Fight Them On The Beaches: Scions & Marines vs Tyranids

 

It's nearly Christmas! But that's not snow falling out of the sky on Drawbridge - it's drop pods! I, Kraken, will be taking on General Pootle for a 1250 point Strike Force battle. Join us!

This is part of the Drawbridge Campaign. In the last battle, the Alpha Legion have managed to pull the Mantis Warrior's Battle Barge out of position, leaving it unable to support the Hagan Lampreys just as they begin a combat recon mission on one of the original landing sites of the Tyranid infestation. But as a Christmas treat, we're going full narrative for this one!

Commissar Josephus Haart hung from the side of the Taurox Prime as it rolled across the sandy beach. Drawbridge's southern continents might have been millions of miles from the lush jungles of his home planet, but he felt almost at home here. A fresh salty breeze rolled in from the bright azure sea, making the palm-like beach trees sway idly. Dense jungle rose in a thick wall almost directly from the edge of the sand, covering the steep slopes of the volcanic range that ran along this part of the coast. Ancient ruins, hung with mossy cables of vine, protruded from the undergrowth. 

It would have been beautiful, if it wasn't riddled with Tyranids. 

"Pedal to the metal, driver!" Haart shouted, slapping his hand against the hull for emphasis. "Those hive nodes are nearby. Our landing site is just ahead, we need to keep it clear for the Valkyries. Sweep for guards, eliminate them, then we can focus on destroying the targets." 

The Scion driving the tank grunted in response, and the sturdy amphibious tank picked up the pace. The Hagan top brass had identified the Tyranid structures from scouting fly-bys - a pair of something they called Synaptic Amplifier Nodes. Take them out, the plan was, and they'd be massively reducing the Tyranid command presence on the ground.

Ahead on the sand was the rusted remains of an Imperial archeological study station. Creaking metal piers jutted out into the water, studded with small bunkers and long-dead seawater fusion reactors. Supplies had been dropped onto the beach only minutes ago.  Weapons crates and ready-to-assemble defence positions lay in jumbled piles. Haart knew they had a tiny window to get their positions ready, get troops on the ground and take out any nearby Tyranid defensive growth before the alien invaders detected their presence here. 

As though reacting to his thoughts, a terrifying roar rose from some unseen, monstrous throat somewhere nearby, and the undergrowth started shaking and crashing. Haart looked to the skies - the lead Valkyrie was racing in towards the beach, but the rest of the formation was little more than black dots on the horizon. 

"Move it!" he screamed at the driver as he scrambled in through the Taurox's side hatch. "Incoming!"

It's Raining Men - Hagan Lamprey Tempestus Scions and Mantis Warriors

I’m looking forwards to fielding the Scions again. I’ve got a simple list geared to drop in and kill bugs: three ten-man squads of Scions, one with Hotshot Volley Guns, one with Plasma guns, and one with Melta guns. They’re supported by two Tauroxes and a Valkyrie (I’m spending a CP in advance of the game on Advanced Countermeasures to ensure that the Valk retains its -1 to hit even when it drops into Hover mode). These guys are from the Lamdan Lions, which means everybody gets an additional -1 AP – even their knives are extra-sharp. The Tempestor Prime has all the special bits from this regiment – a refractor field that gives him and everyone within 6” a 5++ and a warlord trait that gives him a reroll ones aura, which will be handy with those Plasma guns.

There’s also a Marine contingent, consisting of two tactical squads (suitably tooled up to cause some pain) and a Chaplain. There’s also a Drop Pod for them, but due to the mission, every one of them will be in deep strike.

Hagan Lamprey Scions Battalion (Lamdan Lions)

 

• HQ - Lord Commissar with Power Fist and Bolt Pistol
• HQ - Tempestor Prime with hotshot laspistol, Refractor Field Generator relic, Keys to the Armoury trait
• Troops - 10 x Scions, 4 Hotshot Volley Guns, Vox, Tempestor has a chainsword
• Troops - 10 x Scions, 3 Plasma Guns, 1 Flamer, Vox, Tempestor has a chainsword
• Troops - 10 x Scions, 2 Melta Guns, 1 Grenade Launcher, Vox, Tempestor has Plasma Pistol and Power Sword
• Dedicated Transport - Taurox Prime with Gatling Cannon, twin Hotshot Volley Guns, Storm Bolter
• Dedicated Transport - Taurox Prime with Battle Cannon, twin Autocannons
• Dedicated Transport - Valkyrie with Multiple Missile Pods, twin Heavy Bolters, Lascannon and the Countermeasures strategem

Mantis Warriors Patrol Detachment (White Scars, -2 CP)

• HQ - Chaplain with Crosius, Plasma Pistol, various chants
• Troops - 5 x Tactical Marines, 1 Flamer, Sarge has Power Fist and Plasma Pistol, 
• Troops - 5 x Tactical Marines, 1 Melta, Sarge has twin Astartes Chainswords
• Dedicated Transport - Drop Pod with Deathwind Launcher

Bunker Buggsters - Hive Fleet Afanc Tyranids

I'm running the Tyranids tonight. Those extra 250 points allow me to break out some of the bigger guns than I otherwise would for a 'Nid list. Knowing I'm up against the powerful but rather fragile Scion tanks, I'm taking all the armour piercing options I can, plus an option I've been toying with for a while. 

