Today, my buddy and I took a little trip up to Heroes and Dragons up in Columbia for a little change of pace. We were lucky enough to meet up with kartofelkopf (I'm pretty sure that was him, if I'm wrong feel free to correct me!) and decided to have a 3 way game with 2 armies totaling 2500 points (so 1 Player has 2500 points, the other two join forces and have 1250 a piece). My buddy ends up being the odd man out and decides to take a modified version of his 'Ard Boyz list for his 2500 points, kartofelkopf takes 1250 points of Black Templar and I run 1250 of my Space Wolves. The lists are as follows:
Tyranids:
H.Q.
Swarmlord with 3 Tyrant Guard
Elites
3x Hive Guard
3x Hive Guard
3x Venomthropes
Troops
28 Termagants
28 Termagants
2 Tervigons: Catalyst, Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacks
Heavy Support
Trygon Prime
2 Tyrannofex: Rupture Cannon, Cluster Spines
Imperial Side
Black Templar (may be missing a few)
H.Q.
Emperors Champion: Accept any Challenge
Elites
Sword Brethren Terminators: 4 with Lightning Claw Pairs, 1 Thunder Hammer Storm Shield
Troops
2x 6(?) Initiates: Lascannon
Crusader squad (12 in total with a mix of Initiates and Neophytes) 1 Power Fist
Heavy Support
2 Land Raider Crusaders: Smoke Launchers
Space Wolves
H.Q.
Canis
Hannibal the Cannibal
Wolf Lord, Thunderwolf Mount, Runic Armor, Wolf Tooth Necklace, Belt of Russ, Frost Blade, Saga of the Warrior Born
MC Hammer
Wolf Lord, Thunderwolf Mount, Runic Armor, Wolf Tooth Necklace, Storm Shield, Thunder Hammer, Saga of the Beastslayer
Troops
Fenrisian Wolves 15x
Grey Hunters 5x
Flamer, Mark of the Wulfen, Razorback: Twin Linked Lascannons
Grey Hunters 5x
Flamer, Mark of the Wulfen, Razorback: Twin Linked Lascannons
Heavy Support
Long Fangs 5x
4x Missile Launchers
Once we had our forces, we decided to play a Battle Mission and rolled to see which mission we would end up playing. As chance would have it, we ended up with the 3rd Tyranid Mission. I believe it was something like Infestation. Basically, all terrain was considered Dangerous as well as difficult, the defenders (Imperials) had Preferred Enemy against the Tyranids while the Tyranids gain Stealth for every model. Deployment ends up as one table quarter for the defenders with a 12" buffer around it while the Tyranids can deploy anywhere else on the table. Terrain broke down like this: From left to right on both sides of the table, closest to the board edge was a rock formation providing elevation and cover, and a patch of forest area terrain, in the middle was a forested area. All forests were considered to block Line of Sight while area terrain conferred a 4+ cover to Infantry inside of them.
Deployment was pretty interesting. Above our Deployment zone (we were in the bottom left corner of the table) my buddy placed a Tervigon and the 2 groups of Hive Guard behind the forest area that was on that side. Across the way, he deployed in a horse shoe. In the front, he made a wall with both gaunt squads. From left to right it went Tervigon, Tyrannofex, Venomthropes, Tyrannofex, Swarmlord with Hive Guard. Our response is to have the heavy weapons in the rock formation for the best cover and lines of fire, I combine
MC Hammer, Hannibal and Canis into the Fenrisian Wolves and place them in a horseshoe near the forest to provide cover for the whole squad. I place my 2 Razrobacks against the bottom board edge back to back so I can be as far as possible from the Hive Guard. kartofelkopf places 1 Land Raider Crusader with Terminators a little back from our deployment zone so they don't get charged in the first turn. He keeps the other Land Raider in Reserve.
So we roll and of course my buddy gets first turn so the carnage commences!
Turn 1
My buddy moves everything forward except for the Hive Guard above us as he tries to go around it to prevent terrain wounds. Shooting ends up with both his Tyrannofex, Tervigons, Hive Guard and Gaunts shooting into the wolves and wiping out the Fenrisian wolves (poor puppies
).
Our turn sees me passing Leadership on the H.Q.'s and I seperate them to go in 3 directions, Hannibal goes to the Tervigon/ Hive Guard group aiming for the Hive Guard, Canis heads straight for the gaunts and
MC Hammer heads for the prime (BIG mistake). The Land Raider Crusader rumbles forward and disgorges the Terminators in preparation for assault. Shooting sees about 5 gaunts being brought down by the Land Raider Crusader and a single wound on a Tyrant Guard from the Multi-Melta. The Lascannons from the Templar go into the Venomthropes and end up taking down a single one who fails his save. All of the other shots either roll a 1 to wound or get saved...Now comes the fun part, assaults! My H.Q.'s assault into their respective targets and the Terminators assault the Gaunts. Due to the Venomthropes, the Termminators take 4 (Yeah I know, ridiculous) wounds from Dangerous Terrain. kartofelkopf ends up passing all but 1 save. The Terminators munch on the bugs and end up leaving 4-5 behind after fearless wounds without losing any of their own.
MC Hammer ends up taking 2 wounds from the prime while dealing back 3 to the prime (I forgot about saga of the Beastslayer so I didn't re-roll my failed wounds...) he passes his fearless save. Canis puts out an epic 14 attacks and ends up killing 12 Gaunts! In attacks back, the Gaunts put 1 wound on Canis and my buddy loses another 10 Gaunts to fearless saves. Hannibal kills 1 Hive Guard and puts a wound on the other and receives no wounds back.
