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Game #3 – Space Wolves vs Tyranids
A little disappointed about my previous loss, I moved to my next match. My opponent, who I believe was called Jeremy, was playing an army I am intimately familiar with – Tyranids. He was running a decent list, but I'd say it was semi-competitive at best. His list was very close to the following:

HQ
Tervigon (Catalyst, Scything Talons)
Tyranid Prime (Bone Swords, Scything Talons)

ELITES
Doom of Malan'tai (Mycetic Spore)
3x Hive Guard
3x Venomthropes

TROOPS
13 Genestealers (Toxin Sacs, Broodlord with Scything Talons)
11 Termagaunts (Devourers, Mycetic Spore)

HEAVY SUPPORT
Trygon
Trygon Prime
Tyrannofex (Rupture Cannon, Stinger Salvo, Shreddershard Beetles)

The scenario for this game was Spearhead with 5 objectives. The twist to this battle was that we could place 1 non-scoring unit outside of our deployment zone on our table edge. Jeremy elected to place his Tyrannofex on an objective (he thought that the twist was that the Tyrannofex would become a scoring unit). I actually forgot to do this myself, but to be fair I would have had to put a Razorback or pack of Long Fangs there, so it's probably better that I did not do it after all. We rolled to see who would go first, and Jeremy won it.



Turn 1 – Tyranids
The Tyranids moved ahead towards my troops, using the center building as LOS-blocking cover to protect their vulnerable Trygons from my plethora of heavy weapons. Meanwhile, the Tervigon spawned a grand total of 7 Termagaunts, crapping out on Turn 1 (Jeremy lamented that this exact thing had happened in the last 2 games of the tournament as well – oh well, better for me ).

In the Shooting Phase, the Tyrannofex was forced to fire at my empty Razorback due to Instinctive Behaviour, but its shots missed. The Hive Guard were also out of range I believe. In any case, my forces were unscathed after Turn 1.



Turn 1 – Space Wolves
I began moving my forces forward to secure objectives. The Land Raider and Grey Hunters Rhino moved towards the center of the board to head off (and hopefully kill) the Trygons. Meanwhile, a pair of Razorbacks (one of which had 5 Grey Hunters in it) moved to secure the bottom-left objective. Finally, my Rune Priest moved to attack the Tyrannofex. I knew that the Genestealers could show up next turn on their flank, but they would be at least protected by their transport for the time being. I was willing to risk it to kill the Tyrannofex.

In the Shooting Phase, my missile launchers concentrated all their fire on the Trygons, severely wounding them both. I also fired a couple shots at the Tyrannofex with my Lascannons, but only wounded it once or twice (I gave up shooting at it in subsequent turns).



Turn 2 – Tyranids
This turn, only the Doom of Malan'tai and his Mycetic Spore arrived from reserves. The Doom's Spore Pod landed just behind the Land Raider, and the formidable alien emerged. I had never faced/used the Doom up to this point, but (as a fairly experienced Tyranid player myself) I knew that he was very dangerous foe. I aimed every single one of my heavy weapons at him to Instant Death him when the time came. Meanwhile, the rest of the Tyranids continued their advance. Jeremy announced that his Trygon would assault my Land Raider – good luck, it moved 12” last turn so you'll need 6's to hit!

In the Shooting Phase, the Doom used its Spirit Leech to kill 3 Long Fangs nearby! And just like that, I learned first-hand just how deadly (and useful) the Doom could be... Elsewhere, the Tyrannofex fired its Rupture Cannon at the Rune Priest's Rhino and actually managed to hit twice this time (I guess that evens out for the previous turn), blowing off the Rhino's Storm Bolter and Immobilizing it. Finally, the Hive Guard decided to throw up a Hail Mary, firing at the Land Raider. However, 1 shot glanced and then Immobilized the Land Raider! What was that I was saying about hitting my Land Raider on a 6+? Uhhhh...

With that, the Trygon charged into my Land Raider, and it wasn't even funny. The thing exploded with ridiculous ease, and just like that the Tyranids had halted my previously formidable offence.



Turn 2 – Space Wolves
I needed to kill the Trygons if I wanted to continue my attack. Since their Rhino was immobilized now, I decided to tempt fate with my Rune Priest squad and disembarked them to attack the Tyrannofex. Meanwhile, the Wolf Priest moved to attack the Trygon – his squad had Preferred Enemy (Monstrous Creatures) from the Wolf Priest's “Oath of War” special rule. Finally, the Razorbacks continued to trundle on towards the bottom-left objective.

