Alpha Strike

 

General Kas wants to learn more about Tyranids, and I am quite happy to be practised on! Battle time. 

Kraken Klassic

Starting at the top and presumably working down later, Kas goes for a fairly meta friendly Kraken list. All the usual suspects - the Swarmlord, a Broodlord with a Stealer clutch, Hive Guard to shoot from the back line and a pack of Termagaunts with a Ripper Swarm for board control. Zooeys and a winged Tyrant to round it out, and it's an intimidating prospect to face across the table!

Hive Fleet Kraken Battalion Detachment, 1250, 10 CPs

• HQ - The Swarmlord, Chameleonic Mutation relic, 
• HQ - Hive Tyrant, Warlord with Wings, Heavy Venom Cannon, Ravenous Ammunition adaptation, Monstrous Rending Talons, Paroxysm and Catalyst powers, Adrenal Glands
• HQ - Broodlord with Catalyst and Smite, Resonance Barb relic
• Troops - 15 Genestealers with Adrenal Web adaptations
• Troops - 25 Termagaunts, 10 with Devourers, 15 with Fleshborers
• Troops - 4 Ripper Swarms
• Elites - 3 Zooanthropes, smite and psychic scream powers
• Elites - 3 Hive Guard with Impaler Cannons

Alpha Baiters

The Alpha Legion haven't been under my command in a while. There are even toys in there that I haven't tried myself yet, the Lernean Terminators particularly. So this is a list to give them a go, not written particularly with anything else in mind. 

My standard groups of Chaos Marines and Cultists, with a big block of Noise Marines and lots of Spawn, then a Venomcrawler for some extra punch. These are all led by a Terminator Lord with the character-sniping Headhunter trait and the mean Viper's Bite storm bolter - maybe he can hose down some of those synaptic leaders to soften them for a killing punch. Provided perhaps by a winged Daemon Prince, a warped copy of the Hive Tyrant. 

Alpha Legion Battalion Detachment, 1250 points, 11 CPs

• HQ - Chaos Terminator Lord, Warlord with Headhunter trait, Viper's Bite relic, Chainfist
• HQ - Daemon Prince with sword and warp bolter, Warptime power, We Are Alpharius and Clandestine trait, Wings
• Troops - 6 Chaos Marines, Champion has lightning claw and combi-melta, autocannon heavy, 4 with Bolters
• Troops - 6 Chaos Marines, Champion has chainaxe and plasma pistol, plasma gunner, 4 with chainsword and bolt pistol
• Troops - 13 Chaos Cultists, autoguns, cult leader has brutal combat weapon and autopistol, flamer
• Elites - 10 Noise Marines, Champion has doom siren, sonic blaster and lightning claw, 4 sonic blasters, Blastmaster, 4 with chainswords and bolt pistols
• Elites - 5 Chaos Terminators with combi-plasma and power axe, heavy flamer
• Elites - a Greater Possessed
• Fast Attack - 5 Chaos Spawn
• Heavy Support - 1 Venomcrawler

Mission and Terrain

No maps tonight, just photos!

We've got Show of Force from the GT pack tonight, played across a 6x3' industrial processing plant. The towers in the middle are obscuring, the forests are standard, the sewage farm gives cover and is difficult terrain, otherwise it's relatively open but with plenty of LOS blocking walls and pipes to cower behind if you want to. 

Alpha Legion Secondaries

• Engage on All Fronts - I can sneak about
• No Prisoners - why would anyone take Tyranids as prisoners it wouldn't make sense
• Don't Die - not its real name, but the mission specific one, where you get an increasing number of points depending on the percentage of your units you keep alive 

Hive Fleet Kraken Secondaries

• Engage on All Fronts - hard not to with that many bugs
• While We Stand We Fight - Keep the most expensive units alive
• Don't Die Either - see above

Both of us were bemoaning the lack of army specific secondaries for these lists. Come on the new Codices!

Deployment

I defend the Eastern front, Kas is attacking from the West. 

My set-up is fairly simple. I'd like to take advantage of the deep deployment zone to be far back, but I can't really afford to stay too far back or I won't reach the middle objectives in time to grab them in the mid-game, even with Alpha Legion sneaking. Which in fact I don't want to do early, as there's no point making a turn one charge any easier than it already is. 

