'nids part 267 - Tyranid Warrior and bits Big Build TO DONE!

After the sleep post I'm thinking my mojo is on the wain at the moment. I honestly cannot entertain that Dark Shroud and the Assassin isn't much more appealing. What's frustrating is I 'want' to do so much, I just can't bring myself to do it and I think fatigue plays a hand in that. However, I have felt the urge to build, even if the end result feels less productive despite the cool new model to drool over.

So, after convertingthe  2 Warriors to Hive Guard I went back to my 'docked' Warrior and re-attached its tail and thought I'd base him on one of the bases I'd prepared but didn't fit the Hive Guard. I'll probably paint it alongside the gun-beasts for convenience. I fixed his tail with some greenstuff too.

And I had a couple of Termagants and Hormagaunts knocking around that I just made into Devgaunts and based. I've 20 Devgaunts already, so this just adds to them, though I could do with another 5 so I cam make a full brood. I'll get these and the Warrior primed so I can paint them 'someday'.

Whilst I was at it I based the Redemptor. It was all a little flat so I added a Genestealer infiltration node too. I'm much happier with it but less so at the missing right shoulder guard! That's the thing about building stuff - bits always disappear. I'm sure I'll find it eventually but it's things like that that just scupper further progress, the loss of the relic lanyards being another example. With some spare greenstuff from the Warrior's tail I added some chunky ribbing to hide the out-of-socket torso ball joint [you'll see it eventually]. With the remaining greenstuff I did some more press molds of Rippers. I think I'll build the 3 Ripper bases next.

 Big Build - TO DONE!

I builds it, I gets the badge!

2000pts battle report - Tyranids v Tyranids

It's been quite a while since I played Otty, but I figured it would do us both good to pit our nids against each other to help us get up to speed for GT3. More for him as he has limited 8th edition experience but with us both running gribblies there was far more learning to be had and sharing of ideas and concepts

The low down:

• Front-Line Warfare [Chapter Approved mission]
• Hammer and Anvil - Table Ends deployment
• I chose deployment zone, but I deployed last unit [giving Otty +1 to win first turn], 
• Otty won first turn, I failed to seize

Otty was running the Swarmlord in a pod, with Genestealers in a Trygon tunnel. Another unit of Genestealer backed up by a Broodlord, 3 Dakkafex, a Tyrannofex [with Rupture Cannon], 3 Hive Guard, a brood of Rippers and 3 Zoanthropes all as Hive Fleet Gorgon. Objectives were in the Spore Chimney, inbetween the two woods by the craters

Another objective was inbetween the two alien pods and the one in my deployment zone was just by my Skyshield on the right in this pic. All the trees were counted as cover but Line of Sight blocking behind - you could shoot into but not behind because Otty had limited terrain and it seemed like the best way to deal with it.

Otty surged forward.

Unfortunately the Stealer got a short advance of 1 or 2.

Swarmlord arrived in his pod, with Genestealers in a Trygon tunnel.

The Swarmlord 'flung' the Genestealers forward. Shooting took place and one of the Hive Guard went down. The Tervigon also took a number of wounds but I may have got some lucky dice rolls to survive a particularly devastating round of shots.

The Swarmlord wasn't going to reach the Hive Guard so he went for bigger prey and charged the Skyshield.

He took 7 wounds off the platform while the Genestealers clawed through the Hive Guard [First Blood], losing two of their own number to 3 overwatch hits! In response I moved the Tervigon and gaunts back, to give room for the Trygon and my own Stealers. The Tervigon regenerated two or three wounds to be back on 11.

My Broodlord headed for the Swarmlord on a suicide mission.

Trygon and Gaunts tunneled up in Otty's DZ while Flyrants arrived in front and behind his lines to squeeze it between them. Shootin had limited effect from the Gaunts, even shooting twice. I managed to put a few wounds on both Zoanthropes and Hive Guard but the combined shots of the Flyrants put only one Hive Guard down.

I made almost all of my charges [except for the Termagants]. Flyrant on the left got to the nearest Carnifex and killed it. Flyrant in the DZ got the Tfex and managed some wounds. Trygon failed charge on the Zoies, was just short on the Behemoth re-roll and a 4+ command re-roll of the low dice got me in.

I'd move the Termagants up to stall the stealers. Shooting took out some of them [I think 2 were left after this] and the Broodlord died against the Swarmlord but not before putting at least 3 wounds on him.

