It has been a few months in the making but the Orks and Space Wolves have finally run-into each other again on the planet of Crematorium.
This time, another Imperial supply drop is on the way and Floki wants to make sure he gets his hands on it. But Ol’ Fizznoggin Madeye has seen visions that he’s gonna get a krumpin from Da Boss if he doesn’t start bringing in more loot for Da Stompa. Who will emerge victorious?
Our 4th Crusade game gave us 31 power to play with. Why 31? So Ruby could fit the specific army he wanted, and I was ok with that. We rolled for another Incursion mission and got Supply Drop with the twist of Blinding Sun (which we were excited about). Spoiler alert – after randomly determining the table edge, we completely forgot about the rule, so it didn’t have the impact we thought it would.
The Armies
Space Wolves
- Floki Ravenskull – Primaris Librarian in Phobos Armour
- 5 Intercessors
- 3 Inceptors
- 3 Thunderwolf Cavalry
- Wulfen Dreadnought
Orks
- Fizznoggin Madeye – Weirdboy Warphead
- Snotkickas – 10 Gretchin
- Spleenrippa – Deff Dread
- Flame Spittas – 3 Warbikers
- Whirlybangas – 3 Deffkoptas
- Rokkit Skrudriva – Megatrak Scrapjet
- Da Hammers – 5 Tankbustas
Deployment
We set the board to be as symmetrical as possible (I may have read an article on Warhammer Community about this just recently) and picked sides. Ruby had Floki and the Wulfen Dread in the ruins on his left flank, directly opposite my Weirdboy, Gretchin, Tankbustas and Warbikers.
In the middle of the table, the Thunderwolf Cavalry faced-off against the Megatrak Scrapjet for the second time. On Ruby’s right flank, the Intercessors looked nervous against the Deffkoptas and Deff Dread. Ruby kept his Inceptors in reserve.
We rolled off to go first and Orks won, again.
Orks Turn 1
Having seen the Thunderwolf Cavalry in the last game, my aim was to destroy them quickly. I moved the Deff Dread forwards towards the left objective and put the Deffkoptas in the ruins with clear line-of-sight. In the middle, the Scrapjet moved over, also for clear line-of-sight.
Meanwhile on the right, I made a couple of very silly mistakes: Firstly I moved the Warbikers into range and sight of the Thunderwolf Cavalry, not thinking that it also put them in charge range of the Wulfen Dread. I also moved my Tankbustas up the table in the open. I have played 40k before – honest!
In the Psychic phase, I attempted to Da Jump the Tankbustas to the middle of the table, my intention being to get them to help out with taking care of the Thunderwolves, but with Floki so close it was denied.
In the shooting phase, the Deffkoptas, Scrapjet and Warbikers all unloaded on the Thunderwolf Cavalry, killing two of them and leaving the Sergeant on three wounds. The Deff Dread shot its Big Shoota at the Intercessors but they passed their single 2+ save thanks to being in the ruins.
Not a bad start but I definitely should have thought more about positioning.
Space Wolves Turn 1
Floki moved into sight of the Tankbustas and the Wulfen Dread pushed forwards into a very easy charge range of the Warbikers. The remaining Thunderwolf Sergeant moved to the middle of the table, with options of charging the Scrapjet or Deff Dread. The Intercessors moved forwards in the ruins to capture the objective.
In the Psychic phase, Floki unleashed with Living Lightning and Jaws of the World Wolf on the Tankbustas and killed two of them (and one Gretchin), then Smite on the Warbikers wounding one twice.
In the shooting phase, the Wulfen Dread toasted the remaining Tankbustas (yes I should have played Grot Shields), while the Intercessors on the other side of the table fired a Grenade and Bolt Rifles and the Deff Koptas, but couldn’t find a way through the ruins.
In the charge phase, Ruby charged his Thunderwolf Sergeant into the Scrapjet, and the Wulfen Dread into the Warbikers. I fired overwatch at the Thunderwolf but did nothing. The Wulfen Dread didn’t need any more attacks as it cleaved easily through the Warbikers and consolidated onto the objective. I interruped with the hope of killing the Sergeant but only managed to do one wound, despite a damage re-roll. In response, Ruby inflicted one 3 damage on the Scrapjet taking it down to 6 but very much still alive.
A great start for Ruby, and an important lesson for me: I had wasted two very useful units.
Orks Turn 2
I started the turn not on a single objective, so no points for me. With my right flank in tatters, I moved the Deffkoptas to the middle of the board with the intention of shooting the Wulfen Dread. The Scrapjet stayed in combat while the Deff Dread moved up with the intention of skewering some Intercessors. The Weirdboy and Gretchin climbed into the ruins to claim the objective, ever aware of the very close proximity of Floki and the Wulfen Dread.
