Hey gang,
I have had a real drought of getting to play
40K lately. Just too much real life gets in the way. But on Tuesday Nov 4th I finally got back in action. I even got to bring out my newly magnetized Tau Crisis Suits. I previously just made do with the models as I got them off eBay. Their weapon systems were not very optimized. Now I had choices and I was actually pretty happy with that part of the game. So let’s see what they can do.
Here is my Army List. I was using a lot of Crisis Suits partly to try out my new magnetized weapon options.
My normal Chaos opponent was not ready when I got there, so another local player, Robert, stepped up. He had been encouraging my 9 year old son’s interest in Necrons, so I was actually glad to get a chance to finally fight some Necrons. Here is what he was using:
500 Pt. Tau Empire vs. The Necrons
For this game we used the local rules requiring only 1 troop choice. Also since it was a 500 point patrol mission we just did Purge the Alien with Dawn of War set up rather than rolling. I was also on a tight timeframe, so this helped speed things up. The map we played on had a lot of terrain.
We did roll our warlord traits, and since I was Battle forged, I got to reroll. My first roll was the one that lets you infiltrate. I should have kept that because what I got after that was Princeps of Deceit which let me try and pin 3 units. Of course he only had 1 unit I could pin and they had a 10
LD. Ironically he got the same warlord trait, but I had two squads of
LD 7 fire warriors to pin and a 2 suit squad at
LD 8. (He keep his Destroyers back and I keep the two gun based crisis suits). Amazingly I did pin his Overlord and Necron Warriors. He only succeeded in pinning the right hand Fire Warriors.
For Deployment he went first and took the first turn. His Necron Warriors and Overlord started by the trench to my right. The Barge was just to the left of the trench. I deployed my units more than 30” away so he could not move and shoot me. My one squad of Fire Warriors was to the right in a line, my commander between them and the Fire Warriors on the left, and my two missile pod equipped Crisis Suits on a building further left.
I rolled to steal the Initiative and lost.
Here is our deployment:
(sorry about a few blurry photos, just had my phone.)
Necron Turn 1
Since his Destroyers were Deep Striking and I had pinned his Warriors and Overlord, only his Barge could move. Here I got my first reminder of the rules. It moved 12” and took snap shots. Even though I set up out of a standard move range for his guns, I forgot about snap shots. Still no worries right? Well, then I found out two things. One, Twin-linked is great to get a few hits from snap shots; Two, Tesla cannons are very nasty. I had not yet played Necrons so having his rolls of 6 turn into 3 hits each was unpleasant. Luckily he shot at my Commander and I had his drones forward. He only rolled two wounds and I was able to soak both with the Drones armor.
Tau Turn 1
On my first turn, I repositioned the left side fire warriors to sweep around on his warriors and the barge. My Missile Pod suits stayed still, but my Commander started to move about some.
I started fire with my drones using the drone controller for
BS 5. I rolled two 1s for their shots. Then the commander fired his 2 missile pods on the barge. Out of 4 missile shots (S7) I only got a single glance, which was the best I could do against
AV 13. The other
MP armed Crisis suits also fired on the Barge and failed to even glance. Plus the Barge jinxed. My pinned fire warriors shot at his warriors but did nothing.
During the assault phase my Commander and drones jump back into cover.
Necron Turn 2
Turn two started with the Destroyers deep striking right in front of my two
MP equipped suits to the left. I also had my left side fire warriors in the area. His Barge advances on my right hand fire warriors and my commander. The Warriors and Overlord advance towards my Fire Warriors too.
The squad of five Destroyers takes 10 shots, get 8 hits, and cause 5 wounds on my Crisis Suits. I manage to save 3 of the wounds thanks to some cover (as they are
AP 3) but lose one
MP armed Crisis Suit.
The Necron Warriors fire on my Fire Warriors on the right and do nothing thanks to good armor saves.
The Barge snap shots my commander and drones for 6 hits (again, thanks to tesla). This only causes 2 wounds, and with armor saves I only lose a single drone. This causes a moral test, which the commander passes.
My opponent had seemed to think his Destroyers would do more this turn, but I think they did just fine.
Tau Turn 2
This turn both of my other Crisis Suit units deep strike in. I drop the plasma armed suit right behind the Destroyers. My other Crisis suit tries to drop in behind the Barge, but I scatter (9”) to right next to it. My right side Fire Warriors move up for better shots at the Necron troops while on the left I line up to take aim at the Destroyers. The commander and his last drone also move around.
I start the shooting with the Drone to try and help my Fusion armed suit. I again roll a 1 even with
BS 5. So far the drones don’t work well. The commander gets 3 missile hits, but the Barge jinxes 2 of them and the last does not glance.
My big hope is the fusion blasters which both hit, but the Barge jinx dodges both.
My plasma rifle suit hit2 of their 4 shots on the Destroyers, but fail to wound. The missile pod Crisis suit also fires on the Destroyers and only gets a single hit and a wound, but the Destroyer saves. The Fire Warriors on the left take 12 shots on the destroyers, generating 4 hits, 2 wounds, and they only save 1.
The Fire Warriors on the right take 6 shots; get 1 hit, 1 wound, but the Necron warrior saves.