This is an MSU Genestealer list, with four small packs of the skittish horrors. Even one of those will make a mess of any Scion ground troops, although the Mantis Warriors will probably prove rather tougher. They won't take much firepower to deal with, it's true, but at that size I can take cover much more easily, so I reckon there's a good chance of getting most of them into battle at some point. There's also some Warriors for Synapse and general backup. 

The monstrous side of the regiment is a Tyrannofex with Rupture Cannon. Not a great gun, it's just not accurate enough at shooting, but if I can plonk it somewhere and hail death throughout the game, I don't reckon it'll be going anywhere fast, and the shooting is bound to count over time. 

An anti-tank Carnifex with crab claws, a Flyrant with various souped-up guns and a trio of Hive Guard with their shocking rifles should easily peel through all that armour. Then the Genestealers, led by a Broodlord, can eat whatever spills out. And we're playing as Behemoth this time round, to get rerolls on all the charges!

Hive Fleet Afanc Battalion (Behemoth), 1250 Points, 11 CPs (Progeny of the Hive strat)

• HQ - Broodlord with Catalyst and Smite
• HQ - Hive Tyrant, Warlord with Pathogenesis relic on a Stranglethorn Cannon, Monstrous Size adaptation on his already Monstrous Rending Claws, Wings, Onslaught and Monstrous Hunger powers
• Troops - 6 x Genestealers, one acid maw
• Troops - 6 x Genestealers, one acid maw
• Troops - 5 x Genestealers, one acid maw
• Troops -  5 x Genestealers, one acid maw
• Troops - 3 x Tyranid Warriors, two with Deathspitters and Bone Swords, one with Talons and Venom Cannon
• Elite - 3 x Hive Guard with Shockcannons
• Heavy Support - Carnifex with Enhanced Senses, Spore Cysts, Heavy Venom Cannon and Crushing Claws
• Heavy Support - Tyrannofex with spine banks, Rupture Cannon and the Dermic Symbiosis adaptation

Mission

Homebrew mission tonight, based heavily on a couple of the Crusade Strike Force games. 

Part one is from Ambush. The Imperials will be setting up across a ten-inch band in the middle, and can pick whether to Press the Attack (they start with only a quarter to a half of their army set up, the rest deep strike or appear as reserves for free in turn 3, but they get first turn) or Wait for Reinforcements (the whole army sets up in the middle but the other side gets first turn). As a good fast strike Scion should, Pootle opts for the former option!

The Tyranids start from either side, and have nothing but nomming on their minds. My main objective is to eat the Imperial troops, and I score VPs equal to the power level of each destroyed unit. This works out as 61 VPs on the table. 

There are six objectives, two in each of our deployment zones and two more in neutral turf. The Imperial main objective is to reach the ones in my deployment and use troops to perform the Raze objective (pinched from Raze and Ruin), which means they need to be on it at the end of a movement phase and have no enemy troops within 3". If that's done, they destroy the objective, and score 20 VPs for one and a further 41 for the other one. That should give their short lives some meaning!

If that wasn't enough, we're also playing the standard Primary Objective game. The Nids should easily be able to score plenty of this in the early game. But the Scions and Marines could appear more or less anywhere they want later on, which will make it very hard to keep those initial gains.

Lots to play for!

Terrain and Deployment

Time for side B of my new mat, and it's a thoroughly splendid beach. 

The mat is quite a lot more splendid than my photoshop skills.

My deployment is simple. Whilst the mission allows me to deploy as normal in the centre, that’s not what the story demands! I’m going to Press the Attack and put all the Marines, plus the Tempestor and the two harder-hitting Scion squads into deep strike. The Commissar starts aboard the Gatling Taurox and the Hotshot Scion squad in the Valkyrie.

I start off by putting the Valkyrie on the Eastern flank. Its mobility means it can go pretty much wherever it likes. The two Tauroxes start at the top of the beach near the two objectives to the West. Because we’re deploying one unit at a time, I've suddenly deployed my whole army but have very little clue where the Nids are going to be, but that's completely in line with the narrative.

