Shenanigan BS

 

"Shenanigans here, Shenanigans there, Shenanigans everywhere!"

Welcome back! Still being out of work due to Doctor's orders, I have had more opportunities to play Warhammer 40,000 lately. And in this opportunity I was able to arrange a game with Screech who I've not played a game with in a very long time! And with him moving away soon to a promising future, we had to capitalize on this opportunity to play. So we met at The Outpost and mustered our forces. 

Fresh from their tangle with the Tyranids they felt like hunting xenos of a more techno nature. Truth is, I wanted to play the Ultramarines (it was March for Macrage month after all) but I just wasn't able to get them to a playable and transportable state. So these gluttons for punishment volunteered their services. It's the same list I used against the Tyranids, but with a Librarian and a Landraider added on (ignore the Venerable Dreadnought, he was just there to offer his insight and advice). 

1300 points of Deathwatch. 

Screech produced his Necrons, who were optimized for maximum death.

In fact, here's the full roster*:

Ahrancris Patrol (1300 points)

Necrons

Strike Force (2000 points)

Awakened Dynasty

CHARACTERS

Orikan the Diviner (80 points)

  • Warlord

  • 1x Staff of Tomorrow

Plasmancer (75 points)

  • 1x Plasmic lance

  • Enhancement: Veil of Darkness

Technomancer (80 points)

  • 1x Staff of light

  • Enhancement: Nether-realm Casket

BATTLELINE

Immortals (140 points)

  • 10x Immortal

    • 10x Close combat weapon

      10x Tesla carbine

Immortals (140 points)

  • 10x Immortal

    • 10x Close combat weapon

      10x Tesla carbine

Immortals (140 points)

  • 10x Immortal

    • 10x Close combat weapon

      10x Tesla carbine

Immortals (140 points)

  • 10x Immortal

    • 10x Close combat weapon

      10x Tesla carbine

OTHER DATASHEETS

Canoptek Doomstalker (135 points)

  • 1x Doomsday blaster

    1x Doomstalker limbs

    1x Twin gauss flayer

Canoptek Doomstalker (135 points)

  • 1x Doomsday blaster

    1x Doomstalker limbs

    1x Twin gauss flayer

Canoptek Reanimator (75 points)

  • 2x Atomiser beam

    1x Reanimator’s claws

Canoptek Wraiths (110 points)

  • 3x Canoptek Wraith

    • 3x Particle caster

      3x Vicious claws

Lokhust Heavy Destroyers (50 points)

  • 1x Close combat weapon

    1x Enmitic exterminator

A force of three squads of Immortals armed with Tesla Carines (Str 5, Assault with Sustained Hits 2...nasty!) The Plasmancer was attached  to an Immortal Squad. The Technomancer was attached to a squad of Canoptek Wraiths, another squad of Immortals was led by Orikan the Diviner. 

1300 of necron mess. 

Our Primary Mission was Purge the Foe (my third time in a row playing this one), Chosen Battlefield was the Mission Rule and Hammer and Anvil was the Deployment card we pulled. 

I decided to Deep Strike in all my DW Terminators so I placed the rest of the force in a defensive posture in a corner of my Deployment Zone and on an Objective. 

Deathwatch deployment. 

Full field deployed. 

The Deathwatch won the roll-off to go first. The Deathwatch Bikers zipped out and claimed the next Objective. The Landraider opened up on one of the Doomstalkers, the Oath of Moment target for this round, putting 6 Wounds on it. 

Objective secured! 

On the Necrons Turn 1, the combined firepower of the big machines knocked about half of the Wounds off of the Landraider. While the Immortals that could target the Bikers killed half of the squad. 

Deathwatch VPs: 2

Necrons VPs: 5

Objective under fire!

After a fairly soft first turn, it was about to get, as they say, "real".  At the start of Deathwatch Turn 2, the DW Bikers rolled a 12 on their Battleshock test, totally committing to holding that Objective. Furor Tactics in play really helped get the hits but it was the Terminators, all of whom I brought in on this turn via Deep Strike, that helped turn the tide. One squad brought down one of the Doomstalkers the other opened up on a unitl of Immortals and finished them off in the Fight Phase. Over confident they consolidated closer to the Wraiths. 

The Terminators gain a foot hold. 

The third group of Terminators were not so fortunate. Despite supporting fire from the DW Bikers the big unit of Immortals on top of the big rock with an objective on it. 

