Imperials VS Orks

Had my first 'big' game today.  1000 points, Imperial Guard VS Orks.   

I used my list from the previous post.  The enemy list, as far as I can remember, was:

Tankbusters
Trukk, full of 'ard boys
Some kind of cyborg warboss
Huge ork boy mob
Stormboys
grot squad

The terrain turned out to be a sort of plateau on the far left back corner, a forested area in the back right corner, and a fortification in the middle of the map, sculpted up like an ork building of some sort.  I set up my lascannons on the plateau, where they could see the majority of the board, except for directly behind the fortification.  I placed my 2 veteran squads on the slope, where they had good line of sight and could protect the lascannons, but had no cover.  My 2 normal infantry squads and the command squad in the middle, with the command squad taking advantage of some minor cover, and close enough to give orders to either infantry squad.  The Comissar was attached to the squad that was more exposed.  The Executioner went directly behind the squads, where it could lend some fire support and was screened from direct assault.  The Leman Russ went all the way on the right side, where it could fire behind the fortification, so as to deny the orks easy cover.

The orks decided to split their forces, with the tankbusters deploying opposite the lascannons, and the mob in the middle, screened by grots.  The trukk deployed opposite the Leman Russ, along with the stormboys. 

Turn 1:  The Orks moved forward, mostly converging towards the fortification.  The tankbusters took advantage of some minor cover, and some desultory fire took out a pair of guardsmen.
My guardsmen returned the fire with vigor, annihilating most of the grot squad that the Ork Boys were using for cover.  With the cover removed, the Executioner fired its 3 plasma and 11 bolter shots into the squad, scoring a few kills.  The Leman Russ shot the truck, destroying a weapon.

Remaining Turns:  The Orks decided that the key to their strategy was going to center around the fortification.  I think the idea was to use it for cover all the way up to the imperial lines, while using their trukk to run down my russ on the right flank and come in that way with some other guys, all while using their tankbusters to fire on my executioner.  They systematically worked their way up the fortification, taking difficult terrain tests the whole way.  It supplied good cover, but exposed them to imperial guard until turn 5, when they finally came boiling out of the fortification and assaulted.  The imperial guard, in the meantime, destroyed the stormboys, the trukk, and the squad of guys in the trukk.  The stormboys were actually comically destroyed in a single LRBT main shot that scattered like 8 inches off the trukk.  The squad of the 'ard boys that came out of the trukk was destroyed by a LRBT bullseye.  The executioner shot the hell out of the ork boys, bringing their squad DOWN to like 20 at the moment of assault.

Assault Turn:  The tankbustas, remaining grots (like 3) and ork boys (like 20) come boiling out of the cover and assault an infantry squad from the platoon.  The exceedingly predictable result was the complete annihilation of the squad.  Unfortunately for the orks, this left them exposed to point-blank fire from every other unit in the guard, which eliminated the tankbustas entirely.  Their next turn eliminated the other infantry squad, but the return fire from the remaining units and the tanks annihilated the ork assault forces completely, and ended the game.  This was at the end of turn 7.


Thoughts:  I liked my army list, for the most part.  I think the lascannons could be swapped out for missiles, which would have been a little more flexible / useful against the mobs of orks.  The LRBT spent all game firing its ordinance weapon, so its heavy bolter sponsons were kind of a waste of points, since I couldn't fire them at the same time as I fired the cannon (because its ordinance).  Might remove those entirely.

Army So Far...

So I've picked a whole bunch of guardsmen from various sources, and some armor.  Here's what it looks like so far:

From Warhammer 40k

You can see in the background my first Imperial Armor unit:

From Warhammer 40k

I didn't like the default arms, so I swapped him out with some extras I had.  "Bring them closer, I want to hit them with my sword!"

