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Hi guys, this Sunday I went to the Winter Tides of War 40k event at Bristol Independent Gaming (BIG) Tides of War is a series of tournaments one for each season throughout the year so there is a winner of each event and an overall winner of the year. Event would be 1 day 4 games at 2 hours each 1500 points no allies. As my third game was against the most interesting army I had played at a tournament I have put up a poll to guess what I played against.
I was going to take my space wolves but they weren’t ready so I went back to my Tyranids.
However, I haven’t played nids for about six months so don’t have any of the new models so I don’t have DImachaeron, Muclids, Barbed Hierodule, Malanthrope, or Tyrannocytes, (after the new codex came out I move house twice and threw out my old spore pods ).
This is the list I took.
Hive Tyrant, Wings, Electroshock grubs, Twin linked devourers with brain leech worms, twin linked devourers with brainleech worms. (referred to as Warlord in bat reps)
Hive Tyrant, Wings, Electroshock grubs, Twin linked devourers with brain leech worms, twin linked devourers with brainleech worms. (referred to as Flyrant in batreps)
Venomthrope
2 Zoanthropes
Lictor
20 Termagants, fleshborers
15 Termagants, fleshborers
3 ripper swarms, deep strike,
3 ripper swarms, deep strike,
Hive Crone,
2 x Carnifex, twin linked devourers with brainleech worms, twin linked devourers with brainleech worms.
Mawloc
Total points 1500
Basically I’ve gone for some aerial dominance whilst the Carnifexes have some good firepower and the Mawloc can be a threat psychologically as well as physically. The ripper swarms and lictor will deep strike to objectives whilst the termagants will bog down anything nasty.
Missions will be Maelstorm and Eternal War.

Game 1.
Crusade and Cleanse and Control 1 set of objectives for both.
Table quarter deployment.
Jams and his Eldar.
Avatar
Eldrad (warlord)
Seer council of 4 warlocks
Dire avengers in wave serpent
Fire dragons in wave serpent
2 units of 3 jetbikes
Warp spiders
Fire prism
Rangers
My psychic powers.
Warlord Catalyst, Paroxysm, Dominion
Flyrant Onslaught, Warp Blast and dominion
Zoanthropes Warp Blast, psychic Scream, Dominion

5 reasons why Nids will win
1. Jams has no flyers so I will have aerial dominance
2. I go first with Master of Ambush Warlord Trait
3. My ob sec termagant units are quite big so could be in combat and still hold objectives
4. Lictor deep strikes without scatter so can claim maelstrom objectives
5. For some reason I do well against Eldar in tournaments 3 to 1 winning record (famous last words???)

5 reasons why Eldar will win.
1. Jams is going 2nd so gets last chance to jump on objectives
2. Wave serpents are a pain to kill with cover saves and holo fields and other stuff
3. I can’t spread out to all six objectives due to synapse
4. Jams has the avatar who is a cc beast
5. Jams has more psychic powers than me

Deployment I won roll for deployment so decided to deploy first and go first. I went for the side with most cover and put the zoanthropes and venomthrope central with termagant units to either side to move onto objectives. Crone, Carnifexes and both Flyrant’s will infiltrate, Everything else in reserve.
Jams then deployed his three tanks spread out and the Avatar in the middle of his deployment zone, rangers infiltrate to a central ruin and Eldrad and seer council went behind a ruin on his left. I infiltrated the Carnifexes and Flyrant to target Eldrad and seer council and the Crone and Warlord to shoot them if required or to pick another target.
Jams rolled to seize and failed.

Turn 1.
Carnifexes advanced, Flyrant flew forward and positioned himself on some ruins Warlord flew in the centre of the board, Crone flew forward to flamer the rangers, everything else shuffled round on objectives. The main plan was to do damage with the FMC’s and Carnifexes and gain board control whilst the troops grabbed objectives. I cast Catalyst on the Warlord and Flyrant, Onslaught on the carnifexes and then the zoanthropes cast dominion giving me D3 maelstorm points for manifesting 3 psychic powers (rolled a 3 on a D6 giving me 2 points), termagants secured a maelstrom objective. Shooting was brutal, Crone started off by flaming 2 rangers, Carnifexes then destroyed the seer council with some good shooting. Flyrant then killed off Eldrad. Warlord then fired on the fire dragon wave serpent and wrecked it despite the cover save. Dragons weren’t pinned. But first blood, slay the warlord, wave serpent dead and 3 maelstorm points as well as grabbing two objectives was a great start.
Jams then advanced the dragons and Avatar towards the Carnifexes and moved his wave serpent onto an objective and to target the Warlord grabbing a maelstrom point in the process. His psychic phase didn’t happen as I had killed all his psykers. Fire dragons put 3 wounds on a Carnifex whilst his Avatar was out of range so shot at the Flyrant who jinked taking no damage. His wave serpent then put 2 wounds on my warlord. His fire prism killed a handful of gaunts.

