Space Wolves vs Necrons 1000 point rematch

[Karhedron]

This battle is a sequel to one I fought a few weeks ago against my mate Dave (see here http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/370339-space-wolves-vs-necrons-1000-point-battle-report/). The battle was definitely one-sided with the Space Wolves comfortably throwing back the silver tide. Dave was not happy with his army's performance so I agreed to run the same list as before while he would tinker with his list to see if he could improve it.

Space Wolves: Patrol 6CPs

HQ
Primaris Wolf Lord with Power Fist and Plasma Pistol. Armour of Russ, Rites of War, Saga of the Wolfkin (-1CP)

Troops
5 Intercesors with Auto Bolt Rifles, AGC and Thunder Hammer
5 Heavy Intercessor with Hellstorm
5 Infiltrators with Helix Gauntlet

Elites
5 Bladeguard Veterans, Neo Volkite pistol on the sergeant
Redemptor Deadnought with Macro Plasma Cannon, Onslaught Gatling Cannon, Icarus missile pod and Fragstorm launchers

Heavy
3 Eradicators with melta rifles

Necron Patrol: 6CP

HQ
Cryptek with Voltaic staff

Troops
6 Immortals with Gauss

Fast
5 Ophidian Destroyers

Heavy
Canoptek Doomstalker
Canoptek Doomstalker

Elite
C'tan shard of the Deceiver

As soon as I took a look at the list, I could see Dave was keen to try something completely different. Gone was the silver tide and in its place was a heavier monster-mash list. I took Oath of Moment, Ascension and Engage on All Fronts for my Secondaries. Dave took Ascension, Assassinate and Dominion.

We rolled for the mission and got Ascension. This was mildly annoying as it meant my Infiltrators could not deploy in the midfield while my Wolf Lord got ObjSec for free despite having bought Rites of War. We both deployed fairly evenly but then Dave used the Deceiver's Grand Illusion ability to pull a refused flank and focus most of his forces vs my left flank which was held fairy lightly by my Intercessors and Infiltrators. The image below shows our forces at the start of the first turn. Dave won the roll-off for first turn and opted to go first.

[Karhedron]

Turn 1: Necrons

Winning the roll-off, Dave opted to take the first turn. Moving his Doomstalkers towards the Objective on my left, he managed to position them with lines of fire to both my central force and the infantry on my left flank. The C'tan shard and the Ophidians headed for the centre Objective.

Opening his attacks, Dave used the C'tan shard to throw Mortal Wounds at my Bladeguard. He rolled well, killing one outright and wounding a second. Dave had really struggled with my Bladeguard in our last game and the C'tan shard was looking like a good pick as a hard-counter.

In the shooting phase, his first Doomstalker opened up on the Infiltrators. I played Smokescreen on then and between poor rolling on Dave's part and the Helix Gauntlet, I suffered no casualties. Rather than waste firepower on a smoked unit, Dave targetted my Intercessors with his second Doomstalker. I played THP on them and only suffered one casualty. The Immortals fired on the Bladeguard but caused no further casualties.

Turn 1: Space Wolves

The Infiltrators looked seriously outmatched by the Doomstalkers so I used Guerrilla Tactics to pull them into Reserve. The Intercessors on the other hand were packing a Thunder Hammer that I was confident could put a dent in a Doomstalker if I could pull off the charge so I moved them forward.

My Bladeguard, Redemptor and Wolf Lord moved towards the rapidly approaching Ophidians and C'tan shard. I opened fire and wiped out a couple of Ophidians and put a few wounds on the Doomstalker closer to the centre. Sadly the C'tan shard was untargetable and the best unit for dealing with the Doomstalkers (my Eliminators) were waiting for the next turn.

In the combat phase, my Intercessors managed to pull off their charge on the leftmost Doomstalker and managed to knock a solid 6 wounds off.

[Karhedron]

Turn 2: Necrons

The C'tan shard and Ophidians moved over the central Objective to line up a charge on the Bladeguard. The Doomstalker that had been dented by the Intercessors withdrew and the other one lined up on the Intercessors to try and prevent a repeat-performance. The Cryptek moved up to support the Doomstalkers.

In the shooting phase, the Doomstalker and Cryptek opened up and slew 2 more of the Intercessors. The C'tan shard and the Ophidians charged the Bladeguard. The Wolf Lord Heroically Intervened in the melee and used the Armour of Russ to freeze the Ophidians. The combat was brutal on both sides with the C'tan activating "Entropic Strike" which allowed him to kill 2 Bladeguard without the protection of their invulnerable saves. In return, the Sergeant struck back and managed to take 2 wounds off the shard. The Wolf Lord had better success, completely crushing the remaining Ophidians with his power fist.

Turn 2: Space Wolves

I had survived the initial charge but I now had a C'tan shard stuck deep in my lines while my Intercessors in Dave's lines were looking a bit thin on the ground. Fortunately, help was at hand. My Eliminators arrived from Reserve on my left flank to square off against the Doomstalkers. Seeing the Eliminators, the Intercessors moved away from the Doomstalkers towards the Cryptek who had just revealed himself. My Infiltrators arrived on my right flank to seize the neglected Objective.

