Escalation League - Space Wolves Represent!

[Mammon]

Greetings Wolfbrothers,

I have been on a long hiatus from Warhammer 40k. A random visit to the local hobby store yielded interesting news: an escalation league was being put together. With a little prodding from my friends, I again waved goodbye to much of my cash as I bought a Space Wolves Pack and Space Marine Battleforce to assemble an army. Rules guiding the army list generation were pretty simple: No AV14, One each HQ and Troop required. Every couple weeks the points limit is raised by two hundred and fifty, starting at five hundred and ending at one thousand. Not knowing what to expect (rumors of greater daemons abounded), I kept things pretty standard. I took along the Long Fangs for the solid base of fire they provide and two packs of Grey Hunters for the all around hurt they bring. HQ would be a Rune Priest.

I missed the first game of the day on account I needed to make a quick stop (and hour away) to pick up some mead. I needed to get in the right spirits for the match! Turns out I would have been paired with a Dark Angels player had I been on time. I kicked myself for missing the chance to take it to the Space Monks! The Orks and the Space Wolves had the second game of the day. If time permitted, the Blood Angels would face the victor of our match.

The Set Up

We were set up on a 4x4 table with deployment zones in the corner. Terrain was fairly simple, no area terrain but buildings in each corner and a single tower in the center which hindered line of sight between deployment zones. We did not have to deal with Night Fighting.

Rolling for Warlord traits was somewhat frustrating as I got the perk allowing my units to Move through Cover. I cursed this result as there was no area terrain on the board. My challenger won the Feel No Pain perk. His 'Ard Boyz became a poor man's nobs as a result.

My List included
HQ:
Rune Priest Askil - 110pts
- Saga of the Beastslayer
- Psy Powers : JotWW and LL

Troops:
Grey Hunters, Soren's Pack - 135pts
- Seven Strong
- Meltagun, Wolf Standard, Mark of the Wulfen

Grey Hunters, Jorma's Pack - 140pts
- Seven Strong
- Plasmagun, Wolf Standard, Mark of the Wulfen

Heavy: 115pts
Long Fangs, Vignar's Pack
- Five Strong
- Four with Missile Launchers


Ork List:

HQ:
Warboss (In da' Trukk wi'da Boyz)
-Powerklaw

Elites:

Burna Boyz

- Five Strong

Troops:
'Ard Boys
-Nine Strong (I think)
-Big Shoota
-Ork Trukk

Fast Attack
Deff Kopta
-Twin Linked Rocket Launcha'</p>

Heavy:
Killa' Kans
-Two with Burna. One with Grot-Zooka


Deployment

I won the roll to deploy first. I used the builing in my deployment area to give my Long Fangs some great vistas of the oncoming mob. Soren and Jorma both led their packs into the building to keep them out of ork line of sight but in prime position to react to the orks movement. The Rune Priest Askil was placed wide of the building so he had LOS into the ork deployment zone. It wasn't much of a risk since orks would have range until turn two.

The orks were spread out in their deployment. The Trukk with the Warboss and his mob were in view of Askil but the tower in the board's center blocked the Long Fang's view of it. They were in position to see a single Kan on the ork's opposite flank. The Burnas were placed behind the building in the ork's deployment area and the kopta was placed behind the Trukk.

The attempt to steal the Initative failed and the Wolves had first turn!

Turn One

Space Wolves

Askil shimmied to the left a wee bit for a better angle on the ork Trukk, denying him any cover. Everyone else cracked open a can of ale and stayed put.

During shooting, Vignar's Pack decided three Kans were too many and promptly blew the one visible to them sky high! I cried "they drew FIRST BLOOD!" in my best stallone voice but alas, the League was not using the special Kill Points for that sort of thing. Askil whipped up some lightning for the ork trukk but somehow standing completely still is a viable defensive strategy and none of the five bolts so much as glanced the Trukk's tinfoil armor.

Orks

Somewhat miffed at the loss of their Kan, the Orky warboss made the only order he knew: "Kill d'em Wolfy Boyz!" The orks swung towards Askil on the left flank and moved at their livliest pace. The kans and burnas rolled low for the the run but the trukk and deff kopta were already nearly halfway across the board after their Flat Out and Turboboost. On the plus side, they were no longer hidden from Vignar's Pack by the tower.

No Shooting from the orks and we proceeded to turn two.

