+ REDUX 2.5 +

Here's the list I'm re-building towards now, with the few changes that I've made since playing a couple games:

HQ
Demon Prince - MoS, warptime

ELITES
Dreadnought - Plasma cannon, heavy flamer, extra armor (smoke, searchlight)

TROOPS
10 CSM - MoCU, autocannon, plasma gun, AC w/ power weapon
10 CSM - MoCU, lascannon, flamer, AC w/ powerfist, combi-flamer
Rhino - (smoke, searchlight)
6 1k Sons - Sorcerer w/ bolt of change (force weapon)
6 Noise Marines - Blastmaster, sonic blaster

HEAVY SUPPORT
6 Havoks - MoCU, 3 missile launchers
Defiler - (smoke, searchlight)
1 Obliterator

TOTAL
1500 points

The stuff in parentheses are new freebies that come with those units. I could also have included (bolter, bolt pistol, ccw) on all the marines except the Sons, and I have to say that's a pretty kick ass upgrade, always getting +1 attak in combat. 10 CSM = 20 S4 beatdown attaks, something to think about.

Building: Demon Prince

+ Nü Chaos > Nids?! +

Threwdown last Friday with my friend Studder's nids, whom I've never beat and generally ally with when possible. I didn't have high hopes for the new Chaos, but I was willing to see what went down.

Undivided vs Tyranids [1500] - Studder took flyrant w/ 2x twin devourers, implants, warpfield, etc; broodlord w/ toxin & retinue; 3x6 genestealers w/ carapace, hooks, talons; 2x1 raveners; 2x gunfexes w/ vc, strangler, etc; 3 AP3 spore mines. The broodlord was a new caveat, usually there's more stealers and some zoanthropes.

We refused each other our flanks, so that we were basically going across the board diagonal. Right to left I had havoks a top level 4+ building, then autocannon CSM in lower floors and oblit nearby; 1k Sons in the open, with lascannon CSM & termi lord behind them, and noise marines a top a building just to their left. The dread went faar left, and the rhino I stuck along the left board edge behind a building, purely to keep the broodlord from my DZ. Nids were, right to left: broodlord & friends, 6 stealers, 6 stealers, ravener, flyrant, fex, stealers, ravener and fex faar left. Turn 1 went to Chaos, as did the rolls for side and deployment ;D

Chaos Turn 1 - Almost no movement, except for dread and oblit scooting for LOS. Blistering Chaos firepower kills 2 stealers (defiler scatter) and wounds the flyrant once (maybe). I was hitting fine, but was plagued with 1's on dice that needed 2+ to wound :x
Nids Turn 1 - Everything moves up fast. 1 fex immobilizes the dread and will waste the rest of its life shooting it, the other one either kills the oblit this turn or next. The flyrant wastes a noise marine or two with it's insane dakka cannons of reroll. Some stealers also hide on the side of a building right outside my zone, forcing me to make a decision to move and engage them ...

Chaos Turn 2 - Which I do, having the Sons stumble around the building's corner. The rhino tankshocks some stealers, who pass and move to the side, and the dread stomps up to cook some bugs. The dread roasts some stealers, charges and kills the rest, with the help of No Retreat! from synapse fearless. He consolidates back into cover. Other fire takes the flyrant down to 2 wounds, knocks a wound off a ravener, and kills a couple of the hiding stealers. Assault goes ok for the Sons, who kill a stealer or two and lose a couple automatons in return.
Nids Turn 2 - Broodlord charges the rhino and shakes it (no move/no shoot) with his posse, and other stealers charge the dread in cover. They remove his ccw, but he kills 1 before it's torn off. Flyrant hits the noise marines, who do nothing to it and are gutted. On a lucky 6" massacre it consolidates into the lascannon CSM & termi lord squad. Fex 1 does nothing to the defiler, and the other fex bounces off the CSM in the building. The stealers pull down all but 1 rubric marine, and the sorcerer finishes the squad off! He consolidates toward the fex ... Oh, and spore mines killed 1 marine from the lascannon CSM before the flyrant hit.

Chaos Turn 3 - No movement, right to shooting. Defiler hammers the stealers on the rhino, killing all of the retinue except 1 and leaving the APC unscathed ;). Havoks and autocannon CSM knock wounds off their fex, and the 1k Son sorcerer kills a ravener with shooting. That fex may have died this turn, it had a lot going into it for 3 turns ... The dread pulverized a stealer with its feet, to no damage back. More stealers die to No Retreat!, leaving 1 in base. The flyrant directs at the termi lord, taking off 2 wounds, but between the AC fist and HQ chainfist the bitch does down. The lord consolidates into the ex-noise marine building, to intercept the other ravener.
Nids Turn 3 - Fex 1 immoblizes the defiler again, locking its turret. The broodlord & 1 friend hits the dread, but just lose 1 stealer. Ravener can't reach the termi lord.

