40k: Battle Report! Eldar vs. Necrons 1250 pts
Hello Folks! NoName1 here, and I’ve got a big one this time – I recently played a game against NECRONS, an army I personally haven’t seen on a table since I played them in 3rd Edition. Very exciting!
…Please forgive the LONG post
My buddy who started out with Ultramarines has completely switched teams and has been trading out his Ultramarines (apart from his favored few) for a brand spanking new Necron army. He’s up to about 1400 – 1500 pts, but his core is 1250. So to get a test game in, I trimmed my typical list down to match.
Again, this is my first time playing full-Necrons since 3rd Edition, way back in 2003. I’ve seen them as Allies once since – but still, this was very exciting for me. It’s especially good because this is an Epic Grudge Match; the Children of the Old Ones vs. their (2nd) Most Hated Foes!
We rolled Maelstrom Scenario #4 (I forget the name right now), Dawn of War Deployment, No Night Fight, and I won the roll to Deploy/Go first.
The lists:
Necrons–
*HQ*
Overlord (Sempiternal Weave, Phase Shifter, Phylactery, Res. Orb, Warscythe, Mindshackle Scarabs, Command Barge) Trait: Furious Charge (on THAT? Oh crap…)
Cryptek (Harbinger of Despair, Veil of Darkness)
Cryptek (Harbinger of the Storm)
Lord (Res. Orb, Warscythe)
*Troops*
Warriors (10x, w/Lord)
Warriors (10x, Ghost Ark)
Immortals (10x, Gauss, w/Harbinger of the Storm)
*Elites*
Deathmarks (5x, w/Harbinger of Despair)
*Fast Attack*
Canoptek Scarabs (8x)
Eldar–
*HQ*
Farseer (Jetbike, Stone of Anath’Lan, Shard of Anaris) WARLORD
Trait: Fearless, It Will Not Die (BRB, “Personal” Traits #6)
Powers: Executioner, Death Mission, Mind War, (Guide – Primaris)
That was *bad,* I was gunning for Fortune, Eldritch Storm and Doom, and I didn’t get a single one of them. It could not have gone worse :/
*Troops*
Guardian Jetbikes (9x, 3x Shuriken Cannons)
Dire Avengers (5x)
*Elites*
Fire Dragons (6x)
*Dedicated Transport*
Wave Serpent (Holofields, TL Scatter Laser)
Wave Serpent (Holofields, TL Scatter Laser)
*Fast Attack*
Warp Spiders (7x)
*Heavy Support*
Wraithknight (Suncannon/Shield)
Deployment:
I won the roll to Deploy first, and I spread my forces out – a Serpent in each corner to flank, Dragons on one side, Avengers on the other Warp Spiders backing one up, with my Knight closer to the other. The Jetbikes I parked near the center in (hopefully) decent cover.
As I’ve heard nothing but horror stories about what the new Necrons can dish out, I was pretty cautious (re: shaking in my boots!) but wanted to be in a position to hit hard and fast before they just walked all over me T-1000 Terminator-style.
For his part (deploying second) he matched me, with his Command Barge and Ghost Ark in the center for the widest threat range, and his on-foot Warriors and Immortals each ready to march on a Wave Serpent and Gauss it to death.
We had six Objectives, which will come up in the photos later.
The Necrons failed to Seize.
Turn 1!
Eldar
First things first, those Scarabs were sneaking up my left flank, and I did *not* want their 12″ move to get them up in my grill before I could deal with them. The Suncannon had the range and strength to Instant Death a good number of them ASAP, even with the ruins Cover Save. Those pesky buggers strip AV off of a tank permanently if they hit it, or permanently remove the Armor Save of any infantry they wound, and it can take a long time to deal that many wounds. So, they had to die!
The Knight was holding Objective 6 on Deployment (and I had the card), but we decided I could score it unless I ended the turn on it, I opted for the early-barrage against the Scarabs rather than the easy point.
We did, however, identify the Objective since I’d started on it, it was a 5. The Objective on the tower with my Spiders turned out to be a 1, Sabotaged! (d’Oh!) but did not blow up (whew!)
On the other side of the board (pardon the dice box), my lone Serpent figured he was in good shape to knock down a few of those Warriors. But, it was risky, even plain Warriors are perfectly capable of dropping a Wave Serpent at range if I have bad luck, and this Serpent doesn’t have backup nearby…
My Bikes moved up aggressively to get my Farseer in range of the Command Barge. I was lacking some of the Psychic firepower I’d hoped to have here, but I was going to use what I had!
That Command Barge is packing two Tesla Destructors for a nasty punch, and he’s build to be a nigh-unkillable Close Combat beast (with a 2+/3++, the Chariot to tank wounds at range, and a Warscythe that’s S7 AP1, S8 on the Charge thanks to his Warlord Trait).
