Monday 31 March 2014

400,000

Who knows, maybe GW will take the idea above and run with it...
400,000 hits and once again I've managed to get the next 100,000 in record time. There's not much I can say except as 'keeping score goes' it's always nice to see people coming along and enjoying the blog. It obviously takes a lot of time and effort, I spend far too much time writing than I probably should but it's the addiction that's compelling me to do so. Slightly better for me than Class A drugs though, but they're probably a cheaper alternative to plastic toy soldiers!

The blog is going nowhere, I'm not sure what I've got to feature over the next few months, I definitely have plans but I'd love to have that list of half a months scheduled blogposts like I used to, maybe I should just finish up the 22 posts I have in draft format! We'll get there, but best of all we'll get there together!

Thanks again to everyone who visits, you make it all worthwhile, although I'm sure at Wargamers Anonymous you'd be labelled 'enablers' but I appreciate you regardless. 

Throne of Skulls March 2014 - Battle 2, Tyranids Vs Nurgle Chaos Space Marines

Karma is a B1TCH right? Be careful what you wish for, or in this case be careful what you don't wish for because who do I get for game number 2, only my old mate Liam, he of the Scratchbuilt Warhound and Warlord fame and Blue Warp Studios blogger extraordinaire. Just to remind you Liam had been categorically stating he did not want to face my Tyranid Brood Nest Fortifications, ever! And here we where, I mean he suggested we ask to swap partners, afterall the chances were that one of us would be losing this game and that wasn't going to do our group effort any favours. But in the spirit of the game I suggested that the Chaos Powers had decided Liam's protestations were unfounded and he needed to face this imagined impossible opponent and overcome.

Psychic Powers
Winged Tyrant HQTervigon CC HQTervigon Plain TrZoanthope
DominionCatalystParoxysmOnslaught
Catalyst

Warp Blast

The low down:
  • Purge the Alien
  • Hammer and Anvil
  • Liam won deployment
  • Warlord Trait - Nature's Bane - forest becomes 'carnivorous' within 12" of Warlord
  • Night fighting turn one, I think
So the big debate before we begin is that Liam has 9 kill points and I have 8 but he asks about the Bastion as a Kill Point to which I explain the vagaries of the rule surrounding that. In Stronghold Assault it is stated you do not get a Victory Point when destroying a Fortification unless both players agree beforehand and ordinarily I'm not going to do that but Liam pointed out he was already 1pt down and seemed to think he had nothing to damage it anyway, although I believe the Las-Cannons on that Land Raider would do a good job of reducing it to rubble, something I pointed out to him just before I capitulated and let it be 9pts each, we're mates afterall.

I split my Termagants again on the Skyshield, with the Hive Guard just off centre [underneath the Flyrant wings] in a position to hopefully get the Land Raider - my best chance. The Nephropid was at the back, probably too cautious with it really, the Zoanthrope [the 'Dorsal Nucleus of the Vagus Node'] hid behind one of the Skyshield supports and the Great maw was on my right flank, while my Trygon was set to Deep Strike.


While Liam just decided to occupy all the ruins. His Zombies filled the lower floor of his main building with his Maggot Chaos Spawn the first floor and the other ruin off to the lower left also filled with Zombies. When he'd played Otty the evening before they'd doen the same thing, filling out the entire building and when Otty's termagants got into assault they played it out on the back of the 40k rulebook as it was conveniently exactly the same size as the building - the assault went on for quite a while! Anyway, the only exposed units were the Obliterators on top of the ruins and the Land Raider carrying Typhus and his retinue.


So, first turn, the Land Raider shoots at the Bastion, penetrates it and it detonates! First Blood and one Kill Point to Liam - the swine! Thinking about it I probably should have got a cover save from the Aegis but it was still a blow.


I'm not sure what htis roll was for, there's 12 dice so probably my Flyrant's shooting attack, in which case hooray for twin-linked! 


