Let's kick off 2022 with...a fight! Kraken wants to keep testing the new Hive Fleet Leviathan rules and I, Pootle, will use Kraken's tricksy Alpha Legion models to represent The Purge (my favourite flavour of CSM).
Gojira Deluxe
So this is an all-new set of rules from White Dwarf, and it brings the old Nidzilla concept up to date somewhat. Enter the Crusher Stampede Army of Reknown!
The trade-off is that I can't take any single wound or swarm entities, and for any non-monster unit, there must be at least one monster. Not the worst so far, there are plenty of good monsters in my collection! But on top of that, I can't use any Adaptations and I lose my Hive Fleet trait.
On the plus side, everything gets a 5+ invuln, which is already excellent. And then all the monsters take a point less damage from everything (to a minimum of one) and count their wounds as the number of models they are when working out control of a point. Even better!
But the best part are the new strats (I'll save the worst offender for its first appearance later on), which are pretty strong, as well as the new Warlord Traits (Rampaging Beast, for d3 extra attacks on a warlord monster? Yes please!) and Psychic choices (even more extra attacks with Aggressive Surge, or reroll all misses in melee from Infused Energies).
Sprinkled on top of this are some of the newer Leviathan bits and pieces, as I'm technically still here as that Hive Fleet, so I'm going to use Alpha Leader-Beast to get a second warlord trait on the first of two Tyrants (Strategic Adaptation to let me steal CPs from my opponent) and Bounty of the Hive Fleet for a second relic too. Adaptive Neural Lobe lets me redeploy two units after we work out who gets first turn, including putting them into Reserves for free, which is excellent, and Adaptive Carapace on the second, winged Tyrant to make it even harder to kill than usual. Ha!
Finally, a couple of Synaptic Links - the Zooanthropes can roll a third dice for powers and pick the best two, the Hive Tyrant can give someone the ability to pile in 6" (but that's a bit wasted in this list). And here's my list - a core of Warriors around the biggest beasts I can grab. Only seventeen in number, but good luck putting them down before they scrag you!
Hive Fleet Leviathan Battalion, Crusher Stampede AoR, 1245 points and 10 CPs
- HQ: Hive Tyrant - Adrenal Glands, Monstrous Scything Talons, Two Devourers with Brainleach Worms, Catalyst, The Horror, Relic: Adaptive Neural Lobe, Warlord Traits: Rampaging Beast, Strategic Adaptation, Synaptic Link: Malicious Direction
- HQ: Hive Tyrant - Heavy Venom Cannon, Monstrous Rending Claws, Aggressive Surge, Infused Energies, Relic: Biomorphic Carapace, Wings
- Troops: 3 Tyranid Warriors - 2x Boneswords & Deathspitter, Scything Talons & Venom Cannon
- Troops: 3 Tyranid Warriors - 2x Boneswords & Deathspitter, Rending Claws & Venom Cannon
- Troops: 3 Tyranid Warriors - Boneswords & Deathspitter, Rending Claws & Spinefists, Barbed Strangler, Lash Whip & Bonesword
- Elites: 3 Zoanthropes - Synaptic Barrier (give someone a 4++, never got used), Synaptic Link: Psychic Channeling
- Heavy Support: 2 Carnifexes - Enhanced Senses, Monstrous Scything Talons, Two Devourers with Brainleech Worms; Enhanced Senses, Chitin Thorns, Heavy Venom Cannon, Monstrous Crushing Claws
- Heavy Support: Tyrannofex - Acid Spray
The Purge: Gormenghastly's GarRotters
My list was determined by a few factors: I like to have two
Sorcerers as HQs (one, in Terminator armour, is my warlord, Gormenghastly with the
warlord trait Blessed Mission, giving him rerolls of 1s to wound and also rerolls
of variable damage characteristic weapons) and Kraken has a few units that I
don’t have myself, so I wanted to try them out (Terminators and a Termite). To
this I added five Chosen (newly painted minis who, though I can’t see them over
Skype, look wonderful in the pics), three units of Cultists, a Greater
Possessed, four Spawn, a Venomcrawler and two Obliterators.
