This week’s episode of Battle Report is a special one, as our hosts have come up with a custom narrative mission all about hunting Tyranids. There’s very little we can say that Simon can’t say better, so we’re handing over to our very own son of Russ for all the details.
Si: From a young age, one of my favourite hobby activities has been to write custom Warhammer missions and scenarios – some based on a particular narrative I’d read, and others as part of campaigns I knew I’d probably never have time to play. Of course, it’s even better when I get to play them – as was the case in this week’s Battle Report!
The idea for this particular mission came to me when I saw an awesome Trygon kitbash in the studio’s Tyranids collection. I knew straight away that I wanted to use it in an episode of Battle Report. But how?
Well, anyone who’s spoken to me for more than about five seconds will know that I’m a massive Space Wolves fan.* When they’re not feasting or fighting, the sons of Russ love nothing more than hunting apex predators to prove their heroism. Indeed, there are countless sagas that have been dedicated to the terrifying monstrosities that the Chapter’s mighty heroes have slain over the years.
I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I’ve been looking for an excuse to use my Space Wolves on Battle Report for a while now, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity! But rather than fight a more traditional battle between the Space Wolves and Tyranids, it felt like a golden opportunity to recreate a dramatic hunt for a dread xenos beast. And so, the idea of the Hunt for Fellwyrm was born…
After a quick chat with my fellow presenter Nick, we decided to play up the bravado and glory-hungry nature of the sons of Russ by fielding two warbands of Space Wolves competing against each other as friendly rivals. I took it one step further – and ultimately made it even more heroic! – by limiting the armies we’d be using to just CHARACTERS. That way, we’d not only be competing as rival warbands, but our individual heroes would also be trying to outdo each other for the glory of the kill – how Fenrisian is that?!
To help capture this vibe, I knew that we’d need a custom mission that pitted us against the game itself, rather than each other. I set about figuring out how this would work. In the end, I was inspired by the classic Instinctive Behaviour rules used by Tyranids of yesteryear, which dictated how their units would act if they were outside of Synapse Range. To facilitate this, I designed a special Tyranids turn that takes place after the two player turns in each battle round, in which the Tyranids are controlled in specific, predetermined ways depending on their circumstances.
This not only enables the players to manipulate the actions of the Tyranids to a certain extent – channelling the will of the Hive Mind, as it were – but even lets you play the game solo if you wish, pitting yourself against the mission.
In order to create the feel of a hunt’s end with dangerous, cornered prey, the two warbands set up on either end of the battlefield. Over the course of the game, they’ll gradually close the jaws of the trap by moving towards the centre, searching the 20 pieces of interposing terrain for the mission’s big boss, Fellwyrm. Each time a location is searched, you draw a playing card from a custom deck to determine the threat level of the randomly generated Tyranid unit that has been encountered, which can range from a humble set of Ripper Swarms to a terrifying Screamer-Killer. Crucially, the Joker – the card which represents Fellwyrm – isn’t added to the deck until 15 locations have been searched, so your heroes will likely be battered and bruised by the time they encounter Fellwyrm and won’t have an easy ride.
As for the warbands we chose, the Space Wolves have a huge selection of EPIC HEROES, so I included them all!** One warband would be led by Bjorn the Fell-handed, the Chapter’s first Great Wolf, and the other by Logan Grimnar, the current Great Wolf. The other big names were divided as evenly as possible between us, so we each had a Dreadnought and someone riding a Thunderwolf, for example. My warband also had just enough room to include my long-serving avatar, Jarl Sigvald Deathgranter!
If you want to have a go by yourself or with a friend, you can download the mission below. I’ve written the mission so that you can use any factions as your protagonists – with the notable exceptions of Tyranids and Genestealer Cults, as that would be a bit weird! – so if you fancy trying it with the Aeldari Phoenix Court, rival Chaos champions, or any other thematic combination you can think of, go for it! We had an absolute blast playing the Battle Report, and we’re already planning a rematch, but this time pitting my Space Wolves heroes against Nick’s Ultramarines for honour and glory. Those boys in blue don’t stand a chance!
Cheers Si! You can watch this episode of Battle Report on Warhammer+ today if you’re subscribed. For those of you who don’t have a subscription yet, there’s a whole batch of free stuff being made available on Warhammer+ for the next two weeks.
There are two more episodes of Battle Report – the Leagues of Votann versus the Necrons and the Gloomspite Gitz scrapping with the Beasts of Chaos, plus a Loremaster episode on Terminator Armour. There’s also a Citadel Masterclass episode on how to hone your bone painting, and the most recent episode of Hammer and Bolter, which features Lucius the Eternal trying to break a fellow heretic out of a Space Marine fortress monastery.
This is just the tip of the iceberg for Warhammer+ content – if you enjoy what you watch, you can hit the button below to subscribe.
* We’ve timed it, and it’s actually closer to three seconds upon meeting him for the first time.
** With the exception of Lukas the Trickster, who is far too mischievous to fight fairly, even in such esteemed company.