Those corner objectives are going to be crucial for me. So is staying in early cover to avoid getting the Genestealers shot away, so they all camp behind cover where they can't be seen. 

The Carnifex takes the South-west objective, backed by one 'stealer pack, the Warriors go South-East with more Genestealers lurking in a bunker. 

To the North, I've got Hive Guard and Genestealers on one flank, then the Tyrant, Broodlord and even more Genestealers on the key North-East objective. 

The Tyrannofex goes in the middle of the Northern flank, which gives it the best lines of sight across the whole board. Although I'd rather have had it guarding a key objective, it wouldn't see nearly as much from either. Hopefully, it can just sit and shoot all through the battle instead!

Here's the final deployment!

Drawbridge Defenders Turn 1

"Get off the beach!" Haart bellowed over the roar of the Taurox's engine. The driver wrenched the wheel and threw the tank into a handbrake turn, tearing through a stand of stubby trees and heading into the jungle beyond. Branches thrashed against the vision slits.

"Beachhead, this is Angel Lead, what's the sitrep? You seem to be taking evasive," came the voice of the Valkyrie pilot over the vox. 

"Beach is hot, repeat, beach is hot! Requesting a fire pass and reinforcements on our position," Haart barked back. "Taurox two, form up on my vehicle!"

"Roger that, Commissar," the trailing vehicle reported. 

There was a sudden bang, and the Taurox jolted to a halt. Haart smacked his forehead on the dashboard and came up tasting blood. 

"Hit a wall," the driver said. "And there's something out there."

Haart snarled silently, then pulled the gunner out of the way. "Show me where," he said as he climbed onto the firing chair.

Deep breath! Ok, the set-up for this battle is top drawer. I'm somewhat nervous about how I'm going to survive for two whole turns when surrounded by all those 'Nids. I guess I need to cause as much damage as possible. Accordingly, the Battlecannon Taurox moves away from the beach to get LoS on the Hive Guard (I'm particularly worried about their ability to carve through my relatively light armour) and the Gatling Taurox reverses up alongside, but the only thing it can see is the Carnifex - not a perfect target for its hail of anti-infantry firepower, but it'll have to do. Meanwhile, the Valkyrie drops into hover-mode and also drops its load of Scions onto the jetty (using the Precision Drop strat to get them just over 5" away).

The Battlecannon Taurox opens up on the Hive Guard. I need to roll well here, but my dice don't start off well and I only drop one of them. Its partner unleashes a hail of bullets at the Carnifex to little effect: all but one of the shots bounce off its carapace. 

At the other end of the beach, the Scions unload onto the Warriors (I play Grenadiers so there are 4 Hotshot volley guns firing plus 6 Krak grenades). When the smoke clears there's still one Nid standing.

The Valkyrie splits fire between the remaining Warrior and the Carnifex, but fluffs its shooting, only putting a couple of wounds onto the 'Fex and leaving one Warrior still standing on a solitary wound.

I know that the Scions' days (indeed, seconds) are numbered as they're about to get jumped on by the Genestealers lurking in the building. Therefore they charge in, hoping to finish off the last injured Warrior. It feels like a Scion move...and it works!

Hive Fleet Afanc Turn 1

Senior Airman Jedd Faraday signalled to his co-pilot as the Valkyrie swept low round the side of the pier. The Scions there were in position round the signal beacon there, their Tempestor flicking ichor off his sword as he strode back from the Tyranids they'd just mowed down.

"Weapons fire in the jungle, 3 o' clock low. The Tauroxes are engaged."

"Roger that," Selane Degrasney replied. She'd been his second for three years now. They'd flown in the first wave at Cullis, dodging through dense flocks of Gargoyles to drop Lampreys with pinpoint accuracy at the port. The Tyranids didn't seem so active here in comparison, so far it had been easy flying.

"Shit!" Degrasney said. "On the pier!"

The Scions had been ambushed. A second group of Tyranids pounced with horrible speed from the shadows of a bunker at the end of the pier. 

"Can't get a bead, they're too close!" Faraday heard from one of the waist gunners. 

"Hostile on our six! It's big!" yelled the other gunner. 

"Hold on!" Faraday said, sending power to the thrusters and trying to pull the gunship up as he spun her round. As the nose came round to the beach again, he could see the massive, nightmarish beast flapping towards them. Its wingspan rivalled that of 

their jet. The orifice on its gun (arm?) spat a glob of something purple and black into the rear of the Scion squad on the ground as they tried to fight off the creatures on the pier. The ground where it hit erupted in a mass of barbed tendrils, half-plant, half-beast, that grabbed and throttled the troopers nearest to it. 

"It's not after us," Desgrasney shouted, and sure enough, the creature snapped its wings out in full spread to arrest its flight, plunging instead into the midst of the already out-matched Scions. 

