Imperium vs Necrons, 06.04.2022

Introduction 

The nuns sally forth in force to face down the Novokh dynasty led by Szarekh, the Silent King in 2000 points of Death and Zeal.

Battle round 1

I won the roll-off and redeployed my heavy weapons squads for maximum efficiency. One enterprising Chimera circled left to capture an objective, while everything else pushed forwards in the center.

The kill tally for turn 1.

Devastation swept across the necron flank as Gatekeeper opened fire.

The robots looked down the barrels of guns and searchlights without an ounce of fear.

The necrons answered my volleys by rushing forth.

Concentrated firepower ground down the Bullgryns, with Szarekh charging in to seal their fate. More concerning was that the Wraiths had reached my back lines in a single turn.

Battle round 2

Knight Commander Valentina (totally not Pask) decided to stand her ground and grind with the Wraiths - the first of many mistakes I made, in hindsight. The destroyers deflected most of the battle cannon shots; Szarekh resisted all the lascannon shots; the Callidus assassin took down the Cryptek but it stood back up; the Eversor needed to fight again to kill the backline Warriors; the plasma scions could not kill the scarabs, instead dying to supercharged plasma guns; inquisitor Clotilde failed her rerolled charge against the Wraiths.

A terrifying sight to behold.

In one fell swoop, the Wraiths came in and killed the inquisitor, an astropath and the warlord platoon commander, while also engaging the tank commander.

Szarekh floated menacingly towards Pask, destroying the tank with high powered shots, than charging the guardsmen.

The destroyers quickly chopped apart the Chimera.

A small squad of Warriors encircled the other Chimera, taking away the objective as well.

Tremble mortals, and despair... doom has come to your world!

Battle round 3

The nuns fought on, but I lacked any kind of steam. All my shots bounced off Dr. Murder Crab PhD (a.k.a. the Skorpekh lord), who then killed the Eversor assassin, taking back the necron backlines.

I could not shake off the Wraiths, leaving the tank commander Livia Drusilla to grind on in melee.

Infantry squads held on for dear life, earning points in the face of certain death.

The Ogryns earned points as well, chopping down and endless tide of Warriors.

The hero Chimera finally made some kills, prompting the necrons to fall back.

Alas, we ran out of time and had to call the game there.

Summary

56-41 for the necrons.

I scored well on primaries, Mental Interrogation and No Prisoners. Unfortunately, the necrons quickly took control of the board, holding me back on primary points as well as Stranglehold.  Not even painted army points would have carried me this time.

At 2000 points, this was the most tactical game that I've ever played with the nuns. Even with my ever gracious opponent letting me math out the order of orders (he he), I made several tactical blunders. The first turn went well but after that:

• I should have picked better targets for the Manticore. It took down the Reanimator in one turn, then killed two Warriors the next turn.
• I should have kept an eye on the Wraiths. For someone who also plays a fast melee army, I quickly forgot how devastating it is to get a unit into the backline of shooters.
• I should have played the inquisitor more conservatively. After she failed to do anything last game against the Tyranids, I just wanted to have something cool happen. Instead, she got out and got killed.
• ... and probably several others I can't recall after the fact.

All in all, the army isn't all that bad, even with the old codex; player optimized terrain really helps in getting the firing lanes I need (unless the necrons stick a huge crater in the middle of the board). The nuns shall return!