WARSURGE

Saturday 5 August 2017

Squats vs. Orks (Report #1)

Hated enemies engage for the first time in YEARS!



Yes, today we have Squats and Orks engaging in an approximately 925pts battle. The Squats, otherwise being known as 'Space Dwarves' hold a particular grudge against Orks, so this should be interesting to say the least!

All Mission Report images can be enlarged by clicking them.

If you would prefer to watch the video version, please visit this link (CLICK HERE) or click the picture below. Note that the video has an animated feature start and the last 30 seconds has a little hint of the next game... and some special guest miniatures!

 Watch the Video Version!

The story so far...

Within a Squat Stronghold, among the few of their remaining homeworlds, the Redbeard Brotherhood worked in secret. They had been rebuilding for the last few hundred years after the Tyranids had destroyed most of their original planets. Here, Ancestor Lord Redbeard, of the Brotherhood he was named after, was reviewing the security system when sensors picked up a familiar foe.

"Greenskins." spat Redbeard. Which were also known to many as Orks.


Orks and Squats are great enemies, but this was not always so. Once upon a time the Squats used to trade raw resources from the Ork empires for their dwarven weapons, but the greenskins became greedy and betrayed the Squats, attacking several of their homeworld fortresses with the dwarves caught largely unprepared. The Squats recovered and retaliated in time, but had gained a new enemy among the others they already had.

Taking a big gulp of ale and slamming the tankard down, Redbeard gave a great belch, almost in defiance to his hated foes. Whether he hated Tyranids or Orks more, he was unsure.

Opening up a comm link, he gave a great belch once again. There was a moment's pause before a reply came:

"Yea, Ancestor Lord? Good ta' hear ya belchin' has improved. What be the problem?"

"Aye." said Redbeard. "We have unwelcome guests. Some Orks have stumbled too close to one of our underground stronghold entrances."

"Let me get the lads ready for a brawl then. They're eager for a fightin', hur hur." came the reply from the Squat.

"Nah." said Redbeard. "I want to put ye prototype turrets to the test. Let's not put too many Squat lives on the line. Besides, I be wantin' to *burps* to know they work well."

"As ye say, Redbeard." the comm link then closing.

With a chuckle, Redbeard pressed a few dwarven glyphs on the security system, bringing the gun turrets online.

"Welcome to the party, greenskins. Hur hur..."

To watch this start with voice overs and animations, CLICK HERE.



"Unwelcome Guests" - Classic Mission


Mission Overview

So the players today are Dan and myself (Richard). I was using the Orks (from Games Workshop), while Dan had some very heavily armoured Squats (using Forgefather's from Mantic Games)

Using the Classic Mission template, we ended up having a 'Casual' game with a single objective in the middle of the table with Random Game Length. The deployment zones were horizontal, and we had a 6" x 4" board (72" x 48").


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Vs.



We are playing the game using the Warsurge Battle System. If you are unsure what that is, click here to learn more or watch the 30 second video below:


Deployment


Alternating the placement of our units, Dan placed a series of gun turrets around his fort, placing heavy weapon teams on a cliff, his elite 'Exo-Suits' on the fort and some infantry into the rocky wastes, ready to defend an outflanking attack from Orks.


I had placed the Orks near the opposite stronghold, hoping to take refuge from gunfire then rush the objective, but deciding it was not 'orkish' to do so, I ended up leaving that area sooner than planned. I had placed a bomber plane to shoot down the Squat heavy weapon teams. The rest of the army was uhh, kind of just 'winging it'. Not meant to be a pun on the plane btw :P

To see our army profile summaries for the game, go to the bottom of the page :)


Turn 1


During the Movement Phase, the Squats remained resolute in their fortress area, biding their time, preparing to shoot some Orks. The Ork bomber and tank moved forward to deliver some dangerous weaponry into the Squat forces.

The Ork Bomber dropped two bombs and fired machine guns, but didn't inflict much damage. However, the Ork's tank was more devastating. Between the two vehicles, 3 Squats with heavy weapons were slain!

The Squats fired all their guns, slaying some Orks but more notably destroying the Looted Tank which was actually a devastating blow to the greenskins!

During the Dash Phase, the Orks made a few moves in order for a new plan.


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Turn 2


At the start of the Turn in the Tactical Phase, the Ork's devastating war machine, the 'Shredator' landed on the table, threatening to assault the Squat's HQ and bodyguard. During this time, the Orks would hope to then take the center with no resistance from the Squats. After all, the gun turrets would not be able to take the objective - only the Squats could, and they couldn't do so if they were dead! So the Orks thought.

