Epic Armageddon
The Battle of Slim River
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And Campaigns |
This battle takes place three weeks after the beginning of the Ork invasion of the jungle death world of Indochin in 734/735.M41. Following a major Ork landing in the northern Yalama Peninsular and the defeat of Imperial forces at the battle of Tijra the previous week, Imperial forces are frantically attempting to form a new defence line along the Slim River on the western side of the Yalama Peninsular.
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Brigadier Paris
Commander: 5/14 Battle group
11th Division
22nd Guards Shock Army
Day 6, 735.M41
You have just been appointed Brigadier commanding 5/14 battle group, a three company Imperial Guard battle group that has been rushed up the peninsular to defend a bridge on the road leading directly to Slim Town, 3 miles to the south of the bridge. You have just been voxed the following orders from 11th Division HQ.
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Flash Report: Prepare defence in depth along hills south of river and road to Slim town, immediate. Slim town is major east west road/rail communications hub. Loss of Slim town will isolate forces in eastern peninsular. Forces being positioned on east flank asap. Forces on west flank about to dig in. Both have been instructed to send 'link up' platoons to notify you that flanks are secure. Ork assault not expected for at least 2 days. Use time well. 11Div Field HQ 1700Hrs, Day 5, 735.M41 Flash Report Ends |
At 0500 hours, dawn on Day 6, 735.M41 you deploy your forces as ordered. The 1st and 2nd Infantry Companies are deployed on Hill 110 and Hill 111, either side of the road, south of the bridge. 1st Company has even managed to dig makeshift field defences. Due to the chaos of landing and moving up the peninsular your 2nd Company Support Formation and your remaining 3rd Infantry Company became separated from you and had to march 40 miles over-night to catch up. The heat of this tropical environment is oppressive so you have allowed 3rd Infantry Company to rest at the edge of the jungle south of Hill's 111 & 112, before deployment. The Hydra flak battery from the 2nd Company Support Formation is deployed at the cross roads, also resting after the forced march. From your command post on Hill 111 you can see the troops are spread out on the scrubland, cleaning weapons and preparing a meal. Your orders specify defence in depth so you are happy to leave them in this position.
To give further depth to the position you have put your Griffon battery from 3rd Company Support Formation, on Hill 112 covering the road just north of Slim town. They have just begun to dig in. All elements have been informed that any troops approaching from east or west will be friendly. Satisfied with the situation at the bridge, you are happy to let the forces further south relax as they await contact from the units covering your flanks.
Imperial stragglers and broken units have been trickling through your defences all day. You note their demeanour and reactions, which are 'sub-normal'. However these are mainly PDF troops rather than Imperial Guard, and it is no surprise to you that this local 'Dads Army' has been defeated in the field.
Despite the recent defeat and the fact they have never engaged Orks before, your troops are fresh and preparing fixed defences to fight from when the Ork attacks are likely to occur in 2 days time. Morale has been bolstered by the written address from Marshal Parsival, circulated to them by 11th Division Intelligence Section.
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Soldiers of the Imperial Expeditionary Force On Indochin, we the soldiers of the Imperium stand together to repel the invader and safeguard the colonists here. The Ork threat will soon be vanquished. Inquisitor Lord Popham reliably informs me that the Orks have little offensive spirit and are more interested in looting and thieving than fighting. Our recent withdrawal from Tijra has enabled us to secure our supply lines from their hordes of blundering infantry, wandering lost in the jungle. There is no chance of Orks using armoured vehicles in this jungle terrain. We know this ourselves and prefer to rely on our artillery and trusty las guns. Expect traditional Ork infantry wave assaults. They're just a gang of tribesman! Mow them down like grass! Praise the Emperor, Smite the Alien. Marshal H H K Parsival GCM MM VOH 22nd Guards Shock Army: Indochin System. Day 1, 735.M41 |
At 1200 hours, Regimental Commissar Deniken bursts into your command post claiming to see trucks full of troops on the far side of the bridge. As you walk calmly to the top of the hill overlooking the bridge you reassure him that they are just Imperial stragglers from the north, the Orks are after all, at least 2 days march away. In this heat they will be even more exhausted than you. You mop your brow and light a cigar just as insane screaming reaches your ears and the firing starts...
