He set you his Green Tide across most of the table. It contained 116 Boyz, including 10 Nobz with power klaws, a Warboss with a power klaw, some super choppa that got better the more models he killed, and something to make him Fearless, a Mek that gives a 4+ invulnerable save to every model within 12", and Mad Dok Grotsnik. In reserve was 3 squads of Grots and a Dakkajet.
The Green Tide was tough. It was Fearless from two sources, so I couldn't rely on Mob Rules! to cause extra casualties. The center of the mob (where all the important characters were) had a 4+ invulnerable, while the whole mob had Feel No Pain. It can also Waaagh! every turn except the first, so it can always run and charge. I really was having trouble estimating its charge distance. It was absurdly fast.
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| The Executioners deploy to open fire on the horde as it swarms across the table. |
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| I tried to slow the Orks with a Rhino, but they just flowed around it. |
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| The Orks launch their charge in turn 2. |
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| The Command Squad holds but the Tactical Marines are wiped out. |
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| The Command squad fall to a barrage of power klaws. |
With the Command squad dead, I retreated my army to the left flank. Rhinos full of Tactical Marines moved to take the two objectives in the Ork quarters, wiping out two squads of Grots on the way. The Orks spread out to their full extent, pushing my units off the objectives in my zone.
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| The full extent of the Green Tide's stretchiness. |
That's what the table looked like at the end of Turn 5. Because the Green Tide is a single unit, it can only hold one objective. Therefore, I'm holding one and the Orks hold 2 (the Grots in the back right corner still hold their objective). The game ended then for an Ork victory. My opponent and I both agreed that another turn would turn it into at least a draw, but potentially a win for me.
In the end, it was an extremely close loss for me. It was a great game and my opponent was a pleasure to play against. It was really interesting to play such an odd army.
Lessons Learned:
1) The Green Tide is a great formation. The number of Orks is great, but the fact that they can always run and charge is huge. They cross the table very quickly. I'm sure this is also true for other Orks, but at least you only have to worry about it for one turn.
2) The Waaagh! Ghazghkull supplement really adds to the Ork Codex. A 4++ force field and a Warboss that provides Fearless are huge. I don't think I would have had any trouble with the Green Tide had it not been protected by them.
3) As you can expect, the Thunderfires were tremendously useful here. They killed lots of Boyz, and took at Grotsnik quickly. The Warboss died to them in the fourth turn of the game, preventing any more crazy long charges. I did try to kill the Big Mek since he was really protecting the squad, especially in the late game, but I just kept scattering off of him.
4) I think I played the game well overall. My biggest mistake was allowing the Command Squad to get charged. A late game charge by them once the Green Tide was worn down could have held the Orks in place and won me the game.