Batrep: Hivefleet Leviathan vs Astra Militarum - Battle for Lysios

Continuing the 7 part series for the Shield of Baal campaign that I am running at Titan Games, this is one of the games that contributed to the Tyranid war effort.

Week 2: The Great Corral

Lysios was the first planet in the Cryptus System to feel the full weight of the Tyranid invasion. Lysios is a desolate wilderness, its lands and cities scoured by a slow-moving tidal wave of water and debris. The inhabitants lived in huge crawler hulks, constantly moving to keep ahead of the perpetual tsunami. When the Tyranids struck, the crawler hulks were drawn up into a defensive corral, protected from the Tyranids by the Warriors of the Imperium.

An additional Strategic Asset for the winning Faction during the Apocalypse on Cryptus following all rules for Selecting Strategic Assets (pg 30 of the Apocalypse Book)

Mission with special rules

Deployment map

My opponent is an old rival, Defeng. He will be commanding the Astra Militarum and we are playing 1,500 points for 3 Mission Points.

Since this was a pure KP mission, the Hivemind has commanded that we bring Unbound Armies since Objective Secured is not that imperative. My list comprised the following:

Flyrant with TL Brainleech Devourers

Flyrant with TL Brainleech Devourers

Flyrant with TL Brainleech Devourers

Spore Mines x3

Spore Mines x4

Carnifex with TL Brainleech Devourers in a Tyrannocyte
Carnifex with TL Brainleech Devourers in a Tyrannocyte

Hive Guard x3 in a Tyrannocyte

Malanthrope

My opponent brought a heavy tank list.



HQ :
Tank Commander in LR Executioner, Lascannon, Multi-melta sponsons. 

In Squadron with: 2x Leman Russ Exterminator with lascannons.

Troops:
Veteran Squad with Plasma gun and Lascannon Heavy Weapon Team

Platoon Command Squad
Infantry Squad w/ meltagun x5
Heavy Weapon Team w/ 2 Autocannon 1 Lascannon

Heavy
Leman Russ Punisher with Lascannon
Manticore
2x Hydra Flak Tanks

The pods are shy of completion, just the nails at the end of the tentacles! 

Working on these fellas

Defeng's militia

I had to split my army into 3 waves as per the mission requirement with each wave containing at least one unit. The second wave will come in automatically from Turn 1 onwards while wave 3 will come in as normal per the Reserves special rules.

Wave 1

Wave 2 which comes in automatically from Turn 1

I lumped the bulk of my force into Wave 2 to put the pressure on early in the game. Also, them being in Tyrannocytes mean that they will hit the Imperial lines early game applying enough force with the Flyrants to cause drastic damage.

Wave 3

Psychic powers for all 3 Flyrants

The power mix was kinda meh but it helped that I got at least one Warp Lance. Those armour 14 were going to be tough to chew through.

The Imperial lines were held up tight in their table quarter. Men staggered out to prevent the Tyrannocytes and Flyrants from getting behind their lines.

Defeng laid his men out to prevent early easy charges from going off on his tanks by denying me space to drop in. I think he wasn't counting on my Fexes having Twin Linked Brainleech Devourers. Together with my Tyrants this meant 12x2 Twin Linked Str6 shots at BS3 plus 12x3 Twin Linked Str6 at BS4.

Defeng did not sieze initiative. We both chose not to play Night Fight

Tyrants all waiting for the Tyrannocytes to arrive with the Malanthrope giving Shrouding 

The Flyrants ready to take to the skies. I hid them behind this wall to give this entire unit a 2+ cover save

Just as the Tyrannocytes hit the Imperial defence line, the Flyrants flocked to the fore

Some debuff during the Psychic phase. I managed to pin the 50 man blob in place.

And the gun fight begins with the Tyranids striking first

With the Guardsmen spread out in one big 50 man blob, I threw all my firepower from all three Flyrants, 2 Fexes and 3 Tyrannocytes at them, hoping to reduce them before my Fexes push through their lines to engage the tanks. Pinning them in the psychic phase also rendered them inert for one turn allowing my Fexes to move about without being swarmed and held in place.

A hole started opening up on the left flank of the Imperial lines

Menacing Tyrannocyte approaches the Imperial lines

Life as a Guardsman

On a sidenote, I am really glad that the campaign has brought so many people to Titan Games and created a buzz for 40k. It has sparked a lot of interest from old players and new players alike. All 3 tables at the store were used up for 40k games! Amazing tables, great minis and awesome environment, what's not to like?

Zoomed out to let you guys see how cornered the Imperials were.

Turn 1 saw no KP being exchanged as no one unit was destroyed.

Turn 2

I kept my Flyrants in the air and pushed the Tyrannocytes up to ensure that the Guardsmen were still the closest target

While the 2 Fexes advanced, closing in for the kill

Boom! First Leman Russ to tank it. As it was part of a squad, I did not score any KP yet

The Flyrants did their best to strip side armour but didn't manage to do much. 

The Imperials manage to kill off my Tyrannocyte in the middle of my lines to secure 1 KP and First Blood

Would have been so appropriate if they were Catachans

Turn 3

My Fexes had now reached his lines and could start hammering into his tanks. This was going to help.

Charged into his two other Leman Russes and managed to mangle them

Consolidated the Fexes. I had also managed to destroy the Hydra using my Hive Guard and Flyrants securing me 5KP and Slay the Warlord

Brave Captain of the Guard!

I scored 5KP and Slay the Warlord while Defeng scored 1KP for a total of 3KP.

Turn 4

Last spore mines arrive to drop in between the tanks

Dropped in the Tyrants and chose not to fly high any longer. There was little to threaten my army.

Wiped out his army at the end of my 4th Turn

Wow, that was sudden. A tabling. First time I have done it. Was my list too hard? Was the scenario too one sided? Questions I have but I didn't bring unjustly units, just those which I thought were competitive. Was 3 Flyrants too much?

On the side note, this meant I contributed 3 Mission Points to the overall campaign and helped move the Tyranids up the ladder for this week's tally. Woot!