Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Batrep: Necrons Vs Necrons, 1750 pts

 Got a game in with the most gracious and impeccably punctual Mark this morning. It was the first time either of us had faced Necrons, so was most informative for all involved.

My Necrons:
Overlord with Mindshackle Scarabs, Warscythe, Sempiternal Weave, Phase Shifter and Resurrection Orb
20 Warriors and a Ghost Ark with a Harbinger of Eternity, Chronometron
9 Warriors and a Ghost Ark with a Harbinger of Destruction, Solar Pulse
8 Warriors with a Harbinger of Destruction
Doom Scythe
Doom Scythe
6 Canoptek Wraiths, 2 with Whip Coils
4 Canoptek Scarabs
4 Canoptek Scarabs

Warlord Trait: Strategic Genius (Yay!)

Third time in a row I'm using this list. It pleases me. Nuff said.


Mark's Necrons:
Overlord with Mindshackle Scarabs, Phase Shifter and Resurrection Orb
Destroyer Lord with Sempiternal Weave and Mindshackle Scarabs
13 Warriors and a Night Scythe with a Harbinger of the Storm (led by Overlord)
10 Warriors and a Night Scythe with a Harbinger of the Storm (led by Destroyer Lord)
14 Warriors and a Night Scythe with a Harbinger of the Storm, Lightning Field
Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge
6 Canoptek Wraiths, all with Whip Coils

Warlord Trait: Conqueror of Cities

1,746 pts of ludicrous lightning death. Anyone facing this list is staring down the barrels of 6 twin-linked Tesla Destructors. Truth be told, I  wasn't particularly worried about the masses of Tesla death and maiming. Bitter experience had shown me quite precisely what Tesla Destructors are capable of, and I find that the targets of choice are, in order of which is most vulnerable to the least:

1) Vehicles with AV11 or less;
2) Vehicles with AV12;
3) Units of 20 or less infantry with 5+ armour or worse; and
4) Small units of MEQ.

Against any other target, I find it's a bit of a gamble. Against my Warriors, a salvo from a Tesla Destructor can expect, let's say 5 hits on average. These will quite likely wound, and with a 4+ armour save, we can expect maybe 2 or 3 Warriors to go down. With 4+ Reanimation Protocols, at the end of the Shooting Phase, I daresay 6 twin-linked Tesla Destructors can drop about 7 or 8 Warriors. When my turn starts, the Ghost Arks will bring back an average of 4, meaning that by the time my opponent's turn has rolled by again, 3 Night Scythes and 3 Annihilation Barges, all focusing fire on my blob of Warriors, has taken down a grand total of about 3 or 4 Warriors. Quite a waste of S7 weapons, I think...

Mission: Crusade. 5 Objectives
Deployment: Vanguard Strike. I won the roll off and deployed first. Night fighting was active on the first turn.


When determining how to divide the board for Vanguard Strike, we figured it would be more interesting to fight for a line of objectives running directly between our forces rather than right through. I deployed in much the usual fashion, with Wraiths to my right flank. No doubt anticipating the reach of my guns, Mark deployed his Annihilation Barges and Wraiths bunched up in his corner, clearly out of my range. This would later prove to cost him dearly. Read on to see what happens when Necron fights Necron...

Batrep: Necrons Vs Chaos Marines, 1750pts

 Following my drubbing at the hands of Peter's Obliterators (again) I wanted a game against somebody with a more normal list. Ian very kindly obliged, with his peculiar pink and perfidious Emperor's Children army...


My Necrons:
Overlord with Mindshackle Scarabs, Warscythe, Sempiternal Weave, Phase Shifter and Resurrection Orb
20 Warriors and a Ghost Ark with a Harbinger of Eternity, Chronometron
9 Warriors and a Ghost Ark with a Harbinger of Destruction, Solar Pulse
8 Warriors with a Harbinger of Destruction
Doom Scythe
Doom Scythe
6 Canoptek Wraiths, 2 with Whip Coils
4 Canoptek Scarabs
4 Canoptek Scarabs

Warlord Trait: Strategic Genius

100% the same list as the one in the previous batrep. Strategic Genius was a lucky thing, seeing how much I love inflicting Turn 2 shock and awe.

