I have something new for you. I have tested this elsewhere but hopefully here it will be received with more intimate attention from what I feel are like minded commanders! Have fun categorising this!

---

WELCOME, young Shas'Els, to the Tautica. Here we will be discussing and assessing the tactics of real life engagements. Testing your own ability and decision making as well as pin pointing key errors or advantageous exploitations which can turn the tide of battle.

The format for these discussions will be as follows; HiLDI (High Level Drone Imagery) of the battlefield will be displayed and information presented for you. You will be invited to present solutions, options or strategies and be open to discuss those among your peers. You will also be open to ask questions of me in order to obtain any additional information that you may think you need. You will then be able to form your own opinions on the course of action you would have taken, or the preparations you would have made in that situation. Once discussion has progressed, we will display what action the battlefield commander actually took. We will be able to see where these actions may have differed from those presented, or where they match up. You will then be invited to present further assessments of the action as it unfolds. This format will continue until the natural conclusion of the engagement.

It is important to understand, that the data and actions of the battle may not necessarily form the optimum strategy, but by identifying where mistakes were made, or where good practices were met, we will be able to better ourselves for the future by adapting our sets of battle plans to suit changing foes.

Thus, our aim is to provide, assess and discuss key tactical information which may one day be of use to you as a commander on the field of battle.


Tautica; 1. The swarm and reactive defense.

In our first installment we shall be discussing a battle in which the Dal'yth 15th were engaged by an attacking Tyranid swarm on Gelthan. As you are no doubt aware from your 'know thy enemy' lectures, the Tyranids are a vicious, uncompromising foe with a sole desire to kill and consume. They are a terryfying foe to those without the knowledge and skill to defeat them, and thus, as these lifeforms terrorise our Empire's outer reaches it is becoming all the more important for us to adapt more quickly than they can evolve.

Gelthan is a world to the outer reaches of The Empire. It is relatively far from its systems sun, and its slow rotaa means that much of the surface is ice covered. Occassional snow storms and blizzards can isolate areas for extended periods. It was previoulsy under the control of the Imperium of man, though secret trades were a frequent and lucrative exploit. Crysaline Ore, which is found under much of the ice covered surface is a key component in the manufacture of our new, updated Communion Helms. However, the Imperials had no use for it, nor knowledge of its potential power. Ironically, trade for Crysaline Ore was for more advanced communications equiment, which helped ensure that imperial outposts could maintain contact during extreme weather events. Of course, the Earth Caste ensured we we could keep a keen eye on the inhabitants.

When communications with the Imperial forces fell silent, a group of reconnaisance cadres were sent to gather intelligence and report the situation.

The Dal'yth 15th, under the command of Shas'El Kor'Istan'ko were undertaking standard reconnaisance procedures (52.98A) at grid co-ordinates 112-438, an apparently abandoned Imperial airfield. The cadre is approaching from the South under cover of darkness. The position must be secured by mid morning, in order to take shelter from a forecast severe blizzard.

Below you can see the initial pass over log.



Two hangers can be seen at the centre, accessible from each of the short ends as marked and capable of holding approximately 20 fighting troops each.
To the East can be seen the runway, the fact that snow has covered part of it is an indication of non-use.
To the West you can see a fuel tank and tower arrangement, and on the hill a tall watchtower.
In the North, on the other hill is an empty gun pit whilst a Bastion can be seen to the North West.
Areas of medium to soft cover can also be seen by woodland and scattered storage crates.

The green markers indicate the two designated objectives and their immediate area of control.

---

mission: capture and control
deployment: dawn of war

cadre resources:
Shas'el Kor'Istan'ko
- plasma rifle, cyclic ion blaster, flamer, hard wired multi-tracker
2 xv8 bodyguard
- (Sui'ra) twin missile pod, flamer, hard wired blacksun filter
- (Bray'ta) twin missile pod, flamer
2 xv8 : 124
- plasma rifle, fusion blaster, multi tracker
- plasma rifle, fusion blaster, multi tracker
5 xv15
5 xv15
8 fire warriors with rifles (teal)
- devilfish, multi-tracker, disruption pod, flechette discharger
8 fire warriors with rifles (green)
- devilfish, multi-tracker, disruption pod, flechette discharger
8 fire warriors with rifles (blue)
8 fire warriors with rifles (grey)
piranha
- fusion blaster, target array, flechette discharger
5 pathfinders (blue)
- devilfish, multi tracker, disruption pod, flechette discharger
5 pathfinders (grey)
- devilfish, multi tracker, disruption pod, flechette discharger
hammerhead
- ion cannon, burst cannons, multi tracker, disruption pod
hammerhead
- ion cannon, burst cannons, multi tracker, disruption pod
sky ray
- smart missile system, target array, disruption pod

