Battle Report 44- 1500 pts Astra Militarum vs Orks

This week's battle report features a set game in my Medusa IV campaign, where Seb's Orks attacked one the power plants guarded by my Astra Militarum army. The battle was to be 1500 pts and I was curious to see what Seb would bring. He has such an extensive collection of Orks that you are never quite sure what he will be fielding; will it be an all walker army? A green horde? Biker heavy? Or a combination of everything.

I also wanted to go for an infantry heavy force for my Guard. I like the nature of the Astra Militarum fielding hordes of infantry, backed up by a few tanks.

 

My army consisted of:
 

COMBINED ARMS DETACHMENT

Tank Commander Pask- 2 Punisher tanks with heavy bolter sponsons. (PCT and P)

Company Command Squad- 2 Plasma guns, Regimental standard, Vox caster (CS)

Priest- Autogun (with S1A)

 

Infantry Platoon 1

Platoon Command- 2 Flamers, vox caster (PC1)

Infantry Squad- Grenade launcher, vox caster (S1A)

Infantry Squad- Grenade launcher, vox caster (S1A)

Infantry Squad- Grenade launcher (S1B)

Heavy Weapons Team- Missile Launchers (HWT)

Infantry Platoon 2

Platoon Command- 2 Flamers, vox caster (PC2)

Infantry Squad- Autocannon, vox caster (S2A)

Infantry Squad- Autocannon, vox caster (S2A)

Infantry Squad- Autocannon (S2B)

Infantry Squad- Heavy Bolter (S2C)

Infantry Squad (S2D)

Chimera- Multilaser, Heavy Bolter, Extra Armour, Dozer Blades (C1)

 

Veteran Squad- 3 Meltaguns (V)

Chimera- Multilaser, Heavy Bolter, Extra Armour, Dozer Blades (C2)

 

Wyvern (W)

 

I went for Tank Commander Pask with an additional Punisher. With two Punisher tanks, I should be able to put out a lot of firepower to suit whatever Seb brought along (the rending from Pask's punisher cannon may help with any Deff Dreads). I also brought a command squad to issue orders to my infantry units and a Priest to keep them in check.

I then took two large infantry platoons. One with grenade launchers, so that they could move and fire to full effect, the other with Autocannons to provide some mid-strength firepower to the army. I was able to add a chimera infantry squad and heavy bolter squad to the platoons as well. The addition of some missile launchers would give me some variety if facing armour or mobs of boyz. Both platoon command squads got dual flamers for when the Orks got in close.

 

In order to help target armour, I took a unit of Veterans with 3 meltaguns in a chimera. Both transports got dozer blades and extra armour to keep them moving. Finally, I rounded the list off with a wyvern. These are pretty much essential in a guard army, providing some serious firepower to my list.

Pask was my warlord and got Old Grudges (preferred enemy) for his warlord trait. I decided to combine two of the grenade launcher infantry squads into one unit and two of the Autocannon squads into one unit.

Seb's army consisted of:

 

COMBINED ARMS DETACHMENT

Zhadsnark (with W1)

Painboy- Warbike (with W1)

3 Nob Bikers- Big Choppa, Bosspole (NB)

14 Warbikers- Nob with Power claw and Bosspole (W1)

5 Warbikers- Nob with Power claw and bosspole (W2)

5 Warbikers- Nob with Big Choppa (W3)

5 Warbikers- Nob with Big Choppa (W4)

 

GOREPACK

4 Chaos Bikers- 2 Flamers, sergeant with power sword (CB1)

4 Chaos Bikers- Flamer (CB2)

4 Chaos Bikers (CB3)

5 Flesh Hounds (FH)

 

That was one fast army. The sneaky gits had even brought some chaos allies to help them out. The big mob of bikers with Zhadsnark and the Painboy would be troublesome and Seb's army would be on my lines very quickly.

