So I have been meaning to do some battle reports for some time now. But it seems that I never had the time to make it happen. So, a friend of mine and I have been having a couple of games between his Tyranid's and my
IG. Our meta could be described as 'relaxed'
LOL. As an added twist we did talk about the type of scenario we'd like to play in broad strokes; in this case I told him I would probably take some fortifications and a fair number of infantry trying to hold back the horde. He said he'd take a high model count as well.
Anyway, on to the battle report. I have decided to approach it in a narrative format focusing on what happened during the battle, with a preamble detailing some of the game details. Feedback welcome.
/////Report Begins/////
/// Planet Sildan IV: A civilized world with a modest population of 1.4B. Overall temperate climate. Large scale agricultural industries, supported by light manufacturing and resource extraction. Primary exports are foodstuffs; primary imports are specialised equipment not available locally. PDF forces rated GradeB3, numbering 3 million men at arms.
/// Special Notes: Armageddon Steel Legion 'Hades 88' currently planet side. Engaged in woodland combat training exercises.
//
There was no warning of the approaching hive ships. The antiquated defence frigates and orbitals of Sildan IV could not have detected the small fleet of Tyranid ships approaching from the sunward side of the system. Before the alarm could be raised, pods were dropped from orbit, slamming into the southern continent by the hundreds. In the sparsely populated countryside few noticed the rain of deadly meteors falling from the heavens. The hive ships pulling away from the planet, drawing the local defenders attentions away from what was transpiring on the surface.
Within a week, the Tyranid's had overrun a sizeable area, and had begun to encroach on a small settlement of farmers and tradesmen who worked the surrounding fields for hundreds of kilometre's around. The local militia was crushed as the deadly swarm crashed upon the settlement in waves. A short message was transmitted to the capital, a warning of invasion. The Hades 88 Steel Legion had been training in the area north of the settlement and were tasked with setting up a defensive line to hold the invaders until a proper muster could be made.
//
/Pre-battle Notes and Preamble
1500 point Armies, everything is
WYSIWYG except for the Armoured Sentinel (counts as Scout Sent. w/ Missile Launcher).
Astra Militarum vs Tyranids
Maelstrom Mission 5: Cloak and Shadows
First Turn: Tyranids
Warlord Traits: the tyranid's had the digestive pool one, dropping the cover of some woods in my deployment zone, which I didn't feel was an issue with my Aegis Defence Line, oh how wrong i was. The
AM had Bellowing voice, which had some value later in the game for the extra range when issuing orders.
At the start of the game I knew I was going to be on the back foot. I was playing the Steel Legion and my tactical objective cards were all crap, capture an objective way at the other end of the table, shoot down a flyer etc... in the end I had little luck drawing cards. My opponent ended up with a good slew of cards. Luck of the draw indeed... On to the battle...
Pre-game and Deployment
View of the table from the North.
View of the table from the South.
Steel Legion deployment.
Tyranid deployment.
Turn One Victory Points
AM 0 /
Tyr 2
The Tyranid's advance on the Hades 88th. Biovore's dropping living mortars onto the Steel Legion infantry. Heavy casualties suffered by the platoon as the Aegis line proves to be useless against this form of attack. Amidst the confusion and chaos of the Tyranid attack, and the horde swarming towards, the Steel Legion struggles to respond.
Living artillery from the Biovore's kill large numbers of infantry. A serious depletion of fire power against the coming horde. The 88th struggles to return fire against the enemy.
The Tyranid leader beasts drive the horde into the guns of the Steel Legion forces. However the shock of the Tyranid attack keeps casualties low amongst the aliens.
Turn Two Victory Points
AM 1 /
Tyr 4
The Hive Tyrant dives onto the exposed infantry, killing another of there number before opening fire on a target in the distance. The gap is closing too quickly for the defenders! Then the unthinkable, aliens appear on the flanks!
