Eighth in an ongoing series
THE GAMING STORE “PORTALS” opened earlier this year on Kent Island, MD, a few minutes’ drive from my home, featuring “Tabletop Thursday” open play from 5:00 to 9:00 pm. Since then, my brother-in-law Drew, Drew’s son Daniel, my neighbor Dylan, and I have often used this opportunity to get together and play using the Grimdark Future rules from OPR Games.
With all of us off from work and school for the Christmas holiday, we decided to do a four-player mega-battle of Dylan and I versus Drew and Daniel, each of us with 3000 points. But because the tables at Portals aren’t big enough for what we had in mind, Drew was gracious enough to host us at his house, in his gaming/playroom.
We had done this sort of thing once before, over the summer, when my White Tigers of Veda (who use the GF rules for Blessed Sisters, aka Sisters of Battle/Adepta Sororitas) teamed up with Dylan’s Human Defense Forces (aka Astra Militarum/Imperial Guard) against Drew’s Orcs and Daniel’s Alien Hives (aka Tyranids).
That game took over 6 hours to play, and became an interminable slog that all of us endured rather than enjoyed (Drew and Daniel prevailed in the end). I headed off to Ireland the next week, and when I returned, I had no inclination to do a batrep, so that’s why I never posted it here.
For this game, we agreed to some timesaving practices: simultaneous deployment, and each side activating two units at a time instead of each player activating one unit at a time. We also agreed to play with more urgency, less mulling over possible moves, and less idle banter.
Sabretooth Tigers of Veda
While Dylan decided again to bring his HDF, I switched out and brought Sabretooth Tigers of Veda, which use the rules for “Blood Brothers” (aka Blood Angels). In particular, I was looking to try out some new units that I figured would either work really well, or really poorly.
- Kshatriya (Captain) Sudra Patel. Blood Master Brother w/ Ebon Blade (counts as heavy chainsaw sword) and master storm rifle (aka storm bolter)
- Squad Rudra 1. Ten Blood Brothers (aka Blood Angel Tactical Marines), w/ 2 heavy machine guns (aka heavy bolters) + Drop Pod w/ death launcher
- Squad Rudra 2. Ten Blood Brothers w/ 2 flamers
- Squad Agni. Six Blood Support Brothers (aka Blood Angel Devastators) w/ 3 laser cannons and 3 missile launchers
- Tiger Sharks. Five Blood Attack Speeders (aka Land Speeders) w/ miniguns (aka assault cannon) and heavy machine guns
The Other Guys & Deployment
As my ally, Dylan brought the GF version of the Death Korps of Krieg, with over 20 cavalry, some large infantry squads, two artillery guns, three heavy machine gun units, and a Leman Russ tank.
Drew brought his homebrew equivalent of Ghazghkull Thraka (who also has jet packs, so he can fly), and several enormous mobs of Orc Boyz. If I remember correctly, he said he had over 100 figures.
Daniel brought a few broods of very fast Assault Grunts (aka Hormagaunts), a large brood of Winged Grunts (aka Gargoyles), some medium-sized monsters, and one big Carnifex-type thing, for a total of about 100+ figures.
As part of our hurry-up deployment, each player set up their forces at the same time, with only minimal adjustments to make room for figures; no one was allowed to look across the table and reposition units based on what the other guy had put down.
So, though the other three players had lots of figures, it didn’t take long to get ready. Dylan and I coordinated with each other on whose units went where. I don’t know if they meant to do so, but Drew and Daniel split their side of the table between them, so that Drew’s Orcs were arrayed against the bulk of Dylan’s Defense Force, while Daniel’s Bug wound up mostly against my Tigers.
The Game: Turn 1
Like 40K, GF is about obtaining objectives. Right before we got started, I pulled Dylan aside and gave him our strategy:
- Hang back for the first half of the game (Turns 1 & 2) and let the Xenos come to us;
- Fire on one enemy unit at a time and keep firing at it with other units until the enemy target fails a Morale check (and thus, stops moving on the next turn) or is destroyed;
- Move forward and take objectives during the second half of the game (Turns 3 & 4).
Team Xenos won the roll to go first, and as expected, they rushed pell-mell across the board, grabbing objectives, though one Orc flank was stymied a bit by terrain that they had to go around. Imperial firing took down a lot of Greenskins, and Ghazghkull lost 6 Wounds out of 12 after being shot by Squad Agni’s heavy weapons.
Doing as I had coached him, Dylan kept the cavalry back until there was a depleted Orc mob nearby, and he charged it, inflicting serious losses (and taking quite a few of his own) and stemming the Orc tide on that end of the board.
On my end, I adjusted the Speeders slightly to give them better lines of sight and then unleased volley after volley of fire into the oncoming Bugs. Daniel kept pushing his critters forward, the slower medium-sized ones following the quicker, small ones, but a lot of his broods were failing Morale tests, which caused them to be Shaken, unable to move or shoot in Turn 2.
All was not sunshine and roses, as Dylan’s tank had miserable shooting at the Carnifex that was bearing down on our lines.
Objectives held at the end of Turn 1: Xenos 4, Imperials 0
The Game: Turn 2
At the start of the second turn, my Drop Pod carrying Captain Sudra Patel and Squad Rudra 1 landed on the Xenos’ back table edge; simultaneously, Daniel’s Winged Grunts swooped down out of reserves and attacked one of Dylan’s cavalry squads, on the Imperials’ left flank.
