Battle Report - Agora Besieged
This morning I was able to play test a huge army of stand-ins to represent a Tyranid horde. The mission was one designed to represent the final leg of the campaign at Dicehead Games, in which the Imperials are desperately defending against an all-out assault from the forces of disorder. They have taken serious damage, and are defending their most impregnable positions. However, the times are looking dark indeed. My favorite aspect of this battle was Deep Striking all my Tyranids; I am a veteran of the old Mycetic Swarm army, and it felt fun to play the force once more.
Another huge thanks to Josh, for letting me play the insanity of an all-proxy army!
The Mission
In this game, the Imperials have largely withdrawn from the moons and are making a desperate attempt to keep the forces of Chaos from overrunning the main planet. Since this represents planet fall for the armies of disorder, all models on the “Chaos” side must enter the battle by Deep Strike, rolling to arrive from Turn One on instead of Turn Two. The Imperial side receives an Aegis Defense Line with a Quad Gun for free, and they get +1 to all Cover Saves to represent their prepared positions. However, because of their significant casualties in previous games, the Imperial faction will be playing at a 20% points disadvantage. This game was fought with 2,000 points of Tyranids vs. 1,600 points of Space Marines. The mission is Big Guns Never Tire, and we rolled Dawn of War for our setup. We were still keeping track of total casualties as this last individual mission of the campaign was underway.
The wind had grown still, as it always did when the spores began to fall. The Death Specters Captain snarled at the poisoned clouds overhead. Something about the drop caused a huge shift in atmospherics. The alien proved its heresy by its unnatural existence.
His position was as prepared as it could be. The precious few survivors of his company gathered in mute silence against this latest twist of fate. That they had endured against so many opponents, only to see the arrival of Tyranids in the system.
It didn’t matter; the Space Marines would endure.
Army Lists
HQ
Hive Tyrant: Wings, 2x Twin Devourers with Brainleech Worms, Hive Commander; Paroxysm, Psychic Scream
ELITES
Zoanthrope Brood: 3 strong, Mycetic Spore transport
Hive Guard: 3 strong
Hive Guard: 3 strong
TROOPS
Tervigon: Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands, Cluster Spines; Dominion, Catalyst
Termagants: 12 strong
Hormagaunts: 20 strong
Hormagaunts: 20 strong
Hormagaunts: 20 strong
FAST ATTACK
Gargoyles: 20 strong
Gargoyles: 20 strong
HEAVY SUPPORT
Mawloc
Mawloc
FORTIFICATION
Aegis Defense Line: Quad Gun
HQ
Captain: Artificer Armor, Shield Eternal, Thunder Hammer
ELITES
Sternguard Veterans: 9 strong, 2 Heavy Flamers, Rhino transport
Dreadnought: Missile Launcher, Twin Lascannon
TROOPS
Tactical Squad: 10 strong, Plasma Cannon, Plasma Gun
Tactical Squad: 5 strong, Flamer, Razorback transport with Lascannon and Twin Plasma Guns
Tactical Squad: 5 strong, Flamer, Razorback transport with Lascannon and Twin Plasma Guns
Scout Squad: 5 strong, Sniper Rifles, led by Sergeant Telion
HEAVY SUPPORT
Devastator Squad: 8 strong, 4 Lascannons
Devastator Squad: 8 strong, 4 Heavy Bolters
Thunderfire Cannon
Pre-game
The defenders in this mission get to roll two dice on the Warlord Traits table and pick which result they want. Josh rolled the result that allows a unit within 12” of his Captain to reroll To Hit rolls for one turn. My Hive Tyrant rolled on Command Traits; all Tyranids within 12” had Move Through Cover.
We rolled up five objectives; we always break order here and place objectives before deployment zones are decided, to keep things less about optimal objective placement and more about tactical play to reach them. One objective was placed in each forest, and one went into the crater in the center of the table. Another went in the ruins in the lower right corner of the picture, and the final objective went into the white ruins surrounding the Space Marine statue.
