This week’s Grown Men Playing With Toys’ Battle Report takes us to the War World…..Armageddon, as it features the Blood Angels Legacy of Grace and Stormlance Task Force against the Orks Bully Boyz and Rollin’ Deff. As backdrop for the game….
The sons of Sanguinius do not slow down. They do not dig in and wait. They fall from the sky like crimson lightning and they kill with the precision of angels and the fury of something far older and far less merciful. The Blood Angels have been purging Xenos filth from the Emperor’s galaxy for thousands of years and they intend to keep doing so until the last star burns out.
On the other side, Ghazghkull Thraka is not just any old Xenos filth. He is the Prophet of the Waaagh!, the Beast of Armageddon, the single most dangerous Ork in the galaxy. He has broken Space Marine sieges, burned hive cities to the bedrock, and walked away from things that should have killed him several times over. He is not here because he heard about the Blood Angels. He is here because there is a fight and he intends to be in it. Anything red or golden that gets in the way is just more krumpin’ waiting to happen.
Two forces that have absolutely no interest in restraint are about to meet in the middle of the board. The Blood Angels want to fall from the sky and make it personal. The Orks want to roll forward in a green tide and get to krumpin’. Somebody is getting exactly what they asked for.
They said we’re too old, but we said “hold our dice”…..as we find out whether the Sons of Sanguinious can put down the Prophet of the Waaagh! before he drowns them in a sea of green….
JUMP TO:
Blood Angels Specific Strategies
RULES / POINTS VERSION:
11th Edition, Chapter Approved 2026 – 2027
11th Edition Release, 2026 MFM
MATCHUP:
| Faction: | Detachment: | Force Disposition: |
| Blood Angels | Legacy of Grace and Stormlance Task Force | Disruption |
| VS | ||
| Faction: | Detachment: | Force Disposition: |
| Orks | Bully Boyz and Rollin’ Deff | Purge the Foe |
MISSION:
| Category | Details |
| Blood Angels Primary | Delaying Action |
| Orks Primary | Punishment |
| Terrain Layout | Layout A |
| Deployed First | Blood Angels |
| First Turn | Blood Angels |
| Blood Angels Secondaries | Tactical |
| Orks Secondaries | Tactical |
LISTS:
Blood Angels:
List
Space Marines
Blood Angels
Legacy of Grace and Stormlance Task Force (3 Detachment Points)
Disruption
Strike Force (2,000 Points)
ATTACHED UNITS
Attached unit 1
Captain with Jump Pack (90 Points)
• Attached as: Leader (Character)
• Warlord
• 1x Plasma pistol
• 1x Power fist
• Enhancements: Feinting Withdrawal
Sanguinary Guard (125 Points)
• Attached as: Bodyguard ()
• 3x Sanguinary Guard
◦ 2x Angelus boltgun
◦ 3x Encarmine spear
◦ 1x Inferno pistol
◦ 1x Sanguinary Banner
Attached unit 2
Captain (95 Points)
• Attached as: Leader (Character)
• 1x Heavy bolt pistol
• 1x Master-crafted power weapon
• 1x Relic Shield
• Enhancements: Portents of Wisdom
Sanguinary Priest (75 Points)
• Attached as: Support (Character)
• 1x Absolvor bolt pistol
• 1x Astartes chainsword
Bladeguard Veteran Squad (170 Points)
• Attached as: Bodyguard ()
• 1x Bladeguard Veteran Sergeant
◦ 1x Master-crafted power weapon
◦ 1x Neo-volkite pistol
• 5x Bladeguard Veteran
◦ 5x Heavy bolt pistol
◦ 5x Master-crafted power weapon
Attached unit 3
Chaplain with Jump Pack (80 Points)
• Attached as: Leader (Character)
• 1x Crozius arcanum
• 1x Inferno pistol
Death Company Marines with Jump Packs (120 Points)
• Attached as: Bodyguard ()
• 5x Death Company Marine with Jump Packs
◦ 2x Astartes chainsword
◦ 1x Eviscerator
◦ 3x Heavy bolt pistol
◦ 1x Inferno pistol
◦ 1x Plasma pistol
◦ 2x Power fist
Attached unit 4
Lemartes (100 Points)
• Attached as: Leader (Character)
• 1x Absolvor bolt pistol
• 1x The Blood Crozius
Death Company Marines with Jump Packs (230 Points)
• Attached as: Bodyguard ()
• 10x Death Company Marine with Jump Packs
◦ 5x Astartes chainsword
◦ 2x Eviscerator
◦ 7x Heavy bolt pistol
◦ 2x Inferno pistol
◦ 1x Plasma pistol
◦ 3x Power fist
Attached unit 5
Captain with Jump Pack (80 Points)
• Attached as: Leader (Character)
• 1x Plasma pistol
• 1x Power fist
Sanguinary Guard (125 Points)
• Attached as: Bodyguard ()
• 3x Sanguinary Guard
◦ 2x Angelus boltgun
◦ 3x Encarmine spear
◦ 1x Inferno pistol
◦ 1x Sanguinary Banner
CHARACTERS
Chief Librarian Mephiston (110 Points)
• 1x Fury of the Ancients
• 1x Plasma pistol
• 1x Vitarus
Lieutenant with Combi-weapon (85 Points)
• 1x Combi-weapon
• 1x Paired combat blades
OTHER DATASHEETS
Scout Squad (65 Points)
• 1x Scout Sergeant
◦ 1x Astartes chainsword
◦ 1x Bolt pistol
◦ 1x Close combat weapon
• 4x Scout
◦ 4x Bolt pistol
◦ 4x Boltgun
◦ 4x Close combat weapon
Scout Squad (65 Points)
• 1x Scout Sergeant
◦ 1x Astartes chainsword
◦ 1x Bolt pistol
◦ 1x Close combat weapon
• 4x Scout
◦ 4x Bolt pistol
◦ 4x Boltgun
◦ 4x Close combat weapon
Stormraven Gunship (280 Points)
• 1x Armoured hull
• 2x Stormstrike missile launcher
• 1x Twin assault cannon
• 1x Typhoon missile launcher
ALLIED UNITS
Callidus Assassin (100 Points)
• 1x Neural shredder
• 1x Phase sword and poison blades
Orks:
List
Orks
Bully Boyz and Rollin’ Deff (3 Detachment Points)
Purge the Foe
Strike Force (2,000 Points)
ATTACHED UNITS
Attached unit 1
Ghazghkull Thraka (235 Points)
• Attached as: Leader (Character)
• 1x Ghazghkull Thraka
• Warlord
◦ 1x Gork’s Klaw
◦ 1x Mork’s Roar
• 1x Makari
◦ 1x Makari’s stabba
Painboy (80 Points)
• Attached as: Support (Character)
• 1x Grot Orderly
• 1x Power klaw
• 1x ’Urty syringe
