Welcome to my first battle report of 9th edition 40k! With everything that has been going on with lockdown and the pandemic, this was the first opportunity I had to play the new edition of the game. In this report, my White Scars Primaris army was taking on Sandy's Orks.
In this game, we were playing Resupply. This mission has three central objectives and one in each player's deployment zone. In battle round four, one central objective is removed, while another is removed in battle round 5.
My army consisted of:
Battalion Detachment (White Scars)
- Kor'sarro Khan
- Primaris Chaplain- Chogorian Storm
- 5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles
- 5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles
- 5 Infiltrators- Bolt Carbines
- 5 Infiltrators- Bolt Carbines
- 5 Assault Intercessors- Heavy Bolt Pistols, Astartes Chainswords, Plasma Pistol
- 5 Assault Intercessors- Heavy Bolt Pistols, Astartes Chainswords
- 3 Eliminators- Bolt Sniper Rifles
- 3 Inceptors- 2 Assault Bolters
- 3 Inceptors- 2 Assault Bolters
- 3 Eradicators- Meltarifles
- 3 Outriders
- 3 Outriders
- Incvictus Warsuit- Incindiary Cannon, Fragstorm Grenade Launcher, 2 Heavy Stubbers
- Impulsor- 2 Storm Bolters, Ironhail Stubber, Shield Dome
- Impulsor- 2 Storm Bolters, Ironhail Stubber, Shield Dome
For secondaries, I chose Engage on all Fronts, Thin their Ranks and Secure Landing Site (the mission specific secondary). Sandy chose Secure Landing Site, Investigate sites and Engage on all Fronts.
Engage on all fronts favoured my normal play style with the Scars, moving all over the board to control ground and engage. Thin the ranks also made sense, as I was up against a lot of bodies! I decided to give the mission specific secondary a go, as it was likely the game would be a close and bloody affair in the centre of the board.
We then alternated deployment, starting with my own forces. I placed a unit of Intercessors in the centre, behind the bunkers, with another unit on the Bastion to the right, supported by the Eliminators. I put one Impulsor on each flank, with a unit of Outriders on each flank as well. The Warsuit went towards the centre on the left, with a unit of Infiltrators on the right. I put the Eradicators and a unit of Inceptors in reserve. The other Inceptor squad went on the right flank.
Sandy put his three big Boyz mobs in the centre and the left flank, supported by the characters on foot. The Mek guns spread across his deployment zone in two groups of four, with the Grots shielding the unit on the right. The Battlewagon, Nob Bikers and Wartrike went on the right, opposite Khan and the Warsuit.
My plan was to try and shut down the Mek guns as quickly as possible. I was hoping the Warsuit could take care of the Grots with his flamer, then charge in and take on the Guns, silencing a few of them on the left flank. The ones on the right would be harder to get to, but I should be able to get a charge with the Bikers if I get the first turn.
We rolled off for first turn and Sandy won the roll. Unsurprisingly, he chose to go first.
TURN 1- ORKS
The Boyz mobs on the left advanced towards the enemy army, while the Nob Bikers on the right advanced into the crater. The Weirdboy cast Warpath on one unit of Boyz.
The shooting phase began with the Mek Gunz opening up on the Invictor Warsuit. The first two guns only managed a single wound to do one damage. Two more of the Guns fired at the Warsuit, doing five wounds and destroying it.
The fifth Gun fired at the Outriders, killing two of the squad. The remaining Guns fired at the other Outrider squad, but only managed to kill one of them. The Battlewagon fired at the lone Outrider, killing him.
There were no charges this turn. Thanks to the repulsor field on the Impulsor, the Nob Bikers were unable to make a charge move on the vehicle.
At the end of his turn, Sandy scored Engage on all fronts for 2 points.
TURN 1- WHITE SCARS
On the right flank, the Intercessors and Chaplain advanced on the Ork mob, while the Outriders and Infiltrators moved up on another mob.
The shooting phase began with the Eliminators firing on the Weirdboy. I scored three hits, but not a single wound (despite needing a 3+). I got one wound with a CP re-roll and the psyker took two damage.
The Outriders, Infiltrators, Intercessors, Inceptors and Impulsor opened fire on the central mob of Boyz, killing 17 of the squad. On the left, the Intercessors and Infiltrators fired at the Nob Bikers, killing one and taking a wound from another.
