Post by treadiculous on Nov 5, 2012 7:04:12 GMT -5
We planned to run a RTS style game, any unit could be deployed on a turn, but each team was only given 200 points per turn to spend. There were a number of locations on the board which would earn the teams more points, the bridges were worth 50, and areas of cover 15.
For a complete run down of the plans and special / house rules which made the mechanics of the game please see here:
commissar.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=General&action=display&thread=16389
In the end we decided to leave the minefields out, and we forgot about the road speed bonus as well.
The Guard got first turn, deploying snipers (which do not score) to cover the bridges and sentinels on the flanks to score points next turn.
The Orks began with the first of the Deffkoptas, outflanking with 24" range scoring units made them a good choice.
Guard Turn 2, earning an extra 60 points for the 2 sentinels, and utilising their deep strike locator beacon which had been bought for the central Ratling squad the Assault Marines were able to enter play with sights set on the bridge.
Jumping Chronogically a turn or so, The Guard have brought on a couple of Basalisks which are moving toward the closest resource points to the deployment zone, and the Assault Marines had taken heavy casualties from a Supa-Kannon on Battlewagon and fallen back to the closest to deployment area middle resource point.
The Orks had used cheap units of Grots to claim the closest resource points, and were able to call in a lot more units of Deffkoptas as a result of their higher income. This would become a strong theme for the Greenskins.
The Guard positions were holding, but the loss of the marine strike on the bridge and then the unit of Ratlings with beacon being wiped out meant the Imperial side was significantly smaller than the Xenos force.
.. But little did they know, the Dakka Jet was getting drawn into a trap...
.. a Vendetta was waiting to hunt the Jet as it closed on the Basalisk, a task which it was able to achieve, the wounded Dakka jet colliding with the Promethium Pipeline as it fell to earth.
Though, yet another sneaky move by the Imperium saw a unit of allied Striking Scorpions infiltrate into Greenskin territory, managing to find a spot where they were out of line of sight of the short grots
...and able to charge (reserves are able to charge in the house rules), massacring them... they also held a deep strike beacon, which was hoped to call in more reinforcements...
Elsewhere, the Orks pushed harder with the Koptas, becoming engaged in a battle of attrition with the sentinels and snipers:
The Basalisks were ranking priority target 1 for the Orks, and even with the Nerfs (see house rules) they were still causing a lot of damage. One had been destroyed but the other held fast.
Meanwhile, Heavy Weapon Squads entered the fray to bring more firepower onto the Koptas which were swarming the Imperial Territory.
Note the Vendetta dropping off a Commnad Squad with grenade launchers on the bridge, despite weathering supa-kannon and numerous kopta fire the commander was able to hold the point until charged by three koptas in close combat...
Meanwhile, another Command Squad was keeping units in check with the standard and issuing orders to nearby units... Platoon Sections could only be brought on within 12" of a Command or Platoon Command Squad (see house rules) they also had a good view of the Assault Marines holding the closest middle resource.
Calling on the core element of Humanities fighting force, the flashlight brigade finally arrived and were immediately able to counter the Deffkopta threat with overwhelming numbers and firepower.
Yet when one flank felt secure, another would crumble, the left side coming under assault from Lootas in Trukks... and buggies... and wartrakks... and dakka jets
Despite the unrelenting attack, the sentinels hold steadfast to the forward resource point.
yet with a roar of engines a Valkyrie swept over the area, deploying a unit of Heavy Bolters.. which missed their intended landing but ended up able to snap fire from the cover of the Promethium drenched pipe ruins.
Given the additional inspiration from the twin-linked order by the command squad the Heavy squad was able to cause a lot of damage to the Dakka Jet, and then Vakyrie finished it off.
This destruction was followed up with the exploding ramshackle trukk, spilling its Loota cargo onto the bridge and out of range of the specific location to score (they would need to crawl through the wreckage if they wanted to earn the points) so decided to wreak havoc with their deffguns instead!
Meanwhile, the 2nd Ork Battlewagon with Supa-Kannon (the first had lost its Supa-Kannon to a Basalisk shot and had proceeded to the Bridge where it could hold the point with its AV14 quite happily. The 2nd Supa-Kannon-Wagon had deployed to attack the Eldar, which had taken heavy casualties in the first turn of their arrival (drawing the shots of 2 Supa-Kannon, and a Trukk of Lootas to achieve this though) and had been reduced to just the Exarch who had charged into close combat - hoping to survive longer in combat then exposed to more Kannon fire(this had meant He was unable to utilise the DeepStrike Beacon as it required units to be stationary to use it) - and despite slaying many more grots, he was cut down by a vindictive little greenskin and so this elite unit were lost from the battle, and left the grots in control of the resource point... this all happened a bit earlier, but there are no photo records of the xenos vs xenos conflict so cannot be assured this is true, the Imperium continues to question its allowance of xenos allies....
And with the Orks having considerable presence on the battelfield, with new waves of bikes squads and loota trukks heading out it was evident the Orks were a turn away from being able to use saved points and bring on a Stompa...
We had started at 1pm it was around 9pm and we had played 9 turns.
The Turns were pacey, the freedom of choice was excellent and all players felt it was a very tactical game which managed to reach a conclusion.
I had been on the Imperial side and feel I steered the team toward using expensive infiltrate + deep strike beacon tactics which didn't do well enough, the sentinels, heavy teams and blob were much better at holding and fighting the Koptas (of which around 16 were shot down in total, with 2 remaining on the table.. each fielded as separate units). It is possible that if the Imperium had done a bit better the Infiltrate Beacon tactics could have paid of as mid to late game tricks.
The Vendetta was excellent, and was still alive, (having flown back to the airfield 2 turns distance away to collect a techpriest and servitor.. it would have returned on turn 10...), the Valkyrie was surprisingly good against the Dakka Jet, and made me wish I had magnetised the rocket pods so I could bring HellStrike Missiles and Door Gunners for a cheaper Valk more capable of an Anti-Aircraft role.
as everyone said at the end:
Next time... things will be different!