 

We decided to play a maelstrom mission and rolled Spoils of War. In this mission, you cannot discard "Secure Objective X" cards and you can score any of your opponent's "Secure Objective X" cards if you hold the objective at the end of your turn. This could be interesting for a static gun line and a highly mobile Ork army. Fortunately, I had taken two Chimeras just in case we played maelstrom or I had to go grab objectives. We placed the objectives as shown below:

I won the roll off for deployment zone and chose the side with my power plant (well, I was defending it after all). I also won the roll off for deployment and chose to go first- I wanted to hit the Orks as hard as possible in the first turn.

 

I deployed the wyvern behind the power plant and Pask's unit in the centre of my board edge. I then surrounded him with Infantry; the large grenade launcher unit with the Priest at the front, the other units to the side. The Command Squad and Platoon commands went to the rear of the infantry (as should a good Guard commander). The Chimeras went on each flank, the Veterans to my right, the Infantry Squad to my left.

 

Seb then deployed, the large unit of warbikers in the centre, the rest of the Orks focussed on his right flank, while the Chaos allies went to the left flank.

Deployment. The grey arrows represent Scout moves.

For his Scout moves, Seb pushed the large unit of warbikers and the Fleshhounds as far forward as possible. They were distressingly close and we hadn't even had the first turn yet. Fortunately, Seb failed to seize and I got the first turn.

 

TURN 1- ASTRA MILITARUM

In my first turn, I drew Objective 2, Objective 5 and Psychological Warfare. I already had Objective 5, but Seb had objective 2 thanks to his scouting bikers.

 

Seein

g the greenskins advance on their fast bikes, Pask ordered the Guardsmen to hold firm. Maintaining the power plant was key to the Imperial cause in the sector. He sent the Infantry squad in front forward slightly to get into rapid fire range and use their lasguns to full effect. The squad moved up, bolstered by the Priest within their ranks.

Holding firm, the guardsmen opened fire on the Ork lines. The platoon command ordered infantry squad 1A to increase their fire on the closest unit of Ork bikers (ordering First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire). A fusillade of 54 lasgun shots rained down on the central biker unit, killing one of the squad. The Wyvern added its firepower to the onslaught, killing another 2 of the bikers. Pask ordered his own Punisher and the Punisher in his squad to fire on the large warbike unit, knowing the carnage they could cause if they hit the guard lines. After the guns had done their work, another 6 of the ork bikers lay dead.

Infantry squads 2A and 2B were ordered to target the advancing warbikers too. Despite their best efforts, not a single biker was slain by the attack.

The punishing fire was too much for the Ork bikers and they fell back 10" towards their deployment zone (Seb failed the morale check, rolled a 1 on the Mob rule table, then rolled another 1 with his Bosspole re-roll to make matters worse).

On the right flank, Infantry squad 2C, the Veteran squad and their Chimera opened fire on the Flesh hounds, killing one of the squad.

At the end of my turn, I scored Objective 5 and Psychological Warfare.

TURN 1- ORKS
At the start of his turn, Seb drew Objective 3, Objective 5 and Objective 5. Not a great result as I already had both objectives controlled.

Zhadsnark got his biker mob back under control, rallying the unit and pushing them reluctantly forward, back into the enemy fire. The rest of the Ork bikers advanced as fast as possible towards the Guard lines, contesting objective 5, while the Chaos Bikers on the left flank took a more measured approach to their ancient enemy.

In the shooting phase, two units of Chaos bikers fired upon the front unit, Infantry squad 1A, killing 3 of them. The third unit turbo-boosted towards the Veteran's Chimera, while the Flesh hounds ran towards the objective.

At the end of his turn, Seb scored no points.

Victory Points:

Astra Militarum- 2

Orks- 0

TURN 2- ASTRA MILITARUM

At the start of turn 2, I had Objective 2 and drew Objective 3 and Supremacy (score at least 2 objectives and twice as many as your opponent).

Infantry squad 1A moved towards the left flank to halt the Ork advance, while Infantry squad 2D disembarked from their Chimera to face the Ork bikers in front of them. The Veteran's Chimera moved forward slightly, the squad disembarking to train their guns on the Flesh Hounds.

The Wyvern launched its payload at the Chaos Bikers in front of it, hitting them 6 times. Despite having shred, only one wound was caused and it was saved by the armour of the bikers. The Veteran's chimera fired at the Flesh Hounds, but failed to cause any damage (I only hit once with the 6 shots). The Veterans turned their guns on the hounds, their lasguns making a great account for themselves and killing three of the hounds, leaving one remaining on one wound.

