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Hojyn
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Post subject: [BatRep] Necrons vs. Imperial Guard  Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 7:47 pm |
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| Brood Brother |
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Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:52 am
Posts: 876
Location: Brest - France
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TURN 1
Needind to eliminate the Sentinels to prepare the way for the 2nd turn assault, I teleported one Monolith behind the hill on Flogus' right flank.
And lost the strategy roll...
I thought there was enough cover between the Imperial army and my Abattoir to be safe for at least one turn (Manticores excepted), but I had forgotten Vultures can pop up and have a 120 cm range. ? ?Flogus had not: eight AT2+ shots later and 4 (yes, 4 !!!) missed saves later, I was left with a broken Abattoir... and a bad feeling. The Abattoir took cover in the woods in the middle of the table. Flogus then tried to retain with his Mech. Inf. (no doubt aiming to destroy my Monolith), but failed his activation roll. Phew.
Heavy Destroyers came through the Monolith's portal and fired at the Mech. Inf. hoping to kill all the Guards still indide their Chimeras. The Sentinels on OW, however, destroyed one Destroyer, reducing the number of shots and limiting the casualties to 1 Chimera and 2 Guards. The Monolith then assaulted the Sentinels and, with the support of the Destroyed... destroyed them. ?
My poor Destroyers and my Monolith were then promptly annihilated by shots coming from the SHT and the Warhounds. Ouch.
The Leman Russ went on OW, and the turn ended there.
Rally phase:
My Abattoir rallied, which really came as a relief, and turned his eyes (well, figuratively speaking  ) towards the Infantry Company in the nearby woods...
End of report in a couple of hours... Gotta go watch TV ! 
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Honda
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Post subject: [BatRep] Necrons vs. Imperial Guard Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:18 pm |
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| Brood Brother |
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Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2005 11:44 pm
Posts: 1891
Location: Katy, Republic of Texas
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I garrisoned Phalanx 1 in the ruined temple on my right flank and my Abattoir near my Tomb Complex.
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Keep in mind that you can only garrison in the Tomb Complex. 
_________________
Honda
"Remember Taros? We do"
- 23rd Elysian Drop Regiment
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Hojyn
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Post subject: [BatRep] Necrons vs. Imperial Guard Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:12 pm |
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| Brood Brother |
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Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:52 am
Posts: 876
Location: Brest - France
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I'm back for Turn 2 ?
I teleported the two remaining Monolith and the Pylon on Flogus' right flank, hoping to launch a decisive combined assault.
Strategy roll: Necrons.
Phalanx 2 came out of a portal anf fired at the Mech. Inf. killing a few units and putting precious BM on the formation. I retained initiative and Phalanx 1 came out of the second Monolith, declaring a combined assault on the Mech. Inf. and the Warhounds (I was very disappointed when I realized that both the SHTs and the Manticores were just too far from the Mech. Inf. Company to be included in the assault...). After lots and lots of dice rolled on both sides, I had lost 5 stands, wiped out the Mech. Inf. and broken the Warhounds. Not bad, but not decisive either : the SHTs and Manticores were still intact, and I still had to deal with the Leman Russ Company. Here's a picture taken after the assault:
A delicate position, as you can see...
Flogus' SHTs fired at the Monolith closest to the Vulture and destroyed it (and the Obelisk, of course). Flogus then assaulted Phalanx 2 (who no longer had the support of the Monolith) AND the Pylon (who was just within 5cm of the Phalanx but was too far to lend his support) with his Infantry Company, winning and destroying all but one Necron Warrior stand (who was later destroyed by the Vultures).
My Abattoir, thanks to its 40cm charge movement, was now in a good to position to take revenge on the Inf. Company by assaulting it. It still had BMs from last turn, though, and of course, I rolled a 1. Damn! 750 points doing nothing for two turns! ?
The Leman Russ Company then fired at the remaining Monolith, breaking it but failing to destroy it. The Manticores fired at... something, I can't remember what. ?
Phalanx 3, far from the action, moved away from the ruins to take control of one of the Necrons' objectives.
Finally, the lone Sentinel (surviving Commissar from the previous turn) marched towards my Blitz.
Only one Monolith left, a useless Abattoir, one Phalanx utterly destroyed, another one almost broken and the third one stranded on the wrong flank of the battlefield... Things were looking pretty grim. ?
Oh, and the Warhounds rallied, of course...
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Hojyn
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Post subject: [BatRep] Necrons vs. Imperial Guard Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:26 pm |
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| Brood Brother |
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Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:52 am
Posts: 876
Location: Brest - France
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Turn 3
At this point, it's pretty obvious that I'm going to lose. I've only one hope left (well, I think):
- Teleporting the surviving Monolith near Phalanx 3;
- Declaring a combined assault with my Abattoir on the Inf. Company, the Vultures and the Leman Russes (who moved close to them on turn 2);
- Retaining and using portal synchronisation (from Monolith to Abattoir's portal) to declare another combined assault on the SHTs and Warhound with my still intact Phalanx.
