Hi!
I figured it was high time that I actually posted a bit of an actual hobby update so spent a bit of time this evening playing a quick skirmish using some home brewed rules and featuring a squad of Viridian Assault Marines skirmishing with a Goff warband for control of an abandoned outpost on New Viridia.
The Setup
New Viridia is a megacorporate owned planet that consists of untamed rainforests and large, warm oceans. Settled at great expense by the Viridian Megacorp, it has been used to harvest all manner of rare plants and other compounds for the pharmaceutical sector as well as targeted mining for rare earth minerals and also contains several large farming and fishing franchises all under Viridian control.
Recently several isolated outposts have gone quiet and when a garbled call for help arrived from one such settlement, the Viridian security force dispatched some Assault Marines by VTOL deployment to secure the site and destroy whatever force was responsible for the raid.
Upon arrival, the Viridian force found the settlement in ruins, bodies of settlers strewn around the site showing obvious signs of brutal violence and several Ork glyphs daubed on the few buildings that remained standing and as the marines began to sweep the settlement, their scanners recorded incoming blips from the north.
The scenario sees the Viridian troops tasked with driving the Orks from the settlement while securing as many buildings as they could. In return, the Orks only objective is to wipe out the humies and carry off their loot to their encampment.
The Forces
The Viridian force consisted of a combat squad of three power armoured Assault Troopers armed with blasters, one heavy blaster and led by a sergeant with a power sword and plasma pistol.
The Ork force consisted of two squads of four Orks led by a Nob and a squad of five Gretchin. The Orks had blast pistols and axes while the Nobs had power weapons and Kombi Blasters (potentially potent but possibly useless depending on a random dice roll each time they were fired) whilst the Grots had a mixture of swords, clubs and a few rusty Autoguns.
The Viridian's would be badly outnumbered but have better arms, equipment and training but would that prove to be enough against a larger Orky onslaught?
The Game
The Viridian's seized the initiative and while the heavy weapon trooper and his number two took up position on the scrap pile in the centre of their deployment zone, the sergeant led his two remaining troops towards the ruins on the east of the settlement.
Bellowing foul Orkish oaths and battlecries, the Ork troops began rushing forward blazing away enthusiastically with their guns, keen to get to grips with the hated humies.
Fire from the heavy weapon trooper in the first few turns saw the lead mob pinned next to a building and after taking ineffective fire from the Gretchin, blasted three of the diminutive greenskins to pulp and sending the survivors running back towards their own deployment zone.
Unfortunately, this distraction allowed the second Ork mob to sweep around from cover and assault the Viridian's in the ruins to the east.
This assault saw the two troopers cut down by the larger Ork force and while the sergeant fought bravely and succeeded in slaying the mobs Nob, he too was eventually dragged down by the remaining Orks.
Realising their predicament, the heavy weapon trooper and his comrade atop the scrap pile blazed away at the until now pinned Ork mob but bellowing curses, the Nob in command managed to shrug off the intense fire and lead his underlings forward with a roared WAAARGH! The Viridian troops managed to fell one charging Ork but the Nobs surprisingly effective Kombi Blaster managed to vaporise the heavy weapon trooper at which point the remaining trooper fled to the LZ to escape the greenskin onslaught that had killed the rest of his squad.
Conclusion
The game was rather fun and it was great to spend 45 minutes playing with my figures and getting an actual skirmish in. I must admit I expected the Viridian's to do a bit better so next time may reinforce them with a few more troopers to bulk up the force. The Orks on the other hand were brilliant and played in suitably Orky style by charging headlong into their foes and krumping them.
I'll need to get some more stuff painted so I can play some more slightly larger scale skirmishes as they're great fun and may even add a small vehicle or two to the mix to see how things go!
Hopefully I'll have chance to play another skirmish or two in the coming weeks but until then, All the best!