Boyz (150 Points)
• Attached as: Bodyguard (Battleline)
• 19x Boy
◦ 19x Choppa
◦ 19x Slugga
• 1x Boss Nob
◦ 1x Power klaw
◦ 1x Slugga
Attached unit 2
Warboss (95 Points)
• Attached as: Leader (Character)
• 1x Attack squig
• 1x Kombi-weapon
• 1x Power klaw
• 1x Twin sluggas
• Enhancements: Big Gob
Painboy (80 Points)
• Attached as: Support (Character)
• 1x Grot Orderly
• 1x Power klaw
• 1x ’Urty syringe
Boyz (150 Points)
• Attached as: Bodyguard (Battleline)
• 19x Boy
◦ 19x Choppa
◦ 19x Slugga
• 1x Boss Nob
◦ 1x Power klaw
◦ 1x Slugga
Attached unit 3
Beastboss on Squigosaur (95 Points)
• Attached as: Leader (Character)
• 1x Beastchoppa
• 1x Slugga
• 1x Squigosaur’s jaws
• 1x Thump gun
Squighog Boyz (140 Points)
• Attached as: Bodyguard ()
• 3x Squighog Boy
◦ 3x Saddlegit weapons
◦ 3x Squig jaws
◦ 3x Stikka
• 1x Nob on Smasha Squig
◦ 1x Big choppa
◦ 1x Slugga
◦ 1x Squig jaws
Attached unit 4
Beastboss on Squigosaur (95 Points)
• Attached as: Leader (Character)
• 1x Beastchoppa
• 1x Slugga
• 1x Squigosaur’s jaws
• 1x Thump gun
Squighog Boyz (140 Points)
• Attached as: Bodyguard ()
• 3x Squighog Boy
◦ 3x Saddlegit weapons
◦ 3x Squig jaws
◦ 3x Stikka
• 1x Nob on Smasha Squig
◦ 1x Big choppa
◦ 1x Slugga
◦ 1x Squig jaws
Attached unit 5
Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun (70 Points)
• Attached as: Leader (Character)
• 1x Close combat weapon
• 1x Grot Assistant
• 1x Shokk attack gun
Tankbustas (125 Points)
• Attached as: Bodyguard ()
• 1x Boss Nob
◦ 1x Choppa
◦ 2x Rokkit pistol
• 5x Tankbusta
◦ 5x Close combat weapon
◦ 6x Rokkit launcha
Attached unit 6
Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun (70 Points)
• Attached as: Leader (Character)
• 1x Close combat weapon
• 1x Grot Assistant
• 1x Shokk attack gun
Tankbustas (125 Points)
• Attached as: Bodyguard ()
• 1x Boss Nob
◦ 1x Choppa
◦ 2x Rokkit pistol
• 5x Tankbusta
◦ 5x Close combat weapon
◦ 6x Rokkit launcha
OTHER DATASHEETS
Battlewagon (170 Points)
• 4x Big shoota
• 1x Deff rolla
• 1x Lobba
• 1x Zzap gun
• 1x ’Ard Case
• Enhancements: Boarding Ramps (Upgrade)
Battlewagon (160 Points)
• 4x Big shoota
• 1x Deff rolla
• 1x Lobba
• 1x Zzap gun
• Enhancements: Targetin’ Gizmos (Upgrade)
FACTION SPECIFIC STRATEGIES:
Blood Angels:
This Blood Angels list is built around the idea of using maximum speed to get its units where they need to be, when they need to be there. Whether its a critical melee engagement, outflanking the opponent to get into all board quarters, or getting into specific terrain to do actions, this list wants to be able to get there.
The core of the army is 4 Hammers and 1 Anvil. The four hammers are highly mobile jump pack packages consisting of 2 x Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard, a Chaplain with Jump Pack + a small Death Company squad, and Lemartes + a full ten-man Death Company unit. The Anvil is a Captain and Sanguinary Priest double-attaching to a six-man Bladeguard Veteran squad, which provides a slower but incredibly durable and hard-hitting ground-level punch.
Beyond the melee threats, the Lieutenant with Combi-weapon, the Callidus Assassin, and two Scout Squads give the list its action economy via cheap scoring bodies to hold objectives, do secondaries, and generally stay out of trouble while the jump pack units do the heavy lifting. Then there is Chief Librarian Mephiston, who operates as an independent threat that use Lone Operative to stay out of threat range while doing actions before pivoting into a late game aggressive move across the board to pick out specific late game fights. Lastly, there is a Stormraven Gunship, which provides a mobile fire support and threat delivery platform for the Bladeguard Veterans.
For this game, I will playing Disruption with the idea being to try to use the lists’ speed and access to Lone Op to become a scoring machine while also killing just enough of the opponent.
Win Condition: Generically, the Win Condition for this list is to try to kite the opponent. It is built for speed and to be anywhere it needs to be on the board. It’s built to be a scoring machine and winning by playing the mission instead of trying to “all in” and table the opponent is how it wins.
For this matchup and Primary Mission, Blood Angels will win by playing a patient and disciplined game. The Orks list is built for speed and lethality and contains a ton of OC. The Blood Angels most likely will not be able completely deny it primary. Instead, the Blood Angels should use their increased unit count to be strategic with how they position their units in order to influence how the Orks have to choose the Condemned units and then focus on beating the Orks on Secondaries. Most importantly, they should avoid a mid-table brawl at all cost. Doing this successfully won’t blow the Orks out, but could result in a win.
What I Want to Work On This Game: Patience and discipline. At first glance, this is counter intuitive for a Blood Angels list that features a lot of Death Company and has army wide Advance and Charge. Upon closer inspection, playing Delaying Action as a primary will require both patience and discipline. It rewards keeping units alive and dealing strategic damage over raw aggression and damage output. There will be tension between the army’s natural aggression and the patience required to play Delaying Action well. Identifying when to hold back versus when to crash forward is the key focus here, especially since I have a history of getting excited and playing too aggressively with these kind of lists and units.
