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got a game in with Chris last night at the Vine Inn Gamers. Chris runs a very smart looking Ravenwing army and I am wanting to get another good luck at them in action as I am deciding whether or not to do a Ravenwing army.

I thought I would bring my Necrons as the Ravenwing have fast mobile melta and can slag my av13 pretty easily. Even though I have a lot of gauss fire power, hitting them 5+ to wound is going to be tricky. I am looking forward to this match up

Necron 'Mechrons' - 2,000 points

HQ

Necron Lord w/ Catacomb Command Barge - warscythe & mindshackle scarabs
Royal Court - 3 x Crypteks w/ harbinger of destruction & solar pulse

Necron Lord w/ Catacomb Command Barge - warscythe & mindshackle scarabs
Royal Court - 3 x Crypteks w/ harbinger of destruction & solar pulse

Troops

5 x Necron Warriors w/ Ghost Ark
5 x Necron Warriors w/ Ghost Ark
5 x Necron Warriors w/ Ghost Ark
5 x Necron Warriors

Fast Attack

6 x Canoptek Wraiths - 3 x whip coils
6 x Canoptek Wraiths - 3 x whip coils

Heavy Support

Annihiltion Barge
Annihiltion Barge
Annihiltion Barge

Dark Angels 'Ravenwing' - 2,000 points

HQ

Sammael
Ravenwing Command Squad - banner of devastation, apothecary & grenade launcher

Troops

6 x Ravenwing Squadron w/ Attack Bike - 2 x meltaguns - Attack Bike w/ multi melta
6 x Ravenwing Squadron w/ Attack Bike - 2 x plasma guns - Attack Bike w/ multi melta
6 x Ravenwing Squadron w/ Attack Bike - 2 x plasma guns - Attack Bike w/ multi melta
3 x Land Speeders - typhoon missile launcher

Fast Attack

Nephilim Fighter
Nephilim Fighter
Land Speeder - typhoon missile launcher

Game: Big Guns Never Tire & Dawn of War

Deployment

Objectives had been placed with three spread on the right flank 12" apart and two had been placed my side of the board 6" from the table edge; one in rocky area terrain on the left and one on a terrain piece.

Chris won the roll off and decided to go first; he deployed his Ravenwing in the centre of the board in two rows of three compacted together (this puts everyone in range of the banner) - at the front was two bolter units (he split into combat squads) and a melta unit while the plasmas hung around at the back with the Command Squad and Attack Bikes.

I deployed in the left corner to keeo out of Chris' way and to use the large terrain piece with the objective on as some cover. I put the Wraiths at the front with Ghost Arks behind, then the Barges.

* Tactical Notes

Both of us have made some mistakes deployment wise; I have put my Wraiths at the front and know they will be bolt'd to death by those salvo 4 boltguns - I should have put them behind the Ghost Arks.

Chris has put a single melta unit at the front, which means he will zoom up and I will be able to shoot his face off and Chris cannot afford to lose melta against my Necrons.

Turn 1

Chris does pre game scout moves and zooms his Bikes forward, makes sense as gets those bolters into dakka death range.

Ravenwing first turn; Chris moves up a little bit with his Bikes, not a lot though. Speeders come forward as I have declared I popped my pulse and in night fighting you cannot fire more than 36" away.

Shooting; Chris unleashes his shooting gallery and wipes out an entire unit of Wraiths and kills one from another unit. Krak missiles are rubbish and either miss or bounce off my av13.

Necrons turn; CCB on the right flank moves up while the CCB on the left moves up with Wraith support. Ghost Arks move forward a little while one lands on the terrain piece (hill o' barrels) and gets into rapid fire range of a Ravenwing unit.

Shooting; both CCBS move flat out, though the one on the right flank I hold back a little bit as I do not want it in melta range while the other on the left flank takes cover behind a ruin and has LOS blocked to it. Ghost Ark on the hill wastes a Ravenwing unit while other units waste the melta unit. Lances fire at Attack Bike, first barrage of lances the Attack Bike jinks twice, but not so lucky next time and is brown bread. Annihilation Barges fire and take out two Speeders.







* Tactical Notes

Not a too bad turn and I think I have given more than I have took. I've lost some Wraiths, which is all an upset, but them things are uber badass so are always high on the target priority list. On a good note I have thinned out Chris' melta and he only has two melta units left, unfortunately I didn't get them all and my CCBs are now at risk.

Next turn I'll focus my fire on the Attack Bikes and Land Speeders, they are the serious stuff and need to go down. I'll think focus on plasma units.

Turn 2

Chris rolls reserves and a single Nephilim arrives, it streaks from his top right table corner down towards the Ravenwing.

Ravenwing remain in position while the Attack Bikes seeker the CCB targets. Land Speeders move back. I also pop my last pulse too.

Shooting; krak missiles bounce off my Ghost Arks and I jink the lascannon from the Nephilim. Attack Bike fires at the CCB on the right flank and the CCB goes boom :( - Ravenwing follow up the assault with bolters and my Necron Lord goes down and stays down. Luckily the other Attack Bike misses when firing at my other CCB, this one carries my warlord btw. Ravenwing blast my Wraiths, I do extremely well on armour saves and only drop down to three Wraiths remaining.

