Let me preface this by saying that I may have lost my mind. I've been thinking about how to adapt the Tyranids after taking my first bite of Grey Knight. I don't like the taste; even with the dice in my favor and an ideal list matchup, the Nids were only able to eke out the narrowest of victories. It was a very fun game with a great opponent, but does not inspire confidence in my ability to win in a tournament environment.
It's not the force weapons, psycannons, or Paladins that worry me - those are all problematic, but not much worse than what any other codex can throw out. The two greatest threats are a Dreadnought's enhanced Aegis ability and the Warp Quake psychic power. Aegis makes Zoanthropes nearly useless - psychic tests at Leadership 6 are awful, and become almost hopeless when there are Psychic Hoods about. Warp Quake is even worse, making one of the strengths of my list into a liability.
So this rules out point blank shooting and Warp Lances as my primary antitank methods, although I don't think I can dispense with either completely. What I need are midrange, high strength shots that can appear from nowhere. Hive Guard can provide the shots, but not the transport method; for that, I'm going to try Trygon tunnels. This is hardly an ideal solution since the tunnels can't be used until the turn after the Trygon arrives, but provides a fairly large area where the Guard can appear without scatter.
So for my next game I'll be testing out something like this at 1500
HQ:
Tervigon w/ Dominion, Cluster Spines, & Catalyst
Elites:
2 Hive Guard
2 Hive Guard
2 Zoanthropes
Troops:
8 Genestealers
8 Genestealers
10 Termagants in Mycetic Spore
10 Termagants in Mycetic Spore
Heavy Support:
Trygon
Trygon
Trygon
This configuration still needs some work; I'd really love those Trygons to be Primes to control the Guard and Termagants, but just can't scrape up the points at this level. The lack of Hive Commander is also a big concern. It'll slow the Tyranid assault, but I'm gambling that it'll increase the chances of the Guard being able to use the tunnels rather than simply walk on.
Feels like I'm heading in the right direction, but am only halfway there. Any thoughts?
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Apocalypse Images
A few images shamelessly stolen from my opponent, Steve. Hive Fleet Tzimisce arrived to harvest this hapless Imperial planet just as the Deff Skullz were about to capture the bitz and gubbinz their Big Mek needed for his latest creation. The Orks were spoiling for a fight after the local PDF's miserable show of resistance, so they took a short break from their salvage operation to have some fun.
Above, the Ork deployment. From left to right the Stompa and its attendant Kans and Deff Dread, Lootas overlooking the Ork Disruptor Beacon, a Skullhamma Battle Fortress surrounded by Buggies, Trukks, a Battle Wagon, and flanked by several infantry squads perched in the ruins.
The initial Tyranid assault was a suicide run at the Disruptor Beacon - 4 Zoanthropes podded in, while 2 sets of Lictors burst from cover. Only 1 of the Zoanthropes was halted by the Beacon, which mishapped back into reserve. The Beacon and Battlewagon went down to Warp Lances, while the Lictors, punching well above their weight class, took on the Stompa, actually managing to stop its Blasta from firing. Also pictured in the center is a Looted Wagon, apparently piloted by Orkwin Waaaghmmel - this guy hasn't missed a shot, been destroyed, or lost control of his tank in the last 3 games.
And now the trap is sprung. 40 Gaunts, 26 Genestealers, and a dozen Monstrous Creatures use Flank March to surround the Orks. In retrospect I seriously messed up this stage and overcommitted on my right flank. The only units on that half of the table were the Bikers and Deffkoptas, and I could have used the extra bodies to take the objective in the ruins. Ah, hindsight.
And the same turn from the other side; five Carnifexes move on to the board. They were subsequently able to smash through the Kan wall protecting the Stompa and wreck it, inflicting 10 penetrating hits and setting off an apocalyptic blast.
We used random length, which ended the game on turn 6. The sole survivor of the Warboss's retinue managed to snag an objective, while a 30 strong mob of Shootaboyz burst out of the wreckage of their tank and managed to kill the Trygon and Tyrant that had wrecked it. The Orks had about 500 points of models against 2000 points of Tyranids, but he had the objectives and I didn't.
The Hive Fleet may have taken the planet and its biomass, but who knows what weapons the Orks will create with their freshly stolen technology?
