The monstrous devourer... Eldar vs Tyranids 2000

This game came about when a friend of mine purchased a lot of tyranid monsters on ebay for a very VERY small price. So he challenged me to a game of 2k points so he can test out his bugs, and I took the opportunity to test out a few more units in the Eldar codex which I haven’t played with yet. The game was Emperors will, with hammer and anvil deployment.

I know its a week later than I said it would be, I'm sorry, things came up. And i don't know what happened but sorry about a few of the pictures i took.

The Armies

Eldar 1999

Asurmen – 220 (Warlord traits, rolled a 3 on the D3: Ambush of blades, Fate’s Messenger, seer of the shifting vector)

Spiritseer – 70

Embolden, protect

5 Wraithguard – 210

D-Sycthe

Wave serpent – 130

Twin-linked shuriken cannons, holo field

5 Wraithguard – 210

D-Sycthe

Wave serpent – 130

Twin-linked shuriken cannons, holo field

5 Rangers – 60

5 Rangers – 60

15 Guardians – 155

Starcannon

6 Warp spiders – 114

3 Vypers – 180

2 x shuriken cannon

3 War walkers – 210

Scatter laser, starcannon

6 Dark reapers – 250

Starshot, Exarch, starshot, fast shot

The army was a little different to normal, I really wanted to use Asurmen for fun, the ability to roll multiple times on the warlord table could be crazy, and in this instance it was (3 rolls and a re-roll on armour save rolls of 1!) and the wraithguard with D-Sythes was just to see if the flamer is worth it. I put the wraithguard in wave serpents to get them closer faster. I thought that the war walkers could be slightly more threatening swapping a scatter laser for a star cannon, let’s see what happens.

Tyranids 1996

Hive Tyrant – 260 (warlord: master of ambush)

2 x Twin-Linked Devourer - Brainleech Worms, Wings, Paroxysm, Leech Essence

3 x Zoanthropes - 180

Tervigon – 195

Cluster Spines, AG, Toxin Sacs, Cat

Termagant Brood (10) - 50

Hormagaunt Brood (17) – 136

Toxin Sacs

Harpy – 160

Cluster Spines, Twin-Linked Stranglethorn Cannon

Carnifex Brood (3) –  570

2 x Twin-Linked Devourer - Brainleech Worms

Biovore - 45 

Trygon - 200

Trygon – 200

So here we have a Nid’Zilla list, he wanted to use his biovore even though it took him up to 4 heavy support choices, I saw no harm in it as it’s a friendly game. The Hive tyrant and harpy could be real pains to deal with as I have no anti-flyer in the list, and the deep striking Trygons will be a killer for me if they both appear turn 2. Carnifexs should be ok to deal with, as they have to slog it across the table. Let’s see how it goes.

The Mission

As the game was 2K points we had a 8 x 4 table set up with one side heavy with trees and a pond and gradually turned into ruins of a city. The mission was rolled for and we got Emperors will, so a single objective each and the set up was Hammer and Anvil. I won the roll for deployment zone and also for going first. I set up my objective in a ruin at the back of my deployment zone (turned out to be a scatterfield), he put his objective in a ruin (targeting relay) in his, opposite sides of the table as well. We had a lot of ground to cover.

Eldar deployment

I set up first placing the guardians up front being let by Asurman and the spiritseer. The dark reapers went on the left hiding behind a wall. The war walkers go behind the reapers and I hide the vypers behind a ruin and both wave serpents deployed on the right behind the guardians. I infiltrate both units of rangers. I would just like to say now I forget I have warp spiders in my army, I don’t deploy them and forget about them the whole game... stupid, stupid move.

Tyranid deployment

To counter my deployment the tyranids hide the fexs behind a large tree on the left, with the biovore behind them. The hormagaunts deploy on the right opposite the guardians with the tervigon behind them. The zoanthropes go in the middle of the table and the termagants hold his objective. In reserve he holds both trygons, the hive tyrant and harpy.

I then set up my infiltrators, 1 holding my objective, the other behind the wall in front of the reapers.

Night Fight: No

Steal the initiative: Yes

The Battle

Tyranid turn 1

After stealing the initiative the bugs surge forwards, the brood of carnifexs move out of cover towards my lines, and the hormagants run for my guardians. The tervigon spawns termagants but only gets 6 new bugs and exhausts its spawning ability with a double 1, it then casts catalyst on the fex’s. Shielding itself, the tervigon then moves into the woods, as its new spawn move forwards, followed by the zoanthropes.

Shooting starts with the biovore targeting the guardians, the shot locks on but only 2 guardians die in the explosion. Both the carnifex and hormagaunts run.

Eldar turn 1

The spiritseer casts protect on the guardians in an attempt to shield them from harm. Moving to intercept their foe, the guardians, wave serpents and vypers all move towards the hormagaunts. On the other side of the table the dark reapers move back attempting to put as much distance between themselves and the carnifex’s as possible.