My 17 Stealers and Trygon both got into assault against Ottys 20. My Stealers killed 19 of them, with the Trygon squishing the last one. I consolidated towards a Dakkafex getting within 1" to force it to Fallback next turn, Otty didn't think he could have a free attack with the Carnifex that turn but I am convinced he could have.

Otty's turn and he went for my Tervigon to try and feedback on the Gaunts. He would then Smite it to take it back down to 9 wounds.

Zoanthropes fell back from the Trygon, everything else remeained locked in combat.

Tfex and Flyrant kept wailing on each other.

Swarmlord assaulted the Tervigon.

He sliced and diced but could only manage 8 wounds.

Leaving the lady on her last wound.

I may have paid 2CPs to interrupt and assault with the Stealers but they failed to deliver and were mullered for it.

Otty's trygon joined the fray but only to squish some Gaunts who failed to kill any Stealers.

My turn and the Flyrant fell back to shoot the Tfex or the Hive Guard hiding in the Spore Chimney. Gaunts repositioned.

Rippers arrived to contest the Objective.

Psychic Phase and my Tervigon Smite's the Swarmlord. I get 11 on my Psychic test and then 6 on my D6 Mortal Wounds, by this stage the Swarmlord had 5 or 6 remaining and is destroyed in a haze of Psychic fury. 

To add insult to injury the Tervigon re-spawns 10 Fleshborer gaunts who fell back from the Trygon to allow the Warriors to shoot it, for a wound or two.

Trygon eats through the Zoies [with help from the Devgaunts shooting], Flyrant kills the Hive Guard with Brainleech worms. The second Flyrant swoops across to the Dakkafex and support the Trygon but fails to kill any green nids.

Otty's Trygon eats though theWarriors...

...and moves down to take on the Tervigon with Rippers appearing in my DZ, just managing to fit in 9" away.

I'm thinking this is a bad dice role, perhaps the Tervigon got shot by the Trygon's Bio-Electric Pulse. It definitely died, then the Termagants got killed and with no Synapse to hold them they were wiped out giving Otty the objective in my DZ.

The Flyrant continued to struggle with the Carnifex and but finally killed the Broodlord.

Which meant he was left with the Dakkafex who just didn't have sufficient attacks, damage or AP to put wounds on him.

Made even worse by the arrival of the second Flyrant.

We decided to call it a draw at 2am. Subsequent turns I'd have probably won, and with hindsight the Trygon holding the objective in my DZ was actually contested with the Skyshield, but the Rippers would have been on it next turn to tip the scales in Otty's favour and no doubt the Trygon could have removed the 13 remaining wounds on the fortification.

Otherwise we both had our opponents objectives and a middle objective each. Otty had First Blood, I had Slay the Warlord and we both had Linebreaker. Overall it was a good game but then I think I had the upper had so I'm a little biased but we spent a good deal of time discussing options and approaches [hence the finish time]. Hopefully, Otty had some thoughts on adjusting his army, just the 6CPs is a worry for me. He rang me the next day to say he'd managed to add a Vanguard detachment for a 7th as despite my advice the lists he could make with two Battalions or a Brigade were so far removed from how he's used to playing he wouldn't know what to do with the list. I agree he needs to use what he's comfortable with so fingers crossed 7CPs will be enough [he's hoping to get some back with the Feeder Tendrill Stratagem off the Genestealers.

Next stop - Warhammer World and GT3.

2000pts battle report - Tyranids v Astra Militarum

GT3 is fast approaching and although I now have a list I'm happy with, in principle, I'm yet to try it and see how Hive Fleet Adaptations and stratagems work with it.

The low down:

• Scorched Earth [Chapter Approved mission]
• Search and Destroy - Table Corner deployment
• I chose deployment zone, but Ben deployed last unit [giving me +1 to win first turn], 
• Ben won first turn, I failed to seize

I'd been advised to taken Kraken as my Hive Fleet for the 3D6, choose the highest for Advance and Fall Back and charge ability for all models. I was sceptical as with 8/14 'deep strikes', six of which would benefit from a charge on arrival, Behemoth's re-roll charges seemed more beneficial.

 

I committed to Kraken and took the Chameleonic Skin Relic on my Tervigon. Now, you may notice I said 8/14 had Tactical Reserve status and I must delpoy half on the battlefield. I did, my Hive Tyrant Warlord was on the Skyshield but took Alien Cunning as my Warlord Trait and re-deplyed him into reserves so as to deep Strike. Again I asked online about this, the majority consensus was it was a legit move, even when I suggested the FAQ about 'changing locales' in deployment might be pertinent, they suggested it was OK.

