First Games of 8th

I've managed to get a couple of Games in so far, one with my Alpha Legion and one with my Nids. Short version: Both are vastly improved from where they stood in 7th, and the Nids in particular felt way more like they should. This is mostly just going to be a quick summary, not actual BatReps, and all I have is crappy cellphone pics, but hopefully it will still entertain:

Look! It's actually a Land Raider. Full of Chaos Terminators no less! When was the last time you saw that?

The Monolith dropping in here really killed my advance on this flank, and took enough to deal with that it stalled out everywhere else, too

CSM chopping their way through Scarabs before getting gunned down by Warriors. Culties just sat on an Objective all Game, which seems about right.

Terminators! Jumping out of their Land Raider!

The empty spot where my Helbrute had been a moment before. Big bricks of Warriors can really dish out the hurt.

Aided by the Sorcerer's Warp Time, the Termies advance into Melta Range and then Charge, as so the remaining Bikes...

...Only for the Bikers to be banished by the Portal of Exile!

Not quite having finished off the Monolith, the Terminators get bogged down by some Immortals

 The Game ended about there. I had wasted too much time firing Lascannon at Ghost Arks, with their damnable Quantum Shielding, and had given up too much of my own force in exchange for too little gain to be able to push onto enough Objectives to make a difference.

My overall impression was that CSM are once again solid, but lost a lot of the flavour that they'd just gained back with the Legions book. Here's hoping that returns again when they get an actual Codex. I want to play Chaos Marines, not Spiky Marines.

Swarm o' Nids! And they don't have to worry about spreading out for Blasts, so they actually look like the wave of chitin that they should be!

The other end of the line.

Unsurprisingly, the Hormagaunts bounced off, but the Tyrant scythed right through

Warriors with a Prime advance, screened by still more Hormies

The Raveners burst from the ground, completing a pincer movement with the Screamer-Killer on this Squad of DeathWing. The handful of remaining Gargs are sitting on an Objective.

Termagants and the Haruspex swarming through the central building

The Tyrant duels with Belial, while the Screamer Killer holds an Objective, despite the presence of the Terminators, due to the Big Guns Never Tire Scenario

The Duel ends poorly for the Nids, with the result that a Ravener ends up fleeing when left without the will of the Hive Mind forcing it on.

Better angle, but worse shot, of the Fex holding the Objective

Termagants swarm another Objective...

while the Warriors, Prime, and Haruspex secure the final one

I was very happy with how the Nids performed. They may well come back to being my main Army again for a time. The Haruspex wasn't great, but was definitely better than before, and didn't really get to any of the targets that might have let it shine, since that side of the board got too clogged up. I haven't seen Warriors or a walking Tyrant do that well since the 4th Ed Dex.