Using battle focus, the guardians run forwards, before unleashing the bladestorm upon the hormagaunts, killing 9 off straight away. The vypers add their fire power and kill off an extra 7 leaving a lone gaunt standing. Not allowing a single bug to survive a wave serpent kills off the last hormagaunt. The dark reapers use starshot missiles on the carnifexs and deal 5 wounds to the monsters but feel no pain saves 3 of the wounds. Seeing the monsters shrug off such wounds add their fire power and kill off a fex and deal a wound to a second one. Aiming for the eyes the rangers also shoot at the carnifexs, dealing a single wound to them.

Tyranids turn 2

Reserves are rolled for and both the Harpy and a Trygon come in. The trygon deep strikes behind the dark reapers, it scatters but can’t be placed so moves back to its original position. The harpy swoops in from his table edge. The carnifex brood moves forwards as do the termagants. Zoanthropes hide behind the termagants.

Shooting again starts with the biovore targeting the guardians; it again locks on and kill 3 guardians. The zoanthropes all cast warp blast on the guardians causing 6 wounds, but only 3 guardians die as Asurmen saves the remaining wounds. Shooting into their rear the trygon attempts to wreck the war walkers but with a terribly unlucky roll he fails to hit with all 6 shots. The carnifexs fair better shooting at the rangers closest to them, they get a vast number of wounds and even when the rangers go to ground, they all die. To finish off the turn the harpy runs forwards.

Eldar turn 2

Again the spiritseer casts protect on the guardians. The guardians carry on moving up the table as do the wave serpents. The vypers, war walkers and dark reapers move to target the trygon but get as far away from it as possible.

Firing all 6 shuriken cannons at the trygon the vypers only manage to deal 2 wounds to the colossal trygon. The war walkers however manage to finish the job thanks to the volume of fire power they can put out.  With the immediate threat dealt with the dark reapers turned their attention to the two carnifexs running around and again firing starshot missiles, manage to reduce the brood to a single wounded beast (2 wounds remaining). One of the wave serpents boosts past the tervigon attempting to get close enough to go after the objective next turn.

Tyranids turn 3

Only the hive tyrant enters from reserve and deep strikes by the vypers but scatters onto the building, it’s still flying though. The zoanthropes move towards the boosted wave serpent while the harpy goes after the war walkers. The tervigon casts feel no pain on itself and stays hiding in the woods. The lone fex carries on forwards.

With beams of psychic energy the zoanthropes lance the wave serpent next to them, they get 3 penetrating hits but 2 are saved by jink, the last gets downgraded to a glance thanks to the serpent shield (gotta love the shield). The biovore shoots at the dark reapers and a single aspect warrior dies in the blast. The harpy shoots at the rangers on my objective but thanks to a stupidly good cover save they are all safe. Unleashing brainleech worms the fex shoots at the dark reapers, getting 7 wounds, but the heavy aspect armour of the dark reapers doesn’t falter and I make all 7 saves! The hive tyrant shoots at the war walkers and explodes one and wrecks the other 2, damn.

Assault phase and the tervigon charges into the wave serpent and elects to smash, but only gets a single penetrating hit, shaking it, leaving it on 1 hull point.

Eldar turn 3

Again I cast protect on the guardians with the spiritseer. Asurmen leaves the guardians and goes after the tervigon while the guardians go for the termagants. The shaken wave serpent drives off leaving the tervigon in the woods, while the other wave serpent turns around and drops off its wraithguard who go after the monster. The vypers move around.

The wave serpent that's not shaken shoots at the lone fex and deals a single wound to it, reducing it to 1. The rangers seize the opportunity and snipe the fex in the eye taking off its last wound, killing it. Using their D-Syches on the tervigon the wraithguard attempt to impress me and fail, I probably shouldn’t have tried that. The guardians run then shoot at the termagants and kill off the small squad. Shooting into the sky the vypers actually manage to hit the hive tyrant a few times and even take 2 wounds off it, it passes its grounding test. The dark reapers use starswarm shots at the harpy and deal 2 wounds to it, it also passes its grounding test. The shaken wave serpent boosts.

Assault phase and Asurmen attempts to charge the tervigon but fails to make it even with the re-roll from fleet.

Tyranid turn 4

As its turn 4 the final trygon makes an appearance, right next to the dark reapers. The hive tyrant glides this turn going after the vypers, the harpy does the same but goes towards the rangers. The tervigon casts feel no pain on itself and move out of cover while the brood of termagants move away from the wave serpent next to them.

In a desperate attempt to take the last hull point off the wave serpent the termagants shoot into the rear of the tank but fail to do anything to its armour. The biovore for once scatters leaving the guardians unharmed. The tervigon shoots at the guardians but hits and kills off 2 of my poor eldar. The zoanthropes all try to warp lance Asurmen but he only takes 1 wound thanks to his 4++ save. The trygon shoots at the rangers but again their cover save proves superior and none die. The harpy attempts the same thing and the rangers avoid the barrage just as easily. Not allowing the vypers to escape unscathed for harming it, the hive tyrant shoots and wrecks a single vyper.

Assault phase and things get interesting, the harpy charges into the rangers who overwatch and do nothing, the harpy kills 2 rangers and I deal 0 wounds, the rangers run and get cut down. The tervigon charges into the guardians and I lose 2 and again do nothing in return. But the guardians run, and escape, leaving the tervigon out in the open.

