Time for a Sci-Fi game - Tyranids vs. Space Marines

It's been a while since I've had some sci-fi miniatures on the tabletop. I think the last time was when my daughter visited and we played a Necromunda-style game using the One-Hour Skirmish Wargames rules.

Anyway, the purpose of this game was to test an activation approach using cards to order activations for a larger skirmish game where figures are grouped together into units. I chose scenario 8 (Melee) from the One-Hour Wargames book. This is a scenario that I enjoy, in which a small detachment tries to defend a hill against a couple of waves of attackers while waiting for their reserves to arrive.

The game is played the game on a 4x4 foot table, the two key features positioned in the centre of the tabletop are the hilltop and the nearby petrified woods. 

The tabletop setup with hill and petrified woods.

If you are wondering what the woods are made from, they are made from dried seaweed I found washed up on the shore after a storm. 

A unit of Space Marines and Dreadnought are assigned the task of defending the hill.

Order of Battle

The Space Marine force consists of:

• 1 x space marine squad (10 figures)
• 1 x Dreadnought
• 1 x Assault squad (10 figures)
• 1 x Landspeeder
• 1 x Rhino
• 1 x Command squad (3 models)

Space marine reserves arriving on turn 3 and 6.

Tyranid force arriving in two waves on turn 1 and 3.

The attacking Tyranid Behemoth force consists of:

• 1 x Gaunt Brood (20 figures)
• 1 x Hormagaunt Brood (20 figures)
• 1 x Gargoyle Brood (20 figures)
• 1 x Warrior Brood (5 figures)
• 1 x Carnefex
• 1 x Hive Tyrant with 2 Guards

For the game I was using some home-brew rules based upon OHW rules which allows for different sized units. Units with little armour can be larger using their number rather than armour to survive.

The Game

I managed to take a good number of photographs of the game as it progresses.

The first wave of Tyranids arrive headed by a Carnefex and led by a Warrior brood seen in the rear.  

The first set of Space Marine reserves arrives just in time as the Tyranids start their assault of the hill.

The second wave of Tyranids has arrived. Since units cannot pass through other units unless they are fliers, this is causing a lot of congestion as the larger front units are getting activated after the rear ones. The Assault Marines can be seen charging into the Carnifex, their chain swords whirring.

The Tyranids seem to have sorted out their traffic jam with the bulk of their forces moving towards the hilltop. 

The Carnifex was brought down and eliminated by the Assault Squad's chainsaws, but not before it had slain half the squad. The Hive Tyrant looms large in the foreground, preparing to enter the fray.

Hormagaunts swarmed over the Dreadnought, their scything talons scraping its armor, searching for any weakness. In the background, the Command Squad can be seen preparing to charge into the woods and engage the Gaunt brood in close combat.

The Hive Tyrant and the Rhino clash. The Rhino fired its twin-linked lascannon, but the Hive Tyrant's chitinous carapace shrugged off some of the shots. The Hive Tyrant retaliated with its Venom cannon spitting acid and venom across the Rhino’s armour. Meanwhile, in the center of the battlefield, the Space Marines were locked in close combat with the Tyranid warriors. The Space Marines were outnumbered, but they are fighting with determination and are slowly gaining the upper hand, hacking and slashing their way through the Tyranids.

It seems like the Tyranid force has gained the advantage in this battle. The Rhino eventually met its demise, dissolved into a seething pool of acid, but not without inflicting significant damage to the Hive Tyrant, leaving it considerably weakened.

The surviving Tyranid forces are readying themselves for an assault on the defenders stationed atop the hill, while the Space Marine Command squad remains occupied, clearing up the remaining Hormagaunts.

In the climax of the battle, the Space Marine Command squad makes a decisive charge against the remaining Tyranid forces, successfully eliminating the Hive Tyrant to win the game.

The Activation Approach

The activation approach draws a card from a shuffled deck and assigns a single card to each unit. Units are then activated based on the cards they hold, following the hierarchy from kings to aces, with the suit hierarchy being Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs. As a solo gamer, I've find this approach to be effective, introducing an element of unpredictability and infusing the game with a controlled chaos that seems to suit a large-scale skirmish game. 

The card deck gets shuffled with the used cards when the cards run low.

The start of a turn with all cards assigned to each unit on the tabletop and any units expected to arrive from reserves.

Time to get another game in this weekend and test out the rules.

A close up of the action to finish up on.