I hadn’t spotted that the new rules means there will be no hordes for the Chosen or Terminators to chew through, and the -1 damage ability all the monsters have will severely limit the effectiveness of many of my heavier weapons: I'll be leaning heavily on the Termite’s Meltas and the Melta guns carried by Gormenghastly and the Chosen Champion. On the plus side, with all my Cultists, I will have an awful lot more bodies to grab objectives…for a while at least.
As a reminder, the Purge's signature ability is that if an enemy model has lost a wound to an attack earlier that turn, then infantry (other than Cultists) and characters (and Helbrutes and Bikers) get to reroll all hit rolls. The trick here is to shoot at targets with things like Cultists or the Venomcrawler first to unlock the rerolls for other units. Mortal wounds from Smiting (or using the more targeted Infernal Gaze) or the (very random but potentially awesome) Purge relic Orb of Unlife are great too.
The Purge Battalion Detachment, 1250 points, 12 CPs
- HQ: Terminator Sorcerer - Combi-Melta, Force Axe, Diabolic Strength, Infernal Gaze, Warlord trait: Blessed Mission
- HQ: Sorcerer - Combi-Bolter, Force Sword, Miasma of Pestilence, Warptime
- Troops: 10 Cultists - Autoguns
- Troops: 10 Cultists - Autoguns
- Troops: 10 Cultists - Autoguns
- Elites: 5 Chosen - Chainsword & Combi-Bolters; Champion with Lightning Claw & Combi-Melta
- Elites: Greater Possessed - Relic: The Orb of Unlife
- Elites: 5 Terminators - 3x Chainaxe & Combi-Bolter, 1x Chainaxe & Reaper Autocannon, Champion with Combi-Bolter & Power Axe
- Fast Attack: 4x Chaos Spawn
- Heavy Support: 2x Obliterators
- Heavy Support: Venomcrawler
- Dedicated Transport: Termite - 2x Combi-Bolters
Mission and Terrain
The first time I fought the Purge, we had a great and close fight across a central building that blocked movement and line of sight, so I'm doing something similar here. A ruined hydroponics lab in which those naughty Alpha Legion types have coerced the technicians into some kind of vile ritual, hoping to stall a Tyranid advance with warp shenanigans. Only the 'Nids have turned up before they were quite ready! Hold the line so the ritual completes, is roughly the idea here.
The entrances to this building, whose walls are impassable even to fliers, are set in overgrown woodland, so getting in and out will be slow. But coming round the side to flank it will leave you in the open, whereas there's plenty of cover to hide in at each end.
Stylus very kindly drew some Open War cards for us. I must get a set of these, they're good fun. Tonight, one of us is deploying on a long spit of land up to the middle from one short side, the other is deploying on the opposite short edge.
Stand Off is the mission - three objectives, one in each deployment zone and one dead centre. 1 VP for your own, 2 for the middle, 3 for the enemy's, scored at the end of a round.
The Twist is a doozy - Inimicable Atmosphere. Nobody can Advance, and no charges can be declared unless you are within 7". Yikes! That's not good news for my relatively fast, chargey army!
But the good news is there's a Ruse for the lowest costed army, and I get that. Brilliant Strategist, for a free reroll each turn, which is excellent.
Deployment
I get to pick Defender, and duly pick the obvious advantage - the long, thin zone, which lets me deploy on the central objective. A unit of Warriors and both Carnifexes get up in the lab, backed by the Walkrant.
I stick a unit of Cultists on my backfield objective - their job is to sit on it all game. The Terminators, Gormenghastly and the Obliterators all go into the teleportarium, whilst the Chosen and Greater Possessed hitch a ride in the Termite (which has surfaced early because, though I'd like to, I can't stick everything into reserves).
But I still have shenanigans to pull, so once the Purge are all set, I change the minds of my Zooanthropes and Tyrannofex. They go off to Strategic Reserves, as I reckon both are good swingy units. Either hitting a gap and attacking the Purge's back line or plugging a hole in mine, they're scary, and Pootle will be kept guessing where they might turn up for a bit.
My luck seems to be in this year. I get first turn! Although it's really because Pootle won the roll off and wants the advantage of reacting to whatever I do. So I guess it's my usual luck. Blast.
