Sinful Hero wrote:
I don’t see why you wouldn’t go with your latter choice(the GSC allies), but go ahead and drop all the Termagants and get a battalion of GSC for the CP. Neophytes will screen just as well as Termagants, and give you the option to Ambush them onto farther objectives.

 Sinful Hero wrote:
You mean you’ll drop down to 5x Carnifex to put Sporocysts on? Or to make room for the Neophytes?

 Sinful Hero wrote:
Do you have a limit on Detachments? Personally I think you’d be better off with the Rippers, Gants, and bone maces to make it another Battalion than the 6th Carnifex.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I agree on not bothering with Carnifex defense in your list. Boys before toys and all that.

 SHUPPET wrote:
Do you guys paint your Hive Fleets differently? Ala the rules for the new 1750 GT? Or just in general?

 Dynas wrote:
Got back from my first Major GT, Dallas Open. I placed 28 out of 71, I was shooting for top 1/3, so I just missed the mark. Top 3 finishers were 1st and 3rd, Drukhari, and 2nd was GSC/Nid Soup (5 carnifexs, Biovores, and GSC ambushers) proving mass carnifex can do well. There was also another GSC/Nid/Soup mix list ahead of me, but I was the best Pure Tyranid General (though I didn't get the best general since they put GSC with Tyranids). Booo :( I did go in prepared, reread rules, made notes of powerful units of other armies etc... I made a Order of Operations checklist to follow each turn which was helpful. Also made a T1 chart of what unit moves, which gets stratagem, which gets Hive commander, how to positions etc... Also made a Deployment order for my units (place Hive Guard last, rippers into DS first). I posted a reveiw of the tourney, in short it went very well, one minor hiccup with BCP app resulted in an hour delay, terrain, food, water, checking, tables, chairs all good, no London GT fiascos in Big D! Everything is Bigger and Better in Texas!

My list:

Spoiler:

Kraken Batt
Swarmlord
Malanthrope
GS x19
GS x19
Hormies x29 (no upgrades)

Kronos Batt
Neuro, Soul Hunger WLT,
Flyrant, Dev w/ Brainleech worms, Balethron relic
Rippers 3 bases
Rippers 3 bases
Termies x9 with Fleshborer, x19 Devilgants
Hiveguard x6
Carnifex with Spores and enhance senses, 2x Dev Barinleech worms
12 drops, 13 cp, 1999 pts

Game 1: vs Astra Militarum/Space Wolfs

Spoiler:

Game 1: vs Astra Militarum/Space Wolfs. This guy was like his 2nd game ever, brother made list which was solid with Leman Russ, pask, Screeners, Razorback AC x2, Flyer. Solid list, he just didn't play it well. It was Hammer and Anvil and he put his guys right on the front line. I got both units of GS T1 charge and then followed up with Hormies and SL T2. HG took out Tanks and it was pretty dominant for me board control wise. I got first turn (Since he wasn't fully painted he took the painting -2 to roll off). I also periled on 12 with my WL (I periled on 12 every game and never on smite lol). Only got through 3 turns, despite me using movement trays and trying to keep piles of dice together, but when you are rolling 76 GS dice twice, and about 60 termie and hormie dice, it takes a while. Hive Guard took at Lemans, Flyrant and GS finished themoff. The other guy had to look up A LOT of stuff, but that was fine. I won something like 26-6.

Game 2: vs Nurgle plaguebearer list[

Spoiler:

Game 2: vs Nurgle plaguebearer list. (Game 1 guys brother). This was my first attempt against this list. I took Reaper, since he had 2 unit of 29, might have been a mistake. This was spearhead deployment, I got a 7 on my roll, he got a 6. Tried to re roll Seize, said he couldn't had to get TO ruling, but not a big deal. I point this out because this was the first time I had to call TO on rules issues. Not any arguments, but I was surprised at how many people were not very familiar with rules or FAQ's. You really need to be solid on your rules, and the main armies you will come up against (at least have a general Idea of the rules and tips and tricks, but not necessarily memorize their stats).

This was a bloody slugfest. Again got both GS units on T1 charge. Again peril on 12, this time on swarmlord. Got the unit of Plaguebearers down to under 10 models 2x and then he rolled 6 all 3 turns for regen. So I effectively killed about 58 plaguebears in one unit and never actually wiped it. This sucked hard. I should have put both units of GS into one unit in hindsight, instead of having the others go into his tanks and let the hormies do that. Flyrant Balethron did get to shoot 1x which was nice ignoring the invuls, but afterward both Plaguebeare units were always in combat. He took out his tanks/big guys. Ended up winning 14-6, again mainly due to board control and good secondaries. RECON IS GOLD with Rippers, and headhunter. Again only 3 turns, complete as he too was having to look up unit stats, and was a bit slow in rolling. Great guy though, nicely painted army. He offered to concede at the end of the game, like with time at 1 minute to give me the points since he wasn't going to play day 2. I said thanks but not thanks, he still had at least half his army on the board and honestly, if the game went to 6 turns he might have won, as the plaguebearer hordes. I think he felt kind of bad for being slow but I didn't feel it would be honorable to game the system like that.

