Firesweep - Tethys Ultima

Planet: Tethys Ultima.
Region: Ghoul Stars.
Date: 905.M41

Death Guard vs Necrons.
1500 points.
Mission: Firesweep - Nightfight battle zone.

This was a major battle between the Death Guard and the now awakened Necron dynasty on the world of Tethys Ultima. The two armies fought a series of engagements among the ancient ruins that dotted the surrounding desert. Neither side were prepared to give any ground and as the battle dragged on casualties mounted on both sides.

My first match against the Necrons under 8th. I had actually expected Mark to bring either his Black Legion or Thousand Sons so I was pleasantly surprised to see a host of Necron warriors arrayed against me. He had chosen the Firesweep mission as something different and picked Night Fight as our battlezone. I got the pick of table quarter and Mark set up first. He complete deployment before myself and chose to take the first turn.

Straight off the bat the game was in Mark's hands. He was able to secure a perfect alpha strike. First turn and he obliterated my twenty poxwalkers and the deathshroud terminators that guarded Typhus. My usual good luck with DR rolls had flown out the window and I couldn't save them. This set the tone for the rest of the game. My first turn was spent trying to get closer and taking what shots I could. At this range my psychic phase was unnecessary.

Turn two and we were right on top of one another. Mark continued to pour everything he had into me. I lost a few plague marines, a unit of cultists and me stripped a fair few wounds from my rhino. Come my turn and I could see where the game was going. Both Typhus and my Plaguecaster suffered perils of the warp even with the use of a command point. Typhus almost killed himself doing so. I managed to get into combat though and Typhus cut down many warriors and the bloat drone didn't do to badly either.

Over the next turn and a half Mark tore everything I had down. The game ended turn four with my losing my entire army. Due to reanimation protocols and living metal Mark still had the majority of his army intact. In fact, I think I only managed to take out a single warriors squad. Another frustrating but fun game.

---

I will be honest. I genuinely thought that a proper 8th edition codex would have no trouble taking out an army still using an Index army list. I was proved wrong much to my surprise. I can remember being frustrated by Necrons under previous editions and if they continue like this I think I will remain being frustrated.

Night fighting played little role in this game for me at least. Mark was so good with his dice rolls that the penalties were ineffective. Mysterious objectives also proved pointless as none of those rolls played a part in the game.

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++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (Chaos - Death Guard) [84 PL, 1498pts] ++

+ HQ +

Malignant Plaguecaster [6 PL, 110pts]: Curse of the Leper, Plague Wind, The Pandemic Staff
Typhus [9 PL, 175pts]: Miasma of Pestilence, Putrescent Vitality

+ Troops +

Chaos Cultists [6 PL, 52pts]
. 10x Chaos Cultist w/ autopistol and brutal assault weapon
. Chaos Cultist w/ special weapon: Heavy stubber
. Cultist Champion: Shotgun

Plague Marines [13 PL, 201pts]: Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion: Plaguesword, Plasma gun, Power fist
. 6x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun

Plague Marines [10 PL, 182pts]: Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion: Plaguesword, Plasma gun, Power fist
. 5x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun

Poxwalkers [6 PL, 120pts]: 20x Poxwalker

+ Elites +

Deathshroud Terminators [11 PL, 225pts]
. Deathshroud Champion: Manreaper, Plaguespurt gauntlets
. 2x Deathshroud Terminator: 2x Manreaper, 2x Plaguespurt gauntlets

+ Fast Attack +

Foetid Bloat-drone [8 PL, 158pts]: 2x Plaguespitters, Plague probe

+ Heavy Support +

Defiler [11 PL, 190pts]: Combi-flamer, Defiler scourge, Reaper autocannon.

+ Dedicated Transport +

Chaos Rhino [4 PL, 85pts]: Combi-bolter, Combi-bolter, Havoc launcher

Necron warriors advance through the nighttime war zone.

The Necrons hide behind ruined walls and pour fire down upon my plague marines.

Typhus battles the unliving machines.

Center of the battlefield.

Hunt the Enemy - Tethys Ultima

Planet: Tethys Ultima.
Region: Ghoul Stars.
Date: 905.M41

Death Guard vs Necrons.
1500 points.
Mission: Purge the Alien.

Following their initial defeat the Necron forces on Tethys Ultima have begun a series of fast hard hitting raids to test the defences of the Death Guard fortress base. In each instance they have been repulsed and forced back into the deserts of that dead world.
After a week of constant raids Typhus decides that his forces have been reacting instead of attacking, and so orders his warlords to scour the deserts for the machines. Find their commanders and destroy them utterly. With no command structure the Necron warriors will fall to the wrath of the legion!

For a while now I have been trying to organize a game against my friend Andrew E and last night we finally got to bring the pain. Initially he was going to play an Armies of the Imperium list with Guilliman but decided to field a Necron army instead. Always one for facing that rare army I was pleased to test their mettle once more. We decided to go for a simple kill point mission and rolled for deployment. This game we would be playing from the short ends down the length of the table.

He set up first and for a moment I was quite shocked to see a Monolith getting played, as around here I don't think I've seen one fielded for a few years. I set up everything as much behind cover as possible and decided not to steal the initiative just so that he had to walk everything down the table to me. My plan being to bring down the monolith with lascannon and meltagun fire, while my raptors and jump pack lord went after the other units and hopefully his war lord.