Only one unit in my army has a prayer against that monster in Combat, and I’d better get into Combat on my terms, or the Overlord will easily overwhelm my Knight (between Furious Charge and Mindshackle Scarabs making me hit myself).
My other Wave Serpent took a shot at the Immortals, rolled terribly (and they rolled excellent saves), so only 1 was knocked down.
I was less worried about these guys, because a large part of my army was on them and they were basically alone (if I could take down the Scarabs).
The Scarabs, by contrast, fared less well, losing three bases to the Suncannon/Scatter Laser combo. Still, it could have been (and I’d hoped it would be!) the whole unit.
The Warriors, frustratingly enough, took only a couple wounds, and either saved or Reanimated all of them.
I cast by Mind War and Guide on my Bikes. The Mind War went off, and my Farseer won (barely) by a single point, dropping the Command Barge down to BS1 (huzzah!) but he saved the wound on his 3++ (curses…). My Bikes’ Cannons were, unfortunately, wasted because it was going to be a while before I could strip off that Quantum Shielding (making the Barge AV 13 front/side). After one Penetrating Hit, the Cannons could make short work of it – but I would have to get there first.
In the Assault phase, my bikes shuffled back, hoping to be out of sight of at least the Immortals.
At the end of my turn, I’d thrown what felt like everything I had across the table and dropped a few Scarabs. The Necrons’ resilience was very apparent right off the bat, and I was worried…
Necrons
He moved everything up, the Scarabs zipping up just as quickly as I’d feared. Although they’d gotten a bloody nose, if I couldn’t bring them down those suckers were a major threat to my edge of the board, and still benefiting from Cover and backed up by the Immortals, I knew I had to take them down ASAP.
His Command Barge moved up and promptly rolled two 6’s to-hit (each one granting an additional D3 hits, thanks to the Tesla rule). So much for the BS1 actually hurting him… That brought down three of my Bikes with the volume of hits and some unlucky saving throws. Bad start!
The Barge also Identified our center Objective – which was ALSO a 1! – but didn’t have the card to actually capture it, and couldn’t be hurt by the explosion.
At the end of his turn, he did score this Objective (after stripping a single HP off of the Serpent) – but also rolled Sabotaged! on the Mysterious Objectives table. Not only that, but he then rolled another 1, and it promptly blew up, knocking down his Lord and two Warriors-
That was awesome! Without this, this Warrior unit would have stayed far scarier for longer in this game
…And the Lord did not get back up! One Warrior and the Lord gave their lives for the Objective, costing the unit their 4+ Reanimation for a Victory Point. In hindsight, putting the Lord closest to the Objective marker was riskier than either of us had thought…
Turn 2!
Eldar – Current score: 0 to 1, Necrons
My Bikes shuffled a little, staying in Psychic range, but definitely nervous. My Spiders (having seen what happened to the Lord) left that Sabotaged Objective behind, and bonzai-ed the Scarabs, hoping to stop their relentless advance.
And it worked! First Blood to Eldar!
Aside from this, my shooting did nothing. Once again the Serpents chipped away at the Warriors and Immortals, only to have just about all of them get back up again. I was holding my own, but it looked like I was going to have a really hard time getting any kills in this game…
Speaking of Bonsai, my Wraithknight jumped his cover and made a beeline for the Command Barge. As the only unit in my army who could stand toe-to-toe with that monster, I wanted the combat to start early and on my terms. Mindshackle be damned!
This was risky. If I had failed my Charge he could have run away, or charged me and gotten significantly more S7/S8 attacks from the Overlord and the Chariot. My Knight *could* handle it, but it was just as likely that he was going to be handled!
…Or not. My first 3d6 Leadership test left my Knight punching himself in the face. However, he rolled a 2 for the D3 hits, hitting (and wounding) himself only the once.
The Lord struck back, but failed to Wound (needing 5’s). Still, he won combat – which didn’t matter because both combatants were Fearless.
Necrons – Current Score: 1 to 1, Tied!
The Deathmarks rolled in. This is a moment I’d been dreading – but I assumed they would go for my Knight, so I was trying not to dance for joy that he was locked in Combat and would be a waste of the Mark.
…But I quickly reconsidered my happy evaluation of the situation when he Marked my Warlord unit, then nailed it with the S8, AP1, Cover-Ignoring (Template) Harbinger of the Storm, killing my bikes on 2’s. A single shot left my Warlord swinging in the breeze bereft of bodyguards (although, luckily, he didn’t take a wound from the flamer, which would have killed him outright!)
With a little extra luck on that save, my Warlord survived even the Sniper shooting from the rest of the unit, albeit with a single wound. That unit is brutal!
