OK, 4th BatRep coming up. Last one for the year! God knows when's my next one. Pics of map and results are here:
imgur.com/a/pzLZmGhI brought my Harpy stands! and found out one of them cant even keep its wings on! Luckily my opponent is gracious enough to play with imaginary wings! Also, Malanthrope base, because the Malanthrope stand hole is warped and cant fit the stand.
A standout thing I found out after the game is that Scions have strategem access to magic range melta. Specific regiment, but it's there - Scions have some real play. I asked the guy before the game if he wanted a different army, since he hadnt played a LOT of 40k in 2021, but he said he's cool with competitive and usually tries to be competitive with a Tier A/B army instead of meta chase. He was figuring that he'd just out-obsec me or deny me objectives.
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Battle Report: Nidzilla Crusher Stampede Vs. Astra Militarium
Tyranids:
Tyranid Battalion (Leviathan)
HQ
- Malanthrope: WLT[Alphabeast] - Swarm Leader, RLC - Adaptive Neural Lobe
- "Hulkrant": Wings, Double MST, AG, TS, RLC - Biomorphic Carapace, ADPT - Accelerated Digestion. SPELLS: Mass Convergence Tree - D3A and 4++ for model.
- Swarmlord: SPELLS: PotHM Tree - Catalyst, and Onslaught
Troops
- 3x 3 T.Warriors: LWBS/ScyTal, S.Link - Bioweapon bond
Elites
- 1x 6 Hive Guard: Impalers
- 1x Lictor
Fast Attack
- 1x Dimachaeron: ADPT[Progeny of HM] - Accelerated Digestion
Heavy Support
- 1x Barbed Heirodule
Flyer
- 2x Harpies: Heavy Venom Cannons
LIST STRATEGY AND PHILOSOPHYJust to give the main ideas:
1. Leverage the AoR's defensive profiles to outlast the enemy and shell with HG and Barbed Heirodule, as well as support guns from Harpies.
2. Leverage Leviathan's new obsec trick + AoR's body count obj holding rules to contest enemy Primaries, particularly using Flyrant or Harpies.
3. Use the Dimachaeron as a missle to go take out an enemy elite, or an enemy objective point using Swarmlord's ability to move fast.
4. Lictor to swing from 4vp to 8vp on ROD + Engage on a turn.
5. Everything dies, or can die. It just matters what they took to the grave with them.
6. Keep contesting their home objectives with the thicc bodies, dont let them move into your half of the board freely.
Astra Militarium:
++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Imperium - Astra Militarum) [54 PL, -1CP, 1,055pts] ++
+ Configuration +
Detachment Command Cost
Gametype: Matched
Regimental Doctrine: 133rd Lambdan Lions, Astra Millitarum
+ HQ +
Tempestor Prime [3 PL, 45pts]: Chainsword, Tempestus Command Rod, Warlord, WT: Old Grudges
Tempestor Prime [3 PL, -1CP, 45pts]: Progeny of Conflict, Relic (133rd Lambdan Lions): Refractor Field Generator, Tempestus Command Rod, WT (133rd Lambdan Lions): Keys to the Armoury
Tempestor Prime [3 PL, 45pts]: Chainsword, Tempestus Command Rod
+ Troops +
Militarum Tempestus Scions [5 PL, 130pts]
. 5x Scion: 5x Frag & Krak grenades, 5x Hot-shot Lasgun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Tempestor: Chainsword, Plasma pistol
Militarum Tempestus Scions [5 PL, 130pts]
. 5x Scion: 5x Frag & Krak grenades, 5x Hot-shot Lasgun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Tempestor: Chainsword, Plasma pistol
Militarum Tempestus Scions [3 PL, 55pts]