The first couple turns went quickly. Andrew just marched his forces forward and I did likewise. First turn of the game and one Rhino got itself immobilized in the mud. Just my luck! But it would prove a fair place to do so once that Monolith came down from the heavens. Turn two he got his Monolith and his Flayed Ones in from reserve. I would soon immobilize the Monolith and although he kept getting hull points back it never really posed a threat for the rest of the game. The Flayed Ones ended up in combat with my Raptors and although they held me up for a couple turns they soon were crushed.

Turn three saw his Deathmarks arrive in behind my lines and they took out the Chaos Marine squad with the lascannon. They lost one in return fire but that was all they did. They would earn him the Linebreaker point though.

The next couple turns were basically him shooting largely ineffectively at my guys but he was up with victory points simply by wrecking my Rhinos and Land Raider with gauss fire. My terminators held up his wraiths and the Raptors tried smashing through his warrior squad to little effect. The challenge between by jump pack lord and his overlord was basically a stalemate. I couldn't seem to hit him but I was making all my feel no pain rolls. I think we took a wound of each other and that was it.

The game came to an end turn 5 and we counted the cost. Thanks to him scoring linebreaker and first blood Andrew snatched victory. 5vp to 3. The problem was simply that neither of us could hurt each other. My FNP rolls were just amazing and Andrew's reanimation protecol rolls were likewise fantastic. A good close game.

I think part of my problem was that for the last few years we have around here upped our games to 2000 points which left me feeling unsure as to what to take at 1500. The Knight is too expensive to take even though i would have liked to and the formations require too many points as a minimum.

Necron forces advance down the battlefield.

A mighty Monolith descends from the clouds upon a column of green light.

The Death Guard defence near the start of the game.

Battle is joined!

Scorched Earth - Tethys Ultima

Planet: Tethys Ultima.
Region: Ghoul Stars.
Date: 905.M41

Death Guard vs Necrons.
2000 points.
Mission: Scorched Earth.

On a cold dead barren world lost in deep space, the Death Guard have established a secret base from which to launch an attack upon the Imperial worlds of the nearby Dromid sector. Unknown to the sons of Nurgle, Tethys Ultima contains a dark secret. Far below it's windswept surface lies an expansive tomb complex. When construction of the Death Guard fortress disturbs the sleeping Necron forces, the Death Guard find themselves under heavy attack. The initial engagements cause massive damage to the Death Guard defences and their lord commands that if Nurgle cannot have this world then neither shall the Necron horde!

This is mostly likely the first time I have played against Necron under 7th edition and possibly not since the end of 5th edition. As I work through my missions list and Scorched Earth came up I decided to extend the offer of battle to Jon and his almost undefeated Necrons. I certainly have never beaten the machines in my 40K career so this should be a nice challenge.

I went for a fairly basic Death Guard Vectorium list with Heldrake Terror Pack for the aerial support. Jon's list was a Decorion with Judicator Battalion and Destroyer Cult. Maybe something else, my knowledge of Necron formations is a bit limited. Either way, as we deployed I felt somewhat outnumbered. With his reanimation and my feel no pain, this could be a long match.

Mission rules are random objectives (we rolled 3) which are worth 3vp at the end of the match to whomever controls them. Plus you have to roll for any area terrain. On a 1-3 that terrain is on fire causing it to be dangerous terrain. On a 4-6 it is thick with smoke increasing cover saves by 1. Lie of sight cannot be drawn across either of them. This gave the opportunity to hid for the first turn and coupled with my cloud of flies give me decent cover saves.

I set up first with my chaos marines and one terminator squad in transports. Everything else in reserve waiting for a good opportunity to drop in, cause havoc and hopefully seize an objective. Almost all of Jon's army started on the table with a couple flyers in reserve.

First couple turns went quite quickly although my opponent was able to pop one rhino, a helbrute and the land raider. A lost a couple models as did he. On my right flank the game became one of constant close combat as the five lightning claw terminators tore through necron machines and did a good job of making sure they stayed down. On my left flank I worried as there was a large flight of tomb blades bearing down on me.

My terminator lord and his lightning claw terminators teleported in slightly back of where I wanted but they quickly moved up to grab the nearest objective. Even with the amount of firepower his tomb blades were pouring onto them I made nearly every armour save I could, something that never happens with my terminators. Because of that Jon was unable to push them from the objective and soon combat was joined.

The raptors were delayed my a mishap and had to come in the next turn. Their flamers did a little but soon enough they were torn apart by gauss fire and then Jon's lord crushing them. Disappointing as I hoped they would do better. The Heldrakes came in together and managed to do some damage to the tomb blades before their charge into the terminators but then had no choice but to fly off the table. They did very little the rest of the game and eventually both were shot from the sky.

As it hit turn 6 I was locked in combat around two objectives and Jon held the other completely uncontested. I pretty much figured that Necrons had won yet again until it was pointed out that his army did not have objective secured where as my Chaos Warband formation does, so when the game ended I was holding them. I believe that the score was very tight, 6vp to Jon's 5vp (he had linebreaker and first blood).

I am quite frankly amazed that I managed to survive as well as I did. We both made FNP and reanimation as expected but I think that the dice were more in my favour than his. Great game and I look forward to our next match up.

 Death from the skies!

 The Necron control the skies in the end.

The oncoming wall of death. 

Chaos Lord and his bodyguard hold this objective. 

The battlefield of Tethys Ultima.

My list was as follows: