Raven Guard & Grey Knights Vs Orks ~ Battle Report

Before I get into the report, I'll begin with a little backstory.

A friend and I are planning to attend an upcoming doubles campaign/tournament at Warhammer World and have thus been undergoing a couple of practise games recently, both to test how our lists work together and of course how we do together ourselves.
In previous tests we've done well with only very minor mistakes in teamwork, this game shows us working well except for one rather obvious mistake on my behalf. *laughs*

The upcoming event requires teamed players to build a 750pt army each with a required HQ and Troops choice, so that together they fit on a single force organisation chart. Quick thinkers will already realise that unlike the standard FOC this requires the army to have a minimum of two HQ as well as two Troops.

This game was planned to involved an allied imperial force consisting of 750pts of James' Raven Guard Scouts and 750pts of my Grey Knights, against which another friend of ours, Richard, would be pitting 1,500pts of his assembled Ork horde.

Allied Imperial Force
James' Half:
James designed the core of his force for me to build around before we got down to discussing details and alterations. Before this game he had included an Autocannon Dreadnought in place of the Scout Bikers, yet for this game he wanted to test his Scout Bikers, partly due to his Dread having little use in a previous game but mostly as he'd recently acquired the unit and wanted to try them on the battlefield.

Master of the Forge - Conversion Beamer

Scout Squad - Additional Scout, Missile Launcher, Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloaks

Scout Squad - Additional Scout, Missile Launcher, Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloaks

Scout Squad - Five additional Scouts, Missile Launcher, Mix of Sniper Rifles & Shotguns

Land Speeder Storm

Scout Biker Squad - Cluster Mines, Astartes Grenade Launcher, Combi-flamer, Meltabomb

Whirlwind

My Half:
Since I knew James was going with a heavily ranged force, I'd decided upon Grey Knights since I feel a mid-long range force would compliment his force well. In my original list I included a Psy-Bolter Razorback for one of the Strike Squads, which I decided to swap out for a lone Paladin for this games test.

Inquisitor Malcolm Elderflower - Power Sword, Rad Grenades, 3x Servo-skulls
6x Death Cultists
> Chimera - Heavy Bolter & Heavy Flamer

Vindicare Assassin

Paladin - Nemesis Force Halberd

Strike Squad - Psycannon

Strike Squad

Dreadnought - 2x Twin-Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition

Richard's Army
Richard has admittedly only been back into 40k for a month or so, having last played back around 2nd/3rd edition beforehand. As such this game was as much for him to learn & practise as it was for James & I to prepare for doubles.
He has yet to really settle on any regular units, with the exception of Lootas which he does rather well with. This game was his first time trying Burna Boyz, Slugga armed boyz or a Deffdread.

Warboss - Bosspole, Power Klaw, Twin-Shoota

Weirdboy - Warphead

8x Burna Boyz

5x Lootas - 1x Mek

5x Lootas - 1x Mek

6x Ork Nobz

30x Ork Boyz - 2x Big Shootas, 1x Rokkit Launcha

30x Ork Boyz - 2x Big Shootas, 1x Rokkit Launcha

5x Deffkoptas - 5x Twin-Rokkit Launchas

Warbuggy - Armour plates, Red Paint Job

Deff Dread - Big Shoota, Rokkit Launcha, Armour Plates, Grot Riggers

2x Killer Kans - Armour Plates & Skorchas

Terrain & Mission
The board was an urban 6'x4' field upon which we'd placed a number of ruins, seven of turned out the shape the game. Two relatively intact buildings were placed near each of the long edges with the other three ruins along the central line, from what turned out to be my point of view these were a large mostly collapsed ruin slightly off centre to my left, a half intact ruin on the other side of the central city square, separating the right end of the board where another heavily rubbled section lay.
Dice rolls revealed we'd be Seizing Ground in a Pitched Battle with three objectives, one of which was placed in the central square near some walls with the other two in the buildings to its left and right.

Deployment
Richard won the roll off and elected to go second, so James & I prepared for deployment, taking only a small break for me to position my servo-skulls and for us to briefly discuss James' Cluster Mines which were secretly noted to be set in the collapsed ruin to our left of the central square.
James positioned his Whirlwind behind the walls on our side of the central square, in front of which I placed my Psycannon unit, Paladin and Dreadnought. I then deployed my other strike squad and chimera covering the clear ground on the far side of the left ruin and James decided to combat squad his largest unit, placing the ranged half on the balcony of the left half of our deployment zone with his Master of the Forge, above which on the next floor I placed my Vindicare Assassin. Lastly James placed his Speeder on our right flank, within which the shotgun armed combat squad sat ready.

