My First 6th ed. W40K battle!
Played my first 6th ed. W40k battle yesterday afternoon at the LGS. It was also my first game of 40K in 6-7 years and my first game as Necrons. The mission was Crusade, we had diagonal deployment, and four objectives. Special rules in effect were Night Fighting, Reserves, and Mysterious Objectives. Only the first was relevant as it was night on turn 1. None of the objectives proved dangerous and the only nifty benefits were on the ones that were uncontested. Neither of us used reserves. My opponent was Eldar, and he chose to experiment with the new Psyker rules so he rolled four times on the new charts instead of using Codex powers.
In deference to my smaller Necron collection we played 1500 points.
The Eldar.
Farseer with 4 powers (I forget the new names, but it was essentially Guide, a +4 Invunerable save, a reroll to hits and wounds in shooting and melee, and the 4th wasn't used.
Avatar
Wraithlord
Dire Avenger Exarch and 9 DAs
Two 12 figure Guardian Squads each with Scatter Laser
6 Pathfinders
3 Jetbikes
3 War Walkers with Scatter Lasers [MVPs for the Eldar]
Falcon with six Fire Dragons.
The Necron.
Necron Overlord with Warscythe, Mindshackle Scarabs, Phylactery, Phase Shifter and CBB. [My MVP]
Necron Overlord with Warscythe, Mindshackle Scarabs, Phase Shifter
Royal Court
Necron Lord with Warscythe, Mindshackle Scarabs, Res Orb
Necron Lord with Warscythe
Veiltek (Cryptek with Veil of Shadows)
Earthtek (Cryptek with Tremorstaff and Seismic Crucible)
Stormtek (Cryptek with Voltaic Staff and Lightning Field)
20 Necron Warriors
10 Immortals
9 Necron Warriors with Ghost Ark
7 Scarabs
It was a 3 to 1 Eldar victory. Under the new rules that was 1 VP for First Blood (killing the first unit) and two objectives while I only had 1 objective and the 4th was contested. However, I enjoyed the game and we all learned about how 6th has changed the playing field, especially with vehicles.
Hull points make a big difference. Thanks to the Falcon's Holo-field, the CCB Overlord (now on foot due to the Fire Dragons) did not get better than "Crew Shaken". If I had not blown my second penetration roll, the Overlord would have killed the Falcon since I got two penetrations and Falcons are only 3 HP. My opponent moved the Falcon far away and said that in the old days, he would have chanced the Overlord making an Ever-Living roll and repeating the attack, but now that even a glance causes HP loss, it wasn't worth the risk. [As it was, the Overlord made three Ever-Living rolls that game and wreaked a lot of havoc in the Eldar's rear area. He will now be named Chumbawumba, "I get knocked down, I get up again, Ain't nothing gonna keep me down ..."]
Similarly, when the CCB Overlord finally caught up with the War Walkers he never rolled a 5 or better to kill them, but with 4 attacks on the charge, he killed two with 2 penetrations. So overall vehicles are much softer than they once were, and thanks to hull points have limited life spans even if just glanced.
Everyone else is happy with the new rule that damage does not spread, so no more killing an entire unit even though they are not in range or in LoS. (Not having played much in 3rd ed, I really don't remember damage allocation.)
Hitting the nearest figure is making both of us more careful with placing characters. Even so, with those damned Scatter Lasers I had to use "Look out, sir" about four times as the War Walkers blasted the front two ranks of my Warrior block and hit the third where my Overlord and Crypteks were.
As for learning about my new army ...
The Warrior block with Royal Court and supporting Ghost Ark was great. The Eldar would destroy about 25% of the unit and between the R-protocols and the Ark, I'd usually get them all back. By game's end (turn 7) my opponent had only inflicted three permanent casualties on the Warriors and that only due to my Ghost Ark being immobilized on turn 5 when it and its Warriors went to reclaim an objective on my right flank from the jetbikes.
Ghost Arks with Warriors are as useful as expected. Must get my second one assembled.
The Immortals with Veiltek still have potential, but I had to send them on a suicide mission and I knew they weren't coming back. Will experiment more.
Since I forgot the spyder at home, I ran the scarabs naked, and they simply died to jetbike and sniper fire. We'll see what happens with spyders to replenish.
