40k Brawl! The Dimachaeron Lives! Tyranids Vs Ultramarines Battle Report
Simon
Howdy fellow nerdlingers! Simon here from http://www.40kbrawl.blogspot.co.uk bringing to you another 40k battle report, this time around we are giving the Dimachaeron a round 2 in the ring.
Is it truly the heavy weight champion of the Hive we all want it to be? Or in actual fact just a dud runner up in a kindergarten karate competition… Let’s find out!
Secondary – Slay The Warlord, First Blood!, Line Breaker
Deployment – Dawn of War
Psychic Powers & Warlord Traits
Ultramarines
Tigirius – Storm Of Fire
Divination: Prescience, Perfect Timing
Telepathy: Psychic Scream
Force
Tyranids
Hive Tyrant – Master Strategist
Dominion, Catalyst, Warp Lance
Hive Tyrant – Master Strategist
Dominion, Onslaught, Warp Lance
Zoanthrope
Dominion,The Horror, Warp Lance
The Lists!
Tyranids
HQ
Hive Tyrant
Twin Linked Devourers
Electroshock grubs
Wings
Hive Tyrant
Twin Linked Devourers
Electroshock grubs
Wings
Troops
Rippers
Deep Strike
Rippers
Deep Strike
Elites
Zoanthrope
Venomthrope
Fast Attack
Dimachaeron *Please note the Dimachaeron is proxied by a burrowing Mawloc. for all LOS purposes we count the model to be an additional 3 inches tall.
Hive Crone
Hive Crone
Heavy Support
Tyranofex
Electroshock grubs
Exocrine
Biovores
Fortifications
Bastion
Void shield
VS
Ultramarines
HQ
Tigirius
Troops
Tactical Sqaud
Missile launcher
Tactlical squad
Missle launcher
Elites
Sterngaurd
Drop pod
Power fist
Sterngaurd
Drop pod
Power fist
Fast Attack
Heavy Support
Devastators
Plasma Cannons
Ironclad Dreadnought
Drop pod
Allied Detatchment – Iron Hands
HQ
Chapter Master
Bike
Power Fist
Storm Shield
Digital Weapons
Troops
Bikes x 5
2 Grav
Bikes x 5
2 Grav
Elites
Fast Attack
Heavy Support
Stalker
Intro
Ultrayellowpretendmarines win the alpha and decide to take the first turn and deploy defensively. they spread themselves equally out across the centre and over the left of their deployment zone.
Tyranids counter deploy by setting up the bastion out of range of the devastators and bikes, leaving practically only the missile launchers and Chapter Masters bombardment effective for the first turn.Everything is huddled up and cloaked by the mysterious void shield and the venomthropes shrouding. sneaky, sneaky.
Ultrayellowmarines elect to the take the first turn and so the Tyrnids throw down the big D6 to seize!!!!!!!
but they fail so its over to the marines turn 1. Wop Wop.
Space Marines Turn 1
Marines initiate operation cleanse by advancing the bikers up towards the relic while the rest of the force sits and camps in the ruins.
Neeeooowwwwwm
The two squads of Sterngaurd come crashing down, smashing into the lines of the Tyranids. Both Tactical units fire their missiles into the bastion taking out the void shield leaving the hive Tyrant out in the open for the sterngaurd to savage.
A thunderous entry from the Sterngaurd Veteran Ultrayellowmarines!
The Chapter Master of the Iron hands calls upon an orbital bombardment and pulverises the Bastion whilst taking the Venomthrope inside for First Blood! Both units of Sterngaurd lay heavy amounts of rounds into the two Hive Tyrants but with thanks to some very handsome roles of look out sir! the Biovores managed to tank a large sum of the hits however losing two of their own in the process.
