Planetstrike - Defending

So with the new expansion being out I have managed to play 10 to 12 games so far. I have to say that I have found this expansion a lot more accessible than Apocalypse, and just as exciting. I have managed a fair number of games as both the Attacker and Defender mainly using my Tyranid army in both rolls. I have to say that the Tyranids appear to be a little overpowered against the people I have faced, and they appear overpowered in both roles. I think that playing as the Attacker gives you a real benefit when you then get the chance to defend. It lets you how things work, and what you need to work out. The items I have been attacking against are: 1 Aegis Defence Line 2 Bastions 1 Sky Shield Lots of Cities of Death Buildings

A 6' x 4' Board Basically listed below are the steps I have gone through setting up my ideal defence with this terrain. Sky Shield – Central Setup, set with the walls up. Bastions setup either side of it, within 6” Quad Linked Autcannon on the Sky Shield as an Interceptor Platform Lascannon on the Sky Shield as an Interceptor Platform Comms Tower in One Bastion Lascannon in the Other Bastion Lots of Cities of Death Terrain setup around 3 Sides of the Board. Leaving as little distance between your defensive perimeter and the terrain as you can These steps give you the following advantages: 1. The Attacker is more likely to choose the open side of the board as his DZ, because it means less difficult terrain tests for trying to get to the objectives they need to capture. This is good for you because you can concentrate a lot of firepower targeting the DZ. 2. The Terrain on the other 3 Sides of the Board means that Deep Striking units stand a good chance of having to test for Dangerous terrain if they scatter. 3. It also means Difficult Terrain tests for when they want to get those charges in. 4. If they try to Deepstrike in the small area you have left between your perimeter and the terrain then they have a better chance of scattering onto a unit of yours, or a building and then they have the fun of the Mishap Table. 5. A must Stratagem is the Void Shield, put this on your Sky Shield and then Deploy as much of your army on the Sky Shield, or under it and you don’t have to worry about a lot of damage from the firestorm (pray they take Scorched Skies as one of their Stratagems and you can can basically make them waste those 2 stratagem points. 6. Make sure that your Sky Shield has very little clear space on it, that way if they try to deepstrike on to it there is more chance of a Mishap. The Disadvantages: 1. Three Objectives very very close to each other… 1 Squad could conceivable capture two of them without a problem. 2. Crash and Burn will probably wipe out most of your defences, and depending on your Armour Saves… a lot of your army. 3. Armies with Move Through Cover will not be worried about a Drop Zone covered in terrain, and will probably benefit the most from cover saves. 4. You are giving your Opponent a lot of Cover Saves.

All in all this defence strategy has worked very well for me with my Nids, and worked not too badly for my opponent who I discussed it with. Will get some of my thoughts about attacking up later on.