This is the second of six battle reports from the June 13th Astronomi-con tournament in Toronto, Canada. 1500Pts
See
my Astronomicon Toronto thread in the Tournaments forum for an overview of the tables and some of the armies present.
Astro Toronto Battle Reports:
Game 1 vs Mech Imperial Guard
Game 2 vs Leafblower Imperial Guard
This Thread
Game 3 (coming soon)
Game 4 (coming soon)
Game 5 (coming soon)
Game 6 (coming soon)
For something new, I'm attempting to weave the six battles into some sort of narrative (see text in
italics).
A Lightning attack craft flashed overhead as the Tyranid forces ran for the cover of the ancient pyramids. “Found the aliens: all attack craft vector in to oh-five-niner” the Lightning pilot radioed. “Roger that. Good job, we'll get you a case of beer for that one!”, the air cav colonel's voice came back. “Put “Ride of the Seraphim” on the external speakers, that'll spook the bugs. Now dig 'em out of those rocks boys!” He covered his microphone and muttered to himself, “Or at least keep their heads down until the grunts can get those supplies past here to the Marines...” The Colonel glanced down at the Hellhound, heavily laden with crates lashed to its hull and with a squad of infantry precariously perched atop those, picking its way through the trees to the west. The Lightning banked in a wide arc, coming around to set up its attack run as the heavier planes dropped into hover mode and unlocked their weapons.
Hearing the music, the Hive Tyrant sent out a psychic message to its broods, and with uncanny precision, they all simultaneously hid behind pillars and in ancient ruins. Save for the Zoanthropes, whose Warp Fields rippled as they took on point position, gathering their energy to Lance the approaching aircraft out of the skies
Tyranids:
HQ: Hive Tyrant (Heavy Venom Cannon, Scything Talons, Paroxysm, Leech Essence, Adrenal Glands)
Elite: 3 Zoanthropes
Elite: 3 Hive Guard
Troops: 10 Genestealers (Toxin Sacs)
Troops: 3 Warriors (2x Deathspitters, 1x Venom Cannon; all with dual Boneswords)
Troops: 4 Warriors (Scything Talons, Rending Claws, Toxin Sacs)
FA: Harpy (Twinlinked Stranglethorn Cannon, Cluster Spines, Adrenal Glands)
FA: Meiotic Spore Sack
FA: Meiotic Spore Sack
HS: Trygon (Adrenal Glands)
Imperial Guard
HQ: Company Command Squad (Meltas?)
Troops: Veterans (3 Meltaguns?)
x2
Elite?: Lightning (lbAC,
TwL Lascannon, 4x Hellfury Missiles)
Fast: Valkyrie (Lascannon, 2x MRPs)
Fast: Squadron of 2 Vendettas (3x
TwL Lascannons)
Fast: Squadron of 2 Tauros Venators (
TwL Lascannon)
Heavy: Vulture Gunship (
HB,
TwL Lascannon, 2x MRPs)
Heavy: Vulture Gunship (
HB, 4x MRPs)
Table/Mission:: Divide and Conquer
Deployment: Diagonal (behind a line drawn from points 17” in from two opposite corners)
Special Rules: Victory Points
Primary Objective:
Score 150+ more
VPs than opponent
Secondary Objectives: +1 each: Own highest point scoring unit still alive; enemy General dead; more of own units in opponent's deployment zone than in one's own.
[b] Price of Failure (-1 each): Own highest point unit destroyed; no enemy units destroyed; have no units outside own deployment zone.
Deployment:
IG won the roll and chose to deploy and go first. He deployed his two Vultures out front, with the Vendettas (each containing a Veteran squad) in his back left, and the Valkyrie (containing the
CCS) on his right. The Lightning and the Venators went into reserve.
I tried to hide my forces in cover as much as possible. The 4
CC Warriors hid behind a large piller on my left, with the Trygon, Tyrant and Guard lurking behind the lagest pyramid in my deployment zone, a little farther back. Zoanthropes confidently deployed center-front, with Hive Guard behind them and the Biovore back a ways in a building. Shooty Warriors deployed in cover on my center-right.