Although I would like to start shooting as soon as possible, the amount of cover on the board should limit the damage Kraken can do. The VPs are scored at the end of each battle round, so hopefully I can jump on objectives and score them before Kraken can kill me.
Tyranids: Turn 1
Sure enough, there is very little to do in this first turn. The Flyrant and a unit of his nearby Warriors slink towards the south side, getting ready to flank, whilst I consolidate on the middle objective with the Walkrant, Carnifexes and the Strangler Warriors.
I throw around some Psychic buffs that aren't going to make much difference - extra attacks and rerolls won't help the Flyrant, and I fail to get Catalyst off. Then the Barbed Strangler murders a couple of Cultists, followed by the Walkrant killing a handful more with his Devourers, and a few more promptly leg it leaving just the champion. I guess that helps Pootle with Tide of Traitors for later!
I think I rolled three 1s and 2s out of four dice, continuing my poor luck on morale rolls from previous battles. However as long as one of them survives, that's actually fine!
Purge: Turn 1
Well, that could have been a lot worse. I'm not going to outscore Kraken on VPs this turn, but I can get into position and try to open the door to the central building.
The Venomcrawler and Termite move forwards; I'm hoping to cast Warptime on the Termite to get it into melta (and easy charge) range of the Carnifex blocking the doorway
The Cultists on my left and right spread out a bit to stop a T-Fex landing too nearby (though anywhere on the table is probably too nearby really). I consider playing Tide of Traitors on the surviving Cultist Champion and have more Culists pop up, but I think it might be more valuable to do this next turn and have them arrive at the same time as the Terminators.
I cast Warptime, and I stop it, using the Leviathan strategem Void in the Warp after I miss the deny to get a second chance. Handy strat, and cheap at 1 CP. But I do put Miasma of Pestilence on the Venomcrawler.
The Venomcrawler and Termite pour fire into the Carnifex, but Kraken plays a strat so that I can only wound it on a 4+ so it's still alive on 4 wounds when the smoke clears (and the Termite's Bolters have tickled a wound of the Warriors in the central building).
Unbreakable Chitin is a new Crusher Stampede strat, good value for 1 CP on a Carnifex! More on larger units or creatures with 10+ wounds though.
Luckily, because the Carnifex moved forwards, the Venomcrawler is within 7" so can declare a charge. It crashes in and (just) manages to bring the distracting beast down. Unfortunately there was no way to avoid charging into the Nid Warriors as well, and they manage to stick four wounds back on the Venomcrawler; never mind - I suspect its days are numbered now.
At the end of the round, we're both on our home objectives (1VP each), but Kraken has the centre for 2 more.
VPs - 3:1 to the Nids
Tyranids: Turn 2
The Warriors actually flee, as I reckon I might just be able to Smite and shoot the Venomcrawler away, and given that they explode more often than other vehicles, I'd rather be out of the way. The Walkrant and second Carnifex line up for this, whilst I decide to develop my flank attack with the Warriors and Flyrant, both of whom take aim on the Termite.
Helping them are the Zooanthropes, who pop up in the sewage farm and smite a wound off the drill before I get a few more with venom cannons. Catalyst on the Carnifex and extra attacks on the Flyrant.
In the event, however, I can't shoot or smite the Venomcrawler away - that Miasma shields it from a few hits, and the Carnifex is obliged to charge in. Time to use the trump card of the Crusher Stampede - Breaking Through!
At an absurd 1 CP, the charging monster rolls dice equal to its remaining wounds. These cause mortal wounds depending on its strength compared to the target's toughness - here, we're on a par so I need 4+, but it can swing one up or down accordingly if the target is tougher or weaker. As I'm unwounded, that's eight dice, and a terribly cheap way to score a lot of mortal wounds. It does cap at six, but for that cost, who's going to mind?
Predictably, this smashes the Venomcrawler back, and it's a single hit to finish it off. The Carnifex then consolidates forward very slightly, but mostly sideways to take cover behind the side of the door.
Purge: Turn 2
The Chosen disembark from the Termite and head to my right to deal with the Zoanthropes; I'm hoping that their high volume of Bolter fire can get through the invuln saves.
