Had a fun game with a great opponent last Friday as part of a local
40k league. In the league, you know what races your opponent has available, but you don't know what they're going to bring. You agree on a point value & show up with your army & hope for a good match-up. My opponent for the day was someone I previously had not met and Dakka lurker
Seer Bartooki. Bart (not his real name) turned out to be a fantastic guy who kept his humor in spite of some very trying circumstances. I would not have conducted myself as well as he did were our positions reversed... so he has my thanks and respect.
I apologize for the pics, not up to my usual standard. Used my phone camera, which is better than my old phone camera but still very limited and there are some of my normal shots that are just missing... hopefully there's enough here to keep it interesting. I also want to apologize for the look of the two black battlewagons. If they look like someone had to hack-saw off perma-glued turrets... well, that's pretty much what happened. I HATE plastic glue. I have plans for re-building the tops of those this summer & getting them painted up properly.
Game Details Scenario: Capture and Control
Deployment: Spearhead
Table: City with roads (light grey)
Order: Eldar with the roll-off and elect to go first.
Order of Battle I'd decided on fielding my ork army as I'm a bit burnt out on playing my marines. At the encouragement of my eldest, I was planning on playing a green tide list, and indeed had concocted a decent 137 figure list. However... at the last minute I chickened out and fell back on something with fewer models so it would be much easier to maneuver and handle. I had some points left over and rather than beefing up the squads I decided to throw Zoggy into the list. There is nothing more fun in all of
40k than turning your opponent's fancy-pants
IC into a squig. Plus he gives the possibility of relocating the grots (through 'Ere we go!) if needed. I was very worried when I saw Bart's psychic heavy list... but luckily for me he didn't take the war gear which penalized me for psychic tests... so I get a break before we even put our figures on the table. I'll take it.
Big Mek Ironmaw's Battlewagon Rush HQ: Big Mek -
KFF,
PK, Eavy Armor,
BP (in Nobwagon)
HQ: Old Zogwort - poisoned weapon, warphead psycher, Zoggy's curse (in Grotwagon)
EL: 3 meganobs, mixed weapons,
PKs in battlewagon - rolla, eavy armor, boarding plank
TP: 15 boys, Nob w/
PK &
BP in battlewagon - rolla, eavy armor, boarding plank
TP: 15 boys, Nob w/
PK &
BP in battlewagon - rolla, eavy armor, boarding plank
TP: 11 grots + herder in battlewagon - zap gun, 2 RL, aard case, armor plates
HV: 3 wagons as detailed above 1250 pts
Farseer Bartooki's Light Recon Force Farseer Bartooki: Doom + Fortune, Singing Spear
Farseer: Guide + Fortune
12 Guardian Defenders: Warlock with Embolden, Scatter Lasers
12 Guardian Defenders: Warlock with Embolden, Scatter Lasers
5 Eldar Rangers
5 Fire Dragons in Wave Serpent w/
TL-
EML 7 Harlequins: Shadowseer Upgrade 5 Harlequin's Kisses
5 Warp Spiders
War Walker:
EML + Scatter Laser
War Walker: EML + Scatter Laser 1250 pts (I'm assuming)
Background It had been a long, hot trek across the wastes for Big Mek Ironmaw and his charges. Worst of all it had been fruitless, as the cache' of Imperial weapons and technology promised by the 'Uumie prisoner had not panned out. Ironmaw was vexed to say the least... and on the long, bumpy ride across the arid wastes was thinking up the most painful punishments and modifications to perform on the lying guardsman. The ruined city ahead would provide ample inspiration of a devious nature for Ironmaw's revenge. In the midst of his revalrie, the intercom blared... "Pointy ears ahead!" Ironmaw's face visibly brightened... perhaps the day was not lost after all. While the nature of 'dar tek was more useful to warp'eads than a Mek like himself... the 'dar were just so much fun to squish. (when the little buggers could be caught!) Deployment We mutually agreed that the light grey areas were roads (the standard for this board at the
FLGS) and that while vehicles could crash through ruins equal to or less than the height of the vehicle (dangerous terrain of course) they could not crash through anything higher. I like limits on what vehicles can smash through... makes the game much more realistic and decreases the already overbalanced power of the vehicle in 5th. Bart picked a corner with good ruin cover and clear road access, which put me in a corner with the main road fouled up by a pile of debris. He deployed his Eldar in ranks, reasonably far forward considering my primary attack. I deployed my wagons as far forward as the scenario would allow, trusting in the
KFF (middle wagon) and the pile of debris to keep me obstructed and safe from harm. The gunwagon/grotwagon
wth Zoggy was safely bringing up the rear. Our objectives are indicated by the blue arrows (mine isn't placed as the battlewagons are on top of it).
Turn 1 The Eldar army doesn't move very much but takes advantage of their superior long-range fire power to try and slow the ork advance. Unfortunately, the
AV-14 of the ork battlewagons and obscuring protection of Irongob's
KFF keep the orks from harm. Eldar psychers reach into the ether and unopposed, augment key elements of the Eldar army.
(no pic, sorry... the
WW on the left moves into the ruins & the guardians & harlies move up a bit)
While Irongob is an accomplished ork Mek and leader... no one would ever call him a tactical genious. However... he knows the basics. Engines revving... eldar fire bouncing harmlessly off the mighty ork constructs... he cries "waaaaagh!" (little "w"... not the big "W") and the battlewagons roll, plowing through the pile of debris as if it wasn't there. Zoggy directs his grotwagon off to the left, still within the protection of Ironmaw's KFF, but with luck... completely out of sight of the Eldar long range weaponry. 
