It has been a long time since I have played any battles for Operation: Hemlock at all! Here is a quick recap of where we are at with the campaign. This is Aeronautica Imperialis V.1 by Forgeworld.
Here is a summary of where Operation: Hemlock left off. The Orks of Da' Deff Islands on the planet of Ammoriss have been a thorn in the side of Imperial authorities for too long. After the Battle of Ammoriss an influx of Orks to the planet made the situation untenable. Operation: Hemlock is a joint effort by local PDF forces and off-world Imperial forces.
The Orks had initial success as they managed to launch an attack on the nearby island of Baron's Rest from their base in the "Green Zone". However, their initial thrust there was thwarted by PDF troops near Camp Hope(less). Ork reinforcements by sea have mostly been stymied by the Ammoriss Naval PDF.
The superior logistics of the Imperial and Ammoriss war machine has paid off as the troops in Da' Deff Islands have been well supplied despite the best efforts of Ork subs. The only bright spot for the Orks has been their relative dominance in keeping Imperials from getting air superiority in the Islands. The Orks have had localized success by landing troops and managing to take-over various oil rigs and platforms on the approaches to Da' Deff Islands. This puts them in position to hamper those supply lines from the air.
With local defeats mounting, Warboss Skarbash has been withdrawing and fortifying his position in the Green Zone, the most heavily infested island in Da' Deff Islands. His best chance is to gain air superiority and he therefore has been devoting his resources from building warships to building fightaz and Bombaz, and getting more Air Boyz. This has not gone over well with all of his boyz.
That brings us to today's battle:
Gorerippa squinted down at the blue expanse stretching out below him. It was tough to see where the Oomie ships were, they were pretty tiny on this vast blue desert. He kept his eyes down, while his boss scanned the sky looking for bogeys. The spotterz had called out a wake sighting, so there was a good chance a straggler transport ship was about.
His radio crackled and hissed to life, "Red Toof Boyz.... sighted an Oomie transport at...... 11 o'clock low."
Gorerippa turned his head and used a free hand to shade his eyes from the sun. Yup, out there was a ship. Small at this height and distance. Da Boss plane turned, and Gorerippa followed suit to stay with him. He checked his weapons, and tapped his fuel gauge to make sure he could get there. Everything looked good.
As they approached the target, it must have seen them as it started to zig-zag to be harder to hit. It's white wake marker slashing here and there across the ocean.
Da Boss grunted across the radio, "Red Toof Boyz, we gotta sink dat boat. Gorerippa, stay on me. The rest of yuze, watch out. Oomie fightaz are about."
Gorerippa clicked twice to acknowledge. Da Boss pushed his plane forward, and Gorerippa followed suit. Then, the radio sputtered again, "We got Oomiez coming in hot, up top."
A quick glance up and he saw him racing across the sky. They were going to mix it up before they would get to the ship. Looks like this was going to be turning into a scrap.
Forces:
As a note, many of the Aeronautica Imperialis aircraft I use are scratch built affairs that I sculpted by hand with various materials. My "collection" fell into the grey area between when Forgeworld was supporting the game with releases, and the invention of 3D printing. Therefore, most of the stuff on display was lovingly created by me with stats built for various "Narrative Campaigns" on the old Airspace Forum between editions and after the death of the Specialist Games range.
This mission will use the following forces.
Air PDF
3 PDF Sentinel Fighters
2 PDF Sentry w/skystrikes
Ork Air Waaagh!
2 Waaaagh! Bommaz
2 Ork Fightaz
Mission:
Today we will be playing a Ship Attack mission, with the target being a freighter. The Orks are trying to sink it while the Imperials need to defend it. The freighter was separated from their convoy due to engine problems, and now it must survive the Ork air attack in order to make it to port.
The Imperial Freighter is a 4 hit ground target that is armed with a single Hydra mounted on it. It has 4 hits. If it is destroyed, it will explode in a 2d6 radius to deadly effect to any aircraft in the area.
Set-up:
The freighter is placed 18 inches in from the Imperial short board edge and 12 inches in from the long board edge. The Imperial aircraft are placed in two groups on the short board edge. The Sentry group is mid-altitude and full speed coming for the freighter. The Sentinels are coming in fast and high to the freighter's starboard.
The Orks are coming in on the center of their board edge, 6 inches in. They are all at Mid-altitude and coming in at mid-speeds. They are not trying to be canny on their approach vectors.
Turn 1:
Initiative: Imperial PDF
The Sentry's break off with a High Rolling turn after they got one look at the Dakka heading their way. The Orks press forward, not bothering to disguise their movements, after all they know they have enough forward dakka to snowplow any enemy planes away. The PDF seem to have learned some lessons from previous engagements and try to move to the edges.
