Home of the Lahkers: December 2015

An absolutely unfair fight. There's only four Destroyers to flail at Shadow Captain Shrike.

Apologies for the long absence, life has been busy. But I'm back now, with another Not-Apoc game for you, featuring the Lahkers and entirely too many Space Marines.

Ike's Task Force Odin (Red Marauders with Iron Hands Tactics):
Techmarine w/Conversion Beamer, Bolt Pistol, Power Axe, and Servitor w/Heavy Bolter
Techmarine w/Boltgun, Bolt Pistol, 2x Servitors with Servo-arms
10x Tac Marines w/Flamer, Missile Launcher, in Drop Pod
5x Tac Marines w/Flamer, in Rhino
Ironclad Dreadnought w/Hurricane Bolter, Ironclad Assault Launchers, Seismic Hammer, Heavy Flamer, in Drop Pod
Venerable Dreadnought w/Multi-melta, Power Fist, in Drop Pod
3x Venerable Dreadnoughts (one with Assault Cannon, two with Multi-meltas)
Vindicator w/Siege Shield
Aegis Defense Line w/Quad-gun emplacement

Nathaniel's Strike Forces Hugin and Munin:
Raptors Combined Arms:
Lias Issodon
Dreadnought (proxied by Penitent Engine)
5x Tac Marines w/Heavy Bolter
5x Tac Marines w/Heavy Bolter
5x Tac Marines w/Heavy Bolter
5x Tac Marines w/Heavy Bolter
5x Tac Marines w/Heavy Bolter
5x Tac Marines w/Heavy Bolter
2x Attack Bikes (proxied by Skyweaver jetbikes)
4x Centurion Devastators w/Vet Sarge
Raven Guard Allies:
Shadow Captain Shrike
5x Tac Marines w/Grav-gun
10x Assault Marines

This time around Nathaniel and Ike teamed up against me and my first full-strength (almost) Destroyer Decurion. It was also the first time my new lords had taken to the table, namely Lord Nihkyanh, the ancient Lord Byrahn-Zoht, and Phaeron Shahk-ah-Nihl himself, all eager to get back into the conquering groove after 60 million years of dusty hibernation.

Mission was Big Guns Never Tire, deployment was Vanguard Strike. My Warlord trait was Enduring Will (Eternal Warrior), Ike's was Conqueror of Cities (Stealth and MTC in Ruins), Nathaniel's was Master of Ambush (Warlord and 3 non-vehicle units get Infiltrate).

I won the initiative roll-off, and deployed on this side of the board for the high ground and area terrain. I put the Canoptek units to the left, to root out anybody that would take cover in the terrain in that direction, and concentrated the Destroyers on the right, where they had a nice open field of fire. The big yellow rectangle there was a piece of custom-made "Necron terrain" with custom rules Ike had written up, similar to Mysterious Objectives.

Nathaniel and Ike deployed in a semicircle around my army. The Raptors Tac squads spread out to maximize their fields of fire, deployed around the Vindicator proxy (made up at the last moment by taping a recoilless rifle to a Rhino). Nathaniel's warlord, the Raptor special character Lias Issodon, proxied by the green TacMarine, sat with a Tac squad in the ADL and manned the Quad Gun. Nathaniel deployed his Attack Bikes nearby to presumably counter the Wraiths if necessary.

Raptor squads proxied by Eldar, and the saddest Vindicator ever.

Ike's footslogging Dreadnought squadron and Tac-squad-in-Rhino hid behind the hill, and the 10 Assault Marines, the Centurion Devastators, one 5-man Tac squad, and Shadow Captain Shrike sat on the hill. That, or they had scout or an appropriately bird-themed special rule to get up there. I forget. They were there, and that was that.

Just before the game started, Lias Issodon used his crazy Infiltrate, Isolate, Destroy ability to knock 1 HP off my Stalker.

GAME TURN 1

Turn 1 - Me

I moved the army forward at its usual cautious advance, with an emphasis on bringing as many guns to bear on the hill on the right. The Assault squad there was the nearest and greatest threat, and with the fire from basically the entire right flank, I wiped out the Assault squad, as well as the 5-man Tac squad with them (with the exception of the Sarge). Meanwhile, on the left flank, the Wraiths hopped forward, and the warriors and Stalker killed one of the Attack Bikes. The Heavy Destroyers, my chief source of anti-tank, took a single hull point from the lead footslogging Dreadnought.

Turn 1 - Ike and Nathaniel

Both Dreadnoughts dropped in, the Ironclad on the Necron terrain, the Venerable on the left of the hill with the Heavy Destroyers, worryingly right behind my Stalker. Since the Ironclad had dropped on the custom terrain, we rolled for the result, and got "Tesla Overcharge". Hurricane Bolter and Heavy Flamer with Tesla? The Machine God is pleased. The Raptor Tac squads stood still in order to do Rending damage with their bolt weapons, and the Dreadnought squadron started their march across the field.