I roll for reserves and Warriors arrive and take the objective bottom left.

Necrons turn; CCB moves up and sweeps the Attack Bike, though I only score a single wound, damn means I have to charge it - I wanted to get a Land Speeder. Necron vehicles move a little to get jink saves (I don't move the one in terrain as I do not want to risk dangerous terrain) while the remaining Wraiths move up to assault, no point in moving my Necrons up just yet.

Shooting; Warriors inside the Ghost Ark on the hill o' barrels waste the Attack Bike while their Ghost Ark along with another Ghost Ark wipes out a plasma Ravenwing unit. Annihilation Barges fire and take out more Ravenwing, only a single plasma gun remains now - apart from the Command Squad.

Assault; Necron Overlord charges the lone Attack Bike and smacks it silly with hammer of wrath from the chariot. Wraiths multi assault a lone Ravenwing and two others, the unit of two die while the lone Ravenwing falls back dangerously close to the table edge.







* Tactical Notes

More Ravenwing have snuffed it and I am getting closer to the Command Squad which Chris has smartly placed at the back. On a good note I've only lost a CCB and some Wraiths this turn, combination of my good luck and Chris' crappy krak missiles plus I have greatly depleted Chris' Ravenwing force and took out all melta units and left little plasma remaining.

Next turn I expect the Wraiths to be dead and my Overlord maybe in trouble, depends if plasma gets lucky shots. My priority is the flyers as those lascannons are going to get on my nerves. I hope my weight of gauss fire power can bring the flyers down.

Turn 3

Second flyer arrives and comes in to support the other one.

Single Ravenwing dude moves and boosts across the table towards an objective towards the right corner. Sammy and his bros move towards the CCB as the lone plasma gunner moves to the rear armour of the CCB. Speeders fan out and flank towards the objectives, this is really to put distance between myself and them. Flyers are mid board by the landing pad.

Shooting; lascannons fire and hit a Ghost Ark in the centre formation; it is immobilised and lost the shield. Krak missiles slam into it but Chris can only glance it, two hull points left. Plasma dakkas the rear of the CCB and it goes boom, Overlord gets hammered by plasma guns but survives with a single wound. Remaining Ravenwing dakka the Wraiths though one still survives.

Assault; Sammy and bros charge the Overlord, Overlord shackles a dude who kills himself though Sammy punches the Lord in the balls and the Lord fails to get back up.

Necrons turn; Ghost Ark moves off the hill o' barrels and moves 12" to tackle flyers and to get close to the mass of objectives on the right. Operational Ghost Ark moves and takes the place on the hill. ABs move up 12" to get into range of remaining Ravenwing units.

Shooting; Ghost Arks and Warriors blast both flyers, I get some lucky 6+ with my gauss flayers and both flyers crash and burn! One Land Speeder goes down to AB and lance fire while reminaing single plasma gunner is killed - still a two man Biker unit left.

Assault; single Wraiths goes for assault but gets blown to bits with twin-linked salvo 4 bolters; good bye Wraith.





* Tactical Notes

I think luck was on my side as tackling both those flyers in a single turn is just too good. At least they have gone though. Also nailed a Speeder. I just need to tackle remaining troops and Chris will need to contest objectives to score a draw.

Next turn I'll target the troops, I'll move up the Ghost Ark over on the right and gauss the single troop. I expect Chris will boost the two man unit over, so I'll try for them as well. Rest will blast the Command Squad and hope I can get slay the warlord.

Turn 4

Chris splits Sammy and boosts him all the way across the board and contests the objective the Warriors hold bottom left. Command Squad comes down to tackle the immobilised Ghost Ark. Two man unit boosts down and claims an objective behind some sand bag walls. Remaining Speeder moves over to support.

Shooting; Speeder blasts the Ghost Ark but not to let Chris down it fails and does nothing. Command Squad do better and the plasma torrent makes the Ghost Ark go boom - two Warriors down, squad passes pinning and morale tests.

Assault; Command Squad charge the Warriors, Warriors lose combat but hold.

Necrons; Ghost Ark on the right flank moves up to dakka troop units while the Ghost Ark on the hill o' barrels moves out, but Warriors bail out and hold the objective, Ghost Ark also repairs three Warriors back into the squad. One AB moves across towards the right flank so can lend it's fire support in either direction.

Shooting; Sammy eats gauss and tesla and is smoked. The two man unit and single Ravenwing dude are unkillable however, annoying.







* Tactical Notes

Chris has two objectives on the right flank and I only have a single unit, but there's another objective there and I am going second, so Chris cannot shoot me when I bail out, unless there's a turn six. I have forgot the mission (remembered while writing this) so could have moved up ABs, never mind. I do have two objectives secure though.

Next turn I hope my Warriors fold and I can dakka the Command Squad and all troop units.

