As Zogger Loudgob’s raiding party were unsuccessfully trying to secure the promethium pumping station, across the planet Fizznoggin Madeye and Doc Gorgrok had their eyes on another target – an Imperial supply drop bound for Eivor Ravenskull’s forces.
Our second Crusade game was even worse odds for Ruby with 34 models against 10. We were playing the Combat Patrol Supply Drop mission, where each player scores victory points for taking-and-holding the three objectives. One objective is then removed at the start of the 4th, then the 5th turns, leaving the ‘supply drop’ objective. As usual, we added an Open War ‘twist’ to our game which was Last Stand (i.e. no morale checks required) – very beneficial for the Orks.
The armies
Space Wolves
- Eivor Ravenskull – Primaris Captain
- 5 Intercessors
- 3 Eradicators
- Wulfen Dreadnought
Note: Ruby’s army will be played by Ultramarines, with the Intercessors being proxied with Infiltrators and the Wulfen dread being proxied by an old-school Space Marine Dread from the 80s (not pictured).
Orks
- Fizznoggin Madeye – Weirdboy (Warphead) with Da Jump and Warpath
- Doc Gorgrok – Painboy
- Da Ironboots – 20 Choppa Boyz, Nob with Power Klaw
- Stompkrumpas – 10 Stormboyz, Nob with Power Klaw
- Whirlybangas – 2 Deffkoptas with Kopta Rokkits
Deployment
Again, the Space Wolves were the defender for this mission. Both Ruby and I decided to deploy all our units, with the Deffkoptas and Stormboyz facing off against the Wulfen Dread on Ruby’s right flank, while the Boyz, Painboy and Weirdboy were positioned to the left facing the Eradicators, Intercessors and Captain.
Orks Turn 1
The Orks started their movement, and both the Koptas and Stormboyz surged forward with the intention of shooting and charging the Wulfen Dread. The Boyz didn’t move (a mistake on my part as they could have taken the objective), while the Painboy and Weirdboy shuffled forwards.
In the psychic phase, the Weirdboy attemped Warpath on the Boyz, and instead got a perils. A command point re-roll saved his bacon and gave the boyz an extra attack. Unfortunately, Da Jump failed so they boyz were stuck doing nothing for the rest of the turn.
Shooting saw the Koptas take 2 wounds off the Wulfen dread and the Big Shootas take a wound of an Eradicators.
Next was the charge phase which is where the plan was to destroy the Wulfen Dread with the sheer volume of attacks. Unfortunately, the Stormboyz failed their 8″ charge… twice… so charging in the Koptas seemed like a good way to lose a unit.
Space Wolves Turn 1
In response, the Space Wolves moved to the right flank to take-out the iminent threat of Koptas and Stormboyz. Both the Captain and Wulfen dread moved into charge range of the Stormboyz, while the Intercessors and Eradicators moved across to be in-range of both the Boyz across the table, and Koptas in the ruins.
In the shooting phase, the Eradicators took shots at the Koptas killing one. The Intercessors fired at the Koptas and Boyz but did no damage. The Wulfen dread unleashed the Heavy Flamer on the Stormboyz and roasted one of them.
The Wulfen dread and Captain then charged into the Stormboyz easily killing them without response. They the consolidated back towards the objective and cover.
At the end of turn one, it seemed as though it would be a repeat of the first game.
Orks Turn 2
At the start of my turn, I earned no points as I had completely managed to ignore all the objectives.
So, learning my leasson from the first turn, the Boyz moved onto the objective on the offchance that I failed Da Jump again. The remaining Deffkopta flew to the middle of the table to take the objective atop the storage containers. The Weirdboy and Painboy moved up to take cover behind the containers with the intention of being more useful in the following turn.
The psychic phase was better this turn with the boyz getting Warpath and successfully jumping to within charge range of both the Eradicators and Intercessors.
In the shooting phase, the Deffkopta took more shots at the Wulfen dread but failed to damage it. The Boyz took shots at the Eradicators but failed to wound them. Pretty typical Ork shooting – all or nothing.
The charge phase was where everything changed for the hapless Orks. The Boyz multi-charged into the Intercessors and Eradicators, bringing 100 attacks against the Space Wolves, and while neither unit was wiped out (only three Intercessors and one Eradicator), they were neutered for the next turn. More importantly, the boyz were up in Ruby’s business and safe from the majority of his firepower.
Space Wolves Turn 2
At the start of Ruby’s turn, he’d managed to keep his Dread holding the objective, so earned 10 points.