Shadow Captain Shrike made his first move, jumping over by my rightmost squad of Destroyer, and failed to wound with a krak grenade. The saddest Vindicator ever put its woes aside and lobbed a Demolisher shell into the Wraiths, failed to wound them, but wounded my Destroyer Lord. The Venerable Dreadnought one-shotted my Stalker with its multi-melta, and my Ghost Ark jinked the S10 Conversion beamer shot Ike's Techmarine fired off.

Nathaniel used the Tactical doctrine to get Tac squad re-rolls (thanks to the Demi-Company formation) and yet the entire left flank of Marines only knocked 1 wound off my Wraiths. Stay OP, guys. The CentDevs killed 6 of my 10 Immortals, and Shrike assaulted the Destroyer squad, killed one, and got locked in combat.

GAME TURN 2

Turn 2 - Me

I rolled for reserves and got one squad of Praetorians, the 4-man Destroyer squad, and the Night Scythe in. I had the Scythe, which contained Phaeron Shahk and 10 warriors, fly onto the left side of the board to deal with the pesky Raptors. The 4-man Destroyer squad followed them, for the same purpose. I had the Wraiths continue towards the Raptor Marines, and sent the Spyder, Scarabs and the Destroyer Lord to deal with the VenDread (can't have that running around your back lines). Kobeh and his surviving Immortals shuffled towards the Tesla-charged-Ironclad, and the other Destroyers jockeyed for the best firing position. I dropped the Praetorian squad near Ike's Aegis line, and then forgot about them for the rest of my turn.

My shooting on turn 2 was very disappointing, the entire Lahker right flank fired at the Ironclad and only knocked 1 HP off it. The Night Scythe's tesla destructor only removed one Marine from the table, and apparently the Destroyer reinforcements were still getting their bearings. To compound all this, I completely forgot to have my Wraiths charge any of the nearby Marines, and with the VenDread charged first with the Scarabs and blocked the Destroyer Lord out of assault. Kobeh and the Immortals assaulted the Ironclad, and did eventually get into combat with it, but precisely when is not recorded.

Turn 2 - Ike and Nathaniel

The last Drop Pod came in, holding the 10-man Tac squad, led by Sergeant Dakon. They dropped onto the wooded hill on my side of the board. Ike's Rhino scooted across the board parallel to the marching Dreadnoughts, who a few moments later opened fire on and destroyed the Ghost Ark. I lost a Heavy Destroyer to what I believe was the Conversion-beamer-toting-Techmarine, and lost a Wraith or two to massed Raptor bolter fire. Maybe the sad Vindicator? I forget. The Penitent Dreadnought saw my abandoned Praetorians, and charged and locked them in combat. At this point, the Ironcland and Kobeh's squad were definitely in combat. The Immortals jumped in front of the Ironclad's blows while Kobeh carved it up and finished the job, destroying it. My Spyder and Scarabs took the VenDread down one more HP.

GAME TURN 3

Turn 3 - Me

My other squad of Praetorians came in, I dropped them on my left flank by the Rending Raptors and killed a single Marine. The Destroyers nearby killed a few more Marines, and my Night Scythe flew over the patch of forest in the area and dropped Shahk and his warriors out. They glanced the saddest Vindicator to death in one volley. The Heavy Destroyers and the warriors from the exploded Ghost Ark wrecked the Rhino, forcing the Tac squad inside into the open. Assault time rolled around, and I had Kobeh and Co. join the Shrike-Destroyer combat, and had the Destroyer Lord and the warriors with the new Lords Nikyanh and Byrahn both charge Squad Dakon. New Model Syndrome asserted itself, and the warriors whiffed their charge roll. The Destroyer Lord managed to get in, let the Marines flail at him, and then carved Dakon up. Kobeh got into the Shrike-Destroyer combat, challenged Shrike, and pulled his attention away from the non-CC models.

Turn 3 - Ike and Nathaniel

After an intermission, Ike and Nathaniel began their third turn. The Dreadnought squad continued to march across the field, Ike moved the Techmarine in front of them for cover saves. Nathaniel tried to redeploy his Raptors on my left flank, and got crappy MTC rolls. The Raptors took their frustration out on my newly-arrived Praetorians. I was okay with this, I preferred the Praetorians becoming fire magnets over my Destroyers. The CentDevs were still alive, their shooting was ineffective, however. In the assault phase, Shrike proved infuriatingly difficult to wound. The combined attacks of two Destroyers, the Cryptek, an Immortal, and Kobeh still only put one would on him. The leftmost Destroyer squad was charged by the remaining Attack Bike, they got lucky and slew it before it could tie them down. At this point, the Scarabs and Spyder finally killed the VenDread, and move on to seek other targets.

