Darks Angels vs Orks

deployment - Dark Angels

Both players picked to run Tactical Secondaries and the Dark Angels won the roll to deploy first. 

The 2x units of Henchmen started in Strategic Reserves, their intended purpose to come in from the Orks board edge T3 and be in a position to hopefully score points later on. I think this may have been a mistake overall and it might have been better to start the Henchmen on the board and just provide some early game screening against the Orks to allow the Redeemer more access to move around without too much fear of being charged from cover, opening up his Overwatch potential. 

Embarked within the Stormraven was a single Redemptor, the Techmarine with the Target Augury, and the Combi-Lieutenant with the Master of Machine War. Their purpose was to be in the same position as the Stormraven once it had moved to provide the buffs needed to fuel it's firepower. 

With the lack of width being an issue for the list I opted to split the Thunderstrikes and the Stormraven + Darkshroud pods. I wouldn't be able to get all of those units to see a solid target T1 up a single flank and it felt like splitting them would let me push more Objectives in the early game and get more of the diagonal angles. 

The Redeemer and Redemptor went to the middle of the lines. Their main purpose is to provide a strong pivot and restrict my opponents movements from one flank to the other. The Infiltrators started by screening the back right-side of my line, within 15" of the corner for a T1 Investigate Signals if required. Azrael and the Company Heroes hunkered down on my Deployment Zone Objective, with the remaining Techmarine being within 3" of the Stormraven for the +1 to hit and possible wound recovery, but also within 6" of the deployed Redemptor and Redeemer should the ability to blank a failed save be required. 

early game

Dark Angels "won" the roll to go first, I say "won" because I would have far rather gone second with this particular set-up and layout. The Orks were very well tucked up behind cover or the obscuring tiles so there were very few targets of opportunity until they decided to enact the Brutal part of their plan. I pulled Cleanse and Deploy Teleport Homers which was ok as both were scoreable Turn 1 without exposing too many of my units unless a WAAAGH!!! was called early. 

Both Thunderstrikes were able to line up some shots on the Trukk with the Flashgitz embarked and went for it, moving up to the nearest objective on the left side of the board., however 1x Thunderstrike opted to perform Cleanse instead on the Objective - points mean prizes, right? 

The Orks T1 was a cautious start. With Assassination and Deploy Teleport Homers as cards there wasn't much that was really on and so not much point in going full puish without the WAAAGH!!! being declared for the movement. The Grots on the right flank advanced up to claim the Objective from the Thunderstrikes and another unit of Grots moved to the middle Objective. The Battlewagon on my right also moved up behind the terrain piece ready to disgorge a tide of Boyz next turn. 

At the start of the Dark Angels T2 a mighty WAAAGH!!! went up ominously from behind the ruins in front of them - I guess the Brutal part was about to begin.

Mid-Game - T2/3

I pulled No Prisoners and Area Denial for my cards, again both very scorable and decided there was no point giving the Orks easy charges so moved the vehicles back towards the safety of my own deployment zone  and weighting up my right side to start setting up firing lines for the inevitable rush. 

In my Movement Phase I nudged one of the Thunderstrikes back towards the ruins in my deployment zone, hoping to drag it out of Charge range from the Orks so they would have to decide between an almost guaranteed charge on the one left on Objective and risking it for a longer charge into both. The Redeemer moved to a more central location, with the intention of providing an Overwatch threat to the oncoming horde.

The Stormraven moved further back, beyond Charge range of the main Ork threats with the Redeemer and Redemptors between it and the green tide. 

The Adept of the Omnisiah Techmarine moved into a position again to cover 1x Redemptor, the Redeemer, the Thunderstrike and the Dark Shroud all with his ability to blank a failed save. 

A single Redemptor moved round the ruins to get Line of Sight to the Grots in the centre, they weren't in a position to stop my Area Denial, but I needed No Prisoner units and they would double up nicely as some primary denial. The second No Prisoners target was marked up as the wounded Trukk and both sets of targets went down scoring another 4VP, with Area Denial scoring the 5VP maximum. 

It was now time for the Orks to launch the assault, and they moved fast! With Deploy Teleport Homers retained from the last round, and now Overwhelming Force pulled after Assassination was discarded it was likely they'd score both this turn. The Thunderstrike was a great target for Overwhelming force and the Redeemer was likewise on an Objective. 

