Refight 5: Breakout

The Ork invasion of Levilnor IV came as a shock to the planet's inhabitants as there were Space Marines already present on the planet. Space Marines of the Salamanders Chapter had been called to Levilnor IV to crush the heretical Star Cult which threatened to overpower the Imperial garrison and seize control of the planet.

The Salamanders were preparing to depart when the Orks launched their attack. Desperate lines of defence were drawn to slow down the Ork advance and give the Imperial army a chance to deploy and form battle lines. The outer defences were smashed by the Orks but they made time for the Imperial commanders to plan their strategy.

The campaign soon devolved into a slugging match which went on for months with no side gaining any advantage over the other. Occasionally the Orks would attack en masse with their battlewagons only to be repulsed by reserves after they crossed the Imperial lines. The Orks separated into warbands and built fortified towns which they used as bases to control their forces and organise their battle plans.

To crack a hole in the Ork line the Imperial commanders decided to surround one of the fortresses and besiege it, thus cutting off its contact with the rest of the Ork army. Reserves would then be added to take the fortress and strike a decisive blow against the Orks.

The fortress of Ork Warlord Nah-Badun was chosen for the attack and a diversionary advance on another part of the line allowed the Salamanders to infiltrate the Orks' defences and form a solid line around the town. The siege lasted over a month, many Ork messengers were caught leaving the fortress and all communications were blocked.

Inside the Ork fortress Warlord Nah-Badun became tired of waiting for reinforcements so he decided it would be better to cut his losses and run in order to fight another day. He figured that the best method of escape would be to gather all his forces in one place and break out through the weakest point in the Space Marine lines. The Salamanders continued to wait for the order to attack the fortress, completely unaware of Nah-Badun's master plan.

The following special rules are used in this scenario: Hidden set-up, Fortifications.

Forces

Each player picks their army to a pre-agreed points total.

Set-up

1. Set up the terrain in any mutually acceptable manner. Once all the terrain has been set up, both players roll a D6, the highest scorer becoming the attacker. The defender can then choose which side of the board he wants to deploy on.
2. The defender deploys first Before he does so, however, he must reduce his army to half strength. The defender may only use complete detachments as part of his force, and the total points value of the detachments used must not exceed a half of the points of his army in total.
3. The defender then sets up anywhere he likes in his half of the table, using the Hidden Set-up rules. Note that the defender gets one Hidden Set-up counter per detachment in his full army, not just one per detachment in the half strength force deployed on the table. The defender may set up in fortifications if he wishes. The attacker sets up on the opposite edge, up to 20cm in from the table edge.

Victory conditions

To win this scenario the attacker must exit half the detachments in his army off the defender's table edge by the end of Turn 6. Detachments reduced to half strength or less do not count

Special rules

Space Marines are probably the best attacking army with vast numbers of troop-carrying vehicles, fast moving bikes and land speeders. As a result, we've found that using too many Thunderhawk gunships has a tendency to unbalance this scenario. As this game is about having fun as much as winning we found that it was fairer to limit the number of Thunderhawk gunships used or ban them altogether. This rule doesn't apply when the Space Marines are defending and is optional upon agreement of both players.

If your table is over 4' wide (approximately 120cm) the attacker may struggle to cross it in time so increase the time he has by one turn for every additional 30cm of table width.

Tactics

If anything, the role of the attacking player is perhaps the easier and so tactics are a little more straightforward. At first glance the solution seems to be to spend all your points on fast units like bikes and transport vehicles for as many of your infantry as possible, then drive hell for leather across the board using assault and march moves. For the Space Marines this is a possibility although I doubt that many players have all the necessary models to mechanise an entire army. An important thing to bear in mind for all those commanders preparing to pack their infantry into Rhinos, battlewagons and Falcon grav-tanks is that with just one good shot your opponent can potentially destroy several stands plus the vehicle itself.

Putting some of your better armed units (like Shooty Boyz or Devastators) on overwatch, or at least not marching or assaulting with them, enables you to retaliate in these otherwise one-sided shoot-outs, and will therefore reduce casualties suffered by the rest of your army. Remember that only half your army needs to escape, so don't worry too much about leaving some units behind as a rearguard to provide covering fire for the rest of your force. This is especially true of the Imperial Guard who are numerous but terribly slow. An artillery company or Titan can generate a lot of supporting fire with which to pound enemy positions. Another thing to remember is when you make a break for the enemy board edge, do so in strength. Attacking piecemeal over several turns enables your enemy to concentrate his fire on the units most likely to escape each turn and thus easily break up your assault.

And now onto a suitable plan for the defender. Unfortunately a lot depends on the terrain and how it's been placed on the board. Personally I usually choose the side with the most terrain, leaving my opponent to deploy where there's least cover. Remember that hills and buildings give your troops a better field of fire.

When it comes down to deploying your army, don't put units far out on the flanks. A clever opponent will strike at one end of your line, and troops on your other flank might not be able to move back into firing range before the game is over. Basically, your army should be made up of long ranged infantry and fast, powerful assault units. The infantry should be deployed within 30cm of your baseline on overwatch and target the fastest moving enemy units first. Your close combat troops should be much closer to the centre of the board, enabling them to charge vulnerable targets like transport vehicles during the first turn.

Remember the best form of defence is attack. Whether your attacks are from close combat or ranged weapons always concentrate on breaking a few units at a time before moving onto fresh targets. Never waste your fire on detachments reduced to half strength. Having played this scenario a few times I've found that those armies who fare badly in the attack make the best defenders, and vice versa.

Force

The forces that actually fought this battle are listed below.

Orks: The Ork player has the following detachments:

Space Marines: The Space Marines have the following detachments:

Aftermath

Warlord Nah-Badun led the charge at the Imperial lines with his retinue. e sent a detachment of battlewagons to one flank with a detachment of Shooty-Boyz. Nah-Badun was prevented from escaping by the brave actions of the Salamanders Assault squads who wrecked his battlewagons just as the mighty Warlord thought that he had won the day.