It was an ambitious plan, but it might have worked if my Abattoir had had a few more DCs left... As it is, with only 2 DC left, it just died miserably and did not even have the decency to do a critical, which would have killed a few more stands. Well, so much for my cunning plan...
The rest of the turn was, needless to say, a massacre. Phalanx 2 teleported back to the Tomb Complex and managed to hold it against the lone Sentinel (yeah!), but that was pretty much the only thing I was controling at the end of the battle. 
Imperial Guard - 4 (BTS, Defend the Flag, They Shall Not Pass, Take & Hold)
Necrons - 0
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Hojyn
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Post subject: [BatRep] Necrons vs. Imperial Guard Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:58 pm |
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| Brood Brother |
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Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:52 am
Posts: 876
Location: Brest - France
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Well, well, well... another day, another defeat...
Looking back, I made a few critical mistakes :
- I never should have taken the Abattoir. At 3000 points, it's just too expensive for what it does. For the same price, I could have had a C'tan (teleporting AND supreme commander), another Pylon and another Monolith + 3 Obelisks. The biggest problem with both the Orb and the Abattoir is that they are huge targets, all the more so because they usually are the only formations on the table at the start of the battle. Living Metal only goes so far...
- I think I shouldn't have sent the Destroyers on turn 1. I should perhaps have waited for Flogus to move a bit. Truth is, I was afraid he would put half of his army on OW and I wanted to keep the pressure on him.
- My decisive 2nd turn assault was... not decisive at all. I used almost 1000 points of troops to destroy a damaged Mech. Inf. Company and break the Warhounds, and was left at the mercy of the rest of Flogus' army. If only those SHTs and Manticores had been 1cm closer, it would have made a big difference...
Still, it was a fun game, if a bit frustrating because of some poor dice rolls (missing 4 saves out of 6 for my Abattoir was somewhat annoying, not to mention missing its activation roll on turn 2). Flogus really did a good job a keeping all of his formation in a tight bunch, benefiting from lots of support during assaults.
Two (final) remarks:
- It has been mentioned several times already, but Vultures really seem to be over the top. 8 AT2+ shots at 120cm on a skimmer OK, they're one-shots, but that usually enough to do a lot of damage. And once they've fired their missiles, they're still excellent units (fast, scouts, skimmer).
- I've now used both the Orb and the Abattoir, and I can't help but feel a bit disappointed by both, especially the Abattoir. Despite their living metal armour, they die relatively easily. Keeping them in cover is hardly an option since a) they're both quite big and b) there are so many ways around cover (artillery, skimmers, air units, teleportation, fast moving units, etc.) that it's almost impossible to hide them from your opponent. And even when they don't die, they almost always end up broken on turn 1. I think something should be done about this as, right now, I see little incentive to take them in 3000 points game, especially the Abattoir. The Orb is better, I guess, because it has long range fire, but the Abattoir really is a points sink: it way too slow and HAS to get in base-to-base contact to be at peak efficiency.
Suggestions:
- The Orb should have something else... Perhaps making his barrage shot the same range as its TK shot? That way, you could at least keep it in your deployment zone. A 75cm range makes it really vulnerable, and even though 12BP is nothing to sneeze at, it hardly does any damage on well-armoured units or units in cover. For 750 points, it should be... I don't know, more.
- For the Abattoir, two suggestions:
* Up its move to 25cm;
* Up its DCs to 8.
Otherwise I see no reason to take it over the Orb. Given the choice betwenn a 2+TK (D6) 90cm shot and three 3+ CC TK(D3) attacks, I choose the former without hesitation.
Your opinions are more than welcome. Oh, and thanks for reading this far! 
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Chroma
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Post subject: [BatRep] Necrons vs. Imperial Guard Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:23 pm |
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| Brood Brother |
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Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 3:06 pm
Posts: 9684
Location: Montréal, QC, Canada
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Great report and nice pictures!
_________________
"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer
Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?
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Cuban Commissar
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Post subject: [BatRep] Necrons vs. Imperial Guard Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:45 pm |
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| Purestrain |
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Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 4:32 am
Posts: 2934
Location: Colorado, USA
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Very nice report. The necron army looked great. Thaks for putting it togethor.
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Honda
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Post subject: [BatRep] Necrons vs. Imperial Guard Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 12:35 am |
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| Brood Brother |
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Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2005 11:44 pm
Posts: 1891
Location: Katy, Republic of Texas
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Quote (Honda @ 21 April 2006 (22:18))
Quote
I garrisoned Phalanx 1 in the ruined temple on my right flank and my Abattoir near my Tomb Complex.
