Round 3 Leaderboard

Alright gents! Round 3 battles are wrapped up and we've seen some movement in the leaderboard. Notably, all 5 generals gained levels, so congrats to everyone on that. Kennon saw the biggest jump in the standings, with a victory in M3.1 and 2 additional campaign points, he jumped up to #2 overall.  Some other notable happenings:

1) Rotgor Badgut became a Warboss and earned Mega-Armor!
2) Maelderon Bloodspiller rebelled against his Iron Warriors master Ferrus Khane, killing him but losing an eye in the process. He is now Chaos Lord of his own warband, having dedicated himself to Khorne.
3) For his heroic efforts in defending the data disk, Sergeant Annihilus Manorith was promoted to Dark Angels Captain. He sustained a terrible wound in the battle however, which rears itself from time to time.
4) Bubonicus of the Death Guard had a tough week, soundly defeated by Orks twice and then engaging Imperial Guard twice, once in a draw and once in a loss. The incredible amount of casualties inflicted by his Nurgle host led to his ascension to Chaos Lieutenant, though he was also grievously wounded in battle against the Orks.
5) Wolodimir Zhukov was taken completely by surprise against the Nurgle forces, narrowly escapaing annihilation as the chaos troops conducted a surprise attack at nightfall. Calling in for reinforcements, the newly promoted Commander Zhukov punished Bubonicus forces with mortar and battle cannon fire, but not before two-thirds of his own army was decimated.

Rank	Player	General	Level	CPs	Played	Wins	Draws	Losses
1	Nathan James	Warboss Rotgor Badgut	2	3	6	3	0	3
2	Kennon James	Lord Maelderon Bloodspiller	2	3	5	2	1	2
3	David Madden	Commander Wolodimir Zhukov	1	0	5	2	1	2
4	Mike Walker	Captain Annihilus Manaroth	1	0	3	0	0	3
5	Mike Churchill	Chaos Lieutenant Bubonicus	1	0	4	0	1	3

Rotgor Reflects...

Another original piece by none other than our resident Ork Warboss, Nathan James:

"Han' me dat ting and den bring da plate ova' dere."

Baznik Dakaskab, a Mekboy, barked to his grot assistants, who quickly fetched him his welding torch, not forgetting to light the flame, lest they be punished for forgetting to spark the boss' tools. Baznik Dakaskab was a skilled Mekboy, possibly even one of the greats. After all, he was skilled enough to be chosen to serve as the lead mechanic to Rotgor Badgut, and to anger him was to risk the wrath of not only a mighty Mekboy, but the boss himself (despite Rotgor's well known secret soft-spot for hardworking grotlings).

"You gonna be unstoppin' in dis, boss. Mo' dakka for dem 'oomies!" Baznik said in the direction of his latest project.

Rotgor Badgut grinned a toothy grin, patiently standing inside what was easily a ton of metal plating. It was a glorious day; Rotgor had become a warboss, and every warboss deserves mega armor. Every warboss deserves to stand as tall as a dreadnought and possess enough might to annihilate a terminator squad with a single swing.

A final touch of soldering inside an arm was met with a nod of approval by Baznik immediately followed by the powerklaw at the end opening and closing as Rotgor manipulated the controls. Baznik smiled contently, but discreetly, and exchanged his soldering iron for his welding torch from the nervous gretchin at his side, and picking up the metal plate that several of his grot assistants were straining to keep over their heads. The plate was placed over the last opening of the arm, the pistons and gears inside becoming silent as Rotgor stopped his 'test drive' to allow the Mekboy to work.

Sparks flew, and Rotgor watched, the sparks in the sparsely lit shack conjuring the unpleasant memories of his last battle. It was a dark, bloody affair: searchlights scoured the field, Dark Angels poured massive amounts of firepower into the Ork lines, their tracers and plasma bursts filling the air of the night; the noise acted to drown out the screams from the carnage that had been unfolding on the opposite side of the field. Both Rotgor and his nemesis, Maelderon Bloodspiller, were converging on a Dark Angels outpost, hoping to secure data on Ghedda Prime from the Angels - and kill a few dozen of them. The battle was going well for the attackers - alas, a bit too well for Rotgor's nemesis.