 After my last pasting at the hands of the Astra Militarum I was a little apprehensive and with more than half my army off the board I was filled with the dread of everything being wiped out but with more LoS blocking terrain this time there was really only two exposed targets...

 My Tervigon took the brunt of the shooting alongside the Termagants and was popped. The Chameleonic Skin at least meant she took a whole lot of direct firepower to put her down. Of course Ben also had a whole lot of indirect fire and the Wyverns and Basilisks managed to take out two of the Hive Guard and left me with just one Termagant who staunchly stayed where the Broodlord told it to.

Ben closed out turn one holding three objectives and First Blood for 3 VPs. My movement phase was pretty short - I moved the Broodlord towards the centre and the Termagant inside the ruin. The Tyranid Warriors shuffled along the Skyshield to get a bead on the Vendetta. 

Ben had tied up his backfield so I could bring in any of my units behind him and I wasn;t much better off deploying in the midfield. Trygon and gaunts were on the left to take on the Ratlings [whoopee-do]. Rippers secured the objective, Genestealers were in the centre. 

Hive Tyrants where alongside the ruin and on the far edge next to the trees, aiming for the Wyverns. Shooting wise I didn't have very much to do. I couldn't fire the Termagants at the Ratlings as I needed them to be in charge range and any casualties would leave me stranded. The Warlord Tyrant took the guard unit by the ruins down to two.

Trygon and Termagants made their charge on the Ratlings and we took them off as there was no chance for them to survive. I consolidated the Termagants next to the Leman Russ to force it to Fall Back next turn.

I'd managed to kill some of the guard on the Chaos altar but the Broodlord scythed through some of the rest and killed the Wyrdvane Psyker which allowed me to use Feeder Tendrills Stratagem to regain the 3CPs I'd already used so far. Unfortunately nothing else made their charges - Genestealers, Trygon or Fylrants - Behemoth's re-roll charge move looking pretty handy at this point. I did come away with 4 VPs for being on objectives though, so we were all even.

Ben's turn and he killed my Trygon, took my Warlord Flyrant down to 6 wounds, I think the other Flyrant was wounded but only slightly. The Basilisks then focused on the second Trygon and managed to kill that as well. Ben came away with just 2 VPs this turn.

Sadly I didn't take any more pictures, but it was the last turn. I multi-charged the Leman Russ and the Guard Heavy Weapon Team with my Broodlord - typically getting overwatched on it's last wound, luckily the inuvl save was re-rolled and it dodged the autocannon tying them both up. The Termagants charged the second Leman Russ which allowed the Genestealers to multicharge both  Leman Russes, without being overwatched. Combined assault managed to strip a fair few wounds off them and then I spent 3CPs to attack again but I just couldn't do enough damage on the tanksand it was 12:30am at this stage and pretty pointless to carry on.

We called it and I had 5 VPs added to my score but another turn would have seen Ben wipe me off the board. It was a good learning experience and I've certainly got room for thought. The Skyshield did serve a purpose for board control and holding objectives so I'm far from disappointed in choosing it. Kracken is a definite disadvantage for the charge and I will be switching to Behemoth because I need to be assaulting and the 70% chance of the Trygons and Flyrants getting into combat is essential. The Genestealers and Termagants will make it on around 56% but they're less of a concern.

The least effective thing in my list? The movement trays - they're practically unusable. They help me get my unit onto the board and then they don't fit around the terrain and I just ended up abandoning them. A sad waste of money, time and effort unfortunately. I'll probably end up drilling a whole in one of the spaces so I can pin them to my shed wall as decoration :( Nevermind, a decent game but a much better learning experience, I think for both of us. Ben's army is fierce and he has the stratagems I think we agree it;s understanding the tactical mechanics of the game and being 'au fait' with your army that's the next challenge. We'll get there though :)

If you're interested in any more of my Battle Reports, point your cogitators here: www.40kaddict.uk/p/battle-reports.html

2000pts battle report - Tyranids v Astra Militarum

With GT3 only a couple of months away it was about time we get some games in so Ben and I faced off. Him with Astra Militarum, a more Leman Russ-centric Cadian force led by Pask. While I was running two Battalion of my Nids so I could access more Command Points and then hopefully make use of all the new Stratagems as well as re-rolls.

The low down:

• Big Guns Never Tire
• Dawn of War deployment
• Ben chose deployment zone, but deployed last unit [giving me first turn], Ben seized the Initiative!

With a Trygon, Flyrant, 2 Broods of Rippers and 17 Genestealers I forced Ben to keep deploying while I kept them off the battlefield.

Then with and idea of where everything was I could put what remained down.