Tesla Destructors play havoc with infantry. Whatever ability Eldar have that reduces AV to 12 is irritating.
Command Barges are fun, but I need to support it better. By the way, it now uses the Chariot rules in 6th ed. Necrons really are Tomb Kings in SPAAAACE! Can I borrow a Settra figure? *G*
In deference to my smaller Necron collection we played 1500 points.
The Eldar.
Farseer with 4 powers (I forget the new names, but it was essentially Guide, a +4 Invunerable save, a reroll to hits and wounds in shooting and melee, and the 4th wasn't used.
Avatar
Wraithlord
Dire Avenger Exarch and 9 DAs
Two 12 figure Guardian Squads each with Scatter Laser
6 Pathfinders
3 Jetbikes
3 War Walkers with Scatter Lasers [MVPs for the Eldar]
Falcon with six Fire Dragons.
The Necron.
Necron Overlord with Warscythe, Mindshackle Scarabs, Phylactery, Phase Shifter and CBB. [My MVP]
Necron Overlord with Warscythe, Mindshackle Scarabs, Phase Shifter
Royal Court
Necron Lord with Warscythe, Mindshackle Scarabs, Res Orb
Necron Lord with Warscythe
Veiltek (Cryptek with Veil of Shadows)
Earthtek (Cryptek with Tremorstaff and Seismic Crucible)
Stormtek (Cryptek with Voltaic Staff and Lightning Field)
20 Necron Warriors
10 Immortals
9 Necron Warriors with Ghost Ark
7 Scarabs
It was a 3 to 1 Eldar victory. Under the new rules that was 1 VP for First Blood (killing the first unit) and two objectives while I only had 1 objective and the 4th was contested. However, I enjoyed the game and we all learned about how 6th has changed the playing field, especially with vehicles.
Hull points make a big difference. Thanks to the Falcon's Holo-field, the CCB Overlord (now on foot due to the Fire Dragons) did not get better than "Crew Shaken". If I had not blown my second penetration roll, the Overlord would have killed the Falcon since I got two penetrations and Falcons are only 3 HP. My opponent moved the Falcon far away and said that in the old days, he would have chanced the Overlord making an Ever-Living roll and repeating the attack, but now that even a glance causes HP loss, it wasn't worth the risk. [As it was, the Overlord made three Ever-Living rolls that game and wreaked a lot of havoc in the Eldar's rear area. He will now be named Chumbawumba, "I get knocked down, I get up again, Ain't nothing gonna keep me down ..."]
Similarly, when the CCB Overlord finally caught up with the War Walkers he never rolled a 5 or better to kill them, but with 4 attacks on the charge, he killed two with 2 penetrations. So overall vehicles are much softer than they once were, and thanks to hull points have limited life spans even if just glanced.
Everyone else is happy with the new rule that damage does not spread, so no more killing an entire unit even though they are not in range or in LoS. (Not having played much in 3rd ed, I really don't remember damage allocation.)
Hitting the nearest figure is making both of us more careful with placing characters. Even so, with those damned Scatter Lasers I had to use "Look out, sir" about four times as the War Walkers blasted the front two ranks of my Warrior block and hit the third where my Overlord and Crypteks were.
As for learning about my new army ...
The Warrior block with Royal Court and supporting Ghost Ark was great. The Eldar would destroy about 25% of the unit and between the R-protocols and the Ark, I'd usually get them all back. By game's end (turn 7) my opponent had only inflicted three permanent casualties on the Warriors and that only due to my Ghost Ark being immobilized on turn 5 when it and its Warriors went to reclaim an objective on my right flank from the jetbikes.
Ghost Arks with Warriors are as useful as expected. Must get my second one assembled.
The Immortals with Veiltek still have potential, but I had to send them on a suicide mission and I knew they weren't coming back. Will experiment more.
Since I forgot the spyder at home, I ran the scarabs naked, and they simply died to jetbike and sniper fire. We'll see what happens with spyders to replenish.
Tesla Destructors play havoc with infantry. Whatever ability Eldar have that reduces AV to 12 is irritating.
Command Barges are fun, but I need to support it better. By the way, it now uses the Chariot rules in 6th ed. Necrons really are Tomb Kings in SPAAAACE! Can I borrow a Settra figure? *G*