Zzodzog's Ambition - Mission 1: Rumblings in the Warp...

MISSION 1: FIRST CONTACT
750pts Battle Report
Chaos Daemons vs Orks

Set Up
As per the mission rules, the table is split into quarters, and an objective placed at the centre of each quarter (or as close to the centre as we agreed). We then rolled some dice to determine the number of each table quarter and the objective therein.
The Oil Rig was objective 1, the Boyz Hut was objective 2, the Tin Tower was objective 3, and the Junkyard was objective 4.

The orks deployed their army on the board using the random deployment method detailed in the mission's rules. I tried to set up my orks in a narrative way. The meganobz were to be placed by the oil rig, so I deployed them to look as if they were getting an oil change by their mekboy. The shootaboyz were set up as if rummaging through the junk pile in quarter 4, and so on. Not strategic, and just a little detail, but its these things that I enjoy.

The daemons would not be deployed, but would be arriving from the Warp on turn 1.

Daemons Turn 1

Plaguebearers arrive surrounding Objective 2.

The Daemons began to materialise from the Warp on the first turn. Everything was set to appear from the get-go, and most of the army arrived successfully. The only downside was the Plague Drones, who scattered into a nearby ork unit and went back into Ongoing Reserves.

The Plaguebearers appear on and around objective 2 securing it early and threatening the nearby mobs with their foul presence.

The Horrors, led by the Changeling, materialise in the centre.

The daemons of Tzeentch appeared in the centre.

The Changeling attempts to unleash his powers, but he must have woken up late and forgot his morning coffee, and all of his powers failed.

The Plaguebearers attempted to throw their defensive grenades at nearby mobs, killing 1 of the 'ard boyz.

Combat is met early by the Ork Meganobz.

As we agreed that units arriving from reserves could charge on the turn they appeared, the plaguebearers on the ground charged the meganobz.

Although the nobz managed to torch a few with their skorchas, the Herald of Nurgle issued a challenge, which was gladly accepted by the mek in the unit who didn't want any scratches on his newly-finished meganobz. Safe to say, the mek was slain, and to make things worse, the Meganobz lost two more of their number anyway, and fled the combat.

The orks turn their attention on the Plaguebearers who
wiped out the Meganobz.

Orks Turn 1

Unfortunately, the fleeing meganobz had zero faith in their new shiny suits, having not properly tested them yet, and fled from the table. 

The 'ard boyz advanced on the Plaguebearers who made a mockery of the Meganobz, while Zzodzog stands still and braces himself to fire his Shokk Attack Gun at them.

The Lootas exit the Tin Tower, ready to bring
their guns to bear next turn.

The big mek tries out his new gun in combat for the first time, and true to form it malfunctioned. The template was placed on the 'ard boyz instead, and naturally it didn't Scatter, destroying half of their number. 

The shootas boyz are roused from their Junkyard rummaging,
and advance towards the Horrors.

The shoota boyz unleash a volley on the horrors, but did little damage

In the assault phase, the 'ard boyz barely won a fight against the Plaguebearers, but the nurgle daemons show their true worth and hold firm. 

The shootaboyz assault the horrors, and after a flurry of blows manage to wipe them out. The blue horrors retaliate and cause plenty of wounds in return. 

The shootaboyz nob challenges the Changeling, inflicting
only 1 wound.

The newly recycled Horrors unleash a devastating Tzeentch's
Firestorm on the Lootas.

Turn 2

The horrors that were wiped out last turn got recycled and appeared near objective 3 to threaten the newly-emerged lootaboyz. 

The plague drones also arrive, buzzing into the Junkyard.

The horrors unleash their psychic powers against the lootas and kill over half of them.

The 'ard boyz barely hang on against the onslaught
of the Plaguebearers.

The combat between the plaguebearers and the 'ard boyz was pretty indecisive, with them still locked and causing minimal casualties. 

Although the orks won this round again, their numbers were dwindling in the face of overwhelming odds. The shootaboyz nob managed to see off the Changeling with his big choppa.

In the ork turn, the shootaboyz about-face and move towards the oil rig (objective 1).

While the lootas do nothing in this turn of shooting, the shootaboyz manage to wound one of the nearby plague drones.  The big mek turns his shokk attack gun on the plaguebearers on the roof of objective 2, but it scatters off the roof and does nothing.

In the assault phase, the plaguebearers on the ground finish off the 'ard boyz.

Zzodzog and Be'Lathor square off.

Turn 3

In the daemons next turn, the horrors fail their psychic test; the lootas are safe for another turn. 

The plaguebearers and their herald assault the big mek, with the big mek issuing a challenge to the herald in order to avoid the attacks of the other daemons. 

No damage is done between the two.

The shootaboyz, having defeated the daemons of Tzeentch,
move to claim the Oil Rig.