Richard placed his Deffdread, Deffcoptas, Burna Boyz and Warboss across from my Chimera, supported by one of the Loota units in a ruin. His weirdboy was placed near the central square with one of the boyz mobs, with the Nobz nearby and the other Loota's supporting from behind in the other ruin. Against our weak right flank he placed his second boyz mob, the Killer Kans and Warbuggy.

When it came to deploying Infiltrators (the phase James dominates) he used both his smaller scout units and bikes to support our right flank, placing one unit in the building near the central square with the ruin near our table edge, with the bikers between the two.
James won the scouts roll off and raced his bikers against the right edge of the board, Richard then considered his options for his Deffcoptas, however my servo-skulls had not left him with many so he decided to turboboost them to a position central to his board edge.

Turn One
Richard failed to seize initiative, so after I moved my Grey Knights forward and James moved his fast units into better ranged positions we began our shooting with the Raven Guard dropping a mass of blast markers upon the Ork ranks reducing their numbers. On our left the strike squad and Chimera cut a number of the Burna Boyz apart, while the Dread cut down a number of the Ork Nobz despite their cover. The Vindicare fired a turbo-penetrator round, yet found himself less than an inch out of range to the Deffdread. Fortunately for the imperials both the Burnas & Nobz failed their leadership tests and fled back off the board.

Taking the loss of two units so early quite well, Richard began his advance.
Even tho his forces on our left side now consisted of only his Warboss and Deff Dread they started forward while the Deffcoptas led the way into the central square followed by the Weirdboy mob, both setting their sights upon my Dreadnought since the Orkish psyker had generated the powerful Zzap anti-tank power.
Shots from the Deffdread and Warboss dropped two of the Grey Knights who held fast, whilst the combined psychic bolt and mass of rokkits tore into my Dreadnought tearing both arms off and rendering it immobile and unable to affect the game further.

On turn one, with a roll of a one my Weirdboy started to shake and his eyes bulge with the raw power. The boyz next to him were taking cover behind all the rubble nearby and thanking that their trousers were already brown! Just when the weirdboy was about to explode and take half the surrounding mob with him he used his warphead training to control his powers and form his anti tank physic blast with a roll of a 3! ~ Richard

After our first turn I was feeling we might manage to clear the Orks out faster than expected, yet the effective destruction of my Dreadnought in his turn left me far less sure... ~ Elle

Turn Two
James continued to maintain range on the right flank, whilst I moved forward centrally moving my Psycannon squad towards the Deffcoptas and the lone Paladin towards the Weirdboyz unit. Over on the left flank I decided to move the Chimera full speed towards the central square whilst the remaining Strike Squad moved into the collapsed ruins to gain cover from the Deffdreads Rokkit, however shortly after I'd finished moving James gave a groan of despair and reminded me that it was that area which his Bikers had booby-trapped.
Accepting my foolish mistake, much to Richards amusement James made his rolls, with the blast causing an impressive eight wounds. Luckily I was able to roll a more impressive series of armour saves leaving the Grey Knights unscathed but rather embarrassed.
Shooting began with the Paladin calling forth a Holocaust upon the Weirdboyz mob, killing eight and leaving around a third of their original number. My central strike squad opened fire with their Psycannon and Stormbolters causing one of the Deffcoptas to crash to the ground, however my Vindicares supporting shot failed to wound.
James had managed to reduce the number of boyz on the right flank a little yet had unfortunately failed to make a dent in the vehicles, elsewhere his Master and units fire managed to shake the Deffdread, making my earlier mistake unnecessary. His Whirlwind however flew off course and failed to bother the Lootas.
In the assault phase my Paladin found himself just out of range, however my central Strike Squad threw themselves upon the Deffcoptas. Deciding to activate the units Force weapons rather than use Hammerhand I managed only three hits, yet luckily this was enough to wound twice. My luck continued as Richard proceeded to fail to kill anything with his attacks and then fail his morale check and get run down.

