Battle Report: US Open 2023 Tacoma - Occultaris Campaign M5 - Squats + GSC

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It was the fated hour for the Battle for Occultaris: with the vaults being cleaned out of relics and ancient technology, all that was left was to drive the spear into the heart of the enemy.  By the grace of the Emperor of Mankind himself, a brief vox window opened in the interferance allowing Faustus to contact the battle barge above:

Send everything down.

And so drop ships and drop pods decended to the surface, reinforcing the Ultramarines with much needed supplies, equipment, and additional forces.

The Ravenous Hordes would be sending everything they had, but they would be ready to stomp them into the mud.

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Battle Report:

Ruleset: 2023 Tenth Edition Leviathan US Open Narrative Missions, Tyrannic War Crusade
Mission: Against the Swarm

Points: 2000 

Special Rules: 2 vs 1 (as they needed someone to play 2 opponents)

Mission Objectives

At the end of the battle, the defender scores 20VPfor each objective marker that remains on the battlefield, and the Attackers score 15VP for each objective marker that was destroyed.

At the end of the battle, the attackers score 15VP if they have two or more units wholly within the Defender's deployment zone that are not below half-strength.

My Forces:

+ Leaders +

• Primus Leo Exevio Faustus - Captain in Terminator Armour: Warlord - Enhancement: Artificer Armour, Crusade Relic: Artificer Weapon: Power Fist, Brutal Heirloom Storm Bolter
• Praelior Tarquinius Iulian Regulus - Chaplain in Terminator Armour:  Crozius arcanum, Storm bolter
• Lexicanium Flavi - Force Sword, Bolt Pistol

+ (Troops) +

• Squad Cornelius - 10 man Tactical Squad - Power Fist, Plasma pistol, Bolt pistols, Meltagun, Heavy Bolter, Bolters
• Squad Kaiel- 5 man Tactical Squad - Chainsword, Plasma pistol, Bolt pistols, Meltagun, Heavy Bolter, Bolters

+ (Elites) +

• Squad Tourbillion - 5 man Terminator Squad: Teleport Homer, Power sword, Storm bolter, Assault cannon, 3x Chainfist, Power fist, Only the Swift Survive
• Squad Nox - 5man Terminator Assault Squad: Teleport Homer,  5x Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield
• Squad Lazarus- 5 man Assault Squad w/ Jump Packs: Bolt Pistols, Chainswords, 1x Grav-pistol, 1x Power Fist, Headhunters
• Squad Velox - 5 man Vanguard Veterans Squad: Heirloom Relic Blade, 4x Storm Shields, 3x Heirloom Thunder Hammers, 1x Heirloom Lightning Claws (pair)
• Venerable Brother Psigoras "Fury" - Dreadnought: Dreadnought melee weapon w/ Storm bolter, Twin Lascannon

+ (Heavy Support) +

• Squad Nero - 5 man Devastator Squad: Power sword, plasma pistol, 3x Lascannon, Missile Launcher
• Land Raider One - Land Raider - Twin Heavy Bolter, 2x Godhammer Lascannons - Reinforced Superstructure

+ (Fast Attack) +

• "One Charlie" - Land Speeder Tornado: Heavy flamer, Multi-melta, Finely Balanced, Precise Multi-melta

Takeaways & Analysis:

This was the battle I was waiting for.  As luck would have it, a player came up to me and asked if I would be ok playing a 2000 point game 1v2.  I said 'sure....' a bit surprised and unsure if he was being serious as I though the factions were still balanced.  Sure enough he was serious, apparently some players had to leave early or something and they needed someone to take on two opponents.

Mark and Max had Squats and Genestealer Cults respectively - or a mining guild that had some mysterious contact with strange xeno organisms inadvertently.

This would be great because I knew that at 1000 points it was really tough to put together a good list with the stuff I have and control the larger board, but with 2000 points everything clicks into place and I have a lot of options.  I threw together a list I had been experimenting with already a bit, but afterwards I realized I didn't field Squad Uzziel when I should have, so I actually played about 1900 or so points.  This is ok though since typically in a 1v2 situation the side with two players is at a slight disadvantage.

They started with more crusade points than I did so I took the basic "High Strategy" crusade blessing to keep it easy.  Turns out that really paid off starting with 2 CP.

Everything was a bit of a blur and I think we only got through 2 battle rounds, but it was a lot of fun.  The genestealers swarmed at me really fast but while Squad Nox took the brunt of the assault, Squad Velox, Squad Lazarus, and the rest managed to drive them back.

My opponents realized they made a bit of a mistake thinking they could do a shock & awe style blitz to push me back into my deployment zone while the space dwarves swooped in to destroy the objectives.  It turned out that only one unit per turn could perform the action to destroy the node.  Just like my mistake the first game, this somewhat sealed their fate early because by pushing so hard I was able to make a brutal counter-strike.

Remembering the lessons learned from the prior games, I concentrated my heaviest fire towards the side of the board that had their hardest hitting vehicles, and this time I had enough firepower to ensure that Oath of Moment could take out at least one vehicle per turn.  I actually ended up destroying two mining trucks and the big land fortress, which exploded in what might have been the first and most impressive explosions of the day!  Smoke was amazing for the Land Raider and allowed it to barely survive and return fire.

