Battle Report Guard vs Orks Prologue: Regicide

"Gorblud knew it was a trap.  

It had to be. Winterborne had never made a tactical mistake like this before. After years of chasing each other across many planets, there finally seemed to be an opportunity where Gorblud could face-down the infuriating Colonel with no chance for him to escape.

Winterborne was planning something. He must know the sort of force Gorblud could bring to this battlefield, and yet he had still seemingly stranded himself there with no means of escape. Yes, he had a lot of armour at his disposal - and a lot of Orks would die in the battle - but the numbers were all in Gorblud's favour. That meant that Winterborne had some sort of hidden trick planned, to tilt the odds.
And Gorblud had no idea what it was.

There were two ways to deal with a trap: try and avoid it and get to your quarry via a route he doesn't expect - an unlikely prospect without knowledge of what the trap was - or to spring the trap while endeavouring not to get caught in it. The second option was Gorblud's favourite. It usually meant the trapper thought everything was going to plan until, the last minute. If done well it could mean a crushing defeat to the opposition.

But with it came the risk that you still get caught in the trap, and the trapper gets all that he planned..."

"Winterborne was worried.

His plan was brilliant, he'd spent months working on it and years getting everything in place.
But he was still worried. "The devil is in the detail" his father used to tell him over countless games of regicide when he was a boy. It was true, and Winterborne had spent so much of his time recently trying to ensure every detail was just right. Not 'perfect' - nothing was ever perfect. And if it looked perfect then it was probably too good to be true. No, the details needed to be just good enough to do the job, just good enough to give the outward impression he wanted, but nothing more.

Would Gorblud suspect it was a trap? Possibly. He was an extremely intelligent specimen of his species, and cunning to boot. But if he did suspect a trap, would it stop him falling in it? Winterborne suspected not. In fact his was betting his life, and that of his regiment's, on it.

The plan couldn't fail to draw Gorblud out, but would it get rid of this green menace forever?
"No plan survives the first shot". That was a saying his old Commander used to tell him. He'd surpassed his old Commander on the battlefield just as he'd surpassed his father at regicide, but they had still taught him valuable lessons. That was what he was worried about. As well as he'd planned everything he couldn't know for certain how it would play out on the battlefield. He'd just have to play the cards he had dealt and hope Gorblud didn't have any 'trumps' bigger than his..."

The Battlefield:

Primary Objectives:
Objective 1:

Winterborne and Gorblud have been bitter enemies for decades. They have met on many battlefields over the years and both gotten the better of the other at different times. However, whether through good planning, cunning or sheer luck, both have always escaped the battlefield alive.
This time neither wants this to happen. They challenge has been laid down, and both commanders intend to finish this rivalry forever!

- Slay the Warlord (4VP)
  - Gorblud wants to kill Winterborne personally (Ork player must follow this idea in the game if Gorblud is alive) only 2VP are scored if Winterborne dies via any other means and Gorblud survives
  - Winterborne wants proof that Gorblud is dead (if Gorblud is killed his body becomes a movable objective that Winterborne must claim himself to get the 4VP) only 2VP are scored if Gorblud dies but Winterborne doesn't recover the body
  - no VPs are scored if both Warlords are dead

Winterborne is given special wargear by the rogue inquisitor, Artemus Gilroy:
 - Gauntlet of Abraxis - Master-crafted Power Fist
 - Displacer Field (4+ invulnerable save. Model teleports 2D6” in a random direction after each successful save)


Objective 2 - Activate/Capture the Psychic Beacon:

Winterborne has chosen this planet in particular to stage his battle for 1 main reason - there is an ancient alien artefact on the planet that has the potential power to wipe out all the Orks on the planet.

The artefact is of uncertain origin although some markings indicate it may be something to do with the Necrons. Inquisitor Artemus Gilroy, a more recent association of Winterborne's, led a research team to uncover its secrets. It has been discovered that the beacon releases powerful blasts through the warp that can be specifically attuned to the psychic wavelengths of particular species.

