Squad Smackdown: Imperial Guard vs Tyranids

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This is a classic match up here ladies and gentlemen, made famous in Starship Troopers - the humble human soldier facing the unfeeling alien hordes, armed with a whole bunch of flamers. A single Platoon of raw Guardsmen are about to be confronted by a horde of slavering Genestealers.

25 Guardsmen with 6 flamers lined up against 11 Genestealers. The Fleet 'stealers have the advantage to get the assault - and boy do they need it.

The gates open!

The Imperial Guard rely heavily on getting the assault, which allows them to subject the enemy to a flaming. They however fail to cause an upset and steal the assault. The Genestealers charge straight in, hitting 17 times despite having 33 attacks that hit on 3s. However with a reroll to wound they convert this into 14 wounds 4 rending. After the Guardsman manages to roll 3 armor saves, 11 Guardsmen are permanently retired.

The beleaguered Guardsmen strike back, rolling 19 dice and getting a very average result - 10 hits, 3 wounds and two failed saves. The poor Imperials have lost by 9, but the presence of the Commissar makes them Stubborn. It's enough and they pass their morale check.

Second round of combat and the Genestealers are looking good. They only get 18 attacks now, but manage to convert this to 11 wounds with 3 rends. Only 2 Guardsmen can make their saves - now the Imperial ranks
are severely depleted. The remaining 5 roll 7 dice to hit, and manage to kill a single Genestealer.

This time the courage of the Emperor deserts them. They fail their morale test, despite being Stubborn, so the platoon commander is summarily executed by the Commissar. It's not however as encouraging as he thought it would be, and the squad fails its second morale test too. Against the Initiative 6 Genestealers they have little chance of getting away, and are quickly slaughtered and eaten.

Aftermath: The Guard were never an assault unit unless they got to fire those six flamers. No suprises here, and the 'stealers have move up into the semi-finals.