The Brood moved up onto the Skyshield and the Hive Guard moved into range of the Land Raider.


I managed to put 3 wounds into the Oblits, killing the nearest thanks to my Flyrant. He's Catalysed and trying to get a cover save in the woods but I'm starting to see a bit of resistance to the idea they get a save because they're swooping, but they're swooping throught the trees!


The Hive Guard manage to ping the Land Raider but it's still got 3 Hull Points left.


The Hellflies buzz on, vector striking the Flyrant.


The Flyrant takes four wounds and I think only the Feel No Pain from Catalyst can save it and I get three 6's much to Liam's outcry of amazement! As far as I can tell I don't need to make a roll to see if it falls out of the sky, the rules only state shooting attacks but please if anyone knows different pass it on.


And the flies do a bit of shooting too


The Great maw heads for one of the woods. Foolishly I decide to make the other wood Carniverous with my Warlord trait, now I'm going to have to cross it...


Teh Brood also gets on the bug trampoline, just to try and survive the Hellfly attack that's imminent.


Hive Guard target the Land Raider again, moving to stay in range after it moved back.


My Spore Mines arrive and I find out the Zombies in the ruins have no ranged weaponry so no overwatch when I assault - they've a chance to do some real damage here.


The Flyrant glides to the roof, he assaults the Obliterators and kills them, ending the combat with only one wound left. The Chaos Spawn Maggots then crawl out of the ruins and surround the Tyrant.


They bundle in and it overwatches,


and following the roudn of combat one of the maggots is squished.


My Trygon arrives and takes a wound, either from the Carniverous forest or from deep striking into it. The Maggot Spawn bring down the Tyrant and consolidate out of the building. The Land Raider tries to tank shock the Spore Mines but they're Fearless so automatically get out of the way. They eventually assault the Zombies and I think kill only three, as they're also Fearless they stay in the building and do nothing.


The Hellflies continue to wreak havoc, and Liam starts to target the Trygon with them but he's taken another 4 wounds from shooting and as far as I can see the Spawn Maggots can do exactly the same to him as the they did the Flyrant so I suggest the do him over and the Hellflies target the brood on the Skyshield. I even find a way for the flamer to hit quite a few more targets than he originally intended. I'm about 5:1 down at this stage this just makes things more interesting before the inevitable happens.


Maggot Spawn take a wound and assault the Trygon.


The Flies Vector Strike as they exit the battlefield but do little damage.


I suddenly remember I can Paroxysm the Maggots to which Liam thinks he's been duped into assaulting the Trygon when he could have roasted it with the Hellflies. I'm still losing badly, even if the Trygon does what the Flyrant didn't it won't stand against the Terminators or the Land Raider and even with the -3 to WS the Maggots come close to killing the Trygon. Meanwhile Typhus finally ventures from his tin can on tracks and heads for the Great Maw.


The Trygon is just pathetic and only manages another wound on the Spawn but still manages to evade taking one itself thanks to the Spawns inability to hit, what with being wracked with pain from Paroxysm.


Typhus closes on the Great Maw.


The Hellflies prepare to leave the battlefield yet again, I think they vectored the Hive Guard in passing but also got the Zoanthrope and the Biovore for another 3 VPs.


The 'Bundle in the Jungle' carries on...


The Trygon kills one of the Spawn but takes two wounds and fails one of it's saving throws.


Teh Maggot spawn are all a bit wounded but they did bring the Trygon down in the end, like I said they would Liam!


Yep, dodgy 'ones' will get you every time.


I try to capitalise on their big AV10 abdomen's bobbing in the breeze. I shoot the Quad Gun and Liam somehow manages to jink out of the way of the shots.


I let rip with the Fleshborers and manage one glancing hit which may have stuck or been saved - Jink or Daemon not sure which. Stinger Salvo from the Nephropid does nothing, so much for taking advantage of the situation.


The Tervigon is down to only 1 wound left


and inevitably Typhus takes it leaving me with no comeback.


