M32 Battle Report 5: Take and Hold - Xhorik D-87 vs Hive Fleet Tarasque

  "You wanna live forever?!"

-Unofficial traditional pre-jump battle cry of the Xhoirk 87th Firebirds 

Background:

The Ork invasion of Xhorik Prime has unwittingly awoken a dormant Tyranid exploratory tendril that had remained in the stasis of interplanetary travel while buried in the polar icecap of Xhorik Prime. The heat and movement of the arriving and mobilizing Orks caused the Lictors to reanimate. As they found prey and released pheromones, more and more of the frozen Tyranids emerged from their long hibernation and joined in the hunt. 

Campaign Summary M32: The War of the Beast - The Third Xhorik War

Scenario:

We played a simple Take and Hold mission from the Fourth Edition rulebook. There was a single central objective and whichever side had more scoring units within 12" at the end of the game wins. We rolled for Night Fighting and determined it would kick in for turn 6.  

Both sides would be fighting for control of a signal beacon in an abandoned Imperial outpost. The beacon could be used by the Imperial forces to bring in air support in the form of targeted bombing runs on Tyranid positions. The Xhorik D-87th Company was given this task due to the expertise they had developed in fighting this new xenos threat. Compiling countless individual pieces of information observed by a multitude of Tyranid life forms spread across the area, the Hive Mind concluded the humans were converging on this point and determined that whatever your enemy is trying to do should be stopped. A collection of quick-moving broods was assembled along with a few synapse nodes in the form of towering Warriors and psychic zoanthropes, all under the overall command of a cunning Broodlord. 

With night coming early at these northern latitudes, each army had only limited time to take control of the critical objective. 

Pre-Game:

"Into Hell We Go"

Phil: I started this army with the first test model way back in 2015 and have worked on it in small bursts of energy over the last decade. (It's been a labor of love!) And for all of that time, I have been wanting to play some games against Tyranids. Tyranids vs Imperial Guard is one of the most classic matchups of the 40k universe and has a special place in my heart. It draws on themes from countless classic sci-fi books and movies. And The Anphelion Project was the first Imperial Armor book that my brothers and I ever owned or read. In all these years, the closest we have come is a game of Kill Team where The Lucky Bastards of the Xhorik 87th take on a brood of genestealers of Hive Fleet Tarasque. (Drop Troops against Space Marines? Not very fun! Drop Troops are like Space Marines Lite, with an emphasis on the LITE: anything they are supposed to do, marines just do twice as well.)

First, a word on which rule set to use. IA3: The Taros Campaign would have been best for 4th Edition WH40K, but I only had the 2nd edition of that book, which was updated during WH40K 6th Edition. IA4: The Amphelion Project has the rules for the D-99 "special forces" drop troops, but it has unique bespoke rules for flyers that would add complexity to the game. IA:8 Raid on Kastorel-Novem came out during 5th Edition so is mostly very compatible with 4th Edition and it just treats flyers as fast skimmers. I decided to use the IA4 army rules but the simplified flyer rules from IA8 since flyers did not exist in the core WH40k game until 6th edition. The IA4 D-99 list is very thematic and flavorful and makes it easier to field a smallish army like mine because you take individual veteran squads instead of platoons. Every trooper is more skilled than normal, but you have a distinct lack of bodies for an Imperial Guard force - quite a concern when going up against a horde of gribblies! 

For the rule of cool, I decided to limit myself to my converted Elysians and not take any of my storm troopers, grenadiers, "Ogryn" battle suits, etc. This gave me a reasonably balanced force with 53 infantry split into eight squads, two batteries of sentry guns, two walkers, a Tauros, and two fliers (the Avenger counting as a Vulture, the closest equivalent gunship in the list). The weapon composition is not ideal for Tyranids (7 meltaguns and no flamers??) since my historical foe was always space marines. But the missile launchers and fliers gave me some versatility, and I figured all the lascannons, meltaguns, and multi-meltas, combined with my fast skimmers and deep striking infantry, should allow me to slag the big bugs, thus depriving his hordes of synapse control.