On a brighter note, my Warp Spiders continued to make heroic saves against the Immortals, saving every single wound and taking no casualties (yet)
On a still brighter note, my Knight made Leadership. Huzzah! He proceeded to lay the smackdown on the Chariot, scoring two Penetrating hits, one a Stunned result and the other and Immobilized result. Both of which the Necrons saved with Living Metal, but it still left him with only a single HP left, and the Overlord’s return strikes whiffed again.
However, during movement the Ghost Ark rolled up to take another Objective, and since I wasn’t holding any at the time, he also took Supremacy for D3 Victory Points, and rolled a 4 for +2, taking a considerable lead.
Then, in wacky fashion, at the end of the turn the Warriors Objective blew up *again,* this time dealing terrible damage to the Warriors, many of whom did not get back up, leaving the unit looking very, very weak.
Turn 3!
Eldar – Current Score: 1 to 4, Necrons
So I was losing. By quite a bit, and I was looking to be in bad shape, so I kicked it up to high gear on this turn. My Wave Serpents moved up and prepared to disembark their passengers, while my Spiders jumped right up into the face of the Immortals, and my Warlord, assuming he couldn’t escape the Deathmarks, decided for the Hail Mary charge – risking it all to take them in close combat.
I did have It Will Not Die, but as I hadn’t gotten to the end of the turn, I didn’t get the roll yet, so he was still sitting at 1 Wound left with only two bodyguards.
In the Psychic Phase, I once again pulled out Mind War, hoping to take down the Cryptek to limit the Overwatch shots. Unfortunately, I only barely passed the test, making it a random-hit rather than the Precision Shot I was hoping for. With the random-hit roll I wound up warring with one of the back Deathmarks – who then proceeded to win the Leadership roll off and knock my Warlord down to WS/BS 1…
Stupid Mind War…
The Spiders had better luck, obliterating most of the Immortal unit in a stellar show of Dakka! With only a single Immortal and the Cryptek left standing, my Spiders were itching to Assault!
“Not so fast,” my Necron friend says, “Necrons reanimate each phase, so let me see if I get any of them back before you charge…”
He then rolled THAT for Reanimation rolls.
Needless to say, he was quite pleased, and I did *not* try for the Assault there.
…I did here though, and while I was expecting to take a wound or two, I had not expected him to wipe my entire unit!
Slay the Warlord to Necrons, and, since he had the Objective Card, Witch Hunter to Necrons!
But, in trade, the Dice Gods granted me another pass on my 3d6 Leadership (barely), and my Knight mashed the Barge into a pulp. And, mercy of mercies, the Overlord failed his Reanimation Protocol. Woo! Slay the Warlord to Eldar!
The death’s-head side of the Knight
And the roll that failed the Reanimation. That was a relief!
Also at the end of that turn I scored Objective 3, not only getting the point, but forcing the Necrons to discard theirs. Nice!
I forgot to mention, I also took out the last of that poor Warrior unit that kept blowing themselves up with my rightmost Wave Serpent.
Necrons – Current Score: 3 to 6, Necrons
I was losing in points, and had taken a beating on my Warlord (and watched those damned Immortals really live up to their name!), but I was getting board control back, and my Knight was free to wreak havoc once again!
Also note the Dire Avengers disembarked from the leftmost Serpent, hiding in the bottom edge of that big piece of styrofoam. They moved up to threaten the Immortals there.
First thing the Necrons did was use the Veil of Darkness to Deep Strike the Deathmarks again. That was bad. Even without the Mark, that many Deathmarks could make a real mess of my Knight. But! Luck was on my side! The Deathmarks scattered 6″ (there’s a 1 under the tape) directly onto my Knight’s base, for a mishap and went back into ongoing reserves!
The Ark positioned itself to nail my Serpent with a full broadside. Needless to say, I Jinked.
Those Gauss weapons are brutal, any 6 will automatically Glance a vehicle no matter what AV it has. Considering how many shots he had to fire, this was lucky to get so few glances (just those five in the middle) – but still more than enough to wreck my Serpent…
Holofields granted the 3+ Jink, the Dice Gods smiled on my tank!
The Dragon is just there to mark what unit is embarked in this one, but they’re all ready for some long overdue vengeance!
Turn 4!
Eldar – Current Score: 3 to 6, Necrons
The Necron army is looking pretty fragile here, with only the Ghost Ark and Immortals left on the table – although after this game, “fragile” is a word I’ll never use to describe Immortals…
Also, the Necrons have a significant lead in points, and since this game has the Steal the Loot special rule, an Objective marker that has been scored once cannot be scored again, making that Necron lead all the tougher to challenge…
I decided to capitalize on my advantage, while I had it, getting the surround on the Ghost Ark.
Here my Dire Avengers moved up, ready to Battle Focus and add their firepower to the Warp Spiders’ to hopefully bring down the Immortals.
