Sunday, August 16, 2015

40k Tournament Report: Gamersaurus Rex 2015 Invitational Qualifiers 2015

Those who have been following the blog would have noticed that I have been practicing and preparing my Tyranids for an upcoming tournament. I have been a bit cagey giving out too much information regarding my list and my opponents' army lists for fear of revealing too much to my potential opponents prior to the tourney. Now that it is over, here is the full blown list! 


This is my 1850 Tyranids list:
Hive Tyrant: Wings, Twin Linked Brain Leech Devourers
Hive Tyrant: Wings, Twin Linked Brain Leech Devourers
Hive Guard x3
Hive Guard x2
Hormagaunts x24
Termagants x15
Termagants x20
Termagants x30
Tervigon
Tyranid Warriors: Devourers x3
Carnifex: Twin Linked Brain Leech Devourers
Carnifex: Twin Linked Brain Leech Devourers
Tyrannocyte: Deathspitters
Tyrannocyte: Deathspitters

The original list contained the Living Artillery Node but after playing with the boys during practice matches and based on how the games went, I changed the list to improve it's ability to hold objectives. Pat was the one who suggested that if I wanted an objective grabbing army, it has to have all 6 Troop choices full. 

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Battle of Village Agesigma - 1850pt Batrep Tau v Harlequin/Eldar

The Shadowseer appeared in front of the Willow Prince, coalescing out of the darkness in the Prince's spartan quarters. 

"There is a disturbance in the weave, Troupe Master. Interlopers are setting in motion a path that could lead to destruction." 

"Show me." said the Prince.

Gazing into the Shadowseer's mask, he saw a verdant plain, dotted with ancient buildings and an idyllic farm. White armoured beings busied themselves with excavation in the distance, and time seemed to speed up around him as he saw an ancient shrine dedicated to Chaos unearthed by the excavation. The white armoured ones were quickly overwhelmed, and a tidal wave of blood poured out from the chaotic nexus. 

The Willow Prince suddenly felt himself pulled into space, and when he stopped, he watched from above the galactic plane as the blood tide grew to drench the entire galaxy. Drawn back to reality, he nodded once at the Shadowseer. He knew what had to be done....

Had a game with Fauzi's Tau to apply what I had learnt from my game with Alan. Instead of taking a full CWE warhost, I used what I knew best and went back to a Harlequin Masque, bringing the Warhost (and two WK) as allies. I did warn Fauzi beforehand though. His army I think consisted of two Riptides, a huge blob of broadsides, Pathfinders, and Farsight. 

He failed to seize and psychic powers didn't really matter that much this game. Mission was Cloak and Shadows, so we kept our Maelstrom objectives secret from each other. The name of this batrep is a reference to the fact that we only had WFB (now AoS) terrain to use ;)

Harlequin Deployment; majority of my units are on the left flank, which was good, as Fauzi deployed his Broadsides on the right. I drew Hold the Line, Recon, and Witch Hunter

Wraithknights lead the charge upfield towards the Tau gunline, fragile troops hidden behind

Massed firepower kills shield drones and puts multiple wounds on Farsight and his bodyguard
The Willow Prince watched from afar as wave after wave of shuriken fire was poured into the enemy commander's bodyguard, and was mildly surprised to see them emerge relatively unscathed. For all the focused firepower, the commander and his bodyguard still stood. One had to concede that these young races had a certain skill in constructing hardy weapons of war....

Farsight falls back and regroups near his Riptides, right Riptide takes a wound from failing to Nova Charge. Farsight falling back helped, as that meant he could only fire snapshots this turn. Nevertheless, Fauzi managed to blow up a Starweaver, leaving one Troupe footslogging it.

One tanky Wraithknight. Helped by poor shooting from the Tau despite the markerlights, only takes two wounds. Fauzi does manage to destroy the Starweaver which was behind him, for FIRST BLOOD. I secure Hold the Line for 1 point.
Shas'vre Au'nar shielded his Shas'O from the murderous fire as they fell back. There was little to be gained for the Greater Good by standing firm, and despite his Shas'O's famed preference for Mont'Ka tactics, sometimes the strategy to lure the enemy out held merit. He radioed for covering fire as they fell back, and the Tau lines burst into life in a blaze of blue energy, targeting a large yellow walker that was stalking its way towards them. Au'nar's Blacksun filters automatically kicked in as the various munitions struck home with the luminescence of a miniature sun, and he watched in disbelief as the yellow construct shrugged it off like rainwater. This thing was tougher than a Riptide, and it would take something special to bring it down, he thought...
End of Turn 1, the Tau are pinned against their edge by the oncoming Harlequins/Eldar
Turn 2
Everything is again poured into Farsight's unit, for SLAY THE WARLORD, but everything else is out of reach for an assault.


