Post by timharper on Mar 24, 2018 10:02:08 GMT
A report from my battle against Charlie Singleton on 23/3/18:
The Swarmlord observed the battlefield on this most recent world. He had never before been called to assist Hive Fleet Cerberus – it was a recent splinter from Hive Fleet Kraken but had been growing at an astounding rate, harvesting bio mass and driving deep into Imperial territory. Somehow they had stumbled across some intelligence that, if captured, could aid all Hive Fleets in their conquest of souls. Six objectives defended by a battalion of Imperial Guard, camped at one end of an icy gorge, with a frozen river running down the middle. The Swarmlord was cunning though; lulling the feeble humans into a false sense of security he had deployed just half his forces in the gorge – the rest were circling above and tunnelling below ready to complete a pincer movement the likes of which these defenders would never have seen. The rest of his forces needed to cross the river as quickly as they could, and he deployed them accordingly, genestealers at the front, carnifex to his right, harpy to his left.
Just before he was about to give the order to advance, a barrage of ammunition rained down on his small force. To his left, the harpy succumbed to a fire from a tank that was seemingly designed purely to destroy flying targets, whilst the rest of the guardsmen took down a significant number of genestealers and wounded one the two carnifexes. Not the best start, but despite losing the initiative the Swarmlord wasn’t concerned. He ordered his troops forward, willing the genestealers across the river and looking on in satisfaction as a Trygon appeared from his tunnel with a unit of fearsome Tyranid warriors alongside him. At the same time, a Hive Tyrant swooped from above, damaging the Guard transport. Despite the early bombardment, Hive Fleet Cerberus struck back with the genestealers destroying a unit of two scout sentinels and the Hive Tyrant ripping a Chimera tank to shreds. Game on.
The Guard struck back; units that were engaged in combat falling back so their companions could turn their guns on the Hive Fleet unimpeded. Both the Hive Tyrant and Trygon suffered wounds, one unit of genestealers was wiped out, the other suffered sufficient wounds to end the frenzy they had been in; from now on they would still be effective in combat but considerably less so. To his right one carnifex succumbed to fire. In retaliation, the Swarmlord sent the second Carnifex across the battlefield to engage the remaining scout sentinels; which he did with frightening ease. To his left, the Hive Tyrant unleashed psychic powers and shot his miasma cannon into the tanks facing him, but to little effect. The Trygon redeemed his earlier inactivity by charging and wounding a transport tank, and the Hive Tyrant did likewise. The genestealer unit destroyed a unit of guardsmen whilst the Tyranid warriors charged some heavy sentinels, destroying one. Now was time for the Swarmlord to enter the fray, charging the mighty Leman Russ battle tank, putting a significant dent in its armour. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a unit of gargoyles swoop down and investigate an area of the battlefield that he was sure contained some of the intelligence he so sorely needed.
Again though, the Guardsmen retreated from combat and seemed to gain a renewed sense of purpose, seriously wounding the Hive Tyrant and Trygon – one more shot would see both die. The Swarmlord looked on in disgust, but worse was to happen. Sheer volume of fire directed his way, which all seemed to find weaknesses in his bio-armour, brought down the most recent body he had inhabited. His consciousness returned to the Hive Fleet, he looked down and saw the Tyranids advance again, fury redoubled by his demise. Another unit of gargoyles swooped down to investigate some more debris, and uncovered more intelligence and the first unit swooped across and found the key piece. If they could hold on for a few more minutes, they would secure vital intelligence that would aid the Hive Mind in its quest for bio-mass. To the left of the battlefield, the Trygon reduced the Wyvern tank to a barely functioning shell of a machine, with the Hive Tyrant doing similar to the Chimera. The Carnifex charged and destroyed three heavy weapon teams, opening up the right flank.
But then the luckiest shot the Swarmlord had ever witnesses. A lone guardsman with a melta gun mortally wounded the Trygon. In its final act, the huge worm lashed out, mortally wounding the Hive Tyrant but also destroying the Wyvern tank in the process. The Hive Tyrant also lashed out in one last effort, destroying the Chimera and taking out 4 guardsmen. Quite impressive for 1 shot, and damage spread equally across both forces. The remaining guardsmen used their flash-lights to take down the Tyranid warriors and genestealers, and then turned on the Carnifex, but to no avail. All the Swarmlord had left was the Carnifex and 20 gargoyles, but he scented victory – he had uncovered vital intelligence and just needed to get it back to the Hive Fleet for success. The Carnifex charged and destroyed some more heavy weapons teams – but at this point he just needed to distract the Guard, not worry about killing them.
The final turn saw the gargoyles defending the key objective reduced from ten to one, but an act of insane bravery saw the lone gargoyle stand firm. The Guard could not bring the last carnifex down, but in focussing on the monstrous creature in their ranks, they left the winged beasts to gather more and more information. Indeed, the second unit of gargoyles stretched out to gather another vital piece of intelligence. Just in time as well – thankfully all the information the Swarmlord needed had been transferred to the Hive Mind, and the Ship he was on could depart, leaving the monsters below to their fate.
Despite being completely destroyed, Hive Fleet Cerberus had done what he needed and victory was his. It had got the intelligence, it had driven further in to the galaxy and shown incredible courage in doing so. Perhaps this was a campaign worth sticking with….who knew what the next world would bring.
