A soft yellow glow lit the command chamber as the strategy holomap came online in response to its master's entrance. Seating himself in the command throne, the Phaeron Y'san monitored his Crypteks' progress on Project ATEK.
Noting that they had reached the prototype stage, the Phaeron saw a perfect opportunity to test the project. Missives from the humans indicated that they needed support on the surface of the gas world of Aeros, as one of their supposed heroes sought some stockpile of biochemicals. Ordering spy-scarabs to begin collecting information on the properties of these chemicals, Phaeron Y'san began to plan for the deployment of the ATEK experimental prototype. Deciding that significant support was needed in case the experiment went badly, the Phaeron pressed a glyph on his command throne, and three shadowed alcoves appeared in the arch above the command chamber's entrance.
Floating within the alcoves were three black stones, which occasionally gave off sparks of red lightning. Sending a coded message to the Crypteks in his court, Y'san then stepped off his command throne, making his way to the entrance and preparing to deploy from the tombship. Silently, the three black stones floated in his wake, following the Phaeron to battle...
So, batrep between Ray and I once more, 2000pts, for the Shield of Baal Campaign. Kill Points mission again, with special bonuses if I manage to stop all Tyranids from getting within 6" of the objective at the end of the game, and extra bonus points if Ray manages to kill my Warlord. Lists are below
Leviathan Unbound
3 x Flyrants w/ Twin-linked Devourers
4 x Tyrannocytes
3 x Carnifexes (each in Tyrannocyte)
1 x Dimachaeron (in Tyrannocyte)
2 x Mawloc
2 x Mucolid Spore
1 x Lictor
Dynasty of Y's
1 x Catacomb Command Barge w/ Edge of Eternity, Nightmare Shroud, Solar Thermasite, Phase Shifter
1 x Cryptek w/ Chronometron
8 x Immortals w/ Tesla
2x 5 Immortals w/ Gauss (in NS)
2 x Night Scythe
1 x Transcendent C'tan
1 x Conclave of the Nightbringer
(Nightbringer Shard, 1 Cryptek w/ Phase Shifter, God Shackle, 1 Cryptek w/ Phase Shifter)
1 x Concalve of the Deceiver
(Deceiver Shard, 2 Crypteks w/ Phase Shifters)
I had to deploy first, though the Deceiver's Grand Illusion power allowed me to reposition my units after all deployment was complete. Ray decided to take second turn.
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| Tyranid Deployment |
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| Necron Deployment, with Lictor (proxied by warrior) infiltrated to guide Mawlocs in |
The Phaeron gazed off into the distance as his Crypteks made their final preparations to test the equipment of Project ATEK. The aim of the project was simple. Find a way to replicate the synapse link between the unfathomable Hive Mind that seemed to drive the Tyranids on the surface, and if possible, replace the Hive Mind's control with that of the Necrons. With little understanding of the psychic realm, it seemed a risky experiment, but Y'san's Crypteks were certain that the bioelectrical fields generated by the Tyranids' leader beasts could be imitated. Stored within a small bunker, all that remained was to power up the device and see what happened.
An hum that was only audible to the enhance auditory sensors of the Necrons indicated that the experiment had begun. Raising a hand, the Phaeron caused the three floating blackstones to shudder and suddenly burst apart in a shower of red lightning and flame. When the actinic flare and smoke faded away, three C'tan Shards floated before him. Crypteks hastened to their side to enhance their already resilient necrodermis forms.
"Nightbringer, The Deceiver, and Thousand Blades. I have need of your services once again." said Y'san, receiving their silent acknowledgements in return.
It was time for both Tyranid and human to know why the Dynasty had once been feared as the Empire of the Gods...
Necron 1
Warning glyphs began to scroll across the Phaeron's sight as sensors alerted him to incoming Tyranids. Though large swarms had not been detected, a lurking creature had been spotted in the ruins just off the left flank, while subterranean tremors and shipbound sensors had also given warning of potentially larger beasts. Y'san had been right to bring along the three C'tan, and he was certain that he had chosen the right three out of the myriad the Dynasty of Y's had captured. Directing the Nightbringer and Deceiver to remove the irritant on the left flank, the Phaeron returned his attention to the ongoing experiment...
KP Count: Necrons 0-0 Tyranids
Tyranid 1
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| Hive Tyrants swoop forward to get closer to Necron lines, Lictor moves away from the incoming C'tan, having tanked an Antimatter Meteor blast from the Nightbringer |
The three flying Hive Tyrants banked as one, swooping closer to the ground. They had sensed a confusing presence that drew them to this region, one that their swarm had scoured clean some weeks ago. It was like the Hive Mind called them there, but the "other" presence that called them was different, more like an annoying buzz at the edge of their collective consciousness, rather than the overpowering sentience that had created them.
