Battle Report: Tyranids vs. Orks (7/14/12 RTT Round 3)

On 7/14 I brought my 17 model Nidzilla list to Game Empire Pasadena for a 1500 point 6^th edition 40K tournament. There was a great turnout of 26, including both Yakface and Blackmoor. The TO wanted the event to be as close to the rulebook as logistically possible meaning rulebook missions, random objectives, allies, and fortifications were all in play. Naturally I didn’t face anyone with allies and forgot to roll for random objectives in every game.

In round three I was paired against Keith and his battlewagon Orks. I misplaced my copy of his list, so here it is from memory;

Big Mek (KFF)

10 Lootas

10 Lootas

10 Kommandos (Boss Snikrot)

20 Shoota Boyz (PK Nob/2 Big Shoota?)

20 Shoota Boyz (PK Nob/2 Big Shoota?)

19 Shoota Boyz (PK Nob/1 Big Shoota?)

Battlewagon (2 Big Shootas/Deffrolla/Red Paint)

Battlewagon (2 Big Shootas/Deffrolla/Red Paint)

Battlewagon (2 Big Shootas/Deffrolla/Red Paint)

Aegis Defense Line

The game was dawn of war (formerly known as pitched battle) and we rolled three objectives. Keith wins the roll to go first and I successfully roll night fight for turn one. I do not seize. Keith rolls something unimportant for his warlord, but I roll +1 Victory Point for every challenge I win. I do not recall what psychic powers I rolled.

Battle Report: Tyranids vs. Necrons (7/14/12 RTT Round 2)

On 7/14 I brought my 17 model Nidzilla list to Game Empire Pasadena for a 1500 point 6^th edition 40K tournament. There was a great turnout of 26, including both Yakface and Blackmoor. The TO wanted the event to be as close to the rulebook as logistically possible meaning rulebook missions, random objectives, allies, and fortifications were all in play. Naturally I didn’t face anyone with allies and forgot to roll for random objectives in every game.

In round two I was matched against Scott W., a Necron player. Both Scott and I are going into this game with 20 battle points. While Necrons is already a hard match up, Scott’s list looks like it could be a killer;

Overlord (MSS, Warscythe, CCB)

~Cryptek (Destruction)

Overlord (MSS, Warscythe, CCB)

~Cryptek (Destruction)

7 Immortals

~Night Scythe

7 Immortals

~Night Scythe

7 Warriors

~Ghost Ark

Annihilation Barge

Annihilation Barge

Doomsday Ark

My army is weak against three things; deathstars with rerolls, mobile ranged dark elder, and mech necrons. The AV13 makes my mass of S6 shooting far less useful, and the ability to have my units lit themselves in combat with MSS is devastating when you consider they all have low leadership values and AP weapons. I also do not have a way of dealing with fliers.

Two and a Half Games (Fantasy, 40K, 40K)

Today’s post is a rundown of some casual games I played and then a quick summary of round one of the Pasadena 40K RTT I played in.

Last Wednesday I found out that Santa Barbara does in fact have a gamer community (they were well hidden in warseer whereas I am a DakkaDakka user). On Thursday I hobbyed with them, finishing the red and purple basecoats for my monstrous creatures and started the yellow base layer. On Friday I ventured into their manden, a garage converted to hold 4 gaming tables and many other awesome things, for a game of Fantasy. I played a Dark Elf list with 2 hydras and a dragon and was thoroughly trounced by a Tomb Kings army that included 8 construct monstrous cavalry who could reroll their saves. Between my two sorceresses I had three cataclysmic detonations, only taking a wound from one of them, and lost my Dragon to a purple sun. It was a lolworthy game in which my Hydras did not even see combat. Lots of laughs.

