So got a quick part of a game in against the current playtest sufferer! Will this time be my undoing? Note this took place last Thursday. It takes ages to write these things up without being spotted! As its written in instalments tell me if units appear twice doing the same ting or I mess up their turn activities (my notes are dramatic rather than accurate it seems). The kills and damage is largely from memory and retrospectively working out what could have died if I wrote ‘crap shooting’ next to some initial!
The Orks were a somewhat metagame chosen force from both our stock of models, with the insistence of the Great Gargant coming along. Due to the levels of flak I invariably field aircraft were out too (though in retrospect might have been good as a 3 strong intercept formation).
150 Stormboyz
200 Zapp blitz (2 flak, 1 big gun, 1 zapper)
200 Zapp blitz (2 flak, 1 big gun, 1 zapper)
200 Zapp blitz (2 flak, 1 big gun, 1 zapper)
350 Zapp blitz (4 flak, 2 big gun, 2 barrage)
350 Big Boyz Mob
350 Big Boyz Mob
350 Big Boyz Mob
850 Great Gargant
I had numerous restrictions. First off CS had suggested some experience with crisis and turrets. Combined with that I had a flat ban from my opponent on an ever growing list of stuff. So no orca, drone formations, Manta and after seeing the Moray was denied that as well. Stingrays were frowned on. Tis a tough life, still I’m getting to use far different armies than I'm used to when powergaming normally! The A-10's, while not as good as Moray are in due to needing firepower as popcorn was out.
225 A10
225 A10
150 Tiger Shark
375 Hammerheads (BTS)
075 Skyray
025 Swordfish
250 Skorp
100 SC
250 Skorp
200 Firewarriors
225 Stingrays
075 Skyray
150 Piranha
200 Firewarriors
125 Heavy Drones
050 Turrets
200 Firewarriors
050 Turrets
050 Turrets
Now the Orks present a problem. I most want to hit the blitz brigades, however the turrets are not ideal for hitting them. And of course they are the mainstay of the flak so a head on airstrike ain't that good (in retrospect this would only have been a problem with the tigershark in a head on anti flak attack, the a-10s never had to get that close). So I'll try and use the turrets to keep the orks away from key areas rather than try and predict their path.
In addition the gargant will be bearing down on me, but at least here the path is predicable. Sadly the Orks have got units that can 'waste' shooting activations as they double forward as the turrets will be the only targets!
Compounded by all of this is the requirement to test crisis out. I tried lots of different combos and couldn’t do one of E&C’s crisis style armies and the ML’s so dropped them ultimately and went for hammerheads, which had the added advantage of being the BTS, not the SC. I took no real backup to the turrets beyond some heavy drones, to see how they could handle marking on their own (otherwise I would have jiggled points and got some stealths instead of one lot of turrets).
Incidentally I will at some point have to go back to my old Tau test army to see how it has changed (featuring lots of hammerheads and pathfinders amongst other stuff).
I have a lovely map on the back of an envelope and can scan it if people want to see it!
The terrain was from my ‘epic terrain box’ a Epic 40000 box full of just enough terrain after I add the GW slidy hills to cover a 6x4 table. In this case the floor. Ork side objectives had the blitz centre and one objective on each table edge. Tau side had blitz centrish and the other two 30cm apart from each other on the half way line. Turrets deployed in cover (I am correct in deploying each individual unit as a separate formation? We always used these wrong before as formations of three deployed as if they were garrisons).
The Orks deployed with most of the infantry in cover (with two lots of boyz ready to leapfrog through cover to the left hand centre objective or go all the way to the blitz) and the blitz brigades out of ML range (so odd places on the table edge!). The Gargant deployed alongside the hill near the blitz ready to go to the objectives, with the stormboyz using him as cover.
The Tau deployed with a skorp on either wing, Hammerheads on the extreme left behind a handy hill. Firewarriors garrisoned in the centre, and deployed normally on the left and right (the ones on the right partially in cover and the ones on the left not at all). Stingrays lurked in cover in the centre. Piranha garrison off the blitz, getting most into a forward wood.
With no deepstrikes on either side there was a fair bit of intermingling.
Turn 1
Tau init.
Orks get to move first and with no messing around the GG doubles forward, destroying the turret in the buildings nearby as the FW managed to hide nicely in the woods.
Said FW reset overwatch.
Stormboyz bounce into cover (maybe should have shot them up in the open) in the city, bunching 10cm in so a nearby turret can’t see them.
Firewarriors move up on the left, intermingling with the piranha and partially in view on the GG, can see a stormboy with some stands and bm him.
Both sides at this point are counting activations.
Biting the bullet the left hand boyz move up, boyz in front and blaze away at the nearest turret (now behind them on the edge of the wood). 20 shots needing 8’s is impressive, but a waste of time as the single hit was saved
This puts them into scorpion range and it, with a SC reroll (probably helped being onboard) sustains killing 3 boyz after some lucky saves.
Seeing softly softly not cutting it the right hand blitz brigade doubles up and with some deft maneuvering and 2 dangerous terrain tests get the zapp into range of the right hand skorp. Zapped but only 1 damage point done.