From Warhammer 40k

VS

I'll get there when I paint it :)

Potential Army List

So I've been slowly growing my stash of infantrymen off of eBay, and gotten my hands on a few armored units.  Played with Army Builder a bit (quality program!) and came up with the following:

1000 Pts - 5th Edition

1000 Pts - 5th Edition

Name	#	Grp	WS	BS	S	T	Wo	I	A	Ld	Save	Cost
Leman Russ Squadron	1	Grp: Heavy										400
	Leman Russ Battle Tank; Leman Russ Executioner
Leman Russ Battle Tank	1	Grp: BS: 3 FA: 14 SA: 13 RA: 10										[180]
	Vehicle (Tank); Lumbering Behemoth; Battle Cannon; Heavy Bolter; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Heavy Bolter Sponsons (x2); Pintle Storm Bolter
Leman Russ Executioner	1	Grp: BS: 3 FA: 14 SA: 13 RA: 11										[220]
	Vehicle (Tank); Lumbering Behemoth; Executioner Plasma Cannon; Heavy Bolter; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Heavy Bolter Sponsons (x2); Pintle Storm Bolter
Lord Commissar	1	HQ	5	5	3/6	3	3	3/1	3	10	5+/5(i)	90
	Infantry; Independent Character; Summary Execution; Aura of Discipline; Flak Armour; Frag Grenades; Refractor Field; Bolt Pistol; Melta Bombs; Power Fist; Stubborn
Infantry Platoon	1	Grp: Troops										300
	Heavy Weapons Squad
Platoon Command Squad	4		3	3	3	3	1	3	1	7	5+	[85]
	Infantry; Flak Armour; Frag Grenades; Close Combat Weapon (x4); Lasgun (x2); Medi-pack; Platoon Standard; Flamer (x1); Sniper Rifle (x1)
Platoon Commander	1		4	4	3	3	1	3	2/3	8	5+	[6]
	Infantry; Junior Officer; Flak Armour; Frag Grenades; Laspistol; Close Combat Weapon; Junior Officer
Infantry Squad	9		3	3	3	3	1	3	1	7	5+	[55]
	Infantry; Combined Squad; Frag Grenades; Close Combat Weapon (x8); Flak Armour; Lasgun (x9); Flamer (x1)
Sergeant	1		3	3	3	3	1	3	2/3	8	5+	[5]
	Infantry; Combined Squad; Flak Armour; Frag Grenades; Laspistol; Close Combat Weapon
Infantry Squad	9		3	3	3	3	1	3	1	7	5+	[55]
	Infantry; Combined Squad; Frag Grenades; Close Combat Weapon (x8); Flak Armour; Lasgun (x9); Flamer (x1)
Sergeant	1		3	3	3	3	1	3	2/3	8	5+	[5]
	Infantry; Combined Squad; Flak Armour; Frag Grenades; Laspistol; Close Combat Weapon
Heavy Weapons Squad	3		3	3	3	3	2	3	2	7	5+	[105]
	Infantry; Note C:IG, pg. 29 in regards to composition (e.g., two models for transport, but a single model for all other purposes); Frag Grenades; Close Combat Weapon (x3); Flak Armour; Lasgun (x3); Lascannon (x3)
Veteran Squad	9	Troops	3	4	3	3	1	3	1	7	5+	105
	Infantry; Flak Armour; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Close Combat Weapon (x9); Lasgun (x8); Demolition Charge; Melta Bombs; Flamer (x1); Demolitions
Veteran Sergeant	1		3	4	3	3	1	3	2/3	8	5+	[7]
	Infantry; Flak Armour; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Laspistol; Close Combat Weapon; Melta Bombs
Veteran Squad	9	Troops	3	4	3	3	1	3	1	7	5+	105
	Infantry; Flak Armour; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Close Combat Weapon (x9); Lasgun (x8); Camo Cloak; Snare Mines; Flamer (x1); Forward Sentries
Veteran Sergeant	1		3	4	3	3	1	3	2/3	8	5+	[7]
	Infantry; Flak Armour; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Laspistol; Camo Cloak; Close Combat Weapon; Snare Mines
Total Cost:												1000

