A little back story to this battle – I've played in a few Apocalypse games, but in none of them did we ever use Strategic Assets. To me, Strategic Assets are awesome, I love the increased options they give you and relish the challenge they present.
On top of this, one of my brothers has recently gotten back into
40K, and has amassed a fair-sized Space Marine force over the past couple months. I gathered his Halo Dragons (led by Chapter Master Kobe), Lord Graveline's Imperial Guard (“Victoria's Own”) and lent Graveline's Necrons to Matt (who played the Necrons in
my previous battle report and headed down to
GW for a big match up.
Before the game we were split into two teams – Kobe's Halo Dragons and Andilus Greatsword's Space Wolves vs Lord Graveline's Imperial Guard and Matt's Necrons. In addition, each of us chose 1 strategic asset, all of which we had to reveal before the first turn.
ANDILUS GREATSWORD'S GREAT COMPANY
Njal Stormcaller (Runic Terminator Armour) – 270pts
Wolf Lord Andilus Greatsword (Terminator Armour, Frost Blade, Storm Shield, Wolf Tooth Necklace, Saga of the Bear) – 220pts
Wolf Priest (Combi-melta) – 110pts
5x Wolf Guard Terminators (2x Powerfist/Storm Bolter, 2x Power Weapon/Storm Bolter, 1x Assault Cannon/Chainfist) – 230pts
Land Raider Crusader (Multimelta) – 260pts
Grey Hunter Unit Alpha
9x Grey Hunters (Meltagun, Wolf Standard, Mark of the Wulfen, Power Weapon) – 175pts
Wolf Guard (Power Weapon, Combi-melta) – 33pts
Rhino – 35pts
Grey Hunter Unit Beta
5x Grey Hunters – 75pts
Wolf Guard (Powerfist, Combi-melta) – 43pts
Razorback (Twin-linked Lascannon) – 75pts
Grey Hunter Unit Gamma
5x Grey Hunters – 75pts
Wolf Guard (Power Weapon) – 28pts
3x Thunderwolf Calvary (2x Stormshield, 1x Wolf Claw) – 230pts
6x Long Fangs (5x Missile Launcher) – 140pts
TOTAL – 1999pts
KOBE'S HALO DRAGONS
Chapter Master Kobe (Relic Blade, Artificer Armour, Plasma Pistol, Meltabomb) – 190pts
3x Honour Guard (Relic Blades) – 160pts
Razorback (Twin-linked Lascannon) – 75pts
Librarian (Terminator Armour, Storm Bolter, Null Zone, Vortex of Doom) – 130pts
5x Terminators (5x Chainfist, 1x Heavy Flamer) – 230pts
Land Raider Crusader (Multimelta) – 260pts
5x Vanguard Veterans (Meltabombs, Squad Leader has Relic Blade/Stormshield) – 230pts
Dreadnought (Twin-linked Autocannon/Multimelta) – 115pts
Dreadnought (Assault cannon, heavy flamer) – 125pts
Drop Pod – 35pts
10x Tactical Marines (Flamer, Heavy Bolter) – 170pts (Squad #1)
10x Tactical Marines (Flamer, Heavy Bolter) – 170pts (Squad #2)
8x Scouts (7x Sniper Rifles, 1x Missile Launcher) – 109pts
TOTAL – 1999pts
NECRONS
C'tan Nightbringer – 360pts
Necron Lord (Warscythe, Resurrection Orb, Phase Shifter, Phylactery) – 195pts
10x Necron Warriors – 180pts
10x Necron Warriors – 180pts
10x Necron Warriors – 180pts
7x Flayed Ones – 126pts
3x Wraiths – 123pts
3x Destroyers – 150pts
3x Destroyers – 150pts
5x Scarabs – 60pts
5x Scarabs – 60pts
Monolith – 235pts
TOTAL – 1999pts
VICTORIA'S OWN (As before, these are the basic units, I'm not sure what their wargear is though)
Company Command Squad
Canoness
10x Sisters of Battle (1x Sister Superior)
3x Ogryns
6x Stormtroopers
Infantry Platoon
Platoon Command Squad
10x Infantry Squad
10x Infantry Squad
10x Infantry Squad
3x Heavy Weapons (3x Lascannon)
Infantry Platoon
Platoon Command Squad
10x Infantry Squad
10x Infantry Squad
10x Infantry Squad
3x Heavy Weapons (3x Autocannon)
2x Leman Russ Battle Tanks (Lascannons)
Leman Russ Demolisher (Lascannon)
We rolled to see who would deploy first. I won the roll (with a 6 no less!), but forfeited the first turn to the Necrons/Guard (I always prefer to go second given the choice). The Necrons/Guard began to set up first, taking a heavily fortified city-section. 5 objectives were also chosen – 1 in each deployment zone and 3 in no-man's-land. After the Necrons/Guard were finished deploying, the Wolves/Dragons went next, deploying in the relatively sparsely fortified outskirts. Deployment ended as the Halo Dragons placed a unit of Sniper Scouts in a building in no-man's-land.
