I was playing mixmastersteve and we rolled capture and control, pitched battle. The two lists are below:
Dark Angels
Belial – thunder hammer & storm shield (th&ss)
Deathwing Squad C – apothecary th&ss, banner th&ss, twin lightning claw, th&ss, heavy flamer & power fist (pf)
Deathwing Squad 1 – cyclone missile launcher (CML) storm bolter+pf, sb+pf, 3 x th+ss
Deathwing squad 2 – CML sb+pf, 2 x sb+pf, 2 x th+ss
Deathwing squad 3 - CML sb+pf, 2 x sb+pf, 2 x th+ss
Dreadnought – venerable, assault cannon, heavy flamer, extra armour
Ravenwing support squadron – 1 landspeeder with typhoon missile launcher and heavy bolter
Ravenwing support squadron – 1 landspeeder with typhoon missile launcher and multimelta
Ravenwing support squadron – 1 landspeeder with typhoon missile launcher and multimelta
Landraider Crusader (in DA codex it comes with a multimelta as standard)
Tyranids (think this is roughly what Steve had)
Tervigon – catalyst, cluster spines
Tyranid Prime – lash whip and bonesword
3 Hive Guard
1 Zoanthrope
1 Biovore
1 Lictor
10 termagants with devourers
20 hormagaunts with toxin sacs
30 (?) hormagaunts with toxin sacs
20 termagants with fleshborers
16 (?) genestealers with toxin sacs
16 genestealers with toxin sacs
10 Gargoyles
Deployment
I won the roll off and deployed the Landraider in the centre of my deployment zone with Belial and squad C inside. It was flanked by all 3 landspeeders deployed hugging my board edge to try and be out of range of the hive guard I was scared of! The dread and 3 other squads deployed on my right flank on a hill near the centre and behind some woods on my extreme right (which my objective had been placed behind.
Steve then deployed his tyranids across the board with the large horm brood in the centre close to the Tervigon, the other horm brood opposite my right flank with the Zoan, tyranid prime and the biovore and the rest of termagants all the other side of his tervigon on my centre left. The gargoyles were on my right as well and the Hive Guard he placed behind a hill opposite my left flank. His lictor was in reserve and the two genestealer broods infiltrated on my left 18” away from my landspeeders.
Steve made a mistake deploying his Hive Guard out of synapse range…
Here follows a rather protracted account of the battle, I got a bit carried away writing it! If you want you can skip to the end for a very short summary.
First contact:
The Deathwing advanced slowly into the woods and onto the hill while the speeders moved rapidly away from the genestealers and behind the thin bone-coloured line of terminators. As the Tyranid swarm came into range, the Dark Angel force unleashed its first salvo of missiles, most aimed at the hulking form of the tervigon. Intelligence had reported one of those abominations was present and Belial had given orders to target it first, an alpha strike designed to rip the heart out of the enemy force. The LRC rumbled forward and let rip but its bullets were spent before they reached the monster(it was out of range) and although severely wounded by krak missiles it still stood, some trees affording it some cover (it had 1 wound left). The only other thing killed in the initial salvo was a single unlucky hormagant!
The tyranids moved forward as one as fast as possible, with the exception of the Hive Guard who milled around out of synapse range. The tervigon which moved back slightly out of psychic feedback range of the termagants) and spawned a brood of termagants.
(Turn 2) Squads 2 & 3 near the hill retreated and squad 1 in the woods prepared to face the hormagants bounding towards them.The tervigon was finished off with missile fire and a few hormagants also fell to frag and storm bolter rounds. Orders were given to switch targets to the zoanthrope, now the only real threat to the LRC, but all the missiles and assault cannon rounds were deflected away failed due to its impenetrable forcefield. Squad 1 targeted the onrushing hormagants and downed 3 while the dread moved forward out of the wood and flamed a couple of gargoyles. The landspeeders shot one of the genestealer broods up reducing it to half strength with frags and heavy bolter rounds.
The tyranids continued forward as fast as possible, the hive guard moving forwards to try and get in the fight and the termagants and hormagaunts surging towards the middle of the board, just in front of the landraider. The termagants with fleshborers opposite the Dark Angels left flank were out of synapse and headed back towards some trees in the centre, the prime moving to connect them with the Hive Mind once more. On their right the hormagaunts charged Squad 1 in the woods and cut down 2 deathwing with the loss of 4 or 5 in return (a good result for me), the Deathwing striking simultaneously due to being in cover. The termagants held due to being fearless for now. The depleted genestealer squad in the centre and the large hormagant squad charged the landraider, they couldn’t hope to hurt the mighty machine but it allowed them to advance further across the table.
