Berks Spring Assault 3! Warhammer 40K Tournament

Berks Spring Assault 3:  

April 21, 2012

Date: April 21, 2012

Time: Registration 9:00am-9:45am

Location: Riveredge Banquet Center, 2017 Bernville Rd, Reading PA 19601

Warhammer 40,0000 tournament: 1000 points. 4 rounds of Warhammer 40K,  Catered Lunch is included.

Entry Fee: $45.   Pre-registration discounted price: $40 if pre-registered by April 10th, 2012.

Berks-PA Gaming Club Elite members get an additional $5 discount with club member card shown.

We are planning on being able to host 70 players, but can expand to more if needed.  Based upon last year's attendance, that could happen.

Tournament Packet Available for download by clicking here:  Berks Spring Assault 3 Rules Packet

We here are Berks-PA Gaming Club will be hosting our third round of Berks Spring Assault.  Each year this event grows and becomes even more of a fun party than the previous year.

Sportsmanship will be key to scoring this year, as much as last year. Details will be posted once we finalize all tournament information. One thing we pride ourselves on, especially with this tournamaent is having FUN! Sportsmanship is a MAJOR part of overall scoring.

Armies do NOT need to be painted, but having painted armies will help as Appearance will be minor part of overall scoring.   Appearance will be scored by tournament judges on a very simple scale.

1,000 point Warhammer 40K armies from all Standard Codecies.   Currently, IMPERIAL ARMOR AND CHAPTER APPROVED LISTS ARE NOT PERMITTED (Please see below)
We want you to come and have fun and enjoy yourself.  This is the perfect environment for new players as well as veterans trying out new lists or new armies.     If you are not sure of a list or have a special request, pitch it to us, and we may approve if if it is theme and fluff based and not so much a power-gamer list.     
***DUE TO THE LOGISTICAL DIFFICULTIES IN SUPPORTING IMPERIAL ARMOR AND CHAPTER APPROVED UNITS, THEY WILL NOT BE ALLOWED AT bERKS SPRING ASSAULT.    ONLY THE FOLLOWING (and current versions) CODEX BOOKS WILL BE ALLOWED:
* Black Templars
* Blood Angels
* Chaos Daemons
* Chaos Space Marines
* Dark Angels
* Dark Eldar
* Eldar
* Grey Knights
* Imperial Guard
* Necrons
* Orks
* Sisters of Battle (*White Dwarf Version)
* Space Marines
* Space Wolves
* Tau Empire
* Tyranids
***If you want to use special models or custom "counts as" models, please have them WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), and make sure that they are clearly able to be distinguished amongst other models.   If you are not sure, contact the tournament organizer and submit a picture so we can approve or disallow your model.

ALL Games will be played on 4' x 4' tables, so expect a lot of bloody action! This is Berks Spring ASSAULT!

You will need Six (6) copies of your army list: 1 for the Tournament Ogranizer, 1 for you , and 1 copy for each of your opponents. If your list is not legal, you will lose points, be asked to leave, or have your scores adjusted as we see fit.

You will need a copy of the 40K rule book, your codex, all dice and templates and rules associated with your army.   If you do not have these we will make sure that some are available for purchase from one of our vendors.

We will play 2 rounds, break for lunch and play 2 more games.

Lunch will be included with your entry fee.  If you have special dietary needs or are a vegan, please contact us directly so that we can make special arrangements.   Catering will be done on site.

We will have 13 prizes available: Best overall, (1, 2, 3, 4), Best Sportsman (1, 2, 3), Best Appearance (1, 2, 3).  Best Youngblood (under 16), Best Youngblood Sportsman, and a special award:  Player's Choice for best overall army and theme.

We will also recognize Army Domination by best in each codex with a minor prize from one of our sponsors.  This will be by codex, not by lumping all space marines into one category.    You paid for a seperate codex, so we feel that you should be rewarded by codex.

We will do our best to operate on a tight schedule this year.   Last year's event went pretty smoothly, and with more space we are hoping for better transition of movement.

There is a Quality Inn attatched to the Banquet Facility and we are right down the road from the Reading Municipal Airport, and there is a Holiday Inn Express there for those travelling from out of town.

We are going to have around or over 20 sponsors this year and are dilligently working on more swag to hand out to our participants this year.    Almost all of our sponsors from last year have returned and are offering even better support as our event continues to grow.


