In this battle report, it is Astra Militarum vs Orks for my first ever game against Orks in 8th Edition. The game was at Boards and Swords in Derby. I have taken four different regiments in this game – it should be quite a spectacle! This was against Ed’s Orks, Ed runs Wargames Tournaments which sells laser cut MDF terrain.

2,000 Point Astra Militarum List

Cadian Battalion Detachment – Emperor‘s Wrath Artillery Company

This is my anti-horde detachment. The Wyverns will be AP1 with the Warlord Trait which will be very useful against the 6+ Save that Orks have.

I’ve ever had much luck with the Basilisk but their indirect fire could be useful for shifting heavier Ork infantry off of objectives.

Yarrick will be doing the Emperor’s work on this list. Correct positioning will mean my Cadian artillery, Cadian Autocannons, Ratlings, Steel Legion Plasma and Valhallan Missiles will be re-rolling all hits against Orks.

Using the Specialist Detachment Stratagem to fire a Wyvern twice, gives me basically three Wyverns. Three Wyverns re-rolling hits and wounds at AP1 is a lot of dead Orks.

• Commissar Yarrick – painted by Siege Studios
• Company Commander with Artillery Company Warlord Trait – Lord of Ordnance
• 3x Infantry Squads with Autocannons
• 2x Basilisks
• 2x Wyverns

Cadian Artillery – Astra Militarum vs Orks

Valhallan Battalion Detachment

Having just completed these models I really wanted to use them. So for the first time, I’m fielding a Battalion of Valhallans. Most of the models are from Reptilian Overlords.

The Laurels of Command will be interesting- I’ve not used it before as I never realised how the orders could stack. But I now see that for my Missile Launcher Team, I can order them to fire into combat and then on a 4+ order them to re-roll ones to hit, then on another 4+ also order them to re-roll ones to wound too. Unlikely but impressive if it works.

All in, these guys are packing 6 Missile Launchers and about 30 infantry. The Missiles be extra useful because of the ability to use Frag or Krak – anti-horde it anti-armour.

• Warlord Company Commander with Pietrov’s MK45 and Grand Strategist Trait
• Company Commander with Laurels of Command
• 3x Infantry Squads with Missile Launchers
• Heavy Weapons Team with Missile Launchers

Valhallan Infantry – Astra Militarum vs Orks

Catachan Battalion Detachment

The forward offensive detachment. With Straken and the Priest, these have the ability to output over 150 melee attacks. It’s unlimited to go off like that. But they’ll be good to hurl up the battlefield.

I should try and remember to Consolidate Squads on my infantry squads to maximise my orders because I have two from Straken and two from the Company Commander. Using Consolidate Squads means I won’t need to use Inspired Tactics to order all five squads.

The Hellhounds are again an anti-horde unit. I need to throw these forward as soon as possible I think to draw fire away from my Cadian artillery.

• Iron Hand Straken – painted by Siege Studios
• Company Commander
• Primaris Psyker with Psychic Maelstrom and Nightshroud
• 5x Infantry Squads – painted by The Unrelenting Brush
• A Priest
• 3x Hellhounds

Catachans – Astra Militarum vs Orks

Steel Legion Vanguard Detachment

Finally, my specialist detachment of support units. Tech-Priests to keep the artillery running and Ratlings to take out those buffing Ork characters.

The Steel Legion’s ability to Rapid Fire Plasma at 18″ will be useful and the Company Commander can order them to re-roll ones.

• Company Commander
• Command Squad with Plasma
• A unit of 10 Ratlings
• A unit of 7 Ratlings
• 2x Tech-Priests

I have 14CP after my deductions…

3 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 1 – 3 – 1 – 1

• 3 for being Battle Forged
• 5 for each Battalion
• 1 for the Vanguard
• -3 for two extra Heirlooms of Conquest
• -1 for Artillery Detachment
• -1 for Artillery Detachment Warlord Trait

I then may lose another 2CP for Prepared Positions and I may use Orbital Bombardment if the Orks have many units for another 2CP.

I realise that this is not strictly OK, because its sub-2,000 points and has four Detachments. Ed was OK with this slight oversight of mine.

Astra Militarum Pre-Deployment

2,000 Points of Shooty Orks

Brigade Detachment – Deathskulls

• Big Mek with Relic Shock Attack Gun
• Big Mek with Shock Attack Gun
• Big Mek with Kustom Force Field
• 2x 30 Boyz
• 4x 10 Grots
• 3x Mek with Kustom Mega Slugga
• Deffkopter with Kopter Rockets
• 2x ShokkJump Dragster
• 5x Mek Guns with 4x Smasha Gun and 1x Traktor Kannon
• 5x Mek Guns with 4x Smasha Gun and 1x Traktor Kannon
• 5x Mek Guns with 4x Smasha Gun and 1x Traktor Kannon

That is not a copy and paste typo, there are 12 Smash Guns in this list.

Spearhead Detachment – Bad Moons

• Weird Boy with Da Jump and Warpath
• Dakkajet
• 3x Lobba

Mission – Supply Drop

This mission is from Chapter Approved 2018 and only uses 4 objectives. It’s an Eternal War Mission.

The objectives can move at the start of each battle round. You roll off for each. Whoever wins can move the objective up to 3″

A draw means it won’t move.

Each objective is worth 1VP at the start of your turn from turn two. Units with the Fly keyword will always hold an objective even if there are Troops nearby. I guess they fly up and hold it. but units with the Flyer battle-Role do not count.