Forces Collide (mid-game):
The LRC rolled forward, tank shocking the hormagants in front and they bunched up as they moved to avoid being crushed. The ramp clanked down and out charged the Master of the Deathwing with his personal bodyguard, banner of the first company unfurled. The heavy flamer toasted 7 hormagants and a gargoyle while the hurricaine bolters on that side of the LRC downed a couple more. On the other side the machine spirit of the LRC fired and killed a single termagant. Belial and his men charged gloriously into the mass of hormagants, obliterating them although not before the banner bearer was torn to pieces under a tide of chitinous claws. They consolidated towards the tyranid objective on the far side of the table.
Squad 1 in the woods lost another 2 members in the assault phase for the loss of 2 hormagants in return, leaving the a lone terminator (with the squads CML) in a wood surrounded on all sides…heroic last stand anyone? Meanwhile DW squad 2 charged and ripped apart the remaining gargoyles, while the other dW squad charged into a severely depleted genestealer squad (5 models left) after being thinned some more by the landspeeders who continued to move towards the right. One landspeeder fired at the distant Prime, a krak missile tearing off a chunk of it. The genestealers were wiped as the thunder hammers did their work and they consolidated away from the onrushing full strength genestealer brood, screaming at the death of their kin.
Finally brother Obadiah, the venerable dreadnought, stormed through some trees and opened up with assault cannon and heavy flamer on the zoanthrope, its field failing it as it disintegrated in a welter of gore, the biovore also being caught and wounded by the flames.
Something like a third of the tyranid force had just been destroyed in a single turn, but the survivors threw themselves forward into the hail of fire. The biovore finally got lucky and downed a member of Squad 2 in bio-acid, while the genestealers powered into squad 3, ripping through their terminator armour as if it were paper, the last terminator being pulled down by sheer weight of numbers as he crushed a genestealer in his fist. Truly a heroic end (he failed his fearless save!). The genestealers consolidated behind the hill looking for shelter from the guns of the Ravenwing, but were now bunched up…
The termagants shot at Belial and company, taking one down before the Prime let out a mighty scream and plunged into the squad, lash whip and bonesword flailing. The disciplined first company veterans held their nerve however, one taking the bonesword on his storm shield, blue lightning arcing as the sword scraped a gash in it, but it held. Belial and the other members closed in on the enormous beast, hammers rising and falling as they smashed it into a pulp, they consolidated nearer to the tyranid objective. In the woods, the lone survivor of squad 1 uttered his litanies of ending, committed his soul to the Emperor and was buried in a tide of claws and teeth. With a thunderous roar he shattered one hormagant with his fist and crushed the head of another. A psychic shockwave at the death of the Tyranid Prime echoed across the battlefield and the hormagants suudenly turned and fled, no longer under the control of the Hivemind. In an instant the terminator was standing alone amid a pile of ruined aliens and his fallen battle brothers having escaped what he had thought was certain death.
The swarm suddenly lost cohesion, the last of the synapse creatures having been destroyed, a keening of loss and terrifying self-awareness flooding their minds.
The Dark Angels sensed their foes momentary hesistation and gave a triumphant cry that drowned out the chatter of bolter and scream of tyranid alike: ‘Death to the enemy! For the Emperor and the Lion!’. The LRC swivelled and tank shocked the large squad of termagants at full speed, pumping assault cannon rounds into the squad with devourers, the survivors turning and fleeing the battle. Belial’s squad moved forward and let rip with the flamer again, incinerating another swath of critters from the large squad who also turned and fled. With the bloodlust on them they were not satisfied with letting them escape and barrelled into them, laying about left and right with their mighty hammers they vanquished their foe before consolidating back to hold the objective.
The Ravenwing landspeeders banked sharply and unleashed hell at the genestealers behind the hill. Frag after frag smashed into the closely huddled forms and the explosions ripped through them. Squad 2 moved to seize the home objective and added their own firepower to the barrage, reducing the beasts’ numbers to five. The dreadnought turned his assault cannon on the biovore and once the barrels stopped spinning, smoking gently, the creature was a smear of ichor on the ground.