We used random length, which ended the game on turn 6. The sole survivor of the Warboss's retinue managed to snag an objective, while a 30 strong mob of Shootaboyz burst out of the wreckage of their tank and managed to kill the Trygon and Tyrant that had wrecked it. The Orks had about 500 points of models against 2000 points of Tyranids, but he had the objectives and I didn't.
The Hive Fleet may have taken the planet and its biomass, but who knows what weapons the Orks will create with their freshly stolen technology?
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Rapture Day Apocalypse Game
Just a quick update since I don't have pictures at the moment - hopefully a full breakdown to follow. 4000 points of Tyranids squared off against 4000 points of Orks, and it was an utter bloodbath. The Tyranids fought savagely, but thanks to one sneaky Nob (and soon-to-be-Warboss, since the last one got eaten by a Trygon), managed to snag 3 objectives to the Tyranid 2 and get the hell out of dodge before the rest of the swarm closed in. Highlights included an apparently invincible Looted Wagon, an enraged mob of Shoota Boyz taking out the Trygon and Hive Tyrant that wrecked their Skullhamma Battle Fortress, Zoanthropes who didn't get the "suicide" mission memo, and 5 Carnifexes smashing through a Stompa and its attendant Killa Kans.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Finally a post and battle report.
So, moving and finals are finally over and I have free time again. I got to try out the list I put forward in my prior post, and while I'm pleased with some of the changes, there's still room for improvement. Without further ado, Hive Fleet Tzimisce vs. Eldar
My opponent's list:
Farseer w/ Runes of Warding, Doom, Fortune, accompanied by a trio of Warlocks, 2 w/ Destructors
Avatar
6 Banshees, Exarch w/ Executioner
6 Warp Spiders
6 Jetbikes
10 Guardians w/ Scatterlaser, x2 squads
3 Warwalkers w/ EML
Fire Prism
The board was set up as a valley, with hills running along most of the table edges, crowned with ruins. The central area was open, with some craters for cover but nothing blocking LoS. My objective went into a ruin in the bottom right corner of my deployment zone, while the Eldar placed theirs near the midline of the table, within easy claiming distance of a unit walking on from the edge.
The setup was Dawn of War and Capture and Control; I won the roll off and chose to go second.
Turn 1: What if they threw a war and no one showed up? Both of us went full reserve.
Turn 2:
Both our reserve rolls were poor; only a unit of Guardians, the Banshees, and Fire Prism arrive. Banshees and Prism move up the center of the board, while the Guardians hunker down in some woods.
The Tyranid turn was a bit more eventful. 2 Zoanthropes and the Termagants dropped in, surrounded the Guardians, and killed them to a man with Warp blasts, Fleshborers, and Ripper tentacles. The last Zoanthrope came in behind the Prism; its Warp blast killed a Banshee, but the Spore's tentacles missed the rear armor of the tank. The Tervigon also arrived on the left flank about 17" from the Banshees and Guardians; it threw Catalyst on itself, but its Cluster Spines scattered away.
Turn 3:
Eldar reinforcements for this turn were the Avatar, the 2nd unit of Guardians, the Jetbikes, and the Warwalkers. In a burst of luck the Warwalkers and Jetbikes whiffed on their shooting, inflicting only a few wounds that were saved without even using Feel No Pain. The Fire Prism similarly missed the Termagants that had slaughtered the first Guardian unit, while their replacements tore some wounds off a Mycetic spore, which was finished off by the Avatar in assault. The Banshees multiassaulted the Zoanthrope and its spore, killing them easily.
Everything else on the Tyranid side came in, although not for long... The Trygon scattered 11" towards the table edge, putting its shooting out of range and leaving it unable to threaten the Avatar. The Tyrant came in dead on, close to the Jetbikes and Banshees. Both Genestealer broods outflanked onto the right side; one took up position on my objective, while the other hid behind a ruin, completely out of LoS. The Tervigon spawned a brood of 15, while the brood that had podded in shuffled into the woods the Guardians had been hiding in. The Mawloc scattered badly, took out a Jetbike with its template, then Mishapped back into reserve when its base couldn't be placed on the board edge. The Jetbikes were annihilated by shots from the Tyrant and Termagants, with the sole survivor falling to the gaunts in assault. Their mother charged the Warwalkers; both sides failed to do any damage. Shooting from the gaunts, Spores, and Zoanthropes at the Avatar fail to hurt it.