So I'm going to use the Spawn unit as a distraction carnifex in the middle of my front line, as the unit least likely to fold to a first turn Genestealer charge. Everyone else fans out behind them (except the Terminators, who are going to deep strike), ready for a counterpunch. 

Kas deploys fairly straight from the playbook - Genestealers and Broodlord front and centre, with the Swarmlord to support. Zooeys and Hive Tyrant hiding on one flank, Hive Guard behind the trees on the other, Termagaunts at the back to spread out and hold and the Rippers burrowing in later. 

Kas gets the first turn, so I clench for impact. 

Tyranids Turn 1

Here's how it's done, if you don't already know it. 

The 'Stealers and Broodlord advance to the midfield, with the Broodlord using Metabolic Overdrive to advance a second time and the 'Stealers using Opportunistic Advance to double their extra movement. The Swarmlord advances up with them, keeping near the Genestealers. 

Everything else moves forward more cautiously, keeping in cover or spreading out to grab objectives, then the psychic phase focusses on putting Catalyst on the Genies, but most of the others are out of range to do much else. 

In the shooting phase, as the Hive Guard slap half a unit of Chaos Marines into the dirt, Swarmlord hurls the Genestealers right up against the Spawn, so it's an easy charge in. So my bait has worked, but I'm already aware I have not been as careful about my deployment as I could have been, so if the Genestealers rip through the squad in a single turn (very possible!), I'm in trouble. 

Luckily, the Spawn don't disappoint, managing to survive a first turn of combat, slap a couple of Genestealers away and then vanish in the inevitable second round. Rather like Kas's CPs are doing - that's at least 5 gone on strats and I think a reroll or two here or there as well. All to the good! But my Noise Marines and Chainsword squad end up getting tagged as the Genestealers zip further forward on their adrenal webbed feet, so it's not all good news. 

Alpha Legion Turn 1

The 'Nids are in my trap now, so time to close it. 

Run Away!

The Noise Marines fall back with Feigned Retreat, so they can still shoot. The Chainsword squad also fall back, then use Renascent Infiltration to vanish out of harms' way, and everything else moves into assault range of the Genestealers. Except on the south, where the Chaos Marines and Cultists advance towards the midfield objective in the sewage farm, falling just short. 

The trap proves rather hard to close, sadly, as catalysed Genestealers are not the fish in a barrel I was hoping for. Firstly, I leave the Daemon Prince too far from the Noise Marines to lend them his rerolls. I also forget about some of my bread and butter strategems - the Noise Marines have a bit of a whiffy round of shooting and don't really do much, but I could have used Veterans of the Long War and Endless Cacophony to mitigate this, and totally forgot. 

Likewise for boosting the Venomcrawler, who has a go at shooting the Broodlord and completely misses without strat support. At least I still have lots of CPs! 

Close combat is just as frustrating, and there are still six Genestealers upright even after the Daemon Prince, Venomcrawler and Greater Possessed chomp into them. The first two do fine, but Kas removes casualties to deprive the Venomcrawler of prey, and I don't opt to chase them because I want to stay on the objective. 

Have I even scratched the rest of the Tyranid horde? No. No I have not. And here they come. 

Tyranids Turn 2

The Gaunts sprawl out across the backfield, conscious of the incoming Terminators, as the big monsters continue to press forward. The Genestealers disengage, ready to keep pushing the Noise Marines. 

Psychic might is focussed on the Noise Marines, who are hit with a barrage of screams and smites and shots that takes them down to the last two. Kas is once more surprised by the Music of the Apocalypse, though, which further whittles the Genestealers away, leaving just two standing - Catalyst has gone on the Swarmlord this time, so they're rather more brittle now.

The Hive Guard fail to kill off the Chaos Marines in the sewage, who clearly hide under it when I pass a triple armour save on sixes. And then we're into combat, with the Swarmlord and Hive Tyrant tag-teaming a Paroxysmed Venomcrawler in seconds flat. The last Genestealers die to overwatch as they attempt to screen the Broodlord in on the Noise Marines, but once he makes it in, they're toast. 

Good board presence and a vicious early strike - the hallmarks of a Tyranid attack. But will they go the distance?

Alpha Legion Turn 2

Are you sure these are the right coordinates? Everything seems terribly far away.

