40k #8 - Tau & Imperial Knight vs Tyranids

A couple of weeks ago I had an awesome and close battle against Alex's Tau. The game was so good we decided to have a rematch! This time, he re-jigged his list to include a Knight Crusader. I ran an identical list from our previous game, hoping to get some more experience running a quasi-competitive (albeit Flyrant-lite) list with a decent amount of reserves.

The Mission

We rolled on the Maelstrom of War mission table from the main rule book and got Cloak and Shadows. We would each generate up to 3 tactical objectives per turn, but would keep the objectives secret until they were scored. A sneaky scenario that made it difficult to block your opponent from scoring points. The deployment was Hammer & Anvil - along the short table edges. This normally would benefit the Tau significantly, but my list brought a decent amount of long range shooting and mobility, so it wasn't that bad. 

The Battlefield is set. Deployment would be along the short table edges, and the Tau enjoyed a nice positional advantage by selecting to deploy along the left short table edge. With most of the objectives toward the center of the battlefield however, this would really push the action. 

The Army Lists

Alex's Tau - Knight list brought a fairly diverse array of threats. Skyfire is available from the Knight Crusader as well as the Riptide. There is a good number of marker lights and bodies in the 4 units of Fire Warriors and Pathfinders, while the Crisis Suits would be able to provide some surgical heavy hitting via Deep Strike. 

Tau deployment. The troops have taken
aggressive positions in order to secure the
objective-packed midfield.

Tau - Combined Arms Detachment

Ethereal (no upgrades)

Warlord Trait - Generate 1 Additional Tactical Objective on Turn 1

10x Fire Warriors (no upgrades)

10x Fire Warriors (no upgrades)

1x Riptide (Ion Accelerator, Stimulant Injector, Velocity Tracker)

3x Crisis Suits (6x Missile Pods, Counterfire Defence System)

3x Crisis Suits (6x Missile Pods, Counterfire Defence System)

10x Pathfinders (no upgrades)

10x Pathfinders (no upgrades)

Imperial Knights - Allied Detachment

Knight Crusader (Rapid-fire Battle Cannon w/ Heavy Stubber, Avenger Gatling Cannon w/ Heavy Flamer, Heavy Stubber, Twin Icarus Autocannon, Sanctuary)

My Tyranid list was a carbon copy of the list I brought to our last game. This list is based on a balance of mid-long range firepower, mobility, and deep strike shenanigans. The Zoanthropes would enter the game via deep strike by way of the Tyrannocyte with Barbed Stranglers. The 20 Devilgaunts would be entering via deep strike through the Tyrannocyte with Deathspitters - a combo that could dump 75 S4 and S5 shots on demand.

Tyranids - Combined Arms Detachment

Tyrannocyte (5x Deathspitters)

Tyrannocyte (5x Barbed Stranglers)

Hive Tyrant (wings, 2x TL Devourers w/ Brainleech Worms) Onslaught, Paroxysm

Warlord Trait - Minus 1 to Opponent's Reserve Rolls

1x Hive Guard (Impaler Cannon)

3x Zoanthropes (w/ Neurothrope) Warp Blast, Spirit Leech, Onslaught

1x Malanthrope

1x Mucolid

1x Mucolid

1x Mucolid

20x Termagants (20x Devourers)

Hive Crone (Drool Cannon, 4x Tentaclids, Stinger Salvo)

Tyranids - Living Artillery Node

Exocrine (no upgrades)

3x Biovores

3x Tyranid Warriors (1x Barbed Strangler, 2x Deathspitters, 3x Rending Claws)

The bulk of the Tyranid deployment, abusing Shrouded and Ruins area terrain for those juicy 2+ cover saves. A Hive Crone and Hive Guard have deployed in the large green ruins and hold objective #4.

Turn One

The Tau won the roll-off for choosing table edges. They decided to deploy and to go first, and after the Tyranids failed their Seize the Initiative roll, action was under way. 

Movin' on up. The Pathfinders take aggressive scout moves to close in on objective markers.

The Tau quickly take control of 4
objectives at the end of their turn
one movement phase.

The Tau infantry cautiously advanced up the midfield, well aware of the danger in moving toward the ferocious Tyranid force, but willing to take the risk in order to score Maelstrom points and take control over the center of the board which held five of the six objective markers. 

The Tyranid deployment had given the Tau very little to shoot at. The living artillery node, Tyrant, and Malanthrope were all well-guarded by 2+ cover saves, while the Hive Guard and Crone were hidden within ruins.

Pathfinders snap fired their marker lights at the Tyrant and Crone, but were very unlucky to not land any hits. 

The Riptide and Imperial Knight put their considerable firepower into the Hive Tyrant and Biovores, however the 2+ cover saves held up for the most part. The Tyrant took 1 unsaved wound, as did the Biovores, however no casualties were inflicted. 

It had been a fairly uneventful turn one for the Tau, however they were able to score 2 victory points and take an early 2-0 lead.

Tyranid Objectives - Secure Objective 1, Secure Objective 5, Blood and Guts

These objectives were a rough draw. Taking either of those objectives would only be possible if i Glided the Tyrant or Crone on them, which would be a very risky move. Blood and Guts requires me to kill something in the assault phase - the only realistic possibility here would be if I chose to keep the Tyrant gliding and charge the Pathfinder unit that had scouted forward. This was very do-able, however it would leave the Tyrant vulnerable to shooting after he consolidates out. 

I decided to bite the bullet and go for it - I didn't want to fall behind on points early give that the Tau already enjoyed a positional advantage on the battlefield. The Tyrant would stay in Glide mode and attempt to score points by slaying Pathfinders and/or taking objective 5 that lay right beside them. 

The Living Artillery Node stayed put and prepared to put their formidable firepower to use. On the other side of the table, both the Crone and Hive Guard passed their Instinctive Behaviour tests. The Crone swooped forward into ruins to put her deadly Drool Cannon to use, while the Hive Guard stayed put in the ruins, not wanting to leave himself out in the open against Tau shooting. 

The Hive Crone decimates a unit of Pathfinders

Elsewhere, the Biovores barraged the Ethereal's unit of Fire Warriors, making full use of the formation's ability to re-roll scatter dice to score a ridiculous number of hits and wounds. In one fell swoop the Tau Warlord and his entire unit were destroyed, scoring 3 points for First Blood, Slay the Warlord, and due to the Ethereal's "Failure is not an Option" special rule. 

What a result! The Tyranids had started the game by out-shooting the Tau/Knight combo, at least for turn one. 

Meanwhile, the Exocrine fired his Assault 6 S7 AP2 Bio-Plasma Cannon at the Riptide, however Feel No Pain rolls held up and the Riptide took just one unsaved wound. 

The Hive Tyrant opted not to fire in the shooting phase, not wanting to increase the required charge distance to the Pathfinder squad that he would have to kill in order to score Blood and Guts, and potentially Objective 5. 

