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1st Auric Battalion vs Necrons in "It Came From the Skies!" (1500pts, 8/2/12)

Started by BigToof, August 02, 2012, 08:22:45 PM

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BigToof

1st Auric Battalion vs Necrons in "It Came From the Skies!" (1500pts, 8/2/12)

Hi All,
Welcome to another 6th Ed. Batrep.
In this rep, I am trying out my Imperial Guard who have a little... help :)
Certain characters are indeed back, and Vasily's crew can really need it, as we're facing off against... Necrons.
The brand new Codex with lots and lots of buffs from 6th.
And there's Flyers.  And shenanigans.
Can IG hold the line, or will they get brushed off into the annals of history?

Best,
-BT

P.S.  As always C&C is greatly appreciated.

----------------------
The Lists
----------------------

Imperial Guard/Tau Alliance 1500pts: 90 Infantry, 1 Vehicle; 15-17 VPs
1st Auric Battalion
-Commander Vasily Romanov w/ Master of Ordinance
-Lord Commissar Katarina Vaskov w/Camo Cloak
-Baron von Oberheim and Stormtroopers (Stormtroopersx5 w/Meltagunsx2)
-The Mordheim Cuckoos (Psykersx8 w/Overseer Madame Rage)
-Alpha Company
--Lt. Temperance Windsor-Smith w/Flamersx4
--Infantry Platoon w/Lascannon
--Infantry Platoon w/Lascannon
--Infantry Platoon w/Lascannon
--Heavy Weapons Squad w/Autocannons
--Heavy Weapons Squad w/Autocannons
-Abhuman Penal Legion w/Sgt. Bremen
-The Steel-Beast Killers (Rough Ridersx7 w/MB Sgt. Lady Saigo)
-Deathstrike Missile (!)
Tau'n Sept Observers
-Shas'El Sha'shera (Shas'El w/Plasma Rifle, Fusion Blaster, Irridium Armor, Shield Drone, MT)
-Crisis Suits w/Shas'Ui Deu'nan (Crisis Suitsx2 w/Plasma Rifles, Fusion Blasters, MT)
-Fire Warriorsx6
-Broadsidesx2 w/Shas'Ui Bri'ar'eos w/Blacksun Filter

Necrons Assault Force (1500pts): 32 Infantry, 3 Vehicles; 9 VPs
Overlord w/Scythe, SWeave, Scarabs, ROrb
Warriorsx10 w/Cryptek w/Veil
Immortalsx5 w/Necron Lord w/Scythe, SWeave, Scarabs in Night Scythe
Immortalsx5 w/Necron Lord w/Scythe, SWeave, Scarabs in Night Scythe
Wraithsx4 w/Coils
Wraithsx4 w/Coils
Doom Scythe

---------------------------
Chapter One: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed...
--------------------------

Commander Vasily Romanov of the 1st Auric Battalion leaned heavily into the patchwork chair that sat in the hastily constructed field office.  He read the report again just to make sure that things were as bad as they seemed.  Indeed, the messages from the PDF on the moon orbiting their planet had become less and less frequent, and the initial promises of meetings, reinforcements and logistic assistance had become less than a trickle.

He tapped his foot in annoyance.  What game was the Planetary Governor playing?  With the attack by the Dark Eldar a few months ago, it was clear that they needed assistance, especially if the strange skeletal Xenos resurfaced.

Perhaps he had gotten lucky and they had all decided to vanish and call it a millennium? 

He shrugged off the thought.  There was no way that he was going to get that lucky.  A number of his men had been injured in the last fight against the Dark Eldar, and were convalescing on their orbiting ship.  Which meant that his current lines were rather patchwork.  Or at least more than they were previously.

His Lord Commissar, Katya Vaskov, had been rallying the Mutants, who had put her into a strange kind of elevated status that bordered on outright worship.

No, actually, Vasily admitted, it was outright worship in some cases.  He had caught some of them trying to make badly constructed effigies, but suggested that such things would only make her angry.  Luckily, they had understood the universal danger of making a Commissar displeased and immediately desisted.  But that was the least of their worries. 

Their sensors had been picking up increased energy patterns from deep within the planet suggesting that something was going on.  Temperance Windsor-Smith, his second-in-command, had a number of mundane suggestions, such as volcanos or what-not, but Vasily knew a prelude to an assault when he heard one.

Despite the utter improbability of assistance, Vasily decided to send another Astropath signal for help, as well as broadcasting over conventional long-distance voxes.  He knew that it would mean little in the long run, but he was hoping that someone, anyone would hear.  And hopefully not come to kill him.

-------------------------

Overlord Vas'ryn nodded as he watched the last of the Night Scythes assembled from their ancient catacombs.  It had taken weeks for the ancient vessels to be resurrected and repaired, but now their engines and weapons were ready for warfare.  Many had been disabled the last time they had tried to destroy the interlopers on the surface, but new things had come to pass.

Foolish aliens on the orbiting moon had sent messages begging for mercy in exchange for the lives of those on the surface.  The Necron Overlords had accepted their proposal, although it was only a matter of time before all life would be scourged from the system. 

Vas'ryn nodded to his Cryptek, who relayed another message.  The surface dwellers were calling out for help.  Indeed they were weak now, an appropriate time to strike.  Nodding to his fellow Necrotyr, the Overlord turned and readied his War Scythe.  The living would soon fall, and the Necrons would once again rule the universe.

-------------------------

"Are you sure this is wise?  I mean we're basically chasing signal noise."

Shas'El Shas'shera of the Sept Tau'n turned to look at her Shas'Ui.

"Would you rather sit out on Deep Space patrol, Deu'nan?  I'm getting tired of counting nebulae."

The Shas'Ui sighed and leaned back in her chair.  "I'm not saying that, but you don't have the greatest record for making right decisions...  Princess Sara."

The Shas'El gritted her teeth together, "Deu'nan, if you were any worse a friend..."

"I'd be what?  Demoted further than we already are?  Thanks to you trying to assassinate that Gue'seva..."

"I...  I was not..."

