Battle Report: Wolves vs Orks & Blood Angels vs Orks

As promised earlier in the week here's a report of the two battles Matt and I fought yesterday. I have to say that I don't normally enjoy fighting Orks but both battles yesterday were really good fun! We started off with my Space Wolves taking on Matt's Orks and then after that I took over as "Da Boss" and fought Matt's Blood Angels. It was interesting to see how each chapter dealt with the green tide, I've already posted the lists here so without further ado:

SPACE WOLVES VS ORKS

We rolled for mission and deployment and got Capture and Control and Pitched Battle. Pretty straightforward then! I won the roll off and place my drop pod, speeder and scouts in reserve. The vindicator went in the centre of the field fairly far forward to try and get a shot off nice and early. The whirlwind was over to my left and the long fangs took up a position in a hilltop ruined building. The rhinos went in the centre of the field. The dread was on the far left in some trees.

Matt deployed his Orks in the centre of the field with Ghazghkull and the nobs in a battlewagon to his left and the other battlewagon with the tankbustas on the right. The lootas were in a ruined building in the centre (which was Matt's objective) surrounded by hordes of Orks. The Kommandos were in reserve of course.

Turn 1

The drop pod plummeted from the clouds and smashed down next to the battlewagon on Matt's right flank. I tried to place it between two pieces of terrain but sadly it scattered so it wasn't in a position to block the advance. Nevertheless the rune priest led his grey hunters out of the pod. Elsewhere the rhinos, vindi and dread advanced. 

Having recovered from the drop the rune priest opened up a chasm beneath the front line of orks which threatened to swallow 9 of them including 2 nobz. Miraculously 6 of them passed their initiative test including both nobz!! The rest of the squad added a further 6 to the total with flame and bolter fire. The whirlwind and vindicator added 7 (including a single loota) between them and a flurry of frag missiles and bolter rounds from the long fangs added another 11. At the end of the first turn I was already full of confidence as Matt's three 30 strong boyz mobs now numbered 17, 26 and 15.

The battlewagons plowed forward and seemingly unaffected by their losses so did the boyz with the exception of one mob which hugged the objective along with the lootas. The Shokk Attack Gun (S.A.G) fired a S7 blast at the wolf priests rhino but failed to penetrate. The lootas were more successful but could only shake the rhino's crew. 

The tankbustas had managed to move away from the drop pod enough for the dreadnought to be the closest vehicle so they set loose 2 bomb squigs which made up for the wayward rocket shots by both hitting the target and blowing up the dread. The Nobs piled out of their battlewagon and attacked the vindicator blowing it up causing a wound on one of them. The grey hunters that emerged from the drop pod were charged by the 17 strong mob. The hunters could only kill 5 of them so the remaining 12 struck back. Matt managed to roll 17 6s on 40 dice when rolling to hit! So I had a lot of saves to make. I wasn't as lucky with my rolling and 7 grey hunters fell. The rest of the squad broke from combat. Not looking quite as good as it did with two of my vehicles reduced to smouldering craters and my grey hunters fleeing from orks.

Turn 2

Ragnar directed the driver of his rhino to head towards the tankbustas battlewagon. The resulting melta fire blew up the wagon killing 2 tankbustas. The remaining grey hunters fired their bolters as the rune priest summoned a murderous hurricane on his pursuers claiming 4 boyz. Elsewhere the whirlwind missed it's huge target. The long fangs killed one nob and wounded another whilst their wolf guard immobilised Ghaz's wagon with krak missiles to it's side armour. 

The wolf priests squad fire their pistols and melta guns at the nobs and manage to kill 3. They then draw their chainswords and pile into combat. Their wolf fury slays the remaining nobs whilst only two grey hunters fall.

The tankbustas blow up Ragnar's rhino as Ghazghkull gets out of his wagon and heads towards the wolf priest as he does so he unleashes his powerful Waaagh! The lootas kill a heavy bolter long fang bu the S.A.G misses it's target. The boyz advance on the remaining drop pod grey hunters and fire as they go. Their shots ping off the power armour with no effect and the hurricane claims 4. In the ensuing combat the wulfen rolls a handy 6 and 4 more boys fall. Sadly it's too little too late and the remaining wolves are slain. 

