Post by halos on Sept 6, 2012 20:44:20 GMT
Hello hello everyone, it's been a while since my last report for a variety of reasons which I'm not going to discuss here. But fret no longer dear readers because I'm back with another (hopefully) exciting battle to write up.
My opponent this time is the same fellow who's Paladin list I played a good few weeks back, although this time he is using Dark Eldar with Eldar allies in practice for the same tournament I am attending (although thankfully he will be on my team, rather than against it...) Obviously this sort of list is generally a real kick in the teeth to the Tyranids so I am not expecting a long match here.
~Army Lists
-Dark Eldar-/-Eldar-[/b]
•HQ
-Archon (Huskblade, Venom Blade, Shadowfield, Soul Trap(?))
-Farseer (Fortune, Doom, Runes of Warding)
•Troops
-10x Wyches (Haywire Grenades, [Hekatrix, Agoniser])
-Raider (Dark Lance)
-10x Wyches (Haywire Grenades, [Hekatrix, Agoniser])
-Raider (Dark Lance)
-5x Pathfinders
•Elites
-5x Kabalite Trueborn (2x Splinter Cannons, 3x Blasters)
-Venom (2x Splinter Cannon, Flicker Field)
-5x Kabalite Trueborn (2x Splinter Cannons, 3x Blasters)
-Venom (2x Splinter Cannon, Flicker Field)
-7x(?) Harlequins (Harlequin Kisses, [Shadow Seer])
•Heavy Support
-Ravager (3x Dark Lances, Flicker Field, Night Shield)
-Ravager (3x Dark Lances, Flicker Field, Night Shield)
-Void Raven Bomber (4x Shatterfield Missiles, Flicker Field, Night Shield)
-Tyranids-
•HQ
-Hive Tyrant (2x TL-Devourers, Armoured Shell, Old Adversary)
•Troops
-15x Termagants (Devourers)
-15x Termagants (Devourers)
-Tervigon (Crushing Claws, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands, Onslaught, Catalyst)
-Tervigon (Crushing Claws, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands, Onslaught, Catalyst)
•Elites
-3x Hive Guard
-2x Zoanthropes
-6x Ymgarl Genestealers
•Heavy Support
-Trygon
-Trygon
~Set Up~
The mission was The Scouring (although neither army had any fast attack choices to capitalise on that) with the Dawn of War deployment type. Terrain was randomised per table square and we alternated placing a piece each, which is kind of interesting as you can try and place terrain to your advantage whilst stopping your opponent doing the same. Warlord traits were the Archon with 'Target Priority' from the Command table, allowing his unit to re-roll 1s when shooting at a unit within 3" of an objective and the Hive Tyrant with the strategic trait 'Conqueror of Cities' granting all her units the Stealth (ruins) and Move through Cover (ruins) special rules. We didn't even bother rolling for Night Fighting as the Dark Eldar ignore it outright and the Tyranid guns wouldn't be in range in the first turn regardless. The Tyranids won the roll to deploy first.
~Deployment~
The fate of Magnus-VI is a curious one, although it first glance it seems to be naught but another casualty lost to the encroaching star-swarms. However a closer look shows that during the Tyranic invasions early pushes hosts of Eldar raiders appeared to assist the struggling Imperial defenders and at the same time, drawn to the carnage like so many sharks, Dark Eldar of the Crimson Scar kabal were present, taking merciless advantage of the defenders increased tolerance of the Eldar presence to pillage and capture human slaves. Confusing days indeed. And in the midst of it all there are those who say the entire Xenos interactions were little but a facade to disguise the true joint-actions of the kabal's leader and an exodite Farseer...
Objectives were placed as seen above (with the addition of a 6th concealed beneath the left-most Trygon. As per the Scouring rules each is worth a different number of Victory Points:
4 - Upper Central
3 - Upper left, Centre Board
2 - Left Mid, Lower Right
1 - Lower Left beneath the Trygon
Rolling up Psychic powers saw the Tyrant gain Iron Arm and Warp Speed. The Zoanthropes both gained Endurance in addition to a single Enfeeble and Leech Life. The teal Tervigon obtained Iron Arm, Endurance and Haemorrage whilst the second gained Endurance, Leech Life and Warp Speed. A pretty much perfect selection! Shame about the Runes...
The Tyranids split into two rough groups. Hive Guard deploy centrally to provide the biggest possible threat range. Zoanthropes are on the left within buffing range of every other unit. The teal Tervigon ensures she is sat within 12" of the far right objective for first-turn spawning purposes.
The Ymgarls are concealed in the tall ruin to the upper right after both forces are deployed.
The Voidraven is forced to start in reserves. The Farseer keeps both of her powers as she has a highly specific purpose within the list.
We both know that any DE vehicle which stray within 24" of the Hive Guard is going to get killed so my opponent makes sure that anything without a Night Shield is precisely 30.1" away, whilst the Ravagers are safe at 24.1" No other guns the Tyranids have is going to get in range on turn 1.
