Judge Dredd RPG: Order Out Of The Chaos Campaign Part I

 Judge Dredd RPG: Order Out Of The Chaos Campaign

Introduction: After embarking upon my recent foray into the world of professional GMing, I started work on writing my Judge Dredd Campaign. Intended to run for 7 sessions as my weekly group wants to run a campaign up to Christmas, I thought the time was right to share a few - spoiler light - details about my campaign which I'd be delighted to run for any interested parties! This post explains the era and setting as well as providing full details of the Sector House and key personnel. Part II will provide a map of the Sector and provide key information on some notable locations.

First of all, here's the video trailer!

Judge Dredd logo (c) Rebellion 2000AD

Campaign Setting: 

Location: Mega-City One, MegCentral, Sector One. Built upon the ruins of Manhattan, it is home to the Grand Hall of Justice, the infamous Statue of Judgement and the lesser-known Statue of Liberty.

Date: April 14th, 2101. 

Mega-City One by Ron Smith (c) Rebellion 2000AD

Specifics: Hours after the insane Judge Cal plunged to his death from the Statue of Judgement, in the dying embers of what had been decreed "Death Day" for all of Mega-City One, a team of Judges are redeployed to Sector One. 

Mission: To restore law and order in Sector One.

Background: Many of Sector One's finest Judges fell, quite literally in many cases, in Dredd's final push against Cal. With the Sector House understaffed and stretched far beyond capacity - and with furious citizens venting their wrath across the city streets - the new recruits quickly find themselves embroiled in the resulting fallout from Cal's Death Day. The mission may be to restore law and order, but the first order of the day will be survival! Tested to their absolute limits, can the Judges live long enough to make it to their Sector House - and if so, can they deliver order out of the chaos?  

Sector House One:

Although the Grand Hall of Justice itself is in Sector One, there is a separate Sector House which oversees Justice Department's operations in the area. All of the Sector's local Judges are based here.

Sector House by Carlos Ezquerra (c) Rebellion 2000AD

Sector House One Technical Data:

Floors: 300

Staff: 637 (just over half capacity of 11,700) 

Service Roads: 4. On levels 3, 59, 134 and 201. Service Roads on floors 59 and 201 carry most traffic as Medical Labs/Sick Bays and Briefing Rooms are in close proximity to these.

Hoverports: 2. On levels 150 and 230

Vehicle Parks: 4, on same levels as Service Roads

Repair Bays: 2. On levels 58 and 200 (one floor below main Vehicle Parks)

Entrance Hall: 1. On level 5

Elevators: 12 with access to all levels

Stairwells: 4 with access to all levels

Ramps: 1 with access to all levels

Anti-Grav Chutes: 2 with access to all levels

Promenade Areas: 3. On level 30, 150 and 230 (the latter two promenade areas are also linked to the hoverports)

Sleep Halls: 1. On level 149

Sleeping Dormitories: Levels 144-148.

Library/Data Banks: 2. On levels 100 and 200

Forensics Labs: 1. On level 166

Medical Labs/Sick Bays: 2. On levels 60 and 202 (one floor above two of the main Service Roads)

Holding Tanks/Interrogation Units: 1. On sub-level 5

The Vaults (Suspended Animation): Sublevel 3

Briefing Rooms: 2. Briefing Room B is on level 57 and Briefing Room A is on level 199 (two floors below two of the main Service Roads)

Quartermaster Stores: 2. On levels 56 and 198 (beneath the Briefing Rooms)

Control Centre: 1. On level 297

Armoury: 1. On level 298

Sector Chief Washington's Offices: Level 300

Divisional Head Offices: Level 299

Key Personnel:

Sector Chief Washington: With over 30 years experience - 24 on the streets and 6 as Sector Chief - she is one of Sector One's most highly decorated and respected Judges. Her request to take the long walk for her failure during Cal's reign was denied by the new Chief Judge, Griffin. Instead, she has been tasked with restoring order to Sector One as the Justice Department seeks to restore their reputation and grip on Mega-City One. It is her fervent desire to see it done.