| Category | Description |
| Leader / Bodyguard Combos: | Captain with Jump Pack with Sanguinary Guard 1 |
| Captain with Jump Pack with Sanguinary Guard 2 | |
| Captain + Sanguinary Priest with Bladeguard Veteran Squad | |
| Lemartes with Death Company Marines with Jump Packs max sized | |
| Chaplain with Jump Pack with Death Company Marines with Jump Packs min sized | |
| Transport / Infantry Combos: | Captain + Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veteran Squad in Stormraven Gunship |
| Strategic Reserves: | Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 |
| Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 | |
| Key Stratagems: | Rapid Ingress [1CP] Opponent’s Movement phase – WHEN: End of your opponent’s Movement phase. TARGET: One friendly unit that is in strategic reserves (excluding AIRCRAFT). EFFECT: Your unit makes an ingress move. |
| Wind-swift Evasion [1CP] Opponent’s Movement phase – WHEN: Your opponent’s Movement phase, just after an enemy unit ends a Normal, Advance or Fall Back move. TARGET: One ADEPTUS ASTARTES INFANTRY or ADEPTUS ASTARTES MOUNTED unit from your army that is within 9″ of that enemy unit. EFFECT: Your unit can make a Normal move of up to 6″. | |
| Martial Paragon [1CP] Shooting or Fight phase – WHEN: Your Shooting phase or the Fight phase, when a friendly ADEPTUS ASTARTES CHARACTER unit is selected to attack. TARGET: That ADEPTUS ASTARTES CHARACTER unit. EFFECT: Your unit’s attacks have [LETHAL HITS], OR [SUSTAINED HITS 1]. | |
| Key Combos: | Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs max sized + Legacy of the Angel detachment rule + Lightning Assault detachment rule This combo is scary good on Death Company but works equally well for pretty much the entire army, as these two detachment rules are what the whole army is built around. What if…….all units could Advance & Charge with +1 to Charge and +1 to Advance? This army is sooooooo fast. |
| Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 + Rites of Battle ability + Angel’s Wrath ability + Martial Paragon stratagem Giving the Sanguinary Guard, which already has Lance due to taking spears, +1 to Strength in melee and then access to either Sustained Hits 1 or Lethal Hits looks great on units that want to make sure that when they Charge, the target dies. | |
| Captain + Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veteran Squad + Sanguinary Priest ability + Bladeguard ability + Rites of Battle ability + Wind-swift Evasion stratagem This is used to create the most durable unit in the list. It’s 6 Bladeguard Veterans, which are one of my favorite units, with a 4+ Invulnerable Save, a 5+ Feel No Pain, and access to re-roll 1’s to Save in melee. Even better, they get a 6 inch Reactive Move for potentially 0 CP thanks to the Captain. Its a good Anvil to help anchor this list, especially coming out of the Stormraven. |
Orks:
This Orks list is built to do one thing….roll forward, absorb the opponent’s first wave of attacks on the Battlewagons and then crash home during the Waaagh! with overwhelming violence.
The foundation is two massive Boyz units, both 20 models strong, each led by a character and a Painboy. Ghazghkull Thraka and a Warboss with Big Gob provide the leadership, buffs, and access to Double Waaagh! that makes those Death Stars genuinely terrifying.
Beyond the Boyz, the list features two Beastboss on Squigosaur units leading Squighog Boyz, which provide fast-moving flanking cavalry threats that can reach targets the Boyz cannot, while also providing some anti-vehicle threats. Then, the two Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas go inside the Battlewagon with Firing Deck to give the list its ranged shooting punch.
Between all of the above units, the idea is to create a “no win” scenario for the opponent. Hold back and play conservatively? The Orks will use that time to bank their Waaghs while peppering you with shooting and jailing you with Squighog Boyz before charging in to krump what is left with the Boyz.
Come out to play early? The Orks will aggressively Waaagh!, since they have access to two, and come krump you with Ghaz, the Warboss, and all of their Boyz before hunting down or shooting what is left with the Squighog Boyz and Tankbustas.
The Force Disposition is Purge the Foe, which pairs well with the army’s brutal but kunnin’ goal of killing everything in sight.
Win Condition: Generically, it’s not very complicated. Waagh den get dem gitz den krump den repeat.
For this specific matchup, the complicating factor is the Condemned units aspect of Punishment. It gives the Blood Angels more agency than the Orks would prefer and will require the Orks to be kunnin’, as well as brutal, with how they choose their targets.
What I Want to Work On This Game: Timing and coherency. Timing is all about when to get out of the Battlewagons and when to Waaagh! The Blood Angels will be trying to be sneaky gitz and will be playing a patient game. They will want to bait the works into calling the Waaagh! too early. Coherency is more about mastering to new requirements of 11th Edition. This list is my first step towards getting back to some of my favorite horde list archetypes (looks at Green Tide + Equatorial Orks) and I want to nail down how to play 20+ model units while staying in coherency before dropping 100+ Boyz on the table top.
| Category | Description |
| Leader / Bodyguard Combos: | Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy with Boyz |
| Warboss + Painboy with Boyz | |
| Beastboss on Squigosaur with Squighog Boyz 1 | |
| Beastboss on Squigosaur with Squighog Boyz 2 | |
| Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun with Tankbustas 1 | |
| Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun with Tankbustas 2 | |
| Transport / Infantry Combos: | Warboss + Painboy + Boyz in Battlewagon |
| Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas 1 + Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas 2 in Battlewagon | |
| Key Stratagems: | Too Arrogant to Die [1CP] Opponent’s Shooting or Fight phase – WHEN: Your opponent’s Shooting phase or the Fight phase, just after an enemy unit has selected its targets. TARGET: One NOBZ or MEGANOBZ unit from your army that was selected as the target of one or more of the attacking unit’s attacks. EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, each time a model in your unit is destroyed, if that model has not shot or fought this phase, roll one D6, adding 2 to the result if a Waaagh! is active for your unit. On a 5+, do not remove the destroyed model from play; it can shoot or fight after the attacking unit has finished making its attacks, and is then removed from play. |
| Always Lookin’ fer a Fight [1CP] Fight phase – WHEN: Fight phase, just after an enemy unit is destroyed. TARGET: One NOBZ or MEGANOBZ unit from your army that destroyed that enemy unit. EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, each time your unit makes a Consolidation move, it can move up to D3+3″ instead of up to 3″. If a Waaagh! is active for your unit, it can move up to 6″ instead. | |
| Heroic Intervention [1CP] Opponent’s Charge phase – WHEN: End of your opponent’s Charge phase. TARGET: One friendly unengaged unit within 12″ of one or more enemy units. You can only select a VEHICLE unit if it is a CHARACTER/WALKER unit. EFFECT: Resolve a charge with your unit. While doing so, before making the charge roll, you must select one of the following modes: Leap to Defend (when selecting charge targets, you can only select enemy units that made a charge move this phase and are within the maximum distance); or Into the Fray, which costs an additional +1CP (when making the charge roll, if the result is greater than 6 after modifiers, change it to 6; when selecting charge targets, you can select any enemy units within 6″ of your unit and within the maximum distance). | |