Turn 2.
Mawloc arrived and I targeted him at the wave serpent to ignore cover saves but did no damage and then my opponent placed him in the far corner of my deployment zone. I didn’t go for the fire dragons as it was close to the board edge and for the reasons below. Warlord flew off as he had jinked and taken damage. Gaunts continued to spread out but I needed to grab the objectives in his deployment zone and kill a unit in close combat to get maelstrom points. Flyrant flew behind his fire prism. Carnifexes moved up towards the fire dragons and Avatar. Flyrant cast warp lance in the back of the fire prism and took off a hull point. Flyrant then wrecked it with devourer shots, Crone vector stuck the wave serpent and did 1 hp and then fired a haywire missile causing it to jink. I then made a big mistake. I needed to get onto objective 3 and also kill a unit in combat to get my maelstrom points. The dire avengers were between the Carnifexes and objective. However if I fired at them I could kill them all off leaving me unable to assault. However the avatar was within charge range and almost on objective 3. Great idea methinks shoot him then charge win combat and consolidate onto the objective. I fired at the avatar and did 2 wounds and then charged in and did a wound with hammer of wrath, the avatar then proved why he was the Eldar god of war and did 3 wounds. Carnifexes then needed to hit on 5’s and did 1 wound leaving him alive. Whoops. No maelstorm points for me this turn.
Jams turn both jetbike units arrived as did the warp spiders. Jetbikes went towards objectives and spiders went after the Mawloc. Wave serpent turned to fire at the crone whilst fire dragons moved to join the assault against the Carnifexes. Spiders did 2 wounds on the Mawloc then battle focussed away. One jet bike unit killed a few more termagants and the other boosted onto an objective. Dire avengers disembarked to shoot the crone and with the wave serpent did a couple of wounds but I stay in the sky. Combat did a couple more wound to the Carnifexes leaving them on one each whilst I killed a fire dragon. Jams got 2 maelstorm points this turn for objectives.

Turn 3 Warlord came back in and a unit of rippers arrived from reserve and tried to reach objective 3 which I now had twice but scattered onto the ruins, misshaped and got placed in my far corner in front of the mawloc. Where was my lictor when I needed him? In an attempt to grab the maelstorm objectives I moved my flyrant onto objective 3 in jump mode. I would probably have been better going after the wave serpent here but I wasn’t confident I could kill it and due to board positioning I had to fly off the board or land. As it turned out I would have been better flying off. Zoanthropes case warp blast and killed off two spiders. Warlord shot one unit of jetbikes only killing 1 but forcing them to fall back to within an inch of the board. Termagants fired on the spiders killing 1 and forcing them to run away so far that I couldn’t assault them. Sigh. Other Termagants moved up to assault his other jetbike unit. Flyrant then killed two of this unit helping out his little termagant buddies. Crone missed with both haywire shots into the serpent. Assault by the termagants killed the jetbike giving me a maelstorm point but the Avatar killed off both Carnifexes allowing both him and the dragons to move within objective marker 3 so I didn’t control it.
Jams turn jetbikes fled off the board but spiders rallied. Dragons and wave serpent fired at the Flyrant knocking him down to 1 wound. Avatar then fired and missed but the Flyrant was going to die in assault anyway. His rangers fired at something but I can’t remember what. Fire dragons then charged in and lost 1 to overwatch. Avatar then charged as well and killed the Flyrant securing that objective. Booo.

Turn 4. This would be the last turn. I had 2 objectives and he had 2, We were even on maelstorm but I had first blood and slay the warlord. Both of us could get linebreaker. Lictor and remaining rippers came in and both deep struck onto objectives Warlord moved to shoot either the dragons or the spiders. Zoanthropes and lictor and termagants all moved to target the spiders. Crone landed for linebreaker, lictor was already within linebreaker range, he might be able to kill one but not both. Shooting went well killing off the remaining fire dragons and warp spiders. Crone had a cheeky pop at the avatar with a haywire but true to form missed.
Jams turn dire avengers grabbed one objective and moved to rapid fire range of the termagants on an objective wave serpent boosted over to contest the rippers objectives as both units were ob sec. Avatar stayed on an objective as he had to hold it and then fired at my Warlord but did no damage. Jams killed several termagants but not enough to take them off the objective. With that time was up.

