Post by halos on Nov 23, 2012 23:58:09 GMT
Hey folks. Over the last two weeks I played games against both Chaos Daemons and Chaos Space Marines, so I figured I may as well combine the two into some sort of narrative battle report thing. Do feel free to skip anything in italics if you don't care for my lacklustre writing.
~~//~~
Calvis Prime was a world in peril, it's authorities were made well aware of the looming potential threat of invasion from splinters of a scattered Tyranid Hive Fleet passing through the sub-sector like a vast plague of locusts. The planet was hectic preparing evac points and defense strategems. All the preparation in the galaxy however cannot prepare one for that insidious enemy which lies in the heart of all thinking beings; the threat of Chaos.
On Calvis Prime, as on many imperial worlds, various cults and covens dedicating themselves to dark and terrifying gods existed, striving to bring forth naught but destruction for the Imperium. Mostly these cults peter out on their own, or are stamped down by the iron boots of Arbites or, perhaps worst of all, succeed in their goals only to find the daemonic creatures they worship so care little for the whims of man. Such was the case in this tale; the Brotherhood of Capra, the typical be-robed, dark-hooded examples of those chaotic cults which spring like fungi from the downtrod masses of the Imperium, had a psyker, a beta-class unknown to the records of the magisterium. A psyker they had reared from birth to serve as a gateway into the immaterium. And it was a gateway he became.
A vast psychic gibbering rocked around the planet as the tormented soul of the indoctrinated psyker was finally torn asunder, his body rent to match as scores of cavorting, mocking daemons burst forth into the dark undercity. It was a matter of only weeks before Calvis Prime was almost entirely enraptured by the sway of Chaos.
Such a large scale incursion did not go unnoticed by the outside world of course; the psychic signal reached even the sensory organs of Tyrannic Hive Ships staggering distances away, ships which slowly but inexorably began turning to point towards this new signal. Similarly, aboard his hook-prowed star ship, scarred by the heat of many battles, and many more years ploughing through the void the Grand High Executioner Kuldach Galipper felt his daemonic blade shiver in it's blooded sheath, it sensed a vast spilling of blood, and so did he. Barking abrupt commands to his ancient helmsman the Slaughterer of Aegis IV began to make his way to a new playground.
~~//~~
Army Lists:
-Chaos Daemons
•HQ
-Bloodthirster of Khorne
-Herald of Tzeentch (Disk of Tzeentch)
-Skulltaker, Herald of Khorne
•Elites
-6x Flamers of Tzeentch
•Troops
-10x Plaguebearers of Nurgle (Icon)
-5x Nurgling bases
-9x Bloodletters of Khorne (Icon)
-6x Horrors of Tzeentch (Icon, The Changeling)
•Fast Attack
-6x Screamers of Tzeentch
•Heavy Support
-Daemon Prince (Wings, Mark of Tzeentch)
-Tyranids
•HQ
-Hive Tyrant (2x TL Devourers, Old Adversary, Wings)
-Hive Tyrant (2x TL Devourers, Old Adversary, Wings)
•Elites
-3x Hive Guard
-3x Hive Guard
•Troops
-10x Termagants
-10x Termagants
-Tervigon (Crushing Claws, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands)
-Tervigon (Crushing Claws, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands)
•Fast Attack
-20x Gargoyles (Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands)
•Heavy Support
-2x Biovores
The first game is versus Chaos Daemons at 1850pts, deployment is the standard 12" from the edges and the mission features 3 mysterious objectives. Night Fighting is in effect for the first turn, although it doesn't really make that much difference seen as neither army has any particularly long range fire-power.
The Daemons win the roll off for first turn, although of course they deploy in their unusual fashion regardless. They also succeed in getting their preferred first wave consisting of the Plaguebearers, Nurglings, Bloodthirster and Horrors.
The Tyranids set up as shown below, fairly standard, spread out quite far to hopefully score some mishaps and stop the Flamershitting massacring anything vital.
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i1136.photobucket.com/albums/n498/Halos_Nach_Tariff/DvN/Deployment.png?t=1353680366 [/img]
Turn 1:[/u] Victory Points: Daemons 3 /Tyranids 3
•Daemons
Already reeling from the sudden daemonic incursion the suffering of the people of Calvis Prime is not yet complete as dark clouds visible across much of the nothern sky begin unleashing thousands of spores containing a multitude of claw-armed terrors upon an already cowering populace, the Tyranid menace had arrived. The remaining stable Daemonic forces, furious that their playtime with the man-things had been so prematurely interrupted turned upon the invaders with every ounce of unholy strength.
The Plaguebearers scatter onto the central objective, a Scatterfield Generator. (The lower right Tyranid-held objective is revealed to be a Grav-wave emitter.)
The Nurglings arrive exactly where they want to be, ready to tarpit for their tiny squishy lives.
The Horrors attempt to materialise close to the front Tyranid ranks so the Changeling can grab some action, or for an early game shot at Boon of Mutating a MC, regardless they overshoot and mishap in the Gargyoles. They squad is replaced out of harms way in the maps far corner.
Anxious to avoid the fate of the Horrors the Blood thirster attempts to appear far from th Tyranids, hoping to rely on it's wings to get in range later, however it too mishaps off the board edge and re-enters reserves.
The Daemons run to spread out or regain lost ground but nothing is in range to shoot.
•Tyranids:
The air boils and shimmers around the tyranid threat, half glimpsed things made of tooth and eyeball, but the warp-nulling effects of the synaptic web prevent a full materialisation and the xenos surge ever onwards.
The right hand Tervigon and blue Tyrant cast Iron Arm. The second Tervigon Endures the Gargoyles whilst the Green Tyrant Endures herself.
Everything which isn't guarding an objective shuffles forwards, both Flyrants leap into the air surrounded by a flapping swarm of Gargoyles.
The Flyrants open-fire on the Nurglings, causing 8 wounds. The Hive Guard and Biovores cannot draw LoS to the Nurglings but fortunately do not need to; The Biovores manage to kill the Icon Bearer whilst the Hive Guard kill a few more.
Turn 2:[/u] Victory Points: Daemons 3 /Tyranids 4
•Daemons:
With an audible disturbance reality itself is rent asunder and fiends from beyond the veil of the warp begin tearing through, drawn be the promise of violence and treachery on the battlefield. Collosal, flame-spewing monsters, cavorting, gibbering twists of shimmering flesh, rotting husks which might once have resembled living beasts, sights enough to drive even the strongest-willed to the brink of insanity. The cold un-blinking eyes of the tyranids however show no such concern, there only drive is that of hunger and these incandescent monstrosities are only getting in the way.
Everything barring the Flamers shows up to assist the Daemonic assault. With the Nurgle Icon slain, and the gargoyles forming a considerable risk of Mishap both Greater Daemons arrive within range of the Tzeentch Icon instead. The Bloodletters arrive safely behind the Plaguebearers.