Genestealers outflanking; Harpy, Meiotic Spores deepstriking
Tyranids failed to steal the initiative.
Imperial Guard Turn 1:
“Oh-Five-Niner ahead, drop to attack altitude, Gamma formation,” the Colonel barked. The five planes dove down sharply and pulled up to skim slowly along just above the pyramids and rock pillars. The Vulture gunships took point, with the two Vendettas banking left and the command Valkyrie banking right.
“There they are!” a Vulture pilot exclaimed. Dozens of rockets arced and whizzed through the terrain, most impacting harmless on rock. A few found their targets, and the Colonel personally placed a lascannon shot into one of the Warriors that was dazedly stumbling around in the smoke (Quad-pod Vulture accounted for 3 unsaved wounds to one
CC Warrior, Valkyrie
LC instant-killed another)
“There's a few out in the open!” Both Vendettas and the second Vulture trained their lascannons on the Zoanthropes. Though half of the shots were deflected by the psychic energies of the floating brains, one by one they sank to the ground as other beams found their marks (7 Twinlinked Lascannons fried all 3 Zoeys despite the 3+ invulnerable saves :( ).
“Good job boys, now keep your distance – there are more of those things lurking down there and you don't want them ripping your engines off!” the Colonel admonished.
Tyranids Turn 1:
Stunned at the complete collapse of the Zoanthropes, the Tyrant sent the Hive Guard scurrying forwards and into cover. The planes cautious approach left them out of range of the Hive Guards' impaler cannons. The remaining
CC Warriors and Trygon ran forwards on the left flank, creeping from cover to cover and advancing on the command Valkyrie while sheltering from the Vendettas.
The Tyrant's heavy venom cannon went wide, but the shooty Warrior's venom cannon sluiced over the sensors of one of the Vendettas (shaking it). The Tyrant sent out an urgent psychic summons to the Genestealers, Harpies, and Spore Sacks,
Imperial Guard Turn 2:
“Let's get some Lightning down on that venom cannon!” the Colonel ordered. The white plane pulled a falling-leaf slide out of the sky, loosing four Hellfury missiles at the shooty Warriors. Their hardened carapaces saved the beasts from the light napalm (only one unsaved wound from 9 hits). Two Tauros Venators bounced along the ground underneath, shoring up the Imperial's left flank. Their lascannons and those of the unshaken Vendetta targeted the Hive Tyrant, one beam managing to find its way through the rocks to burn the leg of the Hive Tyrant (one wound).
“Here they come...” The combined fire of the Vultures obliterated the remaining
CC Warriors. The Lightning and Valkyrie trained their Lascannons on the Trygon, but only blasted chunks out of the rock pillar that it ducked behind.
Tyranids Turn 2:
The Hive Tyrant realized it had miscalculated as the Genestealers ran onto the battlefield – on the wrong side! Instead of leaping up to the exposed engines of the Vultures, they faced a long run towards the Vendettas (Genestealers outflank on the Imperial left flank, boo).
“What the hell are those things...those spears have EYES!” a panicked cry sputtered over the com from the leftmost Vendetta. 10-foot long shafts of bone twisted and turned in the air, unerringly piercing through the fuel tanks and batteries of the aircraft. Sparks and flames sputtered from the rear of the plane as it nosed over into the ground. The Veterans bailed out as it descended, huddling behind the wreckage.
The Tyrant bent its mind to restrain the Trygon from surging forward into lascannon fire and certain destruction. The huge beast seethed behind its rock pillar, biding its time as the Harpy and Spores made their slow descents from on high.
Imperial Guard Turn 3:
“Pull back!” the Colonel ordered, “Those spears can't fly very far...concentrate your fire on the big ones, we'll deal with the spear-throwers later”. The Lightning pulled a huge arc, passing close to the command Valkyrie. All of the planes went into hover mode and backed up, away from the Hive Guard. Lascannons and rocket pods pocked the rocks behind which the Tyrant and the Trygon were cowering.