The Obliterators and Gormenghastly teleport down into the woods on my side of the building, with LoS on the Carnifex and Walkrant.
The Terminators appear on the other side of the building, hoping to shoot the Warriors off Kraken's home objective (mission rules mean that I'm too far away to charge in on them). To improve the odds of them doing this, I now play Tide of Traitors on the lone Champion and a new unit of Cultists appears opposite the Terminators and a hail of Autogun fire manages to chip one wound from the Warriors. Perfect - now the Terminators get rerolls to hit and duly annihilate all the Warriors. I may not be able to steal Kraken's home objective, but I have stopped him scoring it and given him something to think about - I would far rather he's forced to deploy the T-Fex defensively than have it appear in my own back lines.
Meanwhile the Sorcerer has managed to cast Warptime on the Termite, which surges forwards into the building. But I haven't thought this through properly, as now it's entirely blocking LoS for my Obliterators. One of the Obliterators can see the Flyrant, so it takes a potshot there (after the Chosen Champion attempts to unlock rerolls by shooting his Combi-Melta at is - to no avail) but only knocks a single wound off it. Similarly underwhelming is the torrent of fire from the rest of the Chosen into the Zoanthropes, killing only one of them (the nearby unit of Cultists had tried to help by unlocking the Purge rerolls for them but failed to wound the bugs).
At least the Termite can mulch the Carnifex! Catalyst can only save so much Melta fire, though it's a close run thing as Kraken plays the Unbreakable Chitin strat once more: I need a CP reroll to increase the damage and Catalyst just fails to save the beast.
At the end of the turn I score 3VPs (home objective plus the Termite holds the centre) against nothing for Kraken. I think I'm in a good position, though I'm acutely aware that I've still got a T-Fex and two Hive Tyrants to deal with...
VPs - 4:3 to the Purge
Tyranids: Turn 3
Suddenly I'm feeling a bit thin on the ground, and the loss of my home objective really stings. No choice, I really have to defend it, so the Tyrannofex appears on my back line, and after some consideration, goes for the Terminators rather than the more easily murdered Cultists.
In the middle, the Flyrant bounds up to the Greater Possessed, smites him and helps shoot away the Termite. Again, this takes more than mere shooting, as even with both Tyrants attacking it's a tough tank. The Walkrant barges in and slashes the last few wounds off as the Warrior pack charges in to help, then both consolidate on to the objective again.
The Chosen and the Zooanthropes carry on duelling. Sadly for the Chosen, although I fail to smite them, I do manage (somehow) to kill one in melee, which is more than they manage! New model syndrome at its best, I fear.
The Tyrannofex gets a good spray in on the Terminators, but their armour mostly protects them and I can only take one down. And horribly, the Warriors entirely fail to shoot any Cultists at all! That's not good...
What I can do, though, is a surprise threat to Pootle's back line. I have two CPs left, and one goes on Breaking Through for the Flyrant when it charges the Greater Possessed. The excessive number of mortal wounds here flattens him, leaving him free to use Overrun - a second move gets him right up amongst the cultists at the back. Pootle makes a noise that sounds very much like 'erk', which I take to mean I've made a good play!
Definitely!
Purge: Turn 3
I've now got three big bugs to deal with in three different parts of the battlefield. I have a plan, but it'll need some luck.
First up the Cultists and Terminators near Kraken's home objective aren't going to last long against the T-Fex, but I can stop him scoring it next turn by repeating the game of killing all the Tyranid Warriors. The Cultists move forwards and pepper them with Autogun fire, again causing one wound to enable the Terminators to benefit from the Purge's rerolls to hit. However this time one of the Warriors survives, so the Cultists bravely charge in to try to finish the job. They don't manage to do this, but are now claiming Kraken's home objective, which is a big swing in VPs for me.
