Imperial Guard v Eldar - Batrep 2000pts

*No pictures this time guys! Sorry!

My List:

Company Cmd Sqd 5
Plasma Guns 4
Carapace Armor 1
Transport: Chimera 1

Platoon Command Squad 5
Flamer 4
Transport: Chimera 1
Heavy Flamer 1

Comissar 1

Infantry Squad 10
Grenade Launcher 1
Heavy: Autocannon 1

Infantry Squad 10
Grenade Launcher 1
Heavy: Autocannon 1

Veteran Squad 10
Plasma Guns 3
Transport: Chimera 1
Heavy Flamer 1

Veteran Squad 10
Meltagun 3
Transport: Chimera 1
Heavy Flamer 1

Veteran Squad 10
Meltagun 3
Transport: Chimera 1
Heavy Flamer 1

Veteran Squad 10
Meltagun 3
Valkyrie Assault Carrier 1
2 Multiple Rocket Pods 1

Vendetta Gunship 1

Vendetta Gunship 1

Leman Russ: Executioner 1

Manticore 1
Heavy Flamer 1

Hydra Flak Tank 3


His List from memory:

Eldrad 

Avatar

Shooty things that are good vs Vehicles

3x Wraithlords

Bikers with Shuriken Cannons

WS w/ CC specialist units

2x Deepstriking things (JPs) 

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-We roll Dawn of War and Annihilation

-He wins the roll to go first and I fail to seize

He deploys the Avatar at the 24" mark and the bike squad with craptons of Shuriken Canons

I deploy my Infantry Blob + CCS on the far right side of the table

His first turn:

All his stuff comes on the board pretty much dead center except the things deepstriking. I don't remember what the DS'ers were but they had some pretty nasty weapons if they could DS and shoot my rear. He shuffles his bikers a little but wants to remain out of LOS. Casts fortune on warlock squad Eldrad is with and nothing else is in range of fortune. Avatar moves 6" and runs 3" towards my troops.

My first turn:

Vendettas head up the center 6" along with the Valk moving 12". Valk deploys Meltavets as a screen so the Avatar has to charge them first. Plasma vets roll on 6" towards double tap range of the Avatar. Hydras roll in far left of my board along with the LRExecutioner and 3 Melta Chimeras for screening for them.

I decide for a good while whether or not I want to leave the CCS where they are at and order the infantry blob to shoot the Wave Serpent that just moved flat out with Bring it Down or move the infantry blob out of the way so my Plasma in the CCS can double tap range the Avatar. I decide to move the blob and sacrifice my shooting from the infantry squad blob. I move 12" towards the Avatar easily within double tap and deploy all my guys out of the vehicle.

Shooting phase I order my squad to "Bring it Down." I have both my Plasma Vets + CCS double tap the Avatar and it's left at one wound. My Meltavets that came out of my Valk double tap Lasguns in its face and do one wound which kills the Avatar because he failed the last save.

I fire almost everything at the bikers since they are the most mobile thing in his army and I don't want them getting close for side shots on anything. I bring them down to 3 left. I roll double 6's on the damage chart for my Hydras against his Wave Serpent and kill 3 CC specialists inside. Then I kill a Wraithlord with my Vendettas. 

Before he even takes LD tests for losing over 25% with his bikes he sais I win and gives up and starts packing up his things...

It's understandable that losing sucks but it's never fun for both parties if you just end it like that. No good hand shake, no talk about what could have been done better or anything. Just leaving your opponent at that without the satisfaction of letting them play it all the way out because their winning is not good sportsmanship nor does it make the person want to even play with you again. I spent more time packing my stuff up than I did deploying it out on the field and taking my turns...

I won but if my opponent was at least a little more sportsman like it would have been at least more fun. Was hardly fun at all. Please don't do this when you play against someone and your losing. Try to make the best of it, let them have their fun, and try to learn what you did wrong and figure out what you could do differently for next time.

Dark Angels - Yay for bandwagon?

So cutting to the chase, I'm starting a Dark Angels army.

Why? because now their good because of the recent FAQ changes.

Is that all? Nope :)

I'm a very new WH40k player, started in 5e about 8 months ago when my friends and I walked pass a display of Warhammer 40k models. When I was in middle school...10+ years ago, all of my friends picked up Warhammer 40k. My parents sadly did not want to pay for toy models for me to build and paint and I was never able to get into the hobby. Now I can! Yay job!

When my friends and I had passed by the display and they were all reminiscing about how fun 40k was I took the opportunity to try to convince everyone to play. They bought into it quiet easily actually and we all decided to start armies! The first model that ever caught my eye was a Dreadnought. I don't recall which army it was from but the model itself was just fantastic. I love robots and it was the closest thing to a mech warrior I could find! So I hoped on the GW site and looked through all the different models. My second favorite model out of all the armies was found. The Terminator!

I started doing research on different armies and found the Dark Angels eventually. They were fluffed up as a mix between Dreadnoughts and Terminators. My two favorite models in one army as the primary force? Yes please! However after much forum posting and asking for advice everywhere I turned shunned me away from the Dark Angels and I bought in. I should have stuck with it since they have my favorite models as their primary forces but I didn't and sadly went BA.