I think the final score is 10:1, with Liam getting First Blood, Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker with my only success being the destruction of the Oblits. I knew this wasn't going to be as tough as Liam thought it would be. I'm not sure if giving up the Basiton as a VP would have changed things. I'd have probably got First Blood on the Oblits  but then I could have played the defensive game that Liam did - hiding in the Skyshield and forcing him to come to me. As it was I needed to push to claw back the deficit. Perhaps I should have just focussed on the Hell Flies after the Oblits, keeping the Flyrant Swooping instead of making him vulnerable on the ground in assault. He may even have been better taking on the Zombies in the open ruins, even with only 4 attacks it could have been done in 3 or 4 combat phases.

It was a bit of a frustrating game but even with more targets available it wouldn't have changed anything and if the roles were reversed I'd probably have done the same thing myself. Overall it was a fun game though and great to be able to play against Liam, so much more banter than a normal ToS game and when we needed to speed things up it was also possible. So I'm two games without a win, fingers crossed for game 3...

Saturday 29 March 2014

Throne of Skulls March 2014 - Battle 1, Tyranids Vs Tyranids

First match of the day and it's Paul Logan with Tyranids.

Psychic Powers
Winged Tyrant HQTervigon CC HQTervigon Plain TrZoanthope
DominionCatalystParoxysmOnslaught
Psychic Scream

Warp Blast

The low down:
  • The Relic
  • Vanguard Strike
  • I won deployment, but let Paul go first and then won the initiative.
  • Warlord Trait - Reroll reserves
  • Night fighting turn one, I think
I set up with the Hive Guard on the left hoping to get in range of the Warriors and insta-kill using my fortifications to get me cover to the Relic.


He had around 15 Hormagaunts supported by a squad of Tyranid Warriors, a Winged Tyrant with Lash Whip and Bonesword.


A Tyranid Prime also with LW & BS that was attached to a twin Carnifex Brood.


 And a Trygon Prime and a large brood of Genestealers, there was also a Crone to come on in reserve.


Having seized the Initiative I swooped the Flyrant over to the Stealers hoping to get some serious damage on them. They weren't going to run as the Trygon Prime had them in Synapse but with so many out in the open it was too good an opportunity to miss and it would keep my Flyrant away from his and hopefully I could get the drop on it with my Quad Gun.


The Great Maw spawned 10 Termagants which surrounded the Relic with their Run move but couldn't pick it up. Meanwhile the CC Tervigon went the long way round the bastion but typically was slowed down by my lazy Trygon - some things never change.


Paul moved everything up, using Catalyst to keep his Flyrant and Hormagaunts safe, the Flyrant just gliding into position. I think a lot of fire was directed at the Tervigon because although I expected the Termagants to die pretty quick they ended up in combat with the Hive Tyrant.


The 10 Termagants about to face the Hive Tyrant and my brood of 30 gaunts tying up the Trygon. I suddenly had an idea to use Psychic Scream on the Carnifex and the Hive Tyrant. I mean it's like a mini version of the Doom.


So I jumped the Hive Tyrant over to the Carnifex and hoped to also get the Trygon and Paul's Flyrant but in the end I bottled out/forgot and didn't cast it what with all the Shadows in the Warp floating around. Instead I assault the Carnifex and I'm rudely reminded they're a brood so the two MC's get to overwatch twin-linked Devourers and I end up with only 1 wound left, yeah, that was a mistake.


The Hive Guard manage to kill off the Warriors netting me First Blood but Paul's Hormagaunts manage to get into combat with the Trygon, trapping my Tervigon away from all the action around the Relic.


My Flyrant gets brutally sliced up by the Tyranid Prime, it's Boneswords making short work of it's last wound and getting Paul Slay the Warlord. Meanwhile the Great Maw spawns out on 11 in my Turn 3, the Termagants once again trying to get to the Relic but with two Dakka-fexes baring down on them!