In the Shooting Phase, my left Long Fangs failed to kill the Doom (who, in turn, failed to damage them with Spirit Leech), but one of the nearby Razorbacks did the job themselves. One of the others also insta-gibbed the Spore Pod, which was really just an annoyance more than anything. The other squad of Long Fangs fired their missiles at the right Trygon, bringing down the beast in a single volley. The Wolf Priest's squad failed to hurt the last Trygon with their shooting, due to the nearby Venomthropes providing cover.

In the Assault Phase, I attacked the Trygon, but my damage output was pretty pathetic – the monstrous Tyranid creature was reduced to 2 wounds, but killed 9 Grey Hunters in return after No Retreat saves (all but the Wolf Guard, Wulfen and Wolf Priest, who suffered 1 wound from No Retreat). Not what I expected...





Turn 3 – Tyranids
The Genestealers arrived this turn and, as you could guess from my luck, they arrived on the right flank. Jeremy had to choose between my Long Fangs and my Rune Priest's squad. Ultimately, he decided on the Priest... this was probably going to hurt. Elsewhere, the Tyranid Prime moved to help out the Trygon against the Wolf Priest. Also, I disembarked my Grey Hunters Rhino, but for some reason they weren't able to reach the Trygon combat.

In the Shooting Phase, the Hive Guard fired at the Razorback containing the Grey Hunters. It managed to wreck it and once again I failed the pinning test as I disembarked. Seriously Dice Gods, you guys are a bunch of pricks. Is it because I wrote a spammy list? I promise to play nice from now on!

In the Assault Phase, the combined force of the Trygon and Warrior Prime managed to finish off the Wolf Priest and his squad. At the main attraction, the Broodlord cast Hypnotic Gaze on the Rune Priest, making the Grey Hunters' situation go from “bleak” to “oh s%&#!” as they lost 4 power/force weapon attacks. However, they fared surprisingly well – only 5 Grey Hunters died, compared to 5 Genestealers (and the Broodlord was wounded as well). In my books, it's a moral victory to survive the first turn against that many Genestealers!








Love the conversion-work on all of Jeremy's Tyranids – every single one was mounted on a custom-made resin base!



Turn 3 – Space Wolves
The last Rhino disembarked, and the Grey Hunters moved ahead to kill the Trygon Prime. In the Shooting Phase, my Long Fangs gunned down the last Trygon with ease, but my other shooting was ineffective – I think I wounded the Tyranid Prime once.

In the Assault Phase, the Genestealers finished off the Rune Priest and his squad, consolidating towards my main objective. The Grey Hunters assaulted the Tyranid Prime, but totally whiffed – 3 Grey Hunters died without causing a wound. They fell back and there was a good chance that Jeremy would just escort them off the board.



Turn 4 – Tyranids
The other Tyranid Spore Pod arrived this turn and released its Devilgaunt occupants. The Genestealers also moved to assault my Razorbacks, and the Venomthropes moved ahead to cover the Devilgaunts and Prime.

In the Shooting Phase, the Hive Guard fired at my disembarked 5-man Grey Hunter squad, but only killed 1. The Devilgaunts also shot at my retreating Grey Hunters, but amazingly they made all their saves! In the Assault Phase, the Genestealers assaulted one of the Razorbacks, and destroyed it with ease.



Turn 4 – Space Wolves
The Grey Hunters continued to fall back, as they were within 6” of the Tyranid Prime still. Meanwhile, I moved my 5-man Grey Hunters and the nearby Razorback to the bottom-left objective, hoping I could hold it before the Hive Guard and Tervigon arrived. In the Shooting Phase, my right Long Fang squad opened fire on the Genestealers, toasting 3 of them. The other heavy weapons all opened fire on the Venomthropes, insta-gibbing 1 and wounding the other once (I believe that was the handiwork of my falling-back Grey Hunters).





Turn 5 – Tyranids
Jeremy began attempting to mop up – he sent the Tyranid Prime to attack my Razorback if the Genestealers failed to kill the Grey Hunters inside. He eyed the distance and guessed that it was still 6” from the falling-back squad so they would still run off the board.

