Warhammer 40k battle report: Tyranids vs Orks

The Hive Mind barely registered the fungus-creatures hiding in the ruined human city. This world had fallen long ago, just as all other worlds had, as hive fleet Kraken had spread its tendrils. Why were they still resisting the inevitable?

In the end, it did not matter. They would all be eaten. It was simply a matter of time.

500 points combat patrol
In a month, we're going to have a 500 point doubles tournament, using the 40k in 40 minutes rules. For those unfamiliar to these rules, they are:

• No 2+ saves
• Max 2 wounds per model
• Max 33 in total armour on vehicles
• Min 1 Troop, no other Force Organization Chart requirements

I'm one of the organizers of the tournament, and went to Oslo Miniature Gaming Club this Sunday to spread the word and possibly get more attendees.

I met a guy I haven't played in over a year, and we decided to play a 500 point game using the rules outlined above.

My list:

• 4 Tyranid Warriors - Wings, Adrenal Glands (+WS), Adrenal Glands (+I), Toxin Sacs (+S), Rending Claws, Scything Talons, Flesh Hooks (192)
• 16 Hormagaunts - Adrenal Glands (+WS), Toxin Sacs (+S), Flesh Hooks (224)
• 12 Gaunts - Devourers (84)

His list (from what I remember):

• Weirdboy
• 14 Slugga Boyz - Nob w/Power Klaw, Big Shoota
• 14 Slugga Boyz - Nob w/Power Klaw, Big Shoota
• 12 Slugga Boyz - Nob w/Power Klaw, Big Shoota, Trukk w/Reinforced Ram

Wow, the Tyranids were outnumbered! Fortunately, I knew that my units were both faster and hit harder in close combat. All I had to do was hit his units one at a time, and deny him the charge. Easy!

Deployment
We rolled for mission and deployment and got Capture & Control and Dawn of war. This meant that my precious Warriors would be off-table first turn. Crap. If he managed to kill enough Gaunts, they would probably run off the table without any Synapse nearby. He took first turn and deployed in such a way that he was controlling two of the four objectives. I deployed my Gaunts and Hormagaunts far back, behind cover. Fortunately, the units were large, and Ork shooting isn't very accurate.

Turn 1
I failed seizing the initiative, and he started his turn. The Trukk boyz came up the board at full speed, and the two other boyz units shot their Big Shootas on the Devourergaunts. Only one of them hit and wounded, and I passed the cover save. Phew!

In my turn, the Hormagaunts pushed forward, ran 4" and charged the nearest Boyz, wiping them and the Weirdboy out to a man. Hormagaunts are Ace! The Gaunts and Warriors kept up, moving up the board.

Turn 2
Shocked by the carnage, the Orks were initially reluctant to engage. The Trukk Boyz drove to a better position, blasting away. A Tyranid Warrior lost a wound, and I lost a single Hormagaunt.

The Tyranids shuffled about, making sure that they were in a good position to charge next turn.

Turn 3
The Trukk Boyz drove up 13" and jumped out, perhaps hoping for a fight. They were an inch too far away, but their shooting killed a Tyranid Warrior.

The Tyranids were going for bust! The Hormagaunts charged the large unit of Ork Boyz, while the Warriors charged the Trukk Boyz, after the Gaunts had shot them up a bit. As there were only 8 Boyz left, the Warriors were confident of victory (12 attacks, hitting on 3s, wounding on 3s, 6+ save).

As expected, the Hormagaunts killed the entire unit of Boyz, taking a couple of casualties themselves. However, the Tyranid Warriors completely fluffed their charge, only killing 3 boyz! The 3 boyz and Nob still standing then wiped out the Warriors! Disaster!

Turn 4
The Trukk turned and tank shocked the Hormagaunts, which promptly fled the scene. Without synapse, the Tyranids were in complete disarray!

The four Orks left charged the Gaunts, killing a few and forcing them to flee.

Game end - Ork victory!
With no forces left, the Hive Mind had to accept defeat this time. It was the single round of combat with the Tyranid Warriors that made all the difference. On average, they would have wiped the Boyz out to a boy, but alas, It wasn't to be. Without synapse, the Tyranids were completely useless and lost very quickly.

The battlefield was suddenly blurred and distant for the Hive Mind. The Synapse creatures had perished. No matter, the planet was soon to be digested anyway. The Orks had won this battle, but the war was already decided. The fungus would be valuable bio-matter for the coming onslaught of the Imperium of Man.

Video Battle Report: Chaos Space Marines vs Tyranids

After losing to Briefspite in the last battle of the Invasion tournament, I was looking forward to a rematch. Well, not a rematch per se, because this time I would bring my Chaos Space Marines to the battlefield.

We rolled randomly for mission and deployment, and got Annihilation (Kill points) and Pitched Battle (deploy up to 12" from the board edge).