FORCE ORGANIZATION CHART will be modified as follows:

* 1-2 HQ   (up to 3 for space wolves)

* 2-6Troops

* 0-2 Elites

* 0-2 Fast Attack

* 0-2 Heavy Support

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We will again be hosting our Annual Golden Grot Painting competition.    Categories will be listed officially soon but we are looking at:  Individual Model, Squad, Vehicle/large creature, and Open Category (anything goes).    Winner in each category will receive a small trophy and prize.   Models do NOT have to be Warahmmer 40K, but can be from any game system.   This is just a chance for you to show off your hobby.   The only limitation is that they can not be in your current army list, because they will be on display until round 3.

* Another category this year will be BEST CLUB TABLE.    We are inviting all of the participating gaming clubs to assist in supporting the event by 'sponsoring' some tables.    To sponsor a table, all your club needs to do is agree to bring terrain to cover 2-4 tables.   Show off your club's goods, put up club banners and flags, participate in the event.    By helping out, we can fill 35 tables with everyone chipping in a little bit.   Some clubs did this last year and it was a great help.   This year we will offer a prize to the best presented table by attending clubs.

We will also be having our Basket-Raffles, as that was a big hit last year.    Raffle tickets will be available for a variety of prizes donated from our sponsors as well as club members.    Last year some of the bigger prizes were a Baneblade tank, and a 1000 points of Grey Knights, and an Imperial Guard Battleforce.    Look for similar fun prizes this year

More details to come, so check back on this page often.

Schedule of Events for Berks Spring Assault 3:

• 9:00am Registration till 9:45am.
• 10:00am - 11:30am Round 1 games (90 minutes to play)
• 11:30  Break for 30 min.
• 12:00pm - 1:30pm  Round 2 games.
• 1:30pm - 2:30pm  Lunch Break
• 2:30pm - 4:00pm  Round 3games
• 4:00pm - 4:30pm  Break for 30 min
• 4:30pm - 6:00pm  Round 4 games
• 6:00pm - 6:30pm Raffles/drawings
• 6:30pm  Final awards and prizes.

PRE-REGISTRATION OPEN UNTIL APRIL 10TH.    Discounted rate is $40.    AFTER April 10 (11:59pm) price goes up to $45, same at the door.  Seating: 70 slots (though if we sell out, I may be able to fit more).

Pre-Register on PayPal sending payments to this email:  BianconeGlobal@comcast.net  Or you may make arrangements to pay me in person.



CURRENT LIST OF SPONSORS:

* KR Multi Case
* Showcase Comics & Games
* RAR Studios
* Noobhammer.com podcast
* 1-Up Collectibles
* Chapter House Studios
* The War Store http://www.thewarstore.com/
* Gale Force Nine
* HazeKnight  Custom Pre-Made Wargame terrain
* Terran Scapes
* Mechanicon Grand Tournament Series
* Iron Halo.net
* Secret Weapon Miniatures
* Red Dragon Terrain
* Northeast Gamers Hub
* Linglestown Paintball
* Spikey Bitz
* FTW Games (Richmond, VA)
* Litko accessories: http://www.litko.net/
* Dream Pod 9:   (makers of Heavy Gear game)
* Turn-8 podcast http://www.turn-8.com/
* Hooters of Reading (Wyomissing).

Mechanicon 2011 Wrap Up

Well, I'm a little late in reporting, but the Mechanicon 2011 Grand Tournament and Convention was a wonderful experience this year.      This has been the third year for this event and it has grown each year.

The Main Event was of course, the Warhammer 40,000 Grand Tournament that is on the Games Workshop's Throne of Skulls tournament circuit.    There were other events running all weekend, including (but not limited to), Battlefleet Gothic, War Machine, Blood Bowl, Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Hero Scape, Heavy Gear by Dream Pod 9,  demo games of Robotech Battles and more. 

Members of our club at the Berks-PA Gaming Club ran three sessions of Warhammer 40K Kill Team tournaments at 200 point teams.    This went over very well and we had a good turnout.


Friday I planned on competing in the Battlefleet Gothic tournament.    Three of us from our club participated along with the player who won the event in 2009.     I went to war with my ork fleet, decked out at 1500 points.    I had 2 Kill Kroozers, 2 Ork Terror ships, and 16 escorts, with 10 of those being two squadrons of 5-Brute Ram Ships each.

My first game was against Alex, a young Space Wolf player in our club.   Alex has built up quite a rivalry against me and has become one of the toughest competitors in our club.     We had a very tough battle that left a lot of carnage in its wake.    Nothing as near as bad as our first practice battle before the tournament.    We both managed to cripple a couple ships but essentially the game ended in a draw.

My second match was against one of my best friends, John Tinney.   John has a very effective wolf-pack style fleet that uses three space marine strike cruisers and a large number of escorts.    As John had taught me how to play BFG, I at least had a clue how to handle him this time around.    The mission called for deployment of ships being a minimum of 15cm away from each other and 30cm from an enemy.    This allowed a more spread out deployment and I made sure I had ships in positions to strike right away.

