The battle eventually happened ! After months of delays, I had my game.
His list had one change: his carnifex brood had spore cysts and he had one genestealer and two gaunts less.
We used the beta rules.
PRE GAME We agreed on a Maelstrom game from the rulebook, we got the third one.
My list is the same as before.
I chose the warlord trait The Imperium's sword, and my psy powers were null zone and psychic scourge.
He had a warlord trait giving apparently -1 to be hit, but I can't find it anywhere, I think he got it wrong.
Catalyst on the broodlord, the horror on the flyrant, psychic scream on his warlord. His neurothrope didn't matter;
He got first turn.
DEPLOYEMENT Here you can see the map and the deployement. I chose to play
MSU, splitting my bikers and my vanguard veterans, to have more options and to avoir taking to many casualities from his tyrants.
I deployed quite far away from his, and took all the space to block his deep strikes. But by doing this, I put my devastator too far away from my chapter master rerolls
We got the deployement 1, spearhead I guess in English ?
I forgot my thundefire, so I put a circle explosion marker instead...
I did just the deployement as I think it is very important to understand what is happening, and doing this kind of thing is pretty time consuming ! Tomorrow, I will add the others turns. Sorry for the colours: everyone is red today^^
This is my first battle report, it may be a bad one, you have been warned ! ^^
T1
Space Marines I stole the initiative !
My chainsword scouts moved in the building, taking objective 4, no psy, no assault:
Shooting: the devastators put 2 wounds on a carnifex, Chronus and the snipers put 5 wounds on the exocrine, the thunderfire used the tremor stratagem on the genestealers and killed one and my shotgun scouts killed 2 gargoyles.
I tried for the first time the orbital bombardment, rolled a 2 and hit, the exocrine and the hormagaunts. I put one mortal wound on the exocrine and killed one horma. What a waste of
CP...
Tyranids: Everything moved forward. Some great advances rolls (kraken...). His gargoyles flyed past my scouts and ignored them. His tyrant landed just 2" from them. Poor guys !
The genestealers, the broodlord and the carnifexes assaulted the scouts in the building, thus closing my lines from about 7" more. The genestealers got the 5+ invu from a psy power and my closest razorback got -1 to hit .
His warlord smited my whole boltgun scout squad.
His shooting was pretty bad, killing 1 scout with his tyrant and wounding 5 times my predator.
He overkilled my poor chainsword scouts.
VP:
1 (the chainsword scouts took objective 4)
3 (first kill and ...)
T2
Space Marines Ok he is close enough, it is time to counter strike !
My bike squads moved 16' forward his genestealers in the building, the only target they could shoot at mid range, my razors advanced and blocked lines of sight, like a wall, and the 2 vv squads + the librarian and the chapter master moved just behind, about 8" from his hormagaunts.
The librarian didn't succeed in casting anything.
Chronus and the snipers killed the exocrine. He used a stratagem to make it shoot one last time + the stratagem to give its weapon 3 damages and destroyed my predator.
IN.MY.SHOOTING.PHASE.
The bikers killed only about 5 genestealers thanks to their now 4+ save (cover), the razorbacks and the thunderfire shoot at them too (less than 10 genestealers remaining).
The devastator hit only 1 time AGAIN and finished the wounded carnifex.
IT IS TIME
TO SLAY THE BEAST !
Of course the librarian and 5 vv failed their charge, and so the chapter master and only 5 veterans are able to make it. Nonetheless, they slay like 13 gaunts, and one brave veteran died from acid blood.
My shotgun scouts took 2 casualties, but hold their ground.
Tyranids: Not being able to deep strike in my flanks or my behing my lines, his trygon and his 20 devogaunts came in in front of my devastator.
Using the auspex stratagem, I killed 6 of them (being 20, they had a sweet reroll of the 1s) before they slaughter 4 marines (despite their 2+ in cover) by shooting twice with the stratagem.
The warlod came closer to the devastator squad.
His tyrant fled the fight and went just in front of the snipers.
The gargoyles went back closer to the fight, ready to charge in: good, more skulls for the skull throne ! Ahem, I mean, FOR THE EMPEROR !
The remaining genestealers and the broodlord moved forward and advance, and got in my lines, just behing the razoback ready to charge the vv and Chronus.
He casted only two power, on I denied and a smite from his neurothrope (who stayed behing the horma), killing one shotgun scout. One remaining !
