The Tendril Descends… Tyranids vs. Blood Angels
This past holiday weekend I drove down to Fort Lauderdale to hook up with one of my good gaming buddies from 40k Wrecking Crew, Brian Poole. Brian came in 2nd place overall at BeakyCon this year and is no slouch.
Billikenz my pet baby Pitbull was sad to see me go and gave me her infamous sad face look as I stepped out the door to leave my apartment…
Army Lists
Prime – dual bone swords, scything talons, adrenal glands, regeneration
Trygon Prime – adrenal glands
Trygon Prime – adrenal glands10x Yrmgal
Doom – spore
2x Zoanthrope – spore10x Hormaguant – adrenal glands (Prime’s retinue)
16x Genestealer + Doomlord – sycthing talons & toxin sacs
18x Termagant – Devourer – spore
3x Warrior – dual bone swords, 2x deathspitter, barbed strangler, adrenal glands – spore
Librarian – Shield of Sanguinius & Unleash Rage
10x Death Company + Lemartes – 4x power sword & 2x power fist
Death Company dread – pair of Blood Talons
10x Assault Marine (jump packs) – 2x meltagun & power fist
5x assault Marine – flamer – Razorback w. heavy flamer
5x assault Marine – flamer – Razorback w. heavy flamer7x assault terminator – 3x lightning claws & 4x TH/SS
Sanguinary PriestLandraider Crusader – multi-melta
Stormraven – TL multi-melta & TL lascannon & extra armor
Mission
We used the BeakyCon mission – killpoints, Capture and Control plus Seize Ground are all equally weighted – whoever takes the most objectives wins. If there is a draw on objectives then it goes to pure victory points to decide the winner.
Deployment
Deployment was Pitched Battle and there were four objective markers for Seize Ground. There are six turns with a seventh on a roll of 4+ on 1d6. I lost the roll for deployment and had to go first holding my entire army in reserve. :/
Pre Game Analysis
It really sucked to have to go first since I play a fully reserved army. I was very excited about this game though and the opportunity to test my list versus a veteran tourney player so I just told myself to deal with it. I knew I had to focus on two strategies:
– Kill the three scoring units
– Use disruption to keep the opponent off balance and take control the game
Over the course of the game it was amazing how much the Terminators and Death Company could quickly destroy but slowly turn by turn I was able to inflict damage in return and keep my sights focused on the win.
Deployment
Brian started with his whole army in reserves which was obviously very bad for me since I play a fully reserved army. The Stormraven was loaded with the Death Company and Death Company dreadnaught. The Librarian and Priest were attached to the Terminators in the Landraider Crusader.
Turn 1 – Tyranids
Crickets chirping …
Turn 1 – Blood Angels
Crickets continue chirping …
Turn 2 – Tyranids
I called upon the power of the ancient Hive Mind to work a little magic upon my tendril… I then rolled for my reserves and the only units to arrive was the Doomlord with his huge brood of Genestealers… they luckily decided to outflank on the side of the table where most of the objective markers had been using a huge grove of bushes for cover. The table had just been turned ! HA !!!
Turn 2 – Blood Angels
Brian rolls for his reserves and in comes all three of his troops. Brian uses the two Razorbacks to shield his jumpers.
Turn 3 – Tyranids
I roll for reserves and in comes one Trygon Prime, the Ymgarl Genestealers, Doom and my Termagants. The Trygon burrows up for some juicy shots on a Razorback while the Ymgarl Genestealers pop out of a central piece of terrain moving up close to eat anything that spills out. The Doom and Termagants land in their spores to target the jumpers. The Doom unleashes spirit leech and consumes seven Assault Marines boosting his strength up to a mighty S10. The Termagants then finish off the rest of the jumpers. The Trygon then immobilizes the Razorback and knocks off its heavy flamer with a hail of deadly bio shots. The Ymgarl Genestealers run to surround the Razorback then close hatch the Marines inside when they wreck the transport in melee. Two enemy scoring units down now… one to go.
Turn 3 – Blood Angels
The Landraider Crusader and Stormraven both arrive from reserve. The Landraider Crusader moved up to tap the Termagants along with the remaining Razorback while the Stormraven rolled up so that the Death Company could charge any remaining termagants and the Death Company dread could charge the Doom. The Razorback moved in a blocking position to cut off the Ymgarl Genestealers. Note that the Death Company was very careful to avoid the 6″ Spirit Leech range of the Doom while disembarking from the Stormraven. The Stormraven attempted to take out the Doom with the multi-melta but the beast passed its invulnerable save. As expected they died quickly but the dreadnaught was in for a big surprise as the Doom was juiced all the way up to S10 and proceeded to crush the metal behemoth with a punishing haymaker of destruction… BOOM !!!!!!!!! The Doom then consolidated back into a wooded area. The Death Company also consolidated away from the Ymgarl Genestealers tucking into a covered area.
Turn 4 – Tyranids
I rolled for reserves and again the Hive Mind continued to unleash more bio death onto the planet surface… The second Trygon burrowed up close to the Blood Angels line to wreck havoc and disrupt their battle plans. The Warriors also dropped from the sky in their spore and landed safely in position to support the second Trygon. The Zoanthropes are the last to arrive landing close to the center of the table. Finally the huge Genestealer brood begins its trek to the promised land and burst forth from the bush.
