Da Waaaagh got to test da metal

This battle was a bit of a special one.  One of my long-time buddies rolled down here from Chicago and, for the first time in our almost decade-long association, we played a game!  He only brought some Necron infantry to paint, but it added up to 1000 points and I have this 1000 point army that I've been slowly painting and playing with.  So the heck with it!  We decided to throw down.

In the interest of keeping it short (he had a four hour drive back to his hotel), we decided to play a standard 'Kill and 12' mission on a 4'x4' table.  And y'all know how much I love the cityfight style right now...

da battlefield.  Note that the buildings are set up diagonally to keep any major advantages minimal.

I kept my Warbikes behind cover and on the flank, backed up by the Lootas, and then spread the boyz across the rest of the front.  This time, I remembered to put my Deffdread in a position to do something!  But not having the first turn meant i had to be ready to react to whatever he did.   

My deployment

He deployed some Scarabs and Warriors on his right flank, some Warriors and Immortals in the middle, and the super-fast Praetorians on his left flank.  He also infiltrated Flayed Ones in the middle...

His deployment

I tried to roll for Night Fighting rules, but it turned out that we were definitely fighting at high noon.  Darn.  Space Marine guns are bad enough...  He rolled and chose to set up first, and I made sure to avoid his 'good' stuff.  First turn comes around and it's time to see who goes first.  Funny enough, my buddy has the same problem that I have- he always get 'seized' on.  This case was no different and I was smiling- happy to be on the giving end this time!  So da Orks get first turn.

That's right- my die rolled a '6'!

My Warbikes leapt forward and shot at the Scarab swarms, killing half of them with a great amount of accuracy!  12 dice, and 9 hit.  Yeah, that happened.  Da boyz rushed forward on all sides, and the Lootas shot at some Warriors in the building, killing a couple.  It was phenomenal, as the Orks looked like they'd been to the range finally!

But the Necrons weren't perturbed and they leapt into action.  The Flayed Ones and the Praetorians jumped into the ruins where my Orks had just taken up position, and eventually shot and charged them.  The Flayed Ones alone killed off the whole mob, but the Praetorians did most of the word first as they didn't have to pick their way through rubble to get to their targets.  Royalty has its privelages...  Meanwhile, the Warriors and Immortals in the middle blasted the Deffdread to bits in a single volley, adding to that machines woeful record.  The Immortals failed with their shots, but the Warriors were sure to decimate the target.  The greenskin inside had hope for a moment, but it was not meant to be.  On a much better note, the Scarabs tried to charge the Warbikers and lost a few more in the process.  As the pieces of those silver insects flopped about the ground, the survivors thought better and failed their charge.  That left the Warboss in a very happy position...

End of Turn 1

Turn 2 was brutal.  The Warbikes and their leader decided to pull off a disordered charge to clear out the Warriors and metal insects from the flank.  Some peppering of the Warriors knocks them down to two and a charge over rubble and a crater requires an '11' to charge.  There's no way I'm going to make that and I just cost myself the game on that gamble...

And then I rolled boxcars!!!!

So the Warboss, a Nob, and a single biker come out of that scrum with nary a scratch and that flank completely controlled.  The Ork boyz in the middle of the battlefield consolidate and charge the Flayed Ones, losing most of their number but finishing off the very scary unit.  By the way, to all those players that think Flayed Ones suck- 3 base attacks, Str 4, Shred, AP 5, and the same cost as a Warrior- bite me!  Those guys are awesome!

But the Necrons answered.  The Praetorians jumped over and finished off the boyz, and the Warriors and Immortals shot at the bikers.  After everything was said and done, only the Overlord and his unit of Immortals stood against the wounded Warboss and his wounded Nob...

End of Turn 2

Turn 3 was just as brutal as the other Turn 3's.  My Lootas tried to shoot at the Praetorians as they came roaring in, failing to do anything significant.  A combat quickly ensued and the last two surviving Necron nobles finished the Lootas off with a chase.  It was a sad day for the big gunz...  

Not a lot left on the table...

The Warboss and his Nob took the charge from the Immortals and Lord, and His Overlord was only alive because he had turned down my challenge.  The arrogance!  His squad didn't run away, so my Warboss was now the last hope of my army.  We fought again, this time he accepted the challenge, and then commenced to finishing off the Orks with style.  Needless to say, that challenge didn't last as I didn't pass that one, single, final, all-important armor save.  That was it.  Another complete tabling.  

