The final game of the Millennium Games Invitational had
me up against Shaun Kemp and his Orcs. I’ve gone up against Kemp with my Nids
once before at the last Ard Boyz semifinals and walked away with a big loss. Kemp
is one of the Da Boyz founders and a big name in the GT scene, so I knew it was
going to be a tough time.
Mission: Big Guns Never
Tire (4 Objectives)
Deployment: Dawn of War
You can read about some of my list ideas going into the event here, but to summarize, this is the list I brought:
Swarmlord
Tyrant Guard w/ LW
Prime w/ LW/BS & S-Talons
8 Ymgarls
2 Hive Guard
2 Lictors
Tervigon (loaded)
15 Termagaunts w/ Devs
15 Hormugaunts w/ Toxin Sacs
7 Stealers w/ Broodlord
5 Raveners w/ Claws
3 Biovores
Shaun’s approximate list:
Boss in Mega Armor
Mekboy w/ KFF
Burnas
Tank Bustas
Lootas
Shoota Boyz
Boyz in Trukkz
Boyz in Trukkz
Deff Koptas
Wartrikes
Battlewagon
Grot Cannons
Deffdread
I set up in
two camps. One to my right with the Tervigon, Devorerer Guants, Biovores and
Raveners. They were my castle, intending to hold back and potentially rush
forward to grab an objective. To the left, I had the Swarmlord, Genestealers, and Hormugaunts ready to run forward to clear a few objectives if
possible.
First turn
went to Shaun, and because I set up 36 inches away from the grot cannons, the
only meaningful shooting came from the Lootaz. They put a few wounds on the
Tervigon, and that was about it.
My first turn was straightforward, move the assault horde up,
And try and keep the castle safe. Here's another example of my tactical deficit: Those Gaunts that are up by the river. I threw them forward thinking that they could act as a buffer for the oncoming meganobs, not thinking that they would be an easy target for first blood.
On the offensive front, my biovores took Shaun's unit of Tankbustas down to a man, which were strung out in the middle of that castle. Almost first blood, and I wasn't even trying.
The second and third turns had me moving forward with my assault block, while Shaun wittled down the Hormugaunt and Genestealer units. I knew that he was taking down my troop choices, and thus denying me the ability to grab the 3 objectives seen above, but I didn't have much choice. He also made the smart move of ignoring the Swarmlord (I'm sure that the +3 Iron Arm for nearly every turn factored into that decision as well).
On the eastern front I had incoming meganobs and a battle wagon full of boyz. I managed to blow up the Trukk of Meganobs and the Warboss in the river, but they slowly came for me. My response was to focus fire on the nobs, and follow that up with an assault with all my Gaunts and Raveners. After 40+ Devorerer shots, assaults from the Buffed Gaunts and the Raveners, the Meganobs still won. Fail. It was one of those moments where I wish I had brought my Shrikes. That damn 2+ is just too much without consistent armor ignoring power.
With a unit of boyz bearing down on me and most of my castle broken, it looked bad. But all was not lost. I still had a Tervigon that could spawn, and the meganobs were down to a Nob with a wound and the Warboss.
Shaun's Turn 4 had him killing off 2 of my biovores, leaving 1 still scoring, and my Troop Tervigon (who had been making It Will Not Die rolls nearly every turn) with only a few wounds, holding an objective. My Ymgarls came out on the mound next to the Swarmlord and were set to reek havoc when we got the 15 minute warning. It was the type of game where we both were thinking about our next moves, and we ran out of time. The way it stood, I had objectives, but in reality, if we got turn 5 it was going to be anyone's game. On paper, I had the win, but it didn't feel right. I'm calling it a draw.
Anticlimactic, I know. Anyway, that was the championships for me. I finished middle of the pack and my first round opponent Chris Courtney took the overall.
It looks like a great tournament for you. You met several very interesting players. Is it possible for you to make a brief unit by unit overview for your army list at the tourney?
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about doing that soon. Kind of a follow up to Hyv3mynd's "A Tyranid List Worth Building' post.
ReplyDelete