The Hive Mind sends in the first Trygon to take down the Landraider Crusader while the Ymgarl Genestealers flank around to assault the Death Company. A couple of Death Company Marines are eaten by the Doom’s spirit leech then the beast drops his S10 pie plate on the Landraider Crusader… I roll a 1 for the armor penetration. The second Trygon fires at the remaining Razorback and blows off its heavy flamer. The Zoanthropes fail to inflict any damage on the Landraider Crusader. The Trygon can only manage to rip off the Landraider Crusader’s multi-melta in melee and the Ymgarls trip over difficult terrain in their attempt to get at the Death Company and then are trampled under power armored boots.
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| ooo, look at the colors! |
Turn 4 – Blood Angels
The Tyranids are now exposed on one flank and the Blood Angels are ready to exact revenge for their fallen brothers. The Landraider Crusader pulls back to unleash the Assault Terminators while the Death Company make a run towards the middle of the board but will fall short of assaulting. The Razorback wisely starts to fall back towards the objective markers. Both the Landraider Crusader and Stormraven then line up to drop the Doom and blast the wicked alien creature off the table. A PotMS shot from the Stormraven also makes short work of one of the spores. The Terminators launch an assault into the first Trygon (whom eats two terms) and then pummel it to death with their mighty hammers.
Turn 5 – Tyranids
The Tyranid Prime finally shows and his posse head straight ahead towards the other side. The Genestealers continue to push across the midfield. The Zoies then drop some S5/AP3 blasts on the Death Company and charbroil a couple to burnt crisps. Heh ! The remaining Trygon then charges the Death Company while the Warriors charge the Assault Terminators. When all the blood and gore has come and gone only Lemartes is left from the Death Company and scores a couple of wounds on the Trygon in return… the Warriors died a valiant death dragging down a couple more Assault Terminators.
Turn 5 – Blood Angels
The Razorback, Landraider Crusader and Stormraven all fall back on the objective markers while the Assault Terminators make ready to charge the Trygon and rescue Lemartes from its evil clutch. The Trygon rips apart more Terminators then falls to their hammers. The Terminators consolidate towards the objective markers while Lemartes stands his ground.
Turn 6 – Tyranids
The Blood Angels have run rampant but at a steep price. With only one to two turns left their assault has been blunted. The Genestealers move onto the objective markers slithering all around the razorback while the Tyranid Prime leads the Hormogaunts across the open ground in defiance of fading Imperial might. The two Zoies then fire a couple shots into Lemartes then assault the death god – he will be tied up for the rest of the game harmlessly flailing at the pair of psychic bio constructs. The Genestealers then crash into the Razorback and rip it to shreds. The assault Marines fall out on the rear side and luckily pass their tests.
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| motivating the troops |
Turn 6 – Blood Angels
At this point I could not catch up on killpoints so it would come down to the objective markers. I had left my Capture & Control marker behind but it was possible I could hold Brian’s. Brian would have to try to contest both Seize Ground and Capture & Control with his remaining forces. Brian wisely mounted his last assault squad into the Landraider Crusader with the Priest and Librarian then positioned the tank and Stormraven to contest. Shooting was inconsequential.
We roll to see if it will go to a final turn 7 and up pops a 6 !!! If the game had ended Brian would have won on killpoints.
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| turn 7 here we come! |
Turn 7 – Tyranids
Finally the Tyranid Prime arrives along with his posse of Hormogaunts… I can put my rending attacks into either the Land Raider or Stormraven… at first I was going to go for the tank but then Brian was really cool and said it was a much wiser bet to focus on the Stormraven (for sure… duh! THANKS BRIAN !!!) The big bird was then ripped from the sky.
Turn 7 – Blood Angels
The objective markers for Seize Ground are spread too far apart for Brian to contest them all so in the end I win on victory points since we were tied on the primary objectives (i.e., kill points versus Seize Ground).
Post Game Analysis
It was a really crazy game indeed and came right down to the wire. The balance of power swung back and forth throughout the game which kept it very exciting. The first major turning point in the game was the second turn when only my brood of Genestealers arrived from reserve and luckily outflanked on the side of the table with the majority of the objective markers. The second major turning point was when both the first Trygon and Ymgarl genestealers failed to score any major damage in melee. I was worried about the Tyranid Prime showing up late but due to a couple of good rolls for their runs they were able to reach the objective markers by the final turn and the Alpha Warrior came through like a champ tearing the Stormraven down to help secure the win. I have switched over from two Genestealer broods, combining them both into one super unit. The big brood can obviously sustain more damage and dish out more punishment – like I said I got lucky that the brood outflanked onto the side of the table with the most objectives – otherwise the game would played out differently.
I think this game showcases some strengths of playing a fully reserved Tyranid army. It’s nice to be able to place your units where you need them the most. I’m thinking about switching out one of the Trygons in exchange for a winged Hive Tyrant. It will be interesting to see how a second HQ with the Hive Commander option can enhance the army.
Great game !!
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| I’ll get you dastardly meddling bugs next time!!! |
