The hammer

Mission 4: The Hammer
Armies

Space marines (Blood angels, space wolfs, etc):  2000 points*
Tyranids: 2000 points*

Deployment: Standard board size, no terrain.
Standard deployment, both sides rolling off to see who deploys and then goes first. Initiative may be stolen on a 6.


Objectives and game length:
Game lasts 5-7 turns, using random game length
At the end of the game, calculate the points values of all units that were completely destroyed for each side, adding an additional 100 for the warlord and any unique characters. (If the warlord is a unique character, only add the 100 once). Which ever side has the least points wins. **

Special rules:
If Space Marines won mission 3, they gain one Artillery Blast per Mission 3 objective that survived. Artillery Blast uses the following profile: Str 7, Ap 1, Large Blast
If Tyranids won mission 3, then they may select one tyranid unit per Mission 3 objective that was killed, except for the warlord.. When that unit is destroyed, it may instead be placed into reserves to return next game turn. (Space Marines will still get the points for it's destruction, and if it is destroyed again it will count twice.)
In the event of a tie, both sides gain victory benefits.

Narrative:

The battle for the planet draws to a close before long. With all the civilians either dead or evacuated, the Space Marines draw back to an area with less cover, forcing the tyranid swarms to march across a barren land of weapons fire. Depending on how the battle has been going so far, the space marines may find support in artillery barrages from afar, or they may feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of tyranids, seeming as if each brood slain simply came back to life! Regardless, both side will not give up easily- this is the final battle to determine whether the Imperium will be able to hold the planet, or if it will fall to the Great Devourer.

*Alternatively, seeing as this is the end of the campaign (designed so that it could be wrapped up in a long weekend at most), it's quiet reasonable to up the points value up to apocalyptic proportions. If you and your opponent agree, it would be a great way to end the battle.

** Also alternatively, if you and your opponent are the types who think the last battle should be to the last man, then forget game length and points value- play until every model is removed from the board! Either one of these will likely increase the length of the game, but if it's fun, then that's good, right?

Victory benefits:
If Space Marines win, they may walk away knowing that a faithful sector of the Imperium has been saved this day, and a lethal branch of Xenos scum have been wiped from the galaxy.
If Tyranids win, they may laugh maniacally as yet another world falls to the Great Devourer, as countless have before and countless will still in the future. With that planet's defenses gone, they will push on into the rest of the sector, wiping the planets clean of all biomass.

Necron Overlord

Necron Overlords are the toughest robots in the game. They are alot of fun to put on command barges (I like to call command barges fun boats) so they can swoop all over the board. Also overlords can really screw over your opponent. You can mind shackle scarab your opponents Chaos lord and mae the Chaos lord kill himself or use a tesseract to open worm holes and trap a trygon in a labyrinth. There is so many deliciously evil things you can do during a game with your overlord.    

The Infestation

Mission 3: The Infestation
Armies

Space marines (Blood angels, space wolfs, etc): 1000 points, standard force organization. If Space marines won mission 2, they gain D6 "militia" units
Tyranids: 750 points. Army may not select any units from Heavy support.

Deployment: Standard board size, Heavily clustered cities of death-like terrain. If tyranids won mission 2, they deploy "unit markers" scattered throughout the board. Have a number on each of these markers, and have a written army list with the numbers next to the unit. When a Space Marine unit gets within 12 inches of a marker, fires at a marker, or assaults a marker, remove the marker and replace it with the unit so that no model is further than 6 inches away from the marker. If a unit still hidden by a marker moves, shoots, or assaults, remove the marker and replace it with the unit the same as if it was discovered by a Space Marine unit. Space Marine player gets turn 1.
If Space Marines won mission 2, roll off as normal for deployment and first turn.

Set up D6+1 objectives throughout the board representing important figures who have not yet evacuated or killed. Each turn, these objectives will move D6+2 inches away from the nearest revealed tyranid unit. If there is a Space Marine unit within 6 inches of an objective, they may move the objective as desired, never exceeding the D6+2 roll.


Objectives and game length:
Game lasts 5-7 turns, using random game length, or until all objectives are removed from the board.
Tyranids claim 1 objective point by getting within an inch with an objective. remove the objective from the board when this happens.
Space Marines claim 1 objective point for all remaining objectives at the end of the game, if any.
Which ever side has the most points wins, but if both sides are equal than a tie is reached.


Special rules:
"Militia" units are treated as a Space Marine unit for every purpose, and possess a statline of
WS  BS   S   T  W  I   A   Ld   Sv
  3     3     3   3   1   3   1    6     6+

and are equipped with:
Improvised armour (Armor save of 6+)
Autopistol (Range 12", S 3, AP-, Type Pistol)
Close combat weapon

A Tyranid Lictor or Deathleaper may instead choose to shoot the objective to claim the points.

Narrative:
Whether the Tyranids break the line before the city can be evacuated or not, sooner or later the fighting will move to the city. There, the Space Marines and any citizens who volunteered to help defend their planet will make a stand to buy time for the remaining people to evacuate.