I won the roll to choose deployment zone and chose to deploy on the right side. The Space Marines placed their Aegis line around the hill in their deployment zone. I also won the roll to choose who deploys first; since my entire army was Deep Striking I allowed the Space Marines to go first.
The Lascannon Devastators deployed against their board edge, behind the Aegis on the lower slope of the hill. The Thunderfire Cannon and Heavy Bolter Devastators deployed in the forest, which was bolstered by the Techmarine. The Dreadnought and transports then deployed in support behind the forest, with the large Tactical Squad and the Scouts deploying behind the Aegis as well, Telion on the Quad Gun.
My entire force would be Deep Striking, so I did not attempt to Seize the Initiative.
Turn One
The Space Marines made small maneuvers and activated Smoke Launchers on all their vehicles.
The Tyranids started off with a hefty drop on turn one, bringing in the entire force minus the Zoanthropes and one Hive Guard squad. One squad of Hormagaunts landed to either flank, with the two Gargoyle blobs in the middle. The Hive Tyrant landed near the far side of the table, and the Tervigon landed on the crater objective. The Hive Guard landed behind the small ruin in the bottom left corner of the table, and the Termagants landed on the objective in the bottom right corner. One squad of Hormagaunts suffered a Deep Strike Mishap, but luckily only went into Ongoing Reserve.
The first Mawloc dropped onto the Aegis line, slaying a pair of Scouts and a Space Marine, pushing Telion away from the gun and leaving no one within range to fire it. The second Mawloc landed on the nearby Tactical squad, killing a further two Space Marines.
The Tervigon spawned a brood of eleven Termagants that ran to take the objective in my deployment zone’s forest. The Hormagaunts then ran to spread out, encroaching further on the Space Marines line. The Hive Guard fired on the nearest Razorback; they missed with five of their six shots, but the one hit caused a Penetrating Hit and an Explodes! result. The unfortunate Marines inside lost two of their number and failed their Pinning test. In addition, one of the Lascannons in the Devastator squad was slain, and another Tactical Marine also died in the blast. This awarded First Blood to the Tyranids.
The Hive Tyrant successfully cast Paroxysm on the Heavy Bolter Devastators, before scoring three out of six Precision Shots with the one set of Devourers he could fire this turn. These shots killed two Heavy Bolter marines, and the normal hits dropped a third. In a further string of terrible armor saves, the combined Gargoyles killed another five Space Marines.
All squads passed their Morale checks after a bloody and unlucky turn one for the Space Marines
Objectives Controlled: Tyranids 3, Space Marines 1
Additional Tyranid Points: First Blood, Linebreaker
Additional Space Marine Points: None
Turn One Score: 11-3, Tyranids
Turn Two
The Space Marines started their turn by launching an aggressive counterattack; my opponent was determined to whittle down the suffocating number of small bugs facing him. The Lascannon Devastators vaulted the Aegis and drew their Bolt Pistols, snapping a handful of shots into the encroaching Hormagaunts. The Techmarine landed all four Thunderfire shots with unerring accuracy, scything twenty Gargoyles to bloody ribbons. The Heavy Bolters picked off a couple of Termagants in the opposite forest.
The Scouts were able to wound one Hive Guard and the squad was Pinned in the process, as they had scattered well out of Synapse range. The Sternguard disembarked from their Rhino and cut down another ten Gargoyles, while the surviving Razorback shoved through the Hormagaunts on the opposite flank and started its trek towards the opposite objective.
The Devastators lost three of their number in close combat before inflicting the same damage back on the Hormagaunts. The Tactical Squad in the center also failed in its attempt to charge the surviving Gargoyles. The Dreadnought charged into the other Hormagaunt brood, pinning them in place to prevent a charge on the Thunderfire.