End Game:
With few tyranids remaining, the last termagant squad and the hive guard, still badly out of position, shot at Belials squad and took down one terminator, bio-weapons chewing through the plasteel armour to reach the flesh beneath. The genestealers nearing the Dark Angels’ objective sprang forward, claws snatching at the thin aeorfoils on a landspeeder as it raced past. It spun at a wild angle and crashed into the ground, exploding and sending the shattered bodies of the crew and several genestealers flying. A terminator in the woods was also caught near the blast, a shard of white hot metal piercing the eyepiece of his suit.
Out of seemingly nowhere a lictor appeared, flesh-hooks attempting to catch a second landspeeder but it failed. Moments later missiles from the remaining Deathwing members slammed into it, blowing it apart. The final genestealers were gunned down and the combined fire of the LRC, Dreadnought and the heavy flamer of Belial’s squad claimed the lives of the last termagant squad. After a final few desultory shots that failed to claim any victims, the Hive guard retreated from the field. Victory lay with the forces of the Imperium this day, a splinter of the tyranid incursion neutralised. For now.
Summary:
The Tervigon was killed by missile fire on turns 1&2. My LRC advanced down the centre, tank shocking the large unit of hormagants and next turn the large unit of termagants which were both wiped by Belials squad aided by the heavy flamer which was awesome, and who also killed the Prime, ending up on Steve’s objective. My objective was held by the survivors of 2 Deathwing squads, having staved off swarms of tyranids through a combination of shooting and assault. The Ravenwing were allowed free reign since the Hive guard were out of position and were instrumental in destroying a lot of the genestealers. Near the end all Steve’s synapse creatures were killed and a lot of his hormagants and termagants fled (3 units), leaving me in possession of both objectives at the end of the game.
Final reckoning: Dark Angels 2-0 Tyranids
Really enjoyable game (hope Steve enjoyed it too) against a great opponent. If the Hive Guard had been placed centrally they would have taken out at least one if not two landspeeders or the dread, possibly swinging the game - I only had 5 terminators from two diff squads on my home objective and if that large unit of genestealers hadn't been shot up by the speeders...
Dark Angels
Belial – thunder hammer & storm shield (th&ss)
Deathwing Squad C – apothecary th&ss, banner th&ss, twin lightning claw, th&ss, heavy flamer & power fist (pf)
Deathwing Squad 1 – cyclone missile launcher (CML) storm bolter+pf, sb+pf, 3 x th+ss
Deathwing squad 2 – CML sb+pf, 2 x sb+pf, 2 x th+ss
Deathwing squad 3 - CML sb+pf, 2 x sb+pf, 2 x th+ss
Dreadnought – venerable, assault cannon, heavy flamer, extra armour
Ravenwing support squadron – 1 landspeeder with typhoon missile launcher and heavy bolter
Ravenwing support squadron – 1 landspeeder with typhoon missile launcher and multimelta
Ravenwing support squadron – 1 landspeeder with typhoon missile launcher and multimelta
Landraider Crusader (in DA codex it comes with a multimelta as standard)
Tyranids (think this is roughly what Steve had)
Tervigon – catalyst, cluster spines
Tyranid Prime – lash whip and bonesword
3 Hive Guard
1 Zoanthrope
1 Biovore
1 Lictor
10 termagants with devourers
20 hormagaunts with toxin sacs
30 (?) hormagaunts with toxin sacs
20 termagants with fleshborers
16 (?) genestealers with toxin sacs
16 genestealers with toxin sacs
10 Gargoyles
Deployment
I won the roll off and deployed the Landraider in the centre of my deployment zone with Belial and squad C inside. It was flanked by all 3 landspeeders deployed hugging my board edge to try and be out of range of the hive guard I was scared of! The dread and 3 other squads deployed on my right flank on a hill near the centre and behind some woods on my extreme right (which my objective had been placed behind.
Steve then deployed his tyranids across the board with the large horm brood in the centre close to the Tervigon, the other horm brood opposite my right flank with the Zoan, tyranid prime and the biovore and the rest of termagants all the other side of his tervigon on my centre left. The gargoyles were on my right as well and the Hive Guard he placed behind a hill opposite my left flank. His lictor was in reserve and the two genestealer broods infiltrated on my left 18” away from my landspeeders.
Steve made a mistake deploying his Hive Guard out of synapse range…
Here follows a rather protracted account of the battle, I got a bit carried away writing it! If you want you can skip to the end for a very short summary.