Turn 4:
The Farseer and his retinue finally arrive, and proceed to blast half the Termagants out of their cover. On the left flank the Warp Spiders also make their entrance, scattering just short of a mishap on the Banshees. Fire from the Guardians and Warp Spiders sees the Termagant brood of 15 reduced to 5, while the Fire Prism takes aim at the Genestealers near my objective... and misses again. The Avatar assaults a Zoanthrope, whose Warp Field protects it from injury. Somewhat making up for its failure last turn, the Tervigon crushes a Warwalker, but is unable to roll above a 2 on the damage table for the rest of the game. In a disastrous turn of events, the Banshees rush forward and gut the Hive Tyrant before she can raise a bonesword.
On the Tyranid turn the bad news continues. The Mawloc fails to return from reserve, while the surviving gaunts kill only a Warlock and a Banshee with their shooting. The Tervigon and surviving Zoanthrope both suffer Perils of the Warp thanks to the Runes of Warding. The Trygon and forward brood of Genestealers rush towards the Avatar, but only the Trygon has the movement to assault. Unfortunately he fails to dent the Avatar with any of his attacks and takes two wounds of his own, causing the Zoanthrope to fail a No Retreat save.
Turn 5:
This was a pretty chaotic turn. Fire from the Farseer, Guardians,and Warp Spiders sees all but 1 gaunt killed; the sole survivor dies to a Witchblade in assault; the Banshees shuffle back towards the Eldar objective, leaving it all but surrounded. The Fire Prism, in its first useful act, moves flat out to contest my objective. In assault the Trygon shows some signs of life and puts two wounds on the Avatar, taking only one in return.
On the Tyranid turn, the Zoanthrope retreats from the approaching Farseer. The Mawloc bursts onto the Eldar objective, killing a pair of Guardians but accomplishing nothing else. In assault, both units of Genestealers rush the Fire Prism... 48 rending attacks result in not a single damage roll. To make matters worse, the Avatar shrugs off the Trygon's attacks again, drops it to its last wound, and kills the Zoanthrope with No Retreat wounds.
We roll for turn six, and the game ends with both objectives contested - a draw!
Thoughts on the Game:
Very fun game overall; the Eldar were a nice change of pace away from power armor, and still have some tricks I haven't seen yet, plus my opponent, Steve, is always a pleasure to play against. I think my only outright mistake was the placement of the Hive Tyrant; there was no excuse for it to be within charge range of the Banshees, especially since I knew beforehand that their masks would override her lash whips (stupid FAQ!). I didn't know when I placed her that the gaunts wouldn't need the help to kill those jetbikes, but I should have. Even if the gaunt spawn had been small, between them and the Mawloc the unit would have been crippled either way, and the Tyrant could have been preserved to harass that Fire Prism or charge the objective.
The small broods podding in worked fairly well, wiping out the Guardians even after they'd gone to ground in cover and then forcing the Eldar to waste shots targeting individually weak units. I'm starting to think something needs to be done about the Genestealers, as they did very little throughout the game. They're just too expensive and fragile to sit out of the action as long as they sometimes can; I may have to experiment with swapping one brood out for another Mycetic Spore + termagants. I'm also still on the fence regarding the Mawloc. It's ultimately a one trick pony, but it's reasonably cheap (for a Tyranid MC), durable, and can be amazingly disruptive. Nevertheless its tempting at this points level to swap it out for a Devilfex and spore to provide more reliable firepower.
Back to the spawning vats.
My opponent's list:
Farseer w/ Runes of Warding, Doom, Fortune, accompanied by a trio of Warlocks, 2 w/ Destructors
Avatar
6 Banshees, Exarch w/ Executioner
6 Warp Spiders
6 Jetbikes
10 Guardians w/ Scatterlaser, x2 squads
3 Warwalkers w/ EML
Fire Prism
The board was set up as a valley, with hills running along most of the table edges, crowned with ruins. The central area was open, with some craters for cover but nothing blocking LoS. My objective went into a ruin in the bottom right corner of my deployment zone, while the Eldar placed theirs near the midline of the table, within easy claiming distance of a unit walking on from the edge.