---

Now, our first discussion will lay with the placement of your initial forces. Your cadre must always be ready to engage the enemy, or react to an enemy attack, so it is even more important that whilst on reconnaisance missions your forces are prepared and ready to take action where it is needed.

In this case, Kor'ko was forced to advance due to time, and used a standard roving formation as indicated below. With his foot fire teams (supporting formations of the 15th's pathfinders) advancing to a central position. Kor'ko chose to support these teams himself, as he so often does. Whilst he was at the time unaware of any enemy presence, or the type of enemy though by this time there were reports from other units suggesting a Tyranid pressence.



First of all, I want us to discuss this choice of deployment.

What might you have done with the forces to hand?
Does knowing the enemy composition affect your choice?
How might this deployment affect an engagement? and how might your own affect it?

Assess the advantages and disadvantages.

Bear in mind the mission parameters and available forces. Your cadre will be acting first. If you have any quesions ask them (particularly because information presented using HiLDI can sometimes be difficult to read clearly). Following this, we will reveal the enemy deployment along with the full roster of enemy forces.


Don't be afraid to speak out, remember that discussion promotes knowledge, and knowledge promotes power.

Allright, I'll have a go at this.

Our forces have the initiative in this battle so holding almost everything back for the 1ste turn is not such a good idea.

I would deploy 2 firewarrior teams on the hill in lower left corner. The firing lines there are much more effective then how you are currently set-up. The firewarriors on the left are cut off from support since the battlesuit team will be unable to trace a good LOS to any attackers approaching from that angle. The hill ensure us that we see 3/4 of the battlefield. The enemy can seek shelter behind the building but they will need to cross a good piece of open land to get to you. That will be your kill zone.
If you can play the game and every model can get a LOS to that killzone after moving, then you can ensure that the attacker won't make it.

the HQ battlesuits are in a good position. By placing them there, the enemy has been forced back by 18", buying you time and precious shooting phases.

I would suggest deploying the battletanks near the objective. Their 12" move will provide the needed mobility to cover both approaches. Either to the objective or to your firebase on the left.
Deploy the pathfinders near the objective and one on the hill.
The hill alone will provide good LOS but you will find no markerlight support when the enemy advances on your right flank.

that being said, bring it bugs

Standard doctrine says it is best to see where the enemy force is gathering and then strike; that is not an option here, however. Thus, we want to establish defenses, and force them to come to use through a hail of fire.

I agree with the right-side deployment, to an extent. The commander's squad should be up front, to allow optimal use of the flamers.

However, I do not believe the firewarriors are utilized effectively here. They will need to be moving on the right flank to allow them to pressure the enemy, and that is not the best use for them. I would rather put them all on the hill in the southwest, or at least between the fuel tank and hangar.

Barring that, my last choice would be to deploy them in the woods on the southeast or behind the crates between the hangars. That last choice is an absolute last resort, as we have given them incentive enough to take the position, we should not also be giving them warriors to kill at the same time.

The only things that change in this deployment due to knowledge of our foe, is that we put any of these units out at all. Most opponents are not particularly vulnerable to the commander's weaponry, nor would we put out both squads of fire warriors. At most, we would deploy one squad to deny one area of the field to an opponent, but nothing more... (Also deploying one unit can act as bait, allowing us to react to their deployment more effectively.)

The high ground is especially important in this particular battle, as it increases our field of vision and in the case of buildings, offers a crucial foothold from which crisis teams may establish a solid resistance. The crisis suits starting off would be more effective i imagine in closer proximity to the central hanger where they can completely hide their profile. they should maintain a distance no further than what their suits can travel in a single jump. preferably on the left side for points I will be covering below.

