The armies:
Crimson Fists:
HQ: Captain w/Lightning Claws, Melta Bombs
Command Squad (4 Vets, 1 Apothecary) w/multiple Power Weapons, Melta Bombs
Razorback w/Twin Linked Lascannons
Troops: Tactical Squad A (10 Marines)
***Combat Squad #1 w/Lascannon
***Combat Squad #2 w/Flamer and Sgt w/Power Sword (combat squad 2)
Tactical Squad B (10 Marines) w/Hvy Bolter and Meltagun, Sgt w/Power Sword
Scouts x5 w/Sniper Rifles and Missile Launcher
Elites: Terminator Squad (10 Terminators) w/2 Assault Cannons
Dreadnaught w/Multimelta and Hvy Flamer
Dreadnaught w/2 Twinlinked Autocannons
Heavy Support: Devestator Squad (5 Marines) w/4 Missile Launchers
Necrons:
HQ: Overlord w/Staff of Light, 2+/3++ save wargear (not sure what all their stuff is called)
Crypteks x4 each w/Staff that shoots Assault 1 St8, AP2 (again, no idea what its called)
Elites/Troops: Warrior Squad (5 Warriors)
Immortal Squad (5 Immortals) w/Gauss
Immortal Squad (5 Immortals) w/Gauss
Deathmarks (5 Deathmarks)
*****Led by a Cryptek w/flamer that is St8,
AP 2 against
Ld score.
Transported in a Night Scythe
Scarab Swarm (4 bases)
Fast Attack: Destroyer Squad (5 Destroyers)
Wraiths x4
Annihilation Barge
Heavy Support: Doomsday Ark
Stalker
Canoptek Spyders x3
So the battle mission rolled was Big Guns Never Tire, and the deployment map was Hammer & Anvil. The Necrons (my buddy) won the deployment roll and chose to defer, so the Crimson Fists (me) deployed first. The terrain was somewhat thick, with blasted city ruins circling a large center courtyard that had sandbag lines (4+ cover) ,a large central statue and a gun emplacement with twin linked Heavy Bolters just waiting for someone to claim. We rolled a 1 on the D3 for the D3 +2 mysterious objectives, and they were set out with one in the center of each deployment zone and one right in the middle next to the gun emplacement (for that added incentive). The Warlord traits were inconsequential as they had no impact to either of us, so I don't recall them. The Necrons chose to not steal the initiative, and one final roll determined that Night Fighting would NOT be in effect for turn 1 (for once!!!!)
Crmson Fist Deployment:
I put my Devastators and
MM Dreadnaught in a set of ruins close to my table edge directly facing the center of the board, and on top of the one objective in my deployment. I split up Tactical Squad A and placed Combat Squad #1 in some ruins on my left flank so their lascannon could have a good view of the center of the board, along with the Autocannon Dreadnaught. Combat Squad #2 set up closer to my deployment edge, near the outermost courtyard sandbags. Tactical Squad B set up enmasse closer to my right flank behind some ruins, and the Captain and his Command Squad deployed on the same flank in the Razorback. The terminators were in deepstrike reserves, and I completely forgot to set out my infiltrating Scouts (so they stayed in reserve).
Necron Deployment:
My buddy's Necron army was spread out in a sea of metal close to the innermost deployment line. He set the Doomsday Ark on my left flank and working his way to the middle, he deployed the Scarabs, Spyders, Stalker, one squad of Immortals and the squad of Destroyers. Concentrating on my right flank , the Overlord and Crypteks were set up in some ruins, as was the Barge and finally the remaining Immortals and Warriors were placed closer to the center behind rows of razorwire. It looked like the courtyard was going to be a brutal battleground. The Nightscythe, Wraiths, and Deathmarks all stayed in reserves.
Crimson Fists Turn 1 (aka: Maybe I Might Pull This Off After All!):
Well, my movement was pretty basic for this turn, moving the Razorback up at combat speed, and pulling Tactical Squad B closer to my right table edge. Combat Squad #2 made a run for the center objective and the twin linked heavy bolter sitting on top of it, but came up a bit short and were stranded in the open courtyard. I moved the
AC Dreadnaught into some ruins to get some cover, and moved the
MM Dread out of the ruins he was in toward my left flank to bring his heavy flamer to bear on the oncoming scarabs lined up across the courtyard.
Shooting started off with a bang, literally. The Razorback shot the Doomsday Ark and penetrated the Quantum Field (only after rolling a 1 to hit initially, thank you twin linked!!!). A roll of a 5 (which was turned into a result of 6 due to open topped and Ap2) left the Ark a smoldering crater. First Blood for me!! Unfortunately, the blast wasn't big enough to catch anything. Elated, I thought I would try to duplicate this feat with the lascannon in Combat Squad #1 and shoot the Annihilation Barge. A roll of 1 to hit quickly reminded me that I needed new dice
The Autocannon Dread shot at the Barge as well, but couldn't penetrate the quantum field. The Devestators open fired on the Spyders, but only managed to land a single wound thanks to a cover save from some sandbags. With nothing to shoot at, the remaining Tactical Squad just ran toward cover.
Necron Turn 1:
The Crypteks and Overlord, along with the Annihilation Barge, moved up into some ruins so they could get a clear line of site to the Combat Squad left in the middle of the courtyard. The Scarabs bolted down my left flank setting up behind and in some ruins. The Warriors and Immortals stayed put, and the Destroyers moved to the center of their deployment line behind the courtyard statue. The Spyders moved up toward the center objective and gun emplacement, after they pooped out some scarabs who joined the larger unit moving up my left flank. The Immortals sitting on the objective in the Necron deployment discovered it was a bomb!
Firing was brief, as most of the Necron army wasn't in position to fire (being out of range or not having
LOS). However, the poor Combat Squad #2 got shredded by the Crypteks and Annihilation Barge, and some shots were taken at the advancing Razorback.
Crimson Fists Turn 2 (aka Still Feeling Confident At This Point):
Okay, so that wasn't so bad, time to capitalize on the Necrons slow start. Rolling for reserves, both the Scouts and Terminators arrived. I dropped the Terminators behind the Necron command squad, but they scatter a bit toward the Necron table edge, but still had clear line of site. I ran the Scouts in from my right corner for lack of anything better to do with them. Using some Overlord power, my opponent deepstruck his Wraiths into my deployment on the right flank, near tactical squad B. Pushing the Razorback further up the right flank, I moved Tactical Squad B into a more ordered firing line to shot the Wraiths. The
AC Dread stayed put, and the
MM Dread moved further toward my left flank. Combat Squad #1 stayed put as well, as did the Devestators.
Again, the shooting phase started off well. The Devestators destroyed the Stalker, and the Terminators took down all of the Crypteks, leaving the Overlord rather exposed. However, a common curse on my lascannons started to take hold, with both the Razorback and Combat Squad #1 failing to hit or damage anything.
Tac Squad B open fired, killing one Wraith and wounding another. The
AC Dread couldn't hurt the Overlord, and the
MM Dread was out of range. Of course, all those Crypteks I killed passed their
RP rolls thanks to the resurrection orb the Overlord was carrying.....Now I knew my luck was about to change.
Necron Turn 2:
Reserves were rolled and luckily the Nightscythe didn't make it. The terminators had to be sweating when almost the entire Necron Force turned to face them.. The Scarabs moved up the left flank to get into charge range with Combat Squad #1, and the Spyders moved up to claim the center objective, but were just out of range of the gun emplacement. The Wraiths moved closer to Tactical Squad B to preper to charge.
While it was dismaying to see so many shots come at my Terminator squad, it was nice to see 6 of them survive the deluge of gauss, tesla, and staff fire. One amazing set of saves came when the Crypteks all hit and wounded with their AP2 staffs, and I miraculously rolled 4 successful invulnerable saves. The Annihilation Barge moved out to try and put some pressure on my center deployment, and the
AC Dread lost a set of twin linked cannons as a result. The Spyders ran up and claimed the gun emplacement.
Now for the first Assault! The Wraiths easily made their distance roll, shrugging off the Overwatch fire. The Scarabs also easily cleared the distance, but lost a base to the Lascannon. The resulting combats both turned out to be a draw, and with two wounds being inflicted on and by the Scarabs, and another Wraith falling to the Marines fury. Combat Squad #1 decided to voluntarily fall back (to allow the
MM Dread's heavy flamer to do its work).
Crimson Fists Turn 3 (aka, the Beginning of the End):
The
MM Dread moved up to flamer range toward the Scarabs, and the
AC Dread put some distance between it and the little blighters. The Terminators moved up to get into charge range of the Overlord and Crypteks. while the Razorback continued its push, moving up 6, and deploying the Captain and his command squad into some cover and blocking
LOS to the valuable squad. A
With a final shout of victory, the Razorback destroyed the Annihlation Barge during the shooting phase knowing that it was not long for this world. The Terminators shot put down the Crypteks (again) and put some wounds on the Overlord in preparation of their charge. The Devastators and
AC Dreadnaught wiped out a creeping Immortal Squad that was moving up the left flank to support the Spyders, and the
MM Dread killed a few more Scarab bases. At the end of the shooting phase, three of the Crypteks stood up (sigh).
Assault started nicely, with the Terminators surviving the Overwatch unscathed and annhilating the Overlord and Crypteks. Their follow up was short but designed to try and prevent any reanimation from going on. The Wraiths faired a little better, killing 3 marines to just one wound in return. Tactical Squad B failed their leadership miserably, in what would later become a trend, and fell back toward the table edge. The victorious Wraiths moved away from the tactical squad and moved toward the Scouts on the right flank. At the end, 3 of the Crypteks stood back up with barely a hair line preventing them from wiping, and the Overlord failed his
RP roll. Slay the Warlord points were nice, but it was seriously pissing me off that the squad I killed twice was still healthy enough to cause some damage.