Though Rotgor's cherished combat grots had charged headlong into a minefield to clear the way for Rotgor's unit of Boyz, and though a Tankbusta rokkit had penetrated the Dark Angel's bunker, the data disc, and the battle, were not to be held by the Green Vengeance Army on this night. The forces of Chaos grasped the beast of battle by its savage horns, and refused to let go. A squad of charging boyz, energized from their glorious defeat of the last defenders of the Angels' bunker - battered and broken by bolter-fire; an entire squad of stormboyz - killed to a man; an entire squad of tankbustas - felled in moments at the hands of Chaos Obliterators; to say it was a poor day in the verbal history of the greenskinz was a mild understatement. By the time Rotgor locked eyes with Maelderon, the battle had long been decided, despite the fact that a Dark Angel lieutenant, and even a Rhino, had met their end at Rotgor's powerklaw that night, a full strength squad of bloodthirsty Khorne-worshipping marines is too much for one single Ork. So he ran, dodging turret fire, and hoping his brethren had the sad common sense to do the same, to live to fight and claim their vengeance another day.

"Boss, yer ride is 'ere."

An 'ard Boy stood in the doorway of the shack in full war paint, the unmistakable drone of a Trukk engine rumbled behind him. Rotgor snapped back to the now, and turned to face the Boy, a veteran of the last battle, answering him with a nod. The 'Ard Boyz had proven themselves in battle, again slaying the Berserkers of Khorne, and thus they would now accompany their general onto the field of battle. Rotgor turned to Baznik, who replied with a proud grunt, admiring his final weld in the monstrous amalgamation of salvaged tech and Orkish ingenuity that composed Rotgor's new armor. Rotgor took his first suited step forward, an impressive, loud, pounding footstep that brought a bit of warlike glee into the hearts of all who witnessed it, and caused the crowd of gretchin gathered behind Dakastab to begin chittering with excitement. Rotgor took his second step - and paused.

"Bazz'D," Rotgor called back to his trusted comrade, who stood behind, frozen with fear in the possibility that the new warboss may disapprove of his latest construct (despite addressing him by nickname).

"Boss?" Baznik replied in little more than a whisper (at least in Ork terms).

"Iz too slow."

Baznik scratched his head for a moment, straining his Ork brain for a solution. Rotgor had barely maneuvered his armor around to face his Mekboy mechanic when Baznik's eyes lit up.

"I fink I'z got an idea. Youz gonna like dis 'un, Rotgor. Youz gun' like dis a LOT!"

40K Campaign Leaderboard

Rotgor Badgut's Orks Roll On!

40K Campaign Mission 2.0 and 2.1 - Orks vs Nurgle
This past weekend, Nathan and Mike Churchill faced off on the field of battle for the first time. At the top of the leader board with most Campaign Points and most Experience points, Nathan's securing of critical data files in Mission 1.3 afforded him access to a new section of the map, which led to the encounter with the new Chaos forces. Over the course of the day, two battles were fought between Rotgor Badgut's Orks and Bubonicus' Death Guard Army.

The first mission was a small 500 point skirmish representing two scout forces making first contact.



     
Mike's Zombie Horde and Plague Marines advance on the Greenskinz!

The Green Tide swallows up the Nurgle Army...one by one

The second was a much larger battle of 1250 points each, with multiple objectives (victory points, hold objeives, and kill most valuable unit) determining the victor. Mission 1 ended with the Orks wiping out the Nurgle forces to a man, with half their army still intact for a Wiped Out! result. The secondbattle ended on turn 6, with Nathan winning both Victory Points and Most Valuable kill objectives. In the end, a lone dreadnought and immobilized Rhino remained on the Chaos side, with Nathan still having better than half his army on the board.