Infantry Squad 2C opened fire on the nearby bikers. Their lasguns took down one of the ancient warriors and their heavy bolter accounted for another casualty. The nearby platoon command ordered Squad 2A to "First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire" on Zhadsnark's mob. Of the 26 shots fired, 18 hit and not a single wound was caused. To make matters worse, the two Autocannons missed with all their shots.

The Command Squad attempted to order Infantry squad 1A to increase their fire on the ork bikers advancing on the left flank, but they failed to hear them over the hymn chanting led by the Priest (I failed the First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire order, even with the re-roll from the vox caster). The unit fired on the bikers nonetheless, killing one of the bikers (yet again, the grenade launchers failed to hit).

Commander Pask turned his attention to the Ork bikers near objective 5, easily wiping out the unit with the combined fire of the two Punisher battle tanks.

The Command Squad then attempted to order the Heavy Weapons team to concentrate fire (ignores cover order) on the second ork biker unit on the flank, but they failed to hear the order over the roar of the punisher cannons. The unit fired their krak missiles at the Ork bikers, but failed to wound any of the squad.

Infantry squad 1B, Infantry squad 2B and Infantry Squad 2D all opened fire on the Ork bikers in front of them. The combined fire of the three units killed one of the bikers. The squad's chimera then opened fire (once again hitting with only 2 of its 6 shots), but failed to wound any of the bikers.

At the end of my turn, I scored First Blood, Objective 2, Supremacy for 2 VP's and managed to score all three of Seb's objective markers as I currently controlled Objectives 3 and 5.

TURN 2- ORKS

In his second turn, Seb drew Objective 4, Objective 6 and More Dakka (destroy an enemy unit in the shooting phase).

The lone Flesh Hound moved back towards objective 6, while the two remaining Chaos bikers nearby moved to the side of the Chimera. The other units of Chaos Bikers continued to advance on the Guard lines.

In the centre, the Nob bikers moved up to grab objective 2, while Zhadsnark led his unit towards Infantry Squad 1A in the centre, while the surviving Ork bikers on the right flank targeted the Guard units there.

In the shooting phase, the Ork bikers on the right targeted Infantry Squad 2D, easily wiping out the unit with their dakkaguns. The second unit of bikers targeted the squad's Chimera, but failed to damage the Guard vehicle.

In the centre of the field, Zhadsnark's mob and the Nob bikers targeted Infantry Squad 1A, their Dakkaguns killing 11 of the unit. The survivors held firm thanks to the presence of the priest.

On the left flank, the Chaos bikers targeted Infantry squad 2C, killing 5 of the unit. The punishment was too much for the rest of the squad and they broke and fled from the battlefield. The second biker unit targeted Infantry Squad 2A, killing one of the squad.

The final unit of Chaos bikers fired at the Chimera, but were unable to harm the vehicle on its weaker side armour.

In the assault phase, the Ork bikers on the right charged the Chimera. The Nob swung his Big Choppa at the weak armour of the vehicle, glancing it twice. The ork boyz failed to remove the final hull point and the transport survived.

 

The Chaos Bikers assaulted the other Chimera on the right flank. The krak grenades of the squad member glanced the tank, while the Sergeant's meltabombs penetrated the armour and stunned the vehicle.

In the centre, Zhadsnark led his unit in an assault against the Priest-led Infantry Squad. The warbikers crashed into the guard, killing 5 with their hammer of wrath attacks. The Guardsmen struck at the Orks, but were unable to get past their armour. In return, the entire squad and Priest were easily butchered, the Ork warbikers, who then consolidated towards Pask.

At the end of his turn, Seb scored my Objective 2 as well as all three of his objectives.

Victory Points:

Astra Militarum- 8

Orks- 4

TURN 3- ASTRA MILITARUM

This turn, I drew Objective 1, Objective 4 and Objective 6.

