WH40K family tournament 1: Scars vs Orks

So in the interest of further drawing my children into the world of fantasy I’ve decided to play a little tournament with them in Warhammer 40k. The principle is to run 1000pt battles with armies chosen at random from our six forces: Space Marines (white scars), Eldar, Chaos Marines, Space Wolves, Orks and Tau. We’ll each do a home and away, and one wildcard allows you to choose your favourite army rather than what you’re allocated. They’ll be objective games with 3pt allocated to an objective capture in each half, 1 for keeping it safe, 1 for units destroyed and 1 for the usual Slay Warlord, First Blood and Linebreaker. 

 The first battle was between me and Charlie. He was delighted to pick Orks, and I picked SM—so a classic battle on the Orks home turf. 

 Charlie ran (with a fair few proxys as we’re just starting this army): 2 warbosses (both in mega-armour with cybork, Power Klaw, Big shoota); 3 mega-nobs (PK, BS); 20 Boyz (Ard armour; one rocket, one big shoota) and 2 nobz (PK); 3 killa kans (2 BS and one RL); and a Gorkanaut. He proxied the meganobs with normal nobs, and the Gorkanaut for a… Dalek. I ran Khan, a terminator squad (with Assault Cannon); biker unit (2 plasma; six riders + one attack bike with MM); Tac squad (ten guys; sergeant with Lightning Claws; 1 plasma cannon; 1 flamer; split into combat squads and with razorback, with Heavy Bolter); 2 landspeeders (Typhoon launchers and Multi-melta). And White Scars tactics. The setting was a ruined town, with my objective being a wounded marine of importance, and Charlie’s an Ork Commissar. 

Round 1—I went first. I raced up my left flank with the speeders, and Razor. I left the flamer squad with my objective in the ruins of a cathedral. The bikes and Khan raced across the centre. I got a lucky pot shot with one Typhoon on the Gorkanaut where it peered from behind an old silo, and got a hull point off and ‘crew shaken.’ My plasma cannon squad deploy from the razorback into the central ruins. 

 Charlie’s Gorkanut lumbers into cover with the Meganobz and bosses, eager for the termies to appear and start a klaw-fist battle. The Boyz moved up Charlie’s left flank alongside the ruins, looking for ‘umies to smush, and leaving the Kans with the commissar. The Kans fire a rocket and shoota at the squad in the ruins—and kill the dude with the plasma cannon and his buddy. Nooooooooo!!!

 Round 2- The bikers veer from the centre and down onto the right flank and start firing on the Boyz. I nail a few, but I’m on the edge of my charge distance and didn’t fancy charging a wall of overwatching shoota boyz. That proved to be a mistake. The speeders move around to try and get a bead on the Gorkanaut, and the Razor heads around to try and get towards the Meganobz. The Khan is eager for Ork blood, and prepares Moonfang. The terminators… don’t arrive. Balls.

 The Orks declare unleash a rain of dakka, the declare a Waagghhh. The sheer volume of shots rip apart the bikers, followed by the charging mass of Boyz. Two Nobz hurtle into Khan, who manages to survive the onslaught, wounding one of them. The bikers fair less well and are wiped out, with a few Orks going down too. Khan pulls away from the massacre, slamming the bike into reverse in a spray of mud (and bits of White Scar). The Gorkanaut comes out from its hiding hole, and sends a volley of shots at the speeders, exploding one. The Kans shoot at the squad in the ruins, killing another marine. 

 Round 3- Khan screeches to a halt and then revs his bike, before hurtling across the centre of the board towards where he knows the bosses to be skulking. In a crackle of energy the Terminators deep strike behind the Ork lines close to the Meganobs and Bosses. They fire storm bolters and cannon, but some excellent rolling by Charlie means only one Meganob is wounded. As they’ve just arrived, the terminators can’t charge and they can only watch as the two bosses and three meganobz activate their power klaws… The squad by the objective know they are better use across the field, and run to try and help their comrades. The two marines in the ruins break cover and scamper across the open ground towards the Kans, krak grenades at the ready. The Razorback screeches around the ruins towards the Ork boyz and shoots a few down with the heavy bolter. The speeder gallantly attacks the Gorkanaut, but the typhoon and melta only strip a hull point off with a glance. The heroic marines look in awe at the enormous Ork walker… 

 The two Nobz charge the Razorback and open it up with their Power Klaws, and smush the marine drivers. The Razorback is destroyed. The gretchin in the Kans chuckle as they unleash a wall of dakka on the two marines in the middle of the field, leaving only smoking white boots. The Bosses and Meganobz charge into the terminators. The melee is swift and brutal—one Meganob dies, and four terminators, leaving one brother to make his stand. With a clatter of dice, the Gorkanaut annihilates the land speeder, unleashing a ‘wagghh’ of delight at the shower of smoking space marine tech raining around. 

 Round 4- in a last ditch move of heroism, Khan charges across the field towards his terminator brother. His bolter fails to wound, but his mighty sword cuts into the bosses and meganobs. The terminator strikes at the bosses, but fails to kill them. In a hum of Power Klaw his armour is destroyed and he dies in his captain’s arms. The final battle—two warbosses and a meganob against a wounded Khan can only have one conclusion. Despite inflicting wounds on a warboss, Khan falls to the onslaught. The battle is over for the White Scars—and reluctantly I call the game. 

 A resounding victory for the Orks—Charlie gains 7 VPs, and I had 1. Although a fun game, I reflected upon my poor tactics. I’d have been better not hurtling forwards and picking away at the Ork horde, using my speeders against the Kans so as to get his objective, and not worrying about the Gorkanaut so early. Or perhaps the terminators may have been better used against the Kans, and the speeders against the Nobz as they lacked invulns to the meltas. Charlie plays well, especially as he hadn’t used Orks before and the Gorkanaut is awesome (although a 60 quid model—maybe next Xmas….).