The next outing for the Feral Orks was once again against Pete Haines' Imperial Guard. This time I chose a more Wildboy-heavy army, with a mounted Warboss, Wyrdboy, Huntas, Madboyz, Brutes, Grotz and the faithful Lobbas. We rolled up a Rescue mission, one of the most entertaining scenarios in the Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook. Pete takes up the story:

Wildboyz aplenty for my new Feral Ork army, complete with mounted Warboss painted by Joe Black (a gift a few years back).

ONE OF OUR TERMINATORS IS MISSING!

During the vicious fighting on Armageddon the elite troops of the Adeptus Astartes suffered heavy casualties defending the Hives from the bestial fury of Waaagh! Ghazghkull. In battle the focus was ever on victory and when it was won there was always another battle. Wherever possible Chapter Apothecaries strove to recover the invaluable gene-seed from the fallen so that their Chapters would live on. This was difficult enough but there was no time to salvage the advanced armour and weapons of the dead. Instead this mission fell to the conventional soldiers of the Imperium. A set of Terminator armour is a treasured relic of the Chapter that owns it and is almost irreplaceable. Moreover the thought of such a thing on an Ork trophy rack, or worst in a Mekboy's workshop ensures that the Imperial Guard perform routine sweeps of areas where Space Marines have been in action.

One such encounter saw elements of the 7th Catachan combing the edge of the equatorial jungles east of Death Mire. There had been several skirmishes with Feral Orks infesting the jungles over the previous few days but on this occasion the Guardsmen had reports that one of the precious Terminator suits was in the area.

THE GAME

This was played at 1,500 points between the Imperial Guard of Pete Haines (Catachan 7th Regiment, Omega Company, Force Blue under the redoubtable Ursin Gauge) and Adi Wood's Feral Orks (Waaagh! Grimjaw). The mission was Rescue.

EARLY MOVES

Adi's Orks formed a huge crescent across his side of the table. A bestial horde of Grots, Wildboyz and Madboyz with a core of well-armed Huntas. The Imperial Guard seemed massively outnumbered and formed up in two lines of squads with their scouting Sentinels racing ahead. The Sentinels managed to examine all the possible sites on the Guardsmen's side of the tabletop really quickly although one of their number was first stunned then destroyed by the unusually accurate rocket fire of the Ork Huntas in the process.

As reserves turned up on both side bringing the Imperial Guard weapons teams and Leman Russ as well as Ork lobbas and Brutes it was becoming apparent that the Guard would have to march a long way to reach the other possible sites. The Orks on the other hand surged forward and were rewarded by the sight of the mighty totem lying in the mud.

Next: The Second Battle Concludes.
Previous: The First Battle Concludes.