Deu'nan snorted, "Right.  Sure.  You could have at least lied about it.  But you once again counted on the truth to see you through...  And here we are.  Serves me right for defending you I suppose."

Sha'shera sighed, "You're... right Deu'nan.  Sometimes I think with my heart and not with my head.  Maybe we are on a foolish errand.  I just...  I want to do something meaningful..."

"You need a boyfriend."

The Shas'El smirked at her, "I HAD a boyfriend until you stole him from me."

Deu'nan sputtered, "I...  I did not... Someone had to nurse Bri back to health after that accident and you were too busy being a Shas'El and not enough time being a..."

"Excuse me comrades, but we are nearing the source of the signal."

The two Tau looked at each other and nodded.  Shas'Ui Bri'ar'eos had spent countless hours working on the signal that they had picked up, and was a solid, stoic figure that kept the crew alert and ready.  Sha'shera remembered for a moment, the shy giant that was hers for a few months before tragedy came and changed him greatly.  The fact that he had stood up for her despite their fractured history was an act that she was still thankful for.  It had damned him as well to their tiny vessel in the middle of nowhere, but if it bothered Bri, he made no sign of it.  All the more she owed him in the end...

Making sure to keep her voice calm, Sha'shera spoke in measured tones, "Bri'ar'eos?  Can you pick the signal up again?  Can you make anything more out of it?"

The gruff, modulated voice replied back over the comm, "I have.  You're not going to like it."

"I'll be the judge of that."

There was a hiss of static and then a voice began in an emotional, alien dialect that took a few moments for the translator to work through.

"...  Again, this is Commander Vasily Romanov of the 1st Auric Battalion.  We are urgently requesting assistance from any and all vessels.  We are under siege by an unknown Xenos force.  We need help.  Please send anything you can, as soon as you can.  Coordinates are..."

Deu'nan sucked in a bit of air and shook her head.  "The Imperium?  Now we're in over our head, Sha'shera.  We just kicked this Krootox in the gonads.  Let's not repeat the same mistake.  We should get out of here before anyone notices that we got this far."

When she didn't get a response, Deu'nan glanced over at the Shas'El who had a small, wry smile on her face.

"Oh, oh no, Sha'shera, you get that look off your face.  We are not..."

"Going to run away?"  Sha'shera asked coyly, "I thought more of you and your Fior'la blood.  Whatever these Gue'seva need, they need it badly.  We'll just go and see what we can help with.  Maybe we can just escort them off planet.  If we do well, maybe High Command will reinstate us.  We'll just go take a look."

"Just to go observe?"

"Absolutely.  We're just going to go look.  After all, what's the worst that could happen?"

-------------------------------

Setup: Dawn of War
Mission: Emporer's Will (2 obj)
Warlord: Katya: -1 to opponent's reserve; Overlord: Warlord and unit have Counter Attack

----------------------------------

Pre-Game Thoughts: Now this is going to be a tough fight.  I haven't fought against the Necron flyers before, or really, any flyers for that matter.
I've heard they're to be feared though, especially the Necron version.
Still, it's not all that bad, as there's some Warriors that seem pretty vulnerable and two units of... Wraiths.

.

..

...

Let me go back to saying that this is going to be hard.
My list is really untested, and the Tau are sort of a last minute decision.
I'm not even sure if their loadout is good.  I was aiming more for "as much AP2/1 as I can get" and I did get it.
Against an army that... doesn't have any Terminators.
Yeah, this is going to go over well...

----------------------------------

To be Continued!
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

Cammerz

Always good to see Vasily, and with Princess Sara it should lead to some interesting plot developments.
I like how the Tau seem to be acting like UN peacekeepers in the BigToof Universe at the moment with all of this talk of patrols and observation.

Something tells me that you might want Hyrdas or other Skyfirers to deal with those pesky flyers however 3 lascannons, 6 autocannons and a pair of t-l railguns might do the job.

I just hope the Baron makes a good show of himself (oh who am I kidding, he always does).

Looking forward to the rest of it BT.

Lord Sotek



I see what you did there. ;)

Can't wait for the report! Should be a fight to remember, and I was always a sucker for Guard/Tau alliances.
Quote from: Saulus on March 17, 2011, 06:16:56 PM
Often I hear delusional ramble like "I painted and collected my army as ultramarine tyranid hunters....but Pedro is really good, so now I'm using him, but I'm just going to call him Jimbob-Fistpumper, cause that fits with my

BigToof

Quote from: Cammerz on August 02, 2012, 09:19:38 PM
Always good to see Vasily, and with Princess Sara it should lead to some interesting plot developments.
I like how the Tau seem to be acting like UN peacekeepers in the BigToof Universe at the moment with all of this talk of patrols and observation.

Something tells me that you might want Hyrdas or other Skyfirers to deal with those pesky flyers however 3 lascannons, 6 autocannons and a pair of t-l railguns might do the job.

I just hope the Baron makes a good show of himself (oh who am I kidding, he always does).

Looking forward to the rest of it BT.

Hi Cammerz!
Thanks for the reply.  I really do like the list with "Princess Sara" and Vasily.  It does lead for very, very interesting fluff possibilities as you'll soon see...
Now as to the list itself, it's sort of weak versus fliers, as I haven't changed it much from 5th except for adding the Tau.  After this game though...  I think some changes will have to be made, just for dealing with the Crons or their like.

Quote from: Lord Sotek on August 02, 2012, 09:41:51 PM


I see what you did there. ;)

Can't wait for the report! Should be a fight to remember, and I was always a sucker for Guard/Tau alliances.

Hi Lord Sotek,
That is a great picture of Deunan and Bri!
Appleseed was my first real "hard" manga series, and Bri's famous headgear is always what I think of when I see Tau.
So, of course, I had to do what I could to bring them into my storylines.
They aren't complete Expys, but I hope they'll have the fun aspects of the characters (Deu'nan is fiery and outspoken, Bri is more stoic with big guns) in the "BigToof Universe."
I did like how the Tau really synced with the Guard (even if it was unintentional).
Let me know how you like the rest when it goes up!