I think this may have been the first time my Strike Squads have proven themselves capable of combat, I can see why I've heard worry over their Force Weapons ~ Elle

By now the Ork lines had met heavy resistance everywhere except for the relatively out of sight section along our right flank, which continued forward led by the Warbuggy which sped well into the imperial deployment zone. Over near the central square, the Weirdboy found himself charged with the Frazzle power and decided to lead his mob clambering over the walls towards my Strike Squad near the objective rather than the lone paladin. At the same time Richards Warboss closed in on my other Strike Squad as they were composing themselves.
When it came to shooting, Richard's Lootas manage to drop a scout each as the big guns from his boyz mob on the right flank opened fire upon the Scout Bikers, slaying all but the sergeant. His Weirdboy was lucky enough to blast my Psycannon armed warrior into oblivion, yet his luck fell through when it came to assault as the walls prevented the boyz getting in. Richards Warboss however managed to charge the other strike squad, who activated their force weapons yet failed to land a wound, in return the Warboss' Power Klaw cut all three down with ease leaving the Ork to climb atop the highest pile of rubble to celebrate.

Turn Three
Hearing the Orks yells, Malcolm Elderflower and his retinue of Death Cultists piled from the back of their chimera and rapidly took positions surrounding the boss. In the central square my Strike Squad and Paladin both turned on the Weirdboy. Knowing his remaining bike was useless against the approaching Killer Kans, James had him turbo-boost off round into the central square.
Entering the Shooting phase, mass shotgun fire from the back of the speeder shook the Warbuggies crew, although the speeders Heavy Bolter failed to damage the Killer Kans. In desperation the forward scout group fired upon the Killer Kans to no avail, leaving the unit helpless in the face of the Ork's return fire.
Centrally the Whirlwind again missed its mark and failed to hit any of the Ork Lootas, while my Strike Squad and Paladin blew apart a number of the remaining boyz and wounded the Weirdboy.
The Vindicare turned his sights back on the Deffdread and with two rolls of one failed to hit, gah!
In the assault phase the death cultists threw themselves upon the Ork Warboss as the Grey knights struck at the Weirdboy and his unit, neither combat lasted long with no Ork getting a single attack off.

While he was proving strong on our right flank, Richard was now left with only his Loota squads and Deff Dread elsewhere on the board, yet he played on with the Deffdread moving ever forward. On the other end of the field the Killer Kans followed suit, followed by the mass of Orks behind them.
Richard again proved uncannily accurate at shooting, yet our saves mostly held out with the Deffdread slaying a scout and the Lootas slaying another in a different unit.
As expected the Killer Kans unleashed their Skorchas, melting all but one of the scouts on the right flanks objective, luckily for the remaining man, who held position, the Ork Boyz failed to finish him off and the Kans were unable to get through the difficult terrain to assault.

Turn Four
Centrally my strike squad fell back to the objective as the Paladin started in the direction of Ork Boyz on the right flank yet found himself overtaken by James' remaining Scout Biker.
On what remained of our right flank the surviving lone scout near the objective moved away slightly, forcing the Killer Kans to enter the difficult terrain if they wanted to flame him, while the Speeder fall back towards our edge beyond range of the Skorchas if they went that way.
Shooting began with the Whirlwind missing the Lootas for the third time. The Biker fortunately was able to avoid this problem against his target by using the flamer on his combi-bolter, which managed to slay seven of the Orks who had not expected the attack. Behind him the Paladin failed its psychic test however and was unable to lend support where needed. Elsewhere on the right flank the Warbuggy managed to ignore the shotgun fire this time around as the Speeders Heavy Bolter managed to cut down one of the Ork Boyz, yet many remained.
Fire from the Master of the Forge and the missile launcher with him cut down two of the Lootas opposite them and in the central square the strike squad opened fire on the other Lootas, killing three. The Vindicare also managed his first effective hit during the game, yet still only managed to immobilise the Ork Deffdread.
With shooting over and little else to do the Biker threw himself into combat and managed to slay an Ork before he was torn from his saddle and ripped apart.

Knowing that he at best could scrape a draw and that even for that he would need for his Boyz to survive the Paladin and reach the objective, Richard decided it would be better to concede now to pack up and head home to appease his girlfriend.

The Result: Conceded
While disappointed to have yet another game which didn't reach its actual end, I can understand Richard conceding as while his Killer Kans had proved unstoppable the rest of his force had dwindled away to very little remaining.

