four battle reports, somewhat abridged

[Zelnik]

So today was a day at the bunker for me, and I was bound and determined to get some hard core BFG fun in. So i got 4 great games under my belt. here is the report as best as I can recall.

Battle 1. Grey Knights vs Imperial Navy
1500 pts.

Navy:
2 Overlords with left column shift, one has LD8 commander

2 Dictators

2 Lunars

1 Gothic.  


Grey Knights (me)

G. Knights barge with Ordo Malleus commander

4 Grey Knight strike cruisers (2 replaced launch bays for bombardment cannons)

6 Nova escorts.

This battle was the first of the day.  the player was new, and young, so I was not expecting tactical genius out of him... Things did not go well for him rather quickly as my ships easily outflanked and outmaneuvered his ships. The 5d6 AAF proved to be instrumental for the battlebarge (as it was able to keep up with the strike cruisers with far less issue then before.).  Before long, the superior grey knight boarding and firepower present in my Nova's (who spent the entire day exceeding expectations), reduced most of his ships to crushed tin cans or floating hulks.

Then I totally got Creed'd.  
His Lunar cruisers went AAF, and rammed my barge on it's starboard side.  Dealing a total of 7 damage all at once. Reducing the untouched bastion of glittery good to a crippled mess.  I got revenge the moment the next round came up, as I rammed two strike cruisers right up the tailpipe of the same said cruisers, destroying one and dealing 5 damage to the other... boarding action finished them off.

Lesson learned: Never underestimate a new player.


Game 2: Tyranids vs Imperial navy.

Nid fleet:
2 hive ships, launch bays, feeder tenticles and massive claws, one ld 8, one ld 9
4 massive claws cruisers
bazillions of escorts, only with feeder tentacles and massive claws.

Imp Fleet: same as above. (me)

This game is an example of how NOT to play nids.. No shooting, just close combat and ordnance.

This battle ended quickly, before he even got close to chew on me, one hive ship was crippled, one cruiser was destroyed and another was crippled.  When he finally got close enough to start dealing damage (which he did do in spades),  he forgot something.

I have a little button I can press.  

my cheapest ship, a lunar, blew itself up as his hive ship came in to eat it.  The resulting explosion destroyed one of his hulks along with it.  The combined conflagration crippled the hive ship and destroyed about 70% of his escorts.  My casualties were significantly lower.  The next round, I destroyed the other hive ship and we called the game there.

Lesson learned: Close combat nids DO NOT WORK!


Game 3. Craftworld Eldar vs Chaos

Craftworld eldar:

Hero Ship (w/eldar hero 1 reroll)

Dragonship (batteries and LB with aspect warriors and a- boats)

3x wraithships (1 with aspect warriors)

6x shadowhunters (batteries)

Chaos:
Despoiler, torps, ld8 commander

4x slaughters

2x acherons

This was a GREAT game, a perfect example of how even one dice can ruin an eldar's day.

First things first, this match was in the mercurial zone, with a solar flare AND a rad burst.. AND the sun was on the short end of the table. No terrain to exploit and i can't zig zag on the table.

I played the waiting game, sticking around on my side of the table, only moving ahead to launch torps and bomber flights, until he got just close enough for me to start shooting.  The damage to me was extremely minor, until his slaughters got close enough to punk the hell out of.  

First things first: Aspect warriors are TOTALLY worth the upgrade! I won every boarding action i made with them, and had amazing control over where and when i boarded.  

Once I started shooting and boarding, i started taking hits. a few lucky shots (usually with that single weapons battery shot he made) and i found my dragonship and one wraithship with LD4.  Fortunately, the dragon ship was able to board another slaughter and take it down...

Things were going OK, until suddenly my hero ship was isolated around a bunch of cruisers, and the resulting shooting phase saw it explode, destroying half my escorts with it.

I determined this would not stand.  My dragonship was crippled from another few lucky shots, so all i had were three wraithships, and three escorts... So i went balls out.  I reloaded the wraithships, and locked on the escorts.

the aspect armed ship boarded, the others shot the enemy dispoiler... giving me the edge I needed to kill it in the boarding action.  I lost the wraithship in the next phase due to a locked on acheron and two slaughters.   I disengaged after that.

Lesson learned: I may have lost, but eldar boarding can be the meanest thing in the WORLD!


Game 4.  Chaos Vs Grey Knights

Chaos (same as above)

Grey Knights (me, same as above)

This battle was also, VERY fun. He had a ton of free upgrades due to my ships, and it manifested in the form of 3 demon ships and 3 re-rolls.

Again, the bombardment cannon upgrade and lightning fast movement of the grey knights paid off. Before he had an effective firing solution on me, two slaughters were drifting hulks thanks to my barge, the nova escorts (who killed one all by themselves), and the bombardment cruisers.  

I did not come out of it scott free. Two slaughters, two acherons and the Despoiler proceeded to push my Barge's face in the next round.. bracing for impact didn't help, and by the time it was done, it had 3 hits left.  It ran the moment i had the chance.

Since he focused his fire so heavily on the barge, the four strike cruisers took the chance and boarded his battleship.  after a round of locked on fire from nova escorts, his ship was not only crippled, but stationary due to a critical roll of an 8.  He was stuck there unable to disengage.  My escorts were nearly wiped out due to enemy fire, and a strike cruiser took a hit.  Another boarding action in my turn resulted in the end of his despoiler... the game ended there with my victory.

Lesson learned: Grey knight strike cruisers have sharper teeth then a bio-titan.  

