Prot Batrep with a Twist: Ultra-Ravenguard Vs Orks 1850

[Prot]

So this is different, but I figure I'd post it here because hey... they are Ultra figs and I am doing this testing as an Ultra player.

The idea is for the last 3-4 games I've been playing the various Kauyon formations with a Gladius but today I would be playing the Ravenguard Talon Strike Force.

As usual here is a shot from a pivotal point in the game. And no it actually does not feature Shrike, but instead the Vanguard Vets:

+ A Sergeant with a hammer/shield valiantly faces off against a Mega-armoured fist Warboss. I can grab slay the Warlord here or the Warboss may cut through my lines. +

I'll be looking at this game through the blue tinted glasses of Ultramarines and comparing it along the way to how I would have done/played something differently as Ultra. There were many ups and downs and inevitably this was a very short game.

Here is my list from memory:

- Talon Strike Force 1850:

- Pinion:

Shrike (I goofed up a bit and rolled a warlord trait)

5 Assault Marines, 2 flamers, Eviscerator Jump packs.

2x 5 man Tactical Marines One is bare bones... seriously. The second 5 man squad has a Missile Launcher and Rhino

1 x 10 man tactical in a Pod. Combat squaded 5 plain + melta/combi melta.

1 x 5 man Devastator Squad - 3 Grav Cannons in a Pod.

1 x 5 Scouts double armed

1 x 5 scouts snipers

Killteam:

2 x 5 Vanguard Vet Squads (identical) Hammer/Shield, Fist/Shield, Claw/Shield, dual claws, double armed.

1 x 3 Scout Bikers x 2 AGL.

Raptor Wing:

2 x StormTalons, Assault Cannon,Skyhammer Missiles.

2 x Speeders w/Typhoon Missiles.

ORKS:

2 mega armoured Warbosses. One was in a squad of Megaarmoured Nobs in a Truck. The other was with Trukk Boyz with 4+ saves and Choppas.

Troops: The majority of his troops were large-ish 12 man truck squads full of 6+ save dudes. The odd trukk was full of 4+ save dudes.

1 Dakka Jet

A squad of Tractor Beam Artillery (these guys are nasty if you haven't played against them... dirt cheap too.)

10 man Bike Squad, Nob w/Fist.

10 man Tank Busta Squad with Trukk.

I think that's it... probably not but let's go with that. :)

The Game:

Maelstrom. It's the de-escalation style. You start with 6 cards and count down every turn.

I rolled on the Warlord Traits for RG (which was a mistake) and got the "warlord can assault after Run" power. Which would actually come in handy.

He won deploy and picking sides, even with my Re-rolls.

BUT... I told him I had 4 re-rolls for the new RG rules when trying to Seize. He couldn't believe it.... I waited until he looked like he was ready to blow up, then I told him I was just kidding, because I only needed one shot at it... I then proceeded to roll a 6 like a boss and that got my opponent going even more. ;)

DEPLOYMENT:

Backing up a bit here, he did deploy first and took a standard, very spread out approach with all of his trucks. Looking at his incredible number superiority I took a very different approach.

Ultra-wise I would have definitely let him come to my half. He must have had 70+ models. Most were very fast and he had tons of ObSec. So you can see without my demi-co/Gladius/shooting, I had to play this different.

I decided I would firm up the West Flank/side of the table, and make my stand deep there. On the Eastern flank I would use the silghtly more open table top to maintain shooting, and keep the assault reinforcement light. It looked something like this:

+For the sake of this batrep the part of Shrike is being played by my Ultra-Chaplain. He sits in wait with the Assault squad and one of the speeders (forgot the second one but I remember it later.) + All those Ork truks above have 10+ guys in them. Very difficult to advance on.+ Note Bikes are in position bring in Vanguard.)

EARLY GAME:

- After the seize, I realize without Obsec I have to hold him deep but the numbers are greatly in his favour and he's a full blown assault army, kind of old school. What I decide is to stack points as fast as possible and try not to fade....

+The Bikes advance, shooting commences. The Snipers on the Eastern Flank rip into the Tractor Beam squad opposite them, and manage a failed Morale test! This gives my Raptorwing more breathing room... +

- I draw up 6 cards and have a stellar turn. It forces me to spread out more than I want but I draw three objectives, and a few kill missions.

+ BOOM! 2 Pods slam into action. The Grav Cannon Dev Squad at left has no good target with the Grav. The Melta Tacticals combat squad and perform operation: Speed Bump in the center/rear table. +

- I stick with my plan. Shrike advances to cover 1 of 2 possible foreseeable Ork assaults. The left/West Pod is full of Grav cannons but no real targets. The entire squad shoots and even with re-rolls (grav amps) the pain of rolling 6's hits home and I get one hullpoint (immobilzed) glance off of a single truck. Ugh.

- Ultra-wise: I found missing my re-rolls really tough this turn. I killed almost nothing. The only real success was the Scouts, and the Speeders took a truck down. The Devs failed, (granted Grav is horrible against Orks) and the Tacticals missed a ton.

