Orks Vs. Necrons: 2,000 points, April 30

Forces

Waaaagh Kountzazghaz (D'Ork)

HQ
WarLord Kountzazghaz (counts as Ghazghull Mak Uruk Thraka) (in the Blood Axe Battlewagon)
Big Mek Lootzit - Kustom Force Field, cybork, attack squig (in the black Battlewagon)

Elites
None

Troops
9 Nobs - all with cybork bodies. 2 have powerklaws. 1 has a powerklaw and a bosspole. One upgraded to a painboy with a grot orderly
18 Deathskull slugga boys - one upgraded to nob with powerklaw and bosspole (in Blood Axe Battlewagon with Ghaz)
19 Snakebite slugga boys - one upgraded to nob with powerklaw and bosspole (in black Battlewagon with Big Mek)
12 Goff slugga Boyz - one upgraded to nob with powerklaw and bosspole. All in a trukk with a ram
12 Evil Sunz slugga Boyz - one upgraded to nob with powerklaw and bosspole. All in a trukk with a ram

Fast Attack
4 Deff Koptas with rokkits
2 Warbuggies with rokkits
15 Stormboyz - one upgraded to nob with powerklaw and bosspole.

Heavy Support
Blood Axe Battlewagon with ram and two big shootaz
black Battlewagon with ram and two big shootaz
Looted Wagon with big shoota
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The Necrons (Necronoob)

HQ
Destroyer Lord with Chromatron, Lightning Field (leading the scarabs)
Lord with Resurrection Orb, Veil of Darkness (leading the Immortals)

Elites
1 squad of Immortals (8)

Troops
2 squads of Warriors (15 each)

Fast Attack
4 Destroyers
4 Destroyers
1 squad of 9 scarabs

Heavy Support
Monolith
2 Heavy Destroyers

The Battlefield:

Each square is six inches on a side, so this is a 4' by 8' table. That's a swamp in the lower left, a large hill topped with an altar in the center, trees on a hill in the top right, and ruins in the bottom right.

The Mission:

Implacable Advance, a Necron mission selected at random from the Necron and Ork missions in the Battle Missions book.

Forces set up the long-way down the board. This was significant because the table is 4x8, not the more usual 4x6. Splitting the table into thirds as per the scenario, we ended up being 32" apart, not the standard 24". So this helped the Necrons. But the setup also constrained his fast, flanking Destroyer units, so that helped the Orks. Objectives were placed in the middle of each 1/3 table portion. Each army began with possession of the objective on their own side, and the middle objective was open. The Necrons were forced to deploy first.

Rolling off, D'Ork was allowed to select the deployment zones, choosing the left side of the map for the Orks, because its more open arrangement gave me more room for vehicles, and it denied the Necrons the use of the top-left hill, which would have made an excellent fire base for Warriors.

Deployment:

Necronoob deployed his Warriors in the center with the Monolith behind them. The scarabs were left of center, and one unit of Destroyers was on either flank. The two Heavy Destroyers were on the right flank. The Immortals and the teleporting Lord was placed to the rear.

For the Orks, D'Ork deployed the Stormboyz across the center and right of the army in a line. On the right the Koptas and the buggies deployed. The Goff trukk was to the far left, next to Gazzy and his boyz in the Blood Axe Wagon. The nobs in their Looted Wagon were next to him, and the second battlewagon with boyz and the big mek was in the center. The last trukk was on the right, behind the Koptas. (Those are .40-caliber rounds demarcating the deployment zone, by the way).

Prior to Turn 1, the Koptas took their scout move, taking pains to stay within 6" of the KFF-carrying battlewagon.

D'Ork failed to Seize the Initiative, so the first turn went to Necronoob.

Necron Turn 1

Bwa-ha!

The first Destroyer group and Heavy Destroyers slide forward to take out Wagons. The northern Warrior squad (first squad) began to march towards the hill, southern Warrior squad (second squad) stood its ground. The scarabs and Destroyer Lord move to the base of the center hill and the Monolith also crept up. The Immortals and their Lord teleported across the field and into the northwestern corner of the table, behind the Goff trukk - sticking the landing like a Romanian gymnast.

In the shooting phase, the Immortals open fire at the rear of the Goff trukk scoring 3 penetrating hits and 4 glances, wrecking the trukk and killing 3 of the Goffs. In what has become an alarming trend, the Heavy Destroyers miss the Blood Axe battlewagon by both rolling "1"s. 

D'oh.

However, the Destroyers score 2 glances, stunning the crew. The second group of Destroyers fire on the Koptas, scoring only one wound due to a combination of poor rolling and the KFF.