Tyranids Turn 1
With a very aggressive first turn from the marines the Tyranids need a fierce retaliation to get back into the fight. The two Hive Tyrants Kick off the ground and take flight while the Tyranofex and Exocrone make their way towards the Sterngaurd on the left while the Dimachaeron goes after the Stergaurd on the right. The Psychic phase…sigh. The Hive Tyrant warlord manifests warp lance but fails to hit the stalker. It then proceeds to cast Catalyst! but suffers a perils result and loses warp lance in the process AND then grounds itself putting it down to 1 wound….Thankfully a glimmer of hope shines brightly in a dark plated tone of grey kind of way…. The Hive Tyrant has a chance to lock itself up in combat – should it survive overdoses of krak!
The Hive Tyrant warlord lays heavily into the bikers and takes out 1 of them with its devourers and then proceeds to assault killing another 3! The lone surviving biker loses combat but is quickly caught up locking the tyrant down in combat for another turn!Salvation for the Hive Commander! The other Tyrant pummels the other squad of bikers and inflicts a satisfying 3 wounds with its devourers.
The Dimachaeron assaults and tears apart 6 Sterngaurd whilst receiving three wounds itself from over watch and krak grenades from the yellow drop pod whilst the Exocrine and Tyranosaurus-fex cut up a few veterans from the black drop pod too. Miraculously both combats are locked down despite both squads of veterans taking heavy casualties, they mistakenly hold their ground!
Nom…
Mnomnom…
Space Marines Turn 2
With a heavy turn to follow, the marines pull down the mighty ironclad from deep space and crashes into the heart of the Tyranid corner. It comes thundering down behind the ruin and in the face of the lone Biovore and Zoanthrope. It aims and clicks at the Zoanthrope in a hope to break synapse but fails to inflict any wounds.
The Stalker aims for the airborne Hive Tyrant currently on 3 wounds and cuts off 2, bringing it down to just 1 single wound left. The rest of the marine force pummels every missile, bolt gun and grav gun it has in range but unforgivingly is not enough as they fail to even hit it with a single shot.
Combat comes around the the Tyranofex and Exocrine clean up the remaining veterans with little problem while across the boarder, El Dima Chaeron, the mightiest Mexixcan Tyranid ( It’s his new name. I just thought it up. Pretty cool, right?) makes quick tin tacos of the last three veterans and shifts his beady black eyes over towards the bigger, yellower tin can…
The Hive Tyrant finishes off the last biker and makes way for its new prey, the Stalker.
Tyranids Turn 2
Both Crones arrive, vector striking the dreadnaught ( with no effect. AV13?! damn tin man!) while the two ripper swarms deploy centrally, just behind the large building in the centre of the board near the Relic while keeping out of sight.
The rest of the hive fleet look to devour the remaining drop pods and Ironclad while both Tyrants take flight over the stalker catching sight of its rear armour .
The Zoanthrope cast’s dominion to support the backfield while the Hive Tyrant manifest’s catalyst on its brother Tyrant but is denied by Tigirius’s incredible (OP!) psyche.
Both Tyrants wreck the stalker with an overwhelming amount of firepower from the devourers. The Biovore completely wiffs but lands 3 spicy spore mine-a meatballs right beside the devastators.
The Exocrine fires streams upon streams at the rear armour of the dreadnaught and immobilises the sucker! leaving it a sitting duck for the sheer brute force of the rest of the Hive to finish it off. unfortunately for El Dima Chaeron, (The mightiest Mexian Tyranid in town) the exciting yellow target that is the Ironclad is made short work off by the Hive Crones Tentaclids which manage to melt its reactor and shut it down for good .
With the Tin-man-can now K.O’d, El Dima makes a fresh path towards a new target, the mellow yellow drop pod and thus, makes it into a bus shelter. Next stop, Terra town!
Space Marines Turn 3
The Chapter Master teams up with the remaining biker and they shoot towards the relic, picking it up and claiming it for their own. Tigirius manifests ignores cover on the devastators,followed by psychic screaming at the Hive Warlord which I fail to deny with 7 dice! (what the FRICK!?) Majestically, the Hive tyrant successfully passes his LD on 10 with no care bears to share….phew! close beans for the Warlord AGAIN!