| Key Combos: | Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz + Waaagh! army rule + Prophet of Da Great Waaagh! ability + Ghazghkull’s Waaagh! Banner (Aura) ability + Hold Still and Say ‘Aargh!’ ability + Grot Orderly ability 2 turns of Ghaz + as many Boyz as survive getting +1 to Hit, +1 to Wound, 5+ Critical Hits, and Lethal Hits? Yes please. Add in 2 Rounds a 5+ Invulnerable Save and a 5+ Feel No Pain plus a once per game Heal for the Boyz and this is starting to sound like its on the Highway to the Danger Zone. |
| Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 2 + Thundering Stampede ability + Single-minded Predator ability + Heroic Intervention stratagem This one sounds very interesting given how much this Orks list wants to apply pressure and get into melee. It gives the unit the ability to utilize Heroic Intervention for -1 CP cost. More importantly, it does not prohibit you from using that stratagem on another unit this phase. I’m going to assume that this operates like Rites of Battle and therefore cannot be utilized on both Beastboss units in the same phase, but still could make for a VERY unpleasant Charge Phase for the Blood Angels if they get careless during their turn. | |
| Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas 1 + Battlewagon + Firing Deck army rule + Targetin’ Gizmos upgrade army rule This is used to create a decently scary tank for the Orks. It has Firing Deck 11, which means that 11 of the 14 models inside can shoot out without disembarking. Even better, they get Ignores Cover and Sustained Hits 1 while the Waaagh! is active. That is some seriously scary Ork shooting. It results in a unit that the Orks can use to try to bait out a Blood Angel heavy hitter in order to setup a potential Heroic Intervention as the Blood Angels will have to come out to deal with this unit. |
ROUND-BY-ROUND RECAP:
The Orks win the roll off and elect to make the Blood Angels deploy first. The Blood Angels respond by deploying pretty conservatively. They spread most of their units out along the flanks or back of their Deployment Zone, with the only exceptions being the Lieutenant with Combi-weapon, Stomraven, and Lemartes + Death Company. The Lieutenant with Combi-weapon is used to Infiltrate onto Objective 3, the Stormraven is positioned to push up towards Objective 5, and Lemartes’ squad is positioned for a counter charge into anything that the works put onto the Central Objective. They are obviously wary of the Orks and setting up to play the long game in this one.
On the other side, the Orks deploy in a very cagey and strategic way…..everything on the line and ready to push forward. Ghaz + Boyz are deployed to push onto the Central Objective while the Battlewagon with the Warboss + Boyz threatens Objective 3. Everything else is then aimed at Objective 5 with no thoughts given to the Orks’ Home Objective.
Board state after Deployment is shown below.
Post Deployment
The Blood Angels win the roll off to go first, which they didn’t really want. They elect not to make any Scout moves and the Orks have none, so the game is ready to start.
Board state at the start of the battle is shown below.
Start of the Battle
ROUND 1:
| Phase: | Go First: Blood Angels |
| Score at Start | 10 |
| CP at Start | 0 |
| Command | [Blood Angels] Lieutenant with Combi-Weapon uses Priority Objective Identified on Objective 4 [Blood Angels] Gains 1 Core CP [Orks] Gains 1 Core CP [Blood Angels] Draws Engage on All Fronts and Display of Might secondary objectives [Blood Angels] Uses Oath of Moment on Battlewagon 1 |
| Movement | [Blood Angels] Scout Squad 2 Advances onto Objective 3 [Blood Angels] Chaplain + Death Company Makes a Normal Move towards Objective 3 to Stage |
| Shooting | [Blood Angels] None |
| Charge | [Blood Angels] None |
| Fight | [Blood Angels] None |
| End of Turn | [Blood Angels] Scores Secondary: Display of Might — 2 VP |
| Score at End | 12 |
| CP at End | 1 |
Very quiet first turn for the Blood Angels. This is partially because they really did not want to go first and partially because there was not a lot from a game perspective encouraging them to go into the midfield. The Blood Angels want to make the Orks come to them before using their mobility to start dropping in behind them, which dictates a patient and passive first turn.
Board state in the middle of Round 1 is shown below.
Middle of Round 1
| Phase: | Go Second: Orks |
| Score at Start | 10 |
| CP at Start | 0 |
| Command | [Orks] Gains 1 Core CP [Blood Angels] Gains 1 Core CP [Orks] Draws Beacon and Engage on All Fronts secondary objectives [Orks] Selects Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 1 as Beacon [Orks] Selects Scout Squad 2 and Lieutenant with Combi-Weapon as Condemned |
| Movement | [Orks] Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 1 Makes a Normal Move towards Objective 5 to Stage [Orks] Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 2 Advances onto Objective 4 to Stage [Orks] Battlewagon 1 Makes a Normal Move onto Objective 5 to Stage [Orks] Battlewagon 2 Advances onto Objective 3 to Stage |
| Shooting | [Orks] None |
| Charge | [Orks] None |
| Fight | [Orks] None |
| End of Turn | [Orks] Scores Secondary: Engage on All Fronts — 3 VP [Blood Angels] Scout Squad 1 uses Guerrilla Tactics to go into Reserves [Blood Angels] Callidus Assassin uses Acrobatic Escape to go into Reserves |
| Score at End | 13 |
| CP at End | 2 |
A similarly quiet first turn for the Orks. They stage up a bit more aggressively than the Blood Angels, but not by much. Their focus appears to be grabbing all of the midfield objectives to deny the Blood Angels easy primary and to “encourage” them to come out and fight. We’ll have to see if it works or if the Blood Angels are comfortable simply dropping a unit or 2 in the Orks backfield and then doing more actions.
Board state at the end of Round 1 is shown below.
End of Round 1
ROUND 2:
| Phase: | Go First: Blood Angels |
| Score at Start | 12 |
| CP at Start | 2 |
| Command | [Blood Angels] Gains 1 Core CP [Orks] Gains 1 Core CP [Blood Angels] Draws A Grievous Blow and Defend Stronghold secondary objectives [Blood Angels] Uses Oath of Moment on Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 2 |
| Movement | [Blood Angels] Scout Squad 2 Advances onto Objective 3 to Score [Blood Angels] Scout Squad 1 Ingress onto Objective 2 to Score [Blood Angels] Captain + Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans disembark and Advance towards Objective 4 to Charge [Blood Angels] Callidus Assassin Deep Strikes onto Objective 1 to Score [Blood Angels] Stormraven Gunship Makes a Normal Move towards Objective 5 to Shoot |
| Shooting | [Blood Angels] Stormraven Gunship shoots Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 2 and Kills 2 Models |
| Charge | [Blood Angels] Captain + Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Blood Angels] Captain + Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans Charges into Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 2 |
| Fight | [Blood Angels] Captain uses Finest Hour [Blood Angels] Bladeguard Veterans use Shields of Chapter [Blood Angels] Captain uses Rites of Battle to reduce Martial Paragon cost by 1 CP [Blood Angels] Captain + Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans use Martial Paragon for 0 CP to gain Lethal Hits [Blood Angels] Captain + Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans Fight Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 2 and Destroy the Unit [Blood Angels] Captain + Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans Consolidate onto Objective 4 |
| End of Turn | [Blood Angels] Scores Secondary: Engage on All Fronts — 5 VP [Blood Angels] Scores Primary: 5 VP |
| Score at End | 22 |
| CP at End | 1 |
The Blood Angels come out to play and get the first kill of the game. They are still playing tentatively and only putting out the units that they need to score points or deny the Orks. In this case, that was the Bladeguard Vets and the Scouts 2 who were used to bloody the Orks nose and to take 2 Objectives, which resulted in 5 VP for the Blood Angels.