Not entirely unexpectedly Richards shooting had proved impressively accurate for Orks (better than I'd expect of my guard usually), yet his numbers dwindled too fast for him to bring any real power to bear. I do feel sorry that he didn't get to test his Burna Boyz (I both love and fear them, hehe) and feel his playstyle did better with shoota armed boyz, so he might need to rethink his style when using slugga boyz.
His Killer Kans proved a real nightmare for James who in hindsight perhaps may have been better off abandoning the right flank to them and racing his speeder far across the board towards the objective which neither side had the units nearby to claim.

I'll begin by saying I'm glad I had previously agreed with James that his Dread would be better than the bikes in the Tournament. They did not do badly in the game, yet my foolish mistake with the booby traps just proved that while good for his army of relatively immobile or skimmer units, they are not the best choice for a double game where your ally already has a number of considerations.
Additionally a second autocannon dreadnought would have been wonderful since it would have been able to cut through the Killer Kans and similar units, especially since mine got disabled on the first turn.
As usual my Vindicare seems to be rather hit and miss, performing amazingly well in some games yet barely being effective in others. If I had the model built I'd consider replacing him with another Dread for the tournament.
The Paladin proved strong however and if James decides to use his Dreadnought in our final list, I think I'll use him in place of the Razorback. Perhaps with a Daemon Hammer for vehicles..

Grey Knights vs Tyranids ~ Battle Report

So I'd never really done one but as I'd been considering starting this blog and battle reports were brought up by my opponent who sometimes writes some of his own, I thought why not have a go?

1,500pts Grey Knights Vs. Tyranids

My Army
I'd made a slight alteration to my usual list, replacing (and converting) Captain Stern who I always felt as rather underwhelming in this force and my tactics with a yet unnamed Grand Master. This allowed me to purchase some of the nifty grenades for both my HQ's, going for Rad over Psychotroke to avoid confusion and have a more predictable effect. Unfortunately I dropped the Psy-colt ammunition from the razorback.
As usual the armies backbone is the highly expensive Paladin unit (a third of my points, without characters), with each of the other units providing certain roles of assistance.

Grand Master - Incinerator, Rad Grenades

Inquisitor - Power Sword, Rad Grenades

Inquisitor Henchmen Unit consisting of six Death Cultist Assassins, two Arco-Flagellants and one Crusader
> Chimera with Heavy Bolter & Heavy Flamer

Purifier Squad with additional member and Halberds
> Razorback with Twin-Heavy Bolters

Seven man Paladin Squad with Apothecary and two Psycannons

Vindicare Assassin

Strike Squad - Psycannon

Strike Squad

Graeme's Army
Graeme had decided to unleash Tyranids upon me, having never really faced them in 5th edition I was cautious yet fairly confident. My knowledge on the army consisting of incomplete looks through the codex and watching some games played by others.
He was nice enough to inform me beforehand that his army wasn't entirely WYSIWYG, something a number of my more regular opponents have a habit of forgetting with their armies. He also made sure I could recognise his nicely converted Tervigon, since GW has yet to make a model for it at all.

Hive Tyrant armed with Lash Whip, Bonesword and Scything Talons. Using Leech Essence and Paroxysm psychic powers.

Three Hiveguard

Five Tyranid Warriors armed with Lashwhip, Bonesword and Scything Talons. With additional Toxin Sacs

Seven strong Genestealer Brood with Broodlord, all with Scything Talons

Fifteen strong Hormagaunt Brood with Toxin Sacs

Ten strong Termagant Brood

Tervigon with Scything Talons, Toxin Sacs, Acid Blood and Catalyst psychic power

Carnifex with Bio-Plasma attack

Trygon Prime

Terrain and Mission
The battle was to cover a standard 6' by 4' area, using the local clubs city-fight map sheet covered with a multitude of ruins and craters.
This left us with a rather nice looking grass free ruined city to do battle through with the five largest ruins around the centre which came in handy. The dice roll revealed that our mission would be Seize Ground with a second roll showing we had a shocking five objectives to battle over. As a search revealed little to represent objectives Graeme suggested we just use the five largest ruins around the centre so we went with it.
As for deployment style, Dawn of War was rolled. A personal favourite of mine although I wouldn't be using my Dark Eldar so not particularly to my benefit.

