BatRep Tournament 1.500 pts.

This saturday I visited a 1.500 points 40k tournament with my Hive Fleet Aurantium, fielding my favourite infiltration/outflank/deep strike armylist consisting of the following:

Flyrant (230) Hive Commander (25) Toxic Sacs (10)
2 Zoantrophes (120) Spore (40)
10 Termagants (50) Spore (40)
1 Tervigon (160) Regeneration (30) Adrenal Glands (10) Toxic Sacs (10) Cluster Spines(0)
10 Genestealers (140) Toxic Sacs (30)
10 Genestealers (140) Toxic Sacs (30)
10 Genestealers (140) Toxic Sacs (30)
1 Trygon (200) Prime (40)Regeneration (25)

1st game was about KP vs Black Templars.

I deployed the Flyrant and Tervimom because we started with 1HQ and up to 2 troops units just in order to make a influence in his movement phase because I knew he would stay away of my Flyrant and run into open space where I could deep strike and outflank easier. I expected most action in that area of the tabletop.

And I was right. Within 1 additional turn that area was bursting with activities. While my genestealers ripped the Assault Termies out of the way, the Tervimom sliddered pathetically on her temporary Good-Bye-Lenin-DVD-base and managed to lose wound after wound while my Termagaunts were forced to rush into the combat and save the day. In the upper left corner of the pic you can see the feet of the big Templar unit which wanted to support this chosen area but I rushed in with my Flyrant, knowing he would die, but he would take the Champ of the Emperor with him so it was a KP exchange. Further it was a goal to get those Templars busy until my 3rd Genestealer unit arrived to finish the job.

This is about the 5th turn in a 6 turns game. The jerking Tervimom found its end but also did most of the threatening units in my dear opponent´s army. In the 6th turn I lost a Spore but rushed in with my Trygon and destroyed his Drop Pod in return so I won 8:6 KP.

First game won, 2 more to go, and the next one was a Tau player and 2 MO to conquer.

Early in the game I concentrated on holding my MO (Mageknight guy bottom left) and contesting the second (right upper corner behind the tree). I also deep striked in the middle of the table in order to distract a little bit.

After a disapointing Tau shooting phase the way was free for my party animals. I also managed to destroy a transporter with my Spore, so the fire warriors were forced to continue on foot. My Tervimom bred 2 Terma units (14 and 12) and conquested also the second MO (half Mageknight guy right). With murderous beasts at their heels and in brutal close combat actions, the Tau were beaten in turn 5.

2 games, 2 wins and now against a Ork guy with 2 massacre wins ... gulp! We were playing 4 MOs, so I placed 1 in my corner (hold) and 1 near one of his near the table edge (contest). He placed his second MO somewhere in the middle where it would see no action, as I thought.

Blessed with 3 of my 4 synapse cratures I attacked a weak wing of his "deployment" (end of movement turn 2) and destroyed a Pikk-Up with 12 Boys within. He could just respond with a Boss-Biker mob and 12 other Boyz from a near Pikk-Up. And this is where hell began to burn my lady Fortuna. The Orkz shot and killed a lot, because I failed most of my save rolls.

This is how it looked like after the Ork close combat phase. Fething hell!!! I just had one chance left. Outflank on the left table edge (which I managed) and hold 1 MO. The second thing was not so easy. I outflanked my Tervimom in the middle of the Orks and hoped to breed a lot and survive in order to contest. But the Orks were just to many and to tough. I got all my guys erased and there were 2 MOs on that side. But I managed to distract his troop units by charging at angles which pulled them away from the MOs. I was just partially successfull, because I couldn´t prevent him from also holding 1 MO, but at least from holding 2 instead. So at the end of the game I had just 1 unit genestealers left while he was hovering around with his troops just where I distracted them.

So the last game ended in a draw (with terrible losses for me, but never the less) and I was placed 2nd in a 10 players tournament.

Things I´ve learned:
- Again, always keep the victory conditions in mind. Count KPs and keep an eye on subsequent turns and how you could hold/contest MOs.
- Don´t waste your units. But if it seems advantageous, sacrifice them in order to win the game (e.g. sacrifising a Hive Tyrant for a Emperors Champ sounds silly, but it kept the bigb Templar out of action until my own reinforcements arrived).
- Even if everything seems lost, think about the options. I´ve got my butt kicked by greet feet. I was about to head into nothing. So what do I have to lose? Nothing! I made a risky plan which I followed until I turned a desastrous defeat in a draw.

BatRep Tyranids VS Necrons 1.850 pts

Yesterday I playtested my Tyranid armylist with wich I intend to bring in the battlefields of the austrian championship this year in Vienna. My list was the following one:

HQ:
1x 1 Winged Hive Tyrant with Old Adversary and Hive Commander
1x 1 Tyranid Prime with a pair of Boneswords and Toxin Glands
EL:
2x 2 Zoantrophes in Mycetic Spore
TR:
3x 10 Genestealers with Toxin Glands
1x 10 Termagants in Mycethic Spore
1x Tervigon with Regeneration, Toxin & Adrenal Sacs
FA:
1x 10 Gargoyles
HS:
1x 1 Trygon Prime with Regeneration

Friend Lipse fielded the following miniatures:

HQ:
1x 1 Nightbringer
EL:
1x 7 Immortals
TR:
3x 11 Warriors
FA:
2x 6 Destroyers
HS:
1x 1 Monolith

It was all about 3 mission objectives with a spearhead deployment. He got the first turn, deployed everything but a single warrior unit which should come through the Mono. The first turn was dominated by Necron maneuvring as I kept all my units in reserve in order to outflank/deep strike. In the second turn Lipse maneuvred a little bit more and then aprox. 1/3 of my army came in. 2 Zoas reduced the Mono´s firepower by 1, the Gargoyles covered the Immortals with their spit, doing nothing else, but ruining their paint. The Hive Tyrant deep striked near the Destroyers at a border edge the only unit Genestealers came in in order to use Old Adversary, but was to far away, even through running. So the Genestealers assaultet the Destroyers without support and managed to kill two (one rending). The Trygon Prime deep striked in front of a building full with 22 Necron warriors in order to charge next turn.

