Showing posts with label Tyranid Bastion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tyranid Bastion. Show all posts

Friday 17 May 2019

1750pts battle report - Imperial Knights & Dark Angels v Tyranids

Otty had a free evening and wanted to arrange a game but that created a problem as I wanted to run my Knights for convenience but I was certain Otty's Tyranids would be on the road to a hiding if I did. Once again I looked at some of the narrative missions but as it turned out we went with the same mission I played with Liam - the Echoes of War mission in Vigilus Defiant called Forlorn Charge. It was Knights and Freeblades versus Ork Stompas, Morkanauts and Gorkanauts. It compressed the Knights into a 2'x2' corner with the 'Orks' creating their 'scrap city' and deploying first. There were also benefits for running a Fortification network and some additional stratagems.

 

What we did was swap out the Ork elements for Monstrous Creatures. This wasn't too bad really as victory conditions were for my Knights to destroy all his Knights and buildings for a Major Victory, Minor if I killed more than were left alive and Defeat if it was any other result. Otty went with 2 Tyrannofex, Old One Eye and 5 Screamer Killers, a Harpy, a Trygon and a Trygon Prime and a load of Hive Guard which we put in his Bastion with a Quad Gun. All in I think he had around 2,000pts [not including the Bastion].


Otty deployed the terrain and put the Bastion [gaining 3CP extra] in his back corner out of reach of my Knights with the Hive Guard inside. The Tyrannofex and Harpy offered support.


But he deployed the Carnifex right opposite me just 12" away. Now the mission stipulates I would get first turn but I realised with his Carnifex that close my Knights would stomp all over them so I gave him first turn. Tyranids had raised a barricade across the battlefield to slow my advance down.


The Tyrannofex shot at the Lancer, doing some damage with the Harpy. The Hive Guard were out of range. Otty's scratchbuilt Spore Pods almost look like they've just disgorged the monstrous brood, they did however form sufficient obstacles to prevent a straight run at my Knights.


So charge distances were not a sure thing at least.


Out of the 6 Carnifex OOE and 3 others were the only ones to make their charge. A bikes took mortal wounds from the charge, then Lady Pettorini was battered, first one Screamer Killer taking off 3 wounds, then another taking 3 more. Then Old One Eye ripped her to pieces with 18 and thus illustrates our lack of experience. OOE should have gone first and then I should have interrupted, but I forgot and Otty was systematically going from left to right instead logically going from best to worst.


To cap it all I eagerly wanted to blow up, hoping to use the Noble Sacrifice stratagem but was reading the Valiant Last Stand, which would have allowed me to attack if I didn't blow up and I got a 6, so it blew up anyway! I could have re-rolled and then used the strat but it was all so farcical. Bikes died in the explosion a Carnifex took 5 wounds, OOE and another 1 and the final one 6. Ser Ellenbogen and and Armiger also took damage.


With the Carnifex being the immediate threat I repositioned, with the Ravenwing falling back, Ser Ellenbogen vaporising one Carnifex and the Warglaive taking another. I charged the three remaining monsters and killed OOE, but Otty used the strat to attack before he dies - putting wounds on my Knights. He then used the interrupt strategy too! Suddenly my combat phase was Otty's and yet more wounds went on the Knights, the Lancer was down to 13 at least.


It was not enough though and Warglaive and Ser Ellenbogen wiped the Carnifex from the face of the planet, just the last remaining Carnifex in that corner. It was quite surprising how ineffective OOE was this turn, to which I think I recalled in the first round we'd been doing 2's to wound on the Knights when it should have been 3's.


My second Warglaive had tried to bring the Harpy down but failed due to being damaged. The Harpy returned the favour in Otty's turn 2 over-flying the Knight and leaving Spore Mines in my DZ.


But with Heavy Venom Cannons the Armiger couldn't stand.


 Bursting from the ground the Tyrgon and Trygon Prime were possibly going to stall my advance and allow the Tfex another round of shooting. I think the second Warglaive was their target and I burned a re-roll to keep it's last wound and force the second lot of shooting on it.


It took the brunt and fell, sacrificing itself to leave the larger Knights [mostly] unmolested.


Ser Ellenbogen smooshed the Carnifex and moved off, with neither of the Trygon's making their charges - the Tyranid barricade proving equally disruptive to it's own as well as the Knights.


But not in my turn as the Lancer stormed behind one Trygon and Ser Ellenbogen went for the Prime.


Inevitably the Tyranids couldn't stand against such titanic opponents and both Knights consolidated toward the remaining monsters and Bastion.


The Tyrannofex were not to be steamrolled so easily though and took all but 1 wound off the Lancer with their Rupture Cannons and the managed to take it down with a single Stinger Salvo wound that I failed to save. With the Lancer gone Ser Ellenbogen couldn't make the charge to the last Tfex [the other one shot by the Thermal Cannon]. And with that we called it a night, I'd secured a minor victory with the Carnifex gone anyway.