Besides these moves, the Blodd Angels turn was all about positioning units to force the Orks to make decisions next turn. Does Ghaz’s unit play to maximize the Orks’ points by pushing up to go after the Bladeguard or do they play the points denial game and go backwards to clear the Callidus off of their Home Objective? Does Battlewagon 1 help out Ghaz’s unit by shooting at the Bladeguard or take on the more obvious target of the Stormraven? How do the Warboss + Boyz clear off Objective 3 without exposing themselves to a major trackback from Mephiston and the Chaplain + Death Company? There’s a lot of decisions to make and it looks like an Orks Waaagh! is coming so lets see how the Blood Angels hold up against it.
Board state in the middle of Round 2 is shown below.
Middle of Round 2
| Phase: | Go Second: Orks |
| Score at Start | 13 |
| CP at Start | 3 |
| Command | [Orks] Gains 1 Core CP [Blood Angels] Gains 1 Core CP [Orks] calls Waaagh! [Orks] Draws Centre Ground and Assassination secondary objectives [Orks] marks Captain + Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans and Scout Squad 2 as Condemned [Orks] Scores Primary: 4 VP |
| Movement | [Orks] Battlewagon 1 Makes a Normal Move towards Objective 4 to Shoot [Orks] Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 1 Advances towards Stormraven Gunship to Charge [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz disembark and Advance towards Objective 3 to Charge [Blood Angels] Lieutenant with Combi-Weapon uses Evade and Survive to Reactive Move away [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Advances onto Objective 4 to Charge [Blood Angels] Captain + Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans use Wind-swift Evasion for 1 CP to Reactive Move away [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 use Rapid Ingress for 1 CP |
| Shooting | [Orks] Battlewagon 2 shoots Scout Squad 2 and Kills 1 Model [Orks] Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 1 shoot Stormraven Gunship and do 0 Damage [Blood Angels] Stormraven Gunship uses Ride Hard, Ride Fast for 1 CP [Orks] Battlewagon 1 uses CP Re-roll for 1 CP and shoots Stormraven Gunship and does 3 Damage |
| Charge | [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Charges into Captain + Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans [Orks] Battlewagon 1 Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Orks] Battlewagon 1 Charges into Captain + Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz Charges into Scout Squad 2 and Chaplain + Death Company [Orks] Battlewagon 2 Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Orks] Battlewagon 2 Charges into Scout Squad 2 [Orks] Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 1 Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Orks] Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 1 Charges into Stormraven Gunship |
| Fight | [Blood Angels] Bladeguard Veterans use Shields of the Chapter [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka uses Epic Challenge for 1 CP [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Fight Captain + Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans and Kill Captain and 1 Bladeguard Veterans Model [Orks] Battlewagon 1 uses Devastating Drift for 1 CP [Orks] Battlewagon 1 Fights Bladeguard Veterans and Kills 1 Model [Orks] Battlewagon 2 Fights Scout Squad 2 and Destroys the Unit [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz Fight Chaplain + Death Company and Destroy the Unit [Orks] Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 1 Fight Stormraven Gunship and do 3 Damage [Blood Angels] Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans Fight Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz and Kill 3 Models [Blood Angels] Stormraven Gunship Fights Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 1 and does 0 Damage |
| End of Turn | [Orks] Scores Secondary: Assassination — 5 VP [Orks] Scores Primary: 5 VP [Blood Angels] Scores Secondary: Defend Stronghold — 5 VP |
| Score at End | 27 |
| CP at End | 1 |
The Orks crack back with a very interesting turn. They call the Waaagh! and push forward aggressively with all units, which allows the Blood Angels to Rapid Ingress in a Sanguinary Guard unit. It will be interesting to see if that proves to be a mistake.
Beyond that, the theme of this turn was the impact that terrain pinch points, the new Engagement Range rules, and the new Unit Coherency had on the Orks. What I mean by this is that the Blood Angels were able to utilize a Reactive Move on the Bladeguard to position them such that the Orks would have a very, very hard time getting the maximum number of models into Engagement Range. As a result, the Orks were only able to Fight with half of the Boyz which, combined with some hot rolling on Invulnerable Saves and Feel No Pains, led to most of the Bladeguard Veterans surviving.
Similarly, the Squighog Boyz ran into a similar terrain pinch point and were only able to Fight with the Beastboss and Nob. This resulted in minimal damage being done to the Stormraven.
Fortunately, on the other side of the board the Orks absolutely went off and smashed in the Blood Angels entire flank. This was due to a massive 5 inch Advance into an 11 inch Charge and then the Warboss rolling really hot. The result was the Orks lifting the Scout Squad, which was expected, and the Death Company, which was not expected.
It’s a tie game as we close Round 2. Board state at the end of Round 2 is shown below.
End of Round 2
ROUND 3:
| Phase: | Go First: Blood Angels |
| Score at Start | 27 |
| CP at Start | 1 |
| Command | [Blood Angels] Gains 1 Core CP [Orks] Gains 1 Core CP [Blood Angels] Draws Outflank and Cleanse secondary objectives [Blood Angels] Uses Oath of Moment on Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 1 [Blood Angels] Scores Primary: 4 VP |
| Movement | [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 Deep Strikes into Orks Deployment Zone [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 Advances onto Objective 5 to Charge [Blood Angels] Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs Advances towards Objective 4 to Charge [Blood Angels] Lieutenant with Combi-Weapon Advances towards Objective 2 to Screen [Blood Angels] Chief Librarian Mephiston Advances towards Objective 4 to Stage |
| Shooting | [Blood Angels] Stormraven Gunship shoots Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 1 and Kills 1 Model [Blood Angels] Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans shoot Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz and do 0 Damage |
| Charge | [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 Charges into Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 1 [Blood Angels] Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Blood Angels] Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs Charges into Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz |
| Fight | [Blood Angels] Bladeguard Veterans use Shields of the Chapter [Blood Angels] Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs Fight Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz and Kill 10 Models [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz uses Counter Offensive for 2 CP [Blood Angels] Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs uses Armour of Contempt for 1 CP [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Split Fires to Fight Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs and Kill 2 Models and Fight Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans and Kill 1 Model [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack uses Rites of Battle to reduce Martial Paragon cost by 1 CP [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 uses Martial Paragon for 0 CP to gain Sustained Hits [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 Fight Beastboss on Squigosaur + Squighog Boyz 1 and Destroy the Unit [Blood Angels] Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans Fight Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz and Kill 4 Models [Orks] Battlewagon 1 Fights Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans and does 0 Damage |
| End of Turn | [Blood Angels] Scores Secondary: Outflank — 5 VP [Blood Angels] Scores Primary: 5 VP |
| Score at End | 41 |
| CP at End | 0 |
The Blood Angels keep right on scoring as they are using the greater mobility and flexibility of their list to strategically pick their fights before swooping in to finish the targeted unit. I’ve got to admit that I am really enjoying this list as it feels super dynamic to play.