. 2x Scion: 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Hot-shot Lasgun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Hot-shot Volley Gun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Hot-shot Volley Gun
. Tempestor: Chainsword, Plasma pistol
Militarum Tempestus Scions [3 PL, 55pts]
. 2x Scion: 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Hot-shot Lasgun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Hot-shot Volley Gun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Hot-shot Volley Gun
. Tempestor: Chainsword, Plasma pistol
Militarum Tempestus Scions [3 PL, 55pts]
. 2x Scion: 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Hot-shot Lasgun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Hot-shot Volley Gun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Hot-shot Volley Gun
. Tempestor: Chainsword, Plasma pistol
Militarum Tempestus Scions [3 PL, 55pts]
. 2x Scion: 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Hot-shot Lasgun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Hot-shot Volley Gun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Hot-shot Volley Gun
. Tempestor: Chainsword, Plasma pistol
+ Elites +
Militarum Tempestus Command Squad [3 PL, 80pts]
. Tempestus Scion: Meltagun
. Tempestus Scion: Meltagun
. Tempestus Scion: Meltagun
. Tempestus Scion: Meltagun
Militarum Tempestus Command Squad [3 PL, 80pts]
. Tempestus Scion: Meltagun
. Tempestus Scion: Meltagun
. Tempestus Scion: Meltagun
. Tempestus Scion: Meltagun
Militarum Tempestus Command Squad [3 PL, 40pts]
. Tempestus Scion: Hot-Shot Lasgun
. Tempestus Scion: Hot-Shot Lasgun
. Tempestus Scion: Hot-Shot Lasgun
. Tempestus Scion: Hot-Shot Lasgun
+ Dedicated Transport +
Taurox Prime [7 PL, 120pts]: Taurox Gatling Cannon, Two Hot-shot Volley Guns
Taurox Prime [7 PL, 120pts]: Taurox Gatling Cannon, Two Hot-shot Volley Guns
++ Battalion Detachment -3CP (Imperium - Astra Militarum) [55 PL, -4CP, 945pts] ++
+ Configuration +
Detachment Command Cost [-3CP]
Regimental Doctrine: Astra Millitarum, Gunnery Experts, Spotter Details
+ Stratagems +
Tank Ace [-1CP]
+ HQ +
Tank Commander [12 PL, 205pts]: Hunter-Killer Missile, Lascannon, Turret-mounted Demolisher Siege Cannon
Tank Commander [12 PL, 200pts]: Lascannon, Turret-mounted Demolisher Siege Cannon
Tank Commander [12 PL, 200pts]: Lascannon, Turret-mounted Demolisher Siege Cannon
+ Troops +
Infantry Squad [3 PL, 55pts]
. 9x Guardsman: 9x Lasgun
. Sergeant: Chainsword, Laspistol
Infantry Squad [3 PL, 55pts]
. 9x Guardsman: 9x Lasgun
. Sergeant: Chainsword, Laspistol
Infantry Squad [3 PL, 55pts]
. 9x Guardsman: 9x Lasgun
. Sergeant: Chainsword, Laspistol
+ Elites +
Platoon Commander [2 PL, 25pts]: Chainsword, Laspistol
+ Heavy Support +
Manticore [8 PL, 150pts]: Full Payload, Heavy Bolter, Hunter-Killer Missile
++ Total: [109 PL, -5CP, 2,000pts] ++
Map and Mission:
Mission: Surround and Destroy; 6 Objectives, Hold 1, Hold 2, Hold More.
Map and rough deployment ideas:imgur.com/a/pzLZmGhSecondaries:
Nids - Grind Them Down, Raise The Banners High, Engage on All Fronts
Astra Militarium - Bring It Down, Retrieve Octarius Data, Behind Enemy Lines
PREGAME ANALYSISFor the sake of convenience, we had used the same map and mission I used the day before with the first Crusher Stampede list, hence the same terrain. Our FLGS was moving, so they had packed away most of their terrain - there was scant little left other than what was used on this board, until they complete their move.
