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| "Was this supposed to be open?" |
New models, new rules, a new year and a new hope - time for my first 40K of 2020! What better than to pitch the freshly painted Mantis Warriors against the Tyranids, and who better than to pitch against than Stylus?
Someone who knows about the White Scars supplement would be my guess, but I'm game!
Dig for Victory - Hive Fleet Afanc
My 'nids had a very bad year last year, scraping a single win in several games. Something about the state of Marines these days, who they seem to come up against a lot. How do you get past the bolter spam?
The Blood of Baal supplement, affectionately abbreviated to BoB, has a bunch of new relics, strats and adaptations that gave me hope. The latter are like a warlord trait, more or less, but you give it to a unit instead.
After a bit of theory hammering, I decided to test this to the max, as well as try out a Hive Fleet trait I'd never used before - Jormungandr, with their Tunnel Networks. This translates as extra armour at a slight cost to speed.
The list I've got is nothing new to regular readers, on the whole. A Tyrant, a medium unit of warriors, a big Gant squad, all the elites I can muster and the Tyrannofex. The big twist here is a unit of armoured Genestealers. Extra points for an extra pip of armour, but they lose their 'advance and charge' ability.
To compensate, I'm giving them an Adaptation that ignores AP-1 and -2. The internet thinks this is best on Warriors, but I disagree. Slap it on these slow and steady 'Stealers, and you've got a unit that needs to be taken down, but can hopefully shrug off a lot of the small arms fire you'd want to do that with.
Elsewhere, I'm giving both HQs new relics (a bigger gun for the Tyrant that gives him more range and Salamander style rerolls, and a sword for the Prime that dishes out mortal wounds), the Tyrannofex gets a tanky invuln save plus the ability to double its wounds remaining to work out its stats, although that costs me extra CPs for the extra toys and adaptations.
And finally! An all-new unit, freshly painted but heavily proxied. You'll see them in more detail another day, but Jormundangr are the right Hive Fleet to test drive Raveners with, cheap, fast and hard-hitting with the ability to bring in extra deep strikers.
Beetlebomb - Hive Fleet Jormungandr Battalion Detachment
(-2 CPs for Bounty of the Hive Fleet and Progeny of the Hive)
- HQ - Tyrant with Adrenal Glands, Lash Whip and Bone Sword, Pathogenesis relic, Two Deathspitters with Slimer Maggots, Catalyst and Onslaught powers
- HQ - Tyranid Prime, Lash Whip and Bone Sword, Deathspitter, toxin sacs, Xenogenic Acid relic
- Troops - 20 Genestealers, Extended Carapaces and Enhanced Resistance adaptation
- Troops - 30 Termagants, 12 Devourers and the rest Fleshborers
- Troops - 5 Tyranid Warriors, 4 with Bone Swords and Deathspitters, 1 with Venom Cannon and Rending Talons
- Elites - 3 Hive Guard with Impalers
- Elites - 3 Venomthropes
- Elites - 3 Zoanthropes
- Fast Attack - 3 Raveners with twin Scything Talons and Deathspitters
- Tyrannofex - Acid Spray and Dermic Symbiosis adaptation
- Tyrannocyte - with 5 Deathspitters
The Forlorn Hope - Mantis Warriors
This army was very simple: take everything in Kraken's Mantis Warriors collection and try to bring them up to 1500pts!
So that means a lot of characters, and since my warlord is pretty tooled up for melee anyway, I buff him even further (despite my best intentions against 'Nids, it usually ends in a scuffle). He has a whole committee to help him of Lieutenant, Chaplain, Ancient and two Librarians. The litanies and psychic powers are all about boosting charges, rerolling hits or not getting overwatched, so I really am committing to a punchy strategy here.
With that in mind, I tool up all my Veterans with Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields. They won't survive much of a counterattack, but will hopefully clobber something with their first strike.
I also get some bikes to play with, which is useful since I'm a White Scars successor chapter. Two small squads, one augmented by an Attack Bike, plus a Land Speeder to round out the Outrider. I'd like to have made the Thunder hammer guy a character, but I needed him to fill out the squad, so he's just a very punchy sergeant.
