1500pt battle report - nids vs Necrons

It's been a good while since Ben and I threw down and even longer since I faced the might of his Necrons. What followed was a truly Epic battle. I've learned a lot since the last time and forgotten a lot too. It was a finely balanced game, that teetered backwards and forwards never quite tipping against me as in the past, but lets get down to it.

Psychic Powers Winged Tyrant HQ Winged Tyrant Tervigon CC TR Tervigon Plain Tr Smite Enfeeble Enfeeble Endurance Iron Arm Life Leech Life Leech Smite Doom of Malan'tai  Psychic Shriek

The low down:

• The Relic
• vanguard Strike
• Ben won deployment, but elected for me to go first and then went on to win the Initiative on a 6 even though Imotekh wins it on 4+ [which I forgot]
• Warlord Trait - Night Attacker, so if I elect not to use night fighting it does say 'for the game' so it shouldn't come in on turn 5 right? Equally how does that fit with Imotekh and his rule that Night Fighting is in play turn 1? Should we roll off to see who gets the drop on the night?

I set up completely oblivious to Imotekh's steal the initiative on a 4 rule, my bad really. I should have used the Bastion for it's intended purpose - LoS blocking, but no I wanted to capture the Relic first turn with a spawning Gaunt rush.

So both Tervigon's were out in the open...

and they faced a wall of living metal

Even with the 4+ steal Ben gets a 6 and seizes the initiative from me.

Lightning strikes - Hive Guard take a wound and my Plain Tervigon, the one with Endurance but no chance to use it manages to suck lightning and Tesla fire by the bucketload, passing save after save. The Triarch Stalker does manage to put two wounds on her though.

And then another round of Tesla [I think the last of Ben's shooting] manages to put 5 wounds on her and this is my saving throw!

She implodes in acrid spark of electricity and ozone. First Blood to Ben and the second time in two games I've lost a Tervigon in turn 1! But I know I can still perform with only one, even if the odds are already stacked against me. I am at this point thinking the 3 Hive Guard, single Hive Tyrant and Mawloc list may have had a better chance though...

My Tervigon spawns 13 which head for the Relic to stall the cron advance and scuttles off to secure the Comms Relay. Something has to be in base contact with it and with my other Tervigon dead, the Hive Guard in the building to get in range and only one set of gaunts the CC Tervigon is my only option to ensure the success of my reserve rolls.

The Hive Guard manage one penetrating hit on the Stalker. At least it's shields are down and thanks to open topped I destroy it's main gun! Suddenly my Bastion is looking untouchable with very little weaponry able to harm it. Still, I think 3 Hive Guard would have helped my odds here.

Lightning strikes the Gaunts and 4 die. More Scarabs are spawned.

The remaining gaunts are wiped out.

Once again the Swiss Army Knife of the 40k universe shows its mettle/metal [pun intended]. The Scarabs swarm the Bastion chewing it to pieces. Luckily the Hive Guard escape with only 1 wound. Things look bleak.

Here comes the cavalry. Drop pods land and I can secure the Relic, the Doom only manages 1 extra wound thanks to cover saves!

Flyrants also Swoop in, although I should have put them both in the woods.

Shooting was good, wounding was less so. Combined fire can only put down the 9 remaining Immortals, but at least they won't get back up again. Imotekh stands untouched, but not unbowed because, what's this? Oh yeah in his bag of tricks there's a St4 Ap5 template weapon that roasts the Devgaunts off the Relic and even wounds  the Doom!

The Tervigon and Scarabs come to blows. Not sure who instigated this but being tarpitted by them doesn't sound like something I'd do. Eventually I take 2 wounds and that means I no longer have a saving throw! My only hope is to Enfeeble the Scarabs next turn so they cannot damage me.

Tactical decision time. An Annihilation barge was where the Flyrant is at the bottome of the picture. The choice was whether to leave it and hold the centre or end it, prevent Line Breaker and get my Flyrant out of range. Ideally the other Flyrant would have been better. My Warlord has +2 Iron Arm and would be more durable but the other Tyrant was too far away to make the Vector Strike. So I go with the Warlord and it completely destroys the Barge, blowing it up 5 ways of Sunday - all 5s and 6s on the pen chart for open topped!

