The bugs are back in town.....nom, nom, nom

Saturday June 15th - 1500 points - Tyranids (Wiggy) vs Space Wolves (Dave)

So here goes a return to some updates of the 'Tale of Few' band of hobbyists. This battle report features my 'Nid army that was formed during the tale and by good friend Dave from http://hammertime40k.wordpress.com/ blog, who I have not fought since school over 15 years ago.......


The Armies

Space Wolves 
Rune Priest - Jaws, Fury of fenris
Rune Priest - Jaws, Living lightning
3 Thunderwolves - Thunder hammer, 3 storm shields
10 Grey Hunters - Wolf standard, 2 Plasma Guns
10 Grey Hunters - Wolf standard, 2 Plasma Guns
10 Grey Hunters - Wolf standard, 2 Melta Guns
6 Long Fangs - Missile, 2 Las Cannons
Vindicator
Vindicator
Dreadnought - Assault Cannon


Tyranids
Tyranid Prime - Pair Boneswords, Scything Talons, Toxin Sacs
4 Tyranid Warriors - Scything Talons, Rending Claws, toxin sacs
10 Termagants
10 Termagants
Tervigon - catalyst, toxin sacs, scything talons
5 Raveners - Rending claws, death spitters
4 Shrikes - Boneswords, Lashwhips, toxin sacs
15 Gargoyles - Adrenal glands
Trygon - Toxin Sacs
8 Ymargl Genestealers

Mission and Deployment

We rolled up the 'Purge the Alien' Scenario and 'Hammer and Anvil' deployment, with the wolves choosing their table end and the Tyranids getting to deploy first. Warlord traits rolled up allowed the Tyranids a bonus to shooting near objectives (useless) and the Wolves got move through cover within 12" (never used).

You can see the forces set up below. From my point I wanted to throw the Trygon, Tervigon with the Gargoyles and Shrikes. I thought that the two big creatures and Gargoyle swarm might distract enough firepower to get the Shrikes in amongst the troops where I hoped they would blend lots. The slower elements would advance into the centre to get into assualt late game or stop a Space Wolf swing round. The Raveners were put out wide to try and spread the Wolves and I placed the Ymarglys dormant in the small building far back as it would match the Ravener advance and thought that there was a chance the Long Fangs would deploy there. 
The Space Wolves deployed as shown, chatting with Dave after he mentioned that he wanted a good field of fire for the Long Fangs and the Vindicators opposite the biggest threat. This was the first time he had ever fought 'Nids so other than general knowledge it was a bit of a leap into the unknown.
No night fight and initiative not stolen.

Turn 1

The Tyranid Swarm advanced in a straight forward manner. The Tervigon cast Catalyst on the Gargoyles to help against Bolters and the Raveners attempted to use the small ruin to cover them from Long Fangs. Fleet moves brought everything up quite well and as covered as could be, so it was time to let the Wolves unleash.

There was little movement within their lines with one plasma squad and Rune priest stepping up into bolt range of Gargoyles and the Dreadnought stepping a little forward. After two direct hit Vindicators, Dread and the Grey Hunter squad (with only 3 feel no pain rolls allowed due to instant death) there was a single Gargoyle left. The long fangs split to attempt to finish him but missed with the missile and the rest took 2 wounds from the Tervigon.
At the end of the turn the battlefield looked like this

Turn One Victory Points - 0-0

Turn 2

No Ymargls meant that I couldn't pin the Wolves right flank so I decided the Raveners would risk some return fire and advanced to shoot the Long Fangs. The lone Gargoyle sat in front of the Tervigon by the hill to force a shot or generate cover with catalyst going to the Shrikes this turn. They jumped forward towards the Grey Hunter/Vindicator line with the Trygon slithering up to the right and everything else slowly advancing. The Raveners opened up killing a las cannon and 2 missile launchers, with the Long Fangs holding firm on morale. Fleet and Run moves closed the distance for next turn and the Shrikes made combat losing a couple of wounds. I mistakenly put one on a vindicator hoping to glance it which i did before I remembered that meant only a single hull point lost! The other 3 managed to kill 8 Grey Hunters as a wound was caused from the Rune Priest but Shadow in the Warp prevented instant death. The other handful of attacks were stopped by armour and feel no pain. The Wolves lost but couldn't be run down so piled in. 

In response to the 'Nid making combat the Warlord and Grey Hunter squad two advanced to pile into the shrikes but through lash whips and low charge couldn't bring a huge amount to bare. The vindicators shot at the Tervigon which missed and the Raveners which killed all but one who was promptly killed by the Grey  Hunter squad sitting the Long Fangs.....First Blood. The Long Fangs themselves were able to take another wound from the Tervigon.
In the assault phase the initiative 4 attacks of the Space Wolves killed a single Shrike  and a couple more wounds who then killed 4 of the charging unit, the first Rune Priest and other survivors to win the combat by one. The Warlord held but everyone was now locked with 3 lash whip annoying Shrikes.