Game 3: vs GSC/Kronos/AM

Spoiler:

Game 3: vs GSC/Kronos/AM This was my favorite game despite being "blue on blue" which I normally hate. Before the game, the TO said I had 2 flags for "incomplete games since I didn't make it to turn 4, not a penalty or anything, but just something to be aware of. I wasn't even aware this was a thing, and was a bit frustrated as I didn't feel it was my fault. Anyway, Deployment was the diagonal one. Again got first turn and got both units of GS to charge T1. Periled again, this time with Flyrant lol. This game went much faster since we basically knew each other armies ( i am familiar with guard, and somewhat with Cult, he just had to explain the difference).

On his first turn we were Bull gaking and have a good time and he got to psychic phase and forgot his DS ambush. I let him have it (though regretted it), but despite my 2 wins I knew I wasn't in the running for placements since I had low points and their was a Drukhari guy at 80 already. He ambushed them and charge my Hiveguard. He killed them and then locked up my carnifex and termies (and preceded to do this all they way to T6 when my carnifex finally killed the last GS.) it was annoying b/c he parked his character on my objective (where the HG were and was getting the Bonus point each turn for holding both. This won him the game. As I was tearing up his backline on his side, though he held his objective (he had IG morrtars, neophytes, 10 HG, 3 Neuro, one with Sould Hunger,) which I failed like 4x on and kept getting mortal wounds. Sadly I never got to do this trick as My Neuro was baby sitting my gunline in the back( actually had a bit of an issue with synapse coverage at times with Carnifex). My Swarmlord and Malantrhope died to his 2nd ambush but manage to kill almost all the GS. The Ambush was hitting on 2's with S5, yuk. In the end, the game went all 6 rounds, he tabled me. Great game. Lost 35-16.

Game 4 vs Custodes soup

Spoiler:

Game 4 vs Custodes soup: Standing at 28, solid middle of pack, we had some people drop. End up playing Custodes, Sisters, Assassins Soup. Celsistine, the Piano Organ Rhino thing, 3 units of 3 bikes, 1 custodes shield cpt, 2 pysker assasins, 1 assassin that ignores invuls, some sister troops I had a plan for this list and prepared so I had an idea what to do. Deployment was Dawn of war, he use to play nids back in 5th, so he was vaguely familiar with everything, he deployed back edge. I again got T1. I only got 1 unit of GS in T1 as I rolled a 2 on both of my advances, for both units so I Had to use Opportunistic Advance AND Hive Commander on the same unit to get them into charge.

Had to call TO about a rule on charges, as he didn't think I could leave models and daisy chain them, leaving a few models behind to stay near his objective. Also since he had fly he wanted to consolidate over me, I said thats fine, but he was base to base with a model so he had to still remain base to base to the closest model so essentially he had to rotate. Again he was trying to do this to get within his objective but was unable to do so. Neither of us where upset or mean about it or anything (just again, pointing out that you need to know your rules, or when in doubt just ask a TO.) During other games I was able to Hive Commander 1 units, and opportunistic advance the other to get both in. Also peril again on 12, this time with SL again. HG killed Rhino T1. Managed to get GS into unit of bikes and take his priority objective.

I messed up and picked bad secondaries this game. Recon, Headhunter (mistake), and Behind Enemy Lines, Also a mistake. His list had like 7 characters, but they are all durable. Over course of game I killed 1 assassin, 1 unit of bikes and his shield captain (warlord) final round which means Old School would have been a better choice. Also, forgot my DS on my rippers T2, so I lost out on recon. He forgot his DS T2 as well though so it was all good. Swarmlord and GS and Malanthrope Fought Celestine and his Shield Captain. I killed her T3, she came back though boo. Game went 4 turns, he had solid board control with the bikes and I needed more HG to kill them. I lost, score was like 25-8.

Game 5 vs Asra Militarum Cadians[

Spoiler:

Game 5 vs Asra Militarum Cadians: Going in at 2-2 ending up getting matched against pure Cadian list. Shadowsword, Vulture, 1 tank commander, pask, 4x inf sq, basilisk, 5 characters, cmd squad. Deployment was the one with the 9" circle i the middle (forget the name). I have been reading up on guard and experiment with list, and this was very similar to a list i had considered building. He deployed up close again, not sure why. We picked secondaries, and like an idiot i picked reaper as he had 4 squads of infantry, only after the game had started did he point out that they were not eligible for reaper, since the HW team was 2 wounds, but 1 model, dropping them all to 9. I reread the rule, and sure enough it was 10 models, I called TO just to check and he ruled in his favor. DAMNIT, oh well, I still wasn't too concerned I figured I could beat him on 2 secondaries (headhunter, and recon, should have picked big game hunter instead).