In the third the C´tan laid a hand in the cc, but only managed to kill two Genestealers which killed one Destroyer and passed the Ld test. In the meanwhile the Mono thinned my lines by failing the most hit or wound rolls with his 12" "round it goes" weapon and costed a Mycethic Spores 2Ws. The Immortals shot at the Trygon Prime and tore a W out. Then 22 warriors and the Destroyers opened fire and made just 6 wounds. With a grin I rolled my 3+ saves and regarded my opponent with 4 "2s" 1 "6" and a "1". So much about my mighty monstrous creature. In my turn everything came on 2+ from reserves. Thus 2 units Genestealer and the Zoas with the Tyranid Prime chose to stay abord my mothership for a while. With a sigh I continued my turn and killed with my Genestealers in that everlasting cc 2 other Destroyers but lost 4 Genestealers. I passed my Ld test and the cc lasted on. The Zoas and Gargoyles shot at the Immortals and managed to kill all but two, which turned the metal tail and fled. The Tervimom entered the board from the wrong edge and made her/him/it- self to the MO in the middle of the field. The Hive Tyrant charged the warriors in the building which dared to massacre my Trygon and killed 4 of them, but suffered a W in return. The warriors made their Ld test with 7 on a 7 ... damned, I wanted to overrun them.

The 4th turn was interesting as 2 Immortals stood up and killed one Zoa. The Mono reduced the other Zoa to 1W and killed 5 Gargoyles and the Mycethic Spore. The Destroyers on the Tervimoms side opened fire, but could do nothing but tingle on her carapace. The Necron warrors decided that this was the time and visited us from the reserves, sniping 2 Gargoyles (the rest was to far away). In a demonstration of incompetence in the cc Deathbringer/Destroyer VS Genestealer hugged each other and did no damage. The Tyrant killed another 4 warriors but they held their ground with a 3. The surviving Gargoyles and Zoa roasted 3 Immortals. My fresh arrived Zoas with the Tyranid Prime shot at the warriors which emerged from the Mono and killed 6 metal warriors. The rest fled. On the other side of the carnage my Tervimom bred 14 Termagaunts (6,6,2) and sterilised herself for further breeding. In the following shooting by 2 Mycethic Spores, 15 Termagaunts (some of the new brood were in range) 4 Destructors hit the ground. Crazy! The cc with the Genestealers ended as all faded by the hand of the Deathbringer without being able to do any damage by themselves.

The 5th turn began with a desaster for the Necrons as neither the 4 dead Dessis returned, nor 3 of the Immortals which have even been ported through the Mono. The Hive Tyrant emerged vicourious from the combat with the warriors and repositioned himself on the roof of the building. My 1W Zoa died a horrible death through the Mono, and even the Gargoyles were reduced to 1 model. The 2 surviving Dessis and the one survivor from the Genestealer cc shot at the other Zoas but did no damage (3+ just rocks, but don´t let the Trygon Prime hear that). Lipse positioned his last warriors in the first floor of the building so I wouldn´t be able to charge them in the subsequent turn. After some shooting my Tyrant was reduced to 2W. Having just little units left, his turn ended very quickly. So it was my turn and as a suprise I made both bad behavior tests for the Gargoyle and the 10 Termas units which were out of synapse range. So I rushed and run toward 2 mission objectives with the Termas I just mentioned, the new born Termay, 2 units Genestealers and the Tervimom ... 5 scoring units on 2 mission objectives - that should be enough! My Tyrant descended from the roof, regained a W by leeching the fleeing warrior unit and braced himlesf for impact, contesting the MO in the building. The Tyranid Prime seperated from the Zoa unit and disembowled the 2 remaining Dessis. The Zoas shot concentrated psychic lances at the surviving one Immortal but failed to do any harm. Being of no use, I let the Gargoyle charge the last surviving Destruktor and made 6 to hit, which has been the end for the poor Dessi. I just love sucidal runs, when they work and that´s rare enough. We rolled for another turn, which came. But as the shop was closing and it was rather clear that I would contest his MO and keep my both, we agreed on letting the game end, so I won with 2-0.

Things I´ve learned this time:

1. Setting priorities works.
1a I´ve tried to kill his contesting fast units (Dessis)
1b I´ve kept my plan to get the Deathbringer involved in a cc and hope he would be kept out of business for a while (it worked better than I thought)
2. Always take a look at your opponents strenghts (here I´ll be back, Dessis)
3. Always take a look at your opponents weaknesses (here phase-out which didn´t work and expensive units like Deathbringer and Mono)
4. Keep ´em busy! In the meanwhile you can eye on what really matters - mission objectives.