This was a bloody affair, the Orks vs. Star Dragons (Space Marine) fleet.   We exchanged a lot of fire from the beginning.   I was even able to pull off a raming attack with a ram ship taking out one of the Gladius escorts.    Several Gladius fell to boarding torpedoes as well.   When the smoke cleared all that was said and done the marines scored 291 to 320 for the orks.  As the numbers are within 10% of each other, this mission too was a draw.    Still, it was a lot of fun and a lot of shooting.

Game 3 of the BFG tournament was against Steve Smith, who had a very beefy list.   He had a large Battleship, and 4 big cruisers: a Tyrant, a Mars, and 2 Gothic cruisers.    I wasn't sure how to handle him, but I figured I'd give it my best shot.   Instantly I fired off boarding torpedoes and deployed ork fighta-bombas.    I really got lucky as the first 2 rounds of shooting with several Nova Cannons, my opponent missed almost everything.  

By turn 3 my ships were finally in range.   I concentrated fire upon one of the Tyrant cruisers.   The gamble worked and the big gunz of the orks actualy score 2 hits when they hit a vessel.   I was also able to get 2  of the Brute Ram ships in range to pull off a ramming attack against one of the Tyrant cruisers, enabling the orks to actually cripple one of the Tyrant ships.    The next turn the Mechanicum fleet moved to shoot at my flagship, the Terror Ship: Steel Thunda.    The Steel Thunda weathered a violent round of firepower as the Mechanicus ships concentrated their fire into the Ork Terror ship.    I was very good on saves and braced 5 out of 6 hits (or 7 out of 8).   

Having "braced for impact"  The Steel Thunda could not do much offensively.   I looked around and I was just in range to attempt to pull off a boarding assault.   I had already crippled one of the Tyrant ships and it was trying to break free to make a run for it.     Orks are very effective at Boarding attempts and pulled off an amazing 8 hits!   The vessel only had 3 left, so it was reduced to a Flaming Hulk.      The orks also managed to cripple another one of the large vessels.     It was enough to not only give me a tie, but score 1 more battle point than my opponent.

Steve would go on to win the tournament with a score of 2 wins and 1 draw (thanks to me),  and I took 2nd place with 3 Draws!     I was very excited to do so well and won some prizes as well.

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The Warhammer 40K Grand Tournament was a hoot!   Each year it gets better, and each year I make new friends.    Now, I'm pretty competetive but I love to have fun.   Win, Lose, or Draw I tell my opponents that I am here to have fun and give them a fight.     This year I even went as far as to make up little tokens to hand out as trophies.    I had Golden Orks that read  "I Beat Waaagh! Karnage" for my opponents who defeated me.    For any draws, I made up Silver Orks that read on the base:  "I tied Waaagh! Karnage" and of course for my opponents I would beat, I made up bronze grots that read: "I lost to Waaagh! Karnage".    I also had several custom dice made up by Chessex that had our club logo on it for the number 6.   I gave out dice to all of our club members to hand out to our opponents as a token of good will.

I don't want to spoil anything but I do want to give battle reports as I have time to write them up.   However, I will recap briefly my experiences in the event.

Game 1:  was against David McGarvey's Imperial Guard.   He was a fun opponent who actually showed up with a Deathstrike missle launcher!   I have never seen one in tournament play and was just excited to see one.    He made a few mistakes with forgetting to use his orders and such, and I helped him out, letting him get to go back in the turn and do them.    My ork horde has had a lot of experience against Mechanized guard thanks to Ed Mlynar (Waaagh! Aki) of our club, who has been a wonderful opponent to train against.    My army this time did exactly what it was designed to do and I ended up dismantling my opponent soundly.    I scored a Massacre and got the full 20 battle points for the victory.

Game 2:  was a humbling battle vs. Mike Hoskins from Kentucky.    Mike was another fun opponent and his group drove 10 hours from Kentucky to attend the event.    (I scoff at our own club members who whine about an hour drive, LOL).   Mike brought Grey Knights with Castellan Crowe and Purifierers.   Orks HATE Purifiers.   My initial plan was sound and I actually had him slightly nervous as he saw how fast my army was and that I had 150 orks.     Sadly, some moves didn't work for me, like difficult terrain rolls into assaults and I found out just how bad Psykotrope grenades are.     I gave him a fight, but in the end, he got a massacre or near massacre against me.