Turn Two

Space Wolves

Seeing how fast the orks are moving towards the Priest. Both Soren and Jorma start to shift left to meet the rush. Jorma and his Pack spread out and are now in prime position to shield Askil from ork fire but Soren has great difficulty figuring out what the "Push" on the building's front door means. They move two inches. (treating it as difficult terrain. )

Shooting is less than spectacular. Vignar's Pack of geriatric marines miss with three of their missiles and the fourth scuffs the Trukk's paint. Askil rolls dismally for his Living Lighting and manages a single bolt. By Russ' Beard, the bolt stunes the Trukk and halts its progress. A hail of bolter shells and a wad of plasma give Jorma's band the second kill of the match, sending the deff kopta careening into the soil.

Orks

Opting to test his chances on foot rather than place his hopes on the Trukk survivng another round, the Warboss and his Boyz dismount. The mob is placed in a tight formation adjacent to the truck. I attempt to convince the ork player to spread out but he doesn't pay much heed. The Kans continue to move forward as do the Burnas.

Shooting from the orks is mostly snap shots from the boyz which fail to inflict any wounds. The Trukk cannot shoot and everything else he owns remains out of range.

Orks attempt to charge my Grey Hunters and I choose to use my Wolf Standard. The Orks fail the roll and I bid adieu to my re-rolls.

Turn Three

Space Wolves

Movement is a breeze. Soren again rolls a two for his movement to leave the building. At this point it is pointed out to me Askil is close enough to lend a hand to Soren with his Warlord Trait. They comp me the roll and I finally escape the building with a Four. Vignar watches all of this transpire from the building's roof. The Long Fangs are very content with their perch. Jorma advances into pistol range.

Shooting is shaping up to be a one sided affair. With relish I place the blast marker for my Frag Missiles over the exposed 'Ard Boyz and discover I can get six hits! Rolling scatter throws me an inch off the mark for my first shot but still good enough for five hits. Rolling to wound yields a single wound. Two follow up missiles both meander crazily through the air, plowing well short of the orks or way over. Frustration! The last missile lands dead center and inflicts five wounds. Three of the Boyz fail their saves. Less than I hoped for but what can you do?

In a completely brain dead moment I forget I can move and shoot with my Bolter's full range! Had I remembered this I would not have moved Jorma or Soren closer to the Orks. As it is, I fail to shoot with Soren's band and Jorma's pack fire their pistols to no effect.

Askil uses Jaws of the World Wolf, hoping to drop the Warboss into the abyss. Sadly he fails to catch the Boss but claims a single ork as compensation.

Orks

Orks move up. The Trukk flies forwards, aiming for Askil. I admit I completely forgot about the Trukk. I also failed to realize if I did not make the Death or Glory, I would be run off the field due to my close proximity to the board's edge. I used the Krak grenade to make my single strike back at the Trukk. Against the odds I manage to glance the Trukk and wreck it by removing its last hull point! Askil dodges the bullet! The Warboss and his Boyz move withing charging distance of Jorma's Pack. The Kans and Burna's again make slow progress forwards.

The Trukk's Big Shoota opens ups and hits Vignar's Long Fangs with two hits, which in turn inflict two wounds. A couple armor saves later and I am sitting pretty. The Kan's beg differ and one blast from the Grot-Zooka inflict three wounds. I only saved one of the three and need to take a moral check. The 'ard boyz a have a bog shoota an opt to tap Jorma on the shoulder...hard. Two more marine's perish. I fail my moral test by 1 and Vignar's band choose to beat feet.

Orks barely make their rolls for the assault distance. Jorma's band receives the Warboss's charge with grim determination. I pass my roll for Counter-Attack. The combat is a brief but bloody affair. I reduce the orks to the Warboss and two Ard Boyz but the Boss kills two of my Grey Hunters in return.

Turn Four

Space Wolves

Soren's band angles for shots on the Kans. Jorma is locked in close combat. Vignar's pack regroups. Askil drifts back towards my deployment zone.

Shooting is dismal. My Living Lightning is cancelled by a successful Deny the Witch roll. Soren's meltagun misses the mark and the Long Fangs fail to hit with their missiles.

Close Combat is close fought. I manage to drop the boss down to his last wound and one 'Ardboy survives but Jorma's band now numbers only three.

