June 8th, 2010 - The Good, the Bad and the Hungry: Tyranids vs. Chaos Space Marines Battle Report

Hey there folks, as my snack supplier friend Lunchs Luchs pointed out, while the Space Marines and Eldar were having their ballet classes, me and Dopker were duking it out on the battlefield with two of the most gruesome forces of the grim, dark 40th Millenium. Thus, I landed the job of letting our esteemed readers get into the action that went on that bloody battlefield.

The forces facing each other for a 1800 point limit were:
Chaos Space Marines
HQ
Daemon Prince
Wings
Mark Of Slaanesh
Lash Of Submission

Chaos Lord
Terminator Armor
Mark Of Tzeentch
Combi melta
Power Fist

Elites
5 Chaos Terminators being with 4 Power Fists, 3 Combi Meltas, 1 Heavy Flamer and one with a pair of Lightning Claws Tzeentch Icon. All with Terminator Champion Upgrade.

Troops
10 Khorne Berzerkers being one a Champion with Power Fist

10 Chaos Space Marines, with Icon of Chaos Glory, 2 melta Guns, and an

Aspiring Champion with Power Fist and a Combi Melta

Rhino With Havoc Launcher

Heavy
2 Obliterators

5 Havocs being 1 with Lascannon, 1 with Missile Launcher, 1 with Autocannon and 1 with Heavy Bolter Chaos Land Raider with Havoc Launcher

Deamons
1 Summoned Greater Daemon

For a total of 1795 points

Tyranids
HQ
Hive Tyrant
Heavy Venom Cannon
Hive Commander
Old Adversary
Toxic Miasma
Regeneration
Wings

Tyrant Guard
Lash whip

Elites
2 Zoans
The Doom of Malan'tai

Troops
3 Warriors
Lash-whips and Boneswords
Venom Cannon
Deathspitters
Adrenal Glands
Toxin Sacs

8 Genestealers
Scything talons
Toxin Sacs

Termagants

Fast Attack
Raveners
Rending Claws
Deathspitters

Heavy Support
Carnifex
Crushing Claws
Stranglethorn Cannon
Bio-plasma
Regeneration

Trygon
Regeneration
Upgrade to Trygon Prime

For a total of 1797 points

We agreed to go for an annihilation match, and the Dice Gods commanded this were to be a pitched battle.

The Chaos Space Marines got to reach the battlefield early, and deployed their two tanks a the center of their zone, with the Daemon Prince out of sight behind the herectic Land Raider.
Each of the war machines was carrying a devilish troop inside, with Khorne Berzerkers just waiting to assault from inside the Land Raider and a unit of Chaos Space Marines ready for action inside the renowed Eddie Van Rhino. To the left and to the right heavy weapons from Havocs and Obliterators started to humm menacingly.

My 'nids went with a tight pack formation; two Zoans on the left drooled with the promise of punching their warp lances through the Raider's armour, while the Doom of Malan'tai went surrounded by some screening Termagants. The Carnifex went in the middle of the formation, expecting to run get in close for an assault taking advantage of the terrain for cover and the Tyrant Guard should be in place to bodyguard the Hive Tyrant once it arrived. A trio of warriors on the rearguard to keep everyone under the mighty lash of the synapse and we're good to go.


Chaos Space Marines - First Turn
And then everything went downhill. As the Hive Mind was too slow to steal the enemy's initiative, the Doom got a facefull of a lascannon round from the Oblits, which intantly vaporized his overgrown brains. One of the Zoans was taken down by the Havoc team and the three Warriors were mowed down to one by the tanks' heavy weapons, which also took four Termagants with their explosive payload. Chaos didn't even have to move to gain the upper hand right from the start.


Tyranids - First Turn
The Hive Mind, imposing its iron will, pushed the remaining creatures forward, hoping to get in range to deal some damage.

The Zoan aimed for the Havocs, since the Lance would surely fall short of the Raider. As it missed, the Carnifex shot its Stranglethorn cannon, taking down two of the heavy support soldiers.
No range, no assaulting yet.

Chaos Space Marines - Second Turn
The tanks pushed back into cover, with the Rhino hiding behind foliage and the Raider moving for the rear of the battlefield, always accompanied by the Daemon Prince.

Having less weapons to fire this turn as their vehicles had moved, the servants of the Dark Gods could only take out the remaining warrior from the battlefield.

Tyranids - Second Turn
The devouring broods moved ever forward, attempting to engage the chaotic forces before more long-ranged fire could cut their numbers down. The Trygon Prime rose up from the ground with a deafening roar, while salivating genestealers flanked the enemy forces and approached the Oblits.

Finally in range for the Lance, the Zoan shot... ...and missed entirely. The Trygon and the Carnifex teamed up, electrocuting and stranglethorning (is that even a verb?) the remaining Havocs, while the Stealers approached for the kill.

