Ann's War

Ann's Chaos Space Marines ("True Ultramarines" Chapter) versus Orks (Waaagh!: Jeff)
(July 24, 2012: Click Pictures for Larger Versions)

Strategic Situation
Renegade former Imperial Guard forces seized the manufactorum world of Sodophiicron-III. They formed an unholy alliance with orks and Nurgle cultists. Ultramarines, supported by Space Wolves, were sent in to cleanse the planet. Satisfied the situation had been resolved, the space marines withdrew, desperately needed as they were elsewhere. Neutronian extermination teams were left in place. Their mission -- detonate bombs that would spare valuable machinery and refinery centers while exterminating xenos infestations planet-wide.

The Nurglites were killed and their demons banished back to the warp, but orks remained. These overran the Neutronian teams and as orks will, their numbers skyrocketed in a short time. An independent or renegade - depending on who you ask - but extremely large and powerful space marine chapter, the "True Ultramarines", stepped into the breech. (They sensed a "disturbance in the Warp" and investigated.) In the absence of imperial forces, their plan is to cleanse the Sodophiicron system and add it to their small but growing empire in a mainly neglected backwater of imperial space.

Armies (1000 points)
CSM: Chaos Lord attached to a squad of 20 marines. A small marine squad in a rhino with a havoc launcher. Heavy support consisted of a standard dreadnought and a demon possessed predator. The model was an SU-122 so I ruled that I only had a 45 degree field of fire to the front with no turret for the autocannon. Four terminators in reserve. Warlord Trait was Princeps of Deceit.

Orks: Warboss, large group of 'ard nobz, and a twelve 'ardboyz led by a nob. Two deffkoptas and a big, blue dakka jet for fast attack. The orks had a bastion with lascannon emplacement. A unit of burnas occupied the interior of the building and a unit of lootas were up on the battlements. Their mek had a kustom mega blasta. Warlord trait was Immovable Object.

The numbers were the objective values.

Battlefield
An industrial setting. We filled a quarter of the board with terrain and then took turns placing and scattering each piece 2d6". The rule for scattering was we stopped if the moving piece ran into terrain or the board edge. The ork player then placed his bastion rather than doing that before terrain. (We didn't realize the correct order of placing at the time.) The orange river was dangerous and difficult terrain. The area terrain in the right corner of the marine zone was standard difficult terrain. Industrial piping was impassable for non-walker vehicles. For infantry piping was difficult terrain to traverse but impassable to begin or end your move if you couldn't actually rest a model on it. (Automatically dead if it fell off.) Larger machinery was impassable.

Mission
"The Scouring" with dawn of war deployment. We did not use the night fighting or mysterious objectives rules. We meant to use both but neither of us remembered. I only did the
day after the game. Still used to 5th edition! I also imposed a rule on myself. Marine reconnaissance reported possible enemy air activity in the sector. Thus the Lord Captain sent for anti-air assets, which did not arrive in time for the initial battle. If I won this game I would have the option of bringing in a defense line with a gun emplacement for our next game. I would have to pay points for it as normal. If I lost or tied the game, I would not have that option.

"Dress it up there! Keep in step!"

Pre-game
The ork player set up and moved first.

Lord Captain David Ben-David radioed his predator to shift 14". He saw a long, clear protected firing lane leading to the bastion battlements. A one-sided argument immediately ensued with the crewless, computerized tank nicknamed "Saberhagen". A harsh voice crackled back in Ben-David's headset. "Only losers take orders from goodlife!" gibbered a cacophony of screams, laughter, whispers and so on, all stitched together from a multitude of souls spanning thousands of years but all long dead. The captain responded by threatening to task the crazed dreadnought with "supporting your left flank." Radio silence ensued as the war wagon promptly complied with Ben-David's order.

The ork player countered by scout moving a deffkopta up both marine flanks. He allocated a rokkitcopta against the dreadnought and a shootacopta against the predator.

Turn One
The koptas advanced and engaged chaos heavy units. On the left flank, the ork pilot hid behind some pipeworks and blasted rokkits uselessly at the dreadnought. Heavy machinegun fire spattered off the predator's side armor. Armored boyz advanced up onto the bridge toward chaos forces. Lootas managed to pick off two marines. The nobz took up a position in front of the bastion behind some pipeworks. The deffkopta pilot tried to hack his way into the predator's engine compartment with his choppa but didn't have a lot of success. Saberhagen defended itself by backing up over the remains of a green rhino into a mildly toxic garbage dump. Its cries for help sounded like a tortured pipe organ gone mad.

The missile rhino moved up and a small squad of five marines - Black Squad - piled out a side hatch and moved forward. Bolter fire from the unit took an immediate toll on the deffkopta. Havoc missiles and rhino bolter fire cut through the tightly packed boyz on the bridge. When the smoke cleared, enough boyz were dead to force a morale test. They shook their green fists and pressed forward with a deep, rising howl.

Meanwhile the dreadnought sparred with its deffkotpa opponent. Rokkits and melta fire criss-crossed over a orange stream of industrial waste, but neither was willing to come out of cover for a telling shot.

