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Double testing of new lists tonight; I am using a Ravenwing list as I fancy a biker army and Rich is testing a modified Tyranid list. Should be fun!

Dark Angels 'Ravenwing' - 2,000 points

HQ

Sammael
Ravenwing Command Squad - banner of devastation & apothecary
Librarian - bike, auspex & infravisor

Troops

5 x Ravenwing Bikers w/ Attack Bike - 2 x meltaguns - Sgt w/ melta bombs - Attack Bike w/ multi melta
5 x Ravenwing Bikers w/ Attack Bike - 2 x meltaguns - Sgt w/ melta bombs - Attack Bike w/ multi melta
5 x Ravenwing Bikers w/ Attack Bike - 2 x meltaguns - Sgt w/ melta bombs - Attack Bike w/ multi melta
5 x Ravenwing Bikers w/ Attack Bike - 2 x plasma guns - Attack Bike w/ multi melta
5 x Ravenwing Bikers w/ Attack Bike - 2 x plasma guns - Attack Bike w/ multi melta
5 x Ravenwing Bikers w/ Attack Bike - 2 x plasma guns - Attack Bike w/ multi melta
5 x Tactical Marines - missile launcher w/ flakk missiles
5 x Tactical Marines - missile launcher w/ flakk missiles

Tyranids - 2,000 points

HQ

Hive Tyrant - 2 x twin-linked devourers & wings
Hive Tyrant - 2 x twin-linked devourers & wings

Elite

2 x Hive Guard
2 x Hive Guard
2 x Hive Guard

Troops

10 x Termagants
Tervigon - adrenal glands & toxin sacs
19 x Hormagaunts - toxin sacs
19 x Hormagaunts - toxin sacs

Heavy Support

Carnifex - 2 x twin-linked devourers
Trygon - toxin sacs
Trygon Prime - toxin sacs

Game: the relic + dawn of war - night fighting is on

Deployment

Rich won the roll off for deployment and decided to go first. He spread his Tyranids along his table side with two units of Hive Guard, both Flyrants and two Trygons on the left flank and the little beasts, Tervigon and Carnifex in the centre.

I deploy all my bikes on the left flank, I do this for two reasons; so I can face his threats head on as I won't be able to avoid them much and b. his little buggers will tarpit me until the big ones arrive. Tacticals camp it up in ruins. I put my Attack Bikes at the front to absorb damage instead of losing valuable plasma and melta units which also have more shots. Command Squad is parked at the back.

* Tactical Notes

When playing against an assault army with a medium ranged army it is always catch 22 if you go first or second - if you go first you need to move up to get your guns into range, this means the assault army is now closer to you thanks to your own doing. If you go second you're giving the assault army that first turn to move up without getting shot at.

I will focus fire on the Trygons, the fleet rules means they will make combat quickly and they can mash up my squads no sweat. Hive Tyrants are next, though I will try and tackle the warlord one first. Then I'll be tackling Hive Guard and Hormies, those Hormies will be a pain in the arse with toxin sacs. Then the Carnifex and Tervigon; hopefully the Tervigon will go nuclear and take out plenty of Termies.

Turn 1

Rich asks if I am going to scout and I give a good ho ho.

Rich moves everything up and runs where possible to get things into range; Tyrants fly up and land in the centre together.

Shooting; Tactical Squad in the centre in the tower ruin get leathered by devourers and only one survives; luckily it is the missile launcher dude! An Attack Bike gets blasted by devourers while another gets struck by impaler cannons, both die and Rich gets first blood.

Dark Angels; I move all my bikes in a super bike formation (so take advantage of the banner) move over to the centre, this will put some distance between me and those Trygons and I can use a ruin as a buffer, also the Flyrants will have limited areas to land. Though that same building will give cover to the Trygons from my melta and plasmas shots.

Shooting; I put a stupid amount of fire power into one Trygon and it takes ages to go down, I only knock off one wound from the Prime. Flakk missiles bounce off the warlord Flyrant's ass.

* Tactical Notes

A pretty uneventful first turn. I was hoping to slag both Trygons if I am honest, after all I am firing 144 bolter shots into them plus 8 plasma shots and a plasma cannon. Doesn't help my Attack Bikes cannot hit which is even more annoying when the Trygons don't have cover. Ah well.

Rich has depleted some Tacticals and killed a few Attack Bikes, he hasn't hit me hard but has done me more damage. I suspect he will be kicking ass in his second turn.

Turn 2

Tyranids move up, Hive Guard on the left flank both move into cover while Flyrants fly over and vector strike my Command Squad and another unit; one unit loses two bikes while the Command Squad only loses a single dude thanks to feel no pain. Hormies pick up the relic.