The rest of the Tyranid reserves came in on turn two; the third Hormagaunt brood ran up against the objective behind the Space Marines’ Aegis Line. The Hive Tyrant launched a Vector Strike against the Heavy Bolter Devastators, cutting them off of the objective. The Tervigon spawned another brood of Termagants but also dried up in the process; her eleven children proceeded to secure the fifth and final objective.
The Hive Tyrant cast Paroxysm on the Sternguard this turn, and the Tervigon cast Catalyst on one of the Mawlocs. The Zoanthropes landed near the Pinned Hive Guard, allowing them to fire into the Scouts, slaying Telion and one other. The Sternguard were reduced to a handful of Marines and the Captain by Warp Blasts from the Zoanthropes and shots from the Hive Tyrant. The other Razorback was also reduced to one Hull Point by the other Hive Guard, losing its Lascannon in the process.
The Mawlocs launched charges against the Razorback’s Tactical Squad and the Sternguard. The Tactical Squad was wiped out, and the Sternguard suffered two deaths. The Captain returned one wound to the Mawloc. The Gargoyles charged and wiped out the survivors from the Plasma Cannon Tactical Squad, and the Hormagaunts fought the Lascannon Devastators to a draw.
At this point my opponent said that he would lose his Thunderfire Cannon plus most of his surviving Marines in the coming turn; we called the game here with a Tyranid victory.
Objectives Controlled: Tyranids 5, Space Marines 0
Additional Tyranid Points: First Blood, Linebreaker
Additional Space Marine Points: None
Turn Two Score: 17-0, Tyranid Victory
The Captain roared in anger and pain as his nerve endings fired spontaneously, still under the effects of the Hive Tyrant’s psychic assault. Not for the first time, he cursed the deaths of so many Librarians in this campaign.
The burrowing terror was still slaughtering his brothers. He fought through the random twitches and slammed his hammer down on the beast’s back again and again, crushing the chitin and sending a fountain of ichor spewing into the sky. Still the beast fought on, ignoring the terrible wounds as if they weren’t even happening.
The Captain could feel the shadow of the Hive Tyrant closing behind him, but he refused to abandon his comrades to this grisly fate. Whatever death faced him today, he would accept it and spit into its face, as a true son of the Emperor.
Another huge thanks to Josh, for letting me play the insanity of an all-proxy army!
Agora Besieged
The Mission
In this game, the Imperials have largely withdrawn from the moons and are making a desperate attempt to keep the forces of Chaos from overrunning the main planet. Since this represents planet fall for the armies of disorder, all models on the “Chaos” side must enter the battle by Deep Strike, rolling to arrive from Turn One on instead of Turn Two. The Imperial side receives an Aegis Defense Line with a Quad Gun for free, and they get +1 to all Cover Saves to represent their prepared positions. However, because of their significant casualties in previous games, the Imperial faction will be playing at a 20% points disadvantage. This game was fought with 2,000 points of Tyranids vs. 1,600 points of Space Marines. The mission is Big Guns Never Tire, and we rolled Dawn of War for our setup. We were still keeping track of total casualties as this last individual mission of the campaign was underway.
The wind had grown still, as it always did when the spores began to fall. The Death Specters Captain snarled at the poisoned clouds overhead. Something about the drop caused a huge shift in atmospherics. The alien proved its heresy by its unnatural existence.
His position was as prepared as it could be. The precious few survivors of his company gathered in mute silence against this latest twist of fate. That they had endured against so many opponents, only to see the arrival of Tyranids in the system.
It didn’t matter; the Space Marines would endure.
