Sporriors!

Summary

Sporriors – Mycetic Spore Pod-deployed Tyranid Warriors. Did I just coin a term? I googled 'Tyranid Sporriors' and it came back with 0 results so it's mine now. I suppose it’s not surprising given that very few people talk about putting warriors in a spore pod. I have posted about this combo on one or two occasions on The Hive (name is kaiserstole20) but I haven’t noticed anyone else advocating it much less coming up with a silly concatenation of the names of the component units.

Why do I think this is a great idea? I’ll be annoying and answer a question with other questions. What if you could basically guarantee that an objective will be yours no matter where it is on the board? What is that worth to you?

The tactic I use with Sporriors as old as tabletop wargaming itself – suddenly deliver an overwhelming force to a particular spot and watch your opponent cry as you take that objective or eliminate an entire unit in a single round of nerdy pretend violence.

The reason Sporriors are a perfect combo for this tactic is that the two units have great synergy. First, Warriors are great all-around infantry. Good at CC, tough as nails, and with Deathspitters quite shooty. Attach a Prime and you've got a heck of a generalist unit - cheaper, more shooty, and more durable than tactical terminators. Depending on how you configure them, they can slaughter just about any type of infantry in the game. On top of that they provide Synapse, Shadow in the Warp, and are a Troop choice in the Force Org chart. Tyranid Warriors may be the most badass and useful Troop choice in the game.

Second, Mycetic Spore Pods are an excellent delivery mechanism for Tyranids because they save them from the long run across the board. Just like drop pods it’s hard to screw up too badly because if you scatter on top of a unit or impassable terrain they will simply move to the closest ‘safe’ spot. Unlike drop pods they don't come in automatically on turn 1 - but that's a good thing. The later in the game your spore pod arrives the better for you because your opponent will have less time to react.

Unit Composition Details

What does the Warrior squad look like? Most importantly it is as close 10 models (9 warriors and a prime) as you can get it. The point is to hit a spot with overwhelming force and then have enough wounds to keep the objective for several turns if needed. 9 Warriors with a Prime is 30 wounds, 27 S5 shots, and 1 pinning large blast template (from a Barbed Strangler) appearing suddenly right next to an objective. Good luck fending them off or getting rid of them.

The Prime is a must-have. A squad of Warriors with an attached Tyranid Prime is just vicious. WS6 and BS4 with a T5 model to take the krak missile wounds... need I say more?

So with that in mind this is what I play with:

6-9 Warriors with Scything Talons and Deathspitters

0-1 Warrior with Scything Talons and Barbed Strangler

1 Tyranid Prime with 2x Boneswords and a Deathspitter

For Warriors I prefer Deathspitters and Scything Talons vs. all other configurations for a couple of reasons. First, Deathspitters are jack-of-all-trade guns. S5 lets you lay into rear armor with surprising effectiveness. Against a squadron of vehicles you will get 3 penetrating and 3 glancing hits on average. That’s enough to do serious damage if not wipe out the squadron. It also lets you wound T4 better than ½ the time which is important vs. power armor since they will get a save. Scything Talons are just cheap. Free in fact. Against lightly armored or non-cc dedicated troops scything talons are enough. The only thing I might take here is rending claws for a few points more. For me though with 9 warriors to outfit I skip the rending claws.

For the Prime I like 2 Boneswords and a Deathspitter. The Deathspitter gives him something to do when he lands and the 2x Boneswords are multi-wound model killers. Others advocate the Bonesword/Lashwhip combo. Between the two it's a matter of personal preference.

You have probably already started thinking about what a point-sink that unit must be. It's about the same as a full squad of Sternguard and Pedro.

How to Deploy

You’ll do well against just about any troop choice in the game if you drop right next to them, shoot at them, then either take the charge or charge yourself the next turn. However if you’d like to talk strategery there’s some other options you have.

Here’s one example v.s. Sternguard. Since you cannot assault straight from the spore pod, drop your warriors between 13" and 18" away. At this distance 1) they can't charge you; 2) they get 1 shot; 3) you get 3 shots! Trust me, even against Sternguard with their fancy ammunition and 2 heavy weapons you want a firefight.