For boots on the ground, I take a squad of Intercessors with Stalker Bolt Rifles, for some backfield harrassing, and two squads of tactical marines, armed as they come, for jumping on those objectives. To that end, I'm looking to the Rhino and Drop Pod to add some more mobility to the army.
So I don't have much long-range, but I can hit like a train with some of my squads, and have some nasty assault firepower to back them up. This will be about hitting the Tyranids before they can hit me.
- Captain in Gravis Armour (HQ)(Warlord)
Boltstorm gauntlet Master-crafted power sword
Trait: Chogorian Storm
Relic: Scimitar of the Great Khan - Primaris Librarian (HQ)
Bolt pistol, Force sword
Lightning Call, Eye of the Storm - Primaris Lieutenant (HQ)
Bolt pistol, Master-crafted stalker bolt rifle - Chaplain (HQ)
Combi-plasma, Crozius Arcanum
Canticle of Hate, Litany of Hate - Librarian (HQ)
Bolt pistol, Force stave
Ride the Winds, Storm-wreathed - 5 x Intercessor Squad (Troops)
Bolt pistol, Stalker Bolt Rifle - 10 x Tactical Squad (Troops)
Sergeant: Chainsword, storm bolter, 7 x Boltguns, Flamer, Missile launcher - 10 x Tactical Squad (Troops)
Sergeant: Power fist, storm bolter, 7 x Boltguns, Multi-melta, Meltagun - 5 x Company Veterans (Elite)
Thunder hammers, storm shields - Primaris Ancient (Elite)
Bolt pistol, Bolt rifle - 3 x Bike Squad + Attack Bike (Fast)
Sergeant: Combi-melta, 4 x Twin boltgun, Multi-melta - 3 x Bike Squad + Attack Bike (Fast)
Sergeant: Thunder hammer, 3 x Twin boltgun, Plasma gun - Land Speeder (Fast)
Heavy bolter - Drop Pod (Transport)
Storm bolter - Rhino (Transport)
Storm bolter
Mission and Terrain
Stylus was dealing with an unfamiliar army, so we went with a random Eternal War mission. This gave us Tactical Ascension, the standard 'grab the objectives' gig. The spin on this one is that if Characters can hold an objective, the VPs they get increase for each consecutive turn they've held it for. With Stylus's six characters up against my two, this could quickly get out of hand!
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| Objective 1, in the middle |
We placed the objectives - there are three, one in the middle and two at equal distances on either side.
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| Objective 3, to the North |
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| Objective 2, to the South |
Deployment
The roll-off gives me pick of deployment zones. Stylus chooses to be the attacker, so he deploys first but then has the choice of first or second turn. Interesting! I can see where he will be, but he can decide if he's going first or not depending on where I choose to set up.
Not quite knowing where I should go - except forwards - I deploy accordingly. I combat-squad all my Tacticals, putting the melta guys into the Rhino, and the Missile Launcher in front of the building which contains my Stalker Bolt Rifle Intercessors, Lieutenant and Ancient.
Behind the Rhino is my entire cast of characters, with the Drop Pod in deepstrike with the Veteran squad and the last five Tacticals.
On the left flank goes the melta Biker squad, while the right flank has the Land Speeder and thunder hammer Biker squad. These are going to race ahead on the objectives (I hope) and grab some early points before the tide hits.
I'm guessing I will be going second here, but I know what I'm looking to achieve. Venomthropes centrally with pretty much everything next to them, front and centre in my deployment. The Genestealers will be taunting the enemy firing line, I'm keen to test their armour!
The Tyrannofex will deep strike from the 'Cyte. And for another CP, the Termagants follow the Raveners into their burrows, ready to flood out anywhere they can find the space later on.
The plan? Flood the middle field, use the deep strikers to claim the other two objectives, pick my teeth with their Mantis bones!
Mantis Warriors - Turn 1
Even with the first turn, I'm moving forward tentatively. There's not point grabbing all three objectives on Turn 1 just to be eaten up on them Turn 2.
The Chaplain succeeds in his litany, but it's out of range to be useful (likewise, the two psykers give their minds a rest this turn).
