AAR: September 1, 2012 - Ork Incursion

A cocky new Ultramarine leader sets out to make a name for himself by defending a human settlement that is threatened by Chainsawz Ladz.  Will Colonel Yitz beat back the filthy green aliens, or will his name be quickly forgotten as a failure?  Find out as he faces off against the Ork Incursion!

Annihilation Mission.

5x6 table.  The outermost edge of the human settlement has been built up with several bunkers, some ancient, some recent.  The Orks have built their own twisted places of refuge and battered fences made of scraps.

Any flat surface that models can stand on are considered open terrain.  The trees and fences are difficult terrain.  It is agreed that any fence that is passed through by a vehicle will destroy that section of the fence. 

Both sides of the table have a small weak bunker (8 models can fit inside - A12) and a larger, tougher bunker (20 models can fit inside - A13).

Orks versus Space Marines with 1511 point limit.

Chainsawz Ladz: 
HQ - Warboss
HQ - Zzaphead (Ol' Boomy)
Elites - 15x Kommandoz with Boss Blackgutz (2x Burna)
Troops - 19x Shoota Boyz (Nob with power claw, Big shoota)
Troops - 23x Boyz (Nob, Big shoota)
Troops - 12x Gretchin (Runtherd)
Troops - 12x Gretchin (Runtherd)
Troops - 5x Nobz (Big choppa, 'eavy armor, Painboy)
Heavy Support - 3 Lobba gunz (1x Extra crew, Runtherd, 3x Ammo runts)
Heavy Support - Battlewagon ('ard case, Deff rolla, Armor plates, 2x Big shoota)
Heavy Support - Deff Dread (2x Extra power claws)

"Fresh meatz?  Fur us?  We luvs fresh meatz!"

The Fighting 357th
HQ - Colonel Yitz
HQ - Librarian
Elites - Dreadnought (Power fist, Multi-melta)
Elites - 10x Terminators (2x Cyclone missile launchers, 2x Chain-fists, Power fists)
Troops - 10x Tactical Marines (Flamer, Missile launcher)
Troops - 10x Tactical Marines (Melta, Heavy bolter)
Troops - 6x Sniper Scouts with Sgt. Immortus (Missile launcher)
Fast Attack - 1x Marine Biker

"Pride cometh before the fall... Our pride - your fall!"

Chainsaw wins the initial toss of the die.  He selects to begin in the red corner - filled with orkish-looking terrain.  Colonel Yitz gets the blue corner and is quite satisfied with the constructions there.

The ork force sees the arrival of the "hated 'umie 'ardskins" as both an insult and a challenge.  Nothing like a good fight, for orks, after all!

They establish the gretchin in hiding places worthy of their cowardice, while the ladz mob up in the center and around the statue of the Emperor.  The warboss orders that sticky spray paint be passed around "so de ladz can make dere mark on dis 'umie boss".

The battlewagon and the deffdread sandwich the nob mob.  The nobz, seeing the vandalism happening at the Emperor's statue, content themselves with making rude gestures and mooning the foe.
 

Colonel Yitz steady's his men, who chafe at the xeno insults to them and especially the desecration of the Emperor's statue.

"Soon you vill 'ave your revenge, brothers!"  he promises in his heavy Russian accent.

Two squads of tactical marines are buttoned down in bunkers, the other two guard the settlement entrance.  The terminators are also split into squads, one with the Colonel, and one with the librarian.

The dreadnought and biker are close to the fenceline, reving their powerful engines and double-checking weapon loadouts....

Yitz steals the initiative and will go first on each turn!  "You vill strike vhile ze orks are not expecting us, brothers!"

"That filthy 'umie wif da funny name!  We rips hiz eyelidz off!"

The famous biker pops a wheelie and grinds his biker down the fence line, tearing it down and out of the marine path.  The dreadnought moves slightly to change his angle of fire.

The librarian accesses the power of the warp to teleport himself and terminator squad 1 into the middle of the battlefield.

These paltry opening moves completed, the space marines open fire:

• Tactical squad 2 shoots at the bare-bummed nobz.  A nob is not quite quick enough at pulling his behind out of the line of fire and takes a wound.
• Tactical squad 1 fires a missile from the bunker at the battlewagon, but cobwebs covering the firing slit cause the marine to badly misjudge the range.  He misses completely..
• The terminators fire a hail of missiles at the deffdread and the engine takes a direct hit!  With a squeal of grinding gears, it falls flat on it's face.  The space marines of the 357th let out a roar of approval at the sight!  The warboss makes a mental note to viciously torture the Mek that built the engine housing later...

Now that the orks have finished spraying graffiti all over the Emperor's statue, they figure it's time to move on to bigger and bloodier things.

The mob led by the warboss charge towards the terminators, intent on ending the cascade of missiles.