Turn 2
My buddy realizes that my H.Q.'s are a HUGE threat to his bugs and goes into reactionary mode. He decides not to poop any bugs out with the top Tervigon as he knows they'll just be obliterated as there is no room to place them. The rightmost Tervigon spits out 15 (rolls doubles) bugs! This time the Tyrannofex have eyes on target and decide its time to shoot. The Swarmlord eyes the Land Raider while passing along Furious Charge to his Tyrant Guard as they greedily await their attacks on the Terminators. The top most Hive Guard try getting around the Hannibal combat; however, their terrain roll is a miserable 3 so they're going nowhere. The Tervigon nearest them turns around and prepares for assault with Hannibal. Shooting sees a Tyrannofex stunning a Razorback (I know, right?) and shaking the Land Raider Crusader. Assault sees the Swarmlord shaking the Land Raider and the Tyrant Guard slaughtering the Terminators.
MC Hammer gets assaulted by the fresh Gaunt brood and takes 4 down with regular attacks before being torn down by the Trygon Prime. Canis Kills off the Gaunts that are around him but sadly is killed by a single blow being landed by the Tervigon. Hannibal goes into a rage from seeing his comrades being chopped down and puts 5 wounds on the Tervigon and kills off the Hive Guard in a combination of Fearless saves and Frost Weapon Wounds.
Our turn sees the Land Raider Crusader coming on and moving flat out to the middle of our deployment zone and popping smoke as he has nothing to shoot at in range and my Razorbacks are exposed now. He then drives the other Land Raider Crusader through the forest and popping smoke as well as it is in the same situation. My Razorback shuffles to get line of sight on something while remaining obscured from his guns. Shooting sees A LOT of whiffing. Lascannons do nothing...I launch 1 Missile at the Venomthropes and does nothing...however; I punish the fresh squad of Gaunts and kill 9 with frag missiles from the Long Fangs. Assault seems
MC Hammer doing what he does and chops down the Tervigon. He consolidates 3" towards the middle.
Turn 3
So far things are still up in the air; however, it could easily change so my buddy begins trying to take down as much as he can. He moves his remaining Hive Guard and lines up shots on Hannibal while the top most Tyrannofex lines up his shots on the Land Raider closest to him. The other Tyrannofex steps back trying to get a better angle for fire while the Swarmlord Eyes up the Land Raider Crusader closest to him. The Trygon Prime regenerates 1 wound. Shooting sees no wounds on Hannibal and nothing the Land Raider being shaken again by the Tyrannofex. Assault sees the Trygon Prime assaulting the Land Raider and the Swarmlord does the same with his own. The Swarmlord destroys the Land Raider and kills 2 of the Templar inside. The Trygon Prime whiffs and does no damage at all. The Hive Guard desperately assault; however, Hannibal chews through the Hive Guard like a hot chainsword through butter putting out 9 wounds on the Hive Guard before they have a chance to strike. He consolidates 5 towards the center.
At this point it is looking close but we think we can handle the rest. The Crusder squad passes their test and moves out of terrain and prepares to take down the Swarmlord...or at least try :-) The other land raider backs up and lines up his guns on the Trygon prime. The Razorbacks position for shots on the Trygon and Tyrannofex. Hannibal prepares to assault the Venomthropes as their
IB pulled them closer to him. Shooting sees the Tyrant Guard getting cut down in a combination of missiles and Bolt Pistols (yeah, awesome). The Trygon Prime gets cut down with a few more lascannons and the hellacious torrent from the Land Raider Crusader. Assaults see the Templar assaulting the Swarmlord, Hannibal Assaults the Venomthropes and passes his dangerous terrain test and readies himself for the coming slaughter. The Swarmlord only puts a single wound on the Emperors Champion which ends up being saved twice as the re-roll for the
Inv was a 6. The Swarmlord takes 3 Wounds from the Emperors Champion, a single wound from the Crusader squad and 2 more from the Power Fist. All saves are failed and the Templars consolidate 6" towards the Tyrannofex. Hannibal kills one Venomthrope and leaves the other with a wound (I know, not as impressive; but he is getting tired).
Turn 4
It's pretty much over at this point but we decide to play it out and see how the rest goes. His movement sees some shifting but nothing noteworhty. Shooting sees the topmost Tyrannofex doing nothing while the other kills 2 neophytes from the Crusader squad. The random gaunts just shoot a few shots but nothing causes a wound. Assault sees the Venomthrope getting cut down and Hannibal Consolidating towards the Tyrannofex.
Our trun, I move up 1 Razorback and drop out my Grey Hunters so they can see some action, the Crusader Squad moves up and prepares assaults on the Tyrannofex and Hannibal does the same on his target. The Crusader pivots and aims at the gaunts. The Grey Hunters vaporize the Gaunts that are at the bottom of the board while the Land Raider Crusader does the same to its targets. The Lascannons and Missile Launchers only put a single wound on the Top most Tyrannofex so that was kind of a let down. Assaults see Hannibal hitting the Tryannofex while the Templars hit the other. The Emperors Champion puts 3 wounds on the Tyrannofex and the Power Fist puts another 1 on it while the Templar lose one of their own. Hannibal attacks and after 8 attacks results with 5 wounds taking down his Tyrannofex.
At this point we call it as the store was closing and there wasn't much else to do.
I have to say it was a fun game and wickedly entertaining. We all made a few bad judgment calls; however, in the end we had fun and that was what mattered. Have to say it was fun to meet another Dakka-ite and will definitely be heading back up to Heroes and Dragons very soon. Gotta give appreciation to Ben at the store for letting us stay a little later to finish up our game. Hope you all enjoyed!
