Hey everyone, got to play in a tournament over the weekend, which for me is a big event as it is rare I ever get to attend a tournament. So here is the list I decided to roll with.
I didn't have time to snap pictures of each match, but the tournament organizer took some photos for us of the armies, which I will post.
CAD DetachmentHive Tyrant - Wings, x2 TL BL Devs, E-Grubs
Hive Tyrant - Wings, x2 TL BL Devs, E-Grubs
x3 Hive guard
Venomthrope
Malanthrope
Mucolid
Mucolid
x15 Gargoyles
CAD DetachmentHive Tyrant - Wings, x2 TL BL Devs, E-Grubs
Tervigon
Mucolid
Mucolid
Living Artillery Nodex3 Warriors - Barbed Strangler
x3 Biovores
Exocrine
Round #1
The first match up for me was against our very own
nurglitch from on here. It was a pleasure meeting him, and he was a great opponent, and very fair sportsman as well. Would definitely like to play with him again one day!
He played his Night Lords force. I apologize if I missed something in the list as I am not 100% familiar with Chaos of any kind lol.
1750 Pts Night Lords
Chaos Sorcerer with Mastery Level 2, Spell Familiar, and Aura of Dark Glory
Biomancy: Iron Arm and Life Leech.
Warlord trait: Co-ordinated Assault (#6 Command Traits)
Helbrute - Plasma Cannon, Heavy Flamer
Helbrute - Plasma Cannon, Heavy Flamer
Chaos Space Marine Squad (10) - x2 Plasmaguns, Aspiring Champion with Power Axe and Plasma Pistol
Helbawks(Rhino)
Chaos Space Marine Squad (10) - x2 Plasmaguns, Aspiring Champion with Power Axe and Plasma Pistol
Helbawks (Rhino)
Raptor Squad (8) - x2 Meltaguns, Raptor Champion with Power Axe, Melta Bombs
Raptor Squad (8) - x2 Meltaguns, Raptor Champion with Power Sword, Melta Bombs
Havoc Squad (6) - x4 Lascannons, Aspiring Champion
Helbawks (Rhino)
Havoc Squad (6) x4 Autocannons, Aspiring Champion
Helbawks (Rhino)
Havoc Squad (6) - x4 Autocannons, Aspiring Champion
Helbawks (Rhino)
The Scouring
Vanguard Strike
No Nightfighting
My plan for this game was to get the tyrants in the air ASAP, and just eliminate his Raptor units as quick as possible, and then move to the Havocs. I wanted to get the Hive Guard into the central ruins structure to hold down the middle of the table. The rest of the force was just to advance and hold objectives. I planned to keep two Mucolids in reserve to drop in and steal objectives.
Deployment
The table featured tons of forests, and a ruins section in the back corner of the table, and in the middle section. This is the table featured in the army photos above. I won the roll off to deploy first, so I set up in my zone with the Flyrants covered in shrouding, and the LAN stuck near the middle of my zone. The Malanthrope stuck with the Hive Guard, and the Venomthrope stuck near the Tervigon and LAN. I kept two mucolids in reserve to try and deep strike onto objectives, or just land and distract.
Nurglitch started with his Rhinos all lined up in the back, with all 3 Havoc units on the far left of his zone to try and fire at the Tyrants. The Raptors started in front of the Rhinos ready to zip forward. The Sorc stuck with the Lascannon Havocs. He rolled to seized but was unsuccessful.
I ended up with the 4 Pt, and x2 3 Pt objectives right in my zone which was super lucky. He had only a 2 Pt objective and a 1 Pt objective in his zone.
Turn 1
Turn one saw my Flyrants killing a Rhino, one of the Raptor units, and also damaging the Lascannon Havoc Lascannon unit. The Biovores took out two Havocs between the autocannon unit, and the Exocrine helped with the Tyrants to finish off the first Raptor unit. The Terv spawned out rolling a 5 lol. The Hive Guard/Malan just moved forward.
During his turn he shot everything into my Warlord Tyrant and managed to ground him dropping it down to one wound. He charged it with the remaining Raptor unit, and lost two to overwatch. The tyrant killed off two of his Marines, and they failed to wound him. Passed LD check and combat continued.