Best,
-BT
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

BigToof

Setup: Well, it's an interesting setup with one large ruin in the center-rear of one side and a sizable hill on the right side of the board.  A small number of rubble (5+) area terrain were scattered around.  We had unfortunately rolled rather high on cover and had to make due with forests.  We mutually decided (for our own sanity) that we would not use mysterious forests, but we decided that mysterious objectives would be fine.

Necrons win the roll to go first, but pass it to IG.  I'm a bit surprised, but I guess with all the air force, he wants to see where I'm setting up.

I take the side with the ruin and castle up in it pretty heavily, making a 30 man blob with the lascannons in front, Katya with the Cuckoos as the second layer, and then way in the back I put Vasily with the MoO.  To the right, in some rubble, I put both squads of Autocannons, and in the far right corner, I put the Deathstrike.  On the left, I put the Fire Warriors in cover screening the Broadsides.  I put the Baron, Lady Saigo and Shas'shera with her Crisis Suits in reserve, the Baron and the Tau to deep strike.  The IG objective went towards the front of their ruin, with a 3" border of Guardsmen who know that large blast templates tend to manifest out of those things.

The Necrons respond by putting the Overord with the Warriors in the right corner behind the hill.  Out of range/LoS from most of my army.  Balls.
The two groups of Wraiths go in forests directly across from the Broadsides and my Autocannons.  That's... going to be an issue.  Their objective goes towards the middle of their zone, out in the open.  The Flyers and their cargo, of course, go in reserve.

The Necrons decline to steal the initiative and it's on!


Picture Caption:  I call this setup "You touch the objective!  No, YOU touch it!"

----------------------------------

Turn 1: IG/Tau
---------------

Vasily swore as he saw the approaching skeletal horde.  The scouts were unfortunately right.  It seemed a small group, but he had learned that by some whimsy of fate that the Imperial Guard were always the most anemic of fighters.  In hand-to-hand anyway.  He glanced around a bit nervously, and caught the watchful eye of Lord Commissar Katarina Vaskov.  Sweat beaded on his forehead as the two locked gazes. 

Vasily licked his lips. 

Was she waiting for him to say something?  There was a kind of unresolved tension between the two that seemed to rotate between sociopathy and belligerent affection, and he had found out early on that he was always a poor estimator of her moods. 

Throne above, he thought.  Give me a hint!  Should I smile, be laconic, quote the Primer?  He was aware of the moments fleeting by, and watched with some horror as her eyebrows knit together.

She barked, "Are you going to order attack or not?"

Vasily jerked his head up to see that the skeletal creatures had gotten a lot closer than he had expected.

"Er, yes, exactly so.  Ah, all forces, this is Commander Romanov.  Fire at will.  Repeat, fire at will.  We need to..."

A sudden screech of air made him look to his left, and he saw an enormous streak of bluish light fly through the air and slam into the far away Xenos force.

He popped up his field glasses to see a massive hole burned into the lead Skeleton who crumbled backwards into a heap.

He glanced over Katya who was on her tip-toes trying to make out where the shot had come from.

Please let them be on our side, Vasily prayed, please let them not be out to kill us too...
--------------

"Bri!  I thought we were going to hold our fire!"

Shas'Ui Bri'ar'eos flicked on his comm.

"Shas'El, I've made positive identification of the creatures.  They are Alien-S88, otherwise known as Necrons."

Shas'shera heard the gasps of alarm over the comms.  The Necrons were ancient creatures that defied analysis and one thing was certain: wherever they went, they left nothing in their wake.  The ruling of High Command was to avoid the Necrons at all cost, as the chances of winning an engagement were infinitesimal.  Her hand moved to the comm, but the words for retreat died on her lips.  She scanned the masses of Gue'seva.  They all seemed scared, and far less armed and armored than her own forces.  It would be dishonorable to leave them, especially since the Tau had fired the first shot.

"All forces, this is Shas'El Sha'shera, we are engaging the enemy.  Repeat, we are engaging.  Fire well my friends, I'm not sure if we'll get a second chance..."

---------------------------------

Well, I start the game by moving Tems forward, and rotating the Deathstrike towards the Warriors.  I wince a little bit and declare that I am investigating the IG mysterious objective.  Thankfully, it turns out to be a +1 cover save objective.  The Guardsmen whoop and all clamber over it, thankful that it won't be exploding all over their faces.  (That... came out... sounding inappropriate)

Shooting starts with the Deathstrike firing it's Heavy Bolter and downing a Warrior.  My opponent notes that he gets a 5+ cover save due to Night Fighting, and is llooking quite comfortable until I turn on the Deathstrike's Searchlight.

Bye-bye Darkness.

The Broadsides open up with a pair of shots at the Warriors.  My opponent questions their range, which causes the Tau player next to me to respond that "it's the same as the long edge of the board."  Huh, sorted there.  The Overlord fails a LoS roll and goes down.  The Master of Ordinance fires as well, trying to snipe the Cryptek.  It... sort of works, as we hit the Warrior next to him.  Since there's no cover, a good chunk of Warriors are wiped out, as is the Cryptek.  They also get pinned. :)  Shooting from the fire warriors do little against the Wraiths, but the Imperials manage to down a Wraith from the right.  Huh, I was hoping for a little more.  And then all of the Necrons GET BACK UP.  That is, except for the Cryptek.  Well, that was demoralizing.


Picture Caption: My entire army downed two models.  Good job guys, good job.


Turn 1: Necrons
----------------
Overlord Vas'ryn shook his Warscythe in barely contained, silent fury.  The living had dared to strike him down.  Did their incompetent arrogance know no bounds?  With a gesture, he sent his Wraiths forward, gliding like ghosts through the trees.  The living would soon learn to fear.  And then, to die.
----------------

Right, so the Wraiths glide up, easily covering half the distance between the front lines.  That is... hella fast.
The Warriors are still sucking dirt, so the turn passes rather uneventfully.

Picture Caption: Man, those things are FAST!