My Fire Dragons rolled typically terribly/beautifully, missing 4/6 shots, but then scoring *two* Explodes! with the two hits. Between the exploding Ghost Ark, snap-firing Wave Serpent, and Knight’s big guns, the Warriors are all brought down. That last poor holdout took all three Suncannon blasts entirely solo. Unit wiped.
After my shooting, that Immortal unit is *finally* showing a little thin, but still threatening.
Necrons – Current Score: 3 to 7, Necrons!
The Deathmarks came back, ready to make a last stand bringing down the beast! They’d used their once per game Mark, so they were wounding my Knight on 4’s (6’s with the Harbinger of Despair’s flamer). Still, with ten Sniper shots, this was a significant threat to me.
…Or not, with to-wound rolls like that, I easily made the single save. Knight ANGRY!
The Immortals elected to Assault, because he was holding the “Kill a unit in Assault” Tactical Objective Card, so he opted not to shoot their Rapid-fire weapons and charge instead.
He charged, made range easily, and while my Avengers struck first, taking one Immortal down, they lost combat thoroughly. However, they did survive! And with their (or his, I should say) high Initiative, the surviving Avenger ran for the hills. “Kill a unit in Assault” denied!
…However, he also had “Psychological Warfare” (make an enemy unit fail a Morale, Pinning or Fear test), so he got one point for this anyway.
Turn 5!
Eldar – Current Score: 3 to 8, Necrons!
My Avenger failed to Rally, but it was so close!
This is potentially the final turn, and while I’m very close to Tabling the Necrons (no models left on the table), if I can’t do it, I’m looking at a 5-point deficit to overcome if I want to win this…
I’m holding the card Supremacy (score D3 for holding 2+ Objective Markers and double your opponent), Secure Objective 6, and Hold the Line (3x friendly and no enemy units in my Deployment zone).
I have a chance. My Wave Serpent went Flat-Out right off the bat to get me Linebreaker as well.
My Dragons move up to take Objective 6 (which I’ve had the card for all game, d’Oh), while my Knight makes eyes at those Deathmarks.
My Spiders are sitting on Objective 3 in that ruined wall, hopefully keeping the Necrons (on the other side of the wall) from getting to it. My Avenger races up that tower and continues to run away – but fortunately, the Sabotaged Objective does not Explode.
Shooting takes its toll on the Deathmarks, and my Knight makes his Charge with an inch to spare.
Combat goes predictably, I don’t manage to kill all of them (whiffed a few hits) but! They fail Leadership and break, and my Knight runs them down!
Here’s a blurry picture of where things stand, the Necrons have only the Cryptek and a single Immortal left on the board, and both went down to my Wave Serpent!
Then, through some spectacular luck, the Cryptek gets back up with his Ever Living roll, denying me the Tabling (he’s in the road in this picture, I should have used flash…)
I do score Supremacy (and rolled a 5 on my “D3,” for three Objective points!), Objective 6 with the Dragons, and Linebreaker with my Serpent!
Necrons – Current Score: 8 to 8, Tied!
The Cryptek, with little else to do, charges my Warp Spiders after killing on in shooting. I fail to wound with any of my hits, but pass Leadership. I then Hit & Ran back over the wall, trying to make for my Deployment Zone to give me my big Tactical Objective card. He pulled Recon, which I couldn’t stop him from scoring, and gets another point (fortunately only one, he rolled a 2 on his “D3”) to break the tie.
We roll to see if the game ends, and I breathe a sigh of relief as it does not!
Turn 6!
Eldar – Current Score: 8 to 9, Necrons!
Turn 6. Moment of truth. I’d forgotten to pull new Tactical Objectives, so I rolled for new ones, and got Secure Objective 1 (which the Overlord had held, but neither of us had had the card, so no one had scored it yet) and “Assassinate” (kill an enemy Character) DAMMIT!
I tried to jump my Spiders back to get at his Cryptek, but roll atrociously on the jump, and don’t make it. Turns out I should have stayed to shoot him after all…
In a desperate effort, my Knight moved his full 12″, and then ran, just barely reaching Objective 1 for the point. With no way to get either of my other two cards yet, I crossed my fingers and hoped for a turn 7.
Necrons – Current Score: 9 to 9, Tied!
At this point, the Necrons took another look at their hand and realized, “Hey, I have Secure Objective 3!” which the Cryptek happens to be holding, for another squeaky point!
I gave him the roll for turn 7, held by breathe and hoped!
…But he rolled a 1, game ended at Turn 6.
Final Score: 9 to 10, Necrons Win!
What a game! I was sitting on Assassinate, a likely Tabling, and an easy Hold the Line, which would have given me (easily) another 1 to 4 Victory Points and an automatic win – had we gone on one more turn. But! The Dice Gods favored the Necrons, and they prevailed!
I could play games like this one all week long! Appologies for the wall of text, but I hope it was worth the read!
