We had a chance to break out Epic 40,000 3rd Edition today and I thought I'd share the images from the game and write up a quick battle report. We did a standard 2,000 point game. One of the guys brought his new Tyranids and another player and I each took 1,000 points of Space Marines (Crimson Fists and Dark Angels, respectively). We did Battle 2: Escalating Engagment right out of the Battle Book.
Scenaro: Every couple hundred years, a space hulk caught in the gravitational pull of the Grendel Stair passes by the small garden world of Theras V. In the previous crossing many years ago, the space hulk released the spore pods of terrible, viscious aliens which quickly consumed the planet, requiring an orbital extermination that left the world uninhabitable. Now the space hulk has returned, and a battle barge of the Crimson Fist Chapter has responded to the threat, sending in a cadre of Terminators to raid the space hulk and determine the nature of the enemy. There, in the shadowy depths of the ancient mass of collapsed ships, the Terminator teams discovered precious relics of the pre-Heresy era. They also found the hideous creatures that had emerged centuries ago from the space hulk. Unable to be retrieved by their battle barge due to the thick field of space debris surrounding the hulk, the Terminators took their prizes and made an emergency drop from the space hulk to the planet below. Responding to their distress call, the Crimson Fist and Dark Angels Chapters mounted a rapid rescue operation. The terrible devourer in the space hulk was also awakened, and marshalled its forces for another descent to the surface of Theras V.
Turn 1: Each side was allowed to begin the game with only their lowest cost detachment on the table, deploying in opposite corners with three drop pods across the middle of the table (one on a hilltop, one in the ruins of a ruined city and the last by a road leading into the city). The Space Marines deployed their Ravenwing squadron of 4 Land Speeders and 2 Bike Squadrons, whole the Tyranids deployed their main swarm led by a Hive Tyrant. In the first turn, both sides moved towards each other—the Ravenwing approaching the first objective on the hill while the Hive Tyrant's swarm moved past the Drop Pod on the road. There was no shooting as both sides remained out of range and sight of one another.
Turn 2: In the second turn, the first reinforcements began to arrive. Just as the Ravenwing took the hill with an assault order, the Tyranids dropped a mycetic swarm from the distant space hulk looming above the planet. The voracious Tyranids landed right behind the Ravenwing, close enough that one fell to snap shot fire from the Land Speeders below. The mycetic swarm declared an assault order, but could not move in for the kill until the assault phase.
The Hive Tyrant's swarm lurked in the city ruins just as the mycetic swarm dropped upon the forward detachment of Ravenwing:
A closer look at the tenuous position on the hill:
The Tyranids had full control of the city:
Beating its hideous wings, the Hive Tyrant directed its mindless horde to advance on the hill, just as the mycetic swarm took damage from bolter fire while landing close to the Ravenwing:
The Tyranids had seized the initiative, despite their low Tactical Rating, and managed to surround the Ravenwing entirely. Things were looking grim. Fortunately, however, both Space Marine forces received significant reinforcements, and not a moment too soon! The Crimson Fists received several tactical squads and support weapons, mounted in Rhinos and backed up by Whirlwind artillery. The Dark Angels received their mechanized tactical detachment, led by a Captain and backed up with Predator tanks, as well as the dreaded Reaver Titan, "Peaches".
Before they could make it to the hill, however, disaster struck—a Thunderhawk filled with Dark Angel Assault Marines, Terminators and a Librarian attempted to drop onto the hill to reinforce the position of the Ravenwing, hoping to buy enough time and hold the hill long enough for the reinforcements to come. Here I made a fatal flaw—never take a Thunderhawk without additional air support! The Tyranid player immediately intercepted the Thunderhawk with a massive Harridan, supported by a flight of Gargoyles. With overwhelming force, the Tyranid flight swarm shot the Thunderhawk from the sky. It came crashing down not far from the hill, with all of its troops lost. (Note, we actually played this wrong… technically the Tyranids damaged the Thunderhawk and would have to roll their hits again to "confirm" if it was indeed shot down, or simply needed to return to base for a few turns to repair. Ultimately a return to base result would have still kept the Assault Marines out for most of the game so I don't think it mattered in the end!)