The 20x Boyz leapt out of the Battlewagon and headed straight towards the Thunderstrikes but decided to only charge the nearest one to get the guaranteed Overwhelming Force points on offer. I decided to not Overwatch with the Redeemer, hoping that holding back the threat from Overwatch might influence the movement of the incoming Nobz and Ghaz - this was a mistake. 

The Nobz with the +2" move from their Enhancement, and Advance and Charge available from WAAAGH!!! were able to leave the ruin on my far left and stage up behind the smaller ruin central left, always remaining outside Line of Sight to the Redeemer. Ghaz used 1CP on 'Ere We Go to add +2" his units Advance and Chartge rolls - again able to safely leave the large-ruin in the centre and stage up behind the ruin in the centre right and remain outside Line of Sight to the Redeemer. No Overwatch here and sad Redeemer noises ensued. 

The Flashgitz that had been dumped out of their exploded Trukk jumped ito the now empty Nobz Trukk and moved out to fire some shots at the Redemptor on my right, it was largely ineffective. 

Then the Bubblechuckas turned up... 

With two of them appearing on either flank they are the true epitome of everything Ork. Random shots, random damage, random profile - go big, or go home!

The ones on my left flank opened up on the nearest Redemptor, with one of them rolling the "anti-tank" profile and landing a wound, the Adept of the Omnisiah rapidly blanking the damage once the save had been failed. 

Then, it got real painful...

As is the way of the Ork, all the declared Charges were successful. Ghaz went into the Redeemer, the Nobz into a Redemptor and the 20x Boz into a single Thunderstrike.

Ghaz swung first using Unbridled Carnage for 1CP to mean all melee attacks were a Critical Hit on a 5+ which combines well with Makari's 12" aura for Lethal Hits and the native Sustained 1 from the Waaagh! Tribe detachment rule. The Redeemer was turned into scrap metal in very short order, but had obviously not had a chance to release any promethium at this point and exploded. It exploded in a big way! 

WE counted around 26MW dealt in total from the explosion, this included:

• 6 Mortal Wounds were dealt to the nearby Redemptor (who needs -1 damage and a 2+ save, huh?); 

• The Adept of the Omnisiah took 5 wounds, killing him outright; 

• Dark Shroud took 4 Mortal Wounds; and 

• The Stormraven took another 5 Mortals

The Orks obviously got the memo and took cover, Ghaz's unit only took a single Mortal Wound and the Nobz unit was also caught in the blast, losing a single model. The badly wounded Redemptor went down under a flurry of blows from the Nobz unit - its 6 wound state meaning I didn't feel using AoC was the right call anymore. Over on the right, the 20x Boyz unit pulped the Thunderstrike and Piled In to the other. 

Ouch... that hurt! But that was the end of the Ork turn and now we were living in a target rich environment; the Stormraven pilot vowed vengeance for the fallen... uh, models that were destroyed that turn.

MId-Game - T3/4

As is the way I find with most Ironstorm builds I run, there's a fair bit of uhmmm-ing and ahhh-ing in the Command Phase to work out the order of operations on the targets you want to go down. With Ghazghkull Thrakka and Makari on a 2++ added to the mix, getting the order "right" was going to be important. This was the thought process in my head as I drew Storm Hostile Objectives and Overwhelming Force:

1. The 20x Boyz unit and Ghaz's Mega Armoured Nobz were on Objectives, Ghaz himself wasn't and neither were the 10x Nobz. These needed to be priority kills for the secondary mission;

2. The Nobz and Ghaz also needed to be destroyed this turn, or it was going to get real nasty in the next turn;

3. The 20x Boyz on my right were the only target with 1W models, making them the best option for the Hurricane Bolters from the Stormraven and Mercy is Weakness;

4. Makari's 2++ needed either high volume of shots, or Mortal Wounds to get passed and the Mega Armoured Nobz at 3W would likely need Redemptor and Stormraven support also;

5. The Nobz at 2W a pieces would also benefit from Redemptor and Stormraven shooting, but Azrael and his squad would be a good back up option if the Shooting Phase couldn't get the job done;

6. There's still a Thunderstrike available and the +1 to wound buff can be directed towards the Bsttlewagon to assist the Stormraven (he had A LOT of work to do...). This wasn't a real priority this turn though.