End of Turn 3

Well, I've played 6 games with my Orks so far and have won one.  Orks are a very rough army to play at such small points levels, and the 'codex' theme for the army is the worst one in the game ('codex' theme refers to taking the most basic stuff from a codex to display the 'personality' of an army).  I may play one more game with this army list- against the same guy that I played the first time and won against.  But I doubt that.  I wanted to get this army painted so I could start adding good stuff to it...

It was nice to also see the new Necrons at work.  I have to admit that I still hate Necrons with a burning passion, and I still very much think they are one of the most powerful armies out there, but they are a bit on the 'experienced' side and so should probably be a bit scary.  I didn't have to face any of the cheezy vehicles (thank Gork (or maybe Mork) for 1200 mile trips and limited luggage space!), but I don't think it'll make the army harder to beat, just more annoying while they're beating you.  But that's why I'm playing Orks- I need to get used to being beat and learn to win on 'hard'.  Necrons against Orks?  Yep, just like I remember it...

What do you guys think of the new Necrons?  Ever had a game where the dice were on fire for you and you still lost?  Let me know about your latest game and, as always, Happy Gaming!

How Long to Paint Ruins?!

  So what's the point of painting your models if your terrain still looks like junk?  That was a realization that I had while trying to get motivated to paint my Orks the other night.  I've been planning on painting the terrain for some time now, but I was so focused on my boyz that it simply slipped my mind.

  No problem, I stack all the buildings up on my tray and take it out to prime in the garage, and I'd be halfway done already.  So I played Tetris with the ruins, turned around and reached for...  nothing.  There was a full can of White primer and a 25 mm base just sitting there.  My hand hovered for a bit before my brain realized the futility.  So I stared at this for two weeks...

  But I picked up the primer and got to work, even grabbing my Moonscape craters along the way!  Here's where I got and where I stayed for another two weeks...

After priming them again...  These buildings have a ton of detail!

The buildings, drybrushed...  Notice the 'model' building in the lower left.

  Now I chose to drybrush the buildings and make them different colors.   While I had one set of the ruins previously done for the quick demo board years ago, the rest couldn't just look like that one.  So I chose to use gray, blue, and reddish brown for the sets.  I tried to keep like buildings together so that gives me the option of putting bigger ruined 'footprints' on the battlefield if I want.  Notice that I simply added Eshin Gray (really light gray, like the old Fortress Gray) to the main color to drybrush the flooring.  This can be changed later, but I do believe that even monochrome buildings should have a distinction between wall and floor...

  Speaking of things that can be changed later- Notice that I also painted the Aquila Warplock Bronze, to be painted Gold later.  This is the start of the principle of 'Minimum Two Colors' rule that we used to use in our Thunderhawds, and I may actually push that further.  Certain window frames will be silver, skull motifs will be bone, some statuary and decorative elements will be picked out, etc.  But terrain is secondary to models (and a close second!), so that's not a priority right now.  So I'm sure it will be a couple more weeks before I think about it again.

Bases!!!

  Funny enough, I'm always waffling between whether I want to base the ruins or not.  I layed down the buildings and traced out their outlines on the existing bases that I have now, because I should do this.  After all, I would have been written-up by the Inquisition had I chosen not to do this when I worked for the Emprah.  But then I got to thinking (again)- I lose a great deal of placement options between my storage shelf and the oddly-shaped hills of the battlefield!  I'm not sure I want to lose the versatility of the model ruins just for a bit more resilience and aesthetic...

  Of course you know that I'll post more in the future, including batreps on fully painted terrain!  I'm excited about that.  Let me know what y'all think of the basing idea and tell me what you're working on terrain-wise.  It is the most forgotten part of the modeling wargame hobby, after all.

  Happy Hobbying!

Another quick battle for the Waaagh

  If you've been following, then you know that my Orks haven't been faring so well.  This is for a couple of reasons, not the least is which I haven't changed the list at all and I seem to have chosen a weaker group of boyz to get going.  But that's okay, as I'm working diligently (or not at all, one of those two...) to get the army going.  I want to have a painted army for once!

