My opponent this week was Patrick. He fielded a mighty Space Wolf force that had a strong mix of heavy + special weapons, and some resilient and terrifying assault units.
This was a 400 point game (450 for the Tyranid side)
The Armies
Patrick's Space Wolf list was an elite force with a low model count for a 400 point game (16 models). He would have to watch out for rout tests, but I would have a challenge finding enough damage output to deal with the T5 bikers and cavalry.
SPACE WOLVES
Leader
Thunderwolf Cavalry w/ Frost Claws & Legendary Pistol (S7 AP1 Blast)
Special
Thunderwolf Cavalry w/ Thunder Hammer
Long Fang w/ Lascannon
Long Fang w/ Lascannon, Targeter, Banner & Legendary Weapon (Salvo 2/3 S7 AP1 24" Range)
Space Marine Biker w/ Flamer
Space Marine Biker w/ Frost Sword
Core
10x Grey Hunters w/ 2x Flamers
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| Patrick's shiny new Space Wolves - a nice mix of potent special weapons and resilient elite assault units. Bonus points for pink dice! |
I decided to scrap the 2x Hive Guard strategy from last week and benched one of my Guard in favour of a Lictor, whose melee prowess could rival that of the Space Wolves. Other than that, I added more bodies and a small hit squad of Genestealers to add a further assault threat.
TYRANIDS
Leader
Zoanthrope w/ Psychic Scream, Catalyst
Special
Shrike w/ Bonesword & Lashwhip, Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs, Hardened Carapace, Combat Finesse, Flesh Hooks
Hive Guard w/ Combat Finesse
Lictor
Core
5x Termagants w/ Devourers
5x Termagants w/ Devourers
5x Termagants w/ Fleshborers
5x Gargoyles w/ Fleshborers
5x Gargoyles w/ Fleshborers
4x Genestealers w/ 2x Scything Talons
Extra Special Funtime Support (Thanks Tommy)
3x Retributor Battle Sisters w/ 1x Heavy Bolter
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| The Tyranid Force - Joined by 3 very confused Battle Sisters. I imagine the Emperor won't be too happy about them fighting alongside the xenos... |
The Mission
We were playing the Last Stand mission from Heralds of Ruin Kill Team. The defender deploys within 6" of the center, keeping half of his models in reserve. The attacker deploys along any/all of the table corners. I had the choice to attack or defend, since Patrick entered the contest with a higher Renown score. I figured it makes more sense for the Tyranids to be attacking the Space Wolves.
Patrick deployed his models within 6" into a large central structure, while I was forced to split my forces due to the tiny deployment zones and synapse requirements.
The objective of the mission was simple - the attacker must kill at least half of the defender's force to win the game. The defender must keep at least half of his models alive, although if he failed to do so he could still force a draw by killing half of the attacker's models.
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| This is a fish-waffle-cookie-pancake-tyrranocyte. It was delicious. |
Turn 1
Space Wolves, as the defenders, got to go first. With only half their models deployed however, and most of the Tyranids hiding behind cover, only a couple of Lascannons were able to get shots off. Two of the Gargoyles were shot down, then the Tyranids began their advance.
Much to my surprise, two Gargoyles managed to fell the decked out Lascannon-Targeter-Banner-Relic holding Long Fang with just a couple of Fleshborer shots! After that, a squad of Termagants was able to snipe out the other Lascannon-wielding Long Fang, and a single bolter shot from one of the Sisters felled a Grey Hunter armed with a Flamer. Patrick was 0 for 4 on his armour saves and had lost 3 special weapons already, what an unlucky start for the Space Wolves!
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| Genestealers deployed hiding behind a warp gate. Pay no attention to the drunk Blood Angels and their techno-baby - they belong to a game that was running simultaneously on the other half of the game mat (border marked by pink die). |
Turn 2
The cavalry rolled in on turn 2 - literally. Patrick's reinforcements arrived, and he could choose to deploy from any table edge he wished. He decided to focus down my Genestealers first, since they are squishy and posed a significant close combat threat. He killed one and wounded another, but was unable to charge due to arriving from reserves.
