4.3.10 : Orks vs. Dark Angels : Battle Report

Battle Report:

Disciples of Caliban [dark angels] vs. Prophets of WAAAAGH! [orks]

mission: capture and control
game: pitched battle
army size : 2000 points

Prophets of WAAAAAGH! [henceforth referred to as PoW] took the field first. He placed his objective in his lower right corner and I did the same. Therefore the objectives were as far away from each other as I could get them. I knew I would have an advantage of mobility this day and did not want his ork hoard ganging up on any of my units.

Deployment:

He deployed everything. 2 trucks full of boys and a big gunz for defense and 4 trucks with boys, 2 big gunz and a copta squad to try to take my point. I left everything 2 term squads one with belial (brother adso), 2 ravenwing squads and a vernerable dred with drop pod in reserve. I also fielded 2 scout squads as infiltrating units. My deployed units were 2 preds with TL lascannon and 2x heavy bolters and a rhino with 5 man tact squad with plasma. All of which were on defense.

I infiltrated my 2 scouts squads in the middle of the board to distract and just be a nuisance as the ork sped across the map with his forces.

Turn 1.

Orks move out. completely annihilate one scout squad. However they forced 2 trucks to disembark, one less turn of sprinting across the map. without the use of camo cloaks (where's my 5th ed. codex?) I think they did a pretty decent job. Big guns unloaded on my preds, taking off one of the heavy bolters.My turn.

I deathwing assaulted Brother Adso and crew (5 terms, 3 claws, 2 TH + SS) just in front of the cover around the objective. He was not ready for this. fire from both my preds and rockets from the 2nd scout squad took down most of the copta squad in the middle and an assault by the scouts finished them off.

Turn 2.

orks continue to truck (literally) across the field. big guns take more shots at my preds, destroy another heavy bolter. Orcs on defense try assaulting my Adso squad, Nob with a powerclaw takes out my two TH+SS (gg invuln save rolling) but he loses quite a few boys in the process. my turn

Dreadnought deepstrikes just behind Adso's squad. Ravenwing squad 1 comes on the outflank behind his big gunz shooting at my defense. Take out the entire squad from shooting. Leaving his trucks in crossfire for the next round. preds drop a truck and boys get shot a bunch. Scouts still holding middle as a speed bump.

Turn 3.

orks rush my preds on defense. did not quite make it. shoot at my scouts in the middle after disembarking. (nice) and finish them off. They did their job well - will continue to use them in future games. big guns shoot at ravenwing but some bad rolling saved the bikers. warboss moved into assault the dread. between the pod and a wall of the terrain, the orcs were forced into a cattle chute to assault him, the warboss leading the charge. but Brother Cornelius in his dread was too fast, as soon as that adamantium skull came around the corner, he was grabbed by the neck and crushed to death. A nob with powerclaw managed to stun the giant for a round. Alex (the ork player) was not ready for his warboss to go down so easily. Adso's group killed more boys defending their HQ and nearly taking out Adso with a wrecking ball. (good rolling on his 5+ invuln.) My turn.

Adso's group continues to fight at their objective. Ravenwing 2 come on the outflank behind another big gunz. and take it out. ravenwing 1 goes after truck in the middle, blows it up, and shoots the boys in the crater. preds destroy another advancing truck and shoot up the boys in the crater just before they get to them. dread is stunned and deathwing squad 2 still in reserve (bad).

Turn 4.

Orcs try to assault preds on defense, no avail. missing with all powerclaw attacks. Assaulting the dread only results in another stun. boys continue to pour onto Adso's squad. wrecking ball misses. big gunz rolling fails again to damage ravenwing who now have complete control of the field. My turn.

Deathwing squad 2 come down prepare to assault the last big gunz. adso continues to fight toward the objective. predators finish off assaulting squad of orcs. rhino races to control my objective. ravenwing finish off another entire squad of boys in the middle.

Turn 5.

Orcs try to bring their last truck up for a final charge. hoping the game will not end on turn 5. big gunz try to shoot at terms, all saves made. dread is assaulted again, taking out the multi-melta. boys are being thrown at Adso, trying to stop his advanage. the claws are just tearing their fowl smelling flesh. My turn.

Adso finishes off the entire squad but 1 nob. deathwing squad 2 assaults big gunz and wipes them off the board, consolidating roll, puts them within range of the enemy HQ. preds explode last truck and ravenwing fire shots at whatever is still moving. dread uses heavy flamer on boys nearby.

Game ends on turn 5.

final score: ork objective: contested DA objective: controlled by DA

winner: DA

Commentary:

Alex, the ork player, is still very new to the warhammer community. I have had the benefit of seeing his develop as a player with absolutely no idea of what he is doing, to making very good decisions for his army. I have seen large leaps and bounds in his play style as well as the units he is fielding. I think his nobz with powerclaws really were his best unit. they were a threat in melee, and a threat to my armor. keeping my dread stunned a losing a weapon, just missing on my preds and putting the hurt on my termies. He had some real bad luck with his warboss. I felt bad taking it out in one turn, but I think he learned from the experience. The big guns did not serve alex well at all. managing just 2 destroyed weapons for the game. Some firepower from the back would have been good to defend against my ravenwing who ran circles around his units. playing a pitched battle, I think it would have been in his best interest to simply line up his attack force and send everything at my objective. I don't think I could have stopped that many orks without major losses. The scouts served very well as a deterrent for him. (oh look squishy units to kill) meanwhile not focusing on taking the objective and letting my ravenwing and preds shoot everything to death at range.

I think the most important lesson Alex learned was not to listen to his fear. He admitted he didn't rush all his boys into my objective because he was afraid of my defenses. But the truth is, I don't think I could have stopped him if he did. I had prepared for this, infiltrating my scouts, forcing him to make a decision, assault the scouts or the objective. This is the first time he experienced the mental battle side of the game and it was a great learning experience. I also strongly recommend nob bikers for him. to try to reign in some of my mobility and have a force to compete with my terms.

it was a great battle, both players had lots of fun.

comments, suggestions, questions, flames?