  But while I'm painting like a madman, I still need to keep da boyz fresh and that calls for more battles.  This time I thought I was being cunnin' by inviting one of my other buddies over.  He, like me, tends to focus on theme and fluff for his army lists, so I can guarantee a 'soft' opponent (of course, so could he!).  In addition, my buddy plays Astra Militarum (you know, the old IG), so I actually get to use my tank top armor saves!  I was excited.

  So we're doing the typical 1000 point 'kill and 12' battle, where it's just about trying to kill each other.  It involved the typical 4'x4' battlefield, riddled with ruins and scenery bits.  It gives my Orks plenty of cover and, let's be real, the grimdark universe has far less forested areas than we think.  

Da battlefield, same as normal...

  So we roll it up and I win the roll, so I make him deploy first.  He sets up the typical lines, with the Ogryns on his right flank and the Mortar teams on the left.  Otherwise, as is the typical Mordian style, he's lined up 'close order' and in wide battlelines.  As a greenskin, I'm just happy to see so many 'oomies to chop up!

  I then deploy, sending my Warboss and his bikers straight at the Ogryns- we gotta fight da biggest things dey got!-, the Lootas in the ruins facing the middle of the battlefield, and da boyz spread between all of that.  This is where I also made my first fatal error- I deployed my Deff Dread behind da boyz in the middle, therefore keeping him in the worst possible position he could be.  But I had already deployed and wasn't thinking, so we let it be and just played on.  Make no mistake, that was definitely something that affected the outcome, but dats what Orks do!  Finally, the Deffkoptas were held in reserve, to Outflank later on.

We deployed

The Imperium's pretty little lines...

and da Orks massive Waaaagh!

  Turn one saw my Orks leap forward and begin mowing down Guardsmen with my Warbikers' Dakkaguns- felling 2 Ogryns right away!  The Lootas managed to snipe two more Guardsmen from the middle squad, proving that they learned how to take cover behind the tank traps.  The rest of the Ork army just marched forward as fast as they could.  

  Meanwhile, the Guardsmen just rushed up with the big brutes, felling a couple of bikes with their Ripper guns.  Although the models didn't move, that alone was enough to freak out the remaining boss and his Nob escort already.  The Mortar teams let loose their tubes and managed to kill a couple of the greenskins, but not enough to matter.  And the captain ordered everyone else to pitch in with their Lasguns, only to fail to cause any real damage and see the green tide surge forward.  

End of turn 1

  So my Orks, now bolstered by the nearly ineffective efforts of the 'oomies that first turn (beside the Ogryns), leap forward into action.  The Warbikers rush up and try to charge the Ogryns, only to find them a harder bunch to deal with that we thought!  With one final last gasp, the bleeding Warboss and his twisted bike try to charge the bellowing brutes, only to lose his nerve (he just saw his shield, er Nob die!).  The boyz on the opposite flank charged the Mortars, easily killing them off, but then realizing that the guardsmen has a ton of support behind that building.  The boyz in the middle simply rushed up the middle, eager to get into combat with the line of pinkos standing in the middle.  Like their other unit, they made the charge and began chopping.  Unlike their other unit, these boyz were cut down between precise fire and well-trained combat drills.  Suddenly, the tide had shifted...

  The captain of the company, seeing his Guardsmen only inches from death yet habitually beating back the odds, orders the final push.  The Ogryns and accompanying platoon simply blast down the Warboss, severing the head of this xenos snake.  The detachment in the middle rain fire down on the advancing Deff Dread, now unguarded, and watch it crumble after a single volley.  And the right flank simply folds back on itself, looking forward to shooting the Orks as they charge in, now without numerical superiority.  With smiles on their faces, they waited...

Turn 2...

  The Deffkoptas found the boyz and Lootas at the club that night, somberly accepting their drinks from shivering grots.  Funny enough, they all laughed at the failure.  But it was clear that this battle was lost and the remaining Orks either never showed up or quit the battlefield real quick.

  Yep, another loss for my greenskins.  They now stand at 1-3, I think.  My buddy, ever the gracious player (and a very gracious loser, mind you), apologized for making his army too powerful.  He continued to express how he could have made the force easier to deal with and I laughed at him.  It wasn't his force (this is exactly the kind of list I like to use).  It was poor deployment (that Deff Dread could have given some cover to boyz behind as well as gotten into combat so much quicker), poor dice (killing 6 guardsmen on a charge?  Really?!), and just bad luck (my Warboss failed a 6" charge!!!).  Plus, I think I'm just doomed to lose with this army list for now.  It is, after all, just the beginning...