Kroot Outflank and come in to contest the objective.
Combined fire from all the Tau brings down Wraithknight and three Troupe members

As Starweaver and Voidweaver were brought down by pinpoint fire from the Tau battle line, the Willow Prince directed the members of the Third Act to close the distance. Massed firepower from jetbike and the Wraithknights had slaughtered the enemy commander, but the threat to the future was still abundant. If they did not wipe out or break the enemy completely, these Tau would only return to unearth the unholy artifact buried beneath the surface of the world. A thunderous boom made him snap around, and he saw that one Wraithknight had been cored by one of the Tau weapons. It would take much work for the Shadowseers and Bonesingers to repair the damage caused, but he was certain that it could be done. Swinging his attention back to the battle, he ran forward with the rest of his Troupe of the Dark....
Turn 3

All my vehicles are wrecked at this stage. But I push my units to grab and identify all the objectives to score the Recon card. Harlequin Troupes predictably wipe out the Kroot in assault

In what has to be the worst roll of the game, Fauzi's Devilfish transport rams the rear armour of my Vyper jetbike, but fails to even damage it! I score more objectives this turn, but Fauzi's bad luck continues and his Pathfinders break after losing just one of their number.

The Troupe of the Light's charge quickly brought them into contact with the Tau auxillaries, and the slaughter began. Faster than the eye could see, monomolecular blades spilled innards on the grass beneath them, while Harlequin Kisses caused Kroot to jerk around in macabre dances before falling to the ground like marionettes with their strings cut, their insides hollowed out by the monofilament wires. With an eye on the battle on the left flank, the Willow Prince and his accompanying Troupe of the Dark wheeled towards the artillery suits that had brought down one of the Wraithknights, intending on stopping the deadly bombardment. Supported by the remaining Wraithknight exile, the Third Act used its gargantuan form as cover, shielding themselves from the unrelenting railgun and missile fire...

Turn 4


My four objectives scored plus 1 extra for Slay the Warlord. We're running out of time so we call it at the end of the psychic phase. He has 3 points to my 5, but is running out of units to take out my remaining wraithknight, harlies and jetbikes.
White armoured shapes fled the field in disarray as the Harlequins swept onwards in a riot of colour. The Tau lines had been broken by a Wraithknight charge, and though they still had the greater numbers, the Tau no longer had the heart or stomach for the fight. Sporadic fire from the giant Riptides still posed a threat, but they only acted as a screen for the retreating Tau forces. As the two giant battlesuits took to the skies to retreat, the Shadowseer and Farseer began the ritual to destroy the Chaos nexus for good...

Victory to the Third Act!

Post game thoughts:
That was really bad luck for Fauzi. Almost all his S8 shooting either missed or failed to wound, leaving rending hits as the only way he was grinding down the knights. Meanwhile the main bulk of the Harlie force were still relatively intact, along with the Solitaire. It would definitely have been close if we had continued playing, if his luck evened out. The tactic of using WKs as linebackers seemed to work, and I need to test it out a bit more.

GG Fauzi!

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Tourney Prep - Many Many Termagaunts

Having a tourney around the corner does wonders for your hobby. I went out to get myself a box of Venomthropes and started putting paint to my unpainted Termagaunts. I have to thank Rico for "lending" his box so I could finish my models in time for the competition. 

Never thought I would use them since I had the Malanthropes but the TO didn't allow FW

So glad I have an airbrush
For those still sitting on the fence but are time hungry, please consider getting one. The investment will come back heaps as you get more time with your family and of course, GAMING! 

Primed them white and hit them with Aged White by Vallejo. Took me 30 minutes to get all those in the picture base coated. This included cleaning and airbrush intermittently and final wash up. Impossible with a paintbrush! 

And there you have them! All ready to consume


Construction of the Venomthropes

I managed to also base up my Spore Mine for the tourney
Having prepped most of the models mandatory for the tourney, I begun working on another batch of Termagants for spawning. I hope to finish them before this Saturday.