Turn 5

Chris moves the two man unit to get the objective further down while the Speeder lingers. In assault my Warriors die and the Command Squad consolidates towards the objective on the hill o'barrels - not what Chris wanted.

In my turn I erase the Command Squad, kill the two man unit and also get my Warriors out and claim the objective they previously held before moving. I might have killed the single biker, but I cannot remember.

We end the game here with a Necron 10 point victory to Ravenwing 5 point loss.

Summary

Enjoyable game with Chris. To be honest I was expecting more melta and I think the plasma heavy setup might have been the down fall along with weak ass krak missiles, lol, oh dear. Maybe dual multi meltas on the Speeders and rush them forwards with the Attack Bikes? Nasty dual combo there.

Damn those Ravenwing can kick out some fire power and take some serious punishment. Even low AP cannot be sure to take them out thanks to the jink save.

I think the only mistake Chris made was putting his melta at the front which allowed me to wipe them out first turn. Also should have charged my vehicle in the last turn with krak grenades, you never know might have had some luck, better than nothing any way.

I messed up my deployment as well; I should have put the Wraiths behind to stop them getting wasted by a billion bolter shots. I also forgot is was big guns never tire, but never mind.

Overall things went well for me and I had some good luck, especially against those flyers. Chris' dice could have been better, especially his dud krak missiles.

Thanks for the report.
I think this DA list is too bad against necron. He can make exactly the same match 10 times, he will lose 10 times :/

Maybe, I think the list needs more melta personally. Those Attack Bikes and single bike unit are too easy to kill and melta is a high threat to any high av.

I thought the DA list was quite solid being honest.
I'd like to see purge the alien as a mission in a rematch.

Lol, the second I saw two Nephilim I knew he lost the game.

Why would he move his 48" range Typhoons into the range of your 24" Ann Barges?

Why would you take Plasma guns on bikers when, point for point, Black Knights are the same but 10x better?

Ravenwing really struggles a bit against massed armour, there just isn't enough melta to go around and what melta units you do send up are essentially suicide units.

Then again, AB's are undercosted nonsense with their 90 Point Armour 13 jink skimmers firing 10+ str 7 shots a turn.

Might start taking some allied Tau....

Asmodai Asmodean wrote:
Lol, the second I saw two Nephilim I knew he lost the game.

(cut)

Why would you take Plasma guns on bikers when, point for point, Black Knights are the same but 10x better?

For the last question, I guess it's because - with Sammael - bikers become troops, but black knights don't

For the nephilim... maybe I misread but... did he ever fire at something with them? If memory does not fail me, flyer can choose to fire with or without skyfire, so "the basic nephilim" could try and aim at some vehicles.
I mean if they never hit anything despite trying, it's worth mentioning

Asmodai Asmodean wrote:


Why would he move his 48" range Typhoons into the range of your 24" Ann Barges?

Why would you take Plasma guns on bikers when, point for point, Black Knights are the same but 10x better?

Ravenwing really struggles a bit against massed armour, there just isn't enough melta to go around and what melta units you do send up are essentially suicide units.

Then again, AB's are undercosted nonsense with their 90 Point Armour 13 jink skimmers firing 10+ str 7 shots a turn.

Might start taking some allied Tau....

He moved the Typhoons closer because I had solar pulses; when night fighting is active you cannot fire further than 36". So Chris moved up to get his Typhoons in range. In response I moved my ABs up 12" and fired into them.

Fair point on the Black Knights, I am deciding whether to use them or not in my own Ravenwing army.

I think the list overall lacked melta. Three Attack Bikes and a single unit of meltas isn't enough. My own Ravenwing has six Attack Bikes with meltas and then another three units with meltas, that's a total of 12 melta weapons while this Ravenwing list had 5 if I remember right, my list has over double. I think with that amount of meltas Ravenwing should deal with armour ok.

Yeah, ABs are a little on the cheap side. Should be 110 points if I am honest.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Kerrathyr wrote:


For the nephilim... maybe I misread but... did he ever fire at something with them? If memory does not fail me, flyer can choose to fire with or without skyfire, so "the basic nephilim" could try and aim at some vehicles.
I mean if they never hit anything despite trying, it's worth mentioning

Yes he did, he fired the first one at a Ghost Ark and it bounced off. When they both come in one managed a glance and the other did sod all. I then gauss'd them both out of the sky . I mentioned in the bat rep they fired

Attack bikes are amazing, but they suffer from firstblood/outflanker syndrome, so they aren't a reliable source of AV. Also, they die horribly even if they accomplish their alloted role.

I'm seeing a decided shift towards medium range firepower, Ravenwing is one of these factors.

3x Broadsides with Blacksun and Multi-targeters should do the trick. Did you know you can take a 25pt Tau troops choice? They can also pop TMCs with a little Black Knight rad assistance and Daemon MCs. At least until the codex drops... and they get nerfed to str 8.

I think Attack Bikes are pretty cool also. Like you said, they can go down to torrent of fire and if they do survive they tend to be a throw away unit. At least they are pretty cheap points wise to be fair.