In the Psychic phase, I tried Smite on the Wulfen Dread which was denied by Floki. I then managed to get Warpath on the Koptas which Floki didn’t deny: Each would now get 3D3 attacks in combat – perfect for my plan.
In the shooting phase, I looked through the rulebook to find the rule about vehicles shooting in combat, but couldn’t find it (should have looked harder). Instead, I shot the Deffkoptas at the Wulfen Dread. They managed to do 2 wounds, but the Dread’s rule mean he only took 4 damage. The Deff Dread shot at the Intercessors with both the Skorcha and Big Shoota and did a single wound.
In the combat phase, I charged the Deffkoptas into the lone Thunderwolf Sergeant and the Deff Dread into the Intercessors. True to form, the Deff Dread only hit with 2 of his attacks, but still managed to cleave apart 2 Intercessors. The Deffkoptas had heaps of attacks, but only did 2 more wounds on the Thunderwolf Sergeant, leaving him with 1 and allowing him to kill the Scrapjet with his Thunderhammer. At the end of my turn, things were looking even more grim.
Space Wolves Turn 2
At the start of Ruby’s turn, he was sitting-pretty on 2 objectives so gained 20 points, making the score 20-0. He decided he’d had enough of my Deffkoptas so he pulled-back with his Thunderwolf Sergeant from combat, and moved Floki and the Wulfen Dread across to shoot and psychic them to death. He also dropped his Inceptors on my left flank with a clear view to the koptas – if they survived, it would be a miracle. Finally, the Intercessors fell-back from certain death with the Deff Dread and climbed into the ruins next to the objective.
In the Psychic phase, Floki unleashed everything on the Deffkoptas and managed to kill one. In the Shooting phase, Ruby shot everything into the Deffkoptas. When the dust had settled, I had a single Deffkopta with 3 wounds remaining, but importantly, Ruby was completely out in the open with all his units.
Orks Turn 3
I had managed to claim a single objective so scored 10 points in my Command phase. I then moved the remaining Deffkopta into the building holding the Intercessors, and pulled the Deff Dread back close to the Thunderwolf Sergeant and Inceptors with the intention of charging one of them. My Gretchin and Weirdboy shuffled around a little bit in their building hoping to get some shots off at Floki but really with nothing else to do.
In the Psychic phase, I didn’t manage to get off any psychic powers, both through poor rolling and being denied by Floki. In the Shooting phase, I decided to try to kill the Thunderwolf Sergeant with my Deffkopta, leaving my Deff Dread free to charge into the Inceptors. This turned out to be the right call: two Koptarokkit hits and the Thunderwolf Sergeant was vaporised. The Deff Dread fired again at the Intercessors but their 2+ save from cover meant no additional wounds.
In the Charge phase, I charged the Deffkopta into the Intercessors and the Deff Dread into the Inceptors. To my surprise, the Deff Dread cleaved straight through all three Inceptors, then consolidated onto the objective. The Deffkopta didn’t do as well taking a single wound off an Intercessors, but also didn’t die, so that was good. The tides of the game had started to turn, but had I left it too late?
Space Wolves Turn 3
Ruby gained another 20 points at the start of the turn making the score 40-10. He decided to give-up on trying to regain his right flank and instead decided to focus on killing my Weirdboy and Gretchin.
In the movement phase, he walked Floki and the Wulfen Dread around the building trying to get them into a position to toast the occupants. In the Psychic phase, a psychic barrage from Floki killed the Weirdboy (now the closest model to Floki), and some of the Gretchin. More Gretchin were toast in the Shooting phase, leaving me with just 2.
End game
After reviewing the scores and playing out some scenarios, I decided to call the game. Even though it was technically possible that I would gain the upper hand in a longer game, there was no way for me to score the require points to even everything up.
We decided that the following turns would have seen the Dread and Deffkopta kill-off the Intercessors leaving me with my left flank uncontested. Similarly, Floki and the Wulfen dread would do the same to the two remaining Gretchin.
After game
We calculated the final score at 70-40: Ruby had secured the supply drop and would get an extra RP to spend. He managed to get both his Agendas while I only managed to get one (the Deffkoptas held Ruby’s objective at the end of the game).
Out of action tests saw every unit pass, except for the Warbikers (serves them right for being so stupid as to race into charge range of a Wulfen Dread). They will miss a game, then will have a battle scar when they return (TBD).
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