- Noting his numbers, I decide not to have the dual Vanguard come in. I want to see where he goes first. Regardless I take the chance to tie him up deep because of his ObSec.

+ Shrike advances and holds this marker for a point. He's in a position to react to carnage above.+ (as a side note I wasn't sure of the exact wording of Drop Pod assault and assumed with the Talon Strike Force I could roll for the second pod in turn 1. It came in.)

- I end my point with a stellar turn grabbing 8 points. It might be the best turn I've ever had. Being this fast is a nice change.

Ultra-wise I'm used to camping just a bit more, and reacting.

- He doesn't know how he can come back points wise, but he's got such superior numbers I know this will get ugly.

- He starts to slam into me. His bikes shoot the close Tactical squad, and the trukks advance. But I did immoblize his Warlord's Boss Truck. So his 4+ save squad is on foot. This sets me up for next turn.

- Surprisingly his shooting is better than mine.... he takes down a few tacticals, and slams hard into them with the Bike squad deleting them. The Grav Devastators are also charged by the truck guys that were just immoblized... The Gravs roll 6 hits on overwatch! But even with re-rolls the Grav can't wound the T-shirts! lol

- Devs are wiped as well. I'm two squads down. He gets 3 points, I still have a big lead but I can see I'm already down about 15 dudes to his 60+.

TURN 2 - Mid Game:

- It probably was a good idea to hold off on the Vanguard from turn 1 since he was all trucked up. Now on foot I had some good targets.

Vanguard squad 1 does not deviate as it lands within 9" of two scout squads.

Vanguard squad 2 goes deep in his zone to get him to turn back and if I can get Shrike's squad in the mix I figure I might last back there.... I mean hey I've got claws and hammers right?

+ Vanguard Squad 1 stays mid table. The HQ is in there in mega armour and he's got some 4+ save Choppas.+

+ Vanguard Squad 2 goes deep, and doesn't deviate. +

- Tough decision for squad 2 as they can hit a squad of boyz that fell out of a truck, or just pour into the Mega Warboss and Mega Nobs. I figure I gotta go for the Mega squad as they are fists and 2+ saves and Shrike can't handle that.

- I get my assault off and he has no overwatch with the Armoured Nobs. Things go horrible. I can't get past the 2+ saves.... I challenge his warboss and get one hammer hit through but he's T5 and lives.

Ultra-wise I missed Tactical Doctrine or Assault Doctrine immensely here. I whiffed with claws and more importantly I lost too much of the squad. The Hammer/Fist only hit twice.

I hang in there but it's ugly.

- Vanguard Squad 1 makes their charge but one is gunned down to overwatch. This happens to kill the redshirt who is just double armed. Every death is painful though when I'm this out numbered. The Sargeant challenges the Warboss. I get a wound off but they are T5 so no insta kill. I kill most of the Orks, but he hits hard back, and I have a ton of saves to make. I lose 2 more guys, leaving me with 2 and he doesn't break.

- Raptorwing comes in, and they hit hard. They find a tight spot where he is trying to squeeze trucks and I figure it's best to take out the front one to cause a traffic jam around my Pods. It works and a second truck wrecks.

I get 2 more points.

Ork's Turn.

The combats ensue. But I'm in big trouble now....

Ork's Turn.

+ Here it is. The Warboss gets hit, but does not go down. +

- In his turn my Sergeant is hit with a fist multiple times. He simply can't deflect all the blows and is crushed. I'm down to one guy with a pair of claws. He has his Warboss and 3 of his 10-12 Orks.

+ Just when I thought it couldn't get worse. Did Walmart have a clearance on red construction vests or something? +

- This second Vanguard squad is literally bounced off of the Warboss and Mega Nobs. I can't kill anything as the 2+ saves are hard to get through. I kill one Nob the rest are smashing me to a pulp. Since I could not dent that squad, he now has a chance to counter with the 'Wal-mart squad'.... things look grim.

- He scores another point or two.

+ Shrike and Assault squad counter in to avenge the fallen tactical squad. +

END GAME:

- Shrike smashes in hard and he's on fire. The dirty Tau have consumed his patience and he's in no mood for dirty construction vest wearing Orks. He issues a challenge, and takes down a lot of bikes. As does the Eviserator. The run + assault move wasn't needed, but re-rolling the to wound on Hammer of Wrath was great here. The squad is vaped, and Shrike disappears with his squad into the adjacent building.

- In that building I take my secondary tactical squad and they rush into an ork Mob.... it goes badly.

Ultra-wise I don't know how Ravenguard assault with these guys. I'm doing horribly in every Tactical based assault. With the Ultra doctrines I do find when I'm in a bad spot across the table with Tacticals, I will toss out a Tactical doctrine and it takes their lethargic melee abilities to a 'respectable' level. Here there was no respite, I simply died in droves.

- The Vanguard squad 2 was in big trouble. "Wal-mart Mob" ripped them apart. My only advantage was my stormtalons. They ripped into Mobs that were truckless and hovered for scoring points... the rest of my army was getting consumed....