Squad Nox falls but Squad Lazarus moves in with the Hammer of Wrath to support Regulus

Also, this game I loaded up a tactical squad lead by a librarian into the land raider for a 4++ invuln OC 20 unit that was really hard to shift off the objective on that same side.  Between them, Squad Nox, and Squad Velox I had 3 extremely durable squads in each third of the board and it really helped me maintain a presence.  

By the end of turn 2 I had beamed in Squad Tourbillion lead by Brother Captain Faustus into the Votann backline and they were really in no position to continue.  It was an epic finale to a really fun weekend, and my opponents were great sports.  Also, while they lost the battle, their faction actually won the Occultaris Campaign by the slimmest of margins which will advance the story for the grand narrative later in the year.

It was really great to finally play a 2000 point game - its nice to see how the full army works.

Battle Report: US Open 2023 Tacoma - Occultaris Campaign M4 - Tyranids

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After a crushing defeat that left their war materiel sabotaged, Faustus and his command had finally found the vaults and precious relics of Occultaris, but the way was blocked by xenos.

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Battle Report:

Ruleset: 2023 Tenth Edition Leviathan US Open Narrative Missions, Tyrannic War Crusade
Mission: Empty the Vaults

Points: 1000

Mission Objectives

At the end of each battle round, each player scores 5 VP for each of the following conditions:

• They control one or more objective markers.
• They control two or more objective markers.

At the end of each battle round, the player who controls the most objective markers also scores an additional 10 VP

My Forces:

+ Leaders +

• Primus Leo Exevio Faustus - Captain in Terminator Armour: Warlord - Enhancement: Artificer Armour, Crusade Relic: Artificer Weapon: Power Fist, Brutal Heirloom Storm Bolter

+ (Elites) +

• Squad Tourbillion - 5 man Terminator Squad: Teleport Homer, Power sword, Storm bolter, Assault cannon, 3x Chainfist, Power fist
• Squad Lazarus- 5 man Assault Squad w/ Jump Packs: Bolt Pistols, Chainswords, 1x Grav-pistol, 1x Power Fist
• Squad Uzziel - 5 man Tyrannic War Veterans: Boltguns, Bolt pistols, combat weapons

+ (Heavy Support) +

• Squad Nero - 5 man Devastator Squad: Power sword, plasma pistol, 3x Lascannon, Missile Launcher
• Land Raider One - Land Raider - Twin Heavy Bolter, 2x Godhammer Lascannons - Reinforced Superstructure

+ (Fast Attack) +

• "One Charlie" - Land Speeder Tornado: Heavy flamer, Multi-melta, Finely Balanced, Precise Multi-melta

Takeaways & Analysis

This was quite a punishing game for both sides, lots of units killed.  The mission "Auto-seal Protocols" are a bit of a let down though because whichever side gets their objective marker randomly removed is put at a disadvantage pretty hard.  I think the mission would be designed a lot better if it was an even removal of objectives that either progressively funnel you into the center, or to one of the sides.  As such, I lost out on the removal of the first objective and it was pretty hard to recover from that with only 1000 points of units.  

My opponent was still learning the game a bit so we were going a bit slow and only got to finish battle round 3.  Still it was a good game where we traded big monsters/vehicles and had a brawl in the center.

But Brother Sergeant Lazarus, last of his squad, will forever be remembered for throwing a melta grenade at the Malwoc that dealt 6 mortal wounds!  This day, 4536022.M42 will be marked on his service record!

Additionally, it was great to see Squad Uzziel, the Tyrannic War Veterans, be put to their maximum use.  They were quite effective when they were able to get into range to shoot, and actually they provided a lot of menace to my opponent, who actually elected to use the 'sabotaged' bonus against them from the faction victory from the previous game.  It might have been better off to have loaded them into the Land Raider and send them into the middle and then beam in the Terminators, but it was tricky with so few units to cover the objectives.

Also, I didn't capitalize so well on the focus fire from Oath of Moment with all of my big guns - but it was hard to do given the layout.  I was able to destroy several monsters, but he had 3 big shooty monsters to my one plus one shooty squad.

After finishing off the swarm of hormagaunts that wouldn't die I conceded since we ran out of time.  There wasn't much of a way to climb back through either points or killing everything: the Land Raider had died and he still had a lot of units.

Battle Report: US Open 2023 Tacoma - Occultaris Campaign M3 - Sisters

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The Tenuous Allies, after extending out from the drop sites to secure supplies, stumbled into the the plans of the Ravenous Hordes all along: to infiltrate and sabotage their back lines, in an Insurgency!

As the vox static cleared, it became apparent that the Adepta Sororitas had declared any Imperial Forces working in even a 'tenuous alliance' with xenos in an effort to secure the relics of Occultaris would be considered heresy.  Faustus was unimpressed with their demands as he gestured to have the audio cut - the Ecclesiarchy did not dictate the actions of Adeptus Terra, let alone Adeptus Astartes, but he wondered what the true motivation was...