Eldar turn 4

The guardians regroup thanks to the presence of the spiritseer, allowing them to use normal leadership. The wave serpent drops off the wraithguard next to the tyranids objective ready to flame the termagants. The other wraithguard and Asurmen go after the tervigon while the vypers move about.

Attempting to avenge their fallen brother, the vypers shoot at the hive tyrant and wound it, leaving it on a single wound. The wave serpent in midfield shoots at the hive tyrant with its shield and fails to kill it. The dark reapers shoot at the trygon as the hive tyrant is hidden and deal 2 wounds to it. The wraithguard flame the tervigon and I get 3 wounds on it, as its from a distort weapon, and I needed 6’s to wound it, its gets instant-killed 3 times, nice. The other wraithguard flame the termagants and kill all but 1 as he was out of range.

Tyranid turn 5

The trygon moves towards the vypers and the hive tyrant to the dark reapers. The harpy takes to the skies again and flies over the dark reapers (forgot to vector strike though). With the objective in danger the zoanthropes move back towards the tyranid objective.

Shooting starts with the hive tyrant regaining a wound by life leeching a dark reaper. It then shoots it devourers and kills another 2. The trygon shoots at the vypers and explodes a single vehicle. The zoanthropes shoot at the wraithguard next to the objective and hit them 6 times but thanks to T6 only a single model dies. The biovore again kills 2 more guardians (he doesn’t seem to like them for some reason).

Combat and the hive tyrant charges the dark reapers and kills them all, it was to be expected. The trygon charges into the lone vyper and only manages a single glance thanks to some terrible, terrible dice rolling.

Eldar turn 5

The wraithguard take the tyranids objective and their wave serpent goes after the zoanthropes. The lone vyper moves away fromthe trygon and the guardians move to see the hive tyrant.

Taking a desperate shot at the hive tyrant the guardians hit and take a single wound off the hive tyrant! The wave serpent and vyper fails to finish it off though. A little bit of over kill, but the wraithguard flame the last gaunt, into oblivion. The wave serpent shoots at the zoanthropes, and deals 3 wounds, killing a single model and reducing another down to 1 wound.

We roll to see if the game ends now...

Tyranids turn 6

Seeing the game in jeopardy, the hive tyrant jumps into the sky and goes after Asurmen, the harpy carries on its course. Not allowing the vyper to escape the trygon follows it pray. The zoanthropes go after the wraithguard.

The harpy shoots at the wraithguard on the objective, and somehow kills a single model. The two zoanthropes attempt to lance the wraithguard but both miss. Shooting from the hive tyrant on Asurmen is intense, he deal 4 wounds to him and two 1’s appear, but thanks to his warlord trait, he re-rolls and is safe. Completing its goal the trygon shoots down the last vyper.

Assault phase and the zoanthropes charge the wraithguard, and nothing happens. The combat is a draw.

Eldar turn 6

My entire army converge on the hive tyrant and shoot at it. The whole army hits it about twice, and not a single hit manages to wound. However he fails his grounding test after a shot clips his wing, and he plummets to the ground and snaps his neck.

Combat is a draw again, he can’t get past my T6 and I can’t get past his 3++ save.

Do we get a turn 7?

End of Game

Tyranids: 1 (line breaker) – Eldar: 3 (first blood, slay the warlord, line breaker)

Post-Battle

Well that was an interesting game, a lot of monsters, and not much table to move in. It was defiantly a challenge but I feel I played it right more or less. This list had a definite flaw in that it didn’t have any dedicated anti-flyer and if those monsters had been AV 11-12 vehicles I wouldn’t have had any real answer to them. But as it was just a little tester list I don’t mind that so much. Anyway what did I learn?

·         Warp spiders: How long have I been playing this game? Seriously how the hell did I still do a stupid mistake like that? Forgetting a whole unit, I checked my army list before the game TWICE and I still missed them. Honestly I don’t believe myself some times, stupid boy pike.

·         Dark Reapers: Now that they can be taken in squads up to 10 strong is amazing, I though they still had a max unit size of 5 before this game, what a nice surprise it was when I read the codex properly. It was a good size, 6, but it was very expensive. I would like to try it again and see what happens with them, but in 1500 point games they might be too much of a point sink.

·         D-Syches: I went for the wrong target with the tervigon and any old flamer would have killed the termagants, test again, but a flamer squad might be useful, maybe just 1 squad next time though. The wave serpent I feel is a must.

·         Asurmen: No, while I like the idea of him and I probably miss-used him this game he did nothing for his high points cost, so he can bugger off. I like the rules but not at that price.

·         War Walkers: The scatter laser/Star cannon combo was nice vs nids but they are an army on their own, I need to test it out vs a more conventional army. But twin linking the starcannon could be handy, and the ap 2 can help pop tanks. Just some thoughts.

·         Luck: I rolled very well and my opponent rolled badly, it’s a fact so I can’t take full credit for the win.

Anyway that's it for this game, the more I play with the eldar codex the more I like it, especially the lowly guardians, battle focus makes them a real threat to deal with. Anyway I hope you enjoyed and comments are always most welcome.