Refight 3: The Hellblade Mountains
Narrative background
| This is just a summary. For the full narrative background, refer to the original Epic 40,000 content. (See https://thehobby.zone/resources/e40k-compendium/Content/Battles/TheScenarios/Refight3TheHellbladeMountains.htm) |
[TODO: Create a summary of the narrative.]
Armies
For pre-defined armies that correspond to the narrative background, see Historical forces.
Otherwise, for more general use of this scenario: With your opponent, agree a maximum points value limit for the battle. Then build your army within this limit.
Maps
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Two areas of foothills, each flanking the Defender’s side of the playing area.
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Fixed deployment edges and zones — refer to the map.
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The Attacker has two possible edges for 'flanking deployment', one adjacent to each area of foothills. [1]
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A Attacker’s deployment zone.
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D Defender’s deployment zone.
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L Attacker’s left flanking edge.
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R Attacker’s right flanking edge.
Setup
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Place two areas of foothills, as we show at Maps. These represent the lower slopes of a mountain chain.
Use any mountainous or rocky terrain that you have in your terrain collection. Or, if you lack suitable items, you could use hills and woods instead. Just try to make the terrain in the two areas of foothills quite dense and hilly, but still passable for ground units. -
Set up terrain in the rest of the playing area in the standard way.
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Determine at random which player will be the Attacker and which the Defender.
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Choose your objectives, as follows:
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Attacker: You must have one objective per 500 points in your army (round fractions up). You may use any objectives, except for Rescue and Cleanse. You may either choose from among those available, or pick at random.
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Defender: You must have one objective per 1,000 points in your army (rounding fractions down). You may use only Cleanse objectives.
Example 1. Number of objectivesIn a 1,500 point game, the Attacker will have three objectives and the Defender will have one.
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Place your objective markers. The Attacker must place the first objective marker and then the players alternate until they have placed all of the objective markers.
Disposition of forces
Attacker: Determine the disposition of your forces.
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Place all of your Flyer detachments in Reserves.
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If you have any detachments that qualify for the Reserves rules on their own merit, place them in Reserves.
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Set aside up to a quarter of your army’s maximum points value limit as a flanking force. You may only use complete detachments in the flanking force. You will put this force into play in the second turn of the game.
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Keep all of your other detachments at hand for your initial deployment.
Defender: Determine the disposition of your forces.
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Place all of your Flyer detachments in Reserves.
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If you have any detachments that qualify for the Reserves rules on their own merit, place them in Reserves.
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Keep all of your other detachments at hand for your initial deployment.
Initial deployment
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Attacker: In secret, make a note that states which one of the two possible flanking edges your flanking force will arrive on — left L, or right R.
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Defender: Deploy all of the detachments that you kept at hand for your initial deployment.
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Deploy within the Defender’s deployment zone D (see Maps).
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You may also use Fortifications if you wish.
To be clear, the Defender may place units in either or both of the two areas of foothills.
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Attacker: Deploy within the Attacker’s deployment zone A (see Maps).
Play the game
Start the game in the usual way: Proceed to the Start phase.
Attacker: When you reach the Start phase of the second turn, your flanking force arrives.
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Reveal your secret note which states which flanking edge you will use.
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Place the HQ unit of each detachment you have in the flanking force to identify a point on that edge, to indicate where the corresponding detachment will enter play.
When you reach the Movement phase of the second turn, and it is your turn to complete your moves, put your flanking detachments into play. Each time you put a flanking detachment into play, measure the movement of its units — including its HQ unit — from the point that its HQ unit indicates on your flanking edge.
| The flanking force catches the defenders by surprise — the Defender may not use the Snap Fire rule against units of the Attacker’s flanking force on the turn that it arrives. |
If you have any Reserves detachments then, as they arrive, bring them into play anywhere along your deployment edge (see Maps).
Game length and victory conditions
Standard Army Morale win conditions apply: At the end of the Rally phase, if a player has an Army Morale value of zero or less then the game ends and the other player is the winner. [2]
If this hasn’t happened by the end of the 5th turn, or if both players' Army Morale values drop to 0 or less on the same turn, then the player with the highest Army Morale value is the winner.
Historical forces
Orks army
- Ork Warband detachment, Bogrot’s Boyz
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1 x Warboss; 1 x Weirdboy; 12 x Ork unit; 1 x Nobz unit; 9 x Gretchin unit.
- Ork Warband detachment, Da Profeshernalz
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1 x Warboss; 1 x Weirdboy; 3x Kommandos unit.
- Ork Warband detachment, Der Gunnerz
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1 x Warboss, with Battlewagon option; 3 x Shooty Boyz unit; 3 x Stompa.
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Ready-made army roster in the Detachment Builder
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Space Marines army
- Space Marine detachment 1, Force Subodai
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1 x Space Marine Captain; 2 x Terminator unit; 2 x Scout unit.
- Space Marine Armour detachment, Force Kuanti
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6 x Land Raider.
- Space Marine detachment, Force Susanowo
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1 x Space Marine Captain, with Rhino option; 6 x Space Marine unit, with 3 x Rhino option; 1 x Whirlwind.
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Ready-made army roster in the Detachment Builder
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Tactics
At the start of the game, the Defender has their entire army in the playing area, while the Attacker does not. The Defender must capitalise on this early advantage as much as possible, before the Attacker’s flanking force arrives in the second turn. The Attacker has a golden opportunity to strike at detachments that might otherwise be difficult to reach, especially if they have a relatively slow-moving army.
Attacker’s tactics
The larger you make your flanking force, the weaker the main force you’ll deploy and then manoeuvre in the first turn. But, a faint heart won’t win the day: With a strong flanking force, a good battle plan, and the benefit of knowledge that your opponent lacks (that is, you know which flank you’ll attack) you have the chance to inflict some crushing casualties.
Note that your flanking force gives you a golden opportunity to put slow-moving but powerful units close to the enemy without a long slog across the battlefield under fire. This has obvious benefit for the less-mobile armies, such as the Imperial Guard. But, even the likes of Space Marines have some slow units and allied support options — and you can’t fit a titan in a Thunderhawk Gunship!
Think of the mayhem you could cause with a company of Baneblade super-heavy tanks supported by infantry… or a horde of Goff Orks… or a Chaos Greater Daemon with a retinue of Lesser Daemons…
In any case, whatever the size and composition of your flanking force, it gives you the advantage of knowledge that your opponent doesn’t have. In the early stages of the battle, your opponent is forced to be somewhat conservative and reactive.
Defender’s tactics
In general, the flank attack is less of a worry for a Defender who has a highly mobile army, and more of a worry for a Defender who has slow-moving army. And the flank attack might present a more valuable opportunity for an Attacker who has a slow-moving army rather than a highly mobile army.
So, as the Defender, what can you do? You know for certain that there will be a flank attack, you know when, and you know the maximum strength it could be (in terms of points value). You just don’t know the exact strength or composition of the force. No matter what army you command, the one thing you can’t do is ignore the flanking force. Things to consider include:
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Make sure that by the end of Turn 1, you’ve positioned Infantry units to protect any vulnerable Vehicle units.
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Position detachments of close combat specialists such that they will be ready to counter attack or take cover if the flanking force has a lot of firepower.
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Where you don’t have a better plan, make use of Overwatch orders to make your detachments more dangerous to approach.
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You know that one of your flanks will face the flanking force while the other will be relatively secure. Have a plan for what you’ll do once you know whether it is your left or right flank that faces the flanking force, and then implement your plan from Turn 2 onwards.