Operation Report 1: Capture the Relic

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    Sergeant of the Squad:
    An ancient relic, an interstellar space probe from Earth more than 32 millenia ago, has been found on the world of Maxsel VII. It appears to have crash-landed approximately one century ago, and a light copse of woods is beginning to overgrow the site. We have reason to belive the green-skinned horde knows of its presence--needless to say, Sergeant, this relic must be retrieved before the Orks can get to it.
    The crater bowl of the probe is surprisingly clear of woods; this probably implies that the probe was powered by fissionables that are still dangerously radioactive. Your armor will protect you, so the silent killer is not to be a concern.
    Honor to the Imperium!

Hey, boyz!
I, Freeboota Kap'n Skul, have foun' uz a reel live Humie arr-tee-fak! The boyz in da blue soots ar comin', so we'z betta grab da loot befo' theyz do. It'z a rite burna, with ray-dee-aton an all dat junk, so'z I'm da ony one who'z kan karry it... see?! (lifts mechanical arm) We'z gonna grab da junk and run. Gotit? If we kanna' grab it, we'z gonna shoot it.

~500 Point Skirmish
ULTRAMARINES (TIM) Primary Objective: Retrieve relic		SPACE ORK GOFFS / FREEBOOTERS (ANTHONY) Primary Objective: Retrieve relic Secondary Objective: Destroy relic
Tactical Squad V (Missile Launcher, Flamer) CO: Sergeant Zim XO: Raphael MultiMelta Attack Bike (Squad VII, no Grenades) CO: Hanz XO: Fritz	389 129	1 Freeboota Pirate w/ Power Fist 15 Goff Mob Skarboyz 20 Gretchin w/ Autoguns 2 Wartrakks w/ Twin-Linked Heavy Bolters 1 Warbike w/ Twin-Linked Autocannon 1 Warbuggy w/ MultiMelta	22 225 100 100 45 45
TOTAL	518	TOTAL	537