Seeing through the eyes of a scouting Lictor, the Hive Tyrants saw the same black creatures that had been such an obstacle to the Leviathan in the previous weeks. The Other would have to wait...
Seeing through the eyes of a scouting Lictor, the Hive Tyrants saw the same black creatures that had been such an obstacle to the Leviathan in the previous weeks. The Other would have to wait...
KP Count: Necrons 0-0 Tyranids
Necron 2
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| Nightbringer and Deceiver combine to eliminate the Lictor in the ruins, Transcendent C'tan Shard will eventually move towards the ruins in the top left corner |
As the Nightbringer and Deceiver shards got a clear line of sight to the lurking creature, the Phaeron matched its image to his databanks, realising that it was a Lictor. Archived strategic analysis told him that subterranean creatures known as Mawlocs were never far behind, and painful experience had taught others that Mawlocs homed in on Lictors like Flayed Ones scenting blood. Reaching into the mental link with the two C'tan Shards, the Phaeron urged the Star-Gods to finish off the creature.
Its eyes blazing, the Nightbringer's gaze caught the Lictor's beady eyes, and the creature spasmed in agony as it felt Death reaching into its mind. Scant moments later, the Lictor fell dead, every neuron in its brain burnt to ash....
KP Count: Necrons 2-0 Tyranids (Lictor + First Blood)
Tyranid 2
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| Hive Tyrants swoop into range, Dimachaeron comes down in a pod, as doe a Mucolid. Flyrants' shooting remove FIVE Immortals, with some ridiculously poor saving throws. |
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| Mawloc attempts to DS the clustered C'tan Conclaves, but ends up scattering and running into the ruins. |
The swollen purple clouds of Aeros temporarily parted as Tyranid spores began to rain down on the platform where Project ATEK had been set up. However, many off the falling spores were caught by the swirling winds, and despite their size and undoubtedly weighty cargo, several ended up floating on the rising thermals, delaying their arrivals. Despite the delays, one managed to make it to the surface, unleashing a massive Dimachaeron.
As the trio of Hive Tyrants swooped closer to the waiting Necrons, they extended their wills and reached out to one of the lurking subterranean beasts that had been part of the original invasion swarms. With a roar, a Mawloc erupted from the ground beneath a ruined gas processor, in a bid to exact revenge for the dead Lictor. As they ensured the Mawloc's arrival, the Hive Tyrants combined their firepower and focused on the black skeletal constructs on the ground below. In a shower of brainleech worms, five of the hard-prey fell to the ground, emitting sparks...
Necron 3
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| Night Scythes come in for fire support, lead Night Scythe drops off its Immortals. |
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| Everything is focused on the Dimachaeron to try and soften it up before it hits combat, but cover saves and poor AP see only one wound done by the Transcendent C'tan |
The loss of several of the Immortals surprised the Phaeron, and he called in his reinforcements. Night Scythes screamed overhead in response, invasion beams deploying one squad of Immortals. In spite of the losses, Project ATEK was looking to be quite a success. At the very least, it had attracted a large swarm of the Tyranid creatures. The trick then, was to kill off enough of the creatures to hold them off, and retrieve the data from the machine.
With a flicker of thought, Y'san gave the C'tan Shards their targets. Assigning the Mawloc to the Nightbringer and the Deceiver, he prioritised the Dimachaeron for the shard of Sw'sn, The Thousand Blossoms. The Phaeron watched with pleasure as the Nightbringer and the Deceiver sent the Mawloc the same way as the Lictor, while the Shard of the Thousand Blades summoned a pillar of black fire, which streaked down from the sky and immolated the Dimachaeron where it stood. As the pillar of flame dissipated, the Dimachaeron remained standing, despite having several large chunks of flesh falling off in blackened patches...