The Tervigon Enfeebles the Scarabs, so he's safe but can only manage to kill one base! Meanwhile the Triarch Stalker smashed it's way through the Dooms pod. The pod actually got a couple of hits on it before it was smooshed but failed to penetrate, yes even St8 Smash attacks! It may have taken a glancing hit though.

Spyders assault the Devgaunts, I fail to make enough wounds on them in overwatch. The Spyders only have a couple of wounds left, it's getting frustrating at this stage. The Flyrant manages to kill a couple of Immortals I say a couple, he probably killed about 4 or 5 it's just the buggers keep getting back up!

The Spyders continue to maul on the gaunts, they just keep making their saves even when I do damage them, and they're Enfeebled too [not that it makes any difference with my damage rolls].

The Stalker goes for seconds of Mycetic Spore Pod but I manage to get a single overwatch hit!

And glance the metal walker to death! Sweet, if meagre, revenge!

AND my luck runs out, I roll my Iron Arm and Perils with 3 wounds on the clock! With the Flyrant on the board I had a chance but with this darned luck I think I'm out of the running.

The Doom and Imotekh have been battling on and off. With the Doom down to 2 wounds and the Overlord on 1. Without the Strength to damage him and his 2+ save it meant I needed reinforcements.

Bottom of turn 5 and the Flyrant jumps in, to help.

Meanwhile my Tervigon had killed the remaining Scarabs, he's literally 6" away from the Relic. I can capture it and win the game [barring it continuing on to turn 6] if I can get a 6 clambering across the wrecked Triarch Stalker...

...fiddlesticks!

On the plus side Imotekh was smooshed when my Tyrant Gloriously Intervened in the Challenge that had been raging. Yes I recently found out the Doom is indeed a Character so this melee had been a Challenge all along.

However, Imotekh gets back up again! And we roll for turn 6.

Imotekh appears back in the ruins while his Spyders finally munch the last of the Devgaunts and head for the killing field. The Ghost Ark moves behind the Tyrant

and disgorges a bunch of Warriors right on top of the Relic.

I literally have no idea what this roll is, perhaps it's the first time Ben rolled the dice without getting a 6 for Tesla or overwatch ;)

But immediately after I'm getting roasted by Imotekh's gauntlet of fire again and the Doom is down to only 1 wound!

Oh yeah, there's a Night Scythe too! Any other extras you want to bring to the table? I think it kills the Tervigon

The Flyrant assaults the Warriors.

they lose, flee and their Cryptek reanimates to find himself on his own next to a big monster, "Hey you guys?!" But what's this? Imotekh down on his a$$ again? Having come out of cover he pays the price and the Doom sucks him off, erm... moving on.

aaannnd he's back up again! Seriously, you're saying the Doom is CHEESE? We roll for turn 7 and it goes on.

There's a couple of options here. There is an Annihilation Barge in my Deployment Zone, Ben has First Blood, Slay the Warlord and Line Breaker, so it's 3:0 I can definitely get Line Breaker for 3:1, hope the Doom takes out Imotekh, I mean he's done it twice already, what's a third time right? That'll make 3:2. I can get the flyrant to attack the Annihilation barge, maybe killing it for 2:0 with the Doom/Imotekh saga rounding out 2:1. Regardless I can't win and I opt for the first choice. Vector Strike/Shoot the Warriors in the wood but they probably got back up. I'm not sure what happened to Imotekh but at 1:30am the game was over, bitter defeat yet again.

This was such an awesome game. Perhaps if I'd remembered all my past defeats to Ben it would have had a different outcome. That sounds like sour grapes but it's my own fault. The fact is in the past I hardly ever got to see reanimation protocols in effect, I was spending all my time dealing with barges and fearing Mind-shackle Scarabs! But I think Necrons really are one of the best armies, I'm amazed they seem to have dropped off the radar competitively. Imotekh is an absolute beast, d6 St8 Ap5 hits on EVERY unit EVERY turn on a 6! Honestly the Doom pails in comparison and was completely nullified by him too. Every unit seems to have extra levels of tricks up it's sleeve, even if it's just they stand up after being killed on a 5+

I had some poor rolls later in the game but early on I was doing my usual 5s and 6s like a fiend, I don't know if the alternative list or a different mission would have garnered different result. I was happy to play on so late given how close it was but here's a thing do I get 2 Slay the Warlord points for killing Imotekh twice? If so, does that mean we drew 3:3 ;)

To done! [ish] - Dark Vengeance Chaos Cultists

Here we go, the Free Radical Collective in all there glory. Now officially I'm saying these are done, but there are 20 Cultists in the Dark Vengeance box, so sue me! Actually I've done a bit of work on these too but they're not so much Chaos Cultists anymore... :) wait and see.