~Turn 1[/u] Victory Points: Dark Eldar 3 / Tyranids 3
•Tyranids
The Farseer Leigh'tai had come here with a purpose; artifacts of considerable power slept in the wraithbone vaults hollowed out below aeons before. She would reclaim them before they became unreachable through the psychic block of the Tyranid fleet. Archon Kkhac'ar had also come with a purpose, but his was a far simpler motive, and, as his keen alien eyes picked out the skittering shapes ahead it looked like his bloodlust would be sated this day, for now.
The Dark Eldar attempt to sieze the initative but fail, leaving the first turn in the claws of the Tyranids.
Normally I would not attempt to cast psychic powers under the effects of the Runes of Warding, and indeed against a pure Eldar list I would likely forgo them entirely, but this is the formidable firepower of the Dark Eldar and it's a case of either 'cast powers or die in one turn.' So cast I do. The Tyrant fails to Iron Arm but does not perils, likewise as one Zoanthrope attempts to cast Endurance. Two remaining psykers however all succed in casting Endurance, one on the Tyrant to keep the bonus VP safe, one on the central Trygon as a distraction. The final Tervigon opts not to cast anything this turn.
Not much else to say; everything moves forwards as far as possible (although poor difficult terrain and run rolls mean this is mostly not as far as I would like.) 6 gants are spawned onto the far right objective (which is revealed to be a Skyfire Nexus, which could be useful.) The far left objective is Nothing. The Pathfinders objective grants them a useless +1 cover save.
•Dark Eldar
A monstrous Trygon, blindly following it's synaptic instinct to lay waste to the foe, smashes far ahead of the main Tyranid body, twisting it's collosal body through the half collapsed ruins. A bitter smile touches the twisted lips of the Archon, 'ah, so here shall be the first to die' he muses, lazily gesturing towards his warriors. As one the flared barrels of a multitude of exotic weaponry is brought to bear on a target they cannot miss...
The Farseer casts Fortune on the Harlequin squad, allowing them to re-roll their 2+ cover save.
One of the Wyche Raiders zooms flat out towards the miniscule spawned gant brood, hoping for an early pain token and a free objective to boot. The second Raider hovers closer towards the 4VP objective, waiting for the right moment to disembark. The remaining vehicles move to draw LoS to the Trygon whilst keeping out of the Hive Guards threat range. The Harlequins inch closer although a low run move sees them less agile than usual.
Everything fires into the Trygon. Lackluster shooting from both the Trueborn and their Venoms, as well as one of the Ravagers missing entirely ensures that as the smoke clears the Trygon is still standing, albeit with only 2 wounds remaining.
A Raider full of Wyches hopes to get the drop on some defenseless gants
~Turn 2[/u] Victory Points: Dark Eldar 0 / Tyranids 10
•Tyranids
'I cannot help but notice you're 'first to die' yet lives Kkhac'ar' voices the Farseer, a trace of amusement seeping into her voice. 'It would seem this foe is cannier than you assume. Look how they use the ruins as cover perfectly.'
Sneering unpleasantly the Archon replies, 'None of your tongue Psyker, look how my Wyches already spear into the midst. This battle shall be ours within moments.'
The Ymgarls arrive precisely on time at the base of the Pathfinders sniper nest, a daunting climb awaited them but that's not so much of a problem when you have 4 arms.
The Psychic phase sees the Tyranids good look continue; the Teal Tervigon gets a T9 Iron Arm and the Hive Tyrant a T8. In addition both Devourer gant broods gain FnP from Endurance as does the wounded Trygon.
The wounded Trygon is dead next turn regardless so it gets sent on a suicide mission to try and smack the central Raider. The other Raider also needs to die along with it's passengers or things are going to become tricky. Fortunately the Hive Guard are in a prime position for that. The teal devourer gant and T9 Tervigon head across to deal with the passengers, although not before spawning 12 fresh gants onto the central objective which is revealed to be Booby Trapped. Meanwhile on the left flank the Trygon dashes as far forwards as possible, hiding behind the walls of the large tower. 7 gants are spawned onto the front most line of the ruins as a screen, although the Tervigon rolls a double in the process. The nearby objective is uncovered as a +1 cover save device. The Tyrant and devourer gants shift forwards to get in range of the Harlequins. The Ymgarls start climbing the tower towards the snipers.
In shooting the Hive Guard easily wreck the Raider. (Jink Save this you pointy eared freaks!) The Tervigon and few devourer gants in range then lay waste to the now clumped up Wyches, slaying 7. The other devourer gaunts fire into the Harlequins but a re-rollable 2++ is too tough to crack and no casualties are caused. The Hive Tyrant fires off 7 precision shots but they fail to kill the Shadowseer, or anyone else. (In retrospect I should have fired the Tyrant first just in case I killed the Shadowseer so that the gants could shred the remaining Harlequins, but never mind.)
