I've finally had the motivation to pick up the stack of scribbled notes on my desk and write them up to cover the Apocalypse game we played a few weekends ago, with Angryman using his Tyranids against my Imperial Guard and Col. Straken's Space Wolf / Grey Knight list. Our club hall was double booked, so we had to play the game on a standard 6 x 4 table at my house - not ideal, but it meant for a quick decisive game...
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| Battle Lines are Drawn. |
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| Imperial Heavy Armour deploys on the Table. |
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| The Tyranid horde deploys - plenty left in reserve to drop down on the board. |
The Imperial armour advance forwards up the board, destroying Razorwire left from previous battles. Hellhounds and Leman Russes hold the right side, the remaining Russes and the Wolves on the left.
Imperial shooting however wasn't so good. Most of the Guard tanks scattered off wildly from their targets. The hellhounds however fared better, attacking a brood of Warriors and Zoanthropes in close proximity to one another.
In totalt, the Imperium managed to kill; 1 Carnifex, 4 Tyranid Warriors, 2 Zoanthropes and left 2 fexes badly wounded, as well as the foot slogging Tyrant and his guard.
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| Imperial Advance - Turn 1. |
The Tyranid horde pressed forward, the Carnifexes and Tyrants towards Imperial Tanks. The Tervigons managed to spawn 27 gaunts between them.
In the shooting phase, one of the Tervigon attempted to cast Feel No Pain on the Tyrant's unit but took a Perils of the Warp wound. A Heavy Venom Cannon Fex destroyed a Grey Knight Dreadnought. A 2nd Carnifex managed to blow up the turret from the very effective Hellhounds. Zoanthropes fail to damage a Grey Knight Land Raider. Hive guard shoot and Shake a Leman Russ.
In assault, the Carnifexes run into the Hellhounds and manage to Stun the 2nd Hellhound.
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| Tyranids Turn 1 - They do NOT like Hellhounds |
From reserve, the Marauder Bomber arrives and aims for a strafing run across the entire Tyranid back line. Drop pods with an Assault Squad, and a Wolf Guard squad arrive aiming to attack the Tyranid defensive horde. Grey Knight Terminators leap out from the Land Raider.
In the shooting phase, the Grey Knight Terminators Land Raider shoots and kill a Tyrant Guard, Drop Pod causes 2 wounds on the fresh Tervigon. Wolf Guard terminators wound the cowardly Hive Guard and the Bomber with it's strafing run killed another Tyrant Guard. The Guard opened fire, with a Leman Russ Vanquisher blowing up a Bastion housing Genestealers, a Leman Russ then followed that up with dropping it's Battle Cannon on the Genestealers, scattering, but managing to kill 1 Zoanthrope nearby and a Genestealer (darn cover saves...). The Leman Russ Demolisher killed the final Tyrant guard and wounded Old One Eye. Another Leman russ kiled a Dakkafex with it's shooting, along with 4 nearby Gaunts.
In assault, the Grey Knight Terminators take out Old One Eye in combat before the feared beast had chance to even open his Claws.
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| Leman Russ tanks press forward to Hammer the "Big Ones". |
In the movement phase, the Mawloc, Trygon Prime, Doom of Malantai, Screamer Killer fex and Genestealers with Broodlord manage to arrive from reserve. Spelling big trouble for the Guardsmen... The Tervigons manage to spawn 18 more Gaunts between them, but unfortunately, both roll doubles - no more spawning in this game. The Gaunts to the back corner of the board move forward to target the Wolf Guard and press on the Objectives.
Shooting, the Tervigons cast Feel No Pain on the walking Tyrant (who's buddies have been killed) and a Carnifex. The Doom of Malan'tai wrenches the souls from 2 Grey Knight Terminators. A Dakkafex causes a Shaken and Weapon Destroyed result on a Space Wolf Rhino. The Gaunt wave shooting kills 1 Grey Knight terminator and the Hive Guard pop the Storm Bolter off the Drop Pod.
In assault, the Hive Tyrant and Gaunts charge into the GK Grand master, hits the Tyrant 5 times but fails to wound, more Gaunts charge the Wolf Guard. Carnifexes blow up both Hellhounds, destroying them and taking 2 Genestealers in the blast.
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| Tyanid Reserves en Masse |
Imperial Guard reserves show up now, with Kratos (Guardsman Marbo) appearing, along with 2 Veteran Squads in Chimeras, Company Command Squad in another Chimera and then 3 Vendetta Gunships.
The Grey Hunters and Grey Knights disembark from their vehicles, and "Jimmy Gauntslayer" the Lone Wolf moved towards the Trygon prime - a fitting test for him. The Marauder bomber strafes along the centre of the board.
