February 11th,
2016
Kill Team Batrep – Week 4
This week marks the grand finale of the Hairy Tarantula
North Kill Team campaign for Jan-Feb. A multi-way battle is scheduled for
Saturday night in which all participants will play on one table (!!!) using a
modified version of the Possession mission. The kicker – once you are able to
defeat your opponent, you are free to join other battles and gain even more
renown points by claiming objectives from other games.
As luck would have it both my opponent, Gareth, and I are
unable to attend the big game on Saturday. Fortunately, we were able to
schedule our own 400 point 1v1 match and still vie for some ever-valuable renown points (the
more renown you accrue, the better your chances of winning prizes given away at
the conclusion of the campaign).
Gareth’s Skitarii and my Tyranids each came in to the battle
with a 1-2 record, following some unfortunate rout test failures. He was
running a very well-balanced list with lots of bodies, dakka, and a few elite
units that pack quite a punch in close combat:
Leader
Vanguard Alpha
Core
Vanguard x 21 (these
guys have the power to put out 63 shots a turn at BS 7 due to doctrina! Yikes!)
Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter gun emplacement
Special
Dragoon w/ Taser Lance (A.K.A.
Rex – destroyer of worlds)
Infiltrators w/ Flechette Blasters & Taser Goads x 4
 |
| Zoey, My Team Leader |
My list is an attempt
at a well-rounded team, with some scary psychic dakka, a good number of
gribblies to soak up shots, and a couple of more expensive special models to
target more durable threats:
Leader
Zoanthrope (Catalyst,
Psychic Scream)
Core
Termagants w/ Devourers (2 squads of 5)
Termagants w/ Fleshborers (1 squad of 5)
Gargoyles w/ Fleshborers (2 squads of 5)
Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter gun emplacement
Comms Relay
Special
Shrike w/ Lash Whip & Bonesword, Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs, Hardened Carapace
Hive Guard x 2
The Mission
The mission
and rule set we were using are both from the Heralds of Ruin Kill Team
community made supplement. It offers Kill-Team size games with, in my opinion,
much more well balanced gameplay than the GW version. You can find the rules
here: http://heralds-of-ruin.blogspot.ca/
The mission
was Possession – 5 objectives were scattered around the map. The goal was to
finish the game with the most objectives under your control. The objectives
were all treated like Relics from ‘The Relic’ Eternal War mission out of the
main rulebook, so you could pick them up and carry them around (albeit slowly).
Deployment was in table quarters of the 4x4 battlefield, and at least 6” away
from the center of the table.
Deployment
 |
| The Hive Guard, Shrike, and Gargoyles prepare to meet the Skitarii head on, while a group of Infiltrators threatens from out of view, in a building to the right |
Gareth won
the roll-off for choosing table quarter and he decided to deploy and go first.
The terrain and objectives were set up in a very balanced manner, so this
didn’t pose too much of a problem for either side. We each started the game
with one of the objectives in our deployment zone, and deployed ready to duke
it out over the central objective, placed smack dab in the middle of the table,
on a 2nd floor of a large building. Gareth’s Infiltrators made use
of their infiltrate deployment to start on a 2nd objective hidden in
a building on a neutral table quarter.
 |
| Skitarii deployment. A third group of Vanguard are deployed out of view to the right, while the infiltrators are across the battlefield. We used spore mines as the objective markers for this game. |
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The Hive Guard is primed to secure an objective on Turn 1, while the Gargoyles and Termagants prepare to fan out
|
With
deployment complete, it was time for Hive Fleet Behemoth to attempt to seize
the initiative. A 3 was rolled, and the Skitarii began to march forward, radium
carbines at the ready.
Turn One
Gareth had
deployed his vanguard into four main clumps, which I’ll refer to as units here
even though they are technically not units for gameplay purposes.
Unit 1, the
largest in number, was deployed just behind the central building, poised to
advance and mow down some Tyranids with their sheer weight of fire and trusty
radium carbines. These guys moved forward and put an ungodly amount of shots
into the forward-most deployed unit of Termagants. Through a craftily placed
Comms Relay providing them cover saves, and some lucky rolling, a couple of the
Termagants were able to survive.
Unit 2, a
group of vanguard deployed at the rear of the Skitarii deployment zone, made
their way toward the only remaining objective in unoccupied territory.
Unit 3, a
few vanguard and Rex the Dragoon advanced cautiously towards the centre,
leaving their options open to either move to reinforce the battle over the
middle objective or move south to help out the Infiltrators. Rex carefully sat
back, biding his time and ensuring that the Hive Guard’s vicious shooting
attacks would not fell him prematurely. One of the Vanguard picked up the
objective that was in the Skitarii deployment zone.