With all of those processes buzzing in my head I started the turn by putting Oaths on the 20x Boyz. If they're the Mercy is Weakness target for Hurricane Bolter fire then I'd want the rerolls to hit to let me fish for those Sustained and Lethal Hits to bypass the Ork T5 profile. 

The tagged Thunderstrike Fell Back, making sure to end up within the 6" aura of the Lieutenant with Combi-Weapon hiding under the ruin. The Thunderstrikes main target was the Mega Armoured Nobz with Ghaz, hoping to sneak them out with the Lastalons and Missile before a decision was needed in the Redemptor / Stormraven. 

The Dark Shroud swung back to hold my home objective and get a line on Ghaz and Makari - Azrael moved out of the ruin to add options on the Nobz unit and so I needed something on my backfield again for primary. The potential Devastating Wounds from the Assault Cannon also giving me the opportunity to bypass some defensive profiles with a Mortal Wound against Makari's 2++. The Redemptor moved up to threaten Ghaz as well, again the Devastating potential from the Onslaught Gatling Cannon providing a opportunity into Makari and then also, if all else fails, we can Charge. 

The Stormraven was also healed by the Techmarine, gaining back a few wounds but also gaining the +1 to hit bonus. He moved into a position where the Hurricane Bolters were within 12" of the Boyz unit, and 9" of the Battlewagon but still had line of sight towards Ghaz and the Nobz. That big, beautiful bird fills a lot of space giving him ample lines of sight from different parts of the hull. 

With targets selected we progressed into the Shooting Phase and the Thunderstrike opened up first. All of the main weapons going into the Mega Armoured Nobz and the Icarus Array firing a shot into the Battlewagon to paint it up for the +1 to wound. This is where, previosuly, with the Talonmaster I would have been far more confident in the Thunderstrikes ability. The AP3 combined with the Ignore Cover aura from the Talonmaster being very good into elite targets in cover. As it was the Mega Armoured Nibs would still be on a 4+, all 3 shots hit and all wounded, the Orks made 1x save and the Damage d6+1 profile was enough to bring down the 2 Mega Armoured Nobz, leaving just Ghaz and Makari with his 2++ to deal with. 

The Dark Shroud went next, and again I got a little lucky with 2 regular wounds but also a single Devastating Wound going to the pair. This created a bit of an issue for target allocation as using Makari to try and soak the 2 regular saves on his 2++ would mean he would then have to take the Devastating Wound immediately after and would be destroyed, in the end Ghaz ate the wounds - sparing Makari to hopefully be a nuisance with his 2++ later on. 

The rest of the shooting was a bit less stressful from here on out. The Redemptor and Azrael both went into the Nobz unit, and reduced them to a few models left - the Lions Roar claiming 3x Nobz on its own with the Anti-Infantry 4+ and Devastating Wounds profile. The Infiltrators and Techmarines Forge Bolter opened up into the 20x Boyz, supported by the Stormraven who scatter shot into the 20x Boyz with the Hurricane Bolter, the Multi-Melta went into the Battlewagon (with the Thunderstrikes +1 to wound) and then Plasma Cannon and Stormstrike Missiles went into Ghaz. 

The result of the Shooting Phase was th 20x Boyz was reduced to just the Warboss remaining; Ghaz was left alive on 2W with Makari; the Battlewagon was reduced to just 2W remaining, and the Warboss was left alive in the Nobz unit.

Ghaz and Makari were still a threat, the Orks is Never Beaten stratagem for 2CP meaning whatever went in would likely be destroyed either way. This was circumvented with a Tank Shock from the Redemptor which resulted in more than 3 Mortal Wounds in the Charge Phase and bringing down both Ghaz and Makari before the stratagem could be activated. 

Azrael and his Company of Heroes charged the Nobz lone Warboss on my left side, killing him and Consolidating across onto the Objective for some Storm Hostile Objective points, and the lone Techmarine charged the other Warboss on my right. This was a mistake... the Warboss would have retained Oaths of Moment into the Ork turn as a Persisting Effect meaning the Stormraven would have been able to Overwatch with full rerolls to hit and still had the Lethal Hits from the Techmarine. As it was, the Techmarine went in, Orks is Never Beaten was used and M.A.D. ensued. 