Ian's List:
Chaos Lord on a Bike, with Mark of Slaanesh, Veterans of the Long War, Sigil of Corruption, combiplasma and the Murder Sword (aiming at the Crimson King)
Sorcerer on a Bike, with Mark of Slaanesh, Veterans of the Long War, Sigil of Corruption and Mastery Level 3
4 Chaos Bikers with Mark of Slaanesh, VotLW, Icon of Excess, 2 meltaguns, a plasma pistol and and power sword for the Champion

6 Noise Marines with VotLW, Blastmaster, 4 Sonic Blasters
6 Noise Marines with VotLW, Blastmaster, 4 Sonic Blasters
6 Chaos Marines with Mark of Slaanesh, VotLW, extra close-combat weapons, 1 meltagun, a combimelta and power sword for the Champion, all in a Rhino
6 Chaos Marines with Mark of Slaanesh, VotLW, extra close-combat weapons, 1 meltagun, a combimelta and power sword for the Champion, all in a Rhino

2 x Predators with Lascannon sponsons and Twin-linked Lascannon turret
2 x Hell Blade

Warlord Trait: Princeps of Deceit

4 units of 6 heavily equipped MEQs, 6 bikes with FNP, 2 of which are Independent Characters. Quite a lot of precision hitting power in this list, but is it enough to smash the Crimson King's phalanx?

Mission: The Relic
Deployment: Dawn of War. I won the roll off and deployed first. Night fighting was not active on the first turn.


Once again, Ian's Chaos Marines found themselves fighting my Necrons for some mysterious relic. My deployment is about the same as usual, this time with the Wraiths off to one side and Scarabs on each flank. The plan is simple as it always is with the Crimson King. Advance. Take the relic. Leave nothing within gauss range alive. Let's see how this rolls...

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Batrep: Necrons vs Chaos Marines, 1750 pts

Following the dismal failure of my first Necrons list with flyer support, I came to the conclusion that giving 20 Warriors the Preferred Enemy USR was far from enough to justify not having any Crypteks. Also, I decided I really like Death Rays. So, I revised the list and once again hurled myself at Peter's wall of Obliterator death...

My Necrons:
Overlord with Mindshackle Scarabs, Warscythe, Sempiternal Weave, Phase Shifter and Resurrection Orb
20 Warriors and a Ghost Ark with a Harbinger of Eternity, Chronometron
9 Warriors and a Ghost Ark with a Harbinger of Destruction, Solar Pulse
8 Warriors with a Harbinger of Destruction
Doom Scythe
Doom Scythe
6 Canoptek Wraiths, 2 with Whip Coils
4 Canoptek Scarabs
4 Canoptek Scarabs

Warlord Trait: Some irrelevant crappe.

Of course, I wasn't interested in designing a list with the singular purpose of just killing Peter's Obliterator list. Otherwise I've have just gone with, I don't know, less Scarab and more Doom Scythe or something. I wanted to have the Scarabs there, because of their effect on vehicles and their utility as screens or cannon fodder or something to turn enemy attention elsewhere.

Peter's Chaos Marines:
Chaos Lord on a bike with Mark of Nurgle, Sigil of Corruption, Power fist, Blight Grenades, and a gift of Mutation
9 Plague Marines with 2 meltaguns, gift of mutation and power fist for the champion in a Rhino
9 Plague Marines with 2 meltaguns and power fist for the champion in a Rhino
10 Cultists
10 Cultists
Helldrake with Hades Autocannon
3 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle and Veterans of the Long War
3 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle and Veterans of the Long War
3 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle and Veterans of the Long War

Warlord Trait: Master of Deception. 1 unit has Infiltrate.

Nothing new here. It's the same list as before, the bane of my armies...

Mission: Purge the Alien
Deployment: Hammer and Anvil. Peter won the roll off and had me deploy first. Night fighting was active on the first turn.


I depoyed my phalanx of Warriors in much the usual fashion, though this time I placed the Wraiths in a long line in front as a screen. Peter deployed directly opposite, with his Obliterators facing down my army and a Rhino full of Plague Marines to his left flank. The Cultists and one squad of Plague Marines were in reserve. So, is this going to be the day I lay those Obliterators low?

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Love those new jacks!