Ruby knew that keeping his units engaged with the rampaging Ork Boyz for another turn was suicide, so he disengaged both Eradicators and Intercessors and moved them back towards the Captain. He then put both his Captain and Wulfen dread in charge range of the Weirdboy and Painboy behind the storage container – something I hadn’t anticipated.
In the shooting phase, he took a wound off the Deffkopta with the Heavy Flamer, but failed to wound the boyz with his Captain’s Heavy Bolt Pistol.
In the Charge phase, Ruby’s Captain charged up onto the storage container into both the Deffkopta and Painboy. The Wulfen dread then tried to charge the Weirdboy but failed twice – the Captain was on his own, and now had three targets with the Weirdboy heroically (suicidally?) intervening.
Simply put, Ruby’s captain is a beast dishing-out 6 attacks, each with 3 damage. That said, he failed to wound the Deffkopta, and despite causing 6 wounds on the Painboy, 3 were ignored by Doc’s Tools, leaving the surgeon alive on a single wound. The Weirdboy was not so lucky, falling to 6 unsaved wounds. In response, the Painboy and Deffkopta did nothing.
Orks Turn 3
The Deffkopta had successfully held the middle objective so I gained 10 points making the score 10-10.
Sensing the iminent loss of both my Painboy and remaining Deffkopta, the Boyz moved towards the Captain with the intention of saving at least one of the other units. The Painboy then disengaged to a position where he could offer Doc’s Tools to the Boyz if they successfully charged.
In the shooting phase, the Boyz unleashed their deadly Sluggas and Big Shootas into the Intercessors and wiped them all out (showing the Shoota Boyz from game 1 how to aim).
In the charge phase, the Boyz succesfully made their charge and managed to surround the Captain on the storage container. Then, to my surprise, Ruby heroically intervened with his Wulfen dread, forcing five Boyz to fight it instead. Despite using Trans-human Physiology, the Captain fell to sheer weight of damage (although only just), and the Wulfen lost two more wounds, killing just three boyz in return thanks to lucky invulnerable saves and Doc’s Tools rolls. The Deffkopta now out of all fights consolidated down behind the storage container, out of sight of the Eradicators but still in range of the objective.
Space Wolves Turn 3
In the Space Wolves turn, Ruby had moved away from all the objectives so scored no additional points, leaving the score level at 10-10.
The Eradicators charged the Boyz due to lack of other targets. They hacked through two, and the Wulfen dread took out a handful more. The Boyz and Nob attached back and took the Wulfen down to two wounds. At this point, Ruby’s entire army was engaged with my Choppa Boyz.
Orks Turn 4
We started the turn by rolling-for and removing the objective on my side of the board. I then gained 15 points for holding the central objective with the Deffkopta, taking the score to 25-10.
My Boyz were now heavily engaged in the fighting and their numbers had dwindled to below 10, so I used 3 command points on Endless Green Tide and brought them back at full strength near the objective on Ruby’s side. The Painboy then moved towards the Eradicators and Wulfen dread to try his luck with his Power Klaw.
For shooting, the boyz unleashed their Sluggas and Big Shootas into the Eradicators but caused no damage. The Deffkopta then unloaded on the Wulfen dread finally felling the walker, which luckily did not explode.
In the charge phase, the Boyz failed their charge against the Eradicators, but both the Deffkopta and Painboy made it in. The Deffkopta killed the Eradicator sergeant leaving Ruby with a single model, while the Painboy promptly died after completely failing to hit with any of his attacks.
Space Wolves Turn 4
Ruby, still not on any objectives remained at 10 points. With his last remaining Eradicator, he attacked the Deffkopta and managed to cause an additional wound recieving one in return. Things were looking grim for the Space Wolves.
Orks Turn 5
The middle objective was removed leaving the objective closest to Ruby as the supply drop. Neither of us had units on the objective so the Orks had successfully secured the area and the supply drop – 2 Requisition Points were mine!
To close out the game, the Boyz charged into the remaining Eradicator and chopped him up easily with almost 80 attacks.
Post Game
Ruby rolled Out-Of-Action for all of his units and found that his Captain had sustained an injury. For our narrative, we decided to always take battle scars, so Ruby rolled and Eivor lost a leg! – his move will be 5″ next time he sees the table. Our house rules dictate that he has to sit-out one game, then play one game with the battle scar before it can be removed – we’ll see if we remember that in the following games.
For me, none of my destroyed units sustained long-lasting injuries and I marked the Deffkoptas for Greatness as they were a constant thorn in Ruby’s side. No upgrades yet but hopefully the next battle will give them enough experience.
40K WarZone 