We then revealed our strategic assets:
-The Necrons chose Resurrection Scarabs, an amazing Necron-specific asset from Apocalypse Reload. This meant that once per turn, every turn, 1 unit could do its We'll Be Back rolls on a 2+ and count as being in range of a Resurrection Orb!!
-The Victoria's Own, in true Guard fashion, took Hold At All Costs – all non-vehicle units would still count as scoring, even if they lost more than 50% of their squad.
-The Halo Dragons had chosen a Scheduled Bombardment. This meant that during 3 different, secretly chosen turns, an Orbital Barrage would rain down on a preselected point on the battlefield.
-Finally, my Wolves chose the Vital Objective asset (although I was mighty tempted to take the Legion Relic...). This meant that I had to choose 1 objective secretly before the battle, and if I controlled it at the end of the game then it would count as 2 objectives instead!
TURN 1 – NECRON/IMPERIALS
Learning from the mistakes made in the previous battle, Lord Graveline ensured that his troops would remain mobile as much as possible. His Leman Russes plodded forwards, infantry platoons following behind in close proximity as they made their way through the dilapidated city. A Platoon Command Squad and Infantry Squad had fortuitous difficult terrain rolls, managing to reach the center building which housed Objective C. Next turn they would be in a position to capture it.
On the opposite side of the deployment zone, the Necrons marched forwards, eyes set on Objective D. The C'tan Nightbringer led the charge, followed by a unit of Warriors and Destroyers. These Destroyers opened fire on the Halo Dragons' Devastator Squad, killing the squad leader and a missile launcher under a flurry of shots. The C'tan also fired his lightning arc, attempting to destroy the Land Raider Crusader housing Andilus Greatsword and his retinue, but his shot failed to even scratch the paint on the tank.
Meanwhile, the Russes advancing down the center street – a standard battle tank and a Demolisher – fired on a Halo Dragon Tactical Squad, killing 2 Marines who scrambled for cover. The 3rd Leman Russ also fired on the Dragons' Multimelta/Autocannon Dreadnought, causing it to explode. Most of the other guns were unable to fire due to the poor line of sight from the buildings, so their guns would be brought to bear next turn.
The first shots have been fired by the Necrons/Guard – would the Marines get revenge for the loss of their Dreadnought?
TURN 1 – MARINES
At the start of my turn, my Njal Stormcaller's storm begins as a Living Hurricane – enemy models within 24” move as if in difficult terrain. This isn't exactly
bad, but it's definitely not useful at this point in the game. Anyway, the Halo Dragons' drop pod enters play, attempting to block off the Leman Russ Battle Tank which was escorting the Sisters of Battle. Unfortunately it scatters just down the street to the side, and the assault-Dreadnought spills out to flame infantry to death.
Meanwhile, my Long Fangs roll a 6 for their difficult terrain test, and manage to climb up the building right in front of them so that their guns can fire with a good line of sight next turn. The Thunderwolves advanced slowly behind a pair of Razorbacks – one housing Kobe and his Honour Guard, the other with Grey Hunter Unit Beta – as they made their way to Objective B. On the opposite side of the field, the Land Raiders moved forwards, hoping to get into a position to assault next turn. Using Andilus' Land Raider as a screen, the Rhino housing Grey Hunter Unit Alpha moved forwards as well.
