Once again my buddy Jon from over at 1st Legion Chronicles and I met on the field of battle. He decided to bring his Orks and I played my Space Wolves, deploying Bjorn the Fell-Handed for the first time. I painted him for the 2023 Dreadtober event so he was more than ready to be pulled out of stasis for this battle!

Space Wolves

• Wolf Lord with Chainsword
• Iron Priest w/Servo Arm
• Blood Claw pack with various close combat weapons
• Wolf Guard Terminators with Heavy Flamer and Assault Cannon
• Bjorn the Fell-Handed

Orks

• Ghazghkull Thraka
• Deathskullz Ork Mob
• Large Goff Mob
• Small Goff Mob in a Trukk
• Gretchin mob
• War buggy
• Schorcha
• Pulsa Rocket
• Trakktor Kannon x2
• Splatta Kannon

Pre- Game events and Initial Deployment

The Orks drew Take and Hold as their objective, they needed to be in possession of the middle of the table at the end of the game. You can just about make out the marker sitting behind the spiker cactus in front of Bjorn. The Space Wolves drew High Ground. We discussed the three highest points of the game and decided it was the temple, and the storage vat and it was going to be between the bunker and the vent complex. Jon decided it should be the bunker as my all infantry force would be hard pressed to capture the other two objectives so in the spirit of 2nd edition he agreed to give me a chance. We rolled off for first turn and the Orks easily got the jump on the Space Wolves with their doubled first turn strategy rating. With that the game was on!

Ork Turn 1

The Orks committed to a general advance, with only the Deathskullz sneaking off to take the high ground on the temple. With the Orks having either ran, or not having line of sight due to the Space Wolves taking cover the turn based to the Space Wolves.

Space Wolves Turn 1

The Space Wolves generally maintained cover not wanting to be shot down by massed Ork firepower. Bjorn and the Terminators moved to get better firing positions. Bjorn was able to use blocking terrain so he could shoot at the Snakebites despite them not being the closest target and shot three of them out of their saddle. He could have killed the whole unit but he rolled two “1’s” to wound! Meanwhile the Wolf Guard opened up on the Gretchin mob killing six of them. At that rate the Wolf Guard would pay for themselves by the time Games Workshop releases 20th edition!

Ork and Space Wolves Turn 2

The Orks continue their advance and are only able to fire one heavy bolter, which misses their intended target!

The Space Wolves had a similar round continuing to hug cover and ineffectively shooting.

Ork Turn 3

It was at this point we realized 2nd Edition games end in 4 turns unless otherwise discussed. Considering nothing much had happened we initially decided we should roll for a 5th turn, but then switched to an automatic 5th turn. No one wanted the game to end having just got to grips with each other!

The Orks continue to advance and they finally gained range to the Space Wolves. The Trukk attempted to ram the defending Wolf Guard but their heavy armor didn’t affect their dodges and everyone managed to get out of the way of the careening Trukk! Once again Jon showed his “ability” in launching the Pulsa Rocket with it landing right in the middle of the Space Wolves. Of course he continued his streak of rolling a short range, this time it was a mere 5″ so only a few Space Wolves were knocked down. Meanwhile the Schorcha finally got into range of the Blood Claws and flamed two to death and caught one on fire! The Schorcha realized it got way to close to effectively use the flame template, way more Blood Claws should have been under the template with how packed in they were. This would come back to haunt the Schorcha very soon….

Space Wolves Turn 3

Bjorn continued his ineffective firing at the Deathskullz on the temple for the second turn in a row, the misses starting to bode poorly for our ancient hero. The Blood Claws charged the Schorcha and destroyed it in close combat, the Wolf Guard punished the Trukk for getting so close by tearing it apart in close combat as well.

Ork Turn 4

The Orks redirect their angle of attack to hit the left flank of the Space Wolves. The Ork Buggy opens up on the Wolf Guard, hitting three and wounding one but it was saved by the thick armor. The Deathskullz on the temple finally got the range of the Space Wolves and killed the Captain with their heavy bolters, while one of their multi-meltas wounded Bjorn halving his characteristics! Two turns of failing to hit those pesky Deathskullz proved catastrophic for the Space Wolves!

Space Wolves Turn 4

The Wolf Guard manage to kill a whopping two gretchin and Bjorn manages to gun down the driver of the buggy causing it to go out of control next turn.

Ork Turn 5

The Ork Buggy veers out of control striking Bjorn! Even wounded Bjorn was able to shrug off the effect. The Snakebites launched a charged against the Wolf Guard and manages to hit but the Space Marine is saved by his thick armor. Meanwhile the Mek got a little trigger happy and shot into the combat killing one of the Snakebites!

Space Wolves Turn 5

The remaining Wolf Guard charge the last Snakebite and kill him. The Blood Claws opened fire on the gretchin mob dropping them to one surviving grot. This was to much for the gretchin to live with and having not failed a single panic test all game they broke and ran for the kills. Bjorn continued his less than stellar performance and killed 1 Goff. With that the game was over!

End of Game

The Space Wolves managed to hold one of their objectives and with a heavy weapon emplacement earned 3 VP’s. The Orks managed to hold the center of the table earning 5 VP’s. Factoring in casualties the final VP total was Space Wolves 9, Orks 6. It was closer than it looked but the victory went to the sons of Russ!

Once again Jon was a terrific opponent. I’m glad we decided to go to turn 5. I don’t think going to a 6th turn would have changed the outcome, although it is possible Bjorn would have finally been knocked out bringing our total a little closer.

-Wachtmeister