Showing posts with label mycetic spore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mycetic spore. Show all posts

Wednesday 11 March 2015

Dave's 40k @ 40 Bash - 1500pts Tyranids Vs Riptides, erm I mean Tau

I'll be honest here my army list is codenamed 'Ripped Tights', it's been adjusted but way back when Liam started running Riptides in droves I wondered what I would do should I ever face them. Shortly thereafter I had some success with the Genestealer and I realised that as Riptides are Monstrous creatures then Toxin Stealers might be the answer. Well, we shall see.

Psychic Powers
Winged Tyrant Tervigon Plain Tr

Psychic ScreamOnslaught

Warp BlastDominion

Dominion



The low down:
  • Spoils of War - Dawn of War
  • Warlord Trait - Warlord and three units have Infiltrate!
  • Unsure on night fighting , I think it was first turn and who won deployment etc. 
First of all setup as Liam came to the board he was slightly concerned that one side had more objectives closer to the DZ so as I won setup I let him have that side as it had the ruins in anyway which I could infiltrate Stealers into. I'm 2:0 up, but I'm under strict instructions from the wife that I can’t win the prize, so I really don’t care and then I roll my warlord trait! How much fun is infiltrating 3 units and Warlord going to be!

What originally seemed like a simple plan becomes complex, which units do I Infiltrate? Then I make the mistake of discussing it with PeteB who’s decided to watch our game after the Eldar one. Now I’ve been on the other side of this sort of casual tactical debate and I didn’t like it, it feels like you're being ganged up on, so I can only apologise to Liam for not thinking how it would come across. Eventually I decide to put Stealers in the ruins, the central tower and the tower on the far right and the last unit behind the Bastion, for back field. Meanwhile the Tervigon is in the Tyrannocyte, y'know for giggles!


And I decide on the 30 Termagants, a Dakkafex and the Flyrant, that sit in the top left behind the futuristic containers. I realise now this is only two units and the Warlord Infiltrating! Doh! I’d been umming and ahhing so much I didn’t put the second Dakkafex or the Venomthrope with them.


With the Stealers in the Towers we debate just how tough these building are. I've been playing these as AV14 all day and it's not been an issue but Liam believes this is OTT. Which is fair comment but all I'm concerned about is if I agree to AV12 then that's a bit unfair on Ben and Otty who've faced AV14 all day. Eventually we reach a compromise and dice roll, 1-2 it's AV12, 3-4 AV13 and 5-6 AV14 and we end up with AV13 buildings.


With most of the Tau on the right flank most of Liam's first turn will be spent repositioning but they're mobile enough to do just that. He does however manage to secure first Blood by roasting most of the Genestealers in the ruins


The [now broken, it got dropped] Tau XV109 Y'Vahra Battlesuit switches on it's stealth cloak but the exposed flamer is sufficent enough to allow the Dakka Fex and Flyrant to draw a bead on, taking off two wounds. The Fire Warriors in the ruins suffered devastating losses but they stayed their ground.


The Carnifex had to bash it's way through the containers to get into range, barely! Once again I tried to use Psychic Scream but was denied. Seriously! There isn't even a Psychic entity on the board and it's stopping me from getting a power off [yes I know the Tau are psychically null but it's just wrong!]


The Termagants were not so forthcoming as theire bigger brothers moved off, only moving 2" from their initial Infiltration. By the end of turn one I've somehow managed to score 2VPs to Liam's First Blood and 1 objective VP.


In my Turn 2 the Tyrannocyte arrives and disgorges the Tervigon who also spawns giving me plenty to hold onto the objective should it become active, which it might have, as I recorded another 2VPs scored this turn. Current score is 4:2 to me


The flyrant moved the minimum to still be in range of the three Riptides and hopefully get Psychic Scream off, not! But I did manage to wound one of them at least. I must point out that during the game Liam moved the wounded Riptide. In return it took a wound.


Here it is on top of the Tower, although he moved it down eventually and in the process misplaced the 'wound dice' he'd allocated to it. When we realised I laughingly, railed against him because that very days blog post had referenced such an event. Of course I knew full well that he makes his own wound markers and as this army is still 'in progress' they hadn't yet been created. However, it was a reminder that even the best of us make that mistake, so think on kids!