He rolled a 10 on charge distance, and the melee was under way. Predictably, the Tyrant ripped them apart and the Pathfinders were unable to wound the Tyranid Warlord. They failed their morale check and were killed in a sweeping advance. The Tyrant consolidated onto Objective #5, and had secured yet another 2 points for the Tyranid side.

The Hive Tyrant shreds a unit of Pathfinders before consolidating onto Objective #5 just to his right, scoring 2 points for Hive Fleet Behemoth.

It was a great result for the Tyranid side in terms of victory points, but now the Crone and Tyrant were vulnerable going into turn two.

The score stood at 5-2 Tyranids, and I nervously waited for the formidable Tau firepower to be poured into the Tyranid flyers. 

Turn Two

The Tau had no time to grieve the loss of their commander. The Tyranids were closing in on them but at a key moment of vulnerability. 

Despite having taken heavy losses to their infantry (2 Squads were wiped and 1 squad of Pathfinders was left with only 2 members after the Hive Crone's attacks), the heavy firepower was still in the Tau's favour. It was time for reserve rolls, which would be made on 4+ due to the Tyrant's warlord trait. Amazingly, Alex rolled a couple of 3's for his Crisis suits, and neither unit would be entering play on turn two!

The Knight Crusader and Riptide still had a lot of firepower to dish out, and the Tyrant was caught out in the open, not swooping. They concentrated their firepower on the Tyranid warlord, obliterating him and scoring both Witch Hunter and Slay the Warlord to bring the score closer to even. 

The remaining unharmed unit of Fire Warriors benefitted from some Marker Lights and managed to put two unsaved wounds on the Hive Crone, leaving the other Tyranid flyer with 3 wounds remaining. 

Without the Crisis Suits however, the Tau's moves were limited, and those were the only moves they would be able to make on their part of turn two. Still, it was a success as they had eliminated the formidable threat of the Tyrant, as well as scored a couple of points to draw closer, though still trailed 5-4.

Tyranid Objectives: Secure Objective 1, Ascendancy, Behind Enemy Lines

The Tyranid reserve rolls saw the Zoanthropes and two of the Mucolids entering play on turn two. I would use the Zoanthropes to secure Behind Enemy Lines, while the Crone would have to take some risks by switching to Gliding mode in order to help secure Ascendancy and Objective #1. I knew this would likely spell doom for the flying monstrous creature, but I felt that the extra D3+1 victory points might be enough to generate a sizeable lead that could carry Hive Fleet Behemoth to victory down the road. 

The Zoanthropes arrived and disembarked from their Tyrannocyte, immediately channeling Spirit Leech against the Riptide in hopes to slay the Battle Suit's pilot. Two wounds were caused, however the Stimulant Injectors proved their worth, saving both wounds from taking effect. 

The Crone glided forward, landing by objective #1 which was (for now) contested by the Tau Fire Warriors. One template from the S6 AP4 Drool Cannon, and a salvo of shots from the Crone's Stinger Salvo killed 9 of the 10 Fire Warriors and sent the last one running. 

The Living Artillery Node sticks to their cover and continues to pepper the enemy with ranged firepower.

In the backfield, the Hive Guard continued to pass instinctive behaviour tests and hold on to objective #4. All that I would need to secure Ascendancy is to run the Malanthrope out in the open to grab objective #5. This was again a risky move, but the prospect of taking a significant points lead was too attractive to turn down. 

The Zoanthropes and Neurothrope arrive. At the top left, the Malanthrope is left precariously in the Knight's crosshairs as it trundles forward to grab an objective. 

The Exocrine put fire into the Riptide once again, bringing the heavily armed battle suit down to 3 wounds remaining. 

At the end of turn 2, the Tyranids had taken a healthy lead of 9-4.

Turn Three

With the Tyranid warlord down, the Crisis suits would only need 3's to enter play, which they both succeeded in achieving. The Crisis Suits arrived deep into Tyranid territory. One threesome arrived right by objective #4, contested by the Hive Guard. The other group arrived just on the Tyranid side of the central tower. They were both in excellent position to lay waste to the remaining Tyranid forces.

The Riptide focused his firepower on the Malanthrope, eliminating one of the last remaining sources of Synapse for the Tyranid side - only the 3 warriors remained to provide synapse on the table. 

Meawhile, the Imperial Knight put his firepower into the Biovores, who still enjoyed a 4+ ruins save. He was able to kill 2 of the pesky Biovores outright - only 1 remained. 

The Hive Crone was badly injured, surviving with just one wound remaining after making a number of successful jink saves. 

The Tau were able to score 3 points for Ascendancy, 1 for killing something that is Shrouded, and another for Behind Enemy Lines. An impressive 5 point turn had drawn the score level at 9-9.

Tyranid Objectives - Secure Objective 6, Secure Objective 2, Harness the Warp

The new threat of 6 Crisis Suits would have to be dealt with. Their ability to put out 24 S7 AP4 shots each turn was brutal, but with the Termagants entering play, I was hoping to be able to wipe at least one of the squads with the sheer volume of firepower that the devilgants would bring to bear. 

Termagants pour out of the Tyrannocyte. The Warriors scramble toward them to provide synapse, while the Exocrine adjusts its position to take on the Riptide.

The Termagants' Tyrannocyte landed right in between the two units of Crisis Suits, and the 20 devilgants spewed forth from the massive drop pod. 

In the Psychic phase, I goofed and threw all 5 of my dice into Warp Blast on the Knight Crusader, but failed to manifest and lost the opportunity to score Harness The Warp for this turn. 

In the shooting phase, the 20 Termagants put their Devourers to work, completely wiping one of the Crisis Suit units. The Exocrine was finally able to finish off the Riptide, and suddenly the only remaining units on the Tau side were a single unit of Crisis Suits and the Knight Crusader. The score was tight but victory seemed in sight.

Termagants bail out a wounded Hive Guard from what would have been a sure death at the hands of the Crisis Suits.

The Tyranids scored a single point this turn, as one of the Tyrannocytes floated over to grab Objective #2. Going in to turn 4, the score was 10-9 for the Tyranids.

Turn Four

The unit of Crisis Suits held their ground and set their sights on the Tyrannocyte holding Objective #2, completely destroying the 6 Wound drop pod in one round of shooting. 

Elsewhere, the Knight split firepower between a Mucolid, the Hive Crone, and Exocrine. The Hive Crone was very lucky to make all of its 4+ cover saves, while the Exocrine took a few wounds and was left at 3 remaining. A single Pathfinder that had been falling back regrouped on an Insane Heroism test, and ran back into the fray to heroically grab an objective and score a point for his side!

Crisis Suits take out a Tyrannocyte, while the Hive Crone continues to dodge and weave, surviving with its one remaining wound to see another turn.

The Tau scored 1 point this turn for Kingslayer (an unlucky roll of 1 on the D3). Still though, that was good enough to level the score!