Results
Nids 3 objectives 4 maelstorm and all three secondary objectives, slay the warlord was worth 3 points.
Eldar 2 objectives and 4 maelstorm. No secondaries.
18 to 13 Tyranid win. This gave me the maximum of 30 tournament points of 25 for the win and 5 for the secondary objectives.

Post game thoughts. I had a great start but them made silly mistakes by focussing too much on maelstorm when I should have gone after his dragons and wave serpent more and kept my Flyrant alive. Crone and Mawloc were both pretty useless. Being on maximum points will make the next game a tough one. Jams was a nice guy and a good sporting opponent and it was an enjoyable game.

Game 2.
Big Guns and Tactical Escalation 1 set of objectives for both.
Hammer and Anvil deployment.
Jason and his Eldar.
Spirit Seer (Warlord)
5 Wraithguard in wave serpent
Dire avengers in wave serpent
Dire avengers in wave serpent
Dire avengers in wave serpent
3 jetbikes
Wraithknight with 2 d cannons
3 war walkers with bright lances and some other gun that fired 4 shots

My psychic powers.
Warlord Catalyst, Paroxysm, Dominion
Flyrant Paroxysm, Warp Blast and Dominion
Zoanthropes Warp Blast, Onslaught, Dominion
Warlord traits we both went on tactical table and rolled a 5 meaingin we could re roll any D3 to determine number of maelstorm points.
5 reasons why Nids will win
1. Jason has no flyers so I will have aerial dominance
2. I go second in a objectives game giving me last say on objectives
3. I have more psychic powers
4. My ob sec termagant units are quite big so could be in combat and still hold objectives
5. For some reason I do well against Eldar in tournaments now 4 to 1 winning record (famous last words???)

5 reasons why Eldar will win.
6. Jason is going 1st so can shoot at my FMC’s on the ground
7. 4 wave serpents with their cover save will be really difficult to take down
8. Wraithknight will be really difficult to kill and can one shot any of my FMC’s
9. His heavy support units are harder to kill than mine
10. I’ve played Jason with this list in a tournament before and got beat 
Deployment
Jason won the roll to deploy first and as both sides were similar took the side nearest his models, he then deployed all 4 wave serpents and his wraithknight within about 12 inches of his board edge. I went down the other end and deployed my FMCs in as much cover as possible with the venomthrope and then put the termagants spread out to cover two objectives. Mawloc, lictor and rippers went into reserve to deep strike his war walkers would outflank. Terrain was jungle and low hills with no line of sight blocking terrain for me to hide behind.

Eldar turn 1
Well no because I stole initiative so went first 
Tyranid turn 1.
All 3 FMC’s swept forward to shoot his wave serpent with his warlord in. Carnifexes and everything else moved up with a squad of termagants grabbing a third objective. Psychic phase was a bit dull I only cast warp blast at a wave serpent did not damage but made it jink, both Warlord and Flyrant fired all devourers into his warlord wave serpent and did 2 hp. Crone was out of range. I got my one maelstorm for holding an objective. This game you got as many cards as turn number so 1 card this turn up to 7 cards at the end of the game.
Eldar turn 1.
Jason backed his wave serpents up against his board edge and moved his wraithknight forward. Everything then unloaded into my warlord as everything was snap shooting anyway he may as well move and fire everything. Somehow I survived with 2 wounds left. I made something like 15 saves. Jason then grabbed a maelstorm point for being within his deployment zone.

Tyranid turn 2.
FMC’s continued to go forward but at a slight angle as 2 of his wave serpents were close together so I could hit both with my haywire templates. Lictor came on from reserve as did both rippers who deep struck onto an objective, near his wraithknight though, good thing they are fearless. Lictor went right in his far corner behind a wave serpent so he could shoot it in the rear. I was glad the Mawloc stayed out as the only thing to attack were wave serpents or a wraithknight. Psychic phase was again a bit dull but I got catalyst on my warlord. Shooting haywire templates at the wave serpents went well killing off the warlord’s one for FB then I killed a 2nd with devourer shots. I didn’t damage a third but made it jink. Termagants were happy with their role of hiding out of sight and sitting on objectives. I got two maelstorm points this turn. You will notice that the Lictor didn’t do any damage as I forgot to shoot it. Muppet.
Eldar turn 2. A squad of jetbikes turned up and came on by the lictor and the nearest wave serpent disembarked it’s unit of avengers. Everything else turned to shoot dead my Warlord. Surely he couldn’t survive again could he? No, he couldn’t but it did take almost his entire army shooting at it. Slay the warlord gained. The forgetful Lictor then followed him off the board and his wraithknight moved up to shoot and then assault the ripper swarms which he did killing off two but leaving one base locked in combat on the objective.