Which worked fairly well, considering they had to assault through cover. The Oblits were able to take down a single 'stealer, but could not resist and were obliterated themselves.


Chaos Space Marines - Third Turn
The Chaos fiends would not let these losses shrink them back, and as the Terminators teleported in and the summoning of the Bloodthirster was completed, the Daemon Prince and the Land Raider felt comfortable to move forward defiantly. The Chaos Marines inside the Rhino came out, readying their bolters to chew on tyranid meat.

The Daemon Prince used his lash of submission to bring the Trygon forward so the Bloodthirster could charge it, while the Chaos Marines reduced the stealers to a cringing pair of beasts.

Luckily for the tyranid swarm, the Bloodthirster was still way too far to be able to assault.

Tyranids - Third Turn
The Hive Tyrant finally came down from the skies, hoping to support the remaining stealers as they closed in to try and dig their claws into ceramite and flesh.

The Trygon moved forward to launch an assault on the Bloodthirster and the Raveners undug themselves right next to the advancing core of the tyranid forces.

Not much was achieved by shooting: the Daemon Prince was slightly wounded, whereas the Bloodthirster came out unscathed.

Meanwhile the Hive Tyrant, clumsily missing the recently disembarked Marines, killed one of the remaining stealers, pretty much dooming their intented assault to oblivion.

The assaults that were launched proved to be not very successful, with the last genestealer dying cleaved by chainswords and the Trygon being able to mildly annoy the Bloodthirster and almost get itself killed.


Chaos Space Marines - Fourth Turn
The army of the ruinous powers decided to get up close and personal, and thus approached the nearest tyranid forces, with the Berzerkers finally disembarking the Land Raider. The Chaos Marines closed in the Hive Tyrant, hoping to take the looming beast down.

A blizzard of shots from the Berzerkers' pistols took out some more of the remaining Termagants, while the Land Raider's lascannon liquified the last Zoanthrope on the battlefield. The Daemon Prince used its Lash of Submission to take the Raveners in range for the assault.
The Chaos Marines fired their bolters on full auto, but barely made a dent in the Hive Tyrant's carapace.
Finally, the chaotic army closed in and assaulted the creatures in range; the tyrant got surrounded by Marines, while the Zerkers decided to dispatch the Termagants and the Chaos Termies and the Daemon Prince turned their hellish weapons in the direction of the Raveners.

As expected, the Termagants were chopped to pulp by the close combat marauders that the Zerkers are. The Raveners got rid of a couple of Terminators, but were hit hard and almost retreated, were it not for a sudden adrenalin rush which held them together facing the foe.

The Bloodthirster finished its job and put the Trygon out of its misery without much effort, while the Chaos Marines lost three of their fighters to the Hive Tyrant's bonesword.


Tyranids - Fourth Turd Turn
There weren't much options left for the Tyranid broods, with the Tyrant being locked in close combat and the remaining beasts out of synapse range. The Carnifex and the Tyrant Guard simply pushed forward, ever hungry for a taste the foe's flesh.

Unable to shoot, the Tyranids assaulted the foes at the reach of their claws. The Carnifex and Tyrant Guard were surprisingly sucessful, being able to take out the Zerkers completely. The Raveners, on the other hand, took a severe beating even after dispatching the Deamon Prince back to the Warp and the single remaining beast could not control its survival instinct without the guiding will of the Hive Mind, running back in retreat.

The Hive Tyrant was taken down by the Marines' superior number.

Chaos Space Marines - Fifth Turn
Not much left for the chaotic army to do but to mop up the remaining monstrosities. Well placed shots from the tanks felled the mighty Carnifex, while the Terminators failed to massacre the Tyrant Guard with bolter fire.

The subsequent assault took care of it, though.


Having not a single creature survigin on the battlefield, the Tyranids lose its first battle against Chaos.

Closing thoughts
Having accompanied Dopker's growth through many victories and draw games, it was nice to have him win, especially in such a undeniable manner. His troops were better armed, better positioned and better guided than mine, so it was a fair and square defeat for me. I guess sometimes the swarm may order a pizza that's too spicy even for their taste.
This game was lots of fun, even if I has some deeply frustrating moments. This was the first time I ever fielded a Doom and it gets chunky-salsa-ruled at the first turn? Kinda depressing. I need to get him and my other Zoans a couple of mycetic spores, so they may drop exactly where they're needed and may skip the footslogging.
I also think I need to get some more models before ever trying such a point limit again. I believe I had to push a little too much on the upgrades to get this army on the tabletop and it made it somewhat inefficient.
I tried to write this Battle Report without mentioning the dice rolls and I hope it worked out. One moment that deserves special attention, though, is when the Raveners stood their ground. They had taken 6 wounds and inflicted 2, which made me roll for a Morale test with a -4 modifier. Raveners are Ld 6, so only a pair of ones could save me there. I rolled my dice and we spent the next five minutes laughing at my unexpected luck.