Ambush! A horde of tyranid creatures appears behind the Steel Legion forces. They open fire to deadly effect upon the Sentinels.
The Steel Legion attempts to hold back the oncoming horde with good old fashioned fire power, leaving the bastion defenders to deal with the outflanking aliens. A new threat appears however which hinders the Guardsmen from creating effective kill zones... Spore Mines!!! (with a statline of 1,1,1,1,... they are surprisingly aggravating to deal with).
A massive monster closes on the Aegis line. Lasgun's unable to wound, and the detachment's heavy weapons engaged against other targets, the squad prepares to sell their lives dearly.
The Tyranid's press their advantage and leap into close combat. Striking whatever they can, a Chimera is torn open and wrecked.
A Steel Legion Chimera turns to engage the outflanking aliens. Weapon's primed, the heavy flamer blasts a torrent of cleansing flame across the filthy xeno's. While a squad of guardsmen, back to back, rain lasgun fire down from atop a small hill.
Turn Three Victory Points
AM 1
Tyr 8
The Tyranid's wreck the Chimera, rushing forwards to engage the Veteren's. A second squad of Vet's deals with an approaching Spore Mine. While the Tyranid Warrior's advance.
Close combat ensues. The hardened Veteren's of the 88th attempting to hold the center. Against the beasts they can only hold for so long.
With the surge of Tyranid's wiping out the defending guardsmen, the Warriors become exposed. Firing every weapon available the entire squad of leader beasts is wiped out! However this small victory can not eclipse the fact that the aliens have crossed the Aegis line and will soon cut off any chance of escape.
The Biovore's continue to fire their deadly ordinance onto the Steel Legion Lines. While the Warriors and various Gaunt's have been eliminated, the larger Tyranid beasts now have a clear run on the Bastion. A final view of the battlefield from the South.
The order to retreat is given. The remaining Steel Legion troops engage in a fighting withdrawal.
Seeing the massive creatures approaching the Bastion, the Company Commander sets the automated defences to maximum prejudice in order to buy time for his squad to escape.
This was the end of our game, as we ran out of time. A solid Tyranid victory, with 8vp's to the Imperials 1.
// The men ran for the waiting Chimera's, clamouring aboard quickly. The Company Commander was the last to climb the ramp. Looking back he watches as the bastion's heavy bolter's hammer round after round into the remaining creatures. His forces had taken heavy casualties, but in the end they had thinned the horde, and killed many of the leader beasts. That should at least slow the aliens advance somewhat. Hopefully enough to rally for a counter attack.
//
Conclusion: Well, this was a hard fight for the Steel Legion. The Biovore's were brutal in taking out infantry squads;I lost 22 models in the first shot which almost halved my compliment of infantry. The first turn shooting was abysmal as well. This allowed the Tyranid's to advance without taking many casualties. As the game progressed, the Maelstrom cards drawn were pretty bad for the Imperials, while the Tyranid's had some great luck e.g. cast a psychic power, kill a character (poor squad sgt in the biovore blast), capture the objective by the Biovores (twice!). But I don't lament the cards. I think if the Imperial shooting was better from turn one I could have built some momentum. But with weak dice rolls for their shooting the Imperials had a really hard time. I constantly felt like I was on the back foot, and the Spore Mines deep striking were a major pain
LOL. Overall it was a very fun game though, I don't play against Tyranid's very much at all, so it was fun to play against an army which was unfamiliar and 'alien'.
Unfortunately we didn't get this game started until later in the evening, and had to call it at the bottom of Turn 3. But at that point it was looking like the Tyranid's were in a solid position to win, leading by a significant margin in
VP's.
My opponent and I are going to continue this series over the course of several games. We have already played the second, so keep an eye out for the next battle report sometime soon. And it will be complete before posting next time.
As I said at the beginning, this is my first battle report. I have looked at a lot of different styles, and am still learning how to put them together. So any feedback is welcome. Thanks for reading.