With the Orks getting ever closer to his tank, Pask ordered the infantry support to advance on the warbikers. The Command Squad, Platoon Command and Infantry Squad 2A moved towards the bikers in the centre of the field. On each flank, the Chimeras disengaged from their combats, moving away from the enemy. The Veteran's Chimera moved towards objective 6 to steal control of it from the Flesh Hound.

In the shooting phase, Pask ordered his unit to fire at the bikers in front of him. The storm of bullets succeeded in killing two of the bikers and the Nob.

The Command Squad ordered First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire from Infantry Squad 2A at the ork bikers. The close proximity of the orks must have made the guardsmen jumpy as only 12 of the 34 shots hit their target, killing one of the ork bikers. The Autocannons hit three times, but a double one to wound only resulted in a single hit wounding, which was then saved by the Painboy in the unit. The Platoon command opened fire on the unit with their flamers and lasguns, but again, no wounds were caused.

Seeing their failure, they ordered the nearby Infantry Squad 2B to fire on the unit with a volley of shots (getting a double 1 for the orders, meaning all future orders would be successful). Again, poor shooting resulted in 8 of the 22 shots hitting and no wounds being caused against the greenskins.

The Command Squad trained their plasma guns on the bikers, killing the last biker and the Painboy, leaving only Zhadsnark alive.

They then ordered the Heavy Weapons Team to fire on Zhadsnark and they wounded him twice with their krak missiles (which ignored cover thanks to the order).

Seeing the ork Warlord falter, Infantry Squad 1B, turned their lasguns on the Warboss, but failed to cause any wounds on him. The grenade launcher of the squad fired, its krak round striking true and slaying Zhadsnark! (I swear, this was the first hit I had scored with a grenade launcher in 3 turns of firing and it managed to take the last wound of Seb's warlord. Well worth the wait).

On the left flank, the Chimera fired at the three Ork bikers in front of it, only hitting with one of its 6 shots and failing to kill any of the orks.

On the right flank, the Veterans fired at the two bikers in front of them, killing one of the squad. The second Platoon command fired at the Chaos bikers in front of them, their flamers killing two of the squad. Finally, the Wyvern opened fire at the two Chaos bike squads, its shells killing two from the furthest away unit. This proved too much for the Chaos warrriors and they fled, falling back 7" towards their board edge.

At the end of the turn, I scored Objective 4, Objective 6 and Slay the Warlord.

TURN 3- ORKS

This turn, Seb drew Objective 1, Objective 3 and Hungry for Glory (issue a challenge).

The Chaos bikers failed to rally and continued to fall back this turn, moving another 11" away. The rest of the Chaos bikers and last Flesh Hound converged on the platoon command currently holding objective 3.

The Nob bikers moved towards objective 1, while the other ork bikers moved around the ruins to target the Guard units.

The Chaos Bikers targeted the Platoon Command, easily wiping them out with their flamers and bolters. The Flesh Hound ran to grab objective 3, but failed to get in range (Seb needed a 4+ to get in range of the objective, but failed to roll high enough, even with his Fleet re-roll).

The Ork bikers fired at Infantry Squad 2B. Despite going to ground, they managed to slay the Autocannon team, reducing the firepower of the unit. The second unit of bikers targeted infantry Squad 1B. Despite going to ground as well, the squad failed 5 of their 6 cover saves (on a 4+) and half the squad died. The survivors failed their morale check and fled from the board.

The three Ork bikers attempted to charge Squad 2B, but failed to make the 9" charge distance (even with the re-roll the Orks get).

At the end of his turn, Seb scored his Objective 1 and my Objective 1 for two points.

Victory Points:

Astra Militarum- 11

Orks- 6

TURN 4- ASTRA MILITARUM

This turn, I drew Objective 1, Objective 2 and Objective 3.

The Veterans moved up on the Flesh Hound and Infantry Squad 2A moved to grab objective 3, while Pask turned his attention towards the Orks on his left flank. The Platoon Command moved towards Objective 2, running to get into range, while the Chimera on the left turbo-boosted forward to grab objective 1.

