[Epic] Tyranids vs Marines AAR

From: Los <los_at_...>
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 16:41:59 -0800

AAR Delaying action at Point Judith.
Forces:
2d Company Emperor�s Hand Space Marine Chapter (approx 1100 pts)
Det 1. Tactical detachment Scipio (2 tac sqds, 1 dev sqd, 1 Land raider,
rhinos, Captain w/ cmd Land Raider)
Det 2 Tactical detachment Crassus (2 tac sqds, 1 dev sqd, 1 Land raider,
rhinos, Librarian)
Det 3. Assault Detachment Graccus (2 Asslt sqds, 2 terminator sqds, 1
sct sqd, 1 dreadnought, one Librarian)
Det 4. Support detachment Belarius (3 whirlwinds, 1 tactical sqd, 1
ddreadnought)
Det 5. Bike/recon detachment Harley(2 bike sqds, 2 land speeders)
Det 6. Flyer Detachment Foss (2 marauders)
Det 7. Civilians (1000+ civilians in groups of 30)

Tyranid Hive (3000 pts)
Det 1. Assault Swarm (tons of hormagants, termagants Tyranid warrior
cmd, lictors)
Det 2. Assault Swarm (termagants, genestealers, lictors, carnifexes,
tyranid warriors, hive tyrant)
Det 3. Support Swarm (8 biovores, termagants, genestealers, tyranid
warriors, hive tyrant)
Det 4. Flyer Swarm ( harridan, mucho gargoyles)
Det 5. Reserve Swarm (Termagants, genestealers, Hive Tyrant, Zoanthrope,
2 Carnifex, 2 Lictors,T-warriors)
Det 6. Reserve Swarm (tyranid warriors, genestealers, hormagants,
termagants)
Det 7. Bio-titans (1x heirophant, 1 x heirodule)
Det 8. Hive mind synapse (1 Dominatrix)
Det 9. Flyer Swarm ( harridan, mucho gargoyles)

Background:
Having secured a foothold on Gowda IV, Task force Black under the
command or commissar Al Jahr, recaptured the Imperial Base at Haven from
the genestealer Cult. In a race against time against the Hive fleet,
Imperial reinforcements began to trickle in through the disturbed local
warp. One Space Marine company from the Emperor�s Hand arrived first.
Commissar Al Jahr, of Task Force Black immediately dispatched it to the
Communications array at point Judith, where an I.G. scout platoon had
reported numerous civilians had gathered in flight from Genestealer Cult
forces. These civilians were comprised mainly of technicians and their
families, who would be vital in rebuilding the severely damaged mining
facilities on the plan after the Cult forces were finally destroyed.
Thus a decision was reached to evacuate those civilians at all cost.

The Space Marines arrived at Point Judith to find the town destroyed by
fire and nearly a thousand survivors, most in need a medical attention,
gathered at the Communications site. Despite severely overtasked flyer
assets, Al Jahr diverted two Thunderhawks, two assault skimmers, and two
Chinooks to evacuate the civilians before the arrival of the Hive fleet.
This was not to be accomplished without incident, as Tyranid forces,
avoiding the main defenses at Haven landed in the vicinity of Point
Judith. Thus began a race against time. Would The Marines hold back the
Tyranids long enough to evacuate the civilians?

Special Rules: The game was played using Epic 40k. We were not going to
go by regular victory points, only final results. The Marine player had
to evacuate all the civilians from Point Judith. The tyranids had to
kill everything in sight. We used a number of pennies to represent
civilian evacuation points. Each penny was worth 30 civilians. Chinooks
(we used GZG GEVtransports) can evacuate one point per turn and T-Hawks
can evacuate 2. (They really squeeze them in there.) The transport
assets were allowed to shuttle in one chinook and one T-hawk d per turn
into the PZ (pick-up Zone). Also starting on turn one a 1d roll of 6
would get the Imperial player one Marauder detachment w/ fighter escort
for 2 straight turns). If it didn�t come in, then the next turn it was
1d6 roll of 5. Next turn 1d6 roll of 4 and so on until the air support
came in. (note that in this story the skimmers are VTOL hover craft used
by the Scotian military. Don�t worry it�ll all be in my story <g>)

Initial Setup: I would upload a jpg map but I figure some people will
get pissed. I do plan on posting this AAR with paictures of teh fighting
and color maps on my website in a few days.
x=hills and woods o=built up area
         NORTH --> XXXXX 3 PZ
XX <-- Hills Bugs---> 1 OOOOOO <---Point judith
XXXBugs---> OOOOOO XX
XXXXX Support bugs---> 2 OXXOOO XX
XXXX Bugs---> Bugs---> 5X X4XXXXX <---Big hill w/ woods
SOUTH
Note: there is a crescent shaped hedgerow running acroos the open area
two hundred maters west of Point Judith
Setup
1. Crassus
2. Scipio
3. Graccus
4. Belarious
5. Harley

Turn one: Force Harley, (bike detachment) Sergeant Bost, cranked up the
magnification of his glasses to full power and scanned the treeline
across the valley. His detachment, consisting of two bike sqds and two
land speeders, were acting as a forward screen for the main battle line.
Suddenly he detected movement across the valley. With little fanfare
terrible creatures began to spill out of the wooded hill and rush across
the field. Bost spoke calmly into his commlink, reporting the movement
to the TF commander. In mid sentence, a huge shape obscured his view,
causing him to jump. He lowered his glasses. Lictors! Somehow they had
infiltrated nearly up to their position. The battle commenced.