Turn 2:
Initiative: Imperial PDF
The PDF Sentinels stay in a tight cluster as they approach up the edge, on the freighter's starboard side. The Orks start to spread out across the board, to try and ensure someone gets through. The Sentry's see this and turn back into the fight, but lower than the Ork craft.
Turn 3:
Initiative: Imperial PDF
The Sentry's move up the center of the board, and raise up to meet the Ork threat. Fighta 1 and Fighta 2 move forward to meet the challenge. Meanwhile, Waaagh! Bommer 1 tries to scoot to the outside edge away from the PDF. The Sentinels turn in and dive, and Waaagh! Bommer 1 manages to time his turn to dive in just under them and out of the line of fire!
Shooting:
Sentry 1 and 2 get a weapon's lock on Fighta 1 and go weapon's hot. A pair of skystrikes wing out from the PDF planes at long range, and both are good. The fighta explodes in a fireball at long range! The Ork pilot never had a chance to eject!
Turn 3:
Initiative: Orks
Despite losing a fighta, the Orks press onward. They seem to have managed to get past the initial PDF fighter screen, and close in on the target. Sentry 2 turns hard but can not quite get to Waagh! Bommer 2. The Sentinels also bank sharply and drop altitude, but the Orks may have slipped past.
Shooting:
The Orks have no real targets.
The Hydra on the freighter opens fire on Waaagh! Bommer 1, but fails to dissuade the Ork from pressing the attack.
Turn 4:
Initiative: Imperial PDF
Sentry 2 again fails to get a bead on Waaagh! Bommer 2 as it presses in on the target. Sentry 1 is also out of position. Meanwhile, Waaagh! Bommer 1 flies over the target and prepares to drop their bombs. The Sentinel squadron drops in on Waaagh! Bommer 2's tail in a conga line, as Fighta 2 does a wing over to get some shots at the oncoming PDF Sentinels.
Shooting:
Sentinel 1 opens fire, and fails to damage Waaagh! Bommer 2 as stubber rounds tear throw the plane.
Waaagh! Bommer 1 drops its wing bombs and causes 2 damaging hits on the freighter. It begins to take on water and flounder.
The Hydra on the Freighter opens fire, and manages to blast Waaagh! Bommer 2 out of the sky with a spray of shells! The pilot is also killed in the spray of fire!
Big Shoota shells from Fighta 2 tear across Sentinel 1, but the little planes jinks and weaves to avoid them.
Sentinel 2 causes Waaagh! Bommer 1 to blow smoke as Stubber shells tear into the plane.
Turn 5: Disengagement Turn
Initiative: Imperial PDF
Waaagh! Bommer 1 drops to the hard deck with a power dive and guns his engine to disengage. He did his job!
The Sentinels slide slip as they jet past the freighter they were defending.
Fighta 2 turns in quick to try to get a passing shot, but finds itself in the sights of Sentry 1.
Shooting:
Sentry 1 stitches up the side of Fighta 2, and causes him to blow smoke.
Fighta 2 is just out of the angle for a shot at Sentry 2.
The defense Hydra on the freighter also takes some parting shots at Fighta 2, but only further prove to the Ork pilot that it is time to head for home!
Conclusion:
The Ammoriss Air PDF finally wrack up a win against the Ork Air Waaagh! that doesn't count as a pyrrhic victory. This time, it was pretty decisive as the Orks lost two aircraft, and has the remaining two damaged, and failed to sink the target. The MVP was the .... Hydra defense platform on the Freighter itself. That crew was on fire today!
Overall, the Orks out maneuvered me in the opening phase, but I did manage to not lose aircraft on the approach. Once they got settled in to attack the target, it became much easier to get a bead on the Orks. Especially since I also had them out numbered. I could go where I needed to be.
If the Orks would have been able to put the extra weapon load outs on the Waaagh! Bommers, I have a feeling that freighter would be a smoking wreck right now. Oh well. Just another sign that the Ork logistics are buckling under Imperial pressure.
It had clearly been a while since my opponent and I had played AI v1. We were both a bit rusty on the mechanics and flying in general. However, it came back to use soon enough as we flew much better in the last few turns than the opening turns. Such a simple, yet elegant game with a ton of tactical depth and decision making. I love it soooo much.
Killagrin checked his rearview as he rocketed away from the scene. The big boat was smoking bad, but was not sinking. Small black dots swarmed around it like buzzer squigs around a grot. His plane was much lighter now that he had dropped his bombs, and even over the big bloo, he could sense that he was going as fast as his bird could go.
He reached down and toggled the radio, "Killagrin to Gorerippa.... you up 'ere still?" The radio just crackled back in silence. He gave it a good whack and tried to raise Gorerippa again. Again, no response.
Killagrin shook his head. Looks like it was time to scrounge up another wing-ork.
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