The ork shootaboyz advance closer to the oil rig, turning just enough to fire at the horrors, inflicting a few casualties. 

The lootas, meanwhile, retreat into the safety of building 3 again.

In combat, the plague herald wounds the big mek, but he holds firm.

Turn 4

The recycled 'ard boyz appear right near the Plague Drones
in the Junkyard.

The horrors use Tzeentch's Firestorm on objective 3 to try and rustle out the lootas, but it has no effect. 

In combat, the plague herald finishes off the big mek.

The penultimate ork turn sees the 'ard boyz recycle, moving onto the board near objective 4 to confront the plague drones. 

The shoota boyz finish off the nearby plaguebearers with a little help from the lootas, leaving only the herald alive, who begins to advance on their position. 

The 'ard boyz charge the plague drones, and inflict heavy casualties for little in return.

Be'Lathor assaults the Shootaboyz, who have
secured the Oil Rig.

Turn 5

The plaguebearers who died last turn recycle, but scatter off the board. The horrors on the ridge Firestorm objective 3 again, but again the attack does no damage.

The Herald on the ground charges the dug-in shootaboyz to attempt to dislodge them, and although he wins the combat, the shootaboyz hold their position. 

At the end of the game, the 'ard boyz claim their prize, a
great big pile of junk.

The 'ard boyz finish off the last plague drone.

In the final ork turn of the game, the lootas attempt to do something and shoot the plaguebearers on objective 2 opposite, but do no damage.

The 'ard boyz make an assault against the horrors nearby with a very lucky assault range (12"). Finishing off the horrors, they then make a 5" consolidation back towards objective 4. 

The Herald kills 2 more shootaboyz, but this is still not enough to dislodge them.

CONCLUSION

After turn 5, we decided to end the game. And what a game it was! While we had a few issues with regards to certain special rules, this game was designed to tell an opening narrative to our campaign. While some parts were a bit flimsy, it kind of works, and felt very hectic all the way through. 

Darren: What a fantastic game to kick off our narrative campaign with. It was small but it made its point. The random deployment added a really interesting element to the deployment and represented the mayhem of a suprise attack perfectly. As always, the Orks of Da Big Teef Klan were worthy opponents as I took them on in their home turf and the sneaky steal towards the end game really paid off. I’m really suprised at my Herald, Be’Lathor, cleaving his way through the Orks toughest units and clearing the gaming board of those pesky Meganobz in the opening phases. That 10pt Lesser Reward was so worth spending the points for. Ultimately, although I lost, it was a fantastic match-up and my foe cleverly outmanuveured me. Well done!

Jason: I enjoyed this game a lot, and it was a very worthy opening chapter for our new campaign. In many ways I prefer these smaller games, as every unit feels worthwhile, and losing even a few models can feel like a tragic loss. It was very touch and go from the ork perspective at the start. My opponent dropped in his Plaguebearers and they quickly saw off my strongest unit without so much as a scratch. And after my Shokk Attack Gun misfired I thought I was history. I was struck with the New-model Curse it seemed, until the rest of my army pulled it out of the bag somehow. And kudos to my canny opponent and friend who showed true sportsmanship throughout. Very enjoyable game!

After a poor start from the orks, they eventually managed to gather steam, and scrape Victory from the jaws of defeat. However, the forces of Chaos are not yet done with this world, and as the tattered remains of the Big Teff savoured their win, another Warp Rift burst forth amidst Junktown, and more legions of daemons poured forth...

A Warp Rift opens in Junktown, setting the scene for
our next mission, The Battle For Junktown!

To be continued...

Oddboyz, Nobz and Upstart Gitz...

Zzodzog
All it takes is 1 loose nut for everything to fall apart. Zzodzog's dreams of creating an all-powerful weapon have brought wreck and ruin to the homeworld of Da Big Teef. This is no bad thing, though, as orks love to fight, and this invasion may just prove to be the biggest and bestest fight the Big Teef ever had.
Here is Zzodzog himself. Pretty standard fare. He's not really up to par in terms of painting quality. My quality has taken a nosedive lately, due to lack of practice and also lack of patience. While I still enjoy the hobby, my painting habits have very much traded quality for speed, and its really starting to show. But, in light of this, I've not yet varnished all of these models, so I will come back to them after my friend's visit and finish them up proppa!



Skruffa and his Entourage

Here is my painboy Skruffa Orkfixa. He's the one who has worked the most with Zzodzog in creating all of the meganobz in their little warband. Zzodzog makes the suits, and Skruffa wires them in an presses 'Go'.

Some of you may remember those other models. I was a-rummaging through my bitz box one day when I happened upon them, and started to reminisce about my old ork army. I just had to fix these guys up and re-paint them. They will fill some varied roles, such as extra painboyz, mekboyz, orderlies or oilers if I take any, or as mission objectives in some scenarios at a later date.