Turn 3.
Mawloc arrived and deep struck at the spirit seer and wraithguard who were all tightly clustered. I then misshaped off the board and got misplaced. Jason was about to put him/her? right back in my deployment zone about 55 inches from his army when a passing player suggested putting it in front of his army so he could easily shoot it. Cheers buddy! I cast paroxysm on his wraithknight knocking 2 off his WS and BS. Rippers moved than ran for another objective and also linebreaker should they somehow survive. Crone vector struck a wave serpent doing 1 hp damage then flew off the board. Flyrant flew over to target a wave serpent doing 1 hp and causing it to jink. Mawloc then ran an inch toward an objective; although the dire avengers could easily claim it from him that did mean they had to move out of cover should they want to get it. Wraithknight won combat and then stayed on the objective. I only got 1 maelstorm point this turn.
Eldar turn 3
War walkers outflanked about 6 inches from my mawloc uh oh. Still I preferred them there than in my backfield. He manoeuvred his army to shoot both the Mawloc and Flyrant. Flyrant somehow survived on 1 wound much to Jason’s dismay and then the Mawloc bit the dust, killed about 3 times over by dire avengers, wraithguard and war walkers. His jetbikes shot and then assaulted my rippers killing them all. Jason got one point for killing off a heavy support and then 3 maelstorm points.

Turn 4
Looking at the game, it was 4 all on maelstorm, 3 all on objectives, I had FB and he had slay the warlord, both of us could still get linebreaker but he had killed a heavy support choice too. Crone came back on and then ran forward. Carnifexes and a termagant squad both moved towards the wraithknight with the intention of shooting with the Carnifexes and then assaulting with the termagants. He couldn’t kill all the termagants and I was obj secured Flyrant then moved to shoot the wraithknight too. Flyrant periled in the psychic phase but I rolled a 6 so got buffed up. Shooting put two wounds on the wraithknight which wasn’t bad. Termagants tried to charge but failed the distance. Carnifexes tried to charge too but were out of range. I then picked up 3 maelstorm points for something or other. I also stupidly moved something off an objective so I was only holding 2.
We were now running short of time so we moved quicker. Jason manoeuvred to kill the Flyrant but somehow failed to kill him and also shot the wraithknight at the Carnifexes killing one with a d shot. His dire avengers moved to secure the two objectives in his deployment zone meaning even if my flyrant landed I couldn’t grab either due to ob sec. His jetbike readied itself for a last ditch linebreaker attempt. His wraithknight declined to charge as he was on an objective. Due to time Jason forgot to roll any maelstorm objectives.
Turn 5. We had about 15 minutes left at this point. Jason was ahead 3 to 2 on objective plus 1 HS point whilst I had 7 maelstorm points to 4. Still very tight.
Crone landed to grab an objective as the termagant had moved off it. Termagants and Carnifexes moved towards the Wraighknight as I needed the objective. I should have moved the venomthrope back here to grab another objective here but didn’t that would give me 4 if the termagants make the charge. Flyrant landed to shoot the jetbike. I couldn’t stay in the sky to shoot it and I guessed the Flyrant was lost anyway but by landing I could possibly get linebreaker due to T6 and 3++. Flyrant killed off the jetbike. Phew. Carnifex shot the wraithknight but did nothing. Termagants then charged, lost 1 to overwatch couldn’t hurt it and lost 2 in close combat. No worries I thought I’m fearless in close combat due to synapse which I was by about half an inch but I wouldn’t be next combat phase after consolidation. Whoops. I picked up 2 maelstorm points here and now had 3 objectives.
Jason’s turn he moved the war walkers and the remainder of his shooting to kill the last Carnifex and Flyrant whilst also preparing for the wraithknight to win combat. Flyrant died after eating a lot of shuriken. Carnifex then got riddled with bright lance holes from the war walkers. Nothing else was in range to shoot so his wraithknight went to combat and killed 2. I was leadership 6 and out of synapse but now testing on 4 due to casualties. I rolled and… got a 4. I was still there! He did pick up 3 maelstorm points though.

Out of time game over.


Result.
Tyranids 3 objectives, 9 maelstorm, FB
Eldar, 2 objectives, 7 maelstorm, 2 HS, 3 for slay the warlord.
19 18 to Nids. That was damn close.

