Coming off an Ork win and still picking through his share of the additional supplies, Zogger Loudgob has come-up against his new foe Floki Ravenskull once again. Would he fare better this time, or would the ‘Brainie Oomie’ get the better of him once again?
We expanded our third Crusade game to 30 power to include some more units: On the Space Wolves side, Bladeguard Veterans and Thunderwolf Cavalry, while the Orks included a bigger Kommandos force and a Megatrak Scrapjet. Now able to use Incursion missions, we rolled and got ‘The Relic’, with a twist of ‘Tempest’ meaning units greater than 18″ benefited from light cover – pretty useless on this board which has plenty of terrain.
The armies
Space Wolves
- Floki Ravenskull – Primaris Librarian in Phobos Armour
- 5 Assault Intercessors
- 3 Bladeguard Veterans
- 3 Thunderwolf Cavalry
- Bjorn – Invictor Tactical Warsuit
Orks
- Zogger Loudgob – Warboss with Da Killa Klaw
- Doc Gorgrok – Painboy
- Da Ironboots – 20 Choppa Boyz, Nob with Power Klaw
- Da Blakteef – 10 Kommandos, Nob with Power Klaw
- Whirlybangas – 2 Deffkoptas with Kopta Rokkits
- Rokkit Skrudriva – Megatrak Scrapjet
Deployment
This mission had Hammer and Anvil deployment. Ruby went first and hid his Assault Intercessors safely behind the containers on his right – not sure why since they were nowhere near the top of my target list.
In the middle, he placed Bjorn and Floki, with the Bladeguards in a protective shield in front. On his left flank, he had the Thunderwolf Cavalry (not pictured because they were proxied with Eldar jetbikes).
For the Orks, I had my Boyz, Warboss and Painboy in a blob in the middle, with the Deffkoptas and Scrapjet on the right ready to zoom forward. The Kommandos were set-up in the shadows.
Orks Turn 1
Once again, I won the roll to go first (house rule is highest roll goes first). The Deffkoptas and Scrapjet moved to within range of the Warsuit and safely out-of-range (or so I thought) of the Thunderwolf cavalry. The blob advanced towards the Relic in the middle of the board. I brought the Kommandos down in the middle of the board next to the relic with the intention of charging the Bladeguards and really taking the fight to Ruby’s deployment zone.
In my shooting phase, I started by shooting the Deffkoptas Rokkits at the Warsuit, and despite hitting and wounding three times, did zero damage. I then played the ‘More Dakka’ stratagem on the Scrapjet and unloaded into the Bladeguards and Warsuit. The result was underwhelming to say the least – 3 wounds on the Warsuit (only a single unsaved wound) and 1 wound on the Bladeguards. The Warboss shot at the Warsuit with his Rokkit Launcher hitting and wounding, but was again ignored thanks to another 4+ save.
In the Charge phase, the Kommandos successfully charged the Bladeguard veterans, and didn’t manage to do any damage (again lots of 2+ and 4+ saves from Ruby). In response, the Bladeguards killed five Kommandos who then failed their morale and lost another 3 leaving a single Kommando and the Nob.
Space Wolves Turn 1
In Ruby’s movement phase, he fell-back with the Bladeguard towards the objective, leaving my Kommandos in a very precarious position. He then advanced the Thunderwolf Cavalry up his left flank towards my Deffkoptas and Scrapjet. The Assault Intercessors moved around the containers, and Floki and the Warsuit shuffled forwards. Ruby then unleashed a psychic assault (both Smite and Living Lightning) from Floki against my Kommandos, and killed one – only leaving the Nob with a single wound.
In the shooting phase, everything that could shoot the Nob did, and either didn’t wound, or I made the 4+ save. He was looking like living until Ruby unleashed all the Warsuit’s short-range weapons against him – he stood valiantly but the odds were against him, and he died. The long-range weapons from the Warsuit then went into the Scrapjet taking it down to two wounds.
In the charge phase, Ruby played a stratagem to roll three dice (discarding the lowest) to charge with the Thunderwolf Cavalry into the Deffkoptas. With an 9″ charge, I still felt pretty safe, except Ruby had some hella luck today and he rolled 12 – he was in, and the Deffkoptas were swiftly out – Thunder Hammers are nasty. He then consolidated into the Scrapjet who attacked back and wounded, but Ruby rolled more 4+ saves.
Orks Turn 2
This game started like all the others, with me losing units cheaply. The Kommandos held up three Space Wolf units (which was the aim) but the Thunderwolf Cavalry has huge range with Advance and Charge, and I really underestimated the threat from them. With that in mind, the Boyz changed direction with the Warboss and Painboy and moved to intercept. The Scrapjet then fell-back from combat but wasn’t able to do anything else.
In the shooting phase, the Boyz fired sluggas into the Thunderwolf Cavalry causing a couple of wounds. The Warboss again targeted the Warsuit and again hit with a 6, but again it was shrugged-off by a 4+ save. The Big Shootas into the Bladeguard Veterans equally did nothing.
In the charge phase, the Boyz, Warboss and Painboy charged into the Thunderwolf Cavalry with the Warboss fighting first. He managed to kill one but yet more 4+ saves kept the remaining two riders in the game. Ruby then interrupted and attacked the Warboss, taking him down to 2 wounds (only thanks to some lucky invulnerable saves and Doc’s Tools rolls). The Painboy then fought, followed by the Boyz and with many, many, many attacks (and more saves), they managed to kill one more model leaving the Sergeant in the fight with three wounds remaining.
