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?
Turn 1:
Necrons: Not much of interest happened. Whole army moved up, with the Ghost Arks hanging back to make use of the cover afforded by the Night Fighting. The Scarabs moved up, mostly as bait. I figured any turn a squad isn't shooting at something important is a turn I can get more damage out.
Chaos: Peter met my advance head on, moving up and unloading some gunishment. The Scarabs on my right flank was wiped out. The other Scarabs lost one base.
Turn 2:
Necrons: A most interesting turn for me. Both Doom Scythes arrived, and came tearing down the left flank. The Wraiths surged forward, ready to charge and hopefully tie up the centre squad of Obliterators for a bit.
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| Not a good position to be in... |
Right, this is the best chance I'll get to break the back of Peter's army! The Lord was out in the open with 6 Wraiths a mere 5" away. There are very few things in 40k that can stand alone against 6 Wraiths. The Lord's boltguns went wide, I rolled for charge distance... and got 3". 3 INCHES!!!
Tactical note: I do believe this is the bit where it all went horribly pear-shaped for me. If the Wraiths had made that charge, they could concievably have assassinated the Lord. After that I would have hurled them into the Obliterators, tying them up while the rest of the army focused on the Plague Marines.
Chaos: The Helldrake and the outflanking squad of Plague Marines arrived. The Helldrake headed straight for the Doom Scythes in an attempt to silence a Death Ray or two. The Plague Marines came in to support the other squad of Plague Marines on the right flank.
The Helldrake activated its Daemonforge ability and managed one glancing hit on a Doom Scythe. The outflanking Plague Marines fired their meltaguns on the Ghost Ark, penetrating its shields, but only getting a Weapon Destroyed result (not the first time Peter had been disappointed horribly by his meltaguns).
In the centre, the last squad of Obliterators and the Chaos Lord shot at and charged the Wraiths. After much violence, 2 Wraiths and 1 Obliterator fell.
Turn 3:
Necrons: The Doom Scythes turned to the right flank, aiming to gut some Plague Marines. The Ghost Arks backed away to pour firepower into the advancing Plague Marines. The Warrior blob shuffled closer to the Helldrake in an attempt to get a lucky glancing hit in or two (but failed miserably).
The Doom Scythes did magnificently, blowing up a Rhino and disintegrating 6 Plague Marines. Other shooting was lacklustre. The Wraiths continued to tie up the Lord and his Obliterators.
Tactical Note: Here I believe I made a fairly atrocious mistake in wasting the blob on the Helldrake. Should've at least fired on something easier to hit, like those wretched Plague Marines.
Chaos: The 2 Cultist squads arrived and proceeded with their mission to look natural and not attract any attention, heading straight for some ruins to hide in and smoke weed or whatever it is Cultists do when they want no part of the battle raging around them.
One squad of Plague Marines continued to harass the nearest Ghost Ark, blowing it up with meltaguns, then charging the contents. Some Warriors and a Plague Marine fell, but they stayed locked in combat, and the fallen Warriors picked themselves up for some more close quarter carnage.
The Lord and his Obliterators managed to kill all the Wraiths but one.
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| Nothing to see here. Just chillin'... |
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Turn 4-6:
Downhill for the Necrons all the way, I'm afraid. The Crimson King and his blob engaged the Obliterators in close combat, dealing pitifully little damage. The squad of Plague Marines scrapping with the Warrior squad eventually managed to finish off their opponents, then came back to support the Obliterators. This meant the Crimson King and his blob were wiped out by combat resolution.
While this was going on, the flyers zipped around the board, looking for targets. In a classic dogfighting move, the Doom Scythes split up. One zoomed off the board while the Helldrake chased the other. While the Helldrake's attention was held, the Doom Scythe that had left the board and came back to blow the Helldrake apart in a spectacular salvo of lightning death. However, this meant the Doom Scythes were in no position to turn back and attack the Obliterators and Plague Marines, who were slowly but surely mopping up my ground forces.
In the end, we totaled up the Victory Points...
Necrons: Slay the Warlord, 7 killpoints (2 Obliterator squads, 2 Rhinos, 1 Plague Marine Squad, Chaos Lord, Helldrake)
Chaos: Slay the Warlord, First Blood, Linebreaker, 10 killpoints (3 Warrior Squads, 3 Crypteks, Overlord, Ghost Ark, 2 Scarab swarms)
Quite a convincing Chaos Victory, I think.
Afterthoughts:
Well, third time in a row I've been squished by this list. I've nothing left to throw at this list, except my Chaos Marines, and it'll be a while before I get that Helldrake painted....
That having been said, this is the closest I've come to victory. There were a few moments in this game in which the battle could really have swung either way, and I'm pretty sure there are things I could've done differently which would have swung things in my favour.
So, would I change my list? No. Having watched the Doom Scythes in action, I think I have exactly the tools I need to get the job done, and not just for dealing with Obliterators.
Would I have done anything differently? Just one thing that I can think of: On Turn 3, I really shouldn't have fired on the Helldrake with the Warriors, and instead should've headed towards the melee with the Plague Marines, trying to wipe them out as quickly as possible. That would have left me in a better position to handle the Obliterators when they were finished with the Wraiths, and quite possibly won me the game.
Well, there's always next time, eh?
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