Scenario was Decoy, from the upcoming Giant Fanatic X tournament. This also meant that we played by GF X Army selection rules.
The Hand of Change (Chaos Space Marines) battleforce The Hand of Change
The fear of the dark powers of chaos have been given a name.... The Hand of Change
| Categories | Type | Name | Description | Points |
| HQ | Chaos Lord | Lord Chravian | Chaos lord, Terminator armor, Personal Icon, Pair of lightning claws, Mark of Tzeentch | 150 |
| HQ | Chaos Sorcerer | Rhythas | Chaos sorcerer,Mark of Tzeentch, Wind of Chaos Power, Doombolt power, Personal Icon | 175 |
| HQ | Greater Daemon | The Acended | Greater Daemon | 100 |
| Elite | Chaos Dreadnought | The Entombed | Chaos Dreadnought, Ekstra close combat weapon, Heavy flamer, Ekstra Armor | 120 |
| Elite | Chaos Terminators | The purifier with the pink fire of Tzeentch | 5x Chaos Terminators, 5x Power fist, 5x Upgrade to Chaos terminator champions, 1x Heavy flamer, Icon of Tzeentch | 290 |
| Troop | Thousand Sons | Thousand Sons | 8x Thousand sons, Personal Icon, Aspiring Sorcerer, Bolt of Change | 274 |
| Troop | Thousand Sons | Thousand Sons | 8x Thousand sons, Personal Icon, Aspiring Sorcerer, Bolt of Change | 274 |
| Heavy Support | Chaos Defiler | The Blessed Machinae | Chaos Defiler 150 | 150 |
| Heavy Support | Chaos Predator | Purifier of the Blasphemeous | Chaos predator, Turret mounted twin-linked lascannon, Side-sponsered lascannons | 165 |
| Sum | 1698 | |||
Black Tide (Tyranids) battleforce Aestus Niger
The Tide that Hungers
| Categories | Type | Name | Description | Points |
| HQ | Brood Lord | Magister Persequor | Extended Carapace, Implant Attack, Flesh Hooks
9x Genestealers: Extended Carapace, Flesh Hooks | 284 |
| HQ | Hive Tyrant | Rex Niger | Venom Cannon, Twin-linked Devourer, Extended Carapace, Enhanced Senses, Toxin Sacs, Psychic Scream
3x Tyrant Guard | 319 |
| Elite | Warriors | Brood Gladius | 3x Adrenal Glands (I), Bio-Plasma, Toxin Sacs, Extended Carapace, Leaping, Scything Talons, Rending Claws | 132 |
| Elite | Warriors | Brood Vermii | 4x Enhanced Senses, Extended Carapace, Toxin Sacs, Twin-linked Devourer
| 152 |
| Troop | Hormagaunts | Brood Excrucio | 16x | 160 |
| Troop | Rippers | Fera Parvulus | 4x Leaping | 56 |
| Troop | Termagants | Brood Dolor | 10x Fleshborer | 60 |
| Troop | Termagants | Brood Morsus | 8x Fleshborer | 48 |
| Troop | Termagants | Brood Vermicelli | 8x Toxin Sacs, Devourer | 80 |
| Fast Attack | Ravener | Serpens | 2x Scything Talons, Devourer | 48 |
| Heavy Support | Carnifex | Sagitta Immanis | Enhanced Senses, Reinforced Chitin, Barbed Strangler, Venom Cannon | 163 |
| Heavy Support | Zoanthropes | Mens Diabolus | 1x Warp Blast, Synapse Creature
2x Warp Blast, Psychic Scream | 195 |
| Sum | 1697 | |||
Setup was brief; The chaos tank deployed in the center, I set up the gunfex to target it, he put a Defiler on the right, I put the Zoanthropes in cover behind the 'fex, he placed a thousand sons squad on the left, I countered with a gaunt brood, he put a marine squad to the right, I put a gaunt brood on the right, he put a chaos dreadnought on the far, far left, I put down some ripper on the middle-left, he put his sorcerer with the squad on the right, and then he was done - the rest, he kept reserve. His deployment was evenly spaced across the board, and so was mine, at this point in time. The difference, of course, was that I still had 7 units to deploy.
I plonked down everything on the right, leaving the gaunt brood on the left without synapse. It had already served its purpose, hinting that the objective might be on the left... If it could keep the Chaos dread occupied, I'd consider them well spent. The Broodlord deployed a bit forward of my lines to the far right, behind some terrain, ready to urge the Hormagaunts forward once they left synapse range of their attendant leaping warriors.
I think my opponent must have guessed my real objective at this time, but I figured I could hold it even so - my entire army was almost on top of it already, and his heaviest hitters would be arriving piecemeal.
My firebase monsters (Gunfex, Zoanthropes, Devourer warriors, Devourer gaunts) piled into the only available cover in the center. The Tyrant stomped forward, looking very intimidating behind his three guards.
The termagants on the left actually passed Instinctive behaviour, and snuck into some terrain where they could lurk in peace and quiet.
Everything else rushed forward as fast as their claws could carry them.
The Gunfex managed a lucky hit on the Predator and destroyed it; The Hive Tyrant targeted the Defiler, but was less fortunate - several shaking and stunning glances, ignored thanks to the Demonic Possession.
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His only reinforcements were the Greater Daemon, which burst from the body of his aspiring champion in the squad to the right - the squad to the left was so far away that the Daemon likely wouldn't see any action at all while it slogged across the length of the board, had it emerged there. It did leave his nearest squad without direct leadership... The Daemon strode forward, followed by the marines, and the Sorceror and Defiler each accounted for a few Tyranids - a few drops in the sea of chitinous bodies.
Devourer warriors and gaunts, Termagants and the Ravener opened fire on the marines, and when the toxic fumes cleared, and the last worms writhed away, the marine squad was completely wiped out; A few added Zoanthrope focused bolts added insult to injury and instant-killed the Sorceror, who was now the closest target. The Hive Tyrant had clearly improved his sighting; A well-aimed cluster of Venom cannon shots immobilized the Defiler, and shot off its cannons. It was now sitting still, armed with a flamer.
The Broodlord, his Genestealer retinue, and a largish mob of Hormagaunts rushed the Daemon. Together, they inflicted a few wounds (all but granddad 'stealer, who clearly tripped over his walking stick). The Daemon easily killed the Broodlord in return.
Tyranid response fire on the Terminators - from Devourer gaunts, Devourer warriors, Zoanthropes and Hive Tyrant - was brutally effective; The Tyrant was yet again deprived of anything to charge...
The Genestealers dispatched the Daemon, and the Stealers and Hormagaunts consolidated to about a template-length away from the Defiler, while mooning it mercilessly.
At this point it was clear that the Chaos player didn't have any units that could contest the objective within 3 turns, so he conceded the game.
~~~ Aww, we like this wood.... Can't we stay? ~~~ NO. RETURN AT ONCE ~~~ okay, okay, don't get your chitin in a bunch...~~~