Gilroy and Winterborne have already prepared the machine to attack only the minds of the Orks, but they must leave it completely powered down until they intend to use it, lest the Orks detect it and destroy it from orbit.

Winterborne's teams must activate all 3 power nodes during the battle after Gorblud's presence has been confirmed in range.

- Imperial player scores 1VP for each of the Nodes in his control at the end of the game
- Ork player scores 1VP for each of the Nodes in his control at the end of the game
- each player scores 1 additional VP if it the end of any of their own player turns they are in control of all 3 Nodes

Objective 3 - Secret Vendetta:

The Praetorian 4^th have battled Gorblud’s Bad Moon tribe on many occasions and developed particular hatred for certain units in the opposition. Some scores will be settled this day...

Each army picks a single unit on the other army list (in secret)
- players score 1VP if that unit is wrecked, blown-apart, wiped-out or fallen back off the board at the end of the game

Objective 4 - Secret Loot:

The battle is taking place on an unusual planet with many interesting artifacts.  Both forces have secret targets that they wish to secure without the enemy knowing.

Each player chooses 3 of the objective markers (1 – 6) and places them in order of importance (and secretly)
- players score 3VP for their first chosen objective in their control at the end of the game, 2VP for the second and 1VP for the third

Many thanks to Matt AKA Gorblud for writing the great fluff and putting pen to paper for the scenario. 

Battle Report preview...

A quick teaser post for you all. This weekend Colonel Winterborne faced off against his old nemesis Warboss Gorblud!

Without giving too much away at this stage, the points were about 5300 per side with a special scenario that we wrote for this battle. 

Have a look at the photos below with more coming in a proper battle report soon!

Sworn to protect...

A few more photos of Nork and the colonels command squad which he will join.

After viewing him with the unit and taking into consideration the feedback on previous posts I made a few changes. I altered the colour on the helmet band to match the command HQ and also added some extra freehand which you will see in the following photos.

As all the human members of the command HQ wear red sashes I thought Nork needed an Ogryn equivalent. But lets be honest, I don't think a sash would last long. As a result I decided to paint a red stripe on the armour as an ogryn compromise which also allows him to keep up to speed with Praetorian uniform regulations.

The green, blue and purple are all details colours that you will see throughout the army. 

Perhaps its not apparant from the photos but I applied more red shading to the scar but I think it's been lost a bit in the photo light.

All in all I'm rather pleased how he turned out! When I next play a game of 40k I will most definitely be taking him, which may well mean putting the Colonel in harms way... theres no point taking him if he can't bash something! 

Right, on to the next thing to paint... perhaps it's time to paint the Wyvern...

Heroes of the Praetorian IV Mechanised Infantry - Gallery photos part 1

Keeping up this new found regularity of posts here are some of the promised updated gallery photos of the army!

Starting with some of the heroes of the glorious Praetorian IV Mechanised Infantry.



First up we have some very old and some very new favourites within the army. Starting from the left we have the Praetorian Hunting Ridgeback of Colonel Winterborne. It's the cyberdog that accompanies the enforcer and was a forge world event only model from a few years back.

In the middle we have the senior liaison officer with the Mechanicus, Vitus Theron. This is the old metal Cadian Colonel who featured on a golden demon entry over 10 years ago. Over the years he has proxied for many a different officer or advisor.

Finally on the right we have one of the Colonel's bodyguards, Chuxo, from one of the native nomadic tribes of Praetoria Secondus.



Here we have Colonel Winterborne and the Regimental Command. On the left we have the medic, standard bearer with the regimental banner depicting the slaying of the Ork Warboss Raguk during the second war for Armageddon. To the right we have comms adjunct and a veteran guardsman. Finally in the middle we have Colonel Animus Winterborne.

The squad were converted from the DKOK command squad using Victoria Lamb and Curious Construct heads and with plenty of green stuff on collars, aquila on helmets and the epaulettes. Additionally the banner is an old blood angel assault marine banner with the original Praetorian top and a copper rod for the pole.



