(Vaguely Illustrated) Battle Report vs New Necrons

Mission: The Relic
Deployment: Dawn of War
Night Fight? Yes

My list was:

Dark Artisans
Haemonculus (Warlord) - Scissorhand
Talos – Chainflails
Cronos – Spirit Probe

Combined Arms Detachment - Dark Eldar
Archon – Webway Portal
5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom, Splinter Cannon
5 Kabalite Warriors, Venom, Splinter Cannon
6 Reavers, 2 x Cluster Caltrops (Combat Drugs were +1T)

Allied Detachment – Eldar
Autarch – Eldar Jetbike, Banshee Mask, Laser Lance, Shard of Anaris
5 Dire Avengers, Wave Serpent, Scatter Laser, Shuriken Cannon, Ghostwalk Matrix and Holo-field
5 Fire Dragons, Wave Serpent, Scatter Laser, Shuriken Cannon, Ghostwalk Matrix and Holo-field
6 Warp Spiders

The Necron list was (roughly):

Cryptek (Warlord) – Solar Staff
Iluminor Szeras
20 Warriors
10 Immortals (Gauss)
2 Destroyers, 1 Heavy Destroyer
C’tan Shard of the Nightbringer
6 Wraiths
2 Annihilation Barges

Deployment
I lost the roll for first turn and the Necrons decided to deploy first. You can see the table layout here (apologies for the crappy pictures):



The Necrons spread out across most of the table width so I decided to castle up in one corner, in or behind a ruin. The Wraiths are behind the tall ruin in the far corner. You can see my deployment here:



This would mean that the Wraiths would need to travel the entire length of the table to get into combat and the Nightbringer would be out of range for either assault of his Powers of the C’tan. The Warp Spiders and Fire Dragons (with WWP Archon) went into deep strike reserve. It did mean that the central blob of Warriors would be able to claim the objective but, in truth, there was no way to stop that!

The Necrons opted to take first turn and I failed to seize the initiative.

Turn One
The Warriors and Cryptek moved into the central ruins. The Wraiths, Barges, C’tan and Immortals (with Szeras) all shuffled over towards my left to take part in the battle but most were either out of range or out of LOS of much of my army. The Destroyers fired on my Wave Serpent, but the combination of Jink and Night Fight meant no damage. Everything else that was in range fired on my Reavers and Dark Artisan but cover saves from ruins and Night Fight again prevented any damage other than a single wound on the Cronos.

On my turn, the Reavers moved as far forward towards the Destroyers as possible, as did the Dark Artisans. The Venoms and (snap firing) Wave Serpent moved to get better lines of fire to the Destroyers and to ensure the Kabalite Warriors would also be in range. Their combined firepower resulted in a grand total of 2 wounds after armour and Reanimation Protocols, removing a single Destroyer. The Reavers then charged, with Hammer of Wrath attacks and normal melee attacks dealing 3 more wounds for no loss, leaving just the Heavy Destroyer on a single wound. He promptly failed his break test and fled off the table, giving me First Blood. Unfortunately it also left my Reavers out in the open in front of a unit of Immortals and an Annihilation Barge!

Turn Two
The Warriors and Cryptek moved further into the central ruins, claiming the Relic. The Wraiths and C’tan continued their long journey into the battle. The Immortals moved towards the Reavers and the Barges shuffled about to get decent firing solutions. The C’tan was now in range of his Powers and rolled Seismic Assault (24”, S6, AP4, Assault 10, Strikedown), which killed 4 Reavers, despite 3++ Jink saves! The Immortals also fired on the Reavers, killing the last 2 and putting a wound on the Autarch. The Barges both fired on the Dark Artisans, putting a wound on the Talos. The Immortals then charged the Autarch, reaching him with a 10” charge and killing him off for no losses.

My reserves both came on and I dropped the Wave Serpent behind the central ruins, disembarking the Fire Dragons to within melta range of a Barge. The Archon elected to remain on the Serpent as he was in the middle of a DVD and wanted to see the end. The Warp Spiders dropped in behind the Nightbringer but bad scatter took them away from him and meant they then had to run to get back in weapons range, which they just about managed. The Dark Artisans moved towards the Immortals and the Venoms and Wave Serpent swung around the ruin on the left of my deployment zone to line up some fire on the Barge and Wraiths.