At my end of the battlefield, both units of Cultists move towards the Flyrant and unload Autogun fire into it. They manage to take four or five wounds off through sheer volume of fire (and some typical rolling of saves from Kraken), so I decide that the Obliterators should join in and try to take the big beast down as they have full rerolls now. I'm confident this will work, but come unstuck now and only take three or four wounds off. Taking note of the confident actions of their colleagues upfield, the Cultists then decide to charge the Flyrant! They even manage to knock another wound off (leaving it on only two wounds), but the main effect is that I'm confident that it should be hard for the Tyrant to kill all of the Cultists so will hopefully be tied up and unable to engage with the other unit holding the objective.
Meanwhile the Chosen, after joining in the shooting at the Flyrant, charge into the Zoanthropes. Kraken confidently told me that the volume of attacks should easily do for the surviving pair, but as it happened not one wound got through!
You might wonder why I've skipped over the psychic phase: this is because I failed to cast all four powers I attempted! This meant no help for Purge rerolls from Smite or Infernal Gaze. Gormenghastly did unload his combi-Melta into the Walkrant and even managed to beat its invuln save. However rolling only one for damage and then rerolling that (using his warlord trait) into another one didn't help matters!
The Spawn charged into the remaining Warriors, hoping to take them down so there was only one bug to deal with in the middle (which would make it harder for Kraken to simultaneously hold the objective and some out to kill me in combat), however they managed to mutate their tentacles into an armour-piercing variety, which was not helpful against things with an invulnerable save. They did kill the injured Warrior, but when the Walkrant fought back it creamed them with ease.
At the end of the turn I scored 4VPs (both home objectives) to Kraken's 2VPs (for the centre).
VPs - 8:5 to the Purge
Tyranids: Turn 4
I might still be trailing, but I reckon I have a more than plausible threat on the Purge's back line now. Problem is that it's going to take a while for the Tyrant to chew through all those morsels, but it does make a good start by smiting and slicing away the rest of the first unit.
The Chosen and the Zooanthropes continue their grudge match, as I smite another off before losing a couple of wounds in the combat, but neither side is budging yet.
Back on my home line, the valiant lone Warrior remains indestructible by running away! This lets the Tyrannofex round the corner and level the Cultists entirely with a single barrage of spew. Alas, I'm still not on the objective, so I'm still losing points from them. Gah!
In the middle, the Walkrant and the Warriors take on the Spawn. It's a pretty one-sided affair, the Tyrant is unwounded and scythes through the remaining mutants with relative ease, so the middle stays in my claws for now.
Purge: Turn 4
The Terminators attempt to shoot down the last Warrior about to leap back onto Kraken's home objective but can only knock one more wound off, leaving it alive.
Similarly ineffectual are the Chosen, who not only fail to wound the Zoanthropes in combat, but suffer the indignity of losing another of their number to the bugs' tentacles!
I'm pinning my hopes on the Obliterators now, and surely, even without Purge rerolls, I can take two wounds off? Naturally the random damage result comes up with only 1 for damage (though the Flyrant reduces damage by 1 anyway) but we finally remember that it has Biomorphic Carapace, which reduces the wound roll by 1. As the Purge don't have access to Veterans of the Long War, this means I only get one wound through and the Flyrant will survive...NOOOOOooooo! In fairness, if we'd remembered Biomorphic Carapace earlier it would probably have a lot more wounds at this point, so it's probably for the best that it's still alive...probably!
At the end of the round, I score 1VP for my home objective and Kraken 2VPs for the centre - he still doesn't have his own home objective.
VPs - 9:7 to the Purge
Tyranids: Turn 5
I'm amazed the Flyrant survived, but I'm not going to look that gift in the mouth! He soups himself up with extra attacks, smites a couple of Cultists, shoots a couple more and then eats the rest before consolidating on to the objective, safely behind the crates. Score!
To add to this, I reclaim my own home objective with the last Warrior, and the Chosen finally get smitten away as the Zooanthropes sense a turning tide. It's a bit of a barnstorming psychic phase, in fact, I keep rolling elevens, and there's not much Pootle can do to stop me getting all my buffs on.
The Walkrant leaves the middle to the last Warrior and storms forward, shooting away the Sorcerer and then ploughing into the Obliterators, killing one for no returns. I was hoping for more, actually, and this rather leaves an open door (at last!) for that Terminator Sorcerer...