"Going low," Faraday responded, focussing on the HUD as the targetters for the rocket pods triangulated a firing solution on the winged creature. They were just over the waves, giving him a clear lascannon shot without risking damaging the pier. One of the waist gunners started screaming.

"Shit! They're inside, we've got boarders!" the other gunner yelled. 

Over in the jungle, where the Tauroxes were shooting, something exploded in an orange and black fireball.

First blood is already taken, so I've got catching up to do! It's a fairly easy set of plays, really - the guns stay put, the Genestealers generally head for their nearest targets, and the Tyrant advances on the Valkyrie. Only the Broodlord and his chums hang back, squatting on that rear objective for now. 

All the powers I'm looking for go off - the Tyrant boosts itself with Onslaught and Hunger, then gets a helping Catalyst from the Broodlord. And it's straight to shooting!

The Hive Guard light up the Cannon Taurox twice over (Single Minded Annihilation) after the Carnifex puts a couple of venom spines up its tailpipe, and it's bye-bye from the first tank. Thanks to its countermeasures, the Valkyrie manages to duck the worst of the fire from the T-fex, but still loses five wounds. And the Tyrant lights up a few of the Scions, just to keep them from focussing on the Genestealers that have just popped out of the shed right next to them. 

It's all Genestealers after that - the Tyrant manages a decent 9" charge into the Scions and helps out, and the Hotshot squad is rapidly eaten. This leaves both lots of Genestealers in the vicinity to dash through the surf and leap onto the Valkyrie, taking off another wound as the Tyrant stays on the objective. And in the jungle, more Genestealers pour over the ruined wall and start by smashing the mirrors off the Gatling Taurox. 

At this rate, it's going to be a short game!

Drawbridge Defenders Turn 2

Haart's rage rattled out of him like a river of gravel. He snarled as he swung the gatling turret's barrels across the pack of chittering bugs that tore at the immobilised tank's bonnet, shattering them with a torrent of shells. The air stank of alien blood, burning fuel and cordite. Shells in the wreckage of the Taurox next to them were still cooking off. He sawed the gatling's stream through the last of the Tyranids, and choked his snarl to silence.

The vox was crackling. "Mayday, mayday, taking significant fire," he heard the Valkyrie pilot reporting. "Beachhead, can you clear out the hostiles?"

"Negative, Angel Lead," Haart told them. "Send the second wave high, they'll have to drop from altitude. Where the hell are the Mantis Warriors?"

"Commissar Haart," a deep voice immediately cut into the vox feed. "We have launched the first pod to your location. Subsequent launches commencing shortly. The Emperor's sword descends in fire on his foes."

Very nice, Haart thought. Perhaps I'll still be alive when they land. He twisted round in the turret, gazed up at the sky for a glimpse of the reinforcements. 

Instead, he saw Angel Lead pulling his Valkyrie in a near-spiral flight path across the beach, almost straight towards the tank. The gunship seemed crazed, almost out of control. Multi-limbed bodies fell spinning out of the open cargo doors. Some kind of massive, high-velocity shell streaked past the twisting flyer, leaving a curtain of falling slime behind it before it detonated in a messy shower over the bay. 

"My Lord! We've got more company!" the driver yelled, tugging at Haart's ankle for attention. Haart snapped his eyes back to ground level, where a pair of beetle-like creatures loped towards the tank, cradling spined cannons in their arms. He yanked the turret up and dug his thumbs down hard on the firing controls. 

Nothing. The cannons were dry.

I start the turn scoring a grand total of zero VPs for controlling zero objectives, however my actual objective number one is survival - VPs will come later when the reinforcements arrive. 

It's going to be a short turn: the Valkyrie flies out of combat and heads over towards the the Gatling Taurox, which stays in combat with the Stealers and spins up its guns. Despite the -1 to hit from firing into its assailants, it turns them into a fine mist with ease. Now I brace myself to see if I can survive the next turn...

Hive Fleet Afanc Turn 2

Red and orange warning lights flashed throughout the cockpit. 

"We've lost the landing gear," Degrasney said. "Number two engine is..." 

The entire Valkyrie rocked wildly as something slammed into it. Faraday's vision blurred, the ground and the sky whirled madly round him. He fought desperately with the yoke as the craft tried to flip over backwards, somehow managed to keep it aloft by jamming the throttle open and forcing it towards the sky. But they were still spinning, a lateral spin that would throw them into the treeline. 

He blacked out for a second. When his mind cleared, Degrasney had somehow stabilised them. Where the warning lights had flashed before, they all now blazed in a constant, firey display. They wobbled in the air over the beach, trailing burning smoke. 

"Twelve sharp, shooter in the treeline," she told him. 