[Vaaish]

Interesting. I've been messing with a similar list using the new marines and trading out the novas for gladius. I've not looked into Inquisitorial stuff quite yet, but the extra 1d6 and GK boarding special rules sounds nice and for minimal increase in points.

I think the Nid game is more of a commentary on where NOT to attempt boarding rather than CC nids not being useful. Seems the object should be to hit ships that are close enough to other friendlies that the prospect of blowing up your own ship is more damaging to you than your opponent.

[Zelnik]

The new rules have changed the way space marines fly. The GK's really shine when you use them the way I did, and the barge is now more then just a big shiny target.  The speed you gain is such a massive boost to tactical power, not to mention the incredible punch the bombardment cruisers can dish out.

[BaronIveagh]

I'm confused... did he actually board, or did you counter board and then blow up?  Because the rules for that rule now say they have to board *you*...

[Zelnik]

Oh he boarded me, he in fact, boarded about 2/3rds of my fleet.

It didn't keep because most of his escorts were obliterated by the explosion... It was lovely..

Also, being Imperial navy... there is NO reason why I would want to willingly board a tyranid ship, even an escort.

[dvang]

I am still relatively new to BFG, but I've played Tyranids several times as it is my main (and only) fleet.

I must say your game against the Nids seems less like "Close Combat nids do not work", and the fact that the player played them poorly. Around here, my opponents hate CC nids, especially Feeder Tentacles, and have restricted me from taking a CC nids force because it is considered a bit too powerful.

First thoughts... why the heck did your opponent take the FT+Claws on the hive ships? Chances of a Hive ship getting to use them are slim to none, with the slow speed and poor maneuverability. Any of the other options are better, although Pyro Acid or Torpedoes are probably the best choices for Prow weapons.

Second ... Tyranid cruisers aren't really very cost effective. A Tyranid player is usually better served upping it to another Hive Ship, or just taking more escorts. They are "light" cruisers with only 6 hits, 2 shields, 20cm move and 45 turn. Trying to get them into CC range for the cool-looking 2x Massive Claw combo is risky.

Third, he shouldn't have boarded your capital ships for exactly the reason you've given. Hit them multiple times with FT and MC and they'll die fast enough without needing to board.  He should board your escorts, but not your capital ships. The only time I'd board a capital ship is in an emergency. This is especially true if I've got a lot of escorts nearby, and my opponent doesn't.  Now, if my opponent has several capital ships nearby, then it might be worth it.

Keep in mind that FT do either 1-3 critical hits, or 1 hit + 1 critical hit. Ignores shields. No chance of missing a capital ship, and 3+ to kill an escort.
Massive claws get 2 attacks hitting on a 4+, doing 1 hit each (ignoring shields). If you're grabbed, the MC get an additional 2 attacks (at 4+) every End Phase, and two hits here do 3 hits total. So, you're looking at a potential 5 hits (barring BFI saves) in a single round from a single 35pt escort ship. Also, once grabbed the extra attacks are EVERY end phase. So, like Ordnance, it will attack in each player's turn.

Both of those, as you can see, inflict plenty of hurt on whatever they come across.

Honestly, Tyranid ships equipped with FT or MC have no reason to board a capital ship. All it takes is a couple of them hitting a capital ship for a few turns to cripple them or take them out.

Fourth thought ... A CC Tyranid fleet will pretty much AAF. FT and MC are unaffected by special orders. Kraken are especially resilient as they automatically brace as well as still being able to AAF. So ... they should be able to get to grips with you fairly quickly, even with only having 25cm movement. I'm not sure how you were able to

At 1500 points, he could have the two hive ships and ~25 kraken with MC/FT.  More if he takes Vanguards with FT (they are cheaper).  If he puts the escorts in squadrons of 1-2 (Tyranids can squadron anywhere from 1-12), then the shooting from your capital ships is greatly reduced/wasted. For example, an 8 or 16 die battery against a squadron with a single kraken will kill a single kraken (assuming he doesn't save) at most, and you cannot split the battery between different squadrons. So, he shouldn't actually lose too many ships to your shooting before he gets in close with you.

Anyway, I'm rambling. As I said I haven't played this a whole lot... but the few times that I've run all/most CC it was brutal for my opponents and I've been asked to not do it again. Personally, I just really like the concept/theme behind it... the Tyranid ships hungering and grabbing onto opposing ships and eating them.  I find it really cool, and its unfortunate that it seems so effective that I can't in good conscience run that type of list any more.

[RCgothic]

A very well thought out and informative post! The only bit I took issue with was:

you cannot split the battery between different squadrons.

This isn't my understanding. You may split fire between targets so long as you pass the leadership test for inevitably firing at a target which is not the closest and any halving effects such as braced or crippled have already been accounted for. This means that a braced Emperor may (for example) on passing its leadership check fire 3WBs at one target and 5 at another more difficult one, or an unbraced emperor may fire 5 at one target, 5 at another, and 6 at a third, or at however many targets it felt like firing at.

Do you have any thoughts on improving the Nid cruisers for BFG:R?

[Vaaish]

You may split fire between targets so long as you pass the leadership test for inevitably firing at a target which is not the closest and any halving effects such as braced or crippled have already been accounted for. This means that a braced Emperor may (for example) on passing its leadership check fire 3WBs at one target and 5 at another more difficult one, or an unbraced emperor may fire 5 at one target, 5 at another, and 6 at a third, or at however many targets it felt like firing at.

This is correct, although you do not need to take the leadership check when firing on targets in other arcs unless you are attempting to shoot at something farther away than the closest target in the second arc.