In the shooting phase, the Platoon Command ordered Infantry Squad 2A to First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire on the two Chaos bikers in front of them. The 41 shots from the unit caused two wounds, which were both saved by the armour of the Chaos Marines. The Autocannons caused 3 wounds on the bikers, but once again, their armour saved them from harm. The Wyvern fired at the squad, but its shots scattered off target and missed the unit.

The Veterans fired at the lone Chaos biker, slaying the last of the squad.

On the left flank, the Command Squad ordered the Heavy Weapons team to ignore the cover on the advancing Ork bikers. The order was passed (for once), but the guardsmen failed to score a single hit with their three shots. The Command Squad fired at the bikers, killing one and wounding the Nob. Infantry Squad 2B then added their firepower, but were unable to cause any wounds. The survivors in the squad failed their morale check and fled back 12" towards their lines.

Pask opened fire on the squad of 5 Ork bikers, his Punisher cannon demolishing the unit before the second tank had a chance to fire.

At the end of the turn, I scored all three of my objectives and scored Seb's Objective 3 too.

TURN 4- ORKS

This turn, Seb drew Hungry for Glory (issue a challenge), Psychological Warfare (force a failed morale check) and Overwhelming Firepower (destroy an enemy unit in the shooting phase).

On the left flank, the Chaos bikers rallied, while on the other flank, the Ork bikers failed to rally and fled a further 11" away from the Guard lines.

On the left, the two Chaos bikers and Flesh Hound advanced on Infantry Squad 2A, while the Nob bikers moved to the rear of the Chimera beside objective 1.

The Nob bikers fired at the rear of the Chimera, but some poor rolls saw the tank unharmed. The fleeing Ork bikers also snap fired at the Chimera and managed to take the last hull point to wreck the transport.

 

The two units of Chaos Bikers fired at the autocannon squad, killing 5 of the squad in total.

The Chaos Bikers and Flesh Hound assaulted Infantry Squad 2A. The hammer of wrath attacks killed 2 of the guardsmen. The biker Champion issued a challenge that an unfortunate sergeant stepped forward to accept. He was quickly cut down, along with another Guardsman and the Flesh Hound took a wound off of the Autocannon team. The guardsmen struck at the bikers and managed to kill one of the squad, leaving only the Champion remaining. The Guardsmen lost combat and fled, but were easily caught and cut down by the Chaos warriors. The two Chaos units then consolidated towards objective 3.

At the end of his turn, Seb scored all three of his maelstrom cards.

Victory Points:

Astra Militarum- 15

Orks- 9

TURN 5- ASTRA MILITARUM

This turn, I drew Hungry for Glory (Issue a challenge), Blood and Guts (destroy a unit in the assault phase) and Objective 1.

On my right flank, the Veterans moved to engage the Chaos champion, while their Chimera moved to secure Linebreaker. The rest of the units moved to engage the remaining threats. The Platoon Command left objective 2 and moved to engage the Nob bikers.

The Wyvern fired at the two bikers furthest away, causing 4 wounds that were all saved by the enemy's armour. The Chimera fired at the same unit, but failed to score a single hit with its 6 shots (a running theme in this game).

Tank Commander Pask fired at the Flesh Hound, easily slaying the lone daemon, while his support Punisher targeted the two Chaos Bikers, but failed to cause any damage.

Infantry Squad 1B, the Heavy Weapons Team, the Command Squad and the Platoon command all fired at the Nob bikers, causing a wound on two of the Nobs, but failing to kill any of the unit.

The Veterans charged the Chaos biker Champion, the Sergeant issuing a challenge as they attacked. The Champion easily slew the Sergeant. The Veterans attacked, but failed to wound the biker (18 attacks, 11 hits, not a single wound). The squad failed their morale check and were cut down in a sweeping advance by the Chaos biker.

At the end of the turn, I scored Hungry for Glory and discarded Blood and Guts.

TURN 5- ORKS

Seb drew Hold the Line, Objective 6 and Objective 1.

The two Ork bikers rallied, moving away from the Guard lines, while the Nob bikers moved to secure objective 1. The lone Chaos biker advanced on the Wyvern, while the two Bikers moved to engage the Chimera.

The Ork bikers fired at the Platoon Command, killing three of the squad. The survivors held firm.

