Manos Campaign Prelude: Deffsplode's Doom

[Formerly Wu]

Deffsplode's Doom

This is a short series of games played as a "warm-up" for our upcoming campaign; pitting the 18th Ricochet "Crashlanders" vs WAAAAAGH! Shinbash. We're going heavy on narrative for this one, so sit back and enjoy.

Part 1: Worse than Suicide

The sky across the bay was still a roiling mass of sickly green clouds and electricity. Lt. Rosalyn Seung, 18th Ricochet "Crashlanders," commander of what little remained of 2nd Company, watched it for as long as she could out the door of the Valkyrie AAC before it disappeared behind the shattered spires of a now-nameless hive.

The evacuation should be well underway by now, she thought to herself. The sudden appearance of Warboss Deffsplode's "Sploda-Stompas" had taken the Expeditionary Force's Fifth Detachment by complete surprise. Powered by giant, unstable warp vortices, these walking fortresses unleashed a hellish detonation when their hulls were breached, breaking the boundaries between reality and the Immaterium for miles around. Entire swathes of the planet's surface were now uninhabitable wastelands. While surely hilarious to the rampaging greenskins, they had forced Commandant Tiles to retreat all available forces from the Kallik Isthmus to retrench and await for the longer-ranged artillery with which to bring the hideous mechanical beasts down.

And yet here the Crashlanders were, jetting far into Ork territory, with no support and only the barest reconnaissance reports of a orkish kill kroozer under construction to guide them. At first, Rosalyn had assumed it was punishment detail; someone higher up in the brass who rankled at Col. Shay's subordinate leanings and gung-ho tactics finally getting their payback during the chaos of the retreat. But something about Leon's attitude concerned her. His usual bemused, devil-may-care attitude had sharpened into a wicked grin and a manic gleam in the eye. His mission briefing had been terse and full of unspoken energy, and he had lingered for a strangely long time on a holopict of a particularly large and nasty-looking greenskin. She had known the Colonel for almost as long as anyone in the regiment, and she knew what that meant: Leon was out for blood. Whether it was personal or just more mad Ricochet battle lust, she couldn't tell.

Emperor protect us, she sighed as she fingered the scar along her ear. Sometimes I wonder if following that man isn't worse than suicide.

The Valkyrie banked, and suddenly she could see a massive, ramshackle structure, bulging with mismatched engines and weapon batteries. The size of it took her breath away, and even in the predawn light, every surface swarmed with movement. She could almost hear the howls of the greenskins below, like an angry hive of insects stirred up by a stick.

She tapped Sgt. Lenius on the shoulder and indicated his raucous squad, who were too engaged in a tumultuous game of sunder-sticks to notice. "Let the boys know we're on final approach, sergeant. I wouldn't want to have to prep their arms myself."


The game was 1500 points Seize Ground, with Spearhead deployment.

GUARD LIST - 18th Ricochet "Crashlanders"

My list was my standard Air Cav, with a secret weapon: a Forge World Vulture, armed with a twin-linked Punisher cannon!

HQ

Company Command Squad with Regimental Standard, Carapace Armor, Heavy Flamer, Vox
Lt. Col. Leon Shay (Colonel Straken)

Troops

First Platoon
Platoon Command Squad with Plasma Gun
2x Infantry Squad with Grenade Launcher
2x Autocannon HWT
1x Missile Launcher HWT
Veteran Squad with 3x Meltagun, Vox
Veteran Squad with 2x Plasma Gun, 1x Meltagun, Vox
Veteran Squad with Shotguns, 3x Flamers, and Demolitions doctrine, Vox

Fast Attack

2x Valkyries with Hellstrike Missiles
2x Valkyries with Hellstrike Missiles

Heavy Support

Vulture with TL Punisher Cannon


ORK LIST - WAAAAAAGH! SHINBASH

HQ

Warboss Shinbash, with Powerklaw, Bosspole and Cybork Body
Big Mek Guv, with Kustim Force Field

