40k: The Battle Of The Forge

There was a strange stillness in the air, complete silence except for the whirr of a sevo or gutteral grunt of a daemonic engine. War was imminent and the defenders were ready. Then it came, a low rumble at first, followed by thick black smoke on the horizon. Gradually the noise got louder and louder, until the very floor began to shake…

It was finally time and the forces of Nurgle had the Sakar Forge firmly locked down. A bunker containing six Nurgle Obliterators, protected by a Void Shield, was the keystone of the defences. This was flanked by a defence line and Vengeance Weapon Batteries with Gatling cannons – 20 shots a turn… each! – with a row of tanks traps out front. The rest of the Nurgle forces consisted of a large unit of Plague Zombies (yay Zombicide), a Forgefiend with Hades Cannons, a Helbrute and two units of Plague Marines with Flamers and Melta guns. 

Out of shot above was the commander of the Nurgle contingent. Typhus and his sorcerer, supported by three Nurgle Terminators sat patiently in a Land Raider.

Across the table was a rather large Ork mech army. A close combat Deff Dread, a unit of six Killa Kans, a Gorkanaut containing Mega Nobz and a Battle Wagon containing our old friend Zagdakka and a unit of 20 Boyz. Off to one side was the intimidating silhouette of the Stompa – our first Lord of War model.

Ork turn 1 was rather ominous as the Stompa's big gun blew up one of the Gun Batteries and injured the Helbrute. Everything else ran forward.

It was time for the Nurgle troops to respond and in a show of superior shooting, the six Obliterators fired Assault Cannons into the Killa Kans… only missing with 4 out of 24 shots and wiping out the entire unit – an empty space where they once stood. Obliterators indeed!

The Stompa marched forward continuing its relentless shooting, with mixed results. Typhus then cast a malediction psychic power on the behemoth – all its weapons could now 'get hot', inflicting damage upon itself. Two turns later and the Stompa was down to half its hull points.

In the centre, the Deff Dread charged into the command transport but failed to do any damage. The Land Raider then moved out of the way, and the Ork mech was gunned down.

The sorcerer finally landed a summoning spell and up turned a unit of Plague Bearers who charged into the Battle Wagon and destroyed it with their rusty weapons. Out spilled 20 Orks, thanks to some shenanigans… or an in-built teleporter (when Bull upgraded the Vehicle to include the huge Killkannon the transport capacity should have gone down from 20 to 12).

Along side it, the Gorkanaut was taken down with a single awesome Meta gun shot, the 3 Mega Nobz staggering out of the wreckage.

Close combat proved to be a much more fruitful place for the Stompa as he literally stomped a unit of Plague Marines to death, but it was still losing Hull points to it's hot weapons.

In a final display of dedicated sacrifice, the Sorcerer gave over his mortal body to one last spell and was possessed by a Greater Daemon of Nurgle. He strode into combat with the Mega Nobz and the Orks were no more.

Having decided not to remain in combat with the Stompa, the Plague Marines fell back to the safety of the defence line. Similarly, with the Stompa on its last Hull Point, the Boyz inside fell back to the safety of a destroyed Rhino. Meanwhile the Zombies charged into the Stompa, not able to do any damage but preventing the thing from shooting. This seemed to confuse the Stompa and he seemed unable to stomp on the zombies, compounding Bull's frustration.

Having dispatched the Plaguebearers, the Ork command unit was ripe for attack. Typhus and the Terminators swept in, alas I forgot to move the Greater Daemon and his charge fell short. A challenge went out but Zagdakka hid at the back of the unit, sending in the Mech. The Terminator Champion stepped up but was unable to kill him. The other Terminators fell to mass Ork attacks and Typhus reaped a handful in return.

"Come out and face me Ork!" bellowed Typhus, but there was no reply. "Cowardly Greenskin!". Still nothing. Then amongst the melee a short, mangy-looking Ork covered in grease with a spanner in his hand stepped forward. "Pffft" spat Typhus, incensed by the sheer cowardice on display by the Warboss. "My Lord? May I?" enquired the Terminator Champion. "Please do…" sighed Typhus in relief. He would much rather repay the Warboss with more dead Ork Boyz.

The Stompa's last hull point finally fell to a cheeky melta gun and exploded in fine fashion – alas (or fortunately) nobody was in range to take the damage.

Typhus had taken a couple of wounds from a cheeky Mad Doc syringe and a Power Klaw. Then his own Daemon weapon turned on him and he took another wound. The Greater Daemon and Plague Marines joined the melee and things were drawing to an inevitable conclusion as the Orks became overwhelmed.

The challenge went out again and finally the Warboss crept out from his hiding place. Typhus decided it was time to end him so stepped forward, despite having only a single wound left that he was very likely to lose.

The Greater Daemon and Plague Marines took down out a few more Orks, and it all came down to the challenge. 

The Warboss's attacks came in and two got through – Typhus unable to save both meaning he was dead. But with one last swipe of his Reaper he managed to roll an epic 10 attacks, with six strikes getting through. The Warboss was killed outright with the first (Force Weapons hmmmm…), the other five spilling onto the remaining Orks and wiping them all out.

As the turn came to a close, the Orks had a unit of Boyz with a Big Mek (still hiding behind the Rhino, next to the crater left by the Stompa) and a handful of Grots. Chaos had lost the Forgefiend and Helbrute and a handful of marines and daemons.

The Ork attack had faltered – The Forge remained firmly in Chaos hands.

The fighting had been brutal and intense. The battlefield was strewn with bodies and a caustic smell of burnt flesh. The air was thick with psychic energy and oily smoke, both gradually dissipating as the calm returned. The Orks had been destroyed, the survivors scattering once their leader fell. Typhus too had fallen in combat, but he would return. As the chosen son of Nurgle he would never truly die. He had come to do a job and had done it well. The Orks had failed to take The Forge and had revealed their secret weapon in the process. Now the master would be well prepared when the final assault came.