Riptides blasted the Tervigon to pieces taking many Termagants with it. This got Liam a VP for killing a Psyker. I was still in the lead, but in this tun Liam scores 2 VPs drawing us even on 4:4.


The Fire Warriors in the Skyshield rained fire on the Flyrant managing to get two wounds on it, time was running out, I'd got a Maelstrom objective that if I could kill a Flyer or Flying Monstrous Creature, which the Tau XV109 Y'Vahra Battlesuit is I'd get a VP. Also another Riptide had landed next to one of the towers filled with Toxin Stealers. It was contesting an objective that Liam needed to win but equally in this mission I can 'steal' his VP if I can get to the objective first. So I moved the Stealers out and swooped the Flyrant between the other two to shoot and hopefully pull of the Scream...


Oh, yeah, I forgot I had to do a grounding test on the Flyrant because of his wounds from the Fire Warriors, he failed and on a 2 was smeared across the iron rich Ferron Proxima wasteland! This gained Liam Slay the Warlord and another Maelstrom objective VP taking him to 6. However I somehow manage to gain a VP, presumably from holding and objective as I wasn't killing anything, and that puts us on 6:5


The Genestealers burst from the building but the Riptide was overwatching on 5+ and twinlinked, ultimately only one Genestealer made it into combat.


and was stomped flat by the Riptide after it managed to cause one rend on it's battlesuit. This allowed Liam to secure the objective and win and with another one his end VPs were 8. I managed another objective VP bringing me up to 6 although I probably had Line Breaker too, so the final score was most likely 8:7


Which means Liam won the 40k addict 40k @ 40 Bash - look at his little face with the coveted trophy, not to mention the £40 worth of GW vouchers my wife included in the prize! And to think he went from the Blog Wars 8 loser spot to this in a matter of a few months! ;)


I can't convey just how much I needed this. Aside from it being fun to be with your mates and for us to finally play a game this year but that 40 number can be a big deal and particularly the events surround this day in previous years. I'd been first thing to the car park where my Dad was knocked down and put some flowers there to remember him by. It was quite emotional but then the simple camaraderie of playing toy soldiers for the day helped get me through, so thanks guys, and als a big thanks to Jo, Ben's wife for letting me hold it at their house and another big thanks to my wife for suggesting/supporting it  and my own kids for letting me out for the day when they may have wanted me to celebrate with them.


UPDATE: Liam reminded me that Psychic Scream did in fact get manifested, it took wounds off all three Riptides and was instrumental, alongside the Brainleech worms in destroying the Fire Warriors. funnily enough when I mentioned it I suddenly had this vivid memory of one of his Leadership dice rolls that stripped a lot of wounds off something. Understandably this suddenly became the biggest threat to him, hence why he was so scared when the Flyrant swooped next to them again late in the game only to be relieved when I remembered I'd not done the grounding check so we moved it back, rolled, failed, died and won Liam the game!

Monday 9 March 2015

Dave's 40k @ 40 Bash - 1500pts Tyranids Vs Orks

MMM! Lunch, a breakfast barm as big as my head! Bacon, sausages, fried egg with some ketchup thrown on after. I couldn't finish this thing it was so filling!


Psychic Powers
Winged Tyrant Tervigon Plain Tr

OnslaughtThe Horror

Catalyst [yay!]Dominion

Dominion



The low down:
  • Contact Lost - Dawn of War
  • Warlord Trait - Move thru coer and Stealth in ruins
  • Unsure on night fighting , I think it was first turn and who won deployment etc. 
I think I made Ben set up first, but got to go first. We kept Otty's objectives in place and as the Stompa was over on the right I deployed the Bastion as a fake. It's sole purpose was to be big in that corner, hide the Genestealers and the Flyrant. The Flyrant would then move off and then as the rest of the army was deployed to the left I imagined it would draw the Stompa away from that flank and the Bastion could generate VPs if and when that objective came up. If the Bastion was targetted by the Stompa then the Stealer were there to secure the objective.

