Astartes, light vehicles, and Dreadnoughts emerged from the scrapyard on all sides of the Manufactorum. They drew together into two cohesive groups on the north and the south sides. The Ironclad Dreadnoughts and Devastator teams blasted holes in the outer skin of Assembly Alpha with nearly no resistance from the Orks. Some rapid-fire weapons ricocheted off their armor and dug furrows in the chemical-sodden earth, but there were no true defenses without. It was just enough to force the attackers into the relative cover of the Manufactorum itself.
The Ork strategy was not lost on Captain Tchagras. They were walking into something of an ambush. Though, he was certain the Orks didn’t perceive it as a cunning strategy designed to minimize their own losses. The Orks simply felt it wasn’t sporting to be cut down out in the open without engaging the enemy personally. Tchagras could almost respect that considering the only armament he brought with him into battle were a pair of crackling lightning claws.
The Ork strategy wasn’t the only thing driving them into the jaws of the enemy. The Battle Barge and Ark Cruiser miles above them were fighting a desperate battle against the Ork fleet, waiting for the Void Shields protecting the Manufactorum to be shut down so that the rest of their forces could be committed.
Tchagras decided they would have to even the odds a bit. He voxed to his squad commanders, “Continue with the attack. Expect heavy resistance once you breach the structure and find cover. The Shadow Talons and I shall find an alternative entry point. Knowledge is power!” All of his sergeants voxed, repeating the oath, before getting on with their duty.
All ten of his Shadow Talons had blacked their armor prior to the battle, though they had all smeared a gray Blood Raven on each of their shoulder pads. He was succinct: “We go up, find an entry point, and take out the power. Then, we strike from above.” He didn’t wait for confirmation, nor did they give any. The group simply engaged their jump packs in unison.
The Armies
Although any armies could use this scenario, the narrative thrust for the Forges of Ghorok Campaign is to pit Space Marines as the Attackers versus Orks as the Defenders. The Space Marines could be accompanied by Adeptus Mechanicus forces and the Orks could be accompanied by Renegades (Imperial Armour 13) to forge a complete narrative. Due to the infiltrating nature of the Blood Ravens in this scenario, Raven Guard Chapter Tactics are recommended.
Players are free to play whatever size game they choose, but there are some restrictions. Neither player should have a walker on larger than a 60mm base. The Space Marine player may only take tanks on Rhino chassis, reflecting the fact that they had to drive through a narrow scrapyard to get to this location. Drop Pods are not allowed in this mission.
Game Play
Both players roll off to see who decides to deploy first. The player deploying first also goes first unless their opponent can seize the initiative. This game uses variable game length.
Battlefield
The battlefield for this scenario is a massive room full of machinery and material. We recommend the use of Games Workshop Mechanicus ruins, homemade machinery pieces, and Ork-themed constructs for your terrain. We suggest using the Industrial FaT Mat for your table cover.
Objectives: Measuring to the center of each Objective, place 6 Objectives 16” from the long board edges, 18” from the short board edges, and 18” from each other.
Deployment: Dawn of War
Special Mission Rules
Night Fighting, Orksterious Objectives, Reserves
Orksterious Objectives are detailed in our Narrative Objective Supplement which is available on the Masters of the Forge website on the “Rules Supplements and Materials” page.
Rushed Engagement: Due to the erratic nature of the timing involved with a multi-pronged assault through the Scrapyard, the Attacker must bring half of their units in using whatever type of reserves allowed for those units.
Short Jump: Jump units are not making screaming descents onto the battlefield when they deepstrike into this battle. Instead, they are simply jumping into the battle from the rafters. Jump Infantry and Jetpack Infantry only scatter 1d6 when they Deepstrike during this game. If they already only scatter 1d6”, then they don’t scatter at all. If they already don’t scatter, then they may assault the turn they deepstrike. If they may already assault the turn they deepstrike, then they enjoy a +2” to their charge distance, to a maximum of 12”.
Threat Response: The Ork player must divide their army into three significant portions, with at least ¼ of their units going into each of the three portions. One group is deployed while the other two groups are placed into reserve. The second group arrives on Turn 2 and the third group arrives on turn 3. In the narrative, group one is a contingent of Gretchin and Mek Gunz led by a Big Mek, the second are the Digga auxiliaries who were lurking nearby and are keen to prove their worth to their greenskin masters, and the third group is a rapid response team of Stormboyz, Boyz, and Deffkoptas. You are, of course, welcome to forge whatever narrative you desire.
Victory Conditions
The goal of both sides is to hold this room. The Space Marines wish to set up homing beacons so that Drop Pods and Stormravens can bring troops and armor into the forthcoming battle in the Manufactorum proper. For each Objective held at the end of the game, players score 3 Victory Points.
Players also score 1 point each for Linebreaker, Slay the Warlord, and First Strike. First Strike is scored like First Blood except the scoring player’s opponent can also score the point if they can respond by killing an enemy unit before the end of their next turn.
Special Thanks
Doug Johnson, the creator of the F.A.T. Mats and President of TABLEWAR™, generously gave us 6x4 Industrial and 6x4 Underforge mats for this campaign. You'll see and learn more about those in upcoming missions. TABLEWAR™ has been developing innovative products for the hobby industry since 2010. Best known for the popular F.A.T. Mats that are now ubiquitous with tabletop gaming as the gaming surface of choice, they also carry a full range of products for the Display, Storage, and Light Transport of hobby miniatures. Check out the full line of TABLEWAR™ products at www.tablewar.com or the F.A.T. Mats at their marketing and distribution partner’s site www.frontlinegaming.org.
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