Also in the Blood Angels favor is the fact that the Bladeguard Veterans continue to hold the center by making more Invulnerable Saves and Feel No Pains than they have a right to. They just tanked most of a Ghaz sweep which, combined with the new Engagement Range rules forcing the Orks to split fire to reduced efficiency, really limited the amount of damage that they could perform. 2nd admission, I am also really enjoying how much room there is in the Fight Phase to influence outcomes via model placement.
All of that said, the Blood Angels will still have to deal with a second Waaagh! from Ghaz and the other full Warboss + Boyz unit, which looks like it is about to come crashing into the Blood Angels’ Deployment Zone. They also still have both Battlewagons and 2 full units of Tankbustas on the loose.
The game is far from over and the board state in the middle of Round 3 is shown below.
Middle of Round 3
| Phase: | Go Second: Orks |
| Score at Start | 27 |
| CP at Start | 0 |
| Command | [Orks] calls 2nd Waaagh! [Orks] Gains 1 Core CP [Blood Angels] Gains 1 Core CP [Orks] Draws Display of Might and Burden of Trust secondary objectives [Orks] Battlewagon 2 assigned to Guard Objective 3 [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz assigned to Guard Objective 4 [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Passes Battle-shock [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz uses Grot Orderly to Heal 2 Models [Orks] marks Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs, Scout Squad 1, and Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans as Condemned [Orks] Scores Primary: 4 VP |
| Movement | [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz Advances towards Objective 4 to Charge |
| Shooting | [Blood Angels] Stormraven Gunship uses Ride Hard, Ride Fast for 1 CP [Orks] Battlewagon 1 shoots Stormraven Gunship and does 2 Damage [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz shoot Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs and do 0 Damage |
| Charge | [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz Charges into Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs |
| Fight | [Blood Angels] Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans use Shields of the Chapter [Blood Angels] Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs uses Armour of Contempt for 1 CP [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz Fight Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs and Kill 4 Models [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz uses Epic Challenge for 1 CP [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Split Fires to Fight Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs and Kill 2 Models and Fight Sanguinary Priest + Bladeguard Veterans and Kill 3 Models (including the Sanguinary Priest) [Blood Angels] Bladeguard Veterans Fight Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz and Kill 1 Model [Orks] Battlewagon 1 Fights Bladeguard Veterans and Destroys the Unit [Blood Angels] Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs Fight Warboss + Painboy + Boyz and Kill 6 Models |
| End of Turn | [Orks] drops Beacon for 1 CP [Orks] Scores Secondary: Display of Might — 2 VP [Orks] Scores Primary: 5 VP [Blood Angels] Scout Squad 1 uses Guerrilla Tactics to go into Reserves |
| Score at End | 38 |
| CP at End | 1 |
The Orks finally take down the Sanguinary Priest and Bladeguard Veterans as they do what they should have done last Round and use Epic Challenge to Precision out the Sanguinary Priest. Between that and the Warboss + Boyz landing a moderate length Charge into Lemartes’ unit, the Orks did a decent job clearing out most of the middle. They still have some work to do, but things are starting to look up for the Orks as they have control of the momentum and board control again.
They do still have 2 unit’s of Sanginuary Guard flyinging around to deal with. They also have a Stormraven Gunship that keeps using Ride Hard, Ride Fast to really nerf the incoming shots. All of that said, they are in a strong position if they can survive the Blood Angels next turn.
Board state at the end of Round 3 is shown below.
End of Round 3
ROUND 4:
| Phase: | Go First: Blood Angels |
| Score at Start | 41 |
| CP at Start | 0 |
| Command | [Blood Angels] Gains 1 Core CP [Orks] Gains 1 Core CP [Blood Angels] Draws Centre Ground and No Prisoners secondary objectives [Blood Angels] Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs Passes Battle-shock [Blood Angels] Stormraven Gunship Fails Battle-shock [Blood Angels] Uses Oath of Moment on Battlewagon 1 [Blood Angels] Scores Primary: 4 VP |
| Movement | [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 Makes a Normal Move towards Battlewagon 1 to Shoot and Charge [Blood Angels] Stormraven Gunship Makes a Normal Move towards Objective 2 to Shoot [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 Advances towards Objective 3 to Charge [Blood Angels] Lieutenant with Combi-Weapon Makes a Normal Move towards Objective 4 to Shoot [Blood Angels] Chief Librarian Mephiston Makes a Normal Move towards Objective 4 to Shoot and Charge [Blood Angels] Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs Falls Back onto Objective 4 [Blood Angels] Scout Squad 1 Ingress onto Objective 5 to Perform Action |
| Shooting | [Blood Angels] Callidus Assassin Cleanses Objective 1 [Blood Angels] Scout Squad 1 Cleanses Objective 5 [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 shoot Battlewagon 1 and do 0 Damage [Blood Angels] Stormraven Gunship shoots Battlewagon 1 and does 4 Damage [Blood Angels] Lieutenant with Combi-Weapon shoots Warboss + Painboy + Boyz and Kills 1 Model [Blood Angels] Chief Librarian Mephiston shoots Warboss + Painboy + Boyz and does 0 Damage |
| Charge | [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 Charges into Battlewagon 1 [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 Charges into Battlewagon 2 [Blood Angels] Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Blood Angels] Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs Charges into Warboss + Painboy + Boyz [Blood Angels] Chief Librarian Mephiston Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Blood Angels] Chief Librarian Mephiston Charges into Warboss + Painboy + Boyz [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz uses Heroic Intervention for 1 CP [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Charges into Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs |
| Fight | [Blood Angels] Chief Librarian Mephiston uses Epic Challenge for 1 CP [Blood Angels] Chief Librarian Mephiston Fights Warboss + Painboy + Boyz and does 1 Damage to Warboss [Blood Angels] Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs Fight Warboss + Painboy + Boyz and Kill 5 Models [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack 1 uses Rites of Battle to reduce Martial Paragon cost by 1 CP [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 uses Martial Paragon for 0 CP to gain Sustained Hits [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 Fight Battlewagon 1 and do 10 Damage [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 Fight Battlewagon 2 and do 8 Damage [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Fight Lemartes + Death Company Marines with Jump Packs and Destroy the Unit [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz Fight Chief Librarian Mephiston and Destroy the Unit [Orks] Battlewagon 1 Fights Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 and does 0 Damage [Orks] Battlewagon 2 Fights Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 and does 0 Damage |
| End of Turn | [Blood Angels] Scores Secondary: Cleanse — 5 VP [Blood Angels] drops Centre Ground for 1 CP [Orks] Scores Secondary: Burden of Trust — 2 VP |
| Score at End | 50 |
| CP at End | 0 |
Ugh. That turn did not go the way the Blood Angels envisioned. The thought after drawing Secondaries was to tie up the Battlewagons with the Sanguinary Guard, take away Objective 3 by out OC’ing the Battlewagon, and then to neuter the Warboss + Boyz as much as possible by precision’ing out the Warboss and then killing as many Boyz as possible. Best case, the Blood Angels pop a Battlewagon to get some extra secondaries. Worst case, they neuter the Orks’ second Death Star and force the Orks to stay in the middle of the board.