The melta bike squad races around the flank (unable to claim Objective 2 because some idiot put it on top of a building) and keeps to extreme range of the enemy. The other bike squad races on the opposite flank, in the general direction of Objective 3, but it's slow going through the dense foliage (at least it keeps me hidden).
In the centre, the Rhino charges forward after disembarking the multi-melta squad, who follow on behind. They are accompanied by the Captain, two Librarians and Chaplain. The Lieutenant and Ancient remain to hold down the fort of Intercessors, and the missile launcher squad steps forward to screen them.
Very few of my guns are in sight or range of things. I pick off a few Genestealers with twin boltgun and heavy bolter fire, and take away five wound from the Hive Tyrant with my multi-meltas and stalker bolt rifles.
The stalkers actually shot up the Warriors, but whiffed. Which was annoying for both of us, as I effectively wasted a CP on a new strat to reduce the incoming wounds, but would barely have taken any anyway!
But no First Strike for me, which could be important in these type of objective games.
Hive Fleet Afanc - Turn 1
Oo, tasty bikers are nearby! The Genestealers therefore immediately abandon my original plan. The Tyrant strides forward by itself, and in my rush to get to the later phases, I forget to screen it with the Venomthropes, which shuffle forward with the Prime and the Zoanthropes to hide behind the central building.
I manage to put Catalyst on the Tyrant, but then the Mantis Librarians shush my smite attempts on the Rhino, which then also shrugs off all the bug fire the Tyrant can put on it.
Alas for the bikers, though - a torrent of slime from the Hive Guard and Warriors leaves only the Attack Bike standing. The Genestealers have a long charge of 9" to get in, but the Warriors are showing them the way with a new strat. Hunter's Drive lets them roll and extra dice for the charge against a unit that took casualties in shooting earlier, which the Bikers certainly have.
Even this still requires a reroll to get there! The assault bike at least tastes good as it vanishes into their myriad throats. Then it's another CP (I have only one left already!) to move the Genestealers once again, advancing up on to Objective 2 for an early lead.
Mantis Warriors - Turn 2
Yikes, who gave the body armour to the Generstealers? I'm feeling under the cosh already, not so much from losses taken, but I despair at my chances of holding the centre line before this endless tide of burrowing bugs. I also move from Devastator to Tactical doctrine, but I won't be there for long...
Undaunted, my line moves forward - characters taking the lead and Rhino racing nose-to-nose with the exposed Hive Tyrant. My Chaplain recites Canticle of Hate, so I'm getting +2" charges within his aura, which means the fight is on.
Around the corner, my surviving bikes make it onto Objective 3 unchallenged, so I can finally start scoring points.
And when it comes to the battle of the deepstrikers, I'm afraid I blink first. My Company Veterans were waiting to see where the Tyrannocyte landed, but I can't face another round of Hive Guard shooting, so they're getting the chop. Also, since I went first, Kraken can always wait me out on deepstrikes. The squads tumble out with the Veterans running towards the Hive Guard and the Tactical Squad moving towards the floating mass in the centre,
The key cast in the Psychic Phase is getting off Storm-wreathed on my Captain, who can now charge in without fear of overwatch.
In the Shooting Phase, the bolters of the tactical squad take out five more Genestealers, while I use the Flakk Missile stratagem to knock down one of the Neurothropes, which should reduce some of their psychic damage at least.
The rest of my attention is given to the Hive Tyrant, who has a shocking time with his invulnerable save and takes five wounds.
And then the Assault Phase - the Gravis Captain lets himself down quite badly and fails an easy charge - even with a CP reroll, which only makes it worse. Without him block the overwatch (and punch down the Hive Tyrant), none of the other characters fancy making a charge.
The only thing that can make the charge is the Rhino, which is probably tough enough to soak wounds and will at least prevent the Hive Tyrant from shooting or charging. It bravely drives at the enemy warlord, and only gets a few wounds scratched off by the badly-damaged Hive Tyrant.
It's better news for the far flank - the Company Veterans make their charge against the Hive guard and pulp them with ease. They may be a spent force now, but I'm happy not to have those guns bombarding me any more.