The Swarmlord observed the battlefield on this most recent world. He had never before been called to assist Hive Fleet Cerberus – it was a recent splinter from Hive Fleet Kraken but had been growing at an astounding rate, harvesting bio mass and driving deep into Imperial territory. Somehow they had stumbled across some intelligence that, if captured, could aid all Hive Fleets in their conquest of souls. Six objectives defended by a battalion of Imperial Guard, camped at one end of an icy gorge, with a frozen river running down the middle. The Swarmlord was cunning though; lulling the feeble humans into a false sense of security he had deployed just half his forces in the gorge – the rest were circling above and tunnelling below ready to complete a pincer movement the likes of which these defenders would never have seen. The rest of his forces needed to cross the river as quickly as they could, and he deployed them accordingly, genestealers at the front, carnifex to his right, harpy to his left.
Just before he was about to give the order to advance, a barrage of ammunition rained down on his small force. To his left, the harpy succumbed to a fire from a tank that was seemingly designed purely to destroy flying targets, whilst the rest of the guardsmen took down a significant number of genestealers and wounded one the two carnifexes. Not the best start, but despite losing the initiative the Swarmlord wasn’t concerned. He ordered his troops forward, willing the genestealers across the river and looking on in satisfaction as a Trygon appeared from his tunnel with a unit of fearsome Tyranid warriors alongside him. At the same time, a Hive Tyrant swooped from above, damaging the Guard transport. Despite the early bombardment, Hive Fleet Cerberus struck back with the genestealers destroying a unit of two scout sentinels and the Hive Tyrant ripping a Chimera tank to shreds. Game on.
The Guard struck back; units that were engaged in combat falling back so their companions could turn their guns on the Hive Fleet unimpeded. Both the Hive Tyrant and Trygon suffered wounds, one unit of genestealers was wiped out, the other suffered sufficient wounds to end the frenzy they had been in; from now on they would still be effective in combat but considerably less so. To his right one carnifex succumbed to fire. In retaliation, the Swarmlord sent the second Carnifex across the battlefield to engage the remaining scout sentinels; which he did with frightening ease. To his left, the Hive Tyrant unleashed psychic powers and shot his miasma cannon into the tanks facing him, but to little effect. The Trygon redeemed his earlier inactivity by charging and wounding a transport tank, and the Hive Tyrant did likewise. The genestealer unit destroyed a unit of guardsmen whilst the Tyranid warriors charged some heavy sentinels, destroying one. Now was time for the Swarmlord to enter the fray, charging the mighty Leman Russ battle tank, putting a significant dent in its armour. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a unit of gargoyles swoop down and investigate an area of the battlefield that he was sure contained some of the intelligence he so sorely needed.
Again though, the Guardsmen retreated from combat and seemed to gain a renewed sense of purpose, seriously wounding the Hive Tyrant and Trygon – one more shot would see both die. The Swarmlord looked on in disgust, but worse was to happen. Sheer volume of fire directed his way, which all seemed to find weaknesses in his bio-armour, brought down the most recent body he had inhabited. His consciousness returned to the Hive Fleet, he looked down and saw the Tyranids advance again, fury redoubled by his demise. Another unit of gargoyles swooped down to investigate some more debris, and uncovered more intelligence and the first unit swooped across and found the key piece. If they could hold on for a few more minutes, they would secure vital intelligence that would aid the Hive Mind in its quest for bio-mass. To the left of the battlefield, the Trygon reduced the Wyvern tank to a barely functioning shell of a machine, with the Hive Tyrant doing similar to the Chimera. The Carnifex charged and destroyed three heavy weapon teams, opening up the right flank.
But then the luckiest shot the Swarmlord had ever witnesses. A lone guardsman with a melta gun mortally wounded the Trygon. In its final act, the huge worm lashed out, mortally wounding the Hive Tyrant but also destroying the Wyvern tank in the process. The Hive Tyrant also lashed out in one last effort, destroying the Chimera and taking out 4 guardsmen. Quite impressive for 1 shot, and damage spread equally across both forces. The remaining guardsmen used their flash-lights to take down the Tyranid warriors and genestealers, and then turned on the Carnifex, but to no avail. All the Swarmlord had left was the Carnifex and 20 gargoyles, but he scented victory – he had uncovered vital intelligence and just needed to get it back to the Hive Fleet for success. The Carnifex charged and destroyed some more heavy weapons teams – but at this point he just needed to distract the Guard, not worry about killing them.
The final turn saw the gargoyles defending the key objective reduced from ten to one, but an act of insane bravery saw the lone gargoyle stand firm. The Guard could not bring the last carnifex down, but in focussing on the monstrous creature in their ranks, they left the winged beasts to gather more and more information. Indeed, the second unit of gargoyles stretched out to gather another vital piece of intelligence. Just in time as well – thankfully all the information the Swarmlord needed had been transferred to the Hive Mind, and the Ship he was on could depart, leaving the monsters below to their fate.
Despite being completely destroyed, Hive Fleet Cerberus had done what he needed and victory was his. It had got the intelligence, it had driven further in to the galaxy and shown incredible courage in doing so. Perhaps this was a campaign worth sticking with….who knew what the next world would bring.