Deployment For the first time ever we rolled “meat grinder” for the battle type (based on killpoints), with Dawn of War deployment. I placed the maximum number of ‘Nids as far forward as possible (being a melee army, see…). James responded by Operation Yellow Streak – none of his troops chose to deploy on the field! I was using Timmy’s standard ‘Nad army, with txrea hive tyrants and also a highly-statted Ravener brood held in reserve to deep strike for a total of 1500 points. James was fielding another terminator based army (this time just using the standard codex) with two 10 man squads (1 held in reserve for deep strike), plus 2 tactical squads, a Razorback with heavy bolters, and a Dreadnought.

Reserves: Embarked: (In Rhino) Deployment O Objective Unit takes wounds Unit destroyed Hill (4+) Woods (Difficult/4+) Swamp (Difficult/5+) Ruins (solid, 4+, Large riuns have ledges + destructible walls) Tact. Gaunts WT Stealers TERMINATOR Raveners D L WT C HT Dreadnought Librarian Winged Tyrant Hive Tyrant Carnifex

Turn 1 My gaunts run forward, but not too far, so they can charge on turn 2 but not be charged on turn 1 as jame’s forces move in. the Stealers advance to take cover in the woods and the Winged Tyrant hides behind a wall to try and get some cover. The rest of my forces move up from the table edge as Jame’s terminators hove into view. Inevitably I take a punding, losing saveral stealers to the tactical squad, while the terminators focus on the Winged Tyrant, reducing it to 1 wound. Firepower from Jame’s Razorback (possibly the dreadnought too, though that may have been shooting at the Tyrant) whittle a few Gaunts down.

Reserves: Embarked: (In Rhino) Turn 1 O Objective Unit takes wounds Unit destroyed Hill (4+) Woods (Difficult/4+) Swamp (Difficult/5+) Ruins (solid, 4+, Large riuns have ledges + destructible walls) Tact. Gaunts WT Stealers Tactical RHINO. TERMINATOR Raveners D Gaunts L Termagaunts War. HT C D L WT C HT Dreadnought Librarian Winged Tyrant Hive Tyrant Carnifex

Turn 2 The large gaunt squad now closes with the terminators. Although their weight of numbers brings 1 down, they are completely wiped out in return – not so good. The stealers fare little better – despite killing a good number of tactical marines, they eventually are wiped out on Jame’s turn leaving about 3 tactical marines alive. The Winged Tyrant is the only one who does anything useful this turn by engaging the dreadnought, ripping off its power fist in my turn then killing it in Jame’s. The tactical marines on the left shoot forward and deploy from the Razorback, wiping out my smaller Gaunt squad with flamer and rapid firing bolters (small, weak squads are not really a good idea in Meat Grinder battles) The terminators advance towards the ruins firing as they come and wounding the Carnifex.

Reserves: Embarked: (In Rhino) Turn 2 O Objective Unit takes wounds Unit destroyed Hill (4+) Woods (Difficult/4+) Swamp (Difficult/5+) Ruins (solid, 4+, Large riuns have ledges + destructible walls) Tact. Gaunts WT Stealers Tactical RHINO. TERMINATOR Raveners D Gaunts L Termagaunts War. HT C D L WT C HT Dreadnought Librarian Winged Tyrant Hive Tyrant Carnifex

Turn 3 Things go from bad to worse for me, as the Carnifex turns out still to be just too far to charge the Terminators, and ends up getting charged by them instead. Despite having every possible melee upgrade it only manages to kill 1 before it is ripped apart by power fists. My without number Gaunts respawn, but due to a bizarre (and frankly suspect) rules interpretation they can do nothing this turn. The Termagaunts, too scared to charge the terminators, instead break left using their long charge range to reach the marines. The Marnies fight well however, holding their own though both sides take losses. Crucially this turn I forgot to roll for reserves. The Winged tyrant chases down the Razorback on the left flank, stunning it – surely only a matter of time til it gets a fatal hit. And Jame’s terminators teleport in, opening fire on the confused Gaunts and killing most of them.

Reserves: Embarked: (In Rhino) Turn 3 O Objective Unit takes wounds Unit destroyed Hill (4+) Woods (Difficult/4+) Swamp (Difficult/5+) Ruins (solid, 4+, Large riuns have ledges + destructible walls) Tact. Gaunts WT Tactical RHINO. TERMINATOR Raveners Wreck Gaunts L Termagaunts War. HT C D L WT C HT Dreadnought Librarian Winged Tyrant Hive Tyrant Carnifex TERMINATOR

Turn 4 On the right, my tyrant and gaunts charge the terminators, desperate to halt their seemingly unstoppable advance. Despite some losses on both sides the battle lines hold. Meanwhile on the left my Warriors charge in to try and help the Hormogaunts finish off the tactical squad before the marines arrive. Again the tyrranids weapons mostly fail against the marines armour leaving the combat stalemated until Jame’s turn, when the terminators go in and kill everything (although in the second round of combat my forces reduce the tactical marines to a single man before being wiped out). The Hive tyrant predictably finishes off the razorback. On jame’s side of the table the Raveners finally arrive, tunnelling up into the woods and launching a devastating blast of wormy-death from their Devourers, which finishes off the remaining marines.

Reserves: Embarked: (In Rhino) Turn 4 O Objective Unit takes wounds Unit destroyed Hill (4+) Woods (Difficult/4+) Swamp (Difficult/5+) Ruins (solid, 4+, Large riuns have ledges + destructible walls) Tact. Gaunts WT Tactical TERMINATOR Raveners Gaunts L Termagaunts War. HT D L WT C HT Dreadnought Librarian Winged Tyrant Hive Tyrant Carnifex RHINO. Wreck TERMINATOR

Turn 5 To steal an extra kill the winged tyrant on the left pounces of the remaining tactical marine, killing him. The response of the terminators is swift and predictable – one dead Tyrant. While the few gaunts at the back lurk to deny james another killpoint, the Raveners rush to get the terminators in the rear. I don’t remember the exact outcome of this fight, but definitely all the terminators including the Librarian died, and the raveners didn’t. According to the scores we added up at the end (game ended on turn 5) James had only 7 killpoints, which means either my hive tyrant and gaunts also survibed, or we miscounted and James should have had 8 killpoints. Either way James wins as I definitely had 6.

Reserves: Embarked: (In Rhino) Turn 5 O Objective Unit takes wounds Unit destroyed Hill (4+) Woods (Difficult/4+) Swamp (Difficult/5+) Ruins (solid, 4+, Large riuns have ledges + destructible walls) Tact. Gaunts WT WRECK TERMINATOR Raveners Gaunts L HT D L WT C HT Dreadnought Librarian Winged Tyrant Hive Tyrant Carnifex Wreck

Conclusions I’m amazed the points were so close, considering the Wall of Doom that was the terminator squad advancing through anything I could throw at it. Despite being a close combat race the tyranids lost repeatedly in close combat, including to normal marines as well as the terminators. Some of this was bad luck I think. Without Number Gaunts (especially small squads) are much more suited to an objective taking game than a killpoints one. Also the Carnifex is massively overupgraded – I could have had 2, only a bit less effective, for less points if I didn’t take all the upgrades (many never get used anyway). The Raveners were my best weapon against the terminators – if I had remembered to roll for reserves earlier, and they had appeared, it might have been better. Still, I would have been hard pushed to get any more killpoints (james only had 1 squad left at the end). I think the objective rules can make the game quite 1-sided depending on your army choices.