Batrep 2000: Tyranids vs. Draigowing with BBF

Just got a great pick up game in earlier today against the Black Blow Fly, one of the better players in my local area. He is a great player, and runs a successful blog which I'd highly reccomend. He is also the TO behind Beaky Con, which I will be attending.

http://greenblowfly.blogspot.com/

Anyway, on to the game! I brought out a new, competetive 2000 point list to try out. I have posted it previously, but here it again:

Walking Tyrant, Shell, 2x Devourers, Old Adversary, one guard (Warlord)
Flyrant, 2x Devourers
2x3 Hive Guard
2x Zoanthropes
20 gants
19 gants
10 gants
2x Tervigon with Toxin/Adrenal and 3 powers
Tervigon with Toxin/Adrenal, 3 powers and Crushing Claws
2x Biovores

Here's the Grey Knight list:

Draigo:
Librarian with three powers (of which he could use 3 a turn)

5 Paladins: 3 hammers, stave, apothecary with halberd, 2 psycannons on 2 of the hammers (Draigo)
5 paladins: (not sure on loadout here...) 2/3 hammers, a stave, 2 psycannons, I dont believe an apothecary (Librarian)
Land Raider Crusader with Psybolt
Storm Raven with Hurrican bolters, psybolt, Assault Cannon and a MM
Vindicare
Dreadknight with psylenser and a Heavy Incinerator, plus jump pack

The Mission: Blood in the Sand, as per the Beaky Con mission here: clicky (Secondary is KP, 3rd is Table quarters) Note that turn 6 is automatic! Otherwise, 3 objectives preplaced, Hammer and Anvil

Warlord traits: I got the Night Fight one (which I chose) he got the redeploy 3 units (he didnt use it)

Psychic powers: On divination, he got one to make me re roll saves, one to ignore my cover and one where his librarian rerolls all to hits, wounds, and saves.

Mine:

Both Zoeys got Objuration Mechanicum and Gate of Infinity
Tyrant: Endurance, Warp Speed
Flyrant: Endurance, Life Leech
Tervigon 1: Shockwave, Iron Arm, Gate
Tervigon 2: Crush, W Speed, Hemorrhage
Tervigon 3: Warp Speed, Life Leech, hemorrhage

Pregame: The lack of Enfeeble is very, verp disappointing. My normal tactic agaist Paladins would be to simply lower there toughness and overwhelm them with the Str. 6+ shots I can put out, and then assault in without the need to smash for MCs. This is a lot trickier now, as I have to kill his guys the old fashioned way... Still, this is an objective game, and I think I can hold my rear objective and beat him at the center.

Deployment: I win and force him to go first. He deploys the LRC, with Paladins and Libby inside. (He will then infiltrate the Vindicare into a ruin)

I put the Tyrant in the center, with a Tervigon and a blob of gants on each side of him, with the Hive Guard and Zoeys, and Biovores behind him. The flyrants hiding behind a wall in the back of my deployment zone. The last Tervigon is on my far left, assuming that I am at the short table edge that is the back of my DZ. (theres a wall there, but I will be talking from that perspective) I also have 10 gants in reserve.

GK turn 1: The LRC manuevres to be out of range of the Zoeys, but is then out of range. Vindicare misses.

Nids turn 1: I advance, now very close to the center of the board. I perils my far right (Iron Arm) Tervi. No shooting in range.

GK turn 2: No reserves show up somehow. His Vindicare fails to wound my Hive Guard. Raider is still out of range, dancing around.

Tyranids turn 2: I advance slowly. I just need to hold the middle, I dont want to get overeager and take a Paladin charge. My only shooting has the Hive Guard Instant Death the Vindicare for First Blood. My flyrant decides to move, jumping up but behind a "soda can" terrain peice.