Shooting; Tyrants fire into the Command Squad though only the Librarian takes a wound. Hive Guard blast some bikes though power armour is strong. Carnifex dakkas the Tacticals on the right flank and kills two while Hive Guard hidden in a ruin in the centre finish off the last Tactical in the centre ruin. Prime blasts some bikes with bioelectric.

Assault; Trygon Prime charges my bikes and takes a wound from overwatch, then the Prime proceeds to tear my bikes a near one (they attack with krak grenades and totally fail) and the squad is wiped out.

I relocate my bikes so they are right in front of the Prime and position other units so take down the warlord Flyrant as the flyers are starting to get on my nerves.

Shooting; Prime eats multi meltas, bolters and plasma and is wasted. Flyrant gets blasted by bolters, no wound but fails grounded test and comes down on his arse; krak missile from Tacticals and plasma from bikes kill his ass. I blast the other Tyrant and take two wounds off it, though it stays in the air. Remaining bolters blast the incoming horde of Hormagaunts, they get cover thanks to area terrain (tank traps) and a ruin, but I put a nice dent in them.

* Tactical Notes

Ok, things are looking up, Trygon Prime is dead and the Flyrant is dead, just one left and a shame I couldn't finish it off - twin-linked bolters are handy for flying monstrous creatures.

I suspect a Hormgaunt charge is coming, though luckily I have shielded my main units with Attack Bikes so Rich has to kill them to get to the bikes or assault an Attack Bike, I'll be honest I do not care about them.

Next turn I'll finish off the Tyrant, Hormgaunts, the Hive Guard and start on that Carnifex as it will flank around.

Turn 3

Carnifex moves up ready to dakka the Tacticals on the right as Tervigon poops out Termagants. Hormagaunts holding the relic drop it and come forward ready to assault while Termagants move up and claim the relic. Both Hive Guard fail synapse tests as only synapse creature on the left flank is the wounded Flyrant.

Shooting; Flyrant dakkas my Command Squad and I lose the Librarian and banner, damn it. Hive Guard blast two Attack Bikes and two go down, is their armour made of paper or something? Carnifex wastes the Tacticals without a sweat.

Assault; depleted Hormagaunts declare charge on the unit of three bikers (took his from vector strike), two Hormies die to overwatch and a single biker remains - biker fails morale and falls back (can choose to fail morale even though banner is within range?). Other Hormies declare charge on bikers in the centre, some Hormies get wasted to overwatch and fail charge even with fleet re-rolls.

Dark Angels; I move Attack Bikes up past the depleted Hormies so they can long range fire into the Carnifex while a melta and plasma units move up into rapid fire death range with an Attack Bike and another plasma unit supporting them from behind. Single biker auto regroups and goes to assault the Hormies with support from Sammy and the Apothecary.

Shooting; I dakka the Dakkafex and I do meh on shooting and Rich does well on some cover saves and it remains with two wounds; looks like some bikers are eating Carnifex hoof next turn :(. Sammy, Apothecary and lone biker shoot the Hormies.

Assault; Sammy, Apothecary and lone biker beat up the Hormies, though Sammy takes a wound as he is a noob.

* Tactical Notes

Things haven't gone too bad this turn but certainly could have gone better. I've lost the last Tactical Squad and also my banner, the banner is the biggest blow. I think more thought on repositioning of this model within the unit is required. I have also lost two Attack Bikes who both can't appear to make a saving throw.

Next turn I suspect the Carnifex will assault, which I hope it kills my dudes if not I can hit and run and kill it. I suspect the Hormies will assault and they will win, though this means I can dakka them and then move up and kill Termagants and get the relic.

Turn 4

Carnifex rumbles forward while the Tervigon burns itself out with more Termagants, the Gants and Tervigon move to support the Carnifex. Termagants with the relic move away while a small unit clogs up the bottleneck in their place to act as a blocker. Hormagaunts come forward ready to assault.

Shooting; Carnifex and Termagants fire into the front plasma unit and only kill a single biker. Tervigon fires at the supporting melta unit though all are safe. Tyrant fires into Sammy, though Rich doesn't roll well and all are save after armour saves. Hive Guard fire and kill an Attack Bike.

Assault; Hormies charge a nearby melta unit, though Hormies don't do so well and three bikers remain, they hit and run and move around the Hormies towards the small bottlenecking Gant unit. Termagants charge my bikers, I do not overwatch and they fail assault, Carnifex tries, I overwatch though do nothing and the 'Fex mashes up the unit with a single survivor - survivor passes morale (stubborn is nice), though I hit and run - Carnifex consolidates into base of a tower ruin and has LOS blocked from all put one angle.

Dark Angels; three man biker unit moves up to the small Gant unit while the now lone plasma gun and supporting Attack Bike move to get LOS on the Carnifex. Other units move up to dakka the Tervigon while Command Squad moves to deal with Termagants.

