it and stand in a vulnerable position, still far from their objective. It is within sight though!



TURN 6- DEFENDER
There is only some shooting in this turn. The kopta gets a few rockets to the face and dies while only a few more boys are killed in the last squad.

TURN 7- ATTACKER
The boyz spread out and assault two rhinos at once, immobilizing one of them while the other goes unscathed. Their last ditch effort to secure the objective is blocked by the two transports in their way.



TURN 7- DEFENDER
The Grey Hunters charge in to try and finish off the rest of the Boyz, but they are cut down and lose the battle, running away from the savage Orks. The Nob wrecks the immobilized Rhino and the Boyz turn their beady red eyes toward the objective…and to the waiting rocket launchers and bolters that are poised to cut them down.



It is too late. The day is lost for the Orks. But one lone figure huddles in the rubble as the Space Wolves regroup to finish off the last of the green skins. He mutters softly to himself, already planning the second wave. “We’z be back, ‘umiez…”



DEFENDER WINS!

[doctorclockwork]

Before anybody mentions it, yes Ross is a huge cheater and you can't put 2 units in a building and there are fire points but whoops!

[droofus]

That was way closer than you led me to believe!

Tactical Assessment: Classic case of who commits their power unit first. Ross was able to hold his Chuck Norris-style kick to the nutz (Super Claws) until after you unleashed yours (Nobz+Boss), and he won because of it. If you had been able to threaten the bastion earlier on, he might have been forced to commit his claws earlier.

Good game! Looking forward to more reports.

[ross]

he didn't have much of a choice with the nobz since i destroyed their ride and they were taking 10 rockets every turn. Also the deep strike mishap that put the boyz squad in the opposite corner was awful for him. I do not want to think about what would happen if i had to deal with the boyz and the nobs coming at me at once on that flank.

[kraxxus]

you woulda had your last space marines eye's gouged out to make more holes for the Boyz to skull %$#@ in a congo line. Da-Da-Da DA DA Waaagh!

[doctorclockwork]

Oct 14, 2010 7:14:32 GMT -5 kraxxus said:

you woulda had your last space marines eye's gouged out to make more holes for the Boyz to skull %$#@ in a congo line. Da-Da-Da DA DA Waaagh!

quoted fer troof!

[droofus]

Oct 13, 2010 23:33:30 GMT -5 ross said:

he didn't have much of a choice with the nobz since i destroyed their ride and they were taking 10 rockets every turn.

But that's just it. One of the best ways to force someone to commit their super unit early is to make standing them off a very bad idea. Killing that battlewagon made standing off a suicidal proposition for the nobz due to the missile launchers.

Therefore, I put the big moment of the game as you destroying that battlewagon. For Tony the key mistake seems to be leaving KFF range with that wagon.

[ross]

he was just barely out of range of the kff. My pincer move with the hunters was meant to try and split him up as that's the weakness in battle wagon armies but he never meant to split them that far but he only realized it was out of kff range durring my turn (i think) and by then it was too late.

[doctorclockwork]

No question about it, if that wagon had survived one more turn, I would have deffrolled the bastion and hopefully killed it, then the Nobz hop out and waste the long fangs.

[doctorclockwork]

Tinkernutz peered inside the makeshift workshop he set up a few days ago in the "drop zone"- the area in which the majority of the landing Roks managed not to burn up in entry or explode. Gutslag's head sat suspended over a table, and Tinkernutz's lesser meks were huddled around several hunks of metal, welding them together. With a grunt, he bangs on the wall and gestures for one of them to join him outside.

Grumshank hustled up, panting and tipped his welding mask up. "Oh, hey boss," he muttered, looking at the Big Mek's feet.

"Wot's da deal wif da boss? We'z gotta keep goin fore deez 'umiez figger out wot's wot!"

The lesser mek shrugged and scratched his leg. "Uhhh, might be a day er two, boss..."

"ZOG IT!" Tinkernutz shouted, smacking Grummy upside the head, knocking his mask across the dirt. The action was almost a reflex, and he immediately caught himself using a phrase that seemed to be Gutslag's trademark. He looked at the cowering mekboy and waved at the door to the shop.

