So I finally got a game in with the new rules this past weekend. I'm not much for full-blown battle reports, but I can give an overview with my thoughts relating to the game and army list.
My buddy (Cruentus on this forum) played
BA. He had Mephiston,
Tac squads in Rhinos, an assault squad,
DC, Baal Pred, Dread, Attack Bikes, and a Whirlwind. My army -- more of a playing what I want to try list rather than something I've carefully tuned -- was mostly reserve-based, including a winged Tyrant, Zoeys (pod), Warriors (pod), Carnifex (pod), Trygon, Hormagaunts (outflank) and Genestealers (outflank). I also had a Tervigon, Termagants and Hive Guards as my on-table groundpounders. The mission was Capture & Control. He chose second turn and kept a number of stuff in reserves to counterattack my droppers.
Long story short, I played it very aggressively with my reserves, which I think was a major mistake given the situation and mission. Although my 'stealers and Hormies took down units off the outflank, I overestimated how much damage my drop shooting would do. As a result, I left too much intact, and that plus his reserves coming in got into me pretty good. Still, the following brawl was very deadly to both our armies. My Tyrant and Trygon really mopped up, although they were outclassed by his
DC (which accounted for 4-5 unit kills, including a Tervigon and Carnifex). Although I removed all his Troops and mostly cleaned out his deployment zone, he was able to spring his
DC and contest my objective. I couldn't hold his thanks to having no Troops left. In fact, I was down to my Trygon and my pods. Real bloodbath of a game
My many mistakes and brain farts (pod shots, d'oh!) aside, I felt like I learned a lot. Here are some thoughts and observations:
-My Trygon was very good...so much so that I think a Trygon Alpha would be great. That upgraded gun plus Ld10 plus synapse is a really good package for 40 more pts. I really don't have an issue sinking the extra points into the unit.
-All the rerolls on Trygons, Tyrants, etc. make them much deadlier in combat than before. You actually have a fair chance at killing
MEqs equal to your A value instead of just 2 or 3.
-Hormagaunts were maybe even more glass and more hammer than I thought. They crippled (immobilized and weapon destroyed) a Whirlwind, then wiped out a Terminator squad (partially thanks to the whammy making them WS1), then died in one shooting phase once my buddy decided he's seen enough of that. If you can get and somehow keep the initiative with these guys, they'll be good for you.
-What flamers do to Genestealers now is almost criminal.
-Pod shooting is a nice option vs. remnant squads.
-The army overall seems to have less recovery speed than it used to, thanks to the loss of fleet and move through cover. That can get your units stranded out in the open more than you'd like. Which is problematic with all the glass hammers.
-Shep is right that
FNP and toxin and adrenal buffs from a Tervigon still don't make Termagants a good
CC unit.
FNP and cover saves makes them reasonably tough to remove at range, however. Maybe Devourers will make a difference, but they still look more like objective holders than any offensive threat.
-My Tervigon's spawning machine threw a rod after one shot. I'm starting to see the value in two Tervigons (thanks to the
FNP for the firebase as much as anything), but I still have reservations about fielding three. I just don't know if the spawning accomplishes enough. And Termagants and Tervigons don't cut it in shooting or
CC.
-Mephiston's psychic hood helped rein in my Zoeys and psychics until the Tyrant squished him.
Ld 10 on Tyrants, Tervigons and Zoeys mean the hood doesn't really put a clampdown on Tyranid psychics, but it has an effect.
-I really like Hive Guard. They're just relentless anti-vehicle troops. Out of
LOS? I'm firing on ya. Behind cover? I'm firing on ya...and no cover save for you. They aren't game winners or anything, but I really like them.
-My enthusiasm for Zoeys has waned a little. Hoods limit them, and I kinda feel there's enough anti-transport with
HG and all the other options. Or at least enough given the comparatively high cost of Zoeys. It's only been one game (and one that wasn't against Land Raiders), but they feel like more dedicated anti-MBT weapons, and I'm not sure how much of that the army needs. I'll give them more tries, and if I don't play them so stupidly the low power shot may be prove to be valuable against
MEqs on foot. The 3++ was pretty nice, though.
-Boy, as expected, the army plays a lot differently now. It's a little bit
SM pod, a little bit Daemon and a little bit Eldar.
