After action report for the science
fiction campaign game Khorigate IV.
By Ted Conn
The first battle was fought using the Sci-fight rules set
and ended in an Imperial Guard victory.
Battles 2,3,4 were fought using a modified set of rules based on the
original simple war-game rules from the Featherstone era. Only in battle two did the Orks have a
decisive victory. Battle Five was the
closing chapter of the Sector XII First Wave fights and ended with another
Imperial Guard victory.
"Sir, Lt. Danislav
is here."
"Bring him in,
Private."
Lt. Dan walked into
the Commander's office, clearly uneasy.
He shifted nervously from foot to foot, awaiting the Commander to speak
first. Commander Romanov took his time,
savoring the younger officer's lack of discipline.
"Lt.
Danislav. I presume you have a detailed
account of yesterday's fiasco?! The
ambush squad suffered heavy casualties from the Orc scum. Orcs! Guardsman
should not fall to lower life forms!"
He visibly calmed himself lest he look like the one without
self-control.
Lt. Dan gulped and
fought down his angst. "Sir, we
proceeded as per the plan to the ambush coordinates. As you know from the intel we received, we
did not know which way the Orcs would bolt when they were attacked. Commandant Antonov positioned his men and
material to block off all avenues of escape, but we did not expect the ferocity
of the Orcs."
Romanov interrupted,
practically spitting out his words, "Ferocity? Ferocity!
Lest you forget, we are the ferocious ones, not the low-life Orc
scum! We are Imperial Guard! You are telling me that uncivilized, unclean
vermin took you unprepared?!
Preposterous!"
Lt. Dan's face flushed. Was it anger or embarrasment? "Yes, sir. Those "vermin" took out Bravo
Company with nothing other than axes, teeth and swords. I was the only survivor and that was only due
to being trapped beneath the mound of bodies in the press of the attack. From all reports, Alpha Company fared no
better. They only had one survivor from
what turned out to be a rather intense firefight in the western section of the
ambush vector."
Romanov made a short
chopping motion with his hand. "And
the tanks? What happened to them? Both the heavy and the medium were totally destroyed. Need I mind you that we are supposed to win
this planet?"
"As you say,
sir. The heavy tank was destroyed at the
beginning of the ambush. The medium tank
stayed in the fight for quite a while and prevented HQ and Delta Company from
being overran. We did manage to knock
out two mobile artillery units and two medium tanks during the exchange as well
as eradicate all their forces. We even
managed to kill one of their Warp Entity."
"Report on the Walker .
We've heard that it acquitted itself well in the ambush?"
"Yes,
sir!" LT. Dan warmed to the topic,
almost forgetting who he was addressing.
"The Walker
held the far western flank of the ambush site and was a tide-turning force on
the field. Reports from Charlie Company
indicate that it took a salvo in the chest from the remaining mobile artillery
unit, which caused it to temporarily shut down.
Fortunately, the Orcs were too stupid to take advantage of this,
allowing the Walker
to restart. It managed to tread over
most of an Orc fire team and wounded another of the Orc companies enough for
Delta Company to finish it off. All in
all, sir, we lost Alpha and Bravo Companies and portions of Charlie and
Delta. Unfortunately, Commissar Antonov was poorly positioned within his HQ
and sustained a debilitating wound from a missile attack. As you said earlier, we also lost the heavy
and medium tanks."
"And Orc
losses?"
"We counted at
least three rifle companies and one blade grut company in addition to the Warp
Demon's HQ and the aforementioned tanks and mobile artillery."
"Well, killing
the demon is worth something. Very well,
Lt. You are dismissed."
Lt. Dan saluted and
turned to leave.
"Lt., one more
thing. Take yourself over to the
Sergeant Master and tell him you are to receive twenty lashes for
cowardice."
"S-sir?" Lt. Dan
blurted, "Why?!"
"If you were a
true Guardsman you would have committed yourself fully to the battle and died
trying your damnedest to avenge your brethren.
Instead, you laid in a pool of dead bodies until you were rescued. Feel lucky I don't have you shot by firing
squad!"
Lt. Dan saluted
again and turned to leave, wondering amazedly how humans sometimes differed
very little from Orcs...
Already I dislike Cdr Romanov as the backroom martinet he is coming across as. Where was he during the hard-fought action just completed, eh? Eh? I have a feeling Col Strogonov might have something to say to Cdr Romanov that Cdr Romanov won't want to hear. ...
ReplyDeleteI like this style of AAR, Kenneth: like a story, but with character development as well. Far from displaying cowardice, Lt Danislav - inexperienced though he is - showed a hardy fortitude in handling the situation that would do credit to his Polish ancestors.
I look forward to more of this sort of thing.
As the Archduke says, so sayeth we all...
ReplyDelete