DAEMONHUNTERS versus Orks

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Gary
Campaign: Destroy the Gargant campaign game 8
Mission: Relief Force
1st turn: Orks
Points: 1000
Location: Celebes, Salazar systems, Skolarii Sector
Background: Driven away from the Gargant by its guards, the Daemonhunters take refuge in the sprawling Ork encampment and vox for reinforcements from their reserves. Help is on its way, but the Daemonhunters must hold out until they can arrive.

So I failed at my previous attempt to trigger the Terminate the Daemonhost scenario and this relief force mission would be my second chance. If the Daemonhunters won, they could go on to try and end the campaign with a positive result. If they lost the Daemonhunters would be in serious danger of losing the whole campaign.

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
• Death cult assassin
• 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, 5 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, Veteran, Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon, 2x Flamer
• Squad Seralvo, 5 Storm troopers, 2x grenade launchers
• Squad Godirtho, 5 Storm troopers, 2x melta guns
• Squad Vargas, 5 Stormtroopers, 2x Plasma Guns, Veteran Sergeant with Plasma pistol, Auspex
• Orbital barrage, Barrage Bomb
  

Orks

• Brazhak Snitchtongue Warboss, Mega Armour, MegaBooster, CyborkBody, 5 Brazhak Bully Boys, Nobs, Sluggas, Choppas, Wartrukk, big shoota
• 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
• 3 Killer Kanz, Big shootas
• Dreadnought, 2 Rokkit Launchas

Terrain and deployment
The Relief force mission called for the Daemonhunters to start the game with their HQ, Troop and Heavy Support options in the objective building, with the rest of their army in reserve. The Orks could then set up their entire army anywhere on the board more than 18" away from the objective. The attacking Orks would capture the building if they had models inside and there were no defending models left in the building. The game was to last a variable number of turns.


As you can see, all of the Stormtrooper squads began in the building. Inquisitor lord Severus also started off in there, on the ground floor. The Orks can be seen at the top of the picture, already worryingly close and the game has even begun yet! In particular, the Killer Kanz and Dreadnought are making a bee-line for the building.

The view from the top of the hill. Two units of Shoota Boyz are ready to unleash a hail of fire into the defenders.

The game

The Orks take the first turn and move in on the beleaguered defenders. Many of the Stormtroopers will be shot down by Big Shootas. Squad Vargas is reduced to just two models.

The thinned down Daemonhunters strike back with a meltagun shot from Squad Godirtho taking down the Dreadnought. The Ork Bang Boyz can be seen on the left with 3 Rokkits while on the right the Greengob Slugga Boyz advance behind a Grot screen.

Turn two begins with another bold move from Warboss Snitchtongue as he barrels forward in his Trukk and disembarks right in front of the building. The rest of the Orks manoeuvre for position and riddle the defenders with fire. Squad Vargas is wiped out and Squad Seralvo now have just two survivors.
The turn goes from bad to worse for the Stormtroopers as Squad Godirtho is charged by the Ork Warboss and wiped out.

The Orks consolidate into Severus' squad to continue the carnage, but in the next assault phase the Orks go from this...

...to this. Stormtrooper Squad Matoso assaulted in (with their veteran sergeant with a power weapon) to help out Severus. Most of Severus' retinue is killed and all but one of the Nobz accompanying Snitchtongue go down too.

Elsewhere on the battlefield the Daemonhunter reserves begin arriving. On the left here, Kurven has arrived to give some covering fire but he is quickly swamped by Greenskins as the Trukk and Killer Kanz are diverted to deal with him. That could be messy. On the right the two Daemonhosts have emerged from the Warp and are facing off against the Slugga Boyz and Grots.

The Greengob Slugga Boyz abandon their Grot screen and get stuck in to the Daemonhosts. Although the Greenskins are winning the battle easily on victory points, are their units being too easily distracted from the objective?

Warboss Snitchtongue is taken out by Severus! The last Nob goes down soon after and that leaves the objective building in Daemonhunter hands. The Orks need to redeploy quickly as just one surviving Daemonhunter model in the building at the end of the game would win them the game.

The Killer Kanz move in on the building having dealt with Inquisitor Kurven. They are assaulted by the assassin emerging from reserve who desperately tries to slow them down but he is quickly snipped in two.

Severus and the survivors from Squad Matoso draw up onto the upper floors to keep away from the advancing Killer Kanz.

The Greengob Slugga Boyz are still trapped in a stalemate with the Daemonhosts. It is unlikely now that either unit will play any further part in the game.

The Killer Kanz make it into the building and launch an assault upon Severus and the Stormtroopers. The game will be decided in this one combat.

Unsurprisingly, the Killer Kanz prove to be the bane of Severus and his Daemonhunters as they clear the objective building and win the game for the Orks.

Result: Loss

Aftermath
This was a tight game, only being decided in the last close combat phase. Predictably it was the Killer Kanz who were the game winners yet again. They soaked up a lot of Daemonhunter shooting (for one immobilised result), killed Inquisitor Kurven and his retinue, a death cult assassin and then Inquisitor Lord Severus himself. They are especially deadly in these Cityfight missions when they can deploy 18" away from the enemy. That makes them an immediate threat and the Daemonhunters simply don't have the shooting or assault elements to deal with them effectively.

The Orks almost had the game in the bag on turn two when they had a good round of shooting followed by Snitchtongue's assault on the building. If the Orks had taken down Severus (and they maybe should have) the Daemonhunters would have been in all sorts of trouble. Fortunately the Inquisitor survived and he instigated a sterling fightback.

The Daemonhunter reserve elements arrived and tied up several Ork units, pulling them away from their real objective, the central building. With Severus, a formidable opponent actually on the objective, the balance had swung back in the Daemonhunters favour.

Now the Orks had to scramble to kick him out of the building and only some good difficult terrain rolls and that final, all important, round of close combat decided the game.

So, another loss for the Daemonhunters and that is very bad news. The campaign loops back around to a desperate breakout attempt by the Daemonhunters, and if they lose once more the entire campaign will be over.