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2013/04/17 17:22:39
Subject: Necron v. Tyranid 1500, Hive Fleet Titus (Game Completed!)
Hello all, long time lurker of the Battle Report section making a first contribution here. As of yesterday I played a 1500 point excursion at my FLGS with an awesome gentleman I had met there. I had wanted to get in a few games to help refine my army for an upcoming local tournament on Saturday - so feel free to leave your thoughts on my Tyranids as I'm always looking to improve!
If you're interested in seeing Hive Fleet Titus in its entirety and a little more up-close photographed by a complete amature, here you are: http://imgur.com/a/dKSp4
Necron Dynasty Unknown - 1500
Spoiler:
[Two notes: A) My opponent wanted to play with what he had painted and admitted to being less than ideal composition and B) My knowledge of Necrons is iffy, if I make a mistake I'd appreciate to know but keep in mind my ignorance.]
Deployment - Hammer and Anvil
Mission - Big Guns Never Tire, 5 Primary Objectives
Night Fight - Off
The Necrons win the roll, and choose to deploy first.
Deployment.
Spoiler:
The board from my perspective.
A view of four objectives. First being the Termagaunts protecting my field objective as partially seen as a 2nd edition Termagaunt [my placement], second being another 2nd edition Termagaunt in the center of the rocks on the right [his placement], third being an infestation marker on the left rocks, and fourth another infestation marker in the center building [my placement].
A view of the center map.
A view of his deployment zone, as well as the last objective in the rear graveyard [his placement].
Another perspective or two.
Psyker Powers and Warlord Traits:
Overlord - Stealth / Move through Cover in Ruins
Hive Tyrant - Scoring, Endurance, Enfeeble
Hive Tyrant - Iron Arm, Enfeeble
Orange Tervigon - Iron Arm, Life Leech, Haemorrhage
Green Tervigon - Endurance, Warp Speed, Haemorrhage
Ripper Zoanthrope - Puppet Master, Psychic Shriek
Floater Zoanthrope - Mental Fortitude, Psychic Shriek
Doom of Malantai - Codex
My pre-game thoughts:
Based on the objective quantity and placement, I have a huge leg up due to the nature of my Troop counts. He'll be extremely hard pressed to deny me the scoring I can bring onto the field. I also suspect his lack of ideal anti-swarm units and mobility will be a form of natural protection for me. However Mark is a very clever opponent, in our previous games he's impressed me with making the best of bad situations. That being said, I rolled fantastic on Biomancy which is cause for great concern for Necrons.
His pre-game thoughts:
I did not think far enough ahead to poll or quote him on this. However based on our conversation, he suspects he's got the wrong guns for the job. That being said he had faith his Monolith would bring some harm to bear as I have no guns designed for AV 14. He reckoned that if he could stop the mobility of the Tyrants with grounding from small arms fire, he'd have a chance. Although he gained two scoring units from the nature of the mission where as I did not, a definite possible advantage.
Thoughts, comments, votes?! Interesting problem, I'm new to the formatting of the thread, and wasn't able to determine how to initiate a vote. If you know this or can direct me to the information, please do!
Also as a special question to Jy2 if he reads this, how do you manage to take pictures / take notes through a tournament? I'd like to track my next 3 games on the weekend, but I found this heavily time consuming, and Tyranids aren't a quick play to begin with.
-------------
Necron Turn 1
Spoiler:
General forward movement. All Warriors stay in their original positions awaiting the Gaunt tide, where as all heavy weaponry and small melee contingents progress to try to take the center. The Monolith takes its ordnance shot, not scoring a hit but landing and wounding a Tervigon and Hive Guard. The Annihilation Barge lands a single wound on the alternate Tervigon, all remaining shots were either ineffective or out of range. Incredibly undesirable rolling yields an ineffective turn.
His Mysterious terrain is uneventful with the exception of the back field resulting rerolls on to-hits of 1.
Tyranid Turn 1
Spoiler:
Wanting to start up the Psychic Monstrosity, I begin my turn by failing 2 of 4 leaderships, one of which is a Perils on one of the already wounded Tervigons! Despite the annoyance, she redeems herself with a glorious spawn roll which were then born front and center to combat his Flayed Ones.
Her counterpart however was less impressive. These Gaunts were placed directly on the terrain objective I had placed, claiming me additional victory points for the time being.
I Swooped both Hive Tyrants forward with the benefit of Iron Arm hoping to dish harsh firepower to what I believed to be his most dangerous and currently vulnerable squads, the Wraiths and Destroyers.
The Destroyer Lord within the Wraiths stood defiantly against the Devourer onslaught, making 6 saves! However his Destroyer Squad were by far too exposed and were entirely gunned down, giving me first blood. Hive Guard knicked the Annihilation Barge for a single Glance, and all other shooting was ineffective.
