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!