Army Lists
Hive Fleet Nug Mycetic Assault
Tyranids - 2,000
HQ
Hive Tyrant: Wings, 2x Twin Devourers with Brainleech Worms, Hive Commander; Paroxysm, Psychic Scream
ELITES
Zoanthrope Brood: 3 strong, Mycetic Spore transport
Hive Guard: 3 strong
Hive Guard: 3 strong
TROOPS
Tervigon: Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands, Cluster Spines; Dominion, Catalyst
Termagants: 12 strong
Hormagaunts: 20 strong
Hormagaunts: 20 strong
Hormagaunts: 20 strong
FAST ATTACK
Gargoyles: 20 strong
Gargoyles: 20 strong
HEAVY SUPPORT
Mawloc
Mawloc
The Death Specters Task Force
Space Marines - 1,600
FORTIFICATION
Aegis Defense Line: Quad Gun
HQ
Captain: Artificer Armor, Shield Eternal, Thunder Hammer
ELITES
Sternguard Veterans: 9 strong, 2 Heavy Flamers, Rhino transport
Dreadnought: Missile Launcher, Twin Lascannon
TROOPS
Tactical Squad: 10 strong, Plasma Cannon, Plasma Gun
Tactical Squad: 5 strong, Flamer, Razorback transport with Lascannon and Twin Plasma Guns
Tactical Squad: 5 strong, Flamer, Razorback transport with Lascannon and Twin Plasma Guns
Scout Squad: 5 strong, Sniper Rifles, led by Sergeant Telion
HEAVY SUPPORT
Devastator Squad: 8 strong, 4 Lascannons
Devastator Squad: 8 strong, 4 Heavy Bolters
Thunderfire Cannon
Pre-game
I won't bore you with pictures of proxies, but here is the pre-game battlefield.
The defenders in this mission get to roll two dice on the Warlord Traits table and pick which result they want. Josh rolled the result that allows a unit within 12” of his Captain to reroll To Hit rolls for one turn. My Hive Tyrant rolled on Command Traits; all Tyranids within 12” had Move Through Cover.
We rolled up five objectives; we always break order here and place objectives before deployment zones are decided, to keep things less about optimal objective placement and more about tactical play to reach them. One objective was placed in each forest, and one went into the crater in the center of the table. Another went in the ruins in the lower right corner of the picture, and the final objective went into the white ruins surrounding the Space Marine statue.
I won the roll to choose deployment zone and chose to deploy on the right side. The Space Marines placed their Aegis line around the hill in their deployment zone. I also won the roll to choose who deploys first; since my entire army was Deep Striking I allowed the Space Marines to go first.
The Lascannon Devastators deployed against their board edge, behind the Aegis on the lower slope of the hill. The Thunderfire Cannon and Heavy Bolter Devastators deployed in the forest, which was bolstered by the Techmarine. The Dreadnought and transports then deployed in support behind the forest, with the large Tactical Squad and the Scouts deploying behind the Aegis as well, Telion on the Quad Gun.
My entire force would be Deep Striking, so I did not attempt to Seize the Initiative.
Turn One
The Space Marines made small maneuvers and activated Smoke Launchers on all their vehicles.
The Tyranids started off with a hefty drop on turn one, bringing in the entire force minus the Zoanthropes and one Hive Guard squad. One squad of Hormagaunts landed to either flank, with the two Gargoyle blobs in the middle. The Hive Tyrant landed near the far side of the table, and the Tervigon landed on the crater objective. The Hive Guard landed behind the small ruin in the bottom left corner of the table, and the Termagants landed on the objective in the bottom right corner. One squad of Hormagaunts suffered a Deep Strike Mishap, but luckily only went into Ongoing Reserve.
The first Mawloc dropped onto the Aegis line, slaying a pair of Scouts and a Space Marine, pushing Telion away from the gun and leaving no one within range to fire it. The second Mawloc landed on the nearby Tactical squad, killing a further two Space Marines.
The Tervigon spawned a brood of eleven Termagants that ran to take the objective in my deployment zone’s forest. The Hormagaunts then ran to spread out, encroaching further on the Space Marines line. The Hive Guard fired on the nearest Razorback; they missed with five of their six shots, but the one hit caused a Penetrating Hit and an Explodes! result. The unfortunate Marines inside lost two of their number and failed their Pinning test. In addition, one of the Lascannons in the Devastator squad was slain, and another Tactical Marine also died in the blast. This awarded First Blood to the Tyranids.
