28mm Warfare AAR: AAR: December 22, 2012

An unholy terror has been pillaging the villages of this section of the planet Ceti Aldelpi. Rumor has it that it possesses an lust for blood and destroys anything that moves. The Storm Heralds resolve to cleanse the area of whatever impure beast now roams it. Mega-Warboss Chainsaw has another thought: "Sounds like my old pet squig!" He brings his warband to the location to see if the beast is really his long-lost pet. What will the result of this mutant squig hunt be?

Seize Ground with 3 objectives and corners.

5x6 table. A small village unwisely called for help on an open channel. This brought both the orks and the space marines to their doorstep, with most of the village being put to the torch by the greenskins.

The beast is somewhere in the area just outside the ruined village walls.

The three objectives are the mutant squig in the center of the map and two alien scouts who have been sent to collect information about the beast on opposite corners.

The players resolve that neither can start in one of the corners that have an objective placed there.

Holding the squig objective will allow the ork warboss to reclaim his lost pet or will allow the space marines to kill the foul beast, depending on which side wins the objective.

Both aliens are stunned by the size of the mutated squiq and will be easily subdued and captured for study, torture, and/or extermination.

Orks versus Space Marines with 1999 point limit.

Chainsawz Ladz:
HQ - Mega-Warboss Chainsaw (Master of the WAAAGH!)
HQ - Big Mek (Shokk attack gun)
Elites - 15x Kommandoz (Nob with power claw, 2x Rokkit)
Elites - 15x Tank Bustaz
Troops - 17x Gretchin (Runtherd)
Troops - 30x Boyz (Nob with power claw)
Troops - 30x Boyz (Nob with power claw)
Heavy Support - 3x Lobba gunz (4x Extra crew, Runtherd, 3x Ammo runts)
Heavy Support - 10x Flash Gitz (Kaptain Krunktoof, Painboy, Cyborks, Blastas, Shootier)

"Me wondar wat happen'd ta me lost pet squig! Fluffy! Come 'ere ta papa, lad!"

Dark Purifiers
HQ - Antonidus Aurelius (Chapter master, Master-crafted power sword)
HQ - Ambrose Praetorius (Chaplain, Jump pack, Master-crafted combi-flamer, Hellfire boltgun rounds)
Elites - 10x Terminators (2x Cyclone missile launchers, Power fists)
Elites - Dreadnought (Multimelta, Stormbolter)
Troops - 5x Tactical Marines
Troops - 5x Tactical Marines
Troops - 5x Tactical Marines
Troops - 5x Tactical Marines
Troops - 8x Scouts with Sgt. Immortus (Missile launcher, Sniper rifles)
Fast Attack - 10x Assault Marines (Jump packs, Bolt pistols, Chainswords)
Heavy Support - Nimbus Engine (Dreadknight, Nemesis greatsword, Thunderstorm cannon, Heavy incinerator, Personal teleporter)

"We're on a safari, men! Big game hunting!"

The Dark Purist wins the initial roll and will go first. He selects the relatively open corner, forcing the orks to attack from behind the burning village walls.

Chainsaw wins the infiltrate roll and gets to place his Kommandoz before the Scouts.

Antonidus Aurelius teaches the assault marines the principles of "spears of light" - allowing them to act as scouts. He also teaches the famous "hammer and anvil" sermon to the Terminators making them both a scoring unit and allowing them to re-roll poor wound die rolls.

The Storm Heralds have mixed up their force mix a bit. The tactical squads all deploy as 5-man units with no special weapons.

They deploy in a rough arc, heavy on elites to the north and heavy on tactical squads to the east.

The space marines bring out the most holy relic of lost technology that their chapter possesses: They know not what it is nor where it came from, but found it on a world shattered by blasted daemons. Once repaired this mighty exoskeleton has proven itself time and time again in battle - they call it the Nimbus Engine. This monstrous machine of war is positioned near the rear of the force, but with it's built-in teleport technology, it can move rapidly to the front lines if need be.

The Snipers secure the northern alien objective and line up to take aim at the foul ork forces.

The ork mobs of Chainsaw's Ladz are pleased with the preliminary fun of wiping out the human settlement, but the wimpy civilians didn't give them much of a fight. Now that the space marines are here most of the ladz are happy.

Two huge mobs of Boyz are outside the walls with Kaptain Krumptoof's Flash Gitz in the center.

Inside the village walls are the Tank Bustaz, Lobbaz, and the Big Mek's Gretchin.

The Kommandoz secure the southern alien objective from being claimable by the space marines and prepare to defend it.

Oooo, it's on now!

The Assault Marines get to make a scout movement that allows them to hop almost all the way across the battlefield when combined with their regular movement.

Every other space marine unit, besides the Snipers moves towards one of the objectives, steady and sure of the ultimate victory to come.

The Assault Marines lightning blitz puts them in easy range of Mob1 and several other marine units prepare to winnow the alien numbers before they move into close-combat range.

The Terminators move into the center, firing as they go.

Tactical Squad 1 moves to support the Snipers and their hold of the north objective if need be.

The Nimbus Engine teleports to the other side of the hill that sheltered it from view and the ork forces see it for the first time. "Looks big 'nd stompy. We shouldz steal it!"

