Battle Report: Mission #2 Ard Boyz Playtest - Salamanders vs. Orks

I went over to Da Goffer's house this evening to get a game in because something came up and he wouldn't be able to attend the Ard Boyz event. That "something" looks like this:


A bouncing baby gretchin. I case you're wondering, he's begun indoctrinating his first child in the fine arts of the Imperial Creed "My armor is contempt; My shield is disgust; My Sword is Hatred; In the Emperor's Name; Let none survive." Priceless.

Mission #2 was a simple table quarters setup with victory points. I used my Ard Boyz list detailed here, and Da Goffer had a mixed list with lootas, kommandos, a few lobbas and kannons, some bikes, some koptas, some nobs, some dreads, some kans, very few boyz...etc. This list was all over the place. He was trying a few things out, but they didn't mix well together. I won the roll to go first, and he failed to steal the initiative.


This was essentially our deployment. I centered my line with my Land Raider, Vindicator and Dreads. My Razorbacks and Predators anchored my flanks, and my Rhinos were held in reserve. We lined up as close as we could, but the difference was that his koptas and bikes weren't in a position to get to me for at least two turns. At the time the picture was taken, the fast moving elements of his army moved unsupported along his left flank and were eaten up by my flamers and dreadnought assaults. Da Goffer used Kommandos to good effect against me the last time we played, so I tried to stay away from the board edges and pushed my entire army (except for my scouts) at him. Da Goffer's kommandos didn't come in until turn three, and his Storm Boyz had yet to arrive by the time he conceeded at the top of turn four.

I had a brilliant first turn, killing his Battlewagon and leaving him on foot for the remainder of the game. I'm not a great player, but Da Goffer doesn't get a lot of practice. That, and a Mechanized Vulkan list has a lot of advantages over a disparate mob of boyz on foot. Twin linked flamers, auto-cannons, and my Vindicator exacted a terrible toll on his army. He conceeded at the top of turn four when he only had two grots with a lobba, three kommandos, and a weaponless & immobilized trukk left on the board. I had lost one tactical marine and two terminators along with immobilizing my own land raider on terrain.

Here is what the board looked like when we were done.


It was a fun game for me, and Da Goffer said he enjoyed himself, but it was a lopsided game from the outset. I'm getting better, but I have a long way to go as far as my expectations of using my army as an effective combined arms force.

On an unrelated note, I want to remind my readers that the Blog Chain Give-Away is still ongoing, and you have until Monday, May 17th to enter to win a transport vehicle of your choice! You can only enter (this contest) once, but you can't win if you don't enter!