Battle at the Farm

Ok, so I've got a bit of a log jam of posts I need to write. As I mentioned in my last post I've had a great month or two in terms of getting loads of games in - a double-edged sword in terms of having a great time rolling dice but having loads of battle reports to write.

Of course I don't have to write up every game I play but it certainly seems a shame to let the stories go untold.

I think I'm going to go in reverse-chronology having just had an amazing weekend of wall-to-wall games as part of the Battle at the Farm weekend I hosted at my folks' place up in the Lake District. My game of Warhammer 3rd ed. against Ollie's Chaos army will come after that and last but not least, I'll give my version of events of the excellent Gnome on the Range scenario Warlord Paul ran at the Foundry a couple of weekends ago, which should give him a chance of posting his report up with the pics I should have emailed him the other week... Sorry mate!

So Battle at the Farm then - well I'd been itching to invite some gaming buddies up to the Lakes as there is loads of space for gaming and entertaining guests. Commiserations to Warlord Paul, cut down by some contagion of Nurgle, and to various other Oldhammer buddies who had other family commitments and couldn't make it this time round!

The venue!

Two lucky souls made it up - Ollie (The Second Founding) and Richard, plus family, (Where the Sea Pours Out) joined me in trying to play as many games as we could fit in last weekend, drink beer and eat like kings. 

As the place used to be a farm it seemed sensible to start with the Rogue Trader scenario - Battle at the Farm. We also got stuck in with some Space Marine (2nd ed. Epic) and a Dalek Civil War consisting of three scenarios. Unfortunately we didn't have time for the Warhammer Siege I had planned, but that may well happen at the next Oldhammer Bring Out Your Lead weekend at the Foundry this August...

For those of you unfamiliar with Rogue Trader or this particular scenario, here's a quick run down - 

Richard took control of Thrugg Bullneck and his Ork patrol, intent on uncovering the cache of jewels that was discovered the first time they hit and torched this particular farm. Admirably staying true and faithfully role-playing the Ork commander, Richard deployed his troops in typical Orky fashion, brashly advancing in the open over the hill.

Ollie took on the mantle of Captain Pedro Cantor and the sorry remnants of his Imperial Fist defense force. Holed up in the farm, as they desperately try tomake their way across the wartorn land to link up with the surviving Household Troops of the Governor of New Rynn City, they await the oncoming Orks, hidden from view and ready to spring a snap ambush.

Only vaguely suspicious of the wafts of fresh "humie" on the wind, Thrugg urges his Orks onwards as they near the farm.

Only a short distance across open ground separates the wily Ork leader from untold riches and perhaps even promotion...

Nothing stirs in the blackened ruins of the homestead. Yet still the wily Thrugg hesitates slightly in his mind.

The Boyz don't pick up on the Boss' unease and amble across the wasteland, laughing and cursing as they go.

It's quiet.

Real quiet.

Too quiet.

Thrugg looks over at Hruk and notices the same wariness in his squad leader's beady eyes. If any Humie survivors were going to wack them, it would be about now.

Still nothing stirs in the derelict farm yard...

With a guttural command from Thrugg, the patrol begins to split up. Can't be too careful, even if it is only Humies that might be lurking around the ruins. Good job all those Space Marines got crumped up by their own missiles!

Suddenly a battle cry and the sharp staccato of Bolt pistols break the eerie silence. The Ork squad sweeping down the left flank reel in surprise as Marines seem to emerge from nowhere!

Simultaneously the rest of the Marine Force make themselves known with a deadly salvo of Bolter fire on the main thrust of the Ork patrol.

Explosive shells tear the ground and Ork up alike. The dull crump of a Plasma shell signals the entry of the Heavy Weapons trooper into the firefight. As the smoke clears, the terrible toll of the onslaught in revealed - Hruk and his whole squad have been reduced to a fine red mist, as has Thrugg Bullneck himself!

At the demise of their leader, one of the squads of Orks infiltrating the wood loses heart and flees, ignoring the catcalls and jeers of their comrades.

The combat in the field is short and bloody. The Orks, surprised and outnumbered, suffer heavy losses.

There is no let up as they are pushed back over the hedge - the Marines following up with barely contained fury.

Another burst of Bolt pistol fire clears the left flank of any Ork threat!

Back in the farm yard Captain Cantor keeps up the relentless hail of fire, picking off the odd Ork foolish enough to stray into view. Three of the repellent creatures manage to make it to the relative cover of the orchard on the right flank however.

Feeling somewhat abashed at running away without firing a shot, their Squad Leader manages to convince his unruly charges to return to the carnage. Their Heavy Plasma gun promises to even the score a little and it was time that the Humie scum got a taste of their own medicine.

Their targets masked by the trees and undergrowth mean that the Forward Observation squad's fire is not as effective as before.

Similarly the Orks fare little better in a short exchange of fire that has noisy but without substance.

Shielded by the angle of their approach, three surviving Orks creep ever closer to the Marine's firing line.

Under the withering hail of fire the Marines are able to lay down, inevitably several more Orks fall.

With a huge grin, the Heavy Plasma gunner dials his weapon up to 11 and lets rip - could this begin to save the faltering Ork attack by blowing a hole in the Marine's stalwart defense of the farm?

No - it's a bad miss!

The Missile launcher returns fire, easily targetting the Ork Plasma Gunner from his huge muzzle flash. The lone survivor makes a second and final run for it!

Another Ork falls from a lucky Bolter shot and the assault on the farm is reduced to two troopers.

They bravely charge in.

But get a good kicking for their troubles.

The sole survivor finds himself in the unenviable position of being surrounded by a gang of angry Marines intent on some revenge - not to mention Pedro Cantor and his fearsome Power Glove!

... and they don't stop even when he is down!

And so ended Thrugg Bullneck's plan to make it rich during the Ork invasion of Rynn's World by the forces of the Snagrod the Arch-Arsonist, Warlord of Charadon.

Good to see Ollie was magnanimous in victory and that Richard had no hard feelings at all over his crushing defeat!

This was a tough scenario for the Richard's Orks, even after I had added a bit of cover on the flanks to mask their advance. They were also gifted a Heavy Plasma gun - well pretty much because the mini was carrying one! (I'll do a post on the Space Ork minis I used some other time. They are from the old plastic multi-part box set that came out back in the 80's. I'll want to finish off adding markings and motifs as featured in the scenario before I get round to that though.)

Ollie on the other hand had a fairly easy task - defend an easily defensible position with superior troops in superior armour, hiding behind hard cover!

We had quite a debate about how the Orks would be hard pushed to win this one so I'd be interested in hearing from any of you who have played the scenario - is it possible for Thrugg to recover his jewels and bring back the head of Pedro Cantor?

Either way, the guys had great fun playing the scenario and it was a nice easy one to GM for me. Definitely a great start to our gaming weekend!