  I still haven't heard much about y'all's battles.  Let me know!!!  And Happy Gaming!

Da Waaagh got beat bad!

It is once again time to let da Waagh go to battle and face the Chaos Marines of my infamous buddy.  This time, unlike our last battle of epic comebackedness, was going to be the Crimson Slaughter.  I didn't think it would matter, but oh, it mattered.

In case you don't now, the Crimson Slaughter is the Chaos Marine army showcased in the Dark Vengeance Starter kit.  They have the distinction of being a fallen loyalist Chapter, haunted by the souls of a planet they were forced to exterminate.  Finally succumbing to Khorne, they made the Dark Angels their bitch and are just downright freaky!  They love them some Possessed and Daemon Engines, which is definitely a good fight for the greenskins.

Unfortunately, the army is a power-armoured army (always a pain for da boyz) that happens to like psykers (which da Orks have no real defense yet), and most importantly of all- CAUSES FEAR!  I don't know if you guys know this, but Orks have the lowest Leadership in the game.  I didn't think it would matter too much, but it mattered quite a bit.

The battlefield- a typical long-ruined Imperial city with plenty of cover

My setup: Deffkoptas are going to Outflank

His setup

Turn 1 sees my Orks leap into action and movie forward as a group.  One mob of boyz decides to flank into the ruins, while everything else pretty much flows into the middle, taking some time to defile the giant SM statue.  The Crimson Slaughter pretty much respond as expected, moving up and establishing a 'kill zone' in the middle of the battlefield.  The Rhino disgorged marines and completely blocks that side, mowing down some boyz with well-placed shooting.  The Defiler, way scary to my boyz, manages to blast a couple of them to shreds.  His Sorcerer, comfortably chilling with a ton of marines, casts Foreboding on the unit.  I'm not worried yet.  So far, not too bad a turn for the greenskins...

End of Turn 1

Turn 2, and my Warboss calls the Waaaagh like a bauss!  The orks charge those pesky marines holding the flank and immediately get crushed.  Of course the Orks fail the Fear test this time, so I'm not thinking it will matter too much only to find it matters alot.  This is where I'm starting to get a little of that 'math' on, realizing that 10 marines isn't quite enough to stop a full mob, but it is enough to take care of a small one...  Otherwise, the Warbikes charge up the middle, trying to get to the Defiler, but to no avail.  The other boyz and Deffdread, seeing the perfect opporunity to finish this game, charge the massive marine squad with the Sorcerer chilling there.  The Deffdread, impervious to all but two of his weapons (a meltagun and a plasma pistol), is immediately destroyed before the second step.  Remember that Foreboding power he got off last turn?  It is the single biggest turning moment in the game as that Deffdread dying ruined the Warboss's kunnin' plan.  The Crimson Slaughter, now fully emboldened by the sudden collapse of the foe, moved up and charge the last couple of bikes.  With another failed Fear test, they were completely wiped out, leaving only a Nob and a couple of regular boyz to fight some marines and the Sorcerer.  Oh, this turn, the Sorcerer gained an extra Wound as a reward for smashing the aliens' characters so easily...

End of Turn 2

Turn 3, and all hope is long abandoned.  But my buddy likes to keep it going, so it continued.  The Orks on the flank, having come out of the building finally, charge the marines holding that flank and kill them off, gaining some momentum.  The remaining boyz in the middle consolidate with the now emerged boyz and set up a giant wall (of a dozen models).  The Rhino goes down with a couple of chops, but it was the last bit of energy they had.  The Chaos Sorcerer, with his very scary armor and huge battlefield superiority, charges the Orks.  Amazingly, the Orks chop down the remaining marines around him (admittedly, it was a bunch of Orks against a few marines), but the red survivor just cleaves through the greenskins.  The last challenge of the game was a lone Nob against a wounded Sorcerer, but we know how that turns out.  Complete rout.

End of Turn 3

Well, that wasn't fun at all.  Playing Orks, the lowest leadership in the game, against an army that causes Fear, has large blast templates, wears power armor, and has psykers...  Yeah, that's not a fun match at all.

Have y'all had a game like this recently?  Let me know about it and maybe I won't be so bitter...
Happy Gaming!