If the Marine player is smart his Sternguard/Devastators are sitting in cover. Since you don't have frag grenades he's feeling pretty confident. But the math doesn't lie - you win the firefight. Heck, you'll take out 4-5 of them before they can fire back. That could be an entire squad.

Even Sternguard bolters and special ammunition just can't get much done against Tyranid Warriors with T4, 4+ save, and 3 wounds. Remember that the Prime can take the lascannons to the face and uh oh... You will wipe out his squad in about 2 rounds while having plenty of wounds to camp on that objective.

As stated earlier though - the most straightforward deployment style will work great against most opponents.

Even More Dire

The Dire Avengers are done...including an Exarch with Twin Shuriken Catapults (Assault 4, bitches!) and Bladestorm, a power that gives everyone in the mob squad +1 shot (may not fire on subsequent turn while they reload).

Next up: The Wave Serpent they rode in on.

Da Orks!

Here's what 3,400+ points of Orks looks like, all on their new display shelf:

 

Seriously Dire - Seriously Avenging

I didn't go overboard with these guys. As per recommendations from dakka, I used a black undercoat, painted them Regal Blue, then drybrushed in two stages, first with Ultramarine Blue then with Ice Blue. Eventually I decided that a final stage of additional Ice Blue highlights was necessary. I'm not thrilled with how the helmets turned out, but in the end a simple skull white without highlights looks the most striking.

I have five more to paint, including the Exarch.

I'll need two squads of 10 in the end, mounted up in Wave Serpents. The Serpents will roll up to the bad guys and spin, the Avengers jump out and Bladestorm.

I'm a little sketchy on what they do after that. I figure it's either "high fives all around" or "horrible, unspeakable death."

Da New Projekt!

Actually, I guess I should start using proper English now...

Eldar War Walker with Scatter Laser and Starcannon. 

Fear it! Or not. Actually, it's only Armor 10, so you would be justified in a more measured reaction. Moderate concern, maybe.

More shots:

From this angle he looks slightly drunk. Well, maybe Eldar don't get drunk. They're much more epic. Everything they do is laden with drama. We'll say he's teetering upon the precipice of self-annihilation. You know - if his sponsor is asking.

The reality: these things are really hard to position.

Starcannon side.

The Green is Yellow Olive from the Reaper range, highlighted with Bleached Olive (also Reaper). The rest is Citadel range; Chaos Black, and Desert Yellow over Iyanden Darksun. Highlights to the yellow are Bleached Bone. The gems are Mechrite Red with highlights of Blazing Orange and Skull White. Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out.

Scatter Laser side.

The original idea was to have a Craftworld that used camouflage; a kind of Exodite-Craftworld mix of sensibilities. In the end I decided on a more conservative approach of a segmented color scheme. I think it suits the Eldar architecture better. Camo would have looked too Imperial Guard-y.

Bird's-eye view.

Next up: Dire Avengers!

Orks Vs. Necrons: 2,000 points, April 30

Forces

Waaaagh Kountzazghaz (D'Ork)

HQ
WarLord Kountzazghaz (counts as Ghazghull Mak Uruk Thraka) (in the Blood Axe Battlewagon)
Big Mek Lootzit - Kustom Force Field, cybork, attack squig (in the black Battlewagon)

Elites
None

Troops
9 Nobs - all with cybork bodies. 2 have powerklaws. 1 has a powerklaw and a bosspole. One upgraded to a painboy with a grot orderly
18 Deathskull slugga boys - one upgraded to nob with powerklaw and bosspole (in Blood Axe Battlewagon with Ghaz)
19 Snakebite slugga boys - one upgraded to nob with powerklaw and bosspole (in black Battlewagon with Big Mek)
12 Goff slugga Boyz - one upgraded to nob with powerklaw and bosspole. All in a trukk with a ram
12 Evil Sunz slugga Boyz - one upgraded to nob with powerklaw and bosspole. All in a trukk with a ram

Fast Attack
4 Deff Koptas with rokkits
2 Warbuggies with rokkits
15 Stormboyz - one upgraded to nob with powerklaw and bosspole.