At the end of my Fight phase the Plasmancer teleported his unit of Immortals away. And at the start of Necrons Turn 2 he rematerialzed on the other side of the table within gun range of the Chaplin and the Deathwatch Vets who were holding, what they thought, was the securest objective. They were promptly erased by the fire power of the Immortals and the Plasmancer. 

Then came the quote of the night: "I'm pulling some shenanigan bullshit!" As he moved his wraiths over the Terminators nearest to them. This triggers a special rules they have that hits the enemy unit moved over with Mortal Wounds. Ouch. But the Terminators weathered that and fought well against the Wraiths who they were now locked in melee with. 

Turn 2 VPs 

Deathwatch: 21

Necrons: 13

If the Deathwatch was winning at this point, it didn't feel like it.  Their assets were spread quite wide and their gains were costly. The secondary objectives achieved in that round (No Prisoners and Bring it Down) were replaced on Turn 3 with ones that would be very challenging to achieve, and I didn't have the CPs to spare to burn a card. 

The fight for the ridge top.

But I wanted that objective in my DZ back so I zipped the Landraider up (which at this point only had one Wound left!) and deployed the Librarian. To help them out I even made the Plasmancer and his Immortals the Oath of Moment target for this round. He was going to Smite the Immortals and Charge them. Maybe? Not sure as the Immortals overwatched him and, even with a 4+ Invulnerable Save, was executed before he set foot off the Landraider's Assault ramp. The Landraider raider tore into the Immortals and despite killing a few of them, was unable to assault the Immortals. 

A heroic suicide 

On the other side all of fights were now locked and engaged. The Terminators and Wraiths continued to dance in melee, while the other squad charged into the other Doomstalker but just couldn't bring it down. 

"This Doomstalker is harder to kill than the first one!"

Necrons Turn three and the only the Landraider and bikers were not locked in close combat. Despite being the sole survivor for a few Fight phases he was laid low when the Reanimator joined the fray. The Terminators and wraiths kept fighting, and with reanimation protocols restoring Wounds and model everywhere, it was quickly apparent that the Deathwatch were now out matched. 

The continues.

Meanwhile the Immortals and the Plasmancer on their turn destroyed the Landraider with ease. And claimed the objective. 

"It is ours."

Outmatched by the end of the turn it looked impossible to turn the tide. The Necrons were claiming so many Objectives now and my units were locked in fights for survival that were near none of them. I considered the Gambit cards, but after seeing the time,  I had to call it regardless. I wanted to keep going to the bitter end, but it just seemed best to stop here. Maybe if the DW Terminators had the Kill Team keyword I could've used the Teleprtarium Stratagem (made sense  to me at the time since that's what got them onto the table!) but, no, that would make sense. So they were essentially stuck.

Final VPs

Deathwatch: 25

Necrons: 33

"Umm... can we get a beam up or something?"

Had we continued the Necrons would be impossible to catch up to from a points perspective, and from an attrition perspective it wasn't looking so hot for the Deathwatch either. 

Good game Screech, thanks for schooling me on Necrons. They are a fun army, but nasty to face in this current meta**. And, the so called Xenos Hunters, prove that they're just not able to handle this foe either, at least not with the assembled units available to me. 

*Exported with App Version: v1.11.0 (39), Data Version: v352

**I accept my punishment for using this accursed word. 

Necron Lord with Resurrection Orb (Part 1)

 Not long after I finished my chaos android redux miniature I found this blister pack lurking in my collection. I originally bought it and gifted it to brother about 10 years ago when he was flirting with the notion of coming back to 40k and possibly playing Necrons. Well, that didn't pan out and he gave the blister pack back to me when he last moved. I thought I had given it away to someone else as I had minimal interest at the time in doing Necrons. But after that chaos android redux experiment I was kinda hungry for a bit more, so this guy showing back up when he did was amazing timing. 

Mint!

After a moment, the briefest of fleeting moments, to reflect upon the mint condition status of this sealed blister pack, I tore it open and began cleaning up the miniature. It was a flash and mold line nightmare and in hindsight I am glad my brother didn't put himself through this experience, as it likely would've led to him quiting again anyway.. The staff was particularly bent up. I think a lot of the later metal miniatures GW produced were manufactured so fast that the metal was still a bit soft when it came time to seal them into blisters, but who knows? Unlike resign, pewter is easy to bend back into position, and after a few minutes I had it straightened out. 