Shooting; I forget that Rich had cast iron arm on the Tervigon and is T9, so I only take a wound off thanks to lucky melta. Carnifex is wasted with bolters, plasma and multi melta. Hormies get shot a little but by bolters and storm bolter.

Assault; I attempt to assault the Tervigon twice (hoping for krak grenades/meltas and it is better to charge than be charged) though both squads fail assault distances. Sammy and his mates beat up the Hormies and they are erased off the table.

* Tactical Notes

I am starting to clear my way through the Tyranid bug horde, though it has taken me a lot longer than I thought. I also forgot the Tervigon was T9, my plan to was to kill it and make it take some Termagants with it. If I would have remembered I would have moved my biker force all over to get close to or threaten the Termagants with the relic - doh!

We have agreed to end the game next turn and so far Rich is winning as he has the relic. I need to get line breaker and get his Termagants to drop the relic to pick up a victory.

Turn 5

Tervigon comes forward as do Termagants, they are going balls to the wall! Termagants with the objective fall back.

Shooting; Command Squad is wiped out with mass dakka from Hive Guard and Tyrant, Rich gets slay the warlord. Bikes by the Tervigon get shot at.

Assault; Termagants charge the bikers, I overwatch and kill a few - Tervigon tries to join in the party but fails assault roll. My bikers hit and run and flank around the back of the Tervigon. Three man biker unit by the small Termagants get wasted with mass fire power.

Ok, my last turn, I move a full unit of bikers flat out and get line breaker. I move the depleted unit who just broke from combat towards the Termagants with the objective, I shoot them and the relic is dropped. Lone plasma guy with supporting Attack Bike shoot and assault the Termagants, I fail to wipe them out and Rich gets line breaker with them.

Tyranids score a victory with 3 points and Dark Angels 2.

Summary

I really enjoyed that game with Rich and this time it felt like I was against a true unending alien horde backed by powerful monsters!

Made a few mistakes this game, though it is to be expected. I need to work on placement of the banner holder so he doesn't get shot at. I also forgot the Tervigon was T9, if I remembered I might have done something different.

List wise, Sammy is Sammy but what can you do?

Librarian is meh. Gonna switch for a Techmarine who can tank the wounds - cheaper as well. Problem with Techmarine is I cannot do double FOC.

Command Squad is brill up until the banner dies, but that's the way it is.

Ravenwing as a whole are fun; tough, shooty and mobile. Hit and run is also nice for them along with stubborn, both of those rules come in real handy.

Tacticals are a waste, costing me 180 points for two skyfire shots. I need to work on these. I may try an aegis and get a quad gun.

Overall I like Ravenwing I just need to fine tune the list.

If you are going to drop the two tactical squads I believe you have few options for replacement. A squad of 2x Typhoon Land Speeders or a Dark Shroud to give your guys a better jink save from ranged fire or a squad of Ravenwing Black Knights.

The Knights might be the best option as they bring the grenade launcher with rad and stasis grenades as well as twin-lined plasma talons. And you can't forget the Corvus Hammers as they give you rending. All of which could have helped a bit more with the horde control. Ironarm will not always buff the TMC to T9 so the rad and plasma talons can do decent at removing wounds off the big bugs.

Over all well played. I enjoyed the read. A few pictures next time would be nice if you have the time.

The reason for the Tacticals was skyfire, which really I do not get a lot for my points. Speeders would give some longer range fire power, which is useful and they can do with flyers. The Black Knights I do not think would help me much with flyers.

Was all proxy so no pics I am afriad.

Good report, sad day about the proxy=no picks

Go with Black Knight squad.

If you are going to drop the two tactical squads I believe you have few options for replacement. A squad of 2x Typhoon Land Speeders or a Dark Shroud to give your guys a better jink save from ranged fire or a squad of Ravenwing Black Knights.

Very much agree with this.
Saw the list and liked it but was a bit when I saw the 2x5 man tac squads.
Agreed they add some anti air power but not a lot and not very effectively imho.

Phiasco II wrote:Good report, sad day about the proxy=no picks

Unless you want unpainted CSM?

Dozer Blades wrote:Go with Black Knight squad.

I think I am going to. They cost the same points as a plasma armed Ravenwing and the Black Knights get so much more. Excellent monster killers.

Ratius wrote:

If you are going to drop the two tactical squads I believe you have few options for replacement. A squad of 2x Typhoon Land Speeders or a Dark Shroud to give your guys a better jink save from ranged fire or a squad of Ravenwing Black Knights.

Very much agree with this.
Saw the list and liked it but was a bit when I saw the 2x5 man tac squads.
Agreed they add some anti air power but not a lot and not very effectively imho.

Not enough points I am afriad for triple Speeders plus I am trying to keep the list armour free and stick with a pure biker force.

Tact Squads just for objectives (probably don't need them) and anti air, but as you said they are not very effective.