Heavy Support
Blood Axe Battlewagon with ram and two big shootaz
black Battlewagon with ram and two big shootaz
Looted Wagon with big shoota
_______________________________________________________

The Necrons (Necronoob)

HQ
Destroyer Lord with Chromatron, Lightning Field (leading the scarabs)
Lord with Resurrection Orb, Veil of Darkness (leading the Immortals)

Elites
1 squad of Immortals (8)

Troops
2 squads of Warriors (15 each)

Fast Attack
4 Destroyers
4 Destroyers
1 squad of 9 scarabs

Heavy Support
Monolith
2 Heavy Destroyers

The Battlefield:

Each square is six inches on a side, so this is a 4' by 8' table. That's a swamp in the lower left, a large hill topped with an altar in the center, trees on a hill in the top right, and ruins in the bottom right.

The Mission:

Implacable Advance, a Necron mission selected at random from the Necron and Ork missions in the Battle Missions book.

Forces set up the long-way down the board. This was significant because the table is 4x8, not the more usual 4x6. Splitting the table into thirds as per the scenario, we ended up being 32" apart, not the standard 24". So this helped the Necrons. But the setup also constrained his fast, flanking Destroyer units, so that helped the Orks. Objectives were placed in the middle of each 1/3 table portion. Each army began with possession of the objective on their own side, and the middle objective was open. The Necrons were forced to deploy first.

Rolling off, D'Ork was allowed to select the deployment zones, choosing the left side of the map for the Orks, because its more open arrangement gave me more room for vehicles, and it denied the Necrons the use of the top-left hill, which would have made an excellent fire base for Warriors.

Deployment:

Necronoob deployed his Warriors in the center with the Monolith behind them. The scarabs were left of center, and one unit of Destroyers was on either flank. The two Heavy Destroyers were on the right flank. The Immortals and the teleporting Lord was placed to the rear.

For the Orks, D'Ork deployed the Stormboyz across the center and right of the army in a line. On the right the Koptas and the buggies deployed. The Goff trukk was to the far left, next to Gazzy and his boyz in the Blood Axe Wagon. The nobs in their Looted Wagon were next to him, and the second battlewagon with boyz and the big mek was in the center. The last trukk was on the right, behind the Koptas. (Those are .40-caliber rounds demarcating the deployment zone, by the way).

Prior to Turn 1, the Koptas took their scout move, taking pains to stay within 6" of the KFF-carrying battlewagon.

D'Ork failed to Seize the Initiative, so the first turn went to Necronoob.

Necron Turn 1

Bwa-ha!

The first Destroyer group and Heavy Destroyers slide forward to take out Wagons. The northern Warrior squad (first squad) began to march towards the hill, southern Warrior squad (second squad) stood its ground. The scarabs and Destroyer Lord move to the base of the center hill and the Monolith also crept up. The Immortals and their Lord teleported across the field and into the northwestern corner of the table, behind the Goff trukk - sticking the landing like a Romanian gymnast.

In the shooting phase, the Immortals open fire at the rear of the Goff trukk scoring 3 penetrating hits and 4 glances, wrecking the trukk and killing 3 of the Goffs. In what has become an alarming trend, the Heavy Destroyers miss the Blood Axe battlewagon by both rolling "1"s. 

D'oh.

However, the Destroyers score 2 glances, stunning the crew. The second group of Destroyers fire on the Koptas, scoring only one wound due to a combination of poor rolling and the KFF.

There is no close combat.

Ork Turn 1

The Stormboyz move forward towards the middle objective. The Koptas and buggies race forward towards the second Destroyers squad on the right, while the Evil Sunz trukk and the central battlewagon advance to the base of the center hill. The Looted Wagon moves forward and takes position at the base of the main hill, out of sight of the first Destroyer squad and the Heavy Destroyers.

Charge!

