We both roll for first turn… and for the third time in a row I secure it! Using the redeploy I put both the Hive Guard and the Dimachaeron up on the front lines. I know for a fact that the Hive Guard will only get 1 turn of shooting anyway thanks to Jack’s Squigbuggies being AP-3 in a Speedwaagh, so I need to get as much use out of them as possible.

And it pays off well. The Dimachaeron advances and I luckily get Onslaught off so he can get right into Jack’s deployment. The Hive Guard, being granted +1 to hit from Bioweapon Bond, do 10 wounds to his Wazbom Blastajet in the first volley. I’m beyond tempted to split my fire on the second volley… but I decide to play it safe and put them all into the Wazbom again. Which proves to be the correct play; I only JUST manage to bring it down thanks to some terrible wound rolls! The Dimachaeron is fully buffed up with a 4++ and 5+++ and he smashes right into Jack’s army; he only manages to kill one of the smaller units of Warbikers, but he tags his Shokkjump Dragsta so it can’t teleport next turn, and he’s forced to deal with it otherwise it will run rampant through his army. 

Going into Jack’s turn and his retaliation is strong. But thanks to the terrain he isn’t really able to get onto many of the objectives, and he has to hold some stuff back to be able to shoot (and potentially charge) the Dimachaeron. He calls a Speedwaagh and his 3 Squigbuggies fire into the Hive Guard, and just utterly demolish 5 of them. Pretty good rolls from Jack so far! And with the combined forces of all of his dakka, he just about manages to bring down the Dimachaeron. Because he had to put so much into it though, it guaranteed me 15 on the primary for the second battle round, gaining an early lead.

I continue to move up with the rest of the army, trying my best to keep Jack in his deployment zone - nothing in his army has the infantry keyword and only the deffkoptas fly, so as long as I block up the areas between the terrain features I should be able to keep him there. And the Scythed Hierodule does exactly this: thanks to his massive base he plugs up one of the exits from Jack’s deployment zone to ensure he struggles to leave. I also throw the Flying Hive Tyrant up into Jack’s lines, ready to charge into both his Warboss and some Deffkoptas.

Shooting is a bit nuts in my turn 2. My psychic managed to do 3 mortals to the Dakkajet that was in the middle of the board, but I decide to fire the Hierodule’s Acid Spray into it to do some more damage. I roll outrageously well, and manage to bring it down straight away! This is a huge benefit to me, as it means Jack’s ways of scoring Engage are dwindling. 

The Flying Hive Tyrant charges into both the Warboss and the Deffkoptas; this Boss in particular forces me to fight last, so I spend 1cp on Breaking Through and deal 6 mortal wounds to him, which manages to kill him thanks to him suffering some wounds beforehand in the battle! I then swing into the Deffkoptas and kill 3 of them - I really need to try and kill Jack’s “To The Last” units as soon as possible.

Jack swings back by killing the Flyrant, and dealing a load of damage to the Hierodule but not quite killing him. But as I planned, he’s still trapped in his deployment zone for most of his army and again he only scores 5 on the primary. He’s done a good amount of damage though - I’ve lost the Flying Hive Tyrant and the Dimachaeron, and the Hierodule is on its last legs.

I keep the pressure up by scoring another 15 on the primary in the third turn. Each of the middle objectives has a Carnifex on it, and Jack knows that if he shoots them he’s just wasting efficiency, as they have an innate -1 to hit thanks to Spore Cysts. The Hierodule moves up to charge the Shokkjump Dragsta, and I manage to also max Warp Ritual on this turn for 12 points. The Swarmlord also moves up to a building, and Jack’s Deffkoptas are behind this ruin so I really need to make use of Hive Commander here. 

Shooting is negligible, but the Swarmlord makes use of his double move to move over the ruin and horizontally 3”. I haven’t moved very far, but I have moved over the ruin and need a 6” charge into his Deffkoptas. He makes the charge, and manages to kill 4 out of 5 of them, and the Hierodule kills the Dragsta. Luckily though, Jack passes his morale and there’s only 1 Deffkopta left in each of his units, and they’re each worth 5 points to him for To The Last! But I’ve managed to max Bring it Down at this point, so I’m feeling confident.

But from there, the game is pretty much decided. Jack only manages to score 5 points on the primary on turn 3, and I’m just so far ahead on the primary that I’ve got the game in the bag. At the end he does manage to keep 1 unit of Deffkoptas and the Squigbuggies alive, scoring 10 on To The Last, and he manages to pick up on his primary on turns 4 and 5, scoring 10 on each of them.

But at the end, the game ends with a victory to the Tyranids, 92-70.