First off, the event was an absolute blast! Tons and tons of fun, many great opponents, and a highly memorable guest star by a Crimson Fist! He had an absolutely mind-blowing costume.
My Army List:
Flyrant, Devourers, Hive Commander
Flyrant, Devourers
Flyrant, Devourers
30 gants 120
10 gants 40
10 gants 40
Tervigon , Electroshock Grubs 205
Venom thrope 45
Zoanthrope 50
3 Biovores 120
Exocrine 170
Tyrannofex 175
Tyrannofex 175
Bastion
Bastion
Pre-tournament Tactics:
Many people will find my list a little odd in some aspects. Dual Bastions and a lack of Mawlocs and a lack of Crones... My logic on the Bastions is simple. One is designed to hold the Venomthrope, the other will be placed as far forward as possible as a Line of Sight blocker... sadly, many of the local stores here have very little in the way of True LOS blocking terrain, and I really really wanted some! I'm also not a fan of the too-random Mawloc. Instead I wanted an uber durable army list... specifically, I designed this list to counter Tau and Eldar. Tyrannofex are a big matchup problem for MissileTau, which have become very very popular. Venomthropes will also neuter Eldar rending weapons while a 2+ save laughs off the Serpent Shield. Both Tau and Eldar have very little to deal with a Bastion at range, so I am confident in my ability to keep the Venom alive. Flyrants and Biovores should be self-explanatory. I'm also a big fan of the Tervigon as a backfield unit, it is still tough as mess to kill in an objective game. The exocrine is also a fun unit thanks to the lovely AP 2. My tactics will revolve around Bastion placement allowing me to seize the middle and be incredibly hard to shift. Many of the missions revolve around a central objective or controlling the board, so I'm happy.
Game 1: I was ready to go! I finished painting yesterday, including two Bastions that I bought at 8 pm! My opponent was a fellow named Jonathan, and one who I know is a [i]very[/i] good Necron player. At BeakyCon (where I took best of the Silver bracket) my opponent took second place in the Gold Bracket. Certainly not to be taken lightly! I'd never actually met him however, so I had a good opportunity to play a high-caliber opponent.
His list was as follows:
Necron Overlord, Warscythe, 2+, Phaeron, MSS
Necron Overlord, Warscythe, 2+, Phaeron, MSS
Despairtek
Despairtek
5 Deathmarks
5 Deathmarks
6 Wraiths
6 Wraiths
8 Warriors, Ghost Ark
7 Warriors, Ghost Ark
5 Warriors, Night Scythe
5 Warriors, Night Scythe
Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge
The mission: 20 points total, the GT was purely battle points
Hammer and Anvil
Primary (8 points) : 5 objectives, in the center of each table quarter and the board, Heavy is scoring
Secondary (5 points) : Each scoring unit, troops or heavy, is 2 points if destroyed and 1 point if below half strength
Tertiary (3 points) : Pick an opposing troop, if you kill it you win the mission, if both do it's a tie.
Plus four Bonuses (1 point) : First Blood, Warlord, Linebreaker, Last Blood
Psychic Powers:
Flyrant 1: The Horror, Paroxysm (Trait: -1 to enemy reserves)
Flyrant 2: Catalyst, Paroxysm
Flyrant 3: Catalyst, Warp Blast
Tervigon: The horror
Zoanthrope: Dominion
The table:
You can see it long-ways here (with my army case on top haha) the short edge closest to the cam is my Deployment zone, pre bastions.
I win the roll off and take second turn.