Now however I have sold my BA and am looking to start up a Dark Angels army. Termiantors, Bike Squads, Land Speeders and Dreadnoughts. BA was sold quiet a while ago hence I have not really been posting about them...on a more lucky happy note though my blog doesn't need to have it's name changed since "Angels and Aliens" still work for my two main armies Tyranids and Dark Angels! Hooray for coincidence! 

So with my models on their way (2 weeks probably...) I have started reading the codex front to back and building army lists for 1500 scalable to 2000.

With all that being said I shall leave you with my first drafted 1500 list. Enjoy!


Belial, DW Master 1
Dual Lightning Claws

DW Terminators 5
TH/ Storm Shield 4
Chainfist 1
Cyclone ML 1
Apothecary Upgrade 1
DW Company Banner 1

DW Terminators 5
TH/ Storm Shield 4
Chainfist 1
Cyclone ML 1

DW Terminators 5
TH/ Storm Shield 4
Chainfist 1
Cyclone ML 1

DW Terminators 5
TH/ Storm Shield 4
Chainfist 1
Cyclone ML 1

RW Land Speeder 1
Typhoon ML 1

RW Bike Squadron 3
Meltagun 2

RW Bike Squadron 3
Meltagun 2

Tyranids - new 2k list

Here is my new 2k Nid's list. Explanations for units at bottom.


Tyranid Prime 1
Regeneration 1

Tervigon 1
Adrenal Glands 1
Poison Sacs 1
Catalyst 1

Hive Guard 2

Hive Guard 2

Doom of Malan'Tai 1
Transport: Spore 1

Tervigon 1
Adrenal Glands 1
Poison Sacs 1
Catalyst 1

Termagant Brood 10

Genestealers 20
Poison Sacs 20

Trygon 1
Adrenal Glands 1

Trygon 1
Adrenal Glands 1

Carnifex Brood  2
TL Devourers - set 1 2
TL Devourers - set 2 2

Ok here it is! The list I have been pondering over for a good while now. The people who play over at my FLGS have a bunch of marines. There is only 1 orc player and 1 Tau so a majority of what I go against will be MEQ. There are a couple vanilla marine players, 2 BA and 1 SW's. So this list is built around being an all comers list but still packing punch to some of my main threats.

HQ choices - Prime is there to pretty much give my backfield Synapse. It will probably join a HG group. It's just going to sit back with my HG and Carnifex's to shoot things down. The Tervigon is there to spawn some troop choices as well as be a front line Synapse creature. The troop choice Tervigon will serve a different purpose.

Elite choices - 2 of my slots will be filled with Hive Guard for obvious purposes. They destroy anything AV12 and lower so deserve those slots. I have been bouncing around an idea of making them 3 models strong per brood but I'm not sold on wasting that 100 pts. I don't think the return I will get will be much different from what I can get from 2.

Doom of Malantai is there in there because he's such a beast. He is awesome at doing what he does when he finally comes in and he draws fire most definitely. He almost always will come in with my enemys units on foot already. If he comes in and I haven't popped any transports and everything is still boxed up then I'm in trouble anyways. 

Troops - Been loving the 20 strong stealers w/ poison choice and they have yet to disappoint. Sadly last game I lost 12 just to an explosion so I know better now what NOT to do...I've been debating whether or not I should split them into 2x squads of 10 or keep them as 1x 20 strong Stealer squad. 20 has it's advantages but so does 2x squads. I've been having such great luck with 20 though that I'm not sure I want to even test out 2x 10.

Tervigon will provide my midfield with Synapse as I don't want to be as aggressively forward with a Troop choice Tervigon. The gaunts will be a bubble wrap and counter attack unit.

Heavy - 2x Trygons will be there for popping any AV14 that my opponent decides to bring and they will also draw a lot of fire away from my Tervigons + Stealers. If they don't draw fire then they will definitely tearing something up in CC very soon. Normally a turn 2 assault isn't so hard to accomplish. Turn 3 at the latest. One can give the other a cover save and they can swap back and forth until they are ready to assault. 

Carnifex brood of 2 are there primarily for anti MEQ and TEQ. This squad will statistically kill 2.5 Terminators from a squad of 5 a turn. It will also kill 5 out of 10 from a tactical squad. They also double up as a light transport killer as they have 44% chance to destroy a Rhino. Also they will be marching forward in front of my HG and Prime to get into CC as 8 (10 on the charge) str 9 attacks is nothing to scoff at. They are extremely expensive and will require Catalyst from one of my Tervigons to keep them alive and killing to really milk their value but they are also very versatile and great all around units. 

There ya have it! :)

Tyrannofex v Trygon

Howdy and good morning to everyone. Everyone knows Tyranids are lacking on ranged anti-AV13/14 weaponry. We've got great transport poppers, sadly taking up a very valuable Elite slot, but still great transport poppers in Hive Guard. However above AV12 we really have nothing to reliably pop transports from range. We do have broods of Zoanthropes but any Psychic Hood or Psychic protection is going to make the Zoans either kill themselves or render them useless...and most competitive lists that can take Psychic protection do.


