Battle Report: IG vs Orks, Analysis

Hey all!! Had two games today, one against a 1500 Ork mob force, which is the focus of today's article. Learned a few things today, which I'll be addressing. Here is my 1500 list. It was fun, and a very productive day!!



Pregame
The Ork player, a mate named Jeremy - super great guy who I had a blast playing against - brought two groupings of Ork boyz adding up to 120 models. WOW!! He had an additional three Canz of with grot cannons, a shock attack gun as his Warlord, ten lootas and a three-man Zap Gun unit. The boyz were divided into two squads of 30 with Big Shootas - the other two squads of 30 armed with shootas and choppas.

The game was Dawn of War and Purge the Alien.

Showdown
He deployed his cans behind one of his Shoota Boyz Squads. His Lootas sat down in the middle in some ruins, good view of the battle field to wreak havoc among my 4+ armor units. Ugh. Next to them were his other Shoota boyz. On either flank he had his Shock attack gun and his Zap Guns. The other 60 boyz were in reserve.

The remains of our battlements after Jeremy and I concluded our ranged bombardments

The game progressed with my Leman Russ, Manticore, and Master of the Oridnance dominating his infantry groupings.

Had he had his Choppa boyz on the field working in cohesion with the Shootas, he would have tore through my ranks like an Orkish butter knife!! The first two Boyz Squads ran off, the kanz were taken out by the Flamer vets in combat. My Devil Dog notably banked a right turn along the left flank, after witnessing the horrifying insanity of the Shock Attack gun. Originally I had planned on closing the gap on that side of the board, but that proved futile and the Melta Cannon would find better use elsewhere.

Eventually the second wave of boyz arrived. Jeremy hesitated and decided to pull one squad to the Zap Gun side of the board and sit them in his backfield. This made it safer for me to advance and badger his boyz and lootas.

I misshaped my Flamer-Crisis Suit in the Deep Strike. He ended up on the far corner from the Zap Guns. By turn four I had flanked him up and zig-zagged my way to the middle where the lootas were, by the time three in number, and charged them. Ended up punching them to death. The death of the lootas and the third Boyz squad ushered the conclusion of our match.

Conclusion
Game ended with all my crisis suits dying in his deployment zone, one entire boyz squad intact and the Shock Attack and Zap guns holding firm.
I had forfeited my attempts to eliminate those targets because, frankly, there was no way I was going to get through the sea of grots he had armed them with. I lost my entire Tau Detachment and my Manticore.
Victory: Imperials (7 - 4)

Analysis
Learning points were target priority and mobility. For both of us, picking the most economic targets changed the direction of the game. On his first turn (going second) he stunned my Manticore. Had he not done that my infantry line would have been in a better position, his Boyz would have been off the table on turn two instead of three, and his reserved troops would have been facing a gun line in full gusto upon their arrival.

As well, the ability to reposition quickly to reinforce failing sections of our armies proved to be influential in the outcome. For instance, the Imperial Devil Dog rapidly altered its game plan after the Shock attack gun revealed its killing ability - turning to deal with the only opposing armor on the field instead, the Killa Kanz.