I'm thinking with hindsight I should have made more use of this hill and woods as LoS blocking cover, but I had the Carnifex shrouded in the miasma from the Malanthrope, so I thought I'd be OK.

Having seized Ben moved the Vendetta, Hellhound and Guard unit up. He opened fire on the Broodlord and he was brought down to 2 wounds. Shooting continued with the Hive Guard being wiped out and two of the Tyranid Warriors. As my right flank started to disappear I started to re-evaluate my plans. 12 Termagants went on my left flank and suddenly I'm re-evaluating again. There's just no way I can go forward in my turn, I'll have to pull back and just try to hold me objectives with the Tervigon and Carnifexes and hope the soon-come reserves will distract/weather enough fire to keep me in the game.

But shooting wasn't over and suddenly my Tervigon is popped, I have all but two Devgaunts left of my big brood and 22[ish] Fleshborer Gaunts left in the mother brood.

Worse still two out of my three Carnifex are smashed to pieces with all the heavy bombardments. At this stage I just have my head in my hands, Ben had wiped out roughly half my army in one turn, with only 300+pts left on the board. I wasn't even sure what I could do, or if it was at all worthwhile carrying on. I had over 600pts left in reserve so it was worth a shot but it was more an exercise in what was salvageable at this stage.

Ultimately I had to play the objectives. Ben had one of them, Linebreaker, First Blood and 2VPs for the Carnifex. If I can hold three of them I might have a chance. So I bring the Stealers and Trygon in on my left flank with the Flyrant. I then huddle the Termagants in the trees for cover, so I can eventually move them back onto the objective in the frozen pond.

The Broodlord I move behind the hill so he can't be seen and eventually move on the objective the other side of the trees.

I charge the Hellhound with the Trygon and make it, the Genestealers also pile in to the fight. The Flyrant is equally quick off the mark getting up close with the Vendetta, but having chosen just Devourers he cannot do anything against it, it's shooting had been ineffective and I think I'd only caused one wound on it with Smite, or Psychic Scream :(

The Trygon was slightly more effective taking most of the wounds off the Hellhound only for it to be torn apart by the Genestealers. I consolidated forward.

Ben's turn 2 and the Vendetta zooms into my DZ. I no longer have the Malanthrope and Carnifex in shot so it looks like they bought the big one. I think the Flyrant took some wounds too [he may even have been killed] and the Trygon may also have been shot to hell and back [again by it's lack of presence in the final picture].

My turn 2 and there's not much I can do. I misjudge how many turns we may have left before the game has to finish [we were playing in the afternoon but I had to be home by 6:30 to take my wife to her Christmas works do]. So I don't put anything on the objectives, including the Rippers. I threw all I could at the Vendetta, burning through CPs. I give the Termagants Scorch Bugs and Pathogenic Slime and shoot at the Vendetta, taking off 6 wounds, then I use Single-Minded Annihilation to shoot again, and my 22 shots are appalling. Another three failed saves, 6 wounds and adding the single Smite damage I caused in my first turn it's still there on 1 wound :(  To make matters worse Ben is back on 7 Command Points thanks to his Kurov's Aquila Relic dice roll regaining CPs when I use a Stratagem.

My Genestealers multi-charge the two guard units. Only 8 Stealers survive the charge and I split the attacks evenly, using Scything Talons on one squad, killing 5 and then switch to Rending Claws for the other squad killing only 3 [purely out of interest in what would be more effective, although I think I already knew the outcome]. Neither of the squads fail their morale. I'd hoped to break them and them consolidate on the objective, I could potentially have secured all 4 if I'd planned and executed it properly.

We called it at this stage, there was no time left and I would be annihilated anyway next turn. A proper timed game I might have put everything I had on the three objectives but Ben had one, Line Breaker, First Blood, Slay the Warlord and 4 Big Guns VPs so he had 10VPs altogether. He also said he would have put a Leman Russ on the objective on the hill by the Broodlord if he'd known it was the last turn, but it's all moot.

Ben came to the conclusion he should abdicate first turn in future, to give me [Liam and Otty] a fighting chance but I'm not convinced taking such a handicap does us any favours. I had thought the cover I had would be more useful but if I'm not in it everything can shoot through the trees with impunity. As Line of Sight Blocking terrain is in short supply I think a fairer approach may be to treat each tree base a LoS blocking.

At GT3 there will be LoS blocking so we need to practice accordingly, game wise it's far less an artificial balancing act, even if the concept appears that way. I'm sure we'll discuss at some point but it's difficult for me to make a judgement on my list given the result...

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