Battle Report 42 - For Whom the Dinner Bell Tolls

Tyranids vs. Black Templar

Composed by Michael J. Casavant (Hive Fleet Phage)

Summary

• Date - 01MAY2003?
• Points - 1750
• Scenario - Blitz
• Hive Fleet Phage, Tyranid Army List [played by Michael J. Casavant]
• Black Templars [played by Greg Coffman]
• Results - Victory for Tyranids (2752 VPs vs. 314)
  • Hive Fleet Phage total VPs 2752
    • Kills 1252
    • Scenario Bonus: Units in end zone - 5 x 300 = 1500
  • Black Templar 314 pts.
    • Kills 314
    • Scenario Bonus: 0

Report

Intro

This is my sixth battle in the Midnight Comics GW League's Spring 2003 40k League.

Naming convention: The food that have faced Hive Fleet Phage have named the Hive Tyrants that continue to plague them. The one that trudges forward implacably with an escort of Tyrant Guard they call "Thunder." The swift winged beast that races across the battlefield and shatters bodies and vehicles alike has been dubbed "Lightning." They have also named the Carnifex engine of destruction, "Mjolnir".

The Battle

I completely forgot to write up this report, so here I am months after the fact trying to remember...

Reserve arrivals (Greg held a lot in reserve)

• Turn 2 - Fire Support/5 (Tac/Foot), Fire Support/6 (Tac/Foot), Sir John Upton (Dread)
• Turn 3 - Castellan La Valette (Chaplain/DS), Senglea Squad (Tac/Foot), Land Speeder

Setup Greg went for a heavy reserves presence. This turned out to really hurt him and set the tone for the whole battle. He left on the board a Landraider Crusader, Vindicator Assault Tank, Whirlwind, an dtwo Rhinos with troops inside. Greg has wisely set up far enough away that I cannot achieve a first turn charge on him. However, he has eschewed the benefit of cover from his plentiful fortifications. My entire army was setup in no man's land, and the Genestealers used their Infiltrate to get closer to the enemy.

Doesn't that look cool?

The horde advances!

The Warp Blast and Venom Cannon wreak havoc. Bugs die. The Rhino on the right gets popped and the guys inside chewed on a bit.

The Chaplain deepstrikes in on turn 3 to try and slow down some expensive guys. A good idea on Greg' part, for he would get bonus points for any unit of mine still in the No Man's Land when the game ends.

The horde keeps rampaging along. The Landraider pops. Reserves show up and start doing a little damage with heavy weapons.

The Chaplain is so cool that is takes Thunder, Mjolnir, and two Tyrant Guard to take him down.

In the end, five broods cross the finish line, scoring 1500 bonus points. The big guys barely managed to finish off the Chaplain and get out of No Man's Land (the fortifications were positioned a few inches beyond the dividing line).

Wrap-up

How the Defender could kill more bugs:

• Take the cover of the free fortifications. Although Space Marines are tough and cool, and probably are too manly to take cover, assaulting into cover gives the defender the first strike. This would have been very handy for a melee-savvy army like the Black Templars.
• Don't put anymore than you have to in Reserves. Those models could easily have shut down the advance that earned 1500 bonus points. Instead about half the BT army got a couple of shots off at the end.