I'm a bit more knowledgeable about IG, having a shared army which I played at competitive events a few times in 8th edition with the stuff from Greater Good, which were pretty potent. Surprisingly, my opponent did not bring the stuff that makes Greater Good tick hard, instead electing to bring a contingent of Scions instead. Much better map control, I have to agree - but a few more lascannons and two solid Manticores with Full Payload would have totalled my HG from the outset. No matter.
Off the top of my head, I figured that he has a fair number of units that can come in from Deep Strike - I cant contest his map control. Luckily, the main target you'd want to take care of were the MCs, and only Demolishers, Lascannons, and Meltas are effective against them - Plasma is ineffective against the army other than HG/Warriors. Also figuring that I'd have one of those games where I'll most likely hold my base objectives all game long and likely to make it into midfield, I tried out Raise the Banners instead of my usual ROD.
Since it's IG, the gameplan is simple - BAD TOUCH THE TANKS. Back in 8th, I once won a game vs IG without killing a single model, and that was basically by bad-touching his entire army and forcing him to not be able to move anywhere, and get out-obsec'ed on every objective. With so many tanks, I figured that I could do the same thing, kill the tanks in his turn, and move on to new targets in mine, rinse and repeat. I might lose the HG, but it wouldnt matter once I've killed the tanks - the Dima and the Malan and the SL could clear out infantry just fine, or so I thought.
DEPLOYMENTSo, we deploy off against each other. Deployment was relatively uneventful - he deployed where he could try to get people on objectives in safety, I deployed as close as I could in the 6" bubble of the malanthrope around where the most room for movement would be from my deployment zone. The 2nd harpy goes out because of lack of space, and the warriors string synapse across the deployment field. He puts guys on the objectives and in ruins where he can, but my rough take is that he didnt really know what to do with his deployment or how to deal with the army across his face. I dont blame him, but personally I would have risked and put all the Demolishers on the line where they can get as much LOS as possible, which would have been where his infantry are string out across.
Then the roll off - and IG goes first.
BATTLE REPORTTop T1 - IG (0-0)IG basically tries to take the initiative and moves people onto objectives, trying to force me to cop -1 to hit and sets up the tanks to shoot, as well as the transports to shoot because they're actually a gunnery tank with baskets strapped to the back as an afterthought. Thankfully, positioning didnt matter too much for him - he was after the Barbed Heirodule, which couldnt hide, so could access from anywhere. Spare unit just RODs in place.
Psychic phase didnt exist;
Shooting Phase, None of the tricks I would expect to try and leverage from the IG army is used - it's a straight shoot fest, and all 3 Demolishers went straight into the Barbed Heirodule and killed it. To give it credit - not a single shot was wasted to kill it. It legitimately took 6d6 shots of D6 damage (a lot of average, not too many spikes) to kill it. The Manticore shot into the HG and should have dealt a number - but he had to shoot through dense, and landed 0 hits on his 5+ to hit. Making up for the really consistent Demolisher cannons, IMO.
Fight Phase didnt happen.
He scores 2 for secondaries.
Bottom T1 - Nids (2-0)I pause here for a moment, trying not to repeat my mistake from last game from over-analyzing, but wanting to get a feel of what needed to be done. Firstly, the Manticore needed to stop shooting - I got lucky on the first volley, but wouldnt be lucky on the 2nd volley. The demolishers needed to stop shooting - I wouldnt survive more than 2 shooting phases with their guns free. I needed to stop his scoring - If I can keep him to 5 or 0 for the first 1-2 turns, game's in the bag for me. So i lined up what I could charge to silence, found the remainder that had to be shot, and went ahead.
Command Phase, I buff the left harpy with ObSec, give +1 to hit to the HG and both harpies, reroll hits to the HG as well.
Left Harpy flies up onto the objective to steal it, and use Break Through! to wipe the IG squad and conso into that Russ to stop its guns. Hulkrant moves up onto the objective on the left, with SL and Dima moving up to take advantage of the gap and Leaper rule to jump past the guys protecting the tanks. Right Harpy moves up between two tanks, stays outside of 1" of everything, and prepares to charge and lock both up in combat. Warriors just Banner'ed on the spots.
