Bryss and ‘Scape here again with another battle report. Our last one had over 500 views so it’s clear it was a good one, and this one promises to be even better, for two reasons. One, it’s a bigger game. And two, we’ve got pictures. Quite a few actually.
DISCLAIMERS: The pictures are of mixed quality. Some are great, some are not so great. It’s harder to get good shots with no camera stand. Also, certain things have been edited out with Paint to protect the innocent.
This game was purely for fun. Neither of us care that we didn’t use the Doom of Malan’tai, Mycetic Spores, cloned units or Rhinos. And even if we did, we let our units out of their transports.
So, the armies:
Cyberscape7’s Ultramarines: 1500 points
Captain w/power sword and digital weapons
Command Squad w/Company Champion, standard bearer, power fist and flamer.
Epistolary Librarian w/ Terminator armour (no gun), Smite and Gate of Infinity.
5 Terminators w/no upgrades
Dreadnought w/no upgrades
10 Tactical Marines w/ flamer and missile launcher (FlamTacs)
10 Tactical Marines w/ meltagun and missile launcher (MelTacs)
10 Assault Marines/ Sarge w/lightning claws and 2 plasma pistols
Vindicator w/ siege shield and hunter killer missile
The good guys!
Master Bryss’ Hive Fleet Kraken- 1497 points
Hive Tyrant w/ lash whip and bonesword, heavy venom cannon, acid blood, Hive Commander, Leech Essence and Paroxysm
2 Hive Guard
16 Gaunts w/ devourers
Tervigon with scything talons and regeneration
3 Warriors w/ 2 deathspitters and barbed strangler
9 Genestealers including Broodlord w/ scything talons
3 Raveners with devourers
Carnifex with stranglethorn cannon
Trygon Prime
The guys who want food!
We rolled an Annihilation mission with Dawn of War deployment, which was good news for Scape as he only had two Troops choices.
Pre-game Manoeuvres
I decide to use the Hive Commander ability to allow the Tervigon to outflank. The Genestealers will also outflank, and the Prime and Raveners Deep Strike. On the Ultramarine side, the Epistolary, Terminators and Assault Marines will deep strike.
The Ultramarine’s chances are hampered right from the start as the Epistolary’s arm falls off. Fortunately, I do a quick fix using clay so that he didn’t appear in the army photo with only one arm. You don’t see THAT in White Dwarf do you?
The Ultras win the roll-off and decide to set up first, deploying the FlamTacs on the far right and the Command team and MelTacs on the left hand side. In response, I deploy the Tyrant, Warriors and Gaunts on the opposite side of the Meltacs, rendering the FlamTacs near useless for the time being.
The Hive Mind fails to seize the initiative, and the game begins...
How things looked at the start. Yes that's a real motorbike.
Turn 1.0- Night Fighting in effect
Through the cover of night, the Vindicator and Dreadnought move into the middle of the Ultramarine deployment zone, the Vindicator eyeing up the Tyrant. The Command Squad jumped 3” over the defence line in front of them, again approaching the Tyrant.
The MelTacs open the Shooting Phase with an attempted krak missile shot at the Warriors, but it fails to penetrate the darkness. The Vindicator attempts to shoot the Tyrant, but again the night provides ample cover. Disappointed with the performance of his men, the Captain and his squad jump 6” back the way the came.
Turn 1.5- Night Fighting in effect
The Carnifex arrives on the opposite side of the Flamtacs and moves towards them, unaffected by the urge to Feed. The Hive Guard enter play and promptly go behind nearby cover. The Warriors will the Gaunts closer to the MelTacs, and follow them, while the Hive Tyrant smashes 5” through the nearby ruin, refusing to simply go around it.
The Carnifex aims the stranglethorn cannon at the FlamTacs, but the curse of the night prevents it getting a shot in. The Gaunts have much better luck, killing 3 Tactical Marines with Devourer fire, however they pass the resultant checks. The Warriors try to cash in on this luck by shooting the same squad with the barbed strangler, but they are out of range due to the night again. The Hive Guard run 1” closer to the Warriors, while in the worst bit of Night Fight luck yet, the Hive Tyrant rolls a total of a 9” range for the heavy venom cannon, failing to hit the Command team.
How things looked at the bottom of Turn 1