Going into this turn, I'm on the back foot. And Kas has screened his backlines extremely well - as my units in the home turf scramble to deal with the big combat monsters, I find there is no room to deep strike the Terminators with the Lord as I'd hoped. The best I can manage is to sneak the Lerneans into the midfield and hope for a good charge roll, but I am forced to put the Lord back with the Chainsword Squad in my own deployment zone, where they may help take out some of these Tyrants. Maybe I can re-infiltrate them later. 

It's not a bad turn for me, though, although I'm not able to score any primaries (always a worry). The south flank is now under my control, and my deep strikers do a pretty decent job of shooting a few wounds off the Swarmlord as they arrive. Not the Lerneans - they don't want to shoot any Termagants because it's already a long charge, so they squander their shots somewhat on the Zooanthropes, killing one. 

But they do make their charges! Lots of Termagants die, but they're just able to pile in and keep themselves in Synapse from the Zooanthropes (although it's very close), so I'll be busy for a while. 

The Chainswords also make their charge, just leaving the Terminator Lord squatting on his thumbs at the back. I carefully surround the Swarmlord, staying just out of the Hive Tyrant's way, whilst the Greater Possessed ganks the Broodlord. That's one big bug down, at least. 

But the Swarmlord is very much built for combat. He and the Daemon Prince rip chunks out of each other, some chunks bigger than others. The DP fails a lot of saves and nearly dies, and the Swarmlord is left on just three wounds. 

Tyranids Turn 3

Nearly dead butters no crumpets, of course, and the Swarmlord's revenge (backed by the Hive Tyrant) is pretty comprehensive. Between smites, talons and claws, the bugs kill off the DP, the Greater Possessed and the Chainsaw marines fairly easily, as well as sneaking the Ripper Swarms into my backline. Only the Terminator Lord and the Aspiring Champion are left. 

They're behind you!

Similarly, the Chaos Marines in the midfield are dropped by Hive Guard fire. The Terminators shrug off the damage flung their way, though - the Termagants can't penetrate and the Zooanthropes only smite a single wound off, so I'm still in with a shout here. 

Alpha Legion Turn 3

Alas, the field is swarming with bugs now, and Kas is pulling far ahead on Primaries. All the same, if I can pull down a second big bug and kill off some more units, I can still catch up over time. The Lerneans help with this, shooting away a Hive Guard and killing most of the rest of the Termagants. 

Unless the Swarmlord just refuses point-blank to lose its last wound. Nothing I pour into it can bring it down, and when it shrugs all the damage the Terminator Lord can do it in close combat and then one-shot him somewhat casually, I suspect the writing is on the wall!

Tyranids Turn 4

Sure enough, the bugs mop up the rest of my units in the midfield and my own lines, leaving just the Terminators and some cultists alive, but I can't say I fancy their chances. The Zooanthropes and Hive Guard are focussing fire on the Lerneans and starting to bring them down, even, although I'm gradually winning my war of attrition here. 

Alpha Legion Turn 4

The Terminators murderate the last Termagants, and pause for breath on the objective. Right in between the Zooanthropes and the Hive Guard, perhaps not the safest place for a sandwich, but there isn't a lot else they can do. 

The Cultists pour fire into the Hive Tyrant and then even charge it, as it surely can't kill them all fast enough to push me off the objective. Not that it doesn't try, half the Alpha Fans die, but seeing as I'm now extremely far behind on points and their efforts have cost the Tyrant a mere single wound, we decide to draw a discreet veil over their subsequent ignominious deaths. 

Result - Victory to the Tyranids, 75-21

Locker Room

Who says Tyranids need a new codex? A convincing display indeed. I found myself unable to deal with the firepower of twin Tyrants, especially up close, and got sidetracked into feeding my own units into a murder hole of my own making. Once I'd lost board control (not that I ever really had it), it was a clear march to the grave!

Nicely played by Kas, too, who's been schooled in the use of this list by being on the receiving end. If I'd been thinking more clearly, I wouldn't have come out the game with 5 CPs still unused! Definite user error on my part, if I'd enhanced my attacks more consistently I might have managed to kill off the initial attack wave faster and been more focussed in my counterpunches. 

Good stuff, all the same - I do always enjoy a Tyranid victory!