The runic display pulsed red, the tempo had been slowly increasing as the Valkyrie approached the zone with its cargo of Ventrillian Grenadiers. Tempestus Prime Alfont De’Guerre glanced across the faces of his team. Most sat stoically, their faces hard to read. Only Grenadier Tetu, a relative newcomer, was active, checking and rechecking his weapon in the drilled sequence they all knew. The runes turned amber. “Se lever, stand up”, he corrected himself remembering the flight crew only spoke Low Gothic. “Hook up”, he shouted as the drone of the engines intensified, applying some reverse thrust as they neared the insertion point. The clicks of the rappelling ropes were almost simultaneous. The sound intensified and a blast of air swirled through the assault carrier as the side doors slid open. The whole interior turned green as the rune changed again and inside lights flicked to the same shade. “Aller, aller, aller”, he yelled and each man flung his rope out the side of the aircraft, following it themselves a moment later and descending to the war torn surface of Alpha.220.

The Tempestor Scions are attempting to secure a landing zone/drop zone on Ur’veil, which they refer to as Alpha.220, it’s previous Imperium name having been expunged from records. It is a former Imperium planet that was conquered by the T’au after they were displaced by the great rift. The They occupied it for about twenty Terran years. The T’au have recently abandoned the planet having discovered a way to return to the Fifth Sphere, somehow figuring out a means to navigate around the Cicatrix Maledictum. With the Imperials trying slowly to reassert control (and purge the traitorous humans who had allied with with the T’au!), the Orks have come to play. A piratical band of Freebooterz under Kaptin Ghazbhag have made their way to the planet hoping to stomp some T’au to prove their guns were shootier. To say they were disappointed to discover that their targets had fled would be an understatement. Ghazbhag ordered a “Shootin’ Showdown”, a celebration of all things ballistic, to distract the boyz from the disappointment. The first shots of the ‘kompatishun’ had just rung out when the wail of incoming aircraft could be heard. Ghazbhag and his friends might have some moving targets to test their skillz on and raise their spirits!

This is Game 1 of a two-game mini-campaign. This game represents the initial drop of Tempestus Scions from the 3rd Ventrillian Grenadiers into an area of Alpha.220 that the Imperium has yet yo reassert control over. Little did they expect they’d be surrounded by greenskins the moment they hit the ground. The game was played using the Surrounded mission from p.137 of Elites using 125pt Kill Teams.

The Game

The victory conditions for this one were simple. My Orks had to wipeout or shake all of Dan’s Scions. Dan just had to have someone survive.

I won’t give a detailed battle report, but here are the highlights:

  • The Ventrillian Grenadiers deployed on top of a building and had about half of their team ready to come in as Reserves (representing other squads inserted by Valkyries nearby).
  • They came under immediate fire from the Flash Gitz – their shooting was accurate and deadly felling three Scions, including the leader, before they could act.
  • The Gretchin began to swarm up the building and a drawn out combat began. They almost prevailed!
  • The Orks and remaining Gretchin tried to position to attack the reinforcements. They ground them down.
  • Dan’s team broke, but he managed to have one Scion survive unshaken (thanks to the Insane Bravery tactic), giving him the game win.

Tetu couldn’t understand what was happening. They were surrounded by a horde of sharp-clawed, knife-wielding greenskins. De’Guerre had fallen to hostile fire as soon as they’d touched down. There were no orders. They were fighting desperately just to survive. Laurent had was shouting into his comms array’s mouthpiece, desperately trying to call in support. More shots. He bludgeoned a vile creature with the butt of his rifle. Laurent screamed and fell, blood spilling from a jagged gash on the side of his neck. Tetu kicked and punched as several of the creatures scrambled towards him. He fell to his knees under their weight, a strange warmth and wetness weakening his left leg. “Oui?”, the mouthpiece was beside him. “Assistance, assistance. Les vertpeau* sont ici”, was all Tetu managed in responce before he was overwhelmed.

Game 2 coming soon…

Until next time,

Owen

* greenskins