I haven't finished my battle reports for the last tournament (one more to write), so didn't take pictures this weekend, or I'd be overloaded on battle reports to write without time for...well, video games after work. And life.
Today I played in another RTT; my Necron Wraith Wing facing off against Grey Knights, Tyranids, and Blood Angels! I won all three games; scoring 2039 out of 2000 VP against my second opponent thanks to spawning gants. :) Games in short:
Game1: Spearhead, 5 Objectives. Psyfileman spam backed up with Orbital Strike Relays, Vindicare(s at first), and psycannons in psy...heavy bolter razorbacks. I was like, "Ah, no big deal." Then he started rolling for Warp Quake, and my Monolith Reserve got annoyed. And got a mishap. Fortunately, I had deployed two on the board to screen my wraith-wing since there was only one good piece. I lost a Monolith turn two (wrecked) and my other got immobilized (Orbital Strike Relays), so I ended up having to turbo boost my wraith-wing up the side of his deployment zone to start walking through Strike squads and razorbacks and finally into dreadnoughts and a turn six teleport out and assault back in against the vindicare (to score extra V). My warriors plod onto the backfield to secure 1-2 objectives each, and my strategically immobilized monolith was contesting a third - while the Monolith that finally arrived on turn five (after a turn four mishap back into reserves ala Warp Quake) deep-struck RIGHT ON TOP of the other objective...the one closest to his deployment that he was making a late game dash for with his remaining razorbacks. Close game with me getting a late game advantage.
Game Two against my friend Tom: Interestingly in every tournament I've attended at that store, we ALWAYS get paired in the second round. Every time. He's armed with a Tyrannofex, six hive guard, two tervigons, 2x20 genestealers, 3 zoanthropes, 2x5 genestealers with a Brood Lord, and a determination to kick my ass.
Capture and Control, Pitched Battle: I'm second. I reserve all my monoliths, put my wraithwing in a corner opposite his tyrannofex by his objective, and my Deceiver in the other corner with everything else in reserves. We had fun. :) His two small genestealers infiltrate 12" from the Deceiver behind a wall, and his two big units 18" away from my destroyers - one directly ahead, one in midfield in front of my objective.
Couple of highlights:
1. I grand illusioned my Deceiver directly in front of his Brood Lord genestealers, who obliged and assaulted turn one...using their psychic witchery to make him not able to attack. He obliged by Misdirecting up the field towards his Zoeys. Turn two he ignored me, but assaulted me with gants! Letting me misdirect out and towards his zoeys, which he then got to assault. He walked through three zoanthropes, a unit of hive guard, and both Tervigons.
2. My wraith wing did a turn one assault...with NO Monoliths on the table for support against the 20 genestealers. 5+ Armour, 4+ FNP compliments of a Tervigon. I killed five. He kills five of mine - a full unit of three and two from the Lord's unit. My Lord comes through and kills two more. I win by two, he rolls boxcars for leadership, and I catch him...wiping the other 14 Genestealers out, and being just out of assault range of his other genestealer unit.
3. his 20 Genestealers moving down to my table edge roll a 1 to run when a 2+ would have put them into a unit of Necron Warriors. And possibly wiped them.
4. Broodlord fails leadership and runs..and keeps running. :) My warriors had whiffed/Tom rolled exceptionally for saves and both units rapid-firing had failed to kill his unit of 5. Didn't help that my particle whip scattered from the big unit of 20 and only killed one.
Meanwhile, my wraiths are caught up in his backfield trying to kill hive guard to make their way to his tyrannofex, which is spending every turn trying to kill the monolith that deep-struck onto his objective (Capture and Control). I never DID kill that damned Tyrannofex. Had to boost back to my side of the board to wall off a returning Broodlord from getting to my warriors.
Game3 against Blood Angels! Killpoints, Pitched Battle. This store refuses to use DoW. I like DoW. :( Storm Raven with Death Company, Death Company dread, jumppack assault marines with a librarian, tactical squad in a pod, powerfist/frag cannon dread in a pod. Two Baal predators with flamestorm/heavy bolters and an Autocannon Dread.
He sat back for two turns as I plodded forward 6" trying to desperately get a kill point with particle whips and failing. When my first warriors arrived he bum-rushed me with deep-striking assault marines, stormraven, everything. Six wraiths went into the storm raven with the destroyer Lord and the Deceiver and couldn't kill it. Shook it six times though. Three wraiths couldn't make it and hung back within 6" for the inevitable. A disembarking and 6" fleeting Death Company Dread with Blood Talons ate my entire warrior squad in one round of combat. Killed 5, killed 4 more, killed the last two. First time ever seeing that!
Massive, MASSIVE assaults involving wraiths, destroyer lords, Death company, Deceiver, Assault Marines. Deceiver jumps out of combat (two power fists in there) and leaves the wraiths to suck it by themselves. Five wraiths go down...ONE LIVES! With the Lord. WBBs + Teleport and WBBs get four of them back up.
Followed by particle whips from my other two monoliths onto death company and the Deceiver returning to greet the assault marines. And my wraiths running away. Far, far away. Towards his autocannon dread. Not far enough away from his tactical squad who assaults in, but I win. Teleport out again so I can get the charge on the following turn. Meanwhile his powerfist dread and two powerfists in death company are knocking on two monoliths without success, and another particle whip and the Deceiver end the remains of death company and the powerfist dread (after moving away of course).
Late game advantage in kill-points, with the Furioso dread continuing to assault into the Deceiver, who runs away towards his storm raven and whiffs. For three turns. My other warriors came in far far away from everything in the corner to hide. By game end, I've given up 541 VP in exchange for taking down 1745; Half VP for the Deceiver, a full warrior unit, and a unit of wraiths - who give up KP and VP even if they get back up into another unit.
The moral of the story here...all three of those games were incredibly close. Game 1 could have been different with a different mishap, or a warp quake not perils-ing. Game 2....any NUMBER of individual dice rolls (Mostly Tom's run rolls) could have drastically changed the game. Or ended it. And Game 3...I was playing catch up half the game; not able to kill anything while already being down two KP and running away from his meanies. I got a late game KP spree.
I'm having an incredibly fun time playing Necrons; they DON'T walk over other armies like my DE can, and every game is a tactical nightmare of trying to apply extremely limited and overcosted, and often under effective resources to too many threats. IE, the challenge I'm looking for...I'm getting! Two of my opponents noted how close our games were as well, so I'm quite happy.
End result: I went 3-0, took first, and my Necrons continue their undefeated march across the tournament scene!