Game 3:  was against a new Elite member of the Berks Club, Paul Parke, a very cunning Tau player.    Paul had won 2nd place in the Berks Road to Mechanicon tournament as well as winning the same event at the Adventurer's Guild in Harrisburg.      Paul castled to his far left corner, forcing my army to come across the table (spearhead depolyment).    However, my 2 mobs of 20-stormboyz each rolled 6's on their jumps, moving 18 inches, plus 5's and 6's on their running rolls, getting some orks into assault range on a Tau Devilfish by turn 2.    In the end my army delievered and I pulled out a Major Victory.    Paul went on to go finish 7th or 9th overall, I gave him his only loss.

Game 4: was on sunday and I faced off against Brad Park of the Warm Fabric Nationals club.    Brad was the only Necron player and was a fun opponent to face off against.    He had 2 monoliths, immortals, a C'Tan Deceiver and lots of troops.   I'm not one to fight Necrons much so this was a good experience and the last "hurrah" with the old codex.     I almost forced a phase out, his number was "9", and I had him at one point down to 10 models.    I made a couple of mistakes that cost me some points, but I still managed to pull out a Minor Victory in the end.

Game 5:  Was the Thunderdome Match.   Ork vs. Ork.   My opponent had a very similar list to mine.   Where I went with 2 mobs of stormboyz in my units and a unit of Kommandos, he had dumped points into more mobs of boyz and also a large mob of Nobs.      We detatched Ork bosses to fight unmolested in the center of the board where there was a large ruined building, "The Thunderdome" and we were going to hang the battle's outcome there.     Both Warbosses ended up taking each other out.   We played out the next few rounds and found out that by turn 4, any chance of me pulling off a win failed once he cut down Boss Snikrot and my kommandos, who were threatening his Lootas mob.     As the mission was Capture and Control, we realized no one could do any better than a draw, so we ended early to share in more beer.      We were both tied for battle points, running 5th into the match.

I finished the day with 3 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw.    I had fun and had very good opponents.    One thing our club really preaches is Good Sportsmanship above all else.   I was very excited to see that our own John Tinney won 2nd best sportsman and I took 1st Best Sportsman, and I finished 6th overall.    Due to computer glitch, Army Domination awards were given to other players, as the program didn't give 2 awards to any one player.   Technically John also won Best Dark Angels player an I best Ork, tied for battle points with my opponent Colin Jones.    I edged him out in the finals due to my bonus sportsmanship points.

This was a wonderful event, and Yes, I took home some prizes.    I also was able to share the weekend with my son who competed in all three of the Kill Team tournaments, himself winning 2nd place in 2 of those events.   Our club was well represented and I can't wait for 2012 Mechanicon November 2-4!

Preparing for a Busy Season

Well I have been busy preparing and playing a variety of games and systems and planning events. With the Mechanicon Grand Tournament and Convention on the horizon November 4, 5, and 6, myself and many of my fellow gamers are all getting ready to participate in a variety of events that weekend.


We also had a local round of ‘ard boyz for Warhammer 40K. I had entered that event with high hopes, but ended up making critical mistakes. I won one game with a minor vicotory, but started late, waiting for an opponent to arrive. I fought my 2nd game vs. a Chaos Marines player to a minor loss, but almost had a draw. My last game was against Space Wolves and I got the teeth kicked out of my orks. In the end I went 0-2-1 and fell to 5th place. Ah well, you live and learn. Even us veterans need to get our butts beaten to humble us and get us to review and relearn some new tricks.


Our local club, of which I am the president of, the Berks-PA Gaming Club, has been invited to host a series of Kill Team mini-tournaments. We have put together a really exciting set up using Warhammer 40K Kill-Team rules that can be found in the back of the Games Workshop’s Battle Missions book. We added our own input into house rules and provided our own Berks Club Kill Team Rules set.

We will be running three sessions of Kill Team events, each with 3 games to play at 45 minutes per game and 15 minutes break in between rounds allowing for a 3-hour event. We are hosting one game Satuday afternoon, one Saturday night after the Warhammer 40K Grand Tournament round, allowing GT players to participate and also a round Sunday afternoon.
We had held a local in-house Kill Team tournament as well, this was to help us work out the bugs of our tournament packet and the missions we plan to use. This was a very successful event. We had an optional “pool” and each player contributed $2 each. With 12 players, our club kicked in another $11 making the total a $35 gift card to the local hobby store we play at. That prize went to the overall winner and really was a nice idea and was a huge success.

Our awesome club city fight boards made by Angel Crespo, who also makes this wonderful terrain on commission for people. Our tables will be available for Open Gaming during the times that they are not being used for tournaments.


