Warp travel had always unsettled the old wolf, it was best not to contemplate the horrors that astropaths must go through to navigate the ether. Just a few days more and they would be at Din Kaldir to find out the whereabouts of the population and uncover other mysteries surrounding the planet. The ship lay in orbit on one of the many Imperial held worlds sending shuttles for more supplies as the astropaths momentarily rested before they were on the last leg of the journey.
The Priest's aide arrived yet again waiting to be acknowledged, he didn't care much for the man. He wasn't a native of Fenris for one, he was a plump smug man if he could be called that... a plump coward who would rather hide behind a stack of papers than battle an enemy face to face. He rarely left the safety of the ship and on the rare occasion he would make planet fall he would bemoan his misfortune.
With a gesture from the Priest the aide burst into an incessant chatter of information, from remaining energy stores to the cleanliness of the ship. Just when it seemed as if the aide was finished he added "in minor news the natives have requested our help against ork warbands ravaging their lands... I of course took the liberty of telling them the appropriate Imperial response will take six to eight standard months..." the Wolf Priest stared straight at the aide and bellowed "we can take the supplies of these people and we cannot aide them in peril!?!". The aide gulped "but sir... if we are to make..." the priest stormed off mid-sentence as the klaxons sounded... the wolves were off to war.
Within the hour a contingent of Space Wolves were deployed to the planet and on the hunt for the ork raiders. There was a low rumble as the Razorbacks slowly advanced their lascannons slowly scanning the surrounding area for a sign of the orks. Over the micro bead the wolf scouts reported that the orks were coming in mass. With the order given the wolves quickly jumped off the sides of the Razor back and formed a battle line waiting bolters ready.
In the distance a faint noise became a noisy rumble as the orks came clamoring onto the battle field firing their weapons in the air on their way to the villages. The wolves acted quickly and took the initiative a lascannon shot managed to strike true and stun a battlewagon full of orks. The Rune Priest spotted an ork carrying a a huge contraption on his back as he made his way atop a building cackling. He smiled to himself as his pupils went white and he began incantations, pointing two fingers at the ork lightning shot out of his fingertips electrocuting the ork and sending him off the roof off the building with a resounding thud.
"None shall get past us!" proclaimed the Wolf Priest as his banner bearer planted the wolf standard seconds before the orks smashed against their lines. The first wave of orks were Nobs huge hulking beasts made of muscle armed with the best weapons. Despite their ferocity the vicious counter attack from the wolves sent what remained of the Nobs running back towards their lines defeated and bloodied.
Though they were victorious the wolves did not get a chance to rest as the second wave of orks smashed into their lines. Though not as strong as nobs the pure weight of numbers were weighing the marines down in combat. A true testament to the stock of Leman Russ, despite being vastly outnumbered the wolves did not give up the fight hacking and slashing all around them.
Relief came with a howl as the Blood Claws rained death from the sky as they fell upon the bewildered orks. The young aspirants carving a bloody reputation into the orks scattering them to the winds as they chased after them blood lust in their eyes.
On the left flank the Rune Priest's squad was slowly being surrounded by waves of orks, only his fell powers keeping them at bay. The orks were slowly running out of bodies to throw at the Space Wolves, but even space marines are not invincible to waves of enemies. Things were starting to look bleak as marines fell, ork bodies piled high around them.
Just as it seemed the battle line was about to strain the scouts master infiltrators and saboteurs arrived behind the enemy. Taking delight in pouncing on unsuspecting orks loitering in the back of the lines firing their rockets hooting at the impressive fire works. It was the last thing they knew as the scouts quickly stabbed and shot them with their silenced weapons before planting explosives on the damaged battle wagon that was trying to get itself out of a ditch. The scouts disappeared into the night just as their explosives went off.
The explosion made fighters on both sides pause for a moment before the orks realized just how many of their fallen brethren lay in the mud. With that the orkish morale was broken and what was left of them called for a retreat. The Wolf Priest took off his helmet and looked out into the battle field. The smell of blood, fire and sweat hung heavy in the air but it had been a resounding victory for the sons of Leman Russ, the orks have been beaten and would no longer possess a threat to the people of this planet.
This game is the first real game I had with my space wolves, going into the game I was a bit nervous I wasn't used to having so few models (about 50). Add to the fact that I am still very unfamiliar with 5th edition and it's missions. We ended up playing a kill point game where I deployed up to half the board edge pushing the ork deployment back.
I of course set up my razorbacks first to push the ork lines, content on falling back while providing covering fire. The wolves themselves did excellently I can't explain how GREAT the wolf standard is, even when Cash sent his nobs (of about 8) charging into a squad that used it's wolf banner. I believe I only took 1 casualty from the normal nobs and 2 from a powerfist in return for almost all of the nobs (the two that ran away had a wound left a piece!).
Once my scouts came on and started to reinforce a weakening flank my opponent threw in the towel. I lost 2 kill points from two razorbacks that were destroyed, while I scored 5-6 kill points I believe. Though two of the packs took the brunt of the attacks they lost 10 or so marines between both squads.
After the game was over I was left musing did I win because I learned how to play with compact/elite force better? Or was it my 10+ years of experience of playing orks that helped me turn the tide? Though I never came up with a clear conclusion it was still a great game and I can't wait to take my Space Wolves out, this time in the campaign!
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