After a long break from Warhammer
40k due to life and family and stuff, my friend and I finally got back together to work on our Escalation. Neither of us had done much work on our armies, and since 7th edition has been a thing for a while, we decided to restart at 500 pts with the new rules. Once again, I will be fielding my Crimson Slaughter-flavored Slannesh marines (Angels of Ecstasy), while he brings his Hive Fleet Hibernis Tyranids. Army lists are approximate.
500 Points Angels of Ecstasy
Lord Eligos (Chaos Lord on Bike)
• Mark of Slaanesh
• Sigil of Corruption
• Relentless Blade
Noise Marine Squad
• 6 Noise Marines
• 4x Sonic Blasters
• 1x Blastmaster
• Aspiring Champion w/Doom Siren
Noise Marine Squad
• 6 Noise Marines
• 4x Sonic Blasters
• 1x Blastmaster
• Aspiring Champion w/Doom Siren
500 Points Hive Fleet Hibernis
Hive Tyrant w/Heavy Venom Cannon
Tervigon
10x Termigaunts
3x Warriors
• 1x Venom Cannon
MISSION AND PREGAME
The Mission is Crusade with Dawn of War Deployment. There is no night fight turn 1. Because of the small size of the game we played on a 4’ by 4’ table with only 2 objectives. One went in the center of the table and one went into my deployment zone
Hive Fleet Hibernis Warlord Trait/Powers: Hive Tyrant rolled on the Tyranid Warlord list and got Nature’s Bane (woods become carnivorous) which would do nothing. For psychic powers the Tyrant got Paroxysm and The Horror, while the Tervigon got Paroxysm.
Angels of Ecstasy Warlord Trait: Chaos Lord rolled on the Crimson Slaughter Warlord list and got Merciless Slaughter, which grants him and his unit Crusader. This would not be useful.
PRE GAME THOUGHTS
Well, so far I've only ever won a single game vs. Nids, and that was with an all-poison Dark Eldar army. This opponent’s Hive Fleet has spanked the forces of Chaos twice, and I’m not in a much better place to improve my chances. I don’t have a lot of options at 500 pts to take on Monstrous Creatures, though my Noise Marines shouldn’t have to hard of a time killing his gribblies. Paroxysm twice though! That’s going to hurt a lot.
DEPLOYMENT
Chaos wins the roll-off and deploys. I realized after set-up that I should have let him set up first so that my Turn 1 shooting would have better targets, but by then it was too late. Chaos sets up more or less in the center of the DZ with the Lord kinda hiding in the back. Tyranids spread out on the other side of the table, with his Tervigon opposite my Lord. The Tyrant hid behind some terrain on the far corner. Tyranids do not Seize the Initiative and the game begins.
TURN 1 – Angels of Ecstasy
Turn 1 was short and consisted of both Noise Marine squads firing at the Tervigon. One shot deviated off while the other managed to cause one wound.
TURN 1 – Hive Fleet Hibernis
In the Tyrandids turn, everything moves up. The Hive Tyrant Swoops and presses forwards, and the Tervigon spawns 13 termigaunts.
In the psychic phase, both
MCs cast Paroxysm on both Noise Marine units. Both squads are reduced to
WS and
BS of 2.
Most of the Tyranid shooting was a waste. One venom cannon managed to inflict a single wound, which passed. The Tervigon did manage to cause two casualties on the left Noise Marine squad. Otherwise the original Termigaunt brood ran 6” closer to my forces.
TURN 2 – Angels of Ecstasy
Hoping to get into assault with some gaunts, the Lord moves up the field. His bolters take out a few gaunts, but it should still be an easy charge.
Both Noise Marine squads focus fire on the Tervigon. However, between
BS 2 and some terrible scatters I only cause one wound, which is easily saved.
In assault, the Lord lines up his assault, and then rolls snake eyes for his range!!
At the end of the turn, the forces of Chaos are staring down a LOT of bodies, and the Lord is in a very bad spot. This could get ugly.
TURN 2 – Hive Fleet Hibernis
Once again, the Tyranid forces all move up, except for the Warriors. The Tervigon plugs, but rolls for 17 gaunts ( :five: :five:
)! EVERYTHING he has is right in my grill, and I’m predicting the game ends here.
Paroxysm goes off twice, this time reducing one squad to
BS 2 and the other to
BS 1. Ouch.
Shooting is largely focused on my squad on my left, reducing their numbers to just the one Champion.
A large brood of termigaunts assaults the Lord, and while he hits all three times, he fails to cause any wounds. In return the termigaunts force one wound on the Lord.
Despite my earlier prediction, I am somehow still on the table!
TURN 3 – Angels of Ecstasy
Both Noise Marine squads move up to flamer position (
BS 1 doesn’t mean much when you’ve got a
Str 5 flamer).
Between the two flamers, they take out 13 gaunts from two broods.
In assault, the Lord manages to kill one termigaunt, charging his sword (+1
Str).
TURN 3 – Hive Fleet Hibernis
The Tyrant switches to Glide while the rest of the Tyranids shuffle around. One depleted group of gaunts go for cover while another aims for the Lone Gunman from one of my Noise Marine squads. Warriors move up to get some range on their Devourers and the Tervigon crashes its way through terrain.
In the Psychic Phase, the Tervigon perils and loses Paroxysm! Unfortunately it still goes off and reduces my Lords
BS/
WS. The Tyrant also casts Paroxysm on my larger Noise Marine squad.
His Warriors put their shots into the Lone Gunman, and cause four wounds. He saves three like a champ, and fails the last, like a chump. All the rest of his shooting goes into my larger squad, and despite the odds fails to cause any wounds! The unengaged brood of gaunts runs, heading for my Deployment Zone.
The Tervigon fails his charge vs. the Noise Marines, though he tanks their Overwatch. The nearby gaunts make the assault instead, and lose a single model in melee. The Lord kills two more gaunts, taking zero wounds in return. The Relentless Blade charges up to 3 (
Ap 2).
TURN 4 – Angels of Ecstasy
I have nothing to move or shoot, since it’s all dead or locked in combat. THE END IS NEAR!
In assault, the Lord causes one wound and takes one in return. On the other side of the table the Noise Marines cause 0 wounds, but take 0 wounds back.
TURN 4 – Hive Fleet Hibernis
The Tervigon, Warriors and Tyrant all move up to secure assault positions. The unengaged brood of gaunts moves deeper into my Deployment Zone to secure Linebreaker.
Tyrant casts Paroxysm on the Lord (-1
BS/
WS) and assaults.
The Warriors fail to make their charge, but the Tervigon and the Tyrant both make it in. The Noise Marines ignore the Tervigon and focus on the gribblies, killing two more, but take three wounds from the
MC. The Lord and the Tyrant duel it out, and the Lord actually manages to put one wound on the Tyrant, taking zero wounds in return.
TURN 5 – Angels of Ecstasy
In assault, the Noise Marines fail to kill any gaunts, and one is turned to paste by the Tervigon. In the duel between Warlords, the Lord fails to wound the Tyrant, and is slain. With one model left on the table, facing an unending swarm of Tyranids, the lone Noise Marine concedes.
FINAL SCORE
Angels of Ecstasy – 1 (First Blood)
Wintergreen Nids – 5 (3
VP, Warlord, Line Breaker)
CRUSHING VICTORY FOR HIVE FLEET HIBERNIS!!