Turn 2: IG/Tau
---------------
"Bri?  Say again?  What just happened?"

The Broadside Shas'Ui barked into his comm, "Regenerating alloys, Shas'El.  Just like the rumours say.  We need to fight this one carefully."

Sha'shera nodded.  Bri was his calm usual self.  It was good that little bothered him.  She shook a bit of sweat off her hand.  Glancing down at the Imperial line, she noticed that few had moved.  Perhaps the Gue'seva were more brave than she thought?

---------------

Vasily tried to not listen to the whimpers and frightful prayers to the Emperor from his front line.  The Guardsmen knew what was coming, and nobody was eager to be the first one skewered by the silent gliding creatures. 

Vasily swallowed.  They were close.  Oh so close.  His survival instinct kept jumping up and down, screaming for him to call a general retreat, when he glanced at the back of Katya's head.  She would order them all killed as cowards.  Even him.  Especially him. 

Probably. 

Maybe he could talk her out of it.  As long as everything happened before anybody engaged the Xenos in close fighting. 

Indeed, he thought, as desperation decided to kick in and put in its two credits.  It would probably show foresight and save the lives of so many.  Yes, he thought, it makes sense.  Just sound the retreat.  Calmly now, as to make it seem well thought out.

As he raised his hand to his comm bead, it suddenly squealed to life, and Temperence's energetic voice called out,

"Sir!  Those blaggards are coming this way!  Hiding in the trees it looks like!  Don't worry, my mates'll flush them out!"

Vasily gripped his comm and yelled, "Tems!  No!  It..."

A sudden rush of flame enveloped the forest to his right.  Vasily whet his lips and waited, hoping against hope.

Temperence's voice came back a bit less chipper than usual.  "Uh, sir?  Begging your pardon, but they don't seem that flammable.  Any chance of fire support?"

Vasily cradled his face with his hand, as the universe once again took his hopes and dashed them against the rocks of reality.

"Yes, Tems.  All forces, fire.  Just... fire well, please..."

-----------------------------

Right, those Wraiths are hella close.  They have to go.  I move Tems up to flame the Wraiths.  They're hugging the trees, so hopefully we can get some decent shots.

Reserves gets me Lady Saigo who goes out to the far left, hugging the corner and left side.  Silly 6th says I can't cavalry charge out of reserves, so I'll keep her tight for now.  The Penal Squad comes in outflanking on the left, and run a bit forward.

Shooting is kind of astronomical, as I whittle down both Wraiths to a single model each and even take another chunk out of the Warriors, thankfully some actually stay down.  Notable in the shooting are the quad-templates that Tems puts out as it actually downs two Wraiths and the Autocannons... uh... try hard and manage to down a Wraith.


Picture Caption: Huh...  We're actually doing alright and... and...  I should learn not to say things like that...


Turn 2: Necrons
-------------------
Overseer Vas'ryn watched with stoic silence as the Wraiths began to fall apart.  The advance was failing.  However, it was enough to provide the distraction he needed. 

Glancing up, he saw the shadowy forms of the Death Scythe and Night Scythe.  The silent ships brought cries of alarm from the living, and then screams of pain as Tesla blasts laid into them.  If Vas'ryn could, he would have smiled, but instead let himself take a moment of satisfaction.  The living were learning the folly of fighting that which was already dead.
------------------

The Necrons roll for reserve and get... a Night Scythe and the DEATH SCYTHE.  Wow, that was... much more than I had thought.  I guess -1 to reserves is highly overrated.

Both flyers move out to the right, dumping off the Immortals into the trees that once had
the Wraiths.  The Wraiths move up, one aiming for Tems (!) and the other zooming back to assault the Penal Squad.  Shooting is painful as the Immortals and Scythes tear out a massive chunk out of my Autocannons, who are forced to go to ground to have any prayer of survival.  The Overlord and warriors move out to the left, running to try to get to cover.  Somehow, both really shot up Autocannon squads make their morale check, denying first blood to the Crons!

In assault, the Wraith assault the Penal Squad, and I realize, that, once again, I have forgotten to roll for their special trait.  I ask my opponent, who admonishes me on my forgetfulness, but lets me roll anyway.  I get Knife-Fighters.  Hoo-rah :)  The Penal Squad fails to put any overwatch wounds on the Wraith, but the horde of suddenly two-weaponed Guardsmen manage to put a wound on the Wraith as it tears the guts out of a Penal Legionaire.

The Wraith against Tems gets FOUR templates to the face, and I roll something like 4 wounds.  The Wraith fails two of them and goes down.  Huh, that's first blood.


Picture Caption: You know it's going to be a tough fight when first blood is done on the tail end of turn two...


Turn 3: IG/Tau
-----------------
Baron von Oberheim smirked as his Valkyrie skimmed low over the treetops.  The pathetic Xenos had thought themselves safe in the trees.  Safe to everything but a strategic strike.  He smiled as he looked around at the lack of other interfering large-chested females.  The other Stormtroopers had been easily fooled, and a simple forged memo had them on the other side of the battlefield, far away from the lines.  His lines.  He barked for his men to be ready.  The day would be saved again by him.  The accolades and proper deference would fall again to his squad.  Even Romanov would finally...

"My Lord Baron!"

Baron Oberheim looked up as a trio of strange shapes fell from the sky and landed close to them.  The Baron sucked in a bit of air as the ground shook, kicking up a cloud of debris into the air.

"Who dares?!" barked the Baron, squinting through the dust.

The only response was a sudden cry that made the Baron's teeth grit together.

"FOR THE GREATER GOOD!"

Streaks of blue and yellow energy bolts flew through the air, catching the skeletal figures by surprise, knocking all but one of them to the ground.
The Baron frowned as he now clearly saw the trio of Tau battlesuits.  His men looked at him for orders.  As much as he wanted to, the Baron fought against the easy order for his men to turn their weapons on the newcomers.  After all, they had left one of the monstrosities still standing.

"Stormtroopers!  Take that one down.  We'll deal with the greyskins once we've done our job."