The mission was simple: hold the center objective at the end of the game. After watching the Tyranids wreck a static gun line Imperial Guard army in the first battle of our 4th Edition campaign, I knew I could not afford to sit back in my deployment zone and let the Tyranids control the entire table or I would never reach the objective. I used a standard deployment of infantry and artillery aimed at the center objective and with my mobile fliers / skimmers positioned on the flanks to fend off the speedy genestealers and hormagaunts before swinging into the center. I elected to keep a few units in reserve to deep strike via grav chute combat drop: the special weapons squads (melta sticks) to take out choice targets with their short-range weapons and some infantry squads to drop in close to the objective and fight their way to it. I mounted one unit in the Valkyrie as another way to keep them safe until I was ready to grab the objective late. (I knew trying to sit on the objective and hold out against a Tyranid assault for multiple turns was a losing proposition!) I wanted all of my missile launchers on the table from the start in order to maximize my early shooting. 

The plan was to use the gun line to soften up the center, the skimmers to blunt the fast flanking attacks, the deep strikers to hit targets of opportunity, and then converge on the objective with some late-arriving deep striking units and the squad in the Valkyrie. All that stood in my way was an absolute mass of scuttling claws and gnashing teeth...

Belligerents:

Hive Fleet Tarasque  - 1453 points

• Broodlord: extended carapace
• Warriors (5): enhanced senses, extended carapace, toxin sacs, 3 x deathspitters, devourer, barbed strangler
• Carnifex: reinforced chitin, extended carapace, regenerate, 2 x adrenal glands, toxin sacs, tusked, toxic miasma, 2 x scything talons
• Zoanthropes (2): 2 x warp blast, 2 x synapse
• Lictor
• Genestealers (10): 4 x scything talons
• Genestealers (9): 4 x scything talons
• Termagants (10): fleshborers
• Termagants (10): fleshborers
• Termagants (10): fleshborers
• Termagants (10): fleshborers
• Hormagaunts (15): extended carapace

Xhorik D-87 Drop Troops (The Anphelion Project D-99 rules) - 1449 or 1364 points? 

• Veteran Command HQ (5): Senior Officer, medic, vox, missile launcher
• Veteran Command HQ (5): Officer, medic, grenade launcher (deep strike)
• Special Weapons Squad A: 3 x meltaguns (deep strike)
• Special Weapons Squad B: 3 x meltaguns (deep strike)
• Veteran Squad A (10): demo charge, meltagun, vox (deep strike)
• Veteran Squad B (9): demo charge, vox (in Valkyrie)
• Veteran Squad C (6): missile launcher, grenade launcher, vox
• Veteran Squad D (6): missile launcher, grenade launcher, vox
• Drop Sentinel Squadron (2): 2 x multi-melta
• Sentry Gun Battery (3): 3 x twin-linked heavy bolters
• Sentry Gun Battery (3): 3 x twin-linked lascannons
• Vulture: heavy bolter, twin-linked lascannons, 2 x hellstrike missiles, searchlight, extra armor, infrared targetting (skimmer)
• Valkyrie: rocket pods, multilaser, searchlight, extra armor (skimmer)
• Tauros: grenade launcher

Note: We had agreed on 1450 points and that is what my army list said at the time, but when I go back and add it up a year later, I only get 1364 points. I probably got confused on which rule set to use for the fliers as their costs and rules are quite different between IA4 (special flyer rules) and IA8 (treated as fast skimmers).

Xhorik D-87th Special Forces - Tyrannic Veterans

Battle:

Both sides converge on the monitoring station on a snowy afternoon.

D-87 veterans take up firing positions behind a barricade.

Drop sentinels move forward through the snow, scanning for hostiles.

A Valkyrie transports a veteran squad while providing fire support with rocket pods.

Meanwhile, Genestealers scramble forward through the rugged terrain.