Unit 4, the
four infiltrating Infiltrators (points for using original unit names, GW), used
their impressive movement speed to close the distance and ensure they would see
combat with the Hive Guard and Shrike deployed in the southernmost edge of the
Tyranid zone. One of the infiltrators grabbed the objective in the building, so
he was forced to sit back for this round. The other 3 were only in range to
shoot the Hive Guard, however their S2 guns with shred were of no use against
the T6 Hive Guard.
On the
Tyranid end of the turn, the swarms fanned out in an attempt to gain map control
and deal with the pressing threat posed by the group of Infiltrators at their
back lines. Between the Hive Guard and a Termagant manning the Heavy Bolter gun
platform, the Tyranids were able to kill both members of the Skitarii force
that were holding objectives. The other Hive Guard waddled over and grabbed the
objective within the Tyranid deployment zone, while the Zoanthrope advanced
toward the central building, preparing to launch a furious Psychic Scream on
turn 2.
The
remaining 3 Infiltrators were bogged down by shooting and a brutal melee from a
squad of Dev-gants, Gargoyles, and the Shrike. They were however able to put 2
wounds on the Shrike during overwatch! 1 Infiltrator died, 1 took a wound, and
the other was thus far unscathed.
At the end
of turn 1, the Tyranids controlled 1 objective and the Skitarii had 0.
Turn Two
Having been
shot off the objectives, the Skitarii relentlessly went after the valuable
relics. One of the Vanguard doubled back to secure the objective that was
dropped by his felled comrade. Three of the Vanguard desperately grasped at the
central structure, trying to climb the exterior to get to the 2nd
floor, where the central objective lay unsecured, however all 3 failed their
initiative tests and were stuck on the ground floor. A further group of
Vanguard continued to march toward an objective in a relatively uninhabited
corner of the map, save for a squad of wandering Gargoyles.
The Infiltrators made
short work of the gargoyle squad which had assaulted them on Turn 1, leaving
only the Hive Guard and Shrike remaining.
Rex the
Dragoon, now that the Hive Guard was tied up in combat, cautiously moved forward,
plotting his next step while staying in a relative safety.
 |
One Infiltrator down to the Shrike, the remaining Infiltrators are swarmed by Gargoyles and a Hive Guard
|
On the
Tyranid end of turn 2, things really heated up. The Shrike was able to kill off
1 of the remaining Infiltrators, freeing the Hive Guard from being tarpitted. A
group of Dev-gants put a wound on the last remaining Infiltrator that had
consolidated out of the melee after smacking some Gargoyles out of the sky.
However they failed their charge and were unable to tarpit him, leaving the
Zoanthrope vulnerable to a Turn 3 charge.
Speaking of
the Zoanthrope, he wandered into the central structure and loosed a deadly
Psychic Scream, killing 2 Vanguard and injuring two more. The Heavy Bolter once
again was able to fell the Vanguard that had claimed the objective within the
Skitarii deployment zone.
At the end
of Turn 2, the score remained 1-0 for the Tyranids.
 |
A squad of Devourer Termagants fires at the advancing Skitarii from cover while manning a gun emplacement
|
Turn Three
Rex had
carefully bided his time, and in a move of tactical genius that only now am I
able to appreciate, Gareth masterfully commandeered Rex into close combat with
my Zoanthrope without exposing him to any of the Hive Guard’s fire! The
Zoanthrope had done some serious damage with the Psychic Scream, but was now in
some hot water with the Taser-Lance wielding Dragoon bearing down on him, as
well as the last remaining Infiltrator.
Through the
power of 3+ invulnerable saves, the Zoanthrope managed to leave the first round
of melee unscathed, but he was in some serious trouble.
Meanwhile,
one of the Vanguard finally was able to climb within the building and secure
the central objective, and the other group of vanguard had handily dispatched
my remaining Gargoyles to all but secure another objective for the Skitarii.
I was left
with a critical decision to make. Do I go ham against the Infiltrator and
Dragoon, or do I let them beat on my Zoanthrope and hope that he keeps making
those invuln saves? I decided to charge in with both of my Hive Guard as well
as my Shrike, hoping to free the Tyranid team leader from the one-sided melee.
The Infiltrator was finally slain, but not before downing my objective-carrying
Hive Guard. This forced the Guard to drop the objective, even though it did not
kill him outright.
Much to my disappointment,
the Shrike was ineffective against Rex the Dragoon, and the tarpit trapping the
Zoanthrope continued.
At the end
of turn three, the score was 0-0
Turn Four
Turn four
saw the Vanguard grab an uncontested corner objective and trade fire with the
remaining Termagants. At this point both sides had taken heavy casualties (more
than 50% of models), and we were both nervously passing rout tests to avoid an
auto-loss. The Shrike finally put a hull point of damage on Rex the Dragoon,
but was knocked down in retaliation, all but ensuring that he wouldn’t get a
chance to strike again before the end of the game. Rex continued to dominate on
the Tyranid end of the turn, killing one of the Hive Guard, while they were
unable to remove his one remaining Hull Point.