Meganobz

Azragg is the leader of the Meganobz. They are actually part of a warband belonging to Zagablud (see below), but their suits were created by Zzodzog and Skruffa. For this squad, I wanted to rebuild and repaint my old Meganobz from my previous army. I had this plan on the backburna for a long time, and it just so happened GW released the new plastic ones at the same time, so it had to be done. Mixing up all the parts, kustomizin' and konvertin' away, I found I had 7 of the nasty buggers. Right now I have 4 with shoota/skorcha kombi-weapons, and 3 with twin-killsaws. Front and centre is Azragg himself. I also have 3 other meganobz on my shelf I painted up some years ago as Bad Moonz, and now I'm more tempted than ever to repaint them as Big Teef and have a full 10-ork unit of meganob killiness.

Upstart Gitz

Although Gorzag Irontoof is the Supreme Warlord of Da Big Teef, he's not without a bunch of lesser warbosses who lead smaller warbands. Here are 2 of these upstart gitz. Though not tested in battle yet, they soon will be, and may well prove themselves in the running for future Supreme Warlord.

To the left is Zagablud Toofgrinda. Zagablud was the warboss of my first ever ork army, and here he's been resurrected as a Big Teef warboss, with a brand new model and everything! I actually really like the lop-sided look this warboss has.

And here is the second, and somewhat less impressive, upstart git by the name of Gitkilla, and his pet squig, Chompy.

Both of these warbosses I wanted to create as a way of trying different loadouts on my leaders. I already have Warlord Gorzag, and despite being the unluckiest warboss who ever bossed, he's always been the one to lead my army. But now I can always swap him out for these cheaper options if I feel like a change.

And that about does it for my ork army for now. When this campaign gets in gear I'll try these new models out and see how they do on the battlefield, something that's always fun and interesting.

Buildings Update

So I've been working on these quite a lot lately (roughly 10am-6pm most days). They are coming on quite well, but right now I'm on the rivet stage. I must have applied at least 100 rivets by now, and I'm only half done. I'm doing the rest as I write this.

The fences are made out of a wire mesh rubbish bin I found in a department store. Its rigid enough to be solid but malleable enough to be useful for many things, and its the perfect size (and so is the mesh ;)). Now to finish off the rivets and get some paint on them...

Zzodzog's Ambition Campaign Prologue - First Contact

Campaign Prologue

Zzodzog strode out onto the roof of his workshop. The grim and jagged
Tower of Kontrapshuns loomed behind him as he approached the battlements.
Peering down into the valley below, he saw the town.

Junktown it was called. The pyres were roaring orange and red, and the
sounds of a settlement of greenskins rang out over the desolate lands
around; the fighting and yelling and laughing, the sounds of engines being
revved and shootas being shot, and choppas and fists and heads clashing.
It was like music to his one remaining ear.

Zzodzog hoised up a huge piece of kit onto his shoulder. It was his new
invention he liked to call the Supershokk Kannon, and it was built out of
his old Shokk Attack gun. About it were rigged some large power generators
that glowed blue and red in the night, and his subordinates scurried about
them twisting dials and turning knobs and hammering things and drilling
things... but the Big Mek grew impatient.

"Readyin' da first shot, now!" He bellowed. He grimaced at the ork town
below. So many pointless lives. Orks were in no short supply, and quite
frankly they were expendable, and would be the test subjects for Zzodzog's
new weapon. He braced his feet against the steel flooring, and leered;
"Turn it up ta elevun!" He said, and squeezed the trigger.

The huge kannon hummed and throbbed, but at first did little else. Until
with a mighty kick it crackled into life. The whirly bits whirled and the
zzappy bits zzapped. He aimed the hooverin' toob at the snotlings piled at
his feet, but as many of them scarpered he turned it on a large pile of scrap
to his side; anything that would get sucked up and sent through.
The gun vibrated more intensely, and Zzodzog tightened his grip. The humming
and whirring and crackling grew to deafening levels.
"MORE POWER!" He bellowed over the din. "TURN ON DA ORKZILLARY POWER!"
Many of his lesser mek's and oilers had long since sought cover, but those
brave (or stupid) few who remained did as their master ordered.

The town below was sent into an uproar. There was a mad scramble of orks as
they clamoured to escape the chaos. Snotlings, squigs, tools, jagged spears
of metal, and other random things started appearing in their midst.
Suddenly, at one end of the town, there was a crackling eruption of purple
lightning that lashed out around it, tearing into a nearby bunker.
Another blinding explosion of green electricity burst forth on the far side
of Junktown.