I'm not overly keen on my 'glowy eyes' it's a but wrong but they do add a slightly unearthly look to the unit, so I can live with it.

I had always hoped these would be quick to do but I spent an awful lot of time on them fussing and faffing over bits. Then the other night I did 3.5 solid hours straight, without a break. I finished the bases, red planet and the grey areas, which is the debris from the Deathwing and Inquisition strikeforce in their HQ [see I was thinking about this a lot!]

I also wanted to freehand the FRC logo, it was unsurprisingly difficult to do and in the end I did a couple of simple 'R' designs but in fact I think I missed a trick. in particular the flat area on this guys leg would have been perfect for the full logo.

Whereas the creases here don't do me any favours. They look better than I first thought in thr pictures but the ridges do not aid clarity. Still, the reds do look quite good, I've surprised myself, makes me want to do Blood Angels!

I do like the hooded gas mask guy, I'm just not convinced I did the mask justice. As for morningstar dude, that ball and chain is a bit lacklustre but I think I was losing patience by this stage. I do like his blue skin though, very Rogue Trooper.

Unfortunately this mix of models was supposed to have more orange wearing fanatics, an even split but that didn't work out. Also flamer dude didn't have too many areas for the FRC logo, so I just put R's all over him, as tattoos too! 

I think this FRC logo came out the best in the end. My freehanding got better as I went along, I hope it helps when I do my Dark Angel logos, maybe that's the way to go, siomething more freehand than a pristine representation of the badge?

The three tenors!

This one turned out ok, helped by the fact that I did not highlight his back at all so he had quite a few more shades of red than some of the other models.

And this one too wasn't bad, if a bit chunky.

Not so sure about that mutants back, a bit of a cop out.

But overall I'm really impressed. As a group I managed to pull it out of the bag. Those 3.5 hours, and I rarely can focus for that amount of time without being distracted, were relentless. The bases, highlights on everything, the browns, the grey highlights on the black and reds will help in preparing for my Ravenwing. Even the red edges of the bases were and experiment, they're not Mechrite Red but in fact Vallejo Game Extra Opaque Heavy Red. The match is near perfect, although it's not as thick and slightly more glossy but only by a fraction. I can certainly see this as a perfect replacement and it will definitely fix all my frosted bases.

In truth this was a long slog, and actually only half complete but I learned an awful lot, even if it was hard going. Hopefully I'll be more confident with my next step, maybe finish up that Dark Angel Tactical squad. The remaining 'cultists' I will split into two groups of 5 I think, you'll see them all soon enough. I'll maybe paint them in amongst my other projects to keep me distracted from getting bored.

Dark Vengeance Chaos Cultists - nearly done

You may have noticed in my Free Radical Collective post that I finished my Chaos Cultists. There was supposed to be a 'big reveal' for this but if I'm honest I couldn't juggle everything in the right order. I actually thought I'd taken some intermediary pictures since April but I can't find any but as I said in the post I was 'doing' more than 'recording' so maybe I just got on with it.

Of course I then went on my Tyranid Bastion feast so I think these took a back seat but they've never been far from the painting table, gathering dust.

Once I hit upon connecting them to the Free Radical Collective I also knew I had to start introducing some of my Hive Fleet colours. Most of the cultists use red or orange clothing, this is to blend into the landscape and also in mockery of the Mechanicum but the bonewhite and turquoise come from their reverence of the 'nids [which they may or may not be infected by...].

I added a whole lot of rust and grime in places. I'm sure those new technical paints would have made this a heck of a lot easier, maybe I'll invest. I also wanted a healthy or should that be unhealthy selection of skin tones - a swarthy yellow and bluey-turquoise. Colours that didn't automatically jump out as xenos but were just about recognisable for their heritage.

These models were actually a nightmare to paint for me. So many bits, and I wanted them to be both a unit and individuals so I tried to be random in places. I longed for the simplicity of a gaunt by the end of this. Originally these were to be my Necromunda gang, they still can be but the remaining 10 miniatures will be very different now I know where I'm going with them.

