Renegades and Heretics vs Necrons 1875: Steel phalanx

Rising from their tombs, the necrons attack a settlement of chaos renegades. Not wishing to displease their gods, the renegades go to war and attempt to repel the attackers. This is a 1875 point maelstrom of war game between my renegades and heretics fighting against a Necron force. Will the force of science or chaos win the battle?

The Armies

Renegades and Heretics: 1873

Combined arms detachment

Command Squad – 120 (warlord: )

Reaver, melta gun, covenant of tzeentch, power sword, command vox, melta bomb

Chimera – 70

Militia training, autocannon

Platoon

Command – 115

15 men, 3x plasma gun, Demagogue, militia training, flank armour

Infantry squad – 100

20 men, militia training, flack armour, 2x autocannon

Infantry Squad – 60

10 men, 2x flamer, militia training, flack armour

Chimera – 70

Militia training, autocannon

10 Veterans – 135

2x melta gun, grenadiers, deep strike

3 chaos spawn – 55

3 chaos spawn – 55

16 mutants - 48

Unnatural senses

4 Sentinels – 220

Heavy armour, militia trailing, autocannons

2 Leman Russ Battle tanks – 300

Militia training

Demolisher – 170

Militia training

Support weapon team – 124

4 teams, lascannons, covenant of tzeentch

3 Ogryn – 230

Carapace armour, covenant of tzeencth

Necrons

Combined arms detachment

Overlord (warlord: nothing imporant) w/ warriors

Void reaper, vail of darkness

Cryptek w/ warriors

Solar staff

20 Warriors

20 Warriors

Night Bringer

Annihilation barge

Doom Scythe

Combined arms detachment:

Cryptek w/ warriors

20 warriors

20 warriors

That is a lot of warriors that I will need to kill in order to win this game. At least battle cannons can take them down with little chance of them getting back up. At least, that's my hope. Unfortunately I will have to avoid shooting at the unit with cryptek with solar staff as if he makes my battle tanks snap fire while shooting at them, they will not do anything. So do not target them.

The Mission

Mealstrom of war again, because everyone at the club wants to practice them. We roll for mission and get contact lost, so you gain a card for each objective that you are holding. So objectives become very important if you want to win. Because of the table we are using we got for hammer and anvil deployment.

Rolling for deployment my opponent wins, but decided to give the deployment over to me, so I set up first and go first? I was confused by this but cool. I put a unit of spawn on each flank, ready to run up. The ogryn go in the middle to anchor my lines. Both large infantry units go at the front ready to move up if they needs to, with the chimeras behind them for support. The demolisher is just behind the front line while the unit of battle tanks hold at the back, as they have the range to not risk getting into combat. Sentinels go on the left and the lascannons go behind a hill on the right ready to move into a good position first turn. The Mutants start in reserve ready to outflank.

Necron deployment is nice and simple as its mainly warriors, and they are just deployed in a line across the table. The lord joins the one at the back and the cryptek with solar staff start on the hill. The other cryptek starts behind the ruins on the left. The annihilation barge goes on the left while the c’tan is in the middle of the table.

Night Fight: no

Steal the initiative: no

The Battle

Renegades turn 1

My force moves up, with the spawn taking point up each flank, making it into cover. The heavy weapons move though cover onto the rocky hill. However I keep the tanks back a little as I don’t want them just getting glanced to death by the necron warriors.

I try to do some damage to the night bringer with lascannons and autocannons, but I only manage to do a single wound to it. The spawn and ogryn run to get into a better position. Battle cannon fire targets the warriors on the far left, both shots land on target and after reanimation 8 necron warriors die along with the cryptek. They fail their moral and run for it but only go 3 inches.

Score: objective 3, objective 2, first blood (cryptek)

Renegades: 3 – Necrons: 0

Necron turn 1

The fleeing warriors rally and move back towards the objective. Using veil of darkness, the overlord teleports his warrior unit next to the two battle tanks, and they lock on... great. A little angry the c’tan moves towards the spawn while everyone else holds their ground.