Clearly my shooting sucks. The dice are not on my side either as I am rolling 1s and 2s a lot.
And then to make it better, the one Destroyer I killed gets reanimated. My crisis suits all jump for cover.
Necron Turn 3
This turn the Barge drops back as do the Necron warriors. The Destroyers shift left away from my 6 Fire Warriors. This move gave the Barge and the Warriors extra shots at my fusion blaster armed crisis suit who was trying to hide against a building.
The Destroyers start by shooting my Plasma Rifle suit to the left. 10 shots, 9 hits, 7 wounds, 4 cover saves, and then 2
FNP for a single wound. I must admit that I am impressed by my
FNP. Expensive, but it keeps me around for a whole extra turn.
The warriors’ fire on the fusion armed suit. Only 2 can see him so they get 4 shots which all hit. 2 wounds, but my armor saves protect. The Overlord uses his Staff of Light and gets 3 hits, 3 wounds. I get 1 cover save, no
FNP and die from the 2 wound remaining. With that, my best shot of even hurting the Barge goes away.
This leaves the Barge free to blast the commander who has temporarily joined the fire warriors on the right. He rolls 3 hits, which teslas to 9 hits. That does 8 wounds. I lose 1 fire warrior, my last marker drone, and get 2 wounds on the commander. All the others were saved.
Tau Turn 3
Without my fusion suit and only 4
MP total, I have much less chance against the Barge. He is not far enough away; I doubt I can get a rear shot. Therefore I set my goal for the game to kill the Destroyers. Let’s see if we can pull it off.
The Fire Warriors on the left chase after the Destroyers. My Plasma and
MP suits both reposition to fire at the destroyers too. The Commander will keep the barge busy while the other fire warriors fight the Necron warriors to the right.
I try and take out the Destroyers with everything I have on the left side of the map.
The Fire Warriors fire 12 shots and get 5 hits, 3 wounds, but 2 are saved. (1 of 5 down)
The Plasma Rifle armed Crisis Suit gets 2 hits, 2 wounds, no saves thanks to AP2. (3 of 5 down)
The missile pods get 3 hits, 3 wounds, but 2 saves. (4 of 5 down).
Curses, 1 more down and the unit would fall. Instead at the end of the turn, 1 Destroyer stands back up. (still 3 of 5 down.)
Meanwhile the Commander gets 4 hits on the barge, but nothing can glance or pen the
AV 13.
The fire warriors get 7 hits on the Necron warriors causing 5 wounds which only 2 saves are made. They kill 3 warriors and they stay down.
Necron Turn 4
The Destroyers are thinking self-preservation and drop back to put the fire warriors out of double tap range. The warriors and the barge continue their advance now that my fusion suit is gone.
The Destroyers get 4 hits, 3 wounds. I get no saves and my
FNP fails at least once. This kills the plasma rifle suit
The Necron Warriors only get 3 hits on the Commander causing 1 would which he saves.
The Barge did not jinx last turn as can fire at full
BS. He gets 6 hits on the commander causing 5 wounds. My 3+ armor can’t hold against that and the Commander dies. (And thus the Necrons get Slay the Warlord.)
Tau Turn 4
I hunt down the destroyers with my fire warriors and last suit. My other fire warriors continue to exchange fire with the Necron warriors.
Fire Warriors on Destroyers are 5 hits, 3 wounds but only two saves.
The Missile Pod armed suit get only 1 hit but fails to wound.
The other fire warriors score 3 hits, 3 wounds on the Necron warriors, but they save all.
The Destroyer I killed stays dead, so there is still only one left.
Necron 5
The barge and the destroyer focus on the last crisis suit while the warriors continue to exchange fire.
The Necron warriors get 7 hits for 6 wounds, but my fire warriors save 5 of them.
The
AB gets one snap shot hit on my crisis suit for 3 hits and 3 wounds. I save 2 and the end is near.
The last destroyer gets both hits, and causes 2 wounds. I can’t save at all. Thus my final crisis suit dies.
Tau 5
My fire warriors fire desperately into the final destroyer with 4 hits, 3 wounds and only 2 saves. Finally I killed a Necron unit.
On the right side, we continue to exchange fire with the Necron warriors. My fire warriors get 5 hits and 4 wounds on the Necron warriors, but they save 2. Luckily the two that died stay dead.
We roll to continue, and should, but do to time I have to go. I lost hard on points to the Necrons. But at least I did not get swept by the end of turn 5. (Maybe on 6…)
Post –Game Thoughts
Wow is Necron
AV 13 tough. It is very hard to pen
AV 13 if you only have 1 unit with a S8 weapon. I need to consider this more going forward. Also Tesla weapons are rough. I can see those changing in the next Necron codex. On the other hand I am more incentivized to finish constructing my son’s Necron army now.
I think I actually played pretty well this time. I had some rough dice luck, and made a few errors, but nothing major comes up. I was just outplayed. Maybe someday soon I will actually get a win. Any comments from viewers are welcome. I would love to hear thoughts on both my army and how else I could have played things. Just remember I never know what I am facing before I get to the store.
Thanks,
Duncan