- I tried to hold it together. A Mob rushes into Shrike before he can reinforce the ruins... then I use the Talon Detachment rules... I somehow save 4 Fist Deathblows! I lose the rest of the assault squad and choose to fail the Morale test, saving Shrike.....

- Shrike surges out of close combat and heads for Vanguard squad 1 which has one guy remaining! The Warboss still has one wound remaining, so Shrike hammers in and takes him on in a challenge. He can't kill him though, instead I fail one save, and Shrike is dead.

- It's reality check time. I keep going for points,and decide to pull everything that is alive back... Scouts rush into a mob that is after my Speeders... they bounce as well. All die, and the mob smashes through the speeders.

- Again the Stormtalons rip through the Mob, giving me little breathing room.

- The remnants of the army are grim. I have the odd tactical here and there, that I have intentionally failed morale tests to keep alive. They are running, and gunning. Taunting the Orks. The East flank is all that I have left. Some Sniper scouts, and the 5 man Tacticals are all that I have undamaged. We hold there, and I decide to prevent an auto loss by getting tabled by going back in the air with my Talons and jinking the rest of the game.

- Using this tactic I prevent the tabling.... my opponent cannot catch me in points and he conceded. I have 13 points to his 8. A very lucky, but close game.

I hope to come back with a conclusion and thoughts. I hope you enjoyed the batrep.

[Flint13]

Freakin sweet, as always, Prot. Your batrep production values are phenoms ^_^

 

Orks are just so much fun to fight and they are hands down my favorite Xenos race to battle. How do you like fighting them compared to Eldar or Tau?

[Prot]

Freakin sweet, as always, Prot. Your batrep production values are phenoms

Orks are just so much fun to fight and they are hands down my favorite Xenos race to battle. How do you like fighting them compared to Eldar or Tau?

I can't believe how fast you read these.... they take so long to make. lol

Thank you for the kind words. I would definitely say "fun" is a great word for playing against Orks. The funny thing is I think they're great meta-busters. They just don't see a lot of tournament play but people I know who play them well can make a real mess of FotM type armies.

Oddly enough some of my funnest games are Orks vs my Battle Company as tons of stuff dies on both sides. It feels like a real battle and somehow it usually plays out as a very characterful 40K novel. (tons of death and epic moments.)

[Slips]

In the age of Video Bat Reps, its sometimes hard to sit down and read one.

 

Yours however, are always worth it.

[librisrouge]

I actually have to disagree. In this era of video battle reports, I find that I don't have two and a half hours to watch somebody else play a game. If I had that kind of time, I would just play my own game. Reading however, I can do quickly and seem to get more out of.

 

Thanks for writing this. Its very appreciated.

[Slips]

I actually have to disagree. In this era of video battle reports, I find that I don't have two and a half hours to watch somebody else play a game. If I had that kind of time, I would just play my own game. Reading however, I can do quickly and seem to get more out of.

 

Thanks for writing this. Its very appreciated.

I say that mostly because I put Video Batreps up on my Laptop / 2nd Monitor and "watch" them in the background as I do other stuff.

[Prot]

You guys are awesome. Thank you for reading them.

 

I will guess I report on one of every three to four games I play (or at least I try). Often I'll be going through all the pictures, trying to sort them. Going through the odd note, or even contacting my opponent to refresh me on what happened. And I wonder if it's worth it...

 

So it is very much appreciated to know someone find entertainment in it.

 

Personally I find reading batreps very refreshing as I do tend to watch some batreps in video form, however it's often just background noise. Reading a batrep can give a flavour I really enjoy. I wish more people wrote them up, but they are very time consuming.

 

I do find one thing I definitely prefer about the written batrep is (if your honest) you can show what you were thinking at the time, and see how those thoughts develop during a game. For this reason I often re-visit my strategies and I think it's made me a better player.

[MagicMan]

I actually have to disagree. In this era of video battle reports, I find that I don't have two and a half hours to watch somebody else play a game. If I had that kind of time, I would just play my own game. Reading however, I can do quickly and seem to get more out of.

 

Thanks for writing this. Its very appreciated.

Agreed! And this was a good'un, Prot. :)

 

 

 

Always enjoy your photography as well. 

 

 

It seems like you really missed your Doctrines in this game. Twin-linking is a valuable thing.

[Rojo]

I also much prefer written battle reports and I really enjoy your reports Prot. Thanks for taking the time.

[derLumpi]

Great battle report.

Playing Orks is really tough. I always seem to struggle with my Ultras and the games tend always to be really close.

Video reports are mostly shaky and the sound is horrible

I definitively rather read a good battle report (and your reports are always not only fun but I learn a thing or two) than watching a video report.

Keep it up!

[Joukernaut]

I agree with the majority here. Great battle report Prot, as always.

I truely enjoy yours, since most of the time you step away form the paved paths to try new stuff, wich I like to do myself.

I personally think there's room for both video and written battlereports.

I enjoy both and find them very usefull for learning rules/tactics, etc.

I'm quite pleased an ultramarine player regularly takes the time and effort to write one up.

Keep it up!