Termagaunts leading centerfield, newly hatched as they are, engage the Flayed Ones in a gory melee only succeeding their charge by a single inch. Despite suffering lowered initiative via assaulting through cover and the resulting heavy casualties, they narrow the squad to a single brave Flayed One who cares not for morale as he won combat. Tervigon buffs proved hazardous, but not sufficient to wipe the squad.
Necron Turn 2
Spoiler:
The unharmed Wraith squad advance forward onto the objective within the rocky terrain, shifted his Annihilation Barge further from the center force, and thrust his Monolith towards my Tyrants. It was his hope that utilizing Portal Glyph for a strength test may catch him a bit of a lucky break and suck my flying terrors into the void.
With a rules inquiry, my opponent immeatiely concern himself with whether or not the ability actually had an effect on Swooping creatures. Not knowing if there was any grounds to deny him this, I allowed him to proceed and both Tyrants survived unscathed. With this out of the way, his remaining shooting landed an additional wound on my slightly more exposed Tervigon, as well as a single wound on my Hive Guard. Lackluster all over again.
However he believes he has an opportunity to redeem himself, with a mighty assault declaration from the Scarabs and Destroyer Lord / Wraith squad onto the freshly wounded Tervigon. Suffering from the nasty requirements of Mind Shackle Scarabs, she begins the round by stabbing herself for a single wound. A challenge is issued in a vain attempt of saving her life, but providing some protection from Scarab armor stripping which is accepted. A brutal lashing of two more wounds ensues, narrowly surviving with her life - protecting him from my following turn of shooting!
In a spot of absolute heroism, the last Flayed One survives the Termagaunt beat down with 5 saved wounds, and returns 2 wounds upon them, winning combat again and denying me shooting there as well!
Tyranid Turn 2
Spoiler:
With my Hive Commander still well alive, I have my three reserves arrive on a two plus - Doom, Zoanthropes, and ten measly outflanking Termagaunts. I select the Doom first as I want a hugely desirable position apparent to me, a scatter is rolled by fortunately for Tyranid drops this is no problem.
Zoans land nearby for moral support.
And Termagaunts come to assist their dying Brood mother.
In complete opposition of my previous turn, all Psykers are ready and able! My dying Tervigon receives Iron Arm (3!) as well as Endurance from her sister, and the Wraith squad suffers double Enfeeble! This is a tremendous disaster for the Necrons as they now face a Toughness 9, Feel No Pain Monstrous Creature at minus 2 strength and toughness! To throw extra dirt in the wound, she continues to bring more warriors on the field.
Remaining movement only consists of Hive Guard shifting, Gliding Hive Tyrants in preparation to double assault the Monolith, and Move Through Cover by my rear Termagaunts to avoid the exploding objective.
My shooting phase is highly anticipated as I suspect my drops to consume Necrons non-existent souls. But in an extreme display of fortitude, the Doom claims a single body, the Spods miss entirely, Shriek is ignored via Deny the Witch, and Puppet Master (in rapid fire range!) deals a mere two wounds. What a show, boys.
Hive Guard earn a slight success by planting another Glance upon the Barge.
The Assault phase rolls around however which is much more promising. Tyrants declare and charge the Monolith, with Smash earn two Glances and two Penetrations resulting in exploding destruction.
With the radius of a single inch, no gaunts were harmed. Speaking of which, they continued their war of attrition in the center ring finally bringing down the last hero.
The freshly spawned Gaunts assault the Scarabs to assist the Brood Mother which would result in 5 wounds. As it was my turn, I chose to resolve the challenge prior to resolving the MSS - the difference in his strength and my toughness made it literally impossible for him to dish the last wound to her, allowing her free reign on slaughter, and that she does!
However her Gaunt support where by far less fortunate against the Scarab / Wraith duo, but still leaving one brave soldier standing.
Demoralized but not defeated, he attempts to bring his Destroyer Lord back into the ring for great vengeance!
But alas, was not meant to be.
Necron Turn 3
Spoiler:
Suffering some very serious casualties and wishing to avoid more, the Doom makes no friends in the movement phase.
Eyeing the Doom with the Immortals (unpictured left) and Warriors, and Warriors with Annihilation Barge on the Zoanthropes, fire rains down on my brain bugs. Narrowly avoiding the Eldirch Lance, and suffering a barrage of Gauss, the Doom remains! Albeit limping.
The Annihilation Barge however doesn't take that nonsense from the Zoanthropes, downing one and wounding another.
With that disappointing damage dealt, my opponent begrudgingly moved on to the Assault phase. Determined to destroy the damned' Doom, he declares an assault but rolls one inch too short!