He did preliminary bombardment, didn't get anything out of it. Again got first turn, again got both GS on T1 charges, again periled, this time with SL. HG got pask to 1 wound, other leman took a few from flyrnat and dakkafex. GS killed 3 squads of infantry and command sq, and wounded a character. I tied up his tanks, as they were lose enough to pile in to. His turn, he fell back, only getting to shoot with 1 leman, the basilisk killed 2 HG, Vulture killed about 10 hormies. He cast nightshroud on an undamaged Leman. I could tell he was a bit agitated at this point as I was in his tanks already and he had little damage. He rolled slow, shaking each dice about 3-5 seconds before rolling, taking time on grouping them etc... I didn't say anything but questioned if he was intentionally slow playing me.

He then shot the shadowsword and tried to use Cadian doctrine on it. I pointed out on his list it is inn a Super Heavy Aux Detachment so he didn't get the doctrine but could use stratagems, he disagreed, I asked him to show me the rule, to which he realized he was wrong. Keep in mind this guy 2-2 and around same points as me, we are on game 5, I wonder how many times he had done this to other opponents not realizing. Shadowsword put some wounds on flyrant and carnifex but nothing deadly. He then went YOLO with his Characters and charged my GS. After he fought with 1 I thought about interrupting but didn't. I killed 3 characters in the fight, did feeder tendrils got a CP back (bring me to 7), at this point he was down to like 2.

He then questioned how many CP I had spend, and I had to go back and recount all my CP and prove it was accurate taking extra time. Then he tried to give not 2, but 3 orders to the same unit and then use laurels to combo it onto another unit thus giving both 2. I pointed out he can only give 1 order to a unit, he looked it up and discovered I was right, and even though he did bring it down first, I told him he can pick whichever of the 3 he wanted, he choose 1st rank fire, 2nd rank fire. He again seemed annoyed that apparently I knew his codex better than him.

Next up on my turn 2 I get my GS within an inch of his objective and mortars and basilisk. Swrmy and GS #2 get within an inch of the Leman, pask, and shadowsword. Hormies move in to lock in shadowsword from the flank. I DS rippers behind table quarters for RECON. Then he tries to tell me smite 1st attempt goes off on a 7... and he is a character less than 10 wounds. First of all, he is the closest model, 2nd thats only shooting, 3rd smite targets closest model anyway, finally I just hand him my card. His guy dies. Then in shooting I shoot HG at tank, hit with all 12 shots, roll three 3. Tank dies, then explodes killing pask, nearby and 1 GS, then puts pask explodes putting 3 wounds on shadowsword. As he picks up the model he sees the nightshroud card under the tank (which I could't see from where I was standing). Ask me if I did the -1, I said no, as I wasn't aware (honestly didnt see it). I said I only rolled 3 3's on my hit rolls and still would have put out 9*2 (18 damage and killed the tank anyway or offered to redo the reroll and put pask back) Even if I didn't kill them on the reroll I was confident GS, Swarmy and Hormies would finish them off. He rolled his eyes said forget it, rage quite and said the game was no longer fun. Said I was questioning him on all his rules. To which I said, rightly so, as every ruling I questioned him on I was correct on, excluding the fact that he didnt say his units qualified for reaper until after the fact. Again we are middle of the pact, not going to place, just be sporting about it. I pointed out to most opponents, I have 6 reaper point available in my list, and 4 characters.

Called TO over, had him tally me up with a secede and he was surprised. With the way things were going, he would have been table by T3 (maybe his Vulture would have been zipping around, but then I would have had to point out if only fliers remain at the end of the round you are considered "tabled".) Surely there would have been another rules debate.

This game could have been fun, but man he did not know the rules at all. And not sure if he was upset b/c I was calling him out on it and others weren't, because it was the last game of the day. Because he was getting pounded or what.

33-4 Victory

Overall Summary Thought: Still confirm that HG and GS are MVPs. Hormies didn't do much, probably will drop them, and take more GS. Carnifex/Flyrant didn't do much as well, mainly draw big gun support and mainly due to 18" range and me having to worry about synapse with gants. Never got to use Soul hunger. Gants & Gaunts mostly just died. SL was good some games, not used others (in terms of killing) but the Hive Commander is vital in all games. He only died 2x, in both my losses. Malanthrope did a bit of shrouding, only got his Prey Adaption off against he Custodes Soup list, but it was late game. I took him for T1 survivalibilty and managed to get first turn EVERY GAME, so may not be the best judge of points. Probably would drop the Carnifex and Hormies, maybe change the termies to pure Fleshborers. Take another units of GS, more hiveguard, another Neuro , maybe warriors with VC to get a bit more Anit tank. Flyrant might take miasma cannon next time. Soul Hunger was a waste, probably would have been better off with the +6" to synaspe range.