Assault sees the Ymgarls get a lucky sprint up the tower, just drawing LoS via an elaborate window/balcony/mezzanine arrangement and wiping out the Pathfinders to a man. The Trygon attempts to charge the Raider, rolling a 3 on it's first attempt but boosting that to an 8 with Fleet and smashing the flimsy Skimmer to pieces.
This is why you don't Turbo Boost towards Hive Guard
Sure wish I got re-rollable 2+ Cover Saves
•Dark Eldar
'Wyches are doing well I note' voices the Farseer, casually observing the devastation of the Dark Eldar alpha-strike. 'I think perhaps it's time we took things a little more seriously.' A shared psychic signal between the Harlequins sees the enigmatic jesters flip and pirouette from their hiding places and sprint across the desolate no-mans-land.
Grunting in displeasure at both the insult and the loss of his elite forces the Archon follows suite, adjusting the archaic force field built into his armour as he begins to sprint forwards.
The Voidraven shows up and zooms across the board, scanning the field for the most deserving target of its deadly payload. The Farseer once again casts Fortune and also Doom on the small gant brood.
The Harlequins move out of cover to engage the enemy. The few remaining Wyches to the right move to hopefully wipe out the 6 model gant brood, however in the process of moving over their own wrecked Raider lose two of their number to Dangerou Terrain. (I guess the lesson is 'don't make your boats out of knives.') The full strenght Wych squad moves to surround the Trygon. Confident the Trygon will die to the Wyches assault the Venoms move out to draw LoS to the Ymgarls whilst the Ravagers shift to the right hand flank.
Both Trueborn squads and their transports open up into the Ymgarls, but the genestealers drop to ground and hug the ruined parapets of their lofty perch, mitigating any damage. The Voidraven and both Ravagers try their luck with the T9 Tervigon but fail to cause any damage. The Voidravens missiles do manage to kill 4 devourer gants though.
The green Hekatrix, sole survivor of her squad, attempts to charge the black gants but is slain by the overwatch. The Harlequins have better luck, slaughtering the 7 model gant brood and consolidating into the Tyranid occupied ruin. The Wyches charge the Trygon and cause a single wound with their Agoniser, the beast crushes a single Wych in return as the rest nimbly dodge it's savage blows.
Voidraven pilot; pros - Great Views / cons; are sat in a cockpit made of approximately 2" of tin foil.
~Turn 3[/u] Victory Points: Dark Eldar 4 / Tyranids 7
•Tyranids
Soaked in alien ichor, blood and slime dripping from his wicked swords, the Grand Archon Kkhac'ar breathes in deeply. The scent of pure carnage.
'I would stop standing around like some brain-dead Mon'keigh if I were you my friend' shouts Leigh'tai, 'they have us surrounded.'
Drifting out from his reverie of pain the Archon glances around with hooded eyes at the multitude of scuttling shapes picking their way through the rubble all around. 'Hah! Let them come' he breathed vivaciously, sliding his blades into a readied stance. A shadow cast across from above causes his wry smile to crack into a manic grin as a collosal form drops from a creaking catwalk, a cloud of dust disperses from the armoured form of a monstrous Hive Tyrant.
'Perfect,' shouts the Archon, lunging forwards in an ostentatious strike, 'Accept this pain from my own hand!'
By this stage I'm pretty confident that the Farseer has actually forgotten her Runes of Warding so I throw up some more powers, and once again almost every single one of them is cast; T9 Iron Arm on the Hive Tyrant, FnP on the green devourer gants and Tyrant. The teal Tervigon unfortunately fails to cast Iron Arm but does not Perils.
Wyches dealt with the various gant broods on the right scuttle back to the task at hand; hiding in ruins. The Tervigon spawns 10 gants to assist the Trygon with the Wyches. The Hive Guard roll poorly for Difficult Terrain but one still manages to get in range of a Venom which foolishly sat within their range. The green gants and Tyrant hop out of the ruins to surround the Harlequins and the Tervigon moves off her objective to provide support.
The single Hive Guard performs admirably, detonating the Venom and killing all three Blaster armed Trueborn inside. The Tyrant and devourer gants open fire into the Harlequins, killing one of them with only a 4+ cover save but the Shadowseer and Farseer remain safe thanks to Lo,S.
The freshly spawned gants charge the Wyches, which really I should not have done. The Hekatrix polishes off the Trygon and the Wyches kill half the gants before they can even strike and the tyranids cause only a single wound in return. The Tyrant slams into the Harlequins (although once again I forgot both HoW and Fear...), soaking their S4 Overwatch on her T9 frame. The gants then charge into the action; Cover Save this! The Tyrant issues a challenge to either squash the Farseer/Shadowseer or prevent the Archon from killing 4~6 gants before they can do anything. The Archon accepts and manages to sneak a wound through the Tyrants 2+ save, his Venom Blade ignoring her fortified toughness. The high speed Harlequins deal a number on the charging gants, spools of razor-wire and barbed heels slaying 7 of the charging gants before they can react but it is not enough. The overbearing weight of S4 poisoned attacks smashes the harlequins into the ground, leaving only the Farseer left standing.