Still some way to go...
Couldn't resist getting a quick game in with my lovely new Spriggan and Devastator, even though they were just sprayed black. I threw together this happy list:

The Butcher
Wardog
Berserker
Kodiak
Juggernaut
Spriggan
Devastator

That's right, a Butcher his big horrible dog and 5 big stompy jacks. I found it to be quite a fun mix. The general strategy was simple:
  1. Receive the enemy's charge on the big tough Devastator, with the hard hitters, i.e. the Juggernaut and Spriggan keeping close behind in the second wave. 
  2. If the Devastator survives, great! Push right on ahead, popping the Butcher's feat and using Full Throttle and some carefully placed focus to kill every big killy thing within reach. 
  3. If not, even better! That generally means the enemy has expended quite a lot of resources to take down the Devastator, and there's LOTS of big things to kill nearby! 
Well, it worked against Lexiss' Skorne, and I know from experience his list hits absurdly hard. Noting the fate of my poor Devastator, I now know a Bronzeback with a little support can smash pretty much ANYTHING in a single charge.

Anyway, I'm exceedingly pleased with these 2 jacks. On the table, they are magnificent and with the current range of jacks and casters at my disposal, there's plenty of scope for a huge variety of armies and strategies. I'll probably post an army list or two later. For the moment, stay tuned, this weekend, the Necrons march once more...

Thursday, January 24, 2013

What's on the workbench?

With the recent arrival of a monstrous pile of plastic crack, I've been struggling to get my hobbying organized. For the moment here's what's going on...

Warmachine-wise, I'm still keeping Menoth to one side. 2 recent acquisitions have just about completed my Khador army. As I'm typing this, I'm waiting for the glue to dry so I can get spraying:
 

That's right, a Devastator and a Spriggan. Because ARM 25 is fun, as is a jack that makes a mockery of Stealth and has a nice big lance with Reach.

I usually spray, then paint the arms separately. In the case of the Juggernaut/Destroyer/Marauder, there's the added bonus of being able to switch out the arms and have an omnijack. The Devastator/Demolisher/Spriggan kit, however, doesn't quite lend itself so well to that, and while it's possible to do so with a little ingenuity, steady hands and patience, I am in short supply of all three and have decided to just stick with a Devastator and Spriggan.


Meanwhile, in the happy worlds of the grimdark future, the Necrons march, with air support! Here's a Doom Scythe.


And here's a somewhat painted version. 


The paintjob is a lot more simple than it looks.

1) The metal bits were done first, and are simply the result of drybrushing with Leadbelcher. Any bits which I didn't want to be metallic were touched up with Abaddon Black.
2) The rest of the body is simple in theory, but horribly tedious in execution. Just paint every edge with Warboss Green, then go over the corners again with Scorpion Green.

Step two is something of an ongoing work in progress for the bulk of my Necron army. There are 2 Ghost Arks, 2 Annihilation Barges, 6 Wraiths and, of course, the 2 Night Scythes awaiting this treatment and man, it is stupidly boring... Still, I like the result. It's going to take a while...

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Batrep: Necrons Vs Chaos Marines, 1750 pts

After last week's dismal defeat, I wanted another scrap against Peter's Chaos Marines, and he kindly obliged. This time, I wanted to test drive the Scythes - one Doom Scythe and one Night Scythe.

My Necrons:
Destroyer Lord with Resurrection Orb, Sempiternal Weave and Mindshackle Scarabs
20 Warriors
10 Warriors and a Ghost Ark
10 Warriors and a Ghost Ark
5 Immortals in a Night Scythe

Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge
Doom Scythe
6 Canoptek Wraiths, 2 with Whip Coils and 2 with Particle Casters

Warlord Trait: Night Attacker

Besides the flyers, this list has a little departure from the way I usually field my Necrons: No Overlord. As such, no Royal Court and no minor Necron Lords and Crypteks. No Chronometron rerolls, no Solar Pulses, no Eldritch Lances... Man, now that I'm writing this, I'm wondering: What the hell was I thinking? Well, I figured I definitely wanted to have the Destroyer Lord with the blob of 20 Warriors because Preferred Enemy on 20 Warriors is just fun. And I just didn't have the points for Royal Court jiggery pokery, not if I wanted to have 4 Tesla Destructors in my army. So, I decided to rely mostly on sheer number of gauss and tesla shots, with 1 Death Ray to carve up anything that needed some Death Ray love.