Another very old miniature, veteran sergeant Castor Varren who is a plastic Cadian and greenstuff conversion I made over 10 years ago. He had proxied for the old sergeant Bastonne, master of ordinance and even a commissar!



Another of my historical relics! If I remember correctly the preacher was painted up (once again over 10 years ago) to form part of an inquisitorial war band. The inquisitor and most of the group were sold on eBay, however the preacher became attached to Praetorian IV.



While not individual characters the Praetorian Chosen men are certainly heroes of the regiment. Wearing the green piping and white tipped feather awarded to marksmen and the Chosen men are some of the best shots within the Praetorian regiments.

They are converted from a mix of Victoria Lamb miniatures and the plastic Cadians. There is green stuff work on the hats and cuffs. There are still two of these guys to finish painting to bring the squad up to 5. They've stood in as ratlings before in the absence of viable human snipers. Although I've yet to play a game of 7th or with the new codex, I imagine they will be ratings once more.

This concludes part 1 of the Heroes of the regiment, I hope I've managed to finally produce some better quality photos that show my painting in a better light!

Any comments always welcome, stay tuned for the next post with the tech priest, captain caine and much more...

The battle for Research Station Epzoid Kappa. prologue

Extract from 'Our Darkest Hour: The Ork Invasion of Kallax', by sub-Commandar Reynor Armsworth, Kallax III PDF.

"While it was inevitable that the massive Ork horde would eventually reach the walls of Mercatura Hive, it was far from certain how quickly they would reach it and how much of their formidable forces would be intact when they got there.  At this point it was the job of the Imperial Commanders to harry the Ork forces as much as possible with their most mobile divisions in order to distract, slow and disrupt whatever passes for order in an Ork Waaagh!

During this period I had the honour of being one of the many communications officers for Tactical Command based in the Trade Precinct of Mercatura Hive.  I witnessed many extraordinary engagements during this part of my career, some roaring successes, others dismal failures.

As with most wars, the eventual outcome pivoted on just a few key engagements. For a time I was posted as a communications liaison officer for the Praetorian IV Mechanised Infantry who fought in one of these most important of battles.  Their Commander at the time, Colonel Animus Winterborne, had already made himself famous from his daring (and perhaps foolhardy) activities in the Timus Mountains at the start of the campaign, and now was to take part in an even more important event.

Research Station Epzoid Kappa was a rare joint venture between Imperial and Mechanicum personnel.  While the story of how such an unusual working arrangement came about is an interesting tale in itself, it is of little relevance to the battle that put a final end to its use.

The research station became of tactical importance primarily due to its incredible high strength aerial scanning array.  While its intended use was to study the extraordinary electrical storms and meteorological affects that developed across the plains in the summer months, it had soon been discovered by the Imperial Commanders that it could be used as a radar system with unparallelled accuracy.  Its intricate and revolutionary design meant it could pinpoint aircraft within a couple of meters, in real time, through any clouds or weather effects and with enough information on their direction, size and exhaust wake to work out exactly what was in the air and when.

For a few days this gave the Imperial forces such a tactical advantage that they were able to completely dominate the air space above the plains even though their aircraft were outnumbered more than fifty to one.  In this brief period countless airstrikes were unleashed on poorly defended Ork ground forces, slowing them down and buying precious time for the defenders of Mercutura Hive.

Dumb as a single Ork appears to be, it seems certain that one of them figured out where this technical marvel was located and planned a counter move.  A massive Ork aerial force descended upon the facility, large and fast enough that no matter what information was gathered on it, it could barely be slowed before it had carpet bombed the entire facility.

The Orks were not wasteful in their destruction however, as they used almost exclusively incendiary ammunitions to wipe out any resistance offered.  While this preserved the precious equipment that the Orks no doubt planned to utilise for themselves, it also saved the lives of some of the facility's inhabitants who were lucky enough to be in more secure bunkers.  These few survivors were able to report back to Tactical Command and give just enough warning so that Colonel Winterborne's mechanised infantry could arrive in time to meet the Orks on an even footing."