One of the mekboyz approached Zzodzog and tapped him on the elbow gingerly.
"Uh, boss? Is dat s'posed to 'appen?" He pointed down at the bursts of
lightning in the middle of the town. But before he knew anything more, a
deafening explosion and a brilliant white light engulfed him suddenly. He fell
to the deck and covered his head, and after the noise and electricity died down
he dared to look up. Big Mek Zzodzog was nowhere to be seen.

Zzodzog dropped his gun to the floor and rubbed his eye. After regaining his
senses he saw that he no longer stood on the roof of his workshop. All around
him was a ruckus. Orks punched and bashed and shoved their way around, trying
desperately to grab their guns and extinguish fires and finish their beers.
"Wotz you done, you maniak!" Came the sharp, raspy voice of Painboy Skruffa.
His buzzsaw was on and spinning madly in a threatening fashion, but Zzodzog
simply turned away from him.
"Dey iz comin'!" Shouted one ork running away.
"Dey iz 'ere, dey iz!" Yelled another as he scampered past.
Zzodzog's cybork eye was drawn to the far side of Junktown. Through the mad
throng of orks rushing here and there, he made out a large impact crater and
within it there throbbed a strobing yellow-green light, which crackled with
arcs of lightning, and its epicentre twisted and distorted inward like a whirl-
pool of purest blackness. It emitted an intense heatwave that warped the land
around it like it was bending the fabric of reality itself.
Zzodzog lowered his gaze to the lip of the crater, and from the black vortex
there issued forth a steaming river of yellow sludge which streamed and bubbled
and gurgled over the edges of the crater, and from its gooey midst he saw strange
things clawing and clambering out. They stood tall, and gangly, with long drooping
arms clutching at foul, darkened blades. They oozed with green and yellow puss,
and their faces were twisted and horned and bent into a grotesque cyclopean visage.
Others were a strange shade of pink, and hopped and bounced with their long
limbs to ensnare their foes, throwing pink and red flames about them and gnashing
their enormous bills or maws lined with needle-teeth.
Zzodzog grabbed a tankard from a passing ork and downed the lot in one gulp.
He soon felt better, but then his focus returned to the interloping creatures
and he huffed. He stooped to pick up his Shokk Attack Gun again. Unfortunately,
his untimely teleportation had left the power generators back up on his roof,
but his gun should still have enough back-up power to work. He just needed some
ammunition...

Hoisting his weapon, Zzodzog let out a loud bellow.
"Listen up, ya runts!" He shouted at the orks scrabbling about him. "Get yerselves
in check. We gotz a fight on our 'ands, 'ere. Wot you all scurryin' about like
mangy grots for? If yer act like grots, then I'll send yer through my Supershokk
Kannon and y'ull really 'ave somefink to be scared of!"

Junktown

Waaagh!

Waaagh! never changes...

Next week, my friend and semi-regular skumgrod will be staying for a few days of 40k goodness. We will be starting a campaign of sorts. We don't get often to battle much anymore, so we agreed to start a story between my Orkses and his Nurgle Daemons. But we needed a reason for these two armies to clash. At first we thought of perhaps a random ork foray into the Warp, or maybe the orks found an ancient Daemon weapon and unleashed seven shades of Warp as they tried to utilise it. But then I looked down at my painting desk and thought of something funnier and more amusing...

For Christmas I was gifted a Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun, and then it hit me. This gun opens up a rift to the Warp, through which snotlings are sent in order to appear in the enemy ranks to cause havoc. What if this particular mek was just insane enough to want a stronger gun? And so his experiments began, with catastrophic results. Snotlings went into the gun, but something far bigger, far more dangerous, and far more stinky came out!

This is the scene of our campaign - at the beginning anyway. Who knows where things will go as the year progresses and things get even crazier?! But for now, I wanted some suitable terrain. And seeing as this campaign takes place on an ork-held world, I needed some orky terrain. I decided to start with something simple, and built 2 "boyz huts" of different shapes.

This first is a more traditional orky abode, with a flat roof. It is not fully built yet, as I haven't added the battlements yet. Something you will notice is the weird blobby thing on the side. That will be a tent. This came about partly inspired by the orky building in Dawn of War, the "Pile o' gunz", but also from some Lord of the Rings terrain I saw a while back. I wanted to try something similar, so figured I may as well do it on these buildings to make them a little different to typical ork fare.

This second building is similar, but is much taller, and does not have a parapet roof. Instead the roof is a simple slope made out of the corrugated steel, with a few smokestacks on top for added height, and so the roof isn't too flat. This one also has more windows for fire-points to make up for the lack of a stand-on-able roof.

I have plenty of other projects on the go, but this will do for now. In the pipeline I have a 3rd building which will effectively be a tower built on top of a land raider (an immobile land raider), some lengths of wire-mesh fence, orky barricades, a half-painted oil tank, and some other random crap to throw around the board to make the place feel more lived-in. 

There's nothing like the promise of a long and brutal campaign to get the modelling juices flowing...