Ben-David led his main marine infantry force toward his right flank. Their beautifully dressed formation, for which the good lord captain had a general passion, immediately degenerated into "clusterflux". "You men look like a bunch of <expletive deleted="">Imperial Guard!" the toadying marine entrusted with the squads banner yelled, knowing his leader's feelings on parade drill. Marines on point finished off the wounded deffkopta. With the heat off, Saberhagen rolled down out off the rhino wreck. The battle tank pitched forward and almost ended upside down. It let off a burst of autocannon fire straight into the ground.

Nobz picked off two marines with their shootas.

Marine VP: 2 (one for first blood and one for killing a fast attack unit) | Ork VP: 0

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<expletive deleted=""> </expletive>Crazed dreadnought got plenty of elbow room
from the rest of the "True Ultramarines"

<expletive deleted="">Turn Two
Boyz surged off the bridge closing the distance toward their enemy. The nobz seemed content to stay hidden behind their pipe bulwarks and snipe with their shootas. They killed another trooper. Lootas managed to blow a tread off the rhino with their shoulder-mounted cannons. Nobz killed another two space marines. The orks looked to the skies but there was no airpower in sight.

The small squad of marines positioned itself as a screening force in front of the boyz. Ben-David held Deathscreamer, a glittering, silver disintegration sword, on high and ordered his men forward. Black Squad dropped to one knee and fired. Supported by massed bolter fire and havoc missiles only the nob was left standing - minus an arm and a few other important bitz. Stupefied at the carnage surrounding him, he was too amazed to consider such esoterica as morale testing.

Meanwhile, four terminators teleported in on the exposed left flank of the main tactical squad. Still expecting an ork charge, they arrived as a screening force. Lascannon interceptor fire sprayed the area all around them. Sparks arced over a terminator as his personal force field repelled a glancing hit.

The dreadnought became frustrated with trying to kill the deffkopta. The ork pilot was popping up from behind cover, shooting a rokkit, and then dropping to safety. So the walker frantically waved its arms about (its voxcaster long disconnected due to burst eardrums on the part of the command staff) and tried to charge across the intervening toxic lava stream and take the deffkopta apart with its bare close combat weapon. This turned out to be a bad plan. The dreadnought retreated back out of the lava rather than being completely immersed in corrosive, orange soup.

Marine VP: 2 | Ork VP: 0

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Marines moved out as the dakkajet swept in!

Turn Three

<expletive deleted="">A cheer erupted from the orks as they pointed toward a blue streak that appeared in the skies over the battle. The ork jet ace came in low, wallowing his plane from side
to side on an attack vector. His engines blasted super-charged defiance and vomited clouds of black smoke as the aircraft zoomed like an avenging, blue thunderbolt straight at the True Ultramarines. Men dove in all directions for cover. Four never moved again.

The lone nob ran for it. He headed back to one of the objectives. Black Squad pursued and gunned him in the back. They tromped over his prone corpse as they hustled across the bridge on their way to secure the position.

Lootas continued firing at tactical marines but didn't manage any kills. The nobz fired at terminators, which was their only target in range. The battle finally ended on the
left flank with the rokkitkopta dodging one heat ray too many. Vaporized in a cloud of explosive gas and motor oil. A big mek took aim from the bastion at a terminator with his KMB but missed.

After a brief tactical report back to his captain, the terminator corporal slowly retreated from the entrenched nobz and continued guarding the tactical squad's left flank. The orks
seemed content to sit back in their bastion and shoot. Ben-David decided his best course of action was to hold objectives and reinforce what he surmised was a winning position rather than uselessly expending men on the bastion. Crewmen piled out of the rhino and successfully repair the broken track linkage on their vehicle.

Marine VP: 3 (a second fast attack unit destroyed) | Ork VP: 0

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Black Squad advanced into ork territory

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<expletive deleted=""> Turn Four
Continuing on his attack vector, the ork pilot accounted for another two marines. The nobz shot at terminators, who were purposefully staying just within their weapons range.
Lascannon fire ricocheted off the rhino's frontal armor. The crew abandoned putting away their tools and jumped back inside. Loota fire peppered the dreadnought but did no real damage. This enraged the walker and it charged straight toward the nobz in front of their bastion. It didn't get very far and still had a lot of ground to cover if the war machine was planning anything useful.

Chaos marines attempted to take down the dakkajet with massed bolter fire and predator support. They did knock a few shiny blue pieces off the aircraft but nothing apparently vital.

End Game
The hour was late and we had to end the game. The marines had 3 VP's and had achieved tactical control over a majority of the objectives. Bolter Company Alpha was successful in establishing a front against the orks, which will allow them to bring up more men and materiale. Ork forces remained in overall control of the planet and began entrenching. Captain David Ben-Davidson reported "mission accomplished" to his chapter master and the order went out for Alpha to hold until relieved by Mechanized Shock Infantry Company Beta. (This will be "Act II.")

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The ork bastion was truly formidable!
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