Re: [Epic] Battle Report [LONG!]

From: Sean A. Upchurch <sau_at_...>
Date: Mon, 8 Sep 1997 14:45:51 -0700 (PDT)

> Fantastic! Well written and exciting. Watching two juggernauts like
> Chaos and the Tyranids fight it out is always a blast, especially when
> both sides are well-commanded.

Thanks! I love writing these things almost as much as playing the games.
Chaos v Tyranid is a very classic match-up. You should have seen the looks
from the other table as we were totalling up Assault values :)

"85 for me." "Only 41 here, you got double." Priceless! Especially when
these were 1-on-1 detachment fights. Some folks stopped breathing for a
moment when Dan and I showed them how a "small" Tyranid drop could slap
Cultists around and win by 10(!) in the Assault.

> I would definitely increase the size of your air detachments. Tyranids

Agreed and done. The new Flight swarm is Harridan+9 Gargoyles which keeps
it under a morale break. Normally I like to have my air go over to squeeze
an extra morale point out of them. With the bugs you can't do this as your
air will probably be reduced to 1/2 strength and give points away.

> can absolutely dominate the air, but only by deploying swarms of
> gargoyles. A constructive comment: With Chaos having air detachments
> of their own, I would have kept one of the air groups on intercept.
> Even though you have the lower Intercept value, this allows you to gang
> up on his interceptors (Doomwings) and probably wipe them out the first
> time they try to stop your other group's ground strike. At worst, it
> may force him to not intercept, giving you a free strike.

Interesting and a well thought out idea. I'd think I'll still get the same
number of strikes though depending on how Chaos feels. The difference is I
might get points for those dead Doomwings.

> Absolutely incredible! Unfortunately (I hate to say this) buildings
> are not dangerous terrain for infantry, which the Lord of Change is.
> For a Wave Serpent, this would be right, but not for a Lord of Change
> (skimming infantry only test for river, swamp or marsh terrain on
> 'normal' worlds) unless you declared the buildings dangerous
> beforehand. Still, it made for a fun ending and I can just see the
> look on that Greater Daemon's face (?)... <grin>

I'm actually glad to hear that. I figured we'd done that wrong. Heat of the
moment and all. We were both still reeling from that mutual wipeout on the
other flank.
 
> > Chaos 4 Tyranid -3
>
> Talk about close games!

Well, last Saturday [Sept 6] my bugs took on a "Marine Bubble" army. Land
Raiders, Reaver Titan in the middle with a full shell of tacticals and
terminators on RapidFire all around. *That* one ended on Turn 3 with a *tie*
-8 to -4 with honors going to the Marines. I'd eaten his entire army down
to a 1/2 arty group, the Reaver and a handful of Marines. If only I hadn't
lost 20+ morale from failing to recover blast markers I'd have had him. The
Marine morale was at *7* [start 43] at the end of Turn 2! [Bugs at 28]

Kinda made up for the stuffing I gave them the week before :) 20 to -7 bugs
at the end of turn 3. This week he was more prepared to deal with my dropped
force. It still wasn't enough as I was *only* done in by rolling four '1's
for morale recovery on a couple of dets that had 6 and 7 blast markers, but
he's learning fast. I'm going to need new tricks soon.
 
> I love to see folks work out strategies like this. Perhaps we can put
> this one up on one of the tactics pages?

If anyone wants to, feel free. Everything my group produces *will* at some
point appear on my page. In the meantime feel free to snip it out and put
it somewhere. Just credit Dan with it, OK?
 
> > Chaos Heros: The Hornet Knights ( 6 Slaanesh Engines ) prove that
> > firepower is not a dirty word, slaying almost 100 bugs ( 20 stands )
> > on their own.
>
> Wow, I hadn't realized they killed that many. In my last game vs.
> these guys they took down a Phantom Titan in one turn. They seem to
> know how to shoot. :-)

Yes, I found that to be a very rude surprise when my Marines first ran into
them. But all things being equal I did subject Dan to an airstrike by 4
Thunderhawks in that game. They popped 7 Daemons in a single pass! You do
*not* laugh at 32FP.

Sean U
Received on Mon Sep 08 1997 - 21:45:51 UTC