"Black Tree Design" 28mm Battle Report: Sutekh Verses The Voord

THE SERVANT OF SUTEKH INVADES A VOORD WORLD

This game was played using some homemade rules (M.I.S.S.) in order to allow us to continue a universe-sized campaign utilising many of my painted "Doctor Who" 28mm miniatures by "Black Tree Design", and took place upon a 2' x 3' "Deep Cut Studio" Tundra Playmat. The battlefield was populated with a variety of scenery produced by "Gale Force Nine"; most notably several Rocky Outcrops from their "Battlefield in A Box" range.

“The story so far… The Cybermen, Voord, Great Intelligence, Sutekh, Nimon and Silurians have all decided to try and establish their dominance over the Universe once and for all, by conquering numerous planets, moons, stars, and galaxies in an effort to be declared the undisputed master of all space and time. Most recently however, this furious fight has been made all the more ferocious by the appearance of outlaw Sharaz Jek and his highly-developed android army..."

THE UNIVERSE - THE SERVANTS OF SUTEKH ATTACK AN OUTER VOORD WORLD

"The campaign so far... With the Nimon Empire suffering severe losses to both Sharaz Jek and the Silurians, all attention has seemingly turned towards Voord controlled space. A sudden attack by the robotic Yeti of the Great Intelligence soon sees the extraterrestrial mutants' territory split asunder, and resultantly Sutekh has dispatched his own automatons, lead by his black-clad servant, to oversee the capture of another Voord planet. Desperate to maintain a grip on his fast-dwindling galactic kingdom, Yartek orders his flipper-footed warriors to push back the Osiran service robots, but it just might be that the Voord will need more than sharp-edged knives to defeat the forces of Sutekh the Destroyer..."

THE TABLETOP - A FROZEN PLANET WITHIN THE NIMON EMPIRE

The Voord, which started along the western edge of the battlefield, consisted of four warriors and their white-robed leader, Yartek. They were all armed with knives and due to their aquatic nature would suffer no movement penalties for traversing the partially-frozen lakes. Across from their position, along the eastern edge, stood the Servant of Sutekh and four Osiran service robots. None of these carried any particular weapons but were all capable of delivering death with their 'bare' hands. The snow-covered tabletop had five strategic locations, each worth an unknown number of victory points. These would only be revealed once they had been discovered during the confrontation and could only be claimed by an unopposed unit being in direct contact with it at the end of Turn Six.

THE VOORD AND SUTEKH'S MUMMIES RACE TOWARDS THE BATTLEFIELD'S OBJECTIVES 

Winning the initiative, the Voord rushed east and succeeded in reaching the Destroyed Robot [Objective One] on the edge of the Small Frozen Lake. This was revealed to be worth an encouraging 4 Victory Points. Meanwhile, the much more ponderous Mummies of Sutekh lumbered towards their master's enemies, whilst the Destroyer's servant rushed to claim the Fuel Barrels [Objective Four] and discovered they were only worth 1 Victory Point.

One of Sutekh's robots made its way to the Destroyed Dalek [Objective Five], and ascertaining it was worth just 2 Victory Points, indicated to his fellow automatons that they needed to press on towards the Cosmic Cube [Objective Three]. As a result the Osiran service robots ended up bunching together near the northern edge of the Large Frozen Lake.

AS BOTH FACTIONS ACQUIRE OBJECTIVES ALL EYES TURN TO THE BATTLEFIELD'S CENTRE

In response a lone Voord captured the Ruin [Objective Two], temporarily acquiring 3 Victory Points in the process, and compelled Yartek to head towards the Cosmic Cube with a pair of bodyguards. With two such wealthy objectives already 'in the bag', the Voord leader realised that all he needed to do was prevent Sutekh from taking control of the battlefield's centre to successfully stave off the invaders.