Post game thoughts.
I got very lucky throughout there, passing that final leadership test, the Flyrant and Warlord refusing to die, seizing the initiative. Jason also had some atrocious luck with his shooting in the first couple of turns. I did make some silly errors too forgetting to shoot the lictor, moving unis off of maelstorm objectives, leaving the termagants out of synapse range. I also should have been much more aggressive with the Carnifexes and gone after the wraithknight sooner. I could also have fired warp lances at him from the zoanthropes. Really good fun close game with some good banter too. My most enjoyable and fun game of the day.
Oh well I was happy with another win. Due to only picking up 1 secondary objective I got 26 tournament points, Next game was going to be really tough.

Game 3.
First a bit of context I played my first game in the secondary room, when I went into the main room after the game for lunch there was a bit of discussion from some players about a broken Necron list. One player had brought a Transcendent C’tan with upgrades totalling 940 points. He almost tabled his first opponent and then managed a draw in his second game by not being able to cover all the maelstrom objectives. Now this list was legal in the rules and is very powerful so on the one hand why not take it to a tournament? On the other hand this loop hole should have been closed and the TO should have banned the C’tan, the game should be fun for both players. Needless to say I wasn’t pleased to be playing this list. Jason, my second round opponent, and I had jokingly talked about playing for a tactical draw or deliberately losing to avoid this list. Anyway I was going well so if I could get a good result I would still be in the hunt for the title.
Mission Relic and Contact Lost
Deployment Dawn of War
Opponent Transcendent C’tan
My psychic powers.
Warlord Warp Blast, Psychic scream, Dominion
Flyrant Catalyst, Warp Blast and Dominion
Zoanthropes Warp Blast, Psychic scream, Dominion
Warlord traits he got It Will Not Die on his Barge lord. I got stealth in ruins (there was only one)
The list.
Transcendent C’tan, Transliminal slide, 2 x Seismic assault. Basically lots of wounds at a very high toughness with a potential 72 shots at str 8 ap 3. Oh and str D on anything he moves over.
Barge lord with war scythe with It Will Not Die warlord trait
5 Necron warriors
5 Necron warriors in night scythe
That’s all.
5 reasons why Necrons will win
1, The C’tan is almost unkillable,
2. The barge lord is likewise very hard to kill as most of my shooting is str 6 vs av 13 and he can choose to take haywire on his 2+ save.
3. There wasn’t any line of sight blocking terrain on the table so the only units that could hide were the ripper swarms and termagants behind a hill.
4. The C’tan can easily kill two units a turn
5. The barge lord can sweep my flyers in the movement phase giving another chance at grounding
5 reasons why nids will win
1. I have aerial dominance
2. I have psychic dominance
3. I have more units to grab maelstrom points, if I could get enough maelstrom points I could pull off a win as Relic is only worth 3.
4. His Necron warriors and night scythes should be easy kills
5. If I could kill the C’tan the result of the game is irrelevant (to me)