The other nid list one guy had GS, 12 hive guard, venomthropes, walkrant, swarmy, and termies. Another guy did a 6x carnifex list but mixed melee and shooty, best to go all melee or all shooty. If you want both, take a unit of screamer killers for melee, and a second unit of all dakkafex. The two GSC soup list relied on the ambush rule, mortars, and smite spam and placed well (both above me, 1 guy got 2nd).

Drukhari are very powerful, top table was Drukhari/Orks right next to me, and after my drama I watched them. Venom spam is gonna get nerfed. Points are way to cheap. This guy wiped 180 boys, had 45 gretchin as well. Crazy.

 SHUPPET wrote:

 Dynas wrote:
Got back from my first Major GT, Dallas Open. I placed 28 out of 71, I was shooting for top 1/3, so I just missed the mark. Top 3 finishers were 1st and 3rd, Drukhari, and 2nd was GSC/Nid Soup (5 carnifexs, Biovores, and GSC ambushers) proving mass carnifex can do well. There was also another GSC/Nid/Soup mix list ahead of me, but I was the best Pure Tyranid General (though I didn't get the best general since they put GSC with Tyranids). Booo :( I did go in prepared, reread rules, made notes of powerful units of other armies etc... I made a Order of Operations checklist to follow each turn which was helpful. Also made a T1 chart of what unit moves, which gets stratagem, which gets Hive commander, how to positions etc... Also made a Deployment order for my units (place Hive Guard last, rippers into DS first). I posted a reveiw of the tourney, in short it went very well, one minor hiccup with BCP app resulted in an hour delay, terrain, food, water, checking, tables, chairs all good, no London GT fiascos in Big D! Everything is Bigger and Better in Texas!

My list:

Spoiler:

Kraken Batt
Swarmlord
Malanthrope
GS x19
GS x19
Hormies x29 (no upgrades)

Kronos Batt
Neuro, Soul Hunger WLT,
Flyrant, Dev w/ Brainleech worms, Balethron relic
Rippers 3 bases
Rippers 3 bases
Termies x9 with Fleshborer, x19 Devilgants
Hiveguard x6
Carnifex with Spores and enhance senses, 2x Dev Barinleech worms
12 drops, 13 cp, 1999 pts

Game 1: vs Astra Militarum/Space Wolfs

Spoiler:

Game 1: vs Astra Militarum/Space Wolfs. This guy was like his 2nd game ever, brother made list which was solid with Leman Russ, pask, Screeners, Razorback AC x2, Flyer. Solid list, he just didn't play it well. It was Hammer and Anvil and he put his guys right on the front line. I got both units of GS T1 charge and then followed up with Hormies and SL T2. HG took out Tanks and it was pretty dominant for me board control wise. I got first turn (Since he wasn't fully painted he took the painting -2 to roll off). I also periled on 12 with my WL (I periled on 12 every game and never on smite lol). Only got through 3 turns, despite me using movement trays and trying to keep piles of dice together, but when you are rolling 76 GS dice twice, and about 60 termie and hormie dice, it takes a while. Hive Guard took at Lemans, Flyrant and GS finished themoff. The other guy had to look up A LOT of stuff, but that was fine. I won something like 26-6.

Game 2: vs Nurgle plaguebearer list[

Spoiler:

Game 2: vs Nurgle plaguebearer list. (Game 1 guys brother). This was my first attempt against this list. I took Reaper, since he had 2 unit of 29, might have been a mistake. This was spearhead deployment, I got a 7 on my roll, he got a 6. Tried to re roll Seize, said he couldn't had to get TO ruling, but not a big deal. I point this out because this was the first time I had to call TO on rules issues. Not any arguments, but I was surprised at how many people were not very familiar with rules or FAQ's. You really need to be solid on your rules, and the main armies you will come up against (at least have a general Idea of the rules and tips and tricks, but not necessarily memorize their stats).