Her no-nonsense attitude and intolerance to insubordination have largely won her overwhelming respect and admiration from her Judges, but there is a small but vocal minority who believe that she has been off the streets for too long and is increasingly losing touch with rank and file Street Judges.

She can be found on level 300, but Washington does not believe in hiding behind her desk. Her style is to attend Judge briefings as often as she can, and to make herself as visible and as accessible as possible to everyone under her command.

Sector Chief Washington

Deputy Sector Chief Butler: A Street Judge who served under Dredd for a few years, Butler was a highly competent Street Judge, but his aptitude for politics has seen him enjoy a meteoric rise to Deputy Sector Chief at a relatively young age (he is in his late thirties). It is rumoured that he and Dredd had a falling out over his desire to leave the streets to focus on administration - and the two are rarely seen, if ever, in the same room these days.

Having now served as Deputy Sector Chief for five years, his meteoric rise has come to an abrupt halt and the chatter in the dorms is that Butler was crushed when Griffin refused Washington's request to take the long walk. That said, Butler is known to be warm and approachable and has a sense of humour which Dredd no doubt believes is unbecoming for a Judge.

Deputy Sector Chief Butler

Senior Street Judge Dredd: Little needs to be said about Judge Dredd! Easily the city's most feared and famous lawman, he has cracked several cases in Sector One, notably capturing the notorious Judge killer Whitey who had been operating out of the Empire State Building and of course for turning the tide during the Robot Wars of 2099. Although he has spent a lot of time away from Sector One of late - notably acting as Marshall on Luna-1 and then navigating his way across the hell of the Cursed Earth to deliver the vaccine to the 2T(FRU)T virus that almost wiped out Mega-City Two - Dredd has made his return to the Sector in recent months. His rebellion against Cal was formed in the Undercity below Sector One and it culminated with Dredd defeating Cal on the Sector's most recognisable landmark, the Statue of Judgement.

Judge Dredd on patrol in Sector One by Mick McMahon (c) Rebellion 2000AD

Chief Medical Officer Johnson: As her profession would warrant, she is known to be one of the Sector House's most compassionate Judges. Though other Judges regard her as being "soft", she is no less organised for it. Her team of Med-Judges have a reputation as being some of the city's finest, with students from the nearby Academy of Law often being sent in to experience learn from them in a real environment. Indeed, the Academy of Law have felt her knack for nurturing raw talent would be better put to use there, but Johnson believes that it is more important to save lives rather than theorise on the subject.

Chief Forensic Scientist Durand: A highly gifted, but notoriously volatile character, Durand has ruffled feathers with just about everyone who has ever had the misfortune to have to deal with him. Anyone who tampers with equipment in his labs or questions his judgement tend to end up getting "the hairdryer treatment". The complaints file on him may be a mile long, but Sector Chief Washington has shown no appetite for having him replaced...yet.

Chief Technician Beaker: Often regarded as something of a joke figure due to having something of an accident-prone nature, Beaker is softly spoken and knowledgeable, but lacks the authority his position requires. It is said that he will only meet with Durand when circumstances demand it, and although the background to this remains unknown, it seems likely that Durand said something which Beaker took to heart.

Chief Psi-Judge Crothers: A protege of Judge Feyy, Crothers is an exceptional talent. He also also very friendly, but many Judges feel uneasy around him as he has a strange way of staring at them when he speaks. He is no doubt aware of the disparaging label of "Creepy Crothers" that some of the Sector's less respectful Judges call him.

Exorcism Division Chief Judge Rubinstein: Although she technically serves under Crothers in Psi Division, Rubinstein has autonomy over the growing Exorcism Division and their small team of Judge Exorcists. Most Judges regard the Exorcists as even more kooky than the Psi-Division and Rubinstein as the living embodiment of this, mostly because of her diminutive stature. For her part, Rubinstein is well-used to her fellow Judges underestimating her, and takes a quiet pride when she confounds their expectations.