The following are also in play;

• Slay the Warlord
• Linebreaker
• First Strike

I recently got a new phone and it has a wide-angle camera on it. It is pretty good at getting an overview of the battlefield without needing a full set of climbing equipment. The red blobs are the four objectives below.

Objective Placement – Astra Militarum vs Orks

Deployment – Astra Militarum vs Orks

As you can see from the above photo the Orks deployed in a huge blog. The Shock Attack guns were on either flank and one of the blobs of Boyz was in Deep Strike for later on.

I spread out to deny Da Jump, try and get line-of-sight to targets and get targets in range as well as hide my artillery from the enemy.

I used Orbital Bombardment in this game, mainly because the Orks had many single model units. Once deployed all their artillery is single units so I was rolling a lot of dice. All done I had made the Orks take 9 Mortal Wounds. They were spread out but it was a good time to use it and I had the CP.

Orks – Turn 1

There was very little movement from the Orks. But Da Jump did go off with a Perils, a wound was taken. The Boyz jumped right in front of my Ratlings, who were on an objective inside a building.

Then the shooting started, oh so much shooting. Once it was all done I had lost over 25% of my points, my dead pile was…

• 2x Wyverns
• 2x Hellhounds
• A Basilisk

The Boyz then charged and killed all my Ratlings. Taking my total losses for a turn one in a 2,000 point game to over 33% of my points.

Note, I did use Prepared Positions too. So all my vehicles had a 2+ save – which is quickly removed by the HUGE AP of the Ork guns.

Ork Shock Attack Gun Deployed Up High – Astra Militarum vs Orks

Orks got First Strike.

In the below overview image

Astra Militarum – Turn 1

With such a pounding at the start, it was hard to know how to hit back. The Ratlings were gone so the Shock Attack Guns were here to stay and the Wyverns were gone so killing 30 Boyz in cover was going to be an issue.

The Catachan infantry moved up to meet the Ork Boyz that was now in place of the Ratlings. There was not much else in terms of Movement. Psychic Maelstrom did 2 Wounds to a ShokkJump Dragster.

Shooting wise, I have no idea how this happened, but I took out the Ork Flyer. I used the re-roll of Grand Strategist gives you and a Command Re-Roll to get it done – but it was done. I think it took all the some Krak Missiles, a Basilisk firing twice, a Hellhound and an Autocannon to take it out.

I tried so hard to finish off the Ork Boyz, but it was not to be.

I got First Strike.

Orks – Turn 2

Orks start the turn on an objective in their table half and on the one the Ratlings had been on. Not finishing off the Boyz meant they came back at full strength 9″ away from the Catachan they had just been in combat with. By being removed you would have thought I would now have the objective, but no – the objective drifted this turn and Ed moved it away from me. So I was no longer on it.

The other Boyz in Deep Strike did not arrive.

The Guardsmen in the ruin on the upper right of the overview were blown away and off the objective. Denying me that point when it would come to my turn two. More Ork shooting finished off my Hellhound and Basilisk.

The Boyz that came back to life failed their charge. Thank goodness. You can see in the image below the copper colour objective away from my Catachan under the ruin.

The Boyz back from the dead – Astra Militarum vs Orks

Astra Militarum – Turn 2

I am only holding one objective at this point.

I piled forward my Catachan to try and get on top of this objective in the mid-table. If I could take this and the two in my deployment then I might be in with a chance still. I do the same on the other side of the battlefield and place as many Valhallans as I can into the ruin with the objective.

My shooting was understandably not worth talking about at this point. Some Lasguns and Missiles get fired off and a couple of Shock Attack guns are destroyed. It matters little.

My Catachan after moving in – Astra Militarum vs Orks

Orks – Turn 3

Thanks to more drifting the Orks hold the hotly contested objective again – plus the one in their DZ.

The Boyz ready their charge into my Catachan. The other 20 arrive from Deep Strike on the other side of the battlefield.

The Shock Attack Guns now turn their attention to my infantry – there are no more of my vehicles left – despite their D3 shots they are very good at killing infantry. The odd extra shot and some good rolling and each are killing 2 or 3 infantry which adds up – especially when you then have to take Morale tests after losing 6 or 7 guys.

I throw 10 Grenades at the Orks that charge my Catachan and use Vicious Traps. I kill about four. Sigh. My Catachans do not stand a chance.

A similar event plays out on the other side of the battlefield when the other 30 arrive and butcher their way onto the other objective through my two Valhallan Company Commanders.

Astra Militarum – Turn 3

We called the game done at this point. I had very little left and we were out of time. I had one objective, the one my Cadians had sat on for the whole game.

Astra Militarum vs Orks Summary

This was a fun game, it was a good looking game, but it was a mismatched game. I have not played Orks before, let alone a list like this – that packs a massive punch. There seem to be some really odd units for the Orks; like a 60″ range weapon, that can shoot twice, on a Character, that can one-shot Toughness 7 vehicles. Yes, the weapon is random, but it’s still great and did its job very well in this battle. And auto-hitting artillery that does D6 damage. These are things I can only dream of – a Laspistol is what Guard characters get!

Ed’s list was the one he took to Blood and Glory, a tournament event here in Derby. It is what he had to hand and neither of us discussed the style of the army we would take or the type of game we were expecting. And that is OK! This is a hard lesson and intro to ITC. Ed will make a great player for testing my ITC list for the Into the Hellstorm RTT event I am going to next year.

Orks got Behind Enemy Lines. Neither of us got Slay the Warlord.