So, I get to fight off against Dave's Deathwing again. I've changed my list since last time to include yet more anti-tank troops, so I'm intrigued as to how it'll play out.
DEATHWING
HQ
Belial w/ Lightning Claws
Librarin w/ combi-melta
TROOPS
5 Deathwing Termanitors: 1x Cyclone Missile Launcher; 2x lightning claws; 2x Thunder Hammer.
5 Deathwing Termanitors: 1x Cyclone Missle Launcher
5 Deathwing Terminators: 1 Apothecary; 2x Lightning Claws; 2x Thunder Hammer.
HEAVY SUPPORT
2x Land Raider Crusaders
HIVE FLEET VILE OSSUARY
HQ
'The Scourge of the Sons' Tyranid Prime w/ Deathspitter, lash whip and bonesword
TROOPS
'The Punchline' Tervigon w/ Catalyst and Adrenal Glands
10 Termagants
11 Hormogaunts
5 genestealers
6 genestealers
6 warrior, one with barbed strangler, 5 w/ deathspitters
FAST ATTACK
6 Shrike, one w/ venom cannon, the rest with lash whips and bonesword
ELITE
3 Hive Guard
2 Hive Guard
3 Zoanthropes
MISSION SET UP
Having played two annihilation games last time, there was some sense of relief when we rolled Capture and Control with a Dawn of War set-up. Dave won the roll off, and chose to go first. We set up the objective markers as below - the top one that is circled is actually behind the ruin wall.
And here's a shot of the table from a different angle:
DEPLOYMENT
Dave chose to deploy one unit of terminators in the centre of the table near the objective behind the ruin wall, the other he deployed alongside Belial in the forest. I opted to deploy nothing, and for it all to come on in the first turn, with just the unit of ten termagants in reserve. (I had hoped to infiltrate some stealers, but he set up so he had a good LOS in all directions. Or so I thought! Looking back at the photos I can see that I probably could've stuck them all behind the hill! D'oh!)
TURN ONE
I watched as his two land raiders rolled on from the northern edge. He then did a Deathwing assault with the remaining unit of terminators who DS'd in the middle of the table right on my side. With nothing to shoot, it was over to me.
I brought every frickin' thing on with the intent of wiping out the Deathwing Deep Striking unit that had the temerity to invade my table half on turn one. I rushed too quickly, and moved some things on in the wrong place - the zoanthropes were a little too far over to the west. But it was an impressive sight to have all of the Tyranids right there, facing down the space marines.
The unit stood just in front of me got all barrels from the warriors, who refrained from blasting away with the barbed strangler as it'd clearly blow their own faces off. After some particularly poor rolls on the Dark Angels's part, three were killed! Not. A. Bad. Start.
I manoeuvred the eastern most unit of stealers to assault, whilst mostly everyone ran forwads. I foolishly left my hormogaunts in cover, and my stealers out of it. The Hive Guard opened fire on the middle unit of terminators, killing two after some pretty poor saves (I only realised afterwards that we failed to do Night Fighting for being in Dawn of War. D'oh! One day, I'll play this game and remember all of the frackin rules.)
The stealers carried out their assault, finishing off another terminator and leaving me with the magic number of just one left (this was after some neat rends.) The come back wipes one out.
And here's how the other side of the table looked like on the end of the first turn.
TURN TWO
The middle Land Raider Crusader moves up and the three terminators who had survived the Hive Guard's deadly assault of impaler shards scooch on into it. It opens fire into the stealer squad that's left out in the open. After the assault cannon stops spinning, four are dead and one's left on his tod. The eastern land raider, with the librarian in it, rolls over the hill. It also fires, but is out of range by just that little bit.
In the assault, the lone terminator from the Deathwing assault fails to see off the stealers who claw open his armour and start investigating his innards. They move on up.
Over to the Tyranid turn and the Tervigon spits out sixteen little darlings, but constipates on the first turn. It manages to lay some Feel No Pain love on the larger Hive Guard unit. Everything else simply moves up, with the stealers and termagants heading eastwards towards Belial.
The Hive Guard fire, taking out the western land raider, immobilising it and blowing off its assault cannon. No more 'spinny spinny, die die' from that particular piece of kit! The Warriors take a peek around and have a look at Belial. They lay down some fire, but to no effect. The Shrike, however, (in the next pic they're just to the left of the ruin, off camera) fire their venom cannon and get a wound on the squad, taking one of the models off as a terminator falls foul of the brutal poisons of Hive Fleet Vile Ossuary. The second lot of Hive Guard fire, again on the land raider, but - whilst they happen to JUST be in range - there's no effect. The Zoanthropes try to blast the land raider but are out by the smallest fraction of an inch (the kind that, if I had positioned them correctly, wouldn't have mattered.)