My Trygon manages to kill the remaining Hormagaunts backed up by the Nephropid [my CC Tervigon], but with the last three Termagants killed by Paul's Flyrant it now smells fresh meat for it's own digestion pits.


The Crone arrives, although I'm not sure what affect it had on the game at this point. At some point the three remaining Genestealers break cover from the ruin and will join forces to break the deadlock between the Trygon and the Termagants, otherwise they'd have been at it all day. Instead the Stealers scythe through the already engaged gaunts. I cast Paroxysm on them to try and prevent it but the end result was inevitable.


Paul's Flyrant assaults the CC Tervigon and the Dakka-fex go for the Trygon with the Tyranid Prime joining up with the Flyrant.


One of the Boneswords manages to cut the Tervigon and insta-kills it despite Catalyst - all 6 wounds gone in one shot - now that's a lesson learned. Paul's Flyrant is down to 1 wound though. The Trygon takes another couple of wounds and I back the Hive Guard off so they won't be next on the Flyrant's menu. I have a choice now as to taking out the Crone or the Hive Tyrant with the Quad Gun. At this stage I have the Relic and fear the loss of the Termagants holding it  so choose the easier option and target the Crone and kill it. This was probably the wrong choice with hindsight. The Tyrant has only two wounds and would have given me a VP, the Crone could right turn and take out the Trygon perhaps but who knows...


But I suddenly realise I made a grave error. Having shot at the Flyrant and failed to get it's last wound I've only got two or three Termagants securing the Relic and nothing stopping this double team from chomping them up. So I gamble on a 9" charge through difficult terrain hoping they might just make it and hold them up. Meanwhile my Trygon kills the last Carnifex and consolidate an inch or two [typically!] 


The Great Maw finally makes it off the Skyshield but has taken 3 wounds in the process. Paul's Trygon still has 5 wounds remaining and the Stealers have scuttled off underneath the Skyshield, presumably heading for Line Breaker.


Paul's HQ twins finish up the Hive Guard


I think the Tervigon falls to the Trygon and presumably takes out the Termagants too. Neither of us have troop choices left to pick up the Relic so I have to kill the Genestealers heading for Linebreaker..


I move the Trygon towards it's Prime counter part, decamp the Biovore from the Bastion and continue to shoot Quad Gun with the Zoanthrope. The Tyranid Prime takes a wound from the automated Heavy bio-bolters on the Bastion.


The Biovore manages to miss completely the Zoie fizzles out and the Trygon stoops underneath the Skyshield , takes aim and hits three times on the three Genestealers. I wound... twice leaving one lone stealer who naturally passes his morale check.


The Flyrant gets into the Trygon with the Prime


and continues to ram home just how good Boneswords can be and literally 'dices' him up with 5 wounds.


The Trygon dies and I can't kill the last Genestealer who makes it into my Deployment Zone giving Paul Linebreaker and the win 2:1 


This was a close battle but I think I threw it away. I had the Fortifications to weather the storm indefinitely but couldn't get my target priority right. I was desperately unlucky trying to kill off that last Genestealer, serves me right for leaving the unit intact with 3 left and heading for bigger prey. However, there were more pressing threats so what can you do? Probably the biggest blunder was assaulting the Dakka-fexes but they're going to chew through a swooping Flyrant in the air anyway so overwatch is no different. Credit where it's due though the Flyrant and Prime duo were brutal, they sliced through 770pts between the two of them - just short of half my army killed by two models! I guess I'll have to look into the Prime a little more even with his stupid price.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. I don't think I've ever won my first game at Throne of Skulls so this was no different but I came very close [although the same could be said for my first game last time, lost only because I didn't realise the Storm Raven next to my Tervigon contesting my objective was hovering and therefore could be assaulted and probably would have been destroyed, what with Crushing Claw Smash attacks, and regained the objective for a win] and will learn as I always do. On to game 2, what will it bring?