First contact:
The Deathwing advanced slowly into the woods and onto the hill while the speeders moved rapidly away from the genestealers and behind the thin bone-coloured line of terminators. As the Tyranid swarm came into range, the Dark Angel force unleashed its first salvo of missiles, most aimed at the hulking form of the tervigon. Intelligence had reported one of those abominations was present and Belial had given orders to target it first, an alpha strike designed to rip the heart out of the enemy force. The LRC rumbled forward and let rip but its bullets were spent before they reached the monster(it was out of range) and although severely wounded by krak missiles it still stood, some trees affording it some cover (it had 1 wound left). The only other thing killed in the initial salvo was a single unlucky hormagant!
The tyranids moved forward as one as fast as possible, with the exception of the Hive Guard who milled around out of synapse range. The tervigon which moved back slightly out of psychic feedback range of the termagants) and spawned a brood of termagants.
(Turn 2) Squads 2 & 3 near the hill retreated and squad 1 in the woods prepared to face the hormagants bounding towards them.The tervigon was finished off with missile fire and a few hormagants also fell to frag and storm bolter rounds. Orders were given to switch targets to the zoanthrope, now the only real threat to the LRC, but all the missiles and assault cannon rounds were deflected away failed due to its impenetrable forcefield. Squad 1 targeted the onrushing hormagants and downed 3 while the dread moved forward out of the wood and flamed a couple of gargoyles. The landspeeders shot one of the genestealer broods up reducing it to half strength with frags and heavy bolter rounds.
The tyranids continued forward as fast as possible, the hive guard moving forwards to try and get in the fight and the termagants and hormagaunts surging towards the middle of the board, just in front of the landraider. The termagants with fleshborers opposite the Dark Angels left flank were out of synapse and headed back towards some trees in the centre, the prime moving to connect them with the Hive Mind once more. On their right the hormagaunts charged Squad 1 in the woods and cut down 2 deathwing with the loss of 4 or 5 in return (a good result for me), the Deathwing striking simultaneously due to being in cover. The termagants held due to being fearless for now. The depleted genestealer squad in the centre and the large hormagant squad charged the landraider, they couldn’t hope to hurt the mighty machine but it allowed them to advance further across the table.
Forces Collide (mid-game):
The LRC rolled forward, tank shocking the hormagants in front and they bunched up as they moved to avoid being crushed. The ramp clanked down and out charged the Master of the Deathwing with his personal bodyguard, banner of the first company unfurled. The heavy flamer toasted 7 hormagants and a gargoyle while the hurricaine bolters on that side of the LRC downed a couple more. On the other side the machine spirit of the LRC fired and killed a single termagant. Belial and his men charged gloriously into the mass of hormagants, obliterating them although not before the banner bearer was torn to pieces under a tide of chitinous claws. They consolidated towards the tyranid objective on the far side of the table.
Squad 1 in the woods lost another 2 members in the assault phase for the loss of 2 hormagants in return, leaving the a lone terminator (with the squads CML) in a wood surrounded on all sides…heroic last stand anyone? Meanwhile DW squad 2 charged and ripped apart the remaining gargoyles, while the other dW squad charged into a severely depleted genestealer squad (5 models left) after being thinned some more by the landspeeders who continued to move towards the right. One landspeeder fired at the distant Prime, a krak missile tearing off a chunk of it. The genestealers were wiped as the thunder hammers did their work and they consolidated away from the onrushing full strength genestealer brood, screaming at the death of their kin.
Finally brother Obadiah, the venerable dreadnought, stormed through some trees and opened up with assault cannon and heavy flamer on the zoanthrope, its field failing it as it disintegrated in a welter of gore, the biovore also being caught and wounded by the flames.