This was a bloody slugfest. Again got both GS units on T1 charge. Again peril on 12, this time on swarmlord. Got the unit of Plaguebearers down to under 10 models 2x and then he rolled 6 all 3 turns for regen. So I effectively killed about 58 plaguebears in one unit and never actually wiped it. This sucked hard. I should have put both units of GS into one unit in hindsight, instead of having the others go into his tanks and let the hormies do that. Flyrant Balethron did get to shoot 1x which was nice ignoring the invuls, but afterward both Plaguebeare units were always in combat. He took out his tanks/big guys. Ended up winning 14-6, again mainly due to board control and good secondaries. RECON IS GOLD with Rippers, and headhunter. Again only 3 turns, complete as he too was having to look up unit stats, and was a bit slow in rolling. Great guy though, nicely painted army. He offered to concede at the end of the game, like with time at 1 minute to give me the points since he wasn't going to play day 2. I said thanks but not thanks, he still had at least half his army on the board and honestly, if the game went to 6 turns he might have won, as the plaguebearer hordes. I think he felt kind of bad for being slow but I didn't feel it would be honorable to game the system like that.

Game 3: vs GSC/Kronos/AM

Spoiler:

Game 3: vs GSC/Kronos/AM This was my favorite game despite being "blue on blue" which I normally hate. Before the game, the TO said I had 2 flags for "incomplete games since I didn't make it to turn 4, not a penalty or anything, but just something to be aware of. I wasn't even aware this was a thing, and was a bit frustrated as I didn't feel it was my fault. Anyway, Deployment was the diagonal one. Again got first turn and got both units of GS to charge T1. Periled again, this time with Flyrant lol. This game went much faster since we basically knew each other armies ( i am familiar with guard, and somewhat with Cult, he just had to explain the difference).

On his first turn we were Bull gaking and have a good time and he got to psychic phase and forgot his DS ambush. I let him have it (though regretted it), but despite my 2 wins I knew I wasn't in the running for placements since I had low points and their was a Drukhari guy at 80 already. He ambushed them and charge my Hiveguard. He killed them and then locked up my carnifex and termies (and preceded to do this all they way to T6 when my carnifex finally killed the last GS.) it was annoying b/c he parked his character on my objective (where the HG were and was getting the Bonus point each turn for holding both. This won him the game. As I was tearing up his backline on his side, though he held his objective (he had IG morrtars, neophytes, 10 HG, 3 Neuro, one with Sould Hunger,) which I failed like 4x on and kept getting mortal wounds. Sadly I never got to do this trick as My Neuro was baby sitting my gunline in the back( actually had a bit of an issue with synapse coverage at times with Carnifex). My Swarmlord and Malantrhope died to his 2nd ambush but manage to kill almost all the GS. The Ambush was hitting on 2's with S5, yuk. In the end, the game went all 6 rounds, he tabled me. Great game. Lost 35-16.

Game 4 vs Custodes soup

Spoiler:

Game 4 vs Custodes soup: Standing at 28, solid middle of pack, we had some people drop. End up playing Custodes, Sisters, Assassins Soup. Celsistine, the Piano Organ Rhino thing, 3 units of 3 bikes, 1 custodes shield cpt, 2 pysker assasins, 1 assassin that ignores invuls, some sister troops I had a plan for this list and prepared so I had an idea what to do. Deployment was Dawn of war, he use to play nids back in 5th, so he was vaguely familiar with everything, he deployed back edge. I again got T1. I only got 1 unit of GS in T1 as I rolled a 2 on both of my advances, for both units so I Had to use Opportunistic Advance AND Hive Commander on the same unit to get them into charge.

Had to call TO about a rule on charges, as he didn't think I could leave models and daisy chain them, leaving a few models behind to stay near his objective. Also since he had fly he wanted to consolidate over me, I said thats fine, but he was base to base with a model so he had to still remain base to base to the closest model so essentially he had to rotate. Again he was trying to do this to get within his objective but was unable to do so. Neither of us where upset or mean about it or anything (just again, pointing out that you need to know your rules, or when in doubt just ask a TO.) During other games I was able to Hive Commander 1 units, and opportunistic advance the other to get both in. Also peril again on 12, this time with SL again. HG killed Rhino T1. Managed to get GS into unit of bikes and take his priority objective.

I messed up and picked bad secondaries this game. Recon, Headhunter (mistake), and Behind Enemy Lines, Also a mistake. His list had like 7 characters, but they are all durable. Over course of game I killed 1 assassin, 1 unit of bikes and his shield captain (warlord) final round which means Old School would have been a better choice. Also, forgot my DS on my rippers T2, so I lost out on recon. He forgot his DS T2 as well though so it was all good. Swarmlord and GS and Malanthrope Fought Celestine and his Shield Captain. I killed her T3, she came back though boo. Game went 4 turns, he had solid board control with the bikes and I needed more HG to kill them. I lost, score was like 25-8.