"Get back ta work. Patch 'im up good, and don't ferget da modz I asked fer." The mek nodded hastily and snatched up his welding mask, snapping it on and running back into the shop.
* * * * * *
Tinkernutz turned around and wandered deeper into the camp. Scores of killa kanz had finally been brought into service, many of them scrounged together from the scrap caused by their failed first assault. The wreckage of the boss's battlewagon fleet still sat smoldering in the distance.

Furrowing his brow, Tinkernutz climbed to the top of a watchtower and began shouting at the massed Orks below.
"Awright you lot, listen up!" Dozens of Green 'eadz turned up to look at him. "Da boss iz down but not out. But deez 'umiez know we'z here now. We'z gotta keep krumpin!"
At first the gathered boyz looking warily at each other. Attack without the boss? Can they do that? But as the Mek's words sank in, they began to get riled up.

"Da koptaz sez der's a buncha 'umie bikez and dogz just over dat ridge! Some of da boyz dropped down der. We'z gotta move out and krump dem good! Dey won't know wot hit 'em!" With that, a loud cheer rang out and a hundred choppaz raised up to the sky. The boyz immediately turned and began to run in the direction the Mek pointed.

Tinkernutz smiled, and felt a strange swell in his gut. It was time to lead the charge.

[doctorclockwork]

Ross's Space Wolves 2000pts
wolf priest on bike-135
10 bikes and MM attack bike-290
(x2)5 t-wolves decked out-410
(x3) 10 grey hunters with meltas in rhino with dozer blade
(x2) lone wolf with chainfist, storm shield, and termy armor

Tony's Orks
Big Mek Forcefield, Burna, Cybork
3x 30 Boyz with Nob PK bosspole
3x 2 Deffkoptas rokkits 1 buzzsaw
2x 3 killa kanz with rokkits
15 lootas
deff dread with 2 skorchas, armor plates
16 Stormboyz with nob


MISSION 2- DESPERATE ASSAULT

PREGAME
The Space Wolves set up two bastions in the center of the battlefield, with his forces arrayed between them. The Orks’ beachhead sees a third bastion loaded to the brim with Lootas, right along his Drop Zone table edge. Before the Space Wolves even hear the roar of the Orks, one of the bastions is leveled by a gigantic meteor launched from Warboss Gutslag’s Space Hulk. Two more meteorites come screaming down, annihilating 5 of the Blood Claw Bikers.
The attacker’s forward elements are two huge mobs of Boyz, joined by their interim leader, the Big Mek Tinkernutz. With Stormboyz in reserve to drop from the sky, the attacker launches his assault.



TURN 1- ATTACKER
The Stormboyz mob is off target slightly as they land in the woods near the Blood Claw Bikers. Thankfully, they maneuver deftly past the gnarled branches and avoid a painful death. Clanking thuds echo across the battlefield as two units of Killa Kanz amble on from the attacker’s drop zone, joined by Battle Bruvva Morkarius the deff dread. On the left flank, another huge mob of boyz comes on as two Deffkopta duos zip up behind the ruins. A third kopta duo goes up the right flank.
The kanz and koptas all unleash a buzzing cloud of rokkits, but none of them hit their mark. The Lootas line up their sights on a group of Thunderwolves and jam the triggers. Two of the mighty cavalry fall, and two others are wounded by the hail of bullets. The recently arrived boyz run forward, but the defender has planned their advance- the ground explodes as a Minefield takes 7 of them out of commission.
The Big Mek’s boyz charge into the left flank Rhino and a Lone Wolf, who stands resolute in the face of death.



The right flank boyz charge into the other Thunderwolves and another rhino.



Not to be outdone, the Stormboyz also surge into the Bloodclaws.
Tinkernutz’ boys manage to slay the Lone Wolf and wreck the rhino, while their fellows tear apart 2 Thunderwolves. They only manage to stun the rhino though. Meanwhile, the Bikers hew 7 Stormboyz out of the sky, but suffer heavy losses as their Wolf Priest and 4 other Bikers are killed in the melee. Despite the odds, they no know fear and huddle in to continue the fight.