Orks

Kans move up, ready to assault Jorma's pack. The burna again advance. I only now realize I have yet to inflict a single wound on them!

The Kans ignore shooting in favor of charging Jorma.

Assault is a case of Rock, Paper, Scissors. My Paper (Jorma) covered the ork's rock (warboss and boy) but the scissors (kans) cut my paper (Jorma). The Warboss and the Boyz are dead but I gave up my first kill point of the match by losing Jorma.

Turn Five

Space Wolves

Askil moves to stay outside of Ork shooting or charge range but remains in sight of the Kans. He is hungry for the Beastslayer title. Soren advances into the face of the Kans. Vignar decides to stand his ground and lend his support to the coming violence.

Shooting fails to destroy any of the Kans. Askil drops one of the Kans to his last Hit Point and Vignar's missiles and Soren's meltagun only put one HP on the other. Lacking in other options, I charge.

Soren's band, between the rending hits from the Wulfen and their krak grenades, wipe out the remaining Kans. With the burnas so close, i cannot consolidate far enough away to avoid them. I decide to use my consolidation movement to scatter the pack out and reduce the number of hits from the Burnas.

Orks

The burnas situate themselves for the coming inferno.

Five flamer templates yield up over ten hits and all but two wound. Soren's pack froms from seven to four.

The charge goes well for the Orks, terribly for me. I flunk my moral test to get my Counter Attack and my Wulfen only cranks out three hits with no wounds. Despite using my Standard. I only kill off two of the Burnas (I've ever seen so many damned 2s)! Here I discover the Orks treat their burnas as a power weapon in close combat. I interpreted this as a regular AP3 kind of weapon. The Ref informed me the ork player could choose to use them as a power klaw instead. So I got to watch Soren's band be cut down by six AP2 hits that wounded on 2s. The orks tried to consolidate out of Askil and Vignar's LOS but failed to account for the bottom floor windows.

Turn Six

We completely forgot to roll to see if the game ended on turn 5. Oops. Since this was to be the league's last game of the day, we decided to play through. I wanted Revenge!!

Space Wolves

Orks used the building in my deployment zone to get a cover save from Vignar and Askil. I ignored it with a Jaws attack which ate two of the three surviving Burnas. The last boy was exploded thanks to fancy trick shots through a window. With that, the orks were no more!

Totaling the Kill Points I held a solid lead with 6 to 2.

Conclusion

This is all from memory so some of the facts may be a bit off. First Battle Report in a long time too so be gentle!

This is my first game in almost two years and it shows. 5th Edition mindset bit me in the butt several times during the game. I also made several poor tactical decisions based on what I remembered from 5th edition instead of what is possible with 6th.

I dearly wish I had some powerfists to give the Grey Hunters a bit more weight in the Close Combat rounds but it wasn't a necessity at 500 points. My rolls were terrible in the later half of the game and I was starting to worry about losing the momentum I started with. Beastslayer helped a little bit with stripping HPs from the Kans but otherwise I kind of wish I spent those ten points elsewhere.This opinion may change if the rumors of greater daemons are accurate. My list isn't very flexible and the ork list caught me off guard. I had never fought against burnas before and understimated them completely.

When we get to the first 250 point increase in army size I am adding in some Wolf Guard to bolster my Packs and some Rhino APCs and a Razorback to increase my mobility.

Ultimately, I could have done better but Mead was clogging my system. The Blood Angels player called next match with me and i will have trouble hurting the Vindicator he put in his list but I am super excited I won my first match albeit barely!

[Perth]

Nice win! With better rolls on that Trukk it sounds like you might have won without taking a casualty. Next time instead of a pair of 7 man squads, try one of 10 and one of 5+, that might work better for you. I like Plasmaguns and/or Flamers on my GH, Meltas are nice but my OCD won't let me "waste" 8-16 Bolter shots. 

[Mammon]

Good food for thought! I always used melta in 5th but with the changes of 6th edition the plasma gun seems to be the new gold standard for Grey Hunters. 

 

10 and 5+ you say? What are the perks in organizing the packs along those lines? 

[Rune Priest Jbickb]

Nice win and then 10 man squads get you the free weapon, which is much cooler than one might think, especially if its plasma. I might do a 10 man plasma pack and a 5 man melta or flamer pack. Plus the 5 man could take a razorback instead should you be so inclined.