Determined to push past Yartek's black wet-suited blockade, one of Sutekh's Mummies charged into the Voord leader's northernmost bodyguard. Behind him, the Destroyer's Servant lead the rest of the Osiran robots west towards their opponents, including the unit momentarily guarding the Destroyed Dalek [Objective Five].

OBJECTIVES ARE FORGOTTEN AS THE FACTIONS FIGHT FOR THE COSMIC CUBE

Sensing this was the 'make or break' moment in the battle already, Yartek rushed east with his remaining bodyguard into one of the Mummies slowly approaching the Cosmic Cube [Objective Three]. The pair savagely hacked through the automaton's bandages and after a plethora of satisfying strikes finally saw their electronic enemy fall to the ground lifeless. The Voord by the Destroyed Robot [Objective One] also joined the fray by utilising his "Water Walker" ability to cross the Small Frozen Lake and significantly damage one of the Mummies by the Servant of Sutekh. The Voord by the Ruin [Objective Two] also deserted his prize post so as to advance towards the Osiran Robot previously by the Destroyed Dalek [Objective Five].

 With the fighting clearly favouring the flipper-footed Voord, the Mummy moving away from the Destroyed Dalek [Objective Five] suddenly found himself facing a ferocious opponent, whose dagger tore away at his protective bandages. Fortunately for the Osiran Robot though his cytronic particle accelerator was undamaged, and he managed to stand his ground. To the north, Yartek's frenzied assault upon the automatons accompanying the Servant of Sutekh destroyed a second Mummy.

YARTEK AND THE VOORD CLOSE WITH THE MUMMIES OF SUTEKH THE DESTROYER

With little but poor scoring objectives behind him, and down two units already, the Servant of Sutekh decided to enter the fighting himself, and almost immediately made an impact by practically frying the first Voord he touched alive. The one remaining nearby Mummy managed to cause another Voord a debilitating wound with a powerful hand chop, whilst the robot battling beside the Destroyed Dalek [Objective Five] caused a single wound upon his rubber-clad assailant.

The penultimate turn saw some ferocious fighting in the centre of the table with a second Voord joining the attack on the Servant of Sutekh. The darkly-dressed mysterious character almost fell under such blows, but somehow managed to evade a fatal wound and then utilised his all-powerful master's regenerative power to start healing himself. The huge Mummy beside him however was finally starting to take a toll on the Voord with his enormous hand chops, so when an opening appeared, the Servant of Sutekh killed one of Yartek's weakened warriors seemingly with the simplest of touches...

THE VOORD DESPERATELY TRY TO CUT THROUGH THE MUMMIES' BANDAGES

What was clear was that all the battlefield's objectives had been utterly forgotten about, and what initially had appeared to be an easy victory for the Voord had suddenly turned into a tense kill count contest. The Servant of Sutekh continued to regenerate himself back to full health, before launching a harrowing attack upon his nearest flipper-footed opponent. The assault wasn't quite enough to destroy his foe, but it was only a momentary lapse as a Mummy crushed the injured Voord to death with his bare arms. It was neck and neck...

The close combat by the Destroyed Dalek [Objective Five] was also reaching a tense conclusion, as the Osiran Robot there clubbed his enemy with his mighty hand, and almost killed the Voord. However, because the automaton was just in range of the Servant of Sutekh's "Command" ability, he was able to re-roll one of his attack's misses and sensationally successfully felled the knife-wielding warrior with the new result.

THE SERVANT OF SUTEKH AND HIS REMAINING MUMMIES STAND FIRM BEFORE THE VOORD

Throwing himself into an 'all or nothing' assault, Yartek futilely hurled himself at the Mummy before him, but simply couldn't seem to find an opening through the machine's torn bandages to damage a vital internal component. The Voord beside him was similarly as unsuccessful in penetrating the dark robes of the Servant of Sutekh, so as the battle ended it was clear that the Destroyer's forces had won a most unlikely victory for the Osiran who "planned to destroy all life in the universe."