Caledonia Uprising 2013 - Game 3

Game3

Purge the Alien \ Hammer and Anvil vs. Owen Lewis [Space Wolves]

So I’d tabled one opponent and nearly been tabled by another. Game three was against one of the few Space Wolves lists not to be using allies. Owen was using a Logan drop list with a fearsome alpha strike. I had played several games against Bennett’s drop list in the build up to Caledonia so I was reasonable confident going into this game. Owen’s list was -

HQ 1: Logan Grimnar, [275 pts]

HQ 2: Wolf Priest (100), Runic Armour (20), Plasma Pistol (15) = [135 pts]

HQ 3: Rune Priest (100), Terminator Armour (20), Combi-Plasmagun (5), Jaws of the Wolf Wolf and Living Lightning = [125 pts]

Elite 1: Lone Wolf (20), Terminator Armour (25) , Chainfist (25), Storm Shield (15) = [85 pts]

Elite 2: Lone Wolf (20), Terminator Armour (25) , Chainfist (25), Storm Shield (15) = [85 pts]

Troops1: 8 Wolf Guard (8*18=144), 14 Combi-Plasmaguns (14*5=70), Terminator armour (15), Power Axe (-), Storm Shield (15) and Cyclone Missile Launcher (30) = [274 pts] + Dedicated Transport1

Troops 2: 3 Wolf Guard (3*18=54),1 Boltgun (-) 1 Bolt pistol (-) 2 Terminator Armour (2*15=30),

2 Storm Shields (2*15=30) and 2 x Power Axe (-) = [114 pts] + Dedicated Transport 2

Troops 3: 7 Grey Hunters (7*15=105), Flamer (-), Wolf Standard (10) = [115 pts]

Troops 4: 7 Grey Hunters (7*15=105), Flamer (-), Wolf Standard (10) = [115 pts]

Heavy Support 1: 5 Long Fangs + 1 Squad Leader (6*15=90), 5 Multi-Meltas (5*10=50) = [140 pts] +

Dedicated Transport 3

Heavy Support 2: 5 Long Fangs + 1 Squad Leader (6*15=90), 5 Missile launchers (5*10=50) = [140 pts]

Heavy Support 3: 5 Long Fangs + 1 Squad Leader (6*15=90) 5 Missile launchers (5*10=50) = [140 pts]

Dedicated Transport 1 : Drop pod [35 pts]

Dedicated Transport 2 : Drop pod [35 pts]

Dedicated Transport 3 : Drop pod [35 pts]

Knowing how these drop list work I planned to bubble wrap my monstrous creatures with Gaunts. This was made more complex by the fact it was “kill points” and with Owen already having less VPs available than me I was reluctant to spawn too many additional Gaunt units. I got to go first and proceeded to put this plan into action. The Tervigons and Hive Guard hid in the middle of the Gaunts and Gargoyles. Owen deployed the two Long Fang packs with Missile Launchers as well as one of the grey hunter packs. The remaining troops, with the exception of a grey hunter pack, were in drops pod.

Turn one started and the two flying Tyrants shot forward to put pressure on the Long Fangs. The rest of the army shuffled forward and one of the Tervigons spawned an additional unit to close a gap in the bubble wrap. The Tyrants both fire on one of the Long Fangs but unfortunately only managed to reduce it down to 2 men. Owen’s turn started and as expected the drop pods containing the large pack of wolf guard, along with the Rune Priest and Wolf Priest landed near to a Tervigon, whilst the other pod landed close to my back board edge and the multi-melta armed long fangs, Logan and Wolf Guard with Cyclone disembarked. Unfortunately for me, I hadn’t quite bubble wrapped properly and the combi plasmas managed to land within 12” of one of my Tervigons. During the firing phase the Tergivon evaporated in 17 plasma shots. The melta long fangs split fire and two krak missiles and two melta tapped out both of my Biovores, whilst the rest of the squad fired on the Zoanthropes. At the other end of the board the Long Fangs and Grey Hunters managed to down and kill my Warlord Tyrant.