Turn 4 ended
with the Skitarii leading 1-0, as the Hive Guard rushed into close combat
instead of picking up the objective.
Turn Five
The Skitarii
continued to relentlessly pursue the objectives while the Tyranids had tasted
blood and had all-but forgotten that the mission involved key tactical
objectives other than hunting and feeding. The Skitarii had firm control over
one objective, with a Vanguard sitting behind cover within a building. One of
the few remaining Vanguard from the epic battle for the central objective was
able to climb up to the 2nd floor and take control of the central
objective, while the last remaining Vanguard that had not yet left the Skitarii
deployment zone (poor guy was pinned 2 turns in a row) managed to secure a third
objective for the tin men. With the Hive Guard having dropped his objective to
get into melee against the Dragoon, the Tyranids entered the bottom of turn 5
trailing 3-0.
 |
The Epic melee – Rex the Dragoon proves to be a worthy adversary as the Tyranid’s big hitters swarm him in an attempt to free their Team Leader. A squad of Termagants scuttles by toward the Skitarii’s deployment zone
|
The squad of
Termagants that had been manning the Heavy Bolter gun emplacement finally
sprang into action, killing the Vanguard on the central objective and advancing
toward the objective which the Hive Guard had dropped… However their movement
was not sufficient to secure it this turn.
The other
remaining squad of Termagants bounded forward, killing the Vanguard within the
Skitarii deployment zone. Meanwhile, with the Shrike still downed, the Dragoon
and remaining Hive Guard exchanged blows to no effect. The Zoanthrope could do
nothing but float there and watch, realizing that it would have been more
tactically sound for the Hive Mind if he had chosen to sacrifice himself to the
Dragoon’s assault rather than calling over the Shrike and 2 Hive Guard… But it
was too late now, they were locked in combat and no one was advancing until the
other side was defeated.
One Vanguard
lay quietly in the cover of a ruin, out of line of sight to any enemy fire, and
well out of assault range – the Skitarii ended turn 5 with a 1-0 lead.
Hoping for a
3+ for the game to continue and a chance for my Termagants to secure 2
relatively uncontested objectives on Turn 6, I watched Gareth roll the die to
see if the game continues… It was a 2! The Skitarii were able to secure a
victory through clever tactics and the awesome power and resilience of Rex the
Dragoon.
The Tyranids
were simply too bloodthirsty this day – my excitement over freeing the
Zoanthrope and killing the Dragoon lead me to overcommit all of my special
models to a melee that ultimately was not in their favour (they needed 6’s to
pen/glance the walker).
This was a
tight, bloody, and well-fought battle… One of the most enjoyable games I’ve
had. What a great matchup. After the dust settled, 35 models had been removed
as casualties between the two sides – the bloodiest game of Kill Team that I
have ever had the pleasure of participating in!
I also got
to learn two valuable lessons that have plagued me in the past:
1.
Do not lose sight of the objectives! By
the time turn 3 and 4 roll around, I need to make sure I execute a plan to
secure as many objectives or victory points as possible – doing more damage
isn’t worth it at the end if you’re left without any way to win on points!
2.
Don’t overcommit to a particular fight or
tactic: I think that my decision to charge in with all 3 of my special
models and fight the Dragoon was ultimately my demise. It caused me to not only
drop the one objective of which I had firm control, but also ended up being a
pretty big failure since my guys weren’t able to remove that 2nd
all-important Hull Point. Even though the odds suggest that the Shrike and Hive
Guard should have been able to come away victorious, it is by no means a
guarantee, and I left myself spread out far too thin if they weren’t able to
finish off the Dragoon within 2 turns. If I had instead let the Zoanthrope
suffer his fate, and used the Hive Guard and Shrike to secure objectives, I am
confident that I could have ended turn 5 with 3 objectives under Tyranid
control.
Hindsight is always
20/20 though, and I have to give some serious credit to my opponent for making
sure that his key unit, the Dragoon, was able to enter combat without getting
shot by the Hive Guard. That’s pretty hard to do against a 24” ignores cover,
homing weapon! He also did a great job of positioning his remaining Vanguard to
take 3 objectives in turn 5 – the Tyranids were left out of position and with
too many targets – there was no way for them to neutralize all 3 objective
holders.
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The MVP of the match – these Dragoons mean business!
|
Next up at
Hairy T North is the Escalation League. I think we’re going to be starting with
500 point games using regular 40k rules and adding 250 points onto our armies
each week thereafter. There is a great variety of really interesting and
awesome armies, and I am really looking forward to throwing down against some
of the beautifully painted armies brought by the regulars (and hope to see some
new faces too!).
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