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Battle Report:

Ruleset: 2023 Tenth Edition Leviathan US Open Narrative Missions, Tyrannic War Crusade
Mission: Insurgency

Points: 1000

Mission Objectives

At the end of the battle:

• The attacker scores 20VP for each primed objective marker on the battlefield.
• The Defender scores 15VP for each unprimed objective marker on the battlefield

My Forces:

+ Leaders +

• Primus Leo Exevio Faustus - Captain in Terminator Armour: Warlord - Enhancement: Artificer Armour, Crusade Relic: Artificer Weapon: Power Fist

+ (Elites) +

• Squad Tourbillion - 5 man Terminator Squad: Teleport Homer, Power sword, Storm bolter, Assault cannon, 3x Chainfist, Power fist
• Squad Lazarus- 5 man Assault Squad w/ Jump Packs: Bolt Pistols, Chainswords, 1x Grav-pistol, 1x Power Fist
• Squad Uzziel - 5 man Tyrannic War Veterans: Boltguns, Bolt pistols, combat weapons

+ (Heavy Support) +

• Squad Nero - 5 man Devastator Squad: Power sword, plasma pistol, 3x Lascannon, Missile Launcher
• Land Raider One - Land Raider - Twin Heavy Bolter, 2x Godhammer Lascannons - Reinforced Superstructure

+ (Fast Attack) +

• "One Charlie" - Land Speeder Tornado: Heavy flamer, Multi-melta

Takeaways & Analysis

 This one didn't go so well for Faustus and his Ultramarines.  The mission called for the attacking sisters to prime explosives on each objective and had the 'Counter-assult Engagement' parameter so that the defender (the Ultramarines) had the first turn.  I made the gamble to throw everything I had at the Castigator tank in the backfield since it was pretty much the only thing I could see, and then drop the Terminators out and charge them and the Assault Marines into the Retributor Squad hiding in a building to the northeast.

My bold moves didn't pay off - not only was I not able to completely destroy the tank (only 2 wounds remaining!) but none of my infantry was able to get a charge off.  What followed was a chain of events where we got melted to slag pretty quick.  I had pretty cold dice while my opponent had hot dice, so it was quite a stomping.  This was definitely one where I probably would have been better off just hiding for the first turn.

While every unit was destroyed, it was fitting that only Faustus took a battle scar - he did get lasered in the face by a Vindicare sniper.  I immediately removed it with my hard earned RP.

Battle Report: US Open 2023 Tacoma - Occultaris Campaign M2 - Necrons

 

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Brother Captain Faustus: "In their haste to secure the drop sites, the Tenuous Allies are low on supplies. We must claim the resources about the area before the enemies of the Imperium capitalize on the situation."

"Squad Tourbillion will accompany me in Land Raider One.  Squads Lazarus and Uzziel will deploy to the flanks with Squad Nero providing withering cover fire from a position in the ruins designated as Sigma 2."

"Crush the enemies of the Emperor."

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The second of 3 matches on the first day of the US Open narrative campaign was against James' exceptionally well painted Necron army.  Having leveled up after the first match, Faustus was sporting a master crafted power fist as well as some artificer terminator tactical dreadnought armour.

Battle Report:

Ruleset: 2023 Tenth Edition Leviathan US Open Narrative Missions, Tyrannic War Crusade
Mission: Scattered Supplies

Points: 1000

Mission Objectives:

At the end of the battle, each player scores 15VP for each objective marker that units from their crusade army are carrying, and an additional 5VP for those units that are wholly within the player's deployment zone.

My Forces:

+ Leaders +

• Primus Leo Exevio Faustus - Captain in Terminator Armour: Warlord - Enhancement: Artificer Armour, Crusade Relic: Artificer Weapon: Power Fist

+ (Elites) +

• Squad Tourbillion - 5 man Terminator Squad: Teleport Homer, Power sword, Storm bolter, Assault cannon, 3x Chainfist, Power fist
• Squad Lazarus- 5 man Assault Squad w/ Jump Packs: Bolt Pistols, Chainswords, 1x Grav-pistol, 1x Power Fist
• Squad Uzziel - 5 man Tyrannic War Veterans: Boltguns, Bolt pistols, combat weapons

+ (Heavy Support) +

• Squad Nero - 5 man Devastator Squad: Power sword, plasma pistol, 3x Lascannon, Missile Launcher
• Land Raider One - Land Raider - Twin Heavy Bolter, 2x Godhammer Lascannons

+ (Fast Attack) +

• "One Charlie" - Land Speeder Tornado: Heavy flamer, Multi-melta

Takeaways & Analysis

Oath of Moment wins the day again for the Land Raider - it managed to blast away a wing of Tomb Blades with supporting fire from Squad Nero on the first turn.

On the Northern flank, Squad Lazarus and Squad Tourbillion lead by Brother Captain Leo Faustus himself eliminate a squad of Skorpekh  Destroyers and their leader (and kill him twice as he tries to get up).  They manage to pry some supplies out of its cold, (un)dead hands (space undead).

Meanwhile, Squad Uzziel grabbed supplies and retreated into the deployment zone as the land raider moved down the southern flank to secure another supply cache.  It took heavy fire from some heavy destroyers and turned back to escape.