There, squatting in a ruined temple and bracing against the crumbling stone, was a monster with a shell twice the height of a Leman Russ. It hugged a second monster at its belly, a long, thin creature with a hollow horn. As he watched, the bigger creature stuck a clawed hand into the smaller beast's mouth and squeezed. The hollow horn seemed to shrink as it pulled backwards into its owner's head, then the big brute lifted it upwards, pointing it right towards the Valkyrie's cockpit. 

Faraday gaped helplessly into the black pit at the horn's tip. 

Two badly wounded vehicles and a nice, soft Commissar? I like these odds. It's not going to last, though, so accordingly I try to spread out as best I can, grabbing objectives and preparing for the second wave (though I start with 15 VPs for being on two objectives at the start of the turn). I also heal up the Tyrant with Rapid Regeneration, he'll need all his wounds later. 

Broody the Broodlord attempts to Catalyze the Tyrant again, but instead blows a blood vessel and half his wounds. Blast! 

The Hive Guard did very well last round, but disappoint this time. Even a second wave of shooting leaves the Gatling Taurox on a single wound, which the Carnifex fails to pluck away. They charge the tank, taking a couple of wounds to some Defensive Gunnery, but they aren't as vicious in combat and can't quite finish the tank. Blast again!

I'm definitely scoring, at least. Max on Primaries, plus whatever I've blown up so far. I'm not worrying about scores until the end, but I feel like I'm on track so far. 

Drawbridge Defenders Turn 3

Haart vaulted out of the turret, dropping into a crouch as he landed and toggled the safety node on his power fist. 

"Get the hells off my tank," he growled, as he squared up to the hulking thing in front of him. The Taurox driver stuck an arm out of the cab and fired a couple of hotshot pistol bursts into it. Did it notice? It didn't seem to react, but it was hard to tell. It had no eyes, just a fanged mouth under a head made of solid bone plate.

Mouth dry, he ran towards it. 

-

Brother Sergeant Kaito was first down the ramp as the drop pod burst open. The air was full of sand from their landing, but his helmet's autosenses scrubbed through it with barely a flicker of static. 

"Primary synaptic node sighted," he noted calmly. "A Carnifex is guarding it."

"We are advancing on a second node," Sergeant Youta notified him over vox. "Just off the beach. One of the larger Genestealers and its brood are present."

"Our redemption shall be earned through the blood of our foes," Chaplain Jomei replied, his bass voice thrumming with earnest emotion. "Advance and destroy both nodes, in the Emperor's name!"

Kaito lifted his plasma pistol and spat a crackling bolt into the Carnifex's shell. It squinted back at him, mouth chomping noisily. Just as Brother Hinata hit it with his flamer, it started to charge, the entire pier rocking violently underneath its massive bulk. 

-

Major J. J. 'Jeroboam' Hoag spat his rebreather out the minute he had firm enough sand underfoot to stand. He waded towards the shore, checking his pistol's power pack through reflex. He needn't have worried, it was ready to fire. Salt water wasn't going to damage the finest gun the Imperium had to offer. 

The rest of his fire team surfaced, pulling waterproofing off their guns. No, a plasma gun was no Hotshot pistol, he reflected. Get a bit of sea up in the vents of one of those, and it was game over. Give him a good, reliable sidearm any day of the week. 

"Form up, boys," he told the Scions. "Niddy thinks he can keep this beach, but Niddy's forgotten that Lampreys can swim. Specialists, take out the big one, the rest of you keep the nippy ones off us. And make it look good, the Mantids are watching."

It's their Daniel Craig moment!

Still no VPs at the start of the turn, but I should be able to rectify that soon. First, the Commissar disembarks from the Taurox, then the Valkyrie, trailing smoke (but operating at full profile after I spend a CP on Relentless), screams towards the Tyrannofex in the hope that it might crash and damage the beast in the explosion. 

The Drop Pod thumps into the sand on top of the objective at the western end of the beach, the Chaplain and Flamer squad disembarking and eyeing up a charge onto the Carnifex and the critical objective it controls.

The other Marine squad take advantage of the rule that allows reinforcements to deploy within 9" of the enemy if they're within 1" of their table edge: the mission gives the left and righthand table edges as mine, so I can deploy my Melta gun 5" away from the injured Broodlord - if I can sneak a shot past its armour, I'll be guaranteed a minimum of 3 wounds at this range.

I decide to focus my attention on the beach and the Scions emerge from the waves with weapons trained on the Hive Tyrant.

I'll be splitting fire all over the place here, but if it works I could recover from a dicey start. First off, the Gatling Taurox tries to shoot the remaining Hive Guard - one injured Tyranid falls, and the other drops a single wound (not surprising as I'm hitting on 6s with most of the guns).

