The models shown from the pictures may appear to be Dark Angels. That is because we were play testing Grey Knight rules to get the Codex confirmed tournament ready prior to publishing. The following battle was an attempt to break the game balance with the most offensive based army I could build.
The Dark Angels, now well acquainted withe the Orks, decided to take to some new tactics and experimenting. After playing the role of other Marine Chapters for training (see prior battle reports), the idea was conceived by an ambitious captain to fool the Orks and see if they could manifest powers on their behalf.
Months of careful plotting, subtle fore shadow, and elaborate leads placed for Ork Warboss Charr to find went no where. The Orks just simply did not seem to pick up on any of the clues. In hindsight, this was probably because they did not know that Grey Knights existed and because they were, well, Orks. They finally just shot a message cannister at him that said “Grey Nites here, we have scary magic power.” Their work of misinformation massively successful, they staged the next fight on their terms.
The Orks deployed in a simple but standard fashion, with 3 full sized Ork Boyz mobs placed on each flank and the center. Kommandoz were placed in a forward position on the east flank and a unit of Mega Nobs were held in Reserve with Warboss Charr, a Weird Boy, a Pain Boy, and Ghazghkull Thrakka. He had heard of the attempts of Charr and came to oversee this quest for weapons to loot because Goff is best!
The “Grey Knights” took up positions in some ruins on Valour IX. The Ork menace had spread from Asteroid Base 74, into the surrounding Asteroid Belt still hotly contested by the Tyranids, and now had been sighted fully in system on Valour IX. Two Strike Squads took either flank, each outfitted with 2 Incinerators and the Sergeant having an Incinerator and Nemesis Daemon Hammer. Upon seeing their foes in a horde formation, they swapped out the hammers for Dual Nemesis Falchions thanks their Adjusted Tactics. A Purifier Squad took the center, each member armed with a Psycannon and Dual Nemesis Falchions. They were escorted by Lord Draigo, Castellan Crowe, an Apothecary, and a Brotherhood Ancient.
The Kommandoz started by popping out of cover and firing their Sluggas at the east Strike Squad. One Marine went down to shots that seemed to go right through his armour! Truly these Orks would be a fine specimen for them to test the xenos psychic influence on. The rest of the horde shifted and milled around in the back, trying to take Objective Markers in an uncoordinated fashion.
The injured Strike Squad used Tactical Squad training and split their force up, with two remaining behind to hold the Objective and the Paladin and marine moved up. They scorched the Kommandoz with Incinerators, before charging and killing the last one with their blades. The Purifier Squad moved up and sideways, firing powerful weaponry into the oncoming horde threatening to drown the two marines moving up. Many Orks were cut down, but the horde was massive and could afford heavy casualties. Lastly, the west Strike Squad split up as well, sending the Paladin and both Incinerators further west to act as a strong deterrent for the two Ork Boyz units that were loitering on that side.
The Orks, mostly excited by the loss of their comrades, pushed forwards into the ruins on the east. They did not have any clear lines of fire, so they just charged the Grey Knights, losing another six to Overwatch from the two Incinerators. One was cut down, leaving the Paladin injured but still kicking. He lashed out with his blades, killing another three before the Slow but powerful Power Klaw of the Nob sent him crashing through the ruins.
In the center of the Grey Knight backline, the Meganobz tele-ported in. With surprisingly well placed shots they put four of the eight Purifiers out of action as well as heavily injuring “Lord Draigo” who forgot to turn on his Stormshield and lightly injuring the Apothecary who forgot how to hand out pain meds for the entire squad. The two mobs on the west flank milled around more, trying to get their Objectives.
A unit of Deffkoptaz also Deepstriked, firing large volumes of rockets into the Grey Knights as well.
The Grey Knights were entirely built for offense, and scrambled to recover from the alpha strike. They turned and all units but the Incinerators on the west flank poured fire into the Mega Nobz, but were foiled. It turned out the Apothecary had not forgot how to use pain meds, but the Ork Pain Boy had stolen all of them and was now handing them out like roasted squig on fight night! Heavy, intense firing was simply ineffective, only heavily injuring one Mega Nob! Lord Draigo called an Orbital Strike on the two mobs in the back, and in desperation, the remains of the Purifiers and their character support charged in! Draigo, still struggling with the concept of the on button for his Stormshield was injured again by Overwatch and yet another marine was shot down. They did hit very hard, with Draigo issuing a challenge accepted by Thrakka! The Nobs lost several of their forces, despite once again being saved by the galaxy’s best pain meds. The return fighting slew most of the marines. The Dual was foiled a bit by the insanely good pain meds, but still left Thrakka injured pretty heavily. Draigo finally found his on button, but then was killed through sheer volume of attacks and succumbed to his injuries.
*Disclaimer, the fire power of grey knights is very, very good. Especially with Silver Blades Brotherhood rules. The Pain Boy’s 5+ Feel No Pain was just rolled with an insanely high success rate.
The west flank Incinerators moved the rest of the way up and sheltered out of sight in the titanic building with their big go away flamethrowers.
The Orks on the east flank moved up, shooting ineffectively at the last two Grey Knights, but the Deffkoptaz blew them away with incredibly accurate rocket volleys. The fight in the middle finished off the Grey Knights, with loses being more reasonable given their foe, but the toll on the Grey Knights had been to high to change the scale of battle.
The east flank saw the two mobs of Orks run as fast as possible in opposite directions as soon as they red dot on the ground from the capital class warship.
As the Orks scrambled for safety, the round went incredibly off target, almost directly into the horde running the fastest for cover. Twenty five Orks were obliterated as the lance round came in hard, sending the last five sprawling and dazed from the near hit.
The incinerators got into a better position, unable to vengefully pursue the Orks because they ran away to try and avoid the Orbital Strike. The last two marines of their squad fired into the Meganobz with little effect, holding back to keep the Objective Marker in a last act of defiance.
The Meganobz slew the last two marines on the rear line with no issues, still having an overwhelming amount of firepower. The entire army began to converge on the building with the Incinerators hiding inside with the exception of the Orks that were hit with the Orbital Strike, they still laid on the ground in a daze.
The Incinerators had orders to take their Objective Marker, so they just hunkered down and relayed the tactical data from the auspex at the location, reporting extreme success in the Ork belief in augmenting reality.
The Orks raced in and fired all weapons at the building. For a moment it looked like it would hold. The stone support beam was cracked and shattered but it held! Then the last Slugga round hit and it began to groan and collapse! The Incinerators were forced to dive out of the building as it crumbled and crashed into rubble behind them.
They stood up, surrounded by the horde. Out of weapons range, they were forced to try a long distance Charge and failed. As the battle came to an end, the intense fire removed the exposed marines from the field.
Orks win 9 to 7 with a Minor Victory!
This fight was not done with a balanced Grey Knight list. It was an attempt to break the codex to make sure it was not going to sweep all other armies aside in a tournament setting. As it could not (even without the Ork pain med rolls of insanity), it is ready for publishing! It is now found live on our Rulebook page!
Alternate 40k Rules 