- For Imperial force deployment at start of turn 1, see game map.
- The following Imperial forces must go on hold orders and may not move or fire in any turn
until attacked or enemy units enter their zone of control, regardless of what is happening to other friendly
units on the table. This rule remains in force until turn 4 when they may move as normal.
- 3rd Infantry Company, Main Force
- Hydra Support Force
- 3rd Company Support Force (977 Field Artillery Battery) Griffons remain on Hold orders and may not move or fire in any turn until attacked, regardless of what is happening to other friendly units on the table until turn 3. This simulates the Griffons being similarly ignorant of enemy activity until friendly forces right under their noses are attacked. However because they are furthest away from action they have more of being voxed warnings from their colleagues at the bridge and getting their act together.
- The positions held by 1st Company Hesse-Darmstadt Rifles and those held the Griffons (977 Field Artillery Battery) should be classed as fortified.
- Hold the bridge by having Imperial forces within their weapons range of bridge at end of game.
- Hold road to Slim town by having Imperial forces placed on Hill 112 at end of game.
| 1st Company, 15th Hesse-Darmstadt Rifles | 200 points |
| 1 # Command Stand + 12 # Infantry Stands (13 # units) | |
| Company Upgrade: Commissar Deniken and Brigadier Paris | 20 points |
| 2 # Commissar Stands (2 # units) | |
| Company Support Formation Sentinel Squadron, 15th Hesse-Darmstadt Rifles | 150 points |
| 6 # Sentinels (6 # units) | |
| 2nd Company, 15th Hesse-Darmstadt Rifles | 200 points |
| 1 # Command Stand + 12 # Infantry Stands (13 # units) | |
| Company Support Formation 105 Air Defence Battery, 11th Div Air Defence Pool | 150 points |
| 3 # Hydra's (3 # units) | |
| 3rd Company, 15th Hesse-Darmstadt Rifles | 200 points |
| 1 # Command Stand + 12 # Infantry Stands (13 # units) | |
| Company Support Formation 977 Field Artillery Battery, Darmstadt Field Artillery | 250 points |
| 3 # Griffons (3 # units) | |
| Total points: | 1170 points |
Grand Captain Shimada
Warband Tank Chief: Iron Grinders Mob
Blood Axe Clan
Day 6, 735.M41
You are Grand Captain Shimada, the best tank chief in Warlord Gradgrinde Yamashita's WAAARGH! on Indochin and this is the moment you have waited for all your life. 12 trukks packed with your 'Boyz' and 'Stormboyz' are ready and waiting to grind some imperial iron. The Kommandos and Stompers had their moment of glory last week when they destroyed the hummies at Tijra. Now at Yamashita's personal command, you can put your personal plan for a lightning strike to destroy the hummies, into action. Years' of patient practice on your home world; the execution of 50 other nobz just to encourage the others to get you enough working trukks for this campaign, and finally a forced march hacking a path for the trukks through the dense jungle mean you can finally harness your rough technology to fight the humans at their own game. Armoured warfare!
Hummies think all Orks are thick, but Yamashita and his Wierdboy Pysker, Tojo have shown you how to open their eyes just like ramming a war mace up their backsides would. Yamashita has given you an education in war these last 20 years. Him and Tojo have skilled you and your brother Warbosses' in the long lost Blood Axe war texts of Gluboki Boi and Maskirovka. Your head has been bursting with schemes and plans for years to use the mech stuff you love, to outwit an enemy, rip into him and hack out his guts. Now after forcing slaves to haul your wagons off space landers, up dirt tracks and through this stinking hot jungle you can begin the attack that will smash through the Imperial defence line at the bridge before you, charge down onto the plain, seize Slim town and open the way for Yamashita's armies coming from the east and west to strike at the capital of Indochin, 800 miles to the south.
With the planet seized he'll have enough steel ore, rubber and plasma for MEGA-WAAARGH! in the whole star clasp. He said it on the hulk, his stubby tattooed fingers jabbing at the map, 'Breakz em at the bridges n' rivers and thenz keepz em runnin' while youz and meez chopz em up!' and his words echo in your ears now. You want the glory to be all yours and the Iron Grinders.