The Mantis Warriors fresh out of the Drop Pod open up on the Carnifex but are denied by its tough armour. In the opposite corner, the Bolters drop a couple of Genestealers, but the Melta gun fails to wound the Broodlord. I consider using a reroll, but decide against it as the Valkyrie can see it. 

The Valkyrie puts its Lascannon into the Tyrant (which fails to get through) and everything else into the Broodlord...but it's still alive! This is a problem as there's going to be very little to support the Marines in this corner in a minute.

The Scions put their special weapons into the Tyrant (the Plasma squad benefitting from the Elimination Protocols order, allowing full rerolls to wound) and the lasguns into the Stealers. Unfortunately, the Tyrant's invulnerable save mean that only three wounds get through. Gulp - that was meant to be an awful lot more effective. 

Time to settle this blade to claw. The Commissar draws back his Power Fist and smooshes the remaining Hive Guard: strike one! The Melta Marines charge into the Broodlord and carve him up with a boatload of attacks that (just) sneak through his armour. But unfortunately both the Chaplain and Flamer Marines squad fail their charge on the Carnifex.

So I'm gradually thinning out the Bug swarm, but that wasn't the hammer blow I was hoping for (or needed). Now I'm going to get a lot of bugs in the face...

Hive Fleet Afanc Turn 3

Kaito turned himself sideways as the charging Carnifex held its symbiote out in front like a bayonet. Spines spat out of the end. Brother Yuuto took one to the centre of his faceplate and immediately crumpled to the ground. 

"You will be avenged, Brother!" Jomei shouted, and ran full-tilt into the oncoming organic juggernaut, swinging his Crozius at its face. It caught the Chaplain round the waist with one vast claw before he could connect and snipped through him without apparent effort, then leapt into the air past the halves of its assailant. Curling like a huge louse at it did so, it landed like a chitinous wrecking ball that smashed two more of his brothers down. 

"Destroy the node," Jomei said, his beautiful voice unweakened despite his physical condition. "I shall occupy this beast."

Kaito gestured to Hinata, and they marched towards the pier.

Suddenly, it's a target rich environment again! But that's not all good news. Although I'm three to one on Primaries for 15 VPs, I'm not going to have the luxury of sitting back and defending them. If I can't keep the Scions in the surf tied up (or dead), they'll be shooting the Carnifex off the back point for the Marines to march in and take the point, so I'd better make this snappy. Similarly, the Carnifex can't sit around, he's much more effective charging those marines with their extra damaging attacks than being charged. 

Luckily, I've got two squads of Genestealers only too happy to help, plus the Tyrant!

Over on the other objective, it's not looking as solid. The two remaining Genestealers go for the marines and kill another one and a half of them, but then they're done by Sergeant Blender and his chainswords. 

The Carnifex thunders into the Marines ahead of it, supported by fire from the T-Fex. The Valkyrie drops to mere Spine Banks, and a second round of shooting puts a goodly dent in the Drop Pod too. The Tyrant smites a marine, shoots some Scions and readies a charge. And out of their cheeky hiding place in the bunker comes an undamaged squad of Genestealers!

Can you see them?

The smaller, damaged squad opts to eat the overwatch, and duly dies. But the larger squad is a mere 3" away (5" through the water), so I decide to declare on both the Scions and their Tempestor Prime just behind. He's only one more inch away, but it proves a critical inch - I fail both the charge and the reroll!

This is a disaster, I'd have blendered them otherwise. Now I have to somehow tie up all three squads with just the Tyrant, and there's no way I can do that. Unless... Unless I jump on the Warlord (who cannot be allowed to give the melta squad an extra move on to the objective before the Carnifex can get back to it) and then follow up into both of them? No, my charge turns out to be only just enough for the nearest squad and the boss, so I settle for eating him whole. I'll just have to brace against those plasma guns...

Drawbridge Defenders Turn 4

Haart shook purple, brackish liquor off his power fist and leaned against the machine, breathing hard. That's what they'd collided with - a signalling beacon, old and corroded but as far as he could tell, still in working order. If the Taurox hadn't broken it, at least. 

"Get back to the beach and kill what you can," he shouted at the driver. "Watch out for the artillery beast in the trees. I'll get this working, get that Marine barge in orbit to give us some covering fire."

Again, the vox responded immediately. "This is the Millstone of Guilt. Commissar Haart, be advised that we are no longer in orbit. We are ceasing drop operations and proceeding in pursuit of a new target."

"What about the heavy support? Have you launched it?"

"The Emperor's Chosen are on the ground. They will suffice." 

