Promethor Crusade, Game 2
Anger carries a unique flavor and presence within the Warp. It is as distinct as it is prevalent, and not something one wants to come across unprepared. Even when prepared, fury and rage have a way of compromising the most well-laid plans.
Despite the prior setback against the Poxlord’s machines and men, the Hive’s priority remained the same: eliminate Chaos forces, first. Their taint would infect all the other biomass, and ruin the world’s potential for harvesting and expansion.
Before more fruitful works could be done, the wasteful slaughterers of Khorne needed to be eliminated, else their work feed the already overpowered diseases via rot and decay.
Game 2 – vs World Eaters
Taking notes from the previous engagement, Screaming Fury deployed more centrally, ready to lend it’s might wherever needed. The Bounding Talons again infiltrated ahead of the main force, intending to lay early claim to an objective and prepare to counter-punch the oncoming Beserkers.
On the opposite flank, Stalking Ruin and Gnawing Death again prepared to perform their patented maneuver. The plan ewas to catch the Khorne followers in the open, when they claimed the nearby objective.
Little of this went to plan.
The Termagant broods Purple Scourge and Skulking Jaws took advantage of the Shadow in the Warp unleashed upon the single-minded foes, and tied up the large war machines in the middle of the battlefield.
Screaming Fury intended to take advantage of the distraction and lay into the many-legged Defiler. Unfortunately, the discombobulation caused by The Screaming Dread had little effect on the machine’s ability to defend itself.
Some good dice rolls during overwatch and poor positioning on my part started the battle off with bad portents.
The downhill slide went quite quickly after that. Early shots from Fleshborers and Tervigon Spines only encouraged the rage-fueled fiends and enabled them to close far too rapidly.
So, as it turns out, Khorne Beserkers on the charge are brutal. Who knew?
Not one to go quietly, The Screaming Dread took as many with it as possible. A squad of 9 (formerly 10) Berserkers led by a Lord on Juggernaut charged in. The Neurotyrant easily found the boiling-hot minds of the troops. After an initial connection, the mind-beast doubled-down and focused, pushing the fragile psyche of the Beserkers over the edge, into the Warp.
Only the Lord on Juggernaut survived the charge.
As the Beserkers charged in, I Overwatched with the Neurotyrant. I rolled a 3 on 2D6 for the attacks. This was late-game, and I knew I had lost, so I Command re-rolled the dice into boxcars – 12 attacks that auto-hit (torrent). Most wounded, and my opponent’s saves were awful. With 2-damage per wound, all 9 Berkers were toast.
I was effectively tabled by the bottom of turn two. #sadtrombone
Summary
Reeling from back-to-back defeats, the tendril of Tyranids retreated to regroup. Taking on the corrupt Chaos elements before they could take root had failed.
Failure, however, is the best teacher.
Even in death and defeat, the Hive Mind collects experiences, information, and insight. This furthers the intuition born into the next round of living weapons.
The smaller, more disposable beasts were the quickest at it. They died and were reborn so frequently, they evolve rapidly to adapt to the unique conditions of the prey world. Purple Scourge and Skulking Jaws were two such examples, having been reborn a number of times thus far.
However, death is not the only teacher and rebirth not the only form of improvement. Inconsequential to both major engagements, the Hormagaunt broods Scything Smoke and Chittering Horrors had done their work and escaped largely unscathed. Infiltrators of a different breed, they were successful in tresspassing on the enemy supply lines and egress routes, closing them off with Tyrannoform spores and other biological blockades.
Safely guarded against the armies of Chaos by these stationary, caustic bio-reprocessors, the The Screaming Dread went about planning its next incursion. Respawning the warrior organisms was already well underway, but this many rounds with so little successful consumption was taking a toll.
More biomass was needed. Viable biomass, and plant proteins work just as well for the Tyranid genesis pools as anything else…
