Well things are certainly heating up as the scenario progresses. I am definitely pleased with the 5150: fighter Command system. this is a new game for me and I do think it plays well. I was initially concerned about ships being too fragile, but their ability to repair, and the fact that they are not easy to damage, solves that nicely.
Also, all the conversions I made from WH40K seem to be functioning well too. I was worried that the forlorn Hope was underpowered for the scenario, but now I can see it is just right.
Maybe I should get in to wargame design after all…
Right, let’s get on with the game.
NOTE: Don’t forget you can read Part 1, Part 2, Part 4 and Part 5 of this battle report if you missed them.
Turn 13:
Activation Dice: Imperial 1 / Ork 4
I must move first and power 3″ towards the Ork table edge.
The Imperial ship moves
The Ork Fighta powers up behind me [3, 3 - pass 2d6], still maintaining its speed of 3 to keep away from my guns.
The Orks maneouvre
The Ork is finally active and repairs the cockpit damage. There are no Imperial actions.
Turn 14:
Activation Dice: Imperial 4 / Ork 1
This is a mirror of last turn, only no repairs can be conducted by the Ork as the hull damage can’t be repaired.
Let’s get this station scouted
Turn 15:
Activation Dice: Imperial 6 / Ork 6 => Re-roll Imperial 4 / Ork 5
As Turn 14. Next turn we will enter the 10 hex zone of the Ork short edge. There we need to trigger another PEF, scout it, and head home.
We fly on – almost there
Turn 16:
Activation Dice: Imperial 5 / Ork 5 => Re-roll Imperial 1 / Ork 5
The two ships, Ork and Imperial move again. At the end of the turn, as per scenario rules, we check to see whether we trigger another PEF.
We roll a 4 on the scenario table for the research station’s actions and a PEF is randomly added to the map.
We can do this easily using some extra dice. We roll first for the edge, with a d4, with 1 being the northernmost long edge. We roll a 4, and, counting clockwise, that makes it the Imperial short edge as the edge the PEF will come on.
The short edge is 36″, so we first roll a d3, getting a 2. That means it will be in the centre 12″ section. Now we roll a d12, getting a 5, telling us it will be in the 5th hex of that section counting upwards. Finally, we can place it in the map.
More Orks!
Turn 17:
Activation Dice: Imperial 2 / Ork 5
Start of Turn 17
Once again the Orks get reinforcements. I realize I have made a tactical error and spent too much time getting to my destination.
I am now outnumbered and going to be lucky to get home in one piece. And there is still no sign of Imperial reinforcements.
I check on the reinforcement table against an Investment Level of 4 (the Orks are pretty stirred up) [1, 6 - pass 1d6]. That means I roll 1d6+2 on the chart – well at least it won’t be another Ork Capital Ship. I get a total of 7 and it is another 2 Fightas.
Still, I am not a fan of their rockets.
I roll a d6 for their rep and get a 6, meaning they are Rep 5 – veterans.
Not good at all.
Well, let’s just try and make the best of a bad situation.
I have to move first.
I decelerate to 2 and execute turns. I have really screwed up. I should have grazed the 10″ zone, not barrelled into it. Now I am going to attract Orks like a magnet.
I move and those new Fightas will close in fast
The Orks move next. The new Fighta flight moves next. They both move to attack at top speed. They can only fire guns in a straight one hex swath, which is a bit awkward and requires a bit of manoeuvring. The rules don’t specify about missiles, but I would say a 180° arc is fair (but it is important to note that rockets are treated as guns).
The Fightas swoop in
The lone Ork Fighta and the PEF both move towards the Forlorn Hope. The PEF moving 4″.
The other Orks move
The Orks have their actions next.
The Fighta flight leader (designated by his green circle), is in range with his rockets and lets loose both of them. He rolls to hit, needing a 7, and scoring 11 and 6. One rocket hits. Does it penetrate the shields?
I hold my breath…
No! It doesn’t! He Ork rolls a 6 for impact. So his rockets are gone.
That could have been really, really bad.
As the other Ork is out of range with his guns, the Forlorn Hope opens fire with its AA turrets, firing one on each Fighta. It scores 3 hits on the flight leader [1, 5, 4, 5, 1]. Rolling for impact, one hit penetrates the shields and damages the shields generator. The Ork flight leader has no shields until that is repaired.
