Escape from Jasper Four
“They have to be around here someplace…” Dracon Mal’ce muttered. He had been ordered to find the Tyranid horde responsible for an earlier humiliation.
“Sir, we’ve been discovered! The Tyranids are on all sides of us!”
The Dracon cursed under his breath. He had been tricked by the creatures. He had underestimated their cunning.
“We must escape their little trap and regroup. Prepare to punch through.”
The Forces
The game was played on a 3’ x 5’ area with 500 point rosters, using the Standard rules for a Breakout. I don’t have either roster here, so this is from memory.
Kabal of the Crimson Dawn
HQ
1 Dracon (Mal’ce) w/ Agoniser, Splinter Pistol and Shadowfield
Elites
5 Mandrakes
Troops
9 Warriors w/ 6 Splinter Rifles, 2 Splinter Cannons and 2 Shredders
1 Sybarite (Pa’n) w/ Poisoned Blades and Splinter Pistol
10 Warriors w/ 9 Splinter Rifles and 1 Dark Lance
Heavy Support
1 Ravager w/ 3 Disintegrators
Tyranid Force
HQ
1 Hive Tyrant w/ Venom Cannon and Rending Claws
Elites
3 Warriors w/ 6* Scything Talons
Troops
8 Hormagaunts w/ Scything Talons
8 Termagaunts w/ Fleshborers
8 Genestealers w/ Rending Claws and 1 with Acid Blood
The Board
This layout was leftover from a previous Cleanse battle (Battle on Cabrial Beta), with the one building moved to the vacant corner. We then rolled for scenario and ended up with a Breakout Mission. I had been hoping for something other than Cleanse and I got my wish.
Deployment
Turn 1 – Dark Eldar
Assessing the sheer numbers of vermin approaching them, Mal’ce ordered everyone westward. The second group wanted to drive a point home and hoisted the Dark Lance, firing a warning shot eastward. The shot struck one of the Warriors in the chest, causing the creature to implode in on itself, killing it instantly. The Ravager captain decided to protect the craft by bunkering down amongst debris, but a spire of rock clipped the wing and sent the craft spiraling down in a smoking heap. Mal’ce was not impressed.
Turn 1 – Tyranid
The Tyranid smelled food and they weren’t about to let them get away. Every creature was ordered to descend on the enemy. The Hive Tyrant positioned itself to observe the enemy and it saw Mal’ce coming its way. With a predatory grin it raised its Venom Cannon and fired. The shot passed through the Dracon’s Shadowfield and struck the Dracon down, reducing him to an acidic pool.
Turn 2 – Dark Eldar
The battle wasn’t going well. The sniper group decided that they could no longer afford to shoot at the enemy approaching from the rear and charged around an old ruined temple. Pa’n’s unit charged headlong toward the approaching Hormagaunts, shooting their weapons at the creatures. The poisoned shards from the Splinter weapons dropped two, while the third was caught in the monowire lattice of the Shredder and cut into small pieces. Pa’n grinned as he prepared to tangle with the creatures head on.
Turn 2 – Tyranid
The Termagaunts and Genestealers continued their pursuit of the enemy and the Termagaunts quickly realized the fleeing Dark Eldar snipers responsible for killing their Warrior was in range. Firing their biological weapons, they managed to kill two of the prey. The Hive Tyrant fell back to a safe distance, while ordering the Hormagaunts not to charge just yet. Let them come a little closer…
Turn 3 – Dark Eldar
Pa’n advanced further and despite the potential threat posed by the Hormagaunts, he ordered his men to fire at the Hive Tyrant. The poisoned shards did little against the hardened plating of the Tyrant. The creature bellowed a deafening roar in protest for the annoyance of the attack. The second unit double-timed their way around the ruins, trying to put some distance between themselves and the pursuing Termagaunts. With a shimmer, the Mandrakes emerged behind the Tyranid line. Analyzing the Tyranid forces, the Mandrakes felt they couldn’t harm the strong creatures and fled toward the western border.