In the shooting phase, the Eliminators opened up on the nearest Doomstalker. Dave rolled very hot on his invulnerable saves and only one shot got through but even that was enough to leave the Doomstalker teetering on a single wound. The last Bladegaurd and the Wolf Lord fired their pistols but did no damage to the C'tan shard. The Heavy Intercessors and Infiltrators fired at the Immortals and managed to kill one.

In the combat phase, the C'tan shard wiped out the last of the Bladeguard but was wounded in return by the Wolf Lord. The two characters remained locked in combat. The Intercessors charged the Cryptek and the Sergeant promptly smashed him to pieces with his Thunder Hammer. This enraged the Doomstalker who promptly took revenge for the destruction of its master and vapourised them completely.

[Karhedron]

Turn 3 Necrons

 

The Doomstalkers moved around slightly. The damaged one moved to hold the Objective on my left flank so that I would have to deal with it somehow. The other moved to line up a shot on my Redemptor.

 

In the shooting phase, the Doomstalkers both fired on my Redemptor and caused 6 damage meaning it was still able to fire at full effect. The immortals plinked away ineffectively at the Heavy Intercessors.

 

In melee, the Wolf Lord took the C'tan shard down to 2 wounds remaining but was crushed in return by the Star God's powerful fists. Dave had succeded in his Objective to slay my Warlord and the C'tan shard consolidated towards my Heavy Intercesssors.

 

Turn 3 Space Wolves

 

My Eradicators moved to draw a LOS to the C'tan shard that was poised to tear into my Deployment Zone. My Redemptor closed with the Doomstalkers. The Heavy Intercessors and Infiltrators held their respective positions.

 

In the shooting phase, the Eradicators finally finished off the wounded C'tan shard, their melta rifles vapourising the living metal of it's Necrodermis. The explosive fury of its demise wounded one of the Heavy Intercessors. This freed up the Redemptor to turn its guns on the more distant and damaged Doomstalker, destroying it. The Heavy Intercessors and Infiltrators both succeeded in killing an Immortal each.

 

In the combat phase, the Redemptor charged the surviving Doomstalker and tore it pieces.

 

With only 3 Immortals left on the table, Dave gracefully conceded and the table belonged to the Space Wolves.

[Karhedron]

This was a great battle and less one-sided than our first encounter. Dave clearly learned well from our first battle and the C'tan shard was a scarily effective counter to my core of Bladeguard and Wolf Lord. That model constituted a third of Dave's army and once the Ophidians were gone, there was nothing to screen it from my shooting.

 

My Redemptor was solid once more and tanked just enough firepower while dishing out plenty of his own. In hindsight, I should probably have committed him against the Deceiver rather than losing my Wolf Lord. With 13 Wounds and Duty Eternal, he could have tanked the C'tan's melee attacks better than the Bladeguard or Wolf Lord.

 

Aside from that, my army function pretty well. The mission hindered my Infiltrators somewhat but using Guerrilla Tactics to pull them out of a tight spot and then redeploy them to take the opposite Objective worked well.

 

On Dave's side, his Ophidians continued to under-perform. I have managed to persuade him that Canoptek Wraiths would work better in his role as a fast assault unit. He doesn't really leverage their reserve capabilities and I think the extra speed, durability and strength of the Wraiths are more valuable than the extra BS/WS of the Ophydians. Similarly his Doomstalkers were not particularly impressive, I think he is looking to try Lockhust Destroyers for fire support next time as they are far more efficient Marine killers and pretty good vs vehicles with the Extermination Protocols stratagem.

[Axilleas]

Just a heads up, even though the Ctan only has 9 wounds, they have a specific rule that prevents them from benefiting from the LoS rules so they can always be shot if not blocked by obscuring terrain. That being said, a unit of Scarabs makes for a great screening unit for the Ctan to prevent it from being charged.

[Karhedron]

Just a heads up, even though the Ctan only has 9 wounds, they have a specific rule that prevents them from benefiting from the LoS rules so they can always be shot if not blocked by obscuring terrain. That being said, a unit of Scarabs makes for a great screening unit for the Ctan to prevent it from being charged.

Thanks for that. I just discovered the same thing half way through our rematch. Dave was probably wondering why I wasn't shooting the thing earlier.

[Commisar Necros]

Great pictures and a good battle report! Im going to be running my wolves against some necrons soon, so good to hear someone else's experience.

[Wraithwing]

I'm really enjoying these battle reports. They are clear, well written and easy to follow. 

 

Awesome work!

[Karhedron]

Glad you are enjoying. 

 

I have done a Batrep for my Blood Angels too which you may enjoy. http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/370613-blood-angels-vs-necrons-1500-points/

[yan]

Ive played against Necrons yesterday, my first time. Was interesting and learned a lot again! Your inspiring me with these battle rapports and I will try to write one about yesterday soon!