GK turn 3: The Dreadknight outflanks on the left, and flames the blob of gants there, killing a few, after the psilenser I lose 8 ish. The Storm Raven hovers in the very back of his DZ, and shoots two mindstrikes that hit the Walking tyrant. FNP saves one of the perils. The Raider finally moves up, and wipes the Zoanthropes after some below average saves. The Paladins get out of the Raider to hit

Tyranids turn 3: the far left Tervigon spawns 8 gants and doubles out. Everything else advances. Hive Guard target  the raider and knock off a hull point. I shoot the other hive guard at the Paladins but he makes all his saves. The gants assault the Dreadknight. After the 3" consolidation, Im suddenly 12.5" away from the nearest tervigon. Shit. I lose by two, fall back and get swept. So much for tying him up. My 10 gants show up from reserve.

GK turn 4: The Dreadknight jumps around, and assaults the Tervigon. I take a wound, and he gets his Force Weapon off despite Shadow, I'm toast I did wound him once however. The explosion knocks off some gants. The Paladins and the Raider wounded a Tervigon in the center/left, down to 2 wounds left.

Tyranids turn 4: The Flyrant jumps up 24" and blasts the side of the stormraven, taking off two hull points. The wounded Tervigon spawns 12 gants, which assault the Dreadknight, wounding it once and locking him. The Tervigon is nearby them for poison. More shooting just bounces off things in general. His paladins are hot for saves so far, I only get one wound through with the Biovores. The 2 wound tervigon and the Tyrant get one wound back each from "It will not die!" The gantss in the back move onto the objective.

GK turn 5: His stormraven flies up 24" right by the central objective. The Librarian hits misfortune onto the Tervigon (re roll successful saves... OUCH!) and the Raider and Paladins tear it apart. The stormraven kills a Hive Guard squad, and the Tervigons death weakens the gants locking the Dreadknight. He breaks free, the survivors fall back.

Tyranids turn 5: The Flyrant jumps by the Raider and shoots rear armor of the Stormraven. At first I thought I killed it, but it turns out it's rear armor 12! The other Dakka tyrant and the 3 Hive Guard shoot to kill, but I fail to scratch the Stormraven. I can't believe it's still alive. I spread out the squad on my objective and brace for the pain that's coming. I didn't really accomplish anything this turn, I'd hoped to kill the raven and the Paladins inside.

GK turn 6: The Draigo/Paladins get out of the Raven and assault a gant squad and the biovores, killing both. They consolidate to contest the central objective. His Raider and Paladins target my Flyrant in the back, I fail my first grounding check (as always...) but survive with a single wound. His dreadknight uses his 30" move to get to my back objective, psilenser and Incinerator kill most, the rest fall back an impressive distance, off the board.

Tyranid turn 6: The Hive Guard contest the central objective. The Flyrant moves and contests his back objective, and shoots down the now hovering Raven. The Dakkatyrant and Hive Guard kill a Paladin. My last Tervigon spawns gants back on to my rear objective, and then tries to assault the Dreadknight but fails.

The game continues on a 4+...

And it doesnt!

Game over: Victory: TYRANIDS! ( I hold my back objective, other two are contested.) Grey Knights win secondary objective (KPs) I win tertiary (Table Quarters) I also get linebreaker and First blood, he has linebreaker.

Thoughts on the game: I didn't actually kill very much of his army. I think he lost one paladin, and had a few scattered wounds. I however, suffered heavy losses. I had left three hive Guard, two gant squads, a Tervi and my two Tyrants. Still, I played the mission, and managed to hold him off long enough to claim the objective in the rear while contesting the rest. Overall it was a very fun game, but still competetive. We both had a few bad rolls, and we both had a few good rolls, I don't think either of us can complain on that. I did make a few mistakes. Notably, missing synapse on the gants assaulting his Dreadknight early cost me those gants and a Tervigon. Also, putting the gants that assaulted the Dreadknight the second time within Tervi range was a mistake, as they took 15 ish hits when she bit the dust... I also forgot my psychic powers turn 6, but it didnt end up hurting me. Still, I think I played a good game overall, and it's always good to face a top list.

Thanks for reading! Please comment, questions replies and concerns are appreciated.