Turn 3 – Tyranid
The eastern forces advanced further up, giving the Termagaunts a shot at Pa’n’s back. The parasitic ammo latched into one of the Warriors, bring him down writhing in agony. The Hive Tyrant wasn’t about to let the Mandrakes escape and fired its Venom Cannon into their ranks, killing two. The Mandrakes didn’t seem to care that two of their kin were shot dead and continued running. The Hormagaunts plunged into battle with Pa’n’s troops, but were unprepared for the readiness of their enemy. The Warriors killed the two Hormagaunts leading the charge and the followers were unable to do any damage. The Tyranid Warrior plunged in after and was likewise unable to damage the pirates.
Turn 4 – Dark Eldar
As the Mandrakes slipped off the field, the sniper squad reached the western border. They were almost away from the Tyranid horde.
Pa’n wasn’t so lucky. He ordered his men to attack the Hormagaunts and soon every one of the creatures lay dead before them. Psyched up by the killing, the remaining Warriors surrounded the lone synapse creature.
Turn 4 – Tyranid
The eastern troops continued to advance and redoubled their efforts to close the gap, seeing the remaining pirates being slowed by the Warrior. The Hive Tyrant was angry that Mandrakes had escaped its grasp and now a second group aimed to escape. It turned its Venom Cannon on the new group and the acidic blast killed two of the humanoids. Tangled in combat the Tyranid Warrior attacked Pa’n and his troops. Despite the Dark Eldar efforts, they failed to wound the creature and it managed to bite the head off a nearby nuisance. Despite their numbers, the Warriors broke under a grotesque power display and fell back.
Turn 5 – Dark Eldar
The second group slipped off the battlefield, leaving Pa’n to fend for himself. The Sybarite desperately tried to regroup his men but they continued to retreat, only to come face to face with a large pack of Termagaunts and Genestealers. They fired at the approaching threat but failed to catch any of them. Perhaps they should have listened to their captain…
Turn 5 – Tyranid
The Genestealers hungrily descended on the Dark Eldar and killed three of the pirates, while taking no damage of their own. The Termagaunts added their numbers to the attack and killed another pirate. With nowhere to go, the Dark Eldar were unable to flee.
Turn 6 – Dark Eldar
Pinned and nowhere to go, the troops had one option. Fight! They attacked the Termagaunts in hopes of thinning their numbers, but the battle resulted in a stalemate with no casualties on either side.
Turn 6 – Tyranid
The Genestealers continued their rampage through the unit, devouring every last soldier within, selfishly excluding the Termagaunts from the feast.
Final
I shoulda had this one…
Dark Eldar Units Escaped – 2, Dark Eldar Units Stopped – 3. Tyranid Victory.
Comments
Jay: This one should have been mine…between my Ravager crashing and my Dracon getting hosed all on the first turn, I knew I was in trouble. I still gave Chris a run for his money. I failed those damned Leadership tests and that was the final straw. I can’t even say I did anything wrong, per se. I just had a bit of bad luck. One of these days, my dice will be nice to me and I’ll win one of these borderline skirmishes…
Jay’s MVP Picks:
Dark Eldar – First Warriors for exceeding my expectations despite ultimately dying.
Runner up = Tie between Mandrakes and Unit Two, for escaping.
Tyranid – Hive Tyrant for killing my Dracon and harassing all my escaping units.
Runner up = Genestealers for sealing Pa’n’s fate.
Chris: I’ll have to agree with Jay on this. He should have walked all over me mainly due to my poor placement of my units. However as usual Jay’s dice betrayed him once more and things looked bleak from the get go. He fought an excellent fight despite his luck being in the gutter and refused to give up. My two biggest mistakes were the placement of my forces and my lack of ranged weapons. Oh well, live and learn as they say.
Chris’ MVP Picks:
Tyranid – I agree with Jay and say my Hive Tyrant for being a major pain in his ass.
Runner up = I’d have to say my Warrior that was near the Tyrant who forced the remaining Dark Eldar forces back, forcing them to be mutilated by the Genestealers.
Dark Eldar – I think Pa’n deserves this one. He was a thorn in my side right to the end.
Runner up = I agree with Jay one this one as well. The Mandrakes and Unit 2 both got to their destination with little trouble.