My list:
2 Khorne Daemon Princes with wings
5 Thousand Sons in a Rhino
8 Khorne Berzerkers in a Rhino
14 Lesser Daemons
10 Chaos Space Marines
Land Raider

His list:
Hive Tyrant (shooty) with 2 Tyrant Guard
Broodlord with Genestealer retinue
Dakkafex (twin devourers)
Lictor
3x8 Gaunts
2x6 Genestealers
2xSniperfex (Venom cannon & barbed strangler)

My plan
Exploit outflanking Genestealers and race up the center of the board. If I could get into close combat before the Genestealers got into the fight, I would be using my 1500 points to attack his 1100 points. Add to this that my forces were very close combat oriented, whereas his were not, I would just have to get there to get a big advantage.

Deployment
He gave me the choice of table edge, and I set up with some mobile forces on the edges. I hoped this would make him put all his stealers in outflanking reserves. Unfortunately for me, he didn't. The Broodlord and 'stealer retinue was right in the middle. Crap...

In addition to this, he seized the initiative! I had not deployed in anticipation of this, so I was expecting a pretty brutal end to my mobile infantry forces. Watch the video battle report below to see how the game progressed.



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Video Battle Report: Tyranids vs Witch Hunters

Inqusitor Lord Diego Dezza
knows where you live!
Originally uploaded
by Xadhoom.

My brother hasn't played Warhammer 40k since 3rd edition. Now back for 5th, he is still a pleasure to play against.

For his first game in over 5 years, he chose to play his Tyranids. I took my Witch Hunters to the battlefield. You'll note that I took quite a few Space Marine allies from the Revilers Chapter.

I have a lot of Sisters of Battle, but for this match, I wanted to try out both the semi-new Space Marines codex and show my brother my Witch Hunters. Even though I have been building this army for years, he has yet to play against it.

The mission was Seize Ground, with 5 objective markers. I got first turn, and moved rather aggressively up the board. My plan was to contest all four objectives near his deployment zone with my many tanks, and grab the one near mine with a Space Marine combat squad. Check the video to see how it went.

Tyranid Gunfex

Tyranid Gunfex
Originally uploaded by Xadhoom.

The Gunfex is the final spoke in the wheel that is my Tyranid army. It makes short work of skimmers, heavy tanks, light tanks and any and all infantry, bar terminators and power armour.

This guy was a major factor in my beating Speed Freeks to a man (an Ork?) in just four turns during Recon. Except for one Trukk, the poor saps didn't even get out of their deployment zone due do the horrendous amount of incoming fire. Of course, the fact that the Venom Cannon can get penetrating hits against open-topped vehicles helped a lot!

PS: I keep missing the "G", writing Funfex instead of Gunfex. My spelling error has a point, this really is a funfex.

Tyranids vs Death Guard

My Tyranids vs Alf's Death Guard
Originally uploaded by Xadhoom.

I played Alf's Death Guard a week ago and took this picture. After posting it on Flickr, I got a question about the number of Tyranid Warriors I was fielding.

bzarcher says:

I'm surprised at the Warriors - do you get good use out of them for the points? Mine never quite feel like they're making their points back.

Xadhoom says:

Yes, they do perform admirably against many opponents, but tend to fall quickly against a prepared opponent. Heavy Bolters, Autocannons, Pulse Rifles and Bolters too often spell doom for a unit of Warriors. There are, as I see it, three remedies:

1: Keep them out of range. Only an option if they have guns, preferably a Venom Cannon and Deathspitters. They won't make a dent in a dug-in Marine unit, though.

2: Keep them out of sight. This is often the best way of ensuring that they are effective. Just sneak up and try get as few turns of incoming fire as possible. This trick works best if the whole army is "revealed" at the same time, which means that there are too many threatening targets for the enemy to kill. More often than not, the Warriors are seen as a lesser threat than, say, a Carnifex or Hive Tyrant, or even better, two Carnifexes and a Hive Tyrant!

3: Get more of them. That's right. Strenght in numbers. If you have a lot, some of them will arrive to do the job. Keeping in mind that they can't be autokilled or routed, they are quite resilient agaist the correct foe (Predator with all Lascannons, Defiler, Dreadnought with Lascannon, Devastator Squad with single-shot weaponry, etc.)

If you see my deployment on this picture (from turn 2, I believe), I have tried a combination of all three tactics. The only units killable to my opponent are the two Carnifexes, gaunts and the Hive Tyrant.

The Warriors on the right are out of range and will try to stay that way until the Death Guard in the left building are occupied fighting Genestealers, the ones on the top left are facing an opponent unsuited to kill enough of them (a Predator with three Lascannons). The Warriors with guns will try to take out the Rhino and Defiler, and the winged Warriors will fly from cover to cover and counter charge the Terminators hiding behind the big towers.

Tyranid Warriors

Tyranid Warriors

My brother no longer plays 40K, so I have adopted his Tyranids, promising to give them victories and glory (or whatever the beasts crave). Anyhow, some of the Warriors were not completely painted, so I have taken upon me the arduous task of finishing the army. This constitutes mostly of finishing five Warrior's armour plates, as I have painted their skin and claws earlier.

I have tried to match the armour design as closely as I can, but it is clear to me that there will be some differences. The one on the left is painted by me, the one on the right by my brother.

The army itselft sports 21 Tyranid Warriors, not a very common unit type in most Tyranid forces. I expect some turned heads and very few opponents with experience in handling 42 wounds of Warriors, now immune to insta-killing and with a horrendous amount of Rending attacks. >:]