The bulk of the Tyranid force, anchored by the Warriors and Carnifex, head directly for the objective.

The Tyranid right flank sees a Zoanthrope leading a flanking manuver.

The Xhorik Drop Troppers' left flank includes Tarantula sentry guns, a Tauros, and a Vulture.

The Vulture soars overhead, providing fire support for the troopers below.

A psychic blast from the Zoanthrope blows the grenade launcher off the Tauros.

Agile hormagaunts leap through the woods.

Drop troopers take up firing positions, prepared for whatever may come. 

Drop troopers rush forward and then drop behind cover with a view of the objective.

Drop sentinels and the senior officer's HQ section form the center of the Imperial line. 

The Tyranids take the initiative and immediately swarm the objective with termagants.

The Tyranid Warriors provide synapse control to the lesser beasts. 

Hive Fleet Tarasque surges to the obejctive. 

Long range fire from the Warriors kills one drop trooper.

Tyranid Turn 1: The xenos damage the Tauros and kill a lone trooper, but also claim control of the objective and the center of the field. 

The drop trooper Sentinels advance and inflict two wounds on the massive Carnifex with their multi-meltas. The Valkyrie manages to kill three Genestealers.

With its weapon destroyed, the Tauros races into the middle of the battlefield to be an obstacle to the Tyranids. 

The Vulture fires its multitude of weapons but only brings down one Hormagaunt.

Drop Troop Turn 1: The Xhorik D-87th inflict a smattering of casualties, but fail to dent the Tyranid advance. 

Termagants move past the objective to get into range of the Fleshborers.

The Hormagaunts keep racing forward, brushing off the ineffective fire from the Vulture.

Termagants shoot up the Tauros with their Fleshborers, killing the driver and immobilizing the vehicle (meaning it would no longer count as scoring).

Tyranid Turn 2: The advance continues and shooting once again only inflicts a few scattered kills. The Carnifex regenerates a lost wound. 

The lascannon Tarantula sentry guns and Sentinels combine to inflict two wounds on the Carnifex.

Melta Stick A makes a perfect drop, right next to their priority target.  

A salvo of melta gun fire vaporizes the only synapse creature on the Tyranid right flank.

Drop Troop Turn 2: The Vulture zooms toward the center of the battle, abandoning the Imperial left flank. Two turns of shooting with not much to show for it...

Drop Trooper Squad D on the Tyranid right is charged by the genestealers.

The genestealers make short work of the drop troopers and the squad is wiped out! (The hill was removed for the melee for ease of model placement.)

Fleshborer fire kills the pilot of one Sentinel, leaving it a wreck!

Tyranid Warriors use their ranged weapons to immobilize and stun the other Sentinel.

One brood of termagants diverts from the main thrust up the center to deal with the newly arrived Melta Stick A.

The brave guardsmen, isolated behind enemy lines, are eaten alive by a hail of Fleshborers. 

The stealthy lictor takes advantage of the mayhem to leap from its hiding place and strike at Squad C.

Tyranid Turn 3: The Hormagaunts pass instinctive behavior and head toward the battle. Both genestealer broods charge, one destroying a unit and the other stunning the Valkyrie. The Sentinels are mostly neutralized and Melta Stick A is wiped out. And the carnifex regenerates another wound. A devastating show of force by the Tyranids!

Veteran Squad B leaps from the Valkyrie to face the genestealers. Expertly aimed lasgun fire and a demo charge wipe out the melee monsters!

Melta Stick B also make a pinpoint landing right on target and vaporize the Broodlord from behind!

The Vulture turns its heavy weapons onto more appropriate targets and has better success than against the Hormagaunts, killing two Warriors.

Drop Troop Turn 3: The Imperials hit back on their left flank, destroying the genestealers and Broodlord. Veteran Squad A arrives by grav chute and attempts to kill the other Zoanthrope to deprive the Tyranids of their last synapse creature but only inflict one wound. In the center, the lascannon sentry guns and the Vulture combine to kill the Warriors. Just when it was looking grim, the drop troopers land a massive counter attack!