Ol' Boomy, his eyes blazing with purple light, jumps into the battlewagon with his group of deranged madboyz.  He attempts to use the power of the warp, but bellows in rage as the librarian denies him access via his physic hood.  The madboy nob licks the doorway to verify that the tank tastes right.  "Itz a good 'un!"  Once they are all aboard, the battlewagon surges forward, splintering trees as it goes.

The nobz also move forward, using the mass of the tank as cover from the terminator squad 1.

Then comes the ork counter-attack:

• From within the tank, the insane shoota boyz attack tactical squad 2 with no lasting results.
• The lobba gunz open fire at tactical squad 2.  They kill 2 of the marines and pin the rest as they dive for cover from the screaming shells.
• The nob squad shoots at the biker, but the bike's armor has been toughened up since it last saw use and the heavy slugs fail to penetrate.

The biker and dreadnought move towards the warboss' mob.  They position themselves to open fire before the orks can assault the librarian and his heavily armored men.

Colonel Yitz and his terminators also move forward.  "Kill dem all, brothers!"

The 357th weapons drill this turn is:

• Tactical squad 3 shoots at the nobz, but they shrug off the minor wounds.
• Tactical squad 1, the dreadnought, and the biker all fire into the mob of boyz led by Chainsaw to absolutely no effect on the enraged and charging ladz.
• When the terminators open fire on the mob of orks before them it is a different matter.  They really can't miss at such point-blank range and they don't.  A whopping 12 boyz are mowed down, with the warboss taking a wound as well.
• Seeing the alien charge begin to falter as their numbers are badly depleted, the terminators wade into close quarters combat with them.  6 more orcs are killed and the warboss is put out of action with both his legs broken.  Sadly this carnage comes at a cost - 4 terminators are downed in the melee and the librarian is hurt.

The battlewagon continues to grind through the foliage, driving relentlessly towards the space marine line.  The nobs continue at a more cautious pace, firing as they go.  The mob of boys grappling with the last two marines in the terminator squad 1 continue to bellow imprecations and flecks of spittle.

Ol' Boomy can feel the power of the battle feeding his link into the warp.  As he begins to release the energy that he is addicted to, the librarian attempts to impose the Emperor's will and block the alien psyker.  Unfortunately for the human, the power of the bloodlust around Ol' Boomy produces a feedback of power through the warp that causes the librarian's eyes to literally explode!  Without even a moment's pause, Ol' Boomy hollers "'Ere we go, ladz!" and teleports every member of his excited band directly into the heart of the space marine lines!

The results of Ork combat is as follows:

• The shoota boyz find themselves in a target rich environment!  They open up into the backs of terminator squad 1.  The terminator armor shrugs off almost all of the attack, however as only a single space marine falls.
• The lobbaz adjust their gunz and open fire on tactical squad 2.  Two of the tactical marines die.
• The nobz squad opens fire with their twin-linked shootas and nail 2 of the men in tactical squad 3.
• The ongoing assault in the middle of the battlefield continued as the screaming and blinded librarian is quickly dispatched.  A single boy dies. 

The dreadnought moves forward to engage any survivors for the ork mob currently engaged with terminator squad 1.

The biker bravely drives his ride along the side of the now empty battlewagon, keying it as he goes by.

Tactical squads 2 and 3 move in to annihilate the shoota boyz who have suddenly appeared in their midst.

The snipers squad, led by Sgt. Immortus arrives!  They wisely appear on the high ground overlooking the gretchin big gunz and set up their rifles...

The 357th show their quality with an amazing amount of firepower and up-close combat:

• The assault with the orks in the middle of the battlefield is finally concluded.  The last human is swarmed and is finished.  Two boyz go down with him - one in each hand of the fallen space marine terminator.
• The terminator squad 2 and tactical squads 2, 3, and 4 all unload their weapons into the tightly packed mob of madboyz led by Ol' Boomy.  It's murder in there!  9 boyz die and the nob takes a wound, to boot. 
• The biker and tactical squad 1 attack the nob squad.  The wounded nob falters, then falls out of rank.
• The dreadnought attacks the battlewagon's front armor, counting on the close range to cut through the strongest part of the alien tank.  His calculation proves quite correct as the tank explodes into thousands of pieces.
• The lone marine left in tactical squad 2 attacks the shoota boyz and is killed for his valor.
• Then Colonel Yitz and his terminator squad 2 attack them.  Nine boyz are butchered, power fists disintegrating whatever unprotected orkish flesh they come into contact with.  The madboy nob is ripped apart as well, leaving only Ol' Boomy left alive.  He takes off like a hungry squig for the group of nobz he can see through the rubble.

The nobz squad and Ol' Boomy run for each other, eager to combine forces.

The very small force of boyz in the middle of the battle field moves to assault the dreadnought that just smoked their battlewagon.

Due to running and the vast loss of life, these are the only Ork attacks this turn:

• The lobbaz swing their gunz quickly to the snipers who are already drawing down on them.  Their hasty fire is very accurate, killing 4 of the 6 snipers.  Unfortunately Sgt. Immortus is still alive...
• The mob of ladz attack the dreadnought, but neither side does any significant damage to the other.

