[Battle Report] Necrons v Eldar 1500pts

Afternoon all,

On Monday night, myself and Angryman needed a break from our respective "first choice" armies, and from the standard Tournament style of gaming. So we decided to play a 1,500pt game from the Battle Missions book - using armies we've not played for a long time in my case, or barely at all with him.

The Lists
I quickly learnt when trying to write a 1,500pt list for the Necrons that I don't get many models on the table - especially when I'm so used to playing as the Orks. All I knew is, I wanted to jump around the table a bit and keep the Eldar on their toes.

Seethreepio, Necron Lord: Staff of Light, Veil of Darkness, Phase Shifter
ArtooDetoo, Necron Lord: Staff of Light, Resurrection Orb, Phase Shifter
5 Immortals
3 x 11 Necron Warriors
3 Necron Destroyers
Monolith

The Eldar were something along the lines of:
Farseer
Wraithlord
3 War Walkers
5 Fire Dragons in a Falcon
10 Dire Avengers in a Wave Serpent
13 Guardians with Starcannon Weapon Platform
12 Guardians with Starcannon Weapon Platform
2 Vypers

Since we'd played the Rulebook missions to death, we decided we would play a random scenario from the Battle Missions book and ended up with "Mobile Defence Force" which we had 5 objectives.

Only half of the Eldar army could deploy on the table - Infantry, Walkers and Monstrous Creatures - everything else (including units in a Dedicated Transport vehicle) would have to be kept in reserve. However, the Eldar units could begin to roll for reserves from the first turn.

Set Up
Objectives were split around the board fairly evenly, and the scenario called for the Eldar to deploy first. So the 2 Guardian Units, Farseer, War Walkers and Wraithlord on the board. These guys could set up anywhere in the Eldar half of the board, and each Guardian unit started on an objective tag-teamed with the Warwalkers at 1 objective and the Wraithlord at the other.

My Necrons deployed 1 unit of Warriors on a right side Objective, 1 unit near the far left objective with the Res Orb Lord and the Immortals with Veil of Darkness Lord out of sight. The Destroyers set up towards the left hand board edge, ready to square up to the War Walkers. The Monolith and 3rd Warrior squad remained in reserve.

I will forewarn readers. My memory of the game is patchy at best so forgive me if some of the details are a bit vague.

Turn 1
Necrons:
First turn went to the Crons. The Lord and the Immortals Veil of Darkness'd to near the middle Guardian squad and War Walkers, ready to unleash a torrent of fire on the Central objective. The Destroyers also moved up the field to target the War Walkers with their Gauss Cannons.

The middle Warrior squad, shot the middle Guardian squad, forcing them to take a Leadership test which they passed. Whilst the Destroyers, Immortals and Lord attacked the War Walkers destroying 2 of them.

Eldar:
The Eldar reserves began to show up on turn 1 leading the charge with a Vyper and the Dire Avengers in their Wave Serpent showing up.

Retaliation was swift for the Eldar - focusing their attacks on the Destroyer unit. The Farseer Doomed the unit, then Guided his supporting Wraithlord. Between the firepower that got put out from those units, plus the Vyper that arrived, the Unit of Destroyers was killed and could then not attempt a WBB roll.

Objectives: 2 - 1 to the Eldar

Turn 2:

Necrons:
No sign of the Monolith and Warriors so far. Warriors with the Res Orb Lord moved up the field to rapid fire the middle Guardians. The Immortals and Lord moved closer towards the central building - with the War Walkers and Guardians.

In the shooting phase, the Middle Warriors managed to cause the Middle Guardians to flee and whittled them under half strength in the process meaning they're unable to rally. The Immortals and the Lord attacked the War Walker. The Left Warriors managed to cause the Farseer and Guardians to take a Leadership but they easily passed.

In the assault phase, the Immortals and the Lord charged into the remaining War Walker and dispatched it, losing 1 Immortal in the process.

Eldar:
I think no reserves this turn, but the Dire Avengers and Vyper moved up the field towards the Left Objective. The Fleeing Guardians continue to run off the board, but were able to take some pot shots at the Lord and Immortals forcing one down.

The Guardians and Wraithlord began to hammer the Left unit of Warriors through a Doom / Guide combo, forcing about 4 of them to be needing WBB rolls next turn.

Turn 3:

Necrons:
Still no sign of the Monolith.. the Lords begin to grow Impatient. The Immortals and the Lord move into cover in the middle building. The Middle warriors move up towards the middle objective but remaining Chain-like leaving a man behind sat on the back objective. The far left Warriors leave the safety of their Cover to begin moving out towards the objective.

