The entire war all comes down to this…Commander Dwalin is launching an assault upon the Ork base on the outskirts of Ushgarak! Ork Kommander Krugger must see off the short-legged stunties to ensure that greenskins - not beards - rule the land of Midnight!
Both forces have 6,000 point armies in action. 55VPs are required for victory. The ruleset is Net Epic Evolution.
Here we see an overview of the battlefield. The Squats are at the top of the picture while the Orks are at the bottom. The Orks start the game with three sets of defences which consist of three sets of entrenchments. They also have Initiative in Turn 1 and can deploy a further 15cm forward of the standard deployment zone.
Another overview of the battlefield.
The satellite imaging shows the two armies facing up to each other. In the centre of the Ork deployment zone is their base…
Supported by Squat Warriors, Commander Dwalin himself leads the battle!
In close attendance is a squadron of Iron Eagle Gyrocopters and, further along the line, a Land Train!
The Air Attack Corps and Grand Battery are positioned in the centre of the Squat army, looking on to the Ork base in the distance.
They are flanked by an awesome amount of firepower - more Gyrocopters, a Leviathan, a Colossus and two Cyclops Praetorians!
Having been disgraced twice in battle, Kili has also joined Dwalin’s ranks. He has resigned as a Commander, now seeking revenge for his fallen brothers as Guildmaster in one of the two bike squadrons. More Gyrocopters and two Goliath Mega-Cannon complete the Squat line up.
Krugger's Orks cannot match the sheer firepower that the Squats boast, but they do have defences, and more importantly, strength in numbers! The beautiful green fungal lawns that Krugger commissioned here behind his entrenchments are among his most proud achievements... after murder and mayhem of course! The green spores which rise from the fungi create a green snowy mist around the Ork base and seem to inspire an even more insane mania for destruction than is usual. This is their home and no stunties are gonna take it from 'em!
Above the low green mist are entrenchments built into the hillside, behind which Lungbustas, Spleenrippas and Braincrushas have a clear view of the battlefield.
Also in attendance are Coptas which will be looking to pounce upon the Squat formations!
Hidden within the mound are Goff Boyz! Their weapon range is too short to make a meaningful impact so they are held inside ready to pounce if the Squats breach their lines!
Finally, the Kult of Speed rev up their engines in excitement! Behind them is the Slasha Gargant, ready to inflict hell upon the stunties! The stage is set for an epic final showdown!
After a few early but largely inconsequential activations, the Bad Moons Clan launch an audacious assault upon a town deep in Squat territory…
…and they gun down a few Squat bikers!
But one of the two Cyclops Praetorians activates and uses the aptly named Hellfury Cannon to reduce one of the buildings to molten slag, killing a multitude of Bad Moon Boyz in the process!
Goliath Mega-Cannon roar on the far right of the Squat line and pick off two Braincrushas in the base! Biker Nobz, two of whom can be seen on the far right of the picture, roar in and destroy the cannon as well as two Gyrocopters!
Spleenrippas, Lungbustas and the Braincrushas unleash a hail of fire upon the Cyclops, stripping it of its shields!
The Land Train rolls into the battle but does little to trouble the Orks! Damn their entrenchment filth holes!
The Slasha activates and hits the Cyclops destroying its Hellfury Cannon! The Colossus activates and retaliates! The Slasha loses a few power fields but a few shots make it through the flickering defences - and destroy the boiler, starting a fire!
Commander Dwalin enters the fray and a building only to be burned alive by three Bowelburna scorchas! His dying howls screeching loud in their ears, Dwalin's Warriors are pounced upon by a Warboss! His battlewagons roar in and he thins their ranks with Lotsabigshootas! Has the time of the Ork come?
Coptas jump Thudd Guns and in turn are engaged by Squat Bikers, led by Guildmaster Kili!
And predictably the Coptas are annihilated!
It’s not a traffic jam, it’s a full blown pile up!
Another success for the Squats!
The satellite view at the end of Turn 1. The Orks have taken every objective on the board!
The Break Points are fairly even with the Orks picking up 7VPs and the Squats 6VPs. The lack of shield regeneration on Praetorians, thanks to some awful rolls, causes concern for the Squats.
