May Tournament: Game #3

This month's tournament at Millennium Games was a team event, but partners would be randomly paired each round.  The first game would be a true random pairing, then one random player from the winner pool and one from the loosing pool for following games.  Each player could bring 1,000pts with a smaller force org.  Special characters were banned and non troop units were 0-1 to prevent spam and encourage some different unit selections.



After strong wins in Game #1 and Game #2, I would be playing for everything here.  Courtney, my partner from the first game also won his second, so I would be facing him in the final round.  Courtney's partner was Kevin and his CSM.  My partner was Dean and his Necrons.

My list:
Tyranid Prime + boneswords, regen
Hive Guard x3
Warriors x3 + boneswords, toxin sacs, barbed strangler (prime joins here)
Warriors x3 + deathspitters (2), barbed strangler
Warriors x3 + deathspitters (2), barbed strangler
Carnifex x2 + devourers (2 each) 

Dean's list:
Overlord + scarabs, scythe, command barge
Royal Court - tremor-teks x3
C'tan Shard + writhing worldscape, pyreshards
Warriors x5 (+1 tremor-tek)
Warriors x5 (+1 tremor-tek)
Warriors x5 (+1 tremor-tek)
Wraiths x6 + coils x2, pistol x1
Annihilation Barge

vs

Courtney's list (approx):
Inquisitor + rad, psyko grenades, psyker/hammerhand
Henchmen - 5 assassins, 2 crusaders, 1 servitor, 2 melta acolytes, rhino
Purifiers x7 + incinerators x2, halberds x3, hammer, rhino
Strike Squad x5 + psycannon, halberds x3, rhino + hunter killer
Terminators x5 + psycannon, halberds x3, hammer
Rifleman Dread


Kevin's list (approx):
Lord + terminator armor
Terminators x6 + hvy flamer, fist x1, combi-meltas x2
Chaos Marines x5 + plasma gun, icon, rhino
Chaos Marines x5 + plasma gun, icon, rhino
Obliterators x3
Havoks x7 + autocannons x4

The mission was pitched battle with 5 objectives.  Our opponents won the roll and decided to go first.  This was a solid choice as we don't have any tanks for shocking and they needed to shoot us first.  They actually beat us at deployment placement also and ended up with three objectives on their half of the table with a fourth in the center, so they had the advantage of only needing to defend.

They deploy in a wide spread but with more power on our left.

 Up top behind that big tree is their 3rd objective alone with gk terminators on foot, purifiers, and rifleman dread.  Going from there to the right are CSMs, henchmen, chaos termies on foot, oblits behind the hill, strikes, CSM's, and finally havoks in the area terrain.

We deploy mostly as a reaction to theirs with no real plan other than minimizing their first turn of shooting.

We have more scoring units so everything gets doubled up.  Units with invulns screen units without.  Starting on our left flank are necron warriors in terrain with bonesword warriors behind to provide assault support on that flank (prime attached to make them more resilient).  In the middle wraiths and c'tan screen carnifexes, hive guard, necron warriors, and tyranid warriors.  The annihilation barge and hill screen the command barge.  More warriors from each army go in the area terrain on our right.

*2 of my warriors came off their bases so that's why you'll see empty bases or knocked over models*

The game begins with our opponents shifting up the left flank for better shots.

Terminators, strikes, and oblits advance.  Oblits take a wound.  Something about slow and purposeful always "counts as" moving through terrain and the writhing worldscape making that painful for them LOL.  Henchmen zoom up behind the tree.

The rifleman dread kills one wraith.  GK terminators kill a few necron warriors.  Oblits and havoks either miss or fail to damage the necron skimmers.

We hold on the left and advance in the middle.

On the right, the CCB goes flat out behind another hill.  Annihilation barge moves up 6".  Both warrior units on the right flank get bad terrain rolls. 

Our shooting phase goes insanely well.  Dean puts the GK termies, chaos termies, and strike rhino in difficult/dangerous terrain with the tremor staves.  One GK termie goes down to small arms fire.  Hive guard explode the henchmen's rhino killing about half and pinning them despite the presence of the inquisitor.  Dakkafexes also kill a couple more henchmen.  Barbed stranglers kill a chaos termie and havok.  Chaos termies took 2 casualties and fail their morale test, nearly running off the board.

 Their turn 2 begins with the chaos termies regrouping, however they choose not to move since they are in terrain from the tremor stave/writhing worldscape combo.  GK termies stand still for the same reason.  Purifiers zoom up the left flank.

I don't remember what shot what here, but I believe we made every single cover save this round as it doesn't look like we lost anything from the pictures.  Kevin's dice are predictable bad and even Courtney's knack for making miraculous rolls is failing.  Ours were well above average this turn.

Dean moves up his CCB and jumps out the lord right next to havoks.  We were debating options here and he came up with this maneuver to roll up the right flank.  The guy knows his necrons and their capabilities really well.  Wraiths jump up but not too far.  Hive guard and warriors follow behind.  Scoring units on out right flank get terrible terrain rolls again.

C'tan and fexes shift left to position themselves for the impending purifier strike.

Fexes wipe out the inquisitor and henchmen.  Warriors on the left kill another Gk termie and put them in terrain again.  Warriors in the middle put the chaos termies in terrain again.  Hive guard only stun the CSM rhino on the left.  The overlord on the right flank assaults havoks and runs them off the table.