There is no close combat.

Ork Turn 1

The Stormboyz move forward towards the middle objective. The Koptas and buggies race forward towards the second Destroyers squad on the right, while the Evil Sunz trukk and the central battlewagon advance to the base of the center hill. The Looted Wagon moves forward and takes position at the base of the main hill, out of sight of the first Destroyer squad and the Heavy Destroyers.

Charge!

In the shooting phase, only the goffs, Koptas and buggies have targets. The Koptas return fire on the second Destroyers downing 3, forcing them to take a morale check (which they pass). The Goffs fire on the Immortals and the Necron Lord, but do not cause any wounds, then assault them wounding 3, but losing 4 in return. The resulting moral check and bosspole re-check are failed and the remaining Goffs are caught in a sweeping advance. This was D'Ork's first lesson in the frailty of unsupported, 12-man mobs.

Hmmm - the warboss said this would work...

So Necronoob is down three Destroyers and three Immortals, while D'Ork's Goffs have been wiped out, Trukk included. Not a bad turn for the Orks - assuming the Necrons stay down.

Necron Turn 2

The Necrons start their turn with We'll Be Back rolls. The 2 of the 3 downed Immortals and one Destroyer get back up, the remaining two Destroyers and the Immortal are removed.

Aha! They can be killed! (sort of...)

In the movement phase the Lord detaches from the Immortals and teleports back to the Necron side of the board landing within 6 inches of the second Warrior group and narrowly missing landing on a fence. The Immortals shift to get a better view of the Blood Axe battlewagon and the Looted Wagon. The two remaining Destroyers from the second squad take up a position behind fences. The Scarabs and Destroyer Lord start the climb up the hill towards the middle objective. 

Shooting begins with the Heavy Destroyers firing again on the Blood Axe battlewagon, scoring one hit which fails to glance. Then first Destroyer squad fire on the battlewagon scoring two glances, resulting in crew stunned and destroying a weapon. The Immortals then try their hand at the battlewagon scoring two glances and one penetrating hit, finally immobilizing it. The Monolith fires the whip at the remaining Evil Sunz trukk - the shot deviates, but manages to catch the trukk and the black Battlewagon, immobilizing the trukk and stunning the black Battlewagon. The Destroyers fire on the Koptas, downing one of them; the Warriors take down two more. The remaining Kopta is wounded and makes a run for it.

So much for Orky air superiority.

The Destroyer Lord fires on the Stormboyz, downing two before charging into CC with them. 

In close combat, the Lord strikes first killing another Stormboy. The scarabs and remaining Stormboyz strike simultaneously, resulting in the loss of one scarab base and reduction of one base to 1 wound. The scarab attack and resulting lightning field strikes bring down 4 more boyz. A failed moral check and bosspole re-try later, the Stormboyz are caught in a sweeping advance, much to the surprise of both players. This was D'Ork's second lesson on what happens when small Ork mobs are asked to fend for themselves.

Not shown: 15 Ork corpses.

Ork Turn 2

Things are definitely not going D'Ork's way here. With two mobs wiped out, the Koptas all dead or running, and Gazzy and company stuck in the rear, he knows that the game is turning against him. But he can save the game by catching the only two Necron scoring units on the board - the Warriors. Without scoring units, the Necrons can only contest objectives, not take them.

And so, D'Ork begins his turn by calling down the Waaagh. The Looted Wagon moves forward onto the center hill and unloads the nobs who charge towards the northern squad of Necron Warriors. Ghazghull and the boyz get out of the Blood Axe battlewagon and start to make their way up the hill. The black Battlewagon makes its way onto the center hill and unloads the big mek and Snakebites, who advance to the center objective. The Evil Sunz leave the trukk and head towards the southern Necron Warrior squad. The remaining Kopta continues to bravely flee.

When in doubt, a gentleman should always Waagh.

In the shooting phase the Nobs fire into the first group of Necron Warriors hitting two, but both pass their armor saves. The Looted Wagon holds off on firing its scorcha to avoid hitting the Nobs (MISTAKE! – the Wagon weapon was changed to a big shoota just before the game). The black battlewagon and the warbuggies all fire at the southern Necron Warrior squad, but everybody misses, twin-linked be damned. The Evil Sunz also fire at them, finally putting down two.