Thankfully Otty felt like it was a good game but clearly it was very one-sided in favour of the Knights, despite:
  • 250pts+ extra
  • a free Bastion
  • first turn advantage
  • Deployment map having just 12" no man's land
  • OOE wounding on 2s instead of 3s
  • forgetting to 'interrupt'
It just illustrates the advantage Knights have over some other factions [or in general] and taking into account I'm not a good player too! Next time I'll go back to Tyranids as I think there are learning opportunities for us both if we run the same faction, much the same way as I learned things when Liam and I both had Knights. With hindsight the Hive Guard were wrongly positioned in the Bastion, if they'd been in the crater behind the Capillary Tower they'd have been double shooting each turn. Also the Trygons could have been on the board with the Carnifex or on my other flank to force me to split my army up. Again that 12" No Man's Land and first turn could have been used more to Otty's advantage. Hindsight = 20:20!

Friday 18 August 2017

2000pts battle report - Tyranids v Dark Angels - Game 5 - North West Open

The North West Open Tournament @ Wargames is an ITC format competition using the following rules pack: ITC 8th ed Combined Arms Missions. Each mission was rolled for randomly before the game and we were then all told which one to play.

Game 5 low down:
  • Scenario 4 - The Scouring [check the rules pack linked above for all the details]
  • Search & Destroy deployment
  • 1 Eternal War Objective and 2 Maelstrom
Moving down the tables I was on table 26 with only one pair below me and my partner Colin Mill's Dark Angels. However, it turned out the two other players were 'no shows' and as such I'd managed to reach the bottom table - we were indeed fighting for the Wooden Spoon! The added bonus for me was seeing how Dark Angels fare in 8th. Colin had a vehicle heavy list [all lists are here], Razorbacks, couple of Predators, two Dreadnoughts and two Las Cannon Devastators with Azrael to buff his nearby units behind that ruin in the top left.


I got first turn and rolled hold objective 1 and 2 for Maelstrom which meant I could swap them for hold 3 objectives. It's a bigger gamble but the rewards were 3 VPs instead on a max of 2. It was doable as all three objectives were within [Death] spittingdistance of my DZ. I mean it was a competitive decision, I felt I had a 65-75% chance of success given the bodies on the board but failure would push me into Wooden Spoon territory. I couldn't ignore the chance, to do so would spurned the gift, so I went for it.


Flyrant and Carnifex moved on one of the Razorbacks, but no First Blood in this game! The Flyrant was spectacularly inneffective against the tank. He really needs a Melee weapon if I'm going to play him like this. I think further insult was added by possibly being killed by Colin in his following turn, he doesn't appear in any further pictures.


I thinned out the Devastators in the Ruins opposite my DZ but the 2 remaining wouldn't break.


The returned fire by killing the Tervigon. Support from the Predators were surprisingly effective, their Auto Cannon was particularly brutal, propmpting me to consider moving my own one further up my 2017/18 Hobby Season To Do List. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to pull me off my objectives and I gained 3 VPs in my turn.


Colin had inadvertanly positioned his units in such a way as to make my Trygon tunnel really difficult to place. I coudl certainly put them down, just nowhere to take benefit of their deployment, with trees and choke points all around. However, I'd drawn objective 1 and 2 again so a second chanc eto convert that to 3 objectives. The odds were prety even in success now. Without the Tervigon the Trygon and Genestealers could soak up the fire while everything else secured the three objectives.


The Carnifex attempted what the Flyrant had failed to do and were equally unable to complete the task. The fact their Thresher Scyth tails is only S4 the reason for their inability to wound the tank.


And therefore paid the price as the Razorback fell back leaving them exposed.


And one Carnifex went down.


The Trygon Prime was also felled but my line stayed true and I was able to secure another 3 VPs in my turn.


I drew hold objective 2 and kill a unit. I'm not entirely sure what went down in this turn 3 [our final turn, believe it or not]. I know I ultimately scored both Maelstrom objectives. I think the Razorback got destroyed, I couldn't quite get the last Devastator in the ruins and my remaining Genestealers tried to assault the two Razorbacks in the woods, not sure how many survived but the end of the game I'd won 8 VPs for Maelstrom [thanks to the three objective gambles], we tied the Eternal War mission on 4 VPs each and I got Linebreaker for my Carnifex while Colin Scored Big Game Hunter and Slay the Warlord - final score 13-6 to me - a win!


Because of the win I was out of the Wooden Spoon competition and I was convinced Colin had been successful but he actually lost out on that 'accolade' by one VP. I suppose it's no surprise to discover that Colin's experience was limited, this may well have been his first five games of 8th if I recall but his sportsmanship was awesome and such a genuinely friendly bloke, his kilt was also particularly special :)


There we have it, five games, one win, about right and Martin [owner of Wargames] did say, with no disrespect, that I'd found my place. The third floor was by far the most relaxed, even Aceface said it got progressively tense the higher up the tables [the lower down the building]. Every game was a treat, every player was a true gentleman of the hobby and as you know I did come away with Best Army and £50 to spend which will cover the Tyranid Codex and perhaps go towards an Exocrine if they ever return.


I think as a 'make or break' for 8th it's been apparent in my reports and comments that I still have reservations. It's such a change that it's clear I can't continue to play 8th as I have 5th, 6th and 7th. Bottom line Tyranids are competitive and I currently am not. Whether getting better at the game can be achieved without that need to be ruthless that seems to predicate success I don't know.

