Weaselhammer 40k Ep.02
Kamalom Usha. A temperate, human miscible planet, with a breathable atmosphere. A simple colony in the vast reaches of space. The Orks have a strong presence on the planet, but Tallion and his squad of Eldar Guardians could not abandon their mission. The artifact they recovered needed to be extracted. The shuttle would arrive any moment now at the top of the hill. All they had to do was get past the Orks standing in their way.
The scenario is simple. The Eldar squad needs to get to the top of the hill within 6 turns. The Orks have to stop them.
For miniatures, I’ll be using Alternative Armies 15mm.co.uk miniatures from the Ion Age range.
The Eldar Squad
The Space Orks Squad
As a Rules system I’ll be using again Clash on the Fringe, I really enjoyed playing it in my first session, so I’m sticking with it for consistency’s sake.
| Eldar (Precursors, Hardened Veteran) | Speed | Survival | Discipline | Morale | Training | Armor | Weapons | Traits | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leader | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | Hard suit | Pulse Rifle | Few in number, Resent brutality, Bond, Sentry, Leader (2) | 74 | |
| Hero | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | Hard suit | Pulse Rifle | Few in number, Resent brutality, Bond, Sentry, Hero | 74 | |
| Trooper | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | Hard suit | Pulse Rifle | Few in number, Resent brutality, Bond, Sentry | 54 | |
| Trooper | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | Hard suit | Pulse Rifle | Few in number, Resent brutality, Bond, Sentry | 54 | |
| Trooper | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | Hard suit | Pulse Rifle | Few in number, Resent brutality, Bond, Sentry | 54 | |
| 310 | ||||||||||
| Orcs (Brutes, Conscript) | Speed | Survival | Discipline | Morale | Training | Armor | Weapons | Traits | ||
| Leader | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | Protective Jacket | Knife, Pistol | Smash, Resilient, Direct | 43 | |
| Trooper | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | Protective Jacket | Carbine | Smash, Resilient, Direct | 37 | |
| Trooper | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | Protective Jacket | Carbine | Smash, Resilient, Direct | 37 | |
| Trooper | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | Protective Jacket | Carbine | Smash, Resilient, Direct | 37 | |
| Trooper | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | Protective Jacket | Carbine | Smash, Resilient, Direct | 37 | |
| Trooper | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | Protective Jacket | Carbine/Bayonet | Smash, Resilient, Direct | 39 | |
| Trooper | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | Protective Jacket | Carbine/Bayonet | Smash, Resilient, Direct | 39 | |
| Trooper | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | Protective Jacket | Carbine/Bayonet | Smash, Resilient, Direct | 39 | |
| 308 |
As I had said in my first session, there is an implied setting of the Fringe, which can easily be adapted to most known sci-fi universes. For Conversions I used the Precursors as Eldar, and Brutes as Orks. Since the Orks are larger in number (8 vs 5) I had to give them worse training, armor and equipment, to have things balance.
Actual Play Report
Turn 1
Initiative: Orks win
Activate: Squad
Action: Engage
Ork1: Shoots Eldar: Miss: Moves 4″: Reaction Fire: Hit: Survival: Failure: Ork1 is down: Morale: Failure: 1 Stress
Ork2: Shoots Eldar: Miss: Moves 4″: Reaction Fire: Miss, Miss, Miss, Heads Down
Ork3: Shoots Eldar: Miss: Moves 4″
Ork4: Shoots Eldar: Miss: Moves 4″
Ork5: Shoots Eldar: Miss: Moves 4″
Ork6: Shoots Eldar: Miss: Moves 4″
Ork7: Shoots Eldar: Miss: Moves 4″
Ork Leader: Shoots Eldar: Miss: Moves 4″
Ork Leader orders Ork7 to Move it: Moves 4″
Initiative: Eldar failed to activate
Snozguk saw the pompous Eldar march towards the top of the hill where the white flare pointed.
“Ere we go, ere we go, ere we go! Get da filty eldar. Don’t let im escape” He screams to his troops.
They shoot their las carbines but they all miss. The range is too great for their weaponry. The march onwards towards the treeline, and the Eldar return fire. One Ork falls from the Shuriken, while another drops down in search for cover. “Dey will kill us!” he screams.