So start of turn two and things weren’t looking good. I was already 5 victory points down  (Tervigon, Tyrant, Biovores, First Blood, Slay the Warlord) as well as having units which would give him Line Breaker at the end of the game. Luckily both of my reserves became available. The devourer Gaunts land at the far end of the board to support the Tyrant, whilst the Doom landed near to the large Wolf Guard pack. The Tyrant flew over the remnants of the Long Fang pack and vector striked the last two members of the squad.  Firing and the Doom inflected three wounds on the Wolf Guard with his innate ability and then manifested Psychic Shriek to kill another two.  Meanwhile the Gaunts and Hive Tyrant combined their fire to kill off the majority of the second Long Fang pack. Logan’s Long Fang was fire upon by three packs of Gaunts before being charged, with over 25 Gaunts in combat with the 7 men it was unlikely they would ever be free from it. Owen’s turn two and his last drop pod didn’t arrive. The remnants of the Wolf Guard moved to get away from the Doom before shooting their plasma into him as the Rune Priest attempted to manifest Jaws. Unfortunately for them, I passed the initiative test to save him from instant death. His two lone wolves continued to advance across the board towards the Tyranid deployment zone.

Turn three, I needed to deal with the advancing Lone Wolves, but didn’t want to kill them as they were worth victory points while alive in this game, so I planned to tie them up in endless combat with minions. The Flock of Gargoyles made a beeline towards one of them ready to charge.  The Doom continued to chase the Wolf Guard, whilst the remaining Tervigon moved up to extend his poison bubble onto the combat between the Long Fangs and three packs of Gaunts.  Firing phase and the Doom sucked the life from the remaining Wolf Guard leaving only the Wolf Priest and Rune Priest alive. The Tyrant finished off the remaining Long Fangs at the other end of the board whilst the Devourer Gaunts turned their attention to the Grey Hunter Pack. The combat between the Logan and his Long Fangs and the Gaunts was going well, the majority of the unit had fallen including the terminator equipped Wolf Guard, Logan was proving a little more difficult to take down.  The Gargoyle however clearly hadn’t read the battle plan as in one round of combat they killed the Lone Wolf???  Turn three for Owen saw the arrival of the last drop pod, its cargo, a single Wolf Guard. It landed out of site behind a tall building in my deployment zone corner, I’m not sure Owen had remember what Hive Guard can do. The remaining Grey Hunters opened up on the devourer Gaunts and halved the unit, whilst the Rune Priest tried to Jaws the Doom again, this time only to be denied.

Turn four and the battle was turning in favour of the hive fleet. The doom once more followed the priests and sucked a wound from the Rune Priest. The Hive Guard made short work of the lone Wolf Guard hiding by his pod. The Tyrant and remaining devourer Gaunts finished off the Grey Hunters whilst the Gargoyles and some Gaunts moved towards the remaining Lone Wolf taking a wound off him in combined firing. Combat and all the remaining Long Fangs were dead, it was just Logan versus Gaunts, but he was killing three a turn and slowly ploughing through the units. If he got free it wouldn’t be good. Owen was running out of units he only had three characters, a lone wolf, the drop pod and 8 Grey Hunters which automatically arrived from reserve this turn. They attempted to hide from the devourer Gaunts and Tyrant by taking advantage of a large LOS blocking impassable terrain feature in his deployment zone. Once again the Rune Priest attempted Jaws, but again it was denied. The frustration of not being able to cast the spell clearly showing for Owen.

Turn five, make or break time, there were a lot of kill points still on the table for Owen as he majority of the solo models alive were worth one each. The Hive Guard blew up the drop pod and finally Logan lost his last wound to the Gaunts in combat with him. The flying Tyrant headed one way around the LOS terrain, the gaunts the other hoping to catch the newly arrived Grey Hunters in the middle. The Gaunts couldn’t draw LOS to them but the Tyrant could and killed four of the eight including precision shots to the standard bearer and flamer. The Gargoyles and gaunts finished off the Lone Wolf in combat and consolidated toward the two Priests. In Owen’s turn the two character split up heading in different directions to prevent to the Doom getting close to both of them. This time the Rune Priest failed his leadership test and couldn’t cast Jaws. The Grey Hunters took a couple of shots at the flying Tyrant but caused no real damage. We rolled, and there was a turn six.

Turn Six, I was pressing for another tabling. The Gaunts and Tyrant finished off the last few Grey Hunters in a nasty crossfire, whilst the Wolf Priest died to the Impaler Cannons of the Hive Guard. The Rune priest passed his Leadership test against the Doom and then nullified his attempt to cast Psychic Shriek. Finally the Gargoyles charged him locking him in the Doom’s range. His 2+ runic armour keeping his final wound intact. Owen’s turn and it moved straight to combat as the Rune Priest was all that was left. The two units struck simultaneously and although the Priest felled another Gargoyle, he fail a save and died.

The Tyranids has achieved their second tabling of the tournament, and I was once again heading back up the tables towards all those horrible Daemon and Necron lists that occupied the high levels of Caledonia Uprising.