The setup was Dawn of War and Capture and Control; I won the roll off and chose to go second.
Turn 1: What if they threw a war and no one showed up? Both of us went full reserve.
Turn 2:
Both our reserve rolls were poor; only a unit of Guardians, the Banshees, and Fire Prism arrive. Banshees and Prism move up the center of the board, while the Guardians hunker down in some woods.
The Tyranid turn was a bit more eventful. 2 Zoanthropes and the Termagants dropped in, surrounded the Guardians, and killed them to a man with Warp blasts, Fleshborers, and Ripper tentacles. The last Zoanthrope came in behind the Prism; its Warp blast killed a Banshee, but the Spore's tentacles missed the rear armor of the tank. The Tervigon also arrived on the left flank about 17" from the Banshees and Guardians; it threw Catalyst on itself, but its Cluster Spines scattered away.
Turn 3:
Eldar reinforcements for this turn were the Avatar, the 2nd unit of Guardians, the Jetbikes, and the Warwalkers. In a burst of luck the Warwalkers and Jetbikes whiffed on their shooting, inflicting only a few wounds that were saved without even using Feel No Pain. The Fire Prism similarly missed the Termagants that had slaughtered the first Guardian unit, while their replacements tore some wounds off a Mycetic spore, which was finished off by the Avatar in assault. The Banshees multiassaulted the Zoanthrope and its spore, killing them easily.
Everything else on the Tyranid side came in, although not for long... The Trygon scattered 11" towards the table edge, putting its shooting out of range and leaving it unable to threaten the Avatar. The Tyrant came in dead on, close to the Jetbikes and Banshees. Both Genestealer broods outflanked onto the right side; one took up position on my objective, while the other hid behind a ruin, completely out of LoS. The Tervigon spawned a brood of 15, while the brood that had podded in shuffled into the woods the Guardians had been hiding in. The Mawloc scattered badly, took out a Jetbike with its template, then Mishapped back into reserve when its base couldn't be placed on the board edge. The Jetbikes were annihilated by shots from the Tyrant and Termagants, with the sole survivor falling to the gaunts in assault. Their mother charged the Warwalkers; both sides failed to do any damage. Shooting from the gaunts, Spores, and Zoanthropes at the Avatar fail to hurt it.
Turn 4:
The Farseer and his retinue finally arrive, and proceed to blast half the Termagants out of their cover. On the left flank the Warp Spiders also make their entrance, scattering just short of a mishap on the Banshees. Fire from the Guardians and Warp Spiders sees the Termagant brood of 15 reduced to 5, while the Fire Prism takes aim at the Genestealers near my objective... and misses again. The Avatar assaults a Zoanthrope, whose Warp Field protects it from injury. Somewhat making up for its failure last turn, the Tervigon crushes a Warwalker, but is unable to roll above a 2 on the damage table for the rest of the game. In a disastrous turn of events, the Banshees rush forward and gut the Hive Tyrant before she can raise a bonesword.
On the Tyranid turn the bad news continues. The Mawloc fails to return from reserve, while the surviving gaunts kill only a Warlock and a Banshee with their shooting. The Tervigon and surviving Zoanthrope both suffer Perils of the Warp thanks to the Runes of Warding. The Trygon and forward brood of Genestealers rush towards the Avatar, but only the Trygon has the movement to assault. Unfortunately he fails to dent the Avatar with any of his attacks and takes two wounds of his own, causing the Zoanthrope to fail a No Retreat save.
Turn 5:
This was a pretty chaotic turn. Fire from the Farseer, Guardians,and Warp Spiders sees all but 1 gaunt killed; the sole survivor dies to a Witchblade in assault; the Banshees shuffle back towards the Eldar objective, leaving it all but surrounded. The Fire Prism, in its first useful act, moves flat out to contest my objective. In assault the Trygon shows some signs of life and puts two wounds on the Avatar, taking only one in return.