With 4 of the 6 supply drops secured, and the massive damage sustained by the land raider, Faustus signals a tactical withdrawal, himself carrying the last supply drop, as the mission objectives were achieved.

Only One Charlie was lost (again), this time taking a battle scar as one of the crew members sustained fatal injuries.

Battle Report: US Open 2023 Tacoma - Occultaris Campaign M1 - Death Guard

This year I participated in the 2023 US Open Tacoma Narrative Campaign.  Last year I just went for a single friendly match (incidentally, it was at the same convention center, but this year they referred to it as the actual city of Tacoma, rather than by the larger metropolitan area of Seattle). After gaining a lot of experience in the Vadinax Campaign, and having a lot of fun, I went for the narrative crusade this time around, even though it would be a daunting 5 games over two days.

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A tremor rattles through the craft, from bow to stern. Surely we have not translated into realspace, you think to yourself. The journey was meant to last months, not mere days. You make your way to the bridge where it is immediately clear that you have somehow left the Warp. You demand answers from your staff and receive none. They are as shocked and ignorant to the greater situation as you are. One moment they were on a relatively peaceful journey through the Warp, minds and bodies shielded from the insanity around them by the Gellar Field, the next moment they were forced into realspace.

 As hours tick by with maddening speed; you begin to develop a picture of the situation. Before you sits a handful of lush and verdant worlds. Seemingly (and shockingly) untouched by the ravaging tendrils of the horror designated Leviathan, from which you were fleeing. Initial scans show the system does carry a name, though even after extensive scrying and aggressive attempts to break security protocols, all that is ever returned is REDACTED. The system is under quarantine by the Administratum, which matters little to you. You are here and with every passing hour; more craft arrive.

An unspoken détente has emerged between the voidcraft that have arrived. No attempts to hail one another have been made, no noosphere updates, no vox calls, nothing. At last check, over three dozen craft sit, seemingly dormant. However, each one is steadily moving towards an area that is empty on all astrocartographs. Despite this, there is clearly something there. At first, you felt it. Deep in your soul, a subtle and longing drive to be there…. Wherever ‘there’ is.

 As every voidcraft moves towards the allegedly empty area, you see it. Its surface reflects little light. What augurs and scans the varied ships use return suggestions of subsurface structures and weak bio-signatures, although most unaccountably fail to register the world at all. But it is there. 

 Its presence is verified by a sudden burst of vox traffic from the surface. Auspex scans immediately identify it as a rescue beacon commonly used by Adeptus Mechanicus Data-Hoard Forges when under attack. The beacon makes clear the importance of the data-hoard on the surface. It is of integral value to the Imperium and thus it is of great value to any enterprising commander, regardless of affiliation or loyalty to the God-Emperor.

 You have a choice to make; do you assist this Command Entity (as it refers to itself in the now repeating vox traffic)? Or do you take advantage of this situation and take what the Command Entity has? 

 You give the order without even considering the options at hand, ‘All forces, prepare for landing’. The bridge explodes in activity around you. You smile as your subordinates enact your will.  The planet quietly reveals its name to you.

Occultaris awaits.

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Task Force Faustus was en route back to the Vadinax Sector.  After a brutal campaign on Tern's Endeavor, still unresolved, the Battle Barge Excelsior and escorts are pulled from the warp at Occultaris.  Vox traffic indicates other Imperial forces on the way back to Tern's Endeavor were pulled into realspace as well - such as Strike Force Pegasus, and non-Imperial forces as well.

An uneasy alliance is formed to assist the Command Entity.  The Tenuous Allies...

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Battle Report:

Ruleset: 2023 Tenth Edition Leviathan US Open Narrative Missions, Tyrannic War Crusade
Mission: Kicking the Nest

Points: 1000

Mission Objectives:

5 VP for each of the following conditions:

• Controlling one or more objective markers
• Controlling more objective markers than the opponent
• Their Warlord is within range of an objective marker that they control
• They Control the objective marker in the center of the battlefield

My Forces:

+ Leaders +

• Primus Leo Exevio Faustus - Captain in Terminator Armour: Warlord

+ (Elites) +

• Squad Tourbillion - 5 man Terminator Squad: Teleport Homer, Power sword, Storm bolter, Assault cannon, 3x Chainfist, Power fist
• Squad Lazarus- 5 man Assault Squad w/ Jump Packs: Bolt Pistols, Chainswords, 1x Grav-pistol, 1x Power Fist
• Squad Uzziel - 5 man Tyrannic War Veterans: Boltguns, Bolt pistols, combat weapons

+ (Heavy Support) +

• Squad Nero - 5 man Devastator Squad: Power sword, plasma pistol, 3x Lascannon, Missile Launcher
• Land Raider One - Land Raider - Twin Heavy Bolter, 2x Godhammer Lascannons

+ (Fast Attack) +

• "One Charlie" - Land Speeder Tornado: Heavy flamer, Multi-melta

Takeaways & Analysis

The Tenuous Allies won priority and got to attack first.  Faustus arrived to find the Death Guard had infiltrated the area.  Our additional objectives were to secure buildings.