Wally Squad Chief Kodolphin: A typical Wally Squad loon, Kodolphin and his squads have infiltrated criminal organisations across the Sector. His personality has been known to shift as he changes up his character and appearance on an infrequent basis. He claims there is "method" in his madness.

Interrogation Chief Noonan: An intimidating though far less verbal character than Durand, Noonan's domain is the Holding Tanks and Interrogation Cells in the sub-levels of the Sector House. He has a high success rate in extracting confessions from perps and is well-respected in the Sector House as a consequence. His gruff and no-nonsense attitude has left some Judges speculating that he may in some way be related to Dredd.

SJS Chief Scianetti: Crothers may be creepy, Noonan intimidating and Durand devastating, but the most feared person in the Sector House is also the oldest! Speaking with bared teeth and with a voice which has a light musicality to it, "Skullface Scianetti" has been the scourge of corrupt Judges for decades and is loathed for it. Despite having been a confidante of Fargo, and perhaps because of his record, Sector One's Judges are clamouring for Scianetti to be investigated for complicity in Cal's rise to power: given that Cal was the head of the SJS before he seized power, it seems almost inconceivable that Scianetti is an innocent by-stander. Nonetheless, he is a formidable and so far unmovable figure in the Sector House.

Chief Mechanic Theremin: Though she is a superb mechanic, she is overly attached to the Lawmasters, Pat and H-Wagons that enter her Repair Bay on Level 58. She tends to the vehicles with a care and intensity of attention that some Med Judges would aspire to when dealing with their patients.

Quartermaster Gunderson: A former Street Judge herself, Gunderson was an excellent detective, but was pulled from the streets for being deemed as too lenient in her application of the law - a dangerous trait for anyone teamed up with her. Left on her own most of the day, she is always happy and eager to see any Judges and notoriously enjoys gossiping about the Sector House's internal politics. 

B-Team One: The new team of Judges are assigned to B-Team One (named after the Briefing Room they attend on level 58). 

Senior Street Judge Moeki: The senior officer in charge of Briefing Room B, Moeki oversees all teams under his command, but still spends most of his time on the streets. Known to encourage coordinated teamwork between his squads, Moeki has received commendations for keeping his Judges motivated and for keeping them focussed on breaking major cases across the Sector. Before Cal's reign, Moeki had overseen major stings that resulted in the city's major crime syndicates drastically reducing their operations in the sector. 

Moeki has a friendly demeanour, but is just as capable at tearing strips off Judges who he feels are underperforming or insubordinate. His modus operandi is to encourage squads to work the streets and find narks to expose organised crime in the Sector. This has led to charges that Moeki is guilty of inconsistencies in the application of the law, that his teams tend to ignore minor misdemeanours in favour of dealing with far more serious crimes. Among many others, he is the senior officer in charge of Stone, Waters, and Hernandez's squads and, following the death of Turnbull's squad in the overthrowing of Cal, has just been put in charge of a new squad of Judges.

Street Judge Stone: One of Sector One's greatest veteran Street Judges, Stone has failed to climb through the ranks because he has little time for social niceties and no interest in politics. His home is in the saddle of his Lawmaster and when he returns from his shift, he often tells the mechanics in the Repair Bays what parts need repaired or replaced, and how the engine can be finely tuned to further improve it. Some of the rumour merchants believe he and Chief Mechanic Theremin have an overly close bond - probably born out of their love for their vehicles.

Street Judge Waters: Efficient, dependable, level-headed, Waters has an excellent reputation and is strongly tipped to climb up the ranks in Sector One. Few would begrudge her promotion as she is well-liked.

Street Judge Hernandez: Sector One's poster boy, often wheeled out when the Justice Department need some positive PR. Some believe he enjoys the celebrity it brings him.

And then there's the new team of Judges...are YOU one of them?

Watch this space for more details about my Sector One Campaign!

GM For Hire: Zero Session & Session 1

 GM For Hire: Zero Session and Session 1

Introduction: As previously mentioned on this blog, after over 30 years experience of running adventures, I've taken my first tentative steps into the world of professional GMing! I've only been offering the service for a few weeks and since then there's been some exciting developments, namely that I am running Judge Dredd games for two groups now! With things getting up and running, I thought it might be a good time to share a little more about how things have been progressing and what my plans are for running the Judge Dredd roleplaying game!