Game 5 vs Asra Militarum Cadians[

Spoiler:

Game 5 vs Asra Militarum Cadians: Going in at 2-2 ending up getting matched against pure Cadian list. Shadowsword, Vulture, 1 tank commander, pask, 4x inf sq, basilisk, 5 characters, cmd squad. Deployment was the one with the 9" circle i the middle (forget the name). I have been reading up on guard and experiment with list, and this was very similar to a list i had considered building. He deployed up close again, not sure why. We picked secondaries, and like an idiot i picked reaper as he had 4 squads of infantry, only after the game had started did he point out that they were not eligible for reaper, since the HW team was 2 wounds, but 1 model, dropping them all to 9. I reread the rule, and sure enough it was 10 models, I called TO just to check and he ruled in his favor. DAMNIT, oh well, I still wasn't too concerned I figured I could beat him on 2 secondaries (headhunter, and recon, should have picked big game hunter instead).

He did preliminary bombardment, didn't get anything out of it. Again got first turn, again got both GS on T1 charges, again periled, this time with SL. HG got pask to 1 wound, other leman took a few from flyrnat and dakkafex. GS killed 3 squads of infantry and command sq, and wounded a character. I tied up his tanks, as they were lose enough to pile in to. His turn, he fell back, only getting to shoot with 1 leman, the basilisk killed 2 HG, Vulture killed about 10 hormies. He cast nightshroud on an undamaged Leman. I could tell he was a bit agitated at this point as I was in his tanks already and he had little damage. He rolled slow, shaking each dice about 3-5 seconds before rolling, taking time on grouping them etc... I didn't say anything but questioned if he was intentionally slow playing me.

He then shot the shadowsword and tried to use Cadian doctrine on it. I pointed out on his list it is inn a Super Heavy Aux Detachment so he didn't get the doctrine but could use stratagems, he disagreed, I asked him to show me the rule, to which he realized he was wrong. Keep in mind this guy 2-2 and around same points as me, we are on game 5, I wonder how many times he had done this to other opponents not realizing. Shadowsword put some wounds on flyrant and carnifex but nothing deadly. He then went YOLO with his Characters and charged my GS. After he fought with 1 I thought about interrupting but didn't. I killed 3 characters in the fight, did feeder tendrils got a CP back (bring me to 7), at this point he was down to like 2.

He then questioned how many CP I had spend, and I had to go back and recount all my CP and prove it was accurate taking extra time. Then he tried to give not 2, but 3 orders to the same unit and then use laurels to combo it onto another unit thus giving both 2. I pointed out he can only give 1 order to a unit, he looked it up and discovered I was right, and even though he did bring it down first, I told him he can pick whichever of the 3 he wanted, he choose 1st rank fire, 2nd rank fire. He again seemed annoyed that apparently I knew his codex better than him.

Next up on my turn 2 I get my GS within an inch of his objective and mortars and basilisk. Swrmy and GS #2 get within an inch of the Leman, pask, and shadowsword. Hormies move in to lock in shadowsword from the flank. I DS rippers behind table quarters for RECON. Then he tries to tell me smite 1st attempt goes off on a 7... and he is a character less than 10 wounds. First of all, he is the closest model, 2nd thats only shooting, 3rd smite targets closest model anyway, finally I just hand him my card. His guy dies. Then in shooting I shoot HG at tank, hit with all 12 shots, roll three 3. Tank dies, then explodes killing pask, nearby and 1 GS, then puts pask explodes putting 3 wounds on shadowsword. As he picks up the model he sees the nightshroud card under the tank (which I could't see from where I was standing). Ask me if I did the -1, I said no, as I wasn't aware (honestly didnt see it). I said I only rolled 3 3's on my hit rolls and still would have put out 9*2 (18 damage and killed the tank anyway or offered to redo the reroll and put pask back) Even if I didn't kill them on the reroll I was confident GS, Swarmy and Hormies would finish them off. He rolled his eyes said forget it, rage quite and said the game was no longer fun. Said I was questioning him on all his rules. To which I said, rightly so, as every ruling I questioned him on I was correct on, excluding the fact that he didnt say his units qualified for reaper until after the fact. Again we are middle of the pact, not going to place, just be sporting about it. I pointed out to most opponents, I have 6 reaper point available in my list, and 4 characters.

Called TO over, had him tally me up with a secede and he was surprised. With the way things were going, he would have been table by T3 (maybe his Vulture would have been zipping around, but then I would have had to point out if only fliers remain at the end of the round you are considered "tabled".) Surely there would have been another rules debate.

This game could have been fun, but man he did not know the rules at all. And not sure if he was upset b/c I was calling him out on it and others weren't, because it was the last game of the day. Because he was getting pounded or what.