From what we know about the Y'he, I would recommend that the fire warriors be deployed in a more dense fashion to increase survivability. We do not yet know what the y'he have at their disposal in this area, but regardless of the threat, Weight of fire is almost always an effective solution, and the y'he can deny this if they approach from the far north east, or far north west. The center hanger blocks the field of vision of the fire warrior teams from these extreme angles, and the knee-jerk reaction of wanting to shoot at every possible location of the mission parameters from afar may instead force the shas'el to over extend his vanguard units. I would recommend withdrawing the fire warriors and creating a defensive line behind the southern hanger and fuel tank. If the watch tower on the hill can be accessed and manned, one fire warrior team should be placed in there, while the other either keeps a stronger defensive position behind the southern bunker, or a stronger offensive position on the northern section of the hill. If time is available, and clearance can be gained, deploying the fire warriors on the roof of the southern hanger would be most prudent, as it is still quickly accessible for a devilfish extraction, but crippling to any advancing y'he.

Y'he are prone to want to approach as fast as possible, and this deployment creates an incentive for the y'he to swarm around the west of the hangers under cover. allowing the Shas either a quick flanking blow to their vanguard, or a swift reinforcement to the fire warriors on the hill.

Was there any pre-engagement data that the commander may have had access to, such as surveillance drone data-feeds, for understanding what Y'he threats were in the immediate vicinity? or any identification of a particular hive in this sector of the galaxy?

Although enemy force composition was not completely known prior to the engagement the general lack of surface sensor spikes suggested that there would be a trend towards small individuals as opposed to concentrations of large creatures or vehicles (in this case creatures of course).

As it would happen, and because it is pertinent to discussion at this point in time; the identification roster looked like this:



Without knowing the enemy composition, I think that the ideas for a refused flank have some merit. The hill offers at least partial sight over the fuel container to open ground. The risk here would be that the enemy may be able to take shelter to deny an objective on one side, whilst being able to otherwise corner ground your forces (particularly if attacking southwards using the Bastion for cover).

What was the thinking of Kor'ko;

"The single focus of the deployment was to push the enemy back. This forces the enemy to the fringes which will hopefully work to increase the distance the enemy has to cover on the ground, whilst giving our own forces more space to manouvre. Key here also, was to try to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the cover. The grey and blue teams were directed to pull back to secondary positions where they could be picked up by following devilfish. As such, I had already identified possible positions for our pathfinders to deploy, with an eye to the tower atop the hill with good vantage points (as already identified by you all), and the wooded area to the south overlooking the runway (again identified by your analysis). Until then though, my own team were to cover the warriors.

The main drawback with this spread as has already been spotted is that it can be difficult to react to enemy movements in protection. But by positioning myself off to one flank I hoped to intice the enemy to commit their weight to one side or the other, either they would attempt to hit at our weakest, or strike at our strongest. Being mechanised I trust that our vehicles following up have the mobility to react to either of these situations.

Before he continues, and now understanding a little more on the enemy composition let us follow up the deployment section with a few more questions;

1. Which of your units (if any) would you elect to deep strike or outflank? (and of course why?)
2. How do you think the enemy will deploy?

Remember, there are no right or wrong answers. THis isn't a pop quiz on "what happened next" the aim is to get you thinking about things which some of you may, or may not already do!? Do not be afraid to comment where your opinion is different from previous commenters, in fact that is encouraged!!

Given the synapse mechanism that is required for a functioning Y'he force, and the units detected, I would predict the entire mass of hormagaunts coming in a vast wave followed closely behind by the tervigon. The Catalyst effect would protect the front individuals, who would use their modified physiology to protect the swarming cousins following behind. Warriors would likely swarm in from behind followed by the remaining synapse creatures. All of this will likely come in via the north east or north west, with the opposite corner either ignored, or followed up with the flying creatures like the tyrant and gargoyles. followed with the venomthropes spewing their toxic haze for cover. If the flying creatures are not deployed in this fashion, i would expect them to be deep struck.

Deepstriking choices would most likely be the stealth suits. The helios can be as well, but their presence and weapons are enough to deter a lone monstrous creature from approaching without significant backup, as they are too smart to advance unless they can see the surest of chances. The xv'15's serve to engage and devastate the smaller monsters on arrival from a flank, making it difficult to retaliate without recommitting resources from the main assault to the task. With the plethora of shots available and markerlight support, depleting these small unit groups should be doable with concentrated fire.

Given the information gathered, the Doom is always dropped into a battle. Thus we know this will be deep striking, and we will need to contain and execute it quickly. I suspect the enemy will actually choose to not deploy any units in advance, maybe the hormagaunt squads with a Tervigon. Argument could be made either way; deploying them on board allows the enemy to get closer, but it also opens them up to receiving fire from our squads, however limited by the obscured vision.

Good news: No outflank in the enemy, to my limited recollection, and thank god no genestealers.
More Good News: Given our deployment, they are basically assured of coming in on the NorthWest side. The could deploy on the east side if they wanted to expose themselves to a withering hail of fire, but there's no cover there...

I would not outflank the pathfinder teams. Having tried it a few times, the lack of movement while marking prevents it from being a sound strategy, even if it would please me greatly to throw flechette-tanks into the middle of the mass of bugs.

I believe the XV15 Infiltrate doctrine allows them to outflank, themselves. If that is the case, I would probably outflank one of them, to allow some flexibility, without giving up to the mercies of a deep strike, even pathfinder-supported.

I would maybe deepstrike the Helios to try and strike at the backside of the enemy formation, as their weaponry will prove ineffective against the majority of the horde, which is likely to present itself in front. Still, they could serve a purpose marching with the main group, as they could actually assault some bugs just to prevent other more useful targets from being assaulted.

I would deep strike the Helios:
Their low AP can be directed where it is needed.
The pathfinder's devilfish can assure they land on target.

The stealth suits would suit their role better if they were deployed normally:
Their firepower is much needed and well suited to stop the oncoming horde.
Their stealth field generators can be used to the advantage of the suits.
They can be on the field longer, shooting 15 shots per squad at BS 5 with no cover saves allowed (10 pathfinders)

Well done on the input thus far!

Cr'shu, the Doom of Malantai, in this battle was not being deployed using the recently encountered strike beasts. It seems that the new breed is still not widely present within the alien forces and reports elsewhere indicate wide variations in the appearance of the spawn cocoon.

Nevertheless, you have all hit upon the range of possibilities available to Kor'ko. It should be noted that the cadre resources lend themselves to this flexibility of option and it is well worth remembering these alternatives when pooling your own resources for engagement.

I believe Cr'shu is correct in avoiding the outflanking of pathfinders. In this type of battle they will be needed on the ground early to support the cadre. Both Wood410 & tehlegend make good arguements for the case of the XV15s, so lets see what Kor'kos decision was and how it tallies up, or differs from your own;

---

"In accordance with engagement management order R438 the principle focus of the stealth suits were to outflank the enemy so as to cause confusion. It was deemed that the alien forces would advance quickly and so open up space behind themselves to be exploited. Against a less numerous foe this can be risky because the enemy can shift his forces to one flank or the other and leave outflanking forces overwhelmed, or worse... out of the engagment. The loss of their firepower from the early stages would need to be compensated though, because as already pointed out it is very prodigious!

Meanwhile the Helios team were to be held in strategic reserve to be committed to battle where needed the most. Their high power weaponry would be used to attack key targets.

---

Okay, so the XV15 teams were to outflank, and the Helios Deep Strike. Everything else was following swiftly behind the initial troop recce teams. So, what did this initial recconitoire unveil of the enemy:

enemy deployment


Yes, as you can see, the enemy elected not to reveal himself! (Everything was to come on in the first turn!)

---

"At this point we were beginning to think that there was no enemy threat in the area. Within a few minutes however, we would begin to wish that was the case. before even being able to call up the trailing forces we were ambushed by the Y'he who siezed the initiative from us and blocked out the horizon with a swarm of alien bodies!

---

the enemy sieze the initiative


Okay, by now the proverbial kroot dung appears to have hit the anti gravitic ventilation device.

What is your reaction to this turn of events?
How may this change your plans?
What threats do you see at first glance?

Whilst the Y'he identification overlay loads, we can see the winged tyrant at the forefront centre with Gargoyles surrounding him. Behind is the Tervigon and the Venomthrope beside her. Warriors support the flanks, with an additional unit bringing up the rear whilst the Mawloc prepares to dig behind the Bastion.

I would deploy 2 of the fire warrior squads and the two pathfinder teams in front of the hill , to put as much fire power i can in that area, (teams teal, and green) and deploy the other two teams in the woods to the south east.

I would put ALL of the crisis suits into reserve for deep striking to give emergency support to where it is needed.

Here’s how I think it would work.

The enemy would come in and advance toward the hill to the south east, once they got close i would "collapse" the fire base by moving them into there devilfish and move it into the woods with teams blue and grey to create another firebase in the same turn i would drop the crisis suits (assuming that they weren't needed somewhere else) near the bastion in the north west to fire on the back of the enemy force, then i would move in all of the remaining troops into capture zone for the objective.

I would like it noted that i have never battled tyranids before so i am treating them as something similar to space marines.

I have only faced Tyrranids once before, and the player didn't have gargoyles. I have looked through their codex... Aren't the Gargoyles flyers?

We need a killzone, right now. To the West, there's that nice 'funnel' made by the fuel tank and hangar, that looks like an ideal location. (If we try to set up on the East, they can move through the forest cover to avoid us.)

First turn plan:
Bring on the pathfinder 'Fish at the bottom of the funnel, and unload the pathfinders behind the fish to protect them from stray shooting. They need to be at the sides of the bottom of the funnel.
As we didn't hold the firewarrior fish in reserve, bring them in as well, at the bottom of the funnel, ideally deployed single-file, so each squad doesn't block each others' vision. The fish themselves will be moving forward to extract our firewarriors and block off some of their units' trying to reach our squishy tank-less brethren.
On the right side we should be falling back, sending one of the now-empty pathfinder fish that direction to both extract the warriors and give us a larger range for our helios deep-strikers' safe zone. We should be able to move the firewarriors back and into the trees, running them back... Saving them and baiting the tyrranids closer is the best thing they can do right now; we should save their firepower as long as possible. It helps that these tyrranids have nothing to mitigate running through cover when assaulting, I think. The suit team should follow standard JSJ doctrine, making sure to keep more than 18" away from the gargoyles at end of turn.

Our only real choice here is where to deploy the Ionheads and Sky Ray. I would suggest deploying at least one Ionhead to the western flank to attempt to hold off those gargoyles. It's been my experience that jump infantry are very adept at ripping through our ranks, so I want them gone ASAP. The Sky Ray is an enigma; it can really go anywhere. You can put it on the left to try and give our Ionhead a shot this turn, or you can put it on the right to give markerlight support to the right side. Honestly, I'd prefer it on the west side, and give the Ionhead that's remaining to the right to help support a little. Our vast majority of force is on the West, so consequently they require the most marker support.

Since the Shas deployed exactly half way into the mission parameter zone, they're probably going to have a very low chance of a turn 2 assault on the east side. However, I would recommend withdrawing the Fire warriors on the East side to the forest to preserve them for a solid offensive push if and when the xv15's arrive. It is possible to shoot with them now and its very likely they would survive and not be assaulted in the following enemy turn, However, It would leave them unquestionably within range for an assault in the following turn, which guarantee's their death if the xv-15's do not arrive on time. Keep the fire warriors back until stealths arrive to deliver a heavy blow that the gaunts cannot recover from.

I would recommend deploying the skyray close to the southern hanger with direct LOS to the western advance for support markerlights, and focus fire the gargoyles, Set it up so that the skyray can immediately advance over the hanger structure and fire from a dominant position. The fire warriors here, unlike those on the eastern side, can and should hold their ground and fire, because there is no way to avoid the gargoyles via a retreat, and they have thankfully placed themselves in a close position where the darkness of night fighting shouldn't be an issue. If the gargoyles didn't run, but you could verify that the opponent moved them forward the full 12", move the fire warriors 1/2 inch forward and rapid fire, otherwise, move them back the distance that the opponent ran, minus 1/2 inch, With night fighting, its unlikely that the entire army will fire, but atleast depleting the gargoyles will give you breathing room that your army desperately needs, and almost guarantees no assaults on turn 2.

The rest of the army should swing strongly to the west side and overwhelm the enemy piecemeal. the warriors on the western most side are exposed dangerously to Ion Cannon retaliation once the dawn breaks and darkness goes away, Pathfinders can and should be deployed in the table edge since the following turn will see everything in the tyrannid army within range anyways.