In the shooting phase, only the goffs, Koptas and buggies have targets. The Koptas return fire on the second Destroyers downing 3, forcing them to take a morale check (which they pass). The Goffs fire on the Immortals and the Necron Lord, but do not cause any wounds, then assault them wounding 3, but losing 4 in return. The resulting moral check and bosspole re-check are failed and the remaining Goffs are caught in a sweeping advance. This was D'Ork's first lesson in the frailty of unsupported, 12-man mobs.

Hmmm - the warboss said this would work...

So Necronoob is down three Destroyers and three Immortals, while D'Ork's Goffs have been wiped out, Trukk included. Not a bad turn for the Orks - assuming the Necrons stay down.

Necron Turn 2

The Necrons start their turn with We'll Be Back rolls. The 2 of the 3 downed Immortals and one Destroyer get back up, the remaining two Destroyers and the Immortal are removed.

Aha! They can be killed! (sort of...)

In the movement phase the Lord detaches from the Immortals and teleports back to the Necron side of the board landing within 6 inches of the second Warrior group and narrowly missing landing on a fence. The Immortals shift to get a better view of the Blood Axe battlewagon and the Looted Wagon. The two remaining Destroyers from the second squad take up a position behind fences. The Scarabs and Destroyer Lord start the climb up the hill towards the middle objective. 

Shooting begins with the Heavy Destroyers firing again on the Blood Axe battlewagon, scoring one hit which fails to glance. Then first Destroyer squad fire on the battlewagon scoring two glances, resulting in crew stunned and destroying a weapon. The Immortals then try their hand at the battlewagon scoring two glances and one penetrating hit, finally immobilizing it. The Monolith fires the whip at the remaining Evil Sunz trukk - the shot deviates, but manages to catch the trukk and the black Battlewagon, immobilizing the trukk and stunning the black Battlewagon. The Destroyers fire on the Koptas, downing one of them; the Warriors take down two more. The remaining Kopta is wounded and makes a run for it.

So much for Orky air superiority.

The Destroyer Lord fires on the Stormboyz, downing two before charging into CC with them. 

In close combat, the Lord strikes first killing another Stormboy. The scarabs and remaining Stormboyz strike simultaneously, resulting in the loss of one scarab base and reduction of one base to 1 wound. The scarab attack and resulting lightning field strikes bring down 4 more boyz. A failed moral check and bosspole re-try later, the Stormboyz are caught in a sweeping advance, much to the surprise of both players. This was D'Ork's second lesson on what happens when small Ork mobs are asked to fend for themselves.

Not shown: 15 Ork corpses.

Ork Turn 2

Things are definitely not going D'Ork's way here. With two mobs wiped out, the Koptas all dead or running, and Gazzy and company stuck in the rear, he knows that the game is turning against him. But he can save the game by catching the only two Necron scoring units on the board - the Warriors. Without scoring units, the Necrons can only contest objectives, not take them.

And so, D'Ork begins his turn by calling down the Waaagh. The Looted Wagon moves forward onto the center hill and unloads the nobs who charge towards the northern squad of Necron Warriors. Ghazghull and the boyz get out of the Blood Axe battlewagon and start to make their way up the hill. The black Battlewagon makes its way onto the center hill and unloads the big mek and Snakebites, who advance to the center objective. The Evil Sunz leave the trukk and head towards the southern Necron Warrior squad. The remaining Kopta continues to bravely flee.

When in doubt, a gentleman should always Waagh.

In the shooting phase the Nobs fire into the first group of Necron Warriors hitting two, but both pass their armor saves. The Looted Wagon holds off on firing its scorcha to avoid hitting the Nobs (MISTAKE! – the Wagon weapon was changed to a big shoota just before the game). The black battlewagon and the warbuggies all fire at the southern Necron Warrior squad, but everybody misses, twin-linked be damned. The Evil Sunz also fire at them, finally putting down two.