Meanwhile the rest of my army drew up on the left flank but I would move further left to avoid the Stompa leaving it out of position, although a 12" move isn't going to save me for too long. Anyway, I had that Trukk to deal with two. Oh, Stealers are in the three towers, behind the Bastion and... not sure where the last Brood is [outflanking I think] ...


I believe they call this the 'refused flank'/'oblique order' I actually prefer the second name. Anyway, the flyrant swooped over to the left to join up with the main body while Gaunts and Tervigon headed towards the lonely Trukk.


This may well have been a tactical blunder to think this was a vulnerable target as the Nobz and their Warboss leaped forwards...


and promptly chopped the Tervigon to pieces. As soon as I saw them get out I realised it wasn't going to end well, and instantly regretted forgetting to spawn in my turn. I did wound one model but with 2 wounds each it was not enough to do anything at all really! Except lose First Blood I imagine.


But the Carnifex was nearby, the Flyrant was in range to swoop over and add his Brainleech Devourers into the mix and the Brood of Stealers in the tower could mop up any stragglers.


resulting in a pretty clean clear up, which included Slay the Warlord as Ben's Warboss was fulfilling that role.


The Tyrannocyte landed, I sent forth the Genestealers and think I managed to immobilise so next turn it would be dead.


The Bastion proved to be too much of an enticement for the Stompa. Clearly the Orks assumed it was the biggest thing on the table and therefore the only thing worth stomping. The Quad Gun had managed to get a Hull Point on the Stompa [which had been repaired] so I gathered they were pretty grumpy with the alien structure.


Which resulted in alien goop everywhere. With nowhere to hide the Genestealer get set to high tail it out of there, would an 8" head start be enough to escape the Stompa?


The Trukk succumbed to the rending attacks of the Stealers, blowing up and taking two of the Brood with it.


The Venomthrope abandoned it's objectives to cover the Carnifex but the tower Stealers replaced him in the woods just out of shot on the right. Flyrant swoops into the woods, he must have been hit by something as he's taken a wound. Luckily the Stompa ran out of ammo on one of it's guns very early on so the Flyrant had a much better chance of surviving. My last brood of Stealers must have outflanked and just about reached my objective. By this stage we had been quite unlucky with our Maelstrom cards. You generated one for every objective you held at the beginning of your turn and I'd been lucky to have roughly three to choose from each turn. With more units and a wider spread I'd manage to have more choice, so although the cards weren't great there was 1 or 2 I could get, where as Ben had less objectives, therefore less choice and his cards were extra VPs to Slay the Warlord, which was possible with 1 Wound already but also difficult as shooting down a flyer who is on the other side of the board is quite tough.


However, I got a card to secure the Plasma Generator objective so swooped over, thankfully Dominion - the only psychic power I seemed able to manifest [OK that's a lie I clearly got Catalyst off in the pic!] kept most of my Synapse in check. 


Meanwhile the rest of the Hive moved up to the centre of the board, with the Venomthrope once again securing an objective.



With the Stompa about to run amok in the middle of the board, the Stealers in the centre tower joined forces with the Stealer who had been running from the wrecked Bastion. Together they managed to hold back the Stompa for a turn!


The Flyrant reached the objective, I think we were at the end of the game so I may have landed but I'm not sure if I scored the objective as there's still an Ork there


As the game came to an end the Genestealer were squished, which was a shame as the two Carnifex were all lined up to charge and crush this mechanical Behemoth. I'd manage to secure a 6:3 win.

We later played out what would have happened, only one Carnifex made it into the charge, but we ignored that and imagined both did. They may have done 2 hull points of damage and then they were both squished through Stomp and Destroyer weapons attacks! So my advice to Liam still stands, just ignore these things! Obviously it helps if it's out of position and goes off killing 100pts of building instead of the army. To be fair though the building could have scored points too. But just try and ignore it, unless you actually have something that can damage it that is.


Over on the other table things started off all smiles. Liam and Otty insisted I record this for posterity because it was bound to end in acrimony, name calling and Chinese burns later on in the game ;)


Things got a bit tense part way through, Wraith Knights and Wave Serpents are beasts so although the Riptides can be equally mobile and powerful this was two top-tier armies going head to toe. PeteB turned up part way through and given his fondness for Space Pixies spent a lot of time cheering on the Eldar.