Turn 2
The Tyrants continued their advance and managed to wreck one of the Hellbrutes, and stun another one with Warp Lance. Then with the help of the Exocrine, they wiped out the Chaos sorcerer and Lascannon Havoc unit. Both Mucolids arrived and one landed near one of his exposed Chaos Marines from the wrecked Rhino on turn 1. The Hive Guard managed to wreck another Rhino too, and I moved the Gargs up to make a wall in front of his Hell Brutes. The Biovores hurt his Havoc units more and dropped off a few more Marines. The Tyrant then won his combat and consolidated back a inch to get into the Malanthropes shrouded bubble for a +2 sv.
In his turn he fired most everything at the Warlord trying to finish him off, but I was fortunate to pass all of my +2 svs. His Hellbrute then flamed and charged my Gargs to hopefully stay in combat for a bit to avoid the tyrants near him. He killed off a few of them, and I failed to blind him.
Turn 3
My Tyrants finished off one of his Chaos Marine squads, a Havoc squad, and also another Rhino. The Biovores fired at the Havocs but missed and landed two spore mines. The Exocrine then finished off one of the Havoc squads, leaving a Aspiring champion as the only survivor from the other one. The hive Guard blew up the final Rhino. Two mucolids then charged his last Chaos Marine unit and killed off 6 of them. The Hellbrute killed off a few more Gargs.
In his turn he shot and charged my Hive Guard in the middle with his remaining Chaos Marines doing one wound and loosing none of his marines. The lone Aspiring champion joined the combat with the Hellbrute and killed off two gargs between the two of them.
Turn 4
My tyrants just land and hold objectives. The Exocrine & Malanthrope join the combat with the Hive Guard and CSM, killing off three of the Marines, leaving only one left. The spawned Gaunts charge the Aspiring champion and kill him as he takes a Garg with him. The Hellbrute kills another one.
My Exocrine finishes off his lone CSM and we decide to call the match.
End Game
Final Score:
16-0 Nids
Post Game Thoughts
My list performed as expected, however Nurglitch was unfortunately not well equipped to deal with flyers, so it made it tough on him. He almost took down my Warlord turn one which was unexpected, but thankfull my Tyrant stepped him game up lol.
+ Flyrants did amazing
+ Hive Guard consistently killing a vehicle per turn
+ Malanthrope
+ Exocrine performed well
+ Mucolids provided an annoyance + ob sec
- Biovores did not really hit much at all.
- Tervigon did not really have much involvement in the game
Round #2
This next match up was against the dirty ol Tau. It was a different style list, and looked like it would be fun to play against. My opponent was a very friendly guy, and this was definitely the match of the day for me.
** Disclaimer: I do not know Tau well at all, so there are a few units I don't know the exact name of. Also I am not 100% sure on his detachment setup he had going on, but feel free to add corrections if I messed up **
1750 Pts Tau
CAD DetachmentFire Cadre Character guy?
x12 Firewarriors
x3 Crisis Suits - x5 Missile Pods, Fusion gun
x8 Pathfinders
Skyray
Broadside - Heavy Rail Rifle, Plasma Gun, Precision Shot upgrade?
CAD DetachmentFire Cadre Character guy?
x12 Firewarriors
x3 Crisis Suits - x5 Missile Pods, Fusion gun
x8 Pathfinders
Farsight Enclave Detachment (Name ?)Commander Farsight
x3 Crisis Suits - x6 Plasma Rifles
x2 Crisis Suits - x4 Burst Cannons
x2 Crisis Suits - x4 Burst Cannons
x2 Crisis Suits - x4 Fusion Guns
Fortification DetachmentBastion - Comms Relay, Quad gun
Crusade (5 Objecs)
Dawn of War
No Nightfighting
So going into this one I felt I should be able to take them down. My plan was to hunt Pathfinders turn 1 and bomb one of the Fire Warrior teams with the Biovores. Then use the Flyrants to eliminate 2-3 of the Crisis teams as quick as possible. I knew Farsight would be deep striking in so I had to eliminate as many of the suits as possible ASAP.
Deployment
This is the same table as from the first match up.
There were 5 objectives, with my opponent winning the roll off to place them. He got 3 objectives and put all three near his deployment on the right hand side, with me putting one in the central ruins and then one on the right hand side just outside of my deployment zone. My opponent normally played with mysterious objectives so we rolled for them. All were useless except for of course a skyfire one in right hand deployment aha, the dastardly Tau...