Elites

10x nobs with Mad Dok, 3x powerklaw, 2x Big Choppas and Cybork Body
10x Burnas
10x Lootas

Troops

20x Boyz with Shootas, 2x Big Shoota and a Nob (Chunder)
12x Boyz with Sluggas, 1x Rokkit Launcher, Nob with Powerklaw and Bosspole (Dunk)
12x Boyz with Sluggas, 1x Rokkit Launcher, Nob with Powerklaw and Bosspole (Thud)
3x Trukks

Heavy Support

Battlewagon with Killkannon and 2x Big Shoota

THE BOARD

The board was set up to resemble an orkish stronghold. Two ruined buildings were placed on either side of the center, somewhat to the north. A concentric half-circle of low walls spread out across the south, and various pieces of area terrain were scattered about the map. One ork objective was placed in the eastern building, the other just outside the western near the center of the board. Guard objectives were placed behind the barricades at south and southwest position. All descriptions are from the southern long edge of the board.

I won the turn roll, and chose to go second. Orks deployed in the northeast quadrant. The shoota boy mob occupied the building with the eastern objective, while his lootas deployed in the lee of the eastern building. His trukks and battlewagons surrounded his lootas to prevent outflanking. The battlewagon and Nob trukk took the south flank, while his two Boyz trukks took the north and west. A ruin blocked his east.

I deployed my Vulture as near as I could to the western building, blocking line of sight from his lootas. Autocannon squads took the south and southwest barricades, while the missile squad took the west. First platoon deployed as near the western building as possible.

My overall strategy at this point was fairly simple: eliminate his anti-air capability ASAP, and use air superiority to chew up his army piecemeal. By occupying the western building I could force his trukks to come to me and enter an autocannon crossfire, while leaving his lootas exposed.

TURN 1

Orks: Not much happened. The battlewagon and Nob trukk edged foreward somewhat and lobbed a shot at my southern autocannon squad, who lost a team.

Guard: My Vulture lurked in the cover of the building, while my infantry platoon ran forward under the urging of their lieutenant into the ruin. HWT fire against the battlewagon and Nob trukk were ineffectual.

TURN 2

Orks: The battlewagon clears the eastern building and fires on the one infantry squad that didn't make it into the ruin. Unfortunately for me, the shot ricochets north, and lands smack in the middle of my clumped-up Guardsmen. Even cover saves don't help me, and I lose a good chunk of squad 1, who panic and fall back out of the ruin. Meanwhile, the trukks break for the eastern building, spoiling for a good fight and unwilling to give the Guard a position to rain fire on two of their objectives. Shoota Boy fire claims the Lt. and his command squad. The lootas, realizing their poor field of fire, decamp and move to cover the trukks' advance.

Guard: My Valkyrie squadron with Col. Shay and the meltas arrive, but on the wrong side of the board! Realizing I'll have to live with the battlewagon for a few turns, I Flat Out the Valks towards the center of the board. The Vulture skims around the side of the building, keeping cover between it and the lootas. Squad 1 regroups and runs back into the ruin to join their beleaguered companions.

With an apocalyptic roar of jetwash, the Vulture banks in between the buildings and unleashes a bone-shuddering salvo from its Punisher cannon. One of the oncoming ramshackle vehicles is thrown into the air by the force of the burst and explodes, tossing greenskin bodies in every direction! The Guardsmen sheltering in the miniscule cover of the shattered building give up a great prayer of thanks to the Emperor and redouble their firepower on the opposite structure, still teeming with the creatures.

My shooting phase luck doesn't end there, as my trusty autocannons take out both other trukks on the board. The nobs are now on foot, and both boyz squads to the north have been pinned by their exploding conveyances. Plus, the dreaded lootas still don't have a firing solution on my aircraft.