Graeme had won the roll off and elected to go first, setting up his Tyranid Warriors and Genestealers in two of the vital ruins in his deployment zone, with the Hive Tyrant further back ready to support them.
Myself, I decided to hold my HQ's back placing only the two small Strike Squads on the table, with the Psycannon armed unit on top of one of the vital ruins (luckily quite central, giving a wide view of the field) and the other unit just in front as a mobile screen.

I was already happy with my recent list change as the Grand Master allowed me to grant abilities to units, I rolled well and knowing the large number of objectives and my lack of strong troops units I decided that my Paladins, Purifiers and Vindicare would now all be able to capture objectives as if they were troops.

Turn One
As expected I failed to Sieze Initiative and the Tyranids swarmed forward with all but the Trygon moving on the first turn. Graeme hugged the ruins well, with both Warriors & Genestealers only edging forward. His Hive Guard made a run for one of the ruins on my right while the much of rest of his force were to my left, with his Termagants slipping up and only getting 2" onto the field. His lone Carnefex boldly lumbered forward in the open in full view.
As a heavily combat focused force there was little shooting, but with a grunt of effort his Tervigon spawned an additional unit of eight Termagants, with no double rolled its spawning stacks were still full to do so again later.

My movement was over quick, with my entire force appearing on my left flank, the Paladins more central and the two vehicles further out, as the Vindicare choose a vantage point on a small section of unimportant ruin.
With night fight I was unable to do much, although the Razorback and Paladins managed a few wounds on Graeme's Tyranid Warriors.

Turn Two
Graeme rolled yet it seemed his Trygon was still burying into position and not ready to arrive yet. His force continued to move forward with his Gaunts gaining speed, his Warriors moving out of sight of my vehicles and his Hive Guard running again and reaching a spot in the ruins completely out of sight of where my forces could reach. Their guns of course, not needing line of sight to fire.
As most of our forces were on my left flank, Graeme sent his Hive Tyrant round along my right.
With still no shooting the Tervigon spawned another unit of Termagants and showed no sign of stopping. Out of caution it also channelled its psychic powers and granted Feel No Pain to the Carnifex.

In my turn I sent the Razorback the full 12" along my left flank as the Chimera and Paladins adjusted their positions to fire at their targets. My only other movement being to retreat my mobile Strike Squad away from the approaching Tyranid Warriors.
Now the sun had risen my shooting was far more effective, with the Chimera picking off a Hormagaunt and my Paladins and both Strike Squads unleashing their massed combined fire into the Tyranid Warriors reducing their number to half. The Vindicare meanwhile raised his rifle and fired a shot at the lumbering Carnifex yet to my dismay was just out of range!
The assault phase then begun and with a lucky roll my Paladins could just reach Graeme's Tyranid Warriors yet my Grand Master himself couldn't get into base contact for his attacks. Thanks to their Lash Whips my Paladins were reduced down to initiative 1 and a couple of them took a wound each. The returning attacks however were horrendous, with both the Paladins and Grand Master casting Hammerhand as they charged increasing the units strength to an almighty six! That together with the Grand Masters Rad grenades reducing the warriors toughness to three, meant that I was causing Instant Death with all my attacks, allowing the Paladins to easily cause enough wounds to kill the remaining Warriors several times over.

Turn Three
The third turn was heralded by the arrival of the Trygon, which erupted from the ground in front of my Vindicare with its sights set on the two tanks before it. With this distraction the other Tyranids raced forward, the Hormagaunts and now numerous Termagants making good speed on my left, followed by the Tervigon. The Hive Tyrant forced its way through ruins on my right, with the Carnifex still boldly striding down the centre of the board.
Yet again the Tervigon spawned another unit of Termagants with me wondering when Graeme will finally roll a double and stop. With this new unit running off into the distant ruins to hide alongside the Hive Guard and guarantee him at least one Objective.
Finally having some shooting attacks, Graeme began with the Trygon Prime as it discharged a mass of electrical blasts which caused my Chimera to explode violently, taking both Arco-Flaggelents, the Crusader and one of the Death Cultists with it. Even the Inquisitor couldn't get free of the wreckage unscathed, taking a wound.
The Hive Guard however were less effective, missing with most of their attacks and the rest deflecting harmlessly off the Paladins terminator armour. Lastly, in preparation for next turns assault the Tervigon decided to psychically grant Feel No Pain to the Hormagaunts this time and while it managed to, the roll of double one caused the creature to suffer a wound.