The Carnifex continues its lumbering advance while the nimbler termagants race past.

One termagant brood turns around to counterattack the deep striking Veteran Squad A, killing one guardsman with their Fleshborers.

The Carnifex finally reaches a target and easily destroys it. 

On the Tyranid right, the fast moving Hormagaunts continue their sweeping manuever, undeterred by the lack of synapse nearby. 

The independent genestealers charge the sentry guns and stun two of them but their claws fail to destroy the sturdy gun platforms.

Termagants close in on Squad A.

In the melee, the termagants kill 4 drop troopers while the Tyrranic Veterans kill 3 bugs in return. 

After finishing off Veteran Squad C, the lictor attacks the Command HQ and strikes down one trooper. The brave medic manages to use his dagger to kill the lictor!

Tyranid Turn 4: With only one synapse creature left, it was looking bleak for the Tyranids but then Bill found the rule that being in synapse prevents instant death!! So the three instant death wounds on the Warriors from last turn were downgraded to regular wounds, meaning two of the elite xenos stood back up to rejoin the fight! Meanwhile, the genestealers continued to roll up the Imperial left flank and the carnifex started rampaging through the Imperial center. Suddenly, the tide was turning yet again.

The hard-fighting veterans of the D-87th kill two gaunts without losing a man. 

Squad B re-embarks on the Valkyrie and approaches the objective. The Valkyrie's rocket pods and multilaser wipe out a termagant brood, while the zoanthrope hid behind the wood.

The Vulture and the newly arrived junior officer HQ squad combine fire to fell a Warrior ("And this time stay down!") leaving just one.  

Drop Troop Turn 4: The veteran D-87th starts to clear the Tyranids from around the central objective while a deep striking HQ squad lands nearby. 

The relief at slaying the lictor is short lived as the Command Squad is set upon by genestealers. The hunters abandon the hard metal Tarantulas for softer prey...

Carnifex charges and kills three of the junior officer's command squad. The lieutenant hits back with his power fist, causing a wound in return!

Veteran Squad A continues their melee, killing two more gaunts and losing a man in return.

The genestealers massacre the drop troopers Command HQ and warlord!

Tyranid Turn 5: The hormogaunts finally fail morale and revert to instinctive behavior. As the fighting closes is around the objective, the Tyranids press their advantage in melee, charging both drop trooper command squads. 

The skies grow dark as night closes in. The Vulture finishes the last Warrior, leaving the zoanthrope as the last synapse node for the Hive Mind.

The Valkyrie unloads everything at the zoanthrope and when the dust of the rocket blasts clears, the xenos psyker still lives!

Melta Stick B hits the zoanthrope with a melta blast, but its psychic armor saves it!

The carnifex finishes off the heroic lieutenant and his steadfast medic.

Drop Troop Turn 5: Veteran Squad A finally finishes off the termagants in melee. The Tarantula sentry guns whittle down the genestealers, and the last Warrior is killed. But the zoanthrope somehow escapes a fusillade. And the carnifex stayed safely in melee! 

After destroying a first brood of termagants in melee, a second brood ambushes the exhausted drop troopers and kills the three survivors with flesh borers. They just keep coming!

The mighty carnifex regenerates another two wounds and then climbs up onto the bunker to attack the Vulture. It rips the skimmer down and destroys it!

Tyranid Turn 6: The hormagants stay broken. The carnifex destroys the Vulture. The termagants kill the drop troops of Veteran Squad A.

Melta Stick B tries to bring the termagant brood below half strength so that it would not be a scoring unit, but they only manage to kill one.

The drop troops make a desperate push for the objective, once more leaping via grav chute from their Valkyrie. But both sets of sentry guns are unable to find targets due to the Night Fighting rules, leaving far too many Tyranids around the objective. 

Veteran Squad B kills two termagants but there are too many Tyranids coming from all directions and they are forced to disengage. 