The funny thing is I actually painted 12 but one miniature got knocked into the waste bin and luckily I only found it after I'd finished but before I emptied it and another got misplaced somewhere else, but also luckily recovered.

More trouble at t' Tyranid rumour mill

The Tyranid rumour mill is in full flow with the imminent arrival of the new Codex, haven't we been here before? Yes indeed, when we thought it would be 'Nidvember'. You may recall I was swept up with the fever but it felt more like the flu in the end. I have to say time has not changed my symptoms. Initial rumours were positive - Termagants for 4pts [cool], Devourers for 4pts [cool] so my 10 man squad is going to save me 20pts, just think of the possibilities! Scratch that I can make the Devourers poisoned for 2pts, I'll take it and suddenly I'm hitting 15 and wounding 10 or 11 Marines with 3 or 4 marines dead, lets hope they're combat squaded! I suppose it's better than 2 or 3 without poison and I can still have a pop at Monstrous Creatures.

Spinefists seem to be pointless, still! But alongside the redundant Strangleweb, still at 10pts there seems to be a new template in town that looks worth taking, although its15pts!. Anyway, Hormies become Beasts, which might make them worth taking again and a Tyranid Prime can finally join a unit of Warriors in a Spore Pod if they're his 'retinue'!

But yet what's this we also have a rumour that suggests 'things without models, not in Codex' - theres no models for the Spore Pod, does that mean there will be no new model for this.

???

But there were 'Nidvember' rumours it was a dual model, also more recent rumours [this week] it would be a 'dataslate' as a full deep strike list so how does that fit with the Prime and his retinue in a pod? And yet the Harpy rumour still persists and there is no model currently for that in our Codex.

???

Even more dramatically - no Doom! If I'm honest I thought he would disappear, or be nerfed but what of the rumours saying a Doom model in a clamshell was in existence and others stating his rules would be the same. And Zoans without psychic shooting attacks as standard!? I know I like the randomness of Biomancy but still. Nevermind, without a pod to actually get them within range of anything they're pretty redundant anyway!

And to cap it all NO ACCESS TO BIOMANCY, just the powers we already have in our Codex that won't be changing - SERIOUSLY!

Every rumour coming out now just sucks, we've relied on Biomancy to make us competitive and it's taken away?! Gaunts for 4pts and Hormies as Beasts, whoopee. Tervigons can still be wiped out even with Iron Arm or Endurance, you're lucky if they survive the game. We adapted to what was considered a poorly produced Codex. We found ways to overcome our deficiencies, like the gribblies themselves. Without allies, without all the whistles and bells of other armies we had time on our side to perfect a few small lists that not only could stand against our opponents but with a bit of luck overcome them!

The only conclusion I can come to is whatever 'big bad' is in the works that will be the prime target and 'must have purchase' we're forced into getting to leave the other models unmolested. I hat this idea and I'm even less convinced of this 'team' approach we're hearing about the author. So the 'team' got on board to finally make this the Codex the nids deserved, well we all know how 'design by committee' works - it doesn't. Maybe having a team makes it easier for them to shift the blame should this be as disastrous as it's shaping up to be.

This is why I'm not feeling the excitement. All these rumours are just spoiling what should be a new dawn, although if they're true it may end up being not so much a Dawn of War as a Dawn of Meh!

Flufftastic - The Free Radical Collective

The Free Radical Equivalent is a seemingly benevolent techno-cult operating out of the Ferron Proxima badlands. Their agenda is presented as a free transfer of technology mainly to the masses and in the process decrying the traditional values and oversight of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Their Open-Source Manifesto of "Progress is progress" borders on the heretical though and the Adeptus Mechanicus has raised their concerns with the local Inquisition, of course this free technology conveniently sidesteps the usual Ad-Mech 'tithe-gelt' but the loss of revenue pales compared to the potential corruption non-sanctioned tech could have on the population. It is for this reason, and this reason only the Ad-Mech is pursuing the Collective and categorizing them as 'techno-terrorists'.