Space Wolves Turn 3
Ruby’s plan was to move the Thunderwolf Cavalry out of combat, then shoot the hell out of the rest of my army, then charge and finish everything off. Luckily for me, he was surrounded and therefore stuck in combat. Instead, he moved the rest of his units towards the objective, keeping Floki out of charge range, but in range of his psychic powers.
In the psychic phase, Floki killed a few boyz with his Living lightning, but he failed Jaws of the World Wolf, even with a re-roll. Then came the shooting phase and with everything else in combat, the Warsuit opened up on the Scrapjet once again – bye bye nice new model that only got to shoot once. The Thunderwolf Cavalry also took shots at the Boyz in combat but failed to wound any of them.
In combat, the Warboss swung first at the Thunderwolf Cavalry and was again prevented from killing them by more 4+ saves. In response, Ruby only managed to wound him once back, which was saved with a command-point re-roll. Finally, the Painboy had to step-in with his Power Klaw and finish the job. The rest of my army consolidated towards the Relic and the Bladeguard Veterans currently holding it.
Orks Turn 3
With my remaining army moving as one, I moved them to within easy charge range of the Bladeguard Veterans. I also attempted surgery on my Warboss giving him back 3 wounds. At this point, my main goal was to deny Ruby any victory points and hopefully score some myself. Shooting saw slugga shots into the Bladeguards killing-off one, then the Big Shootas went into the Assault Intercessors but all three wounds were saved. Finally the Warboss managed to hit the Warsuit with his Rokkit Launcher again, but again a 4+ prevented damage.
In the charge phase, all three units charged the Bladeguards. The Warboss swung first and Ruby finally failed a couple of 4+ saves – they were wiped out. The rest of the units consolidated around the objective aiming to hold it for long enough to score points. The Boyz also consolidated into the Assault Intercessors, who hit back but only managed to kill a couple of Boyz.
Space Wolves Turn 3
Ruby made his intentions clear by moving both Floki and the Warsuit into close range of the Boyz. The Assault Intercessors fell-back from combat to charge again next turn.
In the psychic phase, Floki again unleashed everything on the Boyz and killed off a bunch. In the shooting phase, he shot with his pistol but failed to wound (who needs pistols when you have mind bullets?). Then the Warsuit unleashed his shooting and even with Invulnerable saves and Doc’s tools, I was left with 3 Boyz, a Nob, a Painboy and the Warboss.
In the charge phase, Ruby declared charges from both Floki and the Warsuit, around the Boyz and into my Warboss. Since Floki’s charge was 7″ and the Warsuit’s was 10″, I was confident only one (at most) would make it in, giving my Warboss a chance. But Ruby’s luck held and both made it into combat. He really only needed the Warsuit to make it in, and my Warboss was squashed flat. I also stupidly intervened with my Painboy who was hit many times by Floki but luckily Ruby only wounded once, taking the Painboy to 1 wound remaining.
My final task for the turn was to take a morale test which I failed, but managed to keep a Nob and a single Boy – more than enough for my plan.
Orks Turn 4
I left the Painboy in combat with Floki (a mistake) and spent three command points on Unending Green Tide to bring back 18 boyz. They shot their Big Shootas at the Assault Intercessors but again failed to inflict wounds. They then charged into Floki to enact their revenge. This was going to be awesome.
Or at least that’s what I thought… But when the dust had settled, Floki was very much still alive with 2 wounds, and he used all his attacks to finally kill-off the Painboy. I had managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of Victory.
Space Wolves Turn 4
With all the units in the middle of the battlefield, Ruby didn’t need to move anything. His psychic phase saw him roll a double-6 for Jaws of the World Wolf – finally, Ruby’s luck was changing. He had to roll at least a 2 for wounds right? Nope. Floki, still alive on 1 wound decimated the Boyz once again, and Ruby then charged in with both the Warsuit and Assault Intercessors to inflict more pain. At the end of the combat, I still had my Nob left in combat with a lot of Ruby’s army. It was time to call it. The Space Wolves had managed to secure a valuable Relic which would make Floki even stronger and more unkillable – great!
After battle
Of course I was going to roll a 1 for my Warboss – it was inevitable. Luckily his Battle Scar is Deep Wounds which prevents him from performing actions, psychic powers or heroic interventions – totally manageable. Ruby’s destroyed units were untouched.
So what happened? Luck definitely played a roll in this game (how many 4+ saves can one person make), but luck will only take you so far. Ruby executed really well on his plan to distract me with the Thunderwolf Cavalry (I hate them) and Bladeguard Veterans, always keeping his Assault Intercessors in reserve should the need arise. And both Floki and Bjorn (as the Warsuit is now known to both of us) performed amazingly as usual. I have definitely learned a lesson about keeping my rokkits further away from those wolves, and not keeping units in combat with Floki.
For my Marked for Greatness, I decided to go with the Da Blakteef, mainly because they did what I wanted them to do, and also because that Nob was a legend, standing against all of Ruby’s shooting. The Deffkoptas also levelled-up and gained +1 to hit with their rokkits. I think I’ll also add another model taking me up to three (or an even 6 rokkit shots).
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