The biker turns to ram his powerful vehicle into the few remaining ladz of the ork mob locked in close combat with the dreadnought.

The terminator squad led by Colonel Yitz moves in order to get line-of-sight on the nobz.

The attacks by the Space Marines are as follows:

• Sergeant Immortus puts a high caliber round right between the eyes of the big gunz runtherd and pandemonium ensues!  The gretchin think about running, but decide instead to go ahead and try to kill the last two snipers later.
• Tactical squads 1, 3, and the terminators all shoot at the nobz now led by Ol' Boomy.  Their attacks are futile as the tough as stone orks either shrug off the damage or are quickly "seen to, propa-like" by the painboy.
• The biker assaults the mob of ladz, crashing his bike into the nob.  The nob is wounded, but the bike is then cut in half with a roar of the power claw the nob wields.
• The dreadnought picks up a shrieking ork lad in his power claw and crushes him into a pulp.

The nobz squad takes cover from the heavy space marine fire, moving deeper into the human area as they do so.

The orkish assault continues:

• The lobba crew attempt to kill the snipers on the hill, but without the runtherd giving them direction, every grot thinks they know how to adjust the weapons.  The result is that the snipers are completely safe.
• The nobz shoot at tactical squad 3 and manage to take down a marine.
• The only remaining ork fighting the dreadnought hoots gleefully as the nob manages to slice something vital.  The dreadnought explodes in a shower of multi-colored sparks.  He is completely unharmed by the pyrotechnics and instead revels in the glory of victory.  The nob of this mob is wild with the passion of battle - "I iz unstop'ble!"

The terminators and tactical squad 3 both maneuver in order to get a bead on the nob squad and hopefully blow them away.

Feeling that they are missing out and might be needed, tactical squad 4 disembarks from their bunker so as to better support the Colonel.

The space marines concentrate their fire:

• The snipers shoot the big gunz emplacement once again, killing 4 of their crew.  The grot have had enough of this and flee!
• Tactical squads 1, 3, 4, and the terminators all shoot at the nobz.  this hail of fire does absolutely nothing and the greenskins mock their foes mercilessly.

At long last Boss Blackgutz arrives!  "Where ya been, youse slackerz!?"  The elite kommando orks ignore such questions; they have bloody business to attend to...

The surviving orks are encouraged by the arrival of reinforcements and release a mighty "WAAAGH!" battlecry which empowers all of the ladz!  The nobz see some humans in front of them that look weak and charge!

The result of orkish battlelust:

•  The sole survivor of the main ork mob charges into the bunker that protects tactical squad 1 and rips it to shreds with his power claw.  The marines are forced to exit the collapsing building!
• The nobz slam into the two marines left in tactical squad 3 and hack them both to bits.
• The kommandoz charge right by tactical squad 4 to slam into the terminators.  One terminator dies and Colonel Yitz takes a wound, but they lose 4 kommandoz.

"Pin dem into a vize!" screams Colonel Yitz over the sounds of combat.  Tactical squad 4 heeds the order and moves to hit the kommandoz in their rear.

All other space marine forces are otherwise occupied.

The results of attacks this turn are:

•  Tactical squad 1 shoots a missile at the nobz and manages to finally injure one of them.
• The snipers try to put down the howling nob that just cracked open the bunker.  They hit him, but he shrugs off the wounds like they are mere insect bites!
• Then tactical squad 4 and the terminators led by Colonel Yitz sandwich the Kommandoz in a grim contest of blades versus chainswords.  Eight of the orks are killed, while only a single space marine falls.  This bravery causes the orks to break from combat and flee for their own corner!

Chainsaw's forces retreat to better firing positions across the field, firing at their enemies as they do so.

Ol' Boomy gets so excited that he infuses the orks with another burst of WAAAGH! power.  This feels great, but has no tactical value this turn.

"Who cares?  WAAAGH!"

Ork firepower speaks:

• The kommandoz attack tactical squad 1 with sluggasz and a couple of burnas.  A space marine is burned alive.
• The nobz shoot at tactical squad 4, but their fire bounces off the power armor, ruining the paint job of several, but doing nothing more.

At the end of this turn, the random-game-length roll ends the entire game.  It's all over, folks!

It's a Draw (leaning to Chainsaw)!  This was a brutal bloodletting that gave neither side a clear advantage.  Despite having more points left on the table, Chainsaw is unable to pull ahead enough to avoid a tactical draw - the score is well within 10% of the starting points limit.  Chainsaw has 579 points left (38%) to Colonel Yitz's score of 501 (33%).  A close game, indeed!  Soon these forces will be at it again - this time to settle the deep grudge that each now bears the other...

"Deff Dread blowz up in round one?  Me gonna' nail de Mek dat built dat to da wall 'nd skin him...  Slowly!"

"We leave our charred dead, but they shall never be forgotten!"