On the Tyranid turn, the Zoanthrope retreats from the approaching Farseer. The Mawloc bursts onto the Eldar objective, killing a pair of Guardians but accomplishing nothing else. In assault, both units of Genestealers rush the Fire Prism... 48 rending attacks result in not a single damage roll. To make matters worse, the Avatar shrugs off the Trygon's attacks again, drops it to its last wound, and kills the Zoanthrope with No Retreat wounds.
We roll for turn six, and the game ends with both objectives contested - a draw!
Thoughts on the Game:
Very fun game overall; the Eldar were a nice change of pace away from power armor, and still have some tricks I haven't seen yet, plus my opponent, Steve, is always a pleasure to play against. I think my only outright mistake was the placement of the Hive Tyrant; there was no excuse for it to be within charge range of the Banshees, especially since I knew beforehand that their masks would override her lash whips (stupid FAQ!). I didn't know when I placed her that the gaunts wouldn't need the help to kill those jetbikes, but I should have. Even if the gaunt spawn had been small, between them and the Mawloc the unit would have been crippled either way, and the Tyrant could have been preserved to harass that Fire Prism or charge the objective.
The small broods podding in worked fairly well, wiping out the Guardians even after they'd gone to ground in cover and then forcing the Eldar to waste shots targeting individually weak units. I'm starting to think something needs to be done about the Genestealers, as they did very little throughout the game. They're just too expensive and fragile to sit out of the action as long as they sometimes can; I may have to experiment with swapping one brood out for another Mycetic Spore + termagants. I'm also still on the fence regarding the Mawloc. It's ultimately a one trick pony, but it's reasonably cheap (for a Tyranid MC), durable, and can be amazingly disruptive. Nevertheless its tempting at this points level to swap it out for a Devilfex and spore to provide more reliable firepower.
Back to the spawning vats.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
So, not much time to play lately, but I have managed to get some list building and planning in. I'm still not sure how far to take the Spore pod/MSU build, but I think it has some potential. I'm less sold on my earlier Flexibility design - in practice it left too many points far away from the action. The test game I got in was a very narrow loss, but should have been a cakewalk with any of my prior lists. As big a disadvantage as it will be against Grey Knights, I think I'm just going to have to deal. Splitting my force carries its own pitfalls, but a unit that uses Warp Quake can't activate its force weapons or use Hammerhand that turn. It'll be an uphill fight, but you don't get to be a void swimming, hyper-evolved super predator by only hunting easy meat.
So, here's my revised list; fairly close to the original, but with shots coming from multiple directions and able to get more units deeper onto the board.
HQ:
Tyrant w/ Wings, lashwhip and bonesword, Paroxysm, Leech Essence, TL BL devourers, Hive Commander -270
Elites:
1 Zoanthrope in Mycetic Spore -100
1 Zoanthrope in Mycetic Spore - 100
1 Zoanthrope in Mycetic Spore -100
Troops:
8 Genestealers w/ toxin sacs - 136
8 Genestealers w/ toxin sacs-136
Tervigon w/ Dominion, Cluster Spines, Catalyst, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands - 195
10 Termagants in Mycetic Spore - 90
Heavy Support:
Mawloc - 170
Trygon -200
I'd really like to find a way to upgrade the Trygon to a Prime, but it doesn't seem entirely necessary at this level. Hopefully I'll get a chance to playtest it soon. It seems weak in some ways, but as a whole I think it's more dangerous than the sum of its parts.
So, here's my revised list; fairly close to the original, but with shots coming from multiple directions and able to get more units deeper onto the board.
HQ:
Tyrant w/ Wings, lashwhip and bonesword, Paroxysm, Leech Essence, TL BL devourers, Hive Commander -270
Elites:
1 Zoanthrope in Mycetic Spore -100
1 Zoanthrope in Mycetic Spore - 100
1 Zoanthrope in Mycetic Spore -100
Troops:
8 Genestealers w/ toxin sacs - 136
8 Genestealers w/ toxin sacs-136
Tervigon w/ Dominion, Cluster Spines, Catalyst, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands - 195
10 Termagants in Mycetic Spore - 90
Heavy Support:
Mawloc - 170
Trygon -200
I'd really like to find a way to upgrade the Trygon to a Prime, but it doesn't seem entirely necessary at this level. Hopefully I'll get a chance to playtest it soon. It seems weak in some ways, but as a whole I think it's more dangerous than the sum of its parts.
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