Unfortunately it also depends on a bunch of speed freek nutters led by Speed Marshal OzKosh driving in from the west and that fat blob of a Warboss Kegbutt cutting the road from the east. For Mork's sake you hope they didn't make to much noise over night. They were sent in to infiltrate Imperial lines after Weirdboy Tojo decoded the hummie vox talk about trying to link up for a defence line. That's another thing the hummies didn't think Orks could do! Well they are going to get more than they expected, but only if OzKosh and Kegbutt kept their Boyz quiet to the last minute. You've had to punch the lights out of 2 nobz for revving their engines to loud already; Yamashita's not known to be nice to those who mess up his plans.
As the sun rises over the river and the heat sears steam off the jungle and scrub, you feel the blood lust rise in you. The boyz on either side of you are restless too, some are smacking their fists into their palms, and one is head butting the bonnet of his trukk. The hummies on the hill yonder are waking up too, some are pointing at your trukks. Now's the time to give them something to talk about.
You pull down your goggles; stamp your foot on your driver's head, he pulls the ignition lanyard and the diesel engine roars into life. To each side trukk masters are doing the same, drivers pull their ignition lanyards and black diesel fumes shoot 30 feet into the air. With a screech of tyres and in clouds of dust, the Iron Grinder's trukks surge forward. Gripping the sides of the lurching wagon your sergeant cocks his bolter with one hand and looses off a volley of shots into the air. Boyz on the other trukks do the same. The bridge looms large before you as you cling to the bucking and writhing trukk. Slavering you scream into the loudspeaker mike. Everyone, hummies and Orks, can hear you…..
'KILLZ EM ALL, LEAVZ EM WIV NUFFING!!'
- Ork forces deploy at the places shown on the map.
- Only Shimada's Iron Grinders Warband is deployed in turn 1. OzKosh's Kult of Speed and Kegbutt's Gun Gang Warband must remain off board until the turns indicated on the map (Ozkosh: turn 2 and Kegbutt: turn 3). This represents them carrying out their flank marches during the battle.
- Seize bridge by having any surviving unit deployed south of bridge within 5cms of it and destroying Imperial forces within 30cms of bridge at end of game.
- Seize Hill 112 by destroying all Imperial forces on it at end of game.
- Destroying more Imperial forces than the Ork player loses by end of game.
| Core Unit: Blood Axe Clan Iron Grinders Warband under Tank Chief Grand Captain Shimada (Warboss) | 300 points |
| 1 # Warboss Stand (Shimada), 3 # Nobz Stands, 8 # Ork Boyz Stands (13 # units) | |
| Extra Unit: 9 # Trukks (9 # Units) | 225 points |
| Extra Unit: 5 # Stormboyz (5 # Units) | 125 points |
| Core Unit: Blood Axe Kult of Speed Warband under Speed Marshal OzKosh (Warboss) | 150 points |
| 5 # Buggies (5 # units) | |
| Extra Unit: 3 # Trukks (3 # Units) | 75 points |
| Core Unit: Blood Axe Gun Gang Warband under Warboss Kegbutt | 300 points |
| 1 # Warboss Stand (Kegbutt), 3 # Nobz Stands, 8 # Ork Boyz Stands (13 # units) | |
| Total points: | 1175 points |
This scenario is based around the events of the battle of the Slim River, 6th January 1942, fought during the Japanese invasion of British Malaya in World War 2. It is designed to reflect some of the exciting/disastrous decisions that took place during that battle! In this scenario the Orks take the part of the Japanese attackers, the Imperial Guard takes the part of the British defenders. I have based the scenario on the description of this fast moving and bloody battle in the following book:
Perrett, B. (1995). Seize and hold - Master strokes on the battlefield. Arms and Armour Press. London. See P106, Chapter 6. Deep Strike: Jitra and the Slim River, Malaya 1942.
NB: This scenario has not yet been thoroughly play tested. You guys are my guinea pigs, email www.epic40k.co.uk and tell me what you think.
Date: 22/11/2002
Scribe: Gaunts Ghost