There are Eldar in their somewhere, I swear
•Dark Eldar
Back to back the Eldar heroes stand, the Farseer desperately warding away the living horde with arching sweeps of her thrumming psychic blade and bursts of overt psionic force. The Archon cackling madly as he parries and denies every strike of the gargantuan Tyrant with graceful, precise sword strokes, the nightmarish flickering of the Shadow Field cloaking his entire body in an inpenetrable barrier.
Despite the presence of the Shadow in the Warp the Farseer ocne again casts Fortune on her unit.
The remaining Venom swiftly moves away from the surviving Trygon and the Ravagers shift marginally out of Hive Guard range. The Void Raven is forced to move 18" putting it almost directly atop the teal Tervigon.
All available fire power is used to attempt to put the Tervigon down an event which would damage the nearby Gants and remove the only Synapse node in the region, limiting the Hive Guards firing ability. Despite the hail of Lance and Splinter weaponry she is suddenly subjected to the Tervigon pulls through with a single wound remaining.
The wyches finish off the remaining gants, obtaining another Pain Token for their trouble and moving back onto the most valuable objective. The other combat sees the Archon slip the Tyrant another wound and the Farseer wounded by the gants.
~Turn 4[/u] Victory Points: Dark Eldar 0 / Tyranids 10
•Tyranid
I continue my theme of punching probability in the face during the Psychic phase, although this time one of the Zoanthropes does Perils herself attempting to Enfeeble the Farseer/Archon. The Hive Tyrant reaches T7, not brilliant but enough to prevent the Archon using his insta-death Huskblade. The severely wounded Tervigon doesn't cast any powers on fear of death. She instead spawns 12 gants towards the remaining Wyches and the hurries back behind the ruin out of any potential LoS.
The teal devourer gants head to draw range on the wyches and the Hive Guard do likewise with the remaining Venom. The ymgarls opt to remain surrounding the 3VP objective to prevent any last minute grabbing by the Venom (which I belatedly realise not only cannot score but also contains a non-scoring Elites unit...)
The Hive Guard unsurprisingly shred the Venom, although it doesn't explode and the Trygon fries three of the Trueborn with his electric pulse. The devourer and spawned gant broods open fire on the wyches, but their 4+ cover save for going to ground coupled with their 5+ FnP results in only 3 slain Eldar.
The spawned gants charge the remaining Wyches (We couldn't find any mention of a penalty for going to ground before being charged? It just says the unit 'fights as normal'? Not sure if that's correct.) Regardless 4 gants are slain and none of the Wyches, but the gants hold firm with a double 1. In the other combat nothing happens, at all.
•Dark Eldar
Archon Kkhac'ar was still smiling when his Shadowfield failed, the exotic device overloaded by the strain of the devastating hammer-blows of the Hive Tyrant. Still smiling as his pulped frame was crushed into the dirt of Magnus-VI. Hah, so, that is what pain felt like? Exhilerating...
The Farseer fails to cast Fortune but does not Perils in the attempt.
Both Ravagers swivel on the remaining Trygon as it (oh-so-stealthily) rampages through a building. The remaining Trueborn head to get range on the devourer gants.
The Trygon very nearly scores a 2x Screw You combo with it's cover saves; failing only 1 out of 4 from the ravagers. The Trueborn shred a few gants but it's too little, too late.
In combat the Farseer, without her re-rollable save, is finally dragged down and the Archon rolls the dreaded 1 on his now vulnerable Shadow Field and is isntantly slain by the Tyrant.
At this point my opponent concedes.
~End Game~
The final scores are:
Tyranids - 10 VP
-Primary Objective x3 (2VP, 2VP, 3VP)
-Secondary Objective x3
Dark Eldar - 0VP
I'm going to mention right here before I go any further that I got insanely lucky this game, this win was most assuredly not down to any tactical acumen. Getting off ~20 powers through Runes of Warding is completely rediculous, as is the Dark Eldars initial shooting phase bouncing off a single Trygon. I have no doubt that, under more reasonable circumstances, I would have lost against this list.
Still things to note;
The whole Harlequins with Fortune thing is hard as nails, until you get it into combat where it folds like paper and you're just left with the invincible Archon to deal with. If you can pick out the Shadowseer early though then you're in the clear.
Movement is sooo important, there were a few times here where, if I had moved 1 model just an inch in another direction I could have taken out key targets much quicker; make sure if possible that the closest enemy model is the one you want to kill.
Fliers are still lame, but the gunboat versions don't really get that many turns of shooting for the points they cost, so unless there are tonnes of them (*ahem* Guard, *ahem* Necrons) then they're easy enough to just ignore.