Expensive elite infantry with relatively low toughness are exactly what Breaking Through is meant for. The T-Fex runs dry on spew but instead charges in through the wood to inflict maximum mortal wound damage. The last Terminator clings grimly on to existence, and that's a great final turn!
Purge: Turn 5
This is going to be a quick turn, partly because I've only got three models left on the field (one representative from each unit who teleported in on turn 2), but mainly because the fate of the Obliterator and Terminator Champion is irrelevant (let's say they teleport back up immediately).
The game will be determined by Gormenghastly making an 8" charge on the Tyranid Warrior holding the centre objective and killing him in close combat. He successfully casts Diabolic Strength on himself and then needs a CP reroll to make the charge but, once in he makes short work of the bug and teleports safely back up to join his comrades having retrieved whatever it was he wanted from the building.
This turn I score 2VPs for holding the centre and Kraken 4VPs for grabbing both home objectives. Dramatically that results in...
VPs - 11-11 - Draw!
Locker Room
Well, I certainly rate the Crusher Stampede!
Yes, they feel very different to a typical 'Nid list, and there's already good variety in possible lists. A very welcome addition.
Okay, Breaking Through is clearly bonkers. It's really there to let big monsters smash through infantry swarms, which it's exceptional for, but I think it's rather undercosted for something that will probably do quite a lot of damage quite a lot of the time. 2 CPs would still be very reasonable, I'd say. Not that I didn't enjoy using it very much indeed!
Yes, I would pay 2CPs for it unhesitatingly and consider paying 3CPs in some situations.
The Stampede is quite fun generally, in fact - those powers and traits really make for some very hard-to-kill bugs with extra melee competence. They certainly feel like the horde of Godzillas they want to be, too, there really isn't much that's going to stand up to them for long!
It's going to struggle on board control (unlike 'Nids usually do), and against anyone who's got decent anti-tank firepower, I suspect it will struggle. It's also much slower than the smaller bugs are. I got lucky here in many ways, especially given the Twist stopped me advancing into position. If the deployment rolls were reversed and Pootle had started in the middle, I'd have struggled just as he did to push units into that bottleneck fast enough to take it.
In the end, it was my own bloodlust that sank me - I should have blocked the doorway and stayed on the middle objective. Still - great fun!
A few ideas occur to me if you're fighting against a Crusher Stampede:
- Obviously, if you know you're up against one, take lots of anti-monster firepower
- Split your fire! Strange advice, but you'll want to mitigate the damage Breaking Through can do, plus also reduce the monsters' ability to hold objectives. Many Tyranid monsters get slower when wounded too, which will make it harder for them to reach you, so capitalise on your ranged and numerical advantage rather than feeling you must bring things down
- Chaffy infantry (Cultists, Termagants, Guard squads or the like) can take ages for Tyranids to bring down. Chuck a few forwards, charging in yourself if possible, and their noble sacrifice will at the very least irritate the Tyranids as their high-value monsters spend a turn or two carving them up
MVP units for me were undoubtedly the Cultists (with an honourable mention for Gormenghastly for last-minute heroics to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat) for unlocking Purge rerolls several times, stealing Kraken's home objective, tying up a Flyrant and actually causing quite a few wounds on big beasts from sheer volume of fire. All three units put in sterling work and it's great to see the little guys pulling their weight (Stylus will be very happy I've no doubt).
I spotted during this write-up that I only killed eleven enemy models all game (leaving six alive), compared to losing 48 of the 51 I started with!
Part of me wished I'd
clocked that I'd need more anti-tank firepower and brought fewer guns with D3
damage (the Venomcrawler and Obliterators were not very effective against someone
with a Death Guard-like damage reduction ability), but actually I'm glad I didn't: we had a much better game than if I'd tailored my list more.
Thanks Kraken for hosting yet another really exciting game!
Great batrep guys, really enjoyable. Photos looked great too.
ReplyDeleteCheers! It was a good start to the year!
DeleteBrilliant game - that was fantastic!
ReplyDeleteIt really was! I thought I'd be right up against it with the new Nid rules but that mission you drew for us made for a humdinger and I had no idea which way it was going to go right up until the end. Best kind of game!
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