The Space Marine reinforcements raced forward to protect the Ravenwing on the hill, just as a massive Harridan swoops over the battlefield in pursuit of the flaming, plummeting wreck of the Thunderhawk:
Seeing the tragic loss of the Thunderhawk, the Ravenwing realized the hill could no longer be held long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Taking discretion as the better part of valor, they sped down from the hill on an assault order and flanked around to the forest, leaving the drop pod behind. In the subsequent shooting phase, the Hive Tyrant's swarm shot down a fleeing land speeder and the Space Marines unleashed the wrath of the Emperor on the mycetic swarm still on the hill. The destruction is massive, and the Tyranids languish under the barrage of bolter fire, artillery, Predator lascannon fire and heavy batteries from Peaches. When the dusty clears, only two Zoanthropes, shielded by their powerful psychic barriers, remain.
The mycetic swarm on the hill was decimated by heavy fire:
Seeing their opportunity to avenge the Thunderhawk, the Ravenwing spring into action in the assault phase, racing back up the hill and into melee combat as the rest of the Space Marines just reach the edge of the hill. Yet, despite fierce fighting, the handily defeated Zoanthropes make their saves and simply fall back towards the ruined city. The Hive Tyrant's swarm then punishes the Ravenwing's hubris, assaulting the small detachment and destroying every stand except for the detachment HQ, who races his land speeder back down the hill, past the Space Marine tactical detachments and to the friendly deployment zone (carrying a massive amount of blast markers with him).
Nevertheless, this left the Hive Tyrant's swarm in clear sight of the Space Marine detachments at the bottom of the hill, who immediately began a firefight against the Tyranids. Overwhelmed by bolter fire, the Tyranids were thrown back yet again towards the ruined city, having achieved the hill for only a moment. To add insult to injury, the Ravenwing land speeder rallied and dropped nearly all of its blast markers in the rally phase while the mycetic swarm shed none. This, combined with the loss of 50% strength for the mycetic swarm and the Ravenwing detachment, led to a dip in force morale for both sides, but more dramatically for the Tyranid player.
Turn 3: At the beginning of the third turn, more reinforcements poured onto the battlefield. The Crimson Fist's Reaver Titan, the "Velour Fist", arrived in support of the Space Marine forces, but the Tyranid's dreaded Hierophant also entered the battle and immediately began to stalk through the woods north of the ruined city. In the movement phase, the Space Marine forces moved up, with the Crimson Fist tactical detachment taking the hill and securing the drop pod once more, and the Dark Angels tactical detachment flanking below along the edge of the forest. Peaches stalked behind these units, while the Ravenwing land speeder held position and the Velour Fist struggled to get up to the action.
The Space Marines retook the hill, but the monstrous Tyranid Hierophant lurked in the woods beyond:
A closer look at the hill and the ruined city:
Waiting for the right time to strike, the Hive Tyrant swarm took an assault order and clung to the ruined city to which they had previously withdrawn. The probing assault on the hill had cost them little, but they still needed more of their reinforcements to arrive before they could really threaten the approaching Space Marine forces.
In the shooting phase, the Crimson Fists just cresting the hill had no clear line of sight on the Tyranids skulking in the shadows of the ruined city ahead. They were easily visible, however, to the towering Hierophant in the distance, who launched a barrage from its cluster spines. The earth around a Crimson Fist tactical squad erupted with shrapnel as the bony spines impacted the area. Within a split moment, an entire squad of Space Marines was reduced to shredded flesh and shattered armour.
The Hierophant's barrage strikes the Crimson Fist detachment:
The scent of blood in the air emboldens the Hive Tyrant's swarm again, and they destroy a Dark Angels Predator tank with volley fire before charging again up the hill against the Crimson Fist detachment. Even the fire of the Dark Angels detachment in the woods doesn't slow them down, although it does manage to bring down more Termagants and a pack of Tyranid Warriors.
The Hive Tyrant assaults the hill again:
A closer look at the action:
The assaulting Hive Tyrant's swarm managed a narrow victory, throwing the Crimson Fist detachment back down the hill. Ironically, the Crimson Fists took few casualties, while they made the Tyranids suffer for their defeat. The Hive Tyrant's swarm took heavy casualties in the frantic melee, despite now holding the hill again.