Deployment Necrons:
His deathmarks start way back for a turn 1 jump, otherwise he is symmetrical and ready to advance! Scythes in reserve, plus a Lord/Warriors in each Ark
Deployment Tyranids:
Turn 1 Necrons:
Nothing pic worthy really. He marks my Warlord and a separate Flyrant, then tries to DS nearby. I thought this was a little bold, as my placement meant scatter would likely result in a Mishap. Fortunately, both Deathmarks Mishap! One enters reserves, while I place the other 13" away from my Exocrine. With nightfight on, I have a 2+ cover and he elects to run them into a non-blast shaped formation. Other than this, he advances a bit with all models
Turn 1 Tyranids:
I don't advance much. Psychic powers all over (note that I specifically don't cast Dominion on the Zoey, and all my Synapse is on the far left. One Flyrant advances slightly, another goes a full 24 past his battle lines. Warlord leaves the table. His wraiths would need an 11 so I think it's a worthwhile risk.
The Exocrine and a Flyrant blow his Deathmarks to heck, granting me [b]first blood[/b]. I do a random wound to a Wraith on the right.
Turn 2 Necrons: One Scythe comes on and lines up my forward Flyrant. The Deathmarks land in his zone as he has no good targets. Then, His two wraith squads come a full 12" up for a potential charge! Only my 30 man gant squad is really in range however.
Shooting, my Flyrant easily weathers the Night Scythe and first Annihilation barge with no wounds taken. Then, the second Barge fires...
Yep, those top dice are his to hit roles... 6 snap shots yields six 6s for a total of 18 hits! Son of a... Ow! Naturally, 18 hits murders my Flyrant into the ground as he fails 4 saves and all of his FnP rolls. What a stroke of the dice!
He follows this up by assaulting 12 wraiths into my 30 man gant blob.
He looks immensely pleased that they survive with 8 guys left (actually killing 2 wraiths in the process, one was wounded before). Then, I point out that I had wheeled my entire synapse around, and the gants fall back, escaping his sweep easily. His wraiths are now in the middle of my lines!
Turn 2 Tyranids: My Flyrant and 10 gants come in by his 4 man wraith squad, causing my gants to auto rally. I open fire with 10 gants, 8 gants, a Flyrant and a Tyrannofex, successfully killing his 4 man Wraith unit.
After:
On the other flank, I shoot at his wraiths with a Heavy Bolter, 10 gants, the Exocrine and a Tyrannofex but spectacularly fail to cause any wounds. Biovores target his Deathmarks and I take out his Cryptek so they can no longer teleport. My second flyrant swoops up and shoots his Night Scythe, inflicting 3 penetrating hits and 2 glances. He jinks, and only a single glance makes it through... :facepalm: A Tyrannofex then assaults the 6 wraiths (a quick averages means he'll rend twice) but I am rended three times. Still, I have locked his wraiths in combat for a while. Finally, a Tervigon outflanks on the right, taking his objective and throwing some gants out in front of her.
Turn 3 Necrons: We both suddenly realize we haven't marked our troops for the Tertiary! He declares my Tervigon (d'oh! I wouldn't have outflanked her, but ah well.) and I declare the 5 warriors in his Night Scythe on the board. His second Scythe comes on, and that plus an Annihilation barge takes down my second Flyrant after I fail my first grounding check and 4 out of 6 saves, plus all 4 Feel No Pain rolls. His original Scythe targets my warlord (who was not flying) and thankfully he survives.
More bad news, his overlord and 8 warriors drop out of a Ghost Ark and assault my Tervigon! I thought her safe, but apparently Ghost Arks are open-topped? I had no idea they were, a crucial mistake! I only take one wound and kill a warrior in return. In CC his wraiths and my TFex continue to flail around.
Turn 3 Tyranids: I paroxysm his wraiths to WS 1, then assault with an Exocrine, 10 gants and 8 gants. 6 smash attacks from the MCs spectacularly fail to roll a single hit on 3s, but my gants kill one. In return he kills many gants and wounds the Exocrine. My Flyrant hides behind a Bastion and shoots his Night Scythe down, and I advance my Tyrannofex towards the center objective. I'm trying to lure his Warlord in to assault me... In CC he finishes off my Tervigon between Mindshackle and 4 Warscythe wounds.
Turn 4 Necrons: He takes the bait and his warlord and warriors jump the Tyrannofex! I survive with a few wounds left but he is there for a turn. The wraith brawl in my lines is awful as again the gants kill a Wraith while my MCs whiff completely. His other Scythe darts around.