What follows is Nathan's account of 40KC M2.0 and M2.1, between his Orks and Mike Churchill's Nurgle/Zombie horde:
"Dem 'oomie zommies iz a lot tuffa dan 'oomies. Uglier, too. Die jus' da same."
Rotgor Badgut scoffed at the piles of corpses littering the battlefield, almost all were the corpses of the enemy: a legion of bloated, disfigured monsters aligned with the foulest of chaos gods- Nurgle. The enemy had appeared suddenly from the darkness, ambushing a scouting party and beginning a skirmish that escalated into a long, hard-fought battle. Rotgor paused as his tour of the field brought him to the position where his Boyz made a final charge against their new enemy. The earth was scarred, burnt, and around the smoldering wreckage of a Rhino, the assorted, disfigured parts of chaos-deformed Plague Marines, and other former-humans were mixed in amongst what was once a squad of Stormboyz, now little more than a pile of greenskins who fell like an Ork should, in battle. "Battle", Rotgor thought, was a poor word for the events of the day - today had been a slaughter, and the whoops and cheers from the victorious Ork horde reassembling itself nearby were testament to that.

There had been much combat, many killed, and still more kept coming. The significance of the rock that Rotgor fought for began to slowly creep into his mind as he watched a Grot drag away the tattered remains of a Nurgle banner. Khorne had made its presence known, and now Nurgle, too, was creeping forth from the warp to stake a claim on Ghedda Prime. Ghedda's mysterious energy source was still unknown, but if more than humans sought this power, if the minions of such bloodthirsty, warlike gods were after the secrets of Ghedda, then Rotgor was resolved, he must possess it. He would become the greatest Ork Warboss the humans had ever seen- he would become the greatest Ork Warboss the universe had ever seen, and, as his declaration to the humans, and the universe, he would have his revenge.

A crowd of Grots were now encircling the banner of Nurgle, each tugging on the ends until it tore into several pieces, which the Grots also began to fight over. Rotgor grinned...He could intervene, teach the Gobbos a lesson about their place with his Powerklaw, but the Gretchin had served uncharacteristically well and they were entitled to their trophies, after the last battles, all the greenskins were as far as Rotgor was concerned. As the Runtherd approached, the Gretchin quickly stashed their trophy-tatters into whatever pockets or hiding places they could find and gathered into loose formation, staying a few steps away from the Squig-hound as the Runtherd led them quickly back toward the rest of the army, himself hoping to avoid a lesson on Grot supervision from Rotgor.

A light breeze carried the lingering odor of the battle across the field and into Rotgor's nostrils. It smelled like smoke; like gunpowder; like blood; like death; like combat- it smelled good.

"We'z ready, boss." A Nob grumbled from behind Rotgor. Rotgor nodded, he couldn't recall the Nob's name, but at the rate he was losing them in combat, he didn't care to.

"Get 'em movin', we gotta lot mo' 'oomies to kill, and prolly a lot mo' o' these new squishies too."

The Nob scurried away, barking orders in the distance. Behind Rotgor his ever-growing warband, hardly depleted by their latest skirmishes, began to mobilize on the hunt for their next battle. The Boyz were becoming accustomed to victory, and each conquest put Rotgor Badgut another step closer to the secrets of Ghedda Prime... and away from Ghedda Prime.

The Green Vengeance Army moved on.

40K Campaign Mission 1.2: Ghedda Prime – Take and Hold!

In the first mission, four small patrol groups from different armies sought clues as to why an Imperial Outpost had been constructed on Ghedda Prime over a hundred years ago. Now, the stakes have risen as all four forces race to locate and secure the source of a faint transmission. Being the first to enter the Communication Relay could provide a valuable edge over competing forces, but actually holding and having the opportunity to decrypt the Imperial data could give a clue as to why the remote base was constructed in the first place.

The Comms building is represented as an Armor 12 structure in the center of the board. The first player to enter the structure gains +3 Intel Dice. The player who controls the building at the end of 6 turns, or has the largest unit in base contact with the building if contested, wins. All armies consisted of 500 point forces from the HQ (1) and Troops selections.