The two Chaos bikers fired at the Chimera, but failed to damage it. They then assaulted the vehicle, the Champion wrecking it with his meltabombs.

The lone Chaos Biker assaulted the Wyvern, but failed to hit with his meltabombs.

At the end of the turn, Seb scored Objective 1 and Objective 6, along with my Objective 1. He also scored Linebreaker.

Victory Points:

Astra Militarum- 16

Orks- 13

End of the Game.

With that, the game ended. A narrow win for the Astra Militarum. They had managed to repel the Ork advance on their power plant.

AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS

Thanks to Seb for another great game, this time a classic match up between Orks and Guard.

I was worried when I saw Seb's army to begin with. All those bikers meant that the Orks would be on my lines very quickly. Warbikes can put out a lot of firepower with their twin-linked dakkaguns and can really hurt in combat.

We both talked about the game after the battle and both agreed that Scouting Zhadsnark's biker mob in the centre was a big mistake. As I had the first turn, this enabled me to focus on the unit with most of my firepower (as it was the only target in range) and reduce it to half its size. Seb was very unlucky to roll a double 1 for his mob rule roll and the unit fled from the Guard attack to pretty much where they started the game. Had he not scouted the unit, they could have moved and turbo-boosted up to my lines with the rest of the Ork and Chaos bikers. I still would have focused on Zhadsnark's mob, but this would have meant the other Ork units would probably have survived relatively unscathed to chew through my lines.

Seb was also unlucky with the objectives he drew on turn 1. He drew three cards for two objectives that I already controlled and was able to score them at the end of my turn. This meant that at the end of my second turn, I was 8-0 up on victory points, which is quite a lead to try and claw back. Seb did great to keep playing and focusing on the objectives despite being so far behind and managed to bring his score up to make the final scores a lot closer than I would have predicted after turn 2.

I think my plan worked generally quite well. Waiting for the Orks to come to me and using my firepower is pretty much how a guard army works. I also got very lucky with the maelstrom cards that I drew and the objective cards that Seb drew, meaning I was able to score a lot of points during the game.

This was one of the first times that I had used Pask as my warlord and he was great. The two Punishers put out a lot of firepower and the Preferred enemy warlord trait means that I hit with a fair amount of shots from both tanks. The Punisher cannon was the best tool against the Ork warbikers. The volume of fire and high strength means that they were able to kill a lot of the Ork bikers over the course of the game. The only thing that I forgot was to use his orders later in the game. The split fire option would have been useful in several turns as there were instances where Pask's tank was sufficient to wipe out a unit, meaning the second tank never got a chance to fire.

Where Pask performed great, the same cannot be said for the rest of my Infantry. I swear, yet again, I was consistently missing with over 60% of my lasgun shots every time I fired and was getting below average wound rolls for most of the game. The three grenade launchers in my army did not score a single hit until turn 3 (where they promptly killed the Ork warlord, so I can't complain too much). The Heavy weapons team also did poorly, not passing a single order test the whole game and missing with many of their shots during it.

Without a doubt though, the worst effort came from the two Chimeras. Armed with a multilaser and Heavy bolter, these should have been well suited to taking out Ork bikers. However, I don't think either vehicle scored more than 2 hits in a single turn with their six shots. My transport crews definitely need replacing.

Despite my poor rolling, the volume of the guardsmen's fire was enough to upset the Ork and Chaos army and score a win.

Another great game, some of my favourite moments were:

• The grenade launcher taking out Zhadsnark with their first hit of the game.
• The fleeing Ork bikers taking the last Hull Point from the Chimera with their snap shots.
• The 10-man Veteran squad charging the lone Chaos biker, failing to wound him and then being butchered to a man in a sweeping advance.
• Rolling buckets of dice for lasgun shots each time I passed "First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire".
• I am normally abysmal at rolling saving throws. It is quite liberating to face an army that did not allow me any armour saves at all. I don't feel so bad, as I don't have to roll any armour saves that I will mot likely fail!

Hope you enjoyed the report, for regular updates on post on the blog and future battle reports, remember to join the "Followers" section above on the right (if you have not already!).