I won the roll of to deploy first and lined my gargs up front with the Malan and Hive Guard positioned behind the central ruins to move up and take that objective. The Tyrants were spread out through my zone with my LAN on the far right with the venomthrope. I kept two Mucolids in reserve to try and steal objectives and become an annoyance. My Terv was in the central area of my zone with the Mala/Hive Guard.
My opponent kept the Farsight enclave in reserve and placed the bastion in the center of his zone with one fire warrior/commander fire blade guy in it. There were some pathfinders in a forest beside the bastion as well. He deployed his two Crisis suits on the far right with the other Fire Warrior team/fire blade guy, and the pathfinders too. The Skyray was held in reserve. He placed the lone broadside on the far left of the table hoping to pick away at a few targets.
He rolls to seize and....a 6. This was just the start lol...
Turn 1
So on his turn he did quite a bit of damage. All Pathfinders fired at one of my tyrants and got 5 lights on him. He then fired in with both Crisis Suits and got a total of 5 wounds on the Tyrant, and I rolled three 2s, a 1, and a 3....Flyrant down to missile pods! That was all he really did on his turn but it was a huge hit.
My two remaining tyrants took off and killed off one full Crisis team and killed off the full unit of Pathfinders beside the bastion. The biovores fired and missed even with the rerolls but made two spore mines. The Exocrine hit spot on the fire warriors and pathfinders on the right side of the table and killed a ton of them and pinned both units. They passed their morale though. The Terv spawned out 6 gants with no doubles and the Hive Guard moved up with the Malan. My spore mines then charged in and killed all but one pathfinder.
Turn 2
Farsight arrived on top of the skyfire objective and only one of his burst cannon suits arrived, which landed in my backfield by the biovores. The Fusion team arrived in front of my Exocrine. The Skyray also arrived and came in beside the bastion. Farsight fired at my Tyrant and I jinked and then failed 4 out of 6 cover saves... bad day for my Tyrants! (My excuse was that they were still learning to work as a triple team force lol.) My warlord tyrant was then dropped to 1 wound from the Skyray, which hit with all marker lights so no jink for me. The Fusion and burst crisis teams all fired at my Biovores and Exocrine but they passed their cover thanks to the venomthrope.
Both my Mucolids came in with one landing near his backfield Fire Warriors and Objective, with the other one landing in the middle of the table near one of his suit teams. My Flyrant flew forward as I needed to kill the second Crisis team as they were a real pain in the back. I managed to pin the fusion team with the Horror though, which was a boost. I couldn't have moved far enough to get off the board, and I knew he was done for either way. The Tyrant killed the unit of 3 easily which was great. The Hive Guard managed to pen and glance the Skyray, stunning it. The Terv continued forward with her gants and spawned out 10 more with no doubles. The gants grabbed the objective in the middle and took some shots at the fire warriors in the bastion killing I think one of them. The Biovores fired at the bastion guys again and missed with a 12" scatter off the table! The Exocrine fired at farsights unit and took off a single wound on one Crisis suit thanks to the cover they sat in.
Turn 3
His last suit team arrived and landed near his back right objectives and fire warriors. Farsight moved forward and killed off a Mucolid that was floating towards him and an objective. The Fire Warriors in the back field Fired and wounded the Mucolid that was there. The second burst team also arrived and landed in the backfield of the table near the Fusion team. The Skyray fired at my Warlord but failed to wound him. The Fire Warriors in the bastion then fired and finished off my Warlord tyrant.
My Hive Guard managed to finished off the Skyray getting a glance and two pens, and also hold an objective in the middle ruins too. Things were getting desperate, objective wise, as I had to get him out of the bastion to have a solid shot at winning the match as time was running low. My Tervigon spawned out getting 11 more Gants. The Terv and Gants all move forward getting in position to hold the objective near the bastion if I could wipe that squad. my other Gant brood held a different objective in the middle as well. I used the Warriors Barbed Strangler to try and finish off the Fire Warriors and pathfinder in the back right objective and kill all but two of the fire warriors and the Path finder survives. The Biovores fire and scatter only hitting TWO fire warriors and then the next three blasts all scatter off hitting NOTHING, there guys can't catch a break. The Exocrine fires at the Crisis suits in my backfield and injures one and then charges in killing one and dropping the other to one wound. But there is still hope as we have time for one last turn.