In the shooting phase I learn the FMCs are allowed to run 2D6", something of which I had no idea. Both the large Daemons use this to move up towards the Tyranids weaker flank. The Screamers use their turbo-boost move to shoot into the center of the board. The Herald of Tzeentch leaves his squad and attempts to Bolt the nearer Flyrant, but is foxed by the creatures maneouverability through the twisted rubble.
The Nurglings and Plaguebearers attempt to charge the Gargoyles but both fail to make contact.
•Tyranids:
The mighty Bloodthirster slams bodily into the crumbling dome of an ecclisiarchy chapel, talons of burning bronze gripping tight to corroded girders. Bellowing it a ferocious roar it prepares to take flight once more.
The Blooodthirster and Daemon Prince are going to be hitting the Tyranid lines next turn, as are the (now AP2) Screamers. The green Tyrant moves to bring his Skyfire guns into position whilst the nearby Tervigon spawns a wall of gants, ready to bring their fire into the firey brute. The gargoyles move to deal with the Screamers; AP2 melee attacks are irrrelevant versus FnP. The second Tyrant hopes to claim First Blood from the Nurglings.
The Changeling attempts to lure the Gargoyles into firing upon their own, but thankfully they pass their LD roll. Silly Changeling, how can you trick a Tyranid? The Gargoyles then fire into the Screamers and, surprisingly, kill all but one. The Tyrant fails to knock the Bloodthirster down with it's skyfire shots but the gants are ready to step up to the plate, sending the Khornate daemon plummeting into the depths of the ruined church. The Hive Guard are then free to spear the desecrated interior with razor sharp spines, taking two wounds from the Greater Daemon. The Biovores lobbed projectiles arc toward the Bloodletters and slay three of them.
The Blue Tyrant wipes out the Nurglings and consolidates backwards, away from the Bloodletters. The Gargoyles attempt to multi-charge the Bloodletters and Screamer, but only manage to reach the Screamer, easily finishing it off before consolidating into the ruins.
Turn 3:[/u] Victory Points: Daemons 0 /Tyranids 8
•Daemons:
The Tyranids are firmly entrenched along their battle-line, any attempts to get near are stymied by ferocious counter-attacks from winged assault units. To the Daemons however this is not an issue, battle-lines and counter attacks are things required only by mortals who know fear and defeat. A crack in the air tears further as yet more foul un-things pour into the battle.
The Flamers show up, homing in on the Khornate Icon and setting themselves up to roast some Gargoyles. Meanwhile Skulltaker splits off to try instant-kill himself some Hive Tyrant. Both Greater Daemons jump forwards to crack open the gant shield.
The Flamers belch corrupting tongues of fire into the Gargoyles roosting in the shattered spars of the ruins. However I had quite deliberately spaced them out as far as possible, resulting in only 14 hits, followed by a perfectly average 7 wounds. As an added bonus now that you can get FnP versus Breath of Chaos only 3 Gargoyles are slain. Some of the Daemons Devourer shots (I forget the Daemon name, it's basically the exact same stats as a Devourer but AP4) from the non-Breathing Flamers and the closer Horrors kills a few more Gargoyles.
The Tzeentch Herald wounds the Flyrant with Bolt and then attempts to follow up with a Boon, but the Toughness past is (thankfully) passed. The Flyrant does fall to the ground though.
The Daemon Prince hits the Flyrant with Bolt and then a few gants and the Flyrant with Breath of Chaos, which apparently lets him then charge the gants? Daemons yo! The Flyrant is left at two wounds.
The Bloodthirster fails to kill a gant with his melta.
Skulltaker and the Plaguebearers attempt to charge the other Flyrant but both fall short.
The Bloodletters and Flamers slam into the remaining gargoyles (which in retrospect was illegal seen as the Flamers had only just arrived from reserves, but ah well, we both missed it.) Their combined weight is enough to kill ~Gargoyles. (FnP being allowed versus Power Weapons is sooo good you guys, sooo good.) Whilst the Gargoyles (striking before their foes as neither daemon has grenades) slay three Bloodletters and two Flamers.
Both MCs rush into the Gant screen, eagerly flailing about, although apparently flailing at like a foot too high as only around half the gants are slain. The swarming gants manage to knock a wound of the Daemon Prince in return.
•Tyranids:
Grand High Executioner Kuldach Galipper stared curiously into the pict display, he had never seen a Daemon assault stop so suddenly like this, not unless they had found a new plaything anyway. But here it almost looked as if they were being, pushed back, all across the planet. Perhaps these Tyranids would prove good sport after all, he just prayed there would be some left for himself and his men once the Daemons were through with them.
The green Tervigon fails to get up Iron Arm (else I would have maybe thrown her in against the Daemon Prince.) The wounded Tyrant can't risk going up against the Daemon tag team either lest I lose the Warlord point so she contents herself with hunting the Tzeentch Herald instead. The green Tervigon spawns more gants to keep the Daemons locked in place. Meanwhile the blue Tyrant flies right on past Skulltaker, not liking the look of his instant-death axe. Gants move up to deal with him as well.
The blue Hive Guard manage to kill the Disc Herald on their own, freeing up the Flyrant and Biovores to blast into the Horrors instead, leaving only the Changeling and a single Horror left alive.
On the left flank the combined fire-power of the Hive Guard and Tervigon prove ample in putting Skulltaker into the dirt. The gants fire into the Plaguebearers instead.
The gants rush into the remaining Plaguebearers killing all but two. On the right, the colossal Daemons, managing to put down the Bloodthirster against the odds (and scoring the Warlord VP) another wound is also knocked from the Daemon Prince. The blue Flyrant launches herself heavily into the rear of the embattled Bloodletters. Although only one of them is slain.
Turn 4:[/u] Victory Points: Daemons 0 /Tyranids 5
•Endgame:
One by one the Daemons ebbed petulantly back to the warp, their fun spoiled, instead of emerging into an unprepared world ripe for plucking and shaping to their own corrupting image they had found themselves worn down by a battle-ready foe far more dangerous than anticipated. Still, no matter, there will be more millennia in which to savage the material plane.
Combining the last two turns into one as not much really needs explaining.
The Changeling and Daemon Prince both attempt to Boon the Flyrant but both fail, although a Bolt does knock it down to a single remaining wound.
The Flyrants both assist the Gargoyles in clearing out the Daemons from the central ruin.
The Tervigon, out of gants to spawn, abandons her objective and Iron Arms her way to victory over the Daemon Prince.
After that the game is called, a resounding Tyrannic Victory.
~~//~~
The ancient ceramite boots of Kuldach Galipper's bespoke armour crunch heavily into the dirt as he steps from the landing shuttle. Around him more landers and drop-ships dump equipment and warriors across the drop-field. A thousand of his warriors, each braying and eager for the blood of the enemy surround him. He marks the armour of each one with a nick of his axe Ders'kittar, the Thirsty One, so that all may know who fought along side him in this battle.
