DAEMONHUNTERS versus Orks

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Gary
Campaign: Destroy the Gargant campaign game 9
Mission: Breakout
1st turn: Orks
Points: 1500
Location: Celebes, Salazar systems, Skolarii Sector
Background: Reeling from the Ork attacks, the Daemonhunters find their escape route cut off by fast moving Ork forces and the noose closing quickly. The Daemonhunters must smash their way out of the trap or all is lost.

Well, well, well. Two losses on the bounce and suddenly Severus has his back against the wall and MUST win to keep the campaign alive. Since this was potentially the last game of the campaign we decided to up the points value to 1500 points each.

Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Severus, Master-Crafted Daemonhammer, Bolt pistol, Holocaust, Icon of the Just, Consecrated Scrolls, 2xAcolytes, Power Armour, Bolt Pistols and Close Combat Weapons, Acolyte with Laspistol and close combat weapon
• 2 Daemonhosts
• Inquisitor Kurven, Psycannon, Power armour, Emperor's Tarot, Hammerhand, Gun-servitor with plasma cannon, 2 veterans with plasma guns, 2 sages, Mystic
• Squad Matoso, 8 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, Veteran, Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon, 2x Flamers, Rhino with extra armour, hunter-killer missile, smoke
• Squad Vargas, 5 Stormtroopers, 2x Plasma Guns
• Armoured Fist Squad (inducted Imperial Guard) Sergeant, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Flamer, Chimera, Multilaser, Heavy Bolter, Smoke Launchers, hunter killer missile, heavy stubber, Searchlight
• Infantry Platoon (inducted Imperial Guard) Command squad, junior officer with power sword and plasma pistol, medic, vox caster, 2 plasma guns, Infantry squad missile launcher, grenade launcher, vox caster, Infantry squad missile launcher, grenade launcher, vox caster
• 3 Sentinels, 2 Multilasers, 1 Autocannon with extra armour and improved comms
  

Orks

• Brazhak Snitchtongue, Warboss, Mega Armour, MegaBooster, CyborkBody, 5 Brazhak Bully Boys, Nobs, Sluggers, Choppas, 'eavy Armour, 1 wartrukk, big shooter
• 16 Greengobs Slugga Boyz, 3 Rokkits, Nob, Iron Gob
• 10Tusk Sharpeye Shooter Boyz, 2 big shootas
• 5 Bang Boyz Tank Busterz, 3 rokkits
• 10 Grots, Slaver with grabber stick
• 11 Shoota boyz, 3 big shootas, Nob
• 5 Warbikes
• 3 Killer Kanz, Big shootas
• Dreadnought, 2 Rokkit Launchas
  

Terrain and deployment
This mission places the Daemonhunters in the centre of the board and the Orks in two distinct groups on either side of them. My plan was for the static elements of the Daemonhunters army, mainly the Imperial Guard, to hold the hill in the middle of the table and hold up one group of Orks while the rest of the Daemonhunters army made a break for it in the opposite direction.

This is a view from one Ork group. The Daemonhunters vehicles were all set up facing in different directions to keep the Orks guessing about which area they would try to break through.

Gary put all of his Heavy Support, in the form of the Killer Kanz and the Dreadnought, on one side of the board. The Ork Warboss' Truk can just be seen on the right of the picture. Unsurprisingly, I took my Daemonhunters in the opposite direction!

I was very confident at this early stage in the game because there were a lot of fast elements in the Daemonhunters army and I was aiming to completely overwhelm the weaker Ork flank. The Sentinels can just be seen on the left of the picture. They were to duel at range with the Killer Kanz and Dreadnought throughout the game.

The main thing I wanted to do with the Guardsmen in the centre was to shoot out the Ork Truk and leave the Warboss miles from the real action. The missile launchers missed but a grenade launcher came up trumps. This left an angry Ork in Mega-armour right in front of the units who had destroyed his ride. Gulp.

Warboss Snitchtongue got stuck into the Guardsmen with gusto but their morale held and the combat would continue, thus ensuring the Ork would be a spectator for the rest of the game. The Warbikes rounded the hill and bore down on the rhinos. In a hail of gunfire a glancing hit blew up Severus' ride and killed several of his retinue.

In the assault phase the Warbikes joined in the fight against another unit of Guardsmen, hoping to reduce the Daemonhunters fire power.

Although the bikes killed their opponents and swept out after Severus, Snitchtongue failed to break the handful of brave Guardsmen on the hill and was still stuck in combat.

All of the transports disgorged their occupants as the Daemonhunters made a now desperate dash for the board edge. The Sentinel Squadron has been reduced to a single vehicle as the Orks' own walkers have taken their toll. If the Daemonhunters can just withstand another round of shooting they might just scrape a win.

Alas, it was not to be as the Warbikes took out the second Rhino with another glancing hit and a shoota boy squad blew up the Chimera as it glanced the side armour.

With Severus' retinue being wiped out by more shoota boyz fire and the Sentinel being taken out by the Ork Dreadnought, the Daemonhunters couldn't possibly win the game. Severus did the only respectable thing and turned to face the Ork Warboss in single combat.

Severus charged in and rolled terribly for combat (three ones and two twos - maybe he tripped on his robes as he ran in) but Snitchtongue rolled just as poorly and the combat continued.

The holocaust power knocked out many of the Ork retinue and at the end of the game the Inquisitor and Warboss were still knocking lumps out of each other.

Result: Loss

Aftermath
That's it, after nine games and almost as many months - the end of the campaign! The Orks win and Gary has bragging rights until we fight another campaign.

As far as this game goes, I was robbed! We had already fought this game before earlier in the campaign and it was one of the few as Daemonhunters that I won. Their speed combined with the Orks relative lack of speed gives the Daemonhunters an advantage. That was blown away in this game when I lost two vehicles to glancing hits on the same turn. That cost me the game as not only did I lose their mobility on the tabletop, but I also lost units that could have exited the board.

It was all down to that surprisingly effective Ork shooting. The Killer Kanz and Ork Dreadnought did for the Sentinels as one after another went down to long range sniping. I just couldn't get the good rolls on the damage tables against the Kanz as once more they survived the game.

So what started off as a relatively comfortable battle for me soon descended into a desperate scramble and then a sound defeat.