Saturday was the aforementioned tournament that will be reported on this week. Sunday I played a team 40K game with 1500 points per player. My standard Nidzilla list teamed with Eldar (farseer, fire dragons in a wave serpent, warp spiders, striking scorpions, two pathfinder units, guardian jetbikes, two wraith lords, and three war walkers) against Chaos Space Marines (tzeentch daemon prince with wings, slaanesh daemon prince with wings, thousand sons, berserkers in a rhino, small unit of plague marines, two units of oblits) teaming with Blood Angels (Mephiston, sanguinary priest, 30 ASM, 20 tactical marines, 2 dev squads with missiles). We played the scouring mission. Overall the game was great fun. The blood angel player seemed the happiest commenting that it was nice to not play a game of two parking lots facing off. The turning point of the game was when Mephiston charged a Trygon, failed to get his force weapon to work (runes of warding is quite good as many have noted) and then promptly was killed. We ended the game turn four when a combat that included the last daemon prince, the hive tyrant, and a tervigon swung in the Tyranids favor and it became clear Tyranids were the favorite to hold more objectives while having first blood and kill the warlord. One of the things that came up in this game which was really annoying was the inability to assault when coming out of reserve. In this case, my Hive Tyrant flew onto the table in glide mode right new to where a daemon prince was fighting a trygon, but despite being right next to the combat the tyrant could not strike a blow and save his ally. That is one mechanism I do not like in sixth.

Round One of the Pasadena RTT after the jump!

Tyranid Shrikes in 6th: 2 Arguments In Favor of Viability

The role of Shrikes is less clear than the Gargoyle's.

One of the reasons I enjoy Tyranids is their fluff. A swarm of little flesh eating creatures, hulking monstrosities, and fast moving terrors all capture my imagination. One unit that that I have always loved the idea of, both in the fluff and due to its potential on the table, is the Tyranid Shrike. Unfortunately being only T4 without eternal warrior always served to limit their use. I feel though that the Tyranid Shrike could become a surprise player in 6^th edition.

What makes the shrike have killer potential? First start with its tyranid warrior base stats; WS5, S4, T4, W3, I4, A3, Ld10. That set up is not a chassis to scoff at. Then add in its synapse, meaning all units within 12” are fearless. Not only that, they also prevent instinctive behavior tests (meaning I can keep my shooting units shooting). Also ever important is their roll as psychic defense, forcing tests taken within 12” of them to be rolled on three dice. The shrikes also have wings making them jump infantry which in 6^th has some added bonuses besides extra movement; if their wings were not used in the movement phase they can reroll their charge lengths and get hammer of wrath attacks.

I like to arm shrikes similar to how I like my tyranid primes; lashwhip, bonesword, scything talons, toxin sacs, and adrenal glands. With these upgrades they are expensive, 60 points a model, but between cover and readily available FNP boosts thanks to tervigons (or biomancy) they essentially can be given a 5+/5++ all the time. They also have the added defense of being surrounded by monstrous creatures, forcing your opponent to deal with the jump infantry or the scary MC’s. Also, if initial opinions on the internet are accurate (which they may or may not be) the increase in plasma compared to melta and other S8 weapons means there is less that can cause instant death to the unit. While still slightly fragile, they hit like a ton of bricks. Charging most everything they hit on a ‘3’, plus they get to reroll all of the ones. Don’t forget anyone in base contact with their 40mm base must strike at initiative ‘1’. Against T4 they wound on a rerollable ‘3’ and against T3 they wound on a rerollable ‘2’. All of those wounds come from weapons against which “no armour saves may be taken” meaning they can pop guys in 2+ armor. On top of that multiwound models who have taken a wound from a bonesword must pass a leadership test or suffer instant death. These fools are a nasty package in close combat. So how has 6^th edition given them a boost?

6th Edition Tyranid Flying Hive Tyrant List (And A Quick Game Against Blood Angels)

This weekend I will be playing in an RTT down in Pasadena, and I have made some changes to my 1500 point Tyranid list compared to how it looked in Stockton right after the new rule book came out. First, I want to be able to try out a flying hive tyrant. I would run two of these guys in 5^th, so it seems silly that I wouldn’t bring them out when new rules are giving them a boost. The flyrant will also give me another chance to try out the random psychic powers.

This is what happens when you don't kill the Flyrant. All your models disappear (into its belly).

 

The bad news is that adding the big bad guy himself at 1500 means I have to drop the hive guard and the prime and left me a spare 40 points laying around. I filled the loose points by adding catalyst to the HQ tervigon and giving the tyrant hive commander. Both of these actions are counter to what most Tyranid pundits are suggesting. Before I go into my reasoning, here is the full list;