Haart swore as the channel crackled shut. The Mantis Warriors weren't miracle workers, they were suicide squads. He'd seen them operate, defying the odds and bringing down almost anything, but almost always at the price of their own lives. The Scions might gain the beach, but they'd never hold it without Marine backup. 

His heart was still pounding, he felt every one of his eighty-three years. Once the Taurox was out of sight, he sat on the beacon and fished a hipflask out of his greatcoat, then took a long pull. 

Wow! How did that happen? I only lost four Scions to a full-on attack from the 'Nids (admittedly one of those was my Tempestor Prime). This turn it's my turn to be on two objectives to Kraken's none, so I'm finally off the mark with 15VPs. First off, the two remaining Marines from the Melta squad move onto the objective in the north-east corner and set the charges to destroy it, giving me another 20VPs at the end of the turn.

Nobody can reach the objective in the south-east and there's plenty of bugs who can stop me next turn. First off, the two surviving Marines fall back towards the objective. I'm concerned that the Carnifex will knock over the Drop Pod this turn and then be free to chomp the Marines. I spend my last CP on Relentless again so the Taurox can operate at its top profile. This means that it can move far enough to get range on the Genestealers; I will then charge in on the Carnifex to increase the chances of it being tied up next turn. 

The Melta Scion squad fall back from the Hive Tyrant and the Plasma squad move to the edge of the water to see if they can drop the big beastie.

In the shooting phase the Taurox, on full BS, drops the last five Genestealers with relative ease, but the Plasma guns only manage to take four wounds off the Tyrant, leaving it on four wounds and just in its middle bracket.

I then have a bit of a crazy brainwave. I want to knock one more wound off the Tyrant and the only way to do it is to charge the thing with the Plasma Scions. I realise that because there are nine of them, it's likely that at least one will survive to tie the Tyrant up so it can't shoot or charge the Marines.

For the second time in the game, a heroic (and frankly suicidal) squad of Scions charge the Tyranids. Desperately stabbing the bug's ankles, they do manage to cause the looked-for wound. Kraken fluffs the counterpunch, and even after spending all his remaining CPs to fight again somehow only four Scions fall.

The other combat doesn't go quite as well - the Carnifex focuses all its attacks on the Taurox and, unsurprisingly, it's torn into tiny pieces.

Hive Fleet Afanc Turn 4

Sergeant Kaito strode steadily along the metal pier. Behind him, the Carnifex didn't seem to have noticed that it had already destroyed the Taurox. It was still smashing pieces off it, trampling the metal and bellowing its odd, fluting cries against the defeated foe. The Drop Pod launched a barrage of rockets at it at close range, the machine spirit reacting to the nearest threat, and that finally got the beast's attention. It slammed into the Pod and began toppling it over. 

To his left, the Tyrant was thrashing about in the water, biting the head off one Scion as another used a golden-bladed combat knife to climb up its thigh. The Tyrant was looking back at Kaito, watching as he made his way forward along the pier to the throbbing mound of gristle growing at the end. It knew what he intended, he felt sure. 

A third Scion knelt in the surf just past it, lifting a plasma gun to his shoulder. Kaito's autosenses flashed a warning and he looked away as the gun overheated and exploded in a huge globe of salty vapour. Some of the nearby Scions weren't so lucky, and stumbled, blinded by the blast. 

"Should we aid them?" Hinata asked him. "They are dying."

"Forwards, brother," he replied. "They do their work. We do ours."

As he turned, there was a loud wet bang, and pieces of green armour scattered forwards along the pier ahead of him. It was only as he saw the yellow shoulder plate with its broken Mantis markings that he realised Hinata must be dead. 

Suddenly I'm in real trouble - those Marines are nearly on the second objective. I need to stop them now!

The Tyrant is wounded, but quite possibly still capable of taking out the rest of the Plasma Scions and then holding up the Melta group. The Carnifex could fall back, but won't reach the objective in time. At least it got rid of the Taurox last turn, so the T-Fex has a clear shot at the pair of Tactical Marines!

But - he's out of Synapse, and they aren't the closest target...

Six shots, three hits. Three wounds! 

It's a hell of a time for Pootle to roll boxcars on his armour saves. 

I joked about it before I rolled and was somewhat staggered to see all those pips staring up at me.

As the Tyrant gently smites off a lone Scion and then whiffs his combat again, the Carnifex bashes pointless chunks off the Drop Pod. The marines are through!

Drawbridge Defenders Turn 5

Kaito strode over the remains of his fallen brother, straight towards the node. He had no demolition charges, but he'd already determined the best course of action. There was a Haemotrope Reactor on the end of the pier. It was the work of moments to strip it of its plasma cells, slam them against the living broadcaster and begin the overcharge cycle on his plasma pistol. 

