It happened !
He has the Old One Eye instead of a carnifex, and I had only 5 infantry squad, otherwise the lists were the same as previewed.
I deploy my tanks slightly behind, I have two screens of infantry, 4 "from each other to avoid consolidations.In the spacing between the two screens, I deploy the cyclops, ready to detonate and the comissars. The officers are behind the second rank.The squad of stormtroopers with heavy radiant rifles are at the center of my lines
The hellhound, having a short range, is hidden behind a building, sheltered from the exocrine.
The remaining veterans and stormtroopers are in reserve, like the eversor.
I try to protect my tanks and officers behind a double screen, and I use the characters and tanks in slighlty behind to block any deep strike at home.
The cyclops have the mission to be detonated either if the tyranids take advantage of my squads to shelter from shooting (that they kill the tyranides or the survivor of the squad is to the same) or if they pass the first screen.
The veterans in reserve will retry yesterday's move, and arrive in ambush + advance to take advantage of the Tallarn doctrine to arrive at T2 fusion range of the exocrine, and give me why not line breaker and take Objective 2, camped by the exocrine.
He deploys aggressively, making a battleline from one end of the table to the other with its gargoyles, hormagaunts and genestealers behind which the carnifexes, a genestealer alpha and a neurothrope advance. The exocrine is slightly behind. A prince on each side, like a clamp that will close on my tank commanders.
T1
IG: I get to defend Objective 2, which is in the tyranid deployment zone, it starts well.
Little movement on my part, I separate the cyclopes, one on the left, one on the right. I give various defensive bonuses to my tanks thanks to the psykers, and we go to the shooting phase.
The vanquisher one shot a carnifex, and various shots leman russes, autocanons) kill 9 gargoyles they are very fast, and I do not want them to fly over my cords and neutralize my tanks!
Tyranids:
All advance, except the exocrine. He takes advantage that my order does not go to the end of the table to ask his prince in my ZDD (deployment zone).
It will blow up the Cyclops on my left flank, killing a commissioner and about 6 guards in two squads, while taking a deadly wound himself. The exocrine destroys the heavy weapons squad.
Some guards are also dying, but that's all.
He misses all his charges.
T2
IG: The stormtroopers and the eversor arrive on obective 6 and the veterans on the exocrine and objective 2. I push back the punisher, far too close to the prince. The hellhound comes out of hiding, ready to burn xenos.
Veterans fail, despite a reroll, to advance (triple 1) and will not be at melta mid range. The two squad only put 5 wounds on him. The stomrtroopers also shot plasma at the exocrine, a plasma carrier dies (I forgot to give the orders of the tempestor) but it still inflicts wounds on the beast which falls in declining profile, he he re ste 5pv.
The second squad of shock troops fired on the hormones and killed some of them. 5 or 6.
The vanquisher only put 3 wounds to the second carnifex.
The gargoyles take fire from the stormtroopers with the hot shot volley guns, as well as the genestealers, and the squad finished by the explosion of the last cyclops, who kills 7. The leman russ fires unsuccessfully on the genestealers.
The punisher and the second leman russ fire on the prince, and wound him
Assault phase and the eversor charges and kills 6 termagaunts as well as the neurothrope, after using a reroll to fight again.
So far, I have scored only one
VP: first blood.
Tyranids: He places his princes near my tank commanders flying over my screens, brings his troops closer to my troops, and makes his alpha genestealer and the injured carnifex turn around.
He makes the trygon and the 20 devogaunts arrive in the center, ready to repel the stormtroopers that are in its deployement zone.
The exocrine, the gaunts and the trygon exterminate the two squads of veterans, just revenge for their incompetence and put 4 wounds on the hellhound.
He charges my two tank commanders with his two princes, as well as the tehc priest: he will none of them.
The genestealers assault the first screen, the second screen and my astropath who had remained on the building, killing them all.
The horma assaumt the first screen on their side, as well as Old One Eye which in addition chares the stormtroopers in my deplyement zone all the guards survive but the stormtropers are annihilated.
The carnifex charges and kills the eversor while being wounded, and the Alpha charges a squad of stormtroopers into its deployement zone, leaving one survivor.
The hormagaunts take some losses during the overwatch and the assault phase, while doing 0 wounds.