Tyranid Objectives - Harness the Warp, Psychological Warfare, Hungry for Glory

Well then. It was going to be next to impossible to score 2 of the 3 cards. At least Harness the Warp should be a lock. 

My priority this turn was to get rid of the remaining unit of Crisis Suits. If my opponent was left with just a single Imperial Knight to work with, I could spread out and ride the game out to a win on points, even if I was unable to kill it.

The Zoanthropes cast some easy powers to ensure that Harness the Warp was achieved. They then got Warp Lance off against the Knight Crusader, and were even able to put a hull point of damage on the Super-Heavy Walker! 

The Hive Crone swooped from ruin to ruin, firing off two tentaclids, and surprisingly causing 2 glancing hits with its haywire missiles, leaving the Knight Crusader at 3 hull points remaining. 

The 20-strong brood of Termagants poured 60 shots into the remaining 3 Crisis Suits, and was easily able to finish them off through sheer weight of fire. 

Termagants turn around and wipe a 2nd squad of Crisis suits, proving that Devourer Gants might be little but are not to be underestimated!

I scored a point for Harness the Warp, and the score sat at 11-10 Tyranids going into the all-important turn five!

Turn Five

With just the Knight left, he put all of his efforts into scoring Assassinate by killing the Neurothrope. Fortunately, the Zoanthropes' 3+ invulnerable saves held true and while 2 of them died, the Neurothrope was positioned furthest from the knight, and so he survived, preventing the Tau/Knight side from scoring any points on turn 5.

Tyranid Objectives: Hungry for Glory, Secure Objective 4, Secure Objective 5

With Linebreaker secured and already having a lead, I sought to create a gap just in case the game continued and the Knight was able to score more points. The Tyranids got a couple of points for Objectives #4 and 5 held by the Hive Guard and Exocrine respectively, pushing the score to 13-10 Tyranids. Unable to do any damage to the Knight, the uneventful turn ended and we rolled to see if the game continued. A roll of 1 meant that the game was over! 

I breathed a sigh of relief as I wouldn't have to face the prospect of fighting against the Knight Crusader for another turn or two, as it would surely have the upper hand over my remaining forces. 

The 1-wound Hive Crone has noped off the board edge, while the Neurothrope has hidden in ruins to ensure he doesn't get charged by the Knight Crusader if the game goes on to turn six. I think that if the game had gone on for an infinite number of turns, the 3-Hull Point Knight Crusader would have wiped the floor with the remaining Tyranids, but thankfully I was saved by the bell!

Conclusion

Another nail-biter of a game, and a 13-10 Tyranid victory! This game played out in a really interesting way as I essentially decided to ignore the Knight Crusader in favour of wiping out the Tau's ability to score points. This almost backfired on me as the Knight did some serious damage to the Hive Fleet Behemoth force. Fortunately the Termagants carried the 2nd half of the battle for me by wiping out the two units of Crisis Suits, and there were simply too many Tyranid bodies left over for the Knight to deal with.

The odd thing is that both the Riptide and Flyrant didn't do all that much - usually both of these units had been pretty dominant in our previous encounters. This time the Knight did the heavy lifting for the Tau side, while Tyranids were mostly carried by Biovores and Termagants!

Stay tuned for more batreps and an upcoming narrative campaign at Hairy Tarantula North!

40k #7 - Blood Angels vs Tyranids (1500 pts Maelstrom)

The wave of March break gaming surged on at Hairy T North this week. It's nice to see so much gaming and so many faces gathering at the FLGS. Today Nate made a post in the 40k group looking for an opponent, and I was happy to oblige!

The Mission

The Battlefield is set. Deployment will be along
the long table edges.

For this 1500 point game we rolled on the Maelstrom mission table, and got Spoils of War. Each player would fill their hand to 3 objectives cards at the start of each turn. The twist - you can score cards held by your opponent if they are titled "Secure Objective X", and you cannot discard any of your own cards titled "Secure Objective X". It's your standard Maelstrom game with a bit more emphasis on holding objectives and controlling the map.

I thought this mission would lead to a disadvantage for my MC-heavy list, however the elite-heavy list brought by the Blood Angels had an equal number of scoring units, so we were at a level playing field in that department.

The Armies

The Blood Angels army was packed with hard-hitting units that could shred just about anything in close combat. In addition to that, they had a number of heavy and special weapons that would provide high-power fire support at mid range.

The Baal Strike Force special rules in addition to those provided by the special characters Lemartes and Gabriel Seth made them an absolutely fearsome foe in close quarters.

Nate's beautiful Blood Angels lined up ready to do battle, led by Lemartes, Gabriel Seth, and a ML2 Librarian Dreadnought.

Their one drawback perhaps was a relatively low unit count. 43 Infantry models and a single Dreadnought made for a pretty small army at 1500 points - however given the list I was fielding they actually held a numbers advantage!

Blood Angels - Baal Strike Force

Librarian (Force Stave, Bolt Pistol) Quickening, Blood Boil

Librarian Dreadnought (Mastery level 2, Furioso Force Halberd, Power Fist, Storm Bolter) Quickening, Blood Boil, Wings of Sanguinius

5x Command Squad (Company Champion, Sanguinary Novitiate, 1x Meltagun, 1x Plasma Pistol, 1x Power Sword)

5x Death Company Squad (1x Infernus Pistol, 2x Plasma Pistols, 2x Power Swords, 5x Jump Packs)

Lemartes, Guardian of the Lost (Bolt Pistol, Rosarius, The Blood Crozius)

5x Sanguinary Guard Squad (4x Angelus Boltguns, 1x Infernus Pistol, 2x Encarmine Axes, 3x Encarmine Swords, Chapter Banner)

10x Tactical Squad (Veteran Sergeant, 1x Flamer, 1x Heavy Flamer, 1x Power Sword)

10x Tactical Squad (1x Plasma Gun)

5x Devastator Squad (1x Lascannon, 1x Multi-Melta, 2x Missile Launchers)

Gabriel Seth (Blood Reaver, Bolt Pistol, Iron Halo) Warlord

Once again I decided to bring two very different lists and have my opponent roll to see which one he faces. This time my opponent rolled the Nidzilla list I had drawn up for a previous game. A hard-hitting 1500 point list with an even balance of shooting, psychic, and close combat, this list stands out for having a low model count (32), but that included a whopping 7 Monstrous Creatures. 

I had no AP3 or better shooting to speak of, but would perhaps be able to do damage through weight of fire from the Termagants and 3 sets of Twin-Linked Devourers. Having so many MCs also means I enjoyed a lot of AP2 at close combat, however the Blood Angels force was so fearsome in close combat that I would have to find a way to pick them apart or at least weaken their ranks at range before engaging in an all-out melee.