My warlord have have fallen short, but at least that means he's on the Objective 1 (along with all the other characters, so maybe I can keep it that way and start racking up points). I also claim a point for the Bikers on Objective 1
Hive Fleet Afanc - Turn 2
Aha! I kind of knew the Hive Guard were going to get pounced on. Indeed, I was slightly counting on it - it leaves those deadly veterans with their devastation charge very much out by themselves.
Accordingly, I screen the valuable elites on my back line with a vast splodge of Termagants. As they deep strike in with the Raveners, who are fast enough to reposition later, I drop the 'Fex and 'Cyte in behind the remaining bikers.
Catalyst stays up on the Tyrant, who's going to need it. He also stays in on the Rhino, as the Venomthropes and Warriors move to support him along with the Prime.
The Genestealers lumber slowly down off the objective, keeping a presence on it but thinking slowly forward to threatening the Primaris guys in the back line later.
After that, it's shooting time. The Marines who arrived in the drop pod handily weather a torrent of Termagant and Ravener fire, thanks to the woods, losing only a single marine. The Bikers are less happy to be drenched in Deathspitter and Acid spray, and the Sarge is left on a lone wound.
Combat goes fine - the Prime and Venomthropes help the Tyrant eat the Rhino, which gets torn to bits in fairly short order. The Tacs within scramble out, leaving on guy behind, then the Prime consolidates forward on to the objective to contest it with the Gravis Captain. But he's very much out in the open...
Objectives scored: Hold Objectives (1)
Mantis Warriors - Turn 3
Just because things are desperate, doesn't mean they are hopeless! I have a plan to pull back into this game. I also continue moving through the combat doctrines to land on Assault - as a White Scar bonus, all my melee weapons now increase in damage. This makes thunder hammers extra dangerous, and even chainswords quite alarming!
First in line for the Hail Mary moves is the Land Speeder and wounded Biker sergeant. They close up to the Tyrannocyte - my plan is for the Land Speeder to soak the overwatch and the sergeant's thunder hammer to smush the floating bug. They can then both consolidate into the Tyrannofex and hope to survive his couterattack long enough to shut down his shooting.
My drop-pod troops continue their pincer movement on the huge swarm of Termagants - I'll just have to rely on my shock assault attacks to strip down their numbers.
In the centre, I continue to push forward with my characters. My chaplain's litany continues to give me +2" to the charge (which might be overkill, as I couldn't get any closer to the Hive Tyrant, and rerolling attacks might be more practical - but I'm paranoid about failing any more charges).
The plan here is to squash the HQ bugs and use my Gravis Captain to hold the line against the lesser threats while my other characters start racking up extra VPs for the Objective 1.
Most of the rest of my army stood firm. I've still got a smattering of melta guns, and my bolter backline to support me.
In the Psychic phase, I manage to cast Storm-wreathed on the Gravis Captain again, so he can't be overwatched. I also got a couple of Smites into the Tyranid Prime, who was foolish enough to be the closest model.
The Shooting phase chips away at the Tyranid Prime, although achieves little else - once I realised that every Termagant I shot away was lengthening my Veterans' charge, I had to stop!
Then it was off to the races in the Assault phase - everything makes it in! Gravis Captain into Hive Tyrant, Veterans and Tactical Squad into Termagants, Librarians and Chaplain into Tyranid Prime.
It was a narrow squeak for the Land Speeder, who got shot down to his last wound in overwatch, but made it in, clearing the path for the Biker sergeant to pop a wheelie and charge in afterwards.
After that, my luck ran out, and it was mostly my fault I was dazzled by my shiny new relic, the Scimitar of the Great Kahn (which, to be fair, could have killed the Hive Tyrant in a single blow) and attacked with that, rather than a trusty power fist. Sadly, the Scimitar was not forged for high-toughness monsters and I not one strike hit home!
The Hive Tyrant struck back, but he was also feeling the pace, and left my Captain alive on two wounds. At the end of the phase, I spent my last 3CP to Honour the Chapter and have another try with my power fist. This did cause the required wounds - only the invulnerable save finally kicked in, and the big bug stayed alive!
On the other side of the melee, the Veterans whacked away at the Termagants with their Thunder hammers, although a couple of them fell when the host of scrabbling claws made it past their storm shields.