Judge Dredd: Illustrated by Brian Bolland (c) Rebellion 2000AD

Discord Server: I host my games on Roll20 and use Discord for voice chat. One of my new players suggested that a general server be set up on Discord for Judge Dredd gaming, but it quickly became apparent that a server for all 2000AD related RPGs and Tabletop Games would be more desirable...so I've set one up! In the space of a day, we have grown to a community of 28 members, including at least one of the writers on the recent EN Publishing Judge Dredd RPG! Please join us to connect and share your thoughts with fellow 2000AD RPG and Gaming enthusiasts by clicking on this text!

Zero Sessions: For anyone unfamiliar, before embarking on an adventure or campaign, I run a free Zero Session which allows the players a chance to get to know who I am and introduce themselves to their fellow players as well as running through character creation. What was really interesting was that we were all of a similar vintage, all with similar backstories, namely that we grew up with 2000AD in the 80's but fell away from the prog in the 90's, rediscovering our love for 2000AD/Dredd to varying degrees later in life! Most importantly, every one of the players have been lovely to deal with, all as thrilled to hit the streets of Mega-City One as I am to take them there! It probably was never in doubt, but my experience is that 2000AD attracts a passionate and fun-loving community of great people!

Both groups opted to play the Games Workshop version of the game, something which was very pleasing to me as the GW version was the game that introduced me to the world of RPGing (which later led into wargaming as well). I had a wave of nostalgia revisiting the old books and Citi-Block maps, and remembered a lot about my teenage years growing up in the late 80's and early 90's! 

One of the things that I really love about the system is that the stats and game mechanics are very clear: all stats are based on percentages which the players must equal or get less than when rolling a D100. Rolling up Judge characters is a pretty fast process, and this simple percentile system provides a clarity to players which few other systems I've ever played have. When running a game for a group of players who don't know me (or, for the most part, each other), this is a massive bonus as it means no one has to worry much about the system and can focus on the action and story, as well as interacting with the environment, nefarious NPCs - and each other!

Finally, it was in the first of these sessions that the time setting was decided (I was willing to set the game in any period covered in the 35 Case Files currently published). One of the players suggested that setting the game in a time post-Cal was a good idea because there were a few years of relative stability in Mega-City One during that time. It got me thinking and gave me a great idea - to start the game literally hours after Cal's demise! It isn't really explored in the comics at all (other than in the brief Cosmic Punks storyline), but there would have been absolute anarchy on MC-1's mean streets after the civilians narrowly escaped being wiped on Cal's "Death Day"! What better place to start? And so the "Order Out Of The Chaos" Campaign began to take shape in my mind...

Session One: The two groups are looking to play on different timescales, the first group on a monthly basis, while the second group has requested play on a weekly basis. I'm here to offer the service as often or infrequently as desired (scheduling permitting) so I'm delighted to be able to accommodate both groups in their preferred time slots! The group requesting weekly play have also indicated that they'd like me to deliver a campaign in the weeks running up to Christmas, something I'm incredibly excited about because it means that I can focus on delivering a more complex narrative. I'm certain that this will make it a deeper and more rewarding experience for all and I'm certainly excited to create the story and world for them to explore!

I won't be revealing many plot details here or in future posts because I don't want to spoil things for my players (or for future players who want to play the same campaign), but I will post a few items on this blog soon, relating to the campaign background, setting and some of the Sector House staff - so watch this space!

What I will say is that both sessions were a lot of fun! Thrown in at the deep end - though "it's all a deep end" - the Judges found themselves in the unusual position of the city's citizens having the upper hand. Before long, both their courage under fire and devotion to the law were both put under pressure and the teams were forced to figure themselves an escape route from a horrendous situation! What was very pleasing was that both teams identified and decided to pursue different methods of escape, something which is always pleasing as a GM when players have been provided with a block-sized sandbox to explore! 