Unbelievably the Wolf Priest's grey hunters manage to wound Ghaz twice despite his 2+ invulnerable save and only lose two of their number in return.

Turn 3

The whirlwind claims another pair of boyz as do the long fangs in a poor showing from them. The land speeder deep strikes in and incinerates 3 more. The long fangs rune priest attempts to open a chasm beneath Ghazghkull but he misses despite only needing 2+. Ghazghkull kills the wolf priest and 3 hunters but takes another wound. Elsewhere Ragnar and his squad kill off the remaining tankbustas and avenge the fallen rune priest by killing off the boyz.

The kommandos come in to assault Ragnar and his pack. Ragnar kills 3 kommandos but his squad aren't inspired and fail to kill a single ork. Luckily the Kommandos only kill 1 marine and lose another due to being fearless. The S.A.G misses again. The boyz in front of the land speeder manage to immobilise it with shooting enabling them to blow it up in combat. The field is now littered with the cratered remains of vehicles.

Ghazghkull is unaffected by one of the two remaining grey hunters but despite killing them both he dies to a blow from the wolf guard.

Turn 4

Frustratingly the scouts appear on the right flank but still manage to blow up the battlewagon. The long fangs only kill a single boy. Otherwise I'm only able to do some maneuvering.

The S.A.G fires the Mek into combat with Ragnar which doesn't end well for him. The boyz squad leaves the objective to charge Ragnar and co. The hunters fail miserably to kill any orks and 3 die as a result.

Turn 5

The battle is now going to be determined by the combat between Ragnar's pack and the boyz mob. I have nothing in range to contest the objective and the scouts are unlikely to make it in time. To try and help things I tank shock the other boyz mob but the nob uses his bosspole to prevent them from fleeing. Ragnar isn't strong enough to resist that many orks and he falls. The long fangs kill another boy from tank shocked squad but it's clear how the battle will go now.

Turn 6

The scouts charge the smaller boyz mob and only manage to kill 1 as does the shooting from the long fangs. The whirlwind hits the other squad but to little effect. The scouts are finished off in Matt's turn.

Final result: Orks control their objective and win 1-0. KP: SW 8 vs 10 Orks. VP: SW 1550 vs. 1365 Orks

Conclusion 

A solid, if close, victory to the Orks. I managed to kill an impressive number of them but despite some early luck (such as 5/6 wulfen rolls being 6s early on) it seemed to run out in the later turns. Ragnar's squad did appaulingly badly in combat and I'd wasted the banner killing off the kommandos which was upsetting considering how many 1s I rolled in the combat with the boyz. 

Despite losing I feel pretty good about this battle. I've previously only fought Matt's Orks with Eldar or Tau and found it nearly impossible to thin down 30 strong mobs. It's the first time I've fought them with Space Wolves alone. I'd already killed 32 orks in the first turn but I sadly didn't keep up this tally. I'm confident in future battles I'll be able to deal with them better.

I think the battle would've gone very differently had I sat back and let the Orks come to me. I was determined to table Matt completely after how well the first turn went which made me play a bit too aggressively. Had Ghazghkull not wiped out the wolf priest's squad I'd have been able to hold onto my objective pretty well if support from the long fangs and scouts. 

I was very much looking forward to trying my hand at commanding an Ork army though.....

ORKS VS BLOOD ANGELS

Since this is a Space Wolves blog I'll try and make this report a bit shorter but I think it's interesting to compare the strengths of the chapters which is why I'm including it. We got Dawn of War and Seize Ground. The 4 objectives were clustered around the centre of the table which meant the fight would be bloody. Matt got first turn. Matt kept his predator and terminators in reserve and deployed his razorback and death company in their rhino. I deployed Ghaz and the meganobz in their transport over on the far left of my lines, hoping that I knew where Matt's devastators would be, and a 30 strong mob opposite one objective. My kommandos were in reserve.

Turn 1

The sternguard's drop pod landed right in front of my lines and threatened to block my advance. The occupants could only kill 2 boyz much to Matt's disgust. Equally bad for him was the twin-linked lascannon missing my battlewagon as it sped onto the field.