TURN 3

Orks: Growling with frustration, Warboss Shinbash smacks the nearest nob on the head and urges them forward, toward the southern objective. The lootas, wandering around lost for a target, try again to get a field of fire on the annoying 'umie gunship, to no avail. But still rounds pour from the ork's stronghold, claiming Guardsmen lives with every salvo despite their thin cover. In the wreckage of their trukks, the nobs Dunk and Thud try to regroup their boyz in a daze.

Guard: My second Valkyrie squadron appears on the eastern flank, zooming in towards the lootas, multilasers blazing and finishing off the survivors of the eastern trukk boyz. Col. Shay's Valkyries swing around south, attempting to draw the oncoming Warboss away from the Guard objective and get behind the Battlewagon at the same time. The Vulture banks in between the buildings and the wrecked trukks, well within range of the lootas, whose howls of anger are quickly drowned out by another ear-splitting burst of the Punisher Cannon that wipes them from the face of the planet. Meanwhile, a lucky missile tears off the treads of the battlewagon, immobilizing the beast.

TURN 4

Orks: The Warboss and his nobs, angry and out for blood, assaults the autocannons holding the southern objective, who quickly fall under the gigantic ork's wrath. Meanwhile, deep in the bowels of the battlewagon, the Big Mek Guv desperately smacked various gubbins into the wagon's go-thingy, to no avail. The western trukk boyz, desperate for cover, advance on the Guardsmen-occupied building, claiming a few more lives along with the shoota boyz.

Guard: The eastern Valkyries creep up at combat speed, multilasers blazing, to no real effect but placing the Ork objective closer and closer. The Vulture swings out of range of any threatening assaulters and annihilates the last of the trukk boyz, while the 1st Platoon guardsmen say their prayers to the Emperor for deliverance and continue fire. The real action comes in the south. Unwilling to lose the dramatic opportunity of Shay vs. Shinbash, my CCS and melta vets disembark and concentrate fire to bring down a few nobs, before charging into assault with the Warboss!

"Zoggin' 'umie bearwasps!" roared Skullkrunk as he brandished his choppa at the low-flying aircraft. "Come on down an' give us a real fight!" The rest of the nobs roared in defiance, coughing up small-arms fire as the Valkyries rushed by overhead. Only the Warboss remained impassive, methodically finishing off the last struggling Guardsman with a neat snip of his power klaw.

Suddenly, the tenor of the engines ramped up in intensity, and the ponderous vehicles swung about to make another pass. Skullkrunk hunkered down, preparing to receive a walloping, when Shinbash calmly stepped in front of him.

"Boss-?" asked Skullkrunk in confusion. But then he saw Shay.

Leaning out the door of his Valkyrie by one hand, charcoal-blue cloak cracking in the predawn air, the Crashlander's colonel had a manic grin on his goatish face. With a flick, he activated his power fist, and the air around exploded in a crackle of incandescent energy.

"You boyz handle the runts," Shinbash muttered as he flexed his power klaw. "Dis git is mine."

With a shout and a whir of grav-chutes, the Crashlanders poured from the oncoming Valkyries and smacked straight into the howling nob's line.

Naturally, even with Furious Charge, assault goes very poorly for me. By the end only Shay and the veteran sergeant are standing, although the sergeant makes his snake eyes morale check. But by dragging the assault out for another round, I effectively prevent his nobs from moving on and depriving me of my second objective... so it was kind of worth it.

TURN 5

Orks: Things are looking grim for the Orks, with only two scoring units left and one in mortal peril. Finally sick of Guv's mechanical failures, the Burnas disembark and move to contest the western Ork objective. With a wash of flame, they finish off the beleaguered remnants of First Platoon. In the assault phase, the Warboss finishes off Shay and consolidates towards the next Guard objective.