Back at the end of the pier, the Carnifex finally threw the Drop Pod down. From the water nearby, the Tyrant roared. It sounded desperate, somehow - he could see it trying to take to the air again, but it was struggling to get its wounded wings out of the water. The efforts of the last few Scions weren't helping, they were surrounding it at close range and blasting it repeatedly with grenades and meltas. But greasy arcs of blue-purple lightning kept flickering out to deflect the blasts. 

Maddened, the leader-beast roared again, and this time, the Carnifex roared in response, turning its tiny head to stare at Kaito, then lowering it into a charge. 

Suddenly the game's mine to lose. The Marine sergeant on the jetty jumps onto the final critical objective and sets the explosives. The Melta Scions try to take the Hive Tyrant down, but don't manage to cause any damage. 

Between poor hit rolls and some continued spectacular saves, the Carnifex somehow manages to fail to knock over the Drop Pod again, but it looks like Kraken will need to table me to win.

Hive Fleet Afanc Turn 5

There was a Scion on the Tyrant's back, clinging on to the great bladed crest on its head as he tried to jam a knife into one of its pupil-less orange eyes. Another ran between its legs, pointing a melta up into its crotch, but the creature stamped down hard on him with a taloned foot. The surf ran red. 

Kaito pulled the trigger on his pistol as the chime announced it was primed. His autosenses turned the world dark for a moment as a ball of plasma erupted around the synaptic amplifier. His armour was proofed against such wildly uncontrolled energy. Not so the hardened tissue of the growth, it was vaporised in seconds. 

"Our task is complete," he reported to Sergeant Youta over vox. "We shall deal with the rest of the defenders and then consolidate." 

Knee-deep in the ebbing tide, the Tyrant howled. 

The Carnifex thundered along the pier towards Kaito, several tons of thorny death. He remembered standing on the bridge of the Red Harbinger, centuries ago, gunning down Fire Hawks with the same pistol. It was useless now, recharging for minutes to come. He stretched out the fingers of his power fist and dropped into the fighting stance of his chapter.

"I shall be redeemed, Brothers," he told the vox, and looked the beast in the eye as it closed the last metre.

Result: 91-68 to the Scions & Marines

Locker Room

Oh yes! That was the game we were looking for!

Early on, Pootle wondered if it would be legitimate to whisk the Valkyrie off the table on turn one, have it rejoin on turn three, but still fight the game to the bitter end even if I'd tabled him before we got to that point. I talked him out of it (although I absolutely cede to his wisdom in thinking of it!), and I'm very glad I managed it! In a game full of ridiculously daring moves from the Scions, it still turned into a last minute sprint for victory, and only the supremacy of Space Marine power armour saw him through. 

I have to admit that whilst I was extremely excited about the backstory and set-up for the game, I didn't think that it would be as close a game as it turned out to be - I have to take my hat off to Kraken's experience of setting up narrative games that are also extremely well balanced.

The only regret I have is getting greedy with the Genestealers in turn three. Throwing those Scions into the resulting blitzer would have turned the tide for me, probably leaving the Tyrant free to go and save the day at the last minute. Even without him, though, the T-Fex nearly pulled out a last minute save, so it was touch and go the whole way!

The failed charge on the Scions was critical, though if the T-Fex had taken both the marines down (as it probably should have done) I think the Scions would have been too far away from the objective to win. Neither of us were sure which way it was going to go almost to the end, which was extremely exciting.

Yep - knock off the extra forty points for the second objective, and I'd have had them! A proper nail-biter, and great fun. More next year!

Campaign Update

The Scions had achieved a third victory against the swarm. And unlike their relief of Barbican Prime, this proved no straw man they'd beaten. 

Without its Amplifier Nodes, Afanc was far less able to coordinate its assaults. All across the planet, the swarming Tyranids drew back, suddenly in disarray. The Defenders of Drawbridge had finally made their presence felt, and a vital window of breathing space had been opened. Several ports were recaptured. Defence brigades could be rearmed and rested. 

As though in response to this, however, the hive fleet closed even thicker around the planet. Bioships launched relentless bombardments of spores into the atmosphere, as smaller void organisms laid multiple layers of mines in orbit and around the fleet. The Imperial Navy was cut off, and the rest of the Hagan Lampreys with them. There would be no reinforcements for the time being.

Time was against the Hive Fleet now. If it couldn't crush the final resistance, the Imperials could simply wait for greater numbers of Astra Militarum to show up and rinse the planet clean of this infection. But the Tyranids still vastly outnumbered the defenders, and had none of the same problems with morale or supply. Afanc simply would not stop its assault, no matter the odds and no matter the cost. 

As the defenders took stock and tried to think of a plan of attack, they received a vox call that changed everything.

Captain Nampo was alive.