In the assault phase, the Nobs assault the northern Warrior squad, knocking down in 7 Warriors (2 of which, slapped by Power Klaws, are removed). In return, 1 Nob dies and a second is wounded. The Necrons lose the fight but pass their morale check. The Snakebites with Big Mek assault the scarabs and Destroyer Lord. The boyz lose 2 to the Necron Lord and 2 to the scarabs, but wipe the hill clean of the scarabs and down the Destroyer Lord. The Evil Sunz attempt assault of the southern Necron Warrior squad, but in a massive example of fail, they kill only 1 Necron before getting badly beaten and overrun! [D'Ork: So, OK, I get it - small, unsupported mobs are the suck. Fine.]

Rather than wiping out both warrior squads the way he had hoped, D'Ork does serious damage to one, but inflicts only one casualty on the southern squad before losing yet another mob. The destruction of the scarabs is a poor consolation prize. And Necronoob still has tricks up his sleeve...

Necron Turn 3

WBB rolls bring 3 of the 5 Necrons from the northern Warrior squad, the Destroyer Lord and one of the southern Warriors back. Movement starts with the Monolith teleporting the northern Necron Warrior squad through the portal, and whaddya know, the remaining 2 Warriors make their WBB re-roll.  [Goddamnit so much...] The Necron Lord moves to join the southern Necron Warrior squad and the two remaining Destroyers from the southern squad take up a position behind fences. The Heavy Destroyers move forward to put some distance between them and the Nobs and the northern Destroyer group repositions to get a better angle on the Nobs and the Deathskullz.

The shooting phase opens with the northern Necron Warrior group firing on the Nobs, causing 10 wounds and killing 5. This happened because D'Ork rolled this:

New theory: It isn't personal - the Dice Gods hate 40K.

The northern Destroyer squad fires at Ghazghull’s Deathskullz, killing 4 boyz. The Heavy Destroyers fire on the Looted Wagon, hitting once and immobilizing it. The southern Warriors and the Destroyer group fires on the buggies, stunning one and immobilizing the other. The Destroyer Lord fires at the Snakebites, missing all three shots, before heading into CC.

In the assault phase, the Destroyer Lord charges into the Snakebite line, killing 2 before falling to the Big Mek's boyz (power klaw - no WBB).

Ork Turn 3

The Snakebites start back down the hill towards the first Necron Warrior squad. Thanks to a bad Difficult Terrain roll, they don't get far. The Deathskullz move to the top of the hill to lay claim to the middle objective. The Nobs move east towards the Monolith and the Necron objective. The Blood Axe battlewagon, the nob wagon, and the buggies are stunned, and the Kopta continues to run.

The Nobs assault the Necron Warriors in front of the Monolith and this time are much more successful, wiping them from the board and losing only one in the process. The Snakebites may not assault because they ran.

Necron Turn 4

The southern Necron Warrior squad, joined by the Lord, promptly teleport near the objective on the Ork side of the board. As usual, they hit unerringly. D'Ork's chance to catch this squad and kill it has passed. If even one of the Evil Sunz had survived, the squad would have been locked in combat, and the Lord would not have been allowed to join them (and thus teleport out). Bah!

Goddamnit so much, Part II.

The remaining Destroyers and Heavy Destroyers reposition themselves to take shots at the three wagons (Blood Axe wagon, Black Battlewagon, and the Nob Looted Wagon). The Immortals stand fast.

In the shooting phase, the concentrated fire of the Immortals, Destroyers, and Heavy Destroyers manages to shake, stun, and/or immobilize their targets. The Monolith lashes out at the rapidly advancing Orks, destroying one ork buggy, immobilizing the other, downing 4 Snakebites (Morale passed) and wounding one Nob with the flux arc.

There is no close combat for the turn.

Ork Turn 4

The Deathskulls continue their charge up the hill towards the central objective. The Nobz mob and the Snakebitez move towards the Monolith. Everything else in the Ork Army is dead or immobilized.  On a positive note, the Kopta pilot regains his nerve and heads to defend the Ork objective.

In the shooting phase, teh Kopta fires at the Necron warriors and misses, the warbuggy fires at the Monolith, doing nothing to its thick armor. The only assault is at the Monolith, where both the Nobz and the Snakebites charge in, attempting to destroy the evil monument with their power klaws. [Here came the game's only rules dispute, as Necronoob and D'Ork try to determine how the Monolith's Living Metal special rule (which limits the armor penetration and strength bonuses of attacks against the 'lith) interacts with the Power Klaw and the Furious Charge rule. We decide to give the Orks the doubled strength of the PK, but not the +1 Strength of the Furious Charge. For future reference, a careful reading of the rules, a review of the Necron FAQ's, and consultation with GW Fairfax indicates that the Orks should have received both the x2 str of the PK and the +1 of the Furious Charge.] The Orks get lucky, and immobilize the Monolith. At Strength 8, that's the best result they can hope for.