A call from across the track beaten by a thousand marching feet, one of his lieutenants approaches, dragging some dirty thing, wrapped in soiled rags.
It is a man, a man unkempt and malnourished, clad in the tattered regalia of a PDF commander. An eye-watering sigil which pleases Kuldach greatly is scarred deep upon his forehead. 'My liege,' mutters the man through split lips, pressing them lightly against the armoured toe-cap of the Great Executioner, 'let us serve you, we thought the Daemons could save us, but they were weak, not you though, my lord, you are strong, strong enough.'
'Hmpph,' rumbled Kuldach, a deep bass voice, dripping with malice, 'true enough, you'll never get the help you want from Daemons, thricedamned incompetents. Come then, have you truly embraced the Blood God then we shall rid this planet of the Xenos until the soils stain black with ichor.' Besides, if naught else the Forgefiends will hunger after such a long journey, better to use these fools than his own retinue.
~~//~~
Army Lists:
-Chaos Space Marines
•HQ
-Chaos Lord (Mark of Khorne, Axe of Blind Fury, Gift of Mutation)
-Daemon Prince (Mark of Nurgle, Black Mace ,Wings, Lv2 Psyker, Power Armour)
•Troops
-9x Khornate Beserkers (Champion [Power Fist, Gift of Mutation])
-Rhino
-20x Cultists (Champion [Gift of Mutation], various ranged weapons)
•Fast Attack
-10x Raptors (Mark of Khorne, Plasma Pistol, Meltagun Champion [Power Sword, Plasma Pistol, Gift of Mutation])
•Heavy Support
-3x Obliterator Cultists (Mark of Nurgle)
-Forgefiend (2x Hades Autocannons, Ectoplasma Cannon)
-Forgefiend (2x Hades Autocannons, Ectoplasma Cannon)
-Tyranids
•HQ
-Hive Tyrant (2x TL Devourers, Old Adversary, Wings)
-Hive Tyrant (2x TL Devourers, Old Adversary, Wings)
•Elites
-2x Hive Guard
-2x Hive Guard
•Troops
-10x Termagants
-10x Termagants
-Tervigon (Crushing Claws, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands)
-Tervigon (Crushing Claws, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands)
•Fast Attack
-20x Gargoyles (Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands)
•Heavy Support
-2x Biovores
The second part of this chaos invasion was versus Chaos Space Marines at 1750pts, obviously a new codex for which my opponent is trying a variety of lists, and we're both learning the vagaries of the new rules.
The Chaos Marines win the roll off for first turn. Mission is Big Guns Never Tire with 3 objectives, deployment is standard 12" lanes and Night Fighting is not in effect for the first turn.
The Daemon Prince rolls the third Nurgle power and takes Psychic Shriek in addition. The Lord joins the Bezerkers in the Rhino. The various champions roll on the Chaos table, although the only relevant result is the Lord gaining the ability to re-roll failed armour saves. The Forefiends and oblits are scoring for this mission, giving the Chaos a plethora of resilient scoring units to reply upon.
The Tyranids split forces, with a smaller contingent on the right flank hoping to sweep up and ruin the Chaos forces in that area. Psychic powers rolled are not ideal. A single Iron Arm on the Warlord Tyrant (Green), a single Endurance on the central Tervigon and an Enfeeble on the second Terv.
Turn 1:[/u] Victory Points: Chaos Marines 6 /Tyranids 4
•Chaos Marines:
High Executioner Kuldach Galipper believed in the strength of men, he worshipped the Bloodied God of course and, had he the inclination, he could summon a host of daemons so plentiful as to scour even the Tyranids from this world, but where was the glory in that? Where the honor? No the Daemons had failed, his captive Daemon Prince would have one last chance to redeem it's kind, if that where to fail, well then, the glory would rest on the shoulders of man once again.
The far right objective proves to be nothing of value, the remaining two are revealed to by Skyfire Nodes. Bad news for the Flyrants.
The Daemon Prince wings out into the central plaza.
The Oblits clamber up onto a balcony around the objective whilst the cultists scurry into cover beneath them.
The Rhino revs forwards, smoke cover streaming from the gaping gargoyle faces carved into it's ceramite shell.
The Raptors activats ancient turbines and launch screaming into the air, slamming down in the cover of a crumbling wall section.
Both Forgefiends smash through ruins to draw range on the encroaching Tyranids.
The Daemon Prince finds itself just short of Psychic Shrieking the Gargoyles, guess my opponent forgot to pre-measure.
The Obliterators lance boiling plasma shots into the Gargoyles, one overheats but saves any damage. The Gargoyles cling camoflaged to the ruins and escape unharmed.
The right hand Forgefiend unleashes a barrage of shots into the Flyrant but fails to pierce it's carapace.
On the left the Forgefiend slays a few gants.
•Tyranids:
The Daemon Prince now known only as Spinetearer was once a proud warrior of the Imperium, but as is oft the case the siren-song of Chaos proved too great a temptation and he was reborn as this beast of flame and fury, clad in brass-shod armour with a mace of burning fury. Wings of shadow and smoke unfurled he stalks the skies above the battlefield only to suddenly find himself surrounded by a leather-winged horde of swarming Gargoyles. Swinging futilely at the nimble beasts he roars his discontent. As fast as it had collated the swarm disperses and the Daemon finds himself face to face with a hive co-ordinator. The Tyrant and the Daemon clash in the air, a formidable display of maneouverability and strength. It is not long before a tattered, wingéd corpse slams weightily into the hard earth...
The Black Mace is a terrifying weapon, easily capable of levelling a horde, as such the Daemon Prince is a priority target. The Gargoyles fly out to mob him in combat (assuming they can kill him they can dodge the effects of the Mace) so long as he falls to the ground first.
The Tyrant moves to fire into either the Forgefiend or Daemon as the situation necessitates.
Both Hive Guard squads head up to get the Forgefiends in range.
The second Flyrant Warp Speeds and moves out to engage the Raptors in their trench line.
One of the Biovores also jumps up to a balcony level to draw LoS to the nicely clumped Raptors.
The Tervigon with Skyfire and the gargoyles fail to down the Daemon Prince, although they do knock it down to half wounds. This forces the Tyrant to add her fire-power, outright slaying the Daemon, regretably leaving the Gargoyles stranded in the open, at least they have Endurance if nothing else.
Both Hive Guard manage to remove a Hull Point from there targets, but fail to cause any real damage.
The Biovores take the Meltagun and another few squad members out of the Raptor squads.
The blue Tyrant slams into the Raptors, the Warp Speed fleet re-roll proving invaluable. She is forced to accept the Champions challenge and loses two(!) wounds from his power sword. She crushes him contemptuously in return.