In the shooting, the Marauder Bomber annihalated 25 gaunts with more dropped bombs, Grey Hunters kill 5 Ymgarl Stealers, GK Land Raider killes 6 gaunts. Marbo throws his demo charges and wipes out a squad of 3 warriors lurking near the backfield objective. Veterans and the Command squads, along with their Transports bring down the Mawloc thanks to Melta guns and a pinch of luck. The Wolf Long Fangs fail to wound anything and the Vendettas take their toll on the Tyranids, wounding a Tyrand, wounding a Fex and wounding the Trygon twice. A Leman Russ kills one Hive guard and another wiped out a Spore pod.
Assault phase, Dreadnaught assaults the Screamer Killer Fex, Lone Wolf assaults the Trygon and manages to survive. The Grey knights stuck in assault are killed off, and the Hive Tyrant headbutts the Grey Knight Grand Master to death.
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| Reinforcements FTW! |
Reinforcements - Tyranid Warrior Prime, along with his Warrior Bodyguard show up, Raveners appear, Winged Tyrant, 3 Lictors jump out near the Imperial Artillery line, Parasite of Mortrex and Shrikes all appear. Everything in the Tyranid army pressed forward to cripple the Imperium.
In shooting, the Hive Guard turned their attention to Guardsman marbo, which thanks to their nifty guns, bypassed his Cover Save and Stealth rule (he was stood behind a wall). The Winged Tyrant knocks a Lascannon off the Marauder bomber, Tyranid warriors kill 3 space wolf Grey hunters and one of the Carnifexes blows up a Space Wolf Rhino.
In assault, the Tervigon and Fex destroys the Land Raider, Tyrant attacks the Demolisher, the 2nd tyrant stunds a Leman Russ, Carnifex wrecks the Vanquisher, Genestealers attack a Veteran Squad Chimera, wreck it and kills several Veterans, Raveners shake another Leman Russ and the Ymgarl Genestealers attack the wolves, killing 2, then the remainder of the unit being wiped out by the Wulfen marked trooper. Finally the Doom of Malan'tai blows up the Leman russ, and the resulting explosion destroys 4 Gaunts. The Trygon finally kills off the Lone Wolf.
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| "There used to be more tanks than this..." |
Imperial retaliation time... Veterans and the command squads turn to wipe out the Genestealers with Brood Lord. The Grey hunters move to combat the Raveners and the Vendettas move up towards the destroyed Bastion.
In shooting, the Bomber kills 2 gaunts and all of the Shrikes. Long fangs take 3 wounds from the Trygon prime and Grey hunters killed 2 Raveners. The Company Command squad issues 1st rank fire, 2nd rank fire to the Veteran squad out of the Chimera. The Veteran squad kills 7 gaunts and the Colossus Siege Cannon kills off a Hive Guard. The Leman Russ scattered it's shot, managing to land on the Colossus but luckily failed to damage. The Demolisher missed the Trygon completely. The Vendetta gunships kill off one of the Tervigons, kill a Tyrant and finish off the Trygon prime - awesome shooting there Imperial Navy.
Assault was scarce, the Grey Hunters moved to the Raveners, 3 Hunters being killed in the process but the Hunters managing to kill off the Raveners.
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| "That's better lads... Thank the Emperor for the Imperial Navy!!" |
The remaining Tervigon regenerates 1 of his lost wounds, the Lictors spread around cover. Gaunts move to secure the 2nd bastion objective and the remaining Tyranids dispersed to avoid Guard artillery fire.
Shooting caused a Carnifex to shake a Vendetta, but the remaining shooting patters harmlessly off the Imperial Armour.
Assault was more prolific for the Tyranids. Warriors with the Alpha Warrior charge the Leman Russ and Space Wolves, removing the Battle Cannon and killing the Wolves, Screamer Killer carnifex assaults a Vendetta, removing 1 of it's 3 Lascannons. The Lictors assault the Colossus mortar, shaking it, and a Tyrant assaults a Leman Russ, blowing it up. The Doom's assault against the Demolisher and the Lictors assault on a Razorback was fruitless, but the Genestealers and Broodlord stunned, then blew up a Chimera with a Veteran squad. The Tervigon assaulted one of the Drop Pods and destroys it.
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| ZERG RUSH! |
The remaining Razorback tank shocks the Gaunts, moving them up the battlefield. The Vendetta moves to contest the Tyranids home objective, while other Vendettas spread out to move for objectives. The Command squad disembarked from it's stunned Chimera and the attached Inquisitor moved and joing the remnants of the remaining Veteran squad. The Bomber again strafes across the table for maximum impact.
The Bomber's strafing run kills off 3 warriors and wounds around the rest of the unit. The Razorback fails to wound the Carnifex. One Vendetta kills the Screamer killer Carnifex and the Long Fangs fail to hurt the lurking Lictors. The Company Command squad kills off another 7 gaunts and the nearby Demolisher takes a wound off a Hive Tyrant. The Leman russ kills 3 gaunts with it's template and the other shootable Vendetta killed off a Sniper Fex.