Drew and Daniel kept pushing most of their forces forward (those who were not Shaken, anyway), but they turned around two units (three Raveners + 20 Boyz) to deal with Squad Rudra 1. The newly-arrived Marines blasted two Raveners before they could get into hand-to-hand, and weathered the attacks of the survivor. Out of charge range, Drew’s Boyz trundled closer, firing pistols ineffectually.
Daniel’s Gargoyles fared much better, chewing through quite a few of Dylan’s cavalry (horses in GF are fast and can hit hard, but are not durable). Still, the horsemen hung in there, aided by buffs to Morale that Dylan had wisely purchased for his guys. One brood of Assault Grunts managed to engage a Speeder in close combat, but only succeeded in knocking 2 Wounds (out of 6) off it.
Though he tried to hide behind a large piece of terrain, Ghaz was still in line of sight of Squad Agni, who dropped him with multiple heavy weapon hits. That was ~600 points of custom-made Orc leader taken out without him having so much as looked funny at a Guardsman.
Xenos continued to flood onto the four objectives in no-man’s land, but more concerning was that the Carnifex was getting closer, fire from the Leman Russ and the Speeders merely tickling it (-2 Wounds out of 12).
Objectives held at the end of Turn 2: Xenos 3, Imperials 0 (1 unclaimed)
The Game: Turn 3
Rather than get bogged down, I had Cpt Patel and Squad Rudra 1 ignore the Ravener they had been dancing with, and advanced, firing on Drew’s oncoming Orc Boyz, forcing them to check Morale, which they failed.
I also had my Speeders keep shooting at Nid broods that were already Shaken; when they took more casualties, they automatically failed the ensuing Morale tests, keeping them pinned for another round. If you’re going to have Bugs in your game, the best kind to have are those that aren’t going anywhere.
After what felt like a long time, Drew’s Orcs battered through the last of the cavalry that Dylan had sent his way, and rushed into the Imperial deployment zone, charging and hacking down Guardsmen.
There was, however, a fat mob of Boyz, led by “Li’l Ghazzy,” the Orc’s second-in-command, camped out behind a large rock, holding an objective. Dylan’s artillery had indirect fire, but they had been busy dealing with other Orcs, and the time was starting to run down.
Knowing darn well what would happen, I advanced Squad Rudra 2, and Drew took the bait, his Orcs coming out into the open to charge my Marines. I lost 6 out of 10, but the rest held on.
Daniel’s Carnifex charged into a 20-strong unit of Guardsmen, slaying several of them, but they kept their nerve. Squad Agni’s lascannons combined fire with Dylan’s tank to take out the Big Bad Bug, and that side of the board effectively belonged to Team Imperial.
Objectives held at the end of Turn 3: Xenos 2, Imperials 1 (1 unclaimed)
The Game: Turn 4
The numbers of Orcs and Aliens had definitely dwindled, but they still had two objectives. Dylan moved up his Guardsmen, and I moved up the Speeders, firing at Shaken units to wipe them out or keep them pinned down. The Xenos kept doing what they do best, ripping through squads in close combat.
L’il Ghazzy & Chums encircled Squad Rudra 2 and beat them down. On our left flank, his Boyz teamed up with Daniel’s Flappy Bugs to take out the last of the cavalry. More of Drew’s Boyz charged one of the artillery guns, but only managed to knock a few Wounds off it.
Having shut down the Tiger sortie, L’il Ghazzy directed his Boyz back toward a center objective, which some of Dylan’s Guardsmen had tramped onto, contesting it.
Dylan and I fired shot after shot at Ghazzy’s mob, killing them all and knocking a few Wounds off him, but he stayed on his feet, defiantly giving the Imperial forces “Da Finga.” With that, the game ended!
Objectives held at the end of Turn 4: Imperials 2, Xenos 1 (1 contested)
Post-Game Analysis
That turned out very well for the Imperial forces, iffn I do say so myself. Dylan and I followed our game plan to the letter, concentrating fire to eliminate or Shake enemy units, and only moving up to grab objectives when the Xenos had been worn down. We got very lucky in that Drew and Daniel failed most of their Morale checks.
Before the game, I had been concerned about how the fragility of Squad Agni (the 6-man Devastator Squad) and the Land Speeders. I anticipated that the former would get nuked early in the match, and the Speeders would get chewed up.
Neither happened. The Xenos had no long-range firepower, and the deep-striking Winged Grunts (aka Gargoyles) could not reach them (the GF rules say that an Ambushing unit must drop in more than 9″ away from their target). As for the Speeders, they easily handled Daniel’s Aliens. Only once did one of them get attacked in close combat, and it only lost 2 Wounds out of 6.
I was certain that Cpt. Patel and Rudra 1 would be butchered after they came out of the Drop Pod behind the Xenos lines, but it would have been worth it to distract Drew and Daniel. My leader and his squad survived the battle and took out two enemy units.
Drew realized afterwards that he and Daniel should have commingled their armies during deployment, so that they could have helped each other out more. Because of how they set up, it was pretty much Orcs vs Human Defense Force, and Alien Hives vs Sabretooth Tigers, but Dylan and I were able to coordinate attacks and back up the other guy when he needed it.
We kept up a brisk pace during the game, all of us really enjoyed it, and we were done in about four hours. We’ll definitely have another big battle again soon.
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Kenton Kilgore writes books for kids, young adults, and adults who are still young. Follow Kenton on Facebook for frequent posts on sci-fi, fantasy, and other speculative fiction. You can also catch him on Instagram.