The Trygon jerked and spat as chunks were torn out of its serpentine body (3 wounds) The Tyrant Guard obediently leaped and cavorted in front of the Tyrant to catch several lascannon beams before slumping to the earth, and the Tyrant reeled as it was wounded again (Tyrant Guard dead, one more wound on the Tyrant).
Tyranids Turn 3:
A shriek dopplered up in pitch and a shadow grew quickly on the surface as the giant Harpy plummeted behind the Vultures, snapping its wings out at the last possible moment to halt its descent. Slightly too late: the creature bounced briefly on the ground disorienting it (I ended up forgetting to shoot with the Harpy during the shooting phase...argh!).
A Meiotic Spore Sack dropped from the air and landed square on the Tauros Venators, exploding. The acid burned one of the vehicles to a crisped huld (destroyed!), but splashed harmlessly against the other.
The Tyrant, realizing the futility of hiding from the long range weapons of the planes, sent its forces forwards. Genestealers scuttled through the pyramids towards the scent of the bailed-out Veterans. The Trygon, slowed by its wounds (rolled a 2 on its run, boo!) lurched unevenly over the open ground between the rocks and was unable to reach the Imperial forces.
The Hive Guard ventured forwards to range in one of the Vultures, and wedged two 10-foot spines into the fans of its engines. The craft slowly bobbed down to the ground and then back up slightly, its hover jets functioning but its main engines unable to propel it forwards or backwards (immobilized).
The Tyrant's heavy venom cannon splashed acid over the windscreen of the other Vulture (shaking it), and the shooty Warrior's venom cannon melted the lascannon from one of the Tauros Venators. The Biovore landed a spore mine near the bailed-out Veterans, but only killed two.
Imperial Guard Turn 4:
“I want that leader-beast dead!” screamed the Colonel. He grabbed the targeting controls and burned a deep pit into the carapace of the Tyrant with the Valkyrie's lascannon. The Lightning aircraft arced around behind the Tyrant, placing its own lascannon beam into the same place when the great beast turned towards it. Smoke curled up from the Tyrant's head as it slumped to the ground, incapacitated.
The surviving Vendetta repositioned itself to draw an unobstructed bead on the Trygon as it jerked across open ground. Lascannon beams raked the length of the huge creature, slicing it in two.
Tyranids Turn 4:
With the demise of the Tyrant, the shooty Warriors assumed sole control of the Tyranid force. Glancing up at the Lightning above them, they sent urgent mental messages to the Hive Guard. The gun-beasts turned as one and lanced their barbed spears straight up into the sky. The Lightning twisted and turned in desperate evasive maneuvers, but one spear shattered a wing of the aircraft and sent it plummeting into a fiery spiral of death (immobilized, = destroyed for a flyer)
The genestealers, intent on the trail of their prey, teemed and surged around the rocky formations, working their way inevitably across the battlefield.
The Harpy hesitated as it found itself bereft of guidance from the Hive Mind, but focused in on the Vulture before it (rolled a 6 for Instinctive Behaviour, whew!) Though its guns failed to affect the vehicle, the beasts talons tore the lascannon from the nose of the vehicle and sent the crew to the bottom of their cockpit (shaken and weapon destroyed).
A Meiotic Spore Mine plummeted to the ground and spread its tendrils, mindlessly seeking targets (scattered into pretty much the only place where there was no enemy, naturally).
Imperial Guard Turn 5:
“We're hit! It's still on us!” shouted the Vulture crew from the floor of their cockpit. The second Vulture hit retrothrusters and repositioned itself behind the Harpy, peppering it with rockets. The Vendetta and Valkyrie joined in, but when the smoke had cleared the winged beast remained clinging to the Vulture, bloodied but unbowed (3 wounds, not quite enough to kill it)
Veteran squad delta jumped to the ground from their Vendetta, but found themselves out of range to the Harpy.
The remaining Tauros Venator radioed “Genestealers on the left flank, approaching fast...” nervously. “Steady man, ignore those for now,” the Colonel ordered, “I need you to take out those spear-shooting things before we lose more planes!”. “....yes, sir” the Venator crew replied resignedly. In the interest of getting a better shot, they repositioned themselves as far from the approaching Genestealers as possible. The Venator's lascannon managed to wing a Hive Guard (one wound).