In assault, the Veteran squad and Inquisitor moved to charge the Broodlord, but failed to damage it. Fortunately, their leadership held and kept the Broodlord pinned with them for a turn.
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| Zooooooooooooom! |
The Gaunts press to a Bastion objective and the Winged Hive Tyrant moves to support them.
The Flying tyrant shoots a Vendetta but nothing happens and a Carnifex moves to support, managing to Shake the Vendetta.
In assault, the Tyranid prime targets were the Vendettas.. Tyrant attacks one, fails to do anything, similar story with a 2nd Vendetta assaulted by a Carnifex. A lone Lictor attacking a third Vendetta managed to cause a Weapon Destroyed result. Another Lictor assaulting the Colossus caused an immobilised result. A Tyrant attacking a Leman Russ caused 3 penetrating hits, resulting in a wrecked result. Gaunts charging in on the Imperial Guard Command Squad kill off all but the Company Commander who stands firm, killing 3 gaunts in retaliation. The Broodlord versus the veterans again resulted in a drawn combat.
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| "Stand still damn you!!" |
The Vendettas move around the board to contest 3 of the objective, the Shaken Vendetta moving flat out to reach it's one near the Winged Hive Tyrant. The Bomber strafes across the board again and the remaining 2 Leman Russes (1 Demolisher) move to open fire on remaining targets.
The Marauder bomber kills off 1 Lictor, the Vendetta nearby shoots another Lictor but thanks to it's Chamelionic skin and going to ground, it survived. The Leman Russ kills a Tyranid Warrior. A 2nd Vendetta attempts to open up on another Lictor, who again, dives for cover in the ground. The Doom of Malan'tai takes a Demolisher shell, but passes his invulnerable save. The Space Wolf Long Fangs nick a wound from the Winged Tyrant.
In assault, the Brood Lord kills off the Veteran squad (finally...) and consolidates towards the Bastion objective. Imperial Commander Grant wins the combat against the Gaunts, who take 2 casualties - standing firm to contest the Objective on his own.
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| Tyranids swarm the Digestion Pool objective |
The Winged Hive Tyrant moves to assault the nearby Vendetta, Warriors, Carnifex and walking Tyrant move to attack Leman Russes, Gaunts move toward the digestion pool, and the Tervigon goes to attack a Chimera lumbering toward the Tyranid home objective.
Shooting caused no issues on the Vendettas, one passing it's Flat Out cover save and the other from the lone Hive Guard missing it's target.
In assault, the Tervigon destroyed the Chimera, Winged Hive Tyrant shakes the Vendetta, and all 3 remaining Leman Russes were destroyed. Commander Grant stood firm once again, holding the Gaunts for a draw.
Imperium - Turn 7
The Vendettas and the Long Fangs move to contest their nearby objectives. Everything else remaining (not much) held their positions.
The Marauder bomber shot the Lictors and wounded 1, the Vendetta with 1 lascannon remaining shot at the Winged Tyrant but failed to wound.
In assault, the Gaunts finally manage to beat down the Imperial Commander - not bad for someone who sits in a box ordering people around mostly.
Tyranids - Turn 7
So final turn for the Tyranids. The Warriors move to combat a Vendetta objective, one remaining Lictor moves to attack the Long Fangs and a Lictor / Gaunt combo move to secure the digestive pool. The Parasite of Mortrex and Tervigon head to the home objective to secure it.
Final round of shooting caused a Vendetta to become shaken, 2 Long Fangs to be killed and the Marauder bomber to finally take a hit, causing a Gun crew stunned result.
In assault, the Hive guard failed to damage his Vendetta foe, the Long Fangs caused 1 wound on a Lictor, but the Lictor held, the walking Tyrant managed to smash down the buzzard Vendetta hovering near his objective and the Winged tyrant failed to damage the final Vendetta.
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| The Aftermath of Portsmotia... |
Tyranid Victory - 1 objective held, other 3 were contested.
Conclusion
It was a tough game full of bloodshed, had Imperial Template Weaponry been a bit more accurate, the Portsmotian defence force may have held - alas. We have crippled the Tyranid foe significantly and can send for further reinforcements to cleanse this Tyranid infestation sector.
SB.
That was one of the closest games of apocolypse i have ever played, the tyranids only just managed a victory with the last dice roll of the 7 turn, 8 hour game. 10,000 points between the 2 forces to start with and under a 1000 left between us at the end. It was good to see every model in each army fully painted (one thing we are generally not good at is getting the motivation to paint). It was a great game and we hope to do another big game soon. Great battle report by S. Badger.
ReplyDeleteWas really good to see 2 fully painted armies on the tabletop, especially at a game of this size. All of us playing did really well to ensure everything looked excellent.
ReplyDeleteIf only the Vendetta hadn't got smashed to pieces, it would have been a draw!
I learnt a lot about using my Guard army during this game as well, something that after Britcon I'll be spending more time playing.
Good game all!