Liam went on to win but even when he was about 8:2 up on VPs the pressure the Eldar brought to bear on the Tau made it feel like the Greater Good where on the road to a good hiding!


But they looked good while doing it and won out in the end.


Unfortunately the Tau XV109 Y'Vahra Battlesuit [not in shot] got dropped at one point snapping the main body off the gun. It wasn't 100% complete so Liam is confident of it's repair but it was a sharp intake of breath moment for all of us.


WAVE SERPENT SPAM!


So I was 2 wins so far, y'know I might actually win this thing yet! How embarrassing would that be :P

Friday 6 March 2015

Dave's 40k @ 40 Bash - 1500pts Tyranids Vs Eldar

Liam, Otty, Ben and myself all rocked up at Ben's for my 40k bash. I went with a list that relied heavily on Manufactorum Genestealers [three broods with Toxin] but uniquely I dropped my Hive Guard for probably the first time since I kitbashed them. Instead I threw in my second Carnifex in my old Spore Pod/Tyrranocyte. I also had the obligatory Flyrant, a Tervigon and accompanying brood of 30 Termagants and then added a Bastion with Quad Gun and a Venomthrope for cover duties.

We were playing Maelstrom games so it'll be a bit difficult to keep track of the score and how and why someone won but I'll do my best.

Psychic Powers
Winged Tyrant Tervigon Plain Tr

Psychic ScreamPsychic Scream

ParoxysmDominion

Dominion



The low down:
  • Tactical Escalation - Hammer and Anvil
  • Warlord Trait - +1 to Seize the Initiative and re-roll reserves
  • Unsure on night fighting , I think it was first turn and who won deployment etc.

Obviously there are six objectives, one is to the left of my Bastion, one is in the trees to my right, one is in the tower in the middle of the board [with my Genestealers], one is beside the Plasma Generator top left, another is in the woods top middle and the last one is in the ruins [again with my Genestealers] top right. I had another unit of Stealers outflanking. Otty had three Wave Serpents, some Wraithguard and Fire dragons mounted inside, a Wraith Knight, Fire Prism and a couple of units of Jet Bikes.


I actually think this was a balanced list, not too spammy on the Serpents and aside from my own cheese - Stealers setting up within 6" of you this was the closest to an even match-up all day. As Otty is moving I think he may have gone first, unless I did a really quick move...


Meanwhile over on the other table Liam had 5 Riptides, including that crazy Forgeworld one that flies. He also had some Pathfinders or Warriors and a couple of Piranhas/Tetras on his Skyshield.


And Ben decided to be equally friendly with his Stompa that had a Mekkboy inside with a Mega Kustom Force Field [4+ invul save, I think] and a load of Grot riggers that could repair a hull point each turn on a 5+. So I could see where this game was going...


So Otty decided to target the Genestealers, naturally. Of course this works as a diversionary tactic to save the rest of my army but given there wasn't much else to see it probably didn't work as these were the only viable targets anyway.


Jetbikes moved round and riddled the Stealers with Shurikens


The Bastion got targeted but the Fire Prism could only manage a glancing hit so it was safe.


The Hive was safe, for now...


Two units of Stealers were destroyed thanks to all the combined fire from the Wave Serpents and Jet Bikes. First Blood to Otty


The Wraith Knight finally settled on target priority...


The Carnifex taking cover behind some Ferron Fire Firs, luckily these flammable trees proved adequate cover to avoid the Eldar construct.


Nids moved forwards en masse.


The Tervigon spawned 8 Termagants which headed for an objective, my plan being to camp on as many objectives as I could and hope they would come up in my Maelstrom deck. meanwhile the Tervigon tried to keep up  with his big brood.


I've missed out Otty's turn 2 but on my turn the Tyrannocyte arrives. Combined Deathspitter and Brainleach fire for the Flyrant and Dakkafex leaves just one jetbike left on the right.


Termagants are getting close to the Eldar DZ and the last brood of Genestealer arrive on the left flank.


The last 3 of the Stealers from the ruins assault the last -1 Paroxysmed Jet bike. 40k's premier cloase assault unit has 9 attacks, scoring 6 hits [the average] and causing 3 wounds [once again the average] but no rends. The Eldar makes all his saves...! What a farce!