Psychic Phase, I get d3A off on Hulkrant, and 4++ on Dimachaeron. Catalyst makes it on the SL, since he's exposed. Dimachaeron gets Onslaught.
Shooting phase, I decide almost immediately that I needed the HG to focus down the infantry, because I had precious little other ways of dealing with them (definitely a massive weakness of the list). I tag them with exploding 6s and double shoot to clear all the objective holders on the right side of the board - now he's stuck with only the left side board. Dimachaeron hops over the 5 guys blocking access to the LRs, and sits just outside of 1" of both. He now begins to sweat as he tells me he forgot the SL could make the Dimachaeron move so fast. Harpies shoot into the Manticore, but do not manage to kill it off. Very disappointing. The spore mines were equally disapointing, doing pretty much nothing as I roll 4+ into 1s.
Charge and Fight Phase - funny thing, the left infantry squad doesnt get hurt. Break Through scores 2x 3+ across 12 dice. WELL NOW. Because of my very lazy charge, I could no longer just wipe the unit on the entry and pile-in/consolidate into the other tank. If I hadnt been lazy, this wouldnt have been an issue. The Hulkrant charges into the unit in the middle and the tank - Dima charges both Russes, and the right Harpy charges the Scion tank and the Manticore. You can tell from the picture - nothing died. Dima gets a big MW bomb on the IG squad that was blocking and grabs his 5+++, but otherwise, nothing died. The 2 LRs the Dima was on were left on like 3 or 4 wounds left each (3/3 split) The Harpy obviously did nothing eventhough it shouldnt be that bad. The IG squad with the Hulkrant barely survived with 2 guys left, so I couldnt steal the point.
I score 3 for Grind Them Down (2 kills to 1 death), and 3 for EoAF.
In hindsight - I should have just Double Fight with the Dimachaeron at that point. It would save me 3 turns of trying to jump him around to get kills on vehicles, hence free'ing up his time and real estate to be effective elsewhere earlier. I felt it was a waste and did not want to do it, and thoroughly regretted it thereafter. Top of T2 - IG (7-6)Top of 2, He only scores 5 for Primaries, but remains undaunted. Movement phase was a bit long as he planned the hot drops coming in - he decided the Swarmlord was the biggest and most accessible threat on the table, and dropped the Meltas (2x4 meltas from the Command Squads) into range of him, and the Plasmas into the partially guarded HG and Warriors on the right. A stray unit just pops up in my backfield together with a Tempestor, just some trash units. Everything kinda falls back, except for the 2 IG guys who fall back to remain on the point, but will get HI'ed into by the Hulkrant later and be taken off the point. The LR on the left of the Dimachaeron was last tier, so couldnt fall back far enough to get out of 1" from the Dima due to positioning, so he had to stay in.
Psychic phase didnt exist
Shooting phase was quite lucky again - the melta unloaded everything into the SL. He survived with 2W remaining, as a lot of things missed and I saved more than I usually do. If I was in Magic Melta range, I would not have survived. The warriors on the right ate the plasma, and outright died. The LR on the left unloaded into the Harpy and evaporated it. Shooting from the Taurox Prime bounced off hits or wounds, thankfully.
Fight phase, Not much happens again - Dima picks up the LR, Hulkrant picks up the IG men.
He scores 4 for having 2 sets of ROD, and another 2 for having 1 units in my deployment zone, and 2 for BiD.
Bottom T2 - Nids (15-23)Bottom of T2, I score hold/hold2/hold more, so 15 on Primaries, then +2 for Banners. The gameplan remains roughly the same - Manticore has to die, LRs have to die, deal with the scions once they come in. Buffs go up - most of it didnt matter, so it was just +1 to hit on the HG and the other Bioweapon Bonds were just considered burnt when used on themselves. Reroll Hits goes on HG again. Hulkrant gets obsec.