Unsure about the gigantic creature which had appeared in my ranks I took a risk by having the Purifiers move forward to charge the Hormagaunts before they could charge me. Taking the opportunity to move forward slightly my Vindicare hopped from his spot and moved towards the Trygon, the Paladins falling back slightly to support him and the Inquisitor.
It seemed this wasn't needed however as a turbo-penetrator round from the Vindicare and some nice shooting from the Strike Squad in the building took four wounds off the hulking beast. Crossing my fingers that the Inquisitor and his Henchwomen could finish it, I turned the Paladins on the Hive Tyrant on my other flank causing a single wound which was more than the mobile Strike Squad could manage with its stormbolters.
Assault phase came and the Inquisitor and Death Cultists threw themselves at the Trygon, yet again Rad grenades proved my list change good allowing the Cultists to wound on 5's rather than 6's, which saved the day as after rolling a total of twenty attacks I only managed a single 5 and a 6 to wound. Only just enough to slay the monster.
Elsewhere I was beginning to feel dismay for my Purifier Squad which had only slain a single Hormagaunt with their stormbolters and after assaulting and unleashing their lovely Cleasing Flames power, my terrible rolls along with some good Feel No Pain saves meant that I was still facing a full unit! Thankfully the unit regained my trust by slaying an almighty nine with their standard attacks, not the way I expected them to win but I wasn't complaining. Despite managing to slay one of the Purifiers in return it was discovered the Hormagaunts were out of Synapse range meaning with a -8 penalty to their leadership they unsurprisingly fled and were chased down.

Turn Four
Alone and quite some distance from the rest of my force the five remaining Purifiers found themselves huddled together as a large number of Termagaunts move forward readying their guns, as if to make things worse the Carnifex changed direction and turned down a sidestreet towards them as well. Over on my right flank the Hive Tyrant and Genestealers moved forward into the centre of a vital ruin close to my lines.
For the first time the Tervigon does not spawn another unit, but only because Graeme had only three Termagants left in his box and didn't think it worth the risk!
Shooting phase and the Hive Guard start the inevitable torrent of fire at the Purifiers, slaying one. Before the Termagants could open fire the Carnifex churned up a blob of bio-plasma and with amazing accuracy vomits it right atop the Purifiers vaporising all of them and leaving the Termagants targetless.
Before ending his turn, Graeme's Hive Tyrant concentrates the psychic powers of the hive mind and despite the Grey Knights Aegis resistance manages overwhelm the bodies of the Psycannon armed Strike Squad reducing their weapon skill and ballistic skill to 1.

With my strong left flank looking less capable I still decided to focus on the few threats on my right, having the Paladins move back in that direction and taking a risk the Grand Master leaves the unit to stride ahead.
On the left, the Inquisitor keeps his retinue in check, pulling them back slightly in the hopes of avoiding assault long enough to charge myself next turn.
Shooting begins as the Grand Master fires a burst of intense flame at the Genestealers killing several. Despite their vastly reduced ballistic skill the Strike Squad in the building gave their assistance and managed a kill leaving only the Broodlord and a lone Genestealer. Deciding the Hive Tyrant now represented the bigger threat the Paladins and second Strike Squad turned their guns his way and luckily (or unluckily for Graeme) managed to finish the Tyrant off. Elsewhere having little else to target the Vindicare lends his support to the Razorback and together manage to kill three Termagants, not his most impressive moment.
My Grand Masters risk had paid off in the shooting phase now fell flat however as his lumbering armour must have prevented him clambering over terrain, as he was unable to assault the remaining Genestealers.

Turn Five
Unrelenting, Graeme continued his march forward, with the Carnifex returning to the main road. On my left flank the Termagants swarm forward, followed by the Tervigon while on my right the Genestealers prepared to pounce upon my Grand Master. Now I'd killed a few Termagants, Graeme decided he had enough models to spawn another unit, although it turned out he still hadn't enough as he rolled a 4, 5 & 6, the maximum possible without the Tervigon exhausting its supply of larvae, still that was another unit of troops on the field and he already had a better position amongst the ruins than me.
Shooting phase and the Hive Guard worried me slightly as they turned their guns on my Grand Master, scoring three wounds. At strength 8 they represented Instant Death but luckily his terminator armour proved impenetrable. The Paladins terminator armour was less protective as another perfectly spat glob of bio-plasma from the Carnifex landed in their midst finishing off one and killing another. Again the Tervigon psychically toughened a unit, this time it was the leading Termagant group.
In the assault the Grand Master faced off against the two charging Genestealers, suffering a wound from the Brood Lords attacks. In return he managed to slay land a wound on both aliens, killing the standard Genestealer. However despite being Psychic the Broodlord resisted the Daemonbane effect of the wound and remained in combat.

