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.
Turn 1
Me: My opening move was quite unorthodox compared to how I usually start a game using my Necrons. Since my Ghost Arks had little to fear from the Annihilation Barges, especially with Jink and Night Fighting, I moved everything at full speed towards Mark's lines, with the Ghost Arks moving Flat Out.
Mark: Lucky for me, Mark took the bait and fired all 3 of his Annihilation Barges at the closest Ghost Ark. As predicted, no damage was taken. His Wraiths moved straight towards mine, meeting them head on.
Turn 2:
Me: Both Doom Scythes arrived and made straight for the Annihilation Barges, which Mark had obligingly arranged in a line. The rest of the army advanced, the left Ghost Ark turning its broadside to the approaching Wraiths, the Crimson King and his Warriors clambering through the ruins and the other Ghost Ark moving up the right side.
The Doom Scythes both fired on the Annihilation Barges, destroying 2 and leaving the last one with 2 hull points. The rest of the army fired everything it could at the Wraiths, taking down 3. My Wraiths charged and melee ended with 5 of my Wraiths facing one of his.
Mark: All 3 of Mark's Night Scythes arrived, zooming onto the board and blasting away at my Doom Scythes. I lost one, and the other was left with 1 hull point. The Annihilation Barge fired on the same Ghost Ark, and managed to take one hull point. Meanwhile, Mark lost his last Wraith, and mine consolidated into the forest.
Turn 3:
Me: Not much to do here. The Wraiths moved closer to the ruins, in a better position to react to any developments. The Scarabs were poised to strike the last Annihilation Barge. I moved my remaining Doom Scythe off the board, as I figured I had use for that lovely Death Ray later...
Shooting was predictably boring. 104 gauss flayer shots, 1 hull point lost on the middle Night Scythe. Well, it's not like I had anything else better to shoot...
Over on the right, I let one swarm of Scarabs rip up the Annilation Barge, losing 1 wound in the ensuing explosion.
 |
| From left to right, each Night Scythe holds a squad of Warriors led by: A Cryptek, the Overlord, the Destroyer Lord |
Mark: This was do or die turn for Mark. At this point, he was poised to hit as hard as he possibly could. To dally any longer would only see his forces diminished under a constant hail of my gauss blasts. Since his flyers were so close to my ground forces, he could really bring their guns to bear, so all the squads inside disembarked, and the Night Scythes flew off to come around for another pass.
So, from left to right, here's how it went:
- The squad led by the Cryptek (Cryptek Squad) fired on the Crimson King's squad, taking down 6 Warriors, 3 of which stood back up.
- The squad led by the Overlord (Overlord Squad) fired on the Ghost Ark which, despite a little jinking, was wrecked, leaving the squad of Warriors within crowding round the wreckage.
- The squad led by the Destroyer Lord (Destroyer Squad) fired on the Wraiths, killing one.
Turn 4
Me: The remaining Ghost Ark replenished the Warrior blob back to its full complement of Warriors. Right, time to hit back! The Crimson King chose this moment to back away, leaving room for the Wraiths to move between them and Overlord Squad. To the right, the Scarabs surrounded Destroyer Squad, ready to tarpit them for a bit while I dealt with the other 2 squads. The Doom Scythe came back, aiming right at Overlord Squad.
I then poured all my guns into Overlord Squad and hurled the Wraiths into it, wiping it out entirely. On the right, the Scarabs took down a couple of Warriors and lost a couple of bases.
Mark: Cryptek Squad fired again at my Warriors, causing minimal casualties. The Night Scythe which had left the board earlier came back and finished off my Doom Scythe. Close combat between the Scarabs and Destroyer Squad continued, with more Scarabs being cut down.
Turn 5
Me: Not much left to do. All ground forces with any ranged weapons unloaded their weapons into the last unengaged Warrior squad, wiping them out and sending the Cryptek sprawling on the ground. The Wraiths charged into the melee with the Destroyer Lord, and at the end of it, only the Cryptek and Destroyer Lord were left with one wound. With that, Mark had no scoring units left on the board, I had 3. The Night Scythes had little chance (which is to say, no chance whatsoever) of zapping my forces off the board, and my Wraiths were set to keep the Destroyer Lord busy for the rest of the game. With that firmly understood by both sides, Mark conceded.
Afterthoughts:
It's only as I write this part of the batrep that I realized something: Mark and I had both forgotten about his Destroyer Lord's Preferred Enemy USR! Admittedly, given the comparative scale of the Destroyer Lord's part in this battle, it doesn't make much difference, but it is a little something that can give a squad that little edge it needs...
I like this list I've concocted. The phalanx of 20 Warriors flanked by Ghost Arks has served gloriously well since I first put Necrons on the gaming table, and I do believe I've put together just the right mix of things to support it. And as an added bonus, what's fluffier than rank upon rank of deathless Necron Warriors, marching with their Overlord, with his decrepit adviser (the Cryptek) skulking along with them?
Anyway, I'm all batrepped out for the moment, and work has gotten a bit busier, so I daresay I'm done posting for the rest of this week. Stay tuned, I think I'll do an update on Khador's progress next...
No comments:
Post a Comment