The Roost of Turkadactyl

I showed up for a random game and Darrell and I drew the short straw.  Darrell is a tough player to play against.  He has a talent of designing some challenging lists to play against.  I have been on the receiving end of a Darrell beat down a few times.  Will the Tyranids prevail and add some space clowns to the DNA?  Will the Harlequins laugh the whole way to the bank?  Read more to find out.

This will be my second game against Harlequins.  I wish more people played this army.  The models are gorgeous.  I wouldn’t mind collecting them myself.  I think painting them will be a blast.  I have to keep reminding myself that I have five more armies that I have to finish first before starting another.

Tyranids- Hive Fleet Kodiak

HQ

• Tyranid Prime- lashwhip and bonesword, devourer, Warlord- It Will Not Die and Fearless
• Death Leaper

Troops

• Termagants (30 models)- fleshborers
• Termagants (30 models)- fleshborers

Elites

• Malanthrope

Fast Attack

• Raveners (3 models)- scything talons, rending claws
• Raveners (3 models)- scything talons, rending claws

Heavy Support

• Carnifex (2 models)- dual twin-linked devourers
• Mawloc

Harlequins

Elites

• Death Jester
• Shadowseer- Psychic powers- Veil of Tears, Mirror of Minds, Shards of Light

Troops

• Troupe (12 models)- fusion pistol x2, disruptor pistol x2, harlequin’s caress x2, harlequin’s embrace x2, harlequin’s kiss x2, shadow mask, Warlord (Troupe Master)- warlord and unit gets a free turn at the end of the game if the warlord is still on the table

Fast Attack

• Skyweavers (2 models)- didn’t get the loadout
• Skyweavers (2 models)- didn’t get the loadout
• Skyweavers (2 models)- didn’t get the loadout

Heavy Support

• Voidweaver (2 models)- didn’t get the loadout

Eldar Ally (Darrell didn’t have a printout of his Eldar and I can’t remember the wargear)

HQ

• Autarch (Had nasty wargear to augment the Harlequins powers)

Troops

• Rangers (5 models)

Heavy Support

• Fire Prism

We roll for mission and play Eternal War- Big Guns Never Tire.  Night fight will be in effect for the first round.  We place the objectives and I win the honour of deployment.  Whoever deploys first will also get first turn.  I choose deployment since with the three objectives close together.  Darrell’s guns have range on me so I don’t want him getting too comfortable nestling into his own end.

I spread everything out to avoid massive casualties from blast templates.  Every unit has at least one model within six inches of the Malanthrope to take advantage of its spore cloud.  I face one brood of Termagants backwards to distinguish it from the other brood.  Darrell spreads his units out so Death Leaper cannot get too close with the infiltration.  I like to be aggressive with Death leaper but Harlequins cause me to be cautious.  They can close the gap fast.  I wanted to use Death Leaper as a homer for the Mawloc.  That won’t happen today.  Death Leaper hides out in the Fortress of Solitude a few inches ahead of the front line.

Darrell spreads his army out.  He knows a Mawloc is in play and wants to minimalize its damage.  The Rangers infiltrate int the building to take advantage of the cover.

Let’s get ready to RUMBLE!

My turn is not exciting.  I move everything up.  Thanks to Move Through Cover everything advances their full movement.  The Death Leaper hops down to join its brethren.  The run rolls are poor.

Harlequin Turn 1

Darrell re-positions some models and stays put.  The Shadowseer advances in order to use Shard of Light (Assault 3D6 Str. 3) and only causes one wound on the Termagants.  My cover saves range from 2+ to 4+.  When the dust settles after the shooting phase a total of 5 Termagants bite it and two wounds are removed from a Ravener.

Tyranids Turn 2

The Mawloc emerges from beneath.  Darrell spread his Troupe out so I decided to pick on some vehicles.  It takes the Mawloc two attempts make enough room above ground.  One Voidweaver explodes while one Skyweaver is destroyed.  Another Skyweaver takes one wound.  The Termagants kill one Ranger in shooting.  Everything else runs forward.

Harlequins Turn 2

The Shadowseer casts Veil of Tears on the Troupe.  If I choose to shoot the Troupe I have to roll 2D6x2 and if the Troupe is not in that distance my unit forfeits it chances to shoot that turn. Darrell spreads out his shooting killing one Termagants, kills one Ravener and wounds the Mawloc three times.  The Troupe charges the Mawloc.

The Mawloc didn’t stand a chance.

Harlequins are up 2-0 with First Blood and a point from slaying a heavy support.

Tyranids Turn 3

The Tyranids advance forward.

The Termagants shoot the Rangers, who go to ground.  One Ranger is slain.

One Dakkafex is in range of the Voidweaver and explodes the vehicle.  Three Troupe members perish and the Autarch takes a wound as a result of the explosion.

The two Ravener broods charge the Troupe.  One brood fails the charge.  For the other brood one is instantly killed to overwatch and Harlequins don’t even break a sweat dispatching the second in hand to hand combat.  The Termagants charge the Rangers and wipe the unit out.

Tyranids score a victory point for destroying the unit of Voidweavers.  Score is 2-1 for the Harlequins.

Harlequins Turn 3

The Shadowseer casts Mirror of Minds on the Dakkafex brood and kills a Dakkafex.  Darrell and I both roll a D6 and add it to our respective models leadership values.  If the score is a draw or the Shadowseer rolls higher than the target model loses a wound.  We repeat the process until the target model is slain or my value is higher.  The Autarch has a -2 leadership modifier so it is impossible for me to win.  Nice power.

The Harlequins shoot the Raveners and kill one.  They multi-charge the Raveners and the Death Leaper and kill both in combat.

The Skyweavers charge the Termagants and kill nine.

Tyranids Turn 4

The Prime and brood of Termagaunts shoot the Troupe and kill one.  They charge and the Death Jester is killed in the duel.  The Troupe does not kill too many Termagants since they did not charge.  The Troupe pulls a hit and run to get out of combat.

In the other combat the Termagants manage to destroy a Skyweaver while losing five in the process.  The Skyweavers hit and run and land close to the Malanthrope.

Harlequins Turn 4

The Shadowseer casts Shards of Light on the Prime and brood and kills the five Termagants and puts a wound on the Prime.  The Fire Prism shoots the larger brood and kills five Termagants.

The Troupe charge the Prime and kill it with impact hits.  The Skyweavers charge the Malanthrope and kill it with impact hits.  The Tyranids are now without synapse.

Tyranids Turn 5

The Dakkafex fails its instinctive behaviour test and heads straight for the Troupe.  Sadly in its rage it cannot fire its guns.  The Termagants pass their instinctive behaviour and advance towards the Troupe.  Both broods charge and the Autarch and two Troupe members are killed.  The Dakkafex takes three wounds in the process and two Termagants are retired.  The Termagants fail their leadership and run towards the Skyweavers.  The Harlequin’s hit and run away from combat.

Harlequins Turn 5

In the spirit of Looney Tunes that’s all folks.  The Harlequins wipe out the Tyranid menace.

I now fall 0-2 to Harlequins.  Wow, they sure do hit hard when they charge.  I was hoping to overwhelm Darrell with my numbers but that was not the case.  Next time I will focus the Mawloc on the Troupe.  Darrell was also able to easily dispatch my Raveners.  I have to overwhelm the Harlequins in combat with more broods making it into combat at the same time.  My short-range firepower didn’t help much either.  It was a fun game.  I felt like I had a chance for most of the game.  It was also a treat to play an army that I hardly get to see on the tabletop.  Darrell usually crushes me by turn three or four so to be tabled in five turns is a minor victory, right?