Option Footnotes
Doctrines
Demolitions	Entire squad has melta bombs. One veteran carries a demolition charge in addition to his other equipment.
Forward Sentries	Squad has camo-cloaks and snare mines.
Junior Officer	The Junior Officer may issue 1 order per turn with a 6" command radius: First Rank, FIRE! Second Rank, FIRE!, Incoming! and Move! Move! Move! (see C:IG, pg. 36).
Orders
First Rank, FIRE! Second Rank, FIRE!	Lasguns in the ordered unit have plus 1 shots, so 3 at up to 12" and 2 at up to 24" with normal Rapid Fire restrictions (see C:IG, pg. 36).
Incoming!	The ordered unit may immediately go to ground, with an additional +1 bonus to cover saves (see C:IG, pg. 36).
Move! Move! Move!	The ordered unit immediately runs, rolling three dice and choosing the highest (see C:IG, pg. 36).
Skills
Feel No Pain	If wounded on a D6 roll of 4+ may ignore the wound, conditions apply (p75 WH40K 5E)
Stealth	Improve cover save by +1, conditions apply (p76 WH40K 5E)
Stubborn	Ignore negative Leadership modifiers, conditions apply (p76 WH40K 5E)
Wargear
Battle Cannon	72" Range; S8; AP3; Ordnance 1, Large Blast
Bolt Pistol	12" Range; S4; AP5; Pistol
Camo Cloak	Model has the Stealth USR.
Close Combat Weapon	If used with another close combat weapon, +1 attack in close combat.
Demolition Charge	6" Range; S8; AP2; Assault 1, Large Blast, One Shot Only.
Executioner Plasma Cannon	36" Range; S7; AP2; Heavy 3, Blast.
Flak Armour	Confers a 5+ Armour Save.
Flamer	Template; S4; AP5; Assault 1
Frag Grenades	Models with these do not suffer the initiative penalty for assaulting enemies through cover (p36 WH40K 5E).
Heavy Bolter	36" Range; S5; AP4; Heavy 3
Heavy Bolter Sponsons	36" Range; S5; AP4; Heavy 3
Krak Grenades	One attack with 6+D6 AP (exceptions apply p72 WH40K)
Lascannon	48" Range; S9; AP2; Heavy 1
Lasgun	24" Range; S3; AP-; Rapid
Laspistol	12" Range; S3; AP-; Pistol
Medi-pack	While the model with this is alive, the squad has Feel No Pain.
Melta Bombs	One attack with 8+2D6 AP (exceptions apply p72 WH40K)
Pintle Storm Bolter	24" Range; S4; AP5; Assault 2
Platoon Standard	Counts as scoring one additional wound for purposes of close combat results (see C:IG, pp. 36).
Power Fist	Ignores armour saves, increases strength in close combat.
Refractor Field	Confers a 5+ Invulnerable save (see C:IG, pg. 35).
Searchlight	Searchlights are only of use in missions where the Night Fighting special rule is in effect. If a vehicle has a searchlight, it must still use the Night Fighting rules to pick a target but, having fired at that unit, will illuminate it with the searchlight. For the rest of the Shooting phase any other friendly unit that fires at the illuminated target does not use the Night Fighting special rule. However, a vehicle that uses a searchlight, can be targeted during the following enemy turn, as if the Night Fighting rules were not in effect as the enemy can see the searchlight. See Wargear, pg. 36.
Smoke Launchers	Once per game, after completing its move, a vehicle with smoke launchers can trigger them. The vehicle may not fire any of its weapons in the same turn as it used smoke launchers, but will count as obscured in the next enemy Shooting Phase, receiving a 4+ cover save (see WH40K 5E, pg. 62).
Snare Mines	The unit has Defensive Grenades.
Sniper Rifle	36" Range; SX; AP6; Heavy 1; Sniper; Pinning

Validation Report

c-1. File Version: 1.04a For Bug Reports/www.ab40k.org; 1. Guard Regiments: 5th Edition Codex; b-1. Roster Options: Special Characters; a-1. Scenario: Normal Mission

Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules

Roster Statistics

% Elite: 0.0

% Fast: 0.0

% Heavy: 40.0

% HQ: 9.0

Model Count: 51

% Troops: 51.0

% Wargear: 0.0

Files version: 1.04

Faith Points: 0

Group	Min	Max	Used
HQ	1	2	1
Elite	0	3	0
Troops	2	6	3
Fast	0	3	0
Heavy	0	3	1

Created with Army Builder - Copyright (c) 1997-2009 Lone Wolf Development, Inc. All rights reserved.

Regimental Standard, Part One

Took the first pass at the regimental flag.