Turn 2:[/u] Victory Points: Chaos Marines 7 /Tyranids 5
•Chaos Marines:
As expected the Daemon had proved worthy as nothing but a distraction, still a distraction which had drawn the Tyranids out into the open. Kuldach bellowed a deafening roar as he and his brethren of Beserkers charged out of their transport, their heavy armoured frames rapidly gaining momentum as they rushed towards the exposed Gargoyles. One of the winged pests attempts to snap at the fluked helm of the Chaos Lord, he grabs the creature from the sky and crushes it's fragile skull between armoured fingers. Nothing but chaff. Still, his axe screams out for death, and he is more than happy to oblige.
The Beserkers disembark and move toward the Gargoyles.
The Obliterators shuffle sideways to draw LoS to the Flyrant.
The left Forgefiend moves backwards in case the Flyrant isn't slain.
The Cultists and Beserkers fire haphazardly into the Gargoyles, the fluttering bodies difficult to lead accurately but regardless a few of the flapping monsters fall ruptured from the air.
The Obliterators sync themselves with the Skyfire Node and lance beams of Las fire into the Flyrant, wings burning, fragile membranes and bones torn and rent the beast crash lands a tangled mess of wing spindles, desperately clawing itself back into a standing position only to find itself looking down the cycling barrels of a Forgefiend, the Daemonic Forge fires into overdrive and the Tyrant is blasted apart even as it charges towards the Daemon Engine.
The second Forgefiend fires into the Tervigon and causes a wound.
The Beserkers slam into the Gargoyles where the Lords Daemon Weapon proves more than capable of tearing the flying gants apart. Those remaining Gargoyles manage to slay 4 Beserkers before being crushed utterly.
The Flyrant, dripping reamins of the Champion still clutched in it's talons, luckily slays all 5 Raptors before they get a chance to retaliate.
Both Forgefiends regain their lost Hull Points via IWND.
•Tyranids:
The High Executioner stands waist high in the shattered corpses of the Gargoyles, his Daemonic axe pulsing gently with blood-lust. An ample warm-up. He spears an outstretched gauntlet at the colossal, bloated monster lurking in the ruins. 'I would spill the blood of that!' He bellowed. The Tervigon roars back, but makes no effort to move. Instead it's exposed hiber-sacs begin to shift and gurgle as the gants held within are subjected to a stimulating cocktail of hormones and chemicals. The freshly battle-ready gants spill out onto the earth, heading to engage the gore-slicked, red-armoured warriors.
The remaining Hive Tyrant is endured in the vague hopes that it will be able to survive the next turn with FnP. The green Tervigon spawns more gants, but runs out in the process.
On the right the Flyrant glides across the board towards the Forgefiend, hoping to take it out before it can react.
The centre field gants head out to head off the Beserkers before they can do any real damage.
The Hive Guard on the left, finding themselves outside of the synaptic web by the death of the Tyrant manage to remember their previous task long enough to spear iron-hard shafts of barbed chitin into the still exposed central forge of the siege engine. The chained Daemon within cannot withstand such forces and retreats to the Immaterium leaving the Forgefiend an empty, immobile shell.
On the right the second Forgefiend suffers heavily under the fire of the Hive Guard and Flyrant but manages to remain functional even whilst losing two hull points.
The Biovores launch arching projectiles into the clumped terrified cultists, who had thought themselves safe far from the action. Their commander is slain outright along with near half their company and the rabble begin to flee in confusion.
The Tervigon and gants fire into the Beserkers, slaying 4 including the Champion.
The gants rapidly press this advantage by charging into the Beserkers. At first it seems that this gambit has paid off as the Khornate warriors are buried beneath a rushing tide of teeth and claws, but with a ferocious roar the Chaos Lord rears up, throwing gants aside and splitting other with great sweeps of his axe. All of the Beserkers are slain (good old Poison/FC) but 7 gants are slain in return.
Turn 3:[/u] Victory Points: Chaos Marines 4 /Tyranids 6
•Chaos Marines;
Kuldach glares across at the fleeing cultists, the ruined husk of the Forgefiend, the toxic spittle foaming from the lips of his own chosen Beserkers. Cowards. Cowards and weaklings the lot of them, unable to cling to even life itself, the most basic of gifts in this harsh galaxy. Such fools do not deserve life then. He would demonstrate that the only way to live is to fight, his whirling axe ploughing a circle of respite amidst the sea of gants.
The remaining Forgefiend pivots on the Hive Tyrant, forced to Snapfire but with 8 S8 shots it should prove ample.
The Cultists cannot hold their bottle and flee from the board.
The Obliterators fire explosive plasma bolts into the Tervigon, but the spearing energy is thrown wide by the ferrous metal ruins of the concealing hab structure and only a single wound is caused.
The Forgefiend rattles violently as it belches streams of ammunition into the air, the wounded Tyrant is clipped but manages to keep it's momentum in the air, the concussive shock through it's carapace shaking the beast but not wounding it severely.
The Chaos Lord continues to chew through gants and his re-rollable 3+ save keeps him safe from harm.
•Tyranids:
His warriors scattered or destroyed, his battle lines in disarray, planning and strategy is folly before the crushing wave of living flesh which are the Tyranids. But to fight beasts such as this one must think as a beast yourself. Growling a feral cry the Executioner abandons all attempts of subtlety of finesse, lashing out with furious, devastating strikes, only to find his attacks somehow, weaker, than before. The squat colossus nearby, it's eyes burning with psychic energy fixes him with curious eyes, sapping his strength so her progeny can finish the job. Such cowardice.
One Tervigon Endures the larger gant brood whilst the other Enfeebles the Chaos Lord. This puts his Axe at S5, allowing FnP to be taken, and allows for poison-based re-rolls from the gants.
The Flyrant nips behind the Forgefiend to finish it off.
The Tervigon spawns some gants to continue harrying the Chaos Lord whilst simultaneously heading up towards the upper right objective.
The Forgefiend is destroyed by Hive Guard.
The Hive Tyrant attempts to hit the Rhino but is foiled by it's cover save.
The Biovores and Hive Guard fail to damage the Obliterators.
In combat the Chaos Lord rolls a 1 for his Daemon Weapon, and after some confusion with which Daemon Weapon rules are current the combat concludes with the Lord still at max wounds and far fewer gants.
Endgame:[/u] Victory Points: Chaos Marines 4 /Tyranids 9
Bringing turns 4 and 5 together as they're pretty similar.
The Obliterators finish off the last Flyrant.
The Lord is eventually finished off by gants on turn 5 after too many wounds for even a re-rollable 3+ save to deflect.
The Tervigon finally runs dry with a roll of 16 gants, might as well finish big I suppose.
The Biovores finally miss, but I didn't have any Spore Mines, ah well.
My opponent concedes with the death of his Lord, with the Tyranids controlling two of the three objectives and only the Obliterators remaining of the Chaos forces.
~~//~~
So that's that, two fun games against fun opponents.
I would definantly not like to face a list with more Flamers/Screamers; those things are unpleasant and I am positive I could not deal with even two squads of each.
The Chaos Marine book is pretty fun, somewhat disappointed I didn't get to demonstrate the danger of the Black Mace, but no way I was letting that thing smack my Gargs around regardless of what would make a better report.