The Fire Dragons hit the Barge 4 times, did 3 penetrating hits and it jinked all of them! Bugger! Their Wave Serpent did a single wound on the C’tan but the Warp Spiders had better luck and killed it off with some awesome shooting. It then exploded, killing 2 Necron Warriors in the blast. The Venoms, Kabalites and other Wave Serpent managed to kill 2 Wraiths. The Dark Artisans opened up on the Immortals with the Spirit Vortex, twin-linked Splinter Cannon and Splinter Pistol and killed 2. They then charged, managing to kill 3 more. Szeras issued a challenge, which the Haemonculus accepted, but neither could manage to damage their opponent. The Immortals did a single wound on the Cronos. The Necrons lost the combat but held their robotic nerve.

Turn Three
The Wraiths headed straight for the ongoing assault between the Immortals and the Dark Artisans. The Barges swung around to fire at the two Wave Serpents. The Warriors retreated into the shelter of the central ruins. The shooting phase was largely ineffective. The Barge firing at the Fire Dragons Serpent was snap firing and did nothing. The other barge forced the Avengers Serpent to jink but did no damage. The Warriors fired at the Warp Spiders, killing two. Crucially, the Wraiths failed their charge against the Dark Artisans (probably the turning point of the battle).

The Venoms edged forward to get the Kabalites in rapid fire range of the Wraiths. The Avengers Serpent moved forward 6”, disembarking its passengers so they could add their firepower to the battle. The Fire Dragons moved up to the Barge that they failed to damage last turn and readied their weapons for another attempt. The Warp Spiders jumped 16” to get up towards the other Barge. Their Serpent swung round to face the Wraiths. The combined firepower of 5 Dire Avengers, 10 rapid-firing Kabalite Warriors, 2 Venoms and 2 Wave Serpents just about managed to wipe out the Wraiths. The Fire Dragons immobilised the Barge and the Warp Spiders had a change of heart and decided to fire on the Warriors rather than the front of the other Barge (which they could only glance), killing 2. They then assaulted the Warriors, losing 1 to Overwatch and killing one in assault. The Warriors killed one in return for a combat draw. The Fire Dragons charged the immobilized Barge, hitting automatically with 4 Melta Bombs which caused an explosion that destroyed the barge, taking one of the Dragons with it. The combat between the Immortals and the Dark Artisans resulted in the Immortals breaking (thanks to the Freakish Spectacle -1Ld penalty) and were then run down and destroyed. The Dark Artisans consolidated back towards the centre of the table.

Turn Four
The Barge moved to block the Dark Artisans from getting near the Warriors and opened fire, killing the Cronos (booooooo!). The Warriors eventually ground down the remaining Warp Spiders and consolidated further into the ruins.

The Fire Dragons moved and then ran back towards the centre. The Dark Artisans moved as far forwards as possible but were being blocked by the Barge. The Dragons Serpent swung around and went flat out to get into the rear arc of the Barge. The Avengers embarked on their Serpent which moved towards the centre. The Venoms had no viable targets and therefore moved flat out to get into a better position next turn. The Fire Dragons shot at and wrecked the Barge. The Dark Artisans ran closer to the Warriors.

Turn Five
With only the largely undamaged Warrior blob remaining, for the Necrons the game was now all about keeping that blob alive and hoping the game ended next turn. The Warriors therefore retreated further into the ruins, keeping out of LOS where possible. They also triggered the Solar Pulse, forcing me to snap fire against them. They opened fire on the Dragons Serpent which was forced to jink but did no damage.

The Fire Dragons moved into the ruins, preparing to eat the overwatch and allow the Dark Artisans to assault unmolested. Everything else moved into position to bring as much firepower to bear on the Warriors as possible. The combined firepower brought down several warriors and the Dragons then charged, absorbing overwatch with no casualties. The Dark Artisans also made their charge and the carnage began. The Warriors survived the turn and the Necron player rolled to see if the game continued.

Turn Six
It did. I won.  

Conclusion
This was far from an optimised Necron list. The Necron player had only just bought the codex and was also stuck with the models already in his collection, some of which are no longer as good. That being said, they are INSANELY tough. The Warrior blob, the Immortals, the Destroyers and the Wraiths each basically took my entire army to even damage, and three of those still needed to be finished off in assault. By the time our Necron guys get to grips with the new codex and pick up some new models I think I will struggle to do anything against them.

It should also be said that my dice rolling was terrible for most of the battle. I think Poisoned shooting managed to do maybe 3 or 4 wounds the entire game and I failed the majority of saves on the Dark Artisans and only made 1 FNP roll all game. I consider myself pretty lucky to have pullled off a win in these circumstances!

Thanks for the report Count. I have to agree, necrons are ridiculously resilient. Games will come down to taking out the key support elements (bargres/arcs) and lucky breaks in assault with sweeping advance.

Excellent battle report. Very nice game. Keep it up