Moving on to the Tervigon brawl, the Scarabs finish off the last Gaunt and between the base contact and distance of consolidation, consolidate out of combat.
Sadly an error is made here in favor of myself. The Wraiths being double Enfeebled and the Tervigon still up to Toughness 9, is thought to be impervious to damage. However it is forgotten that Wraiths have Rend, thus still allowing them to deal damage. However the Tervigon fails to deal any wounds and the battle rages on.
Tyranid Turn 3
Spoiler:
An overview.
Not fearing death, both the Doom and surviving Zoan soar forward to engage the enemy Warlord in mental war!
The Warlord Hive Tyrant Swoops to break the Immortal squad protecting his last objective.
And the ulterior Tyrant Glides to shoot and engage those who would dare shoot the Doom with non-Instant Death weaponry.
Termagaunts and Tervigon prepare to land the death blows to his melee combatants, wounded as they are.
Shooting once again engages, and the Hive Guard prove their value - if a bit late.
Scarabs suffer from focused Fleshborer fire, while still alive are quite crippled.
The Warlord Tyrant once again fails to achieve kills with his Devourers, as these two were destined to get back up once more. If nothing else, at least his troops have some level of Reanimation Protocol working for them.
The Doom and sidekick attempt another Shriek and Absorb duo, landing a pultry 4 additional kills, 2 of which return.
In a turn of mediocre shooting, Shoulders' McGee comes to the rescue. Landing 4 kills, followed by an assault, challenge, and failed morale, the entire squad is entirely wiped from the board!
However my luck ends here, as my opponent realizes he has entirely forgotten Rend supplement to his (again / still) Enfeebled Wraiths!
Disaster on the ranch! Heroically defiant (if not Psychic-ly abusive) Tervigon down, and 11 local Termagaunt casualties from her death throes!
Crippled as they are, the Termagaunts still armed with Poison and Furious Charge, wipe the remaining (and previously wounded) Scarabs from the board.
Necron Turn 4
Spoiler:
Scattered, bruised, but not leaderless, my opponent views the game board.
Accepting the game is entirely lost, he refuses to concede in that he still had a chance of killing the Doom which he absolutely wanted a crack at. Hoping to stay within charge range, he suffers through Absorb Life, which unfortunately for him turned around from its previous uses and claims 4 lives - buffing him ever the further.
Sadly with this his will is broken and wishes to redeem himself in another match with a different gentleman.
Tyranid Turn 4
Spoiler:
Crushing Victory for Tyranids!
Post-game thoughts:
Spoiler:
I was definitely at an advantage given the two army lists from the beginning. Even before discussing strategy of the game as it happened, my opponent was also cursed with horrific luck and forgotten rules that would be to his benefit. It was a harsh match for him, but fortunately he's an extremely pleasant fellow and it was very enjoyable to run against him. He vowed for a rematch next week.
Other than that, I felt he was a bit sloppy with his placement, and did not place or use cover for his advantage in the mid-field. Fortunately he learned quite a bit, and I got more experience with Necrons!
Thanks for reading. All comments and criticism welcome.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2013/04/18 01:12:11
"We are all connected. To the Earth, Chemically. To each other, Biologically. And to the rest of the Universe, Atomically."
2013/04/17 17:47:59
Subject: Re:Necron v. Tyranid 1500, Hive Fleet Titus (Pre-game Completed)
Also as a special question to Jy2 if he reads this, how do you manage to take pictures / take notes through a tournament? I'd like to track my next 3 games on the weekend, but I found this heavily time consuming, and Tyranids aren't a quick play to begin with.
It just takes practice. Taking pictures for me takes at most 5-sec. and usually, my opponents don't even notice it in the middle of a game. While my normal non-tournament batreps average perhaps 60 or so pictures, in the tournaments, I only take about 30-40 pictures. So 36 pictures takes me only about 3-min of real-time to "snap-fire". The only trick is to constantly remember, especially when in a timed environment where there is pressure to finish the game on time. For me, it's become almost instinctive as I've been taking a lot of pictures. So you just have to make sure you remember.
As for note-taking, the only notes I take are the psychic powers/rewards/warlord traits before the game. Jot them down on your opponent's or your own army list if you want. The rest is from memory and pictures.
As for this matchup, I see necrons as a heavy underdog. They just don't have the mobility to get to they tyranid objectives. They don't even have the scoring units to survive the tyranid onslaught. If there's 1 thing I would have done differently as the necron player, that would be to put the monolith in reserves. Deepstrike it into the tyranid backfield by an objective and then later, teleport one of their troops through it.
Also as a special question to Jy2 if he reads this, how do you manage to take pictures / take notes through a tournament? I'd like to track my next 3 games on the weekend, but I found this heavily time consuming, and Tyranids aren't a quick play to begin with.