No Shooting of note happened, so straight to Assault. The Genestealers assaulted the Grey Hunter Razorback, but only managed to Immobilize it! Excellent! Barring some sort of disaster (and based on my luck, I wouldn't put it out of the question) I'd be able to destroy them next turn and secure my objective! In fact, I could still pull a win out of this if the game ended soon...





Turn 5 – Space Wolves
I realized that, if the game ended this turn, I could make this into a solid victory for myself. First, I moved my empty Rhino onto the middle objective (Immobilizing myself on a hill in the process...), contesting it. The last Razorback then moved to block off the incoming Tervigon. Meanwhile, the falling-back Grey Hunters only moved 3” – enough to keep them in play! Finally, the 5-man Grey Hunters disembarked to fire on the Genestealers, should the need arise.

In the Shooting Phase, my Grey Hunters and Long Fangs obliterated the last of the Genestealers, securing my objective. The heavy weapons also managed to down the last of the Venomthropes. Unfortunately, my 4-man Grey Hunter squad was unable to hurt the incoming Hive Guard – I needed the game to end now!

We rolled to see if there would be another turn and...




Turn 6 – Tyranids
The Tyranids moved to swing the game back in their favour. The Tyranid Prime went to assault my 5-man Grey Hunter unit, while the Devilgaunts moved to shoot the Rhino in the rear and get it off their objective. Meanwhile, the Tervigon and Hive Guard continued to close on my bottom-left objective, the Hive Guard succeeding in contesting it.

In the Shooting Phase, the Hive Guard shot at my Grey Hunters, but failed to kill any. The Devilgaunts were more successful in their enterprise, however, glancing my Rhino to death from their torrent of shots.

In the Assault Phase, the Tervigon wrecked my last Razorback. The Tyranid Prime also diced my 5-man Grey Hunter squad into ribbons, unfortunately. The Tyranids were now in control of the game, and the best I could hope for was a tie...









Turn 6 – Space Wolves
Remember those Grey Hunters that had been falling-back all game? Well they finally didn't have an enemy within 6”, so they collectively stopped sh- -ing themselves and decided to make up for lost time. They moved to charge the Devilgaunts and pull a tie out of my butt.

In the Shooting Phase, my Long Fangs killed the Tyranid Prime in retribution, but little else happened that I remember. The regrouped Grey Hunters intentionally held their fire in order to ensure they could assault the Devilgaunts – after all, if I shot at them, then Jeremy needed only to remove the ones in the front to guarantee that I couldn't assault him (and possibly win the game). It's a dirty trick, and I'd know – I pull it all the time.

In the Assault Phase, the Grey Hunters charged the Gaunts. With a fury that only a group of shamed men with dirty drawers could know, they slaughtered them to a man. That last Gaunt, predictably, retreated... however, he only fell back 4”, enough to keep him in contesting range! Damn, I'd brought the game to the brink of a draw, if only the game went on for another turn...

We rolled to see if there would be another turn and...




Afterthoughts
GAH, so close. This one was a real heart-breaker, everything went wrong as my luck continued to flush itself deeper down the proverbial toilet. I said to Jeremy afterwards that I had lost the game the moment his Hive Guard made that Hail Mary shot on my Land Raider. Had he failed that, I would likely have taken the fight to him and Flame-stormed most of his troops. He agreed, it was an incredibly unlikely shot that paid off big time for him. To make things slightly better, I had come sooooo close to turning it around. My chances at the top 10 were pretty much shot now, but I could try to finish strong still.

On another note, this game really opened my eyes to the destructive potential of the Doom of Malan'tai. I hadn't used him before this game, but because of this game I've started running him. I absolutely love that beast, if there's an overpowered/under-costed unit in the Tyranid arsenal, then he's the one. All-in-all, what I expected to be a routine victory ended up going south early on and due in part to bad luck, I lost the game. It was fun though, down to the wire – the way every game should end (well, except that I should always win too! )

I'm surprised he didn't shoot after the spirit leech.... the blast should have mopped up the long fangs... Good game! This is why JoWW is a necessary evil btw...

Lol at Vader, I agree with him! So close!

Um fleeing units can't contest or claim objectives, not sure how you both missed that.

