Prot's Quickie Batrep: AdMech vs Nids - Bots n Bugs (pics)

[Prot]

So I took some shots during a recent game.... I decided to drop the Knight this week and based on my topic on the Cawl Brigade, I tried some stuff I don't normally like... namely Kataphrons.

Also since we often play objective based missions I am tired of losing table space to more numerous opponents. So I'm saying this is a real attempt at fighting back vs a strong table presence army.

My List:
Cawl

Dominus

Techpriest

5 x 5 Rangers or Vanguards (one had 2 Arc Rifles, one had 2 Arquebus')

2 x Dunecrawlers

2 x 1 Dragoon

1 x 3 Dragoons

9 x Jazzhands

5 x Infiltrators

3 x Shooty Kastelans

3 x Plasma Kataphrons

Datasmith

My big push here is from the Dragoons. I think with 5 I don't have to take such a back seat to table control armies.

Nids:

Tervigon

Two very large squads of Gants

3 Hive Guard

2 large bugs with long range fire

Drop pod with large flamer bug

Zoanthrope HQ.

3 indirect fire Biovores

Mawloc

4 Warriors + Warrior HQ

I guess this was a newer list for my opponent... no Genestealers was very unusual.

He's back... and he's on Mars:

Early Game:

- Nids go first, The Scenario is you get 3 Maelstrom cards a turn, but whatever isn't completed at the beginning of your next turn must be discarded, and 3 new cards are drawn. This deployment ended up being angled.... that gives me some time to shoot, but there is good cover.

I'm deployed.. not much to say I await the charge....

In his turn both his deep strikerrs come in. Some how I left enough room in my lower right corner for this guy to come in. He would be incredibly annoying. He tags 2-3 units with Mortal wounds on his way in.

Shooting is good, but I weather the storm really well. His Pod comes in and two squads of Vanguard are down to nearly nothing....OH and with my command points when the Mawloc comes in I try intercepting with my Arquebus' squad... I do terribly as usual. These guys really never do a thing a for me so I'm used to it.

- The Nids already have over half the table covered. I have to be careful not to spread myself out too thin.

- The Dunecrawlers make a serious dent in the long range shooty big bugs, but everything near my I wanted handled by my troops. The Kataphrons were fairly disappointing.... I lost one in turn 1, but the other two, even with Cawl's help did very little. With a large mass trying to over run me in the middle, I put the priests up to blow away a large pile of them. I get the primary Gant squad down to ONE model! ONE Model... you can guess what will happen here with that one model.

- I found out that the Biovores shoot indirect fire power (re=roll 1's if they don't move) that do Mortal wounds. I can't have that... I infiltrate the Sicarians to take care of them:

- I come in to a very inconvenient spot for my opponent to reinforce, and try to tag these Biovores. I lay down Wrath of Mars with the pistol shots and that seems to do the trick. First blood!

- I THINK my back line can handle the Mawloc... I was wrong. Arquebus' do nothing again... all the massed low end fire power does nothing... I'm in trouble. The Mawloc isn't exactly mowing me down, but I can't get rid of it and don't want to shift Cawl away from the fire base.... decisions, decisions.

- On my left side, I use a Dragoon to slow the advance of the pod and shooty bug. It doesn't go well for me but I get lucky here and this transaction turns out to be a slaping and hairpulling festival. Nothing really happens.

- At the end of my turn I'm in the hole 3-1. He's able to dominate the table and I can see I'm already pinned. I have still have my 3 man Dragoon squad but I want to use them carfully.

- Nid Turn: He's all over the Jazz Hands. He saw what they can shoot up in one turn, and he hits them hard. At the same time he hits my Infiltrators... I take about 5 mortal wounds (Psychics) and tons of shooting. My Jazz hands are down to 2 models, and the Infiltrators are gone.

- The Mawloc gets cocky and runs into my Dominus. He had already put mortal wounds on the Dominus but he healed all 3. Somehow the Mawloc whiffs big time, and the Dominus takes his axe and chops his big toe off.... that was a good exchange.

- The hairpulling fight in the left side continues, but the shooting of the Hive Guard is getting annoying... they kill the Kataphrons and that's it for my plasma.