Movement Phase, I move the Hulkrant up to get at the IG the left Harpy failed to kill, and line it up to kill them and conso into the LR properly this time. SL moves up to tag the Taurox Prime. Dimachaeron had to hop over to take out the Manticore and continue sitting on the Taurox Prime. Black Warriors try to make it to the middle left objective to hold it and raise banners. Harpy fell back past the guys on the top right as an attempt to force them off - got 3 MWs off it, but a guy lives and survives morale later.
Psychic Phase, Same buffs minus the 4++ go on - SL smites, Hulkrant smites. Smites failed or did very little damage.
Shooting Phase, Hive Guard take exploding hits again and go to town on the new appearing Plasma/Melta - managing to completely wipe all 3 units, thankfully. There were no other guns, and SL didnt need to double move, so that was it. Malanthrope tries to set up to go after the squad in the backline, but cant make it without an advance - charge next turn.
Charge and Fight Phase, nothing out of the ordinary happens - charges go off, Dimachaeron manages to kill the nearly dead Manticore, but not the Taurox Prime. SL did not manage to kill the Taurox Prime for some reason despite having reroll wounds on 4+. Hulkrant scores the kill on the IG men and gets into the tank, firmly stealing the objective from him.
I score 3 points for EoAF again, and 3 points for Grind Them Down - HG are really the only things scoring this for me.
Top of T3 - IG (20-29)Top of T3, he scores 5 points for Primary, because top right didnt fail morale. Game is still looking very close - Because I didnt Fight Twice earlier, I now have a free LR to shoot at me. Great. Other than that, the situation feels under control - I just didnt realize he had even more trash units and another plasma unit to throw into the mix. I start to feel like I am losing control of my deployment zone and am feeling the unit size/number pinch.
Movement Phase, I think he gave up trying to play distance and just left things in combat. The plasma unit came down, and the extra trash and Tempestor came in on the left side. The previous unit that suffered from casualties from stray shooting shuffle over to ROD while it has a chance. The unit hiding inside the ruins that I couldnt reach could not contest the Hulkrant due to Obsec strat, so he made a beeline for the Black Warriors to take the objective off of them - which they did. The LR that was free also decided to shoot into the Warriors, so positioned itself to get its shots off on them.
Psychic doesnt exist
Shooting, it was straight forward - plasma shot into the HG and killed 2, LR shot into the warriors and killed 2. That was it.
Fight phase, I am nearly out of resources to spend on reroll wounds - I keep it, and let the monsters try their luck, and the Hulkrant managed to do a few wounds, which wasn't quite enough, and the other 2 actually still do not kill their targets, leaving them on a few wounds each.
This turn he scores another 4 for BEL, and nothing for BiD, and another 4 for ROD.
Bottom of T3 - Nids (28-46)Bottom of T3, most of my pieces are still trapped in combat - so I cant do anything but follow through. HG gets reroll hits, but synapse has fallen apart so that's all he gets. 3 turns in, I have only generated 1cp from Lobe, unfortunately.
Movement Phase (I do not have pictures, sorry), I just move the Malanthrope and left warrior squad into range to charge some of these IG men. Harpy on the right moves over the one man remaining to spore mine him - spore mine fails.
Psychic Phase, dont remember if anything happened - nothing was relevant at this point, it was just about doing some extra MWs somewhere if something was in range.
Shooting Phase, I run out of cp for exploding and double shoot, so I just shoot into the plasma - I think I whiffed hard enough that half the unit survived. I dont quite remember what happened in this space. Harpy shoots and fails everything.
Charge and Fight Phase, the Harpy charges the lone IG guy - and whiffs the kill. So this guy has kept this objective from me for 2 turns in a row. Nerves of steel. Both SL and Dima score their kills THIS fight phase, so cant do anything for another turn. SL just consolidates onto the objective and Dima consolidates closer to the remaining LR. Hulkrant stays stuck in for yyet another turn. The sole black warrior charges into the IG men to try and take them off with his 3A - it bounced pretty hard from failed to wounds, which at this point I just chalk it up to bad luck - not like 3A is enough to kill the unit anyway. Malanthrope charges into IG boys, but fail to kill 2 guys, even after his A and MW aura.