The machine spirits of Land Raider One were appeased after it destroyed both a deep striking Death Shroud unit and the Plaugeburst Crawler.

Meanwhile Squad Lazarus droped from the skies to finish off a squad of Death Guard Terminators engaged with Faustus on the center objective - Hammer of Wrath!

Faustus himself destroyed a bloat drone with a well placed grenade launched from his Auxiliary Grenade Launcher.

While the Death Guard were battered severely, they managed to get their warlord onto an objective marker long enough to achieve whatever foul agendas they were after.  (If only I had read the rules and sat Faustus on an objective, I would have kept up enough points for the win).  Nevertheless, Faustus achieved 3 points of fame for fighting on the center objective, and overall the Tenuous Allies won the round.

The Ultramarines only suffered one casualty - One Charlie crashed, but both pilots walked away.

My opponent Brian was really friendly and it was a great first game!

Battle Report: US Open 2022 Seattle Friendly - Tyranids!

I participated in the 2022 Seattle Open Tournament.  Jack was there competing in the AoS tournament, and along with some friends that also play 40k who I met.  They did well, so congrats to them!  For my part, I wasn't quite ready for the full tournament experience. To be honest, I rather prefer friendly games.  And since I could only attend on the Sunday anyway, I opted for open play.  It was great!  A few people really got a kick out of my retro army.  Perhaps next time I'll enter into the narrative campaign which sounded like something I would be interested in.

For the match, my opponent was Conor.  He was friendly and a good sport, and was there with his uncle.  I was really grateful to have matched up with them.  It was a learning experience for all of us and a great game. We wanted the matched play/ tournament practice but maybe slightly slower so that we could get things right.

Battle Report:

Ruleset: 2022 War Zone Nachmund Grand Tournament - Strike Force (w/ Q2 Balance Datasheet)
Mission: Recover The Relics

Points: Under ~1700

My Forces:

+++ Ultramarines 1.7k (Warhammer 40,000 9th Edition) +++
++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Imperium - Adeptus Astartes - Ultramarines) ++
**Chapter Selector**: Ultramarines
Battle Size: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points)
Detachment Command Cost
Gametype: Matched

+ HQ +

• Lt Cmdr Psigoras - Captain: Adept of the Codex, Plasma pistol, Power sword, Seal of Oath, Storm of Fire, Stratagem: Exemplar of the Chapter, Warlord
• Praelior Tarquinius Iulian Regulus - Chaplain in Terminator Armour: 4. Mantra of Strength, 6. Canticle of Hate (Aura), Benediction of Fury, Chapter Command:  Master of Sanctity, Litany of Hate, Storm bolter, Stratagem: Hero of the Chapter, Wise Orator

+ Troops +

• Cornelius -  10 man Tactical Squad - Plasma pistol, Power fist, Flamer, Heavy Bolter
• Kaiel - 5 man Tactical Squad - Plasma pistol, Chainsword, Heavy Bolter
• Vitus - 5 man Tactical Squad - Bolt pistol, Chainsword, Lascannon

+ Elites +

• Chief Apothecary Singa: Acquittal, Chapter Command:  Chief Apothecary
• Relic 'Eddy' Contemptor Dreadnought - Dreadnought combat weapon, Storm bolter, Twin volkite culverin
• Nox - Terminator Assault Squad - 5x w/ THSS, 5x /w x2LC
• Tourbillion - Terminator Squad - 4x Chainfist, Assault Cannon, Heavy Flamer, 5x Power fist, Power Sword

My Opponent (my best guess):

+++ Tyranids (Warhammer 40,000 9th Edition) +++

++ Auxiliary Support Detachment -2CP (Tyranids) ++

Hive Fleet: ?

+ HQ +

• Winged Hive Tyrant: (abilities/weapons?)

++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Tyranids) ++

Hive Fleet: ?

+ HQ +

• The Swarmlord: Warlord (abilities/weapons?)
• Tyranid Prime: (?)

+ Troops +

• Hormagaunts: Adrenal Glands x12
• Hormagaunts: Adrenal Glands x12
• Tyranid Warriors: Adrenal Glands x3 w/ weapons

+ Elites +

• Tyrant Guard: Adrenal Glands x3 w/ weapons(?)

+ Fast Attack +

• Mawloc: with abilities

+ Heavy Support +

• Exocrine: with abilities(?)
• Tyrannofex: with abilities(?)

Pre-game and Deployment

First off, Conor didn't quite have a full 2k army, so to roughly match his point values I needed to trim off a few units.  I ended up about 35/40 points under, and I probably should have tried to get a little closer, but as we will see it still ended up being close enough for a very tight game.  I didn't have his exact list with loadouts (and I don't have a Tyranids book) so I've approximated it above.

I put together a checklist before the game, as well as my own mission plan for every GT mission.  We ended up just picking the first mission - Recover the Relics, and got started.  The checklist was hugely useful as I could look at it every turn and check off the things I needed to do or remember.  It needs more refinement though as some things I would miss and other things I didn't need reminders about.  Also having a plan and knowing exactly which secondaries to take was also very good for speeding things up.

