My opponent was Jonathan, a player people may know from forums (his screen name is still Jonathan) who usually plays Dark Eldar. His list was three Battlewagons filled with Boyz, a KFF Big Mek, 2x11x Lootas, a Gretchin squad, Ghazkull, Snikrot and some Kommandos. Nothing too scary as I should be able to handle those Battlewagons easily enough but I'm bound to take some Boyz to the face. The mission was Kill Points (we both had 12 in our starting force) and Spearhead.
He won the roll-off and gave me first turn which was nice of him and I had my plan fully mapped out. Avoid the side table edge so Snikrot can't come in, use the central building as cover to force him to focus on one flank or go around it and give me easy side armor shots (either way by Turn 2 I'll have side armor shots) and outflank a Tervigon to force him to deploy Lootas outside of cover, in cover closer to my army or in cover where my Tervigon can get to them. You should see the first problem (Snikrot comes on from the rear table edge) and I forgot to outflank my Tervigon. This means his firebase will stay unmolested for most of the game. Oddly Jonathan then chooses to deploy his Lootas and reserve everything else - potentially trying to get assaults off from the board edge or minimise my shooting both of which were unlikely to happen.
Tyranids Turns 1 & 2
Regardless, the game began and I moved (again assuming Snikrot came in on the side). My T-Fexes were all that could touch the Lootas so they fired away whilst my army stayed away from the 24" line where the Battlewagons could move on and assault me. With Ghaz's Waaaagh they still could but then they'd be facing my whole army as a counter-punch and if he was happy to do that, I wanted for him to leave his KFF Mek behind as well as mostly assaulting through cover. The Hive Guard hide behind the building to not get shot by lootas and pass out dakka when the BW come in. My T-Fexes killed several Lootas over the course of the turns but they passed the single morale check they needed to make.
Orks Turns 1 & 2
The first Orky turn is pretty boring with the Lootas putting a wound on my rear Tervigon and that's all. Second turn sees the Gretchin, Battlewagon with Big Mek and Snikrot+Ghaz w/Kommandos come on. This is the issue with reserving this army - the KFF now has no buddies to protect and I can throw everything at it. Forgetting where Snikrot comes in hurts as he is able to get the charge off on the rear Tervigon which hadn't spawned. He ultimately kills it (without hurting any Termagants) but it was a wasted KP on my part and a very bad error. It should have been outflanking anyway and pressuring the Lootas in the back corner. The lootas kill a couple of Termagants in the ruins.
KP 1-0 Orks
Tyranids Turn 3
Whilst the Orks have minimised the initial firepower they take by reserving, his army is now neatly split up. My remaining Tervigon spawns some Termagants (and poops out...) which wrap around the Tervigon and T-Fex there. I leave an opening on the left side so the Orks can potentially assault the Tervigon and Termagants and whilst this may make them ineffective for the rest of the game, it allows the Tyrant to counter-assault the turn after. The Tyrant then turns its attention onto the Kommando squad and casts Paroxysm plus kills a few with it's twin-linked devourers. The rest of my shooting is pretty piss poor and only shakes the Battlewagon.
In combat the combination of the Tyrant + Prime wipes out the Kommandos but leaves Ghazkull alive. Hitting on 5s fail to make an impression however and in the end it's a 2-1 KP trade in my favor but it really should have been a 2-0 KP trade. Silly error which could cost me later on.
KP 1-1
Orks Turn 3
Nothing comes in this turn which hurts. The BW with the Big Mek had survived so the supporting Battlewagons could move up and whilst I was still out of range (he had used Ghazkull's Waaaagh Turn 2) there would have at least been a second wave of Orks to throw at me. As it was he had a single Battlewagon + the Orks which got thrown into the mill. He attempted to take down my left Tervigon through fearless chaining and the PK Nob but was only able to kill four Termagants and deal three wounds to the Tervigon. Termagants striking first with poison and counter-assault will do that to Orks. The Lootas drop a wound off my right T-Fex and the Tyrant + Prime wipe out Ghazkull before he swings and consolidate towards the Orks in combat.
KP 2-1 Tyranids
Tyranids Turn 4
I got some breathing room after my failed shooting the turn before with the other two battlewagons not coming in. Time to smack some Orks around. My Hive Guard all shuffle along the ruins to the right to get into side armor whilst my right T-Fex moves up towards the Lootas to get within 18" for cluster spines. I ensure he is over 22" away from the table edge so he doesn't get Battlewagon assaulted whilst my Tyrant + Prime run around to rescue the ailing Tervigon and puppies.
