Various battles across the planets' surface had raged for hours, and Ultramarine drop troops had been under persistent fire nearly the entire time. They had suffered relatively few casualties, as it was wave after wave of Necron Warrior that marched in lines from their underground sarcophagi. It got to the point that they had the system down for defeating the predictable robotic foes.
Yet their arrival on the outskirts of the unmarked city changed the nature of the defenses. Two great towers dominated the horizon. As the vehicles of the Space Marines rumbled forward, bright lights flickered into existence on those pillars. A series of defense lines then lit up, glowing orange screens of energy. And then it seemed like dual suns opened. One came from a vault in the ground--a grand creature that towered above others and seemed like the glowing center of a star itself. Then a second one, similar in shape but entrapped within an unfolding cube, appeared. Around them stirred shadows of other defenders, but it was the near-blinding radiance of the two C'Tan which held the Space Marines' attention. If they could have felt fear, this would have known the blinding panic of the burning reality at the center of space. As it was, they lowered their boltguns and steeled themselves for the battle ahead.
One half of the Necron battle line. Canoptek Spyder and Wraiths, supported by Scarabs and a Heavy Destroyer. Plus the glowing yellow sun of a C'Tan.
The other half of the Necron forces: a Tesseract Vault and a Monolith, plus groups of Warriors and Immortals sheltering behind an Aegis Defense Line.
The stalwart Ultramarines had been joined by an Imperial Titan for their battle, whose thunderous guns had cleaved through scores of the strange metal foes already in the campaign on this planet. A squad of Assault Marines took cover behind the lumbering metal behemoth, while Tactical Marines advanced in a Rhino and a squad of Devastators with lascannons and plasma cannons hugged what elevated areas covered in scrub trees they could find.
The bulk of the Ultramarine's might came on their right flank, however. A Land Raider containing a terminator squad and two commanders was square in the center, while supporting units of Tactical Marines advanced in their Rhinos in front of two Dreadnoughts. A battery of three whirlwinds hugged the far right flank, ready to rain down destruction at range.
The Necron Scarab Swarms made quick work of the armor plating of the Rhino, but despite their initial fury could not stand up to the fire and eventual charge of the Tactical Marines.
Long-range Necron shooting similarly crippled the Land Raider, their Gauss blasts causing sections of the armor to strip out of reality. The Terminator Squad that emerged advanced in stalwart fashion in the face of the Necrons firepower.
The Space Marines flyer buzzed into the scene, and turned its firepower on the Necrons below. However, abysmal targeting data--no doubt caused by the Necron field of energy being projected--caused it to fire wildly and score few hits throughout the battle.
The Terminators reached the Necron defense lines, and made short work of the Immortals standing there. The sheer brutality of their attacks was hard for any of the slow-moving robots to face.
The Assault Marines hit a different point of the line, facing the Necron Warriors and one of the Necron Lords commanding the force. While they caused a few casualties, the Necrons managed to withstand the attack in better fashion thanks to the presence of their scythe-wielding commander.
One of the C'Tan, its body burning with the heat of the sun, faced off against the firepower of the Knight Titan. As it warped the world around it, it managed to keep the titan at bay--even though its own shooting attacks were unable to touch the Titan's armor.
The Lord whose unit was battling the Assault Marines used his Veil of Darkness to escape the deadly melee, and leave the Assault Marines in the path of the C'Tan. While it shot and attacked them, they didn't completely crumble against the attacks.
Meanwhile, a Necron Night Scythe arrived to beam down another unit of Immortals--they unloaded their firepower at the Tactical Marines who were hiding in the swamp.
On the other side of the battlefield, the two Dreadnoughts got into a prolonged combat with the Lychguard. While the Lychguard could not hurt the Dreadnoughts, they also proved to be solidly survivable even against the high strength hits of the mechanics-drive power fists. The Necron Lord ran to assist them, but was instantly crushed by the deadly attacks of the Dreadnoughts when he tried to get involved in the combat.
A few straggling Warriors managed to destroy one of the Whirlwinds by the end of the game. The Whirlwinds' damage across the entire battle far exceeded that of any other weapon in the Ultramarines' arsenal.
The hopes of the Necrons were finally crushed when the Knight Titan turned its attention to the newly-arrived squad of Immortals.
The final tally was close, but the Ultramarines managed to edge out the Necrons by one point: 13 to 12 was the final tally. It was an enormously fun game, with the lead changing multiple times. The two Necron heavy vehicles survived, but very little else of their force managed to not be destroyed. The Ultramarines took some heavy casualties, but had the pieces in place to absorb those losses and remain effective. I'm hoping to get another large-sized game in against the Ultramarines sooner rather than later!
Battles (40k):
Total 2015: 8 (Win/Loss/Tie: 1/7/0)
Necrons:
1 Win (Grey Knights 1)
7 Losses (Ultramarines 2, Eldar 1, Imperial Guard 1, Nurgle Chaos 1, Grey Knights 1, Chaos and Ultramarines team 1)
0 Ties
Hi !
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated your blog since I'm about to begin a necrons army. Your experience will be very usuful !
I'm very fond of your C'tan figure. Is it a proxy ?
Best regards.