Another thing that delighted me were just how many laughs there were during the sessions. Totally engaged with the setting, everyone seemed to gel well together and shared a similar sense of humour (you have to have this to be a true Dredd aficionado, of course!). It made the sessions an absolute pleasure for me to run and it was satisfying that everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, all expressing a commitment to play again and an excitement about the next session! Note: I offer a taste and try first session where you only pay for the session if you enjoy yourself and want to continue, so although I have confidence in my Game Mastering abilities, this was by no means a given! 

We've had a few fumbles and a few huge successes in both games - in the first group, one Judge rolled 100 when about to throw a Stumm Grenade and almost took out the whole team! Fortunately, one of the Judges passed an Initiative test to snap down his respirator and haul his teammates to safety, but it was a close thing! When pulling up information from a block terminal, another Judge managed to hack into the system and take control of the cite-block, while another barked an order that had perps quivering in their boots and throwing their guns down (not everything ends in a gunfight)! 

I've seen some criticisms of the GW system where some have said it delivers Judges who are lacklustre and barely capable of holding their own. It's true that it will take some time for the Judges' skills to rise to a level where they will be successful most of the time, but there was no problem at all in them holding their own! The teams worked well together in dealing with various threats and there was plenty of variety in terms of the famous Lawgiver ammunition used: General Purpose, High Explosive and Incendiary bullets were flying! If anything, I think I'm going to have my work cut out in delivering opposition which will sufficiently challenge the awesome firepower at the fingertips of the Judges - which is as it should be! I would be open to groups requesting their characters begin with higher stats, but it really is more interesting having characters who start off relatively weak (though not compared to typical citizens) and slowly become more proficient as their career progresses and hours on the street rack up! 

The freedom to explore that I've built in to the first adventure is harder to offer longer term in a game like Judge Dredd as the investigative side of the game tends to favour railroading, with the perps leaving behind clues like pieces of cheese for the Judges to follow up on. That said, I've been formulating strategies and putting gaming materials in place to deal with the situation of the Judges deciding to pursue their own agenda and go exploring Sector One! Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with them!

On this evidence though, I'm going to have a huge amount of joy devising and delivering interesting, engaging and varied adventures in Mega-City One! And for any other potential players out there, please don't hesitate to reach out if you want to ask anything at all about my service! You can either contact me on the Discord group, my Judge Dredd GM Collective group on Facebook, find me on twitter @thebissler or email me at thebissler@gmail.com - I look forward to hearing from you! As mentioned previously, watch out for more details on the Order Out Of The Chaos campaign coming soon on this blog!

Cheers!

Epic Battle Report: The Battle for Golgotha

 The Battle for Golgotha

Introduction: To celebrate the levelling up of my Youtube channel and my commitment to provide exciting Epic material, I was wracking my brain to think up something that would be a bit of a treat for the community. To my intense relief, fellow Epic blogger Caregadras (check out his amazing Epic blog, you won't be disappointed) made the suggestion that was a winner: reenact the Battle for Golgotha, the famous battle between Epic legends Andy Chambers and Jervis Johnson! I can't claim my miniatures and terrain* are at the same level as theirs, but hopefully you'll find my version a lot of fun too! 

*I love the fortifications I bought from Battlescene Designs, but I haven't built them into rock formations the way WD did for the Squat fortresses.

Changes: There are a few minor changes to the Ork forces: I didn't have Gobsmashas or Hop-Splat Guns so I swapped those out for Lungbustas, Gutrippas and Dreadnoughts (a mistake, the Orks ended up fielding 50 points more than they were entitled to). I also didn't own a Mekboy Gargant or Wartraks (I think that pretty much every hole in my Ork army was highlighted by this choice of forces!) so I proxied them with a Slasha Gargant and the Nobz Warbles with flags which are suitably different in look to the actual Nobz Warbikes I was fielding! You'll notice that I didn't have the cards for the leaders but I did have a note of their stats and rules so that was all good. The Squat force was no problem for me to field, I had plenty of miniatures to cover everything there. I've done my best to recreate the terrain, but admittedly it isn't an exact match! 