In the shooting phase, things got really interesting. The Sniper Scouts managed to get a whopping 3 wounds on the Nightbringer, much to the chagrin of Matt. Andilus' Land Raider also guns down 2 Destroyers with its assault cannon. The Halo Dragons' Crusader also manages to shake a
LRBT, and uses Power of the Machine Spirit on the Multimelta to blow the Demolisher's cannon off as well. In addition, the surviving Dreadnought uses its assault cannon and heavy flamer to incinerate 3 Guardsmen as they attempt to reach Objective C, but fails to wipe out the squad.
With revenge more than made up for with the withering fire on the C'tan, not to mention that the Leman Russes had been nearly silenced, the battle raged on... but could the Marines hang on in the face of the Necron/Guard counter-attack?
The Necron Warriors survey the battlefield from their vantage point.
The Armoured Column advances inexorably.
The Nightbringer prepares to lay waste to its enemies...
...only to find that they should not be underestimated!
Marching towards the enemy's guns.
The Long Fangs prepare to fire.
The Dreadnought lands right at the enemy's doorstep.
TURN 2 – NECRONS/IMPERIALS
The Necrons/Imperials commenced their turn by rolling for their reserves. No one rolled a 4+, as the Necrons failed to bring in their Flayed Ones and their Monolith, and the Guard's Stormtroopers were delayed. Using his Resurrection Scarabs for the turn, Matt easily made his We'll Be Back rolls for the downed Destroyers. With these preliminary actions out of the way, the Necrons went on the offensive. The Scarab Swarms shot forwards to assault and pin down sources of enemy fire. As they did this, the Wraiths were specially chosen to exact revenge for the Nightbringer on the Scouts. They phased through cover and moved into position to strike the unfortunate Snipers.
With their offensive being mounted, the rest of the army continued its steady advance. The Guard move a Platoon Command Squad into Objective B, capturing it, while the other Platoon Command Squad captures Objective C (these were the survivors of the Drop Pod Dreadnought's attack, able to capture the objective due to Hold At All Costs). The Necrons weren't idle either – the Nightbringer's unit of Warriors moved to Objective D, capturing it as well.
With the objectives well in hand, they began to shoot once again. The C'tan failed another Lightning Arc shot on Andilus' Land Raider, angering Matt even more than he already was. The one Leman Russ that was able to shoot chose to ignore the Dreadnought that was right beside it, opening fire on the Long Fangs instead. The shots were effective as the squad leader and a missile launcher were killed, and Lord Graveline prayed that the Dreadnought's attacks would whiff next turn. Finally, the Imperial Guard's heavy weapons teams managed to immobilize the Halo Dragons' Land Raider Crusader, but failed to do more damage.
In assault, the Scarab swarms shot forwards, one unit assaulting the Halo Dragons' Devastator squad, while the other attacked Tactical Squad #2. The Devastators manage to cause 2 wounds, but lose a missile launcher in the process, while the Tactical Squad causes 5 wounds (after No Retreat! was factored in) without suffering a single wound in return. The Wraiths were far more successful – the Scouts were wiped out without causing a single wound, massacring those who would dare hurt their god. After an active turn, the Necrons/Guard were in possession of 4/5 of the objectives – the Marines would have to put up a strong counter-attack in order to weaken their iron-grip on the score...
The Wraiths slaughter the Scouts.
Squad #2 fends off the Scarab attack...
...and does a pretty damn good job!
The Leman Russ chooses to ignore the Dreadnought in a risky gambit.
The disarmed Demolisher and Battle Tank continue to advance, despite being unable to fire this turn.
The battle rages on the outskirts of the city.