Alright then, so that's that. Pretty fun game and certainly not one I expected to win so that was nice.
Hope you enjoyed reading, do comment if you like.
My opponent this time is the same fellow who's Paladin list I played a good few weeks back, although this time he is using Dark Eldar with Eldar allies in practice for the same tournament I am attending (although thankfully he will be on my team, rather than against it...) Obviously this sort of list is generally a real kick in the teeth to the Tyranids so I am not expecting a long match here.
~Army Lists
-Dark Eldar-/-Eldar-[/b]
•HQ
-Archon (Huskblade, Venom Blade, Shadowfield, Soul Trap(?))
-Farseer (Fortune, Doom, Runes of Warding)
•Troops
-10x Wyches (Haywire Grenades, [Hekatrix, Agoniser])
-Raider (Dark Lance)
-10x Wyches (Haywire Grenades, [Hekatrix, Agoniser])
-Raider (Dark Lance)
-5x Pathfinders
•Elites
-5x Kabalite Trueborn (2x Splinter Cannons, 3x Blasters)
-Venom (2x Splinter Cannon, Flicker Field)
-5x Kabalite Trueborn (2x Splinter Cannons, 3x Blasters)
-Venom (2x Splinter Cannon, Flicker Field)
-7x(?) Harlequins (Harlequin Kisses, [Shadow Seer])
•Heavy Support
-Ravager (3x Dark Lances, Flicker Field, Night Shield)
-Ravager (3x Dark Lances, Flicker Field, Night Shield)
-Void Raven Bomber (4x Shatterfield Missiles, Flicker Field, Night Shield)
-Tyranids-
•HQ
-Hive Tyrant (2x TL-Devourers, Armoured Shell, Old Adversary)
•Troops
-15x Termagants (Devourers)
-15x Termagants (Devourers)
-Tervigon (Crushing Claws, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands, Onslaught, Catalyst)
-Tervigon (Crushing Claws, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands, Onslaught, Catalyst)
•Elites
-3x Hive Guard
-2x Zoanthropes
-6x Ymgarl Genestealers
•Heavy Support
-Trygon
-Trygon
~Set Up~
The mission was The Scouring (although neither army had any fast attack choices to capitalise on that) with the Dawn of War deployment type. Terrain was randomised per table square and we alternated placing a piece each, which is kind of interesting as you can try and place terrain to your advantage whilst stopping your opponent doing the same. Warlord traits were the Archon with 'Target Priority' from the Command table, allowing his unit to re-roll 1s when shooting at a unit within 3" of an objective and the Hive Tyrant with the strategic trait 'Conqueror of Cities' granting all her units the Stealth (ruins) and Move through Cover (ruins) special rules. We didn't even bother rolling for Night Fighting as the Dark Eldar ignore it outright and the Tyranid guns wouldn't be in range in the first turn regardless. The Tyranids won the roll to deploy first.
~Deployment~
The fate of Magnus-VI is a curious one, although it first glance it seems to be naught but another casualty lost to the encroaching star-swarms. However a closer look shows that during the Tyranic invasions early pushes hosts of Eldar raiders appeared to assist the struggling Imperial defenders and at the same time, drawn to the carnage like so many sharks, Dark Eldar of the Crimson Scar kabal were present, taking merciless advantage of the defenders increased tolerance of the Eldar presence to pillage and capture human slaves. Confusing days indeed. And in the midst of it all there are those who say the entire Xenos interactions were little but a facade to disguise the true joint-actions of the kabal's leader and an exodite Farseer...
Objectives were placed as seen above (with the addition of a 6th concealed beneath the left-most Trygon. As per the Scouring rules each is worth a different number of Victory Points:
4 - Upper Central
3 - Upper left, Centre Board
2 - Left Mid, Lower Right
1 - Lower Left beneath the Trygon
Rolling up Psychic powers saw the Tyrant gain Iron Arm and Warp Speed. The Zoanthropes both gained Endurance in addition to a single Enfeeble and Leech Life. The teal Tervigon obtained Iron Arm, Endurance and Haemorrage whilst the second gained Endurance, Leech Life and Warp Speed. A pretty much perfect selection! Shame about the Runes...
The Tyranids split into two rough groups. Hive Guard deploy centrally to provide the biggest possible threat range. Zoanthropes are on the left within buffing range of every other unit. The teal Tervigon ensures she is sat within 12" of the far right objective for first-turn spawning purposes.
The Ymgarls are concealed in the tall ruin to the upper right after both forces are deployed.
The Voidraven is forced to start in reserves. The Farseer keeps both of her powers as she has a highly specific purpose within the list.
We both know that any DE vehicle which stray within 24" of the Hive Guard is going to get killed so my opponent makes sure that anything without a Night Shield is precisely 30.1" away, whilst the Ravagers are safe at 24.1" No other guns the Tyranids have is going to get in range on turn 1.