Guard: The eastern Valkyries finally reach the center of the board, and unleash a swarm of flamer Veterans that burn the Shoota Boyz from their objective. The Vulture pulverizes the vulnerable Burnas, leaving only two or three that proceed to pass their morale check. The nobs make for the western Guard objective, intent on one last desperate conquest, but a roll of 2 ends the game.

FINAL SCORE: GUARD 2, ORKS 1

SUMMARY

I would have to say my overall strategy played out fairly well. The Vulture performed admirably, and once the trukks were distracted and the lootas left open, it was an easy matter to mop up his force. My Valkyrie melta vets were a disappointment in coming in on the wrong board edge, effectively removing them from the game, and I'm not happy with the awkward way squadroning my Valkyries forces my tactical deployment. I've since added an Astropath to improve reserve efficiency and replaced my Valkyrie meltas with Stormtroopers, who get me two squads for about the same cost and much more flexible Deep Strike deployment. Charging the Warboss and his nobs was clearly suicidal even at the time, but it made for a grand show and perhaps slowed them down enough to prevent a draw.

From the ork standpoint, the battle revealed the greater need to protect Lootas and provide them with a clear line of fire. Several turns with no clear shot was unacceptable and allowed the birds to run rampant. In addition, the burnas seemed like overkill; it wasn't worth overkilling squads of guardsmen, especially when weaponry was needed to take out the real threats.

And of course, the mission ended with Col. Shay captured in the hands of Warboss Shinbash... a cruel blow to the Crashlanders, but one that gives us time for a quick game of Killteam to settle the score!


"He's still alive, ma'am," said Trooper Bretin as he struggled with the vox signal. "No doubt about it."

Rosalyn said nothing, preferring to appear calm. But her fists were flexing hard enough to break the skin had she not been wearing gloves. Why had they taken him alive? She had never known an ork to show mercy, if indeed that was what had prompted their action. She forced herself to breath evenly, the stink of engine effluent and quickly-putrefying offal mixing with the dissipating clouds of ozone and gunpowder. She had earned a reputation for her icy, even demeanor back during the hells of Iciphion, and she was not about to lose it now.

The crackling of lasgun fire still sounded around the perimeters of the drop zone, but the tide of orkish resistance had receded for now. With the Founder Corps busy setting their melta-charges on the half-completed kroozer, it was only a matter of time before their mission would be- strangely, miraculously- complete. It all felt too easy, and yet with the Colonel missing...

"Whoreson! Got him!" yelled Bretin, his Ricochet tendency for un-military precision showing. "They're going east, sure as sure. Towards the ocean cliffs. Hey Ennius, let's have us some maps over here!" The two troopers squabbled and set about a profane back-and-forth as they attempted to trace the signal, totally ignoring their commanding officer.

Rosalyn said nothing, but called over one of the Founder combat engineers. "How much longer on the charges?"

"Not long, ma'am. We'll blow these sonsof sky-high before you know it."

She nodded and dismissed him, then lightly cuffed Bretin upside the head- one of the few ways of getting a Ricochite's attention once he's gotten stuck in a good argument. "Give me a roll call of available squad commanders. Let them know I'm looking for volunteers." She allowed herself a tight smile. "We're going hunting."

[Formerly Wu]

Part 2: Kunnin’ Tribute

“Get out dere and shut it,” Skullkrunk growled as he casually shoved Colonel Shay onto the balcony. The force of it nearly sent him careening off the edge over the pillared railing and into the abyss. The mansion the orks occupied sat on the edge of the Erit Plateau, with the plains of Ethel’s World starting thousands of meters below. Behind him he heard the click of his chains being reattached to the granite pillar. “Best keep ya locked up. Kommanda Shinbash would be mad if I accidentally killed ya.”

“That’s surprising,” smirked Shay. “I figured he was too much of a coward to kill me himself.”