Force Graccus (Tactical detachment), was posted along the northern flank
of the Marine battle line. On the extreme end a squad leader reported
movement across the valley , followed by a second report confirming a
Tyranid swarm moving towards their flank. Again Lictors appeared nearly
atop them, followed by Carnifexs and swarms of other monstrosities.
Force Graccus engaged at once.

Turn Two: Force Harley remained on overwatch and directed a hail of fire
into the advancing Lictors. They were supported by a whirlwind
detachment directly to their rear and Tactical detachment Scipio, posted
to their north in the center of the Marine battle line. Half the Lictors
fell but the rest pressed on. Hundreds of bugs continued to pour out of
the woodline across the valley. A Second large force appeared in the
center of the valley. This was comprised of a large force of biovores,
which rained down deadly spore mines on the Marine battle line.

At the Comm site, Force Crassus, an assault detachment, secured the LZ
(which was actually run by the I.G.scout platoon). Evacuation of the
civilians went on as planned. Where was that marine air?

Turn three: The entire southern flank of the Marine battleline was
firing in support of Force Harley, which was attempting to disrupt the
Tyranid push. Behind the Lictor skirmish line was a swarm of Hormagants
and Termagants scrambling forward. behind them pouring out of the woods
was a second huge swarm. The swarm in the center of the valley, was
halted and supporting the attack with ranged fire. All but one Lictor
was destroyed, but that one waded into Harley, killing two Marine bikers
in a close assault and compelling Harley to pull back. Out of the
treeline across the valley emerged a huge Dominatrix!

On the northern flank, the tyranid swarm seemed to hesitate for a
moment, choosing to rain a heavy fire down upon the marines of Force
Crassus. This was a tactic that suited the Marines well, and they
exchanged a heavy fire with the tyranids, killing many.

Turn four: Still no Marine air! The time for Force Harley to leave had
come. Still tangled with that lone Lictor, they could not afford to be
caught by the Wave of rushing Hormagants behind it. The problem was
that Harley�s only escape route meant into would have to travel within
spitting distance of the support detachment. Still there was no choice.
To remain was certain death. Under cover from a hail of rockets from the
Whirlwind detachment and Force Scipio. Sgt Bost led his force out. The
narrowly missed the swing of the Lictors claws, but the tyranid support
detachment, destroyed Harley�s last two remaining Bikes, leaving just
the land speeders to make their getaway. Behind them tyranid monsters
swarmed over the old positions. Captain Reno ordered Harley up north to
support Crassus.

Force Crassus held their position for another turn, hoping that the
obstacle of the Hedgerow, combined with their firepower would slow down
the Tyranids. The Swarm came on with assault orders. Landraiders,
bolters, plasma guns lasguns glowed red hot as the marines tried to
fight off their attackers. Many creatures died attempting to climb or
cut through the hedgerow. However on the extreme northern flank, enough
got through to overwhelm and kill every marine in Sgt Pizo�s squad.
Following that assault, Crassus backed off two hundred meters.

Turn five: Again no sign of air support! (what rotten luck!) The Tyranid
hordes ground forward without mercy or even heed to their own horrendous
casualties. What was scary was the appearance of two huge bio-titans
which could be seen far in the distance crashing through the forest. A
more dangerous threat was the sight of several harridans behind them,
they would be a threat next turn.

Force Harley arrived in time to provide covering fire for a slowly
retreating Force Crassus. The northern Swarm had been grievously
depleted pushing them off the hedgerows. However it still had teeth, as
seen by an exploding Rhino, killed by the deadly weapons of a Carnifex.

The whirlwind detachment (Belarius) laid down a furious barrage on
Harley�s old position. It was clear now that two full assault swarms
were attempting a Southern flank �end run�. The first swarm moved
across a small heavily wooded rivine in an attempt to get at the
whirlwind detachment. Heavy terrain slowed up the tyranids, preventing
them from assaulting Belarius. One marine squad, and a dreadnought
fought alone to protect the whirlwinds. A follow-up swarm pivoted North
in an attempt to roll up the Marine battle line. It was clear now that
the a Tyranid tactic had been to move his main force along the southern
edge, to avoid as much Marine fire power as possible. While the northern
attach was just a feint. In the center, fearsome Tyranid support weapons
attempted to disrupt the marine line.