 Turn Two Victory Points - 2-2 (first blood)

Turn 3

The Ymargls appeared and set off against the Grey Hunters in the open to avoid the need for assualt Grenades and reasoning that there were not too many Long Fangs left and it was further from the Thunder Wolves. (not having fought against them before I wasn't sure how good they might be but didn't want to find out too quick). The Warriors and 'gants advanced past the half way point but the guys were too far from any thing other than Dreadnought and Vindicator that they were unlikely to have a big impact. The Trygon stepped close to the nearest Vindicator and then stepped in smashing it to pieces killing a Grey Hunter in the explosion. The Shrikes killed all but the Rune Priest and 2 Grey Hunters and lost one more Shrike in return as the combat continued. The Ymargls morphed to gain an extra attack and in a flurry of lots of lovely green dice, rended 6 Grey Hunters and killed one more losing only one in return. The final 3 didn't win the roll off and so kept the Ymagrls locked.

As the deaths had certainly started to happen the Wolves stepped into action to start to attempt to hold the line. The Thunder Wolves and Dread headed for the Trygon, while the surviving vindicator shelled the Warriors and killed a couple. The Long Fangs  reduced the Tervigon to 2 wounds past some feel no pain and then combat was rapidly upon us. The Ymargls killed two Grey hunters but the remaining one pinned them in place again. The Warlord killed a Shrike after he had lost a wound and remaining Grey Hunters leaving a nice dramatic one one one clash. In the battle of the heavy weights the Thunder Wolves rended twice and caused another wound on the Trygon before the Dreadnought lived up to the stories and hit with all 3 attacks and wounded to kill the Trygon in a single assault phase!! As it struck simultaneously the Dreadnought was ripped to pieces but I had learned quickly that the Thunder Wolves were mean.

Turn Three Victory Points - 6 (Line) -3 (First)

Turn 4

The battlefield was spreading into local combats with a greatly reduced number of models and far more raid turns. The Warriors and Prime advanced to bait the Thunder Wolves (although this might not be a great idea) and the Tervigon stepped towards the Vindicator. I later thought I should've spawned some 'bubble wrap' 'gants but you forget that little guys are stills sometimes worth it in kill point games. The last Gargoyle was no longer needed for distraction so flew behind a building. In the assault phase the Tervigon didn't get the 10" it needed to assault so I had to settle for killing the last Grey Hunter with Ymargls and the Warlord with the last Shrike.

In return for this The Thunder Wolves decided that getting a second Monstrous kill would be good for the sagas and so jumped on the Tervigon and later made short work of the initiative 1 brood mother. The Vindicator and Long Fangs killed only 3 Ymargls due to a poor scatter and that was all the remaining shooting.

Turn Four Victory Points - 9 (slay+line) -4 (First)

Turn 5

The Ymargls predictably butchered the Long Fangs and the last Shrike attempted to take some hull points from the Vindicator but failed.

In return the Vindicator killed all the remaining Warriors with the Prime and the Thunder Wolves closed in on the Shrike and killed him losing one in return.

Turn Five Victory Points - 10 (slay+line) -6 (first)

Turn 6 and Turn 7

The Ymargls failed to charge the Vindictor and were then charged by the Thunderwolves and killed with minimal fuss. There was some positioning but everything else was too far away to cause damage and the game was done

Final Victory Points - 9 (slay) -7 (first)

So in the end it was a victory for the bugs in a battle that got a little too far away from the Wolves before they fought back. It was certainly good to play someone I've not played in ages and to pick up dice and play around again in general. Learning points: -

• Thunderwolves are fantastic in combat with average armour or monstrous creatures. Being held back as they were and against so little shooting they killed 600 points with dreadnought help for their 285 and were untouchable at the end.
• In a game without objectives playing lengthways I need to experiment with the termagants. I held them back to avoid giving up an easy 2 kill points and I think this was right but not certain. The Raveners sacrifice did draw some Wolves away from a single big castle but 4 failed cover saves from the Vindicator hurt. I think running into a wall of guns is always gonna hurt but still need to work on movement.
• The Shrikes in this game rolled well and killed 20 Grey Hunters, 2 Rune Priests and a Thunder Wolf. Well worth it.
• The Trygon died for the first time to a Dreadnought that actually lived up to reputation, a fitting mutual death.

Thanks again for the game Dave. Will look out for your version on your blog and maybe some comments here. 

So now it ends.....

The six months of the Tale have now concluded and the results are in...the winner is "The Hobby!" Everyone ended up with more stuff built and painted and played some games. Or I haven't got round to looking at the table yet...one of the two.

So the rest of this will focus on my progress over the half year, what I have learned and what is next for the bugs.

So this was the battlefield for our last gaming weekend which saw the Black Consuls (pictured above) do battle with Chaos Daemons, in which we learned that Daemons can be a steamroller if played right against marines. We later learned that when the Daemons fight against my Tyranids some over aggressive deployment plus a lack of reserves in turn 2 can mean that a Daemon army is one model away from being dead and forfeiting at the end of turn 2. A good weekend of dice rolling was had.