“Oy, watch yer mouth, or I might not-accidentally kill ya.” Skullkrunk loomed over the Colonel, his baleful red eyes brimming with malice. “Da Kommanda wants you alive for when Warboss Deffsplode shows up. He’s da biggest boss round ‘ere, and he thinks Shinbash is givin’ him yer head fer his pointy stick as tribute.” The nob gestured around to the interior of the ruined mansion, where patrols of orks and grots were busy hiding large bundles of explosives. None of the traps seemed well concealed, but there were enough charges to level the entire building. “’Course when dat git shows up…” chuckled Skullkrunk, “…e’s gonna learn da Kommanda’s got a more kunnin’ tribute fer him.”

This is a follow-up to our first mini-story game. The foolhardy Colonel Shay was captured in his action against the kunnin’ ork Kommanda Shinbash, and a team of elite Crashlander veterans led by Lt. Rosalyn Seung have been dispatched to rescue him before he can be a pawn in Shinbash’s coup attempt against a more powerful warboss.

The game type is 4th edition Killteam, Guard vs Orks, with a Hostage objective. Due to the nature of Killteam, with its outdated rules and unbalanced play, we agreed beforehand to play the game fast and loose, with a focus on a cool story rather than hard rules; notable exceptions include the addition of a two-wound nob and some of the flavor events. Due to this and the fast speed of Killteam, I’ll be compressing some turns in this batrep for clarity.

Killteam List
“Rosalyn’s Three in Ten”
Lt. Rosalyn Seung, Veteran Sergeant (Bolt Pistol, Power Sword)
9 Veterans (6 Shotguns, 2 Grenade Launchers, 1 Flamer)
Grenadiers, Sentries (+4 armor save, +1 to Cover Save, Defensive Grenades)
Killteam Rules: Silencers (-1 klaxon for shooting), Grapples and Ladders (treat impassable terrain as difficult)

Brute List
Skullkrunk, Nob (Big Choppa, ‘Eavy Armor, Stikkbombs, Bosspole)
3x Choppa Boyz, four squads
3x Shoota Boyz, four squads
Brute Rules: Doomsday Device (representing the trap for Warboss Deffsplode)

Terrain was set up to represent the interior of a ruined mansion, with balconies overlooking the edge of a cliff. A quarter of the table was deemed impassable terrain to represent the cliff. The objective was placed on the balcony of a ruined two-story building overlooking this. Another two-story building with a balcony was to the northeast, representing a landing, with terrain placed to create a sweeping spiral staircase on the eastern side. Walls of rubble were scattered on the ground floor.

Brute squads were placed within a 12 inch radius of the objective, scattered evenly to represent wandering bands; one was placed on the balcony of the northeastern building. The killteam entered from the north.

Turn 1: The killteam moved south, taking up position underneath the edge of the spiral staircase. The brute squad in the building got control and wandered close to look over the ledge, but didn’t spot the killteam in the shadows.
Turn 2: The ork’s inattentiveness is repaid with death, as the flamethrower washes over them. Cover protects one from the shotgun fire, however, and he takes his vengeance by leaping down and crushing a guardsman in assault before being blow to pieces by short-range shotguns.
Turn 3: The killteam clambers up the staircase, taking the high ground and the cover save from the difficult terrain. They spot several brute squads in the shattered foyer. One squad fortuitously wanders away to get into an argument with another nearby mob of orks, but a third seems to have heard the noise and is wandering closer.
Turn 4: Shotguns and grenades rain down on the curious mob, wiping them out. Even with silencers, the veterans are pushing their luck; the klaxon alert is creeping higher, giving the brutes more chance to move and more distance to run. Two squads move into position, taking cover behind buildings and creeping closer to try and spot the humies.
Turn 5: Rosalyn directs her men into the depths of the building, getting a good angle on most of the available orks. They open fire, wiping out another shoota boy squad. Meanwhile, a squad of choppa boyz climbs a makeshift ladder onto the balcony and takes up position behind the door, readying an ambush.
Turn 6: The killteam continues to fire from their perch, reducing another shoota boy squad to one member. They receive ineffectual return fire from the inaccurate ork weapons, their camo cloaks providing them ample cover. The choppa boy moves to assault, only to find that due to the terrain and defensive grenades the Crashlanders were more prepared for assault than they expected.