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| Space Wolves' reinforcements have arrived. Those poor Genestealers have no clue what they're in for. |
On the Tyranid end of the turn, the swarm of Gargoyles, Termagants, Shrike, and Lictor that had been advancing toward the center turned their attention on the newly arrived reinforcements. The assault was however ineffective - Only one Grey Hunter and one Biker were killed - The Frostsword wielding Biker and the Power Fist Thunderwolf Cavalry remained to threaten the Tyranids along with a retinue of 4 Grey Hunters.
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| The advancing Tyranid swarm, right before realizing they have to double back to deal with the Space Wolves' reinforcements. |
On the other end of the board, Gargoyles and Termagants poured toward the central structure, which was now occupied by the 4 surviving Grey Hunters from the Space Wolves' initial deployment. With the Zoanthrope providing Synapse to the entire battlefield with his 30" syanpse range, the Sisters of Battle provided some cover fire while also advancing. One Grey Hunter was killed and another knocked down under the mass of fire and melee from the Tyranid force.
Turn 3
The remaining Thunderwolf Cavalry arrived to support the epic melee that had developed between half of the Tyranid force and the Space Wolf reinforcements. The other Thunderwolf Cavalry loosed a primal roar, charged and insta-killed the Shrike without taking any damage himeslf. A significant blow to the Tyranids, as the most expensive model was felled without dealing much damage. Meanwhile, Gargoyles and the Biker fought to a draw, and the Grey Hunters joined the melee by charging a brood of Termagants.
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| More than half of the points value from both lists is devoted to this epic melee. |
The Tyranids struck back, infuriated by the death of their beloved Shrike. The Zoanthrope moved into the central building and channeled warp energies to cast Psychic Scream, killing 2 of 3 remaining Grey Hunters. The last of remaining Grey Hunter was left to tangle with 2 Gargoyles and 9 Termagants all by himself...
The Lictor finally joined the fray by charging the Space Wolf leader mounted on a Thunderwolf. The Lictor used his superior initiative and weapon skill to fell the Thunderwolf Pack Leader before he could retaliate. The Gargoyles and Termagants continued to battle with the remaining Biker and Grey Hunters to little effect. A couple of Tyranids and one Grey Hunter were killed.
Two Genestealers charged the sole remaining Thunderwolf Cavalry, but were unable to score a single wound, and were both instant-deathed by his Power Fist, humming with energy and covered in Tyranid bile.
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| The other half of the board is dominated by the Tyranid force after the disastrous armour saves in turn one for the Space Wolves. |
Turn 4 & 5
At this point, half of the Space Wolves had been removed as casualties, satisfying the Tyranids' win condition. All that the Space Wolf side could do now was to ensure that half of the Tyranid force was killed to force a draw, but this would be a tall task considering the Tyranids had fielded a whopping 36 models. The Tyranids desperately fought for survival.
The Thunderwolf Cavalry was able to avenge his Pack Leader and fell the Lictor, while the Biker and Grey Hunters killed a couple more Gargoyles and Termagants, but ultimately the Space Wolf side had suffered too many losses and was unable to inflict enough casualties to force a draw by Turn 5. The Space Wolves could only hope that the random game length would allow the contest to continue, as they would surely be able to inflict one more casualty and force a tie... but luck was not with them as Patrick rolled a 2 and the game concluded at the end of turn 5.
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| The messiest multi-assault I have ever seen in a game of Kill Team |
The game resulted in a narrow Tyranid victory - as 17 of 36 models had been killed when the game ended. Unlucky first and final rolls for my opponent.
Conclusion & Analysis
The Thunderwolf Cavalry really were able to pull their weight. Having access to S10 assault and T5 in Kill Team matches is incredibly powerful. The space doggies are a serious force to be reckoned with! The downside of expensive elite models in Kill Team however is having a low model count, and since a number of the missions (as well as rout tests) rely on model counts, this can sometimes be a disadvantage. Space Wolves are a lot of fun to play with and against, and I look forward to more melee-fests with Patrick, who I hear just ordered a bunch of the terrifying new Wulfen to bolster his force!
The sister's battle garb is terrifyingly gray... Lol tommy. Awesome report! I'm bummed out to have missed that night.
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