...and bent. 

Once I dealt with the flash and straightened out that staff, I put this guy together. I got to say, this model is impressively majestic once built.  

Coming together.

Once he was assembled and the basing material was applied, outside he went for priming. I use the paint intended for use with Contrast Paint. It's expensive, but I find it to very good to work with regardless of whether I actually use Contrast Paint on a model or not. 

Primed.

And he's been in the queue ever since. And now by posting this perhaps it will inspire me to knock out a paint job for him?  Once I can get back to miniature painting that is; my art projects are maximizing my time these days and I still have those World Eaters to deal with... but I'm eager to see that classic Chaos Android scheme on this chap so I might just go for it. Oh, and his working name is currently Tut the Terrible. Should be a fun addition to the Rogues Gallery when the time comes. 

Chaos Android Redux

 Here's a break from the norm, and a bit of an experiment on my part: Necrons. Or... Chaos Androids? 

Space Crusade Chaos Android.

The Chaos Androids first appeared in Space Crusade, a joint MB and GW game that came out approximately 30 years ago in the early 1990s.  Although I don't recall them receiving proper 40k stats, they were very much a canonized element of the Chaos forces at the time as they found their way over into the Epic Space Marine game. But with the Epic game changing editions they disappeared and weren't seen again. 

Backside of Chaos Android.

Along came the early Necrons in the very final days of Warhammer 2nd edition. These things were clunky and bulky compared to the sleeker design of the Space Crusade plastic miniatures. At Games Day 1999 we got to speak with Rick Priestley and asked him if there was any correlation between the two and he agreed that there was. The design team liked the design of the Chaos Androids but they didn't really fit in with the direction that Chaos was going in. Since most of the classic factions in 40k were essentially ported over themes from Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Necrons basically assumed the role of the Undead. Thus, they became their own thing. 

Detail of crude chaos icon on it's head.

Despite getting a pre-metal* Necron Warrior and a Scarab from GW U.S.A. Mail Order, I just wasn't overwhelmed by them and decided not to go forward with collecting them. The plastics that followed didn't really grab me either, maybe it was the green rods? I didn't hate those things, but... I dunno? Just no Necrons for me. 

Now in these current times, with Necrons being one of the featured starter armies in this edition I have aquired a few of them. And I have to admit that their more rag-tag look appeals to me more. So I figured I would try to paint one like the Chaos Android I painted almost 30 years ago. That paint scheme was based on the examples found on the Space Crusade box and in White Dwarf Magazines at the time. I like that scheme and I think my nearly three decade (the model above was painted in the Summer of '93) old paint job still holds up for the most part. Yeah, the red on the gun probably won't work but, well, it was the '90s and the 'Red Phase' was just starting.

The Indomitus era Necron.

Design wise, these latest models aren't too dissimilar from the Space Crusade Chaos Android.  Sure they're taller, but check out the way they designed their backs and the way their plate cover the internal skeleton. They have a very similar design gestalt, and their profiles are very close. The newer ones are bit more skinny and they're taller, but a close silhouette regardless. Their weapon is the biggest change. I always thought the original model had a gun that was more a suggestion of a weapon as opposed to being a true design of one. 

Backside of current Necron warrior.

I primed the Necron Warrior with Greyseer. The first paint I added was Tesseract Glow on the glowy part of the gun and the warrior's eyes. I then cover the model using Black Templar Contrast Paint, being careful not to get in on the Tesseract Glow bits. Runelord Brass was added to the gun after ultimately deciding that red really was going to look stupid. 

Basecoats. 

I then sought out a gray color that wasn't too dark or too bright. I ended up using  Apple Barrel County Grey for this.  I then picked out all of the exposed 'skeleton' parts of the Necron by using Hashut Copper. Coincidentally there is a sigil on the Warrior's chest in the same area on the Chaos Android that I also painted copper. I just thought that was amusing.

Midcoats.

Next I painted White Scar on the majority of the model. I got a bit careless and had to touch up his eyes. I added a bit of glow effect on his left leg using Tesseract Glow. 

White Scar layer.

But I wasn't done yet. After a few touch-ups, I applied a layer of 'ard Coat varnish to the white areas. The effect doesn't photograph too well, but it gives it sheen that looks interesting in person. It kind of looks like a busted white iPhone. 

'Ard Coat on the white.