KP Count: Necrons 3-0 Tyranids (Mawloc)
Tyranid 3
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| Carnifexes everywhere! Second Mawloc deepstrikes in and mishaps, I place it in front of the Dimachaeron to block off its charge. But I forgot the Dimachaeron can leap!! Carnifexes reduce the newly arrived Immortals to one model, and kill one Night Scythe |
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| This Immortal tanks every shot from that Carnifex in the distance. 9 armour and RP saves! |
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| Purple rain, purple rain... |
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| Clash of the Titans - Dimachaeron against the Transcendent C'tan, with both taking a wound from supporting fire. 8 attacks on the charge from the D puts only 1W on the Transcendent C'tan! What a beast. Transcendent C'tan strikes back, and will eventually put 3W on the Dimachaeron. |
The winds of Aeros themselves seemed to obey the Tyranids as they parted the clouds to reveal the remaining Tyrannocytes, falling like purple rain. The Hive Fleet seemed to be responding to the call of Project ATEK, sending Carnifex after Carnifex in some strange alien reflex action. As the huge beasts burst from their transporting Tyrannocytes, they immediately began to fire at targets of opportunity. With strange lightning wreathing its hull, a Night Scythe pinwheeled out of the sky, crashing over the horizon with a large explosion. Its Immortals fared no better, quickly being torn apart by a shower of brainleech worms.
Immortals, Night Scythes and C'tan Shard all found their frames shuddering under the fusillade of fire, while the Dimachaeron took advantage of the distracted Sw'sn and charged into the fray. Despite the beast being perfectly evolved for close combat, the sickle claws barely managed to damage the Star-God. Retaliating, the C'tan Shard showed how it got its name, seeming to fragment into a thousand shards of light, slashing at the Dimachaeron from all directions. When the Shard finally coalesced back into its shackled form, the Dimachaeron was bleeding heavily from several gashes in its body....
KP Count: Necrons 3-2 Tyranids (Night Scythe + Immortals)
Necron 4
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| Remaining Night Scythe flies off the table. Nightbringer and Deceiver conclaves move towards the main conflict, Gaze of Death kills off the Carnifex on top of the skull terrain, and shooting from both conclaves kills off the Tyrannocyte closest to the skull terrain |
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| Bargelord charges into the Dimachaeron conflict, to aid the Transcendent C'tan. Maybe not the best idea, as Dimachaeron proceeds to take one HP off the barge with a penetrating hit from his Smash attack, before falling to the combined attacks of the Bargelord and C'tan. |
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| Bargelord and Transcendent C'tan consolidate to move closer to the Mawloc |
As the C'tan Shard of Sw'sn continued its battle to the death with the Dimachaeron, Y'san ordered his driver to bring him closer to the fight. It looked like the Shard could use some help with killing off the Dimachaeron, and the sooner the Dimachaeron was dead, the faster the C'tan could move on to killing other beasts. As the Barge entered its reach, the Dimachaeron realised the threat to its rear, and spun around to strike, damaging the skimmer. Undeterred, Y'san combined his attacks with the Shard of Sw'sn, tearing the Dimachaeron apart in a shower of gore.
A pulse of mirth filled the Deceiver's mental link as the Phaeron moved on to deal with another Mawloc. Through the swirl of battle, Y'san saw that the Deceiver and the Nightbringer had combined to kill of both a Carnifex and the egg-like Tyrannocyte it had arrived in. The tide of battle was swinging in his favour, and the Phaeron did not intend to surrender the initiative...
Tyranid 4
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| Hive Tyrants fly over the Project ATEK house, Carnifex and Tyrannocyte secure it. Carnifex in the background charges the C'tan, Mawloc charges the Bargelord. Carnifex and C'tan both wound each other, while Mawloc misses its Smash, taking 2W in return from the Bargelord. |
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| Shooting from Hive Tyrants puts a wound on Nightbringer conclave Cryptek |
The Hive Tyrants continued to circle the battlefield, looking for stragglers that they could pick off. Spotting a Cryptek escorting the Nightbringer, they let loose a volley from their devourers, staggering the Cryptek. Despite the rain of monstrous creatures that had fallen on the platform at Aeros, the swarm was gradually losing biomass through attrition. Already the Hive Tyrants saw the Mawloc bleeding heavily from several wounds, while one of the few remaining Carnifexes was struggling with a glowing being.
Focusing on the clarion call of the Other, the three Tyrants circled closer to the source of the presence, intending on discovering what really called to them...
KP Count: Necrons 6-2 Tyranids
Necron 5
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| Night Scythe comes back in, and Gaze of Death on the furthest flying tyrant fails to wound thanks to Catalyst. Shooting wounds the Carnifex next to it, and kills a Tyrannocyte. Bargelord and C'tan kill Mawloc/Carnifex, |
Even with that thought, Y'san idly swung his warscythe, killing off the Mawloc that had been trying to smash apart his Barge, and ordered the Shards to stop toying with their respective prey and begin the withdrawal. Almost in sync, the C'tan killed all three monstrous creatures at the same time.