The tankbustas came on in their battlewagon and blew up the drop pod as a squig ventured inside and detonated. Miraculously no gretchin were harmed in the explosion but neither were any sternguard. The killkannon hits the sternguard but Matt had cunningly positioned his sanguinary priest to give them FNP so one survived. The zzap gun misses the razorback in return.

Turn 2

The Blood Angels advance and the assault marines engage the boyz mob on the hill in the centre. Showing how useful furious charge and FNP are they manage to kill 15 boyz for 1 loss! The razorback hits this time and immobilises the battlewagon with Ghaz inside.

The tankbustas can only blow off the storm bolter from the death company's rhino. The killkannon claims another 2 marines and the zzap gun shakes the razorback. The assault marines kill off the remaining boyz. Another mob charges the newly arrived terminators and librarian and kill 2 terminators for 9 dead orks. The kommandos appear behind the devastators and kill them all for a single dead ork. The gretchin claim the life of the remaining sternguard nearly paying for themselves in the process!

Turn 3

The Baal Predator comes in on my left and kills half of the lootas. The dread attempts to run to engage Ghazghkull but rolls a 1 meaning it falls short of charge range. The assault marines easily deal with the gretchin and the other squad finally finishes off the power klaw nob. The orks kill off the remaining terminators leaving the librarian alone and surrounded.

The tankbustas head towards the predator. Despite releasing another squig they can only stun it. They follow up with a charge and destroy the assault cannons. The killkannon claims another marine. The meganobz charge the dreadnought but lose two of their number. Ghazghkull immobilises it (uselessly). The boyz easily finish off the librarian.

In a fantastic demonstration of ork randomness the S.A.G explodes (a double 1) killing the lootas, mek and the rhino containing the death company. I burst out laughing as the entire squad is removed from play! We both vow we'll keep our distance from the S.A.G in future!

Turn 4

The assault marines move in to avenge the fallen librarian and kill off everything but the nob. Ghaz blows up the dread but not before it kills the other meganobz (blood talons are nasty). The assault marines fail to charge my remaining boyz which have moved in to try and claim the objective in the ruined temple. Corbulo and his squad charge in killing 13 boyz but taking 4 marine casualties despite FNP. 

The tankbustas finally wreck the predator and the killkannon yet again claims a marine. The kommandoz immobilise the razorback and blow off it's turret. The lonely nob is finished off and Ghazghkull charges the marines that had failed to charge killing 5 including the priest. The remaining 2 marines run. Corbulo kills 1 boy and takes no casualties.

Turn 5

The remaining marines jump onto the objective on the hill. The boyz manage to finish off corbulo and consolidate to claim two objectives. The kommandos shepherd the two fleeing marines off the board.

Turn 6

The marines on the hill move down to try and engage the orks controlling two objectives but aren't in range again. Ghazghkull moves towards them to try and counter. The game ends with me still claiming two objectives (2-0).

Final result: 2-0. KPs: Orks 14 vs 6 BA. VPs. Orks 1785 vs 895 BA.

Conclusion

In Matt's defence he wasn't aware that a unit could control two objectives so he thought he was securing a draw by moving onto the hill. Had he read that bit of the rulebook FAQ he would've undoubtedly charged in. How successful it would've been is anyone's guess with Ghazghkull around!

Although the numbers don't seem to show it I think the Blood Angels have a much easier time dealing with large mobs of Orks. Whenever they got the charge they easily wiped out whole swathes of them. Obviously the S.A.G exploding and claiming the death company dramatically changed the battle. The only thing Matt failed to do was blow up my battlewagons. The killkannon was a real hindrance to him and probably claimed double figure kills. That's where combi-melta wolf guard shine along with being able to give a squad a meltagun without hampering it's CC efficiency. 

OVERALL CONCLUSION

It comes as no surprise that the Space Wolves killed a lot more orks from shooting. However, I feel like I should've done a lot better in combat than I did. It didn't help that Ragnar didn't get to charge a bit mob liked I'd hoped for. I don't think either of us really did a great job of handling the Orks. It's probably down to our inexperience fighting them more than anything. 

I still stand by my post on how to deal with them. Obviously I just need to fight them again to prove it!!