July Event Game #1: Tyranids vs Blood Angels and Necrons 1500pts

Our monthly event for July was a "Welcome to 6th" event.  Players were allowed to bring up to 3 different 1500pt armies to try out as many of the new rules as possible.  Allies, fortifications, and player set terrain were all in use.  Prize support was raffled off randomly at the end to discourage WAAC lists/behavior for the first event under the new rules.

My first opponent was Garrett who has come out to several of our events, but I haven't had the chance to play him.  He brought about 750pts in BA and 750pts in Necrons.

His list (approx):
Librarian + unleash rage, sword
Assault Squad x10 + fist, melta x2, rhino
Assault Squad x9 + sword, plasma, rhino (libby here)
Assault squad x8 + axe, melta, rhino

Overlord + scythe, scarabs, phase shifter, command barge
Lance-tek
Warriors x9 + ghost ark (lance-tek here)
Wraiths x3 + whips x3
Annihilation Barge


I actually brought 2 lists and I decided to try the more diverse one for this game.

My list:
Tyranid Prime (warlord) + whip/sword, toxins, regen (bio)
Tyrant + wings, devourers, old adversary, regen
Hive Guard x3
Zoanthropes x3 (all bio this game)
Termagants x30 (warlord here)
Tervigon + claws, toxins, 3 powers (bio), cluster spines
Raveners x6 + rending
Shrikes x3 + whip/sword, toxins

The mission was Purge the Alien and deployment was Dawn of War (6th).  We set up the terrain and Garrett took the first turn.  I think both our warlord traits were objective based so wasted.  Zoans get enfeeble x1 and endurance x1, everything else shooting.  Tyrant gets warp speed.  Tervigon gets endurance and enfeeble.

Garrett deploys his BA on the right and crons on the left since they're desperate allies.

I deploy in a semi-refused flank to go after the BA first hoping for a transport kill for first blood and his warlord.  We get night fight and I decide not to seize as I want him to come to me.

BA move up shifting even more to the right.

Necrons shift up to the middle.  Short ranged shooting combined with night fight leave me safe for a turn.

The tyrant swoops up the flank.  Everything else pulls right away from the necrons and forward a bit.  Hive guard claim 2 hull points off the left rhino.  Tyrant wrecks the right rhino via hull points.  Tervigon hits the unit with cluster spines and causes enough casualties to also make them fall back.

End of turn 1: BA 0vp, Nids 2vp (rhino, first blood)

The remaining rhinos move up 6".  The broken unit regroups.  Wraiths and surflord close on the left.  Combined necron shooting kills 1 zoan, 1 hive guard, and a few gaunts.  BA fail to ground the tyrant.

BA on foot and wraiths get enfeebled.  Shrikes move up to intercept the wraiths.  Zoans back up to protect the hive guard from the surflord.  Raveners, gaunts, and tervigon push up the middle.  Tyrant pivots left and swoops 24".  Hive guard fail to penetrate the command barge.  Tyrant finishes the rhino with 1hp. 

Shrikes assault wraiths and each side loses 1.  Raveners assault the ghost ark and explode it thanks to hitting on 3's and rerolling 1's.

End of turn 2: BA 0vp, Nids 4vp

BA come out to play.  Melta guns take out a couple raveners and put a couple wounds on the tervigon.

Assault marines charge the raveners and wraiths drop another shrike.

Raveners take out 2 marines and get wiped.  Surflord assaults zoans and causes 1 wound.

Tervigon spawns 7 with doubles and the whole right flank moves up to assault.  The tyrant glides down so he can assault the assault squad that killed the raveners, putting himself closest to the fist.  Hive guard explode the last rhino putting 17 hits on the gaunt squad.  I lose the front rank and then the prime soaks up all the remaining saves like a pro.  The tyrant kills the first and a few others with shooting and finishes them in assault.  Wraiths also finish the last shrike.  I goof my assault moves on the right flank and don't leave enough space for the tervigon's base.  Sometimes 2d6" gives you too much movement and you block your other assaults.  The prime challenges (sarge or libby) and the sarge accepts and dies.  I lose 9 gants from the blob and take down a couple more marines.

End of turn 3: BA 2vp, Nids 6vp

Here's where I made my biggest mistake of the game.  I never read the chariot rules.  I knew that the lord can assault while on it, but I didn't put all the pieces together.  Sweep, shoot, assault, impact, mindshackle, then they can leave combat with another sweep move and assault back in?  This is why necrons are my least favorite army to face.  So his surflord leaves combat with the zoans sweeping them, 3 wounds which I fail all saves against, finishing that unit.  Then he assaults the hive guard and wipes them out.

My tyrant barely survives the shooting phase.  Tervigon makes combat and finishes the right unit but I lose the spawned gaunts.  Gaunts and prime finish the left unit and libby.

End of turn 4: BA 5vp, Nids 10vp

Necrons line up to shoot me down.

The tyrant goes down.  Due to the new cover and LoS rules for shooting, I start losing gaunts like crazy against all the tesla.  The surflord does his thing.  I barely survive the turn and we roll for the end but the game continues.

End of turn 5: BA 6vp, Nids 10vp

Garrett tables me in the following turns.  I think we even played through 7.

End of game: BA 10vp, Nids 10vp but tabled.  New rules state being tabled is an auto-loss!

Well, it started out real good for me, but necrons proved to be too tough for me again.  Looking back, I think I should have deployed on the other flank and hit the necrons with my full strength.  I spent too many resources on the BA's thinking the rhinos would be the easiest points.  I think enfeeble + tyrant dakka would have been the way to go on wraiths and hive guard/raveners going after the command barge.  Either way it was a great game, even if a little frustrating at the end when the surflord claimed a total of 5vp because nothing I had left could stop him.  I made a bunch of mistakes too often forgetting enfeebled stats and never took my regen and "it will not die" rolls.  I didn't set up my terrain very well or even use it much which hurt me against the necron weight of fire.

Still a good learning game for the new edition.  There's a lot of potential with tyranids I think now.  Hopefully I can start capturing that potential the more accustomed I get to the mechanics and flow.

For more reports on this same event, check out POK's blog Death or Glory.