*suspense*
Here's the map.
To the right of the city is this comm relay.
And here's the magnificent capital of Davinuus. It could have used a little more splendour or size, though. *shrug*
Some enemy dudes.
Our bros.
And an overview of the enemy turn.
Some clusterfuck. We do our stuff first, then the Tyranids attack (the enemy arrow going out of nowhere is a bunch of gargoyles).
The farseer first uses an eldritch storm to prevent the leman russ from counterattacking, then the assault terminators move in for the kill. Did I mention that assault terminators are absolute beasts? They have 6/5 more defence/attack than our striking scorpion exarch, not to mention the armour piercing. Only drawback is their low movement and mediocre initiative, but who the fuck needs that when you can instakill a fucking panzer battalion? Although still, the lack of exarch abilities and squad composure instead of single entity does make them a little more squishy, despite the higher defence.
Did I mention exarch abilities? Battle fortune saves the Dire Avenger one more time
Retribution!
Some more filthy enemies at the objective.
lol gargoyles.
The farseer casts eldritch storm again, so the terminators don't get shredded by the carnifex.
More enemies spotted at the comm station.
Mopping up.
Holy shit, that's a lot of 'em. Also, something new above the land raider:
A hive tyrant. Pretty much the meanest motherfucker the Tyranid can throw at us. Its hardened carapace grants it excellent defence, the venom cannon has a high range and does high damage, it's also fairly able in melee. Additionally, it retains all psyker powers of the Zoanthrope and Magus, but also gets 'Catalyst', which gives +3 defence and attack to a unit and all adjacent to it. Abilities are Heroic, Leader and Terrifying. A truly fearsome beast, it can pretty much raep (or at least match) everything we send against it in one vs one combat.
Trying to go through the mountain and moat to the city will most likely get us killed
So let's try going around, to the west. We'll have to take care of those blokes first.
Meanwhile, this squad (+offscreen swooping hawk) will capture the comm station, and then head north, attacking the capital from the east.
Lololo doom.
Those bubbles (?) are the Catalyst ability.
Venom warriors are serious against squishy Sororitas.
Meanwhile, battle fortune saves a Dire Avenger's life once again. Incredible.
Bye, venom warriors.
The last enemies that stop us from crossing the river and starting the siege.
Almost all of them are dispatched in a single turn (only the missile team manages to postpone its demise)
Bye, zoanthrope.
Hawk checks the station...
OH MY GOD, BUT WHAT ARTIFACT IS IT?! *drumroll*
(any kill result into a wound)
The conversion field is a pretty nifty device, especially against lethal stuff, such as Biovores or just about anything with the Venom Sacs upgrade.
The hawk goes ahead and spots sum silly tyranid
The crossing goes rather smoothly
And we can get another good view of the enemy's forces inside the city. This will require caution, as there's a shitload of them here.
Hey, carnifexes can cross rivers without movement penalties. Must be the 'walker' movement type. Whatev', I'm surprised the SoB squad wasn't turned into minced meat. The beast dies next turn.
Our western doodz form a steel wall and begin their advance.
Oh my, a wild autocannon appears.
And dies
MOTHERFUCKER.
This is, actually, double the luck, as great harlequins *don't* get exarch superpowers, which means it's not battle fortune that just saved it. I would rage a lot if we lost two scouts in two consecutive missions.
Oh, hey, another autocannon.
The land raider is taken care of.
Here, I feared the terminators were done for, but, fortunately, they are tough bastards, and some sucky genestealers are not enough to bring them down just like that.
These tyranid are done for.
Some good ol' clusterfuck.
The scorpion was left at 5 hp after killing the venom warriors, so I preferred to restore it to full health, given the multitude of hostiles in the region.
Turned out it wasn't that necessary, but who knows how the AI would have reacted should matters be different.
The farseer casts an eldritch storm, so as to not get pulverised by the tyrant. Terminators and fire dragon move in to attack, but it survives with 2 hp. No matter.
No idea how a 4 hp leman russ managed to score 2 wounds on the dark reaper, but whatev.
WHAT THE FUCK THE FUCKING CARNIFEX WAS BEYOND ITS MOVEMENT RANGE FOR FUCK'S SAKE
This is a classic example of the game trolling me. The carnifex has a movement range of 3 hexes, and if you look at the previous screen, you can clearly see that there are at least 4 hexes between it and the Dark Reaper. But there is a road hidden beneath the city, giving everything a movement boost. Fuckshitbitch, I fucking hate losing great and rare units. We salute you, Dark Reaper Exarch, casualty number 12
All enemies are taken down.
And the whirlwind suicides.
Let's see what the city has to offer.
What the messages don't say, is that we also freed a level 8 assault terminator squad.
Victoly!
Avatar ascending, huh?
And here's the new unit. Think of the wraithlord as, basically, a wraithguard exarch. A single entity warmachine with 2 range and distortion, able in both ranged and melee, better attack and defence than a wraithguard.
I suppose we don't need the second terminator squad we just got, so we can get another unit in its place. Shall I get a wraithlord?
Stay tuned, for in the next update, we shall awaken the Bloody-Handed God