-----------------------------

The Baron and Shas'shera come in.  I deep strike them both to say hello to the Immortals.  They land fairly much on target, with the Baron drifting a bit far forward, but the Shas'El sticks her landing proper.

I push Tems and Lady Saigo forward.

Shooting, I have the Shas'El go first and I'm shocked as she just obliterates all of the Immortals.  She leaves the Lord though, and the Baron at least picks him up.  Huh, that was... pretty good.

The Master of Ordinance also picks out a good chunk of the Warriors in back, as they spread out, but it actually made them easier to hit...  The Autocannons finish off the last of them, leaving only the Lord.  Bri fires at the Death Scythe, hitting it dead on and knocking it out of the sky.

Assault is pretty quick as the Penal Squad knifes the last wound off the Wraith and continue to move forward.


Picture Caption: That's... a lotta dakka Tau...  Good job. Baron?  Don't be jealous


Turn 3: Necrons
-----------------
Vas'ryn was beside himself with rage.  The living were like insects.  No matter how many he killed, there always seemed to be more.  He glanced down the battlefield and noted with some satisfaction that one of his Lords pulled himself off the floor, repair protocols assembling the Necron from the scattered remains.

The Lord marched forwards into the front lines of the living, ignoring the flurry of hastily made shots and starting slicing left and right.  The shrieks of pain and desperation filled Vas'ryn with satisfaction.  Now things were turning.  Their fall was at hand.
-------------------

The Night Scythe shows up.  It moves to the left, shooting at the Broadsides, doing nothing, but the Necron shenanigans somehow lets them down the Fire Warriors next door!  Meanwhile, the Immortals disembark and shoot into the Penal Squad removing half the members! Thankfully, Bremen keeps them together and they hold.  Oh, and that Necron Lord I knocked down last turn?  He GETS UP.  Apparently Necron shenanigans lets them get up within 3" of where they fell down, so he moves closer to the IG blob for free.  The Lord assaults in and challenges.  I decline, hoping that he'll roll us and I can introduce him to the wonderful world of plasma/railguns.  However, the Lord only downs two, and since Katya is next door, the blob makes it's morale check.


Picture Caption: Huh... That's probably not good.
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

BigToof

Turn 4: IG/Tau
-----------------
The Stormtroopers and Crisis Suits stood a short distance apart, weapons ready, both sides unwilling to give each other ground.

"What are you Xenos filth doing here?" snarled the Baron.  "Are you allied with these other creatures?"

Sha'shera replied, "Are you mad?  Those things?  We're here to help.  If you would just let us, we can..."

"Sha'shera!"

Sha'shera glanced over at Deu'nan who was pointing at the Imperial front lines which had become a whirlwind of murder and dismemberment.

"By the Ancestors, what...  What are those things?"

The Baron snorted, "Tau.  Always willing to blunder in when you know nothing.  Stormtroopers!  Romanov is failing us again.  Take the Xenos backfield!  If they are going to press us, we press them back."

Sha'shera was about to say something, when the Baron glared at her.

"I'm watching you Tau.  Be glad I have better things to do than turn you into slag.  My name is Baron von Oberheim.  Remember it, for one day it will be your epitaph."

The Stormtroopers turned to leave, keeping an eye on the Tau as the moved.

"Cheery fellow," remarked Deu'nan sarcastically.  "Are you sure you want to stay involved in this whole affair?"

Sha'shera nodded, "We started this mess Deu'nan, it's up to us to finish it..."
----------------

Well, it's time to try to start going for objectives.  I move the Baron up towards the Necron objective.  They're within range of the Necron Overlord, and a well placed melta shot puts the Necron down (yay!).  I also move the Crisis Suits up who fire into the Night Scythe closest to them.  They easily bring it down with a well-placed fusion bolt.  And the Deathstrike FINALLY decides to fire, and I hit dead on, eliminating all of the newly landed Immortals in a massive conflagration.  In other news, Tems and Lady Saigo move forward, as the Penal Squad also clambers forward, trying to get to the Necron objective.

And assault... goes badly as the Necron Lord downs two more Guardsmen, who decide that it's just not worth it and falls back off the board!  The Lord moves forward towards Katya.  Oh, that's... not good.


Picture Caption: Oh man, we're in trouble now!


Turn 4: Necrons
----------------
Vas'ryn sighed at the tediousness of the entire affair as he pulled his form off the ground.  How many times would it take the living to finally learn that killing the dead was just not feasible?

He moved towards the small squad of living that foolishly stood in his way.  He readied his Scythe when one walked forward, sword in hand.

The man said in a gruff tone, "I am Baron von Oberheim, foul creature!  I challenge you to single combat if you so dare!"

Vas'ryn paused.  Arrogant.  Weak.  A good example for the others.

The Necron Overlord inclined his head.  The Baron moved closer, carefully judging his distance between him and the enormous Xenos.  He had taken down Gods.  What could a stringy excuse for a monster do to him?  Nothing could defeat Baron von...

And that was when the Baron noticed a strange tingling in his arm.  He looked down at his left hand and swore as he saw a line of strange scarabs running up from the ground and latching onto his flesh.  He tried to pull away, but the creatures seemed glued on.  Then, with a strange eerie slowness, he watched his own arm fly up and deliver a familiar uppercut to his face.  The Baron tried to block it, but burdened by his sabre, he was unable to react in time.  The punch lifted him off his feet and inky blackness started to creep in around the edges of his vision.

Vas'ryn shook his head at the sad display.  The living would eventually fall by their own failure and excess.  The only thing he had to do was watch.
-----------------

The Overlord, who has been dead now a number of times, AGAIN gets up.  He assaults the Baron's squad.  I challenge with the Baron and he accepts.  Before the swinging starts, he tells me about Mindshackle Scarabs... 

Balls. 

I fail the Baron's leadership check, and the mighty Sergeant ends up uppercutting himself into the dirt.  The Stormtroopers at least manage to keep from falling back at least...

The Lord in my front line decides to assault Katya.  Overwatch, not surprisingly, does nothing to the 2+ monster.  He challenges and I accept with...  Madame Rage.  Yeah, it's a short fight and the Cuckoos also stay.