Peter's Chaos Marines:
Chaos Lord on a bike with Mark of Nurgle, Sigil of Corruption, Power fist, Blight Grenades, and a gift of Mutation
9 Plague Marines with 2 meltaguns, gift of mutation and power fist for the champion in a Rhino
9 Plague Marines with 2 meltaguns and power fist for the champion in a Rhino
10 Cultists
10 Cultists
Helldrake with Hades Autocannon
3 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle and Veterans of the Long War
3 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle and Veterans of the Long War
3 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle and Veterans of the Long War

Warlord Trait: Master of Deception. 1 unit has Infiltrate.

Only a slight change from my previous encounter. One less Plague Marine and a gift of mutation for one of the Plague Champions. This time the gift of mutation rolls weren't as crazy as before. The Plague Champion got Eternal Warrior (hah!) and the Lord got Icy Aura.

Mission: Crusade. 3 objectives.
Deployment: Hammer and Anvil. Peter won the roll off and deployed first. Night fighting was not active on the first turn, but I turned it on anyway with my Warlord Trait.


Peter kept the Cultists and, of course, the Helldrake, in reserve, with one squad of Plague Marines outflanking. My Immortals were sitting in the Night Scythe. Note that during this battle, the other tables in the shop were occupied, so we had to keep our reserves on the table we were using. The units which aren't actually in play have been marked out with red circles. Read on for the full account of how this played out...

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Recent battles for the glory of Khador

Been having some fun with my lovely new pVlad. It's great, he's a wonderfully straightforward caster to use, and you can pretty much chuck anything you want into his army and it'll work! Lately, though, I've been lazy to field the Winter Guard, so here's the list I've been using:

Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Prince
War Dog
Kodiak
Berserker
Juggernaut
Winter Guard Mortar Crew
Winter Guard Mortar Crew
Man-O-War Kovnik
Destroyer

Of course, the Destroyer is under the Kovnik's control. Nothing complicated here. I use Signs & Portents to pummel the foe with deadly accurate artillery as the armies close. Those mortars are excellent for softening things that could threaten the Jacks. Pretty much anything that could slug it out one-on-one with a Khadoran jack is going to have a pretty low DEF - low enough that mortars under Signs & Portents stand a good chance of scoring direct hits with a nasty POW 16. Vladimir's feat also puts the 3 big beastly jacks under him in the uncommon (for Khador) position of being able to get the first charge in, with a charge range of 11". 13" with Boundless charge. 15" if I had a Spriggan. Which I now do (more on that later).

Now, I don't really consider this list very competitive, but it's not a complete pushover, either. How did it perform? Read on for abbreviated accounts of 2 recent scraps...

Monday, January 14, 2013

Even briefer Batrep: Blood Angels vs Chaos Marines, 1750 pts

Truth be told, I didn't plan to record this, but the way this game played out came as quite a surprise to me: I was obliterated! By Turn 5! Most interesting, seeing as I was using my trusty Blood Angels who had been wreaking havoc and having my opponents struggle to even stay on the board for at least the last 5 or so games in a row. Since I hadn't planned to record this, I'm just jotting down the lists and the salient points of the scrap.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

VERY Brief Batrep: Blood Angels vs Tyranids, 1750 pts

Gonna keep this short, as there's lots to do this weekend. More on that, later. No pics of the battle, alas, but I wanted to record this seeing as I was experimenting with using my old Land Raider Redeemer

My Blood Angels:
Reclusiarch with infernus pistol
Furioso Dreadnought with frag cannon and heavy flamer
6 Sternguard Veterans with 3 combi-meltas, 2 combi-plasma and a heavy flamer 
7 Death Company with 2 infernus pistols and 2 power axes
Land Raider Redeemer with multimelta and extra armour
Death Company Dreadnought with Blood Talons
2 Stormravens with twin-linked multimelta, twin-linked assault cannon and hurricane bolters
Predator with autocannon and lascannon sponsons
Land Speeder Typhoon

This is a departure from my usual method of fielding Blood Angels. I have to admit, putting 7 Death Company, a Reclusiarch and a DC Dreadnought all in one Stormraven did make me  somewhat nervous. That's 700 pts (!) sitting in an AV 12 vehicle. Granted, odds are pretty slim that a salvo from even a quad-cannon will take it down (about 9.5% of that happening, I believe), but that's still 40% of my army sitting in a neat little package. Given that 200 pts worth of Saber platform have almost a 50% chance of nuking those very precious 700 pts, I figured I'd best hedge my bets and put the Reclusiarch and his men in a somewhat tougher metal box.