Deployment
I was deploying first and decided to go first otherwise I was certain to give up first blood. I deployed both ripper units on objectives at either side of my deployment zone as they are less worried about synapse than the termagants. I reserved the Lictor and Mawloc and smaller unit of termagants, Venomthrope and all 3 FMC’s went in the ruin. Carnifexes and zoanthropes went in the middle screened by the termagants.
He then deployed his C’tan and Barge lord in the centre of the deployment zone.
Turn 1.
I drew one maelstrom card which I couldn’t achieve and then moved the central termagants up towards the relic and centre objective with the intention of grabbing it myself or forcing him to deal with the termagants. All 3 FMC’s set off and flew towards his barge lord with the idea of hay wiring the chariot and also psychic shrieking both his units. Psychic shriek failed and both Warlord and Flyrant were out of range with their haywire templates, so fired 24 str6 shots at the C’tan and did no wounds. Crone fired two haywire missiles which were saved on the barge lord’s 2+ save. Not a good start.
C’tan turn 1. Barge lord swept over the Flyrant doing a wound and grounding his for a second wound. C’tan moved up 12 inches then first at the Flyrant killing him with 20 str 8 ap 3 shots. He then targeted my warlord with his second shooting attack hit several times and despite jinking I took 1 wound and was grounded. He then assaulted me and killed me in combat. First Blood and Slay the Warlord.
Turn 2.
I picked up 2 maelstrom cards (one for each objective I held) one of which was the objective I already held another one was kill a character in combat, yeah right and the other was something equally unachievable. Lictor arrived from reserve and went on an objective in his deployment zone to grab another maelstrom. Crone flew off the table to await the night scythe. Carnifexes fired on the C’tan and did nothing. Zoanthrope warp blasts did nothing at the barge lord. At least I got a maelstrom point this turn.
C’tan turn 2. Night scythe and warriors come in and move 36 straight ahead and drop the warriors into my deployment zone to grab a maelstrom point. I would have dropped them off to kill the Lictor and sent the barge lord into my deployment zone. Barge lord advanced to grab the centre objective and was near the relic. C’tan moved up and fired at the Carnifexes killing off both despite a 5+ cover save and then he killed 18 Termagants, putting his out of assault range Snap shooting from the warriors killed off a ripper base. 1 maelstrom to him.
Turn 3.
I drew 3 cards again with some good results I could draw ahead in maelstrom, one of my objectives was to kill a unit in shooting, and the warriors were the prime target. Termagants came in and the Crone came back too. Zoanthropes moved over to shoot the warriors as did the termagants. Everything else stayed on maelstrom objectives. Warp blast killed 2 warriors and then shooting from everybody else killed them off. Crone took a hull point off the night scythe with a vector strike and also took off its tesla gun, some luck at last. True to form his haywire then missed. I got 2 maelstrom points this turn.
C’tan Turn his other final 5 warriors walked on and straight to an objective, again I would have gone for the Lictor here which was also on an objective close to his board edge. Night scythe flew off. C’tan blew apart some rippers and then did 2 wounds to the crone but it stayed in the sky. Barge lord charged the Zoanthrope and killed 1 but my 3++ kept the other in the fight. 1 maelstrom to him.
Turn 4. Mawloc came on right on target on the warriors killing 4 although 1 resurrected and they passed morale. D’oh. Crone flew forwards as it had jinked it couldn’t do much and landing would have just killed it. I couldn’t reach the board edge to fly off which was a mistake but I expected it to die when he shot it last turn anyway. Everything else huddled on objectives and tried to hide. My only shooting target in range was the C’tan which I couldn’t hurt. I did grab two maelstrom points again though.
C’tan 4. C’tan decided to end my hopes and blew apart the Lictor and the Mawloc meaning it was down to the crone for linebreaker. Warriors fired on the Mawloc and maybe did a wound not that it mattered. Barge lord kept trying to kill the Zoanthrope but I kept making invulnerable saves. He grabbed a maelstrom point for the warriors surviving on the objective he had.
Turn 5. And unfortunately still plenty of time for me to get tabled. (positive mental attitude goes a long way). Crone went into jump mode to flame the warriors and grab both linebreaker and that objective if it survived. As it hadn’t been shot at it could flame them. I got lucky with maelstrom cards getting them for objectives I already held. Crone needed two 2+’s to kill the warriors and secure the objective. I promptly rolled a 1 and a 4 only killing 1, the dead one then resurrected. The only good news was that the barge lord was still locked in combat outside of linebreaker so if he wanted linebreaker he would have to do it with the C’tan. Again I got 2 maelstrom points putting me 5 2 up although I was behind due to FB and slay the warlord. I had given up on the relic at this point, I could maybe grab it but there was no way I could keep it.
C’tan turn 5. Night scythe came back on and moved well out of target range of the crone although the night scythe was worthless as it couldn’t shoot or score or transport anyone around. C’tan moved into my deployment zone to secure linebreaker unsurprisingly targeted the Crone and killed it off denying me linebreaker. He then killed my other ripper swarm meaning I only controlled one objective. Barge lord wounded several times in combat but the Zoanthrope was good with all his saves. Again he grabbed a maelstrom card for something or other.
Roll to see if the game continues….1 Game over.
Result
Tyranids 5 maelstrom points
C’tan 4 maelstrom points, FB, Linebreaker and slay the warlord.
9- 5 to C’tan.
He got the full 30 tournament points I got 5.
Post game thoughts. If we had continued another turn I think I would have bene tabled as I only had a Venomthrope, 15 termagants and the Zoanthrope left alive. He could also easily grab the relic if he wanted to. After game turn 1 I seriously considered conceding as I didn’t see any way that I could win. I didn’t because I had never conceded a tournament game in my life and I wasn’t going to start now. I could moan about poor maelstrom cards, lack of LoS blocking terrain and the brokenness of the C’tan but what lost me this game was my poor tactics. I played the game as I would against a normal list and got beat.
On reflection I should have keep my Warlord off the table for as long as possible. I should also have started the Flyrant and Crone away from the ruins and then flown them in first turn with the Venomthrope meaning he would have hit on 6’s and I would have a 2+ cover save even without jinking. I should have spread my expendable units out to grab the objective and then attacked his warriors with everything I had and concentrated on maelstrom. I should also have thrown a unit at the relic so that if I could grab it in my turn he couldn’t grab it in his next turn which might have put more pressure on him and giving him more difficult choices of target priority. Again I would still ignore the C’tan and concentrate on his other units.
Anyway I won on Maelstrom so a moral victory. At least I wasn’t playing the C’tan in the kill points mission.