The Hive Tyrant successfully cast Paroxysm on the Heavy Bolter Devastators, before scoring three out of six Precision Shots with the one set of Devourers he could fire this turn. These shots killed two Heavy Bolter marines, and the normal hits dropped a third. In a further string of terrible armor saves, the combined Gargoyles killed another five Space Marines.
All squads passed their Morale checks after a bloody and unlucky turn one for the Space Marines
Objectives Controlled: Tyranids 3, Space Marines 1
Additional Tyranid Points: First Blood, Linebreaker
Additional Space Marine Points: None
Turn One Score: 11-3, Tyranids
Turn Two
The Space Marines started their turn by launching an aggressive counterattack; my opponent was determined to whittle down the suffocating number of small bugs facing him. The Lascannon Devastators vaulted the Aegis and drew their Bolt Pistols, snapping a handful of shots into the encroaching Hormagaunts. The Techmarine landed all four Thunderfire shots with unerring accuracy, scything twenty Gargoyles to bloody ribbons. The Heavy Bolters picked off a couple of Termagants in the opposite forest.
The Scouts were able to wound one Hive Guard and the squad was Pinned in the process, as they had scattered well out of Synapse range. The Sternguard disembarked from their Rhino and cut down another ten Gargoyles, while the surviving Razorback shoved through the Hormagaunts on the opposite flank and started its trek towards the opposite objective.
The Devastators lost three of their number in close combat before inflicting the same damage back on the Hormagaunts. The Tactical Squad in the center also failed in its attempt to charge the surviving Gargoyles. The Dreadnought charged into the other Hormagaunt brood, pinning them in place to prevent a charge on the Thunderfire.
The rest of the Tyranid reserves came in on turn two; the third Hormagaunt brood ran up against the objective behind the Space Marines’ Aegis Line. The Hive Tyrant launched a Vector Strike against the Heavy Bolter Devastators, cutting them off of the objective. The Tervigon spawned another brood of Termagants but also dried up in the process; her eleven children proceeded to secure the fifth and final objective.
The Hive Tyrant cast Paroxysm on the Sternguard this turn, and the Tervigon cast Catalyst on one of the Mawlocs. The Zoanthropes landed near the Pinned Hive Guard, allowing them to fire into the Scouts, slaying Telion and one other. The Sternguard were reduced to a handful of Marines and the Captain by Warp Blasts from the Zoanthropes and shots from the Hive Tyrant. The other Razorback was also reduced to one Hull Point by the other Hive Guard, losing its Lascannon in the process.
The Mawlocs launched charges against the Razorback’s Tactical Squad and the Sternguard. The Tactical Squad was wiped out, and the Sternguard suffered two deaths. The Captain returned one wound to the Mawloc. The Gargoyles charged and wiped out the survivors from the Plasma Cannon Tactical Squad, and the Hormagaunts fought the Lascannon Devastators to a draw.
At this point my opponent said that he would lose his Thunderfire Cannon plus most of his surviving Marines in the coming turn; we called the game here with a Tyranid victory.
Objectives Controlled: Tyranids 5, Space Marines 0
Additional Tyranid Points: First Blood, Linebreaker
Additional Space Marine Points: None
Turn Two Score: 17-0, Tyranid Victory
The Captain roared in anger and pain as his nerve endings fired spontaneously, still under the effects of the Hive Tyrant’s psychic assault. Not for the first time, he cursed the deaths of so many Librarians in this campaign.
The burrowing terror was still slaughtering his brothers. He fought through the random twitches and slammed his hammer down on the beast’s back again and again, crushing the chitin and sending a fountain of ichor spewing into the sky. Still the beast fought on, ignoring the terrible wounds as if they weren’t even happening.
The Captain could feel the shadow of the Hive Tyrant closing behind him, but he refused to abandon his comrades to this grisly fate. Whatever death faced him today, he would accept it and spit into its face, as a true son of the Emperor.
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