So, yeah, I guess that's it for now. Comments and criticisms are welcome as ever. Anything you'd like to see in a report?/Rules we might have gotten wrong? Throw it down for me to read.
Thanks for reading!
~~//~~
Calvis Prime was a world in peril, it's authorities were made well aware of the looming potential threat of invasion from splinters of a scattered Tyranid Hive Fleet passing through the sub-sector like a vast plague of locusts. The planet was hectic preparing evac points and defense strategems. All the preparation in the galaxy however cannot prepare one for that insidious enemy which lies in the heart of all thinking beings; the threat of Chaos.
On Calvis Prime, as on many imperial worlds, various cults and covens dedicating themselves to dark and terrifying gods existed, striving to bring forth naught but destruction for the Imperium. Mostly these cults peter out on their own, or are stamped down by the iron boots of Arbites or, perhaps worst of all, succeed in their goals only to find the daemonic creatures they worship so care little for the whims of man. Such was the case in this tale; the Brotherhood of Capra, the typical be-robed, dark-hooded examples of those chaotic cults which spring like fungi from the downtrod masses of the Imperium, had a psyker, a beta-class unknown to the records of the magisterium. A psyker they had reared from birth to serve as a gateway into the immaterium. And it was a gateway he became.
A vast psychic gibbering rocked around the planet as the tormented soul of the indoctrinated psyker was finally torn asunder, his body rent to match as scores of cavorting, mocking daemons burst forth into the dark undercity. It was a matter of only weeks before Calvis Prime was almost entirely enraptured by the sway of Chaos.
Such a large scale incursion did not go unnoticed by the outside world of course; the psychic signal reached even the sensory organs of Tyrannic Hive Ships staggering distances away, ships which slowly but inexorably began turning to point towards this new signal. Similarly, aboard his hook-prowed star ship, scarred by the heat of many battles, and many more years ploughing through the void the Grand High Executioner Kuldach Galipper felt his daemonic blade shiver in it's blooded sheath, it sensed a vast spilling of blood, and so did he. Barking abrupt commands to his ancient helmsman the Slaughterer of Aegis IV began to make his way to a new playground.
~~//~~
Army Lists:
-Chaos Daemons
•HQ
-Bloodthirster of Khorne
-Herald of Tzeentch (Disk of Tzeentch)
-Skulltaker, Herald of Khorne
•Elites
-6x Flamers of Tzeentch
•Troops
-10x Plaguebearers of Nurgle (Icon)
-5x Nurgling bases
-9x Bloodletters of Khorne (Icon)
-6x Horrors of Tzeentch (Icon, The Changeling)
•Fast Attack
-6x Screamers of Tzeentch
•Heavy Support
-Daemon Prince (Wings, Mark of Tzeentch)
-Tyranids
•HQ
-Hive Tyrant (2x TL Devourers, Old Adversary, Wings)
-Hive Tyrant (2x TL Devourers, Old Adversary, Wings)
•Elites
-3x Hive Guard
-3x Hive Guard
•Troops
-10x Termagants
-10x Termagants
-Tervigon (Crushing Claws, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands)
-Tervigon (Crushing Claws, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands)
•Fast Attack
-20x Gargoyles (Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands)
•Heavy Support
-2x Biovores
The first game is versus Chaos Daemons at 1850pts, deployment is the standard 12" from the edges and the mission features 3 mysterious objectives. Night Fighting is in effect for the first turn, although it doesn't really make that much difference seen as neither army has any particularly long range fire-power.
The Daemons win the roll off for first turn, although of course they deploy in their unusual fashion regardless. They also succeed in getting their preferred first wave consisting of the Plaguebearers, Nurglings, Bloodthirster and Horrors.
The Tyranids set up as shown below, fairly standard, spread out quite far to hopefully score some mishaps and stop the Flamers
Turn 1:[/u] Victory Points: Daemons 3 /Tyranids 3
•Daemons
Already reeling from the sudden daemonic incursion the suffering of the people of Calvis Prime is not yet complete as dark clouds visible across much of the nothern sky begin unleashing thousands of spores containing a multitude of claw-armed terrors upon an already cowering populace, the Tyranid menace had arrived. The remaining stable Daemonic forces, furious that their playtime with the man-things had been so prematurely interrupted turned upon the invaders with every ounce of unholy strength.
The Plaguebearers scatter onto the central objective, a Scatterfield Generator. (The lower right Tyranid-held objective is revealed to be a Grav-wave emitter.)
The Nurglings arrive exactly where they want to be, ready to tarpit for their tiny squishy lives.
The Horrors attempt to materialise close to the front Tyranid ranks so the Changeling can grab some action, or for an early game shot at Boon of Mutating a MC, regardless they overshoot and mishap in the Gargyoles. They squad is replaced out of harms way in the maps far corner.
Anxious to avoid the fate of the Horrors the Blood thirster attempts to appear far from th Tyranids, hoping to rely on it's wings to get in range later, however it too mishaps off the board edge and re-enters reserves.
The Daemons run to spread out or regain lost ground but nothing is in range to shoot.
•Tyranids:
The air boils and shimmers around the tyranid threat, half glimpsed things made of tooth and eyeball, but the warp-nulling effects of the synaptic web prevent a full materialisation and the xenos surge ever onwards.
The right hand Tervigon and blue Tyrant cast Iron Arm. The second Tervigon Endures the Gargoyles whilst the Green Tyrant Endures herself.
Everything which isn't guarding an objective shuffles forwards, both Flyrants leap into the air surrounded by a flapping swarm of Gargoyles.
The Flyrants open-fire on the Nurglings, causing 8 wounds. The Hive Guard and Biovores cannot draw LoS to the Nurglings but fortunately do not need to; The Biovores manage to kill the Icon Bearer whilst the Hive Guard kill a few more.
Turn 2:[/u] Victory Points: Daemons 3 /Tyranids 4
•Daemons:
With an audible disturbance reality itself is rent asunder and fiends from beyond the veil of the warp begin tearing through, drawn be the promise of violence and treachery on the battlefield. Collosal, flame-spewing monsters, cavorting, gibbering twists of shimmering flesh, rotting husks which might once have resembled living beasts, sights enough to drive even the strongest-willed to the brink of insanity. The cold un-blinking eyes of the tyranids however show no such concern, there only drive is that of hunger and these incandescent monstrosities are only getting in the way.
Everything barring the Flamers shows up to assist the Daemonic assault. With the Nurgle Icon slain, and the gargoyles forming a considerable risk of Mishap both Greater Daemons arrive within range of the Tzeentch Icon instead. The Bloodletters arrive safely behind the Plaguebearers.
In the shooting phase I learn the FMCs are allowed to run 2D6", something of which I had no idea. Both the large Daemons use this to move up towards the Tyranids weaker flank. The Screamers use their turbo-boost move to shoot into the center of the board. The Herald of Tzeentch leaves his squad and attempts to Bolt the nearer Flyrant, but is foxed by the creatures maneouverability through the twisted rubble.