Tyranids Turn 5:
“Here they come...aigh!” the Venator crew gunned the engines as Genestealers swarmed over their vehicle. The rending claws tore the lascannons from their mount (weapon destroyed and shaken only)
The Harpy unlatched its talons from the Vulture in frustration, and hurled itself at the Vendetta. Its claws failed to find purchase on the metal skin (hit only once, failed to even glance).
Imperial Guard Turn 6:
The disembarked Veteran squad delta poured melta, flamer and lasgun fire into the Harpy right in front of them. It let out one final shriek before collapsing in a heap before them. Veteran squad alpha turned their guns on the nearby Meiotic Spore Sack, popping it and releasing 5 smaller spores.
The Hive Guard and Warriors took a few more wounds each from the operational vehicles, but their cover saved them from serious damage.
The weaponless Tauros Venator moved full-out away from the Genestealers and parked against a pyramid, blocking the path to the Veteran squads.
Tyranids Turn 6:
The Genestealers needed a good run to reach the Venator and/or Veterans – and managed a 3 even with move through cover. Too far to assault.
The Hive Guard moved forward and may have shaken or stunned another plane, but caused no serious damage.
Game Over!
Result: Loss
Battle Points: I only got about 500-600
VPs (One Vendetta, the Lightning, 50% Venators, 50% Vulture) while giving up over 1000 (Trygon, Tyrant + Guard,
CC Warriors, Zoanthropes). I received 3
BP for the loss, my opponent got 10BP for the win. My opponent got +2 for secondary objectives (killed my commander, his highest-point scoring unit survived) while I got none. Neither of us suffered any penalties for Price of Failure.
Tyranids: 3
BP; Imperial Guard: 11
BP
”The Hellhound is through...repeat, the Hellhound and the crates have made it past this area and are safely on their way to the Marine outpost” the Colonel radioed, “With that Tyrant dead, there's no way these things can catch them now. All right men, let's move out – it's not worth risking our planes to root the last few Tyranids out. We've fulfilled our mission. We'll come back for salvage when these beasts are gone.” The Colonel's Valkyrie picked up the Veterans from squad alpha, and the mobile Vulture picked up the immobilized Vulture's crew. The planes climbed into the sky as spines shot futilely after them, and Genestealers milled about with spore mines aimlessly.
”Look sir, Black Templar land raiders!” a crewman pointed behind them. “They look like they're on an intercept course for the Hellhound!” “Not our problem, soldier,” the Colonel chuckled. “I assume the Blood Angels have called on their brethren for an escort. I guess they don't put much faith in our service.” He glanced briefly down at the Hellhound, which was accelerating at breakneck speed *away* from the approaching Templar forces. “Huh,” he shrugged as he ordered his force back to their bastions. Unseeen behind him, the supply crates broke free of their inadequate bindings, and guardsmen lost their grips and fell from the Hellhound's frame as it sped towards the Marine outpost
As the sounds of the aircraft receded, the Warriors ventured out towards the destroyed Venator and Vendetta. Their psychic senses had picked up the faintest of life signs. Brushing the smaller Genestealers aside, their boneswords cut effortless into the crew cabins of the two vehicles. Almost gently, they cut two surviving crew members from the wreckages and bore them back towards the limp form of the Hive Tyrant. The mortally wounded leader-beast stirred, its own psychic energies coming weakly alive. The guardsmen being offered up began whimpering, then screaming as their essences were leeched from them. Their screams ended abruptly and the Tyrant lurched to its feet, its wounds closing. Sniffing the air, the Tyrant smelled the guardsmen fallen from the Hellhound ahead – and the strange psychic signature of the warp-crates again. Calling out into the forest to gather its scattered reinforcements, the Tyrant and its retinue lurched out of the ruins into the open field where the Hellhound's discards lay.
2000 
2000 
1200
600 
190 
in progress
