4th Edition Battle Report

With 4th Edition coming up, I decided that I'd better brush up on the rules changes, so here is a battle report between 2 of my forces.

Army Lists:

Tyranids:

Flying Hive Tyrant, Implant Attack, Warp Blast, Double Scything Talons and most of the biomorphs

3 Lictors

2 Carnifexes with Venom Cannon and Scything Talons, plus Enhanced Senses and Extended Carapace

12x Genestealer

12x Genestealer

12x Genestealer

7x Genestealer

6x Genestealer

Doom Eagles Strike Force 1:

Master of the Doom Eagles with Power Sword and Storm Bolter and Terminator Armor Command squad with 2 Cyclone Launchers and 2 Terminators (1 being an Apothecary) The Wall: Sergeant + 2 Cyclone Launchers and 7 Terminators (joined by Apothecary)

Cyclone Squad 2: Sgt+2 Cyclone Launchers and 2 Terminators

Cyclone Squad 3: Sgt+2 Cyclone Launchers and 2 Terminators

Setup:

4x4 Board with large clumps of forest roughly in the center of each quarter.

Doom Eagles Strike Force 1 sets up with The Wall (1st squad+Apothecary) in front and the 3 other squads behind them. The Genestealer army sets up with the Genestealers centered (larger squads in front) and the Carnifexes flanking. The Tyrant starts behind cover and the Lictors are roughly spread across the front of the Doom Eagles deployment zone, very close in.

Turn 1: Tyranids take first turn. Genestealers move up 6 inches. Hive Tyrant flies out 12" toward the Doom Eagles left flank. The Carnifexes move up and fire their Venom Cannons into The Wall, with no results, while the Lictors pop up from hiding and all 3 charge The Wall. The Lictor on the Doom Eagles Left Flank has a hayday and scythes through both the Sergeant and another Terminator, while the other two Lictors each claim one Cyclone Terminator. The Terminators respond by killing the central Lictor, then, because they are Stubborn, consolidate toward the other two. The Lictors win the combat, but do not outnumber the Doom Eagles, so no further wounds are caused.

Doom Eagles Cyclone Squads 2 and 3 each move out from their flanking positions and fire into the lead Genestealer broods, claiming 5 from each. The Genestealers continue on even as the remaining Lictors drag down another Terminator and are then killed in a flurry of powerfists. The Doom Eagles consolidate their position.

Turn 2: Genestealers and Carnifexes move up, with the latter firing into Cyclone Squad 3 and killing the Sergeant. The Hive Tyrant lands heavily and sends a corruscating burst of psychic energy into the remains of The Wall, before leaping into assault against them. The Tyrant slashes through 2 of the Terminators like tissue, but merely injures the 3rd, who strikes back at it, wounding it with his powerfist. The Tyrant wins the combat against the Stubborn Terminators, causing another wound due to outnumbering. (The wound is saved, however.) The Terminators cluster around it, ready to avenge their battle brethren.

Doom Eagles Cyclone Squads 2 and 3 again fire at the lead Genestealer broods, reducing them to 2 and 3 respectively, but the Genestealers continue moving forward. The Doom Eagles Command Squad moves around to the side and assaults the Tyrant. Although the Tyrant eviscerates the Master of the Doom Eagles and another Terminator from the Command Squad, it is then dragged down in a flurry of powerfists. The 2 battered Doom Eagles squads consolidate near each other for support.

Turn 3: The Genestealers and Carnifexes move up again, with the Carnifexes claiming the life of the Sergeant of Cyclone Squad 2. Being just out of range for assaulting, the Genestealers snarl and brace themselves for the coming firestorm.

The Doom Eagles, realizing that they cannot evade the Genestealers move up and fire, killing the remainder of the first two broods, then killing 6 of the third brood, then rush to the attack on the two broods within reach. The 4 Cyclone Terminators from the Cyclone squads die, but all of the Genestealers are cut down in the rush. The Terminators consolidate forward, but are just out of reach of the remaining Genestealers.

Turn 4: The fifth and last Genestealer brood charges in against the Command Squad, while one Carnifex fires into the remains of The Wall and charges in, and the other does likewise with Cyclone squad 2. The Command squad is torn limb from limb before they can react, with the Genestealers tearing forward and engaging the remainder of Cyclone Squad 3. The Carnifexes each kill a single Terminator, taking a Wound in return. Although the Terminators are stubborn, they are badly outnumbered by the Carnifexes and take extra wounds, with 2 going to The Wall and 9! going to Cyclone Squad 2. The Wall survives, but Cyclone Squad 2 does not, leaving the Carnifex free to consolidate. (Note that I'm not sure if Squad 2 should have taken 9 Wounds. Traditionally, outnumbering has only gone to the 5 mark, but the preview rules don't mention an upper limit, they just say 1 wound from Outnumbering 2:1, 2 wounds from 3:1, and so on.)

Cyclone Squad 3 is helpless against the rage of the Genestealers and dies where it stood. The Carnifex kills another Terminator from The Wall, but succumbs at last to their powerfists. Sadly, the Terminators were not free however, for the Genestealers continued their rampage, crashing into the Terminators even as they felled the massive beast.

Turn 5: The Genestealers shred the members of the Wall and cease their carnage. They scent the wind, and upon finding no prey within distance, begin to chitter and gnaw on the corpses.

Final result: a marginal victory for the Tyranids, with a wounded Carnifex and 1 brood of 6 Genestealers left.

Thoughts
Well, that went pretty smoothly, and I like what I see so far. Admittedly, with Fearless, or at least nigh-fearless armies, I didn't get a chance to really see how Leadership effects the new rules, but I still got to try stuff out and see how it works. First off, I'm really impressed by how much damage the concentrated units can do. Both Genestealers and Terminators have a lot of models all equipped with a powerful weapon, as opposed to other units that only get one or two powerful weapons and a bunch of mediocre ones. I think that this edition, in addition to rewarding numbers, also rewards the specialty troops that are all equipped with the same kind of close combat weapon. Previously, any Terminators outside of base contact with the enemy were "stone throwers" (in other words, they couldn't make use of their powerful attacks, so they might as well throw some stones.) Now, there are no Stone Throwers and everyone that can fight will get their full attacks as well as any special abilities. You can see how this works when the Terminators charge the Genestealers, then again when the Genestealers charge the Terminators. Other units, such as Banshees or Incubi should also be markedly more effective due to the same reason. All in all, I think this will make the game more fun and interesting, with more diversity and maneuverability, as well as a good balance throughout.

If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know

If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know

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