#WINNING!!!

o/

Lacking Fireworks, the Hive Mind instead brings tooth and talon to every occasion...

My Silver Drakes decided to ring in the new year in the God-Emperor-approved way: Glorious Combat! The FLGS hosted a holiday gaming session, and luckily I was able to attend. With three KT players present but only two of us in our league, Screech and I decided to forgo any sort of scenario opting for a free-for-all instead, as well as not having this game count as league play. In hindsight that decision was a bit of a shame as this turned out to be my Silver Drakes most convincing victory yet. Ah well, at least it started off my gaming year on the right foot!

Silver Drakes deployment. 

Noah's Salamanders' deployment. Noah's a young player and has the tactics to match. As such I've dubbed his Salamanders the Pollywogs. The Tactical Marine and Intercessor were both formerly my own, but along with the other two painted Salamanders 30k tac. marines and an old mini/hobby case, they were donated to Noah's fledgling 40k cause at Christmas.

Screech's Nid deployment. Not pictured is his Lictor which used it's cheese veteran ability to practically advance into Noah's deployment zone following our set up. Having dealt with that infernal beast in the past myself, I was not only pleased it wasn't coming for me, but also thought it would make for an entertaining uh...'learning experience' for the Pollywogs!

Kicking things off, in the distance the Lictor charged a hapless Pollywog scout, Screech's Tyranid warrior with Venom Cannon readied itself, and the rest of his chitinous horde ran straight at me! I sent one marine forward, my sgt. crashed thru the ruins towards the nids, and the rest of my force readied itself for the on-coming horde, meanwhile the Pollywogs were largely rooted in place, all deciding to ready themselves whilst their battle brother prepared to die a horrible death...

Expending a command point, my AGL gunner used the level 2 Headshot strategem to eliminate the Tyranid warrior's cover, and along with a +1 to hit via my nearby comms specialist, he was able to one-shot-kill Screech's team leader with a krak grenade! Huzzah! An excellent start to my game! All of my other shooting was largely ineffective, but I was pleased nonetheless.

Turn two started with the Pollywogs being thrown into total disarray following the sight of their battle brother being torn to ribbons, as is evidenced by the Intercessor literally running for his life!

Shorn from their connection to the Hive Mind, the gaunts revert to their instinctive behavior, and swarm my closest grunt!

However he (surprisingly) weathered the assault unscathed and my Sergeant came to his rescue soon thereafter...

Panicked and confused by the sudden demise of the tactical marine, the Pollywog scouts charge the lictor enmasse, hoping to bludgeon the beast into submission with their sniper rifles and missile launcher! Unfortunately, none of these scouts had attended the Iron Hands School of Gunnery*  and this suicidal effort proved futile.

Demotion and my AGL gunner try to assist the Pollywogs by firing indiscriminately into their melee, causing armor saves all around but no appreciable damage. Meanwhile my Sgt. and grunt continue to wage their private little war with the hormogaunts...

Disgusted by the cowardice of the Pollywog Intercessor, my marine on point, along with Demotion try to kill him in a crossfire-to no avail. Meanwhile my AGL gunner takes down a scout amidst the swirling melee.

The intercessors engage in a short ranged firefight, dealing me a wound but little else.

Battle scarred and tired yet still unhurt, my Sgt. and grunt begin mopping up the last of the gaunts.

Angered by getting shot at rather than assisted in combating the Lictor, not to mention the disrespectful nick-name for his chapter, the furious Salamander Pollywog intercessor charges my own, but either can hurt one another.

...and this is where the game ended. ThePollywog's Parental unit Chapter Master had arrived ordering an immediate EVAC! Whereas I had to work the next day so a late evening wasn't in the cards for me either. 

Tallying things up, by game's end I had amassed 8 kill points, and had no models out of action! Noah's force was down to two marines and broken, and Screech's nids also down to two but still fighting. I didn't get his KP total, but having killed most of Noah's team, it was considerable as well I'm sure!

At games end, Screech rolled for all of the bugs in his dead pile to see how many would have hypothetically died were this a league game, but alas they all would have survived. Nothing ventured, nothing gained...though at the very least this served as a boost to my chapter's morale!

*The Iron Hands School Of Gunnery is an old, inside joke predictably dating back to my old Iron Hands army. My Iron Hands' devastator squad was all too often, a far more dangerous foe when bludgeoning their opponents to death with their missile launchers, than they ever were when actually firing them!