“WAAAGH!” The door to the balcony burst open in a shower of dust, kicked in by several ambushing orks wielding vicious axes. The first beast rushed forwards with a feral shout that completely drowned out the sound of the sprung tripwire. Instantly, concealed explosives blew him into a gory mess. Alerted by the explosion, the men of the Three in Ten brought their shotguns up in a flash, downing the second ork with a fusillade of automatic shotgun rounds. The third, using the body as a shield, charged in close and raised his axe to strike. With a flash, Rosalyn unsheathed her power sword and severed the ork’s arm with one clean stroke. As the beast stared at the useless stump in shock, she cleanly whirled about and lopped off its head. She shook the blood off her blade, the blade’s electricity arcing off the droplets. “Keep it together, you louts! The Colonel is counting on us!”

From somewhere in the vaulted foyer, a deep voice full of malicious amusement echoed. “I’s comin’ for ya, humies…”

Turn 7: By this point the klaxon count is high enough that brute squads can move more or less as they please. The veterans try and hold their position, but their shooting doesn’t score any lethal hits. Skullkrunk’s squad finally leaves the chained-up Colonel Shay, moves out of the building and into cover. The three shoota boy squads that remain take cover in the rubble, safely out of range of the flamethrower, and lay down a hail of bullets that kill two guardsmen.

Turn 8: The killteam attempts to fall back to the spiral staircase, but botch their terrain test. Things are looking grim. The shoota boyz are firing from outside the flamer’s range, and their cover and quantity of dakka is allowing them to pick off guardsmen without significant retaliatory fire. The guardsmen take another casualty, reducing the squad to six. In addition, Skullkrunk has vaulted up to the balcony and is lurking behind the door, ready to assault if they can’t escape his range.

Turn 9: Attempting to regain momentum, Rosalyn urges her men forward in a counter-offensive. They move back to the top of the staircase and use the flamethrower on the hiding Skullkrunk, scorching him but leaving him alive. Unfortunately, Skullkrunk tosses crude grenades through the door, surprising the guardsmen and allowing him to strike first despite the terrain. He barrels into the squad, his vicious chainaxe killing one, with his boyz behind contributing another two deaths. The Crashlanders don’t go down easy, however, managing to kill both of the boyz to leave Skullkrunk alone against the final three. The shoota boyz in the foyer can only cheer for their boss.

Turn 10: A vicious melee ensues on the ruined staircase of the mansion. Skullkrunk swings his big choppa wildly, ripping giant holes in the already fragile structure, while keeping the other guardsmen between him and Rosalyn’s deadly powersword. Neither side scored a wound.

Turn 11: At this point, we decided to enact a change to the scenario to make things more interesting. Skullkrunk’s massive weight and thunderous choppa strikes cause the supports of the ruined staircase to collapse, sending the combatants tumbling down behind the structure, out of sight of the shoota boyz. A dangerous terrain test claimed one of the veterans as he was crushed beneath the falling rubble.

Rosalyn coughed, forced herself to sit up, and looked about. The rubble of the collapsed staircase created a pile, and she could only see Private Gilliam; the ork was nowhere to be seen. Her sigh of relief caught in her throat, however, when a pile of stones shifted, and a massive form raised out of the dust like an angry bear. A clinical glance found her power sword meters away, wedged beneath a fallen cherub statue.

No time. She racked her bolt pistol as the ork gained momentum, hoping that the fall hadn’t jammed the mechanism. Only got one shot at this, she thought as she raised the barrel.

