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So, a couple friends and I are playing a fluffy narrative campaign about the cleansing of a Tyranid-infested planet and I came up with these rules for a desperate PDF last stand while waiting for rescue. My friend the 'Nid player wanted to play a battle that was like Starship Troopers: a never-ending horde of little aliens assaulting infantry in a fixed position. I took that inspiration and tried to make it a little more fair for my marines and my friend's IG. I thought folks on the internet might be interested! Cheers...

Mission #2 - PDF hold out in a desperate attempt to survive!

The Planetary Defense Forces have been holed up in the ruins of a military compound for weeks. Supplies and ammunition is running low. The area outside the walls is a kill-zone littered with rubble, mines, and bodies. Only the most canny, skilled guardsmen have survived, but the Tyranids are massing for a final wave assault to overwhelm the beleaguered defenders. Meanwhile, the vanguard forces of the space marines, having just established a beachhead on the planet, have dispatched a mech infantry strike force to rescue the PDF. These PDF units have crucial intelligence on the whereabouts of Tyranid swarms and specific vulnerabilities of this particular fleet.

Armies
The PDF Defenders: 1,000 points of guardsmen. They may include 0-1 fast attack and 0-2 heavy support choices. They may not include flyers. They may not take squadrons of tanks. Only one squad may take a dedicated transport to reflect the limited supply of equipment.
The Relief Force: 1,000 points of space marines. All infantry units must be mounted in dedicated transports. This army uses a separate force org chart (0-1 HQ, 0-2 Elite, 2-6 troops, 0-3 Fast, 0-3 Heavy). Any surplus points less than 100 may be given to the PDF and vice versa.
The Tyranids: 2,500 points of Tyranids chosen as normal from the force org chart. (Thematically, focused on hordes of little guys backed up by a few big guys)

Terrain
The table should be set up with some sort of fortress on one side, centered along the long table edge. The rest of the terrain should be craters, ruined buildings, barbed wire, tank traps, wrecked vehicles, etc. Some area terrain encouraged.

Deployment
-The PDF set up along the side with the fortress. They may set up units anywhere that is more than 12" from the remaining 3 table edges. The defenders must designate one objective to represent their final redoubt (it could be a command bunker, final barricade, flag, or other model. The defenders may place barricades, barbed wire, and other obstacles. The defenders then place demo charges (see special rules below)
-The relief forces enter later (see below)
-Once the PDF forces have deployed, the game begins. All Tyranids enter from off the table (see below). Tyranids have the first turn.

Game Length
Standard game length. 5 turns; roll starting at the end of the 5th turn to see if it continues.

Victory Conditions
-The Tyranid objective is to overrun the the PDF. If the Tyranids eliminate the PDF and have an uncontested unit within 3" of the objective at the end of the game they win a major victory. If they only achieve one of these objective, they win a minor victory.
-The Defender's objective is to survive. If the PDF survive the mission and the PDF or marines have an uncontested unit within 3" of the objective at the end of the game they win a major victory. If they achieve only one of the objectives, they win a minor victory.

Special Rules
-Battle-hardened Survivors - The PDF units all have the "Preferred Enemy" and "Stubborn" universal special rules.

-Last Stand - Any unit within 6" of the objective gains the "Fearless" special rule. PDF forces always fall back toward the objective and fleeing units will automatically rally if any member of the squad comes within 6" of the objective even if they would normally be unable to rally.

-Prepared Defenses - Over the course of weeks of fighting the kill zones around the defenders have become littered with unexploded ordinance, wreckage, and mines. All area terrain outside of the PDF perimeter is considered Dangerous Terrain.

-Demo charges - In preparation for the final assault, the PDF units have placed remote-controlled demo charges around the perimeter. After the PDF have finished deployment but before the game begins, the defenders may secretly place 1+D3 demo charges. Determine a secret method of placement (see note below). The charges must be placed more than 12" from the enemy table edges. During their shooting phase, the defenders may trigger any number of demo charges. When triggered, the location is revealed and a large blast is placed centered on the demo charge. All models in the blast radius take a S9 AP4 hit. Each charge may only be used once.

-Wave Assault - The Tyranids divide their army into three waves of roughly equal size. They choose one wave to enter from a table edge of their choice. The next turn they pick another wave and enter from one of the two remaining table edges selected randomly. On the third turn the remaining units enter the field from the last table edge.

-Without number - All Tyranid troops choices (and gargoyles) are subject to the without number special rule. At any time that a unit is below 25%, the tyranids may bring in another, identical unit from a table edge of their choice on their subsequent movement phase. (If the player does not have enough extra models, they may remove the remaining models of the 25% strength unit).

-Here comes the cavalry! - Starting on the 3rd turn, roll die at the start of the defenders turn. On a 3 or better, the relief force enters the battle from a table edge of the defender's choice. All units arrive at once. If the relief forces do not arrive, roll again on the fourth turn, on a 2 or better they arrive. If they still do not arrive, they enter automatically on the 5th turn.

-Hardened bunker - The PDF forces, wary of attack from below, have set up their final stand on an area of tough, rocky ground. No Tyranids may deep strike within 18" of the objective.

Notes
For secret placement of charges I recommend the following method. Have the Tyranid player leave the room. Place suitable markers on the table for the demo charge locations. Take a picture of each one with a cell phone or other camera. Remove the markers. Super easy to see the location! Alternatively, you could try to write down locations relative to terrain features (e.g. 2" north, 5" west of this crater).

Enjoy!

Really like this scenerio wouldnt mind running it myself dont have to many nids players in my parts but could really work with any other army. Love the remote demo charges great idea !

Looks like just about any shooty army could be the defender and any horde-ish army could be the attacker. Some general adaptions would need to be made, though, since some horde or melee armies are faster than others.

Great Scenario! I could see working this into a number of campaigns. It's kind of hard to get up to 1,000 points with the restrictions you placed on the IG player if you could post a battle report of this after you guys play it I would read it, with or with out images.

We are planning to play on Monday, so I will definitely report back on how it goes! We may need to make a few tweaks to the scenario based on playtesting.

Thanks for the feedback, guys! I'm glad you like it.

Me an a Ork player are trying to arrange this for sometime next week gonna try a little twist using the defend the shrine scenerio in the witchhunters book and have waves of orks coming from either side of the table instead of three and the last stand site be in the center of the board

Hey guys, I'll post a battle report up tonight. But the battle was a great success! Very closely fought! Though we decided to make a few changes. I'll recap them in my battle report, but here is a quick rundown:

-Equal points for both sides. The 500 point lead for the Nids combined with the Without Number special rule was a bit OP.

-"Without Number (WON)" - Once the relief force enters, units entering via WON may not enter from the table edge that the relief forces came in.

-Increase demo charges to 2+D3