Both Tactical squads fire everything at the Hive tyrants once again but fail to smite him down from the sky.
Tyranids Turn 3
With a large mass of the marine force still remaining and with Tigirius still alive it is essential that he is eliminated. Both tyrants make shift over towards Tigirius and pummel him with every shot they have,( unfortunately only one is firing at it’s bull BS as one of them jinked last turn) with a combined 24, twin-linked shots at strength 6, the marines only suffered 2 casualties. wot wot….WOT!
Back in the deployment zone of the Tyranids, the Exocrine makes another bus shelter out of the 2nd drop pod whilst the other giants make their way up the left flank (Tyranid perspective) of the board.
The State of affairs from the Marine perspective at bottom of Turn 3, left flank.
Space Marines Turn 4
With the Chapter master holding onto the relic as if it where his only child, the marines hold a sturdy grasp on the fate of this battle. they make their way towards cover, making every effort they can to stay out of line of site.
Tigirius has a ball ache of a turn as EVERY spell he attempts to manifest is denied! P-O-W!
Everything once again fires into the second hive tyrant, missing almost completely until out of nowhere a lone missile is fired from a window in the central ruin, spiralling straight towards the Hive Tyrant, obliterating it out of the sky without any chance to move out the way!
The remaining drop pod fires its automated storm Bolter for the third time round at the zoanthrope and manages to take a single wound off it.
Tyranids Turn 4
Losing 1 out of 3 Synapse creatures is a very scary loss for any Tyranid player( even if they are fearless) especially when it not only contributes to warp charges but it also kicks out a HELLOVALOTOV’ fire power. Alas, it did it’s job perfectly and really helped tie up the marines attention.
The Warlord Tyrant flaps his little wings over the building while the two crones vector strike the chapter master taking off 1 wound! 3 to go! The Tyrant warlord manifest’s catalyst for a third time on the hive crone and the Zoanthrope finishes off the phase with dominion, securing the backfield once again.
The Tyrant lays its devourers into the bike squad and murders the final member leaving only the chapter master remaining and securing another KP. The biovore proceeds to miss once again but shoot up another spicy spore mine into the fray!
El Dima Chaeron has since acquired a taste for metal after making the last bus shelter and decides to devour yet another one, removing the final drop pod from the Tyranid infested zone.
El Dima turns back for one final chew on the remaining drop pod.
The city at the bottom of turn 4.
Space Marines Turn 5
Tigirius turns his gaze upon the Hive warlord and manifests psychic scream at him successfully which is not denied despite throwing all dispel dice at it. The Tyrant takes his LD and fails on 11 removing his final wound earning the marines Slay the Walord! A crippling hit for the Tyranids!
The marine with the missile launcher that previously one shot blew the hive tyrant out of the sky now takes aim on the Dimachaeron and removes another wound from it, reducing it to just 2. The Chapter master then finishes off the turn by assaulting the ripper swarms ( which inflict 1 wound!) and only kills two bases leaving him locked in combat!
Tyranids Turn 5
Yikes… what a turn to follow. With only the two crones and the other swarm of rippers up in the face of the marines boarder, the rippers flank around and make their way for the chapter master after earning themselves rage on the instinctive behaviour table – booyah! They charge in with 12 attacks but fail to inflict any wounds. The chapter master then proceeds to smite down the last swarm of this first unit but once again stays locked down in combat with the remaining 2.
The two crones make their way over to Tigirius and are forced to land due to their limited path of flight. they flame the Devastators on the middle shelf, turning them all bar one into ashes while Tigirius goes unharmed once again.
A true nightmare haunts Tigirius…
The Spore mines launch a fine assault on the tactical squad at the bottom shelf and explode! inflicting 1 casualty on the squad bringing turn 5 to a close. ( Well done biovores, you managed to kill a single marine in the space of 5 turns! Woo, AWESOME!)
With the current state of the board, we are not sure who has the lead and instead of tallying up the results just yet, we role for another turn…
A 5! The game goes on!