Also the base was finished off to look a bit more desert-like than my typical bases. I chose a more dried looking piece of brush to go on there also but only used one to sort of imply a sense of a sparse barren landscape. Clearly I think too much about these things.

Profile shot of finished miniature.

Okay, and here he is with his ancestor. Oddly, I think if you could fix his weird pose the old Chaos Android might actually be the same size! 

Just with a bigger head. 

Family reunion.

I hope you got a kick out of this. Will there be more Necrons in my future? TBD. 

*Ah, I miss the Glen Bernie era of GW US.

Happy New Year from the Battle Barge

WAAAAGH!!!

...A good way to start the New Year, 'ey? With an orky battle-cry! This is two posts in one, so if you're not into battle reports, skip ahead a bit for some more Neverness Hobby stuff...

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 Once again I directed the battle-barge to the the Cinci Subsector, the Battle-ground of  Jake's Terror near the Batavian Hive on the World of Olszewski's Landing. My good friend (who for the sake of professional anonymity we discreetly refer to as: 'The Doctor' on this blog) has his annual birthday bash just before New Years. I usually make it, and this year I did. We skipped our never-ending Necromunda game this time for a three-way bash of 40K. We choose a mere 1000pt each for this scuffle, which proved to be more than enough for us to slay the evening!

1K of Space Wolves led by Sven Axegrinder stand ready in the setting sun...

To make this work, we chose the Hammer & Anvil deployment map and the Crusade scenario using only 3 objectives set out in 'no man's land'.

The muddy battle-field (which looks like a wooden table to the unimaginative)

Ork Deployment. Lots of Boyz led by 2 weirdboyz!

The game would begin with Doc and I rolling off to see who would go 1st: Orks (his) or Space Wolves (me) and after our 1st turn, Brian would start deep striking in his whole Necron army to where he wanted too just like a daemon army. I was thinking something a bit like Caves of Ice where the Necrons 'woke-up' in the middle of a war between the Imperial Guard and Orks. We all agreed that this might work out well, especially if it prevents the 'monkey-in-the-middle' syndrome that most 3-ways have a habit of degrading into.

Space Wolves deploy...

 On the far end of the industrial zone, the orcs swarmed. I don't have his list, but it was 2 killer kans, a grot mob, a big mob of boys, burna boys (on the green platform) and a nob mob with a warphead (his overlord).

I had the venerable dreadnought, long fangs with missile launchers, a rhino with grey hunters, whirlwind and a drop pod with grey hunters being lead by Sven Axegrinder.

Orks had the 1st turn, I failed to steal the initiative (as did the Necrons- and yes, we would've let them! LOL).

Turn One:
In typical ork fashion, they brought the fight right to the wolves and got stuck in immediately. The warphead 'Ere we Go'ed across the table and his Nob buddies trashed my newly painted rhino! "How dare yoo use lemon wax?!" they screamed at the Grey Hunters as they bailed out! Orks get the 1st Blood VP!

"That rhino was an artifact!!!" Screamed Sven in rage as his drop pod landed nearby almost on the objective. I grabbed onto 3VPs, and after my ENTIRE ARMY fired into those Nobs I was not sure if I would hold onto them...

They absorbed A LOT of firepower!!!

Now, these Nobs were accompanied by a Painboy, and had Cybork Bodies and Feel No Pain! A nasty combo that I have been known to use when I play orks. This made for some tasty medicine... so while I was pondering how so many withstood the entire army's attention...

 The Necrons arrived...!

...on both of the Space Wolf flanks!

And in the Ork deployment zone!

After a round of shooting, my Space Wolves lost a few members from the Rhino unit and a single wolf-brother from the Drop Pod. The Necrons made a dent in the orks...

Turn 2 (and beyond)
A lot happened on Turn 2,  so much so that I'm going to go into highlight mode, as I really wanted to show how exciting it was to have a 3rd opponent drop in and tear into both armies that were already joined in a heated battle.

I can't remember how long this fight went on for, but the routed necrons (...why aren't necrons fearless?) missed being destroyed by the orks sweeping advance by a single pip! These guys would run far, turn and blast away at orks on this side of the field for many rounds...

 The Nobs would eliminate my Runepriest, who learned Independent Character rule #1: Join a unit as soon as possible!!! He learned this too late as he stomped into the mud, mangled and mutilated...

Where my Venerable Dreadnought stands in the pic above, there WAS a necron warrior squad...

Also, the Rhino squad would kill the necrons that were on the hill.