The approaching Hierophant made the strategy obvious. The Dark Angels detachment had to push the weakened Tyranid swarm off the hill again, clearing the way for the Reaver Titans to make it to the top before the Hierophant could get the higher ground. Storming up the hill and into the fray, the Dark Angel tactical detachment managed to win the assault but suffered the same fate as the Tyranids before—taking tremendous casualties and dealing few in return. Nevertheless, the Tyranid Swarm was severely weakened by now, and fled yet again back down the hill with a great number of blast markers to show for it. The Reaver Titans marched up the hill, splitting fire between the exhausted Tyranid Swarm and the new threat of the Hierophant, with the Velour Fist scoring the first critical blow against the beast's bio-cannons. The Crimson Fist detachment then poured its own fire into the gaping wounds opened by the Velour Fist, making full use of the overwatch order and the Space Marine's rapid fire ability to add more punishment to the gradually weakening creature.
Without its main weapon out of order, the Hierophant could do nothing but release a deafening roar as it lunged towards the hill. The Tyranid force morale plunged again, having lost more than 50% of the Hive Tyrant's swarm and seemingly unable to remove the many blast markers that plagued the remaining Tyranid swarms. The massive toll of battlefield chaos was beginning to overwhelm the Hive Mind, as the Tyranid force morale dropped nearly 20 points in a single turn, falling below the morale of the Space Marines for the first time in the battle.
Turn 4:In the fourth turn, both Space Marine tactical detachments took overwatch orders, hoping to maximize firepower in the final stages of the battle. The Titans lumbered towards each other, ready to engage in melee during the assault phase. The Harridan made its second and final appearance, swooping down behind the Space Marines lines to destroy the surviving Ravenwing land speeder. While the Space Marines had already taken the morale hit for the crippled detachment, destroying the Ravenwing utterly allowed the Tyranid to devour the fallen Space Marines and recoup some of their flagging morale.
The final reinforcements came on the board, with the Crimson Fist attack bike detachment arriving just as the Tyranid heavy artillery approached the area. Unfortunately, the Tyranid player was still waiting on his Dominatrix—as a supreme commander, a war machine, a psyker and a dangerous threat in its own right, the massive monstrosity was desperately needed to turn the tide in the Tyranid's favor. To make matters worse, the Tyranid artillery detachment that did arrive was too slow and just out of range to have any effect on the battle this turn.
The Tyranids now had no real presence in the city or on the hill, aside from the damaged Hierophant. Nevertheless, the massive Hierophant, more than twice the size of the Reaver Titan across from it, was undeterred. The terrible creature licked its mandibles and prepared for melee combat.
The final showdown between Peaches and the Hierophant:
Here, Peaches was at a severe disadvantage… less than half the damage capacity, lower assault rating and the Hierophant's ripper tentacles would instantly disable Peaches' secret weapon—the devastating chainfist mounted on the Reaver's right arm. As the Reaver Titan strode stoically forward, however, it received an unexpected boon from Velour Fist. The Crimson Fist's Reaver Titan blasted away at the Hierodule as Peaches closed in for the kill, and managed to disable the creature's legs and crucially the ripper tentacles nesting in the Hierophant's skull. At the last moment, with the ripper tentacles momentarily disabled, Peaches dug into the Hierophant's chest, tearing out entrails from the monster's gaping wound. The wounded creature was unable to respond in kind before it crashed to the ground, writhing amidst its own noxious bodily fluids. With that stunning result, we decided to call the game as a small but costly victory for the Space Marine contingent.
The battlefield after the showdown with the Hierophant:
The survivors on the bloodied hill:
Conclusion: It was a very fun game, if a bit of a headache to relearn all of the rules. Epic 40k 3rd Edition is a rather complicated game, but the end result is satisfying, with a lot of dynamic back and forth and plenty of opportunities for careful maneuvering. The scenario ended up giving a somewhat strange game, admittedly… with opposite corner deployment and the gradual arrival of the forces, both sides ended up filtering their units into a meat-grinder on the hill. That summit traded hands many times during the four turns (which took roughly two and a half hours to play): first the Ravenwing had it, then the Mycetic Swarm had it, then the Crimson Fists had it, then the main Tyranid Swarm with the Hive Tyrant had it, then the Dark Angels mechanized detachment had it, then the Hierophant had it, then the Reaver Titans had it. If we played it out, I am sure it would have been turned over many more times, but it is doubtful that the Tyranids had enough resources to handle the two Reaver Titans and the relatively fresh Crimson Fist forces. At the end of the day, force morale also played a huge factor. When we ended the game, the Tyranids had only around 20 points of morale left, while the Space Marines were sitting comfortably in the mid-30's (having lost only around 10-15 points of morale for the entire battle).
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