The Mechanicon Grand Tournament is still the main focus of many players and we are hoping to bring around eight of the Berks club players to the event. We are hosting our own in-house tournament at the local store we play at, The Last Level, called the “Berks Road to Mechanicon” tournament. This 1850 pointj Warhammer 40K tournament being held this weekend, October 1st, features prizes for $20 entry, with first place prize being a fully paid ticket to compete in the Mechanicon Grand Tournament, valued at $125.00!

I am also personally working on my Ork fleet for Battlefleet Gothic. There is a small BFG tournament being held Friday at the Mechanicon GT that I plan on playing in. Other club members are looking at the Friday Night Fights event that allows Warhammer 40K players to use Forge World and Imperial Armor models and army lists.

Preaprin' for 'ard boyz: Warhammer 40K style

Okay folks, lets see some lists. Sure, some want to keep it secret, but those who know me know pretty much what i'm bringin' anyway. The Orks of Waaagh! Karnage are out to cause mayhem. Win, Lose, Draw, we are out to give all of our opponents a fight.

I did not go with any "cheezy" Battlewagons, as I don't own any and didn't feel like going with one. I am using models all from my normal collection and everything is painted and based, even though in 'ard boyz, they don't need to be.


HQ1: Warboss Gnarsh: Power Klaw, 'eavy armor, cybork body, bosspole, kombi-shoota/skorcha
HQ2: Big Mek: Xox Grotsmasha: Kustom Force Field, 'eavy armor, cybork body

TROOPS:
* Alfa Skwad: 30 orks: sluggas & choppas, Nob w/ Power Klaw, 'eavy armor, bosspole
* Beta Skwad: 30 orks: shootas, 2 x rokkits, 1 x big shoota, Nob w/ Power Klaw, 'eavy armor, bosspole
* Grots: 15 gretchin & runtherder, squighound (G.O.D. "Grots Of Doom"..black squad)
* Grots II: 15 Gretchin & runtherder, squighound (Blue Squad)
* Nobs mob: 10 Nobs: ALL have cybork bodies: Painboy, 2 x Power Klaws (one with bosspole), 2 x Big choppas, 1 x kombi-skorcha, Waaagh! Banner
----Trukk: Reinforced Ram & Grot Riggers (big shoota)

ELITES:
* 10 x Lootas: (1 is mek), Deffguns and 1 Mek w/ Kustom Megablasta
* Karnage Kommandos: 13 x Kommandos, 2 x Burnas, AND Boss Snikrot

FAST ATTACK:
* Red Storm: 20 x Stormboyz (sluggas & choppas), Jump Infantry: 1 is Nob (Da Red Baron) w/ Power Klaw, 'eavy armor, bosspole
* White Storm: 20 x Stormboyz (sluggas & choppas), Jump Infantry: 1 is Nob (Chubby Chekkaz) w/ Power Klaw, 'eavy armor, bosspole.
* Deffkoptas Squadron: 4 x Deffkoptas: twin-linked big shootas. 1 x Twin-linked Rokkit launchas, 1 x big bomb, 1 x buzzsaw

HEAVY SUPPORT:
* 3 x Killa Kanz, all with Rokkit Launchas

Warhammer Fantasy Battle Report: Orcs vs. Tomb Kings

A Tale of X-Gamers.....This seems to be a revolving number of players in the Berks-Pa Gaming Club that are participating in a Warhammer Fantasy Battles uprising.    I myself first got my start in table top wargaming outside of Role Playing Games with Warhammer Fantasy.   My Dwarfs of Clan Steel Thunder were my original army.

Now with the release of 8th edition, a year later, 7 or 8 of us in Berks are looking to get back involved with Fantasy Battles.    So, following a format of the classic "Tale of 4 Gamers" from the White Dwarf magazines, we are doing something similar in our game club.   The initial plan is to construct 500 point armies, build them, paint them and play at least one game with them within 6-8 weeks. 

Now that I finally got on to this project, I had opted to go with the arch enemy of my beloved Dwarves, and roll with Orcs & Goblins.   The decision was easy, as first of all, it is the classic enemy to my favorite army.  The other determining factor was that I had over 1500 points of unbuilt, unpainted Orcs & Goblins laying around on shelves in the "Man Cave".   So it just was econimically smart to get this project under way.

Like any true "fluff" player, I had to come up with how I was going to go with the background of my army.   Deciding that a young and upcoming Orc Big Boss would start to assemble units of his warband into his own Waaagh! one day, I decided to keep it simple.    So here came Big Boss Gorlab (Balrog spelled backwards).     No Orc Boss is worth his salt without a few bands of orc boyz along, so I threw in a mob of Orc boyz and Orc Arrer boyz I had sitting around.    To fill out final points I added 7 of the Forest Goblin Spider Riders from the old Battle For Skull Pass boxed set.