Skullkrunk bore down like on the lieutenant like an enraged carnosaur, until a close-range shotgun blast nearly took him off his feet. The pellets ricocheted off his heavy metal pauldron with a terrible whistling sound. Gilliam was caught reloading as the engraged nob turned and swung his big choppa. The giant chainaxe connected, and with a horrific noise like tearing meat the weapon messily chewed through the guardsman’s carapace armor and chest.

Gilliam had been a good man, with her since the horrors of Iciphion. Once more, he had bought her some time. Rosalyn felt hot blood splash on the back of her trenchcoat as she wrenched the power sword free from the rubble and whirled around, standing up to face the gore-soaked monster.

“Yer puttin’ up a good fight, humie. How come yer smaller den dese other puny gits?” Despite his injuries, he was grinning underneath his iron gob.

Rosalyn remembered the screams and degradations of the Iciphion cultists. The empty mechanical twitches of the Inquisitors’ eye implants. The mocking, alien laughter of her… dare she think it… saviour.

The Emperor- or somebody- had kept her alive for a reason.

“Filth,” she muttered, and lunged, her sword a crackling arc in the air.

Turn 12 and 13: Two turns go by of ineffectual but dramatic dueling between Skullkrunk and Rosalyn. The shoota boyz squads attempt to get an angle but the collapsed staircase has cut them off, with only a long way around the building their only option.

Turn 14: Skullkrunk finally scores a wound, finishing off the last of the killteam.

Rosalyn gasped for breath, exhausted. Her weapon could breach the beast’s heavy armor, but the ork seemed to know this. He countered by using his size and huge weapon to his advantage, creating a large threat area so that any offensive thrust ran the risk of instant death. She knew she only had one chance to take him out, and if she continued to fight she might lose the strength to be successful.

Using a standing piece of statuary as cover, she feinted inward, baiting the nob to make a crushing strike with his axe. The axe smashed the statue to pieces, and she used the moment to dart inward, making a sweeping strike. Skullkrunk, rather than drawing back as she expected, surged forward. The power sword missed its mark, slicing off a three inch chunk of iron, but missing flesh. Skullkrunk used the momentum to shoulder Rosalyn, sending her staggering, before following up with a solid kick to the stomach. The sergeant flew off her feet, power sword clattering away into the rubble, before bodily smacking into a wall. The impact knocked the breath out of her and caused her vision to spin.

Skullkrunk stomped forward, his big choppa casually sitting on his shoulder, and loomed over the fallen human. “I ought ta thank ya, humie. Ye made this job fun. Almost too bad I gotta break ya now.” He unshouldered his weapon. “Not that bad, though. After all, killin’s da MOST fun part.”

As he was about to strike, the roar of an unmuffled engine sounded, followed by a crash of rubble. An orkish warbike, recklessly driven through the halls of the ruined mansion, crashed into the foyer. The deep, orkish voice of Warboss Deffsplode bellowed “WHERE’S DAT SHINBASH GIT? I WANT ME ‘EAD!”

Epilogue: The orks have officially won the fight, having wiped out the Guard without allowing them to get close to their hostage. However, to satisfy our love for a continuous fluffy story, we ran a few turns of incredibly rules-light Epilogue.

Epilogue Turn 1: Warboss Deffsplode has arrived, and he’s angry. Skullkrunk’s boyz aren’t naturals at hiding explosives, and the Warboss sees the trap plainly as soon as he arrives. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t channel his anger into escaping the explosion, but instead to wreaking vengeance on those who would think they could get away with trying to assassinate him. He, along with his baggage train of four grots, starts in the center of the foyer, and they quickly charge the loitering shoota boyz, killing one with their fire and wiping out another in assault. Meanwhile, Skullkrunk is distracted by the realization that his plan is blown, allowing the injured Rosalyn to escape his wrath.

Epilogue Turn 2: Though Deffsplode’s grots are wiped out, he’s not a warboss for nothing, and he kills almost all of the remaining shoota boyz. Skullkrunk, impetuous as always, vaults up over the ruins of the staircase and leaps into assault with Deffsplode. Meanwhile, Rosalyn books it across open ground towards the chained up Col. Shay.