Keep in mind that you can only garrison in the Tomb Complex.
Nope. It gives ability for two formations to garrison.
Quote
Necron v4.0 wrote
Additionally, because Tombs contain Necron, who might be active, you may choose to garrison up
to 2 Phalanx formations if your army list includes a Tomb Complex.
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Hena,
You are correct and I have been playing that wrong. For some unfathomable reason, I had interpreted that to mean that you could only garrison the Tomb Complex.
@Hojyn
Excellent report and as others have already stated, your army is outstanding!
_________________
Honda
"Remember Taros? We do"
- 23rd Elysian Drop Regiment
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Hojyn
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Post subject: [BatRep] Necrons vs. Imperial Guard Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 10:03 am |
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| Brood Brother |
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Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:52 am
Posts: 876
Location: Brest - France
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[quote="Hena,22 April 2006 (06:43)"][/quote]
I would say that Orb seems to be ok points wise. The thing can generate huge amount of fire. Against infantry hordes its very useful (think orcs or nids for example). |
Yes, the Orb is OK, but I do feel that upping the range of its barrage shot to 90cm would make is good instead of just "OK". It is a very versatile unit, as it can deal with both hordes and war engines, and yet this 75cm range makes it too vulnerable in my opinion.
The problem, I think, is that "Living Metal" seems to be overestimated: sure, it makes for a tough unit, but when this unit is fired at by most of the opposing army a) you invariably miss some saves and b) it breaks very easily. A mere Manticore battery can put an Orb or an Abattoir on the verge of breaking...
Both Harvester Engines suffer from the same problem : They are the only non-teleporting units in the Necron army, and as such are HUGE targets. If they cost less points, I wouldn't see this as a big problem, but at 750 points they do not seem to be on par with Gargants, Phantoms or Warlords. A Gargant is MUCH more resilient than an Abattoir or an Orb, can have very good firepower (60cm 6BP MW is quite nice) AND still hold its own in CC/FF.
But I can't say the same for Abattoir. It seems to be very good in CC. However CC monsters aren't that good in practise as they have to get close. I would be vary to add movement to it, as the infiltrate will double that and over 40cm engage ranges are ... tasteless. However there might be a reason for giving a DC or two as it is a huge moving pyramid (has more heavier feel than Orb). But I really don't know as I haven't played against one. But in this game failing 4 saves out of 8 is very bad rolling . So I wouldn't base any thoughts on that just based on this. I would encourage to use it again though, as your model is so nice looking . And to get more testing with it. |
I know, I had terrible luck... ?
But I'm not basing my thoughts on this. Just looking at the Abattoir stats, you can see you're not getting something worth the 750 points you invested in. Or rather, the Abattoir
is worth 750 points, but ONLY if you can get it in CC, and preferably against War Engines (otherwise its TK(D3) attacks are somewhat wasted).
While a 50cm engage range may seem like a lot, remember that the Abattoir NEEDs to be in CC, otherwise all you get is 10 4+ FF attacks... good, but hardly worth 750 points.
OK, enough ranting, time for another volley of suggestions: ?
ORB* Give its 12BP shot a 90cm range
AND/OR
* Make it a 12BP,
Ignore Cover weapon
>>> Again, while 12 BP is nice, compare the Orb with an Artillery Company : for 650 points, you get either 9 BP with 240cm range OR (10 +
BP with
Disrupt and a 300 cm range. If you take 3 Artillery Batteries of Bombards, for 750 points you have (10 +
BP with
Ignore Cover and a 90 cm range.
Would a 90cm, 12BP,
Ignore Cover weapon really be over the top for a 750 points War Engine that has no other weapon ?
ABATTOIR* Make it 8DC
* Up its speed to 25 cm (not my preferred solution, though)
Wild suggestion* Give the Abattoir CC2+ and FF3+. Before you start yelling at me, please keep in mind that these are the stats of the Warlord, who also has quite good ranged weapons. Would these stats be out of place on what is described as a CC monster?
To sum up, here are the profiles I'd like to see for the Harvester Engines:
AEONIC ORBSpeed 20cm
Armor 4+
CC -
FF 3+
Solar Flare
>>> 90 cm, MW3+ (TKD6)
OR
>>> 90 cm, 12 BP, Ignore Cover
DC6, etc. (the rest is unchanged).
ABATTOIRSpeed 20cm
Armor 4+
CC 2+
FF 3+
Weapons stats unchanged.
DC8, etc. (the rest is unchanged).
So, what do you think?
EDIT: Actually, I'll copy this in a new thread, it will make discussion easier.