Picture Caption: Uh... this is officially bad now.


Turn 5: IG
-----------------
Lord Commissar Katya Vaskov watched the Xenos in front of her slowly raise it's weapon.  The Psykers around her tried pointlessly to pound on it, but the thing was immovable.  It seemed to almost enjoy her attempts to wound it as her sword glanced off with little effect.  She thought to glance back at Vasily, to say something memorable, to say what her heart had been begging her to say for months.  Then her steely resolve smashed such pointlessness to pieces.  If he should remember anything, he should remember how she stood her ground and died.  Proud.  Serving her duty.  For the Emperor.

As the creature's weapon glinted in the sun and started to fall, a great cry was heard:
"FOR THE GREATER GOOD!"

Katya felt her eyes widen in surprise as a trio of Tau armored suits blasted into their ruins, shoulder ramming the Xenos into the ground.  With the expertise of a group of newly inducted Conscripts, the large figures began wildly swinging against the Xenos, kicking, screaming and making a mess of things.  The Xenos seemed completely taken aback and was about to push them away when one of the suits jumped off a wall and landed with both large feet into the skeletal creature's skull, smashing it to pieces.  The trio then began to shout victoriously while Katya shook her head. 

Did she just die and was suffering hallucinations of some sort?  Or was the universe far more strange than she had given it credit for?
---------------------

Well... I have Bri shoot at and down the last Night Scythe.
As for assaults...  I decide the Baron must be avenged from umm... himself and charge in
Lady Saigo.  She goes quite over the top and does enough damage to down the Overlord (whew).

And then... with a LOT of trepidation, I throw the Shas'El and her Crisis Suits in against the Lord.  Thankfully, I do enough wounds for the Lord to fall down.  I move everyone around so there's no chance of the Lord getting up.

With no models on the table and only the Overlord (not scoring) having a chance of getting up, the Necrons concede...



Result: IG Victory!
------------------------

Post-Game Thoughts:
Epic game!  Not really that bad though, as the Tau take care of the air force pretty much by themselves.

As has been my habit so far, a unit by unit rundown:

CCS/MoO: Orders helped a lot on the wraiths and the Master was just taking chunks out of the Warriors.  Without his help, I'd never be able to catch them as he took out the Cryptek round one...  And then didn't do too much for the rest of the game, but good enough.

Katya: Amusingly enough, she is my Warlord, and she kept everyone together long enough for the face punching to work.  I considered phasing her out, but really, I think I need all the help I can get.

Baron: The Baron did a good job, and his hysterical ending by mindshackle scarabs was just too funny.  Still, he did a solid job.  Just need to actually get something he can shoot at next time!

Cuckoos: Solid S8 plates.  What more can you ask for?  I was thinking of making the Crons run, but it was just so hard to reliably keep them down that I'd rather blow them up than make them fall back.

Tems' PCS: Four flamers are solid and deadly.  Roasted that Wraith and the squad was small enough to act as a backup linebreaker in case things went south.  I think I'll keep her roving around more often!

Guard-Blob: Sort of meh, as they still can't fight worth beans now that I took out the power weapons on the sergeants.  Lascannons helped some.

HWS: Really fragile.  Not sure if I should still keep them or rotate them with something more powerful...

Lady Saigo's RR: The Rough Riders were stellar this game, basically keeping everyone at bay since nobody wanted to get too close to their AP3 lances and they are SO much faster this edition.  I think every list needs some kind of assault unit to keep a flank from folding, and since my power blobs are dead, Lady Saigo does a good job.  Saved the Baron's hash too, much to his chagrin I'm sure :)

DSM: Fired a turn later than I would have liked, but erased a squad.  Business as usual.

Sha'shera/Crisis Suits: OMG.  Wow.  Just.  Wow.  I wanted face-meltingly good shooting.  I got face-meltingly good shooting.  Keepers.  Erased an immortal squad with little effort and even took down an errant flyer!  Also, totally saved the day with their uh... sort of heroic charge.  Fast too as they can move 2d6 in the assault phase.

Fire Warriors: I... think they did a wound or two.  Still, cheap skirmishers that kept the Broadsides safe.

Broadsides: This was just...  amazing.  S10 AP1, where have you been all my life?  With the whole 5+ saves, the Broadsides were great for making people rethink tanking shots and  they even took down flyers with minimal effort.  Again, a keeper.

In the end, I think I won as there was just too many guardsmen for Necrons to deal with.  It was a bit surprising that the Immortals just didn't stay in their Scythes, but I guess he was trying to shoot down my anti-air...  My opponent told me that he was surprised that the Broadsides and Crisis Suits did as well as they did, as he was more worried about 6 TL-Autocannons than the Tau on the far left side.  Live and learn I guess :)

In any case, IG lost a lot of models (probably more than the Necrons had to start with), but in the end victory was achieved through grinding your enemy down with bodies, just as it should be.

Changes to the list?  I'm not sure.  I would like to get an Aegis Line, but I'm not sure if it's a worthwhile investment, as the blob is pretty invulnerable to small arms fire and Katya has her cloak.  Nobody ever seems to fire at Vasily...  I need better fire than the Autocannons.  Not sure what, but something.

--------------------------

Baron von Oberheim watched through glassy eyes as the Xenos Warlord readied his Scythe.  How appropriate, he thought, that the one to down the great Baron von Oberheim was himself.  He tried to bark an appropriate last word, but the combination of broken jaw and concussion kept him from doing much.  Just as the creature was about to crush the life out of his broken form, he heard an unfortunately familiar cry:

"SAIGO!"

A septet of calvery charged in, explosive lances tearing into the Warlord, who fell reluctantly into pieces.  The skull stared menacingly at the Baron, who glared back at it.  Then, it was kicked away as he heard an irritating voice bellow, "You don't mess with my BOYFRIEND!"

Lady Tomoe Saigo ran forward, pushing away the Stormtroopers to look at the Baron.  With a worried look, she threw her head down to his chest, sending a thunderbolt of pain through his body, and her long hair blinded him as it got into his eyes.