In the charge phase, Khan and the two squads assaulted the Nob Bikers. The Outriders and Infiltrators charged the wounded Ork mob, while the Assault Intercessors and Chaplain charged the other mob (the Chaplain needing a CP re-roll to get in). The Impulsor charged the Battlewagon to shut down its firepower.
The Intercessors on the left struck at the Nob Bikers, doing 10 wounds thanks to the +1 to wound from Khan. Sandy failed 8 wound and three Nob Bikers died, leaving one remaining, who was easily cut down my Khan.
On the right flank, the Outriders killed five of the Boyz, while the Infiltrators killed all but two of the squad. The other unit of Assault Intercessors killed seven of the Boyz, while the Chaplain cut down three more.
The Orks struck back. The central mob were able to kill one Bike, while the other mob was able to kill three of the Assault Intercessors. The Nob boss attacked the Chaplain with his Power Klaw, managing to put two wound on him.
I spent 3CP to fight again with the Chaplain, but only succeeded in killing three more Boyz.
In the morale phase, Sandy spent 2CP to pass his morale on the two Orks left in combat. I passed my morale with the Intercessors.
At the end of my turn, I scored Engage on all fronts for 3VP.
VICTORY POINTS:
Orks- 2
White Scars- 3
A decent first turn for both armies. Going second had been brutal, as I lost half my Bikers and the Warsuit to the Big Mek Guns. I would need to silence them soon, as I couldn't really afford to have them firing for too long. It was also a mistake not to finish off the two Boyz left in the mob, as we will see in the following turn.
TURN 2- ORKS
At the end of his command phase, Sandy scored 10VP for the primary objective and 2VP for Secure Landing Site.
The small mob of Orks fell back from combat with the White Scars. The Defftrike moved up on the White Scars lines, while the Ork characters moved up to support the squads. At the end of the phase, Sandy used a stratagem to remove the Ork mob and set them up in my deployment zone. I had forgotten about this stratagem, and should have focused on killing the last two of the mob in the previous combat. Oh well, more bodies to kill for Thin the Ranks points! He also started investigating the site with the large Boyz mob in the centre.
In the psychic phase, the Weirdboy attempted to cast Warpath on the unit in combat with the Chaplain. However, the proximity of so many Boyz caused him to peril and he died. The resulting release of psychic energy put two wounds on the other Weirdboy, three wounds on the Painboy, two on the Warboss, one of the Boyz mob and three wounds on my Infiltrators, killing two. The other Weirdboy cast Smite, doing another 3 mortal wounds and killing one more Infiltrator.
In the shooting phase, the Mek Gun fired on the lone Outrider, killing him. Another gun fired at the Inceptors. The gun got three shots and rolled 3 6's to hit! The Dakka got four hits and killed two of the squad. The third Mek gun got another 3 shots and 3 hits, killing the last Inceptor.
Another gun fired on the Infiltrators, killing them. The Orks fired their pistols at the Assault Intercessors in combat, killing one more.
On the right flank, the Mek Gun fired at the Infiltrators, killing two of the squad. The Battlewagon was unable to fire on the Impulsor in combat.
In the charge phase, the Wartrike charged the Infiltrators. The large mob of Orks managed their charge on the Intercessors holding the objective.
The Wartrike only managed to kill two of the Infiltrators, leaving one remaining. I spent 2CP to interrupt with the Intercessors, doing five wounds on the Orks, but Sandy made two 6+ saves to only lose three of the mob. The Boyz struck back, killing three of the squad and swarming the objective.
The Chaplain struck at the Boyz, killing three. The Ork mob then took down the last Intercessor. The Nob attacked the Chaplain, but failed to get past his invulnerable save. The Battlewagon was able to put a wound on the Impulsor, while the lone Infiltrator was able to wound the Wartrike.
At the end of the turn, I spent 2CP to pass morale with the lone Infiltrator. I had around a 75% chance to pass the morale with my ATSKNF re-roll, but didn't want to risk losing the primary points if he did flee. Sandy scored Engage on all fronts for 2VP.
TURN 2- WHITE SCARS
At the end of my command phase, I scored 5VP for the primary objective and 2VP for holding a central objective for my secondary.