Anyway, here's the video - the write up follows below! I hope you enjoy both! Please consider liking, commenting and sharing my videos if you enjoy them - but most importantly, please subscribe to my Youtube Channel if you want to see more - I have plenty of added Epic goodness on the way!

Scenario: This is a head to head battle, with 45 Victory Points required to win.

Army Lists:

Orks: 

Squats:

Battlefield Overview and Deployment:

Deployment was as Andy and Jervis set up. From here on in though, the game was played as normal, meaning that if you're familiar with the original battle report, things diverge from this point onwards.

The Orks received the pictured Mekboyz cards. The Bionik Bitz and Super Power Armour were given to the group of 8 Goff Nobz, driving one insane and confining him to the Madboyz Mob! The Kustom Force Field and Glyph Inscriptions were applied to the Lungbustas, intended to make them durable against the Thunderers defending the fortress.

Turn 1:

Movement Phase:

First Fire Phase: 

The Orks have no First Fire so the Squats look to take full advantage! The Colossus uses its Gyrocopter to bring the mighty Doomsday Cannon to bear upon the Kult of Speed! 

The barrage deviates... 

Note: I realised after this was a mistake, the Gyrocopter effectively makes the Doomsday Cannon a direct barrage attack.

...but still picks off two Warbuggies - and a stand of Nobz Bikers! 

To add insult to injury, the Gyrocopter itself picks off another Buggy! 

Meanwhile, the Colossus fires all four of its missiles, tearing up the hill opposite...

...before impact...

...and after! Three Shokk Attack Guns gone and a Pulsa Rokkit!

Finally, the Colossus targets the Great Gargant with its battle cannon...

...landing four hits! Three power fields are knocked down, but as they flicker, one shot is a direct hit! Fortunately the head only suffers the lightest of damage!

Yarrik in the HQ Baneblade fires at the remaining Pulsa Rokkits on the hill...

...and destroys one!

The Warriors in the tower are out of range so cannot fire. Next up is the Grand Battery which has a direct line of sight to the remaining units on the hill!

Once again the hill is bombarded - and practically cleared of all foul Orks! 

The Goliath Mega-Cannon tries to pick off the last Shokk Attack Gun, but somehow misses! That said, the  punishment the Deathskulls have taken this turn has been severe! 

The Thunderers are last to First Fire, aiming for their only target - the Mekboy Gargant on the hill!

A whopping 5 hits strike the Gargant - but the Kustom Force Field doesn't flicker and the hits are rendered useless!

Squat dice in red, Orks in green

Close Combat Phase:

With things going badly and Squat bikes piling in on tanks and Goffs around the periphery of the woods, Ghazghkull - possibly panicking - calls upon the power of the Waaagh! to turn the table on the rampaging bikes! 

The melee that follows is vicious - but, despite having the advantage, the Orks somehow manage to come off slightly worse than the Squat bikers!

Advance Fire Phase:

Gyrocopters split their fire between the Mekboy Gargant and last Lungbusta - but miss both!

The Lungbusta returns fire at the Gyrocopters but also misses!

The fearsome Overlord Armoured Airship strafes the Kult of Speed and remaining Shokk Attack Gun on the hill...

But, despite the firepower at its disposal, it only manages to destroy a single Warbuggy!

The Great Gargant is next to fire - it targets the Baneblades with its Battlecannon Head, Ripper Fist and Gatling Cannon - while the Belly Gun fires a ball round! The Baneblades are peppered with shots - but their thick armour stands up to the hail of fire!

The ball round is launched at the Colossus - and doesn't deviate! 

The Colossus fails its roll - and is destroyed! Note: The Colossus may have survived had I been playing Net Epic as Praetorians have damage charts like Titans. They are far more brittle in 2nd Edition!

End Phase:

Overview at end of Turn One.

Squat Casualties (destroyed Colossus not shown):

Ork Casualties:

Turn 1 VPs:

Orks: 25 VPs

Squats: 20 VPs

Turn 2:

Movement Phase:

First Fire Phase:

Ghazghkull and his retinue target the Overlord Armoured Airship - but fail to bring it down!