GAME TURN 4

Turn 4 - Me

My final reserves, the Tomb Blades, arrived, and I sent them onto the left flank. I faintly recall the Wraiths and Praetorians moving towards the enemy side of board to capture the left objective, and to fight Lias Issodon. I sent the Scarabs into the board center to block off and eat the Marines there. Shooting was minimal, with most of my shooting units tied up in combat (i.e. me failing to play Necrons properly). The Scarabs did get into combat with Ike's Techmarine and ate his servitors, and the Destroyer squads not locked in combat jet-pack-moved to better firing positions, nearer to the center of the board. Shrike finally fell, leaving Kobeh, his Cryptek, and the two Destroyers to head back towards the Lahker lines.

Turn 4 - Ike and Nathaniel

Ike and Nathaniel thinned down Shahk's warriors and the remaining Praetorian squad, and spent a lot of dice trying and failing to wound my Spyder and Destroyer Lord (who finally died to a Rending bolter shot). Thank you T6, 3+ armor, and 4+ Reanimation. The CentDevs opened fire on Kobeh and the Cryptek. In a twist of fates, Kobeh threw himself in front of the hurricane bolter fire to save the Cryptek, who had the Chronometron (squad-wide 5++ against hostile shooting) and as an IC could make an expensive Destroyer squad a little more survivable, especially against heavy weapons and Dreadnought multi-meltas. Assault this turn was a failure for me, the Wraiths and Praetorians failed to wound Lias and the Scarabs whiffed against the midfield Techmarine.

GAME TURN 5

Turn 5 - Me

At this point, I tried to pull my army back into something resembling coherency, focused around the objectives. It was another turn of very little shooting, and ineffective at that. I'm not sure why I jumped that central Destroyer squad forward, maybe to kill the Drop Pod...maybe the Dreadnoughts? I split Lord Nihkyanh off from Byrahn and the warriors, the latter jogging off down the hill to punch some Marines, the former joining the Spyder in punching the Drop Pod, which was contesting the adjacent objective. Their combined efforts brought the Pod down to 1 HP, and Byrahn and the warriors didn't do too shabby against the Marines. Shahk decided he had to live up to his title as Phaeron, and charged the Penitent Dreadnought, tactfully using his warriors to absorb its attacks. The Scarabs got their shit together and wounded the Techmarine.

On a trivial note, the Night Scythe came back on, got intercepted by the Quad Gun, and lost its only weapon, thus becoming a fancy waste of 130 points.

Turn 5 - Ike and Nathaniel

Nathaniel sent Marines towards the left objective to contest it. Ike had his Dreads conga-line around the central Drop Pod and towards the right objective and a very uncomfortable Cryptek. The one free squad of TacMarines took my Spyder's last wound with a sneaky bolter volley. The rightmost Destroyers, just freed from Shrike, died from massive blunt trauma thanks to the Dread squad (as well as the Cryptek, I believe). The Dreads also captured the right-flank objective. Ike's Techmarine whiffed amusingly against the Scarabs, and nothing of note happened in the Wraith-Praetorian-Lias combat. In better news, Shahk got his first kill in millions of years on the Penitent Dreadnought, and consolidated towards the nearby objective.

We rolled for game end, and got another turn.

GAME TURN 6

Turn 6 - Me

I pulled my central Destroyers back from their questionable position, and the two Marines that had survived in center field for several turns died to gauss-fire. The leftmost Destroyer squad sat on their objective. Shahk's depleted squad charged the Marines on Ike's leftmost objective, sent them running, but not out of range of contesting the objective. The warriors in the center joined the Scarabs and helped them put an end to the Techmarine.

Turn 6 - Ike and Nathaniel

Nathaniel's surviving Raptors fired on and took a few wounds off the leftmost Destroyers. Pretty sure the Dread squad fired at something, likely the central Destroyers. The last Wraith and Praetorian killed Lias and secured Slay the Warlod.

We rolled and the game ended.

Final score: Lahkers held one objective (3 VP), had two Heavy Support kills (2 VP), and Slay the Warlord, Line Breaker, and First Blood (3 VP) for a total of 8 VP. The Marine alliance held three objectives (9 VP), one Heavy Support kill (1 VP), and Line Breaker (1 VP) for a total of 11 VP. The Emperor's Angels took this one home.

Final Thoughts:

I should not have sent my Destroyers on the right flank so far forward so soon. Shrike more than made his points back tying them up for the game.
Ike asked why I hadn't focused fire on his Dreadnought Squad...I looked at that wall of AV 12, with a total of 9 HP, and decided to treat it like a Wraithknight: it would be easier to kill the army around that rock first rather than wear myself down on the rock and have the rock's army kill me while I did so. (A note: in a recent game, Ike fielded a similar Dread squad, and that time I tried and succeeded at stopping it with the Heavy Destroyers.)
The new Lords did very well in their first game, in fact exceeding my expectations. Aside from the whiffed charge at Squad Dakon, that is.
This got me into playing Destroyers for a while, in order to win with something fast, mobile, and something other than Footslogging Necron Cheese.
Shadow Captain Shrike has the coolest title ever, and is also harder to hit than Batman at midnight, during a power outage, at the zenith of an eclipse.
You know what, Shrike is probably straight up Batman.

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