"You might try calling us the Monstrous Creature Hammer, Phaeron." said the Deceiver Shard with mocking glee...
KP Count: Necrons 9-2 Tyranids (Carnifex + Mawloc + Tyrannocyte)
Tyranid 5
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| WAT. Ray guns downs the Nightbringer unit, the Transcendent C'tan, the Night Scythe, AND my small unit of Immortals, IN ONE TURN OF SHOOTING. He rolls like a boss and I might as well not have rolled. |
As the Necrons began a fighting withdrawal, warning glyphs began to glow on the Phaeron's command barge. More Tyranid creatures were inbound, as if the Hive Mind sensed the imminent loss of all its creatures. Filled with the unimaginable power of the Hive Mind, the three flying tyrants that still remained in the air took aim at their various targets, before diving into strafing runs.
The first victim was the Conclave of the Nightbringer. Blasts of pure psychic power and flesh devouring worms were hurled at the fragment of the Star-God, with many finding their targets deep within its necrodermis skin. The Crypteks escorting the Nightbringer fared no better, torn apart by the hail of living ammunition. The next to fall was the Shard of The Thousand Blades, with the combined fire from a Carnifex and Tyrannocytes laying it low in a flash of blinding light. Similar fates befell both a squad of reinforcing Immortals and the last remnants of the Dynasty's air support, as the Tyranids reaped their terrible revenge.
In spite of having lost so much biomass, the Tyranids were gradually pushing the Necrons back...
KP Count: Necrons 9-6 (Nightbringer + Transcendent C'tan + Night Scythe + Immortals)
Necron 6
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| Something needs to be done to turn this around. Deceiver conclave shoots then charges the Carnifex in the ruins, and Bargelord charges a Tyrannocyte. |
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| The Bargelord kills off the Tyrannocyte, but gets smashed! Down to his last HP!! |
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| Deceiver kills off the Carnifex and consolidates towards the final Tyrannocyte |
The Dynasty's withdrawal was now under serious threat as the Tyranid creatures closed in. While the Phaeron Y'san had hoped to retrieve the Project ATEK equipment, it now seemed unlikely to happen, with Carnifexes, Tyrannocytes and the winged Hive Tyrants all screening the machine from the Necron forces.
Summoning the Shard of the Deceiver to his side, he ordered the fragment to slay the creatures within its grasp, and collect the remains of its fallen brethren along the way. The Star-God obeyed with remarkable alacrity, slaughtering a Carnifex while sweeping up the shattered remnants of the Nightbringer in its grasp. In a last ditch attempt to reach the Project ATEK transmitter,Y'san charged a floating Tyrannocyte that was in his way, but the creature managed to critically damage his barge, leaving it barely able to move. Even as the Phaeron cut the Tyrannocyte into bloody shreds, he realised that the transmitter would not be able to be retrieved. His only hope now was to escape with the data intact. Transmitting a coded signal to the ATEK machine, Y'san set its self-destruct sequence in motion..
KP Count: Necrons 11-6 (Carnifex + Tyrannocyte)
Tyranid 6
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| Nothing is left on the table aside from the Flyrants and one Tyrannocyte |
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| Tyrannocyte moves closer to objective, Flyrants shooting on Bargelord takes him down to 1W! |
The siren call of the Other was reaching a fever pitch as fewer and fewer of the black-shelled ones remained on the field. Realising that the presence of the Other was linked to the prey's Warlord, the trio of Hive Tyrants came in for the kill.
Ignoring the badly listing Command Barge, the Hive Tyrants followed their instinct and focused their ranged assault on the Phaeron. Chunks of obsidian alloy fell away from the Necron leader's frame, and even the Phaeron's enhanced exoskeleton couldn't endure the punishment for long.
As the Hive Tyrants continued to pursue their prey with animalistic focus, they could see the black creature waving for a retreat...
KP Count: Necrons 11-6 Tyranids
Necron 7
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| Deceiver charges Tyrannocyte, Bargelord runs for the table edge to try and survive. I made a mistake here, I should have used the Bargelord's mobility to get behind the Tyrants since they can only fly in a limited arc. Retreating meant that they could get one more round of shooting. |
Y'san continued to fall back, counting down the minutes as he did so. The self-destruct mechanism on Project ATEK didn't have long to go, and it would be most unseemly were he to be damaged by his own death trap. As his liquid metal frame slowly re-coalesced and repaired the most severe damage, the Phaeron knew that any further damage would cause the safety teleport to kick in, phasing him out back to the tombship. The data would be unfortunately left behind with the command barge, meaning that all the losses endured thus far would be for nought.