Immediately returning fire and not breaking itself the barrage of missiles against the two lit by a turret on a nearby hill (we treated this the same way as shooting at units in cover) destroyed a flakwagon (I went with MW missiles even though its mathematically the same here, difference being with no Ork saves I’m not exposed to any Orkish displays of luck!). They run and try to hide from turrets but cannot also get back under flak cover.
The right hand boyz mob then moves up, this time destroying the hill mounted turret (always be in cover and for Orks do the blitz second!).
The right hand Firewarriors move up, staying out of 30cm from the boyz and put a bm on the wagonz, breaking them.
More boyz on the left move up, also failing to kill the turret.
Attempting to slow down the blitz’s by making them come and set to intercept me the tigershark goes to activate, but fails.
The big centre blitz moves up, blowing away a piranha it can just see and a FW in a stunning display of shooting.
Looking to retaliate at the lit wagonz the piranha fluff their activation roll (bugger, this activation lark is tricky) so just marshal the bm off.
Another blitz moved up, destroying the turret in the woods edge covering the two tau objectives, leaving only the turret on the hill behind giving partial coverage, not helped by the GG blocking LoS.
In the first retain of the game the last blitz relocate from the far left and destroy the turret on the hill.
Using the last turret in the area the stingrays sustained into the large blitz, killing 3 flak wagons.
An a-10 hunted down last marked blitz at the rear laughing at the 30cm flak, killing both the zap and the wagon (who were I think at the back), while its partner went after a broken formation, and destroyed 2 more stands leaving only a gun to run and join the other broken stuff.
The hammerheads moved up keeping a wood between them and the enemy (I must say the envelope map does help make sense of these notes!) and barraged the big blitz, swordfishes ensuring only 1 mek lived to go hide behind the gargant.
Incidentally here we restricted the GM hits to the wagon still lit – but should they have carried like other fire in Epic?
We assumed turrets didn’t modify rally rolls (not that it affected anything) and the big blitz (well it was) rallied along with the stormboyz and boyz. Piranha failed to rally
Turn 2
Tau Init
The Tau in the let hand woods go to set overwatch and fail with the re-roll. Instead they manage to kill a stormboyz unit with a lucky shot.
The lone barrage mek moves up and hits both the piranha and fw’s, hitting nothing but adding to the bm’s.
The stormboyz with a re-roll engaged the intermingled formations. Tau are bad, but not that bad and take 4 casualties, wiping out the orks in an inspired 2nd round of combat. Everything still breaks though and most of the FW reach the centre town, with the piranha hiding behind a hill.
The damaged scorpion then failed to activate but could just see the GG and took a shield down or something (whatever it was unguided and with intervening terrain it wasn’t that impressive!).
The reprieved blitz carefully moved into a spot that required much measuring (why you ask?) before destroying the damaged skorp.
The gargant then doubled up, getting a partial bead to the other skorp but the hits (might have been just one, had a -2) were saved. Of course its move had covered the surviving blitz with itself (far too organized to be orks!).
The tigershark then moves in and kills a couple of grotz (or something, notes having degenerated by now time was getting pressing).
Stingrays advance and also hammer the same formation, the IC munitions killing more.
The other left hand boyz formation gets into the town. The damaged formation fails and gets to marshal.
The right hand side firewarriors advance to 30cm and let loose, dropping some boyz.
In a desperate move they engage back and the fight consists of a bunch of FW vs a grot. Who dies. (All that was in range I think.) However it’s all even and the Orks win the roll, sending the FW reeling.
Aware the gargant is bearing down on them, the last FW move out of the woods and engage the boyz, just breaking them who run into base contact with the GG.
The skorp pops up and breaks the barrage mek.
The hammerheads pop up and hit the GG, stripping shields.
Both A-10s are needed to destroy the last blitz.
Only the relatively intact FW rally for the Tau, the boyz come back as does the barrage mek.
Turn 3
Tau init (consistent!)
The Firewarriors open up on the boyz sheltering in the GG’s shadow.
Retaining the other right hand side firewarriors double up and manage to break the boyz who hunker down in the woods.
At this point he game sadly ended. The Orks had a ½ strength boyz mob and full strength mob in the town near the centre objectives, the gargant who could double and take a shot at the support formations or engage the firewarriors in a firefight and the barrage mek who was very annoying and could maybe go grab the tau blitz. The full strength boyz I think could launch a firefight on the stingrays, though it could leave them out of an objective capturing position.
The Tau had the tigershark and drones and a re-roll. This would be my last activation with the expressed intention of capturing the blitz if necessary. The Hammerheads, SC skorp and stingrays were behind the left hand side Tau woods, close enough to co-ord fire if necessary (at the gargant maybe, would get to shoot 20gms, 4 railguns, 2 and twin railguns and maybe other weapons depending on how close it got, or the infantry which the stingrays would do nasty things to). The A-10’s had no bm’s and were ready to go.
No idea if I could get the gargant if it went to turn 4, but I reckon I would have the game, easier if the damn piranha would rally! Turret deployment was sub par, rather than worry about Blitz’s making flanking moves (which could have been countered, though maybe not if on mass, by the a-10’s) I should have saturated the centre objective area, as it was the 4 closest were destroyed giving only partial coverage from the other two.
Questions
Can units that fail an action pop up?
Incidentally here we restricted the GM hits to units lit only – but should they have carried into the formation like other fire in Epic?
We assumed turrets didn’t modify rally rolls.