	TURN ONE This was going to be an interesting fight. My Marines had none of the usual advantages associated with them--the Orks had mobility, firepower, and range on their side. Superior numbers were a given. I lost the initiative. This was going to be a standard occurence for most of the game. I moved my attack bike to the ridge of the hill to take control of the objective area while my tac squad simply moved foreward. Anthony did the expected thing-- moved his vehicles foreward in a two-pronged assault while his infantry trudged foreward. Standard modified Zulu assault. My bike traded fire with his wartrakk, ending in my favor as the wartrakk bounced away and died but damaging the bike's controls and killed Hanz. The MultiMelta then missed and killed one of my Marines.. Fritz took control of the bike. End result: My forward strategy was failing.
	TURN TWO I lost the initiative again, pulled my bike back to accept Ralph to take the MultiMelta while moving my sarge squad up to cover the transfer and reforming my missile squad for protection. Anthony pulled his vehicles forward, presenting a target-rich environment for my missile launcher. His infantry crowded together to get past some trees. Luck was on my side in the firing; Missileman took out the buggy's gunner and my left-flank boltgunners shot the bike to Hell. His MultiMelta killed my bike (with Fritz and Ralph), allowing the German Motorcycle Reconnaissance Team to live up to their namesakes.
	TURN THREE With the loss of both my bike and yet another initiative, things were looking bad for the Boys in Blue. I kept my missile squad stationary to guard the flank while I moved my sergeant's squad forward to hopefully reach the objective. Anthony pressed forward his troops as he pulled back his buggy to accept a new gunner. My missile launcher was thwarted a decent target when the trakk went behind some trees on my right flank, and so took out his agression on three Gretchin. I was not only outnumbered and outgunned, but becoming encapsulated as well. Great. Just great.
	TURN FOUR I actually won the initiative this time, which was the worst possible for Anthony's plans. He brought his buggy back out on the attack and hid his trakk behind the trees on my left flank. He pushed his infantry to the relic, his Grots fanning out to act as shields for the Orks. What else are Gretchin for? My sarge squad took to the woods in front of it and hid there, denying Anthony any shots. I moved my missile squad to the right just a bit forward of the bike wreckage, using both that and the trees for cover.
	TURN FIVE I lost the initiative again and therefore took the conservative route--kept my tree'd forces tree'd and keeping my missile launcher still. Anthony, having gotten the Freeboota to the objective, picked it up and started running away as the rest of his infantry surged forward to cover. He moved his buggy to an appropriate position and rammed my missile squad with his trakk, hitting three out of four. Two boltgunners died and my missile launcher got a free ride on its front plate. Firing the missile into the trakk, it predictably damaged the steering. Annoyed, my other surviving Marine tossed a krak grenade onto the back and ruptured the fuel tank. As both Anthony and I did not consider my Missileman to be "crew," we gave him an Initiative test to jump off, which he passed. I then threw five krak grenades out of the cover of the forest (with no annoying muzzle fire to give away my position) and smashed that damned buggy into a million billion pieces. All that was left after the carnage of Turn Five were my six Marines and Anthony's infantry. With my Missile Launcher amazingly intact, I at least now had the advantage of range (and maybe firepower) back on my side, but too late to stop the retreating Freeboota.
	TURN SIX This was to be known as the TURN OF RECOMUPPANCE. I won the initiative, but Anthony's tactics were necessarily simple--surge his troops forward in an attempt to get into melee. I moved forward the one surviving boltgunner of my missile squad to protect the Missileman and stood my ground. And knocked his troops back into the stone age. After I was done with them, all that remained were eleven Orks and maybe seven retreating Gretchin. All this thanks to the Missile Launcher, the flamethrower (against massed troops!), and the Space Marine Stationary Double-Fire Bolter rule. This turn defined the fact that this game would end in a Pyhrric victory for Anthony.
	TURN SEVEN The battle was pretty much over except for the shouting. Anthony took the path of least resistance and ran his remaining Orks off the side of the board. His broken Gretchin ran for the nearest cover (across the crater), and his Freeboota kept running towards his end of the map. I ran my missile team up, hoping to make a bank shot against the Freeboota, and took some boltgun potshots at the Gretchin, taking down three more.
	TURNS EIGHT THROUGH TEN Anthony's Grots running into the trees, I ran after him. I may not be able to win the scenario, but my fury shall make the green tide suffer terribly for my fallen brothers. The Gretchin get trashed by Marine Melees, the Freeboota gets off the board with the relic.
	THE FINAL SHOT These were the last seven units on the board. Six are mine. The seventh got screwed.

Retrieve The Relic
ULTRAMARINES (TIM) Primary Objective: Retrieve relic FAILED		SPACE ORK GOFFS / FREEBOOTERS (ANTHONY) Primary Objective: Retrieve relic SUCCESSFUL Secondary Objective: Destroy relic N/A
KILLS		KILLS
5 Space Ork Goff Skarboys 20 Gretchin w/ Autoguns 2 Wartrakks w/ Twin-Linked Heavy Bolters 1 Warbike w/ Twin-Linked Autocannon 1 Warbuggy w/ MultiMelta	75 100 100 45 45	MultiMelta Attack Bike Space Marine Raphael 2 Space Marine Boltgunners	129 38 66
TOTAL	365	TOTAL	233

In hindsight, my Space Marines' primary weakness was that they weren't properly equipped for the job. Assault Marines with jump packs would have been better for a snatch-and-grab, while a Predator tank would have been a better armor support resource. Excluding that, I could have had one Land Raider and maybe a single combat squad inside--which would feel a lot like cheating. However, looking at what I had to work with, I didn't do too badly (meaning that I did not get annihilated). I probably should have used my assault bike to strafe the Orks' vehicles and rear rather than try to assert local superiority, but, with the luck of the dice against me when it came to initiative (initiative is vital for risky rear attacks), it's just as well I duked it out right up front and toasted a wartrakk. Forcing the Orks to accept a Pyhrric victory made it all worthwhile.

Anyway, this was a fast and loose "final game" before everybody ships out to their respective lives, and so the point discrepancy is unimportant (and was discovered while putting together this report). Anyway, if I find myself in a position like that again, a better strategy would be to get my infantry under cover, hide the bike, and speed everything out once the objective is threatened. Playing with simultaneous-fire rules, I could beat up a lot of Orks that way.