In the shooting phase the Lord and Immortals peppers the Farseer's squad with shots, forcing another Leadership test which he managed to pass. The Warriors shot at the Dire Avengers in their Transport but were out of range.

Eldar:
The 2nd Vyper showed up this turn and Zoomed onto the board alongside it's Twin. The Dire Avengers moved up to camp near the Left Objective. The Fire Dragons in their Falcon also showed up and moved into position to reinforce the Eldar home objective.

During shooting, another 2 Immortals went down from Guardian fire and the Farseer doomed the left Necron warriors and Guided the Wraithlord. These all combined to fire on the Warrior squad, who managed (through lots of cover saves from around the table) to only take a few to go down for WBB - after all but 1 of them stood up with WBB last turn.

The Dire Avengers, having jumped out of their Transport also attempted to Bladestorm the Necron Warriors, forcing 4 to WBB, after they passed their Leadership Test.

Turn 4:

Necrons: Now we're talking. The Monolith and Warriors showed up, managing by an Inch, not to scatter off the table, after deploying near the Eldar home objective. The Reserve Warriors then walked out from the Portal, ready to rapid fire anything nearby.

The Immortals and Lord secured their central position, the Middle warriors consolidated back to their objective and the Left Warriors edged out towards the Eldar Wave Serpent.

Necron shooting was pretty feeble... the remaining Immortals shot the Farseer and Guardians, causing a few wounds but they once again stood fast. The Warriors coming through the Monolith opened up whatever fire they could on the Wraithlord causing 1 Wound, followed by the Flux Arcs off the Monolith causing another Wound.

The Left Warriors retaliated at the Dire Avengers, killing off several of them, but they followed the Farseer's example and stood firm.

The Wraithlord then charged into the Warriors that emerged from the Monolith and crushed 2 of them. They passed their Leadership test and remained Resolute.

Turn 5:

Necrons:
The Monolith moved around the Eldar objective and transported through the Warriors that were locked in Combat with the Wraithlord unable to hurt him by conventional means.

The Immortals and the Lord shot again at the Farseer Guardians picking off more of them. The Flux arcs off the Monolith managed to wipe out more of the Guardians and again they did not run. The tradeoff between Warriors and Dire Avengers resulted in nothing much and the rest of the shooting in the army slowly fizzled out.

Eldar:
The 2 Vypers began their dash towards my Home objective, hoping to contest it in the hope the game went to a 6th or 7th Turn. They would at least be 1 turn away. The Fire Dragons leapt from their Falcon with the Monolith in their sights. The Wraithlord began to move through cover to stop the Monolith and Warriors.

However, the Fire Dragons were unable to dent the giant Necron vehicle and were then left open to attack next turn. The Guardians shot at the Reserve Warriors. The Dire Avengers Wave Serpent failed to do any damage to the Leftside Warriors.

At this point: 1 - 0 to the Necrons....

Lowe and behold, we rolled for a Turn 6...

Turn 6:

Necrons:
The Monolith remained where it was in order to fire again. The Warriors edged forwards but were outside of distance of the Objective.

The Monolith and Reserve Warriors managed to wipe out the remaining Guardians and remove the Farseer's final wound (previous were lost from Perils of the Warp) and the Fire Dragons, also immobilising the Dragons Falcon.

The remaining 2 Warrior squads attempted to target a Vyper each, 1 becoming Stunned for the next turn and the other successfully passing it's cover saves.

Eldar:
The remaining Vyper moved to within Contesting distance of the Home Necron objective and the Wraithlord failed his Wraithsight test.

The Dire Avengers transport tried to thin the Left Warriors out and only managed to kill 1 Warrior and that was all the shooting for the Eldar force!

The deciding roll would be whether there was a Turn 7.... And alas No..

Final Result
Drawn Game: 3 Contested Objectives, 2 Empty Objectives.

This was a reeeeally close game between two very mobile, heavily shooting focused armies and it could have swung either way. Both of us enjoyed playing new armies, as it's a welcome change from Hordes of 5/6+ save Boyz and Gaunts and I could rely on more of my units not dying!

It was also fun to play against an Eldar army, as I'd not played against one for a while. I'd really forgotten the Synergy they need to play well as an army - makes me consider wanting to start them at a Combat Patrol level.

I may have got some of the events in the Battle Report out of sequence, so apologies. I really need to take a notepad with me in future and jot down things that are happening each turn!

Until next week readers!

SB