Took the opportunity to do up the flight stands for my Blood Angels
Again, an airbrush is such a time saver. I could also airbrush the base coat for the flight stand which is impossible with a normal can of spray. You could use a brush, but I do not like to use such a wet method as it debonds the PVA from the sand base.

Once the tourney is over, I will be returning to my Blood Angels to prep for the 1000 point tourney at the end of August. Stay tuned!

Monday, August 10, 2015

Rematch of the Roquefort - 1850pt batrep Dark Eldar/Eldar v Eldar

The disparate group of Eldar picked their way through the ruins dotting the grassy plain, starlight their only source of illumination. The large majority of them had begun their exodus from the Craftworld Saim-Hann after hearing of the renegade Harlequins of the Third Act, hoping to join their ranks. 

They had brought their vehicles and a Wraithknight with them, and as they got closer to the rendezvous point, two more looming Wraithknights from the Third Act stepped out of the gloom to meet them as an escort. 

A sudden volley of poisoned splinters and shimmering shurikens bounced off one Wraithknight, and a combined force of Dark Kin and Saim Hann burst out of the gloom. It seemed that some took exception to the exiles' flight, and they had allied with Archon Elian Maiburiarch to prevent their leaving....

After the double WK cheese last time out, Alan and I had a rematch, and we brought different lists to prepare him for an upcoming tournament. I decided to up the cheese factor, bringing 3 WKs and a squadron of Night Spinners in a Craftworld Warhost, while he brought 1 WK as allies for his CAD of Dark Eldar. We both got Invisibility as one of our Psychic Powers (oh the cheese) and away we went...

Pure Eldar deployment; bikes are scattered (hehe) across the deployment zone, Wraithknights and Night Spinners clustered at one corner, to avoid the Wraithguard D-Scythe bomb.

Made a first mistake with the deployment, which would condition the rest of the game. Worrying about his D-Scythes, I tried to cluster my units together to deny them space to drop in. Perhaps I should have spread them out to give him only one unit to target, and pushed my Knights up more.

Made a mistake here, decided my firepower could win me a couple of points, and began spreading them out. This left space for Alan to drop his Wraithguard right behind the yellow Knight.

Realising my mistake, I began to move up with the Night Scythes and the Wraithknights, but had already conceded the initiative to Alan, who had pushed his Wraithknight and bikes up to put pressure on me.

Here comes the pain. He had of deployment problems with the DS, trying various combinations to get the maximum amount of templates on a target.

Interesting thing about deep striking, you don't actually need to have the character with the Portal in the centre. The other thing about this D-Scythe bomb, is that it statistically isn't as scary as people might think, particularly with the -1 on the Destroyer table. 33% chance to do nothing? I'll take it.

In the end, Alan decided to plonk them down behind the yellow knight.
This is where we found that the D-scythe will do damage, but not an inordinate amount. The drop only does 2 Wounds to the yellow WK.

Alan's WK begins smashing his way through my lines (despite looking as if I killed him). At this point I'm down to basically one Night Spinner and the Wraithknights. The Vyper is basically useless. The red WK will soon go down to the attacks from his grey WK.
Something else to note. Two D strength wraithcannon shots were really underwhelming. While you always have a chance to hit something with a double 6 and wipe out a monstrous creature or gargantuan, you're only hitting 4/6 times, unless you have psychic buffs.

Night Spinners manage to remove the Wraithguard bomb with their Monofilament Shroud shooting.
Monofilament weapons are absolutely deadly against high toughness/low initiative stuff like Wraithguard, but because I only had one squadron, target priority was important. Could I have just avoided the slow Wraithguard and fired my squadron at something else like his Wraithknight?

The Scourge will eventually die, but for all my shooting, Alan still has quite a lot of stuff on the table. Those Reavers at the top of the pic came in from reserve, nullifying a lot of my shooting.
Another instance where deployment was important. Alan knew that I had a lot of firepower on the table, so he smartly put a large bulk of his forces in reserve, preventing me from shooting at them on the first turn.

Razorwing shooting will wipe out the farseer's unit at the bottom right hand pic.
Reaver jetbikes prepare to charge the sole remaining Night Spinner. At this point all I have left is a Wraithknight, a Warlock, a Windrider, the Night Spinner, and the Vyper (who was so inconsequential we both forgot about him)
Those reavers are about to wipe out the last remaining squad of Windriders, and the Night Spinner is wrecked by Alan's shooting. We call the game here as I have 1 WK and 1 Vyper left.
Crushing victory for the combined Dark Eldar/Eldar alliance!