The two Intercessors fell back from combat towards the central objective. I wanted to deny the Orks from investigating the centre. The Assault Intercessors advanced towards the large Boyz mob, while Khan moved up on the Wartrike. The Chaplain fell back from combat. The Impulsor fell back towards the Mek Guns on the left, while the Impulsor on the right advanced towards the other Mek Guns.
At the end of the phase, the Inceptors landed near the Ork mob, while the Eradicators landed near the Khan to target the Battlewagon.
The Eradicators opened fire on the Battlewagon, scoring 5 hits but only a single wound! I used a CP re-roll to get a second wound, but only rolled 4 damage on 2D6!
The Eliminators fired on the Weirdboy, killing him with their sniper fire. The Inceptors fired on the Boyz mob, killing 10 of the squad. The unit of 5 Intercessors added their fire, but only managed a couple of kills.
In the charge phase, I spend 1CP on the 3D6 charge stratagem for the Assault Intercessors, who managed to make it in to combat with the large mob in the centre. Khan charged the Wartrike, and was joined by the Eradicators, who managed a long charge. The Chaplain assaulted the Mob once more, while the two Impulsors charged into the Mek Guns, one of them needing my last CP to make the 7" charge.
Khan easily cut down the Wartrike in combat. The cowardly Ork exploded the vehicle, causing two wounds on an Eradicator and wounding the Khan once.
The Intercessors attacked the Boyz, killing 7 of the squad. The Impulsor struck at the grots, managing to crush two beneath its mighty bulk. The Chaplain struck at the Boyz, killing five more.
The Nob attacked the Chaplain, managing to finally kill him with his power Klaw. The Boyz mob in the centre were only able to kill one Intercessor after some poor rolling. The Grots managed to take one wound from the Impulsor on the left flank.
In the morale phase, the Mob in my deployment zone failed their test, losing 5 of the squad in total.
At the end of my turn, I scored 3 more points for Engage on all fronts.
VICTORY POINTS:
Orks- 16
White Scars- 13
The Orks had taken an early lead and had a commanding control of the Battlefield. However, I was racking up the points for Thin their Ranks to be added to my score at the end of the game, so things were not so bad for the White Scars. I had managed to shut down all but one of the Mek Guns this turn, so had lessened the firepower of the Orks significantly.
TURN 3- ORKS
At the end of the command phase, Sandy scored 15 points for the Primary for holding three objectives and 2 points for the secondary.
The Warboss and Painboy moved up on the Impulsor, as the Mek Guns fell back. On the other flank, the Mek Guns fell back from the Impulsor as well.
The lone Mek Gun that could fire targeted the central Intercessors, killing the squad. The Battlewagon fired at the Infiltrator and Eradicators, but only managed to kill one Eradicator.
In the charge phase, the Warboss and Painboy assaulted the Impulsor. The Warboss struck, putting 9 damage on the tank, leaving it on one wound. The Painboy struck, hoping to finish it off, but failed to do any damage.
The Intercessors struck at the Boyz, killing five of the squad. The attacks back from the Orks managed to kill two of the White Scars in reply. The Impulsor then attacked the Painboy and managed to kill him!
At the end of the turn, Sandy scored Engage on all fronts for 2 points.
TURN 3- WHITE SCARS
At the end of my Command phase, I scored 5 points for the primary and 2 points for the secondary for holding the objective on the left.
Khan advanced towards the boyz mob in the centre, as the Intercessors fell back from combat. The Inceptors moved up on the other mob, while the Impulsor fell back from combat, and the other Impulsor moved to secure the same table quarter.
The two Eradicators fired at the Battlewagon, doing 10 wounds to the enemy vehicle to leave it on 2 remaining. The Impulsor fired on the Grots, killing 5, while the Infiltrator killed one more. The Inceptors fired on the Boyz, killing five, while the Intercessors killed two more.
The Eliminators fired on the Warboss, doing two wounds. One got through him armour, doing 2 damage and leaving him on one wound remaining.
In the charge phase, the Intercessors, Khan and Infiltrator charged the Boyz. The Inceptors charged the other squad. The Warboss heroically intervened into the Impulsor, after it failed a charged on the Boyz. My plan was to try and get it out of range of the warboss with the charge.