The main issue with the Doom is that he dies to S8 shooting, his huge number of wounds doesn't mean much when you shoot him in the head with a squad of Missile Launchers and he dies. Mostly I'm just bashing my head against a wall in frustration with his use of the Tyrannofex. He deployed him out of Synapse (when he has 3 sources and no reason to spread out), not in a position to go after your Land Raider (when it was his best chance of at least slowing it down so the Trygons could rip it apart) and then completely wasted 265pts by having him sit still at the back and shoot the entire game. If it had pushed forward like its supposed to your right flank would have collapsed completely when the Genestealers showed up. You can drop a couple of wounds off it with Melta and possible Lascannons, but it laughs at your Long Fangs and will eat your Grey Hunters (if somewhat slowly).

Powerguy wrote:Um fleeing units can't contest or claim objectives, not sure how you both missed that.

The main issue with the Doom is that he dies to S8 shooting, his huge number of wounds doesn't mean much when you shoot him in the head with a squad of Missile Launchers and he dies. Mostly I'm just bashing my head against a wall in frustration with his use of the Tyrannofex. He deployed him out of Synapse (when he has 3 sources and no reason to spread out), not in a position to go after your Land Raider (when it was his best chance of at least slowing it down so the Trygons could rip it apart) and then completely wasted 265pts by having him sit still at the back and shoot the entire game. If it had pushed forward like its supposed to your right flank would have collapsed completely when the Genestealers showed up. You can drop a couple of wounds off it with Melta and possible Lascannons, but it laughs at your Long Fangs and will eat your Grey Hunters (if somewhat slowly).

We asked the TO if fleeing units could contest objectives, and they said that they could. I checked the rules about Scoring Units on Page 90 quickly, and there is nothing there saying that fleeing units can't contest - I had to check, because I was almost certain that they could not as well. But yes, I've checked my Rulebook and see nothing in the Mission Special Rules or Morale chapters that says this. Can you provide me with a page #?

And yeah, the Doom is very vulnerable, but he can cause enough damage and chaos to justify his 90pts on his arrival. And if your opponent is low on S8 then God help them. I also believe that it fired at the Long Fangs, but they either made their cover saves or the shot scattered entirely.

He used the Tyrannofex the way that he did because he thought that the scenario made it a scoring unit, so he wanted to deploy it on the objective and turn it into a living fortress. It was rather useless all game though, I ended up ignoring it very quickly. He also couldn't go after the Land Raider with it because he set up 1st. All-in-all, he was ungodly fortunate when his Hive Guards immobilized the Land Raider, because my Redeemer would have raised some hell otherwise.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Red Corsair wrote:I'm surprised he didn't shoot after the spirit leech.... the blast should have mopped up the long fangs... Good game! This is why JoWW is a necessary evil btw...

Honestly, I think I used Murderous Hurricane the whole time, I might have used Living Lightning once during the entire tournament. I'll consider it for the next tournament, but we'll see.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So I asked the question on YMDC and it turns out that I did actually tie that game... damn! It would have been nice if I had been able to find that in the codex during the game! The additional 5 points could have put me up higher on the Leaderboard...

BTW kinda strange that all of your opponents thus far have been playing bright green armies....

Red Corsair wrote:BTW kinda strange that all of your opponents thus far have been playing bright green armies....

That's true, eh? I didn't seem to get much variety!

please spoiler up the next batrep's images, the pics from the last two games are piling on.....sorry :(

How many posts per page is your account set at? I'm at 30 so it loads up nice 'n quick for me. I'll see what I can do tho.

Mhmm but you can't count on everybody having that setting, just saying.

I feel for you and your horrible luck in that last game (be grateful you've been spared the ignonimy of your general blowing himself up on the first turn). Still, I really enjoy your reports, and these are no exception. I'll be looking forward to the fourth one quite eagerly.

Also...I can't help but notice that all the armies you've been fighting so far are green. What's next? Biel-Tan Eldar? Plague Marines? Surely not Orks, that would be too obvious...

Andilus Greatsword wrote:

We asked the TO if fleeing units could contest objectives, and they said that they could. I checked the rules about Scoring Units on Page 90 quickly, and there is nothing there saying that fleeing units can't contest - I had to check, because I was almost certain that they could not as well. But yes, I've checked my Rulebook and see nothing in the Mission Special Rules or Morale chapters that says this. Can you provide me with a page #?

Page 90, Under -Ending the Game

"In standard missions, as soon as the game ends and before working out victory conditons, all units that are falling back are removed and count as destroyed."