Reminding his last remaining C'tan Shard to retrieve all of its brethren, the Phaeron signalled a general retreat. In the distance, he saw the Deceiver Shard charge into combat, attempting to grab the necrodermis remnants from the Tyrannocyte which was waving them in a strange alien challenge...
KP Count: Necrons 11-6 Tyranids
Tyranid 7
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| Crazy saves force Ray to continue shooting at the Immortals + Cryptek |
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| Finally kills off the unit for 2VP, but C'tan kills the Tyrannocyte |
Five. The Phaeron looked off into the distance to see the Shard of the Deceiver make short work of the Tyrannocyte, grabbing the remains of the fallen Shard of the Thousand Blades.
Four. A strange floating spore appeared just around the corner of a ruin, a seemingly late addition to the battle.
Three. The Conclave Crypteks escorting the Shard of the Deceiver took the remains of the Nightbringer and the Thousand Blades, sealing them into pocket dimensions before activating their own phase-teleporters.
Two. Y'san saw the Cryptek and the surviving Immortals buried in a deluge of ravenous worm-ammunition, which slowly but surely overwhelmed their self-repair mechanisms.
One. He saw a Hive Tyrant swing around to glare at the Deceiver, who was taunting it with rude gestures.
Zero. As the world began to shimmer and fade, to be replaced by the familiar environs of the tombship, he heard the Deceiver's final taunt to the Tyranids.
"C'tan touch this..."
KP Count: Necrons 12-11 Tyranids (Tyrannocyte - Objective + Immortals + Cryptek)
NARROW VICTORY FOR THE IMMORTAL EMPIRE!
Thoughts:
Whoa, close call. Up until turn 5 I was basically way ahead of Ray, but one bad round of rolling in Turn 6 saw me lose two C'tans. That said, Conclaves and God Shackle are a crazy combo, as is the Deceiver/Nightbringer tag team. Target priority is definitely key with the Gaze of Death.
In hindsight, I was probably too aggressive with my Bargelord, and he barely survived with 1HP/1W! He is definitely more fragile than the older version. Still, all's well that end's well... Good game!
Ray's Post Game Thoughts:
Man, that was a really close one. Necrons are really one tough army to deal with. Mainly because they have good armour saves, Reanimation Protocols and then some additional army wide Troops rerolls of 1's on RP (because 3+, 4++ is not enough). There were a few instances when the dice worked for either of us so it was really down to deployment and target priority.
I allowed myself to be distracted and went for some half assed shooting, hurting some units but not destroying them. Losing First Blood lost me the game basically. I should have kept the Lictor further back, forcing Jason to come up to me. At the end, it was a miscalculation that cost me the game (although in hindsight based on statistics, it was the right call). The Necron Bargelord was on 1 Wound, 1 Hull Point. I had 2 Tyrants within range of him and another unit of Immortals with Cyptek. I chose the Immortals because it would guarantee me 2 VP's, effectively drawing me the game at 10-10. However, I failed to account for the last Tyrannocyte that was still in combat with his Ctan and limping on one wound. That gave Jason the 11th point and effectively sealed the game for me. If I had risked it all, I may (a 10% chance with his 2+ Arm, 2+ rerolls and 5+ RP) have won the game as Slaying the Warlord is worth 3VP to me. Good game and certainly a close one.
Epilogue
A shower of sparks told Y'san, Phaeron of the Dynasty of Y's, that the precious C'tan Shards in his possession had been reconstituted. Staring at the shadowed alcove which functioned as the prison of the Star-Gods, he counted the contents one by one. Mephet'ran, The Deceiver. Aza'gorod, The Nightbringer. Sw'sn, The Thousand Blades.
They were all returned to their rightful places, ready to serve him. The portal to the command chamber opened as the Overlord P'seph walked in, another of the black stones trailing in his wake.
"You were successful, P'seph." It was not a question.
"Yes, majesty." The Overlord sent the floating stone over to the Phaeron with a gesture.
Y'san grasped the stone, imagining that he could feel the heat of the shard contained within. Nyadra'zatha, the Burning One.
"Thank you, P'seph" said the Phaeron as he dismissed the Overlord.
Sending the floating stone to be stored next to the rest of its kind, the Phaeron laughed softly to himself as he saw the amusement in the situation.
"Have to catch them all..."