TURN 2 – MARINES
This turn Njal's storm dies down slightly, becoming a Driving Gale – enemy units within 24” are -1BS until Njal's next turn. Handy, especially considering that the enemy front-line is just outside that bubble. As I rolled this, the Halo Dragons rolled for their reserves, bringing their Vanguard Veteran Squad in near Objective D using Heroic Intervention. Luckily, they land on target and are able to assault the Warriors!
With their arrival, the Marine counter-attack begins in earnest. Andilus, his Wolf Guard Terminator retinue and Wolf Priest companion disembark and make a run towards the C'tan, hoping to destroy the Star God. The Halo Dragons' Librarian and Terminators also disembarked from their immobilized transport, charging straight towards the Demolisher with their chainfists. Grey Hunter Unit Alpha also disembarked from their Rhino to stop the Wraiths from launching an attack on Objective A.
On the opposite side of the table, Kobe and his Honour Guard disembark from their Razorback and attack the Guardsmen defending Objective B. Grey Hunter Unit Beta follows closely behind in their Razorback, realizing that they won't be able to reach the objective that turn (not that Kobe needs the help anyway).
Shooting then commenced. The Halo Dragons' first scheduled bombardment arrived, landing on Objective E, which housed an infantry squad and heavy weapons team. The blasts wracked the building, killing most of the occupants, but the defenders managed to hang on as the objective remained in Guard hands.
Andilus' unit would probably have destroyed the Nightbringer, but I decided to take mercy on Matt because I didn't want to listen to him whine (sorry man, I dunno if you're ever going to read this Matt, but you were really whiny that day and it was really annoying
). Instead they shot the nearby unit of Destroyers, killing 1. Unfortunately, Matt chooses to kill the nearest Destroyer, which puts them out of range to assault this turn. However, the Space Wolves' Crusader fires its assault cannon at the C'tan anyway, putting 1 more wound on the Nightbringer. Grey Hunter Unit Alpha chooses to fire all their guns rather than assault the Wraiths, which fortunately wipes out the whole squad under a hail of bolter fire!
Elsewhere, the Librarian casts Vortex of Doom on the Demolisher, but rolls a 1 on his penetration and is unable to phase the tank. Meanwhile, Tactical Squad #1's guns come to bear as they fire heavy bolter shots into the second unit of Destroyers, killing 1. Finally, the Long Fangs fire their missile launchers at the Autocannon heavy weapon team, but they pass all of their cover saves.
Finally, the assault phase kicked things into higher gear. The Dreadnought assaulted the
LRBT, causing it to explode and killing a couple of Sisters of Battle which had been sheltering behind it. The Terminators' chainfists also manage to tear through the Demolisher easily, leaving a smoking crater where it was a moment earlier. Meanwhile the Vanguard Veterans assault the Warriors on the bottom floor of the building housing Objective D, slaughtering everyone in base contact with them and being forced to break off.* Kobe assaulted the Guardsmen defending Objective B, cutting a swathe through them, but losing an Honour Guard in the process and taking a wound from the Platoon Commander's power weapon. Finally, the Scarab fights dragged on as Grey Hunter Unit Gamma moved off Objective A to reinforce the Devastators, and Njal came to aid
Tac Squad #2.
With a powerful counter-attack mounted, the Marines managed to blunt much of the Necron/Guard's firepower, but could they still wrestle the lead out of their hands?
*I think we did this assault wrong. I need to brush up on the rules for assaulting units on different floors of a building, but I think the Warriors should have been dragged off the top floor and onto the ground rather than breaking off the assault. Also, Matt claimed that you could only kill units in base-to-base contact, but as far as I know this is incorrect.
The Dreadnought attacks!
Grey Hunter Unit Alpha wipes out the Wraiths.
The Terminators destroy the wounded Demolisher.
The Vanguard Veterans destroy the first wave of Warriors and prepare for the counter-attack.
TURN 3 – NECRONS/IMPERIALS
At the start of the turn, the Necrons and Imperials rolled for their reserves once again. This time, both the Flayed Ones and Stormtroopers outflanked on their right table edge, right behind the Vanguard Veterans. The Necrons also had extremely fortunate We'll Be Back rolls – both killed Destroyers came back normally, while the Wraith unit was brought back using the Resurrection Scarabs!