Chaos Turn 4 - Firepower bounces off the living fex, or fails to wound. Termi lord charges the ravener, saves the 1 rend on him and then whiffs his 5 attaks! 1,1,2,1,2 to hit! Dread bites it at last.
Nids Turn 4 - Fex blasts the Sons, killing the last automaton and charging the sorcerer! Everybody can't hit or wound each other. The termi lord is killed by the ravener, because he sucks that hard. The broodlord and lone stealer move along my DZ.

Chaos Turn 5 - Sorc flails at fex, fex misses sorcerer. CSM beginning redeploying to get shots on something late game. Lascannon CSM move up into the noise building and double flame the ravener, killing it.
Nid Turn 5 - Broodlord & stealer charge the lascannon CSM, killing half the squad for the lose of the lone stealer to the fist.

Chaos Turn 6 - More flailing from the sorcer, and missing from the fex. The broodlord eats some marines, killing the squad.
Nid Turn 6 - Broodlord scampers over toward the defiler and waiting guns ... And the sorcerer force weapons the fex! w00000t!

Chaos Turn 7 - Broodlord dies to many guns.

CHAOS WIN.

That said, lord sucked it up. Switching to warptime demon prince with MoS. Just better in every way, and more survivable, etc.

Building: Prince
Painting: 2 CSM, defiler, rhino

+ Nü Rampage? +

Had my first game using the Nü Chaos rules (used the list below under "REDUX"), but against that Tau player again. Was a learning experience ...

Undivided vs Tau [1500] - Tau Kid took shas'o w/ CIB, fusion, reserves thing, shield drone; 3 crisis w/ plasma, fusion, multi; 3x 12 fire warriors; 6 pathfinders w/ sms fish; 6 vespid; 3x sniper drone teams; railhead (!).

Terrain was big buildings on the flanks of deployment zones, then a huge building left of board center and a rock coloumn right of board center. We played real line of sight, not area terrain, which really really hurt and I don't feel like doing again!

We'll stick with some highlights, this was last Sat after all!

First turn, his railhead vaporizes my dread. No need to worry about mutated hull being gone! This was a major victory for him, he's never dropped this dread before ;D The railhead goes on to be shaken every turn, and eventually lascannoned by my oblit. The oblit also got a last turn plasma cannon shot on a sniper team - @ 30" just in sight - and broke them off the table. Digging the plasma cannon upgrade, though heavy bolter would have helped clear FW I guess.

Havoks set up HIGH in a building across from 2 sniper teams and 12 FW, and lost 4 marines before I took a turn to back up in the building out of 36" sniper range. From there they fragged the FW, pushing them to the table edge but not off.

Defiler pounded FW squads off the table, contributing to breaking 2 squads and attempting to smash off the third hiding with the snipers. He was untouched by enemy fire, and thinking about it I could have walked him toward snipers with only some fear of glancing death.

1k Sons deployed in the open like I general do, and lost all 5 rubrics to 2 turns of sniper fire and the remnant of a vespid squad that was pulverized by my marines. The kicker? The vespid stingwing assaulted the sorcerer with warptime and killed him. Wow guys. I also realized that the squad is illegal - the sorc can have only 1 power, though for the record I don't even remember if they got to shoot their inferno bolts!

Fire support CSM squad was hammered pretty badly, and striking crisis suits took out the entire unit except for the power weapon AC (pervious Kai gun AC) ... who charged the squad, broke and caught them! He died to sniper fire, but it was a beautiful thing.

Likewise the combat CSM squad moved up through middle terrain with the termi lord, intent on getting to grips with the squishy Tau. About half way I realized I was walking up between 3 snipers once I cleared terrain, as well as his shas'o with CIB. Eventually, the lord died to the shas'o fusion, 5 CSM died to snipers and such, but then the remaining 5 got the charge on the shas'o. Powerfist ftw and it was one dead xenos. Then it was one dead AC.

And the noise marines rarely had range to anything, but rolled amazingly to hit when they could. Don't remember the blastmaster doing anything spectacular, but they held their building.

End Result -> Draw.

So I've got things to learn, and had to change my list up. Gone is warptime and the 2 sonic blasters, in is the old rhino! More to paint! Yeah!

Painting: Termi lord, 2 CSM, defiler, rhino
Future: Sorcerer, land raider