In the assault phase, the Nobs assault the northern Warrior squad, knocking down in 7 Warriors (2 of which, slapped by Power Klaws, are removed). In return, 1 Nob dies and a second is wounded. The Necrons lose the fight but pass their morale check. The Snakebites with Big Mek assault the scarabs and Destroyer Lord. The boyz lose 2 to the Necron Lord and 2 to the scarabs, but wipe the hill clean of the scarabs and down the Destroyer Lord. The Evil Sunz attempt assault of the southern Necron Warrior squad, but in a massive example of fail, they kill only 1 Necron before getting badly beaten and overrun! [D'Ork: So, OK, I get it - small, unsupported mobs are the suck. Fine.]

Rather than wiping out both warrior squads the way he had hoped, D'Ork does serious damage to one, but inflicts only one casualty on the southern squad before losing yet another mob. The destruction of the scarabs is a poor consolation prize. And Necronoob still has tricks up his sleeve...

Necron Turn 3

WBB rolls bring 3 of the 5 Necrons from the northern Warrior squad, the Destroyer Lord and one of the southern Warriors back. Movement starts with the Monolith teleporting the northern Necron Warrior squad through the portal, and whaddya know, the remaining 2 Warriors make their WBB re-roll.  [Goddamnit so much...] The Necron Lord moves to join the southern Necron Warrior squad and the two remaining Destroyers from the southern squad take up a position behind fences. The Heavy Destroyers move forward to put some distance between them and the Nobs and the northern Destroyer group repositions to get a better angle on the Nobs and the Deathskullz.

The shooting phase opens with the northern Necron Warrior group firing on the Nobs, causing 10 wounds and killing 5. This happened because D'Ork rolled this:

New theory: It isn't personal - the Dice Gods hate 40K.

The northern Destroyer squad fires at Ghazghull’s Deathskullz, killing 4 boyz. The Heavy Destroyers fire on the Looted Wagon, hitting once and immobilizing it. The southern Warriors and the Destroyer group fires on the buggies, stunning one and immobilizing the other. The Destroyer Lord fires at the Snakebites, missing all three shots, before heading into CC.

In the assault phase, the Destroyer Lord charges into the Snakebite line, killing 2 before falling to the Big Mek's boyz (power klaw - no WBB).

Ork Turn 3

The Snakebites start back down the hill towards the first Necron Warrior squad. Thanks to a bad Difficult Terrain roll, they don't get far. The Deathskullz move to the top of the hill to lay claim to the middle objective. The Nobs move east towards the Monolith and the Necron objective. The Blood Axe battlewagon, the nob wagon, and the buggies are stunned, and the Kopta continues to run.

The Nobs assault the Necron Warriors in front of the Monolith and this time are much more successful, wiping them from the board and losing only one in the process. The Snakebites may not assault because they ran.

Necron Turn 4

The southern Necron Warrior squad, joined by the Lord, promptly teleport near the objective on the Ork side of the board. As usual, they hit unerringly. D'Ork's chance to catch this squad and kill it has passed. If even one of the Evil Sunz had survived, the squad would have been locked in combat, and the Lord would not have been allowed to join them (and thus teleport out). Bah!

Goddamnit so much, Part II.

The remaining Destroyers and Heavy Destroyers reposition themselves to take shots at the three wagons (Blood Axe wagon, Black Battlewagon, and the Nob Looted Wagon). The Immortals stand fast.

In the shooting phase, the concentrated fire of the Immortals, Destroyers, and Heavy Destroyers manages to shake, stun, and/or immobilize their targets. The Monolith lashes out at the rapidly advancing Orks, destroying one ork buggy, immobilizing the other, downing 4 Snakebites (Morale passed) and wounding one Nob with the flux arc.

There is no close combat for the turn.

Ork Turn 4

The Deathskulls continue their charge up the hill towards the central objective. The Nobz mob and the Snakebitez move towards the Monolith. Everything else in the Ork Army is dead or immobilized.  On a positive note, the Kopta pilot regains his nerve and heads to defend the Ork objective.