TURN 1- DEFENDER

Movement
The hunters all disembark from their rhinos. The ones in the middle line up to assault the boys in the middle. The ones by the bastion line up to move around the their rhino to help out the Thunderwolves. The last grey hunter unit furthest away form the bastion moves to assault the boys in front. The thunder wolves in the middle prepare to assault they boys waiting in front of them. The lone wolf moves towards the storm boyz to help the dieing space wolf initiates.
In assault all the space wolf units charge in.



Two grey hunter squads charge into the middle boy squad with the Mek. The thunder wolves charge into the same boy squad. The last grey hunter squad charges in to help the wolves already in combat. The lone wolf charges into the storm boyz. The combat by the bastion resulted in the death of a thunder wolf died and the space wolves killed 6 orks, the combat continues. In the middle 22 orks dies to the two grey hunter squads and the thunder wolf squad. The orks left do little in return. The Mek and the rest of his unit get swept. The storm boyz kill 2 bikes and the lone wolf kills 3 boys and the combat continues.




TURN 2- ATTACKER
The vanquished boyz return as the attacker declares Sustained assault.



They come on the right flank toward the bastion, and run into another minefield! Several boyz die as the ground explodes around them. The deffkoptas fly forward, and the kanz march on towards the remaining Space Wolves. The deff dread Morkarius lurches towards the Hunters that sit hunkered down in the crater of the fallen bastion. Behind him, the boyz mob finally gets clear of the minefield, losing a few along the way.
The lootas once again fire at maximum and wipe out the rest of the Thunderwolf unit before them. The kanz fire at Grey Hunters and a few of them fall as the rokkits blow them in half. Across the field, the boyz stuck in with the two Thunderwolves manage to kill one, taking heavy losses in return. They remain stuck in with the last wolf. Nearby, the Lone Wolf slays 2 stormboyz but the flying Orks stay for anuvver go.



TURN 2- DEFENDER


The grey hunters attempt to re-position. The squad by the bastion tries to move through the ruin and trip themselves only moving 2 inches. The squad furthest away moves into the crater and the middle hunter squad stays put. The hunters in the crater send the deff dread to a fiery melta death. The center grey hunter squad assaults the storm boyz and combined with the lone wolf finally manage to win a combat and sweeping advance the storm boyz. The last thunder wolf does his duty and holds fast against the green tide.

TURN 3- ATTACKER

The whole Ork force shifts forward towards what little remains of the Space Wolves.



The killa kanz fire and their rokkits blow the treads off of the Rhino near the center of the board. The lootas wave of fire kills 5 Grey Hunters near the bastion, and their resolve fails them as they flee. Another minefield erupts beneath the boyz on the right flank, once again lowering their number, but not enough to prevent them from reaching the base of the bastion.



On the left flank, the boyz charge into the crater and lose 7 green skins before 4 Hunters are cut down by the Nob’s power klaw.



The last Thunderwolf falls, but not before taking a few boyz with him.

TURN 3- DEFENDER

The lone wolf marches towards the kanz intent on fulfilling his vows. The hunters rally and head towards the boys squad. The three man grey hunter squad heads towards the boys.



The rhino on the right moves into the ruins.
In shooting the rhino killz a boy. The three hunters take off a weapon from one of the kanz and the other hunter squad kills 4 boys.
The lone wolf charges into the kanz and the hunters charge into the boyz and the kanz. The combat results in 2 dead boyz and the wolf destroys one kan and rips off another weapon on another. However the orks hold and the combat continues.



TURN 4- ATTACKER

The boyz on the right flank hustle out of the minefield and into the bastion. 2 of them explode as the others leave their dead brothers behind.



The koptas swoop closer, lining up their rokkits and exploding the immobilized rhino. On the right flank, the koptas train their buzz saw on the other rhino, but fail to make so much as a dent in its hull.



The Grey Hunters in the crater completely miss their wild swings and are wiped out by choppaz. Over by the bastion, the Nob stands tough as the Marines fail to hit him, and he finishes off the 2-man squad. Nearby the Lone Wolf finishes off the rest of the killa kanz.

TURN 4- DEFENDER

Lone wolf moves towards kanz and rhino flees. The lone wolf dies to the kanz before he can strike. The grey hunters finish off the nob and consolidate towards the bastion.