The Armies

Kennon's Chaos Space Marines

    Maelderon Bloodspiller with spiky bits, bolt pistol, power weapon

    Marine with Plasma Gun

    Marine with Heavy Bolter

    7 Marines with Bolt Pistol and Chainsword

    Aspiring Champion with spiky bits, bolt pistol, power fist

    Marine with Plasma Gun

    Marine with Autocannon

    7 Marines with Bolt Pistol and Chainsword

    Marine with Plasma Gun

    Marine with Missile Launcher

    6 Marines with Bolters

Mike's Dark Angels

    Veteran Sergeant Annihilus with Bolt Pistol and Power Weapon

    Marine with Flamer

    Marine with Heavy Bolter

    7 Marines with Bolter

    Veteran Sergeant with Power Fist and Bolt Pistol

    Marine with Plasma Gun

    Marine with Missile Launcher

    7 Marines with Bolter

    Veteran Sergeant with Bolt Pistol and Chainsword

    Marine with Meltagun

    3 Marines with Bolters

Nathan's Orks

    Nob Rotgor Badgut with Power Klaw, Slugga, Bosspole

    2 Boyz with Big Shoota

    17 Boyz with Slugga and Choppa

    Nob with Slugga, Choppa, Bosspole

    2 Boyz with Rokkit Launcha

    17 Boyz with Slugga and Chopps

    Nob with Slugga, Choppa, Bosspole

    2 Boyz with Big Shoota

    17 Boyz with Shoota

    Slaver with Grabba Stikk and Squighound

    19 Gretchin 

Dave's Imperial Guard (proxied by John)

    Lt. Wolodimir Zhukov with Bolt Pistol, sword

    Heavy Bolter

    3 Guardsmen with Lasgun

    3x10 man Guardsmen squads

    Veteran with Bolt Pistol, chainsword

    Grenade Launcher/Flamer

    Missile Launcher

    7 Lasguns

    Mortar Squad (6 men)

    Autocannon Squad (6 men)

The Field of Battle, pre-deployment

    The Ground of Ghedda Prime about to be soaked with more blood 

Close-up of the Objective

    The Comms Building, a trophy from the Virtual 40K campaign built by Mike Churchill

The Game Begins

    The Ork Horde prepares to roll

Turn 1

As predicted, the Orks moved in force against their foes in the general direction of the objective. With Badgut facing both Chaos and Dark Angels, the Nob started antagonizing them early in a hail of bolter fire.

Dark Angel moved quickly toward the objective with their command squad, while support units sought the cover of ruins early on.

Also following an expected pattern, the Imperial Guard moved little, seeking to optimize firing arcs, particularly with an eye toward a Chaos marine unit headed in their direction.

    Armies rumble into position...   

Turn 2

With the Ork horde continuing to move forward, the air filled with the sounds of suprisingly effective shoota fire, responsible for cutting down a number of Chaos marines.

    The Green Tide advances toward the enemy, Big Shootas cutting down Chaos Marines early on

Giving the Orks a wide berth, the Dark Angel command squad kept their eye on the prize, moving at full speed and then ultimately charging the Comms Building with Krak grenades.

    The Dark Angels Command Squad assaults the building with Krak grenades, curiously hoping to not destroy it...

Turn 3

Having split their forces, the Chaos army is being sandwiched by IG and Orks. The effectiveness of enemy shooting adds insult to injury for the beleaguered forces of the Chaos Champion.

   After 3 rounds of his forward unit being whittled down by IG forces, Kennon declares 40K a complete and utter waste of time

  Meanwhile, still flush with excitement from having assaulted an empty building, Sergeant Annihilus looks back to see, like, a million Orks right behind him.

    The Ork Warhorde prepares to show the Dark Angels how a charge is successfully executed

   With Ork shooting and assaults leaving the Dark Angels commander alone in melee against the Gretchin, the bulk of the Ork forces wheel round the Comms Relay to face the Chaos forces 

Turn 4

    The beginning of Turn 4

   After three rounds of very little movement, the IG have just one unit between them and the objective, and start moving several units forward under the covering fire of support squads.

    Several IG units inch forward toward Dark Angels, supported by covering fire

   Amazingly, Sergeant Annihilus continues to kill one Grot after another, not giving any ground

   As the Dark Angels Sergeant bravely holds his own against the Gretchin, the remaining Marine 10-man squad is assaulted by a full mob of Orks!

    Finally, the Dark Angels luck begins to run out as Annihilus falls and the remaining tactical squad is overwhelmed by Greenskinz. The Ork Tide is rolling!