The Nurglings and Plaguebearers attempt to charge the Gargoyles but both fail to make contact.
•Tyranids:
The mighty Bloodthirster slams bodily into the crumbling dome of an ecclisiarchy chapel, talons of burning bronze gripping tight to corroded girders. Bellowing it a ferocious roar it prepares to take flight once more.
The Blooodthirster and Daemon Prince are going to be hitting the Tyranid lines next turn, as are the (now AP2) Screamers. The green Tyrant moves to bring his Skyfire guns into position whilst the nearby Tervigon spawns a wall of gants, ready to bring their fire into the firey brute. The gargoyles move to deal with the Screamers; AP2 melee attacks are irrrelevant versus FnP. The second Tyrant hopes to claim First Blood from the Nurglings.
The Changeling attempts to lure the Gargoyles into firing upon their own, but thankfully they pass their LD roll. Silly Changeling, how can you trick a Tyranid? The Gargoyles then fire into the Screamers and, surprisingly, kill all but one. The Tyrant fails to knock the Bloodthirster down with it's skyfire shots but the gants are ready to step up to the plate, sending the Khornate daemon plummeting into the depths of the ruined church. The Hive Guard are then free to spear the desecrated interior with razor sharp spines, taking two wounds from the Greater Daemon. The Biovores lobbed projectiles arc toward the Bloodletters and slay three of them.
The Blue Tyrant wipes out the Nurglings and consolidates backwards, away from the Bloodletters. The Gargoyles attempt to multi-charge the Bloodletters and Screamer, but only manage to reach the Screamer, easily finishing it off before consolidating into the ruins.
Turn 3:[/u] Victory Points: Daemons 0 /Tyranids 8
•Daemons:
The Tyranids are firmly entrenched along their battle-line, any attempts to get near are stymied by ferocious counter-attacks from winged assault units. To the Daemons however this is not an issue, battle-lines and counter attacks are things required only by mortals who know fear and defeat. A crack in the air tears further as yet more foul un-things pour into the battle.
The Flamers show up, homing in on the Khornate Icon and setting themselves up to roast some Gargoyles. Meanwhile Skulltaker splits off to try instant-kill himself some Hive Tyrant. Both Greater Daemons jump forwards to crack open the gant shield.
The Flamers belch corrupting tongues of fire into the Gargoyles roosting in the shattered spars of the ruins. However I had quite deliberately spaced them out as far as possible, resulting in only 14 hits, followed by a perfectly average 7 wounds. As an added bonus now that you can get FnP versus Breath of Chaos only 3 Gargoyles are slain. Some of the Daemons Devourer shots (I forget the Daemon name, it's basically the exact same stats as a Devourer but AP4) from the non-Breathing Flamers and the closer Horrors kills a few more Gargoyles.
The Tzeentch Herald wounds the Flyrant with Bolt and then attempts to follow up with a Boon, but the Toughness past is (thankfully) passed. The Flyrant does fall to the ground though.
The Daemon Prince hits the Flyrant with Bolt and then a few gants and the Flyrant with Breath of Chaos, which apparently lets him then charge the gants? Daemons yo! The Flyrant is left at two wounds.
The Bloodthirster fails to kill a gant with his melta.
Skulltaker and the Plaguebearers attempt to charge the other Flyrant but both fall short.
The Bloodletters and Flamers slam into the remaining gargoyles (which in retrospect was illegal seen as the Flamers had only just arrived from reserves, but ah well, we both missed it.) Their combined weight is enough to kill ~Gargoyles. (FnP being allowed versus Power Weapons is sooo good you guys, sooo good.) Whilst the Gargoyles (striking before their foes as neither daemon has grenades) slay three Bloodletters and two Flamers.
Both MCs rush into the Gant screen, eagerly flailing about, although apparently flailing at like a foot too high as only around half the gants are slain. The swarming gants manage to knock a wound of the Daemon Prince in return.
•Tyranids:
Grand High Executioner Kuldach Galipper stared curiously into the pict display, he had never seen a Daemon assault stop so suddenly like this, not unless they had found a new plaything anyway. But here it almost looked as if they were being, pushed back, all across the planet. Perhaps these Tyranids would prove good sport after all, he just prayed there would be some left for himself and his men once the Daemons were through with them.
The green Tervigon fails to get up Iron Arm (else I would have maybe thrown her in against the Daemon Prince.) The wounded Tyrant can't risk going up against the Daemon tag team either lest I lose the Warlord point so she contents herself with hunting the Tzeentch Herald instead. The green Tervigon spawns more gants to keep the Daemons locked in place. Meanwhile the blue Tyrant flies right on past Skulltaker, not liking the look of his instant-death axe. Gants move up to deal with him as well.
The blue Hive Guard manage to kill the Disc Herald on their own, freeing up the Flyrant and Biovores to blast into the Horrors instead, leaving only the Changeling and a single Horror left alive.
On the left flank the combined fire-power of the Hive Guard and Tervigon prove ample in putting Skulltaker into the dirt. The gants fire into the Plaguebearers instead.
The gants rush into the remaining Plaguebearers killing all but two. On the right, the colossal Daemons, managing to put down the Bloodthirster against the odds (and scoring the Warlord VP) another wound is also knocked from the Daemon Prince. The blue Flyrant launches herself heavily into the rear of the embattled Bloodletters. Although only one of them is slain.
Turn 4:[/u] Victory Points: Daemons 0 /Tyranids 5
•Endgame:
One by one the Daemons ebbed petulantly back to the warp, their fun spoiled, instead of emerging into an unprepared world ripe for plucking and shaping to their own corrupting image they had found themselves worn down by a battle-ready foe far more dangerous than anticipated. Still, no matter, there will be more millennia in which to savage the material plane.
Combining the last two turns into one as not much really needs explaining.
The Changeling and Daemon Prince both attempt to Boon the Flyrant but both fail, although a Bolt does knock it down to a single remaining wound.
The Flyrants both assist the Gargoyles in clearing out the Daemons from the central ruin.
The Tervigon, out of gants to spawn, abandons her objective and Iron Arms her way to victory over the Daemon Prince.
After that the game is called, a resounding Tyrannic Victory.
~~//~~
The ancient ceramite boots of Kuldach Galipper's bespoke armour crunch heavily into the dirt as he steps from the landing shuttle. Around him more landers and drop-ships dump equipment and warriors across the drop-field. A thousand of his warriors, each braying and eager for the blood of the enemy surround him. He marks the armour of each one with a nick of his axe Ders'kittar, the Thirsty One, so that all may know who fought along side him in this battle.
A call from across the track beaten by a thousand marching feet, one of his lieutenants approaches, dragging some dirty thing, wrapped in soiled rags.