Instead, pretty much everything except for the Sanguinary Guard whiffed or was blocked by Invulnerable Saves and Feel No Pains that turn. The result was minimal damage to the Orks second Death Star and 2 of the Blood Angels’ units dying in the crack back.
Its not the end of the world, but it is a set back and the Orks are now firmly on the front foot in this game.
Board state in the middle of Round 4 is shown below.
Middle of Round 4
| Phase: | Go Second: Orks |
| Score at Start | 40 |
| CP at Start | 1 |
| Command | [Orks] Gains 1 Core CP [Blood Angels] Gains 1 Core CP [Orks] Draws Forward Position and No Prisoners secondary objectives [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Passes Battle-shock [Orks] Battlewagon 1 Passes Battle-shock [Orks] Battlewagon 2 Passes Battle-shock [Orks] marks Scout Squad 1, Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2, and Callidus Assassin as Condemned [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz uses Get Da Good Bitz on Objective 4 [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz uses Grot Orderly to Heal 1 Model [Orks] Scores Primary: 4 VP |
| Movement | [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Makes a Normal Move towards Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 to Charge [Orks] Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas 1 disembark and Make a Normal Move onto Objective 5 to Shoot [Blood Angels] Scout Squad 1 uses Wind-swift Evasion for 1 CP to Reactive Move away |
| Shooting | [Orks] Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas 1 shoot Scout Squad 1 and Kill 1 Model [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz uses Explosives for 1 CP and deals 1 Mortal Wound to Lieutenant with Combi-Weapon [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz shoot Lieutenant with Combi-Weapon and do 1 Damage [Orks] Battlewagon 1 shoots Stormraven Gunship and Destroys the Unit [Orks] Battlewagon 2 shoots Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 and does 0 Damage |
| Charge | [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Charges into Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz Charges into Lieutenant with Combi-Weapon [Orks] Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas 1 Declares a Charge – Charge Failed |
| Fight | [Orks] Warboss + Painboy + Boyz Fight Lieutenant with Combi-Weapon and Destroy the Unit [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 uses Armour of Contempt for 1 CP [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Fight Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 and do 0 Damage [Orks] Battlewagon 2 Fights Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 and does 2 Damage [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 Fights Battlewagon 2 and Destroys the Unit [Orks] Battlewagon 1 Fights Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 and does 0 Damage [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 Fights Battlewagon 1 and does 0 Damage |
| End of Turn | [Orks] Scores Secondary: Centre Ground — 5 VP [Orks] Scores Secondary: No Prisoners — 4 VP [Blood Angels] Scores Secondary: No Prisoners — 2 VP [Blood Angels] Scores Secondary: A Grievous Blow — 5 VP |
| Score at End | 53 |
| CP at End | 1 |
Well that was a weird turn for both sides.
With the Waaagh! officially over, the Orks start playing a bit of a cagey game. One of the Tankbustas units gets out of the Battlewagon to take Objective 5, Ghaz and his unit move to Charge the Sanguinary Guard engaged with the Battlewagon 1, and the Warboss decides to not move in order to deny the Lieutenant with Combi-weapon his Reactive Move. Their goal for the turn was to kill the Stormraven Gunship since it was Battle Shocked and therefore not able to Ride Hard, Ride Fast and to Charge and kill the Lieutenant and then slingshot off of him to setup a Round 5 move onto Objective 2.
They accomplished both of these, but completely failed at their other “nice to have” goals of killing Scouts 1 or the Sanguinary Guard 1 to gain more Primary points. The Scouts 1 was expected as they Reactive Moved behind terrain to limit the number of models that could gain Line of Sight, but the Sanguinary Guard making four Invulnerable Saves to live with no damage was a bit unexpected.
Then on the Blood Angels’ side, one Sanguinary Guard rolls crazy high to knock out a Battlewagon while the other watches the Battlewagon 1 make five Saves of its own to live. Funny game this 40K.
Either way, it looks like this one will come down to the wire. I still think the Orks may have it as they are positioned really well for some late game scoring, but let’s find out.
Board state at the end of Round 4 is shown below.
End of Round 4
ROUND 5:
| Phase: | Go First: Blood Angels |
| Score at Start | 57 |
| CP at Start | 0 |
| Command | [Blood Angels] Gains 1 Core CP [Orks] Gains 1 Core CP [Blood Angels] Draws Assassination and Behind Enemy Lines secondary objectives [Blood Angels] Uses Oath of Moment on Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas 1 [Blood Angels] Scores Primary: 4 VP |
| Movement | [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 Falls Back from Battlewagon 1 [Blood Angels] Scout Squad 1 Makes a Normal Move onto Objective 5 to Shoot [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 Makes a Normal Move towards Warboss + Painboy + Boyz to Charge |
| Shooting | [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 uses Feinting Withdrawal to shoot Battlewagon 1 and Destroys the Unit [Blood Angels] Scout Squad 1 uses Explosives for 1 CP and deals 3 Mortal Wounds to Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas 1 [Blood Angels] Scout Squad 1 shoot Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas 1 and do 0 Damage [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 shoot Warboss + Painboy + Boyz and Kill 2 Models |
| Charge | [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 Charges into Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas 1 [Blood Angels] Scout Squad 1 Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Blood Angels] Scout Squad 1 Charges into Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas 1 [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 uses Take to the Skies [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 Declares a Charge – Charge Succeeded [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 Charges into Warboss + Painboy + Boyz |
| Fight | [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack uses Rites of Battle to reduce Martial Paragon cost by 1 CP [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 uses Martial Paragon for 0 CP to gain Sustained Hits [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 Fight Warboss + Painboy + Boyz and Kill all Models except Warboss [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 Fight Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas 1 and Destroy the Unit [Orks] Warboss Fights Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 and does 0 Damage |
| End of Turn | [Blood Angels] Scores Secondary: Behind Enemy Lines — 3 VP [Blood Angels] Scores Secondary: Assassination — 5 VP [Blood Angels] Scores Primary: 4 VP |
| Score at End | 73 |
| CP at End | 1 |
A great final turn for the Blood Angels as they get back to what was working for them in the early game…..harrying the Orks’ flanks and picking off vulnerable units instead of trying to take the Orks on head on. They now have the Orks effectively bottled up in the middle of the board with the sole exception being a Warboss who is on 2 Wounds and who is completely move blocked away from the Blood Angels’ Home Objective.
