Fleet Engagement 1250pts
Orks vs Adeptus MechanicusOrksTerror Kroozer (Warlord) + Terror Kroozer
Terror Kroozer + Kill Kroozer (Warlord)
Kill Kroozer
3x Savage GunShip
3x Ravage (one with the torps)
Adeptus MechanicusRetribution [Magos : AWR picked, AE rolled [+5cm / +1D6AAF] + Nova Cannon] + Judgement Forge +
Lunar [range upgrade + AE] + Quest Mechanicus +
Gothic [FDT] + Divinus Mechanicus +
Endeavour [AWR] + Calvinus Rekat +
3x Gladius + Curator Mechanicus I +
3x Hunter + Curator Mechanicus II +
Tactical choices resulted in a traditional setup (B).
Turn 1Adeptus Mechanicus goes first. Escorts move to short table, trying to get behind Ork fleet. Asteroids as cover option. Retribution shoots Nova Cannon..HIT....1... [impressive...].
The Terror/Kill squad AAF to catch up with fleet. Rest tries to Come to New Heading but in traditional Ork Sense fail.
Turn 2Escorts [Hunters} very far side behind asteroid field, Gladius follow but option to cross asteroid field on other side. Endeavour, Gothic, Lunar all turn to Ork table edge, coursing towars the stragglig Terror/Kill squad. The Retribution does a cool Lock On and long range gunnery manages to inflict 3 hits on the lone Kill Kroozer. Nova Cannon scatters wide. Long range lances kill a Ravager.
Orks try to turn towards AdMech, while reload succeeds come to new heading fails again. Kill Kroozer places blastmarker on Retribution.
Turn 3The mighty Retribution moves forward [20cm with a blastmarker on it is cool - + Omnissiah approves of Advanced Engins +], turn towards Ork table edge. Gothic and Lunar come along side Retribution with Lunar turning more left. Escorts Hunters & Gladius swoop behind Terror/Kill squadron but out of range.
Retribution shoots batteries.... Kill Kroozer down to 3 hits....hull breach...boom!! Lances fire on Ravager squadron...1 death...other blastmarker on it. Lance fire from Lunar/Gothic kill two remaining Ravagers...ouch. + Omnissiah Blessed Dice +
With the potential threat of a Kill Kroozer and Ravagers gone the Ork shooting was less fruitful once more. Though fighter bombers inflicted a hit on the Lunar. Though Ork fleet is getting a better bearing now. Torps inflict a hit on the Retribution...yeah.
Turn 4The Hunters sneak into rear of Terror/Kill squadron. Torpedoes manage to do damge in the following ordnance phase. The Lunar turns into the Ork fleet. Retribution/Gothic/Endeavour move onwards with only slight left turning. Shooting is less fruitfull all around though one Savage goes down. Several ships braced though.
All Orks gather upon the Lunar, several booms and shots later the Lunar is utterly crippled with 2 hits remaining. At the end of the shooting brace succeeded very well. And the vessel even shrugged off fighter bombers. A Hunter escort went down as well.
Turn 5The crippled Lunar disengages succesfully. Retribution/Gothic start left turning. Endeavour following in slipstream. Gladius [Hunters further away] full behind Terror/Kill squadron. After the shooting phase the Terror is utterly crippled. Kill kroozer also takes some hits.
The Orks (with Terror/Terror squad ever succeeding reload ordnance) try to retaliate but manage like nothing. The crippled Terror disengages.
Turn 6The Retribution/Gothic [leading] turn now run parallel with table. Gladius surge forward to get behind Terror/Terror, braced from last turn nothing major happens from them this turn. Hunters place a blastmarker on a Savage. Torps wasted [Omnissiah Senses Logical Malfunction]. The Kill Kroozer takes some hits from various shooting and is crippled. One Savage is destroyed.
The Orks manage to put a blastmarker on the Endeavour again. A Gladius is destroyed by the crippled Kill Kroozer. Otherwise...
Turn 7Line keeps moving though Endeavour is staggering due blastmarkers last turns. Gladius and Hunters move into favourable positions behind Terror/Terror squad but being braced does not make for hits. The last Savage is destroyed but the Kill Kroozer remains alive... by all..
The almost destroyed Kill Kroozer disengages. But in true Orky fashion the Terrors keep on fighting. Assault boats inflict point of damage on Retribution (engine room damaged, 2x prow, 1x starboard and 1x dorsal (repaired))...Endeavour takes hit as well.
Turn 8Combined shooting of Retribution (being braced), Gothic dorsal lance, Endeavour batteries and Gladius shooting one of the Terrors is crippled.
And with that the Orks finally disengage.
End resultAdMech:Lunar crippled [disengaged]
Orks:Kill Kroozer destroyed
Terror Kroozer crippled (disengaged)
Terror Kroozer crippled (disengaged)
Kill Kroozer crippled (disengaged)
3x Savage gunship destroyed
3x Ravager destroyed
ConclusionExcellent dice early on sealed a lot of the battle when the Kill Kroozers and Ravagers went down. The whole engagement setup wasn't an Orky favour either. I could move behind his fleet with escorts and my long range gunnery kept his fleet under pressure, blastmarkes often doing a trick to keep Orks slow. 1 shield on them also makes room for the incidental hit.
This was my third AdMech victory in a row now (two full battles) after losing / losing draws for the first six games or so. They went uphill after the Defiant was changed into the Retribution.
The AWR (weapon upgrade) on the Retribution is brutal. This vessel was the game winner. The Lunar showed resilience by shrugging of a lot of fire. The Gothic came through unscathed. 6+ prows, 2 shields and 8 hits is useful vs a fleet not having massed lances. Heavy gunz where good but not enough to finish the Lunar.
The Ork player only made one tactical error due rustiness: he should've used assault boats from the start vs the high turret AdMech ships. Alas, the battle did prove that the new FAQ2010 makes fighter bomber pretty weak. The main strength of the Orks neutered...pity.
Plus the fact my dice where slightly better, especially in the opening turns. In the end it was a cool match though.
Now I need an AdMech Dictator to complete my fleet. It wouldn't win me the orndnace war but it could slightly be the thing I need when my opponent did use more assault boats. Or when I face Tau.
Some pictures:
