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Warhammer Fantasy 8th Ed Batrep: 750pts Swarms of the Hive Mind playtest VS Skaven

Discussion in 'Other Armies Discussion' started by Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl, Jul 8, 2020.

  1. Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl
    Slann

    Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl Eleventh Spawning

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    As promised, here is the fourth of my playtest batreps featuring the Swarms of the Hive Mind, and as mentioned in the previous batrep thread, the Hive Mind’s opponent in this fourth match is a Skaven army:

    Lords
    General: Skaven Warlord with Halberd, Tail Weapon, Shadow Magnet Trinket and Portents of Verminous Doom - 151 points

    Heroes
    Level 1 Warlock Engineer - 65 points

    Core
    20 Clanrats with Spears, Shields, Musician, Standard Bearer, Clawleader and Poisoned Wind Mortar - 185 points

    20 Clanrats with Shields, Musician, Standard Bearer, Clawleader and Warpfire Thrower - 180 points

    10 Night Runners with Nightleader - 78 points

    Rare
    Warp Lightning Cannon - 90 points


    Total: 744 points


    First Impressions: On one hand, this army is largely made up of expendable chaff like the Greenskin army, but on the other hand there is a Lord choice present among the Skaven hordes and a load of war machines that will be a new challenge for the Tyranids to face (if they work properly and don’t blow up, as Skaven machines often do...).

    Deployment
    The scenario rolled for this battle was Dawn Attack. The Hive Mind won the roll-off to deploy and chose the bottom side, where there was a good quantity of ruins to give the Tyranid forces cover against the Skaven artillery. The Zoanthrope hovered into position on the right flank, the Termagants deployed on the left flank and the Gargoyles, Hormagaunts and Soldiers, with the Soldier Prime amongst them, appeared in the centre of their deployment zone. On the Skaven side, the Warlord and his retinue of Spear-rats were squashed into the left-flank, while the Warp-Lightning Cannon, the other unit of Clanrats with the Warlock Engineer and the Night-Runners deployed in the centre with heaps of room to spare. When rolling for spells, the Zoanthrope got ‘Mindshackle’ as it did against the Dwarfs, and the Warlock Engineer generated ‘Death Frenzy’. The Skaven failed to seize the initiative so the Hive Mind got to act first.
    Tyranids vs Skaven Deployment.JPG


    Turn 1
    The Hive Mind turn began with the Hormagaunts and Termagants rushing forwards, the Gargoyles flying over to the right flank, the Zoanthrope floating over to the safety of the ruins and the Soldiers advancing forward until reaching the ruins, the size of the unit of Tyranid Monstrous Infantry preventing it from moving any further. The Skaven appeared too far away for the Zoanthrope to make use of its power, so it did not attempt to harness the Winds of Magic this turn, and the only shooting this turn involved the Soldier with the Venom Cannon firing at the Warpfire Thrower, but missing.

    The Skaven responded with the Warlock Engineer’s unit scuttling towards the Termagants as fast as they could, the Warlord’s unit wheeling around to protect the Warp Lightning Cannon, the Warpfire Thrower staying where they were to aim a shot at the Hormagaunts, the Poisoned Wind Mortar sneaking around behind the Warp Lightning Cannon and the Night Runners holding their ground, also to protect the Skaven artillery. In the Magic Phase the Warlock Engineer only managed to rustle up a mere 5 power dice, and the Zoanthrope got 4 dispel dice. However, he did manage to cast his spell upon his unit, giving them an extra two attacks to play with in close combat, but also prompting them to suffer D6 automatic wounds at the end of each turn until they lost a combat. In the Shooting Phase, the Warpfire Thrower aimed a shot at the Hormagaunts but rolled a measly 2 for its firing range and fell way short, the crew still testing the best trajectory at which to fire. The Warp-Lightning Cannon fared much better, firing a bolt of Warp-Lightning straight through the Hormagaunt unit and burning five to a crisp. The only other action of the turn was to resolve the after-effects of Death Frenzy on the Warlock’s unit of Clanrats, with three of the Skaven collapsing from exhaustion.
    Tyranids vs Skaven Turn 1.JPG


    Turn 2
    The Hive Mind then moved the Gargoyles forwards to fire upon the Warlord’s unit, the Hormagaunts sidled to the left and swung round to face the same unit, the Soldiers backed away to survey the battlefield and the Termagants stayed where they were in preparation to hold the line against the seething tide of Clanrats heading towards them. In the Magic Phase the Zoanthrope cast Mindshackle on the Warpfire Thrower, the Skaven failing to dispel it by the narrowest of margins. The crew of the device, already of a treacherous species, were easily influenced by the Tyranid bio-form to turn their weapon on their own parent unit. Fortunately for the Skaven, where before the weapon team fired short of their target, this time the warpflame flew over the majority of the unit and hit only a single Clanrat, along with three of the Termagants in the ruins. All four models were slain by the attack, the Tyranids actually faring worse from that deal, and neither unit needed to take a panic test because the Clanrats were Frenzied and the Termagants were under the synaptic direction of the Hive Mind. In their shooting phase, despite firing at short range, the Gargoyles only managed to hit three Clanrats and kill two, and the Soldier with the Venom Cannon lined up a shot at the Warlock Engineer’s unit but missed.

    In the Skaven turn, the Warlock’s unit charged the Termagants, who launched a blistering hail of spines in retaliation but failed to inflict any casualties. The Warlord’s unit tried to charge the Hormagaunts but failed and shuffled forward 3”, the Poisoned Wind Mortar team ran round past the Night Runners to join their comrades operating the Warpfire Thrower and the Warp-Lightning Cannon was pushed round to take aim at the Gargoyles. The Warlock Engineer had no other visible targets to cast ‘Death Frenzy’ upon, so the turn immediately progressed to the Shooting Phase. The Warp-Lightning Cannon slew five of the Gargoyles as they swooped towards it, their thin chitin proving no defence against the power of Warp-Lightning. In the close combat phase, despite the Skaven having so many attacks they only managed to kill three of the Termagants, and the Tyranids managed to kill two Skaven in return. The Skaven still won the combat by three, but the Termagants’ proximity to the Soldier-Prime meant they could test against his Leadership of 10, reduced to 7 by the combat difference. They rolled 7 exactly, and so held to fight again next turn. Lastly, another Clanrat died as it’s heart burst from the Death Frenzy it was subjected to.
    Tyranids vs Skaven Turn 2.JPG


    Turn 3
    The Hive Mind began its next turn by charging the Hormagaunts into the Warlord’s unit and the Gargoyles into the Warp-Lightning Cannon to prevent it from shooting any more of its deadly Warp-Lightning, while the Zoanthrope hovered over to support these two units and the Soldiers moved forwards to threaten the Warlock’s unit if it overpowered the Termagants. In the Magic Phase, the Zoanthrope once again managed to cast ‘Mindshackle’ and the Warlock Engineer again just failed to dispel it. This time the Poisoned Wind Mortar was affected, and turned to launch a glass globe full of deadly poison at the Warlock’s unit, but the orb was blown by the wind out of harm’s way to either side and inflicted no casualties. There was no Hive Mind Shooting to speak of as all units that could do so were either engaged or unable to pick a viable target, so the combat phase began. In the ongoing melee the Skaven chopped up five more Termagants, but the aliens fought back and killed three Skaven. This time the Termagants failed their morale test by 1 and ran, fleeing through the Soldiers but managing to escape the Skaven, who slammed into the Soldiers and began a new melee that would start next turn. In the other combat, the Warlord killed three Hormagaunts and his spear-rats killed six more, while the Hormagaunts slew seven Skaven. The Hormagaunts lost the combat by 2, but rolled a 4 for their Break Test and held to continue the combat next turn. The Gargoyles inflicted two wounds upon the Warp-Lightning Cannon and lost two of their own, but still won the combat due to charging. The panicked crew then squirted the musk of fear and fled, abandoning their artillery piece to the Tyranids.