My secondaries were: Oaths of Moment, Investigate Signal, and Behind Enemy Lines.
Tyranids took: Purge the Enemy, Behind Enemy Lines, and Grind Them Down.

After placing the objective markers we decided the pre-set terrain was fine.  In the future it would be good to go over the terrain traits and use them (it would have probably benefitted me a bit more) so as such we basically didn't use any cover.  I think it was fine to make this simplification though because we already had enough to track.

Conor was the Defender and decided to just go with the side he was already on since the table was pretty symmetrical.  I broke my units into combat squads, and then we began deployment.  I deployed rather aggressively to try to reach the closest objectives.  I mistakenly thought that Tyranids were less shooty and so didn't try at all to position into cover.  To be fair, I have very little experience playing actual games or knowing anything about non-Space Marine armies.  I did have reminders to perform an Ultramarines Rapid Redeploy, but just didn't think it was needed.

We rolled for turn order and Conor lucked out.

Battle Round 1

Tyranids:

First thing was to use the 'Terror from the Deep' ability from the Mawloc to place a 6" zone in the center of the battlefield that would give my models a strong chance of suffering mortal wounds.  This ended up being a huge area denial that also set up a big mistake in resolving the play and altered the game a bit (though perhaps it offset things).  Looking back on it, I suppose I could have responded with an orbital bombardment in response, but didn't think of it at the time.

Conor's units for the most part had Adrenal Glands which allows them to be quite fast.  As you would expect he moved them up to control the closest objectives.  As he ended his movement phase, he had moved everything out and didn't leave a unit to claim his deployment objective, a critical mistake.

For his shooting phase, he scored an impressive long range blast on Squad Vitus - killing two marines outright.  Vitus had been set up on top of the ruin on the deployment objective so that the Lascannon would have strong line of sight into the middle of the field.  Remember how I did not take into account setting up behind any terrain, nor did we think about terrain cover bonuses?  Yeah that would have helped, hopefully I apply that lesson for next time.

The Tyranids scored another huge amount of damage on Tourbillion's squad, destroying 3 terminators! Also, few more wounds on Squad Cornilius. Then came a powerful 14 Strength shot from the yellow Exorine monster at the Dreadnought, but a cluch save gave me a false sense of security (did I move into cover after that? Of course not...)

The morale step hit the Ultramarines hard, and I really miss the old ATSKNF rules.  Squad Vitus was completely broken and eliminated!  Because of this I wouldn't be able to get the point for not retreating from Oaths of Moment.  

Note about points: I can see why the official judging rules are that scoring mistakes found after the match are typically ignored by the judges.  You end up finding a lot of play and scoring mistakes when you review the game afterward, and it quickly becomes apparent that if you try to apply 20/20 hindsight to scoring, you run into problems because the choices you actually made soon diverge from what you would do if the correct rules/scores had been known.  So, I'll note that we completely ignored the 'Break Them Body and Soul' mission points.  I'll also note that (just for fun) I did review what the actual score would have been and it ended up being almost exactly the same score we had the day of, except it was just one point closer - most things offset.  Also there was at least one critical mistake very early that would have likely completely changed the course of the game.

Ultramarines:

Unlike the Tyranids, who moved off of the deployment objective by mistake, my unit was literally blown off the objective, and I just couldn't afford to send anyone back for it knowing that I'd have to beam down one of the Terminator squads to cover it.  (I mean I guess I could have, but they would have been so slow getting there).  So we moved up to the close objectives and still didn't get into cover. 

The Terror of the Deep marker denied moving into the middle for both Oaths of Moment and Investigate Signal, which was big.

 Shooting was so miserable, we only scored one wound on a Tyrant Guard.

After several games, I've noticed that Space Marines (or at least the squads I have) do pathetic damage.  Really, really underwhelming, and it kinda sucks.  I guess my rolls weren't great, but it does seem everything else is so overpowered.  I have a strong suspicion that the old 'first born' models are being deliberately underpowered so that GW can sell the newer models.  It would be one thing if the Tyranids didn't take much damage, but also didn't deal damage at range, but I just lost a full squad of Space Marines and 3 Terminators, and then only dealt 1 wound?  Really bad trade.  Nevertheless, I was having fun with the 'story' aspect which has always been that the Imperial propaganda vastly exaggerates the might of the Adeptus Astartes and that in actuality they get slaughtered everywhere, but just use sheer numbers to hold on.

Looking back though, I had gone with heavy bolters just to be cheap trying to fit in things for 2000k points, but I probably could have switched in heavy plasma and a second lascannon and easily still been at 1700.

Conor scored +3 points for Grind them Down, and I scored nothing.

Battle Round 2

Tyranids:

So for the first scoring command phase, the Tyranids had control of 2 objectives for +8 points.  

The Tyranids continued to move up, swarming into the middle and along the northern side of the field.  They didn't seem to advance much in the southern areas. 