Incoming signal - Helios Pass...

Signal received, location...

<<HELIOS PASS>>

<<INCOMING TRANSMISSION>>

"Position compromised ork...... heavy resistance encountered...... request immediate...... 

..... fallback to...... rearguard destroyed...... regroup on second ..... make stand.....

..... for Praetoria, for the Emperor....

<<TRANSMISSION END>>

Status of Praetorian battle group...

<<UNKNOWN>>

The Battle for Helios Pass - the end of Colonel Winterborne?

Greetings everyone!

Warboss Gorblud and I have been busy laying the foundations for the big Guard v Orks battle we aim to hold this Summer. It's going to have one hell of a narrative, and what better way to get that narrative started than with a battle!

This won't be just any battle though, it will have a direct impact on the big Summer game and may well result in the death of none other than Colonel Animus Winterborne. The battle will be taking place tomorrow evening (11/3/14) so check back soon for an update! Intrigued? I sure hope so, in which case read on...

Extract from ‘Untold Tales of Valour’ by scriptor Logus Halodite
‘The Battle for Helios Pass’
624M41
Kallax III, Garelian Sub-Sector, Thurian Region, Ultima Segmentum


“When the Ork infested space hulk (designated ‘Flaming Carrion’) translated into real space in the Kallax system, it appeared to come as a 'Harbinger of Doom' for the 4 billion Imperial citizens on Kallax III. Almost all of the planet’s Imperial Guard regiments were off-world defending other Imperial systems from the Tau’s 3rd sphere expansions, and their meagre PDF was no match for an invasion of this scale.


The Ork’s made landing on the southern continent of the trade world, their Roks depositing their armies amongst the desert wastes to the east of the city of Tammerus. They began their inevitable march across the continent, laying waste to all human settlements they could find, and gradually proceeded North towards the more densely populated northern continents.


Nearly two weeks after the Ork’s arrival the first glimmer of hope reached the populace of the planet. A small Imperial relief force had reached the system, led by the Imperial Navy Warship “Dominus Eternus”. The force was far too small to engage the hulk in a space battle, but at a cost of nearly a third of their number they were able to outmanoeuvre the Ork forces and deploy troops in to the great plains to the North of the planetary capital, Mercatura Hive.


However, the relief force’s costly planetfall seemed all for nothing as at the rate of the Ork advance, the enemy would reach the hive half a day ahead of the Imperial forces. In a daring gambit to slow the Ork advance, Colonel Animus Winterborne deployed a mobile force of his Praetorian mechanised infantry via Dropship and Heavy Transport into the foothills of the Timus Mountains. If he could harry the Ork forces and draw them deeper in to the mountains he might buy the rest of the Imperial forces enough time to prepare for the Ork advance. The greenskin horde could then be met in battle on terms of their choosing.


At first the plan appeared to be working and the Praetorians were able to blunt the vanguard of the ork horde and draw them further in to the hills and valleys. Slowly the Imperial forces drew the orks further in to the mountains taking them on a much slower route to the borders of the hive city. Feeling his job had been done to the best of his ability, Colonel Winterborne began to pull his forces away and back to the Imperial lines. However, he had not fully accounted for the cunning of the orks, and in the Helios pass his forces found themselves pinned between two wings of a larger ork force.


The Colonel had not been idle during his raids of the Ork forces and he knew that the intelligence he had gathered could give the Imperial forces the initiative when they main battle came. It was imperative that enough of his forces escaped to reach the Imperial lines. The entire fate of the planet might be determined by the outcome of this one small battle . . .”



The Armies
The Ork army should be approx. 25% larger than the Imperial Guard Army. (Imp Guard ~2000pts, Orks ~2500pts).


