Refight 1: Gogard's Last Stand!

Waaa-Gogard started on Guilus II, an inhospitable planet on the very edge of Imperial space. The Orks who inhabited the planet constantly battled with each other for territory and teeth. From the anarchy one Ork rose to power. Gork and Mork had found a new champion and Waaa-Gogard had begun.

The power of Waaa-Gogard quickly spread across the planet: Mekboyz started to build Gargants and other engines of war, and the Orks flocked to Gogard's banner. The power of the Waaagh grew until Gogard had no other choice but to invade the stars and, as if sent by the gods, a huge space hulk drifted into the system and was caught by the Mekboyz' powerful tractor beams.

The first planet to be found by the Orks was Balle Alpha. The space hulk was detected by the planetary defence force as it started to manoeuvre towards the planet. The Imperial Governor wisely readied his forces and sent a message to neighbouring worlds asking for reinforcements.

Gogard planned to attack the largest group of cities he could find and cripple the planet's defences in one stroke. Mighty Gargants moved across the planet's deserts leaving trails of destruction in their wake, smashing the forces sent to stop them. Battlewagons followed behind, mopping up any opposition that survived the war engines' attacks. When the Orks reached the cities, however, the wave of destruction stopped. The city walls of Balle Alpha were well reinforced and halted the Ork attack with minimal losses. The Orks regrouped and started to barrage the cities with salvos of fire from their Gargants.

Days later, just as the walls looked to be on the verge of collapsing, the reinforcements the Planetary Governor had called for arrived in the form of the Blood Angels. Gogard's army was trapped between the city walls and the attacking Space Marines and suffered hideous losses. Some Boyz managed to breach the city but were killed by the massed firepower of its defenders. The Orks were quickly defeated, but Gogard himself managed to break out of the trap and smash through the Space Marines' line in his Great Gargant. Many Orks tried to follow their Warboss but only a few succeeded, and Waaa-Gogard was effectively destroyed. The Blood Angels formed a line around the city to prevent an Ork counter-attack while the fortifications were repaired.

Gogard stopped his retreat when he saw no Imperial troops pursuing him. Determined to exact revenge on the hated pointy noses, Gogard rallied his remaining Boyz and reboarded his trusty Gargant "Korps Grinda". With his new crew he set off towards the Space Marines' positions intent on inflicting as much damage as possible.

Forces

Decide who will be the Ork player and who will be the Space Marine player.

Orks: The Ork player has one detachment: Korps Grinda, a Great Gargant!

Space Marines: The Space Marines have the following detachments:

Set-up

1. The terrain must include the features shown on the map. Further terrain can be added if the players want.
2. The Space Marine player sets up first. One detachment is deployed on the table, either in or touching the ruined buildings by the 'Y' junction. See Objectives.
3. The remaining two Space Marine detachments enter play anywhere along the Space Marine table edge (including the roads) on the first turn of the battle. The Space Marine player must deploy the HQ unit from each detachment on the table edge to show where the detachment and its units will enter play. This is where their move must be measured from on the first turn.
4. The Ork player sets up after the Space Marine player has finished deploying his forces. He may set up anywhere within 20cm of his edge of the table.

Gargant krew

The Gargant has a new krew of Gretchin riggers because Gogard used the old krew for target practice after a very poor performance in their last battle. This new krew aren't all that quick off the mark at carrying out orders, so the Space Marines always win the initiative in the Movement phase and the Assault phase, and can choose to either move first or second.

Objectives

The Space Marine player must set up two bunkers when he deploys. These are the objective of the Ork attack. They may be set up anywhere on the table that is at least 15cm from a table edge.

Each bunker is treated as an immobilised war engine if shot at, with an Armour value of 6 and a Damage Capacity of 3. The bunkers have an Assault value of 2 if attacked.

Game length and victory conditions

The game carries on until the Ork Gargant is destroyed or both objectives have been demolished. If the Space Marines wreck or destroy the Gargant before it has destroyed the bunkers, then they win. If the Gargant takes out both bunkers then the Orks win. If the Gargant destroys just one bunker before it is roasted itself then the game is a draw.

Scenario variants

This particular scenario is a great one for learning the core rules of Epic 40,000 and the War Engine rules. Here are a few scenario variants you might like to try.

• Swap Space Marine Devastator squads for extra Land Raiders or vice versa (on a one-for-one basis).
• Assume Imperial forces were launching a major offensive at the time of Gogard's attack so the defending force might be very different. Choose a 500 point force to replace the Space Marines from the lmperium army list in the Armies book. This variant should make things a lot harder for Gogard.
• Gogard's Gargant was on the verge of breaking down when it attacked the Imperial positions because of its inept new Gretchin riggers. If it had broken down further up the road Gogard would have had to scrape together all the Orks he could find and attack with what was available. For this variant choose a 500 point force from the Ork army list in the Armies book to replace the Gargant.

Aftermath

Gogard's attack came as a complete surprise to the Blood Angels who were not expecting a counter-attack so soon after the Orks' massive defeat. The Blood Angels managed to damage the Great Gargant before being forced to retreat from the awesome firepower of the war engine. When Gogard reached the city walls again te Imperial defence was far better prepared and raked the Gargant with heavy weapons fire as it advanced. The Gargant crew were struggling to contain raging fires by the time Gogard reached the city fortifications. "Korps Grinda" just managed to destroy the city defences with its Lifta Droppa before a massive explosion in the hull destroyed the Gargant and Warlord Gogard once and for all.