Game 4.
Necrons
Kill Points and Deadlock
Deployment Vanguard strike
My opponent Martin used to be a regular opponent before I moved house and moved gaming club. A seriously nice guy really laid back and easy going but with a tough list. Totally the right guy to play at the end of a large day’s gaming.

My psychic powers.
Warlord Onslaught, Paroxysm, Dominion
Flyrant Paroxysm, Warp Blast and Dominion
Zoanthropes Warp Blast, Onslaught, Dominion
Warlord traits I went on Strategic trait and got Princeps of Deceit. Can’t remember what Martin got.
5 reasons why Nids will win
6. Martin only has one flyer so I will have aerial dominance
7. I’m going first in kill points
8. I have more psychic powers
9. My ob sec termagant units are quite big so could be in combat and still hold objectives
10. Whilst my army has more kill points the loss of some won’t do much to dent my army’s offensive output, whilst Martin’s is more small and elite so the more kill points I get the weaker his army will get.
5 reasons why Necrons will win.
11. One of Martin’s regular opponents is an army almost identical to mine so he has more practice against my list than I do with it.
12. All his army can reanimate usually on a 4+ making kill points harder to come by
13. 3 of the objectives are in or close to his deployment zone meaning he could have an easier time with Maelstrom.
14. He has 2 units of deathmarks with rapid firing sniper weapons
15. Martin’s army can teleport around making it very mobile probably more mobile than me.
Martin’s list
Imhotek the stormlord
Royal court with lots of nasty shooting
2 units of deathmarks
Immortals
2 warrior units
Annihilation barge
Night scythe

Deployment.
I deployed first with most models at least partially in some woods and the FMC’s poised to fly forwards turn 1. Venomthrope sat on an objective marker and termagants were on the flanks ready to secure other objectives. Mawloc Lictor and rippers in reserve Carnifexes and zoanthropes in the centre.
Martin then deployed behind the small buildings in his deployment zone and covering 2 objectives. Imhotek at the back and deathmarks at the front.

Turn 1. All 3 FMC’s took flight and flew directly forwards with the objective of wiping out the deathmarks. Carnifexes stumbled through the trees whilst a termagant unit went right to grab an objective marker. Maelstrom cards were a bit rubbish with me mostly holding the ones in Martin’s deployment zone. Psychic phase was poor with nothing useful being cast. Shooting form the Core, Flyrant and Warlord downed 7 of the ten deathmarks. They then passed morale check and 6 of the 7 reanimated. 1 maelstrom point gained and 1 Necron killed.
Martin’s turn started with Imhotek activating his lightning, I wasn’t too worried only D6 str6 hits. It went off on the Carnifexes and did a wound. It then hit my Flyrant, 6 wounds I then failed 4 out of 6 armour saves and died for first blood. He then hit my warlord and caused a wound and knocked me to the ground for another wound. Shooting from the deathmarks then finished him off. Curses. Martin racked up 2 maelstrom points as well as 2 kill points and first blood and slay the warlord.
Turn 2. Mawloc arrived targeted the warrior squad on an objective but scatter off to the other side of a building but still within los. One unit of termagants was now out of synapse with the death of the Flyrant, failed instinctive behaviour and fled off the board. (I should have moved the zoanthropes further up to keep them in synapse. Crone vector struck off the barge as it left the board but did no damage. The Carnifexes were in range to shoot the deathmarks and killed six but then 5 reanimated. I gained two maelstrom points but didn’t cause any casualties.
Due to his deathmarks special rule they auto came on from reserve because my Mawloc arrived last turn. They turned up read to shoot the Carnifexes. The rest of his army moved round a bit to shoot the Mawloc. Mawloc survived with 3 wounds. Carnifexes both died to a lot of sniper rending wounds. Martin got 1 maelstrom point this turn.
Turn 3.
Ok with both hive tyrants and the Carnifexes dead and the Mawloc missing there wasn’t much I could do to cause casualties. Mawloc burrowed. Termagants charged the deathmarks whilst the Lictor and rippers arrived from reserve and spread onto objectives. Shooting from the termagants killed 1 deathmarks and he Crone glanced the night scythe and made it jink. Combat went well with 4 deathmarks dying in return for 4 termagants but then all but 1 deathmarks reanimated. 0 maelstrom and still no kill points for me.
Imhotek then made his presence felt again but stripping wounds from the Zoanthropes and venomthropes. Night scythe and annihilation barge finished off a ripper swarm for an easy KP. Combat ended with a few more termagants being struck down in return for no wounds. They were in synapse so still fearless but were now down to half strength. Martin gained another maelstrom point here.
Turn 4.
Lictor grabbed a maelstrom objective for a point. Crone fired two haywire missiles at the night scythe and missed with both. Mawloc targeted his warrior squad on objective and hit all five. Could this be a game changer or at least a KP? Not a chance, 4 died but 3 reanimated and then passed morale. Leaving a very vulnerable Mawloc in the midst of his army. I had decided it was going to die anyway so may as well try and kill something before he went anyway. Termagant stayed in combat due to some miracle of his dice
Martin’s turn predictably the Mawloc died and the termagants died in combat. His big deathmarks unit attempted to teleport across the table but deep strike misshaped and went back into reserve. 2 KP’s to Martin.
Turn 5. A this point Martin was 5 4 up on Maelstrom 6 nil up on kill points and had first blood and slay the warlord whilst my rippers were holding on for linebreaker. I’d lost but I could avoid a tabling as the zoanthropes, crone, Venomthrope, Lictor and rippers were still on the table. I was also determined to get linebreaker.
Crone moved over toe flamer some warriors and actually killed 2. Zoanthropes and Venomthrope moved up as targets to distract him from the rippers. Lictor stayed in cover. No maelstrom cards and no KP’s either.
Martin’s turn venomthropes to Imhotek and the deathmarks landed bang on for linebreaker and within rapid fire range of the zoanthropes who died. He achieved two maelstrom points here too.
We rolled to see if the game continued and it did.
However, Martin showing the sporting guy that he is offered to call it there. He had clearly won and got the maximum tourney points and neither of us could do anything to stop linebreaker. Therefore he could get 1-2 more kill points but the result wasn’t going to change. After a quick poll of the remaining nids I accepted his offer.
End result
7 to 4 maelstrom Necrons
8 to 0 kill points to Necrons, I only managed to kill 6 Necron models. (He achieved more kill points than I killed enemy models).
I got linebreaker but Martin to all 3 secondary’s for a tournament point result of 30 to 6.