In the shooting phase, teh Kopta fires at the Necron warriors and misses, the warbuggy fires at the Monolith, doing nothing to its thick armor. The only assault is at the Monolith, where both the Nobz and the Snakebites charge in, attempting to destroy the evil monument with their power klaws. [Here came the game's only rules dispute, as Necronoob and D'Ork try to determine how the Monolith's Living Metal special rule (which limits the armor penetration and strength bonuses of attacks against the 'lith) interacts with the Power Klaw and the Furious Charge rule. We decide to give the Orks the doubled strength of the PK, but not the +1 Strength of the Furious Charge. For future reference, a careful reading of the rules, a review of the Necron FAQ's, and consultation with GW Fairfax indicates that the Orks should have received both the x2 str of the PK and the +1 of the Furious Charge.] The Orks get lucky, and immobilize the Monolith. At Strength 8, that's the best result they can hope for.

Necron Turn 5

The teleported Necron squad, with the Lord, approaches the western objective previously held by the Orks and siezes it. The Immortals move alongside them.

The shooting phase starts off with the flux arc again hitting the Snakebites and killing 2 more.  The Nobs lose a another wound to the arc and the immobilized buggy is destroyed.    The Destroyers fire on the Nobs, finishing off the wounded Nob and the Heavy Destroyers miss...again [Necronoob: "advanced targeting system my ass..."].  Lastly, in what could only be described as gross overkill brought on by the frustration of a Necronoob tactical mistake, the teleported Necron warriors and the Immortals both fire on the only available target, the previously wounded Kopta.   An impressive 19 wounds later, the Kopta is turned into green confetti as it fails its saves... (Yes, I know the first wounds should have been resolved prior to the second squad firing, but this was more fun....)

Ork Turn 5

The Snakebitez and the Nobz, abandoning their futile efforts to destroy the Monolith, begin the mad scramble towards the eastern (Necron) objective. The Nobs notice that the Destroyers had gotten too close and charge, and wipe them out, suffering only one wound in the battle and head off towards the Heavy Destroyers in the consolidation move.Rolling a 1, the scenario says we play another turn.

Necron Turn 6

The Necron Lord and the Immortals teleport to try to defend the Necron objective, deviating (for the first time in the game), but D'Ork's celebration is cut short when it is noticed that the deviation dice showed a 1 and a 2.  D'Ork shakes his head...  The Heavy Destroyers move to avoid the Nobs, but are unable to draw a bead on the Snakebites due to the immobilized monolith.

In the shooting phase, the Necrons previously impeccable rolling turns to an epic fail.  The monolith fires the arc again, but only manages two shots - both miss.  The Immortals open fire on the Snakebites, killing two, but failing to wipe out the Ork threat.  The Heavy Destroyers fire on the Nobs and miss, again.

Ork Turn 6

The remaining Snakebite and the heavily wounded Big Mek capture the Necron objective.  The remaining Nobs continue to chase the Heavy Destroyers, and Ghazghull sits comfortably on the center hill awaiting the end of the game.  Typical boss.

Necron Turn 7

Rolling a 4, the game is over! With the Orks in possession of two objectives and the Necrons holding the third, the game goes to the Orks.

After Action Report

D'Ork:

This was my first time loading up all the boyz into trukks and wagons and hurling them at my foe. I usually use a wagon or two (see the other Battle Reports), but they're always backed up with a few 30-strong, footslogging boyz mobs that can take a few hits and keep on rolling. I was shocked to see two mobs of trukk boyz bounce off their enemies and break on two separate occasions - even when they had the opportunity to assault! In both cases the Necrons absorbed the charge like champs thanks to their 3+ save, and slew a handful of boyz thanks to their Strength and the lousy Ork armor. In both cases it was enough to make the brittle, 12-man mobs run. These units really have to be used in tandem in order to work, which requires better coordination on my part. Of course, with Necronoob teleporting all over the board like a madman, that's easier said than done. 