73 points is not a massive score, but the Orks are now 20 points down with 1 turn left. It’s a steep hill to climb to come back. Let’s see if they can do it.
Board state in the middle of Round 5 is shown below.
Middle of Round 5
| Phase: | Go Second: Orks |
| Score at Start | 53 |
| CP at Start | 2 |
| Command | [Orks] Gains 1 Core CP [Blood Angels] Gains 1 Core CP [Orks] Draws Defend Stronghold and Plunder secondary objectives [Orks] uses New Orders for 1 CP to drop Defend Stronghold and draw Outflank [Orks] Warboss Passes Battle-shock [Orks] Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas 2 Passes Battle-shock [Orks] uses Insane Bravery for 1 CP on Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz [Orks] marks Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 and Scout Squad 1 as Condemned [Orks] Scores Primary: 4 VP |
| Movement | [Orks] Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas 2 Makes a Normal Move towards Objective 2 to Perform Action [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Makes a Normal Move towards Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 to Charge |
| Shooting | [Orks] Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun + Tankbustas 2 Performs Plunder Action [Orks] Warboss shoots Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 and does 0 Damage [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz shoot Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 1 and do 1 Damage |
| Charge | [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Declares a Charge – Charge Failed [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz uses CP Re-roll for 1 CP [Orks] Ghazghkull Thraka + Painboy + Boyz Declares a Charge – Charge Failed |
| Fight | [Orks] Warboss Fights Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 and Kills 1 Model [Blood Angels] Captain with Jump Pack + Sanguinary Guard 2 Fights Warboss and Destroys the Unit |
| End of Turn | [Orks] Scores Secondary: Plunder — 5 VP |
| Score at End | 62 |
| CP at End | 0 |
And Round 5 ends with the Orks coming up just short. In order to avoid the Sanguinary Guard using Wind Swift Evasion to move completely out of Charge range, Ghaz had too settle for a 9 inch Charge, which he failed twice. It was a great game, but the Blood Angels come away with the victory….this time.
Board state at the end of Round 5 is shown below.
End of Round 5
RESULT:
Singles Format: 73 – 62 Blood Angels WIN
WTC Teams Format: 12-8 – Blood Angels WIN
GAME REVIEW:
Another great game and I am loving 11th Edition so far. This one was super interesting because I got to play Blood Angels in a different way, Disruption and with Stormlance Task Force, while also playing against an Orks list that felt way stronger in 11th than it did in 10th, Bully Boyz.
From a game perspective, it felt like the Orks list had more raw power, but that the Blood Angels list was played more skillfully. The Orks game was defined by a series of small mistakes that come from lack of experience with the faction and list. They didn’t play badly and got much better as the game progressed, but there were a few list construction and early game stumbles that I think put them behind. They also were a bit “hit and miss” with following their Win Condition. They did succeed on denying the Blood Angels the center of the board and in bringing their 2 Boyz units to bear. They also played the Battlewagons pretty well. Where they struggled was on the use of the flanking units, the Squighog Boyz. Both got killed for next to no return and should be looked at in the future.
From a Blood Angels perspective, this game featured 4 Rounds of really solid gameplay with a 4th Round that almost cost them the game. For the first few Rounds, they were patient and strategic with their strikes, making sure that they always got value for any trade that they made. Then came the 4th Round and they decided to “all in” the Central Objective, which almost cost them the game as both Orks units survived while the Blood Angels lost 3 units in return. They were lucky that the Sanguinary Guard survived and were able to Fall Back and add value in Round 5, otherwise that would have been a game losing mistake.
Either way, it was a super fun game to play and I am looking forward to the next one.
WHAT I WOULD CHANGE NEXT TIME:
- Blood Angels
- Round 4 gameplay. Blood Angels did need to do something in Round 4 to ensure that the Orks stayed in the center of the board, but I’m not sure that “something” needed to be throwing everything but the kitchen sink at them. Holding Mephiston back probably would have been the smart play. Even better, he should have been positioned from the start to run up a flank and attack the Orks Expansion Objective, which would have been a better use of his profile.
- Orks
- A lot.
- First, there is the list construction piece. I am thinking of dropping one of the Squighog Boyz units in lieu of Wazdakka and a unit of Stormboyz. I love the speed and durability that the Squighog Boyz bring, but they just don’t do enough damage and getting all of them into Engagement Range is too hard. I think Wazdakka will give me the same threat, as well as giving me extra room in the list to bring a Deep Striking action monkey unit, which seems to be sorely lacking as I am now 2 games into playing Purge the Foe with less than impressive scores. I think my lists have gotten a little bit too greedy and need some Secondary scorers in them.
- Then from a gameplay perspective, the Orks precisioned out the wrong character in Round 2 by going for the Captain instead of Sanguinary Priest. Leaving the Priest alive let the Bladeguard Veterans with their 5+ Feel No Pain, which meant that unit could tarpit the Orks for another 1.5 Rounds. At the time, I was worried about the Bladguards’ offensive threat when I should have instead focused on trying to remove their defensive buffs. This mistake was replicated in the following Round when the Orks burned 2 CP on Counter Offensive when they could have, again, used that 1 CP to have Ghaz Epic Challenge the Sanguinary Priest. They should have trusted the 5+ Save and 5+ Feel No Pain.
EARNED THEMSELF A NAME:
The Sanguinary Guard. Those two units were the reason that the Blood Angels won the game as they singlehandedly carried the Blood Angels in Rounds 3 thru 5. The Orks had no answer for them and they flew around the board smashing anything in their path. Both units came up clutch with kills, move blocks, and Secondary scoring when it was needed and shone in these two detachments.
MAGNUS OF THE GAME:
The Squighog Boyz. One unit was used as bait to draw in the Bladeguard Veterans, while the other completely whiffed into the unit that they were designed to kill. Both them immediately died in the trackback. Neither performed well and both are on the chopping block as the Orks refine their list.
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