Turn5

The great success of the Orks has drawn much attention to them. After the fall of Dark Angels Sergeant Annihilus, the Orks were the first to secure access to the Comms Relay. Nevertheless, remaining forces focus all of their firepower on the remaining Greekskinz. After an unholy round of rapid firing by Chaos and Imperial Guard and a brutal mortar barrage, the Ork numbers waned considerably. More importantly, the Comms Building itself, with Gretchin inside, was blown apart by an Imperial Guard missile! Amazingly, the Gretchin remained unharmed and steadfast, though a grot was eaten by a squid to keep order.

   "What? I need to roll 5 or less to avoid fleeing in terror? No problem", says Porchdog as he rolls snake eyes with confidence. 

   The GM calls attention to one remaining piece of business between Orks and Chaos

   With the Slaver and his squighound holding the ruins of the Comm Relay, the Chaos and Ork command squads face off for an epic combat

    As the two armies smash into one another, Jolene does her best to help stay Kennon's resolve

    With the two big enemy units engaged with one another, Lt. Zhukov commands his forward squad to "Move, move, move!" toward the objective. Having held out for most of the game, the Slaver's confidence wavers and he runs away from the advancing Imperials just as they take control of the objective.

Turn 6

    As the Ork and Chaos combat rages on, the few remaining units who oppose the Imperial Guard fire relentlessly at the squad, killing 6 guardsmen. But the IG troops hold their ground...

   Finally, having killed the rest of the Ork Mob, the remaining Chaos forces turn their attention to the IG unit holding the objective, but it is too late...

   End game. The Imperial Guard holds the objective at the end of turn 6.

40K Campaign Mission 1.1: Ghedda Prime – Secure the Artifacts

The first mission in the series, Mission 1.1 was a 4-army 180 point skirmish battle featuring Dark Angels (Mike W), Chaos Space Marines (Kennon), Orks (Nathan), and Imperial Guard (Dave, proxied by John). The mission featured a variable number of objective counters, with the player securing the most counters at the end of six turns being declared the winner.

The Armies

  
   Kennon's Chaos Space Marines

    Aspiring Champion with Bolt Pistol and Sword
    Marine with Plasma Gun
    Marine with Heavy Bolter
    7 Marines with Bolt Pistol and Chainswords

   Mike's Dark Angels (The Dreadnought and Librarian did not field)

    Veteran Sergeant with Bolt Pistol and Chainsword

    Marine with Flamer

    Marine with Heavy Bolter

    7 Marines with Bolters

    Nathan's Orks 

    Nob with Slugga and Choppa
    2 Boyz with Big Shootas
    17 Boyz with Slugga Choppa

     Slaver with Grabba Stikk
     11 Gretchin

    Dave's Imperial Guard (proxied by John)

    Junior Officer with Laspistol and sword
    Heavy Bolter Guardsman
    4 Guardsmen with Lasguns

    Sergeant with Laspistol and Chainsword
    Flamer
    Missile Launcher
    7 Guardsmen with Lasguns

    Sergeant with Laspistol and Chainsword
    Grenade Launcher
    Missile Launcher
    7 Guardsmen with Lasguns

    The Field of Battle


As the mission setup begins, the roll results in 3 objective counters being placed. The first is placed at the base of the ventilation shaft center right above. The second is at the far right edge of the woods, and the third is placed in open territory between the pipeline and the large ruin at the lower left. Deployment zones are chosen, and armies fielded in turn. The Orks share a narrow table edge with the IG, and the DA share the opposite table edge with Chaos. Deployment zones are 12" x 24"


    All armies deployed

The squad of Maelderon Bloodspiller siezes the initiative and moves first, quickly heading to the objective hidden within a copse of trees. Nearby, the Dark Angels squad led by Sergeant Annihilus moves toward an objective as well, keeping a close eye on the advancing Chaos Marines. Half the Space Marine squad is separated from the main unit, providing covering fire for their sergeant.

    Sergeant Annihilus advances under the overwatch of his fire team... 

On the eastern front, the Imperial Guardsmen take up a defensive position in ruins and behind a pipeline, bracing themselves for an inevitable Ork advance...

