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!!

Feel the need ..... the need for speed!

I used to run a Speed Freak army with hordes of Trukks, Buggies, Bikes, Wagons etc. It was a tournament army and a joy to play. Full out attack from the very start and very intimidating to play against, especially if I got to go first.

As such I have a lot of older vehicles including 5 or 6 old style Trukks and an investment from Forgeworld in the form of a battlewagon, which I love.

Bearing in mind how small the old Trukks were this was and still is a proper Orky brute.

Things have moved on and the new style Trukks and Wagons are great. Mind you we are still waiting for some new Buggies. The old ones just don't fit in any more.

I always loved the Buggies but the last Codex gave dominance to the Deffkoptas and I have loads of them. With this Codex the Warbuggy in just 25 points and has been given the Outflank rule. This means that they can arrive from Reserve from the side of the table. The  twin linked Rokkits are now free and you can have up to 5 Buggies in a unit. Now that is five shots looking for 5+, probably into rear armour with re-rolls. That should be 3 Hits really. This unit could pay for itself very quickly! A real menace!

The Trukk is the still the same old Trukk. At 30 points it can transport up to 12 models. It is still made of paper with Armour of 10 all round however it can now take a Rokkit for free. It also has Ramskackle as a special rule. When suffering a penetrating hit roll a D6. On a 6+ the Trukk suffers a Glalcing hit instead.

And then there is the Battlewagon at 110 points. Front armour of 14 is great and can transport up to 20 models. There are all kinds of options to add weaponry e.g. unto 4 Rokkit Launchas and then there is also the option to add a Kannon, Lobba, Zzap gun or indeed a Killkannon. After that there is a load of Vehicle Equipment that can also be added. Back in the day my view was that the primary job of the Wagon was to get the Boyz across the table and thereafter it became mobile terrain whose job it was to reduce line of sight on to the Boyz. Run it cheap and invest in the cargo was the motto.

I still have decisions to make for the big outing on Sunday but my feeling is that the Orks need transport of some description.