Fun reports. Sorry to see the last two games weren't what you hoped for. Any ideas on changing the makeup of your SW army after this tournament?

Kellhus wrote:Fun reports. Sorry to see the last two games weren't what you hoped for. Any ideas on changing the makeup of your SW army after this tournament?

I definitely want to get some power weapons in on my 3 big squads. Normally I run units like lots of upgrades like this:
8 or 9 Grey Hunters with Meltagun, Wolf Standard, Mark of the Wulfen and Power Weapon + Wolf Guard with Combi-melta and Powerfist/Power Weapon + Independent Character sometimes

In this tournament, because I had the 1 10-man squad, I lost that extra oomph in close combat. I hoped that the 2x Melta in the 10-man squad would make up for it, but they really didn't, more often than not. I might lower them to an 8-man squad and rearrange some points around to add power weapons to my other units (and I could also put a Meltagun in 1 of my 5-man squads, since I only have 4 Meltagun models in my army).

Of course, by the time the next tournament rolls around in Ottawa, 6th Edition is supposed to be out - so my list might have to undergo a huge shift anyway.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Lord of Nonsensical Crap wrote:I feel for you and your horrible luck in that last game (be grateful you've been spared the ignonimy of your general blowing himself up on the first turn). Still, I really enjoy your reports, and these are no exception. I'll be looking forward to the fourth one quite eagerly.

Also...I can't help but notice that all the armies you've been fighting so far are green. What's next? Biel-Tan Eldar? Plague Marines? Surely not Orks, that would be too obvious...

You're the second one to notice that, and yet I didn't until you guys mentioned it!

And I won't spoil the last match-up, but there was an all-green Plague Marine army at the tournament, plus lots of Ork players.

I really do like the touch of the resin custom bases too, they certainly liven up the model

Game #4 – Space Wolves vs Tyranids
It was the final game of the tournament, and I was looking for a last-ditch effort to shoot myself up the leaderboard. My final opponent was on the same table that my first battle had taken place on (I could have asked a TO to switch me, but decided not to) against another Tyranid player named Neil... well, at least this one wasn't green for once. His list seemed very beatable, but then again I had just gotten walloped by Nids in the previous game so I wasn't about to take them lightly... This was his list (I actually got a copy of his list for once haha):

HQ
Hive Tyrant (Twin-Linked Devourers, Heavy Venom Cannon, Hive Commander)
3x Tyrant Guard

ELITES
3x Zoanthropes
3x Hive Guard

TROOPS
12x Genestealers (Toxin Sacs)
6x Tyranid Warriors (Scything Talons, Rending Claws, Toxin Sacs)
3x Tyranid Warriors (Bone Swords, 2x Deathspitters, 1x Barbed Strangler)

FAST ATTACK
4x Raveners (Scything Talons, Rending Claws)
Harpy (Stranglethorn Cannon, Scything Talons)

HEAVY SUPPORT
Trygon Prime (Adrenal Glands)

The scenario for this battle was Objectives + Kill Points – standard Annihilation, plus each objective was worth 2 Kill Points. There were 5 objectives, 1 in the center of each table quarter, and 1 in the center of the board. The deployment type was Dawn of War – which is quickly becoming my new favourite mission type.

We rolled for the first turn and once again I chose to go 2nd. Neil placed his 6 Warriors on the center objective with the Hive Tyrant, while the Genestealers would infiltrate. I placed my Rune Priest's Rhino near the top-right objective. Neil then deployed his Genestealers 13” away from the Rune Priest... uh oh. The rest of my units would come in Turn 1. Neil would deep strike his Harpy, while everything else would walk on.





Turn 1 – Tyranids
Neil's army all walked on which, unfortunately for him, would mean that he had a lot of distance to cover. He decided to use his Zoanthropes to screen his Hive Guards, while the Talon/Claw Warriors moved to circle the objective. They were going to be a pain in the butt – 4+ cover saves from the building make Warriors far more resilient than normal, and is exactly how I would have played them! However, Neil made an interesting tactical choice for his Genestealers. Instead of attacking my Rune Priest's Rhino, he instead went in the opposite direction. Maybe he was looking for cover from the fire that would be incoming next turn? Whatever the case, I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

With a dearth of targets, the Shooting Phase ended quickly as various units ran.