The Battlefield
(Presumably 6’ x 4’ Board) The Ork force may deploy anywhere within 6” of either short table edge. The Imperial Force deploys anywhere within 6” of either side of the centreline (between the two long edges).
All units from both armies fall back towards the nearest short table edge.


First Turn
The Ork player deploys first. The Imperial Guard player deploys second but takes the first turn (unless the Ork player rolls successfully to seize the initiative).


Game Length
The mission uses variable game length.


Victory Conditions
The Ork player scores 1 Victory point for every Imperial Guard infantry unit destroyed or falling back at the end of the game. The Imperial Guard player scores 1 Victory point for each of his infantry units in the Ork deployment zone or that has passed off one of the short table edges.
Note: Independent Characters (such as Priests) do not award victory points – only infantry units consisting of 2 or more models.


Secondary Objectives

“Kill the Colonel!”
– The Ork player gets 2 additional Victory points for killing Colonel Winterborne in shooting or 3 additional Victory points for killing him in close combat (5 if killed in close combat by the Ork Warlord himself – “So Ize can put ‘is ‘ead on a pointy stikk!”).
– The Ork player gets 1 additional Victory point for each officer killed during the game (“dey all look da same!”)
– The Imperial Guard player gets 3 additional Victory points if the Colonel is alive and in the Ork deployment zone at the end of the game or 5 additional Victory points if the Colonel passes off one of the short table edges (escaping with the gathered intelligence).


“Shoot the Big Ones!”
– The Imperial Guard player scores 1 additional Victory point for every Warboss or Big Mek killed during the battle (3 if killed in close combat – “da umie-ilation!”)


Victory Reward
The force that has the most victory points deploys first and takes first turn in the big summer game.
If Colonel Winterborne survives the battle he gains the “Inspiring Presence” Warlord trait (in addition to his normal Warlord trait) during the big summer game. All Bad Moon Ork models gain the Hatred (Col. Winterborne) special rule.
If the Colonel is slain then the Ork who kills the Colonel gains the “Intimidating Presence” Warlord trait (in addition to any normal Warlord traits) during the big summer game. All Praetorian models gain the Hatred (specific Ork) special rule during the big summer game. If the Colonel is killed by a unit of Orks then the Nob of that unit takes the credit.

The Armies

Da Bad Moonz

HQ
Warboss (Mega Armour, Cybork Body, Bosspole, Attack Squig) - Warlord
Warboss (‘Eavy Armour, Big Choppa, Twin-linked Shoota, Cybork Body, Bosspole, Attack Squig)
Big Mek (Burna, Kustom Force Field, ‘Eavy Armour, Cybork Body, Bosspole)

Troops
30 Ork Boyz (Shootas, 3 Big Shootas, Nob, Big Choppa, ‘Eavy Armour, Bosspole)
20 Ork Boyz (2 Big Shootas, Nob, Big Choppa, ‘Eavy Armour, Bosspole)
20 Ork Boyz (Nob, Big Choppa, ‘Eavy Armour, Bosspole)
12 Ork Boyz (Big Shoota)
8 Nobz (Painboy, Bosspole, Cyborks, 2 Power Klaws, Bosspole)

Elites
4 Meganobz (Shoota/Skorcha Kombi-Weapon)
4 Meganobz (Shoota/Skorcha Kombi-Weapon)
4 Nob Bikers (2 Big Choppas, Power Klaw, Bosspole)

Fast
3 Deffkoptas (Twin-linked Big Shootas)
3 Deffkoptas (Twin-linked Big Shootas)
3 Warbuggies (Twin-linked Rokkit Launchas)

Heavy
Battlewagon (Deffrolla, 2 Big Shootas, Grot Riggers, Red Paint Job)
Battlewagon (4 Big Shootas, Grot Riggers, Red Paint Job)
Battlewagon (Kilkannon, 3 Big Shootas, Grot Riggers)

I've yet to write my Praetorian list yet but don't worry I will get on to that soon.

I don't know about you but reading that list above, that is a hell of a lot of orks!!!

Thanks for reading!