The Belt of Varin
is a forbidding place in the Galactic Core.
There ancient stars fade and die circled by blasted rocks or frozen ice
worlds. It is a forbidding place filled
with black holes, Nuetron Stars, Quasars, and Nova. It is vast and desolate, with system upon
system of blasted, unlivable rock where the Astronimicon is weak and navigation
is difficult at best. Few wish to dwell
within it.
Despite its foreboding
nature, the Belt of Varin was once the home of a thriving space empire, one
that fell to treachery, oath breaking, and genetic corruption. The people of Varin, Varingyr; have once
again begun to emerge from their buried strongholds to venture and reclaim what
was once theirs.
Tentatively,
individual strongholds have begun to reach out to their fellow Varingyr across
the Belt.
In addition to the
natural dangers of the Belt; other inimical foes also lurk there. The ancient enemy, the Orks; who have spread
like a cancer across the old Strongholds.
Their spores finding root in the abandoned hab-domes and
hydro-farms. Human scavengers have also
descended on the barren bones of the Varingyr’s once mighty empire under the
banner of the Rogue Trader houses.
However, the most dangerous enemy of all is the Oathbreakers and
Kinslayers; those who are no longer the people of Varin, but the descendants of
the Great Patriarch. As the true people
of Varin return to their old homelands they have discovered them over-run by
these scum and squatters.
It is just such a
reclamation mission that brings Azuki Helmsward, Highguard of Irongard and her
forces to a planet Designated: Tokokai 5.
Directed by her Thane and Kinsman Ako Helmsward; Thane of Irongard she
has been sent to ascertain if the Tokokai Mineheads were still viable. The Tokokai Clan had once been loyal vassals
to the throne of Irongard. Thane
Helmsward hoped her people were still there, hidden in the mineheads deep below
the planet’s surface.
However, as Azuki’s fleet approached the Highguard
realized that the planet had been infested by the Flayer-Kin; orks. That did not mean that the Tokokai Mines had
been breached, but the barely livable surface was now crawling with the feral
creatures. Thankfully, the Orks of
Tokokai 5 were relatively primitive and could not oppose her in space. However, their ramshackle aircraft cruised
the skies, their battlewagons rumbled across the surface, and their crude towns
scarred the rocky landscape.
Azuki’s first
instincts were to orbitally bombard the Orks savage settlements. However, she was given pause. It was unclear how much they had been built
upon the foundations of the Tokokai Clans holdings. She could not simply bombard them without
risking angering the ancestors of her vassal clansman. Such an act would be a great dishonor to the
Oaths they had sworn millennia ago. In
addition, she was unsure if the Tokokai Clan still persisted beneath the
surface, hidden away from the surface that was awash with Orks. She needed to know more.
Azoki called her
War Council, and the Highguard came to attend her and advise as was their
duty. In the great council, Azoki heard
wisdom. She accented to the wishes of
the Engineer’s Guild and deployed recon patrols of Clanguard Spy Eagles to the
surface of Tokokai 5 to gather intelligence on the fate of her Clans’
vassals.
Forces
Varingyr Clanguard
Recon Patrol
3 Iron Eagles
+ Weapon Load- Mag Cannons
1 Spy Eagle
Feral Ork
Defenders
3 Ork Fighta
1 Fighta-Bomma
Mission:
This was going to be a Recon Sweep Scenario. We rolled up 4 targets to be identified and
scanned. The Varingry were trying to
identify the targets while the Orks attempted to drive them off.
This was going to be the first battle in the Ork vs.
Varingyr tree campaign I outlined in a previous post. I am hoping to get to use the fearsome
Warlord airship at some point in the campaign, but I would also settle for a
few good games. Here is the Tree
Campaign Outline.
Set-up:
We deployed several rocks across my brown wasteland
looking table cover. As usual, the rocks
are 1 Altitude high per level. I also
placed an old Necromunda tower to act as ancient wreckage from the Tokokai Clan
rule of the planet. It is 6 Altitude
high. Therefore, if a plane comes in
contact with these terrain features but isn’t high enough up they could crash
with a failed Pilot Check.
We placed the 4 markers fairly evenly near the rocks in
the center of the board. These would be
the objectives and some of them would be a tight fit to reach.
The Varingyr came in at low altitude and at max speed,
which was a whopping five! The two lead
Iron Eagles were paired, and the third was partnered with the Spy Eagle. The Orks were at mid-altitude and clustered
to the south side of the board closer to the ruins. They were all going about speed 5.
Turn 1:
Initiative: Varingyr
Movement:
The Iron Eagles race forward to meet the oncoming Ork
craft and possible reveal some targets.
The Spy Eagle breaks-off and approaches the first marker. The Orks also rush ahead, the bulk of them
are going to skim the ruins, while Fighta 3 breaks out a bit wider to go around
them.
Shooting:
No one was in range as they raced to meet each other. However, the Spy Eagles sensors revealed that
the closest objective was not a point of interest.
Turn 2:
Initiative: Varingyr
Move:
The lead Varingry force makes a high-G turn to run
parallel to the oncoming Ork fightas.
Meanwhile, the Fighta-Bomma side slips to cover one of the markers, while
the other two fightas move straight. The
last one heading out wide manages to turn casually towards the Varingyr fleet
and may have some long range shots.
Shooting:
After checking, Ork Fighta 4 does not have the range
yet.