There have been some differing opinions so far regarding the variety of deep strike options

On that I would suggest that, considering the size of the enemy force, and his best option being to "Go up the Middle". Deep striking stealth suits is probably not as flexible an option. Given the spread of forces (dictated by the sheer quantity of Y'he) the enemy will severely limit potential safe drop sites (even with the targeting beacons present. However, this exact same spread means that the enemy will not be able to stay away from the flanks, and this means that no matter which side stealth suits arrive on they will have targets to hit.

Interestingly though there seems to be a general concensus that the west presents the best option for fire focus.

---

"It's great to read that other commanders are thinking along similar lines. As you can see from the HiLDI, the Sky Ray and both Hammerheads arrived to the west, and supported by the first pathfinder team dropped off with commanding views in the watchtower on the hill.

The fire warriors arrive centrally, poised to secure the objective there, but equally ready to shift their weight to either side. This is an important factor because the enemy have a degree of speed thanks to the fast moving winged Tyrant and 30 gargoyles! To the far east the seconf pathfinder team are dropped. Both pathfinder teams head to their earlier identified positions, and both advanced fire teams fall back in an attempt to clear to safety.

Ideas for grey team (western most) to hold their ground (as suggested by tehlegend) may have been a sacrifice that should have been made. however, at the time I was fearful that the gargoyles would simply bypass the warriors alltogether, and that they would be dealt with in combat by one of the other units, drawing them closer to my lines.

Instead, I figured that if I was going to be caught, it would have to be by the gargoyles, and that hopefully I could draw them far enough away from the bulk force that I could cut into the stretched enemy. Perhaps, just perhaps, the grey warriors would be able to escape being assaulted and be able to turn and lend their full force of firepower into the fray next turn... Supported further by the potential for the fire warriors and pathfinders in the east firing between the hangers and leaving the enemy with nowhere to go.

You'll note that the hammerheads & gunship, are located slightly more centrally, this allows them to shift focus to either flank as the battle progresses.

This focus of firepower to the west is really a reactionary measure. Were the enemy not to have siezed the initiative, deployment would have been far more spread... and possibly more in favour of the enemy as a result.

also, you can see the Piranha pushing up the western flank. This may seem like a strange choice considering the concentration of enemies there, but the Mawloc on the north would no doubt burrow as soon as possible and this would leave a weakness on the far flank that may be open for exploitation.

---

So, Kor'ko also decided for a western firepower focus, but without wanting to abandon the eastern flank in order to avoid being backed into a corner by the swarm. This is where carter1116 would have to be careful. With a numerous swarm such as this, castling in a corner can be a death sentence... as they can use their numbers to easily block lines of escape in ways that smaller forces cannot.

In any case, we have now seen the deployment of forces so on to the next question:


Target Priority.

How would you prioritise the enemy for elimination. A simple list will do, but it may also be interesting to hear HOW you would go about dealing with this target priority list and ultimately what you think you may be able to achieve in which turns. Bear in mind that dawn is just breaking.

Once the lists are in, we can assess the cadres shooting in this early phase of the battle, and hear from Kor'ko on how he prioritised the enemy.

In addition to the longer term target priority list, how do you see your short term plans given this deployment (now considering that all forces are visible).

Target Priority List:
1: Flyers.
2: Things with wings.
3: Any flyers that are still alive.
4: Things without wings that move 12" in Movement.
5: Things that have Fleet.

In that order.

I tend to dislike how the hammerheads have deployed, but them's the breaks. I'd rather have them shifted westward. Not dropping the firewarriors from the devilfish will limit their firepower, as they will either drop next turn to rapid fire and be eaten, or be unable to fire at all. I do agree with the pathfinder deployment, however.

But seriously, shoot the fliers first. They are most able to destroy our assets, or at the very least, tie us up in fruitless assaults. We might find it worthwhile to shoot at the MC to try and soften it up, but it isn't like shooting at a vehicle where a non-wrecked result will get us somewhere. It needs to be dead after we shoot it. Inflict as many casualties as we can, for now.

The gargoyles and tyrant are your biggest threats right now because of their speed. almost everything else is assault oriented, and all of them are limited in movement range. once you gown the gargoyles, you will be able to control the movement phase, which is the most important factor for Tau commanders.