    The Skaven reacted by turning the Night Runners to face the Gargoyles as their only move, and preparing their remaining war machines to fire. The Warlock Engineer once again had no need to cast ‘Death Frenzy’, so the Shooting Phase began with the Night Runners pelting the Gargoyles with throwing stars and killing all three of them. The Warpfire Thrower then turned and aimed at the Zoanthrope, achieving their first direct hit of the game and inflicting two wounds upon the Hive Mind spellcaster as its great brain was scorched and burned by the green warpflame. In the new melee the Warlock Engineer’s unit initiated after chasing the fleeing Termagants, the Soldier-Prime fluffed its combat rolls and only killed a single rat, but the Soldiers killed another four, though these Skaven fought back with their comrades and inflicted four wounds on the Soldiers, killing one and wounding another. This allowed the Skaven to win the combat, but the Soldiers were Unbreakable due to being Synapse Creatures. In the other combat, the Warlord had similarly bad luck as his counterpart and slew only one Hormagaunt, and his comrades killed another four in return for losing six of their own to the ravenous Tyranids. However, with the Skaven standard still flying, the combat was a draw and continued into the next turn. The Skaven turn ended with another four members of the Warlock’s unit perishing in Warp-wracked spasms from the Death Frenzy, leaving just the Warlock Engineer and the Clawleader alive to fight a Soldier-Prime and two of its only slightly smaller brethren.
    Tyranids vs Skaven Turn 3.JPG


    Turn 4
    The next Hive Mind turn began with the three remaining Termagants rallying due to the proximity of their general and reforming to watch the ongoing combat just in front of them, and the Zoanthrope drifting toward the Warpfire Thrower. In the Magic Phase the Zoanthrope drew nine power dice from the Winds of Magic, giving the Warlock Engineer six dispel dice, and successfully cast ‘Mindshackle’ on the Warpfire Thrower. Though there were no Skaven units in the weapon’s front arc, this would prevent the war machine from firing in the Skaven turn. There was no Tyranid shooting so the turn immediately progressed to the combat phase. The Soldier-Prime once again rolled poorly and only managed to inflict one wound on the Warlock Engineer and the Alpha-Soldier managed to slay the Clawleader, but not before the ratman wounded the Soldiers in return. The wounded Warlock ran for his life and managed to scurry away 13”, which the Tyranids could not hope to match, the Soldiers only advancing 6”. In the other combat the Warlord killed two Hormagaunts and the spear-rats killed another (though two Tyranids survived thanks to their chitin), while the Tyranids killed two ratmen in return. Once again the Skaven won the combat, but once again the Hormagaunts held due to a lucky leadership roll, and the combat continued to play out.

    In the Skaven turn, the Warlock Engineer rallied and turned to face the Soldiers advancing towards him, and the Night Runners turned to face the Zoanthrope. The Warlock was unable to pick out any ally close enough to bless with Death Frenzy, so in the Shooting Phase the Night Runners attempted to repeat the trick they performed against the Gargoyles and threw some throwing weapons at the crippled Zoanthrope, one missile managing to penetrate the creature’s Energy Field and kill it. The Hormagaunts felt their connection to the Hive Mind become severed, and reverted to their basic instincts, gaining Frenzy but losing the bonus to their Weapon Skill they possessed while under the Zoanthrope’s command. The Poisoned Wind Mortar launched another glass orb in the direction of the Soldiers and scored a hit, wounding the Soldier-Prime and killing the badly-wounded Soldier in the unit. In the one remaining combat, the Warlord only managed to kill one more Hormagaunt and the Clanrats killed another two, but the Hormagaunts killed another three Skaven, leaving just the Warlord, Standard Bearer and Clawleader alive. The Skaven won the combat because of their standard, and the Hormagaunts finally broke, but they managed to escape their pursuers by a single inch.
    Tyranids vs Skaven  Turn 4.JPG


    Turn 5
    In the fifth turn, the Hormagaunts once again failed their Leadership test and ran another 6”, though this took them within both Synapse Range and Inspiring Presence range of the Soldier-Prime, which gave them a much better chance of rallying in the final turn. The Hive Mind then mustered the remains of its army and sent them forward once more, the Soldier-Prime and one remaining Soldier advancing to take cover in the ruins and aim pot-shots at the Warlock Engineer and the Termagants moving around the other side of the ruins in case the Warlord and his unit decided to press the offensive. There was no Hive Mind Magic, so in the Shooting Phase the Soldier with the Devourer took aim and gunned down the Warlock Engineer, his scrawny body torn asunder by the Tyranids’ living missiles.