Tallion is indecisive. He can’t tell if they have the advantage, and doesn’t give any order to the squad. The Eldar stand there, waiting for his orders.
Turn 2
Initiative: Eldar win
Activate: Squad
Action: Engage
Eldar1: Moves 6″: Shoots Ork7: Miss
Eldar2: Moves 6″: Shoots Ork3: Hit: Survived: Heads Down
Eldar3: Moves 6″: Shoots Ork2: Hit: Survived: Heads Down x2
Eldar Hero: Moves 8″: Shoots Ork4: Miss
Eldar Leader: Moves 6″ Shoots Ork4: Hit: Survival: Failure. Morale: Success. Orders Hero: Attack: Ork5: Miss
Initiative: Orks succeed
Activate: Squad
Action: Engage
Ork2: Heads Down: Failure
Ork3: Heads Down: Failure
Ork5: Shoots Eldar2 within Assault: Hit: Survival: Success: Heads Down
Ork6: Moves 5″: Reaction Fire: Heads Down, Miss, Miss
Ork7: Moves 5″: Shoots Eldar2: Miss
Ork Leader: Moves 5″: Shoots Eldar3: Miss: Orders Ork3: Keep it together!
Ork3: Moves 5″: Shoots Eldar2: Heads Down
Tallion takes command, and orders his guardians forward, as far away from the Orks as possible, out in the open, in a Move and Shoot tactic. They’re too far to get reaction fire from the Orks, but their Shuriken weaponry shoots true. They pin down two more Orks, and Tallion kills one of them. Odds are turning to their favor.
Snozguk screams, and gets one Ork to shake it off. He shoots at the Eldar and suppresses a guardian. But, none of the rest manage to get a proper shot. Under the reaction fire, another Ork is pinned down. Snozguk is uncertain of their success.
Turn3
Initiative: Eldar win
Activate: Squad
Action: Engage
Eldar Hero: Shoots Ork3: Hit: Survived: Moves 6″
Eldar2: Heads Down: Success: Shoots Ork3: Success: Survival: Failure: Morale: Failure: Stress 2. Moves 6″
Eldar1: Moves 6″: Shoots Ork7: Miss
Eldar3: Moves 6″: Shoots Ork7: Hit: Survival: Survived
Eldar Leader: Shoots Ork5: Hit: Survival: Failure: Morale: Failure: Stress 3: All Fire is Unaimed. Moves 6″. Orders: Eldar Hero: Shoots Ork7: Miss
Initiative: Orks
Activate: Squad
Action: Storm
Leader: Orders Ork2: Keep it together: Shoots Eldar3: Miss: Moves 5″: Storms: Eldar Wins: Survival: Failure: Leader down: Morale: Failure: Stress 4: Orks are broken.
Tallion orders his squad to shoot again and move. The Eldar bond is strong, and the guardian is no longer suppressed. They kill two more Orks, and their morale starts wavering. They close up to the hill and the Orks charge in return. Snozguk gets in close combat with an Eldar. The fierce Ork Leader is much stronger than the Eldar guardian, but he is unsure. This fear is obvious to the space elf, who finds the opportunity and blocks the knife strike with his rifle. He kicks off Snozguk, who falls to the floor, and follows through with a kill shot.
Seeing their leader down, the rest of the space Orks disperse and flee.
Tallion and his squad reach the top of the hill and are extracted to safety before any more of the greenskins arrive.
Aftermath
The Eldar receive 3BP. I spend 2 points to increase Tallion’s Training by 1.
Session Summary
Again, the game was fast! I may have done a mistake or two here and there, but it was enjoyable. The Eldar may have lost the first round of Initiative, but their reaction fire in the first round gave them the upper hand. The orks didn’t have the numbers and the Eldar troop quality was now evident.
Also I didn’t bother much about terrain rules. Something about entering woods and such makes me lazy. Maybe after I have more than a few games under my belt I’ll take it under consideration. I don’t have the rules in print and going back and forth in PDF from the game board isn’t to my liking.
Solo, Pen, Paper and Dice 
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