The second turret fires against the other Fighta and scores two hits, both of which penetrate its shields. The AA shells damage its shields and engines.
The AA turrets continue to take a toll
Finally, at the end of the turn, we check because the Forlorn Hope is still with 10″ of the Ork short table edge. That brings in 2 new PEFs.
This is not going well at all.
The PEFs are placed on the table edges and the Forlorn Hope is surrounded.
Turn 18:
Activation Dice: Imperial 5 / Ork 6
The start of Turn 18
Well I catch something of a break. No Ork shooting this turn (unless it is by reaction).
I move first and head as fast as I can to the Imperial table edge.
The Imperials move
The Ork flight roll for their actions. They roll a double 6 and will move towards the closest PEF, no doubt getting nervous after being walloped with AA fire.
The other lone Ork Fighta moves to keep shadowing the Forlorn Hope.
PEF 3 at the southernmost table edge passes 0d6 and turns left and moves 8″ away. Maybe its trying to cut me off?
PEF 2 by the asteroids moves 8″ towards me. While PEF 1 moves 4″ towards me.
That is a lot of PEFs.
The Orks are everywhere!
There are no Ork actions, so I get my turn and let rip with AA guns. I hit the flight leader 3 times, and he has no shields so it’s straight to damage. I hit the guns twice and the communications suite once and the Ork explodes in a ball of fire.
The second Fighta I hit twice and – as it has no shields either – I damage the hull and the communications array.
I am still within 10″ of the Ork short table edge, so I roll again and generate another 2 PEFs. Well, at least it is the last turn I will generate them.
More Ork casualties
Turn 19:
Activation Dice: Imperial 4 / Ork 2
Start of Turn 19
Damn! Just missed out on Imperial reinforcements!
Right, let’s get those Orks moving. With many Orks on the tabletop it is probably easier to go from left to right with them.
Ork PEF 1 (we are going to number them in the images to make it easier to follow the action) moves 8″ towards the Forlorn Hope. However, before it can move it is resolved as it is within scanner range (20″).
It resolves as 2 Bommas that are Rep 3. I weep softly in a corner because now I have to face torpedoes. These Bommas are equipped with 2 torpedoes and no boarding crew (I checked for the variant type with a die roll as there are two types of Ork Bomma).
I roll a d3 for their speed and their facing (rather than the usual random facing as otherwise they could end up moving off the map).
If I can stay 10″ away from them, I can escape their torpedoes. They are big and slow, so unless I do something stupid, I should be OK.
The damaged Ork Fightas keep circling the Forlorn Hope, hoping that its shields will go down from another attack and they can move in for the kill.
Ork PEF 1 at the bottom of the table moves another 8″ to port.
Ork PEF 2, Ork PEF 3 and Ork PEF 4 all move 4″ towards the Forlorn Hope.
The Forlorn Hope moves 3″ towards its base edge. At this point my tactics are “let’s get the f*@k out of here”. Although the large amount of fried chicken and beer I just ingested could be hampering my tactical train of thought. Do they have fried chicken and beer on Imperial vessels? They should! I’m damn sure they have them on Ork vessels.
Seeing as the Imperial Navy and Admiral Ariosto have abandoned me, I may just defect. If they offer me more fried chicken and beer anyway. Deep fried squig I’m less partial to. Unless there’s lots of beer. Then it’s all good.
The Ork swarm
Right, back to the game.
No new PEFs are resolved after the moves, so we’ll get to shooting.
Both Ork Fightas are in range of my AA guns, so I’ll fire one at each. I roll 5d6 (as the AA guns have a Target rating of 5) against the northern-most Fighta and get 3 hits. As the poor craft has no shields it takes 3 damage rolls. It takes a second hit on the hull and two hits on the guns and explodes in a satisfying ball of plasma.
The second Ork Fighta also takes 3 hits and 2 penetrate the shields. One hits the guns, knocking them out of action. The second hit strikes the cockpit and knocks the pilot out cold for a turn.
The Orks won’t get a Received Fire check as they don’t have weapons that are capable of responding and, in the case of the unconscious pilot, he can test to break off either (as he is too busy being unconscious).
More dead Orks! Yay!
Right then, on to Turn 20.
Which will be coming in the next post…