1500 Points worth of Tyranids. The Mawloc, Termagants, Tyrannocyte, and Ripper Swarms are held in Deep Strike Reserves.

Tyranids - Combined Arms Detachment

Hive Tyrant (Wings, 2x TL Brainleech Devourers) Dominion, Onslaught, Paroxysm

Tervigon (Miasma Cannon, Shreddershard Beetles) Dominion, Onslaught

1x Malanthrope

1x Malanthrope

20x Termagants (10x Fleshborer, 10x Devourer)

1x Tyrannocyte (5x Barbed Stranglers)

3x Ripper Swarm Brood (Deep Strike)

Hive Crone (4x Tentaclids, Drool Cannon, Stinger Salvo)

1x Carnifex (2x TL Brainleech Devourers

1x Carnifex (2x TL Brainleech Devourers

Mawloc

Deployment

Tyranids won the roll-off for choosing table sides, and also elected to deploy and to go first. 

Tyranids chose the near long table edge. Blood Angels would have to deploy along the far table edge.

Hive Tyrant and Tervigon deployed.

Complete Tyranid deployment. 5 MCs and 2
Malanthropes line up ready for action.

Blood Angels deployment.

The scary stuff (Left to Right): Sanguinary Guard led by Gabriel Seth, Death Company led by Lemartes, Devastator Squad, Command Squad led by Librarian.

The 2 remaining Tactical Squads follow the Librarian Dreadnought into battle.

Turn One - A Slow Start

Tyranid Objectives: Secure Objective 2, Secure Objective 3, Secure Objective 4

Well that was an interesting draw of objective cards. #2 would be an easy point since it was already held in my deployment zone. #'s 3 and 4 however were a different story. #4 was easily held by a Blood Angels Tactical squad (see picture above), whereas #3 was out in the open. I did not however have sufficient movement to take it with any of my footslogging MC's, and since swooping FMCs can't control objectives, the only way I would be able to secure it is if I glided the Hive Tyrant there. 

I decided against it however because that would be suicidal - he would get shot at by Devastators, and would be in range for an easy charge from Lemartes, Gabriel Seth, Death Company, *and* Sanguinary Guard - no thanks!

Instead I came to terms with the unfortunate reality that my opponent would be stealing 2 of my mission cards and I would have to make the points up later on in the game. 

The Hive Tyrant makes an aggressive Swooping run, felling three Devastators and ensuring that if he is grounded he will at least contest Objective #3. 

The rest of the turn played itself. I ran forward with the two Malanthropes and Carnifexes, who were out of range to provide effective fire. The Tervigon's Miasma Cannon scattered off and missed, and the Hive Crone Swooped into cover, setting its sights on the Librarian Dreadnought. At this point I realized I had forgotten to spawn Termagants, but oh well it was too late now.

The Crone fired off two Tentaclids but missed the mark. Only the Hive Tyrant was able to do some damage - he unleashed 12 Twin-Linked Devourer shots into the Devastator Squad parked in ruins, trying to eliminate the Blood Angels' long range fire support. He killed 3 of the Devastators, leaving only the Sergeant and a Lascannon alive. 

At the end of the Tyranid turn one, I had scored a single point for capturing objective 2. However I could not discard the cards for objective 3 and 4 due to the mission special rules, and I was sure that my opponent would be off to an early lead on points. 

Blood Angels Objectives: Scour the Skies, Witch Hunter, Ascendancy

A very interesting draw for the Blood Angels gave my opponent some great incentive to kill the Hive Tyrant - that would be worth 3 (Slay the Warlord, Scour the Skies, Witch Hunter). This was no easy task however, as the Swooping T6, 3+ Flyer had a good amount of durability. At this time I began to regret not making the Tervigon my Warlord, but soon realized that I couldn't have done that anyway since Tervigons are not Characters. 

The Blood Angels would easily score Ascendancy regardless, as well as objectives #2 and #4 which were in my hand. I could do nothing else but watch and hope my Tyrant's saving throws held up.

On the far flank, the two tactical squads and Librarian Dreadnought focused all of their might against the Swooping Hive Crone, however with the ruins area terrain cover save boosted to a 2+ from the Malanthrope's Shrouded bubble, they were unable to harm the Crone.

I hold my breath as the wounded Hive Tyrant passes his grounding test - falling and getting charged by the ferocious Sanguinary Guard and Death Company could have been disastrous.

The lone remaining Lascannon from the Devastator squad sought vengeance for his fallen brothers and made his to-hit roll of 6! He put a wound on the Swooping Hive Tyrant, and would force a critical grounding test at the end of the shooting phase. The result of this test would be huge, since the Tyrant would almost surely be torn apart by Lemartes and Gabriel Seth's decked out elite assault units. Luckily for me, the Tyrant passed the grounding test and would live to fight another day.

When the dust settled on turn one, the Blood Angels force was not able to take out the Flyrant for Scour the Skies and Witch Hunter. Still though, the turn had been a good one - the Blood Angels scored D3 points for Ascendancy and scored both of the objective cards in my hand due to the mission special rules. They were unlucky to roll a 1 on the D3 result, but still ended turn one with a 3-1 lead. Nate opted to keep both Witch Hunter and Scour the Skies for next turn.

Turn Two - The Red Thirst

Tyranid Objectives: Big Game Hunter, Secure Objective 3, Secure Objective 6

That pesky Objective 3 card came up once again. It was currently being held by Lemartes and the Death Company, however I might be able to score it this turn with some Objective Secured troops. I had reserve rolls to make and either of my troops choices could nab it with a favourable scatter roll.

Objective 6 was in the corner farthest removed from the action, close to where I had deployed just my Malanthrope and Carnifex. The Malanthrope would have to double back to pick up the point for my Tyranids - I didn't want to risk leaving the objective open and having yet another point stolen by the mobile Blood Angels.

Big Game Hunter could be scored only one way - I would have to take out the Librarian Dreadnought. A tall order, but not impossible - I would put my Hive Crone and Hive Tyrant to work on this mission.

Before any of that however, it was time for reserve rolls. Two of my three rolls failed however, and only the Tyrannocyte bearing 20 Termagants would be arriving on turn two. The Mawloc and Rippers would have to wait.

Termagants pour out of of the newly arrived Tyrannocyte, taking control of Objective 3 (center) with their Objective Secured special rule.

I aimed the Tyrannocyte toward objective 3, hoping to steal it from the Death Company. The scatter dice roll was decent, and they were within reach to score the point.

On the other flank, the Malanthrope doubled back toward Objective #6 while the Carnifex advanced to a firing position against the Tactical Squads. He would be left out of Synapse for the start of turn three, but this was a necessary sacrifice to keep him in the action now while still scoring #6 with the Malanthrope.

The Hive Crone Swooped forward, landing a Vector Strike against the Librarian Dreadnought, while the Hive Tyrant continued his aggressive swooping pattern, positioning himself to shoot into the vulnerable rear armour of the Librarian Dreadnought. The Vector Strike managed a penetrating hit, shaving a hull point off the walker.