The Baron grunted to try to form words of disgust and indignation, but nothing meaningful was getting out.

"He is alive!" howled Lady Saigo to the Stormtroopers, who only shrugged.  She picked up the Baron and started covering him with kisses and tears.  The Baron grunted again, trying to throw her off, as more lances of agony went through him, but he would have had better luck throwing off a Dreadnaught. 

Throwing him over her saddle, Lady Saigo nodded to the Stromtroopers, who were already packing up their gear.  She had saved the Baron.  Now he owed her his life.  She blushed slightly as she thought of all the ways he was going to pay her back...

----------------------------

Far on the other side of the battlefield, Sha'shera and her Crisis Suits were carefully regarding the Imperial leaders in front of them.  Sha'shera tried to make as little threatening moves as possible given her enormously armored and armed form, and the Imperials had divided into two groups, one running around and kicking the still moving pieces of Necrons, and the other surrounding a small group of Gue'seva in the back. 

After some time, a short figure poked his head out of the mass, speaking in a somewhat trembling voice.

"Uh, greetings.  I...  I'm Commander Vasily Romanov of the 1st Auric Battalion... I... Uh...  Do you understand what we're saying?"

Sha'shera felt her heart go light.  This was THE Vasily Romanov.  She looked carefully at his small, vulnerable and... precious form.  He was so... tiny, barely taller than her un-suited form.  She tried to keep her voice steady, but found it oddly speeding up,

"Uh... Yes.  Ahem, uh...  I'm...  I'm Shas'El Sha'shera of the Sept Tau."

Vasily paused, trying to take in all of the Xenos words.  Throne above, he thought, it was like two tank-fulls of syllables collided together.

"Uh... umm...  Yes, that's good to meet you... Shas'ee...  Sho'saa... Uh... Shi..."

"Also known as Princess Sara," added the suit next to the Shas'El.

"Deu'nan!" barked the Shas'El.

Vasily sighed with relief, "Uh... Yes, Princess Sara.  Thank you.  It's..."

"Time for you to be leaving, foul Xenos creature.  You will not trick us with your lies."

Vasily glanced over at Katya who still had her Bolt Pistol out.

"Katya," he hissed, "Don't anger the Xenos with the enormous guns.  At least not until we're out of range...  I..."

"Oh," said the Shas'El, "Sorry, I meant no offense, umm...  Is this your mate?"

Vasily felt his face redden and glanced over at Katya who was suddenly as red as a Harkoni Warhawk, trying to keep an eye on the Tau while avoiding his gaze.

"Uh... no, no," Vasily said, "We're...  I mean...  I'm not with... I..."


"Oh!" said Sha'shera, "So you're... single then?"

Vasily felt his jaw quiver as frightening images came to mind, but was thankfully interrupted when a bolt pistol round bounced off the Shas'El's head.  All eyes turned to the Lord Commissar, who still held her smoking weapon at the ready.

"You.  Go.  NOW."

"Sha'Shera?  We'd better go.  Bri says it's all clear."

The Shas'El nodded, and activated her thrusters, taking a parting glance at the Commander as she flew away.  Vasily.  She thought.  Such an exotic name.  Just a... perfect name...
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

Will's on Fire

Awesome battle rep! Really enjoyed the fluff, have only just been getting back into the swing of not having to skim read it because I should be doing other things, and I feel like I've definitely been missing out.

Great game as usual as well, do you only write up the memorable games or do all your games have at least three dozen impressive feats? :P

- Will

Cammerz

The fluff was brilliant, I feel so sorry for Vasily with all that he has to put up with; the increasingly more complicated love-triangles (although not triangles as there are far more than three people involved, love-pentagon maybe?) and to top it all off he's constantly threatened by Xenos and those within his own army.

A shame that the Baron wasn't able to just smash the Overlord into pieces (I'm sure he could have if it wasn't for those scarabs), but I'm sure he's feeling much worse now.

As for the game itself, I'm glad to hear that the Tau made a good job of destroying those flyers, Iwas a bit surprised that the autocannons didn't do better but then I remembered just how vulnerable those squads really are. It would be nice if you could somehow attach them to a character with a camo-cloak.
If you are thinking about replacing some of your army then might I suggest the Deathstrike as from what I've read it doesn't seem to do a great deal, it would be nice to know how often it makes its points back. Given that tanks in general are far more vulnerable in this edition, perhaps you could throw a couple of Hydras and that Aegis line in there, or maybe even a bastion which would give Vasily some more protection (sounds like he needs it, not neccessarily in game-terms but i tend to enjoy the fluff far more than the report) and the Master of Ordnance could see more of the field.

Anyway, looking forward to your next report, whatever it might be, personally I'm routing for Dark Eldar, (which I never actually did before you introduced Thielbane).

Job's a good 'un!

BigToof

Quote from: Will Vas Fire on August 04, 2012, 09:42:13 PM
Awesome battle rep! Really enjoyed the fluff, have only just been getting back into the swing of not having to skim read it because I should be doing other things, and I feel like I've definitely been missing out.

Great game as usual as well, do you only write up the memorable games or do all your games have at least three dozen impressive feats? :P

- Will

Hi Will,
Thanks for the reply.  I try to write up as many battle reports that I can, and of course the ones that are memorable are the ones that get first picks.
I have been trying to write up more, but honestly, I don't have that many 6th ed games under my belt.  Hopefully more as time goes along...
Glad you're liking the fluff as well.
Not too long I hope?

Quote from: Cammerz on August 04, 2012, 10:25:18 PM
The fluff was brilliant, I feel so sorry for Vasily with all that he has to put up with; the increasingly more complicated love-triangles (although not triangles as there are far more than three people involved, love-pentagon maybe?) and to top it all off he's constantly threatened by Xenos and those within his own army.

A shame that the Baron wasn't able to just smash the Overlord into pieces (I'm sure he could have if it wasn't for those scarabs), but I'm sure he's feeling much worse now.