Bring in the Tyrannofex.


The Tfex is known for it's rupture cannon. Str10 48" range 2 shots and AP4. Now this weapon is sadly fired at a BS3. There are many different arguments for the Tfex such as:

1) BS3 doesn't matter. Think of it as a twin-linked weapon that may have a chance to hit twice.

2) At a 2+ armor save this beast will be firing all game.

3) The option to fire at 48" range with S10 is amazing and can pop Nob Bikers and Thunderwolves.

The list goes on and on....

Sadly these reasons don't do it for me. Let me lay it out in an easy to read and assess format. But before I list my reasons why I prefer not to use the Tfex I want everyone to know this is just my opinions and reasoning behind it. I am not saying this is deadset and that no one should ever use the Tfex at all. I am also gauging my opinions on a Tfex that is primarily to be used as Anti-AV. The Tfex has great anti-infantry weaponry available but if I am taking a Tfex it's going to be for anti-AV. We have plenty of anti-infantry in everything else in our Codex.

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Here is some mathammer before I list my points:

2x Tfex's shooting at AV14 with cover: (Double effects to get results without cover)
Shak : 13.182%
Stun : 8.077%
Weap : 8.077%
Immo : 8.077%
Wrec : 5.441%
Expl : 5.441%

2x Tfex's shooting at AV13 with cover: (Double effects to get results without cover)
Shak : 15.654%
Stun : 10.657%
Weap : 10.657%
Immo : 10.657%
Wrec : 8.077%
Expl : 8.077%

1x Trygons assaulting AV14 that moved 12":
Shak : 28.441%
Stun : 19.031%
Weap : 19.031%
Immo : 19.031%
Wrec : 13.941%
Expl : 13.941%

Calculation: (This calculation was done by Atnoslen from TyranidHive)
Destroyed Probability for 1 shot=(# of dice faces that hit)/6*(# of dice faces for Penetration)/6*(# of dice faces for destroyed result)/6

Thus for TFex with BS 3 hitting on 4+, penetrating on 5 & 6, and destroying on a 5 & 6: 3/6*2/6*2/6=5.56%

Binomial distribution for a success with 2 shots given probability of 5.56% = 10.80% chance to destroy in one turn.

Binomial distribution for a success with 6 shots over 3 turns given probability of 5.56% = 29.03%.

Compare to being in cover the entire time (3 turns): 15.55%

Over the game (5 turns), assuming the TFex lives, there is a 43.47% chance for 1 TFex to destroy an uncovered AR14, and only a 24.55% chance for a covered AR14.

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-A smart opponent will usually ignore the Tfex: What? No smart player will ignore it! I have to say that the only player that won't ignore the Tfex is a player that doesn't know the chance that a Tfex actually has at destroying an AV14 vehicle. A smart opponent that knows the chance a Tfex has to impact a game is so low will ignore it and focus on more immediate threats right? Like that brood of infiltrated 20x Genestealers with Toxin Sacs. (Great suggestion by hyv3mynd that I've been using and having great success with! Here's his blog http://synaps3.blogspot.com/) 

If you have only fought opponents that constantly try to take down the Tfex then you will have good success with the Tfex because those shots aren't taking down your Tervigons or Flyrants or Harpys etc. Thus allowing them to get into the opponents face and smash it in. Now if you fight opponents that know to ignore your Tfex now you are truly set back because not only are you firing a 265 point model for 5 turns with only a 24.55% chance to destroy a covered AV14 vehicle and it's not doing it's intended job but now your other MC's are dying and not fulfilling their job.

-It's low chance of actually doing something to AV13/14: See math hammer above. Now remember we are talking about using the Tfex as anti AV13/14 primarily. Yes we know it has great anti-infantry shots but if your firing at AV13/14 then those shots are wasted.

-Cost: 265 points with a Rupture Cannon. That is a hefy amount of points to be put into a model with such a low capability of doing what it is taken to do. If it was priced around the Trygons points then I would be more acceptable of the Tfex.

-Talking about the Trygon, other great options. The Trygon will 90% of the time draw fire from your opponent leaving your other MC's capable of doing what they need to do. With that said a Trygon still has a fairly good chance at surviving considering FNP + Cover Saves. Yes it's tough to give a Trygon Cover saves but with Tervigons, Dakkafex's (or CC Fexs) or Venomthropes in the list and FNP it makes them much more survivable.

Let's mathammer some shots from 15 Missle Launchers per turn. 

Best case scenario is 4+ Cover Save and FNP: 34.7% chance to kill a Trygon

4+ Cover Save: 69.4% chance to kill a Trygon

5+ Cover Save and FNP: 46.3% chance to kill a Trygon

5+ Cover Save: 92.6% chance to kill a Trygon

Just with FNP: 69.4% chance to kill a Trygon.

Nothing: 138.9% chance to kill a Trygon. (LOL!)

So unless you take no precaution at all to you should have a fair chance to have the Trygon survive at least one round of shooting. Now your other MC's are still doing their job and alive. Or they ignore the Trygons and well...we all know what Trygons do when they are ignored. :)