Tyranid Attack

“G-Great Emperor… it’s not an asteroid! I repeat, it’s not an asteroid! Full reverse on the engines! The Emperor is pro—” – final voice recording of the Relentless Guardian

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The lights of the explosions, from this distance, looked like matches. On board the Proteus, Admiral Sejanous adjusted his collar, while on the command deck, the entire crew was in silence. Commissioner Lock, without taking his gaze away from the viewport overlooking deep space, commented, ‘From the lighting and the tempest, Our Emperor, deliver us,’ making the sign of the eagle. ‘Spare us these jests, Lock,’ the admiral replied irritably. Caught off guard, the commissar made an immense effort to restrain himself, responding through gritted teeth, ‘The lives of a few men for the salvation of an Emperor’s planet is NOT a jest, ADMIRAL. I remind you that this is an IMPERIAL ship, not a vessel of your ownership. Moderate your tone, or I will have to assume command, with utmost regret.’ Sejanus, turning around, looked straight into Lock’s eyes. ‘The Emperor is the lord of the galaxy, but I command on this ship. Is that clear?’ The crackling of the vox network interrupted the clash. ‘Lord Admiral Sejanous.’ ‘Proceed, Vox, speak,’ Sejanous responded, pressing the intercom, still keeping his eyes on the commissioner. ‘Third Vox Lieutenant Richtus reporting: we confirm the cessation of Vox communications with the “Serpent Lady,” the “Relentless Guardian,” and the “Eternal Duty.” The fleetmaster of the Salamanders requests our support in engaging the biofleet at the coordinates provided by the navigator,’ the metallic voice replied from the speakers. ‘Very well,’ said Sejanous. ‘Now we will see if today the Emperor is truly on our side!

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Here we are with the first game of BFG after years and years (maybe even a decade?). What can I say? This game is incredibly beautiful. Bertuz, one of the guys from Bologna, has organized a 4-player match, where Gattolo and Mengo, two of his Imperial comrades, are trying to stop my Tyranid biofleet from invading the green planet of Juridium III. Technically speaking, it’s 1500 points of Tyranids against 2 fleets of 500 points each for the Imperials, supported by 500 points of Space Marines (Salamanders).

Following the scenario rules, I immediately position my fleet within 45 units from the hiveship. On one side, I manage to win the deployment of 3 ships assigned to patrol and align them close to mine, ready to be assimilated. However, on the other side, I lose the dice roll to initiate the first turn. The Imperials then commence a dense barrage from 3 Cobras, 2 Space Marine escorts (forgive me, I don’t recall the name), and a light cruiser Luna, eliminating the threat of 2 tentacle-armed escorts. Curses, you will be assimilated!!! The field quickly fills with explosions, but the pressure from the Tyranids is unimaginable: the escorts and the Luna are overwhelmed and can only yield to the overwhelming alien fire phase.

The second turn sees the launch of several escorts by the Imperials in a desperate attempt to halt the Tyranid advance. Many torpedoes, bombers, fighters, and Thunderhawks take flight from the human ships’ docking stations, while the hive mind (myself) struggles to figure out how to counter the support spam with only 3 launch bays. Like a true Tyranid, I willingly accept the annihilation of my escorts and even the potential elimination of Moloch and Dagon, my two cruisers, in order to bring the hiveship closer to the planet. The hiveship is a true cosmic horror: with 14 structure points, 6 shields, and a penalty to bombardments, it resembles more of a small planet than a ship. On the other hand, it is terribly slow (15cm) and “semi” useless with 16 pyro batteries and only 3 launch bays.

My spore-fighters engage the torpedoes, knowing that I’ll have to endure bombardments from both the nova cannon and the support launched by the Imperials. By turn 4, the conditions are set for two ramming orders from my two cruisers against a Luna, a Mars cruiser, and a couple of Space Marine ships (whose names, once again, I’m not familiar with). My escorts are decimated by human fire, and by turn 4, I find myself with two heavily crippled cruisers and the hiveship headed towards the planet, still intact. Not bad! On the Imperial side, the officers experience the horror of Tyranid boarding actions and hit-and-run tactics, with all ships eliminated except for a Marine cruiser and the Proteus, wisely positioned in the second line. In this chaos of explosion markers, tentacles, and wreckage, the Medal of Valor is awarded ex officio to the captain of the Mars Cruiser “Wrathful Star,” who, aware that there’s no hope for his ship and crew, overloads the warp drive, generating an explosion equivalent to 6 lance shots at 15cm, also involving my Dagon cruiser. Epic!

The battle has now come down to the desperate attempt of the Proteus to contain the hiveship from making contact with the planet. In this effort, the admiral would have been supported by the presence of 3 stations and 2 minefields encircling Juridium III. Meanwhile, in the last turn, another warp drive explosion tears through the darkness of space, with one of the two Marine ships being torn apart from the inside by the Tyranid organisms, suffering a catastrophic 5 structural damage and detonating, hitting all three of my remaining ships. Thanks to the Brace for Impact order, the Dagon and Moloch survive, but they are reduced to a mere shadow with 1 and 2 wounds respectively. We are forced to suspend the game because the club where we play closes at midnight, so the planet is saved… for now!! A wonderful gaming experience. BFG is a game that is truly, truly splendid. I recommend everyone to give it a try!

I leave you with the photos we took during the evening, including the one of the hive mind (myself) and the three Imperial officers.