Turn 4 Tyranids: Here's my plan: I assault the Warlord with my Flyrant, and challenge. He has no invulnerable so he must decline or get beaten into the ground. Then, two MCs mulch his Warriors and my Flyrant sweeps them if they break, breaking his troops and leaving a 4 wound TFew on the center objective. He has nothing that can really touch the TFex at range and his wraiths are locked, plus his other Lord is far away. One snag in the plan... I fail my 4 inch charge with a 3! Here's another crucial mistake. Neither me nor my opponent realized that every player received a single mulligan for the GT. I frankly would have used it right there! To make things worse, I fail mindshackle and my TFex is scythed down. In the other CC his wraiths again slowly whittle the gants while the gants kill one. If my MCs had stepped up I could have crushed them by now! In other news, my Biovores deleted his 5 man warrior squad, my chosen troop.
Turn 5 Necrons: My grouded Flyrant has 0 chance and is shot off the board. He drops warriors on my objective, I go to ground with Venom cover (I disembarked him last turn) and fail FOUR 2+ cover saves... argh!
MCs and wraiths wail away and he maneuvers onto objectives.
Turn 5 Tyranids: I shoot his warriors and kill two, one stands up, and assault with the venomthrope. He takes a wound and fails a 5" charge... Ugh. In CC he finally takes out my Exocrine. I have little left so I just fire away and pray for some good dice.
Turn 6 Necrons: Despite fervent prayers on my part, the game continues! He runs his Warlord towards my CC to help out his wraiths, but is far away. He continues to blast away and takes my gants down to 3 models. My venomthrope is killed by an A.Barge, and the Tyrannofex is killed by the wraiths.
Turn 6 Nids: Nothing to do here really. I shoot at things, don't do much, and assault his warriors (2 left) with 3 gants. Naturally, his overwatch yields 3 hits and I'm forced to go to ground on my own charge! No saves, and all 3 die.
Turn 7 Necrons: A few random shots as my opponent gamely plays this one out. We both know it's over however... his Overlord fails his charge at least.
Turn 7 Nids: I move biovores onto an objective and shoot his two warriors off of mine. Then, my Zoanthrope zaps his solo warlord! It's still to little too late, as the game ends.
Total Score:
Primary: Necrons, 3-1 8 points
Secondary: Necrons, 6-1 5 points
Tertiary: Tie 1-1
Bonus: Tyranids take First blood, Last Blood and Warlord, Necrons take Warlord and Linebreaker
Final result: 16-4, overwhelming Necron victory!
Post-game reaction:
I knew I was playing a top notch opponent, but ouchie! That hurt a lot. I think I was bit cocky given how well Nids did against Crons in the past, but my dice did me no favors there! Indeed, my opponents rolls were on fire as well. However, I did make two mistakes this game: 1. I didn't realize Arks were assault vehicles, and I wouldn't have outflanked the Tervi if I'd known. 2. I assumed I could beat down his wraiths in assault with enough units. That combat never ended, as turn 7 I had 6 gants to his 2 wraiths left. More importantly were some crucial moments when the Dice just hammered me. Flubbing a HUGE 4" charge really hurt. I would have nabbed Warlord, killed a troop, cost him an objective and claimed one as my own, as he had very little that could hope to kill that TFex. Getting6/6 hits with an A barge while snapfiring was demoralizing, as well as 3/4 hits with overwatch. The biggest factor was failing to shoot down any of his 6 man wraiths and then in having him last a total of 11 player turns without dying. Freeing up some of those scoring units would have been a huge boon as his troops were able to walk all around the board.
Still, credit where it's due, my opponent played a great game. He was able to pin back my army with the Wraiths and then simply shot down everything I tried to break his lines with. A great game to Jonathan, who was a very friendly guy despite the lopsided dice.
Coming Sunday: Tyranids vs Tau!
No comments:
Post a Comment