However, the general populace have developed a fondness of the group, seeing them as 'heroic outlaws' akin to the individuals in ancient Terran folklore 'robbing from the rich to give to the poor'. The fact the 'rich' in this case is often the celebrated Techno-archaeologist Avro Vulcan is the only dividing aspect of those that support the collective and those that decry them. Some believe they are targeting him because he has become the most successful discoverer of STC's the sector has ever known. The Free Radical Collective appear to shadow his every move then 'liberate' the data before he can hand it over to the Mechanicum and garner yet more praise. The very same believe Vulcan's agenda is only about himself and the Free Radical Collective is allowing the populace to reach greater potential thanks to their generosity.

Last known picture of Techno-Achaeologist Avro Vulcan and mechanid

Yet others believe there is a darker side to their harrying of Vulcan, that a deeper more sinister connection has led them to plague his every step. Vulcan is a learned Techno-archaeologist and although he has come into conflict with the Adeptus Mechanicus itself his discoveries have offered considerable advances to Ferron Proxima and, more importantly, been 'approved' by the Mechanicus for safe use in the wider Imperium. Evidence to support this argument has been borne out with the many Plasma Generators that have sprung up since their STC plan's were leaked by the FRC. Without Ad-Mech approval and their rigorous testing procedures it is only now that people are finding the STC to be faulty and potentially dangerous. Plasma gas is leaking  from the plasma coils and shows no sign of stopping. The caustic gases produced from the Standard Manifold Coupling has already taken the lives of a number of workers and citizens but still the generators are popping up planetwide to the same fatal spec.

With both the political pressure of the Mechanicum and the moral and social pressure from the recent fatalities the Inquisition has employed one of their lead Investigators - Ephion Rook, who has a long history as an Enginseer prior to his indoctrination in the Ordo Hereticus. It has been his tireless detective work that has uncovered the truth behind some of the Free Radical Collective's activities. With the co-operation of members of the Dark Angels a surgical strike into the heart of the Free Radical Collective's HQ discovered various materials of a Heretical nature. The involvement of the Dark Angels may suggest that their hunt for a member of 'the Fallen' was close to success and evidence would support there was some depraved chaotic links. 

Dark Angels of the Deathwing teleported into the Collectives HQ in support of Inquisitor Rook. Whether they found a member of the Fallen or not has not been revealed...

However, more worrying was the forensic biology reports that some of the Collective were not tainted by Chaos but were in fact some obscene Xeno/human hybrid. Inquisitor Rook has called for support from the Ordo Xenos in confirming his suspicions, that the recent appearance of Hive Fleet Gorgon may have been not the first incursion onto Ferron Proxima but in fact a later stage that has been infecting and conspiring in the dark recesses of the red planet for decades or even millenia.

What is even more disturbing in the evidence secured by the Inquisition/Deathwing strike team that teleported into the Collective's HQ was that there are clearly more of these bases hidden within the rusting hills that dot the Ferron landscape. This was in fact only a small cell and those members that were captured, which were few compared to the many killed by the heroic efforts of the combined force, may well not be the leaders or even the hunted 'Fallen' the strike force hoped.

Certain documents pointed to someone of prominence known only by the initial 'M' and there was also a cryptic reference to the 'Free Radical Equivalent' which is still to be explained. Suffice to say the investigations by the various branches of the Inquisition and the Adeptus Astartes, each for their own priorities will eventually discover the whole truth regarding the Free Radical Collective. In the mean time the population of Ferron Proxima are blissfully unaware and continue to blindly believe they are either threat or saviors.

support your local blogger - Blue Warp Studios

He's only gone and done it! My mate Liam has started a blog at http://bluewarpstudios.blogspot.co.uk/ I cannot recommend it enough, afterall I've been showcasing his insane talent and machine-like productivity for years. Lets face he scratchbuilt a Warlord Titan:

He scratchbuilt a beautiful Warhound Titan too:

He kitbashes all sorts of awesome models

And his painting is award winning, scooping loads of the certificates at Throne of Skulls

And he's insane enough to make his own life-sized Chaos Space Marine helmet too! And he shows how to make it in his blog!

Seriously, is that not evidence enough to follow his blog? Well once again it's a low rent blog, updates every couple of weeks or so and hopefully with more readers he may well dip into his massive collection and showcase all those other armies he has - Elves, Dark Eldar, Crimson Fists, Chaos Marines and many more.

Liam is a hobby genius so sign up now!