Losing the 15-man Stormboyz mob was even more brutal - those kids are 12 points a pop! I've seen scarabs tarpit a Killa Kan before, but watching them rout the Stormboyz was disheartening.  By the beginning of my second turn, I has lost two mobs completely, the Koptas were in full retreat, and Gazzy and his boyz were stuck in the back. And even when I thought I had found a winning strategy - kill the Warriors - it didn't really work. One slipped away back to the Monolith and the other managed to hook up with the Lord and grab the western objective via Veil of Darkness - exactly the result I was trying to avoid. In the end it turned into a mad scramble for objectives that could have gone either way, not exactly a glorious victory. 

Boy, do the Necrons need a new codex - only one troop choice, with no Nob-like squad leader and no special or heavy weapons? Overall an excellent game!

Necronoob:

I second the need for a new codex, but my downfall was not due to the warriors, but being late implementing my strategy.  The monolith was supposed to move back to the objective, thus forcing D'Ork to destroy it before he could claim the objective.  Unfortunately, the monolith was immobilized before I could get back and while I killed most of the advancing Orks, I did not get them all.  The surrender of the middle objective and the veil to the Ork objective went as planned but I have to admit I had no idea that the scarabs could be as effective as they where.  Had the monolith made it back, or I had gotten a little better rolling in round 6's shooting phase things may have been different but then again 40K is littered with things that could have been with a little better luck with the dice.  Overall, I find satisfaction in a game well played, but still would have liked to have just one roll back..... Well played D'Ork.

Orks Vs. Necrons: 1,500 points, December 12, 2009

The map is shown below. Objectives are red dots. Green dots are trees. The brown ovals are hills, the central feature is a swamp, the grey box with two posts is an altar, and the long thin grey lines are fences. The mission: capture a majority of the three objectives on the board at the end of four turns.

Necronoob won the roll for the side selection (boxcars!) and chose the south side, with the two small hills. He then proceeded to win the deployment roll, and opted to deploy and move second.

D'Ork's deployment is shown below:

The two wagons deployed to the right, with a long line of bad moon shoota boyz in the center. To the left is a Trukk filled with Nobz, ready to charge up the hill. I felt pretty good about this arrangement, since the Kustom Force Field (KFF) in the inside wagon was protecting itself, the other wagon, and all of the Bad Moonz. The only risk was the nobz. They were already getting the short end of the stick, what with being stuck in a Trukk instead of a wagon - and now they were alone on the left flank, without KFF support. I was heartened by the fact that they would at least get to move before Necronoob's guns hit them. The Bad Moonz could support everyone from the center, and protect my middle from teleporting Necron warriors. The wagons could move through the relatively open right side towards the objective there, assuming they got past the fences. This setup basically gave the far left objective in the forest to Necronoob.

Necron deployment:

Necronoob deploys a massive 18-man Necron unit led by his Lord to his right, screened by scarabs. Two 10-man warrior units deploy, one to his center and another on his left. All of the Destroyers - two 3-man squads, one Heavy Destroyer, and a Destroyer Lord - all deploy to his far left.

Below is a shot of the map with everyone ready to go, and Agnes wondering what the hell she's gotten into:

Ork Turn 1:

Predictably, the Orks roll forward en masse. All three vehicles pass their dangerous terrain tests, rolling over fences and hills. We decide that the fences are destroyed. The Deathskullz, led by the Warboss, disembark from their wagon and run towards the necrons. The Goffs in the second wagon bide their time, deciding to let the Deathskullz take the brunt of the Necron firepower. The Nobz jump out of their trukk and bravely cower behind the hill with the objective. With the main hill slowing them down, the Bad Moonz are forced to run just to keep pace. With so much movement, there is no gunfire, and no necrons are harmed in the making of this turn.

Another look:

In the bottom of Turn 1, the Necrons respond:

So much for "protecting [the Ork] middle from teleporting Necron warriors." They do it anyway, and stick the landing again, directly behind the Bad Moonz. The other warrior units all move forward, and the Destroyer Lord moves toward the Deathskullz. The other Destroyers, including the Heavy, move to outflank the Ork right side and get shots on the soft side armor of the wagons.