Turn 2 Farseer Bartooki watched the massive ork machines advance on his light recon force. The reading of his cast stones was muddled... uncertain. He'd have to rely on his own wits and experience and trust in the expertise of his warriors. They would have one chance to stop the green-skins before they were overwhelmed but it was risky, and even if his gambit succeeded he'd likely be condemning the Fire Dragons to their doom. The sudden appearance of the Harlequin Troupe foreshadowed this battle, "The Dance" as they called it was about to commence. The Eldar Warp Spiders do not arrive yet. In spite of this, elements of the Eldar army move boldly forward. With a whine of anti-grav the Wave Serpent shoots across the ork battle line and deposits it's payload in perfect position to unload fusion beams into an ork battlewagon, while the mystic Harlequins charge right into the teeth of 3 oncoming deathrollas! Nimbly dancing about, looking for a weak spot in the piece-meal constructions with which to land a telling blow. The concentrations of fire on the left vehicle shakes it to the point where the gunners are tossed about like flotsam on the water... yet the vehicle itself is completely unharmed. None of the other ork vehicles get so much as a scratch.
The Eldar Move up:
Shooting and Assaults:
Cheeky Harlequins!
Ironmaw sees his chance and screams "Waaaaagh!!". The battle cry, amplified by the battlewagons loudspeakers echos across the battlefield and a chorus us Waaaaaghs is returned by the ork horde. The battlewagons pile forward, deffrollaing the Harlequins, killing 3 and putting them to flight. Orks pile out of the left-most wagon and multi-charge the guardians in front of them and the War Walker on the left. Ironmaw's wagon also blasts forward and unloads it's mega-nobs who charge through a ruin into the other War Walker. The last wagon (on the right) unloads it's boyz who multi-charge the Fire Dragons and the Wave Serpent... then spins and deffrolla's the Harlequins again, killing 1 more!
The results, as you may imagine... are devastating to the Eldar war effort.
What Farseer Bartooki has feared the most has come to pass. The orks en'masse have engaged his troops in assault and a whole-sale reaping of Eldar souls has begun. Even the mighty Fire Dragons and elusive Harlequins fall before the ravenous beasts as wheat before the scythe! Turn 3 "By Khaines' firey balls..." muttered Bartooki. Perhaps there was still a chance. Should the Warp Spiders arrive they might be able to eliminate one of the ork mobs and threaten the ork rear, forcing the orks to reallocate their forward assets to the rear, and buying Bartooki's surviving forces valuable time to regroup. Alas it was not to be. The eldar forces in the rear focus their fire on the ork mega nobs, wounding 2 but killing none. The Wave Serpent's
EML kills an ork in the mob surrounding it, while in assult the surviving War Walker trades a shaken result for a dead ork, yielding a push.
(sorry, no pic)
The orks continue to press their advantage. In the center the meganobs crunch through the ruins, flame the Rangers and then multicharge the Rangers and Guardians who were just deffrolla'd by the two battlewagons... with predictable results. Ironmaw gets a front-row seat to the proceedings from the comfort and safety of his Battlewagon.
On the left flank, the ork Nob finishes off the War Walker with his
PK, and the boys meander over to claim the Eldar objective.
On the right, seeing that the Wave Serpent is little threat and fearing that a
PK kill could result in an explosion that wipes out the mob, the orks on the right flank fall back to secure their own objective (never know when those pesky Warp Spiders will actually show up). The battlewagon in the ruins executes a masterful 3-point turn to line up on the rear armor of the Wave Serpent *beeep* *beeep* *beeep* while Zoggy and the grot-kin back up to lay claim to the ork objective.
Turn 4 The Eldar Warp Spiders arrive. One turn too late... but the "spunky Spiders" are determined to make whatever dent they can in the ork forces. They are hoping for shots into the rear of the battlewagon but fate does not smile on the Eldar today and they deviate forward so that the only shots they have are into the side armor. What would have been penetrating hits become glances, leaving Zoggy's ride shaken & stunned, but otherwise unharmed. The Spiders jump forward after shooting in the hopes of avoiding the oncoming boys.
In the Eldar rear, the meganobs eliminate the last of the guardians the Farseer Bartooki's spirit slips into the emerald stone on his corpses chest. Safe from the grasp of Slanesh, at least for the time being.
Mission complete... the meganobs ramble back into their wagon and the two vehicles move to allow the ork mob to move in & claim the Eldar objective. In the ork rear, the boys swarm toward the Warp Spiders while Zoggy, in a moment of irrational exuberance... piles out of the wagon to "git sum guud zappin' in!". Unfortunately, Zoggy only succeeded in zapping himself and then lost yet another wound in the ensuing hand-to-hand combat. The orks did manage to kill 3 of the eldar, and win the combat, though the Eldar do not break.
Turn 5 Undaunted, the last two remaining Eldar Warp Spiders concentrate their attacks on Zogwart... and wound him. Does fate have anything for the valiant Eldar this day??
Yes, yes it does.
The ork mob goes on to kill the last two Eldar warriors and Zoggy's memory (squishy and insane as it is) is avenged.
Results Eldar: 0 objectives
Orks: 2 objectives
Ork victory!
I hope you enjoyed the report. I look forward to playing Seer Bartooki again, hopefully with armies that are a little better matched. He was a great opponent. I don't think I made too many mistakes this game, which is a rarity. I did roll completely out of my mid for most of the game however... which helped speed the Eldar downfall considerably.
Too funny.
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