Meanwhile over on the other table Riptides and Stompas were going at it like hyenas circling a wounded bull elephant


It soon became apparent that the Stompa was ridiculously powerful thanks to the Mekkboy and Grots, although Liam had failed to head my suggestion of ignoring it completely. Then again the riptides could potentially damage it were I know I'd have no chance.


Back on Ferron Proxima the Fire Dragons disembarked.


They tried to shoot down the Flyrant but couldn't draw a bead on him.


However their Aspect Warrior cousins - the Dire Avengers pulled the same manoeuvre targeting the Outflanked Stealers.


Once again the premier CC unit of 40k was reduced shredded meat by shuriken fire.


Wave Serpents fired at their biggest threat - my Dakkafex.


And wiped him out, looks like he didn't even get halfway across the board.


The Stealers continued to molest the Jetbike.


But this time succeeded in taking him down and consolidated back towards the ruins.


Which gave the Wraith Knight a clear charge to the recently arrived Dakkafex it had shot at and wounded earlier. So he jumps over...


...abd drop kicks it off the board and consolidates back. I think I had a card for this objective but the Fire Dragons were in range so I couldn't quite secure it.


I marshal my forces, the Stealers in the centre building sally forth to assault the Fire Dragons.


While the Tervigon and more spawned gaunts ensure that my objectives are secured. I recall at one stage I managed to complete 3 of my Maelstrom objectives in one turn


9 Termagants replace the Stealers in the building.


Somehow I've completely forgotten the success of theis Brood of Stealers. Clearly the Fire dragons had fallen victim to Paroxysm. I won the combat, though probably not as convicingly as I should, perhaps by 4, thanks to their inability to hit back. Then I think they failed their morale check and were overrun. I think because it happened so fast I forgot, but they took cover in the Ruins. You may also spot the last of the Brood of 3 Stealers that took out the Jetbike hiding underneath the staircase next to them.


The Flyrant swooped off into the trees. He'd had little success with Psychic Scream, in fact the psychic phase was typically guff! Termagants finally made it into Otty's DZ


While the other guys continued to play hunt the Stompa, Otty prepared to thin my advancing horde of gaunts.

 

Massed fire took out those Termagants with just a few left. The Fire Dragon killing Stealers were also laid low but my lone Toxin Stealer continued to skuls in the shadows waiting to sneak out and get me Linebreaker should the Flyrant have to move out of the 12" scoring zone.


The Venomthope continued to fire off the Quad Gun, it had got some good hits on the Wave Serpents but not sure if it manage to destroy one of them.


I assaulted the last of the Jetbikes with my Termagants. They got whittled down to one, but so did the Jetbikes. It was not a planned action but this was in fact the best choice I made in the entire game. By tying up the Jetbikes Otty couldn't get his fastest Troop choice over the other side of the board in the last turn. There was objectives he could go for or even Linebreaker but instead he was tied up with a lonely gaunt. Meanwhile the Flyrant landed to try and secure the objective. It was the last turn, we'd already overrun so he was safe to do so. I'm not entirely sure if he got it, or if the Wraithguard were also in range, I may even have assaulted them and killed it  as I'm sure I may have got Slay the Warlord, but ultimately the score was 8:6 to me.


I was quite impressed with this result, it's funny how my tactic to camp on objectives for Eternal War Missions is actually really effective in Maelstrom Missions. Camping in Eternal War has worked because I’ve always felt it’s better to be on an objective and force your opponent to knock you off it, or surround it so he can’t get to it than hold back and take it late in the game. In particular trying knock someone else off an objective is not something I can do, I say I mean my ‘nids. The fact is I killed very little Eldar, the Fire Dragons, some Dire Avengers and about 9 Jetbikes! I may have put wounds on the Wraith Knight and some Hull Points on the Serpents but overall I didn’t kill much.

So camping on objectives works for me. I’m not particularly mobile but with the formations, and the Tyrannocyte I can get good positions in the opponents DZ to score when it’s needed and camp in my own back field and wait until those objectives are drawn from the deck.

Ben managed to secure a win, so next up I would face his Orks