Uprising on Mane Primus - Mission #3 Game

Mission

Loosely based on Crucible of War - Ambush. With no shooting on the ork side, there was no need for them to apply any stratagems. The Scouts could apply a stratagem to seize the initiative on 4+, which they did. This time, their player was stringy with his command points, leaving 1 right to the end.

Note that one Scout - Sergeant Argus - is already painted.

Deployment

The Scouts readied their weapons and formed a line. All around them, hulking green skinned brutes and their smaller grot servants were smashing through the undergrowth and heading towards them.

Alpha Squad, turn 1

Not content with just sitting around, Argus raised his chainsword and ordered the Scouts to move out. They cleared a path ahead and to the left, firing at a group of grots. Decarion and Carnak then charged a small group of orks, securing the left flank.

Feral Orks, turn 1

Shouting at the top of their lungs, the orks closed in on Alpha Squad. The Scouts quickly established target priority and identified the main threats: large groups of orks right ahead, goaded on by a Nob with a banner and a Shaman beating his tribal drums.

The left flank diversion worked, but the two brave Scouts risked being swamped and surrounded, as a group of grots descended upon them.

Alpha Squad, turn 2

Argus staid behind, directing his squad's fire, leaving Boreas to charge ahead with two more Scouts. With bolt pistol and combat blade, the Scouts killed a group of feral orks, leaving only the boss nob alive.

Feral Orks, turn 2

Hooting and hollering, the orks continued their mad charge towards the scouts, heedless of their losses. 

Carnak and Decarion were once again surrounded.

A group caught up with Oberon from behind, beating at him savagely. The stoic scout fended them off with wild swings of his missile launcher.

With more orks closing in fast, everybody was engaged in bloody melee. Their previous injuries and fatigue began to show, with more scouts taking wounds from the savage ork choppas.

Grigor fired short, controlled bursts from his heavy bolter, eliminating one greenskin after the other. As he swung around, he came face to face with the shaman. The mad ork's eyes were glowing green, and it raised its hands, beating an ever faster tempo on the drum. The shaman howled, and his pent up energy discharged towards Grigor with all the fury of the WAAAGHHH!!! The scout had nothing in his defense - except, of course, the blessing of the Emperor. He set his jaw and gritted his teeth - and miraculously, the green bolt of energy missed him by a hair, colliding with a nearby tree instead.

Further on

With the majority of the orks now either dead or engaged in close combat, the turns went on quickly. 

Additional ork reinforcements showed on on both sides of the map. Alpha Squad remained committed to their course, heading to the left. Thus they managed to take on the charging orks piecemeal, eliminating them as they came.

The greenskin numbers were showing, and everyone sported wounds. Most scouts fought on bloodied and bruised. Oberon and Grigor stood back-to-back, both grievously wounded. Karn was knocked unconscious by the huge nob wielding the banner.

Another shaman arrived, and Argus considered their chances of survival. But the Emperor was with them. Boreas and Grigor engaged the greenskin witches in a battle of wills, and the Astartes prevailed. Their superhuman determination and sheer presence of mind unsettled the shamans so that energy bolts went wild and green lightning struck only earth and trees. Only one bolt ever landed true, and the scouts repaid the shaman tenfold with sniper rounds and chainsword swings.

Aftermath

We ended the game as the Scouts fought to a bloody, hard-won victory. They repelled the ork hordes, evaded the reinforcements (indeed, I had removed squads that had no chance of reaching melee just to save time) and denied almost every attempt by the shamans to smite them with psychic powers.

Every squad member was wounded, with three sporting enough wound tokens such that one more roll  on the damage table would have taken them out of action. Only Karn was knocked unconscious, however, and he got away with minor wounds after a command point reroll on the death chart.