Turn 1 – Space Wolves
The Space Wolves came on in force. I sent the Land Raider up the middle of the board, while the rest of the army split into halves. Each Long Fangs unit disembarked onto a hill as the Razorbacks spit them out with a reverse moonshiner's turn (like this, but reversed... and with a tank... and with old farts with Missile Launchers jumping out at the end).

In the Shooting Phase, my Rune Priest used Murderous Hurricane and Land Raider fired its left Flamestorm Cannon at the poor Genestealers. They didn't stand a chance – the whole squad was annihilated, and once again I let out a huge sigh of relief. Unfortunately the bulk of my shooters were unable to fire, but I managed to get a couple shots in on the Trygon from the Razorbacks before the turn ended.



Turn 2 – Tyranids
Thanks to the Tyrant's Hive Commander upgrade, the Harpy arrived this turn, deep striking onto the smoking corpses of the Genestealers so it could fire its Stranglethorn Cannon at the Long Fangs. Meanwhile, the rest of the Nids continued their advance, while the Bonesword Warriors parked on the bottom-right objective.

In the Shooting Phase, the Harpy fired at my Long Fangs, but the shot scattered and hit their Razorback – surprisingly, it managed to immobilize it! The rest of Neil's shooting was ineffective, especially since the Hive Guard were still out of range... not for long, though.



Turn 2 – Space Wolves
My Land Raider moved to get a better shot at the Warriors and hopefully dual-Flamestorm them to death. The Rune Priest's squad also shot forward 12” and popped smoke, trying to attack the Warriors on the bottom-right objective. Meanwhile, the last Rhino rumbled towards the bottom-right objective, not-at-all wary of the Rifleman Tyrant nearby. Heavy Venom Cannons and Devourers? Pfft!

In the Shooting Phase, my Long Fangs made short, messy work of the Harpy. The Land Raider whiffed however – only 1 Warrior died, despite firing both Flamestorm Cannons at them. I also knocked a couple more wounds off the Trygon with Lascannons.





Turn 3 – Tyranids
The Tyranids continued their advance. The Raveners hung back, hiding behind the fortress to act as a rapid-response team in case I arrived at the bottom-left objective...

Elsewhere, his Hive Guard camped behind the fortress to get themselves some cover, while the Zoanthropes and Trygon moved forward.

In the Shooting Phase, his Zoanthropes fired at my Land Raider, but the Rune Priest nullified 2 of them. However, the last 1 managed to hit, then pen, then explode the tank! Crap! To make matters worse, I lost 3 or 4 Marines in the explosion! The hurt wasn't done yet either – the Trygon and Hive Guard then fired at the survivors, reducing the squad to the Wolf Priest, Wolf Guard and 3 Grey Hunters. Ouch.

Meanwhile, the Rifleman Tyrant was sick of watching the Grey Hunters in the left Rhino mooning him, so he levelled his guns and opened fire. The Rhino was struck dead-on by the Heavy Venom Cannon, which immobilized them, and were Stunned by one of the Devourer shots. Still out of assault range, Neil's rather successful turn ended here.



Turn 3 – Space Wolves
Scrambling to continue the offensive, the Wolf Priest moved to the edge of the fortress to get out of line of sight. The Grey Hunters in the immobilized Rhino also disembarked and headed up the hillside to take a shot at the bottom-left objective. Finally, the Rune Priest's Rhino sped south and popped smoke.

In the Shooting Phase, my Long Fangs finished off the Trygon with ease, and also managed to kill 1 of the Zoanthropes. Unfortunately, the rest of my shooting didn't amount to anything (I believe the rest of the units fired at the Hive Tyrant, but he passed wounds off on his Guard and/or had ridiculous cover save luck).



Turn 4 – Tyranids
The Tyranid turn went by really quick this turn. His Bonesword Warriors prepared for an attack by the Rune Priest and his squad while the Zoanthropes continued to move forward. In the Shooting Phase, the Hive Tyrant fired on my immobilized Rhino again, wrecking it for another Kill Point. Meanwhile, the Zoanthropes fired at the Long Fangs with a Warp Blast, but the shots scattered off target (thankfully!!!). The Bonesword Warriors also fired their Deathspitters and Barbed Strangler at the Rune Priest's Rhino, successfully Immobilizing and Stunning it (surprisingly, although it was really too little, too late).