And here's a shot from behind, from the Deathwing's point of view:
TURN THREE
The far eastern land raider advances down the hill another 6", signalling its intent to fire... The terminators on the eastern edge with Belial spread out, having been shot by my template weapons, but their difficult terrain roll only lets them get 2" away.
The immobilised middle land raider cranks up its two hurricane bolters into the hormogaunts. I've strung them out so half are in the forest, and the bolters only take out three. The multi-melta fires into my Shrike, but misses. The eastern tank fires into the stealers that have just finished off their mates, and after the bolter and assault cannon fire has ended, all five lie dead. The multi-melta catches the Tervigon in its sights, but she's ever so slightly out of range.
The Zoanthropes have now moved up into position and can see the front nub of the immobilised land raider. Wanting to get rid of it, they fire warp lances; all of the tests are passed but one of them is stopped by the psychic hood. I get two penetrating hits as the Hive Mind's sheer willpower cracks through the ancient armour plating of the Emperor's devil machine, but the damn cover save stops any damage being inflicted. The Hive Guard also all fire, but to absolutely no effect. Meanwhile the remaining stealer strikes out on his own towards Belial alongside the termagants, and they move on through the ruin wall.
And here's how it looks on the other side:
TURN FOUR
The land raider moves forwards and pivots. Belial charges out on his own to meet the genestealer whilst the squad he's just left move out to meet the termagants.
The immobilised land raider is still going strong and bolters chug supersonic rounds into the termagants, killing four. The multi melta draws a bead on the Tervigon, but - as was a running theme during this game - misses. The fully operational land raider fires its bolter, multi-melta and assault cannon into the termagants, mowing down eight of them. Machine spiriting the other sponson, it ends up being just out of rapid fire range and so kills only 2 more. Belial's terminators fire, killing another two termagants, leaving just the one left. They assault it, and Belial assaults the lone genestealer. Just witness the OUTRAGEOUS bullying the space marines are partaking in. Look at my poor guys:
Unsurprisingly, the squad in armour that can survive plasma temperatures make short work of both my guys. Here they are 'victorious' as they walk away from the corpses of the younger, smaller guys that they so enjoyed picking on:
Over to me. The Tervigon cocks up her psychic test and fails to Catalyse herself. The Warriors move east to get a decent shot on Belial's crew, and the termagants come on from reserve to aid them. The Hive Guard, a little worried by how close Belial's men are, move west. The remaining few hormogaunts dart out and bivouac down behind the ruin, out of LOS of the land raiders. The Shrike move well over the map, but keep ensuring that the venom cannon has the tinniest bead of an LOS onto Belial. They fire it, but to no effect. The Hive Guard fire on the eastern land raider, but turn up nothing. The Zoanthropes channel the Hive Mind again - one gets hooded by the Librarian, the next misses his shot and the final one hits but rolls a '1' for penetration. No effect.
The warriors fire everything they have on Belial whilst he's stuck out in the open and away from the Apothecary. They manage to effectively kick him in the shins, doing a single wound to the bugger. The termagants have a stab too, but with only four of them in range those fleshborers (shock horror!) do nothing at all.
The Tervigon charges the immobilised land raider, desperately trying to crack it open to get to the troops inside and remove the bastard thing from contesting the objective. With four attacks she automatically hits, but even rolling 2d6 for armour penetration she fails to get a penetrating hit! The scandal!
TURN FIVE
The depleted terminator squad dive out of the land raider as the Tervigon's paws bash against the side. The Librarian, force weapon in hand, heads out of the other Land Raider and towards the Tervigon. Here's a picture that a low-orbit Imperial probe got as it passed by:
Belial and his mates on the other side regroup, moving onto the objective and Belial rejoins the unit. The immobilised land raider fires its bolters and multi-melta into the Shrike. Two are killed. The other bolter fires into the warriors on Belial's side, but inflict only one wound. The other land raider decides to follow suit, killing one of the guys and wounding another. Notably, the Prime takes the melta shot that hit, making me proud of his appearance in the ranks to stop 'anti-splat' action (a.k.a. instant death.) Belial's guys fire on the warriors as well, but to no effect.
The terminators that have just disembarked open fire on the Shrike, killing two more. Whilst the Librarian pulls out that fancy combi-weapon and meltas the Tervigon for a wound. This is quite by the by as the Librarian then charges in and force weapons the Tervigon to death.
Over to me again. The Shrike move onto the ruin itself, making their dangerous terrain test.
The Zoanthropes fire again, and again one of their shots is stopped by the psychic hood. They manage to only blow off the multi-melta of the disabled vehicle. In hindsight, I should've shot the fully operational one rather than trying to finish off the damaged one. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
The Hive Guard decide to turn their attention away from anti-tank and to anti-infantry. They let loose their wall-penetrating shots to take out two of Belial's men. The Venom Cannon from the Shrike, now hoisted high in the air on top of the ruin, again fires but, again, to no effect.