With my shooting I manage to...immobilise the Battlewagon. Yay! The right T-Fex does a little more damage to the Lootas with cluster spines but they hold and the other T-Fex charges the immobilised Battlewagon in combat. This finally kills it (no KFF saves here buddy!) with the explosion wounding my Tervigon and taking a few Boyz with it. The Tyrant + Prime manage to wipe out all but a few Boyz + the PK Nob who take the Termagants down to one bug left. They then fail their Ld check and are swept off the board. The Termagant and Tervigon consolidate away from the Lootas whilst the Tyrant + Prime look to get back into the ruins to deal with what's thrown at them next.
KP 4-1 Tyranids
Orks Turn 4
The remaining two Battlewagons come in and one of the squads jumps out to attempt an assault on the T-Fex (I giggle in glee thinking I can't have fudged my eyeballing again can I?). The Big Mek runs away to try and avoid dying whilst the Lootas down the single Termagant and try to kill the Tervigon as well but fail to do any damage. The Ork Boyz then charge the T-Fex as they were 2mm in....woops. Again. They are able to manage three wounds all of which come from the PK Nob and the T-Fex kills two back.
KP 4-2 Tyranids
Tyranids Turn 5
Well today has been a bad day for misjudging distances by just a tiny bit - having those Boyz out in the cold would have been very nice with a couple of cluster spine large blasts and a template from the T-Fex up there. Oh well. The wounded Tervigon runs away to preserve itself as well as the weakened Termagant squad in the ruins. The Termagant squad which was supporting the T-Fex on the right moves back into the ruins to bubble-wrap the Hive Guard which move into the side arc of the two battlewagons. The Tyrant + Prime move through the ruins to bring some counter assault measures to bear whilst the T-Fex also moves up to get the side armor of the Battlewagons if necessary. Catalyst is also cast on the Tyrant squad.
The small Termagant unit runs whilst everything else opens fire. The Tyrant is able to kill the Big Mek with it's twin-linked devourers whilst the combined fire of the Hive Guard + T-Fex drops the empty Battle Wagon closest to me. The Boyz (well the PK Nob) finish off the T-Fex in combat and consolidate towards my Termagant line.
KP 6-3 Tyranids
Orks Turn 5
The consolidating Orks move closer to my Termagant line and with a good consol move, have been able to wrap around it somewhat and will likely engage one of the Hive Guard outside of the ruins. The final Battlewagon moves closer still but doesn't let allthe Orks out as they'd only be able to assault the same Termagants the other Boyz can. The Lootas try and down the Tyrant as that's the weakest thing they can see (trying to drop the wounded Tyrant Guard) but fail to inflict a single wound. Oh and between the two Loota squads, they rolled nine 1's on a D3 and one 2. Epic fail! On the charge the Ork Boyz suffer about seven losses but are able to kill several Termagants as well whilst the PK Nob chops up a Hive Guard. The Tyranids lose combat by one and lose a Hive Guard wound and the 2nd last Termagant.
At this point the game ends unfortunately with Tyranids ahead 6-3 on Kill Points and with a 400 VP advantage for a 16 battle point win.
Conclusion
I really wish the game had gone on as it was just starting to get interesting. Jonathan had two more KP in the bag with the Hive Guard and Termagant squad two wounds away from two KP to him and with the other Battlewagon with Boyz looming...well things would have gotten interesting as I was out of Termagants! My Hive Tyrant + Tyranid Prime would have been able to wreck some serious face obviously but it all hinged on my Hive Guard + T-Fex being able to drop the final Battlewagon so I could cast Paroxysm on the Boyz inside (and thus render them essentially useless against MCs). It would have been tight for sure though and the early mistakes (Tervigon snapped up by Snikrot, not outflanking, etc.) would have proven costly.
That said it was an enjoyable game but still an odd move to reserve. Jonathan could have easily shown my AV14 for most of the first turn if not the second as well and gotten all of his Orks to my lines at the same time. With Snikrot coming in from the table edge this would have put a lot of pressure on me, particularly since I made the mistake with the Tervigon and thus had minimal Termagant sacrifices (+ being a KP mission). As it was I was able to take each squad as it came and he basically handed me 5 KP on a silver platter with the Kommandos + Ghaz and the Big Mek Wagon coming in alone. If another Wagon had come on in T2/3 it would again have been a more interesting story as he could have supported the initial push but then the T-Fex would have gotten into combat with the Lootas and chomped on at least a squad there.
All in all there were a lot of places where the game could have swung and I'm still kicking myself over my silly errors. Still a great and fun game and Tyranids got their revenge! Good game to Jonathan and it was nice to meet him and have a chat :).