- The Dominus pulls away from the Mawloc, and I throw a ton of firepower into him and he's still alive!

- I don't want to put the 3 man Dragoon squad into the Mawloc so I do something brilliant... or stupid, you decide; I rush a squad of Rangers into him using my radiation poisoning,.... I try for a one turn hold up. Somehow I do 2 wounds to the Mawloc, and he kills one Ranger.... Brilliant!

- The Kastelans change protocols and smash a ton of gants... I need mid table. My last two Jazz hands go for center table, but he has obsec with a few gants... I just can't do it. He's well in the lead now. 5-2

Late game:

- His mid table is fading, and I have to get rid of the Mawloc. My left side is fading as that slap fest finally gets reinforced by Warriors. I take a casualty and Auto-Explode my Dragoon causing Mortal Wounds to the pod and the big flamer bug.

- Now his shooting isn't doing so well... he doesn't have the numbers anymore for shooting, however he reinforced that one Gant back to 11, and another squad is back up to 17 (from 7) over the last two turns... I have to get rid of that stupid Tervigon.

- He casts feel no pain on his Mawloc as he intends to tie me up..... I get sick of this in my turn and put 18 wounds on the Mawloc, with Feel No Pain, he saves 15 of them, and has one wound left!!!

- I rush over to the left side to stop the bleeding there with 3 Dragoons:

- I thnk this push can turn in my favour....

- The Nids are trying to collapse me from the left, but the three Dragoons use the Strat to have them with +2 to hit which is huge... they take down the Pod, Big Bug, and a few Warriors. I'm down 7-2 now, but I can finally push back.....

- In his turn he loses the Mawloc, and only has his HQ, the Tervigon, some Hive Guard, and some Gaunts.

- I'm losing so badly I know in turn 6 I have to table him.

- My Kastelans finish the Gants, and the Dunecrawlers finish the Hive guard. I get off a looong charge on the Tervigon with my last 2 Dragoons... the Tervigon pops... finally.

- I catch up a lot with points but it's still 7-5. I know I can't win by cards and have to table....

These are the last nids on the table..... The Warlord and the gants.

- I got rid of the gants, and on the other side of his Walord is my Dominus and I have LoS from.... Arquebus'!!! Which do nothing yet again. What gets him is the Kastelans on the bottom of T6. The tabling gets me the win, and I think if he could have some how made a few more 3++ invulns on his Warlord, he would have easily won. As always, a hard fought Nid battle, and this was a very unusual list for me to see.

[WarriorFish]

Stealing victory from the jaws of defeat, nicely done! Nids are one of the strong armies currently, it's still early days fighting them again for me so I'm learning all they can do (usually followed by a "they can do what?"...).

[Charlo]

Verrrrrrry nice battle.

 

Your list paid off eventually and I think those Chickens must be what swung it for you, + Jazzhands.

[Prot]

Stealing victory from the jaws of defeat, nicely done! Nids are one of the strong armies currently, it's still early days fighting them again for me so I'm learning all they can do (usually followed by a "they can do what?"...).

 

Thanks... yup this was a very different list. When I saw I was playing Nids I assumed it would be the mega-Genestealers.

 

 

Verrrrrrry nice battle.

 

Your list paid off eventually and I think those Chickens must be what swung it for you, + Jazzhands.

 

Absolutely. Jazzhands were solid, but Chickens were clucking huge.

 

I hate putting the models together. These are my friend's chickens and mine are still being put together. I almost threw one out... really hate assembling these guys. :)

[Clingy]

Loved the batrep prot.

 

We’ve gushed over how well you’ve painted your army before so nothing for me to add there. ;)

 

But wow in addition to those fine looking models what a cool looking table and scenery.

 

Can you talk us through it. Is it a custom table or collection of scenery and mats? The whole thing comes together nicely. Good job

[Are Verlo]

Great reading Prot! This makes me want to start a small admech force. The cold hard truth is that a new army is the last thing i need. My painting backlock is huuuuge.

Then again, I would be great fun to run a small cc based detatchment alongside my death riders of Krieg. Imagine the glorious charge as the dragoons and riders charge!

Edited March 7, 2018 by Are Verlo