 Using its powers the c’tan manages to deal 2 wounds to the closest chaos spawn and heals itself back up to full wounds. The warriors in my back field rapid fire into the battle tanks and get a horrible number of 6’s wrecking both of the tanks. On the left flank the necron warriors shoot at the spawn in cover and deal 2 wounds to them as well. On the right the warriors kill off the wounded spawn.

Score: nothing

Renegades: 3 – Necrons: 0

Renegades turn 2

In from reserve the veterans deep strike in next to the annihilation barge but scatter away, but thankfully they don’t mishap. The demolisher turns around to face the necron warriors behind it hoping to kill them while they are still packed tightly together. Again the spawn push forwards while the ogryn move to tie up the nightbringer.

Levelling their melta guns, the veterans shoot at the annihilation barge and get 2 penetrating hits though, and explode the tank before it can do any damage! Unfortunately in the explosion 5 of the veterans (including the meta guns) die, as do 4 warriors and a spawn is wounded. Such a glorious explosion, so much so that the veterans run after failing a moral test. Demolisher cannon targets the warriors, but it scatters off the table, sealing the tanks fate. Again autocannon and lascannon fire targets the c’tan but can’t get past its invulnerable save.

Assault phase, the Ogryn charge the c’tan, the monster kills a single model with ease, but they then manage to deal a single wound to him. On the right the spawn charge into the full necron warrior squad but the overwatch is horrific and they all die before they can make it. On the left they charge the wounded squad and take a single wound from over watch. In the melee the spawn kill off 1 then the necrons deal 2 wounds back.

Score: big game hunter, no prisoners, objective 1

Renegades: 6 – Necrons: 0

Necron turn 2

Screaming in from reserve, the doom scythe goes after the chimera in the middle, ready to destroy the transport. The lord leaves the unit of warriors and chases after the demolisher while the warriors go after the other chimera.

Some long range shots from the necron warriors on the hill hit the sentinels and manage to wreck two of them with lucky 6’s to glance. Not wanting the vets to rally the warriors on the right kill then from afar. In my back field the warriors wreck my commanders chimera, but they pass their pinning test. The flier wrecks the other chimera forcing its occupants out.

Assault phase and the lord charges into the demolisher tank, and takes off two hull points and its heavy bolter, but the tank lives and is able to move! Again the c’tan kills another ogryn but I do no wounds this turn. Spawn combat and again I kill off 1 warrior, but the spawn then get beaten to death by the warriors.

Score: behind enemy lines

Renegades: 6 – Necrons: 1

Renegades turn 3

Mutants hide in the shadows, taking an objective

In from reserve come the mutants, and they outflank on the left right next to the ruins and objective. The demolisher moves back while the warlord leaves his command squad and joins the 20 man unit of infantry for extra protection. I move the infantry in the large unit of renegades up to attack the necron warriors and the unit just out of the chimera back to attack the necron lord.

Shots from the small infantry squad manage to do no damage to the necron lord. The demolisher tries to kill him but the shot scatters and hits the renegades who just fired, killing 5. Lascannon fire reduces the lord down to 1 wound, and it takes the command squad melta gun to finish him off. Plasma shots from the front infantry squad knock down 4 necron warriors but the autoguns prove useless. The mutants add their fire power but do nothing. End of the phase and the warriors run from taking too much damage... again.

Assault and the final ogryn is killed by the c’tan.

Score: objective 5, kingslayer (3), slay the warlord

Renegades: 11 – Necrons: 1

Necrons turn 3

Finally the necron warriors move up and the c’tan goes after the large infantry squad. Using its speed the flier moves to target the lascannons as they are its biggest threat. The running warriors fail to rally and carry on going towards the table edge.

Shooting from the flier kills all of the heavy weapons, even with them going to ground, the poor buggers. The warriors on the right that moved have about 4 guys in range of the demolisher, and manage to get the last hull point off it. That leaves the rather unscathed warrior unit in my lines to target my warlord units killing off 13 guys and wound the warlord himself (I passed A LOT of look out sir rolls). The c’tan gazes at the infantry squad in front of it killing 2, gaining a wound back.