The other 3 Tactical Squads move in formation with the Dreadnought almost due south, towards the distant southern alien objective.

The space marine attack is terrifying in it's vociferousness:

Tactical Squads 2 & 3 and the Dreadnought all open up at the Kommandoz, but they can't seem to hit the well-camouflaged greenskins.
The Chapter Master calls down an orbital strike, but it scatters away from the targeted Lobbaz and instead catches the edges of both Mob1 and the Flash Gitz. A single ork from each unit is blown to bits.
The Nimbus Engine weapon systems roar and six orks of Mob1 die horrible deaths as both the thunderstorm cannon and heavy incinerator get busy.
The Terminators attack Mob1 as well. A total of 7 orks go down to the heavy firepower of frag missiles and stormbolter shells.
The Snipers shoot at Mob1, but the trees in-between them and their targets give the orks enough cover that only one more lad dies from their efforts.
The Assault Marines open fire with their weapons into Mob1 and kill 4 of the ladz with their bolt pistols.

Then the Assault Marines drop into Mob1! The carnage is brutal, with 10 of the ladz being ripped to loathsome pieces by chainswords. All that remains of this once proud unit is a badly wounded nob, who is fleeing the field in stunned disbelief. Mega-Warboss Chainsaw is amazed at the frighting effectiveness of the Assault Marines when fully supported by the rest of the human forces. "Dis iz gonna suck squig droppings, me iz tinkin'..."

With half of their strong troop units wiped out before they could even move, the orks are quickly thinking that it's much more fun to beat up on scrawny human farmers than to face off against enraged space marines.

The Flash Gits and Mob2 move towards the center objective.

Foolishly, the Tank Bustaz also move forward, creeping up to peek out of the village gate. This proves to be a huge error, as the sight of the distant Dreadnought drives all rational thought from the ork's tiny minds.

Attacks made by the orks this turn are as follows:

The Big Mek shoots at the Terminators and scatters very badly. A hail of wailing snotlings interpenetrate with some trees instead and the vegetation screams as the grot attempt (briefly) to become dryads. It doesn't work out so good.
The Lobbaz unload on the Assault Marines, but their poor fire control at aiming at such a rapidly-moving target means they only stop 1.
The Flash Gits shoot their scary weapons at the Assault Marines with a bit more success - 5 of them die and Ambrose Praetorius takes a wound.
The Tank Bustaz fire their weapons at the Dreadnought, but they are hopelessly out of range.

The last round was totally lopsided in the Storm Herald's favor, and yet they are not satisfied: for some of the vile greenskin aliens still live! They resolve to solve this oversight - posthaste!

The Assault Marines jump over the village wall and gain the high ground over the Lobbaz.

The Terminators surround the mutant squig, putting the current score to 2-0.

The other space marine units continue to march inexorably towards their targets, turning their attention to the ork units that dare to move towards them.

Determined to finish the aliens off early, the space marines attack:

Tactical Squads 3 & 4 and the Dreadnought all rapid fire into the Kommando unit. A total of 5 orks go down in a spray of gore.
Tactical Squad2, the Terminators, and the Nimbus Engine unload into Mob2. The carnage is unfathomable! 25 of the orks of this once huge mob are cut down, like so many weeds.
The Assault Marines leap down into the midst of the Lobba crew and kill 2 of the grot. A single marine also goes down due to a lucky shot.
The Nimbus Engine assaults the horriblely weakened remnants of Mob2. 3 more of the orks die, but Mega-Warboss Chainsaw makes his own displeasure felt by inflicting 3 wounds on the mighty machine.
The Dreadnought slams through the trees and pounds into the Kommandoz. 2 of the orks die in the initial assault.

There is a razor-thin chance for a draw to still be bought from this fungus-flambe.

"WAAAGH!!!"

The ork forces move to what will provide the slim chance at victory.

It all hinges on at least one of the members of the ork unit of Mob2 surviving to be able to secure an objective.

The shattered ork forces have few options remaining at this point:

The Big Mek shoots at the Terminators once again, hoping to kill some of them this time... He is not disappointed! 3 of the Terminators are laid low by speeding and insane snotling projectiles.
The Kommandoz fight back against the Dreadnought. They tear off both of the war machine's ranged weapons, but it still crushes one of them.
The Lobbaz attack the Assault Marines in a mad attempt to protect their precious big gunz. 6 grot die in order to slay a single marine.
The shimmering force blade of the Nimbus Engine spears the nob of Mob2 and sucks his life-energy dry. Mega-Warboss Chainsaw is also wounded, but as the final member of Mob2 blows to dust motes, he knows that this battle is all over.

This game is over! Chainsaw has no scoring units left that can fight and hold an objective. He concedes the game in shame...

Dark Purist Wins! The final score is 3 to 0. A crushing victory for the Storm Heralds. Their chapter's most holy battle-relic, the Nimbus Engine, proves it's worth, yet again. The Assault Marines mobility and effectiveness in close quarters combat are a powerful combination which broke the back of the ork battle plan before it could even begin! Chainsaw gnashes his teeth in dismay at the loss and resolves to re-think his point selection when playing for objectives.