Turn 3 begins with the purifiers zooming up the left flank and disembarking.  They will fire on the necron warriors and wipe them out (2 incinerators...).  The rifleman changes targets and goes after my warriors as they are the only scoring units on that side now.  Despite allocating one wound on the prime and cover, I still lose two.  GK termies put another couple wounds into the prime and last warrior.

On the right flank, CSM's and strikes disembark and head for the overlord.  Everyone unloads on him but he survives.  The CSM's will then assault while the strikes fail their terrain check.  The overlord wins combat but the CSM's lock.

In the middle, CSM's disembark from their stunned ride and chaos termies advance.  I think another one goes down to terrain.

Shooting kills two wraiths.  Dean pulls the ones on the left to knock the CSM's out of assault range. 

At the beginning of our turn 3, I think we are causing more damage but still have fewer objectives.  Wraiths jump up to go after the scoring unit, they will later assault them and lock.  My 3 warriors in the center move for that objective and terrain.  They will kill a terminator with shooting.  Dean pushes his warriors on the right to try and reach the far objective in 2 more turns.  I send my warriors from the right towards the middle more.

In the middle, Dean's warriors push right to backup that objective.  Carnifexes turn to fire on the purifiers, killing about half the squad.  Hive guard hug the tree and I believe their shooting wiffed. The c'tan moves towards the objective the termies are holding and throws some pyreshards but they pass all saves.

On the right, the barges decimate the strike squad, leaving one halberd alive.  The overlord continues to drop CSM's one at a time. 

The tide is turning in our favor, but we're still in danger of losing scoring units quickly since mine are very vulnerable to the rifleman and oblits.  On the left, Courtney brings the surviving purifiers towards my warriors.  They will take a lot of fire, but I go to ground and they live.  The GK termies back away from the c'tan and put two wounds on it.

In the center, the chaos termies will join the assault with wraiths and force them to split attacks.  Dean's saves were hot and that combat remained locked.  On the right, the strike's rhino tank shocks the necrons who pass morale.  Oblits kill a single tyranid warrior from the central unit.  The lone strike knight tries to assault the overlord and save the CSM's, but dies to writhing worldscape.  The overlord gets down to a single CSM in combat but remains locked.

Now our turn 4, we need to rush for objectives.  The tank shocked necrons on the right shift around the hill.  They will immobilize the strike rhino with gauss glances.  My warriors continue to push for the center objective.

Everything on the left moves towards our objective or theirs.  Purifiers will take 24 shots from the fexes and shots from the necrons, but two will still survive.  Hive guard wiff on the purifier's rhino.  The c'tan knocks over another terminator.

In assault, the overlord kills the last CSM and consolidates towards his barge. 

It's now the top of 5 so Kevin tries to tank shock an empty rhino on the right into contest range, but the writhing worldscape immobilizes it.

GK's on the left line up for maximim damage.  The purifier's ride tank shocks onto our objective, but immobilizes thanks again to writhing worldscape.

Combined shooting kills the c'tan and puts 3(!) wounds on the fexes.  Oblits put wounds on warriors with plasma cannons.  Courtney decides to assault the fexes instead of my scoring unit with the purifiers, but the plan backfires and my fexes stomp them flat and consolidate towards the termies.  Wraiths continue to fall, but they finish off the last CSM scoring unit.

Now the bottom of 5, we make final moves on objectives.

My warrior and necron warriors on the left all get into scoring range.

Hive guard explode the purifier's rhino, giving us that objective.  Fexes shoot the termies but they make every single save.  Courtney has been smack talking me all game for playing all shooty Nids so I throw the fexes into assault with the termies.  The halberd successfully wounds and activates the force, taking out the 4 wound fex.  The last fex has 1 wound and rolls only 1 wound on the termies.  Courtney puts it on the halberd who makes his invuln.  The hammer finished the last fex and everyone at the table cheers at the irony.

We let Courtney roll for the and and he flubs it.  The game ends with us holding objectives 2-1.

This game was by far the most fun and balanced of the event.  Everyone playing and watching enjoyed this one.  The dice rolls seemed to favor us a bit, but balanced out in weird places like our difficult terrain rolls in the beginning and losing the fexes to 2 terminators in the end.  I thought for sure we'd lose that just on their shooting alone, but our saves kept us in it and the attrition aspects wore our opponents down.  If you haven't played against writhing worldscape and tremor staves, you're in for a nasty surprise!

Once painting scores were tallied in, final results (out of 10 players) were:
#1 Tyranids: Me! 3-0
#2 Grey Knights: Courtney 2-1-0 (got a BIG bump with painting)
#3 Chaos Daemons: Calypso from Purple Reign 2-0-1 (I think only 1 point under Courtney)

Wow, I had high hopes for my warror/fex list but I started doubting myself mid week and went into this event expecting the worst.  In the end, it worked out despite my fears.  The guys all joked about me getting carried by stronger partners, but hey whatever works right?  I was still the only undefeated player at the end lol.  I rolled my winnings right over into some new GK models for my June project and ran home to start painting.

*Sorry for the choppy format.  It's a lot more challenging to write a batrep from a 4 player game with less pics than normal because of the tournament time limits.*

If you're interested in other games from the same event on Calypso's blog Purple Reign:

Game 1
Game 2
Game 3