Space Marines Turn 6
After failing to manifest ANY psychic powers(lol!) Tigirius is on a rampage and makes his way down to the crone to smash it to pieces in hand to hand combat. He charges in with the support of his tactical squad and cuts it apart with minimal issue with krak grenages. Fuck I hate krak grenades!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The other Ultrayellow tactical squad assaults the other crone which I’m pretty sure the remaining marine regret’s as the crone absolutely obliterates all bar one of them with the combined power of both it’s overwatch and its combat attacks.
Locked down, the marine takes on the giant Croney!
The Chapter Master finishes off the turn by destroying the last 2 Ripper swarms.
Tyranids Turn 6
In order to secure as many VP’s as possible the Tyranids advance up into the Space marines deployment zone to verify control of line breaker.
The Psychic phase comes around and I figure, what the hell I’ll cast dominion with the one wounded zoanthrope…. I perils on 2 dice( ONLY ME! AHA WOOO!)…Thankfully I role a 6 on the table! the Doom is born once again!
think again… Zoay fails it’s leadership brining it back down to mortality and gives up what could be a game changing kill point as well as losing the last of the Tyranids synapse. FUCK.
The other crone that is locked in combat proceeds to eat the head of the marine, (Now known as Sgt. Head Regrets)
We roll to see if there is a Turn 7 in sight and…. with a role of a 4, there is…
Turn 7
With the Crone now out in the open but with nothing to fire at it, the marine force just work on getting the objective into a secure zone however with the crone’s massive movement capability it is difficult indeed to get away safely.
With the Chapter Master now cornered, the Hive crone has it’s final task. It advances up towards the master and spits out its Drool cannon but fails to wound him. The crone then assaults, hitting him with its hammer of wrath but again, fails to wound.
Currently the Chapter master holds the Relic which is worth 3 victory points. We decide not to tally up the score as the final combat is far too intense to spoil so we play on.
As the Chapter master has 2 wounds left, there is just no way the Crone is going to be able to inflict enough hits to kill him outright.
Smashing this guy at WS3 has odds of outright killing the sucker at 0.139
Where as hitting him with 4 attacks at S5 has 0.333 chance of doing just a single wound .
I know which option I’m going for…CRONE, SMASH!
As the Chapter master is wielding a power fist the crone gets to attack first.
I role to hit….4!!!!
I role to wound…6!!!
with a 3+ invulnerable, the chapter master has a 1.67 chance of surviving. thats 67 out of 100 times he gets to live to tell the tale.
He roles it….and the odds are in his favour. he survives! He bashes the crone back with his fist but not enough to out right kill him.
The game ends and we finally tally up our scores and would you believe it, it’s a draw!
Final Score
Tyranids – Line Braker, 11 KP – TOTAL = 12
Space Marines Slay The Warlord, First Blood! 7 KP, The Relic! TOTAL = 12
Summary
Woah… After Space marines very hard hitting turn 1, it was pretty difficult to see the silver lining but somehow the Nids brought it back and dominated the entire game up until turn 5 where Tigirius got my warlord!
One thing I didn’t realise about the Relic (and I didn’t find this out until after I had assaulted the chapter master with my rippers) is that you can’t contest it! I had never realised this and totally kick myself for not knowing this as I would have gone for another target!( Or tried to take it earlier on in the game)
The other thing that came up, at least in the form of a though in my mind was Psychic scream and airborne targets… How does that work?
Can Psychic scream target flyers/FMC’s? I can’t see a rule that says no so I guess they can but Yeesh! It doesn’t feel like it keeps up with the dynamic of the game but… ah well! no bitter man here!
It was an awesome game and its great to see the Dimachaeron smash and chew on everything once again AND not dying this round! I should totally take on some more Alpha striking armies!
Anyhow, I’ll stop rambling on and let you get on with your other nerd activities, thanks for reading and I hope you are inspired to go out and get a few games in of your own!
Side note: If you liked the game be sure to check out my blog and follow my page for all of your modelling, battle reporting, tactic exploiting needs, link below!