My army looked like this:
* Big Boss Gorlab: Shield, handweapon, Shrieking Blade (causes fear), Armor of Fortune (Heavy armor and 5+ ward save).
* Boyz Mob: 20 boyz, extra hand weapons, shields, light armor, musician, standard bearer and Boss.
* Arrer Boyz mob:  15 Orc Arrer boyz  (hand weapon, bow, light armor)
* 7 spider Riders:   (hand weapon, short bow, spear, shield).

And that totals up to a simple 500 points.    My opponent this month was my friend Colin Galen who brings with him Tomb Kings.   However, due to timing, he had to play this game with the old rules and due to the costs and numbers, he was at a disatvantage.

We played a mission from the book, where you must capture a tower in the center of the board.   We used a ruins structure I have that would work well for the main objective of the game.

The Tomb Kings set up to the far North, a unit of skeletal archers centrally located and a unit of warriors with a Tomb King or Guardian of some sorts just to the East of them  (Orcs facing North, deploying from the South).   The leader was not attatched to a unit but using walls for cover and also was a sorcerer of sorts.

The Orc Arrer Boyz set up to move into the ruined structure, preparing to garrison it.  To the South East I had the unit of Orc Boyz flanked by the Spider Riders that I was planning to use to move through the woods as fast cavalry and close the distance on the skeletal archers.

Tomb Kings turn 1:  They moved, took range at the orcs, only to miss with all of their shots or failing to wound on any of them.

Orc turn 1:  Gorlab himself was attatched to the large mob of Orc boyz, leading his troops into battle.     As fate would have it, the Orc Arrer Boyz rolled animosity, but rolled a "6", and got "we'll show 'em!" and surged forward into the ruined building, setting up their garrison and the movement put them in range of the skeletal archers, allowing them to fire at the archers and taking out 2 of them.

The other units simply advanced under march trying to close the distance with their enemies.

Tomb Kings turns 2 & 3:  These pretty much saw Skeletal Archers shooting at Orcs, and very rarely wounding them and when they did score wounds, the orcs usually managed to save the wounds.  I think a total of 3 orcs died in 3 turns of shooting.    The Tomb King Sorcerer kept trying to cast his spell upon his archers, aiding them in their attacks.  Sometimes it worked, sometimes I managed to dispell it.

Orc turns 2 & 3:   Orc infantry and spider riders continued to advance through the woods.    Orc Arrer boyz continued to whittle down the skeletal archers, who kept mananging to regenerate a few each turn or their Tomb King sorcerer would reanimate a few each turn.

Tomb King turn 4:   As orc forces continued to close the distance, the skeletal foot soldiers prepared themselves to be in a position to avoid a charge by the advancing orcs.    The sorcerer continued to reanimate fallen skeletal archers and managed to stay out of Line-of-sight so that he could not be targeted by Orc archers.

Orc turn 4:  Forest Goblin spider riders closed the gap on the skeletal archers.    Orc arrer boyz were doing enough damage that the sorcerer could not reanimate them all fast enough.    Sooner or later the skeletal archers were going to fall.    The Orc infantry boyz kept closing the gap, moving slowly through the forests in their path.

Tomb King turn 5:  Again more repositioning, the skeletal warriors prepare for the orc assault, reforming just to hopefully be at the edge of charge reach for the orcs.    The skeletal archers took out some of the spider riders but cause them to flee far enough away.

Orc turn 5:  Orc infantry boyz and Gorlab fail their charge against the skeletal warriors.    The orcs now prepare themselves to be assaulted.   Orc archers manage to finish off the skeletal archers along with aid from the spider riders, who were forced to flee.

Tomb King turn 6:  The Skeletal Warriors with a Guardian or something, assault the Orcs.   Gorlab calls out a challenge and the Skeletal leader accepts.    The fight is burtal, and ends in drawn combat.

Orc turn 6:  Arrer boyz finish off skeletal archers.    Gorlab, in single combat, cuts down the skeletal tomb king sergeant/veteran.    The orcs win the combat but the tomb kings remain locked in combat.    The sorcerer looks for a safe place to hide.

Tomb King turn 7:  More skeletal warriors die but hold their ground.   Things look grim for the Tomb Kings.

Orc turn 7:  Gorlab has fun killing skeletons.   The combat again is drawn, and the orcs find the Tomb Kings to be tough opponents in close quarters.    Game ends here, Orcs in control of the Garrisoned tower.   A win for Gorlab and  his Orc Boyz!