Turn 4 – Space Wolves
The Space Wolves continued to close in. The Rune Priest's squad disembarked and moved to capture the bottom-right objective from the Warriors. The other Grey Hunters moved to try to capture the bottom-left objective from the Raveners – with any luck, there wouldn't be a Turn 6, so I could just swoop in and take it... FO FREE.


In the Shooting Phase, my right Long Fangs and Razorbacks fired at the Hive Guard, who rolled really poorly for their cover saves. They were wiped out. The Rune Priest and his squad also managed to kill 1 of the Warriors before they launched their assault. One of the Warriors directed all his attacks at the Priest, killing him. However, the other Warrior whiffed, failing to kill any of the Grey Hunters. In retaliation, the Grey Hunters slaughtered the Warriors and consolidated onto the objective.

Even by this point, it was pretty clear that I was going to win... the only question was by how much?





Turn 5 – Tyranids
Running low on options, Neil moved the Raveners to contest his bottom-left objective, while the Zoanthropes continued to advance. They then fired a Warp Lance at one of the 5-man Grey Hunter Razorbacks, blowing it sky-high. The occupants disembarked safely, however. The Rifleman Tyrant also shot at the Wolf Priest and his squad, killing 1 of the Grey Hunters and wounding the Priest once.





Turn 5 – Space Wolves
This might be the last turn, so I moved to secure myself as many KPs as I could. The 5-man Grey Hunters moved to assault the Zoanthropes, while the other Grey Hunter squad rolled poorly on their difficult terrain test, moving forward only a couple inches. Crap. Oh well, hopefully I could kill some Raveners with shooting. Meanwhile, the (former) Rune Priest's squad chilled on their objective, drinking piña coladas.

In the Shooting Phase, all of my heavy weapons pointed directly at the remaining Warriors and opened fire. After a withering amount of fire and tons of cover saves, only 1 Warrior remained! That's... actually pretty impressive. Unfortunately, I didn't kill any of the Zoanthropes or Raveners with either Grey Hunter squad.

In the Assault Phase, the 5-man Grey Hunters attacked the Zoanthropes, but whiffed. Even worse, the Zoanthropes killed 2 of them, but they held their ground thankfully.

We rolled to see if there would be another turn and...






Turn 6 – Tyranids
The Raveners charged at the now-vulnerable Grey Hunters, moving into assault. The Rifleman Tyrant also fired at the Wolf Priest again, killing another Grey Hunter.

In the Assault Phase, the Raveners did their job – they tore the Grey Hunters to shreds, leaving only the Wolf Guard and 1 Grey Hunter alive. In return, they suffered only 1 casualty. Meanwhile, the Zoanthrope fight dragged on, with no casualties on either side (it would continue like this for the rest of the game).



Turn 6 – Space Wolves
Again, probably last turn, time to work some magic. The heavy weapons all fired at the last Warrior, killing him with ease. The Wolf Priest then ran with his squad, capturing the objective... hopefully the game doesn't go any longer, or I will feel the wrath of a Hive Tyrant... Finally, the Raveners finished off the Grey Hunters with ease, and consolidated to attack my objective. CRAP. I really, really hope this is the last turn!

We rolled to see if there would be another turn and...






We tallied up the Kill Points – I had 12 (including the 6 bonus KP I got for holding objectives) and Neil had 5. Since I had more than double the KPs of my opponent, this meant I won a Major Victory! Plus, the game had gone very quickly, there was around 20 minutes left to play by the time we finished, which was pretty amazing.

Afterthoughts
Neil really didn't stand a chance in this game. Having to walk all his forces forward meant that I could just snipe him at my leisure, while I used my mobility to capture objectives to my heart's content. His list was also pretty situational, and in this case it was out of its element. Again, I felt pretty bad for destroying Neil so badly, but I wasn't pulling any punches this game.

All-in-all, I had a lot of fun this tournament. Although I didn't do as well as I would have liked, I learned a lot and imagine I would fare better in the next one. My list also needs a little tweaking, but I'm confident I can take on most competitive lists with it (as long as it's not a KP game lol).

Also, when the standings were posted after the tournament I was the 13th best general and tied for 18th overall (in part because my painting score was middling and somebody tanked my sportsmanship score – I was 36th out of 40! Now I know for a fact that I'm not that much of a dick/TFG/whatever!). All-in-all, 13th out of 40 is nothing to sneeze at for a first tournament, and especially since I had 2 minor losses (1 of which should have been a draw...).