Necron Turn 5

The teleported Necron squad, with the Lord, approaches the western objective previously held by the Orks and siezes it. The Immortals move alongside them.

The shooting phase starts off with the flux arc again hitting the Snakebites and killing 2 more.  The Nobs lose a another wound to the arc and the immobilized buggy is destroyed.    The Destroyers fire on the Nobs, finishing off the wounded Nob and the Heavy Destroyers miss...again [Necronoob: "advanced targeting system my ass..."].  Lastly, in what could only be described as gross overkill brought on by the frustration of a Necronoob tactical mistake, the teleported Necron warriors and the Immortals both fire on the only available target, the previously wounded Kopta.   An impressive 19 wounds later, the Kopta is turned into green confetti as it fails its saves... (Yes, I know the first wounds should have been resolved prior to the second squad firing, but this was more fun....)

Ork Turn 5

The Snakebitez and the Nobz, abandoning their futile efforts to destroy the Monolith, begin the mad scramble towards the eastern (Necron) objective. The Nobs notice that the Destroyers had gotten too close and charge, and wipe them out, suffering only one wound in the battle and head off towards the Heavy Destroyers in the consolidation move.Rolling a 1, the scenario says we play another turn.

Necron Turn 6

The Necron Lord and the Immortals teleport to try to defend the Necron objective, deviating (for the first time in the game), but D'Ork's celebration is cut short when it is noticed that the deviation dice showed a 1 and a 2.  D'Ork shakes his head...  The Heavy Destroyers move to avoid the Nobs, but are unable to draw a bead on the Snakebites due to the immobilized monolith.

In the shooting phase, the Necrons previously impeccable rolling turns to an epic fail.  The monolith fires the arc again, but only manages two shots - both miss.  The Immortals open fire on the Snakebites, killing two, but failing to wipe out the Ork threat.  The Heavy Destroyers fire on the Nobs and miss, again.

Ork Turn 6

The remaining Snakebite and the heavily wounded Big Mek capture the Necron objective.  The remaining Nobs continue to chase the Heavy Destroyers, and Ghazghull sits comfortably on the center hill awaiting the end of the game.  Typical boss.

Necron Turn 7

Rolling a 4, the game is over! With the Orks in possession of two objectives and the Necrons holding the third, the game goes to the Orks.

After Action Report

D'Ork:

This was my first time loading up all the boyz into trukks and wagons and hurling them at my foe. I usually use a wagon or two (see the other Battle Reports), but they're always backed up with a few 30-strong, footslogging boyz mobs that can take a few hits and keep on rolling. I was shocked to see two mobs of trukk boyz bounce off their enemies and break on two separate occasions - even when they had the opportunity to assault! In both cases the Necrons absorbed the charge like champs thanks to their 3+ save, and slew a handful of boyz thanks to their Strength and the lousy Ork armor. In both cases it was enough to make the brittle, 12-man mobs run. These units really have to be used in tandem in order to work, which requires better coordination on my part. Of course, with Necronoob teleporting all over the board like a madman, that's easier said than done. 

Losing the 15-man Stormboyz mob was even more brutal - those kids are 12 points a pop! I've seen scarabs tarpit a Killa Kan before, but watching them rout the Stormboyz was disheartening.  By the beginning of my second turn, I has lost two mobs completely, the Koptas were in full retreat, and Gazzy and his boyz were stuck in the back. And even when I thought I had found a winning strategy - kill the Warriors - it didn't really work. One slipped away back to the Monolith and the other managed to hook up with the Lord and grab the western objective via Veil of Darkness - exactly the result I was trying to avoid. In the end it turned into a mad scramble for objectives that could have gone either way, not exactly a glorious victory. 

Boy, do the Necrons need a new codex - only one troop choice, with no Nob-like squad leader and no special or heavy weapons? Overall an excellent game!

Necronoob:

I second the need for a new codex, but my downfall was not due to the warriors, but being late implementing my strategy.  The monolith was supposed to move back to the objective, thus forcing D'Ork to destroy it before he could claim the objective.  Unfortunately, the monolith was immobilized before I could get back and while I killed most of the advancing Orks, I did not get them all.  The surrender of the middle objective and the veil to the Ork objective went as planned but I have to admit I had no idea that the scarabs could be as effective as they where.  Had the monolith made it back, or I had gotten a little better rolling in round 6's shooting phase things may have been different but then again 40K is littered with things that could have been with a little better luck with the dice.  Overall, I find satisfaction in a game well played, but still would have liked to have just one roll back..... Well played D'Ork.