Swarming the Alpha Legion [Batrep]

[Gutrip]

Played a 1600 pt game for the first time with my new Hive Fleet.

Flyrant, Electroshock Grubs, x2 TL Devourers

Melyrant, Electroshock Grubs, Reaper of Obliterax, Old Adversary

x30 Hormagaunts, AG

x30 Termagaunts

x20 Termagaunts with Devourers

x15 Genestealers, AG

x20 Gargolyes

Lictor

Malanthrope

Malanthrope

Tyrannocyte

The world we assaulted was defended by the Alpha Legion.

All units came with a variety of weapons [VoW] ranging from heavy bolters, plasma guns, ect

HQ and 5 tactical marines , VoW

x10 Tactical Marines ,Vow

x10 Tactical Marines , VoW embarked in Rhino

x5 Tactical Dreadnoughts , VoW

x2 Land Speeders VoW

x10 Scout Marines VoW

Devastator Squad VoW

Turn One..

The beginning of the turn started with the Genestealers and Lictor taking positions in strategic locations, followed by me swarming the imperial hive city, consuming all the biomass that fell victim to my advance. The first Tyrant took to the skies towards the prey's vehicles, spraying the closest Land Speeder with a number of successful Devourer hits, wrecking it and scoring first blood. The Melerant armed with the obliterax remained close to the Gargoyles for cover with help of one of the malanthropes that provided with right side of the swarm with shroud and psychic connection with it's synapse. The left part of the swarm was supported by the second malanthrope, giving shroud and direction to the swarms of Hormagaunts and Termaguants as they madly rushed to consume stubborn prey..

Alpha Legion set up their defenses and began to take shots at the incoming swarm. Their weapons managed to pick off several tyranids in a gory display of exploding alien flesh and foul ichor. They remained positioned and realized that setting up positions was more beneficial than meeting the alien head on in close combat yet. They attempted to shoot down the Flyrant and the flying creatures that had gained ground quickly. The Tyranids were met with a relentless wall of firepower

Turn Two..

The Tyrannocyte fell in from the Hive Fleet that loomed in the worlds atmosphere above as the rest of the swarm advanced through the city. With the Lictors pheromone guidance, the Tyrannocyte crashed onto ground, and with a hiss, gases were released from the creatures vents as it's chitin wings spread, spawning a unit of Termagaunts armed with Devourers, and unleased hell upon the Terminators that happen to be the closest. 4 marines in dreadnought armor were reduced to parasite infested corposes. A lone dreadnought marine managed to pull through the devastating attack. The Flyrant began to harass their backfield and pick off the Rhino, causing it to explode, resulting in marine casualties. 8 Marines managed to escape the burning wreckage. The marines were well disciplined, they didn't budge in their defenses, and shot apart anything that was not human. Their second land speeder shot what arsenal it had but then got overwhelmed a horde of Hormagaunts. Their scythes ripped through the speeder, dismembering the marines in a  horrific display of violent deaths. The Lictor appeared from the shadows and ambushed a tactical team coming to reinforce, slicing off several heads unexpectedly. The Gargoyles and Melyrant charged the Alpha Legions HQ and his unit, the gargoyles picking apart the marines piecemeal, while the Melyrant destroyed their HQ, demoralizing their army as they watched their leader being torn apart.

Turn Three..

The Marine Scouts finally found their way to reinforce their Legion, encountering the Genestealers that had vanguarded this world long ago. Their weaponry blasted apart several Genestealers, and set up their own position as the deadly tyranid stealers began to rush at their newfound prey. Meanwhile, in the middle of the city, was the dreadful display of Alpha Legion marines being butchered by the alien invaders. Already feeder organisms began to feed upon the corpses that littered the city, consuming both dying and dead marines with a maddening hunger. Screams of men emitted from their vox helmets as the planets only defenders, the Alpha Legion, were ultimately overwhelmed by the swarm.. and their biomatter soon to be absorbed to become part of the Hive Fleet..

End of Game..