The ITC format was interesting in the Maelstrom missions only scoring in your subsequent turn - this certainly led to some tactical thought to ensure you would still score your points after your opponents turn. But beyond that I think tactics in general have taken a huge hit. I keep referring to the first turn - regardless of missions it seems you have to decapitate as much of your opponent as you can because they're sure as hell going to do that to you. Once you've blunted their force you have room to deal with whatever tactical missions are on the cards.

I confess I'm not sure how this is different from me always striving for First Blood. but that can be achieved with just one unit, however small and a wrecked Rhino isn't exactly ruining your day. Purge the Alien missions have always been my least favourite missions but it seems like this forms the core introduction to how 8th games pan out. Maybe there's a little more finesse I'm missing because I'll admit my grasp of how to approach games is sorely lacking. But this is still coming to terms with 8th and so long as my mates are still invested and I'm still having fun, which the NWO provided in abundance I'll be there. Next stop - Nevermind the Blog Wars.

Wednesday 16 August 2017

2000pts battle report - Tyranids v Astra Milliwhatsit [TANKS!] - Game 4 - North West Open

The North West Open Tournament @ Wargames is an ITC format competition using the following rules pack: ITC 8th ed Combined Arms Missions. Each mission was rolled for randomly before the game and we were then all told which one to play.

Game 4 low down:
  • Scenario 6 - Secure & Control [check the rules pack linked above for all the details]
  • Spearhead Assault deployment
  • 1 Eternal War objective and 2 Maelstrom objectives
Day two and after three losses I moved down to table 26, but I was so happy as it was Red Planet BASE! It would transpire my opponent was a 'no show' and as there were two missing I was matched against one of my Double Trouble 2 partners and Birthday Bash Veteran Rob Nathan. However Rob was not bringing his White Scars this time, he'd brought TANKS! and bucket loads of them, including a Shadow Sword! With such a destructive weapon on the board I didn;t see much point in putting the Hive Guard in the Bastion. I assumed as it was such a big target it would be knocked down pretty smartish.


So everything huddled behind the hills, if not in cover at least attempting to be out of sight. Unfortunately not out of sight enough as the Bastion was ignored and the Shadowsword put it's shooting into the Tervigon in Rob's first turn.


Luckily it's weapons weren't quite fired up and the Tervigon survived on three wounds.


The rest of his tanks drew their aim at my Carnifex.


Stripping off five wounds...


and then the last three to score First Blood and most likely a Maelstrom point.


My turn and I had to hold Objective 2, just in front of the Bastion and kill a unit. The remaining Carnifex Advanced, supported by the Flyrant. I targeted the nearest Leman Russ think I managed to degrade it to just a few wounds but ultimately couldn't complete my kill a unit Maelstrom mission.


The Tervigon and Termagants also Advanced, with the Brood Mother replenishing any casualties from the first turn of shooting.


But their progress did not go unnoticed and the Tervigon was shot to pieces.


The Carnifex too was judged an immediate threat and reduced to 2 wounds...


and then none like it's sibling. My push forward was being blunted pretty effectively.


With less threats on the board Rob had opportunity to focus on the Bastion, stripping 13 wounds off it!


As my assault diminished I tried to hunker down, retreating my Malanthrope to bolster my defences and score both objective 2 and have 3 units and no enemy units in my DZ. I knew how devastating the Guard shooting could be and having the Bastion, Hive Guard, Rippers, Warriors, Termagants and Malanthrope gave me double the units I needed for a bit of redundancy.


While my push forward added a further distraction when the Genestealers and Trygon arrived in their tunnel. 
But before I sent in the ground troops the Flyrant tried to assault the super heavy but they were waiting for him and the Volcan Cannon overwatched him like an insignificant fly.
The Genestealers failed their charge and the Trygon need a charge of 8" to reach the Shadowsword and I typically rolled a 1 and 2. So I used a command point to re-roll the 1 hoping for a 6


and only went and got it!


The Trygon managed to take it to 9 wounds, or do 9 wounds, not sure, but Rob said it was equal to the most amount of damage it had received in all the games, unfortunately not half as successful as it should have been.


Rob retaliated by destroying the Bastion.


The reveresed out of the combat to shoot the Trygon point blank, then mop up the Genestealers with ease.


We tied for Eternal War objectives, both holding our own and scoring 4 points each but Rob had the Maelstrom mission for 8, First blood and Slay the Warlord for another 2. Final score was 14:4 another loss, but another great game and nice to pair up with Rob again. This is the great thing about the hobby and these tournaments, gettign to see the same faces again and catching up.


As much as I'm enjoying the games, at this stage I'm a little disappointed about how bad I'm playing. I don't honestly think it's the 'nids, they just feel like a tool I don't know how to use. I think I'm actually going to be in with a shout for Wooden Spoon which would be an achievement of some sort but although it might be coming across as 'protesting too much' about not winning the fact is I don't mind losing so long as I gave it my best and right now my best is pretty rubbish. Still, on to the last game.