Gothic Battle Report: Imperial Navy vs. Tyranids
Mission: Surprise Attack. An enemy fleet catches a planetary defense garrison unprepared.
Forces
Eric – Imperial Navy
Retribution Battleship with embarked Ld9 Admiral
Mars class battlecruiser with extra turret and upgraded batteries
Lunar class cruiser with Nova Cannon
Dauntless Light Cruiser (Lance)
Dauntless Light Cruiser (Lance)
6 Fire Ships
1 Orbital Defense Weapons Platform (Batteries)
1 Minefield
John – Tyranids
Hive Ship, Pyro Acid Batteries, Pyro Acid Batteries, 3 sets of port/starboard Launch Bays
Hive Ship, Massive Claws and Feeder Tentacles, Bio Plasma Spines, 3 sets of Bio Plasma Spines
Cruiser, Massive Claws, Pyro Acid Batteries
Cruiser, Massive Claws, Pyro Acid Batteries
12 Drone Escorts, Pyro Acid Batteries
4 Kraken Escorts
Deployment
Imperial Navy forces were arranged around the planet to cover all approaches. Tyranids arrived from a Long board edge.
Turn 1 Tyranids
Cruiser moves up and catches Dauntless light cruiser, kills with boarding action. Other Cruiser moves up and shoots the other Light Cruiser. Escorts move up and shoot the Fire Ships, one dies.
Turn 1 Imperial Navy
Dauntless light cruiser fires on Tyranid cruiser, no damage. Surviving Fire Ship kills one drone escort.
Turn 2 Tyranids
Fleet advances, Cruisers move over the planetary template, fire on another squadron of 2 fire ships. Assault boats diable weapons on Dauntless
Turn 2 Imperial Navy
Fire ships advance on Cruisers, cause several Fire critical results and one Fire on the Lunar class cruiser. Bombers from the Mars kill one Tyranid Cruiser.
Turn 3 Tyranids
More assault boats attack Dauntless, irrecoverably screwed. Kraken advance and fire on Mars, roll poorly, do nothing but force a BFI. Cruiser fires on Lunar, force BFI.
Turn 3 Imperial Navy
Last Fire Ship hits Hive Ships. Causes 1 fire on Carrier Hive ship, three on Claw Hive Ship. Also kills 3 drones. Dauntless disengages.
Turn 4 Tyranids
Hive Ships advance, Kraken destroy Mars class. Surviving cruiser hounds Lunar near minefield, then boards. Lunar wins boarding action by a huge margin and Cruiser dies. Carrier ship puts out fire, but Claw ship doesn’t and takes 3 damage.
Turn 4 Imperial Navy
Retribution moves around, pot-shots some drones. Lunar moves around.
Turn 5 Tyranids
Krakens move toward Lunar, team up with Hive Ship and severely cripple it. Surviving Drones move with Claw Hive Ship and destroy Orbital Defense. Claw Hive Ship takes 3 more damage and does not put out fires.
Turn 5 Imperial Navy
Lunar disengages. Retribution kills a Drone. Solar Flare wreaks havoc across the board.
Turn 6 Tyranids
Kraken start to turn around. Carrier hive ship enters large Gas and Dust Cloud. Claw Hive Ship takes 3 more damage from fires.
Turn 6 Imperial Navy
Retribution locks on and kills last Drone Escorts.
Turn 7 Tyranids
Krakens and some Assault Boats move toward Retribution. Claw Hive Ship disengages.
Turn 7 Imperial Navy
Retribution kills one Kraken.
Turn 8 Tyranids
Kraken disengage. Assault Boats move toward Retribution.
Turn 8 Imperial Navy
Retribution fails to disengage, removes Assault Boat wave.
Turn 9 Tyranids
More assault boats.
Turn 9 Imperial Navy
Retribution disengages.
Final victory points
Tyranids: 586, Imperial Navy 542.
Analysis: I deployed WAY too close to the board edge. Also, John had one REALLY good roll with the Krakens that killed the Mars class cruiser. Had I set up a little better I could have fared better. As it was the Fire Ships are the only thing that saved me. I HIGHLY recommend them for defense.
I actually only had 4 Krackens. I wanted 6 but only had points for 4. I liked the fire ships too… I think that they would be over powered at only 10 pts each, but the 0-6 limit is reasonable. I didn’t realize how kick ass they were. I think that had I realized I might not have moved so close. =P Anyway, that was a really great game IMO. Good start for my nid fleet. I need to buy some actual models now. =D
Fixed