End of Turn 1:
Squats 6
Orks 47
The Orks win initiative in Turn 2 and Nobz bikers cause havoc! They charge behind the stricken Cyclops and hit it with everything it has! The reactor takes hit after hit before it suddenly explodes in a shower of molten plasma, taking a squadron of gyrocopters and breaking the entire Wing with it - and the Nobz bikers themselves! As the plasma wave scorches the flesh from their bodies, the Orks roar in delight - their death woz legendary!
The sky lit up by the massive explosion of the Cyclops, the Squats in the Land Train target the Warboss and his entourage of Nobz bodyguards!
A rad bomb should do the trick!
And does! The green vermin are exterminated! Boweburnas avenge the fallen by wiping out the remaining Warriors with a horrible death in liquid flame! The high pitched wails of the burning beardies is sweet music to the Bowelburna crews!
On their next activation, the Squats activate the remaining Cyclops and the Hellfury Cannon, which targets the Slasha Gargant is unleashed! The awesome blast hammers the Slasha, (somewhat fortuitously) knocking down power field after power field until a final round punches through the ammo store!
A serious of explosions rock the Slasha and the Mekaniks are cooked inside the Gargant! The fires get out of control and the whole Slasha explodes! Nearby Evil Sunz Boyz do not see death approaching in the form of flame and shrapnel…
…which is small mercy because none survive the cataclysm!
The Air Attack Corps activate and inflict more punishment upon nearby Ork units…
…and a Skullhamma!
Spleenrippas and Lungbustas target the distant Land Train and destroy one of the battlercars!
Goff Nobz pour out from the defences late on in the turn but is there any need?
A mixture of units are engaged in close combat. Twenty Berserkers make it their business to take down a Skullhamma and capture the objective at all costs!
Squad after squad of Berserkers die in the process but finally one squad emerges and captures the objective!
A similar battle ensues for a central objective but the Boarboy closest to the objective sees off his attackers!
A final combat ends the turn…
…and two Bowelburnas are destroyed! The Berserkers in the nearby dome are close enough to another objective to steal it back!
At the end of the turn the Orks hold 6 objectives while the Squats only have 2.
The Orks have won 38VPs in death and destruction while the Squats took 35VPs.
End of Turn 2: Squats 45 Orks 68 Victory to the Orks!
The remaining Squats are completely routed but what is the fate of the Land of Midnight? See the final post next week!
All hail Kommander Krugger! Thanks to him and the sheer battle lust he instilled in his Boyz, the victorious Orks have held on to Ushgarak base and the centre of Orkdom in Midnight! Krugger should be proud of the determination of his Boyz to cause maximum carnage and destruction...but what leader wouldn't put those thoughts aside to simply savour the moment of adulation from an adoring army?
I've always regarded Bubba, for all his menace, as a cowardly character, and this is nicely reflected in his Schemer and What the sneck? abilities. It's also fitting that the best way to play him is in a defensive and unsporting manner, staying out of blaster range and blowing apart everything in sight. The fact that he has that blazooka makes Bubba incredibly difficult to deal with out in the open. It has very long range and is even more accurate at short range (which is still longer than the range of most weapons in the game). My advice is to keep Bubba far back but with a good vantage point of the battlefield. From there he can punish the "good guys" as they make their way towards him. If they try to hide in buildings, blow whole sections of walls apart so they cannot linger! Once his enemies begin to close in on him, you'll have a decision to make about which weaponry to employ; if they are attacking in a pack, stick with the blazooka, but if they are spread apart, it's time to draw out the custom blaster. If you take an Aimed Shot and put the bonus into the damage, you'll be rolling 6 Combat Dice for damage and able to dish out some real punishment to the dirty bounty hunting sneakers - while two Snap Shot which successfully hit will deliver you a whopping 8 Combat Dice to deal damage! Bubba is the only one in his gang who has a Star Chip. I would almost always use this on him unless a member of his gang was in a position to do some serious damage to the opposition. Getting multiple uses out of that blazooka each turn can massively alter how the scenario plays out. Also keep at least one member of the gang close by so that he can use the What the sneck? ability. Bubba is very much in the self-preservation business and that is exactly how you should play him. The longer he remains unwounded, the harder it is going to be for your opponent. Hats off to Andy Chambers and Gav Thorpe because Bubba as a character in the game marries up perfectly to Bubba, the foul outlaw we know from the strip! 