33-4 Victory

Overall Summary Thought: Still confirm that HG and GS are MVPs. Hormies didn't do much, probably will drop them, and take more GS. Carnifex/Flyrant didn't do much as well, mainly draw big gun support and mainly due to 18" range and me having to worry about synapse with gants. Never got to use Soul hunger. Gants & Gaunts mostly just died. SL was good some games, not used others (in terms of killing) but the Hive Commander is vital in all games. He only died 2x, in both my losses. Malanthrope did a bit of shrouding, only got his Prey Adaption off against he Custodes Soup list, but it was late game. I took him for T1 survivalibilty and managed to get first turn EVERY GAME, so may not be the best judge of points. Probably would drop the Carnifex and Hormies, maybe change the termies to pure Fleshborers. Take another units of GS, more hiveguard, another Neuro , maybe warriors with VC to get a bit more Anit tank. Flyrant might take miasma cannon next time. Soul Hunger was a waste, probably would have been better off with the +6" to synaspe range.

The other nid list one guy had GS, 12 hive guard, venomthropes, walkrant, swarmy, and termies. Another guy did a 6x carnifex list but mixed melee and shooty, best to go all melee or all shooty. If you want both, take a unit of screamer killers for melee, and a second unit of all dakkafex. The two GSC soup list relied on the ambush rule, mortars, and smite spam and placed well (both above me, 1 guy got 2nd).

Drukhari are very powerful, top table was Drukhari/Orks right next to me, and after my drama I watched them. Venom spam is gonna get nerfed. Points are way to cheap. This guy wiped 180 boys, had 45 gretchin as well. Crazy.

Thanks for the report. I can't get enough Tyranid competitive content so I'm eager to see other people do the same. This was great.

That sideword from the judge is the WRONG way for them to handle it. Judge or not I would have reacted extremely snappily to that remark, considering the first game was against a brand new player and the second was against his brother playing Nurgle no less an unfamiliar with his army. Sheesh.

Don't regret allowing a first turn mistake from your opponent, especially if it was cause you guys were having a good time. As InControl said, you gotta let the first one go, but let em know that you won't be okay'ing the next one, otherwise you're "that guy". You didn't allow him to do anything his army couldn't already, so your only takeaway from that loss should be how to adapt your list or tactics. Could better screening have saved you from losing that HG unit off the bat?

Your final opponent sounds like a real.... jerk, and I'm glad you stood up for yourself when he threw a bitchfit. Ive resolved not to stand for that sort of blatantly hypocritical and anti-competitive behavior, it doesn't have a place in tourney.

As for your list, I like the Kraken detachment. I looked at the Kronos one and felt it might not have the cohesion with the rest of your list to be as impactful as you might have hoped, seems you found that yourself.

 lindsay40k wrote:
Hmm, how are Behemoth Hormagaunts? I had a good result with a large multi-charge that got loads into 1” then trampled out some MW.

Self-sufficient in CP as they’re a fifth of a Battalion, no need for overcosted hormie upgrades, and adds to the threat perception thereby improving their ability to be an anti-horde fire magnet...

babelfish wrote:
I have a local event tomorrow. 2k, beta FAQ, ITC missions. I expect to see a range of solid armies and decent terrain.

I'll put up battle reports, as best I can, tomorrow and on Sunday.

My list (from memory, forgive minor errors):

Kronos Battalion:
Neurothrope x2
Ripper 3x2
Termagant x11
Hive Guard (impaler cannon) x5
Exocrine x2

Jorgm. Spearhead
Neurothrope x1
Raveners (rending, deathspitters) x3
Hive Guard (shock cannon) x6
Carnifex (double devouerers, +1 BS, -1 to hit) 2x2
Tyranofex (acid spray) x1

I feel like I'm on a good place balancing anti-tank and anti-infantry shooting. I deny a lot of ITC objectives, but am not great at getting the non-kill x unit ones. I only have one game of practice with the list.

Jorgm. or Kronos warlord? Both traits are useful but super situational. Jorgm. lets me hide him off the board, but that isn't a huge advantage.

Relic: all that I can see taking is the Norn Crown. Am I missing anything that might be useful?

Are there any matchups I should watch out for? I'm worried about Knights. Other than that I feel like I don't have a lot of truly bad matchups.

Thoughts or advice is welcome!

 Badablack wrote:
Generally the Kraken double advance strat on the genestealers, double movement on the maleceptor, then Onslaught on the tyrant after he advances. Maleceptor doesn’t need to assault, he’s not that great at it actually. Just want him right in their face to blow a bunch of stuff up with either the aura or smite/psychic scream, then soak up all the panic shots.

That gets 3 units in their face turn 1, plus sporocysts nearby pumping out spore mines. Zoanthropes and termagants take the midfield and the Biovores and hiveguard hold the back.