Wanting some revenge of their own, the Wraiths moved to attack Grey Hunter Unit Alpha, while the Stormtroopers moved into the building across from Objective D to take potshots at the Vanguard Vets.
In the shooting phase, the Veterans come under heavy fire from the Stormtroopers and Warriors, losing all but the squad leader and 1 veteran. The Halo Dragons' Librarian and Terminators also came under a hail of fire – over 90 lasgun shots were directed their way, and they were wiped out by the sheer volume of shots coming at them. The withering fire continued as the Destroyers gunned down 2 Wolf Guard Terminators and the Autocannon heavy weapon team put 2 wounds on the Thunderwolf Calvary.
As the assault phase began, the Sisters of Battle made another risky gamble involving the Dreadnought – they assaulted it. The Canoness and Sister Superior were both armed with Meltabombs, but if they failed to hurt the Dreadnought then they would be sitting ducks. However, they get extremely fortunate, rolling a 5 on a penetrating hit to destroy the vehicle. As this happened, Kobe wiped out the last of the defenders of Objective B, capturing it.
Elsewhere, the Wraiths assault Grey Hunter Unit Alpha (which fails to counter-attack), and kills 3 of them in the charge. 1 Wraith is killed in return, and the Grey Hunters fail their Morale check. Wraiths catch them before they can break, but they don't suffer any No Retreat! wounds. Meanwhile, the Nightbringer charges Andilus' squad (who successfully counter-attack), killing the Wolf Priest (with Instant Death), one of the Terminators and putting a wound on Andilus. One of the Terminators' powerfist manages to wound the Nightbringer, killing it. However, the C'tan has a parting gift as its Necrodermis is breached – everyone in the combat takes a S6 hit that ignores armour, which kills another Terminator and puts another wound on Andilus, leaving only the wounded Wolf Lord and the Chainfist/Assault Cannon Terminator to fight on... it was a really costly fight, but it was fun and it kept Matt happy (enough).
Anyway, we wrapped up the assault phase as the Flayed Ones attacked the Vanguard Veterans. The Squad Leader is killed, and the final Veteran breaks from combat, running 11” away. We then mopped up the last of the Scarabs, as Grey Hunter Unit Gamma consolidated back onto Objective A. After another bloody turn, the armies were beginning to paint the town red... but who would come out on top in the end?
The Wraiths come back, thanks to the Resurrection Scarabs!
...and attacks Grey Hunters Unit Alpha...
...presenting a formidable challenge for the hardened warriors.
Kobe and his Honour Guard do battle in the shadow of Objective B.
The Sisters eye the Dreadnought...
...attack it...
...and destroy it!
The Flayed Ones prepare to attack their next victims...
...while the Stormtroopers rain fire down on them...
...and the last survivor flees.
Now you see him...
...now you don't!
TURN 3 – MARINES
With the game drawing to a close, the Marines turned their focus towards capturing as many objectives as possible. Kobe moved forwards from Objective B while Grey Hunters Unit B filled the void themselves. Meanwhile Andilus and the last Terminator moved to kill the Warriors on Objective D, and
Tac Squad #2 and Njal went to contest Objective C. Finally, the Thunderwolf Calvary moved into position to assault the Sisters of Battle to prevent them from moving to Objective B.
In the shooting phase, the 2nd scheduled bombardment came in on the Necrons' fortress. The blast killed a few Warriors, but was less-than amazing. After this, the Long Fangs fired at the Autocannon squad once again, only this time they successfully wiped the unit out. The immobilized Land Raider also fired its assault cannon at the last
LRBT, shaking it once more. Njal's storm escalated into a Vengeful Tornado this turn, which he directed at the last Russ – however, it did no damage to the tank.
In the assault phase, Andilus kills the 2 Necron Warriors on the ground floor and, like before, this causes them to be broken off from the assault (see the footnote to turn 2). The Thunderwolves kill 2 Sisters and take 1 wound in response. Finally, the Grey Hunters Alpha manage to put down one Wraith for good. Finally, the last Vanguard Vet made a suicide charge at Objective D, contesting it and hoping to survive long enough to either kill all the Warriors or leave the objective contested. With things winding down, the game was tied – 2 objectives each with 1 contested... and 1 Vital Objective out there for the Marines, the game could still easily swing either way...
