It's been a while but I had chance to nip up to my Local Friendly Neighborhood Gaming Club and as it's the Summer holidays I took the boy too. A couple of years ago, when I was still able to go to my kendo, I spent a wonderful six weeks taking him with me to class. Being 8 at the time I feared he wouldn't be able to fit in with the discipline but he did really well and I was immensely proud of his efforts, he didn't do it last year, obviously this is what I can only bring him to now. Saying that, he hasn't even played 6th Edition yet and didn't even realised I'd played any games.
First a note on the pics. I added a new camera app to my phone
Camera360 Ultimate. I'd binned it off in the past as it can't be moved to the SD card but it does some nice effects and I hoped it would allow me to enhance images before taking the shots instead of requiring me to do it after. Now I've got to grips with it it may speed up my progress. The first two shots show the Enhanced and the Original. I love th evibrancy of the enhanced, there's actually more mid-range colours in the original but it's just too flat.
So 500 pts [sort of] of nids on each side, this is his Vanguard setup on Purge the Alien, he's got 10 Devgaunts, a Trygon, Prime and Warriors and a Biovore, which I think tips him 55pts over 500 but...
... I have a Tervigon [as Warlord], 10 Devgaunts, Hormagaunts, 2 Hive
Guard and 5 Genestealers, infiltrating in the ruin to the right.
He gets first turn and setup. Warlord powers give him +1" to his charge and I get the one to add a dice to Run and Charge rolls.
And moves everything forward, the Devgaunts target the Genestealers...
Only a few Devgaunts were in range so their 12 shots take out just one of the Stealers [who was foolishly standing atop the ruin!].
The Biovore and Barbed Strangler fire - hit my Devgaunts, killing five and two Hormagaunts. In my turn everything moves forwards and the Tervigon spawns 11, without doubles.
With nothing else in range everything targets the Trygon, I think the Hive Guard wound but it's Armour protects it. The same couldn't be said for the weight of fire from the Devgaunts and I think in the end it failed one of the two or three shots that managed to wound. Another comparison shot too of enhanced and normal.
Turn two and the Warriors move out in the open and the Devgaunts advance through cover, the Biovore sits still ready to lob spore mines at any massed brood - which I happen to have in the 11 Termagants in the trench system. Five fall to large blasts and the Hormagaunts also suffer, with only one left alive. The Devgaunts target the Genestealers, they all die - First blood! The Trygon unleashes it's Bio-Electric Pulse on the Hive Guard, taking one wound off them. My son often does weird stuff I can't comprehend but quite often it doesn't harm his chances whatsoever.
I spawn another 10 gaunts but get a double. They form a protective line in front of the Tervigon so it doesn't get assaulted and they get to overwatch if they do, not like it would achieve much but y'know. The Hive Guard move back into cover as do the Gaunts in the trenches, far enough to delay charges but near enough to still shoot, pre-measuring is great.
I'm not entirely sure what put the extra wound on the Trygon. Everything fired at it I think, except the Tervigon. My son then moved his Devgaunts up and the Warriors too.
The Devgaunts shot and killed the three Termagants they could see. The Trygon fired it's pulse at some point, unleashing all 6 shots on the last Hormagaunt, overkill maybe, but it was dead and another VP to him.
There may be a lack of continuity in this pic in that the Trygon is now assaulting the Termagants in front having just shot the Hormagaunt but whatever, only two gaunts remain.
In response the Tervigon charges in, it puts two wounds on the Trygon but not before it put four on the Tervigon, this may have been a mistake!
Even moreso I see my brood approach extermination. The Tyranid Prime leaves the Warriors and assaults the Tervigon.
The lashwhip takes the Tervigon down to Initiative 1, and his Bonesword puts another unsaveable Wound on the Tervigon, I pass my Ld test. In return the Tervigon stomps two wounds on the Prime, was this a mistake? Should I have taken the Trygon? only time will tell.
Only the three Fleshborer gaunts remain in the trenches they fire at the Devgaunts, who knew Fleshborers could do so much damage? Makes a change against T3 and no save!
My Hive Guard move thru terrain to target the Warriors, three shots, three wounds S8 vs T4 and only the far right warrior gets a 5+ save which he fails - 1KP to me!
Oh dear, the Prime and Trygon finally take out the Tervigon. It's demise feedbacks on the surrounding gaunts - the three in the trench suffer 14 wounds, the Devgaunts 8 and the two assaulting the Trygon three.
When the dust settles just two Devgaunts remain after saves. In revenge the Hive Guard target the Prime...
...and impale his a$$!
That was it, turn 5 and he beat me something like six or seven VPs to my three. My Genestealers were rubbish, that's a fact. The single biggest talking point was the Prime separating, that brought about the demise of the Warriors but if he hadn't would the Tervigon have been able to finish the Trygon off? He caused two unsaveable wounds on the Prime, I don't recall the dice but if they'd have taken the Trygon then instead the Tervigon would have survived and so too all the gaunts, there's no telling would would have/could have happened but it was a very significant tipping point.
I've some ideas for the future about a more defensive posture and perhaps not sending Genestealers forward as most times they just get slaughtered because they're too far removed from support. Lots to think about and my son did really well, the jammy sod ;)