The Intercessors attacked the Boyz, killing four. Sandy spent his last 2CP to interrupt, the Boyz killing the Intercessors, while the Nob wounded Khan twice. Khan then killed four Boyz, while the Infiltrator killed three more.
The Inceptors were able to kill of the last of the Boyz mob, while the Warboss took out the Impulsor.
In the morale phase, both the Grots and Boyz mob rolled a 1 for their morale to pass!
At the end of the turn, I scored 3 points for Engage on all fronts.
With that, we ran out of time. This was my first game of 9th and Sandy's second game, so we were a bit slow, checking on the secondaries and mission rules, as well as a few game rules.
At the end of turn 3, I had killed 120 models in the Ork army, gaining me 12VP for thin the ranks. The final score was:
VICTORY POINTS:
Orks- 33
White Scars- 32
The game was much closer than I suspected!
AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
Thanks to Sandy for a great game. It was really good to get back on the tabletop after such a long absence.
The game ended very close, but had it gone on, I think the Orks would have definitely pulled a decisive win. He was doing well on the Primary and would probably outscore me on that in the following turns, as well as getting some of his firepower back.
It was annoying to lose the Warsuit and Bikers so early in the game, but those Mek Guns are brutal! They are D3 shots, AP-4 and D6 damage. The weapon has a 2D6 toughness test to wound, so can wound most infantry with ease. Sandy was rolling really hot for the number of shots, getting 3 shots about 75% of the time he was rolling. Shutting them down with the Impulsors was key. This is a great transport for the White Scars, able to advance and charge, as well as having fly, it can get to most enemy units with ease.
I did make a few mistakes in this game. I should have started with the Chaplain on the table. He couldn't roll for his Litany in the transport, so missed out on it in turn 1, then failed the roll on turn 2. With the Relic Crozius and Chogorian storm, he was pretty good in combat.
One big mistake was not finishing off the Boyz mob. I forgot about the Green tide stratagem to allow the unit to come back again at full strength. Sandy making the charge on the Intercessors was also annoying! Had I finished off the unit, my own Intercessors probably could have held my own objective, helping me on the Primary and denying Sandy more points.
The Eradicators were a little disappointing. I think this was simply due to poor luck, rather than the unit being bad. Of my first 6 shots, five hit, but only one wounded on a 4+. I got a second wound with a CP re-roll, but then only rolled a 4 for the damage on 2D6! They did a bit better on the second shot, doing 10 wounds with 4D6 damage, but average rolling should have seen the battlewagon destroyed.
I'm still working out the secondaries. Engage on all fronts was great for my White Scars, as I normally play them very aggressively. I think going for the mission secondary was a mistake, but wanted to try it out anyway. As it was, Assassinate would have been a better secondary, as I managed to kill four of the characters during the game (though the exploding weirdboy helped out with this significantly!).
Khan performed pretty well. He is a beast in combat, especially on the charge and against characters. In hindsight, it would have been better to put him on the right, but I wanted him to be able to deal with the Bikers and Wartrike. However, getting his +1 to wound bubble and re-rolls of 1 to hit on the combats on the right would have helped me take out more Boyz in the combats, and could have swung the objectives game in my favour.
The Outriders were also great, for what little they did. They have a ton of attacks on the charge. Had I got the first turn, I would have been able to advance, shoot and charge the unit (using the stratagem) and been in at the heart of the Ork army. This could have helped me shut down the guns sooner or stall the Ork advance onto the objectives. I would have moved the Impulsors up onto the objectives, ready to deploy the units inside the following turn. Had the Warsuit been allowed to come out and play, I think he would have done a lot of damage to the Ork lines.
Overall, I enjoyed my first game of 9th edition. We were playing on the smaller recommended board size, which made a huge difference. The enemy army seemed like a big threat from turn 1 onwards, and it did not take long to get across the board with the White Scars ability to advance and charge.
I need to get used to some of the new rules. I'm sure there were some instances where I could have shot at enemy characters, as they were out of range of units. It's these subtle adjustments that I need to pick up on.
The lack of overwatch for much of the game also speeds things up a lot. I think the overwatch stratagem was only used once the whole game. It simply doesn't seem worth doing most of the time on small Marine units.