~Turn 1[/u] Victory Points: Dark Eldar 3 / Tyranids 3
•Tyranids
The Farseer Leigh'tai had come here with a purpose; artifacts of considerable power slept in the wraithbone vaults hollowed out below aeons before. She would reclaim them before they became unreachable through the psychic block of the Tyranid fleet. Archon Kkhac'ar had also come with a purpose, but his was a far simpler motive, and, as his keen alien eyes picked out the skittering shapes ahead it looked like his bloodlust would be sated this day, for now.
The Dark Eldar attempt to sieze the initative but fail, leaving the first turn in the claws of the Tyranids.
Normally I would not attempt to cast psychic powers under the effects of the Runes of Warding, and indeed against a pure Eldar list I would likely forgo them entirely, but this is the formidable firepower of the Dark Eldar and it's a case of either 'cast powers or die in one turn.' So cast I do. The Tyrant fails to Iron Arm but does not perils, likewise as one Zoanthrope attempts to cast Endurance. Two remaining psykers however all succed in casting Endurance, one on the Tyrant to keep the bonus VP safe, one on the central Trygon as a distraction. The final Tervigon opts not to cast anything this turn.
Not much else to say; everything moves forwards as far as possible (although poor difficult terrain and run rolls mean this is mostly not as far as I would like.) 6 gants are spawned onto the far right objective (which is revealed to be a Skyfire Nexus, which could be useful.) The far left objective is Nothing. The Pathfinders objective grants them a useless +1 cover save.
•Dark Eldar
A monstrous Trygon, blindly following it's synaptic instinct to lay waste to the foe, smashes far ahead of the main Tyranid body, twisting it's collosal body through the half collapsed ruins. A bitter smile touches the twisted lips of the Archon, 'ah, so here shall be the first to die' he muses, lazily gesturing towards his warriors. As one the flared barrels of a multitude of exotic weaponry is brought to bear on a target they cannot miss...
The Farseer casts Fortune on the Harlequin squad, allowing them to re-roll their 2+ cover save.
One of the Wyche Raiders zooms flat out towards the miniscule spawned gant brood, hoping for an early pain token and a free objective to boot. The second Raider hovers closer towards the 4VP objective, waiting for the right moment to disembark. The remaining vehicles move to draw LoS to the Trygon whilst keeping out of the Hive Guards threat range. The Harlequins inch closer although a low run move sees them less agile than usual.
Everything fires into the Trygon. Lackluster shooting from both the Trueborn and their Venoms, as well as one of the Ravagers missing entirely ensures that as the smoke clears the Trygon is still standing, albeit with only 2 wounds remaining.
A Raider full of Wyches hopes to get the drop on some defenseless gants
~Turn 2[/u] Victory Points: Dark Eldar 0 / Tyranids 10
•Tyranids
'I cannot help but notice you're 'first to die' yet lives Kkhac'ar' voices the Farseer, a trace of amusement seeping into her voice. 'It would seem this foe is cannier than you assume. Look how they use the ruins as cover perfectly.'
Sneering unpleasantly the Archon replies, 'None of your tongue Psyker, look how my Wyches already spear into the midst. This battle shall be ours within moments.'
The Ymgarls arrive precisely on time at the base of the Pathfinders sniper nest, a daunting climb awaited them but that's not so much of a problem when you have 4 arms.
The Psychic phase sees the Tyranids good look continue; the Teal Tervigon gets a T9 Iron Arm and the Hive Tyrant a T8. In addition both Devourer gant broods gain FnP from Endurance as does the wounded Trygon.
The wounded Trygon is dead next turn regardless so it gets sent on a suicide mission to try and smack the central Raider. The other Raider also needs to die along with it's passengers or things are going to become tricky. Fortunately the Hive Guard are in a prime position for that. The teal devourer gant and T9 Tervigon head across to deal with the passengers, although not before spawning 12 fresh gants onto the central objective which is revealed to be Booby Trapped. Meanwhile on the left flank the Trygon dashes as far forwards as possible, hiding behind the walls of the large tower. 7 gants are spawned onto the front most line of the ruins as a screen, although the Tervigon rolls a double in the process. The nearby objective is uncovered as a +1 cover save device. The Tyrant and devourer gants shift forwards to get in range of the Harlequins. The Ymgarls start climbing the tower towards the snipers.
In shooting the Hive Guard easily wreck the Raider. (Jink Save this you pointy eared freaks!) The Tervigon and few devourer gants in range then lay waste to the now clumped up Wyches, slaying 7. The other devourer gaunts fire into the Harlequins but a re-rollable 2++ is too tough to crack and no casualties are caused. The Hive Tyrant fires off 7 precision shots but they fail to kill the Shadowseer, or anyone else. (In retrospect I should have fired the Tyrant first just in case I killed the Shadowseer so that the gants could shred the remaining Harlequins, but never mind.)