    The Skaven responded by moving the Warlord and his spear-rats toward the Termagants, the Poisoned Wind Mortar in the direction of the Soldiers and the Night Runners to take out the Hormagaunts if they did have the cheek to rally in the last turn. In the Shooting Phase, the Poisoned Wind Mortar again attempted to fire at the Soldiers, but their missile this time fell short and did nothing. The Warpfire Thrower also tried to fire at the Soldiers, but the rearmost crew member spotted a fuel leak from the main tank, and as his comrade prepared to fire the diabolical device, the dripping fuel ignited. Panicking, the crew bolted forwards 12”, before exploding in a great mushroom cloud that killed two Night Runners as well.
    Tyranids vs Skaven Turn 5.JPG

    Turn 6
    With a mental signal, the Soldier-Prime ordered the swarm under its command to close in for the kill, the Hormagaunts rallying to face the Night Runners (who cursed for they had hoped to shoot the Tyranids in the back with throwing weapons in a turn in which they didn’t need to march), the Soldier-Prime and its bodyguard advancing from the ruins towards the same target and the surviving Termagants scuttling forward to take aim at the Warlord and his lackeys, picking off the Standard Bearer in the Shooting Phase but failing to kill the Clawleader. The Soldier with the Devourer then turned to aim at the troublesome Poisoned Wind Mortar and managed to inflict a single wound, which was enough to slay the second Weapon Team.

    In the Skaven turn, the Warlord and Clawleader charged the Termagants, but the skittish creatures withdrew and managed to escape the charge but avoided running off the board, while the Night Runners charged the Hormagaunts with wicked blades drawn, desperate to try to finish off the Tyranids once and for all, and the Tyranid feeder beasts, now under the Soldier-Prime’s control, joined the melee. The Night-Runners managed to kill two Hormagaunts, but the aliens tore apart two of the Clan Eshin initiates in return. The ratmen won the combat thanks to charging, but the Hormagaunts stayed thanks to the proximity of their general, denying the Skaven the vast number of Victory Points that would have come from their destruction.
    Tyranids vs Skaven Turn 6.JPG


    Skaven Victory Points: 120 (for destroying the Gargoyles and killing the Zoanthrope)

    Hive Mind Victory Points: 425 (for destroying the Warlock’s Clanrat unit and slaying its Standard Bearer in melee, killing the Warlock Engineer and the Poisoned Wind Mortar and the Warpfire Thrower blowing itself up)


    A crushing victory for the Hive Mind! This was probably largely due to the fact that this time both the Hormagaunts and Termagants managed to flee within range of the Soldier-Prime’s mighty Leadership of 10 and rallied thanks to his Inspiring Presence, but a win is a win regardless. Even if a seventh turn had played out and the Termagants had fled the board after retreating from the Warlord and the Clawleader, their small points value would have still left the Hive Mind winning handsomely, as this time the army’s two most expensive units (the Hormagaunts and the Soldiers) survived the battle. The Skaven still did well I thought, with the Warp-Lightning cannon blasting Tyranids to smithereens, the Nighte Runners deftly picking off both the Gargoyles and the Zoanthrope, the weapon teams causing damage where they could (and when they weren’t betrayed by artillery or scatter dice) and the Warlord being the factor that tipped the balance in the battle to the death between the spear-armed Clanrats and the Hormagaunts, but they just couldn’t finish off those key units whose destruction would have given them the win.

    Once again I’ll analyse each Hive Mind unit’s performance:

    Soldier-Prime: This chap was a star this time round, even with him fluffing his melee Attacks against Clanrats and a Warlock Engineer. In the previous matches he often went off on his own or with the Soldier unit away from the bulk of the swarm and thus left them out of range of his Inspiring Presence rule and at the mercy of their own far poorer Leadership values. In this fight, however, with the Dawn Attack deployment hemming him into the centre of the army and routers just happening to flee towards him, he was able to exert the full strength of the Hive Mind’s control onto his retreating minions and bring them back into the battle. Keeping him as close to the Swarmlings as possible is thus probably one of the best tactics a Hive Mind player can use, and drawing him away from them (or even killing him, as the Boar Chariot in battle 2 did) is something a cunning opponent can do to defeat a Hive Mind army. A Tyranid army in 40K is also especially reliant on its Warlord, due to it being a Synapse Creature, so this is actually an aspect of the army I’m pretty happy with.

    Hormagaunts: Yes! These chaps actually did well for a change! Admittedly they were still beaten in combat, but this time principally because the spear Clanrat unit had the Warlord in there, and against squishy horde troops a Skaven Warlord is pretty decent. Indeed if he hadn’t been there the Hormagaunts would actually have won several of the combats and may have even broke the Skaven after a couple of rounds because they were whittling the Skaven down reasonably quickly thanks to better rolls, even with the Skaven having spears. They also rolled some great Leadership test rolls this time (2 in a row against their own Leadership of 6!), and then rallied and held their own against the Night Runners in the endgame, so I’m pleased with their performance this time. However, they could really do better with the Soldier-Prime nearby, this would be such a help to them in combats that they get especially poor rolls in.