I score EOAF and Grind Them Down again, and 2 points on Banners, having lost my 3rd banner.
Top of T4 - IG (38-46)Top of T4, nearly nothing is left. Plasma guys on the right shuffle down ASAP and lock my HG from ever shooting again. Bottom left just shuffle to complete ROD.
Psychic doesnt exist
Shooting Phase, just the LR shooting into my lone warrior and finishing it off.
Fight phase, the only real combat was the Hulkrant - who after 3rd combat, was still unable to kill this LR.
This turn he scores another 4 for BEL, and nothing for BiD, and another 4 for ROD.
Bottom of T4 - Nids (46-63)Bottom of T4, I've max scored Primaries- I go about trying to deny what I can. Harpy gets ObSec and flies over to the plasma boys to steal back my point from him. Bottom left Warriors run down to try and remove the 5 man so that he cant score max on BEL.
Movement Phase (I do not have pictures, sorry), I just move the Malanthrope and left warrior squad into range to charge some of these IG men. Harpy on the right moves over the one man remaining to spore mine him - spore mine fails.
Psychic Phase, the only relevant was SL smiting off the last guy on that point.
Shooting Phase didnt exist.
Charge and Fight Phase, just the Harpy charging - but he's stolen the point so it doesnt matter. Malanthrope took 2 turns to trigger his reroll wounds ability... Bottom left warrior charge, but fail to secure the full kill - so he gets max BEL next turn. Hulkrant finally gets free.
I score EOAF and Grind Them Down again, and 2 points on Banners.
Top of T5 - IG (51-63)Top of T5, it was just to secure final BEL and final 5pts on primaries. The rest didnt matter.
This turn he scores another 4 for BEL.
Bottom of T5 - Nids (55-70)Bottom of T5, I basically cleaned up whatever I could reach for the sake of scoring Grind Them Down, since I already scored EOAF. The rest didnt matter.
[FINAL SCORE - 55(+10 Painting Score) vs 70 (app gives me 81 - not sure where is the discrepancy).
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Post game, something feels wrong - I should not have had so many troubles with the vehicles in this list. Theoretically, we should be extremely good at taking out said vehicles, so the fact that this list was struggling to do so was a complete surprise and I am not sure how to approach this. Also, I HAVE to point out that whatever I sent the Hulkrant into, the Dima or the TG if I had them would have done a much better job at just eradicating it. Having only the HG to remove infantry put an extremely high level of strain and pressure on them to deliver results - if I had skewed low on their shots and explodes, I would not have cleared those infantry units, and they would still be a complete problem for me in the early game if I could not keep him to 5pts to most of the game.
Some level of more consistency is required definitely, and reinforces a bit of a dislike of the Hulkrant. He's decent/good in a vacumn, but I feel we need more consistent output that can be sure to produce results when required. He's definitely not my "sole Flyrant" role, as I would prefer an expandable Flyrant that grabs the enemy by the throat, rather than something that kind of just annoys them like a mosquitoe.
I also have to be honest - the Malanthrope isnt helpful. He's fine with just his -1, a caddy, and Swarm Leader buff, but he isnt particularly helpful once 1st turn has passed compared to, say, a Broodlord. However, in the AoR, fitting a Broodlord is extremely difficult as is, so the Malanthrope stays just to make balancing easier.
On a side note, TG can be brought without Swarm Leader - they actually benefit off the Mass Convergence reroll hit. Only really relevant in a list without HG though.
Anyway, that's the last BatRep for the year! as always, appreciate any comments to improve how these look or things I should do to make these more readible and enjoyable.
Happy Holidays!