The Stormboyz and boyz with sluggas + choppas made their way to engage the Squat infantry unit. When in the Ranged Phase, the Stormboyz unloaded their single-use stikk bombs onto the gun turret (a Quad Gun), causing some damage, but not destroying it.

The Squats continued their barrage of weapon fire, while the Ork Bomber continued to pepper the heavy weapon unit and gun turret on the cliff with machine guns.

In the Dash Phase, the Orks engaged the Squats, like the Shredator attacked the Ancestor Lord and his bodyguard.

The Squat Infantry didn't take much damage, but nor did the Orks. True to their stubborn nature, the Squats were digging their heels in, so to speak.

However, the most important fight of the game was to take place. The Shredator fired up it's blades for the Melee Phase...

The Shredator had some mediocre dice rolls, but managed to fully slay 2 Exo-Suit Squats - ouch! The Ancestor Lord and his bodyguard retaliated, only JUST managing to slay the maniacal machine. Had it survived, it would likely have slain the bodyguard, and maybe the Ancestor Lord also... but in any case, the Squats had proved themselves.


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Turn 3


The Squats had kicked most of the teeth out of the Ork offensive. However, there was a bunch of boyz yet to deal with, and their Warboss, Dwarf-Eatta. In addition, if the Orks held out long enough, it could end up being a stalemate!

The Orks repositioned around the objective, while the Squat's Ancestor Lord descended from his fortress to personally assault the Orks.

During the Ranged Phase, the Orks fired some shots to damage the Ancestor Lord, reducing him to 2 HP. The Squat Heavy Weapon unit endured another hail of shots from the bomber, but the retaliation from the Squats was severe.

The Ancestor Lord called in a one use only bombardment, causing a number of Orks to perish. Combine that with support fire from turrets and the remaining heavy weapons, the Warboss was left open to attack. He survived the gunfire, but was ready to fight the Squats in hand to hand combat...

During the Melee Phase, the Warboss made some Power Klaw attacks, but only managed to half kill a bodyguard. Shortly after, the Warboss was slaughtered by the Ancestor Lord's Magma Hammers!

The situation was certainly grim for the Orks. The Squats were defending their home very well!


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Turn 4


Aware that defeat could be imminent, the Orks could only win with a lot of luck. On the other hand, the Squats were planning to wipe the Orks completely out of their home!

During this Turn, the Squats annihilated the remaining Shoota boyz, while the turtle-pace combat continued with the Stormboyz.

The last major hurdle to Squat victory had been dealt with this Turn as well - the Ork Bomba which had endured an unbelievable amount of firepower, finally crashed and burned. It's 4+ AEGIS save had served it VERY well, but the war of attrition had finally brought it down as a Magma Cannon had hurled a ball of lava into the pilots face, melting the Ork pilot as the plane crashed into the battlefield below.

The Ancestor Lord and surviving bodyguard had secured the objective, an entrance to their underground stronghold. There was almost no resistance left. Almost...


-Click Photos to Enlarge-




Turn 5


During this Turn, the Squat Infantry withdrew, taking some damage from the Stormboyz, but exposing said Orks to a large amount of gunfire. Seizing their only hope of a draw, the Stormboyz flew to the central objective, opening fire with their sluggas, but to no practical effect.

The Squats fired their last barrage of gunfire, wiping the Orks completely out!


-Click Photos to Enlarge-



With no Orks left and the objective secured, the game was most certainly... a Squat victory.




Squat Victory!


There had been several pivotal moments as to who would win the game, but sadly the Orks had fallen on their face in those situations. The Squats were victorious, and they would all drink an ale in remembrance of their fallen.


Thanks For Reading!


Thanks and hope you enjoyed this report. We played using the beta Warsurge game system, and made profiles using the Profile Creator Software.

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Share this 'batrep' with your friends who like Squats and/or Orks! In fact, feel free to share it with anyone who you think would like it :)

Here are the profiles we used (point costs omitted, Leader Perk is missing from Ancestor Lord in the summary):

M" = Move distance
D" = Dash distance
RS = Ranged Skill
MS = Melee Skill
Sz = Size
Spd = Speed
Str = Strength
Atk = Attacks
Def = Defence
HP = Hit Points
Arm = Armour Save (bypassed by AP)
AEG = AEGIS Save
Perk = Special Rules for a Unit or Weapon














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