Assault and the nightbringer charges the unit it, and kills off 2. The renegades run for their lives but get cut down by such a powerful monster.

Score: objective 2, blood and guts, recon

Renegades: 11 – necrons: 4

Renegades turn 4

He’s out to kill my warlord so to stop his warriors in the back doing it, I send the half unit to block them for a turn at least.

My sentinels and infantry shoot at the night bringer desperately trying to bring it down before it hits my lines again as it very powerful in combat, but I only do 2 wounds to it. Shots from the mutants target the unit running away and they kill a single warrior.

Score: nothing

Renegades: 11 – Necrons: 4

Necrons turn 4

Somehow the fleeing warriors rally again while the other warriors push forwards again. The flier moves off the table and the c’tan goes after the infantry.

Again the nightbringer gazes and kills 2 renegades healing back another wound. The warriors manage to wreck a sentinel and reduce the last one to 1 hull point. Pinned but not stopped, the warriors shoot at the command squad in the wrecked chimera, killing them all.

Assault phase and because he killed some renegades in the shooting phase the c’tan fails his charge! Praise the chaos gods.

Renegades: 11 - Necrons: 4

Renegades turn 5

As the only objective I might get is blood and guts, I move the mutants up to the crippled warrior unit ready to charge them.

The autocannons do no damage to the nightbringer this turn, so I’m pretty much dead. Lasgun shots kill no necron warriors either.

Assault and the mutants charge the warriors and do no damage; they lose 3 of their own number and run for it.

score: noting

Renegades: 11 - Necrons: 4 

Necron turn 5

The flier comes back in towards the last sentinel as the c’tan moves up.

Shooting from the c’tan kills off every one but the warlord thank god and the warriors kill the unit holding them in, not willing to stand the indignity any longer. The doom scythe kills the last sentinel and the warriors gun down the running mutants.

Assault and the c’tan once more fails a charge on the lone warlord.

Score: nothing

Renegades: 11- Necrons: 4

I pray to the gods the game ends here and I win with a single model left, otherwise I'm going to get tabled... it continues.

Renegade turn 6

The warlord tires to find cover.

Necrons turn 6

They gun down my warlord, the flier gets the final kill.

End of game.

Renegades: 11 – Necrons: 5

Victory by knockout, the Necrons!!!     

Post-Battle

Well that went well. I scored a lot of points very quickly, I focused on objectives and I got blasted off the table. The mission itself I really liked a kind of attack and defend feel to it, I just played it badly and my list just isn’t quite right yet.

Now I miss-played that one as is rather obvious. By focusing so much on objectives I left myself open to be killed. Next time I should focus on survival while still looking for opportunities to grab objectives instead of just throwing myself at it. I probably got lucky that my opponent didn’t get great objectives at the beginning allowing me to contest his hold on one of his objectives for a few turns giving me the card advantage. This also forced his warriors to stay back to hold objectives until later in the game where he decided extermination was the answer.

Another issue with this game was my list just didn’t have the answers it needed to have. Teleporting unit of warriors? I need something more than just praying a demolisher will finish them off. Some form of combat unit maybe? Having the Battle tanks in a unit together really isn’t helping either, they are too big a target and with penetrating hits and glancing hits being able to spread over its just not worth it. I will need to split them up in my next game. The lascannon heavy weapons team is a nice unit to have, but I think it’s more of a deterrent than an actual unit killer. Yes, every now and then I will get lucky with them but overall I think it’s a unit to make a tank think, maybe I shouldn’t go this way. Reducing them down to 3 might be better or probably going full blown 6 for a laugh, but either way something has to change. And I am spending way too many points on a command squad for very little table effect. Especially if I am going to just make the warlord jump from unit to unit when things start going bad. I quite like the chaos spawn, but maybe changing to a different god will give me some answers that the list needs.

Anyway this was a very fun game, and the new necrons are hard to shift, but I think next time I might be able to do a little more against them.