Granted, it was my first time running the Craftworld Eldar, but man I made so many mistakes. Still, it was a great learning game and I definitely am planning to give Alan a better match for preparation next time!

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Tourney Prep: Tyranids vs Eldar and Dark Eldar Alliance

As we continue to gear up for the tourney, I got a game in with Alan who was also preparing for the same tourney. We had both agreed to bring as strong a list we can to test it out. My list is the same and everything is WYSIWYG and so is his. 

Mission was Emperors Will + Contact Lost.

I won the first turn and took it.


I spread my Gants all out and pushed my Hormagants forward with the intent to tarpit the Wraithknight

Alan kept his jetbikes far behind to remain out of range
Turn 1
I managed to secure the objective
I had also managed to Stun the Ravager
Alan moved up along his table edge, keeping out of range as much as he can
He attempted to charge his WK into my Gants hiding in the ruins and needed an 8 but failed it. This would allow me to send in my Hormagants to tie the WK up

Turn 2
I charged in and lock the Wraithknight in. I managed to also destroy the Ravager

Love this pic

In Alan's turn 2, his Razorwing came in a made a hole in my unit of 30. That thing is powerful
Turn 3

By now I was sitting in his deployment side and he was in mine. It was really down to the wire. His WK had disengaged from my swarm and moved down to try to get a unit of Gants off the objective.
Game end 
The WK goes for the charge but fails the roll. We tallied the points and I won by a margin of 1.

One roll made a huge difference
If Alan had managed to complete the charge, the WK may have killed off enough of the Gants to secure the last objective, giving him a point swing of 3 his way.

Alas, it is games like these that I love. Close and intense. More to come! 

Friday, August 7, 2015

Tourney Prep: Tyranids vs Space Marines

Having the entire Saturday off was a real blessing as it allowed me to get more games in for the Tourney Prep. Marshall and I got in a game, playing Mission 3. This would be Emperor's Will + Contact Lost.

Terrain was a little sparse but I was keen to see how my list would perform in such an environment. Having too much terrain may be a crutch. 

Tried keeping my creatures out of LOS and spread out in anticipation of his Drop Pods

Scouts were able to infiltrate and push deep into No Man's Land allowing them to capture objectives early on

Taking the first turn, Marines dropped in and went straight for the important creatures

Killing the Venomthrope, Marsh went on to kill the Exocrine.
Marshall raised a good point. Knowing that he will be sending Pods down early game I would have been better off keeping the Venomthrope sandwiched between the Exocrine and the Hormagants. That would have prevented me losing the Exocrine so early in the game.

Another Pod had dropped a 10 man squad in front of my Gants so I sent them up to engage and tie them up

While the Hormagants charged into Sicarus and squad

My DZ
Turn 2
Stormtalons all turn up including the Centurions

Marsh managed to score these two points
Turn 3
Sicarus and squad cleared the Hormagants forcing me to move one of my spawned broods toward them

In response my Toxicrene and Carnifex dropped in and I went in for the Centurions

The Stormtalon went for my Gants 

Securing him another 4VPs

Some finality to the combat in the middle

Carnifex in the back line finally managed to destroy the Scouts on that crater thus allowing the Tyrannocyte to capture the objective

Table at the end of Turn 3
 Turn 4
The Stormtalon goes after my Flyrant

Pew pew

Marshall scored these 6VPs
Turn 5
Thankfully I managed to pass the Synapse roll allowing me to use the Carnifex

Meanwhile Sicarus was in my backline taking Warriors and Gants out

I did however manage to score this
Turn 6

But scored these at the end of his turn

Table at the end of the game
We tallied the points and Marshall won by a large lead. Having Scouts that could Infiltrate and camp on the objectives from Turn 1 really put the hurt on. Even with my shooting, I could not move the Scouts who were obtaining 2+ cover saves from a Reinforced Building. Target priority is definitely important and going for the easy targets would have made more sense. Killing off those hidden in ruins not reinforced made sense. Also, keeping the Venomthrope out of LOS is important but I have to be aware of the direction in which I can expect threats too.

Another loss but many lessons gained! 

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