A Baneblade fires at the Great Gargant but only succeeds in downing a single power field!

The Mekboy Gargant brings its weapons to bear on the formidable Land Train! 

It fires its ball round - and once again, it is dead on target!

The round tears through the engine - obliterating it! 

The second carriage in the train manages to make the save and its path of destruction is halted!

But the Mekboy Gargant has two Kustom Cannon to fire as well! It rolls a whopping 18 attack dice and decides to hit the three remaining carriages in its line of sight with 6 shots apiece!

The first carriage soaks up the shots - but the next two are torn apart by the heavy fire!

Another Baneblade fires as the Gargant, landing only a single hit! 

However, the power fields flicker and the shot hits! It deviates from the intended strike at the ammo, hitting the Scorcher Turret, obliterating it and starting a fire! The turret, meanwhile, spins off the side of the mammoth war machine...

...and lands in the middle of a nearby melee, splattering a squad of Deathskulls boyz!

The Overlord Armoured Airship takes aim at the rampaging Kult of Speed!

And annihilates the Bowelburnas! All other shots go astray though...

Goff Nobz fire at the exposed Guildmaster and lead Gyrocopter...

Destroying both!

Mole Mortars activate...

...and target the last of the Shokk Attack Guns!

Killing him!

Nobz target a Baneblade - but it stands up to the punishment!

The remainder of the Mole Mortars try to clear the distant hill of Deathskulls - but miss their targets!

The Great Gargant activates and targets the two closest Baneblades with a combination of Gatling Gun, Ripper Fist and its Battle Cannon Head.

One survives the onslaught - but the other is torn apart!

The Goliath Mega-Cannon launches a volley... 

...at the distant hilltop...

...and more Deathskulls perish under the heavy ordnance!

Nobz Warbikes train their weapons at the lone Gyrocopter...

...and take it down! The objective is secured!

The Ork Dreadnought tries but fails to bring down the attacking Biker.

Thudd Guns aim for the Deathskulls Nobz...

...and another two stands fall under their fire!

A Lungbusta unsuccessfully shoots at its attackers.

Yarrik's Baneblade targets the Great Gargant...

...but, though a shot passes through the flickering power fields, the Gargant's armour stands up to the hit!

Thunderers hammer at the Mekboy Gargant...

...and two shots get through the fields - but, crucially, fail to deal any damage! 

Close Combat Phase:

Wildboyz attack Squat Trikes...

...but come off badly!

Bikes and Goffs go toe to toe...

...and the bikes are butchered!

Berserkers find themselves surrounded by swarming Goffs...

...but they tear them apart!

The last of the Squat bikes engages the Deathskulls. Both the Bikers and the Deathskulls are close to breaking...

...and both sides suffer casualties!

Advance Phase:

Trikes try to penetrate the Mekboy Gargant force fields - but fail!

End Phase:

The Mekboy Gargant is not damaged by the field - but only just!

The Great Gargant brings the fire under control while Deathskulls are broken - and the Boyz fail their Morale Check and are forced on to Fall Back orders!

But so too are the Squat Trikes!

Battlefield Overview:

Squat Casualties (destroyed Colossus & Land Train not shown):

Land Train: 6 VPs
Colossus: 5 VPs 
Guild Biker Force: 8 VPs 

Ork Casualties:

Deathskull Clan: 10 VPs

Turn 2 VPs:

Orks: 39 VPs

Squats: 30 VPs

Turn 3:

Movement Phase:

First Fire Phase:

Mole Mortars target the Warbuggies and Nobz Warbikers on the hill...

...and they pick off one of each! Sensing the writing is on the wall, the Nobz Bikers retaliate, targeting the closest Baneblade...

...and destroy it, breaking the Company!

The Overlord Armoured Airship targets Ghazkhull's crew...

...and thin their ranks, but by fewer than expected!

Ghazghkull responds by targeting Yarrick himself - but the legendary leader's tank stands up to the incoming shots!