The Hive Crone and Tyrant focus fire at the Librarian Dreadnought, while the Carnifex holds objective 1 and provides fire support against the Tactical Marines. 

The Hive Tyrant was able to finish off the target by firing into its relatively vulnerable AV10 rear armour, securing a point for Big Game Hunter, as well as another point for First Blood!

The Malanthrope behind the action made a run move and got within range to score objective 6, ensuring yet another point for the Tyranids this turn.

Librarian Dreadnought is down - the Tactical Squads would surely aim to avenge his death by slaying the Tyranid Flyers.

On the flank where most of the action would be found, the Tervigon managed to get Onslaught off on the Termagant unit, and they ran forward before firing into the Death Company. The nearby Carnifex also fired into the Death Company, hoping to whittle down the Blood Angels' assault power. Lemartes and the Death Company however proved resilient with their 3+ armour and 5+ FNP, taking only a couple of unsaved wounds.

Termagants, Carnifex, and Tyrannocyte all pour their firepower into Lemartes and his Death Company.

Two of the Death Company fall to Tyranid fire, but Lemartes and 3 others still remain, as does a full-strength unit of Sanguinary Guard led by Gabriel Seth and a Command Squad led by the Blood Angels' Librarian. Things would get interesting real soon...

At the end of Tyranid turn two, some more casualties were inflicted but for the most part the Blood Angels force was still holding strong, and now they were about to enter their comfort zone of close combat carnage! Oh, and I once again forgot to spawn Termagants with the Tervigon. It was my first time running a Tervigon, so cut me some slack - but I really gotta remember about that next time. 

The Hive Fleet Behemoth Tyranids scored all 3 of their objective cards, as well as first blood. This brought the score to 4-3 Tyranids going into the bottom of turn two.

Blood Angels Objectives: Scour the Skies, Witch Hunter, Secure Objective 5

No surprises here - the Blood Angels held over 2 cards from the previous turn. Objective 5 was already held by the Command Squad and Librarian, so they would have to focus down one of the Tyranid FMCs to retake the lead now. 

The Hive Crone sits precariously at a single wound remaining. He would go on to barely pass his grounding test and Scour the Skies would continue to elude the Blood Angels. 

Both Tactical Squads were sent into a rage after watching their Librarian Dreadnought fall in battle. They set their sights on the Hive Crone and unleashed a hail of fire. All in all they were able to score 4 unsaved wounds against the Crone, leaving it with just one left! If it failed the grounding test at the end of phase, it would almost certainly die and score a point for the Blood Angels.

In the other flank, the Lascannon Devastator continued to hit the mark by putting a wound against the Malanthrope - the Space Marines were beginning to focus down the pesky Shrouded provider. The Librarian got off Blood Boil against the Termagants, killing 5 or 6 of the little guys with the warp charge 2 witchfire. He did suffer a Perils of the Warp and rolled a 1, but passing the ensuing leadership test meant he just took a wound for his troubles. Lemartes' Death Company, the Librarian's Command Squad, and Gabriel Seth's Sanguinary Guard all charged in against the Termagants. It was an absolute massacre. Not a single Termagant survived, and the Blood Angels hadn't even rolled most of their attacks. 

A pile of blood and gore is all that remains of the 20-strong Termagant unit. The Sanguinary Guard, Death Company, and Command Squad all consolidate after the total destruction of the Tyranid unit. 

I was ok with this - the assault was a bit of an overkill and I'm happy that it was only the Termagants who fell, it easily could have been a lot worse if the Sanguinary Gaurd had charged in against my Carnifex or Malanthrope instead. Now the Blood Angels were all in the open and I would have some options of how to proceed. They were definitely a force to be reckoned with in close quarters. 

Unfortunately the Blood Angels were not able to score any of the Maelstrom points this turn - Objective 5 had been abandoned by the Command Squad in favour of more aggressive moves, while the Hive Tyrant and Crone's durability continued to frustrate the Space Marines. Turn two ended with the score sitting at 4-3 for the Tyranids.

Turn Three - Terror from the Deep

Tyranid Objectives: Overwhelming Firepower, No Prisoners, Witch Hunter

It seemed like all three objective cards begged me to focus down the wounded Blood Angels' Librarian. With three small squads in the open, and a 2-man Devastator Squad remaining in the ruins behind them, these objectives looked pretty do-able. 

The Ripper Swarms and Mawloc were still burrowing their way to the battle. The reserve rolls dictated that the Mawloc would arrive, but the Rippers would have to wait until turn four. With the three most threatening squads vulnerable to the Mawloc's Terror from the Deep attack, I decided to center the blast marker on the 2+ armour Sanguinary Guard and Gabriel Seth - they seemed to be the scariest unit on the table. 

The Mawloc rolls 12" on the scatter distance, but a Hit! result on the scatter die!!! This could be a game-changer, as all 6 of the terrifying models in the unit would take S6 AP2 hits. 

The first round of hits from the Mawloc resulted in 6 AP2 hits. 1 Sanguinary Guard was killed, but Gabriel Seth tanked the next 5 hits. He took 3 wounds and made 2 successful 4++ saves. Going into the second round of Terror from the Deep attacks, there were 5 models left, and Gabriel Seth had 1 wound remaining. All 5 hits wounded, and with Gabriel Seth failing his first invuln save, that meant that the remaining 4 Sanguinary Guard too were slain. Wow! The Mawloc had just taken out 355 points worth of terrifying elite models, as well as scored a point for Slay the Warlord and No Prisoners. With this one devastating blow, the battle seemed to swing heavily in the Tyranids' favour. 

Mawloc munches on Sanguinary Guard bits. I'm pretty sure Lemartes and his Death Company don't appreciate what just happened.

Nearby, the Carnifex poured fire into the Death Company while the Tervigon once again forgot to Spawn Termagants, but dealt some casualties to the Command Squad using her Shreddershard Beetles. 

The flank takes on an entirely new look after the Mawloc's devastating arrival. Lemartes has been slain by Carnifex fire while the Tervigon and Malanthrope are closing in on the Command Squad and the Librarian. Behind the scenes, the Hive Tyrant has taken out the remaining 2 members of the Devastator Squad.

The Hive Crone elected to fly off the map and enter ongoing reserves, not wanting to yield a point for Scour the Skies, as he had just one wound remaining. 

The Carnifex in the off flank had failed his Instinctive Behaviour test and was thrust into a rage, desperate to feed on the nearest enemy. He jumped off the building and attempted to charge the Tactical Squad, but failed the 11" charge. 

In the assault phase, the Tervigon and Malanthrope teamed up to wipe out the Librarian and 2 remaining Command Squad Veterans, while the Carnifex successfully finished off the last 2 of the Death Company. 

The game had taken a huge swing in a devastating Tyranid turn 3 - the Blood Angels had only two tactical squads remaining. No Prisoners would be a huge score for the Tyranids, as they had completely destroyed 7 units!!! (Gabriel Seth, Sanguinary Guard, Devastators, Lemartes, Death Company, Librarian, Command Squad). This yielded D3+3 victory points. An additional 3 points were scored for Overwhelming Firepower, Witch Hunter, and Slay the Warlord.