Assault sees the Ymgarls get a lucky sprint up the tower, just drawing LoS via an elaborate window/balcony/mezzanine arrangement and wiping out the Pathfinders to a man. The Trygon attempts to charge the Raider, rolling a 3 on it's first attempt but boosting that to an 8 with Fleet and smashing the flimsy Skimmer to pieces.
This is why you don't Turbo Boost towards Hive Guard
Sure wish I got re-rollable 2+ Cover Saves
•Dark Eldar
'Wyches are doing well I note' voices the Farseer, casually observing the devastation of the Dark Eldar alpha-strike. 'I think perhaps it's time we took things a little more seriously.' A shared psychic signal between the Harlequins sees the enigmatic jesters flip and pirouette from their hiding places and sprint across the desolate no-mans-land.
Grunting in displeasure at both the insult and the loss of his elite forces the Archon follows suite, adjusting the archaic force field built into his armour as he begins to sprint forwards.
The Voidraven shows up and zooms across the board, scanning the field for the most deserving target of its deadly payload. The Farseer once again casts Fortune and also Doom on the small gant brood.
The Harlequins move out of cover to engage the enemy. The few remaining Wyches to the right move to hopefully wipe out the 6 model gant brood, however in the process of moving over their own wrecked Raider lose two of their number to Dangerou Terrain. (I guess the lesson is 'don't make your boats out of knives.') The full strenght Wych squad moves to surround the Trygon. Confident the Trygon will die to the Wyches assault the Venoms move out to draw LoS to the Ymgarls whilst the Ravagers shift to the right hand flank.
Both Trueborn squads and their transports open up into the Ymgarls, but the genestealers drop to ground and hug the ruined parapets of their lofty perch, mitigating any damage. The Voidraven and both Ravagers try their luck with the T9 Tervigon but fail to cause any damage. The Voidravens missiles do manage to kill 4 devourer gants though.
The green Hekatrix, sole survivor of her squad, attempts to charge the black gants but is slain by the overwatch. The Harlequins have better luck, slaughtering the 7 model gant brood and consolidating into the Tyranid occupied ruin. The Wyches charge the Trygon and cause a single wound with their Agoniser, the beast crushes a single Wych in return as the rest nimbly dodge it's savage blows.
Voidraven pilot; pros - Great Views / cons; are sat in a cockpit made of approximately 2" of tin foil.
~Turn 3[/u] Victory Points: Dark Eldar 4 / Tyranids 7
•Tyranids
Soaked in alien ichor, blood and slime dripping from his wicked swords, the Grand Archon Kkhac'ar breathes in deeply. The scent of pure carnage.
'I would stop standing around like some brain-dead Mon'keigh if I were you my friend' shouts Leigh'tai, 'they have us surrounded.'
Drifting out from his reverie of pain the Archon glances around with hooded eyes at the multitude of scuttling shapes picking their way through the rubble all around. 'Hah! Let them come' he breathed vivaciously, sliding his blades into a readied stance. A shadow cast across from above causes his wry smile to crack into a manic grin as a collosal form drops from a creaking catwalk, a cloud of dust disperses from the armoured form of a monstrous Hive Tyrant.
'Perfect,' shouts the Archon, lunging forwards in an ostentatious strike, 'Accept this pain from my own hand!'
By this stage I'm pretty confident that the Farseer has actually forgotten her Runes of Warding so I throw up some more powers, and once again almost every single one of them is cast; T9 Iron Arm on the Hive Tyrant, FnP on the green devourer gants and Tyrant. The teal Tervigon unfortunately fails to cast Iron Arm but does not Perils.
Wyches dealt with the various gant broods on the right scuttle back to the task at hand; hiding in ruins. The Tervigon spawns 10 gants to assist the Trygon with the Wyches. The Hive Guard roll poorly for Difficult Terrain but one still manages to get in range of a Venom which foolishly sat within their range. The green gants and Tyrant hop out of the ruins to surround the Harlequins and the Tervigon moves off her objective to provide support.
The single Hive Guard performs admirably, detonating the Venom and killing all three Blaster armed Trueborn inside. The Tyrant and devourer gants open fire into the Harlequins, killing one of them with only a 4+ cover save but the Shadowseer and Farseer remain safe thanks to Lo,S.
The freshly spawned gants charge the Wyches, which really I should not have done. The Hekatrix polishes off the Trygon and the Wyches kill half the gants before they can even strike and the tyranids cause only a single wound in return. The Tyrant slams into the Harlequins (although once again I forgot both HoW and Fear...), soaking their S4 Overwatch on her T9 frame. The gants then charge into the action; Cover Save this! The Tyrant issues a challenge to either squash the Farseer/Shadowseer or prevent the Archon from killing 4~6 gants before they can do anything. The Archon accepts and manages to sneak a wound through the Tyrants 2+ save, his Venom Blade ignoring her fortified toughness. The high speed Harlequins deal a number on the charging gants, spools of razor-wire and barbed heels slaying 7 of the charging gants before they can react but it is not enough. The overbearing weight of S4 poisoned attacks smashes the harlequins into the ground, leaving only the Farseer left standing.
