Lone Wolf Sentinel Pilot
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Another game from our FLGS Planet Strike themed league. I was the defender with the majority of my army in reserve with a -2 modifier. My Warlord Trait allowed re-roll of reserves. The objective was to hold a central piece of terrain with ANY unit. Attacker could not contest, he HAD to kill everything on the objective.
Four weeks out from the Main Battle Group, Strike Force Plum was approaching their designated target. One of three worlds the defeated remnants of a Daemon force may have fled too. A trip that should have taken 9 days, yet took a full 32. The temperament of the Warp even fights to restrain our duty. But by the grace of The Emperors Will, we shall not be denied.
Out target is a world of moderate jungles. A planet not yet colonized and sparsely inhabited. Scanning indicates an area with old ruins existing within a cleared area of the jungle. As good a place as any to set up an advance base to operate from, the initial wave of the Daimyo’s Auxiliary Guard are dispatched to begin clearing the ruins with Melta charges in preparation for our Mechanicum Servitors to construct a base of operations.
After clearing the first ruin, the Guard force reported an unidentifiable structure, not a ruin, but a complete structure. And this structure hummed and shimmered with the power of arcane energies. Perhaps this planet is not a deserted as once thought. Captain Hara ordered an immediate war council to plan a rapid assault to capture this arcane structure and determine its origin. While the council met, Captain Hara, always decisive in his initial actions, dispatched Lieutenant Abe and his two squads of Marines, the alert action unit, to join with the Auxiliary Guard and establish a perimeter force. They would be followed by the Watch Section force of another squad of Marines and 2 squads of Terminator Assault Troops. Upon completion of the War Council, Captain Hara himself would lead the bulk of Strike Force Plum’s Space Marine Force to consolidate the area and commence further scouting.
As Lt Abe was descending in his paired drop pods, the enemy struck. The ancient dead. Older than the Greater Daemons of Chaos. Older than The Empire. Necrons. They struck quickly, and with great precision. The first indication of their presence being a Leman Russ Executioner exploding in a huge gout of flame, killing two men of Guard Captain Ito’s command squad. In a ruined structure, the Necron commander looked down on his handiwork. A dark shadowy figure. The one known as Zahndrekh. Even as the drop pods landed, 2 squads of Wraiths were already amongst them, one accompanied by a hovering beetle-like Destroyer Lord. (Marcs 1st turn Z-drak gave his court tank Hunters and they Pen-6ed the Russ).
With the skill that always placed Lt Abe in the top percentage of his studies, he coordinated a simultaneous deployment of both squads in a pincer. The Guard forces and both Squads of Marines fired together. All into the Wraith squad with the Lord. Multiple tongues of fire from the 2nd squad roasted many of the wraiths on the spot and were followed up by concentrated melta fire from Abe’s 1st squad, all but shattering the last wraith. Plasma fire from the Guard Squad finding its mark, crippling the Necron Lord. The Necron trap sprung, being turned into Abe’s trap in less than 3 minutes. (My 1st 2 pods landed close enough that I was able to flank a 6 Wraith +D-Lord unit in a cross fire between a Melta-MMelta and Flamer-MMelta squad. Marc rolled bad saves and lost all the Wraiths. The Plasma vets put 2 wounds on the D-Lord)
As the damaged Lord joined with the second group of Wraith’s, his unmoving metallic face doing nothing to mask the pure rage emanating from his essence, the newly composite unit turned to attack Lt Abe’s Squad. Even as the Wraith charged in, Lt Abe was able to get a second volley of Counter-fire to hit the new unit with great accuracy, killing a few Wraiths from this second unit. The Lord singled out Lt Abe, his wrath becoming a tangible thing. What felt like hours, but was mere minutes, the 2 forces fought. Lt Abe fought like a banshee, yet the Lords hatred merely grew as the parried and struck back and forth. Until Lt Abe finally fell to a blow that cleanly decapitated him. (3 assault rounds failing mind-shackle scarabs each time finally let the Lord get 3 unsaved wounds). The 1st squad also succumbed to the unrelenting melee attacks of the Wraiths, but they bought their lives by dropping another Wraith and damaging yet another…and provided enough time for the Watch Force of Terminators to arrive.
