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.

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.