Here was where the huge 'game altering' mistake occurred which neither of us knew about.  Conor forgot to bring his Mawloc in from reserves/deep strike.  During the game this seemed fortunate for me because the thing was massive and a big threat that was effectively taken off the board.  But, the rules for Terror from the Deep require the model to be placed.  Instead, we erroneously left the terror marker on the board for the rest of the game, which was very effective in diverting me from trying to score 2 secondary objectives.  (Also, later we allowed the Mawloc to drop in finally on the 4th or 5th battle round, however, at that point the unit would have been destroyed for not entering play by the end of the 3rd battle round per match play rules.  I note this mainly for learning purposes, as such how we played it might have worked out in my favor anyway, or perhaps it all would have been offset).

The Tyranids were in range for some space magic - Psyker stuff is my favorite and with no Librarians I was completely defenseless.  Luckily for me, the Emperor Protects!  And right away Conor's Witch Fire at Tourbillion backfires with some Perils of the Warp!  Haha!

Another impressive shoot phase takes out two more models from Squad Cornelius on the northern side, and then monstrous shot blows up Relic 'Eddy' who literally explodes dealing a bunch of mortal wounds to pretty much every squad.  Epic!

The bugs were now within range to charge, but thankfully they all missed (really some good luck for me there).

Ultramarines:

For my command phase I also only had 2 objectives and thus scored +8 points.

Way too late I realize the peril and try to huddle into the ruin walls out of line of sight.  Also, bravely (or stupidly) I send the remnants of Squad Cornelius past the approaching Swarmlord to position to charge the swarm of approaching hormagaunts and keep them off the objective (since they have ObSec).  And then finally, mercifully, teleportation blooms and lightning flair around both deployment zone objectives... Terminators deep strike! (heavy metal riffs).  I'm able to get Tourbillion 2 and Nox 1 along with Regulus beamed down onto the objectives setting up next turn for more objectives controlled.

Regulus, being a wizened orator, is able to recite a Canticle of Hate giving him and Nox 1 (within range of his inspiring aura) an extra +2" for charge rolls this turn.

Another miserable shoot phase - only one wound on a Tyranid Warrior from the Heavy Bolter.

Time to charge and I was hoping to be able to charge Regulus into the big purple thing and tarpit it away from the objective and prevent it from shooting anything, but mostly for rule of cool.  But the dice gods said no.  At this point I had the option to charge Squad Cornelius into those hormagaunts, but I forgot.  My opponent surprised and even asked about it, but I was confused and missed my chance.

Good news was we didn't fall back so I scored +1 for Oaths of Moment and +4 for Behind Enemy Lines.  Conor scored another +3 for Grind them Down

Battle Round 3

Tyranids:

At the start of Battle Round 3 the Tyranids only controlled two of the six objectives, thus gained +8 points.  With the arrival of the terminators, Conor turned around some of the large heavy support monsters in the back to try to defend.  Meanwhile, the Swarmlord ignored Cornelius, leaving them for the hormagaunts, and went straight for Squad Kaiel and the objective.  Sure enough, the bugs followed in behind and overran Cornelius' position.

The heavy support beasts shot into the newly arrived Assault Terminators - Nox 1, but couldn't get through their storm shields.  Also the big purple bug (Tyrannofex I think) was able to fire the Rupture Cannon at Regulus since he missed the charge.  But, the might of the Imperium could not be denied, and the strength 14 shot glanced off of the Chaplain's pauldron (thank the Emperor)!

The hormagaunts then charged into Cornelius but he survived, and even killed one with a power fist punch!  (This ended up being great because I kept them off the objective and by not charging into them on my turn I denied a round of fighting).

Squad Kaiel didn't fare so well.  The Swarmlord swung into them and ate them all.  All in one bite, maybe just a few bones left.  Commander Psigoras attempted to intervene but was too late.  Brother-Sergeant Kaiel, you will be avenged.

On the other objective, the Tyrant Guards crashed into the Assault Terminators backed up by Chief Apothecary Signa.  The Apothecary's efforts were not in vain and the squad was not eliminated, but did sustain some casualties.

Ultramarines:

At this point the Ultramarines controlled 4 objectives.  We were confused and only scored +8 points for me.  (It should have been +12, but this was offset anyway).  Regulus inspired himself with a Mantra of Strength.

I tucked Nox 1 into the corner of the ruins in the Tyranid's deploy zone to try to keep them alive back there for the Behind Enemy Lines points.  (Again having rules for cover might have helped, although maybe no different from Armor of Contempt).  I ran Regulus at the Tyrannofex and was a bit indecisive with the rest of the units, not really knowing where to go but just hold on to the objectives.

Since most units were in combat or out of range/obscured, there wasn't much to shoot.  

Finally, the Chaplain was able to charge the beast and get 3 wounds in without taking any damage in return, a bit of luck!  

Psigoras meanwhile could do nothing against the Swarmlord except get taken down to one wound.

As the turn ended our scoring had +1 point for Ultramarines with Oaths of Moment (no retreat!) and +4 for Behind Enemy Lines. We scored +3 for Grind them Down for Conor, but note that the Mawloc in Deep Strike would have been eliminated at this point because he forgot to put him on the table (and the Terror of the Deep marker continued to persist erroneously) so that would have negated those points.

