20: Tales of a Splinter Fleet

Game 20: 1500 Points vs Space Wolves
Scenario - Seize Ground (three objectives - moisture vaporators), Spearhead deployment

I played a full drop pod army again so nothing arrive until the bottom of turn two. This gave the marines plenty of time to position themselves ready for the attack. They just did not know where it was going to come from...

Tyranid Air Assault

Hive Tyrant (Old Adversary, Hive Commander, Wings, TL Devs x2)

Zoanthropes x2 in Spore Pod w/ TL Deathspitter

Zoanthropes x2 in Spore Pod w/ TL Deathspitter

Ymgarl Xenomorphs x7

Termagants w/ Devourers x20 in Spore Pod w/ TL Deathspitter

Mummy Tervigon (Toxic,Adreanl,Catalysis) [Outflanking]

Broodlord (Toxic) & 5 Genestealers w/ Toxic

Gargoyle Brood x12 w /AG,TS

Space Wolves (not all gear listed)

Rune Priest Penda leading 8 Grey Hunters & Wolf Guard w/ Fist in Rhino

Wolf Priest Tola leading 8 Grey Hunters & Wolf Guard w/ Fist in Rhino

Five Long Fangs in Lazerback

Rune Priest Ozur leading 4 Terminators in a Drop Pod.

Dreadnought Vandrad

Land speeder w/ HF, MM

The hive ship drifted through the star-system drawn towards the transmissions from several moons orbiting a gas giant. As the ship approached its autonomic nervous system began launching spores towards the planetoids. Sensing this activity the hive mind stirred from its hibernation and started to listen to the transmissions of its prey.

Ozur's pod was buffeted by the moons strong winds as it dropped towards his brother Penda and the troops already on the ground. The pod landed in the north-east edge of the plateau next to one of the moisture vaporators. As his retinue took up position around the pod Ozur could see Penda repositioning his troops in the north-west. The two APC's parked up back-to-back in front of a tumbled down keep near another vaporator. Inside the keep were the long fangs with brother Vandrad to the west and the Lazerback to the east. Between the two groups of soldiers was the wreckage of a crashed shuttle amongst which a third moisture vaporator was somehow still operating.

Unfortunately for the marines Xenomorphs were already lying dormant in the keep and as the spores fell they burst out of the ground tearing through the metal hulls of the APC's and the exposed pistons of brother Vandrad's mighty power claw. Devilgaunts disgorged from a pod killed all but one of the Fangs. Penda was able to dissipate most of the Zoanthropes psychic energy but one of them blasted the Lazerback forcing the crew to spend precious moments re-routing power cables to get the guns back on line.

Ozur was too far away to join the fray and he could see a swarm of gargoyles and a gigantic beast both heading towards the keep. He ordered his men to shoot at the near by spore blasting chunks of wet flesh from it. His men were so busy they did not see the genestealers creeping up behind them and all the terminators died in the ambush leaving just Ozur fighting alone. Penda tried to summon lightning from the ether but the psyhic choir of the brain-bugs broke his concentration and the return fire carved the APC in half forcing the troops out on to the moons frigid surface. Tola roasted some gaunts with a flamer but it was not enough as the swarm of gargoyles descended on the immobilised APC and tore it to shreds, one panel at a time, killing everyone inside. The Xenomorphs ripped the stabilisers from brother Vandrad's legs while contining to be to agile for him to crush any.

Another psyhic blast stripped the tracks from the Lazerback but the crew were able to get the guns back online. They just had enough time to zap the hovering form of Tyrant descending towards them before the vehile was annihilated in a massive fireball. Pedra got revenge for his fallen kin by wiping out the gargoyles but several of his men fell to the hail of needles from the devilgaunts. Mummy charged forward biting deep into Vandrad's power pack silencing the mighty fighting engine.

Its engines open at full throttle the land speeder rushed towards the drop pod burning genestealers with its flamer. Unfortunately they were not quick enough to save Ozur who was eaten by the hulking leader of the alien brood. Pedra did not long survive his brother being skewered on a spike by the Tyrant as the last of his men died to the Xenomorphs.

With nothing to now hold back their warp blasts the Brain-bugs obliterating the drop pod and destroyed the engine on the speeder forcing it to land next to the broodlord who quickly slaughtered the crew.

Aftermath: Victory by annihilation for the Hive Mind (I also had two objectives).

The game may have been a massacre but tactically it was very close to a draw. I killed the last grey hunter at the end of turn five so if I had not been lucky in wiping out a whole squad in their transport they would still have had men contesting the western moisture vaporator. Mummy only managed to spawn three babies this game and the Zoantrhopes kept glancing the APC's. However the dice gods did give my opponent bad rolls too. Snake eyes on the terminators saves was harsh and the rune priest and Dreadnought kept rolling one and two to hit even with their magic necklaces.