Game 3
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War

My army list:

Click here.

My opponent’s army (roughly):

Hive Tyrant
Hive Tyrant – wings, twin-linked devourer, BS 4, etc.

Carnifex (elite)
Carnifex (elite)
Carnifex (elite)

6 Genestealers – re-roll wounds
6 Genestealers – re-roll wounds
6 Genestealers – scuttlers, re-roll wounds
6 Genestealers – scuttlers, re-roll wounds
8 Termagaunts

Carnifex (heavy) – T7, tusks, etc.
Carnifex (heavy) – T7, tusks, etc.
2 Zoanthropes

Well, this game was an interesting one both on and off the field. I was dreading this mission since I have a large number of KPs, three of which are absurdly easy to score, and Dawn of War meant that opponents would be more likely to hold everything in reserve, leaving me nothing to attack on my first turn drop pod assault.

Fortunately, I was pitted against HQ Club Jeff’s Nidzilla army, a matchup which is typically a walk in the park for forces packing lots mobility and meltaguns. Sweetening the deal even further was the fact that it was a close-combat based Nidzilla list, rather than the more formidable shooty version.

I say that the match was interesting because Kris and I had spent some time talking to Jeff about 40k, particularly “top-tier” lists. We tried to explain that while Nidzilla isn’t terrible, it is no longer a major contender anymore on the tournament scene due to changes in the metagame, however after meeting considerable resistance we decided it wasn’t worth it. In lieu of conversation, I was afforded the opportunity to drive the point home up close and personal in the third round.

Jeff won the roll-off and chose to go first, deploying two units of Genestealers and his walking Hive Tyrant far forward, hoping to take advantage of the Night Fight rules in effect for the first turn. Normally I choose to keep everything in reserve, however I would need every turn of shooting I could get against this list, so I chose to move my speeders and Vindicators on to the board on the first turn. The Terminators remained in reserve so they could deep strike near the Drop Pods, which I knew would be an unresistable source of KPs.

The Tyranids advanced at the top of Turn 1 and I move on to the board, unloading 4 multimeltas into the Tyrant, causing 3 wounds. My pods came down as far back as could be done safely and arrived side by side near the center of the board, safe from outflanking units. I chose to set them down a considerable distance from the speeders so that Jeff would be forced to either split his forces or come at a diagonal, which would buy me another round of shooting. I knew this strategy would work well because the only fast units in his army were the Genestealers, which I knew I would have no problem eliminating. After bringing them down I could exploit his weakness (speed) by consolidating my forces on the right side of the board to crush his army piecemeal.

My opponent brought two squads of Genestealers out into the open, later informing me that it was part of his cunning strategy to bait me. I gladly took the bait, using my LS heavy flamers to score 2 KPs, trading two speeders from separate squadrons in return.

Turn 3 started out with Jeff bringing in an outflanking Genestealer unit which was prompted shot down by the combined arms of a Vindicator and my third squad of Tactical Marines along with Vulkan (via pod). The Canifexes, however, were getting dangerously close and I was running out of room to back up.

Everything continued to advance on Turn 4 and one of the two fexes on the left side were now within range of my Drop Pod. It charges and destroys the pod without much effort. Here I make a strategic blunder in forgetting about the second squad of outflanking stealers–instead of moving to the right, I move Vulkan and his unit to the left to get shots off on the Carnifex, scoring 2 wounds. On the other side of the board, my Terminators come in and spread out so as to block access to the other Drop Pods by the Carnifexes and Hive Tyrant. This prevents a multi-charge and buys me time to kill the MCs before they can score free KPs.

Turn 5 is where the game changes. While I’ve been ahead in KPs all game, my situation has been precarious. I have a lot of dangerous things which I’ve been unable to stop early on due to the loss of too many multimeltas on the Land Speeders, so now I’ve got to deal with them in between assaults. The last of the Genestealers arrive on my left flank again and charge into Vulkan and friends. Fortunately, they roll poorly and I make many armor saves, leaving me with only 2 dead. Vulkan rolls well, skewering 3 bugs, while the Veteran Sergeant with his power fist stomps another. Believe it or not, I actually win combat. Here’s where the demeanor of my opponent changes drastically, and he goes from smug to vulgar, constantly cursing and pitching small fits.

On the other side, the Hive Tyrant shoots into the Terminators, hitting all 12 shots and wounding 11. I manage to beat the odds and only fail 1 save. More cursing, yelling, and fit pitching. The subsequent close combat is where my rolling really shines though. The HT and both fexes charge in. HT goes first and scores a few wounds, but I make 3 or 4 invulnerable (3+) saves. The fexes and my Terminators go simultaneously, and I score 6 wounds, smiting one Carnifex (previously wounded twice by missile launchers) and put 2 wounds on both of the other MCs. The Carnifexes hit and wound on the odds, but I manage to make all saves. With 5 Assault Terminators remaining, I win combat by a large margin.

Seeing how distraught and upset my opponent has become, I actually apologize for rolling so spectacularly and try to sympathize with his position. I know exactly how it feels to play a good game and have the dice turn on you, and how annoying it is when you have zero power over the situation. He didn’t really want to hear any of it and was content to curse and complain–at this point I just wanted to wrap up the game as quickly as possible.

Bottom of Turn 5. Vulkan mops up the remaining Genestealers and I score another KP. The Terminators finish off both of the remaining MCs, but lose a man in the process. Tactical Squads behind the Assault Terminators rapid fire into a Carnifex on the left and bring it down, but not before taking out a Vindicator.

A 3 is rolled to continue, but the game is already over. We go through the motions and Jeff scores another KP, but nothing can change the outcome at this point. At the end of my turn the tally is Salamanders: 10, Tyranids: 5. I score my third and final victory of the tournament.

Despite my opponent’s behavior, I sympathized with his plight and gave him a 4/5 on sportsmanship. Unfortunately, he decided to take his bitterness out on me and docked me points. And then talk shit about me to everyone withint earshot. Oh well. I’ve played at many, many tournaments and this is the first time I’ve ever had to play against That Fucking Guy, so I guess I was due.