Turn 4
Farsight jumps forward and grabs the objective in front of him just forward of the LANs position. The Crisis suits jump forward and run to steal the objective my Gants hold as they are OB SEC. The two Fire Warriors in the back field move forward and grab the objective while the lone path finder charges the mucolid to detonate it and clear the firewarriors from being charged and killed. The Fire Warriors in the bastion clear the 11 Gant unit off the objective they hold in the Bastion with OB SEC. The Exocrine finishes off the last Crisis suit.
Ok so it is my last turn. I have a good shot at winning but things need to go well. I hold one Objective and have line breaker with the Malanthrope who moved ahead this turn. He currently has linebreaker with his Crisis team locked with the Exocrine, and holds one objective in the back with his two Fire Warriors, Farsight and his OB SEC Suits hold another in front of my zone, the other Crisis suits hold the objective by the Gants, and the Bastion and Warriors hold the other. For me to secure a victory I needed to kill off his unit in the backfield and then kill his unit in the bastion, while also killing his Crisis team in the middle.
So I fire with the Exocrine and it hits and kills one of the Fire Warriors, so now only one remains and holds the objective. My Biovores then fire at the Bastion and it HITS finally, but then the next two blasts both scatter 100% off. I then roll and get only 3 wounds! Good grief Biovores lol... My Warriors and Gants then fire at the Crisis teams killing one suit, but without stopping the bastion or the Warriors in the back, I have no shot at taking it back.
End Game
Final Score:
14-4 Tau
Post Game Thoughts
It was a extremely fun battle that went right down to the wire. I had some terrible luck with the Biovores and Tyrants the whole match as well. Just one of those Biovore units hitting on target could have changed the whole game too. There is not a lot I would have changed from my game plan I had, as I had to adjust to some poor rolls on my own part. Loosing the initiative was huge too. I guess if I was to change one thing, I would have put my Tyrants farther back in case I lost the initiative. In my opinion, if I did not loose the initiative, I would have likely won the match. I don't mean to take anything away from my opponent though as he was a excellent tactician, and took full advantage of getting the first shots off. It was a good lesson though, as I think I was so confident in my Tyrants that when it didn't turn out as good, I didn't adjust quite as much as I should have.
But it was fun either way, and I am glad I got to learn some more and try and develop new strategies when the flood gates of bad luck open up aha.
+ Tyrants, though rolling poorly, they still carried their weight
+ Exocrine did work
+ Hive Guard were super consistent for me in this and the previous game. Justified themselves in the list for me personally
+ Tervigon. The Terv allowed me a chance to get back in the match with getting some dominate board control in the middle
- Biovores. Bad rolling for these guys AGAIN. They did not have their game face on
- Should have been more aggressive when the tyrants were taking heat to try and help draw fire away
- Loosing the initiative lol...
Round #3
My next game was against some Space Wolves with some nasty units inside. My opponent was a good sport, and very friendly guy to play with. He also told me that his dad was the very first manager of the very first GW store that opened in Canada! He has been into 40k for a long time needless to say. His army was beautifully painted too.
Again I am not 100% on the army list, but I will try and get it as best as I can.
1750 Pts Space Wolves
Some Fenresian Formation (It let him have one reserve automatically arrive turn 2?)
Thunder Wolf Lord - Artificer Armour, Storm Shield, A CC weapon that gives hellfrost
Rune Priest - Terminator Armour
x5 Grey Hunters
Razorback - TL Assault Cannon
x10 Grey Hunters - x2 Meltagun, Power Sword
Drop Pod - Deathwind missile launcher
x5 Thunder Wolf Calvery - Storm Shields, Lightning Claws
Drop Pod
x5 Longfangs - x4 Missile launchers
Salamanders AlliesLibrarian
x5 Tactical Marines
Razorback - TL Assault Cannon
x3 Centurions - x3 Grav Cannon/Amp, Omniscope
Purge the Alien
Dawn of War
No Nightfighting
I have only played against Space Wolves twice, and each time there were no Thunder Wolves. I have seen the damage that these guys can achieve, so I knew they had to go down first. Flyrants were to handle them, while the rest of my force harassed ground targets. He had the advantage in terms of kill points, but my units were a bit tougher to take out.