There are Eldar in their somewhere, I swear
•Dark Eldar
Back to back the Eldar heroes stand, the Farseer desperately warding away the living horde with arching sweeps of her thrumming psychic blade and bursts of overt psionic force. The Archon cackling madly as he parries and denies every strike of the gargantuan Tyrant with graceful, precise sword strokes, the nightmarish flickering of the Shadow Field cloaking his entire body in an inpenetrable barrier.
Despite the presence of the Shadow in the Warp the Farseer ocne again casts Fortune on her unit.
The remaining Venom swiftly moves away from the surviving Trygon and the Ravagers shift marginally out of Hive Guard range. The Void Raven is forced to move 18" putting it almost directly atop the teal Tervigon.
All available fire power is used to attempt to put the Tervigon down an event which would damage the nearby Gants and remove the only Synapse node in the region, limiting the Hive Guards firing ability. Despite the hail of Lance and Splinter weaponry she is suddenly subjected to the Tervigon pulls through with a single wound remaining.
The wyches finish off the remaining gants, obtaining another Pain Token for their trouble and moving back onto the most valuable objective. The other combat sees the Archon slip the Tyrant another wound and the Farseer wounded by the gants.
~Turn 4[/u] Victory Points: Dark Eldar 0 / Tyranids 10
•Tyranid
I continue my theme of punching probability in the face during the Psychic phase, although this time one of the Zoanthropes does Perils herself attempting to Enfeeble the Farseer/Archon. The Hive Tyrant reaches T7, not brilliant but enough to prevent the Archon using his insta-death Huskblade. The severely wounded Tervigon doesn't cast any powers on fear of death. She instead spawns 12 gants towards the remaining Wyches and the hurries back behind the ruin out of any potential LoS.
The teal devourer gants head to draw range on the wyches and the Hive Guard do likewise with the remaining Venom. The ymgarls opt to remain surrounding the 3VP objective to prevent any last minute grabbing by the Venom (which I belatedly realise not only cannot score but also contains a non-scoring Elites unit...)
The Hive Guard unsurprisingly shred the Venom, although it doesn't explode and the Trygon fries three of the Trueborn with his electric pulse. The devourer and spawned gant broods open fire on the wyches, but their 4+ cover save for going to ground coupled with their 5+ FnP results in only 3 slain Eldar.
The spawned gants charge the remaining Wyches (We couldn't find any mention of a penalty for going to ground before being charged? It just says the unit 'fights as normal'? Not sure if that's correct.) Regardless 4 gants are slain and none of the Wyches, but the gants hold firm with a double 1. In the other combat nothing happens, at all.
•Dark Eldar
Archon Kkhac'ar was still smiling when his Shadowfield failed, the exotic device overloaded by the strain of the devastating hammer-blows of the Hive Tyrant. Still smiling as his pulped frame was crushed into the dirt of Magnus-VI. Hah, so, that is what pain felt like? Exhilerating...
The Farseer fails to cast Fortune but does not Perils in the attempt.
Both Ravagers swivel on the remaining Trygon as it (oh-so-stealthily) rampages through a building. The remaining Trueborn head to get range on the devourer gants.
The Trygon very nearly scores a 2x Screw You combo with it's cover saves; failing only 1 out of 4 from the ravagers. The Trueborn shred a few gants but it's too little, too late.
In combat the Farseer, without her re-rollable save, is finally dragged down and the Archon rolls the dreaded 1 on his now vulnerable Shadow Field and is isntantly slain by the Tyrant.
At this point my opponent concedes.
~End Game~
The final scores are:
Tyranids - 10 VP
-Primary Objective x3 (2VP, 2VP, 3VP)
-Secondary Objective x3
Dark Eldar - 0VP
I'm going to mention right here before I go any further that I got insanely lucky this game, this win was most assuredly not down to any tactical acumen. Getting off ~20 powers through Runes of Warding is completely rediculous, as is the Dark Eldars initial shooting phase bouncing off a single Trygon. I have no doubt that, under more reasonable circumstances, I would have lost against this list.
Still things to note;
The whole Harlequins with Fortune thing is hard as nails, until you get it into combat where it folds like paper and you're just left with the invincible Archon to deal with. If you can pick out the Shadowseer early though then you're in the clear.
Movement is sooo important, there were a few times here where, if I had moved 1 model just an inch in another direction I could have taken out key targets much quicker; make sure if possible that the closest enemy model is the one you want to kill.
Fliers are still lame, but the gunboat versions don't really get that many turns of shooting for the points they cost, so unless there are tonnes of them (*ahem* Guard, *ahem* Necrons) then they're easy enough to just ignore.
Alright then, so that's that. Pretty fun game and certainly not one I expected to win so that was nice.
Hope you enjoyed reading, do comment if you like.
Also very nice report, enjoy reading your Batreps.