Battle Round 4

Tyranids:

The game started to get faster by this point.  Tyranids score +8 for the 2 objectives.

The Psychic phase was again not too bad for the Ultramarines - the Parasite failed to manifest, and Psychic Scream only caused 1 wound for Squad Nox 2.

(Here we realized we forgot the morale phase for Squad Cornelius and decide to take him off the table just to simplify things a bit)

The flying Hive Tyrant shot into the southern objective and took out another marine, and then Brother Veridian, still standing near Commander Psigoras at the northern objective, was cut down by some strong fire power.  Finally, the Exocrine was able to get a good angle on Squad Nox 1 and eliminated 3 of them.

The hormagaunts to the north (now no longer engaged fighting) charge into Tourbillion and swarm him.  17 hits and not a scratch, thanks to tactical dreadnought armor!  During my round of fighting back I hit absolutely nothing between melees across the board - Regulus, Psigoras, and Squad Nox all do nothing.  Finally the Swarmlord finishes off Psigoras (which will score +6 points for Cranial Feast at the end of battle).  No, Commander!!!

Ultramarines:

I have finally lost control of the northern objective, but still have 3 nodes and +8 points.  Regulus remains inspired by his personal mantra.

My notes say I shot something and missed.  Sounds about right.

Moving to the fight phase, with no charges the Tyranids fight first.  Tourbillion finally falls to the swarm, but Regulus continues to tar pit the Tyrannofex without problems (although he missed again himself).

As the turn ends, I score +1 for Oaths (No retreat, no surrender!) and +4 for Behind Enemy Lines.  Conor scores +3 for Grind them Down.

Battle Round 5

Tyranids:

Last turn and we had that Conor scored +12 points for objectives (but this wasn't correct).

He moves the swarming hormagaunts from the north towards my deploy zone and Squad Tourbillion 2 tucked into the ruins holding the objective.  At the end of his movement phase he finally deploys Mawloc from deep strike (which was an error, but didn't really affect anything at this point).

The Exocrine fires into Nox 1 in the backfield and finally eliminate them.  The remaining Heavy Bolter Squad with Apothecary Singa get shot up.

The fight phase remains mostly a draw, which is a win for me!

Ultramarines:

For fun I toast some bugs with the Heavy flamer and we tally up the scores

I score +8 points for objectives.  I also score +1 for Oaths and only +2 for Behind Enemy Lines (only Regulus remained).

We had 55 points for the Ultramarines and 53 points for the Tyranids, a very minor victory for the Emperor!

(When I went back and added everything up retroactively, the errors basically offset but the margin was even closer - 54 for me and 53 for Conor)

Takeaways

From my experience in prior games I did pretty well.  I knew that the key to victory for me was to go for objectives and try to stay alive, and also to be very organized.  I executed this, but still have lots of error to clean up.  One is to get out of line of sight better (Armor of Contempt and power armor is good, but not that good).  Another is to learn the terrain rules and use them.  I feel I did alright with using melee to tar pit the Tyrannofex, but I think I need to still work on it.  I also learned that the Terror from the Deep shouldn't have denied the middle for so long, I should have looked more carefully at that rule, and I could have used Orbital Bombardment to counter it a bit.  I can also refine my checklists a bit more.  Finally I can still be more aggressive with using Command Points (I ended with 6), but I did use re-rolls more from previous games, so that's good.

For Conor I would say it was a really good learning experience for him too, and the biggest thing would be to focus more on objectives and create a system to remember deep strike.

Just the fact that I was able to survive felt like a huge win for me, and so despite not being able to kill anything it was a lot of fun trying to hang on in the narrative storyline.  I think Conor enjoyed picking me apart too, and I think once he cleans up objective play a bit he will terrorize the Imperium for a long time :)  It was a good game!

++++Transmission: Adeptus Astartes Ultra++++

Relics Recovered

Date: 3348022.M42

Location: Bastion World Vigilus

System: Vigilus

Sub Sector: Nachmund

Segmentum: Obscurus

ATT: Primus Leo Exevio Faustus

The evil attracted by the ever-growing immaterium anomaly cannot deny our wrath!  The relics have been secured.

Chief Apothecary Signa has verified the authenticity of the recovered relics and is confident the devices will accelerate Calgar’s recovery.

The Mortwald vegetation areas were swarmed by Tyranids.  Analysis is still pending.  Our positions were overrun within minutes of arrival.  I personally lead the deployment of Tactical Dreadnaught Armor with elements from Sergeant Tourbillion and Sergeant Nox to exfiltrate the recovery mission lead by Lieutenant Commander Psigoras. 

The Lieutenant Commander sustained serious wounds.  Signa assures he will recover.  Brother Sergeants Vitus, Kaiel, and Cornelius withstood grievous injuries in the face of the horrors of the universe and will receive Teminator Honors.

In the Name of The Emperor,

Tarquinius Iulian Regulus

REF: G7Q/09367-33351-2420T1S9413Y

THOUGHT: We are the Emperor’s fist which strikes the xeno, the boot that crushes the mutant, and the fire that purges the heretic.  Litanies of Battle

 ++++Transmission End++++