Elsewhere, a Grey Knights Draigowing army placed first for best general (GK actually took the top 3 spots) and for overall as well, while the other Grey Knights swept the board for Sportsmanship and Painting. Wow.

If you're curious, this is how my esteemed opponents placed:
Jonathan – 11th Best Sport, 3rd Best Painted, 19th Best General, 10th Overall
Chris – 11th Best Sport (a lot of people were tied), 8th Best Painted, 12th Best General, 5th Best Overall
Jeremy – 32nd Best Sport, 3rd Best Painted, 7th Best General, 3rd Best Overall
Neil – 11th Best Sport, 17th Best Painted, 29th Best General, 32nd Best Overall

If you enjoyed this, be sure to check out my other battle reports!

Wow, looking at the end placements you had a tough slate of games. Congrats on the finish, and at least you managed to faced at least one army that wasn't painted green!

haha, there's.....green on them, though!

Congrats on the performance, pity on the Sportsmanship hit. Sometimes people just have to make themselves feel better :(

Ahh yes....sportsmanship reviews that affect placement...the true place where one's pettiness controls how you do...that sucks, man.

Titan Atlas wrote:haha, there's.....green on them, though!

Maybe he sneezed on them?

That's just not a pleasant thought at all.....:(

Ricedaddy wrote:Wow, looking at the end placements you had a tough slate of games. Congrats on the finish, and at least you managed to faced at least one army that wasn't painted green!

yeah, all the armies I faced were so much better painted than mine. A little bummed that I didn't get to face GK, or at least an army I don't face all the time, but that's the way things go I guess.

Unholy_Martyr wrote:Congrats on the performance, pity on the Sportsmanship hit. Sometimes people just have to make themselves feel better :(

Titan Atlas wrote:Ahh yes....sportsmanship reviews that affect placement...the true place where one's pettiness controls how you do...that sucks, man.

Oh well, I wasn't worried so much about placing well in the Best Overall category - I knew my painting skill was going to hit me, but I would have figured I'd do a lot better for sportsmanship. To be fair, the average score was abnormally high, so I might have still had a 4 or a 3.5 and come 36th lol. And 13th for best general was very good in my opinion, I am very happy about that performance.

Andilus Greatsword wrote: yeah, all the armies I faced were so much better painted than mine. A little bummed that I didn't get to face GK, or at least an army I don't face all the time, but that's the way things go I guess.

At least if it's an army you're familiar with you'll know how to counter their tactics. It would seem that familiarity carries a bonus during a tournament.

Titan Atlas wrote: That's just not a pleasant thought at all.....:(

It's not, but I'm not quite ready to rule out that possibility

Always enjoy these AARs!

Very good, I don't like the spoiler-ed images, but no biggy

Excellent format, may just smaller images for those with junk PCs?

Great reports all-round man. Really good action, close games & unconventional lists. The armies were well painted with most of the terrain interesting. The depth of narrative was basically spot-on, whilst the Vassal pics really helped understand what was going on.
Loved the reports; great job and congrats on the pretty-high tournament placement man!
If I were to find one thing to fault with the reports, it's the relative lack of actual pictures, but I can understand that due to the tournament situation & time constraints.

Great job!

Lobukia wrote:Always enjoy these AARs!

Very good, I don't like the spoiler-ed images, but no biggy

Excellent format, may just smaller images for those with junk PCs?

Thanks, I agree on the spoilered images - I basically did it this time to throw Atlas a bone. I think in the future I will try posting smaller versions of the images instead.

Just Dave wrote:Great reports all-round man. Really good action, close games & unconventional lists. The armies were well painted with most of the terrain interesting. The depth of narrative was basically spot-on, whilst the Vassal pics really helped understand what was going on.
Loved the reports; great job and congrats on the pretty-high tournament placement man!
If I were to find one thing to fault with the reports, it's the relative lack of actual pictures, but I can understand that due to the tournament situation & time constraints.

Great job!

Thank you, and I definitely agree on the pics. After the first game, I kept forgetting to take pictures during the action. But yes, that was largely due to time constraints, but I would have preferred to take more pictures. Next time!

.....I swear I'm not the only one who has commented on the matter

Well written reports. It really seems you had your game plans down but dice really let you down. Regardless I thoroughly enjoyed reading the batreps.

Thanks for putting them up