Holding Action at Tears of the Martyr Ridge

Cleanse, 500 points, Tyranids vs Sisters of Battle

Tyranid List

Designer’s notes: This was designed to be a fast list, engaging the enemy on turn 1 or two with the leaping gaunts and then using the Tyrant to engage tanks and concentrate combat power on a single portion of the enemy line.

Hive Tyrant (WS6 BS4 S6 T6 W4 I5 A3+2 LD10 SV3+ Wings, Warp Blast, Implant Attack)

3x8 Slashers (leaping Gaunts with S4, I5, Scything Talons) 1 Hive node/brood

Sisters of Battle List

Designer’s notes: This was designed to be a very hard to kill list, featuring as many sisters as I could place. Since the Sisters of Battle are relatively inexpensive for power armored troops, and they can take squads of sisters in pretty much any slot, I wanted to emphasize those numeric possibilities. In addition, their focus on short-ranged firepower is another interesting side to the sisters, and I decided on meltas, giving them something good against anything big they should encounter (Hive Tyrants, Tanks, etc.) and also something that would crack marines, since marines turn up so frequently.

Celestian Superior (Plasma Pistol, Power weapon)-Cheap commander, with a little punch

Squad: 10 Sisters, 7xBolter, 2xMelta, Sister Superior w/Boltpistol/CCW

Squad: 5 Sisters, 3xBolter, 2xMelta, Sister Sup. W/BP/CCW, Mounted in Rhino.

Squad: 5 Sisters, 3xBolter, 2xMelta, Sister Sup. W/BP/CCW

Yes: 10 Meltas, 1 Plasma Pistol, 1 Power weapon, 19 Bolters

31 figures in Power Armor, even if they are T3.

The game itself:

The Sisters set up with one small squad pushed forward in their corner, while another small squad and the big squad set up in firing ranks on a hill. The remaining small squad on foot set up to one side of the corner near some rocks and the rhino-mounted squad, which held the Celestian Superior, did the same.

The Tyranids moved up mostly behind cover, though one brood of Slashers took a run at the point squad. The squad took several casualties to the fury of the lashing talons, then broke and ran. Smelling blood, the brood ran them down, charging into the guns of the squads on the hill.* The others moved forward and the Tyrant moved from cover to cover in the rocks, looking to strike next turn, and attempting to blast the rhino with a concentrated surge of Synaptic energy, but only glancing it, warping a weapon beyond repair.

The Battle hardened Sisters surprised the Hive Tyrant by moving the flank squads and Rhino into range, then jumping out and shooting at it, inflicting horrible wounds with their searing blasts of plasma and microwaves. The Slasher brood that had charged the hill was rapidly turned into hamburger by the rapid-firing boltguns found there.

The Tyrant then flew behind the small squad and concentrated more synaptic energy on the rhino, but lost focus due to a sudden surge in the Hive. The Tyrant then laid into the small squad, killing three and sending them running. The Tyrant quickly flew after them, spearing and eating them immediately. One Slasher brood surged headlong into the squad on the hill, but failed to kill them. The remaining Slasher brood stumbled on the rocky terrain, however and were unable to reach their targets on the hill.

The Adeptus Sororitas had other ideas, however. The large squad charged in to help the smaller squad, adding to the mayhem on the hill. The squad from the rhino and the Celestian Superior, despite the fury of the Tyrant’s attack, leveled bolters and Meltas and a Plasma Pistol, praying to the Emperor that they could cleanse this abomination. Their pleas went unanswered as the Tyrant nimbly avoided or shrugged off their best efforts.

The Slashers that had lost their footing on the rocks chose to move away from the battle to start harvesting the flora and fauna there, in anticipation of an easy victory.** The Tyrant flew past the Celestian Superior and focused again on the Rhino.*** This time the coruscating Synaptic Energy shattered the hull and set it ablaze, leaving the sisters running outside, just out of reach of the Tyrant’s claws. The Slashers on the hill were beaten down by the efforts of both squads of Sisters, who then calmly resumed their firing positions, singing a litany of praise to the Emperor for watching over and guiding them.

The Celestian Superior and the squad from the rhino again focused all their might against the Hive Tyrant, filling the air with purifying flame and plasma, as well as all the bolter shells they could fire. When the order for peace was given, there was only a pile of ashes left, which quickly vanished in the wind. The remaining Slasher quickly left for easier prey, as this prey-that-fought proved too hard to swallow.

After Action debriefing

Going back over this battle report, I’ve discovered several mistakes that I made, which may or may not have had an effect on the game. Where each mistake occurred, I’ve placed an asterisk, which I’ll use to talk about my mistakes in chronological order. I believe that the player of the Sisters of Battle played well enough, despite some poor die rolls, that the mistakes probably would not have drastically changed the outcome of the game. However, looking at these mistakes should help me avoid them in the future, where they may make the difference.

*The Slasher brood that made first contact should have consolidated where they were instead of running down the remainder of the squad. Certainly, they were out in the open in front of the guns of 15 of the Adeptus Sororitas, but I didn’t take into consideration what those guns were. The 4 Meltas and both bolt pistols would have been out of range, and the 9 bolters would have been out of rapid-fire range, meaning only 9 shots at BS3, meaning about three wounds would have been taken. This would have reduced the brood below half, but it would have left me with a few extra Slashers for the next turn. Certainly not a game-breaker, but it’s something I should keep in mind, Check their Weapons and ranges!

**This was a mistake, as I should have thrown them into the fray on the hill to take out some more Sisters. I'm not sure if I could have won that fight, but it would have made it so close that the Sisters on the hill would probably have been reduced below half-strength, no longer able to claim a table quarter.

***The Hive Tyrant should have moved closer, instead of trying to use the Rhino (and the planned combat afterward) to block the Celestian Superior. As it was, the squad inside the Rhino was able to get out on a side away from the Tyrant, preventing it from assaulting them and allowing them to shoot at it the next turn. If I had moved closer to the Celestian Superior, I might have been able to be close enough to assault the survivors of the explosion. If not, the Tyrant could have simply assaulted the Celestian Superior herself. With it’s greater initiative and powerful attacks, it would have shredded her, at least preventing two plasma shots into it the next turn, though the meltas would have likely gotten it anyway.

Well, it was a fun battle and I can learn from my mistakes and become stronger. In addition, I was pleased with how well the Sisters list did, since I had designed that list and it worked just like it was supposed to.

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