Realising the game was in danger of ending with my only having a single objective the Paladins were forced to leave their master to his fight and head towards the nearest ruin, where the Inquisitor and his retinue were already moving, however they barely managed to make any distance thanks to terrain.
The Vindicare failed to wound with his shot at the Terivon. Disappointed, I then had the two Strike Squads pelt the Carnifex with fire, with little effect and to make the phase worse despite the full firepower of the Paladins and even a well placed Halocaust blast the Termagants in the nearby ruin proved immovable thanks to cover and Feel No Pain.
Assault proved their undoing thankfully as the Inquisitor and the Death Cultists charged in, their power weapons and his Rad grenades giving the unit no chance. The Brood Lord failed to penetrate the Grand Masters armour this time, who in return landed a single wound which he then turned into Instant Death by channelling his powers into his Force Weapon.

Biting my lip, I watched as Graeme rolled a dice which came up a five. The game would continue for another turn!

Turn Six
Fearing the Grand Masters force weapon, the Carnifex ignored the warrior standing before him and heading into the rightmost vital ruin. Over on my left in the other ruin, another Termagant unit encircled the Death Cultists and Inquisitor as more Termagants and the Tervigon settled in a the vital ruin behind it securing the objective, again the hive minds psychic powers proved strong granting Feel No Pain to the attacking Termagant unit.
Shooting was quick as the Hive Guard failed to penetrate the Grand Masters armour again and the Termagant's volley of fire cut down the Death Cultists and left the Inquisitor with a single wound remaining. The Carnifex attempted another blast of bio-plasma, this time at my mobile Strike Squad yet for the first time was off target and missed.

The Paladins made better distance this time, moving to join up and protect the Inquisitor in the ruins. On the other flank the Grand Master and mobile Strike Squad moved after the Carnifex.
Shooting began and the Psycannon unit and Grand Master failed to kill the Carnifex, forcing the other Strike Squad to open fire as well finally bringing the creature to the ground. However, this prevented them from running meaning that while the beast was down I couldn't get the unit into the objective.
Again the Paladins unleashed their guns into a Termagant unit and again cover and Feel No Pain prevented their destruction, although again in a strange case of Déjà vu the Paladins assault, supported by the Inquisitors grenades removed the unit, giving me control of the ruin.

Another dice was rolled and this time the game came to a close.

The Result: 2 v 2
Two objectives each, with the most distance objective held by the spawned Termagants who hid with Graeme's Hive Guard and the other on my left side in his deployment filled with yet more Termagant and their Tervigon spawner.
Compared against my objectives which consisted of the ruin my Psycannon armed Strike Squad had held the entire game and the one my Paladins and captured in the last moments.
The fifth objective was left unclaimed as my mobile Strike Squad had unfortunately failed to reach it due to dealing with the Carnifex.

Interestingly against my original expectations it wasn't the Genestealers, Hive Tyrant or Tyranid Warriors who caused me the most trouble, although the impressive accuracy of the Carnifex's Bio-Plasma caught me off guard each time.
The real trouble in the game came from the Tervigon and the untold masses of Termagants which is spawned, that claimed both of Graeme's objectives. With his luck in never running out of spawns and Graeme's choices of Feel No Pain, the Tervigon really was a thorn in my side the whole game.

After the game Graeme remarked that in retrospect he wasted the warriors and arguably the genestealers who should all probably have just hid in a building somewhere.

As for myself, while the game was a draw I count it as a slight victory, as my model loss consisted of only the Purifiers, the Inquisitors Henchmen, their chimera and two Paladins. Eight marines, a tank and a few unimportant retinue members would barely register in the records of the imperium compared to the casualties they'd inflicted upon the hive mind.
More importantly and the real reason for my taking the game as a slight victory was my choice in adjusting my army list not only prevented my loosing the game since the Paladins could claim their objective (although selecting the Vindicare to be able to take objectives and then positioning him far away from any was a terrible mistake). In addition the spare points which were spent on Rad grenades meant that almost every encounter they were used in was over in a single turn.