The flank belongs to the Tyranids. Most of them have been wounded, but they are now free to feed on the Blood Angels' biomass and regain their strength. Only two Tactical Squads remain off screen to the left.

The Malanthrope arrives and the
battle rages on.

It was a massive turn 3 for the Tyranids, who scored 8 points and all but secured the game. The Blood Angels entered the bottom of turn three trailing 12-3. 

Chaaaarge!

The game was over, but we decided to resolve the off-flank that saw 2 Tactical Squads facing off against a Malanthrope and Carnifex. 

After a few rounds of combat, the Tac squad had taken heavy casualties, but they employed all the Krak grenades in their arsenal to finally bring down the Tyranid Monstrous Creature! A moral victory for the Blood Angels, surely. 

Ripper Swarms finally arrive to feed on the fallen Blood Angels... but first they have to bail out the Malanthrope. 

Last Man Standing - the last of the Blood Angels holds his resolve as he is finally overrun by the swarms and consumed by the Malanthrope's feeder tendrils.

Conclusion (12-3 Tyranids)

What a fun game! The Blood Angels have some really scary close combat synergies and awesome models - it was a joy to go up against them. The game was very tight until everything crumbled for the Space Marines on turn 3. I was surprised by how much damage the Nids were able to do. The Mawloc is worth his weight in gold - taking out Gabriel Seth and his Sanguinary Guard was absolutely massive!

In hindsight there were a couple of gaffes that could have influenced the game, and something to remember for the future. Here are my takeaways for this game:

1. I forgot to spawn termagants every turn... Oops!! I need to remind myself to not do this.

2. When playing against a Mawloc, spread out your units as best as possible. Make the most of the 2" unit coherency requirement to ensure that less will die (either that or place them upstairs in multi-level ruins, since the attack hits the bottom floor only).

3. Rolling a Hit! result with Mawlocs is pretty awesome.

4. Tactical Squads can take out Hive Crones/Harpies - be careful with positioning.

5. I think my opponent may have made a bit of an error by having all 3 of his units charge the Termagants. I feel like just one of the units would have been sufficient to take them out, while the other two could potentially have engaged the Carnifex and/or Malanthrope, doing more damage overall and possibly changing the course of events in the ensuing Tyranid turn 3.

This game was great fun. I look forward to seeing the Blood Angels in battle again soon!

Nidzilla is victorious!

40k #6 - Imperial Fists vs Tyranids (1500 pts Maelstrom)

It's March Break here in Canada and as a result there is a flurry of gaming activity going on at the Hairy Tarantula. Today saw several games go down, and the one I'll be showcasing is a 1500 point game between Taher's growing Imperial Fists force and my Hive Fleet Behemoth Tyranids.

We had settled on the game size and that it would be a Maelstrom game, so I decided to be cheeky and brought two very different lists - I would have Taher roll to see which list I field. One was a Nidzilla type list comprised almost exclusively of monstrous creatures, while the other was built around an Endless Swarm formation from the Leviathan supplement. He rolled a 4 and that meant I would be fielding my swarm list. I was excited to play this sort of list since it was my first time fielding so many little gribblies after building my Swarm box a couple of weeks ago!

The battlefield set-up is complete. We went for a relatively sparse scattering of buildings but made sure to include a line-of-sight blocking structure in the center of the battlefield. 

The Armies

The Imperial Fist successor chapter is ready
for battle.

Taher's Imperial Fist force was a single CAD that was built around a high infantry model count and the use of dedicated transports across the board. He would deploy only his Tactical Squads, embarked within their Rhinos. The heavy hitting combo of Stormraven, Dreadnought, and Command Squad with Chapter Master would arrive (hopefully) on turn two and lay waste to their target(s). 

It looks like a resilient list capable of fighting for map control with 45 infantry and 5 vehicles to protect them.

Imperial Fists - Combined Arms Detachment

Chapter Master (Artificer Armour, Storm Shield)

5x Command Squad (Apothecary)

1x Dreadnought (TL Lascannon, Multi-Melta, Power Fist, Storm Bolter)

10x Sternguard Veteran Squad (2x Heavy Flamer)

Dedicated Transport - Drop Pod (Deathwind Launcher)

10x Tactical Squad (Missile Launcher)

Dedicated Transport - Rhino

10x Tactical Squad (Missile Launcher)

Dedicated Transport - Rhino

10x Tactical Squad (Missile Launcher)

Dedicated Transport - Rhino

Stormraven Gunship (4 Stormstrike Missiles, TL Lascannon, TL Multi-Melta, 2x Hurricane Bolters)

Tyranids (CAD + Formation + Allied Detachment)

My list was built around an Endless Swarm formation at the core. The idea was to throw waves and waves of bodies at the Space Marines, overwhelming him with sheer numbers while the hard-hitting MCs could focus on priority targets. The Malanthropes were there to provide shrouded to as many units as they could, as well as for some extra synapse redundancy. 

The Trygon Prime's function was to burrow in and create a hole through which returning troops from the endless swarm could re-enter battle to have an immediate impact. The Trygon Prime's special rule allows for troop models arriving from reserves to essentially enter via scatter-less deep strike in the area which he used to initially enter the game. This synergizes very nicely with the endless swarm formation, since their special rule allows them to roll a die after a unit is destroyed - on a 4+ that unit would simply go into ongoing reserves and re-enter the game automatically on the next turn. Instead of having to place them on my board edge where there may or may not be synapse available, I would be able to have them pop out of the hole the Trygon created and get right back into the fray.

The Tyranids enjoyed an almost 2-1 numbers advantage with 82 infantry models and 3 Monstrous Creatures to provide the heavy hitting where it would be needed.

The Tyranid force has an intimidating model count as well as a few hard-hitting monstrous creatures. All in all 15 distinct scoring units, 6 of which would be eligible to re-enter play on a 4+ the turn after which they are destroyed.

Combined Arms Detachment

Hive Tyrant (Wings, 2x TL Devourers w/ Brainleech worms) - Dominion, Paroxysm, Catalyst

1x Malanthrope

1x Malanthrope

2x Zoanthropes - Dominion, Warp Blast, Psychic Scream

1x Mucolid Spore

1x Mucolid Spore

Hive Crone (no upgrades)

Trygon Prime (no upgrades)

Endless Swarm Formation

3x Tyranid Warriors (3x Rending Claws, 1x Barbed Strangler)

10x Hormagaunts

10x Hormagaunts

10x Hormagaunts

10x Termagants

10x Termagants

10x Termagants

Allied Detachment - Genestealer Cult

Patriarch Ghosar - Dominate, Mental Fortitude

12x Acolyte Hybrids

The Mission

We rolled the Spoils of War mission from the BRB. There are 6 objectives placed on the battlefield. Each player draws cards until they have 3 in their hand at the start of each turn. Unlike other scenarios, you are not permitted to discard mission cards titled "Secure Objective X", and can indeed score objective cards held by either yourself or your opponent. 