Something like a third of the tyranid force had just been destroyed in a single turn, but the survivors threw themselves forward into the hail of fire. The biovore finally got lucky and downed a member of Squad 2 in bio-acid, while the genestealers powered into squad 3, ripping through their terminator armour as if it were paper, the last terminator being pulled down by sheer weight of numbers as he crushed a genestealer in his fist. Truly a heroic end (he failed his fearless save!). The genestealers consolidated behind the hill looking for shelter from the guns of the Ravenwing, but were now bunched up…
The termagants shot at Belial and company, taking one down before the Prime let out a mighty scream and plunged into the squad, lash whip and bonesword flailing. The disciplined first company veterans held their nerve however, one taking the bonesword on his storm shield, blue lightning arcing as the sword scraped a gash in it, but it held. Belial and the other members closed in on the enormous beast, hammers rising and falling as they smashed it into a pulp, they consolidated nearer to the tyranid objective. In the woods, the lone survivor of squad 1 uttered his litanies of ending, committed his soul to the Emperor and was buried in a tide of claws and teeth. With a thunderous roar he shattered one hormagant with his fist and crushed the head of another. A psychic shockwave at the death of the Tyranid Prime echoed across the battlefield and the hormagants suudenly turned and fled, no longer under the control of the Hivemind. In an instant the terminator was standing alone amid a pile of ruined aliens and his fallen battle brothers having escaped what he had thought was certain death.
The swarm suddenly lost cohesion, the last of the synapse creatures having been destroyed, a keening of loss and terrifying self-awareness flooding their minds.
The Dark Angels sensed their foes momentary hesistation and gave a triumphant cry that drowned out the chatter of bolter and scream of tyranid alike: ‘Death to the enemy! For the Emperor and the Lion!’. The LRC swivelled and tank shocked the large squad of termagants at full speed, pumping assault cannon rounds into the squad with devourers, the survivors turning and fleeing the battle. Belial’s squad moved forward and let rip with the flamer again, incinerating another swath of critters from the large squad who also turned and fled. With the bloodlust on them they were not satisfied with letting them escape and barrelled into them, laying about left and right with their mighty hammers they vanquished their foe before consolidating back to hold the objective.
The Ravenwing landspeeders banked sharply and unleashed hell at the genestealers behind the hill. Frag after frag smashed into the closely huddled forms and the explosions ripped through them. Squad 2 moved to seize the home objective and added their own firepower to the barrage, reducing the beasts’ numbers to five. The dreadnought turned his assault cannon on the biovore and once the barrels stopped spinning, smoking gently, the creature was a smear of ichor on the ground.
End Game:
With few tyranids remaining, the last termagant squad and the hive guard, still badly out of position, shot at Belials squad and took down one terminator, bio-weapons chewing through the plasteel armour to reach the flesh beneath. The genestealers nearing the Dark Angels’ objective sprang forward, claws snatching at the thin aeorfoils on a landspeeder as it raced past. It spun at a wild angle and crashed into the ground, exploding and sending the shattered bodies of the crew and several genestealers flying. A terminator in the woods was also caught near the blast, a shard of white hot metal piercing the eyepiece of his suit.
Out of seemingly nowhere a lictor appeared, flesh-hooks attempting to catch a second landspeeder but it failed. Moments later missiles from the remaining Deathwing members slammed into it, blowing it apart. The final genestealers were gunned down and the combined fire of the LRC, Dreadnought and the heavy flamer of Belial’s squad claimed the lives of the last termagant squad. After a final few desultory shots that failed to claim any victims, the Hive guard retreated from the field. Victory lay with the forces of the Imperium this day, a splinter of the tyranid incursion neutralised. For now.
Summary:
The Tervigon was killed by missile fire on turns 1&2. My LRC advanced down the centre, tank shocking the large unit of hormagants and next turn the large unit of termagants which were both wiped by Belials squad aided by the heavy flamer which was awesome, and who also killed the Prime, ending up on Steve’s objective. My objective was held by the survivors of 2 Deathwing squads, having staved off swarms of tyranids through a combination of shooting and assault. The Ravenwing were allowed free reign since the Hive guard were out of position and were instrumental in destroying a lot of the genestealers. Near the end all Steve’s synapse creatures were killed and a lot of his hormagants and termagants fled (3 units), leaving me in possession of both objectives at the end of the game.
Final reckoning: Dark Angels 2-0 Tyranids
Really enjoyable game (hope Steve enjoyed it too) against a great opponent. If the Hive Guard had been placed centrally they would have taken out at least one if not two landspeeders or the dread, possibly swinging the game - I only had 5 terminators from two diff squads on my home objective and if that large unit of genestealers hadn't been shot up by the speeders...
40K - Dark Angels, Dark Eldar, Necrons; Lord of the Rings - lots; Bloodbowl - Dwarves, Wood Elves; SAGA - Anglo Danes & Welsh; Guildball - Morticians, Engineers; Dropzone/fleet - Shaltari
(For some reason I've only got 39 Hormagaunts...)