Post game thoughts.
Ouch, when your luck is out it’s really out. Losing both the Flyrant and Warlord turn 1 really hurt, as did his reanimation rolls, generally failing one out of every set he rolled. Added to that was the Crone’s inability to hit anything and some unfriendly maelstrom cards meant I was soundly thrashed. The tournament organiser wandered over several times just to laugh at my lack of luck and then acted as a witness when I explained my total failure was due to atrocious luck as well as tactical incompetence not just bad play. Still at least I wasn’t tabled. Not sure what I could learn when the dice were totally against me. I still think aiming for his deathmarks first was the right approach. Martin was still a great guy to play against.

Post event analysis

With 2 wins and 2 defeats I came 10th out of 18.
Event was run by Imperial fists with Gravstar, 2nd was the C’tan and third was a Tau army that also won best painted.
On the one hand winning two games with a list I had 1 practice game with and 2 games I total in the six months before the event wasn’t bad. Particularly as some of the units I was using were quite unfamiliar to me. I really enjoyed my first two games against two great guys and Martin in my final game is a really nice guy and great opponent. There were some really well painted armies there and the missions were challenging tactically. I played two games on table 3 and came up against some really tough opponents and armies.
On the other hand playing again the C’tan wasn’t fun and my tactics were all over the place in that game and then my luck deserted me in my final game. The top tables could have done with more line of sight blocking terrain as there was almost nothing for my nids to hide behind.
On the whole I’m eagerly looking out for their next event.

Army list review
Warlord great in every game, except for the last 2 games which was bad tactics and bad luck rather than a bad unit.
Flyrant ditto
Venomthrope as I went first in every game and most people targeted my FMC’s he didn’t have much to do but would have earnt his biomass had I been going second.
Zoanthrope useful for backfield synapse but didn’t offer much offensively
Lictor did a good job of grabbing maelstrom points and linebreaker, good return on 50 points
Termagants good job of grabbing objectives and they did well picking off small units and tieing up the wraithknight
Rippers swarms great for grabbing objectives and ignoring synapse, will use them again
Crone umm mixed I can’t remember his haywire doing damage at all and he was better vector striking, might be dropped for the next event
Carnifexes great in the first game but usually too far back to be useful, think it was my tactics rather the unit that didn’t go well,
Mawloc think he killed about five necron warriors all day I want a bit more for 140 points, the amount of vehicles on the tables meant he had a lack of viable targets,