TURN 5- ATTACKER

A chorus of deffguns is the last sound that the Grey Hunters hear as they are wiped off the board. A hail of rokkits first immobilizes, and then detonates, the last Rhino. The Orks survey the bloody battlefield, and raise their choppaz high with a mighty WAAAGH!



The attacker wins!

[droofus]

Good report guys!

What's funny though is that if you just put up those two lists side by side and asked me to choose who would win, I would probably go with the wolves. Those death stars are just too scary! But yet again, we can see how much of a difference the mission makes.

Tony-

• Those little deffkopta tag-teams are an interesting idea. Were you at all worried about their piss-poor leadership? One meltagun shot and the survivor has a pretty good chance of running for his orky life.
  
  
• The ork army was actually quite shooty, with 10 rokkitz (all twin linked or BS3) and 15 lootaz. Was this a reaction to the last game where you struggled to get Ross out of his transports until it was too late?
  
  
• Not taking nobz probably saved you, as nobz are worth negative points against thunderwolves with-thammers and storm shields. Still, nobz are my crutch unit. Did you miss them at any point?
  

Ross-

• What did you think about the performance of your bikes versus the land raider squad? Seems like they could be something that you try again. You know, in a mission where they're not going to get pantsed by stormboyz first turn
  
  
• Want to talk about the deployment and selection of stratagems? You mentioned a whole bunch of stuff to me after the game about what you would have done differently.
  
  
• Do you think going light on mech units in order to get those big killy death stars hurt you in this game? You had 6 transports last game compared to just 3 in this one.
  

[ross]

The bikes did really pisspoor this game. I'm still not convinced they are bad. Tony did really well by sending the one thing that was not infantry at them and thus denying me the preferred enemy that those poor ws 3 bikers need to even the score. The before game orbital bombardment hurt them a lot too (taking out half the squad!). If I get the first strike on a boyz squad with the bikes the math hammer says they should kill the unit and possibly even kill the nob before he gets a chance to hit back on 3+.

The bikes vs. the LR unit is a good question. In a regular game or tournament it is the bikes for sure. The bikes cost much less than the LR unit (200 pts less!)and wont get spanked by a first turn suicide melta (transports shouldn't cost more than the unit in them). Also the LR takes up a precious heavy slot preventing me from spamming rockets. In planet strike I actually think the LR might be better because I have all the extra heavy slots and the LR will give some measure of protection from the fire storm bombardment.

as far as strategems gos I choose 3 minefields and they did work well. what got me was Tony being able to deploy 3 units on the board and giving him a first turn charge. What I did last time, was set up all on one side of the board and take the strategem that makes Tony come on from another side should he have chosen the side all my guys were on. That same set up would have been much better as it would have prevented a first turn charge.

I am not sure yet if I missed all the mech. I need to play with the death star list more to find out. I already told Tony I am going to use the same list in the next game. I am sure that in a tournament the 6 transport list would probably do better as deathstars start to hurt you once you start taking more than one of them and sacrificing other units like troop choices. I should also mention that Tony did a good job of taking advantage of my army's weaknesses and pressed his advantage of superior numbers even more with the strat that brought that whole boy squad back and made a win impossible for me.

[doctorclockwork]

1. I took the deffkopta tag teams mainly as a points filler, and as harassers. I knew they wouldn't be the front runners, but I had planned for them to just scoot around shooting rokkits and maybe assaulting a rhino or two. I always worry about their wonderful leadership, but in this game they went completely untouched because Ross had more pressing units to deal with.

2. I didn't specifically tailor this list much past the idea of wanting to use kanz with the Big Mek and big boy blobz. But yeah, it was nice having all those rokkits to deal with his mech (which in this game didn't matter as much since he didn't take as many vehicles)

3. I didn't miss the Nobz in this game at all. Like you said, they would have been a big point sink crutch that would have been doomed against Thunderwolves. Spamming attacks with lots of boyz definitely won the battle of attrition for me.

All in all it was a great game!

[hardihar]

Nobs are great, but ive found that the same points worth of Boyz tends to do just as well, and is often harder to kill