Kobe and his Honour Guard move forwards.
TURN 4 – NECRONS/IMPERIALS
At this point we realized that the 4th turn would be the last one. With that in mind, the Necrons deep striked their Monolith near Objective A; it scattered about 2.5” away from the Objective, contesting it. The Flayed Ones also moved to assault Andilus, trying to force him away from Objective D. Before they could, the Stormtroopers opened fire on the Wolf Lord, killing the last Terminator, but Andilus blocked their shots with his Stormshield. Meanwhile the Destroyers moved to Objective A and, combined with the Monolith's Gauss Flux Arc Projectors, wiped out the last of the Devastators. The Flux Arc Projectors also blow the Multimelta off the immobilized Land Raider Crusader.
In the assault phase, the Flayed Ones attacked Andilus, but he killed 4 of them without taking any damage. The Necron Lord also assaulted Njal, putting 1 wound on him with his Warscythe. Finally, the Thunderwolf Calvary killed all the Sisters except for the Sister Superior and Canoness without taking any damage.
With Objective A contested, now the Necrons/Imperials held the majority of the Objectives – they just had to hold off the Marines for one more turn...
Njal and the Necron Lord face-off.
TURN 4 – MARINES
Right as we started this turn we were beset by a Tzeenchian curve ball – the mall had a fire drill, so we had to wait for 15 minutes listening to an annoying bell while our precious finishing movements wasted away. When we were finally allowed back inside we had to streamline our movements to things that would affect the outcome only. The Monolith was the main target – the Lascannon Razorbacks, Long Fang Missile Launchers and Land Raider's Assault Cannon and Multimelta all fired at it, but didn't even scratch it. Fortunately, Tactical Squad #2 managed to assault the 2nd unit of Destroyers, which brought it just in range to contest Objective C. For fun, we also rolled Njal and the Necron Lord's fight – the Necron Lord killed Njal with his warscythe, but Njal also caused a wound and used his force weapon to cause Instant Death on the Necron Lord (although if another turn had been played he probably would have been resurrected). The last scheduled bombardment also came in, but there were no troops in the area so it was ignored (at the beginning of the game it had been an Imperial Guard bastion, but they soon abandoned it in favour of Objective C).
So, with the game complete I revealed my team's Vital Objective – Objective A (predictably...
). Unfortunately, this was contested, so the game ended in a draw: 1 objective each with 3 contested.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This was a pretty fun battle, I enjoyed how the strategic assets spiced up the game... although Resurrection Scarabs is ridiculously good for Necrons. Seriously, discounting his Scarabs, Matt only lost less than 10 models in the whole game, and only 2 weren't Warriors (C'tan and a Wraith). Lord Graveline's choice of Hold At All Costs also saved the game for his team, and could have won it if we hadn't contested Objective C at the last minute. All-in-all, an enjoyable experience that I wouldn't mind trying out again.
As for the players, I felt that Kobe's Halo Dragons did well but learned a valuable lesson about deployment – don't stick your guys out in the open!
Like I was hinting at earlier, Matt was starting to annoy me during the game. He was complaining about how overpowered Marines were most of the game and how I wasn't telling him about the special abilities his units had (to be honest, I thought he already knew them). He was also either more unlearned on the rules than I thought, and/or cheating a fair bit. To be fair, his C'tan got in some serious trouble by the ridiculously fortunate Scouts early on, but still it put a bit of a damper on the game. I dunno if he was just having an off day or something, since he was fine last time we played. Matt, if you're reading this, I <3 you man but on this particular night you were kind of making the game less enjoyable...
I'd still be totally willing to play you again sometime in the future though.
Lord-Commander Jeremiah Alexandre: 5th Victorian Army 
Phaeron Amheosiris of the Isiran Dynasty 
Lord Yersina Thrax of the Death Guard 
