Warhammer 40,000 Battle Report – Necrons vs Thousand Sons

The Thousand Sons are back after a stinging defeat at the hands of the Tyranids last week. This time, they’re squaring off against the Necrons of Dagon. It’s automata vs automata, mano-a-mano to the death. Who will come out on top?

The Armies

Dagon’s Call

Necrons – 2,000

Battalion Detachment

HQ

Destroyer Lord: WARLORD (Enduring Will); Warscythe

Cryptek

TROOPS

10 Immortals: Gauss Blasters

10 Immortals: Gauss Blasters

12 Warriors

12 Warriors

12 Warriors

ELITES

Triarch Stalker: Heat Ray

Triarch Stalker: Heat Ray

FAST ATTACK

4 Destroyers

HEAVY SUPPORT

3 Heavy Destroyers

DEDICATED TRANSPORT

Ghost Ark

Ahriman’s Own

Thousand Sons – 2,000

Battalion Detachment

HQ

Winged Demon Prince of Tzeentch: WARLORD (Otherworldly Presence), The Dark Matter        Crystal, Hellforged Axe, Malefic Talons; Gaze of Fate, Flickering Flames

Exalted Sorcerer: Force Stave; Gift of Chaos, Prescience

Sorcerer in Terminator Armor: Force Stave, Combi-Bolter; Warptime, Infernal Gaze

TROOPS

10 Rubricae: Aspiring Sorcerer has Glamor of Tzeentch

10 Rubricae: Aspiring Sorcerer has Weaver of Fates

10 Tzaangors

10 Tzaangors

10 Tzaangors

10 Tzaangors

10 Tzaangors

ELITES

6 Scarab Occult Terminators: Soulreaper Cannon; Aspiring Sorcerer has Temporal Manipulation

FAST ATTACK

3 Chaos Spawn

3 Chaos Spawn

HEAVY SUPPORT

Forgefiend: Demon Jaws, 2 Hades Autocannons

Forgefiend: Demon Jaws, 2 Hades Autocannons

After Action Review

My Overlord is NOT going to be happy with this upstart Destroyer! I can almost hear the conversation now, with the head honcho drumming his fingers on the plinth of his throne, the Destroyer Lord buzzing back into the tomb quietly.

“Where have you been?”

“Out fighting with the humans.”

“Where are the rest of my forces? Where are therir leaders, broken and in chains?”

“We killed them all, my lord.”

“Excellent. Another victory for the dynasty, then.”

“Actually, we lost, sir…”

“You WHAT?”

One thing I have always loved about Maelstrom of War is the element of uncertainty. When you take an early drubbing like the Thousand Sons did in this mission, Eternal War is almost certainly beyond reach. Occasionally this is okay, but I do like the thematic element of never knowing what is going to come up in the cards. I was almost certain of victory, and then that one hand gave him the opportunity to capitalize, tearing the score apart and leaving me reeling. It set up a very interesting finale as well; had the Destroyer Lord carved open the Forgefiend in either combat, it would have given me two points and brought the game back to a draw. The Thousand Sons hung tenaciously to their lead though, and in the end it paid off. Blasted Infernal Regeneration!

I might have been a touch more aggressive with the Necrons early on, but there was just so much pressure against my front line from the get. While the Tzaangors and the Spawn never hit home, they accomplished their mission of tying down my entire army in a slugging match that was getting me nowhere. While I was slaughtering the servants of Chaos, they were biding their time and slowly building up a lead in points I could never come back from. Those Tzaangors virtually assure him the initiative in the early game, as I have to take the considerable time required to chew through them. With most enemy units this isn’t a problem, but 5++ can be a very taxing opponent to chew through.

After cracking out the Necrons again, I’m definitely looking forward to their full book. Their ability to tank big things is phenomenal; the combination of Reanimation and amazing Leadership make it very difficult to break them without killing every single dude, and even that takes a lot of doing! Here’s to dynasty rules and the new Cryptek model!

We will be back, Sons. The Necrons have a long memory, and our vengeance will be sated soon enough…