Finally, my Biker sergeant let me down by missing all his attacks, and getting pulled off his ride by the writhing tentacles of the Tyrannocyte.
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| No, he Canada not. |
The one bright note was the demise of the Tyrnaid Prime to all my other characters, so that did at least leave me in command of Objective 1. My hope now was to keep the characters on it long enough to rack up bonus points, although with so much objective-secured units right in front of me, I wasn't sure about that.
Objectives scored: Hold Objectives (1)Hive Fleet Afanc - Turn 3
I was lucky to get through that last turn without more casualties! Phew - well, time to consolidate.
In the middle, the Tyrant and Venomthropes stay in combat with the Captain, as the Warriors rush up to take on the Mantis commanders. Elsewhere, the Genestealers rumble into charge range, the Zoanthropes jump back to smite the Veterans and the 'Fex and 'Cyte slope towards Objective 3.
Psychically, I was counting on smiting the Captain away to free up the Tyrant, but this fails, as does the Zoanthropes' attempt to hit the Veterans. But I still get Catalyst! Then it's shooting time, and the Land Speeder gets splattered to death. And the Venomthropes manage to eat the Gravis Captain with their pistol-style tentacles! That's worth a CP gamble as they eat his brains, and it pays off - I'm back up to three.
But the Marines in the centre hold surprisingly firm against a tide of shooting, so it's on to charging. The Veterans are torn to shreds by an utter blizzard of hits from the Raveners, but the Warriors don't achieve much more than wounding the Librarian and the Chaplain.
In return, the Mantis Warriors roll poorly and merely manage to chop up a Warrior and a half, but next to them the Tyrant (who's charged the Tac marines) bounces off and then gets left on a single wound from rifle butting.
Alas for the Missile Launcher Marines - the Genestealers slam home. But some heroic overwatch knocks the squad down to nine on the way in, so the impact is somewhat lessened! Four of the Mantis die to the charge, though, leaving only the Launcher guy to limp rapidly away.
Overall, I'm just about holding the middle objective with weight of numbers, but it's very close.
Objectives scored: Slay the Warlord (1), Hold Objectives (1)
Mantis Warriors - Turn 4
Hmm, things are looking grim. But maybe I can push through in the centre (and not think about that Tyrannofex too much)
My characters stay put on Objective 1. All my remaining Tactical Marines, most of which are armed with meltas, run off in the direction of the Tyrannofex, and the Intercessors move up to take on the Genestealers. I reckon I can have 'em.
In the centre, I finally manage to kill the Hive Tyrant with a Smite. More Smites follow on the Tyranid Warriors, backed up by a solid combat phase (I finally chanted my Litany of Hate for rerolls) which took out the remainder of them. As long as Kraken leaves them alone for the rest of the game, victory is surely mine!
The two marines hauling melta somehow miss the enormous target of the Tyrannofex, and are left hoping that the jungle foliage is adequate protection against an acid spray.
In the rear, my two remaining Drop Pod tacticals throw some shots over at the Termagants, and then charge into the Neurothropes - both sides whiff the ensuing combat, but at least I'm linebreaking, and it Kraken leaves them alone for the rest of the game, victory is surely mine!
I set to clearing my own backlines with a volley of Stalker Bolt Rifles into the Genestealers (the Missile Launcher Tactical had wisely dropped back), the following up with a charge that beats up a couple (and, I think, takes no loss on my own side).
So in the end, I rack up two more points, but the situation is looking perilous.
Hive Fleet Afanc - Turn 4
I'm actually getting a bit low on Synapse now - it's just the Zoanthropes keeping it together. Accordingly, I pack everything in towards the centre, but keep the heavies on Objective 3 and leave the Genestealers in combat.
Raveners are really quite tasty, I'm discovering. Nipping them sideways towards the middle lets them help hose down the remaining characters, although really its the Termagants who do the heavy lifting there.
The Tyrannofex hoses away the multimelta and melta marines, the Drop Pod and Tyrannocyte admire the other's purpose and design and the Genestealers keep on chewing away at the Primaris. That's a losing battle, though, the Primaris bash their way through the last few scuttlers with minimal help from their characters.