 Dynas wrote:

 Badablack wrote:
Generally the Kraken double advance strat on the genestealers, double movement on the maleceptor, then Onslaught on the tyrant after he advances. Maleceptor doesn’t need to assault, he’s not that great at it actually. Just want him right in their face to blow a bunch of stuff up with either the aura or smite/psychic scream, then soak up all the panic shots.

That gets 3 units in their face turn 1, plus sporocysts nearby pumping out spore mines. Zoanthropes and termagants take the midfield and the Biovores and hiveguard hold the back.

Nice. Do you still find Biovore are worth it at 50 points. That seems steep to me for a single mortal wound. Maybe 3 if I am lucky.

 Badablack wrote:
Generally the Kraken double advance strat on the genestealers, double movement on the maleceptor, then Onslaught on the tyrant after he advances. Maleceptor doesn’t need to assault, he’s not that great at it actually. Just want him right in their face to blow a bunch of stuff up with either the aura or smite/psychic scream, then soak up all the panic shots.

That gets 3 units in their face turn 1, plus sporocysts nearby pumping out spore mines. Zoanthropes and termagants take the midfield and the Biovores and hiveguard hold the back.

pinecone77 wrote:

babelfish wrote:
I have a local event tomorrow. 2k, beta FAQ, ITC missions. I expect to see a range of solid armies and decent terrain.

Spoiler:

I'll put up battle reports, as best I can, tomorrow and on Sunday.

My list (from memory, forgive minor errors):

Kronos Battalion:
Neurothrope x2
Ripper 3x2
Termagant x11
Hive Guard (impaler cannon) x5
Exocrine x2

Jorgm. Spearhead
Neurothrope x1
Raveners (rending, deathspitters) x3
Hive Guard (shock cannon) x6
Carnifex (double devouerers, +1 BS, -1 to hit) 2x2
Tyranofex (acid spray) x1

I feel like I'm on a good place balancing anti-tank and anti-infantry shooting. I deny a lot of ITC objectives, but am not great at getting the non-kill x unit ones. I only have one game of practice with the list.

Jorgm. or Kronos warlord? Both traits are useful but super situational. Jorgm. lets me hide him off the board, but that isn't a huge advantage.

Relic: all that I can see taking is the Norn Crown. Am I missing anything that might be useful?

Are there any matchups I should watch out for? I'm worried about Knights. Other than that I feel like I don't have a lot of truly bad matchups.

Thoughts or advice is welcome!

Not a bad list! But when I look at it I ask "How the heck is he handling CC?" I don't know your meta, but I don't see how you don't have "issues" with infilitrating foes, Like Raven Guuard, or Alpha Legion. I'd at the least want to bubble wrap all of my gun bugs.

I'm figuring you DS the Shock Guard, and castle up the rest...depending on the Table...so I also see problems grabbing Maesltrom points. Good luck! And good hunting!

babelfish wrote:

On Saturday my first game was against Tau. He brought two Tiger Sharks, three Fusion Commanders, and various Tau infantry (Fire Warriors, Stealth Suits). I reserved the Shock Guard, he seized initiative, and it went poorly for me. His first turn he killed everything except some Carnifexes and my Neurothropes. He was able to get line of sight to the Impaler Guard, which was my mistake. They were well hidden, but I was not ready for how far the Tiger Sharks can move, and gave him a hole to put them in. A wing tip saw a gun barrel, and that was all she wrote for those Hive Guard.

My first turn I was able to smite/shriek/Shock away one of the Tiger Sharks, and got a Fuision Commander with my remaining Carnifexes. After that it was a matter of trying to grab a few points before getting tabled on turn 3.

 SHUPPET wrote:

babelfish wrote:

Spoiler:

On Saturday my first game was against Tau. He brought two Tiger Sharks, three Fusion Commanders, and various Tau infantry (Fire Warriors, Stealth Suits). I reserved the Shock Guard, he seized initiative, and it went poorly for me. His first turn he killed everything except some Carnifexes and my Neurothropes. He was able to get line of sight to the Impaler Guard, which was my mistake. They were well hidden, but I was not ready for how far the Tiger Sharks can move, and gave him a hole to put them in. A wing tip saw a gun barrel, and that was all she wrote for those Hive Guard.

My first turn I was able to smite/shriek/Shock away one of the Tiger Sharks, and got a Fuision Commander with my remaining Carnifexes. After that it was a matter of trying to grab a few points before getting tabled on turn 3.

babelfish wrote:

The only options I see are deep striking Hive Guard or deep striking Flyrants. I don't know the Tiger Shark well enough to run the numbers on the Tyrants, but 6 sets of devourer might do it.

 jifel wrote:
As dangerous as the Tigershark is, GSC allies would actually be fantastic here. Mind control on the tigershark would be wonderful fun. Then, hit it with the Horror and Mass Hypnosis to make it -2 shooting while you try to take out the rest of the Tau army.