The Imperial Statuary from what would be the Imperial Fist deployment zone. It watches over the battlefield willing the Astartes to victory.

Due to the mission special rules, there would be a greater emphasis on board control and holding objectives even when you don't necessarily have a card to score that objective at the moment. This jived well with my swarmy list since I had an abundance of units that could hold objectives, though it also  benefited Taher's army since he had a large number of units and transports that could divide and conquer the battlefield - he also held an advantage in that he was running a CAD with objective secured troops choices whereas all of my troops were either from my endless swarm formation (no obsec), or mucolid spores (non-scoring units). 

The Battlefield & Deployment

Lately I have been pushing for using a bit less terrain - We were coming off a long kill team campaign and had gotten into the habit of making  beautiful terrain-heavy maps, however I feel that this was disturbing the balance of the game a bit and particularly favouring my Tyranids due to their plethora of ways to abuse cover (shrouded, being able to approach into assault range without being exposed to danger, etc.). 

Objectives numbered 1 through 6. Each deployment zone had 2 easy to grab objectives while #'s 5 and 6 in the center would sure to be hotly contested. (#4 is in the small building on the far side).

This is the view from the Tyranid deployment zone, as the Imperial Fists chose to deploy along the far table edge.

The full Space Marine deployment.
3 Tactical Squads embarked in
their dedicated Rhinos.

Tyranid deployment. Wave after wave of
Tyranids set to charge forward. Each blob
has synapse from 2 sources and the
Malanthropes are giving everything
Shrouded except for the Patriarch + Acolytes.

It was a Dawn of War style deployment, and Taher won the roll-off to choose table sides. He also chose to deploy and to go first. 

The entirety of the Imperial Fist force would be deployed within transport vehicles. All three ten-man Tactical Squads started the game embarked in their Rhinos. The remainder of the Space Marine force was held in deep strike reserves; the Sternguard would be entering via drop-pod on turn one, while the Command Squad, joined by the Chapter Master, was riding in the Stormraven Gunship along with the Dreadnought. 

My army didn't have too much in terms of deployment shenanigans. It was mostly a straight up standard deployment. The Patriarch joined up with the Acolyte Hybrids to infiltrate forward closer to the center of the battlefield, while the Trygon Prime and two Mucolid Spores would be held in deep strike reserves. 

I attempted to seize the initiative but was unsuccessful - it was time for Imperial Fists, Turn One.

Turn One 

Imperial Fists Objectives: Secure Objective 4, Hold the Line, Hungry for Glory

The set of objectives was relatively kind to the Space Marines. Objective 4 would be an easy grab as it was already held - within their deployment zone. Hold the Line too would be an easy task - they would just hold back with at least 3 Squads / Rhinos - a sound tactic anyway given the waves of Tyranids down their sights. 

Unfortunately Hungry for Glory would be a throw-away at the end of the turn since the only characters that could be challenged within the Tyranid force were Patriarch Ghosar and the Hive Tyrant - not a desirable proposition for the Marines. 

  The Sternguard Veterans' Drop Pod 

The Sternguard Veterans arrived via Drop Pod on turn one. They chose an extremely aggressive position, hoping to take control of the center by landing on objective #6. They disembarked and put all of their AP4 Kraken Rounds into the Hive Crone, which was still gliding, and would be vulnerable with its 4+ armour save. The hail of fire caused the Crone to Jink, otherwise it would likely be shot down. They managed an impressive 8 wounds against the Hive Crone, however the 4+ Jink save was boosted to a 2+ thanks to the Malanthrope's Shrouded bubble, and the Tyranid flyer was able to evade the incoming fire - no unsaved wounds were inflicted!

These Sternguard Veterans know no fear, dropping right into the thick of things.

Two of the Imperial Fist squads disembarked from their Rhinos and entered the ruins housing objectives #2 and 4 - preparing to dig in and hold the line. The third Rhino sped toward the Tyranids, moving at Cruising Speed to nab Objective #5, hopefully denying it from the enemy force. 

At the end of their first turn the Imperial Fists had done little damage, but they had fanned out and controlled 4 objectives, meaning that the Tyranids would have to work for their map control. The Space Marines were off to an early 2-0 lead.

Tyranid Objectives: Hold the Line, No Prisoners, Overwhelming Firepower

The Tyranid force begins its advance. The
Sternguard and their Drop Pod are caught
in a precarious position.

The Hive Crone one-shots the
Drop Pod, taking the threat of its
Deathwind Launchers out of play.

With the Space Marines' ample early board control, I was relieved to see no "secure objective x" cards. In fact all 3 of the cards drawn on turn one seemed pretty easy - the Hive Tyrant is almost a lock to kill at least one light armour vehicle per shooting phase, and that alone would score 2 of the 3 cards. Hold the Line was also a gimme, since I could just hang back a bit with 3 of my 15 units to score the point. 

In the movement phase all of the gribblies piled forward - bounding over the Promethium Pipeline that was in their way. Two units of Termagants and the unit of Warriors hung back to ensure that Hold the Line would be scored. 

The Hive Tyrant and Crone both took to the skies. The Tyrant flew on top of the central ruins structure, securing ample vision of the battlefield as well as a cover save. The Hive Crone, having jinked earlier this turn, would not be able to fire its Drool Cannon, so it swooped directly forward in order to hit the Drop Pod with a S8 AP2 Raking Strike.

The Hive Crone's Raking Strike was resolved at the end of the movement phase. With a roll of 5 to pen and 6 on the vehicle damage result table, the Drop Pod was instantly exploded by the Tyranid flyer! First Blood was secured for the Hive Fleet Behemoth Tyranids, as was at least one point for No Prisoners.

End of Tyranid movement phase - the swarms are quickly closing ground against the Imperial Fist force.

In the Psychic Phase, the Hive Tyrant targeted the Sternguard with Paroxysm. The ability went off and they were left at a paltry WS/BS 1 until the next Tyranid psychic phase! The Tyrant was also able to get off Catalyst, giving himself as well as the Patriarch and his Acolytes Feel No Pain. The Tyrant did suffer a Perils of the Warp result and lost a wound, however he passed his grounding test and still had 3 wounds remaining.

The shooting phase was underway, and most of the Tyranid force elected to run forward and close the gap. Shooting from Termagants felled a couple of the Sternguard Veterans, while the Hive Tyrant was able to destroy the tactical squad's Rhino, forcing them from the safety of their Dedicated Transport and leaving them vulnerable to charges. This scored Overwhelming Firepower for the Tyranids.

A unit of Hormagaunts as well as the Malanthrope were able to make a charge into the Sternguard Veterans who were now caught in the open. The melee however resulted in a draw, with just one unsaved wound per side.