T3
IG: I disengage everyone, and reorganize my battleline. The tank commander punisher puts the gas and goes directly into his deployement zone, hidden from the exocrine and far from the prince.
I bring the wounded hellhound closer to the injured prince, taking advantage of his auto hot to ignore his degrading profile. With the help of a leman russe, they destroy the wounded prince: I should have left my punisher here.
The two squads of surviving guards use orders to shoot down all the surviving hormagaunts and re-form a screen between the vehicles and Old One Eye. But there is always a prince behind ....
My squad of surviving stormtroopers wounds the alpha and kill it in assault with the help of the tempestor and his gauntlet.
The injured carnifex is also destroyed, by the second leman Russ.
I have 5
VPs (first blood, destroy enemy units, a [regiment] character must kill an enemy character).
Tyranids He moves the termagaunts towards the survivors in his zone, brings his monsters and his genestealers closer to my tanks and my screen.
He kill my primaris psyker and destroy my vanquisher with his prince, the old one eye assault and wound a leman russ, and the genestealers contact the hellhound, the scond leman russ and the rest of the screen that they kill.
Not easy to make screen against such mobile units with so few men!
The trygon managed a charge on the punisher and did not make any damage to him.
He shoots and assault my stormtroopers with his gaunts.
[/spoiler]
T4
IG: The leman russe disengages, I organize a new screen in front of him with my surviving guards and my officers.
Shooting phase, I kill some genestealers.
In assault phase, my sergeant stormtrooper and my tempestor are holding up somehow, killing a few gaunts at each turn, they even manage to make some run away (they have no more synaptic coverage).
Tyranids: He charges my last screen with his genestealers, my leman russe with his prince, my hellhound with his
OOE and my punisher (that I forgot to make run away...) with his trygon.
The sergeant dies, but the gaunt squad melts under the vengeful blows of the tempestor!
The hellhound explodes, and the tank commander is destroyed.
T5
IG During this turn my surviving officers finish all genestealers except 1, but in the end I only have one platoon commander left. My tempestor continues his work, there are only 10 devogaunts left.
Tyranids: He disengages the gaunts, finally destroys my last leman russ with his prince, kills the tempestor with the exocrine, and charges my last commander, who kill his last genestealer.
Moral victory!
No ?
5PV for GI vs 7PV for tyranids: it's a TYRANID VICTORY !
It turns out that there were 4 survivors of a screen, hidden behind a building !
Nice game, I enjoyed managing the screens and prevent his charges throughout the game, even if flying monsters and shots reduced efficiency. The orders are nice too, it was the first time I played with so much infantry, I saw clearly the importance of the infantry to support the tanks and the importance of the orders to support the infantry.
I regret having used the eversor T2, I should have waited for T3 like last time, he would have been much more impactful than just throwing him in the heart of the enemy army. He gave me back a
PC by killing the neurothope, killed half a dozen gaunts and the neurothrope and made a carni come back to his deployement zone . It's up to you to judge if it's worth 85 points and 2PC, but I think I can do better.
The failure of the veterans has been terrible.
200 points lost needlessly. They could have, using the stormtroopers help, and if they had done their job properly, control the center of the battlefield, and deprive my opponent of valuable
VP earned the next turn, and either kill the trygon or to force my opponent to take care of them instead of the 12 stormtroopers in his zone. It would have been interesting. But no.
Statistically, they should have cut down the exocrine. Maybe add an officer in the ambush next time?
My opponent played the princes well, flying over the screens, and finding or creating with his powers and shots holes in my lines to land lock my tank commanders, main threat of my army.
For once I did not focus on the genestealers, and they made a beautiful massacre: about 35 guards, an astropath, and locked my vehicles.
The officers with axes, I was not sure about them, but on this game they gave me a little punch in assault that was really helpful.
Second game with this list and the confirmation is here: I need more antitank. The little ones are not a threat, I managed to kill them all pretty well. My vanquisher is a too obvious target every time, and the battlecannon are just not reliable enough. I thought to take a second squad of heavy weapons team with lascannon.
The three stormtroopers squad are one too many. But if I do not take three, I lose a troop so the battalion and so 5PC ...
Both psykers have done well, I abjured each turn, even if their offensive potential is ... limited!