 The Doc's new assembles and primer-ed (yeah, that's it!) Killa Kans would come break up a massive fight that had been stirring on my right flank. This melee had last a lot of rounds until the kans showed up...I wanted to say this occurred on turn 3.

Having wiped out the necrons on Orcs and Kans moved onto the objective. My Long Fangs on the kill blew up two of them and damaged the 3rd.




Hungry for the objective the Warphead led his Nobs into Sven and his Grey Hunters. The fight would last many a few rounds, with the 1st round ending in a draw. Sven would slay the warphead in a challenge, but it ultimately took the squad from the rhino to join in and assist with finishing off the nobs!

My Dreadnought would turn his attention to the Kan on the other side fo the bridge and shoot at it, however it would fail to damage it. However it did get the kan's attention...






The Kan would charge the Dreadnought on the following turn, but it prove to not be a match for the Venerable foe, who turned the Killer Kan into a useless wreak. The dreadnought would turn to find another foe, leaving the grot driver to screaming profanities from his trapped position. Meanwhile the orks that the Kan was covering and who were holding the objective where all killed by Whirlwind and Long Fang missiles...

With Nobs killed, the Rhino Squad moved to claim another objective. Meanwhile the burner boyz were skulking about on the top level of the industrial site while the remaining Necron Deathmarks were taking pot-shots at my grey hunters. The long fang eliminated the burner boyz from a distance, effectively tabling the orks. After a few more skirmish-like final rounds, the Deathmarks would be eliminated, tabling the Necrons.

Final accumulated VP: Space Wolves 7, Orks 2, Necrons 0.

It was a long, but intensely fun game, with death everywhere!  I was astonished by the Doc's ability to roll saves for his orks. If I had been playing them I would've been tabled by turn 2... The Necron's were fun to play against too, but I wasted no time eliminating them once I saw how dangerous they were to my power armored marines! My biggest mistake was not attaching my Runepriest to Rhino Squad, but then again, if I had done that they might have been eliminated by the nobs which would've prevented them from taking more objectives...

Brian's thoughts:

Well, despite the utter annihilation once again of my Necrons, I still had a lot of fun. I think our decision to go 1-on-1-on-1 made for a very interesting dynamic, especially in the confined space of the Hive.

Highlights: I know, they were gretchin. But seeing the remains of the unit turn and run, only to be completely cut down by the Flayed Ones was nice! >:-) (that's the attached image) Also nice to see that Flayed Ones *can* be effective in melee, given appropriate numbers for their melee-only role. Future tactics: keep away from flamers.

On the other hand, I definitely still have a ways to go in effectively dealing with vehicles. It could be I just haven't fielded appropriate units yet – I've used pretty much nothing but infantry types so far, and no vehicles or monstrous creatures. It will be nice to get some of the Necron vehicles built and on the board, especially a Doomsday Ark, since that seems to be the Necron's answer to enemy tanks

What I would have done different?
1) Stayed away from the flamers.
2) Should have tried to get the Deathmarks up on the platforms sooner so they could try to take out the flamers. Would've let the Flayed Ones hang around longer
3) Tried one more time for Anrakyr's "Mind in the Machine"; taking over a Killa Kan and using its weapons on the other two Kans might have been able to save the Anrakyr's accompanying Immortals unit

A particular highlight of this game, which greatly enriched our playing experience was the use of Litko Blast-Templates. If you have, or fight against horde armies, you MUST get some of these! Shameless plug I know, but I freaking mean it and will be getting some of my own soon!

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But the holidays weren't all fun and wargames, no, it is also a season for acquisitions! This year was little-lite on 40K prezzies, but I did get a few.

The featured model in this photo is owned by Da Masta Cheef who also got me one for Christmas as well as a dozer blade set for a Land Raider. I look forward to, eventually, painting my version of this chap.

I am humbled and moved by this next gift. The Bink made a gaming table for me! I came home last night to find this monster of a table in my living room!

There is a single Imperial Guard miniature on the center of the table

I can't say just how thankful I am for this, I am really blown away by it, and can't wait to start gaming on it! Now I am in the process of reorganizing my house to accommodate this table...but this is a good thing! :)

There is a single imperial guard model on the drink shelves.

Thanks again Bink, I appreciate the time you have put into this!


That's it for now, more painting updates on the way soon...

(...and let's not talk about New Years resolutions... :D  )