Warhammer 40K Battle Report: Imperial Guard vs. Orks

Warhammer 40,000 Battle Report




A Fall of Masuda campaign battle report:

Round 2: Cadian 17th vs. Da Red Finga (Orks).

Mission: Blitzkrieg (Ork as attackers). Terrain: Ruins.

Points: Orks: 1200: 1050 + 150 Mercenaries, Imperial Guard: 1150: 1000 + 150 Mercenaries (Orks)

Looking to press their advantage around the mountainous region where they had made their base, the Imperial Guard forces of the Cadian 17th are looking to purge the immediate area of evil and filth.

3 Objectives set out. Deployment is spearhead, so objectives were center of board and center of line from corner to corner on non-deployment zone sides.

Orks have pressed on into the ruins and region to the East. Colonel Colwyn Dray saw the incoming threat of “Da Red Fingaz”. Scouts had been watching them and their continued harassment of loyal imperial forces. More importantly was how the information on the Red Orks whereabouts came from.

Unlikely allies, spies or mercenaries, depending upon one’s point of view. A unit of what can be termed as “commandos” arrived with a message from their “Warlord”. The message, while crude, was legible and detailed locations, forces and equipment of a ‘rival’ ork clan. The message had one final part to it:

“Help is on itz way to help you fight da Red Orks. For Da Emporror…..Warlord Krogg”

Uncertain exactly what that meant, the first part of the message was clear, Ork forces were on their way with the intention to strike. Colonel Dray figured to cut them off half way. Selecting a strategic section of one of the ruined city sections, Gunships were dispatched to help channel and guide the outriders of the incoming Ork force.

Relying more upon stronger defenses, Col. Dray selected a counter-strike team to help him with this mission. A lone sentinel scout walker was set forth to outflank, while sappers and a recon team of the 501st had scouted ahead and affixed bombs and booby traps to key locations within the ruined city.

Commissar Vilken Mortimer joined the Colonel and took command of the Infantry Platoon consisting of 3 squads and Lt. Ozgood Derg. Derg and Mortimer would combine the squads with Mortimer holding the units together in one strong regiment and Lt. Derg would help usher the other supporting forces through the ruined city.

Ork turn 1: Ork scout forces led through the ruined city streets with two squads of Deffkoptas zooming through the streets. They found no Cadian forces to fight, as the Colonel held all of his units back in reserve. The Ork units crept up towards the back side of the Cadian deployment zone in hopes of denying room and space for battletanks and the large unit of men to deploy.

IG turn 1: Seeing the ‘dirty trick’ employed by the Orks, Col. Dray was ready to counter every move of the Orks. A veteran of the Pillars Of Hatred, the Colonel had become a wise tactician. Of the roaming scout sentinels he dispatched, one of them arrived early.

• In Blitzkrieg missions, only Fast units can deploy, everything else goes into reserve. Also, any fast units in reserve may arrive on turn one on a roll of a 4+ on a D6.

The Scout Sentinel arrived on the Eastern Flank, behind a trio of Ork Defcoptas. The driver opened fire with his multilaser, damaging one of the walkers. He then brought his walking machine into an assault with the Deffkoptas, that were not armed with a buzzsaw, and thus no way to damage the walker.

Ork turn 2: Two massive units of Ork boyz made their arrival from the far North. They would simply just start moving as far as they could. The Ork Deffkoptas tied up in the assault remain locked up, as they were unable to pull away with their “hit and run” skill at this time.


Cadian Turn 2: Commissar Mortimer arrives with his triple combined squad of 30 men. The Punisher tank and heavy weapons team also arrived. The Punisher tank opened fire with its Gatling cannon and took out the two roaming, rocket-armed deffkoptas. As for Commissar Mortimer, his units added their numbers to the fight and took down the remaining deffkoptas that were engaged with the Sentinel Walker. Despite Ork attempts at sabotage, the Punisher remained un-hindered in its duty.



Ork turn 3: More orks forces arrive, all the orks can do at this point is run and move. Big Mek Arrives with unit of grots and a Shokk Attack Gun in the North West.


Cadian turn 3: A Leman Russ Battletank also arrives and lends its firepower to the fight. Combining fire with the Punisher tank, they cause some casualties on the orks. The Commissar takes his unit North and West, the Sentinel trying to draw fire from the orks. Heavy weapons teams lay down supporting fire with Heavy Bolters. Ork units seem wary to enter any buildings for fear of booby traps (and they are correct in assuming that).