I like the color scheme, but I need to go back over it and sharpen up the lines.  The part that makes me want to cry is the knowledge that I still have to do the *other* side of the flag.  The standard-bearer himself shouldn't be too bad, though.  I'll post up some extra pictures when I get it done, because I'm curious as to how much a difference the second and third passes really make.

Company Commander reporting for duty!

The Company Commander for my Army is finally done painting and drying.  I think he came out ok.  I feel I'm getting the hang of the basics of laying down color;  I still know nothing about advanced techniques, but this picture demonstrates you can get pretty far on the basics, I think.

First Blood

Had a skirmish between my Cadian strike force and a group of demons. I'm a little light on the details and forgot the camera, but hopefully will remember next time.

Forces:
Imperial Guard:

• Company Command Squad
• Veteran Squad
• Veteran Squad

Both Veteran Squads were equipped with heavy weapon support in the form of autocannons, as well as a Heavy Flamer each. They took the doctrine choice that grants them defensive grenades and camo cloaks, as well as carapace armor. The Company Command Squad had a mix of things, including a plasma gun, a sniper rifle, a medic (for Feel No Pain) and a regimental standard.

Chaos Demons:

• Skulltaker on a chariot.
• Soul Grinder.
• Pink Horrors with a changeling.

Deployment:
Fearing the large demon and eyeing my autocannons, I deployed all my forces in some fortifications in the backmost corner of the map. I placed my objective there as well. My plan was to have the demons come charging across the open plains and suffer several rounds of LasCannon/LasGun fire.

I was then informed that the Chaos Demons would not be deploying at all, and would be deep-striking onto the battlefield. Whoops. Fortunately, there was practically no space behind my guardsmen for the demons to appear, so the only safe place to deepstrike was still in front of me, and I'd get off some good volleys, right?

Turn 1:
The Chaos player agreed, and attempted to deepstrike. However, he scattered... right into the tiny gap behind my line of forces! Disaster! His Soul Grinder took out 2/3 of a veteran squad on its arrival, and was paired with the pink horror around it. Annihilation seemed imminent.

On my turn, I had the remainder of the Vet Squad fire on the walker. The Autocannon scored a good hit, so we rolled for vehicle damage... Vehicle Destroyed! The fire from the remaining squads whittled the pink horrors down to 3 models. Surely, victory was within my grasp!

Turn 2:
The Chaos player attempted to deepstrike his Skulltaker onto much the same place as he had attempted to deepstrike the walker.... and scattered into the EXACT SAME PLACE, which was now clear of obstructions due to the destruction of the walker. Cruel fate. His shooting was a big nothing, but his pink horrors charged my command squad. Though the command squad got the better of it, the pink horrors survived, locking my Command Squad into assault and depriving me of orders.

I fired heavily at the Skulltaker, but the LasCannons simply could not hit and despite a few wounds, the Skulltakersurvived. In Assault, the pink horrors were wiped out.

Turn 3:
The Skulltaker charged my command squad. They were beaten, inflicting no wounds in return. They broke, fled, and were swept up and killed.

One of my squads had insufficient LOS for a shot due to foritfications in the way, the other squad fired into the Skulltaker, inflicting another wound, bringing him down to 1 remaining. I could win this!

Turn 4:
The Skulltaker assaulted my fully-healthy veteran squad. They were defeated, inflicting no wounds in return. They broke, fled, and were swept up and killed. DAMN!

My remaining squad (which was down to 1/3 of its numbers, remember) fired, and failed to wound.

Turn 5:
The Skulltaker fled behind the fortifications, contesting the objective and blocking LOS to my vets.

I moved the guardsmen away, towards the middle of the map. My plan was to flee all the way to his deployment zone and contest HIS objective, ensuring either a tie or forcing his chariot out into the open.

Turn 6:
Die roll. Game ended. He had one objective contested and I had none. Victory to the Chaos Demons.


It was a fun game with a lot of tension, mostly centered around the assaults and the autocannon shots. I suspect I could haev deployed better, what seems to have done me in was a lack of opportunity for extended firing on his Skulltaker combined with the clustering of my guardsmen making it easy for him to assault a squad each turn. I suppose I could have assaulted him, but since none of my squads ever survived a round with the Skulltaker, I felt it better to have him assault me, and let my defensive grenades and his assault through cover grant me some advantages. They didn't play out.