So how did it go? There were 16 competitors in the 40K event and I came 6th. Not amazing but not terrible - pretty much where I expected to end up! I posted my army list a few posts back and, having seen some of the other Tyranid armies (there were 5 of us - the infestation is spreading!) there are a few changes I'll be making to my own list. For a start I'm all turned around on the Hive Tyrant - teamed with a unit of at least 2 Hive Guard he's damn near unkillable and really boosts the rest of the army. Still overpriced but, I've concluded, worth taking. Then there's the Doom of Malantai... who I think is set to become as much a mainstay of any competitive Nid army as Vulkan He'stan is to the Space Marines.
As for the individual games I had 2 (non consecutive) games against the same opponent - which it transpired shouldn't have happened (we did raise it at the time with our Unpire only to be told just to go with it so what were we to do?) - a young Chaos Space Marine player who won the Junior Trophy for the whole event. I secured a pretty sound victory both times against him, though he made me work for them more than I'd have liked! For a 14-year old he knew his stuff and in fairness to him I think the 'cheesiness' of my list carried me most of the way toward victory. 2 Tervigons and 2 Trygons PLUS loads of suped-up Hormagaunts PLUS an 'Elites' section crammed with anti-tank: The list was designed to give mechanised marine armies of any description a hard time, which it did with aplomb.
I had 2 games against fellow Tyranid players, both of which I lost 32-0 - the largest margin of loss possible at the tournament! I scored 0 points for both of those games. Funnily enough though, the first of these Nid-v-Nid games was for me the most enjoyable game of the tourney. The mission was 'Home and Away', aka the 'draw' mission. We both deployed defensively and spent the first few turns sizing each other up, advancing cagily. The most tense game of 40K I've ever played, until Turn 3 when I spied an opening in his line and charged. The charge wasn't as effective as it needed to be, which gave him the opening he needed to bulldoze his way to my objective. You can actually see his coverage of the event at: http://maws40k.blogspot.com/2010/08/britcon-2010-aftermath.html
The second Nid v Nid game I found rather demoralising as I'm terrible at 'Kill Points' missions, and through no fault of my opponent I was just getting a bored of the Doom of Malantai killing everything around it! That second gamewas the only time I was wishing for my trusty Orks - they'd have shown those Nids 'how ta fight proppa', or at least had a hoot trying!
Games 3 & 6 were against Space Wolves armies. I LOVE fighting against Space Wolves. As an assault based army with a respectable supporting fire capability, they always present an interesting challenge. Charging them can sometimes be the worst option - what choices does that leave a unit of hormagaunts? Not many! So how did I win both games? Generally by hugging cover and drawing them to me, popping transports to ensure any charge is on my terms as they advance. Meanwhile those of my units who can deploy by deep strike can upset his backline or any outflanking units. Usually the Sons of Russ can be goaded into charging a unit of termegants, which can usuaully hold their own when supported by a Tervigon. Then when my turn comes round my Hormagaunts (or of course some freshly spawned termegants) can dispatch any Blood Claws or Grey hunters that have their sights set on forging their own sagas of valour in battle!
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable event which taught me a lot, and was made all the better by the offer of free tickets next year for all those who attended!
And for anyone who made it this far here's an unrelated picture of one of my tyranid shrikes, who unfortunately had to sit it out at Britcon!
As a fellow Tyranid player who played against Askepios's horde I agree when he described it as a very tense game. It was also my favorite game of the entire tourny. His army was very well painted and modelled and im hoping next year our hordes will cross paths again so we can enjoy another great game
ReplyDeleteThanks Angryman - learned a lot from our game for sure, indeed here's hoping our paths cross again next year!
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