The hammerheads and seeker missiles should be used almost exclusively on the tyrant to eliminate him as fast as possible. Pathfinder markerlights will be your greatest asset in the coming turns because the seekers ignore all forms of cover available to the tyrant, short of the venomthrope 5+. It's difficult to distinguish where the venomthrope is on the map, but if the tyrant is hugging it rather than charging forward, it is just giving you that many more turns to deal with the other threats first.

If there is nothing joined to the venomthrope to protect it, target it first to eliminate the cover providing effects asap. While it is a minor benefit, it is still substantial in the mid-late game. even dedicating 1 pathfinder team to firing off 2 seekers and stripping cover save will be worthwhile, because letting it live will mean eventually letting the opponent negate 1/3 of your otherwise successful wounds, or wasting markerlights.

Priority list:
1. venomthrope (pathfinders and seekers only. just double it out asap.)
2. gargoyles (shooty and assaulty and fast. these cannot be allowed to roam freely on the map)
3. Winged Tyrant (its psychic spells are too good, and its close combat ability will rip through anything you can throw at it, dedicate all anti-tank shots to him before he can close the distance)
4. tervigon (its ability to create more troops and bolster a squad with FNP makes it a high priority target. but only after speed has been dealt with. its likely that it will be behind many smaller units, so only the hammerheads stand a good chance of taking it out
5. everything else. They're all close combat, they all move 6" a turn, they can all be blocked by devilfish. once the above threats are dealt with, your devilfish will be able to screen and push back with impunity as long as you keep them moving more than 6" a turn. The carnifex will eventually have to be dealt with by the helios team and the Doom will eventually close to a deadly range with the infantry, but since they all move at your pace, you can keep them at bay almost indefinitely.

Use the fire warriors in tandem with the devilfish to create a solid vehicle barricade and space them no more than 1 inch apart to prevent enemy units from assaulting through the devilfish. Deploy fire warriors behind this wall and rapid fire constantly until a portion of the wall gives way or nothing remains. very little can survive this, and every rapid fire phase you score will remove swaths of models from the game at a time. Also be very liberal and aggressive with the movement and deployment of the devilfishes gun drones, use them to bolster the vehicle wall and create assault traps for the tyrannids to strand themselves with. most enemies will try to ignore the drones since a pair of models will be vastly overkill for the giant swarms, and assalting them incorrectly will result in the entire squad being left out in the open with no cover save.

Targetting the venomthrope first is a pretty good idea. But you should also remember that you have at your disposal a substantial markerlight network which can also be used to direct shots and neuter the benefits usually afforded by cover.



As such, I'd agree that THIS is probably a more useful stance. Taking away the enemies speed allows your armour to dominate through their own mobility. THere are of course two issues with this. The Y'he can work on two basic principles here.
1; By the time you finish dealing with the first wave, you have too little time to deal with the following wave, and less still for any further waves... you will get caught by one of them!
2; if there are enough bodies then manouvrability is useless... there is always the danger that the enemy simply stop you from being able to move by virtue of their sheer swarm!

In that regard, tehlegend also correctly points out that the Tervigon is a serious threat. you need to counter both of the above points. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, Kor'ko was also seen to target the fast moving flyers at the head of the swarm.



However, as dawn was just breaking, there was very limited target acquisition. Even with that, the winged Tyrant was pummelled by Ion Cannon shots... despite this, (and perhaps to tehlegends credit) the create was protected by the venomthropes musk and emerged unbelievably unscathed from the onslaught.

Kor'ko himself, unable to draw bead to the winged creatures started out with a perhaps incorrect targetting of the warriors... his experience against previous Y'he attacks were based on older breeds of Y'he and he would need to quickly find the weak point of the force. Seeing the little effect that fire was having at the break of dawn he ordered the foot warriors to continue their retreat. The fumbling in the dark caused some confusion though, and as a result it seemed clear that they may not be safe from attack.



HiLDI above shows the enemy advancing. You can see the Tervigon bringing up the rear, and spawning a new brood of termagants. Next to him you will see the Venomthrope.

Meanwhile, the Carnifex is coming along on the East and the Mawloc has dissappeared from view... having burrowed.



The Gargoyles catch the retreating Fire Warriors by the finest of margins, but overwhelm them with sheer weight of number. The assault does, however, open up a distinct gap in the waves of attack that may be able to be exploited.