Necron Turn 3 (aka Payback Time):
The Nightscythe started off the movement phase, coming in and deploying the long awaited Deathmarks and Cryptek. Naturally, the Terminators were their target. The remaining Scarabs moved away from the
MM Dread, while the Warriors and Immortals on the right side moved toward the center, and the Destroyers moved around to the left side of the center courtyard. The Crypteks got as far away as possible from the terminators and turned to fire. It wasn't looking good for the terminators. The Wraiths moved to assault the Scouts.
Thanks to the Crypteks both on their own and in the Deathmarks squad, as well as the Nightscythe, the remaining Terminators were destroyed to the man. With my Captain waiting in cover behind the now wrecked Razorback, he swore an oath to avenge their deaths. Additional fire was directed towards my remaining Tacticals but was ineffective.
The assault phase resulted in the Scouts losing 3 of their numbers, but they did manage to take down another Wraith. Losing the combat, they failed their leadership and fell back. The Scarabs tried to charge the
AC Dreadnaught, but overwatch fire killed another base which put them just out of range.
Crimson Fists Turn 4 (Bad to Worse):
I started the movement phase by making a good roll on difficult terrain for the captain and his squad, moving out to a reasonable charge range. The
AC Dread moved back toward the center ruins where the Devestators were, and the
MM Dread decided it was now the time to move toward the center objective to kick the Spyders off of it. The remainder of Combat Squad #1 stayed put near my left flank, and the larger Tactical Squad B moved in to rapid fire range toward the remaining Wraith. The Scouts hunkered down in some ruins in hopes of getting a decent shot off somewhere.
Shooting was quick and largely useless. Four rockets shot out, but did nothing to the well dug in Necrons near the center objective. Tactical Squad B finally put down the last Wraith, and the
MM Dreadnaught roared in fury as his
MM shot harmlessly bounced off the sandbaggs in front of the Spyders.
Tasting vengence, the Captain of the Second Company attempted to charge a unit of Immortals, needing an 8 on a roll of
2d6....the result was a 4. Grumbling, the Captain steadied his squad for the inevitable deluge of fire coming their way.
Necrons Turn 4:
Movement was to move further away from the Crimson Fist command squad, and the Night Scythe scooped up the Deathmarks and flew over to the Devastators. The Destroyers moved over to try and gain Line Breaker on my left flank.
Necron shooting saw the Nightscythe kill two Devastators (who promptly fled), and the remainder of Combat Squad #1 was killed by the Destroyers. Massed shooting from warriors and Immortals put a single wound on the Crimson Fist Captain.
In the Assault phase, the lone base of Scarabs charged into the
AC Dread, using Entropic Strike to reduce it down to 11 armour on the front but little else.
Crimson Fists Turn 5:
Nightfighting still didn't happen, not that it would have mattered at this point. With little of my army left, and the end of the game looming, the Crimson Fists pushed hard to claim and deny objectives. The
MM Dreadnaught and remainder of Tactical Squad B took off toward the center objective in the hopes to reach and contest it. The rallying Devestators moved up and put themselves just beneath the objective in their deployment zone, claiming it and steadying to take snap shots at the looming Nightscythe. The Captain and his crew moved toward the nearest Immortal squad, still hoping to salvage the battle.
The shooting phase gave me a hint of rolls to come. Two snapfire missiles slammed into the Nightscythe!!! But I celebrated too early as I rolled ones on both armour penetration rolls. Tactical Squad B also tried to take it down but couldn't connect. The
MM Dread shot ineffectively toward the objective hugging Spyder, hoping to charge them.
The assault phase drove a stake into the heart of the Crimson Fists. Needing only a 4 on
2d6 to reach the Immortals, a 3 came up.....
The
MM Dread needed more, but wasn't anywhere close.
Necron Turn 5:
This time, the Necrons decided to protect the middle objective, and moved to take down the rumbling Dread and tactical squad. The Nightscythe flew off the board due to lack of anything better do to, and the Destroyers moved into the
CF deployment, hoping to take Line Breaker.
The resulting fire saw the Captain slain, rolling double 1s on his 2+ save, and then double 4s on the
FNP roll
Another veteran was slain and the resulting leadership test was failed
Oh, and the
MM Dread was killed by the invulnerable Crypteks. The writing was on the wall by this point.
Crimson Fists Turn 6:
With little left on the board, it was really just pointless, but the
AC Dread and Devastators soldiered on, killing three Destroyers. The Command Squad moved up to charge again, but again, failed an easy charge (needed a 5, rolled a 4).
Necrons Turn 6:
The returning Deathmarks wiped out the remaining veterans and the rest of the army just solidified its positions.
The battle ended with a final score of 8 to 5 for the Necrons. Necrons held 2 objectives, and got Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker points, while the Crimson Fists claimed 1 objective and got First Blood and Slay the Warlord points. Oh, and the dice that were cursed repeatedly? They are getting melted down into craters for the game board
