Epic A: First Game with the Waaagh

Hey Folks,

Jonathan very kindly showed me the ropes with my first Epic game tonight.  I lost most of the Horde, and the game in the End but it was super fun!

I had between 1750 to 1850 odd points (depending which version of the lists you used) and my army consisted of;

• Big Warband with Warlord (4 nobz, 12 boyz, 4 Grotz) and 2 Oddboy Soopaguns
• Mekboy Stompa Mob with Supa Stompa, 3 Stompas, 2 Dreads and 2 Killa Kans
• Blitz Brigade with Oddboy Zzaap Gunwagon and 2 Extra Flakwagons
• Blitz Brigade with Oddboy Zzaap Gunwagon, an Extra Flakwagon and a Gunfortress

Johnathan had an Infantry heavy Marine army with no Whirlwinds, Air Support or Armour.  Or Teleporting terminators - looks like he was going soft on the n00b while I had two War Engines and multiple Macroweapons!  Didn't I feel like a cheesy git :P

 Warband garrisoned off the first Take and Hold objective (in the ruins) The rockets are my Oddboyz "Skud Launcha" soopagunz. Directly across from them are a Devastator unit (4 stands) with 2 Dreadnoughts and a Tactical unit (6 stands) with the Marine Commander. John was shocked by how big the unit was when I deployed it!

 Mob on the Road and the Blitz Brigade with the Gunfortress in reserve

 the other Blitz Brigade faces off against (along way away) another Tactical and Devastator unit. John has two Assault units deployed centrally as his mobile reserve

 halfway through the first turn. John gets initive (unsurprisingly) and his Devastator and Tactical units pour fire into my Warband. The Stompa Mob Doubles up the road and blows away three Devastator stands with their Macroweapon Barrage and Big Guns. My Warband then Engages the Devastator and Tactical Marines but ends up mostly in a Fire Fight, so gets wasted and falls back at half strength.

 casualties after the first turn, Epic is Brutal!

In turn one I also moved my Blitz Brigade with Gunfortress up and pounded away at the Tactical and Devastator's that had driven off my Warband, finishing off the Devastators.  On the other flank the Blitz Brigade moved up and hid behind the hill, only to be pounce on and shot at without loss by a Tactical Formation in rhinos with supporting Devastators behind them.  John's Assault Marines both moved over to the flank where my Warband was.

I didn't take any photos of turn two but somehow I won the roll to go first so Doubled the Stompa Mob over by the hill where the Blitz Brigade were and pounded the Tactical Marines on the hill.  Macroweapon Barrage and Big Gunz killed 3 stands and luckily I managed to retain the initiative the Blitz Brigade who Sustained Fire (needing a 4+) into the Tacticals kill a couple more and Breaking them. John went next and called a combined Engage on the other flank with his Commander and  the two Assault Marine units that pounded my Warband again, killed the Warlord, and drove them off broken and down to three stands :(  Support fire from the Blitz Brigade did not alot. My Blitz Brigade with Gunfortress Sustained Fire into the tactical marines and killed a couple more forcing them to break.

My Stompa Mob now doubles back to the center again and unleashes on one of the Assault Marines, driving them back and getting them down to one stand, which my Warband remnant promptly engages and kills. On the other flank my Biltz Brigade decides they are better off mashing Devastator's in combat instead of trading fire with them so Engage and are slaughtered by counter attacking Dreadnoughts, which wipe them out.

So I am down to the Stompa Mob and Epic checks Victory conditions at the end of turn three.  John's last move is a March with the Rhino mounted Tactical Marines I forced off the hill earlier.  Its a long move but they just make it over to my undefended Blitz.  The Devastator's that had seen off my Blitz Brigade move onto a Take and Hold so that gives John the Take and Hold Objective as well as I don't have anything on his side of the table, so he gets They Shall not Pass as well.  2-0 to the Marines!

SO first impressions are that Epic Armageddon is really fun.  Its bloody and brutal in assaults and firefights, I had thought my large warband would survive longer then it did!  It has a really tactical feel though and the alternate activations and initiative sequence leads to some interesting dilemma's to resolve.  I love the way the Orks fight so will be happily building up more to get the army to 3K at least. 

Cheers for taking this n00b to school Jonathan :)

Cheers

Jason