    Hold the line, men!

Meanwhile, the sizeable Ork Mob led by Nob Rotgor Badgut rushes in force toward the IG lines. The weedy Gretchin round the back of some ruins, out of line of sight of the entrenched Guardsmen. 

    The Greenskinz advance!

In the west, Maelderon and his men move unimpeded toward the treeline, their objective nearly within reach...

    Just a bit further and it is ours!

But, having secured their own objective, the Dark Angels turn a baleful eye on their Chaos rivals.

    Ready weapons, men...

With cunning skill and aggressive tactics, Sergeant Annihilus, objective in hand, moves both of his 5-man squads directly toward the Chaos Marines, already a man short from heavy bolter fire. The Dark Angels shoot into the enemy squad before charging them in assault, unleashing upon them the fury of the Emperor!

 
    The Dark Angels taking the fight to the enemy!

In the east, the Orks are drawing heavy fire from the Imperials, but press on nevertheless. Though they've taken heavy casualties, they are nearly to the IG lines and ready to tear them limb from limb! When the time is right, Nob Rotgut orders a charge!

    Waaaagh!!!!

Catastrophically, the Ork charge is hampered by the unsteady footing and awkwark barrier presented by the pipeline the guardsmen are hiding behind. While they advance to within a few yards of the Imperial troops, they are unable to make contact. Seizing upon the opportunity to mount a counter-attack against the slowed Greenskinz, Lieutentant Wolodimir Zhukov inexplicably orders his men to leave cover and charge the Orks!


   The Valhallan Counter-Offensive Begins!

In the west, Maelderon's unit has withstood the Dark Angels assault without losing a single man, but his wicked troops have themselves felled four of the Emperor's finest. Completely unprepared for such a horrific outcome, Sergeant Annihilus orders a strategic withdrawal to re-assess the situation. Maelderon mocks the Space Marines as they fall back, hungry to slay more Imperial scum.

    The Dark Angels, soundly beaten, fall back to regroup

Maelderon's squad, led by a standard bearer, pursue the Dark Angels as they themselves brace for a charge. The chaos troops fire bolt pistols at the marines at point blank range before counter-assaulting them.

   The Clash of the Marines about to enter round 2


    The Dark Angels in the second assault, this time outnumbered...

Maelderon's forces are victorious once again, their shooting and close combat attacks killing another 3 marines, while the Chaos forces lose but one. Badly beaten a second time, the remaining 3 Dark Angels fall back once more, now without an objective. At this point, Chaos holds two objectives and the third remains uncontested.

In the east, the sum total of a point-blank flamer blast, grenade launcher, and some 35 Lasgun shots are more than the Ork unit can bear. The casualties are so great that the Ork mob breaks and runs, the guardsmen just a few yards from the third objective.


    A giant hole where the Ork Mob once was.

With only a 12-model strong Gretchin Mob to secure the objective, General Nathan contemplates his strategy.

    After the loss of his Boyz, General Nathan considers taking up a new hobby

Back on the winning side of the table, Maelderon holds two of three objectives and has bested his nearest rival, the Dark Angels. But the game is far from over, as the 3 remaining Space Marines will fight to the last man, and the IG have no plans on letting the Chaos Marines keep their precious prize.


    In the wake of the Ork massacre, General Kennon plots his next move

 Confident that the key to his success is moving away from the array of assembled firepower, Maelderon does just that.

    Maelderson pulls back out of IG shooting range to keep his two objectives secure

With one last unit of Gretchin advancing on his ranks, Lt. Zhukov orders one unit to fire on the gobbos while his remainining fire missiles at the Chaos troops, desperate to get them to drop their objectives.

   The Orks just can't catch a break

With the Orks annihilated, the remaining Space Marines and Imperial Guardsmen spend their final turn firing everything in range at the retreating Chaos Space Marines to no avail. Though another evil marine falls, Maelderon's forces hold onto their two objectives and win the battle.

 
     End game. The Chaos forces are tucked behind the exhaust port with 2 objectives in hand for the win

Outcome: Maelderon Bloodspiller - 1 Campaign Point

    Kennon's Chaos Space Marines