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Doom Eagles in vicious rematch vs Tyranids Okay, a few weeks ago I ran a game between my Doom Eagles and my Tyranid army. The Doom Eagles walked away with the game, and I tried to adjust my Tyrnanids a bit to make them more effective, while still sticking to their theme. Here is my adjusted list. My Doom Eagles list is the same as it was for the Vancouver GT, with the addition of 3 Terminators with Powerfist and Stormbolter to make up the point difference between the two armies. Hivefleet Geek, Two-Tone Splinter: Overall Tyranid plan: Hide the Hive Tyrant and Lictor while the Gaunts run up and engage the enemy front lines. The huge wave of Gaunts will have something of a tarbaby effect, pinning a large chunk of the enemy in place and bottling up most of the rest without letting them shoot. Once the enemy lines are pinned in place the Hive Tyrant and Lictor will reveal themselves and charge in together at choice targets being held by the Gaunts. The two of them should be quite devastating to almost any unit hit, and will be less prone to being shot or counter-assaulted in the quagmire of Gaunts. Now, let's see how the plan unfolds... Turn 1: Gaunts Fleet of Claw, Tyrant moves up behind a hill, Lictor stays hidden. Terminators Shoot: 45 Gaunts down, wiping out one big squad of Slashers and cutting the other in half. Turn 2: Gaunts continue with the fleeting of claws, while Tyrant and Lictor come out of hiding. Tyrant attempts a Warp Blast, but misses with the bolt of concentrated psychic energy. Gaunts charge in, enveloping the front-line squad and both 2nd line squads. Gaunts take down Chaplain and 9(!!!!!) Terminators on the charge, losing 9 Slashers and 4 Spitters in return. The rear squads adjust position to exact vengeance. Two Terminators spot the Lictor and fire at it ineffectively, then they all charge in against the Gaunts. Although a single Terminator is dragged down, 8 Slashers and 15 Spitters are shredded in the fury of the assault. Turn 3: Hive Tyrant and Lictor move up and both concentrate on a single 2nd-line squad. The Lictor kills 1 while the Hive Tyrant takes down the other 3 to finish off the squad. The Gaunts drag down 2 more Terminators, losing the last 5 Spitters and 12 more Slashers. The Tyrant and Lictor consolidate into the rear squad, with the Tyrant killing three while the Lictor screams ineffectively. Despite their desperate attacks, the Gaunts do not kill a single Terminator, while losing 8 of their number. Turn 4: The Lictor again kills nothing, while the Hive Tyrant only manages to take down 2 Terminators. The return attacks are nothing to it, but the Terminators finally kill the last 2 Slashers. The victorious Terminators rush to help their battle-brothers. The Tyrant manages to kill 2 more and the Lictor even takes down 1, but 3 of the charging Terminators shatter the Tyrant's chitin with their Powerfists and tear it to pieces. The Lictor has an outbreak of common sense and leaps away from the vengeful Terminators. Turn 5: As the squads consolidate, the Lictor leaps back to attack one, then leaps away ineffectively, but without damage. The Terminators give chase. The last remaining Cyclone Launcher spots the Lictor disappearing behind a hill and speeds it on it's way with a Krak missile that blows through it's abdomen, ending the day. Victory for the Doom Eagles, though with only 6 Terminators left in 2 understrength squads, it's a pyrrhic victory. Final Stats: Chaplain: 1 Slasher (Oh man, how humiliating!) Doom Eagles Shooting: 47 Gaunts and 1 Lictor. Lictor: 2 Terminators (well, it paid for itself) Gaunts: 11 Terminators and 1 Chaplain. Hive Tyrant: 10 Terminators (Definitely the MVP of this game, though a special mention goes to the 3-4 Gaunts that took down the Chaplain in the initial charge!) Lessons Learned: Gaunts are much nastier on a charge than I had remembered! Those Rending Claws do make a big difference, and are twice as effective on the charge. The Hive Tyrant is also MUCH more effective if it can pick and choose it's targets, particularly with some backup in the form of the Lictor. Although I knew how shooty my Doom Eagles were, I was still surprised at how much damage they did in that first turn. I was also impressed at how resilient they were in close combat and how much damage they did in return there as well. My overall plans for the Tyranids in the GT have not changed, but I'll keep in mind the amount of damage my Gaunts will do on the initial charge and plan accordingly. Hopefully I'll also remember to use the Hit and Run ability of my Lictor more often and maybe one day I'll even remember to use the Hive Tyrant's rule: The Horror. Although most enemies are likely to make the morale check, it should help out every once in a while. If you get the chance to stop by the Grand Tournament (Feb 27-29th at Seahawk Stadium) I would highly recommend it. There will be a lot of neat stuff on display and for sale, plus truly incredible armies and interesting Conflict events. Should you get the chance, please come by and say to me, I'd love to meet you! If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know |