His shooting his bad again, killing two vv, one with each tyrant (the not engaged vv near the librarian).
His carnifex brood advance too and went after the bikers and one razorback, just to keep it from firing next turn.
He successfuly charge Chronus, the
VV ( loosing one genestealer by overwatc) the devastators, the bikers the snipers and the chapter master.
I lost 4 bikers, 7HP on Chronus and 2 vv; all the snipers and 2 devastators.
In the big fight, only one power armor failed to protect his marine, whereas they purge 12 more gaunts, only 1 remaining !
My bikers put one wound on a carnifex, I forgot to make the lone vv attack and Cronus did 0 wound.
T3
Space Marines
Ok it is bad, I need to react NOW, I lost almost all my
AT weapons.
My razorback reserve and got closer to his gargoyles, my
Tac squad disembark just behind his carni, my chapter master one the two vv disengage and went on the objective 4 to get a victory point.
I need to kill a psyker too, and their is his neurothrope (who didn't do much of the whole game...) just behind The Big Fight. Mmmh...
I disengage the bikers ( only one mortal wound on a carni despite a reroll !) ,the librarian and the lieutnant close to the carni. My techmarine, always staying 3" from his cannon, moved a bit closer to the genestealer to get in flamer range.
Libby as useless as always.
SHOOTING !
By using my lone scout; my
CM's plasma pistol and a
tac squad, I let his neurothrope at 1 wound. The other
tac squad shooted its plasma weaponry to the carnifex and the bolter to the gargoyles. Did only one wound the the carni, and 3 to the gargoyles. The razorback killed some gargoyles too.
The thunderfire and his cannon erase the 5 last genestealers.
The scout and one
tac marine reached the neurothrope and killed it.
The other
tac squad assaulted the last horma and cleanse it.
My two bikers and librarian assaulted his carnifex, finishing the wouned one. One more to force-sword !
Unfortunately, all the bikers and the last vv died to the broodlord and the carni, put my librarian made it thanks to his invu save.
Tyranids: His tyrants, broodlord, carnifex (disengaging it) and gargoyles surrounded my
tac squad and chapter master.
His devogaunt went through my razorback and came to range, and close to Chronus and the lieutenant.
Using a smite, he killed my poor librarian. Using an other smite + shooting from his gargoyles, he destroyed a
tac squad. He shooted the 5 last Chronus
HP and assaulted the lieutnant with his devogaunt, destroyed a razorback by assaulting them with his trygon, killed the chapter master and the last veterans and
tac marines with his flyrant, broodlord and gargoyles.
END OF THE GAME We decided to stop here , as we wanted to go spearfishing, and it is pretty obvious that I couldn't win anymore.
POST GAME Soooo, what happened ?
I had the first turn, he didn't deep strike in my lines, he just went straight forward and killed my marines. Wow.
1/ He was very resilient. I didn't shoot his flyrant because, stupidly, we remembered they were characters, but forgot they had more than 10 wounds. It didn't matter, I don't think I would have shooted them, with 4+ invu and -1 to be hit for his warlord. His carnifex having -1 to be hit too for the first time was quite good , it really surprised my devastators
Thus, I lacked
AT to kill all his big monsters, but surprisingly, killed almost all his gaunts !
2 / Power creep:
SM vehicles need to have chapter tactics. My poor Chronus and razorback lost one full shooting phase (of 3 ...)
3/ My bad: My bikers underperformed because I deployed them in the wrong side (facing only monstruous creatures) and then shooting at 4+ genestealers,
And again, I am cursed, I failed half my charges (8') with my vv despite a reroll !!! I didn't had any rerolls for my devastator squad (just the useless lieutnant), stupid deployement, this game showed it pretty clearly.
It was the first time I used a
CM, his rerolls are quite powerful ! I Don't think I will use a librarian anymore, in 7th, he was bad, in 8th he is even worse. 120pts for that ? No.
Overall, except for the libby, I really like my list (even the scouts ! They took objective and screen for cheap, and the bikers too even if I badly played them in this one!) but I don't see how to win this game.
Even with a better deployement or with better objectives, he had too many troops and monsters, for me to kill them. I could play a chaplain with the vv and a thunder hammer / shield eternal jump pack captain, fighting one tyrant 1v1, I could take less scouts (since the beta rules, they are less neeeded), but I don't see it.