We called it here once we realized the world we were playing on was doomed. I had most of my fleet intact, and his numbers were sharply dropping once we got into combat. I found it strange how he had so few models on the table compared to what I had. I even asked him a few times if he was sure he had 1600 pt worth of models/upgrades. He said "yes" every time so I can only assume so since I do remember having low model counts when playing my Grey Knights.. Then again, I'm not sure how many pts he really had. Overall, it was pretty cool finally playing my new Tyranid army. Something new other than my GK. Playing swarm armies is fun, but alittle tricky trying to move all the models quickly and strategically.

Overall, my impressions on my units..

Flyrant got me first blood and was a menace in their backfield, it did me proud

The Melyrant was a beast in combat, and scored me Slay the Warlord

Malanthropes were great support with their abilities, they saved me many wounds and kept my fleet from eating itself silly

Lictor provided the Tyrannocyte from not scattering and specific positioning to land in shroud and ruin cover.

Hormagaunts wrecked the Land Speeder

Termagaunt horde saw no action, but the ones armed with Devourers that were pooped from the Tyrannocyte almost killed off a while squad of Terminators.

Genestealers were there for psychological effect and backup. They could of seen combat in turn 4. =(

Gargolyes were fast and assisted my Melyrant once we got into combat.

I bought the carnifex, warriors and broodlord from someone who bought the Deathstorm box that day. Think I'll add a little bit of Alpha Legion colors to their chitin...

[luke1705]

Nice battle report format. And yeah depending on what you give Dreadnoughts they can add up pretty fast. They should not have been more than like 750 but certainly could have been 1,000 (that extra 25-50 points per guy adds up fast when you have 5 of them)

You also played a very high body count army against a list that had a very low body count army. Simply put, you had more bodies than he had bullets (which is always a fun way to play Tyranids if you are fine moving around a lot of models)

Sounds like you got a solid upgrade to your army from the box. I might try out the Sky Tyrant formation if you're running a melee tyrant. It lets you put him in two squads of gargoyles (so you can equip each squad differently if you prefer) and basically allows your tyrant to swing at people for free since they can't allocate attacks to him specifically since he is in the same unit. They can challenge him out but otherwise he'll have a field day

Also don't forget that Genestealers can infiltrate too if there's a nice forward terrain piece you don't mind starting in. You can outflank with them also which is nice. I would probably drop the AG from them though. Poison doesn't give you re-rolls any more when the strength is the same and Genestealers are expensive as is, plus you already have Horms and Gargolyes for poison.

[liberame]

When he said dreadnought, I assumed TDA, and how did the flyrant explode the rhino without ap2/1?

[Gutrip]

luke1705

Ah, indeed I wanted to run that formation, but was not sure if it required 20 or 30 Gargoyles. The Genestealers did infiltrate in forward terrain, as did the Lictor, which is what really worried my opponent. AG really helped with providing that re-roll to my runs and charges, I don't believe it gave me poison, I think that's Venom Sacs you speak of. Even so, my poor stealers didn't get to see combat, hm, maybe next time?

liberame

Yes, that is what I meant. They were Terminators, but I like TDA better. I fought against TDA equipped marines, not regular dreadnoughts. The Flyrant dropped a template full of electro grubs on the Rhinos side armor, scoring a 6 on the Haywire result.

[luke1705]

Late night posting whoops. I was thinking of toxin sacs. Hormagants already have fleet though. All you gain is +1 strength on the charge. Not super useful. Also poison is great when you want to tarpit something with high toughness, or have a good chance of actually hurting it

Also the haywire blast can score a penetrating hit but the rhino will still never explode unless you have AP 1 or 2. It will just be wrecked when it loses its last hull point. 6 on the vehicle damage table is immobilized now, not explodes

[Gutrip]

Ah, dang, my bad. The Rhino was down to it's last hull pt after all, x2 TL Devouers took care of that part beforehand. The grubs wrecked it but didn't realize that it didn't explode anymore. I'll remember that next time, thanks! He only lost 2 marines in the exlosion, and the rest of them were finished off after assaults. But now I know.