At the end of turn one, the Tyranids had scored a point for all 3 of their objective cards, as well as an additional point for First Blood, going into turn two with a 4-2 lead.

Turn Two

Imperial Fists Objectives: Secure Objective 2, Secure Objective 4, Domination

While objectives 2 and 4 would be easy takes for the Space Marines (both were within their own deployment zone), Domination was an unfortunate draw. I'm really not a fan of this card - holding all 6 objectives is quite a tall order.

Stormraven arrives with both the Hive Crone and Tyrant in its sights. The Dreadnought and Chapter Master with his Command Squad would disembark from the Zooming Flyer to support their Tactical Squad that had just hopped out of their wrecked Rhino (center).

The Stormraven Gunship and its precious cargo entered play at the start of turn two. They flew in to bolster the Fists' left flank. The Dreadnought was dropped off, scattering a bit further from the action than he wanted, as did the Chapter Master's Command Squad.

An ongoing combat between Hormagaunts and the Malanthrope rages to the right as the two Rhinos are set to Tank Shock the advancing Hormagaunts.

On the other flank, two empty Rhinos sped into the Tyranid ranks to create a diversion and halt their advance. Their respective Tactical squads were holed up within ruins holding Objectives 2 and 4.

After the Chapter Master disembarked from the Stormraven, he called in an Orbital Strike right into the center of mass of the Tyranids' right flank. The scatter was unfavourable however and the blast only caught two Hormagaunts who miraculously were both able to avoid being wounded by the S10 AP1 ignores cover blast.

The Stormraven set its sights on the Tyranid Warlord, peppering him with fire from a Lascannon, Multi-Melta, and Missiles. The Tyrant was able to evade most of the shooting, but did take an unsaved wound, leaving him at 2 and forcing yet another grounding test at the end of the phase (which he would go on to pass).

The 2 Tactical Squads at the back lines were able to snipe a few Hormagaunts from range, while the Tactical Squad that had been forced to disembark from their wrecked Rhino decimated the Patariarch's Acolyte unit, leaving them at less than half strength.

In the assault phase, there were no new assaults to declare. The Malanthrope and Hormagaunts continued their ongoing melee against the Sternguard Veterans. The Tyranids continued to exchange equal number of wounds with the Sternguard, however the trade of 1 Sternguard for 1 Hormagaunt heavily favoured the Tyranids.

At the end of their turn two, the Imperial Fists had scored 2 additional points to tie the score at 4's.

Tyranid Objectives: Secure Objective 6, Secure Objective 1, Big Game Hunter

Objective 1 was already held by Termagants that had hung back within the Tyranid deployment zone, while the Tyranids would have to get rid of the Sternguard to score Objective 6 this turn. It looked like Big Game Hunter was a lock since there were two squishy Rhinos right in the thick of things. Surely at least one could be taken out to score a point for Hive Fleet Behemoth.

Trygon Prime has entered play. He'll be able to plug some S5 shots into the rear armour of the Rhinos this turn, and provide a nice forward location for further reinforcements.

Before any of that however, I had to roll for reserves. Both Mucolids as well as the Trygon Prime would be entering play. I wanted the Trygon to enter in the most central location possible since the hole he creates when he enters play could be used by gaunts returning to action using the Endless Swarm formation's special rule. He rolled a Hit! on the scatter die and came in right behind the two Rhinos.

I was really hoping to be able to get a Vector strike off against the Stormraven with the Hive Crone, but my opponent had smartly positioned his flyer so that was impossible. Looking at his movement options for next turn, I decided to take a risk and go into Gliding mode so that I could get into a position from which I would be able to Vector Strike the Stormraven next turn no matter where it went.

The Hive Tyrant stayed in Swooping mode however, and flew toward the Space Marines' Flyer.

The rest of the Tyranid horde kept advancing forward, slowly taking over the map in a sea of chitin and talons.

The Sternguard Veterans fight against insurmountable odds. Two tactical squads provide fire support, just out of view from the top edge of the shot, however there are simply more bodies than bullets.

The Stormraven has crashed and the Hive
Tyrant has destroyed the Dreadnought.

The Zoanthropes were now within range to support the Malanthrope and Hormagaunts' combat with a Psychic Scream - a nova power that can hit units locked in combat. Two of the Sternguard were vanquished, leaving just three to fight against the incoming waves.

Wave upon wave of xenos lurch
forward against the Imperial Fists'
back lines.

In the Shooting Phase, the Hive Crone put two if its Tentaclids to use against the Stormraven. Two hits from the Haywire missiles scored - and I rolled boxcars for penetration! The Stormraven failed both of its Jink saves, and a further 6 meant that the Zooming Flyer would immediately Crash and Burn!!! To make matters worse, this freed up the Hive Tyrant to shoot at the AV12 Dreadnought - the Tyrant was able to score enough glances against the Walker to wreck it as well! Two significant losses dealt to the Imperial Fists meant a comeback would be a steep uphill battle for them.

The Patriarch and his Acolytes were now able to charge, and they took minimal casualties to overwatch before completely destroying the remaining Tactical Marines that stood in their way.

Support from a charging Termagant Brood was simply too much for the Sternguard - they were slain to the last man in the assault phase. The smaller Tyranids consolidated forward while the Malanthrope stayed back to consume their bodies. Now the entire Tyranid flank would have Preferred Enemy as a result of the Malanthrope's Prey Adaptation special rule! Objective 6 was secured and the odds seemed heavily stacked against the Space Marines.

The Chapter Master and his Command Squad survive the crash of their Stormraven, but are staring down seemingly endless waves of Tyranids.

Both flanks have completely crumbled for the Space Marines. Only two Tactical Squads and the Command Squad are left to see turn three.

At the end of turn two the Tyranids had scored 3 more points to take a 7-4 lead.

Conclusion

With only 3 units left and no way to deal with the Tyranid flyers and sheer numbers of advancing bodies, the Chapter Master ordered an evacuation and heavy orbital bombardment into the area. The Tyranids were victorious with a 7-4 victory.

This was a decisive win for the Tyranids, but in truth it could have gone quite differently had I not been as lucky on some rolls. I think there were a couple of missteps on the Imperial Fists side - his Sternguard were sort of left out to dry with that aggressive Drop Pod location. The two tactical squads on that same flank were a bit too far away to provide effective fire support to the Pod and Sternguard.

The conclusion of the game reveals a board overrun with Tyranids. The Imperium will have no choice but to order an Exterminatus.

But really I just got extremely lucky against the Space Marine vehicles, managing to one-shot the Drop Pod, Stormraven, and Dreadnought. I'm sure the game would have been a lot closer if those key vehicles had survived to put more fire into my Flyers and Swarms.

I was very pleased with the performance of the swarm list - the Malanthropes were absolutely instrumental in both providing synapse redundancy as well as what would amount to army-wide Shrouded and Preferred Enemy with some good positioning.