It is a man, a man unkempt and malnourished, clad in the tattered regalia of a PDF commander. An eye-watering sigil which pleases Kuldach greatly is scarred deep upon his forehead. 'My liege,' mutters the man through split lips, pressing them lightly against the armoured toe-cap of the Great Executioner, 'let us serve you, we thought the Daemons could save us, but they were weak, not you though, my lord, you are strong, strong enough.'
'Hmpph,' rumbled Kuldach, a deep bass voice, dripping with malice, 'true enough, you'll never get the help you want from Daemons, thricedamned incompetents. Come then, have you truly embraced the Blood God then we shall rid this planet of the Xenos until the soils stain black with ichor.' Besides, if naught else the Forgefiends will hunger after such a long journey, better to use these fools than his own retinue.
~~//~~
Army Lists:
-Chaos Space Marines
•HQ
-Chaos Lord (Mark of Khorne, Axe of Blind Fury, Gift of Mutation)
-Daemon Prince (Mark of Nurgle, Black Mace ,Wings, Lv2 Psyker, Power Armour)
•Troops
-9x Khornate Beserkers (Champion [Power Fist, Gift of Mutation])
-Rhino
-20x Cultists (Champion [Gift of Mutation], various ranged weapons)
•Fast Attack
-10x Raptors (Mark of Khorne, Plasma Pistol, Meltagun Champion [Power Sword, Plasma Pistol, Gift of Mutation])
•Heavy Support
-3x Obliterator Cultists (Mark of Nurgle)
-Forgefiend (2x Hades Autocannons, Ectoplasma Cannon)
-Forgefiend (2x Hades Autocannons, Ectoplasma Cannon)
-Tyranids
•HQ
-Hive Tyrant (2x TL Devourers, Old Adversary, Wings)
-Hive Tyrant (2x TL Devourers, Old Adversary, Wings)
•Elites
-2x Hive Guard
-2x Hive Guard
•Troops
-10x Termagants
-10x Termagants
-Tervigon (Crushing Claws, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands)
-Tervigon (Crushing Claws, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands)
•Fast Attack
-20x Gargoyles (Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands)
•Heavy Support
-2x Biovores
The second part of this chaos invasion was versus Chaos Space Marines at 1750pts, obviously a new codex for which my opponent is trying a variety of lists, and we're both learning the vagaries of the new rules.
The Chaos Marines win the roll off for first turn. Mission is Big Guns Never Tire with 3 objectives, deployment is standard 12" lanes and Night Fighting is not in effect for the first turn.
The Daemon Prince rolls the third Nurgle power and takes Psychic Shriek in addition. The Lord joins the Bezerkers in the Rhino. The various champions roll on the Chaos table, although the only relevant result is the Lord gaining the ability to re-roll failed armour saves. The Forefiends and oblits are scoring for this mission, giving the Chaos a plethora of resilient scoring units to reply upon.
The Tyranids split forces, with a smaller contingent on the right flank hoping to sweep up and ruin the Chaos forces in that area. Psychic powers rolled are not ideal. A single Iron Arm on the Warlord Tyrant (Green), a single Endurance on the central Tervigon and an Enfeeble on the second Terv.
Turn 1:[/u] Victory Points: Chaos Marines 6 /Tyranids 4
•Chaos Marines:
High Executioner Kuldach Galipper believed in the strength of men, he worshipped the Bloodied God of course and, had he the inclination, he could summon a host of daemons so plentiful as to scour even the Tyranids from this world, but where was the glory in that? Where the honor? No the Daemons had failed, his captive Daemon Prince would have one last chance to redeem it's kind, if that where to fail, well then, the glory would rest on the shoulders of man once again.
The far right objective proves to be nothing of value, the remaining two are revealed to by Skyfire Nodes. Bad news for the Flyrants.
The Daemon Prince wings out into the central plaza.
The Oblits clamber up onto a balcony around the objective whilst the cultists scurry into cover beneath them.
The Rhino revs forwards, smoke cover streaming from the gaping gargoyle faces carved into it's ceramite shell.
The Raptors activats ancient turbines and launch screaming into the air, slamming down in the cover of a crumbling wall section.
Both Forgefiends smash through ruins to draw range on the encroaching Tyranids.
The Daemon Prince finds itself just short of Psychic Shrieking the Gargoyles, guess my opponent forgot to pre-measure.
The Obliterators lance boiling plasma shots into the Gargoyles, one overheats but saves any damage. The Gargoyles cling camoflaged to the ruins and escape unharmed.
The right hand Forgefiend unleashes a barrage of shots into the Flyrant but fails to pierce it's carapace.
On the left the Forgefiend slays a few gants.
•Tyranids:
The Daemon Prince now known only as Spinetearer was once a proud warrior of the Imperium, but as is oft the case the siren-song of Chaos proved too great a temptation and he was reborn as this beast of flame and fury, clad in brass-shod armour with a mace of burning fury. Wings of shadow and smoke unfurled he stalks the skies above the battlefield only to suddenly find himself surrounded by a leather-winged horde of swarming Gargoyles. Swinging futilely at the nimble beasts he roars his discontent. As fast as it had collated the swarm disperses and the Daemon finds himself face to face with a hive co-ordinator. The Tyrant and the Daemon clash in the air, a formidable display of maneouverability and strength. It is not long before a tattered, wingéd corpse slams weightily into the hard earth...
The Black Mace is a terrifying weapon, easily capable of levelling a horde, as such the Daemon Prince is a priority target. The Gargoyles fly out to mob him in combat (assuming they can kill him they can dodge the effects of the Mace) so long as he falls to the ground first.
The Tyrant moves to fire into either the Forgefiend or Daemon as the situation necessitates.
Both Hive Guard squads head up to get the Forgefiends in range.
The second Flyrant Warp Speeds and moves out to engage the Raptors in their trench line.
One of the Biovores also jumps up to a balcony level to draw LoS to the nicely clumped Raptors.
The Tervigon with Skyfire and the gargoyles fail to down the Daemon Prince, although they do knock it down to half wounds. This forces the Tyrant to add her fire-power, outright slaying the Daemon, regretably leaving the Gargoyles stranded in the open, at least they have Endurance if nothing else.
Both Hive Guard manage to remove a Hull Point from there targets, but fail to cause any real damage.
The Biovores take the Meltagun and another few squad members out of the Raptor squads.
The blue Tyrant slams into the Raptors, the Warp Speed fleet re-roll proving invaluable. She is forced to accept the Champions challenge and loses two(!) wounds from his power sword. She crushes him contemptuously in return.
Turn 2:[/u] Victory Points: Chaos Marines 7 /Tyranids 5
•Chaos Marines:
As expected the Daemon had proved worthy as nothing but a distraction, still a distraction which had drawn the Tyranids out into the open. Kuldach bellowed a deafening roar as he and his brethren of Beserkers charged out of their transport, their heavy armoured frames rapidly gaining momentum as they rushed towards the exposed Gargoyles. One of the winged pests attempts to snap at the fluked helm of the Chaos Lord, he grabs the creature from the sky and crushes it's fragile skull between armoured fingers. Nothing but chaff. Still, his axe screams out for death, and he is more than happy to oblige.