    Termagants: These little guys got a poorer start in this game, as they were charged by some Death Frenzied Clanrats and overwhelmed in a couple of turns before they could get in and do some shooting, but redeemed themselves by running to the Soldier-Prime where his presence in the Hive Mind could help rally them, and returned to kill a Clanrat and lead the Warlord away from the Hormagaunts before he could finish them off. Not bad for a mere 80 point unit.

    Soldiers: Despite a rough start when they found they couldn’t all get through a ruined street at the same time and the poor luck of the Soldier with the Venom Cannon, this unit did very well in this game by intercepting and shattering the Warlock’s Clanrat unit before it could sweep round the rear of the Hive Mind army and finishing off the pesky Skaven wizard before he could buff any other units in the army with ‘Death Frenzy’. Add to that a smattering of other Skaven casualties, including the Poisoned Wind Mortar at the end of the game, and the fact that the Soldiers managed to avoid losing all three of their models this time round, and it’s pretty clear that they did their bit to help win the game for the Hive Mind.

    Zoanthrope: The Tyranid Wizard had his unluckiest performance so far this game, as though he was able to target the Skaven Weapon Teams with ‘Mindshackle’ the unreliability of those weapon teams for once favoured their own army and they generally missed hitting their own units. To make matters worse, he then didn’t get the chance to target the Warp Lightning Cannon with his power before it was destroyed, he was badly damaged by one of the weapon teams he tried to manipulate and was finished off by the Night Runners. Not the best outing, but at least it shows that if you can get past the wall of claws and teeth a Hive Mind army can bring to bear, it is possible to defeat the Synapse Creatures that command it.

    Gargoyles: Like the Zoanthrope these actually suffered their worst performance so far in this game by having their numbers halved by the Warp-Lightning Cannon, losing two more of their unit to the crew and then getting shot to pieces by the Night Runners. On the other hand, they still proved useful by whittling down some of the Warlord’s Clanrats and taking out the Warp-Lightning Cannon before it could do too much damage. Additionally they were quite a cheap unit so their deaths didn’t contribute much to the Skaven VP score, and the fact that this unit did ultimately get destroyed in at least one game shows that the unit isn’t too strong - Gargoyles are definitely beatable, even with their great speed and manoeuvrability, you just have to know how to catch them.

    Now I will update the scores once again:

    Swarms of the Hive Mind: 2

    Official GW Factions: 2


    Now it’s all square with the Swarms of the Hive Mind having come back from the brink to equalise with the official GW Factions, meaning it’s all down to what happens in the last game. However, regardless of the outcome of the upcoming fight, this whole session of playtesting has shown that my army list, certainly in smaller games, is neither drastically overpowered or underpowered, which is the foundation stone of a balanced list. Of course, some additional playtesting for larger games will be required to make sure the list is balanced in larger-scale battles, but that can wait - we have one more small-scale battle to play first!
     
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  2. Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl
    Slann

    Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl Eleventh Spawning

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    @Killer Angel could you please move this batrep to the brand spanking new ‘Other Armies Discussion’ section of the Fantasy part of the forum whenever you have a minute?

    Cheers mate
     
  3. Killer Angel
    Slann

    Killer Angel Prophet of the Stars Staff Member

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    Sure!
     
  4. Lizards of Renown
    Slann

    Lizards of Renown Herald of Creation

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    Interesting...

    I'm assuming you're playing against yourself? How do you do that? Each turn work out what the best strategy would be and try not to think about the other side?
     
  5. Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl
    Slann

    Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl Eleventh Spawning

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    I am indeed playing against myself - in each race’s turn I simply look at the positions of the enemy units as if another person had just played a turn with them, and plan and implement a strategy to counter those actions.

    I’m playing against myself first because this is the first lot of playtesting for my unofficial Hive Mind ruleset, and wanted to make sure the units and rules weren’t too strong before playing against another human.

    If you need any more advice, @Imrahil is also a dab hand at this way of playing - he’s written a load of AoS batreps involving his small forces made from Start Collecting boxes.
     
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