I'm just pulling ahead on points now, though, as I've got two objectives.
Objectives scored: Hold Objectives (2)
Mantis Warriors - Turn 5
Never surrender! Fresh from their victory against the Genestealers, my Lieutenant and Ancient lead the Intercessors upfield to take on the swarm. I charge into the Venomthropes and Raveners, before realising there was a reason I'd left them as backing gunners
They only chip off a few wounds, and that's my turn.
Hive Fleet Afanc - Turn 5
It's a desperate last stand, all right, and sure enough it's not a pleasant experience for the Marines.
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| It ain't easy being green |
The Termagants, Zoanthropes, Tyrannofex and Raveners manage to rip apart the remaining Primaris and fell the Lieutenant, leaving just the Ancient to hold the central field. With that, Stylus discovers there is another turn ahead of him.
Further considerations are made:
- I'm ahead on points and am likely to go further
- Stylus has four guys to hold off about twenty of mine
- One of mine is also an unscathed Tyrannofex
- It's also midnight
With that, he gracefully concedes.
Objectives scored: Hold Objectives (2)
Result: 9:5 - victory to Hive Fleet Afanc!
Locker Room
Yikes! It's been a long time since I've been utterly devoured by Tyranids, but once you let the hive fleet build up some steam, there's no stopping them! Congratulations to Kraken on the win - Hive Fleet Afanc were overdue a tabling!
Playing pure objective-grabbing missions against Tyranids can be tough, as their inclination is to close up and dominate the board, but I reckon my ridiculous numbers of characters actually gave me an unintentional advantage in this fight. With the benefit of hindsight, I should have avoided the centre like the plague, and split off for the two side objectives, landing a couple of characters on each objective and potentially running away with points before I got annihilated.
I should also have kept my Veterans and Biker units well away from trouble until they could counterpunch. With their speed (doubly so for White Scars), the Bikers can remain on the backline until they're needed, and the Veterans had one good punch in them that should have been directed against Tyrannofexes.
For all that - and despite not grasping a fraction of the stratgems and tactics open to me (those supplements really are codices in themselves) - I was impressed with Mantis Warriors. If they can master the counter-punch, I think are going to do some serious work.
I should also have kept my Veterans and Biker units well away from trouble until they could counterpunch. With their speed (doubly so for White Scars), the Bikers can remain on the backline until they're needed, and the Veterans had one good punch in them that should have been directed against Tyrannofexes.
For all that - and despite not grasping a fraction of the stratgems and tactics open to me (those supplements really are codices in themselves) - I was impressed with Mantis Warriors. If they can master the counter-punch, I think are going to do some serious work.
One of the chief talking points afterwards was what the Mantis Warriors need to really make them sing, and long-range firepower is definitely on the cards. From my experience with them, they certainly have potential, but they're yet to hit their stride. Something to do with when to charge and when to hide, I think, and keeping them alive (especially the bikers) until a late-game rush is certainly tricky.
Yes, a Thunderfire Cannon or Whirlwind would be a good addition. I was very aware that the only means I had of taking out key units was by running up and punching them. Having the means to bombard them out of line of sight would take the pressure off those early turns.
From my point of view, though, the Jormungandr experiment was a big success! The armoured Genestealers are clearly a pain to deal with, you can't cut them down easily but you can't ignore them. That's true of too many 'Nid units! Very hard to know where to put your firepower, and I felt like I managed to split Stylus's attention fairly well.
BoB has some winning stuff in it, I'd say. Much as I liked the Raveners, it's the Venomthropes who were my MVP after eating the Gravis Captain. Nice to see them perform so we'll after so long, as is also true of the 'Nids in general. Could this be the start of something?
Great game as always guys! I knew the ones in green would win (Kraken just needs an Ork army to add more green options). It's always fun seeing the 'Nids chewing through their opponents, though I checked and 2019 was a bit more successful than Kraken thinks: they beat Ultramarines, Nurgle Daemons and Harlequins.
ReplyDeleteThey drew against the Harlies, in the end. But I'd forgotten the Ultramarine win, thanks! Life in them yet.
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