TURN ONE - Tau: The Kroot had grown weary of fighting the same way as the Tau all through the night. Hunching behind a barricade and furtively taking shots at the shadows was not their way. Despite the "mighty" Shas'o's command for the force to remain knotted together, the Kroot and their Shaper had other plans. Quietly, they slinked away to an area of greater opportunity.
As they noiselessly dashed along the perimeter of the base, the Shaper gestured a halt and flared his nostrils, issuing a complex statement of warbles and clicks to the rest of the pack. Creeping several dozen meters ahead were some large delicacies: a Tyrant with its three guard, a Zoanthrope, and a Biovore. The Kroot had previously tasted of the first three mentioned flavors of Tyranid, but the last insectoid was something new and exciting--and so they waited for the unusual-looking morsel to lag behind.
At the sound of a low whistle, the Kroot raised their rifles--all centering on the hapless lumbering Biovore as it prepared to squat down behind a patch of shrubs and clean itself as it waited for the mental command to launch its ordnance. Suddenly, five searing rounds shattered through the carapace of the bio-artillery. The beast shrieked like an impaled porcine--then flopped to one side with hind legs twitching uselessly in the air. One of the Kroot's stomachs growled in anticipation at the kill.
The remainder of the Tau army did not fare as well, as the long shadows confounded the Fire Warriors' shots. They targeted anything that moved...at one point even a wayward Tau child that was fortunately whisked to safety before being obliterated. As one Tau fired nervously at a fleeting shape, his whole unit joined in until the shots stopped and the kill was confirmed as nothing more than an indigenous herbivorous creature that had the misfortune of being nocturnal.
The stealth team, with their inherent acclamation to the darkness, spied a group of Genestealers writhing and grappling through a nearby bramble. They quickly exchanged target acquisition over their comms, and white and azure bolts from their burst cannons sent seven of the creatures flailing backwards out of sight. Smoldering clawed arms and legs littered the earth where they once crouched.
TURN ONE - Tyranids: Chittering swarms of Hormagaunts boiled out from behind the old communications uplink tower, clambering over each other in a mad race to get the "lion's share" of the meat. Prior to this humid night, they had been subsisting on the occasional rodents and the castoffs of the synapse creatures' meager meals for weeks, so this new and abundant prey was welcome. They were famished!
A towering Carnifex heaved forward, crushing through trash piles and barricades as if they were dry leaves and kindling. Its massive mandibles clacked together as a stream of viscous fluid draped from its obscene maw and splattered on the broken pavement underfoot with a sizzle.
One by one, gargoyles swept down onto the ledges of the tower, as if to survey the enemy for the Hive Mind that slogged behind. Their talons screeched on the aged steel of the building. Raveners, Warriors, and the Tyrant all followed...allowing the smaller spawn to practice their hunting skills on these foes that had managed to keep them at bay throughout the night.
As the hiding Kroot prepared to leap out and drag the Biovore carcass back into the bushes for a quick feast, just then a pulsating spore mine landed in their midst. On impact, its fleshy hide split open like a month-old gourd, and it sprayed a mustard-colored gas in all directions. Eleven of the Kroot and Hounds were coated with the toxic substance, and inadvertently drew it into their lungs as well. Hideously, they thrashed in the darkness--clutching their throats and asphyxiating as their comrades watched helplessly. Foam, tinted with blood, spewed from their mouths and their bodies twisted into agonizing postures...and then silence, blessed silence.
Upon seeing a mine miss its target of Fire Warriors by just a few feet, the Tyrant attempted to detonate it with its Venom Cannon. The shots missed, and the squad was spared. The Zoanthropes attempted to use their Warp Blasts, but failed miserably--one fouled so badly that a tiny rip in reality was opened, and an emerging gossamer tendril encircled the bug's tail as if to drag the Zoanthrope into the Warp with it. The entity quickly yielded when it realized the offender was far too formidable, and it slipped back through the breach almost as quickly as it appeared.
The Hormagaunts fearlessly hurdled over barrels and debris, slavering as they charged into the first line of Fire Warriors positioned behind a makeshift sandbag wall. Undaunted, the Tau unhooked photon grenades from their belts and dropped them onto the other side of the embankment. As the Fire warriors flipped down their visors, the white light enveloped the front ensemble of Gaunts--blinding and disorienting them!
As such, the Gaunts' offense on the first wave was greatly diminished, and they scattered backwards with their tails tucked. While some of the Tau had fallen and had the wind knocked out of them by the assault, all stood up and brushed themselves off--completely unscathed! They looked about in surprise of their fleeing attackers, and, upon regaining composure, gave each other dignified high-fives as only the Tau could (Not only did Andy make a staggering number of armor saves, he also won the roll for moral high ground as there were no casualties...and I failed the Gaunts morale check...and yep, I was out of synapse range...oops!).