 Victory benefits:
Victory benefits will be explained in mission 4

Necron Warrior

My new favorite way to play necrons is robot horde. These little guys in large numbers is not a force to be taken lightly. I have been running just big units of 20 necron warriors each containg a base necron lord with resurrection orb and then ghost arks filled with 10 more warriors. Since the Resurrection orb gives your guys a 50% chance to reanimate and then the Ghost arc has a potential to rebuild up to 3 warriors per turn you can lose half of your unit and almost bring everyone you lost back to life. This usually leaves your opponent frustrated. Since gauze weapons auto glance on a 6 an unit of 20 warriors with gause flayers can handle just about anything. The downsides to this list is all your weapons have a 24in range therefore an army with lots of long range shooting can be trouble sum if your trying to get close enough. Also necrons are terrible in close combat you want to avoid getting assaulted by scary close combat units.

  

The darkening skies

Mission 2: The darkening skies
Armies

Space marines (Blood angels, space wolfs, etc): 750 points, standard force organization. Mandatory fortification of any kind required, included within points cost.
Tyranids: 750 points Plus additional points if mission 1 had been won. Army may not select any units from Heavy support or elite slots. Army may not select any Monstrous Creatures.

Deployment: Standard board size, d6 scattered small terrain throughout the board.
Armies are deployed as per standard army deployment, with space marines deploying first. Tyranids seize the initiative on a 5 or 6, if desired.

Objectives and game length:
Game lasts 5-7 turns, using random game length
Tyranids victory if have at least 2 units move off the space marine deployment edge
Space Marine victory if the tyranids are unable to do so

Special rules:
Space marine units that receive preferred enemy tyranids if they won mission 1.

Narrative:


In the early stages of a tyranid assault, the skies are darkened as swarms of the smaller tyranid bioforms amass on key locations of the planet. Civilians throughout the planet will be moved to heavily fortified areas. Those who do not make it to safe areas will be slaughtered by the tyranids. Should the tyranids make it past the initial defenses and into the heavy populated cities, the planetary defenders will find themselves hard pressed to root them all out.


 Victory benefits:
Victory benefits will be fully explained in mission 3

Necron Scarabs: little Nightmares

 Tired of landraiders and other high armor value units mowing down your troops. Try using Scarabs to annoy your opponent by running a swarm of 10 scarab bases into his tank. Everybody just loves it when your inexpensive little scarabs unit eats a really big and expensive tank.  In my opinion Scarabs can be one of the most fun units to play in your army they are quick and extremely affective if you put some tasty tanks in their path to eat. Very easy to paint as well I was able to finish these in less than a hour.

  

Oncoming Swarm

Well, I have been on hiatus from all things Warhammer for the last few weeks thanks to college. But today I've noticed- rumors are trickling in. Whispers of a growing shadow, of an oncoming swarm.
I am of course referring to the rumors that tyranids are set for either December or January, with mixed sources- one even suggesting a two-month release similar to what we saw with Dark Elves, but I'm not putting too much stock into that. ANYWAY!
One thing I saw is that rippers will be getting a new box set made out of plastic, and the post included some information about rippers. The post also included some information about rippers- namely their use at both the beginning and ending of the tyranid invasion. This gave my warhammer-starved mind an idea for a campaign. *Insert groans of my friends and family here.* Whether this campaign would be used to give a fond farewell to fifth edition tyranids, or herald in the sixth is yet to be seen.

Mission 1: The Oncoming Swarm
Armies
Space marines (Blood angels, space wolfs, etc): 500 points, standard army organization +3 free "Tyranid hunters"
Tyranids: Five tyranid warriors equipped with scything talons and deathspitters and five three-base units of Rippers, with no upgrades.


Deployment: 4X4 board
Space marine player deploys first, placing his models anywhere throughout the entire 4X4 board. Yes, he gets the entire board. "Tyranid hunters" Have stat line of a tactical squad sergeant, equipped with a power weapon, bolt gun, bolt pistol, power armor, and frag and krak grenades.
Tyranid starts in reserves, and can enter from any table edge. Tyranid warriors operate as separate units.

Objectives and game length:
Game will last 5-7 turns using random game length
Space Marines win if at least 2 "tyranid hunters" survive.
Tyranids win if at least 2 "tyranid hunters" are killed.

Special rules:
"Tyranid hunters" have preferred enemy tyranids.
Tyranids gain the ability to assault first turn arriving out of reserves, to show their oncoming assault toward the outpost.

Narrative: A small vanguard warned of an impending tyranid attack on this bio-mass rich planet sets up camp to defend against the initial assault of tyranids, praying to the Emperor to survive long enough to receive reinforcements. Luckily, a handful of marines have faced the tyranids before, and know how to fight them. Should these marines survive, they will be able to train the rest to fight them as well. Should they be lost, however, the Hivemind will know this planet will be prepared and waste no time in bearing the full weight of tyranid might against the planet.

Victory benefits:
Space marines win: XD3 units gain preferred enemy tyranids in mission 2 where X is equal to the number of surviving tyranid hunters
Tyranids win: For each slain "tyranid hunter", roll a D3. During mission 2, the army gains 25 times the total dice result in additional points.