So this is what I got painted of Hive Fleet Leviathan in 6 months. Only the Tyranid Prime and 10 Termagants are fully done but everything else has a good turn of colour that is most of the waay there. In addition there are 8 ymargls and 6 Shrikes that are waiting on conversion kits in order to be started.
Throughout this time I also painted my Imperial Fist Librarian, a Dakka Jet and 2 squads of Orks so overall I'm happy.

From an army building standpoint I went in want to use a new army and having had a few games with the selection I have there are a few key points I have learned.

• Practice with deployment and movement is going to be vital - As the army intentionally lacks guns I find that I am taking horrific casualties on the way to the fight. Time will tell if I need to use the army better to reach there with less loses or if adding in a bit more ranged bite is needed.
• Tyranid are stronger the more they outnumber the other guy - I like having Warriors and Raveners but I am learning that having more bodies seems to serve me very well and having 400 points in 2 units that can be battle/demolisher cannoned in a flash is a concern.
• Use the little guys as blockers - Termagants will rarely if ever kill anything. What they can do is get in the way and hold things up and this is a skill that I need to refine, especially as a way to combat flyers.

So the force will continue to grow with the additions mentioned above, a second batch of gargoyles and a nice big Trygon to round out 1500. I have had initial thoughts for the next 1000 points for July but I will wait to decide if this force will keep growing.

Thanks to all the fellow people on the Tale.....Happy hobby for 2013.

One final bug attack

So it will be all over after this month! Except everyone knows that a hobby project is never actually finished....it just waits for the next shiny toy to come along to re-energise it.

So this is the force as it it looks at the moment (around about 1000 points) This month there will be 6 Shrikes and some Ymargls added to the swarm that will make it closer to 1300 and then a Trygon and a few more Gargoyles will round out the first 1500.

I have learned to get the basecoating and first wash done quickly, regardless of the model but anything from Warrior size and up then takes a while to layer back on the smooth skin colours. The Carapace I've enjoyed doing and hope to get a fair few more done this month so the overall impact is there but I'm also pleased that I made a point of a lot of the basing getting done early as I'm rubbish at doing that last.

This week should see the swarm back in action against the Black Consul marines and before the month is out if I'm lucky they will get a munch on some Tau and some.....well I have no idea what my brother will have but there will be something.

I'll finish this group with some pretty pictures from the resident good photographer alongside some nice scenery (cheers bro-ski)

Month Five

So the month of December is now over and so here is how everyone has got on against the categories set out

	Played a game	Built months purchases	Painted unit 1	Painted unit 2	Base all purchases
Philip
Wiggy		X	X		X
Oddsock Keith		X	X	X	X
Enza		X

So after this it means the scores from the first five months are as follows

Philip - 0 Point                     9 Total

Wiggy - 3 Points                  16 Total

Oddsock Keith - 4 points      11 Total

Enza - 1 Point                     15 Total

So the month of December has come and gone and everyone is feeling full. It has been a mixed month for progress and we have a month to go.

Hopefully lots of updates and hobby joy to be done, happy new year and get those brushes going

A long way to go and a short time to get there

Hi All,

So the powers that be (we all know him as Wiggy) have informed me that this is month six and therefor the final month of the tale. This calls for one month of arghhhh I have done nothing and should probably go and find a big paintbrush to deal with my green stuff infested plastic. A cunning plan, provided by Professor Fox of Cunning who I think has been at Oxford for a while now. We will call this update one of January, with a view of getting some horsey thingy things and deadish guardsmen done – Don’t have a codex to hand so these might not be how they are listed?

Plaguebearers attached below. Army list contains a unit of seven, so apart from basing this would be my first completed unit. Also Tamiya clear red is an excellent paint to glaze blood (has to have blood colour below first) and mixed with some UHU glue equals stringy, gorey, bloody goodness.

Xmas time is a time for...bugs

Hello everyone and I hope the holiday season has brought you lots of joy, food and time to have some hobby fun.

Now I'm typing this with slightly black hands as I've been undercoating the bigger of my 2 new additions to the Hive Fleet Tiamat.

So this post is a bit of an update overall but also to say I'm really enjoying working on this army and hope that now it has grown to around the 1000 point size it will have the chance to try out against some new forces in the next year.

So here's the finished Tyranid Prime. I'm happy with the paint job even if the Boneswords aren't quite as I hoped. Very happy with the conversion and so am certain she will die in the first game that she takes to the table.

The two new additions for xmas to the bugs are the little flying nuisance that are gargoyles (thank you lovely wife). The first 10 will allow me to just get used to positioning them and then when I double their broods size and add in some Shrikes I expect them to pack a bit more punch.

The second pic is of one of the most used Tyranid models since the latest codex landed. Tervigons are simply great for their points, good resilience  force multiplier (quite literally  and no push over in combat....oh and scoring. Very much looking forward to unleashing in the new year.

Nom. Nom. Nom

Big Mumma's swords

So this month I set myself the aim of converting and painting up the HQ choice for my force. So here she is before undercoating.

I hope to get another 3 Warriors done too so that I will have the big unit of Prime plus 6 Warriors to both be scoring and spearhead any assaults on the tougher enemy units.