It just takes practice. Taking pictures for me takes at most 5-sec. and usually, my opponents don't even notice it in the middle of a game. While my normal non-tournament batreps average perhaps 60 or so pictures, in the tournaments, I only take about 30-40 pictures. So 36 pictures takes me only about 3-min of real-time to "snap-fire". The only trick is to constantly remember, especially when in a timed environment where there is pressure to finish the game on time. For me, it's become almost instinctive as I've been taking a lot of pictures. So you just have to make sure you remember.
As for note-taking, the only notes I take are the psychic powers/rewards/warlord traits before the game. Jot them down on your opponent's or your own army list if you want. The rest is from memory and pictures.
Good to know, I'll try and stream line the process then, thanks!
jy2 wrote: As for this matchup, I see necrons as a heavy underdog. They just don't have the mobility to get to they tyranid objectives. They don't even have the scoring units to survive the tyranid onslaught. If there's 1 thing I would have done differently as the necron player, that would be to put the monolith in reserves. Deepstrike it into the tyranid backfield by an objective and then later, teleport one of their troops through it.
I spoke to him about as much strategy as I'm aware for Necrons post game, he has a large desire to have a competitive Necron ground force. I wasn't even aware the Monolith was able to Deep Strike, does it contain a squad as a dedicated transport or it is only semi-functional on the same principle as a Trygon tunnel?
"We are all connected. To the Earth, Chemically. To each other, Biologically. And to the rest of the Universe, Atomically."
2013/04/17 18:31:22
Subject: Necron v. Tyranid 1500, Hive Fleet Titus (Pre-game Completed)
No, the monolith is not a dedicated transport. However, you can teleport a necron unit through its portal as if they were disembarking from a vehicle. It's a good way to get your warriors out of trouble and onto an objective in the late game. Just make sure you deploy your unit far away from the mono so that when the enemy goes after your troops, they will be out of position after you teleport your troops away. However, keep in mind that it can only do this to 1 unit in each of the Necron's Movement phase and it is done at the beginning of the necron's Movement phase, before any of their units have moved.
A great report! Really enjoyed reading it. Shame for the Cron player forgetting about rend. Still, a T9 MC is a tough opponent to crack!
Do you prefer taking BRB powers on your Zoans to the Codex powers in general? I still cant decide which I prefer. I always leave the Doom with his codex power. But im considering trying Shriek on him too.
I represent the Surrey Spartans gaming group. Check us out and feel free to come along for a game! https://www.facebook.com/groups/425689674233804/ Tzeentch Daemons 2000pts Kabal of the Sundering Strike 2500pts Eldar Corsairs 750pts 400pts Corregidor/Nomads 300pts Yu Jing 200pts+ each of Imperial and Rebel fleets for X-Wing
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2013/04/18 16:15:14
Subject: Re:Necron v. Tyranid 1500, Hive Fleet Titus (Game Completed!)
HerbaciousT wrote: A great report! Really enjoyed reading it. Shame for the Cron player forgetting about rend. Still, a T9 MC is a tough opponent to crack!
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!
HerbaciousT wrote: Do you prefer taking BRB powers on your Zoans to the Codex powers in general? I still cant decide which I prefer. I always leave the Doom with his codex power. But im considering trying Shriek on him too.
The awesome part about Zoanthropes now is that you get the choice every match. With the same list, I played a Dark Eldar and kept the Codex powers to Warp Lance Raiders / Venoms. Versus an Ork I swapped for double Shriek to eat the Horde, and though I haven't felt the need to swap out Biomancy yet the choice is still there. In general I have been in more preference to Shriek / Puppet Master I'd say, but the power of having this choice for a tournament / take-all-comers list is just too good.
As far as the Doom, I have almost always kept his Codex power. I see a lot of people online swap out Shriek to 'double down,' but usually my Absorb Life works very favorably, and that high strength blast is too useful to trade away.
"We are all connected. To the Earth, Chemically. To each other, Biologically. And to the rest of the Universe, Atomically."
2013/04/18 16:58:28
Subject: Necron v. Tyranid 1500, Hive Fleet Titus (Game Completed!)
Yeah, your tyranids will pound on normal lists. They are very strong against casual lists. This is the type of tyranid build that is more suited to competitive play. Your opponent did the best that he could, but he'll probably need to change up his list to be able to compete against yours.
.....Bay Area Open GT 2013 - Best Tyranids 
.....LVO GT 2014 Team Tournament - Best Generals
Tzeentch Daemons 2000pts 
Kabal of the Sundering Strike 2500pts
Eldar Corsairs 750pts 
400pts Corregidor/Nomads 
300pts Yu Jing 