Turn 3:
Initiative: Varingyr
Movement:
The Lead Iron Eagle moves to view the next target area,
but it is close to a high cliff and the angle will make it hard for him to
avoid it next turn. Meanwhile, the
Fighta-bomba breaks back towards the action to chase down the low flying
Varingyr aircraft.
The Spy Eagle follows the lead aircraft, ready to snap a
photo if needed of the vital target. Ork
Fightas 2 and 3 turn into the action, while Varingyr 3 and 4 also turn in. Both of these groups are still at higher
altitude, and the Orks may have a shot at them as they close in.
Meanwhile, Ork Fighta 3 is heading straight for the
Varingyr However, he can not slow down
fast enough and over shoots the enemy gyro-copters.
Shooting:
The Lead Iron Eagle’s gunner eyeballs the target area and
realizes it is just a bunch of sand and rock.
There waa nothing of value there.
He quickly communicates it back to the Spy Eagle and prepares to eject
if they can’t clear the cliff.
Fighta 2 opens fire on Iron Eagle 1 and causes him to
blow smoke.
Turn 4:
Initiative: Varingyr
Movement:
The Spy Eagle skirts around the back of the cliff to
avoid incoming Orks, but Fighta 2 is in hot pursuit, even if he is still too
high. Fighta-Bomma 1 is also closing in
at the same low altitude 1. Iron Eagle 1
and 2 disengage from the furball and begin to heads towards the next marker
while all the orks appear to be focused on the Spy Eagle.
Embarrassingly, Iron Eagle 3 crashes into the cliff they
just eye-balled. Luckily, the crew
managed to eject in time. I can only
lose 1 more aircraft.
Shooting:
None
Turn 5:
Initiative: Varingyr
Movement:
Iron Eagle 1 and 2 race towards the next objective, and 1
tries to swoop low enough to get a good visual.
He is still a bit too high, as his wingman stays high to cover him from
the incoming Fighta 4. The Spy Eagle
tries to break for the second objective at low altitude, but Ork aircraft are
all over him. Fighta 3 is behind, but
too high. The Fighta-Bomma foolishly
swoops in front of him. Fighta 2 makes a
dangerous Power-dive and barely misses splattering himself on a cliff
wall.
Shooting:
The Spy Eagles opens fire on the Foghta-Bomma with his
Mag-cannons but misses. He also fails to
get a clean pict-cap of the swooping aircraft.
The Grot ball-gunner in the Fighta-bomma tries to turn and fire, but he
does not have the angle.
Fighta 4 opens fire at Iron Eagle 2, but misses.
Turn 6:
Initiative: Orks
Movement:
Iron Eagle 1 can not drop and slow down enough and vastly
overshoots the target area. He is in
danger of disengaging next turn. Fighta
4 follows, and dives after, but will still have time to break off the attack. Iron Eagle 2 tried to spiral back on the
fighta, but underestimated the Ork pilots speed.
Meanwhile, the Spy Eagle is doing some fancy flying as he
moves to shoot the altitude two gap int eh tall ruins. It looks like he can make it without hitting
anything. Fighta 3 gapes in amazement,
while Fighta 2 say “Hold my Fungus Brew and watch this!” as they give
chase. Fighta 2 overshoots and smashes
into the gantries and explodes, however he ejected in time. The Fighta-Bomma is sticking right with the
Spy Eagle.
Shooting:
The Fighta-Bomma opens fire right on the Spy Eagles tail. There is no room to maneuver and the
gyro-copter is blasted apart. The pilot
has no room to eject and goes down with the craft.
Turn 7-
Disengagement Turn
Initiative: Varingyr
Movement:
Iron Eagle 1 hears the Spy Eagle go down, and decides to head
home. He bugs out off the board trailing
smoke. Fighta 4 follows, but breaks-off
to head back to base. Iron Eagle 2 goes
the hard deck and heads away from Ork
territory. Fighta 3 just flies straight
to see if any of his Ork buddies make it through the gantry. Fighta-Bomma one savors his kill for a
milli-second as he smashes into the gantry along the side and shears his wing
off. His plane crashes spectacularly. However, the Ork pilot manages to walk away
from the crash with a huge grin.
Shooting:
None
Conclusion:
The Recon missions
on Tokokai proved to be costly for the Varingyr, with many of the recon craft
not returning. Their mission to locate
entrances or mineheads of their fellow Varingyr was a failure. Worse, the Orks now knew of their presence,
and it would make it harder to surprise them.
The only way forward would be to land troops on the surface and
establish forward operating bases to scout the area. That was a dangerous escalation for a planet
that may not even be salvageable. The
Highguard turned to her War Council and they began to prepare for the
landings.
The Varingyr failed to observe all of their objectives,
but the cost in aircraft was about even.
Two lost a piece. When I went to
move the Spy Eagle through the ruins I was sure I had lined it up
perfectly. I didn’t expect the Orks to
try and chase me. Instead, it turned
into something out of a movie as they did not give up. All in all, some crap flying all around as we
both crashed or almost crashed into terrain during this battle. I guess my regular opponent and I need to
knock the Aeronautica Imperialis
rust off since we haven’t played in a while.
If you look at our Campaign Map, you can see the Varingyr
lost the first battle. That means….
…. We are onto the Drop Intercept mission. Maybe I should bust out my Warlord for this
one?
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