The Blood Deserts of Auros IX: Battle Summaries (Battles #7 and #8)
We've included this section for those of you who might be curious as to how the the games and the campaign actually played out. For the sake of brevity, we're presenting summaries of the battles instead of turn-by-turn transcripts. Remember that each army's goal is to secure five objectives. 

Battle #7: Disarmament (2000 points per side)
The Ork munitions compound was (for Orks, anyway) relatively quiet in the darkness. Pockets of Boyz huddled in groups, tinkering with their weapons, drinking squig wine, some fighting amongst themselves to release the pre-battle tension. Only the Stormboyz maintained formation, the Drillboss running them through combat drills to pass the time: three hours had passed since he had started.

Sho-T BigHed sauntered among his troops, eyeing them carefully. The Kommandos, having returned with the report that the ‘oomies were preparing to strike the factory, were applying grease to their green faces, preparing to sneak back out among enemy lines. The Goff mercenaries were engrossed in a game of bones, with heavy betting and exchanging of teeth among the spectators. All around the compound there was quiet grumbling as Orks tried to amuse themselves. Sho-T knew that morale was low and he wished the ‘oomies would hurry up and attack.

Behind him, his bodyguard plodded along in their mega-armor. He turned to face them, nearly tripping over Biskit, the Gretchin carrying his Waaaugh Banner. “It won’t be long now ladz. Da ‘oomies will strike before it gets light.” 

His bodyguards looked sidelong at each other, then back at him, and for a brief second, Sho-T was sure one of them was going to try to take him down. Then Gurz, the biggest one, said, “Sure, boss. Whatever yoo say,” and the rest nodded. Sho-T turned back around, scratching his chest hair squig. He didn’t let any of them see the worried expression on his face.

Premise:	Airstikes and orbital bombardments have failed to destroy the heavily fortified main Ork munitions factory. The Fighting Tigers, led by Tiger of Varuna Talwar Chakram, attempt to occupy and destroy the factory. This mission uses the "Take and Hold" mission from page 145 of the main rulebook.
Tiger Strategy:	Converge several units on main building of factory, killing defenders and securing objective before counterattacking Orks can dislodge Tigers.
Ork Strategy:	Stall the Tigers and wear them down so that counterattacking Orks can finish them off and retake main factory building.
Play of the Game:	After driving back Tigers of Rudra who had reached the main building, Ork Burna Boyz consolidate position while Stormboyz and the Dreadnought R2Ork2 pursue. This splits the greenskin force, allowing the Tigers to retaliate and negate the Ork counterattack.
Winner:	Orks. At the end of the game several Ork and Marine units were equally in position to claim the main building of the factory, so we diced for it: odd, Orks won; even, Marines won. The die came up a 5 and Sho-T had claimed a narrow victory.
How the Orks won:	Pat's defending force of Gretchin, Shoota Boyz, Lootas, Tankbustas and Dr. Huji-Bob Jeep (Weirdboy) sufficiently delayed and bloodied the Tiger attack force. R2Ork2, as usual, led a ferocious assault that would have easily swamped the left side of the Marine line were it not for Pat's error in separating his counterattacking force.
How the Tigers lost:	Poor deployment and moving too slowly toward the objective. Fearing Pat's Tankbustas and retooled Lootas (now with lascannons and plasma cannons), I spread my forces out and spent several turns maneuvering when I should have been firing. My Scouts spent most of the game moving instead of shooting and my Assault Marines did literally NOTHING until Turn 4 of the game. Though it came down to a single dice roll at the end Pat certainly deserved to win because he played much better than I did, throwing me off my game plan from the first turn.
Objectives Secured:	Tigers 2, Orks 0.

Battle #8: "Looks like deyz goin' for a li'l drive..." (2000 points per side)
“The Orks have shown incredible resilience,” Raja Khandar said into her Razorback’s commscreen. “Talwar Chakram and her Tigers of Indra were literally minutes away from securing the ammunition compound and allowing our Tigers of Puchan to destroy it when the bulk of the Ork army, which my forces had engaged and distracted, returned. Talwar did not believe our force could destroy the factory and safely retreat, so she chose to withdraw.”

On the commscreen, Raja Shamshir nodded grimly. “Of course,” he replied, but Raja Khandar could tell that he would have taken the risk. 

“We are enroute back to base--” she began, but suddenly Raja Shamshir’s image dissolved into static. 

“Raja! We are under attack!” the driver called. Through "Maneater’s" armor, she heard the beginnings of sporadic gunfire.

Premise:	Returning from the failed attempt to take the Ork munitions factory, the Fighting Tiger convoy is attacked at night. This mission uses the "Ambush" mission from page 150 of the main rulebook. In addition, we also used the Night Fighting rules from page 134.
Tiger Strategy:	Move Land Speeder squadron and 3 Rhinos of Tactical Marines off the board with little or no engagement with the enemy. Vindicator, Land Raider, Shiva the Destroyer, and Raja Khandar Madu (in Razorback) to engage Orks and distract them from units leaving board.
Ork Strategy:	Envelop and destroy Fighting Tiger vehicles with heavy weapons, tankbusta bombz, and burnas.
Play of the Game:	Raja Khandar Madu and her Command Squad assault Slugga Boyz; Stormboyz and Trukk Boyz come to their aid. Though Raja Khandar was struck down and her bodyguard almost wiped out, she managed to distract 40 Orks for several turns, allowing Fighting Tiger Rhinos to move further along escape route.
Winner:	Tigers.
How the Tigers won:	Luck, I tell you, just good luck! Pat got VERY unlucky when checking for his Reserve units, allowing me to move my tanks along for several turns with little trouble. I also had the foresight to give Pat several large, dangerous targets (Raja Khandar, the Land Raider, the Vindicator) to deal with before he could go after my Rhinos, whom I was counting on to get off the board and score me extra victory points.
How the Orks lost:	Bad luck and nothing else. Pat played a superb game, but he was VERY unlucky with his Reserve rolls in the beginning. Once he got all his units on the board, however, he opened a serious can of whoop-ass on my Tigers. I barely managed to get the Speeders and one Rhino off the board.
Objectives Secured:	Tigers 2, Orks 0.

 

Previous Page: Battles #5 and #6 Next page: Battle #9

Related Pages
Fighting Tigers Glossary and Pronunciation Guide
 

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© Copyright Patrick Eibel and Kenton Kilgore, April 2000
 

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