Another shot (that's Agnes' Dalek from Doctor Who in the foreground, looking over the battle):

Necronoob's teleported warriors unload on the Bad Moonz, handing out 17 wounds to the 30-man mob. But - for the first time in Ork history - the KFF makes itself useful, saving 7 of them from certain death. One unit of Destroyers unloads on the Deathskullz, killing plenty despite the KFF. The Heavy Destroyer nails the closest wagon, and the KFF fails, but the Orks get lucky and he doesn't penetrate the wagon side armor of 12. The other Destroyer unit also goes for the wagon, and gets six hits. Needing a 4+ for KFF saves, D'Ork does this:

That's three 5's and three 6's. No way to plan for that. KFF rules!

The warriors on Necronoob's right side fire on the Trukk, stunning it. The Destroyer Lord on Necronoob's left flank opens up on the Deathskullz, and charges them. The Deathskullz manage to knock down the Destroyer Lord, and then pass their casualty LD check, thanks to the Warboss. [MISTAKE! The Deathskulls should have taken their shooting-casualty Ld check immediately after the Shooting Phase, before the assault, see rulebook page 44. In this case it didn't matter, because they passed anyway. But if they had failed and fallen back, the Destroyer Lord assault may not have happened, and/or they could have been routed. A unit can be forced to take two LD checks in a turn if they suffer shooting casualties of 25% or more, and then lose an assault.] They use their consolidation move to get closer to the nearby warriors.

Ork Turn 2:

D'Ork fails a 4+ roll to bring the Kommandoes in from reserve. The nobz adjust their position slightly to continue hiding, but otherwise remain in place. On D'Ork's right, one wagon shifts to cover the nearby objective, and the Warboss and his remaining Deathskullz charge the nearby warriors. That assault turns into a push, with two Orks and two Necrons falling.

In the center, the Bad Moonz spin on their heels to deal with the teleported warriors, and the Goff's wagon-driver throws it into reverse, spilling his charges and the Big Mek into the fight. Gunfire from the two wagons fails to do anything, and even the concentrated firepower of the Bad Moonz and the Goffs only knocks over two Necrons. The resulting assault became the pivotal battle of the game.

The Lord has Gaze of Flame, that eliminates the Ork charge bonus, but through sheer numbers and Furious Charge, the Orks manage to knock over all but one warrior and the Lord with their attacks. The Orks lose two boyz in return, thanks to the Lord's Lightning Field. The Necrons lose the assault and fail their morale check (it would have required snake eyes on 2d6), and then move only 5" in their fall back. The Necrons are "Trapped!" [see rulebook page 45] and destroyed. [MISTAKE! D'Ork forgot to take his consolidation move for the Goffs and the Bad Moonz]. 


Necron Turn 2:

Here Necronoob takes his WBB rolls. One of the dead warriors facing the Warboss gets back up, and the Destroyer Lord rises. But critically, the Necron Lord and his Resurrection Orb do not make their 4+ roll, and as a result neither do any members of his large warrior squad. The result:

The Heavy Destroyer shoots for the far wagon, but misses. The Destroyer Lord and one Destroyer squad shoot and assault the Deathskulls, killing off the last boy and the nob, and leaving only the boss. The other Destroyer squad assaults the nearby wagon, stunning it with their shots but failing to damage it in close combat. The warrior squad on Necronoob's right moves around the hill a bit and takes aim at the trukk, stunning it again.

Ork Turn 3:

D'Ork kicks off the turn by again failing to bring the Kommandoes in from reserve, even tho he only needs a 3+. Calling down the WAAAGH, the Goffs double-time it to help the assaulted wagon. The Morkolith (black wagon) and the Bad Moonz fire at the Heavy Destroyer, but the Heavy makes his armor saves. The nobz hold their ground, and the Warboss is still locked in combat.

Before the assault phase begins, Necronoob decides that the Destroyers in combat with the wagon and the Goffs would be lost, and concedes the game. His warrior squad on the hill would have fallen back to the third, unclaimed objective. The Goffs would have rolled forward to finish off the few remaining warriors on  D'Ork's right, and the Bad Moonz would have sat on the objective near them; the nobz would have continued to sit on their objective, for a final score of 2 to 1 - a marginal Ork victory.