Force Crassus, having pulled back a hundred meters now felt the fury of
a head on assault by the tyranid swarm. In the ensuing close combat, the
force lost it�s captain, and several more stands of marines. This proved
too much for even the Space Marines, and they were thrown back in
confusion to deep within the town. Unlucky as they were, Crassus failed
to rally and would spend the next turn broken.

The Tyranid Dominatrix came into action, destroying the command land
raider with it�s AT rolls and killing Marines with it�s Deathray. Blast
markers were beginning to pile up on all the Marine detachments. The
marine commander, looking at the advancing hordes and his own forces,
judged that they may not be able to hold the line long enough to
evacuate all the civilians. At this point, he ordered all rhinos to
leave the battle line and assist in an overland evacuation of the
civilians. This of course, left the Marines on foot against the
Tyranids.

Turn six: Enter the Marauders! A detachment of Marauders arrived on
station and delivered their ordnance on the southern flank assault.
Force Marius the assault detachment running the LZ came forward and
together with Force Harley destroyed the Northern Flank threat.

The Dominatrix and the Support Swarm, focused it�s attention of the
support detachment, destroying 2 of 3 Whirlwinds and loading them up
with Blast Markers. The remnants of the first tyranid assault detachment
swept up the hill and in savage fighting was finally defeated, but at
the grievous lost of one of second company�s venerated dreadnoughts.

A great harridan appeared overhead swooping towards the LZ and force
Marius. It disgorged a cloud of Gargoyles, that, together with a few
remnants led by a hive tyrant assaulted force Graccus in a bid to attack
the PZ. The force was defeated, all remaining tyranids killed, but at
the lost of a squad of assault Marines and a squad of terminators.!

Turn Seven: Another Marauder detachment arrives, this time hitting the
biovores which have been heaping blast markers on the Marine line.
Crassus rallied and took up positions on the edge of the town. Between
Crassus, Graccus, and Harley, the Marines reestablished a firing line
that killed Tyranids before they could become a threat. The Tyranid
support Swarm and the Dominatrix adjusted tactics and blasted Harley,.
This left then with one Land speeder limping to the rear. The
Dominatrix, shot up yet another land raider, leaving only one left.

In the South, Force Scipio, bore the brunt of another close assault
while trying to cover the retreat of the Whirlwind detachment. This cost
Scipio dearly and it was thrown back into the town, rallying from the
safety within. If the Marines can hold out only three more turns,
they�ll have all the civilians evacuated.

Turn Eight. The tyranid assault spawns, were now severely depleted,
(one was pretty much destroyed). Still the maneuvered over the hill
where Belarius had once been and attempted to enter point Judith. force
Scipio fought from building to building, using their superior firepower
and firefighting ability, in combination with the very rough terrain, to
keep the Tyranids off them another turn.

Force Crassus now formed the center of the Marine line, along the the
western edge of Judith. Despite having inflicted a number of hits on the
Dominatrix. This huge creature hung back at extreme range and blasted
the Marines, destroying their last Land Raider. A reserve Swarm
maneuvered to attack in the center of the line but was still out of
range. In the north, remnants of the various tryranid detachments,
working with gargoyles) harried force Graccus, but the marines refused
to leave until a diverted rhino arrived on scene to pick up the 5 fallen
comrades in terminator armor. It would be a disgrace to leave those on
the battlefield.

Turn Nine: The assualt spawn on the southern hill gathered enough
strength to launch an assault on Scipio and the remnants of Belarius.
The fighting was extended and bitter. Scipio was thrown back, the final
pieces of Belarius destroyed, but at heavy damage to the tyranid swarm
also. The reserve swarm arrived to hit Crassus in the center of the
marine line. Sufficiently prepped by biovore and dominatrix fire,
Crassus suffered grievously and was compelled to withdraw it�s least ten
marines. Graccus withdrew into Point Judith taking positions in some
buildings on the very edge of the PZ. Civilians were panicking. The
rhinos pulled off with almost 100 civilians on board, thus cutting it
down to one more lift to bring out the last of them.

Turn Ten: The entire marine battle force was now compressed into an area
smaller than a city block. The Tyranid player threw caution to the wind.
this was their last chance to disrupt the evacuation. With no prep fire
they assaulted from all sides. many were cut down as they were forced to
channelize down city streets. Bolters stacked up the ungodly creatures
in piles as high as a dreadnought. The tough terrain kept some key
creatures from getting at the marines. Still it all came down to a
deadly hand to hand fight as the remainder of the marines fought off
those tyranids that could get to them. The tyranids were compelled to
fall back. A hive Tyrant lay dead. The civilians had escaped.

Aftermath: With the tyranids compelled to pull back after the failed
assault. The last marines used that opportunity to go on marching orders
and pull back in full flight to another PZ on the far side of town. They
had accomplish their task, but at what cost? Left standing from Second
Company was one land Speeder, one terminator squad, one Librarian
stand, and one devastator stand. (Plus the Rhinos)

Los
Received on Fri Feb 27 1998 - 00:41:59 UTC