Late Game T4/5

With a lot of the "big hitters" on either side destroyed the game picked up in pace from here on out. 

The Orks T3 saw them draw Bring It Down and Secure No Mans Land. Both if which were very achievable adn secured with the Grots behind the ruin on my right, and the Battlewagon in the middle. The Stormboyz made the most of their Full Throttle ability to Advance and Charge, making a 10" charge into the Dark Shroud (after a CP reroll) to destroy it for Bring It Down and also to try and deny me some primary. 

In the same vein, the Flashgitz disembarked from the Trukk and drew line of sight to the Company Heroes, blasting away and bringing all of the Heroes down but being unable to wound Azrael. It was still enough to flip the Objective back into their control meaning I was on for a 0VP on Primary next round. 

The Bubble Chuckas continued with their utter randomness and failed to really scratch any of the vehicles they. 

In response, the Dark Angels drew Defend Stronghold and Extend Battlelines. The Infiltrators moved across to shoot and charge to Orks in order to regain control of the backfield for Defend Stronghold, while the Redemptor continued his pursuit of vengeance on the Orks by moving round and shooting into the Flashgitz before charging the Trukk. I made a mistake here after thinking the Flashgitz had lost a model in the earlier Trukk explosion so used Mercy is Weakness, after resolving the shooting we realised that the Flashgits were actually at full health still so re-did the shooting from the Redemptor whihc returned a single Flashgit to the unit. The Redemptor then Tank Shocked the Trukk on the Charge and promptly blew it up before Piling In to the Flashgitz unit to give Azrael some degree of protection and make sur ehis high OC was on the Objective. 

The Stormraven and Thunderstike combined to down all of the Bubble Chuckas aside from the one on my left but failed to kill the 2W Battlewagon. 

End-Game - T5

As the game draws to a close it was clear the Orks were in the lead, but their numbers were dwindling and were increasingly ineffective against the Stormraven and the Dreadnought. 

I drew Assassination and Bring It Down as cards - again very scoreable - but I also knew I needed to return the favour of a 0VP Primary turn to the Orks from earlier in the game. The Redemptor finished his brawl with the Flashgits, Azrael joining the fray to finish Badruk off for the Assassination points, and worked his way towards the remaining Bubble Chuckas on my left. The Bubble Chuckas gave a last ditched Overwatch attempt but failed to damage the Dreadnought and in between the guns and the Charge he finished them off. Bring It Down points secured. 

Int he Orks backfield, the Henchmen actually DID something... moving up and charging into the Grots on the backfield objective! Between the combined 30x attacks from both units of 5 they managed to kill enough that the unit was now ineffective and wouldn't be able to score Primary. So far, so good...

Now for the right-side! The Thunderstrike put the 2x Las Talons into the Grots, while the Stormstrike and Icarus array went into the Battlewagon. His main role here was just to open up both targets for the Thunderstrike. We needed a model destroyed in the Grots to open them up for Mercy is Weakness, and to get the +1 to wound up on the Battlewagon. He did his joib, 2 Grots annhilated by laser beams and managed to hit the Battlewagon - the Stormstrike however bounced on a 4+ save due to cover (Talonmaster, I need you!). 

It all came down to the Thunderstrike. His moment of glory. He was well primed and supported to swoop in and pick up the Grots with Hurricane Bolters and then his Multi-Melta, Stormstrike and Plasma Cannons could inflict 2 wounds on the Battlewagon with +1 to wound AND Mercy is Weakness up... right? RIGHT?

No... 

He did pick up the Grots - those Hurricane Bolters with Mercy is Weakness should never be underestimated for just how much lead they can spit at units. But the Battlewagon managed to dodge the Multi-Meltas wounding it, even with an Ironstrom reroll and then failed 1 of its saves from the Plasma Cannons. A reroll was swiftly used for a 4+ save and was passed and the Battlewagon survived. 

With the scores set at 75-74 to the Dark Angels, the Orks took their turn and drew Extend Battle Lines and Defend Stronghold, neither of which would be possible with the lone Battlewagon but his OC value of 5 was more than enough to see off the OC3 from the Thunderstrike and the OC0 from the Stormraven, meaning he would hold the objective at the end of Battle Round 5. 

Meaning a cracking 75-79 victory to the Orks!