Waaagh Games (with a bit o' pillage)

Welcome to our Waaagh games! (Or Waaargh games if you're old school). My Orks, Ror-Ruk's Reav'a's, vs. Da Masta Cheef and his notorious Da Long Wayz Dezert Groop, along with elements of the Eleet Grot Mountain Duvishun, gathered for their first Warhammer 40,000 8th edition game.

We pulled the cards to see what we would play. Set-up was the standard long edge vs. long edge with 12" deep deployment zones. We pulled the Many Paths to Victory Mission Card which has us chasing after 3 objectives. Our Twist Card had us pull another Mission Card which was Burn & Pillage. With Burn & Pillage, the most orky mission possible, whichever player destroys the 3 objectives in the opposite player's zone wins the game!

We have our orders.

I had 6 Command Points and Da Cheef had 4 CPs. I did not take not take copious notes on every instance that a CP was used, just on particular highlights most of which did not involve the use of a CP.

We set up the board, made the roll-offs and deployed our forces.

Reav'a's left flank.

Reav'a's right flank.

Da Long Wayz Dezert Groop left flank.

EGMD right flank.

I failed to steal the initiative. So with a mighty WAAAAGH! the charge began! I had a Mek Gun set up, a Traktor Kannon, which Cheef took out really quick. The Grot Spee Mega Tank, which I had thought I would try to spare for a round or for the sake of pretty pictures, managed to kill one of my lootas. This was after the Lootas lost another from a hail of... whatever... Cheef's Lobbas were lobb'n at them.

On my first turn the Weirdboy used Da Jump to relocate my 30 man Shoota Mob onto Cheef's back line (you can see them lined up on the table edge in the pic below). They surprise attacked Da Long Wayz Slugga boyz killing a fair number of them with their kunning shooting!

I sent the Dakkajet careening towards the Battlewaggon, with guns blazing. My Kannons sent shells into it and the Shokk attack gun blasted snots into it. It was enough to take the Battlewaggon down a step in it's profile but it was very much alive and well.

The scene after Turn One movements.

On the other flank, the Lootas destroyed the Grot Spee. Gouts of flaming debris and bits of grot were strewn about spectacularly.

The Grot Spee dies.

Turn 2, and Da Masta Cheef vowed revenge. Parked in his crater, the Battlewaggon and crew (Surpise! They're Tankbusta's!) unleashed hell upon the Dakkajet. Some how it survived the onslaught with 3 Wounds left. The Battlewaggon sent a few shots at the Big Gunz also, blowing one up. On the otherside of the table, the Lootas lost about half the unit from more Lobba hits. All-in-all, it was a good round of shooting for Da cheef.

Just add smoke. Lots of smoke. 

The surviving Slugga Boyz were upset with my jump'n Shoota Boyz and marched up to the return the favor. They were joined by the Warboss, Krump and Pittance, who had leapt from the Battlewaggon to get a piece of the action. They all charged in and a swirling melee of green ensued, leaving a tornado of Waaagh that would take a few more rounds to resolve.

Charge of Da Axe Brigade.

My Ork Turn 2 was an utter disaster. The Weirdboyz suffered a Mortal Wound from a botched attempt to Smite the Battlewaggon. None of my shooting was effective on the left flank, with only the Lootas being of any use. They managed to take out one of the Lobbas.

Turn 3, and the cleaver gits from Da Long Wayz Groop that were mounted in their Wartraks arrived and so did the Kommandos.

Wartrak arrival.

Much to the joy of the Da Long Wayz boyz, the Dakkajet was blown appart by the rokkits of the Tankbustas, showering the field with flaming wreakage (or was that just Rob bumping the table? -Ha! Luv ya Rob, mean it!)

Krump and Pittance hack'n and slash'n! 

The Fight Phase was now where much of our action was, with the Reav'a's Shoota Boyz killing off the Slugga Boyz, leaving the Warboss who proved to be one tough nut to crack.  Those gits in the Wartraks charged the Big Gunz effectively tying them up. By some miracle three of the grot gunners made their 6+ Saves, making it not so easy for the Wartraks to eliminate this unit.

Wartraks charge the Big Gunz.

Meanwhile, despite the sbeer weight in numbers Krump & Pittance continued to hold off the Reav'a's Shoota Boyz. A few well spent CPs on the part of Da Masta Cheef assisted with this deed and it also tied them up from being able to get at any objectives.

"Aye can takez yoose gits wid one 'and behindz me back!"

 My turn, and I was faced with a very difficult decision. Clearly the Battlewagon and the Tankbustas within it were dominating the center of the field and they needed to be eliminated. A lot the damage I had inflicted upon it on Turn 1 was being undone by the Mek that was positioned outside of it. My Kannons were all but lost and my Weirdboy and Shokk Attack Gun were just not enough. But they did whittle some Wounds off of it this Turn.  Solution: send in the Slugga Boyz!