Edwin's Nid:
Hive Tyrant with Heavy Venom Cannon, Bonesabre & Lashwhip, Old Adversary, Regeneration and Armoured Shell
Tyranid Prime with 2 Bonesabres, Devourer and Regeneration
3 Tyrant Guard
3 Hive Guard
3 Hive Guard
Death Leaper
Tervigon with Crushing Claws, Toxin Sacs, Regeneration and 2 psychic powers: Onslaught & Catalyst
10 Termagants
Tyrannofex with Rupture Cannon and Regeneration
Mawloc

This comes to 1,760 pts, I believe. I like pitting an army against Edwin's Nids, especially when I want to test my army's ability to handle a serious Death Star unit. 13 T6 wounds hiding behind the Tyrant's 2+ Armour Save to chew through, and nigh-unparalleled close combat lethality. To make things worse, if that thing has Iron Arm and 2 of the Tyrant Guard are taken down, then the unit comprises one T5 Prime, one T6 Guard and potentially a T9 Tyrant. I am led to understand that in the event that there is no majority Toughness value, then the whole unit uses the highest Toughness in the unit, meaning a unit of possibly 9 T9 wounds that's just bad news to fight in close combat, unless you're carrying mindshackle scarabs to even the odds a bit.

Mission: Big Guns Never Tire. 3 Objectives.
Deployment: Vanguard Strike. I won the roll off and deployed first. Night fighting was not active on the first turn.

Edwin keeps Death Leaper and the Termagants in reserve. Death Leaper saps 3 Ld from my Reclusiarch. I keep the Death Company and the Reclusiarch on the board, in the LR Redeemer. The Predator and LS Typhoon are also present, while the Furioso rode in Goldraven and the DC Dreadnought and the Sternguard were in Blackraven.

Turn One:
Token potshots were exchanged. The Land Speeder lost a hull point. A Tyrant Guard and the Tyrannofex each lost a wound.

Turn Two:
Both Stormravens arrive and gun straight for the Tyrannofex. Even with Feel No Pain granted by the Tervigon casting Endurance, the Tyrannofex went down. Return fire from the Tyrant Guard failed to harm the Stormravens. Death Leaper popped out behind the Land Speeder and blew it up. The Mawloc popped up behind the Predator.

Turn Three:
The Stormravens unloaded their cargoes and backed up, going into hover mode to better focus their firepower. Shooting from the Furioso, Sternguard and Blackraven took down 2 Tyrant Guard. Blackraven and the DC Dreadnought took down one squad of Hive Guard. Return fire from the Hive Guard downed Goldraven. The Prime charged the Sternguard, took a wound from overwatch fire and failed his charge. The Tyrant and his Guard charged and smashed the DC Dreadnought. The Predator tried shooting the Mawloc and failed miserably. The Mawloc charged the Predator and met with similarly dismal luck, missing with all attacks. Meanwhile, the Redeemer turned right round to unleash the Death Company on Death Leaper. A bit much, I know, but I figured it had to die before he caused some real damage. Death Leaper was handily blasted to goo with the Redeemer's multimelta. The Death Company shrugged and headed back to the Redeemer.

Turn Four:
Black Raven zoomed over to the other side of the board to help the Predator take down the Mawloc. Between it and the Predator, that was quite enough to slay the Mawloc. The Tervigon charged the Furioso and managed to take down 2 hull points. The Tyrantstar now turned their attentions to the Sternguard, who, supported by the Redeemer, had mauled the remaining Hive Guard brood with hellfire bolts.

Turn Five:
The LR Redeemer backed up and headed over to the melee between the remnant of the Tyrantstar and unloaded the Death Company in their direction. The Death Company performed spectacularly, saving 3 Feel No Pain rolls from the Tyrant's big horrible bonesword and destroying the Tyrant and his remaining Guard. Totaling up the points, I had 4 - Slay the Warlord, First Blood and 2 from killing Mawloc and Tyrannofex. Edwin had 4 - 3 from the Termagant swarms camping on an objective, 1 from downing a Stormraven.

A draw! Ah, well. I think we both knew that if things had carried on to Turn 6, my remaining forces were quite enough to take down a Tervigon and some Termagants. Of course "some" Termagants actually meant about 30 of them, but that's still no biggie to a LR Redeemer and a Stormraven, eh?