The Tyranids had more scoring units within range of the objective, giving them the victory. Remember, in this edition almost all non-broken units over half strength count as scoring and in this mission, the scoring radius was 12".

Tyranid Victory!

Post Game:

Phil: That was quite the back-and-forth battle. At the end of Tyranid turn 3, I thought it was all over for the Xhorik D-87. The 'Nids had made it to the Imperial lines in multiple places, wiping out two squads, crippling the Sentinels, stunning the Valkyrie, and tying up another unit in melee. It was all looking a lot like their rout of the Imperial Guard in game 1. But then in Drop Troop turn 3, the veterans turned the tide, and I thought they had control of the game. I had taken out the Broodlord and Warriors, and with one zoanthrope killed in turn 2, that left only a single synapse creature on the board. Then we realized our error with the Instant Death rule and suddenly two Warriors were back in the Tyranid center! (Any Tyranid within synapse range is immune to instant death as the control of the Hive Mind is so strong that it can literally force the mangled bodies of its minions to keep going despite their injuries.) From there, it was a slugfest, but the Tyranid numbers and the unstoppable regenerating carnifex (that thing regenerated four wounds over the game!) were too tough to shift from the objective. 

I think my plan was pretty solid and it nearly worked. The Valkyrie brought a full-strength squad right to the objective on the bottom of the last turn as planned - there were just too many bugs still standing! The deep striking melta gun squads did what I needed: each assassinated a synapse creature. But they were also left isolated and easily neutralized by termagants (fleshborers are a real threat to anyone without power armor). I was impressed that one of my veteran squads fought off a brood of termagants in melee, but my joy was tempered by the fact that my squad cost twice as many points and barely survived. Other moments of heroism were the medic in the command squad killing the lictor in hand to hand combat, and the lieutenant standing up to a carnifex and punching him in the mouth with his power fist - get those two men a medal! In the end, I nearly wiped out his synapse control, except that his last blasted zoanthrope kept making successful saves on my turn 5 when I was throwing everything at it! 

So where did it go wrong? The Vulture definitely underperformed. I wasted its shooting on the first turn against the hormagaunts, which were far from the action and not a great choice for lascannons. I think it was a case of being overwhelmed by so many fast-moving units coming at me. I should have used my mobility to get into position to take out real threats like the genestealers or carnifex. Speaking of that living tank, I should have concentrated more firepower on it. With regeneration, you cannot hope to whittle it down over time - it kept regaining wounds as fast as I could inflict them! The game was still up in the air on the last turn, but then the onset of night fighting really thwarted me: both units of Tarantua sentry guns failed their visibility rolls that turn and could not shoot the bugs around the objective! (It just dawned on me as I wrote the army lists above that my Valkyrie had a search light that comes standard that I could have used, but who ever remembers about that thing! That is why you need to have an army list in front of you during the game...)  Overall, the army performed about as well as I could have expected. I think the key opportunity for improvement is in unit selection: flamers and heavy bolters would have been more effective than so many meltaguns and useless grenade launchers.

Kudos to Bill for utilizing his army well. Splitting his termagants into four small broods gave him the flexibility to respond to my mobile deep striking units popping up all over - and gave him more potential scoring units, which proved key in the end! I guess there is less advantage to big squads when your units are fearless within synapse range. Speaking of which, the one opportunity I see for improvement in his army would be to have another synapse creature. By prioritizing his synapse creatures, I was nearly able to decapitate his army, leaving it likely that a few units each turn would be useless. He was also disciplined enough to not get carried away wrecking my army with his carnifex, but instead kept the mission in mind and turned the beast back toward the objective, thus thwarting my late game push. I guess those bugs are not as mindless as the Imperium likes to believe!

It was a fitting end to the game: the onset of night gave the Tyranids an advantage and allowed them to claim the win. But, wow, it was one of the most cinematic and fun games I have played. I am looking forward to getting a rematch - where we hopefully remember the critical rules from the start!