Left exposed, and about to suffer the wrath of the Great Gargant, Yarrick issues one final order of defiance - to target the lumbering war machine. With four Power Fields still active, it seems like a useless gesture...

...but the power fields flicker - and the shot punches through the hull and hits the magazine, inflicting maximum damage and starting three fires! An immediate roll is made on the fire table and with four fires already burning, it does not look good for the Great Gargant! Internal explosions tear through the Gargant and reduce it to a burning pile of molten slag! Even Yarrick is stunned by the dramatic turn of events - little wonder that Orks across the battlefield shudder with shock and dismay!

The Mekboy Gargant brings its Kustom Cannon to bear on the Grand Battery - this time it can unleash 12 shots! 

It tears through the company, obliterating Mole Mortars left, right and centre!

With the Orks having no more activations to make, Yarrick acts as spotter for both the Goliath Mega-Cannon and Thudd Guns - but both barrages go astray!

Squat Warriors fire at foes in front - and behind!

And pick off a few more enemies!

The still intact Mortar Car has a direct line of sight on the Scorcher tanks...

...and destroys them!

Close Combat Phase:

The Wildboyz take on the Guild Master...

...and are easily defeated!

While a Wartrak engages a Mole Mortar...

...easily overcoming it!

Advance Phase:

The Gyrocopters target the Wartraks...

...and destroy another two! This is the last action of the Turn!

Battlefield Overview:

End Phase:

The Mekboy Gargant is not damaged by the field - but - again - only just!

The Kult of Speed is broken - and the Wartraks fail their Morale Check and are forced on to Fall Back orders! Deathskulls rally, but the Trikes fail their Morale Check again!

Squat Casualties (destroyed Colossus & Land Train not shown):

Land Train: 6 VPs
Colossus: 5 VPs 

Baneblade Company: 5 Vps
Guild Biker Force: 8 VPs 

+ 4 Objectives: 20 VPs

Ork Casualties:

Deathskull Clan: 10 VPs
Kult of Speed: 6 VPs
Great Gargant: 9 VPs
+ 4 Objectives: 20 VPs

Turn 3 VPs:

Orks: 44 VPs

Squats: 45 VPs

Squats win by 1 Victory Point!

Closing Reflections:

Wow! What a battle - and unbelievable that the Orks lost out by a single point! Given that Yarrick's Baneblade pulled off a wonder shot, the Orks can feel especially hard done by! It was funny seeing the Colossus going out to the ball round from the Ork Gutbuster as this was exactly how it played out in the original White Dwarf battle report. The second ball round trashing most of the Land Train was another big moment for the Orks, and it felt like the momentum had swung their way...but it was not to be! The weapon being blown clean off the Gargant was another fun moment, one of the nice details that's built into the Epic system that occasionally delivers a surprise and a few laughs! As you'll have noticed, I had to proxy the Mekboy Gargant with a Slasha, so I hadn't used the Mekboy Gargant before - on this evidence I may again in the future! The invulnerable shield (which can overheat) proved to be a real boon as did the two Kustom Cannon I tooled it up with (I didn't see any use for the close assault weapon), although the dice rolls were very kind when rolling the number of attack dice for those guns! It could have just as easily misfired, causing damage! One of the Epic community has pointed out that the Mekboy Gargant does not have a Gutbuster weapon, so unfortunately that was a schoolboy error on my part that it was treated as having one here (I thought all Gargants had them). It was a lot of fun replicating this classic battle and I hope you enjoyed reading up about it!

My Patreon is now live, so if you want to see what happened when I replayed this battle with 7,000 points and allowed free deployment, please consider backing me! I hope to make it well worth your while! This will be posted up on my Patreon within a week from now.

One technical note: I realised after the battle and reviewing the pictures that when I photographed the table at night, there was so much green and yellow on the table that it gave off a strange, almost sickly-looking light. I've noted this for the future, so you shouldn't see this happen again - and it won't happen in the 7K battle report.

Still want more? I've posted a "Director's Commentary" version of the video as well if you want to listen to my ramblings! Enjoy!