I then have a decision to make: do I assault, or not? Having witnessed what they did to me in the last game when I got up close and personal I was in two minds, but decided to have a go. Which was clearly the correct choice as the odds were in my favour! I move the warriors forwards, and swiftly decide to have the termagants to join the melee given their life expectancy facing off the weapons on the land raider is most limited.
Belial, claws spinning, lands wounds on two of the warriors. Over then to the Prime, who - bonesword in hand - cleaves the remaining troops in two. The Tyranid warriors, rounded on by his success, attack Belial, killing him. Everyone consolidates over, with the warriors managing to move into cover:
So, this is it, we've got one objective contested and I've just wiped out the units on the other. I have one objective, and he's got none! We roll for game end and... it goes on! Denied! I have a feeling that the tank, which I frankly can't get into, is about to tank shock me and contest the objective I've just cleared.
TURN SIX
Dave tank shocks me, contesting the objective I've just cleared.
Everything else stays where it is. The Terminators on the western side next to the immobilised tank fire into the Shrike, but their cover save secures them safety. The immobilised land raider then fires into the Shrike, inflicting a wound. It also lets rip with the other bolter all the way over the other side of the table, killing a termagant. The land raider that's just tank shocked my boys fires on them, but they're very much in cover and safe as houses.
The terminators then assault the Shrike. The Shrike manage to take one down, but the terminators kill both of the remaining Shrike with their power gloves. The Librarian activates its force weapon and charges the Zoanthropes, tying them up in an assault.
I shuffle my termagants and warriors around on the objective I have no hope of claiming back. Then I turn my attention to the other objective.
Damn. WTF? Damn. How am I going to get into those tanks? Damn. I decide I have to free the Zoanthropes if I'm going to get rid of the land raider and will also have to kill the remaining troops. If I can do both of these things, I can claim the other objective. The hormogaunts stop hiding and charge the terminators on the other side of the ruin, drawing a wide circle around the other side before coming on in. The Hive Guard fire through the wall, to no effect, and then charge in on the same assault. The Tyranids have no effect, and the Terminators simply kill the hormogaunts after they take all the damage for losing the assault and being fearless. (I read the rules in horror realising the Hive Guard took the same wounds as well, but they made their saves.)
Meanwhile the other two Hive Guard assault the Librarian. He screws up his force weapon activation from Shadows in the Warp. Nonetheless, the Zoanthropes take a wound.
And here's a shot of both assaults in one:
We roll for game end. I need one more turn and a helluva lot of luck. It goes on!
TURN SEVEN
That's right, it's down to the wire now. The tank on the eastern edge simply pivots. I point out that it's irrelevant what happens at this stage on that side of the table, but Dave wants to wipe out one of my units. Fair enough. The immobilised land raider fires into the warriors, but to no effect, whilst the tank shocking raider meltas the warriors and misses. With its assault cannon and hurricane bolters it fires into the termagants. I hurl them to the ground, getting them their 6+ cover save. When the dust has settled, and I've made three saves, a single termagant sits there, grinning to himself.
Then we immediately go to assaults. The librarian again fails his force weapon roll, and comes to a draw with the Zoanthropes and Hive Guard. The Hive Guard on the troops next to the objective manage to club the storm bolter wielding terminator into the ground. STOMP STOMP STOMP.
Now it's my turn again. Damn! No way to clear these guys off unless I am very lucky and finish off both the librarian and the Cyclone Launcher terminator, and the land raider is 3" away from the objective. But there's nothing I can actually do except move straight to the assault phase. I manage to kill the remaining terminator troop choice, but the Zoanthropes/Hive Guard again draw with the Librarian. Damn. Clearly that objective is now contested. So, at the end of the game, both objectives are tied up and it's a draw.
Here's the objective where I just finished off some of the Deathwing and was left with the librarian:
And here's the other one where the warriors and termagants are all over it, but with a Land Raider getting in on the action:
OVERALL
This was just a great game, a real nail biting experience. Again, I was faced with tank-related problems. But it's not as if I can get anymore anti-tank on the list! I'd complain about unlucky dice rolls, but given what happened when I mowed down the terminators in the first turn, I won't shout too loudly.
I'm also starting to think I should be more open to FNPing units like, say, the termagants. If they'd stayed a live a bit longer, I'd have had a bit more flexibility in a few places. I've also learnt that Hive Guard are crap against Land Raiders. I'd be there all day trying to take one out, and immobilising it - whilst it might be useful in a few cases - isn't going to be all that useful with a mobile death fortress, since losing the 'mobile' adjective doesn't exactly cause it too much pause for thought...
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