A Chinork transport Copter had arrived behind the Cadian lines. At first, Colonel Dray thought he was being outflanked himself, his command squad arriving in a Vendetta Gunship. They had landed prior to the battle starting, and it was his reinforcements, the Ork Mercenaries from Warlord Krogg. The leader, a Noble ork, or “Nob” as they are called, named Moosh, led the troops around the southwest towards the ruined building where Da Red Finga Orks were clinging to an objective in the ruins.

Ork turn 4: Ork warboss finally arrives with a contingent of troops. All other orks continue to move and run, but are doing such slowly in the runined land scape. (Terrible running rolls by Ed..) Orks to the Northeast had a solid hold on the objective there. Cadian forces had secured one in the center of the field of battle and were making a screen against incoming orks. To the southwest, one more objective lay and a mob of orks had entered the ruins and set off the booby traps, taking a couple casualties. Despite the heavy volume of fire directed at them, the orks were able to hold up and keep that objective somewhat secure.

Cadian turn 4: The arrival of Ork mercenaries bearing shootas was a strange one for the Cadian forces to endure. However, Colonel Dray finally arrived with his command squad and reassured his men that the orks were indeed in their employ and the perfect counter-strike unit to the fungus born filth that was already entrenched in the southwest ruins. The colonel figured that if he had to, he had enough flamers and heavy flamers available to flush out all of the orks after the fight was won.

Tanks continued to pour fire into ork mobs to the North, hoping to thin them out a bit. Heavy bolter teams also attempted to thin out the gretchin mob that was screening the Big Mek. The Sentinel Walker moved into the central ruins, detonating their own booby trap to allow Cadian Forces to enter safely and claim the middle objective.

Ork turn 5: Ork mobs in the north continued to close in on Cadian forces. They had the Northeast objective secured. The warboss was urging his men forward, pushing south into the central ruins where the second objective lay, firmly in the hands of Lt. Derg and the remnants of a veteran flame squad that was on the move. In the Northwest, The Big Mek and gretchin mob had separated, with the whittled-down grots leaving because the Ork did not want to chance the Big Mek having to take a break test.

The orks in the southwest ruin were about to be engaged by the mercenary orks, who were looking to assault them and pull them off the 3rd objective. They were preparing to be assaulted.

Cadian turn 5: Playing the war game tactically, Colonel Dray issued some orders to his men. Commissar Mortimer moved his large unit of troops to screen the Infantry command squad of Lt. Derg. The goal was to prepare to hold out against a combined ork assault long enough for the Cadian troops to maintain the central objective while the other forces pushed Da Red Finga troops off the southwest objective, thus securing a win for the Cadians, 2-1. Lasguns and Flamers opened fire into the orks, taking out a few, but still two mobs of about 15-20 Orks each yet, and the Warboss.

Fire support from the Battle tanks was lackluster, the Orks finally managing to sabotage the Punisher tank as a grot oiler managed to disable the guns for this turn. Colonel Dray ordered his own squad, the Autocannon crew in particular to “fire on my target” and they targeted the Ork Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun. Wounds from this weapon would cause successful armor or cover saves to be rerolled. The veterans in the command squad fired, scored two hits and two wounds. The Mek made one save and failed another, as he was still behind the gretchin mob. Thanks to the Colonel’s order, the Mek had to reroll his successful save, and promptly failed it, and thus he was taken down with autocannon fire.

The Ork Mercenaries from Warlord Krogg stormed the ruins to the southwest. They fired their guns and assaulted the Red Finga Orks inside, but lost a few of their own in the process. Though they now outnumbered the Red Finga Orks, they remained locked in combat.

****Game ended on turn 5, both armies in control of 1 objective marker*****

Had the game gone to turn 6, Da Red Finga for some reason think they had a shot at winning this. The Cadian 17th disagree for the following reasons:

• A 30 man, stubborn unit with commissar was in range of being assaulted by orks. While they would have died, I think that the unit would have passed leadership and kept their ground, thus tying up orks from the Northeast objective, or at least leaving them just away from the middle objective.

• Central Objective was held by 2 units and the 30 man mob was screening them (above)

• One more turn for the assault in the southwest ruins had the heavy weapons teams joining the assault in a battle where the Ork Mercs of the Cadian 17th already outnumbered the orks of the Red Finga. I think the Cadian 17th could have forced a morale check for Da Red Finger and chased them off of that objective, giving the Cadians a 2-1 win.

This battle going to turn 7 may not have held out so well for the Cadians. As it was, it lasted 5 turns and resulted in a draw. Both armies lost the territories they were looking to keep the enemy off of, and no one gained a territory.

• Colonel Dray however, gained some battle experience and as such, part of this campaign, earned some new skills and gained +1 to his Weapon skill, giving him a WS of 5.