Epilogue Turn 3: Rosalyn has reached Col. Shay and gets him free while Skullkrunk tests his might against the leader of the Waaagh! on Ethel’s World. Unfortunately, he comes up short, losing his last wound to the Warboss’s rage.

Skullkrunk’s axe thundered down, but Deffsplode was quicker. He raised his dual choppas so that they blocked the haft of the chainaxe, and his massive strength outmatched the nob’s. After a momentary struggle, he deflected the axe into the ground and laid a thundering punch with the pommel of his choppa into Skullkrunk’s chin. The nob staggered back, losing control of his weapon, while Deffsplode stomped in and grabbed his throat in a vice grip that raised him off the ground.

“Ye thought you could scrag me?! Huh?! I’M WARBOSS DEFFSPLODE, AN I AIN’T GONNA DIE TA YOU!” With a mighty heave, he hurled the nob away, sending him crashing through a wall. A large slab of permacrete fell, covering his crumpled form.

--

There was nobody on the balcony as Rosalyn reached the top of the stairs. Maybe the Colonel had made his own escape during the confusion? She was turning to go when movement in the shadows caused her to bring up her pistol.

“Evening Captain,” said Shay as he strolled out of his hiding place, tossing aside the jagged chunk of masonry he had been holding. “I thought that mess might be you. But you can never tell with these orks.” There were no signs of his shackles, and he had his usual opaque, flippant grin on his goatish face.

As if they were playing a game of fekkin’ crawlseek. Rosalyn had long since given up trying to divine whether Shay’s wiseacre attitude was a façade or simple mental illness. She just wished he would stop referring to her by her former rank. She made a sour face and tossed him his portable gravchute. “Birds pick us up in thirty starting mark,” she said as she activated her locator beacon.

There was a brief silence as they prepared to jump. Shay, strapped in, finally appeared to notice the cuts and bloody stains on Rosalyn’s coat. “Guess this makes us even for Iciphion, doesn’t it, Captain?”

Rosalyn turned to him and smiled. There was a kind of warmth there, but no humor. Just grim certainty. “Not even close, sir,” she said. “Not in a million years.”

--

From a bluff a mile away, Kommanda Shinbash barely saw the two humans gravchuting off the edge of the plateau. His binoculars were focused on the huge form of Warboss Deffsplode, impotently raging that his prey had escaped. “Sloppy work, dat.” He nodded to the phlegmatic big mek standing next to him. “Hit da button, Guv.” The two orks admired the smoke and thunder of the mansion’s demolition in silence. “If Skullkrunk survived dat, tell ‘im he’d betta recruit more of Deffsplode’s boyz dan all de othas. Othawise he’s gonna be cleanin’ da squig pits.” He turned to leave, walking back to a loudly idling trukk. “Dat’s one down. We got a lot of gits ta go.”

[LordofWar1986]

Very detailed and great battle reports Too bad there aren't any pictures to go with all the action

[Lord Cook]

Two superb reports, with some excellent story to back them up. Thanks for a good read, as always.

[sigur]

Very neat work on that campaign of yours; the master approves. I'm hoping for one of the planets being named Torgo IV or something.

My gaming group also taped the borders of the gaming area on the floor for the better part of 3rd edition (keeping in mind that there was no better or even good part of the abomination that was 3rd edition of course). I strongly suggest investing in a grass mat. In terms of the looks of your games, it makes MUCH more of a difference than you might think, it's cheap (especially if you all buy it together), it's good quality and it's the right size for standard games. No need for tape or anything, you just put the mat on the floor and can game away. Seriously, consider one of those for your games. I assure you, you won't regret it.

[powerclaw]

Great reports and some very good thinking on the last few turns of the second one. I'm impressed by the writing more then anything. Good work.