Deployment
I won the roll off to go first. The table we are playing on is the one featured in his army photo above. So lots of little house and ruins around. LoS blocking terrain galore, and perfect for my force. I deployed the Tyrants a third of the way down the table each, with the rest of my force castling in the middle in standard formation. Gargs in front, Terv in the middle, Malan and Hive Guard to one side, and Venom/LAN to the next. All Mucolids on the table to act as an annoyance.
My opponent had the Cents and the rune Priest inside of the drop pod, with the Librarian and the 10 Grey Hunters in the other pod. He had the Thunderwolf team sitting in the middle of his deployment. He had a Razorback on each flank, with the Longfangs behind one of the Razorbacks on the far right.
He rolls to steal but only gets a 4 thankfully.
Turn 1
My flyrants fly ahead and kill off all but one of the Thunder Wolves, and the Lord. One of my Flyrants does shoot at the Long Fangs only killing off one of them. The Hive guard destroy the Razorback in front of the Longfangs and the Biovores HIT?! on target and get two more directs...the curse is broken!. They manage to kill off only one more Longfang though due to some excellent rolling by my opponent. My Gargs only move 6" forward to try and force his Wolves to come to me. The Tervigon spawns and doubles out on 10 Gants.
He moves forward with the Wolves towards the Gargs and the drop pod with the Cents arrives and lands in front of my Tervigon & Hive Guard. The Long Fangs fire at a Tyrant and fail to do anything. The Rune Priest tries to cast perfect timing which would ignore my cover, but I deny the roll thankfully! The Cents split fire at my Hive guard and Tervigon but I pass almost all of my cover saves thanks to the Gargs & the Malanthrope, and the Terv takes one wound. The Thunder Wolves charge my Gargs and take a wound to over watch. They kill over several Gargs, and are tied in combat.
Turn 2
My Tyrants continue to swoop on each of his flanks killing off his Longfangs, the other Razorback, and taking out a Centurion and the rune priest as well. The Exocrine fires at the Cents but scatters off only hitting the drop pod. The Biovores fire and miss their target going off the table again. The hive Guard fire at the centurions and deal out another wound. The Tevigon charges in and kills a centurion with his hammer of wrath! He then wounds the Centurion sergeant and takes no damage in return. The spawned Gants charge the Wolves and tie them up even longer. All of the Gargs are killed but 5 Gants remain.
The second drop pod arrives on my right flank but scatters so they don't have much LoS to anything. They fire at my Warriors only killing one of them, thanks to their cover save from the Venomthrope. The rest of his Marines fire at my Tyrants, and one tyrant takes a wound but passes his grounding check. The Terv and Centurion fail to wound one another.
Turn 3
The Tyrants continue to harass the Wolves as they go to glide mode to re-position. Between the tyrants and the Exocrine, they kill off every Marine on the table, including the Librarian. The Hive Guard then blow up one of the drop pods. The Wolves kill all of the gants and then consolidate towards my Warlord Tyrant who has landed.
The Thunder Wolf Lord splits off from the standard guy and charges the Tyrant, while the other one charges the Venomthrope for an easy kill point. The Venomthrope is slain and my Tyrant deals out two wounds to the lord and takes two wounds in return...then I make my str tests and roll a 2 and a 6! My Warlord is removed from play aha. The Tervigon fails to wound the Cent, and the Cent does nothing to the Terv.
Turn 4
My remaining two tyrants kill the Lord and my Warriors actually finish off the Thunder Wolf guy. The hive Guard blow up the last pod and the Tervigon finally finishes off the Cent.
End Game
Final Score:
15-5 Nids
Post Game Thoughts
It was a tough match up for my opponent with me getting first turn and getting to do a number on his wolves. I knew they had to go first and foremost. Once I got rid of them, it was just a matter of mopping up the rest. It was huge having the cover save against the Cents as well. Thankfully he scattered to right in front of me and it made it easy to get them tied up and out of the game.
+ Hive Tyrants
+ Hive Guard, again killing a vehicle or unit per turn almost
+ Exocrine made all rolls and really performed well
+ Malanthrope/Venomthrope really saved my bacon as usual
- Biovores did nothing really
- Mucolids had limited to no use for this matchup unfortunately
Post Tournament Thoughts