The Beserkers disembark and move toward the Gargoyles.
The Obliterators shuffle sideways to draw LoS to the Flyrant.
The left Forgefiend moves backwards in case the Flyrant isn't slain.
The Cultists and Beserkers fire haphazardly into the Gargoyles, the fluttering bodies difficult to lead accurately but regardless a few of the flapping monsters fall ruptured from the air.
The Obliterators sync themselves with the Skyfire Node and lance beams of Las fire into the Flyrant, wings burning, fragile membranes and bones torn and rent the beast crash lands a tangled mess of wing spindles, desperately clawing itself back into a standing position only to find itself looking down the cycling barrels of a Forgefiend, the Daemonic Forge fires into overdrive and the Tyrant is blasted apart even as it charges towards the Daemon Engine.
The second Forgefiend fires into the Tervigon and causes a wound.
The Beserkers slam into the Gargoyles where the Lords Daemon Weapon proves more than capable of tearing the flying gants apart. Those remaining Gargoyles manage to slay 4 Beserkers before being crushed utterly.
The Flyrant, dripping reamins of the Champion still clutched in it's talons, luckily slays all 5 Raptors before they get a chance to retaliate.
Both Forgefiends regain their lost Hull Points via IWND.
•Tyranids:
The High Executioner stands waist high in the shattered corpses of the Gargoyles, his Daemonic axe pulsing gently with blood-lust. An ample warm-up. He spears an outstretched gauntlet at the colossal, bloated monster lurking in the ruins. 'I would spill the blood of that!' He bellowed. The Tervigon roars back, but makes no effort to move. Instead it's exposed hiber-sacs begin to shift and gurgle as the gants held within are subjected to a stimulating cocktail of hormones and chemicals. The freshly battle-ready gants spill out onto the earth, heading to engage the gore-slicked, red-armoured warriors.
The remaining Hive Tyrant is endured in the vague hopes that it will be able to survive the next turn with FnP. The green Tervigon spawns more gants, but runs out in the process.
On the right the Flyrant glides across the board towards the Forgefiend, hoping to take it out before it can react.
The centre field gants head out to head off the Beserkers before they can do any real damage.
The Hive Guard on the left, finding themselves outside of the synaptic web by the death of the Tyrant manage to remember their previous task long enough to spear iron-hard shafts of barbed chitin into the still exposed central forge of the siege engine. The chained Daemon within cannot withstand such forces and retreats to the Immaterium leaving the Forgefiend an empty, immobile shell.
On the right the second Forgefiend suffers heavily under the fire of the Hive Guard and Flyrant but manages to remain functional even whilst losing two hull points.
The Biovores launch arching projectiles into the clumped terrified cultists, who had thought themselves safe far from the action. Their commander is slain outright along with near half their company and the rabble begin to flee in confusion.
The Tervigon and gants fire into the Beserkers, slaying 4 including the Champion.
The gants rapidly press this advantage by charging into the Beserkers. At first it seems that this gambit has paid off as the Khornate warriors are buried beneath a rushing tide of teeth and claws, but with a ferocious roar the Chaos Lord rears up, throwing gants aside and splitting other with great sweeps of his axe. All of the Beserkers are slain (good old Poison/FC) but 7 gants are slain in return.
Turn 3:[/u] Victory Points: Chaos Marines 4 /Tyranids 6
•Chaos Marines;
Kuldach glares across at the fleeing cultists, the ruined husk of the Forgefiend, the toxic spittle foaming from the lips of his own chosen Beserkers. Cowards. Cowards and weaklings the lot of them, unable to cling to even life itself, the most basic of gifts in this harsh galaxy. Such fools do not deserve life then. He would demonstrate that the only way to live is to fight, his whirling axe ploughing a circle of respite amidst the sea of gants.
The remaining Forgefiend pivots on the Hive Tyrant, forced to Snapfire but with 8 S8 shots it should prove ample.
The Cultists cannot hold their bottle and flee from the board.
The Obliterators fire explosive plasma bolts into the Tervigon, but the spearing energy is thrown wide by the ferrous metal ruins of the concealing hab structure and only a single wound is caused.
The Forgefiend rattles violently as it belches streams of ammunition into the air, the wounded Tyrant is clipped but manages to keep it's momentum in the air, the concussive shock through it's carapace shaking the beast but not wounding it severely.
The Chaos Lord continues to chew through gants and his re-rollable 3+ save keeps him safe from harm.
•Tyranids:
His warriors scattered or destroyed, his battle lines in disarray, planning and strategy is folly before the crushing wave of living flesh which are the Tyranids. But to fight beasts such as this one must think as a beast yourself. Growling a feral cry the Executioner abandons all attempts of subtlety of finesse, lashing out with furious, devastating strikes, only to find his attacks somehow, weaker, than before. The squat colossus nearby, it's eyes burning with psychic energy fixes him with curious eyes, sapping his strength so her progeny can finish the job. Such cowardice.
One Tervigon Endures the larger gant brood whilst the other Enfeebles the Chaos Lord. This puts his Axe at S5, allowing FnP to be taken, and allows for poison-based re-rolls from the gants.
The Flyrant nips behind the Forgefiend to finish it off.
The Tervigon spawns some gants to continue harrying the Chaos Lord whilst simultaneously heading up towards the upper right objective.
The Forgefiend is destroyed by Hive Guard.
The Hive Tyrant attempts to hit the Rhino but is foiled by it's cover save.
The Biovores and Hive Guard fail to damage the Obliterators.
In combat the Chaos Lord rolls a 1 for his Daemon Weapon, and after some confusion with which Daemon Weapon rules are current the combat concludes with the Lord still at max wounds and far fewer gants.
Endgame:[/u] Victory Points: Chaos Marines 4 /Tyranids 9
Bringing turns 4 and 5 together as they're pretty similar.
The Obliterators finish off the last Flyrant.
The Lord is eventually finished off by gants on turn 5 after too many wounds for even a re-rollable 3+ save to deflect.
The Tervigon finally runs dry with a roll of 16 gants, might as well finish big I suppose.
The Biovores finally miss, but I didn't have any Spore Mines, ah well.
My opponent concedes with the death of his Lord, with the Tyranids controlling two of the three objectives and only the Obliterators remaining of the Chaos forces.
~~//~~
So that's that, two fun games against fun opponents.
I would definantly not like to face a list with more Flamers/Screamers; those things are unpleasant and I am positive I could not deal with even two squads of each.
The Chaos Marine book is pretty fun, somewhat disappointed I didn't get to demonstrate the danger of the Black Mace, but no way I was letting that thing smack my Gargs around regardless of what would make a better report.
So, yeah, I guess that's it for now. Comments and criticisms are welcome as ever. Anything you'd like to see in a report?/Rules we might have gotten wrong? Throw it down for me to read.
Thanks for reading!