So, lets ask our next set of questions:

How do you rally to the moving threats, where do you move your units for best fire effect? Having selected your priority targets, how do you go about eliminating them?

At this point in time you do not know if your reserve units will arrive. Which of those units (IF ANY) would you want to arrive, and where? Of course, you may prefer them to hold position longer anyway, and why!?

The swarms of creatures may be completely useless against the hammerheads at range, but the extra protection of a hammerhead is of little benefit against them compared to the devilfish when the creatures make contact with and tear at the weak points of our skimmers, For this reason, the hammerheads should be withdrawn and the devilfish advanced to deal with the advancing hoard. In fact, all of the vehicles are equally susceptible to the close combat capabilities of all the creatures, so the hammerheads should be treated as especially vulnerable since they are the ones carrying the heavy weapons. Use them as screens only as a last resort. Otherwise, If screening at all, use the devilfish.

As you can see from the effect of the venomthrope, the obscuring properties of its toxic gases shouldn't be underestimated. Having a chance of avoiding damage is always preferable to no chance at all, and even though our markerlights are capable of negating its effects, the markerlights are also not a guarantee, and they are a finite resource. Markerlights being used to compensate for obscuring distortions equals markerlights not being used for boosting accuracy. Using 4 markerlights to boost accuracy and correct for obscuring is 2 markerlights not spent boosting accuracy on a second squad. So for the sake of the mid and late game, it is generally a smart idea to remove the venomthrope first, short of maps that have so much LOS blocking terrain that its effects would've been granted anyways.

It is ALWAYS preferable to remove the venomthrope first when you have such a beautiful killzone set up in the middle of the field that the target MUST travel through. It is absolutely required in the case of a rushing swarm crossing a zero cover killzone, exponentially so when each standard pulse shot you fire that normally rips through carapace with no difficulty will now miss their mark an estimated 33% of the time. Every bullet must count, and by delaying the removal of this vital protection, there is absolutely no guarantee that even with all fire warriors firing on the gargoyles, all of them will be slain.

While it is possible that all of the ion cannon shots could've found their mark, there is little that can be done about it now, crucial time has been lost in dealing with the threat, So i recommend the heavy weapons fall back immediately to the very edge of the deployment line while maintaining fire on the gargoyles, leave one fire warrior squad out to rapid fire the gargoyles, and fire all weapons on the tanks at them to maximize damage. protect the troops from the burrowing mawloc, spread out the vehicles while pulling back, and know that while the gargoyles can and will move their furthest distance in an attempt to assault the most targets, you should aim to have the devilfish with flechettes at the forefront of your lines, followed closely behind by the one fire warrior team. try to ensure that the hammerheads are not within the swarm lords threat radius if at all avoidable. The only exception to this is if the helios squad arrives from reserve, in which case, put them right in front of the swarm lord and dedicate the hammerheads to exterminating it. The swarmlord and the gargoyles together will over run you, but if the helios team arrives safely, you will have a relatively high chance to kill it and still remove a decent chunk of gargoyles to prevent a significant loss in the immediate aftermath.

Once again, if the helios team doesn't arrive, focus fire and remove the gargoyles, if the helios suits do arrive, focus the anti-tank shots on it instead, this includes potential shots from the piranha and Shas'el Kor'Istan'ko and his bodyguard as well if they can make it within effective range. If you're lucky, maybe a plasma shot might get through as well.

The force on the far east of the mission zone should be prepped for immediate extraction with devilfish nearby to deal with the advancing threat. Personally, I would probably have the fire warriors firing (since I would keep track of how fast the swarm is moving to gauge how close they are to my units) but it is understandable to pack them immediately and simply have them sit tight in the transport and not exposed. The pathfinders are safer and can provide support for the crisis team to target that monstrous creature on the east side of the northern hanger (once again, if the helios team has not arrived). It will be much harder to deal with that than the smaller ones later. and with your mechanized resources, it is still a strong possibility that you can simply charge the tanks forward through the swarms and prevent them from taking crucial objectives later.

Priority list
1+2: Swarmlord and gargoyles(depending on the arrival of the Helios team)
3: venomthrope (on the extremely unlikely chance that you have a hammerhead left to fire and all gargoyles and the swarmlord is dead)
4. whatever else is closest, unless it is within assault range, in which case, run and buy time for reinforcement.