Even as Lt Abe was falling, Necron vehicles started moving in. Several of the moon shaped Flyers along with multiple hovering Annihilation Barges moved in from the jungle edges. Firing bolts of crackling lightning, savaging the 2nd squad, with one Barge making a targeted shot that vaporized Guard Captain Ito and his remaining Command Squad. And that quickly Lt Abe’s pincer was itself now out-flanked by superior numbers.
Sgt Saito of the Senior Watch Squad of Terminators took command and realized the Necron forces sole objective was the defense of the strange structure. Understanding the need to hold this vital artifact until Captain Hara’s arrival, he established the 2nd squad of Terminators on the structure while he prepared to destroy the remnants of the Wraiths and Lord. As the 3rd squad of Marines arrived via pod, Sgt Saito ordered a concentrated volley into the unit to soften them up. As the Necrons quickly discovered, Melta weapons are something they cannot stand up to for very long. And the Samurai warriors of the Emperors Katana's are masters in the use of Melta weaponry.
The Necron Lord realized he would not stand before Sgt Saitos charge, and tried to maneuver away…only to end up in the line of fire of the 3rd squad, who quickly vanquished them for good (the Terminators failed a 5” charge…rolling a 4. The Wraiths and Lord; each with only 1 wound each; tried to assault the 3rd quad, who passed an initiative test and overwatched at full Ballistic Skill; destroying the squad).
As Necron Warriors started to materialize under their crescent Flyers, Sgt Saito consolidated all his remaining forces onto the prize. The 3rd squad pausing just long enough to turn a damaged Barge into a smoking crater, though they would pay for that kill with their lives. Even as the Scythe flyers and Barges continued to fire, the 3 squads of warriors approached. One squad coming right up to the artifact. The 2nd Terminator Watch Squad turned and struck, destroying the entire unit in a single coordinated series of hammer-blows. Their Thunder Hammers obliterating the metallic robot bodies. (Marc positioned a group of warriors in base contact with the objective. This allowed me to assault him without ever leaving the objective. I mad all my armor saves, did 7 hits killing all 5 Warriors, then consolidated back out of Zanhdrekh's shooting range. This saved me from taking 20 extra shots over the remaining 2 turns, which probably would have finished me off.).
And still the shots rained in, the entire time Zahndrekh just out of firing range. His Court of 5 trying to make up for a situation getting out of control. Each volley of shots from circling Flyers and stationary Barges killing 1 or 2 Terminators, determined with an iron will to hold fast. And finally, in the warmth of the mid-day sun, with 2 remaining members of the 2nd Terminator squad still standing, keeping the warriors at distance with the mere threat of destruction as witnessed upon their companions, Zahndrekh looked up. And saw dozens of fiery streaks coming down from the sky.
With Captain Hara leading a full strike force, the Necron Commander knew he had lost. Holding aloft a small sphere resembling a perfect circle of mercury, he depressed a hidden control and shimmered into nothingness, leaving the remnants of his own strike force to a certain doom as they now found themselves out-flanked in a killing field.
This was a 7 round game against Marc and his beautiful Black and Brass Necron Army. Since he had to remove every unit off the center objective terrain piece to win, my strategy was to dump my whole army on it and shoot everything that came close while the staying power of the Terminators would win the objective. That became problematic when Marc killed both Pods with locator beacons before i was able to get my reserve deep-strike units in play. Fortunately my scatters were not terrible and I was able to compensate for that loss. It was down to the last shots of turn 7; Marc doing 3 final wounds on 2 Terminators…and I made all 3 saves. For Marc it was a heartbreaker of a loss; having lost the previous week from the same situation, the remnants of a unit sitting on an objective. I would not have survived another round.
Marc got 1st Blood (the Leman Russ), Warlord, and Line Breaker. I took the win but no bonus objectives, deciding to ignore Zahndrekh and consolidate everything onto the objective.Space Marines: Vulkan.
2x Tac Squad, Melta, Multi-Melta, SGT with Combi-melta, Drop pod (1 with Locator beacon).
1x Tac Sqd ; Flamer, Multi-Melta, SGT with combi-flamer, Drop Pod with Locator beacon
2x TH/SS Terminators
Allied IG: Company Command Squad
1x Plasma-Vet Squad
1x Leman Russ Exterminator (HB sponsons)
1x Vendetta
Necron
Zahndrekh with Royal Court of:
5x Harbingers
Destroyer Lord.
2x Wraiths. 6 Wraiths in 1 squad, 5 in the other.
3x Warriors. 5 Warriors each, 3 Night Scythes.
3x Annihilation Barges
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