As for the game itself, I'm glad to hear that the Tau made a good job of destroying those flyers, Iwas a bit surprised that the autocannons didn't do better but then I remembered just how vulnerable those squads really are. It would be nice if you could somehow attach them to a character with a camo-cloak.
If you are thinking about replacing some of your army then might I suggest the Deathstrike as from what I've read it doesn't seem to do a great deal, it would be nice to know how often it makes its points back. Given that tanks in general are far more vulnerable in this edition, perhaps you could throw a couple of Hydras and that Aegis line in there, or maybe even a bastion which would give Vasily some more protection (sounds like he needs it, not neccessarily in game-terms but i tend to enjoy the fluff far more than the report) and the Master of Ordnance could see more of the field.

Anyway, looking forward to your next report, whatever it might be, personally I'm routing for Dark Eldar, (which I never actually did before you introduced Thielbane).

Job's a good 'un!

Hi Cammerz,
Thanks for the reply.
I'm glad you like the fluff, I worry that it was getting too long for all in one shot.
Maybe I should separate it into more bite-sized chunks for everyone to read?
You want Dark Eldar next?  I'm... shocked, but I guess Thielbane did a good impression on everyone.  I do have a decent battle in my stock, I'll have to see if I can get it written up.
Did the Tau (Princess Sara and friends) make a decent impression?
Thanks again for the kind words!

Oh, and to generally all:
Do you think that this was tl;dr (too long, didn't read)?
I was worried that it was too much to digest in one sitting.
It just sort of wrote itself, but after looking at the tremendous posts, perhaps it's best to split things up?

I've got a vote for Dark Eldar, but I do have a Space Wolf (yes I know) rep, and I could try to work on getting an IG game or Ork game if people feel strongly otherwise.

Best,
-BT
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

Cammerz

The fluff can never be too long BT, if anything I was losing interest in the report part but the large fluff section at the end rewon my attention in a way that only your writing can. If you ever find yourself without a report to write up then I'd love it if you could just do fluff.

As for Princess Sara and friends, I think I preferred them in the Maximus report to be honest but I'm afraid I can't really explain why, but we've only seen her twice so it isn't really enough to form a solid opinion yet.

I wasn't aware that Space Wolves were an option at the moment, I'd quite like to hear what's been going on with them in 6th so I'll change my vote for this one. Maybe you should just have even amounts of each report, on a cycle of; Orks, DE, IG and SWs. then there wouldn't be too much of a gap between each report for a single army.

Rej

Great read as usual, loving the fluff. I'm excited to see what princess Sara gets up to next! Is she going to stick around with Vasily? Meaning you'll replace her with someone new when opponents use Tau Allies?
Phew...

Lord Sotek

Loved the rep, enjoyed the fluff, and cheered the Super Friends' victory to no end, but I honestly think Vasily has more than enough on his plate without a swooning Shas'el into the bargain. Maybe Deunan and Bri can talk, or perhaps bully/tease/embarrass, some sense into the Princess. :P
Quote from: Saulus on March 17, 2011, 06:16:56 PM
Often I hear delusional ramble like "I painted and collected my army as ultramarine tyranid hunters....but Pedro is really good, so now I'm using him, but I'm just going to call him Jimbob-Fistpumper, cause that fits with my

BigToof

Thank you all for the many kind comments!

Quote from: Cammerz on August 05, 2012, 08:37:41 PM
The fluff can never be too long BT, if anything I was losing interest in the report part but the large fluff section at the end rewon my attention in a way that only your writing can. If you ever find yourself without a report to write up then I'd love it if you could just do fluff.

As for Princess Sara and friends, I think I preferred them in the Maximus report to be honest but I'm afraid I can't really explain why, but we've only seen her twice so it isn't really enough to form a solid opinion yet.

I wasn't aware that Space Wolves were an option at the moment, I'd quite like to hear what's been going on with them in 6th so I'll change my vote for this one. Maybe you should just have even amounts of each report, on a cycle of; Orks, DE, IG and SWs. then there wouldn't be too much of a gap between each report for a single army.

Hi Cammerz,
I think I know what you mean, perhaps it's too many named characters needing time.  I noticed that once you get beyond half a dozen named characters, you run into a Star-Trek like phenomenon, where you can only have each episode have a limited amount to each character.
I'll try to keep the amount of fluff if you like it, I'm glad it wasn't too wordy.
Space Wolves, eh?
They always did get the lowest number of votes, but I'll see what I can do.  Have to get a game in first.  I do have a list of sorts.

Quote from: Rej on August 06, 2012, 12:04:38 AM
Great read as usual, loving the fluff. I'm excited to see what princess Sara gets up to next! Is she going to stick around with Vasily? Meaning you'll replace her with someone new when opponents use Tau Allies?

Hi Rej,
I'm glad you like Sara.  I'll be keeping her around if enough people like her, as I haven't seen too much Tau around here.  Mostly either pure lists still or maybe IG as allies.  I think even my opponent who used to use Tau went off has stopped using them.
Hope it's not too sappy with another element to Vasily's romantic element :)

Quote from: Lord Sotek on August 06, 2012, 12:37:54 AM
Loved the rep, enjoyed the fluff, and cheered the Super Friends' victory to no end, but I honestly think Vasily has more than enough on his plate without a swooning Shas'el into the bargain. Maybe Deunan and Bri can talk, or perhaps bully/tease/embarrass, some sense into the Princess. :P

Hi Lord Sotek,
Glad you liked the rep and the fluff.  It's funny, as I had played the battle out before writing up the Grumgutz report, and I originally was going to have a more "burning hot" Vior'la style commander who was going to find himself strangely attracted to either Katya or Tems.
He seemed a bit over the top, but kind of fun, as I just love throwing the Shas'El into close combat.
However, when I was writing him, I kept getting quotes like, "Feel this Greater Good!" and "Burning Justice Plasma!" in my head, and decided that perhaps Sara was a better character.
Then again, perhaps I should keep that concept around...
Xenophilic Tau, sort of sexy, sort of creepy, hopefully fun :)

Best,
-BT
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3