Charge!!!

They ran forth, gunz blazing, and they may have chipped off a wound or two. I didn't note that, but I did note the incredible Fight Phase. Not including the Power Klaw, which did a few points of damage,  leaving it with 1 wound left! The Slugga Boyz had 104 Attacks. Needing 3+, 69 of them hit. Needing 5+, 19 wounds were inflicted! The Battlewaggon only passed 10 of these armor saves which though impressive, ment the end of this fearsome machine. Thankfully it did not blow up. The Tankbustas quickly found themselves surrounded by the berserking Slugga Boyz who had consolidated into them after the Battlewaggon's destruction.

Consolidation into the Tankbustas.

The Trakks continued their fight with the Big gunz and the Grot Crew. I think they were stymied my how resilient the Grots turned out to be, but ultimately they would destroy them.

"Dez Grots are tough!"

The Shoota Boyz defeat the Da Long Wayz Warboss on my turn, only to get the attention of the Long Wayz Mek on a Warbike named Fix-a-Flat. He speeds in on Turn 4, guns blasting away, before charging into the fray. The Shootas lose enough to fail a Break Test so bad that the unit is removed from the game! 

Fix-a-Flat races in to beat out some dents!  

On Turn 3, the Kommandos had appeared in my back field and shot a Wound off of my Warboss, Ror-Ruk. He, and the surviving grots from the destroyed Mek Gun, charged them taking out all but their leader, Schultz!, and a Kommando. That fight carried over into Cheef's 4th Turn and into my 4th Turn before the Kommandos were eventually wiped out.

Shultz! vs. Ror-Ruk (and some grot crew). 

On Turn 4 the Tankbustas, who found themselves in a swirling melee, tried hard to fend off the Reav'a's Slugga boys, but they just couldn't hold up to the amount of '90's red that stood against them and they were eliminated. The Mek had joined into the fight too and soon he found himself surrounded.

One Mek against a mass o'Goffs.

The Mek was easily brought low on my Turn 4, and the Sluggas found a large mass of grots to Consolidate into.

Consolidation into the Grots.

Those damn grots and their pistols took out a few more Boyz before they got stuck in to tie them up. The Runtherd, pissed off to his charges so mistreated, was a whirlwind of rage as he knocked the horns off a few of the boyz 'eads!

"Oi! Deez my grotz!!!"

Speaking of Grots, on my Turn 4 my Grot horde on the opposite table edge took the Defensive Line and the Objective. Despite the automated defensive gun that was shooting wildly at them.

"Objective secured!!! ...ish."

Turn 5, and Da Masta Cheef sent Fix-a-Flat up to the middle objective, securing it.

"Fix ah flat wuz 'ere" how adorns the leg of this Imperial Statue.

The Warbikes, having defeated the Big Gunz in the previous Fight Phase ran down the Weird Boy. While the middle melee with the Goffs and Grots continued.

On my Turn 5, Warboss Ror-Ruk and his grot gunners take an objective.

"Look 'ere boss, a beakie on a stik!"

My Shokk Attack Gun attempted to eliminate the Warbikes but they were just too tough.

Rain of snottlings...

My Grotz overwhelmed the defensive gun utterly...

And theit Runtherd watches with pride.

And the mass of melee in the middle continues on...

The Goffs and Grotts hold on despite the bodycount. 

And with the end of Turn 5, the game ended according to Mission Conditions. Only one of the Pillage Objectives was destroyed, with Cheef holding one of the other Objectives and my boyz holding the other two. Cheef declared me the winner even though I saw it as more of a tie, but honestly we were having so much fun stomping each other that the missions seemed more like a secondary concern for us.

My thoughts on Orks in 8th Edition? Wow, so many things are just better. The Slugga Boyz haven't been this effective since 3rd Edition. The Choppas providing a +1 to Attacks is a huge benefit! The Tankbusta's are just deadly! They never were nuff'n to dismiss before, but man are they even better now! The Dakkajet was fun, and it's demise in this fight was clearly my fault. I should have had it focus on foot infantry instead of the Battlewaggon, as that was just a suicidal act going for that and all the Tankbustas in it's open top. Also, the Wartraks impressed the heck out of me! Clearly their best edition yet!

The Shokk Attack Gun, although neat, does seem to lose the fun aspects without it's zaney chart. But it still has the potential for absolute mayhem. Same with the Lootas. They dished out some serious firepower but only because I rolled high on how many shots they get per round. Their range is still impressive and I was able to take out the Grot Megatank and an artillery battery from the other side of the table!

That was fun, let's do it again Cheef!!!