Space Wolves vs Necrons 1000 point battle report

[Karhedron]

Like a lot of people I have sent far more time painting than gaming over the last year so as soon as the local club reopened, I snagged a table with my mate Dave to get our first proper taste of 9th edition. We decided to start at 1000 points in the hope that we might actually be able to fit the game into the evening since we were both a bit rusty and not familiar with all the new quirks that 9th has brought us. Our lists are shown below:

Space Wolves: Patrol 6CPs

HQ

Primaris Wolf Lord with Power Fist and Plasma Pistol. Armour of Russ, Rites of War, Saga of the Wolfkin (-1CP)

Troops

5 Intercesors with Auto Bolt Rifles, AGC and Thunder Hammer

5 Heavy Intercessor with Hellstorm

5 Infiltrators with Helix Gauntlet

Elites

5 Bladeguard Veterans, Neo Volkite pistol on the sergeant

Redemptor Deadnought with Macro Plasma Cannon, Onslaught Gatling Cannon, Icarus missile pod and Fragstorm launchers

Heavy

3 Eradicators with melta rifles

Necron Patrol: 6CP

HQ

Overlord with Voltaic staff

Cryptek (I forget which flavour)

Troops

20 Warriors with Gauss Flayers

10 Warriors with Gauss Flayers in Ghost Ark

Fast

4 Ophidian Destroyers

Heavy

Canoptek Doomstalker

Elite

Canoptek Reanimator

Plasmacyte

The mission rolled was "DIVIDE AND CONQUER" which involves us each deploying along one short table edge. 4 Objectives were arranged in a diamond pattern in no-mans-land. We have a reasonable amount of terrain with mostly ruins but also a cratered area. Dave won the roll-off and took the more built up end while I got the cratered end. I took Oaths of Moment, Bring it Down and Dominion as my Secondaries. I reasoned that I did not have enough speed to reliably pull off EOAF or Linebreaker and I didn't have the units to spare on action based Objectives. Dave had 3 targets for Bring it Down so that looked viable. Oaths of Moment largely rewards you for doing things Marines will be wanting to do anyway and I thought I had a good chance at pulling off Dominion as I had more Troops than Dave as well as my Warlord with Rite of War for extra ObjSec.

Most of the deployment was fairly conventional. We deployed our infantry mostly in cover although I waited until the Doomstalker was down before I deployed my Redemptor, well out of LOS. I deployed my Infiltrators forward near one of the midfield Objectives opposite the Doomstalker to put some pressure on early. I also spent a CP on Cunning of the Wolf to put my Eradicators in Reserve. My Dreadnought and Wolf Lord went in the centre, ready to go through the ruins and take the centre for Oaths of Moment or divert to support either flank. My Heavy Intercessors went on my left flank, ready to take the nearest Objective. My Bladeguard and Intercessors went on my Right flank. Dave used his Dynasty trait to move 6" before the first turn meaning he already had 1 Objective and was within walking distance of 2 more. So at the start of the first turn, the battlefield looked like this.

[Karhedron]

Exciting details to follow tomorrow when I am not falling asleep.

[TheUnlikelyGamer84]

Waiting eagerly

[Commisar Necros]

Looking forward to it. Models are looking good, terrain too!

[Karhedron]

Turn 1
Wolves

Thrown by the Necrons' pre-turn move, I moved my army forwards as quickly as I could. I needed to secure 3 Objectives both for Primary points on T2 and for Dominion. On my right flank the Bladeguard and Intercessors found the craters more a hindrance than protection so both units Advanced (although not very fast in the case of the Bladeguard). The Dreanought moved forwards and readied its weapons. The Wolf Lord advanced to keep both the Dread and the Intercessors in range of his aura. The Heavy Intercessors climbed down from the ruins and took the nearest Objective to my DZ. On my left flank, the Infiltrators moved into the cover of the central ruins while making sure that they were just close enough to hold that midfield Objective.

With no psychics, I opened up with my shooting. Dave had moved his Ghost Ark to screen most of the units behind from my Dread so I duly unloaded everything into it from the Dreadnought, Infiltrators and Heavy Intercessor. My Dreadnought overcharged its plasma cannon but rolled a 1 for the number of shots. I spent a CP to reroll it and was delighted to get a 6 instead. That was a far as my luck held. Despite unloading nearly half my army into it, the only damage was 2 wounds scored by the gatling cannon. My wound rolls were poor and Dave's dice were hot for his invulnerable saves. Dispirited, I fired my Intercessors as the Necron Warrior blob but as they were in cover, only a single Warrior fell and he promptly reanimated. This was not starting well. :(

[Karhedron]

Turn 1

Necrons

Unfazed by the ineffective fire of the upstarts in front of them, the Necrons calmly trudged forwards. On my left flank, the Doomstalker moved up but could not get LOS on my Dreanought. Dave ignored the centre and concentrated a major push on my right flank with the Ophidians, Warriors and Ghost Ark all moving to swamp me. The Plasmacyte Overcharged the Ophidians in readiness for combat.

The Warriors and Ghost Ark opened fire and completely shredded the Intercessors on my right flank. The only crumb of comfort was that as they were completely wiped out, they didn't risk failing a morale test so would not affect my scoring for Oaths of Moment. On my left flank, the Doomstalker targeted the Infiltrators. They threw Smoke Grenades and escaped unscathed meaning still controlled that Objective at least.

With the screen of Intercessors removed, Dave then declared that his Ophidian Destroyers would charge the Bladeguard. With only pistols, I opted not to Overwatch and Dave rolled comfortably to get into combat. However he had not taken my nearby forces into account. My Wolf Lord promptly Heriocally Intervened into the combat. In addition, I played Countercharge on the Redemptor who was just close enough to pull off the 6" HI of its own.

To seal the deal, I then used the Armour of Russ to force the Ophidians to strike last. Dave had hoped to make a surgical strike on the Bladeguard, instead I would be fighting as if I had pulled off a co-ordinated charge. The combat was brutal but one-sided. Despite rolling well for his reanimations, the Ophidians were torn apart by my Wolf Lord and his elites for no losses. My forces then consolidated towards the Objective.

Edited May 20, 2021 by Karhedron

[Karhedron]

Turn 2 Space Wolves

Emboldened by their success against the Ophidians, my forces on the right flank moved up to face the Warriors and Ark facing them for control of the Objective. On my left flank, the Eradicators came out of Reserve and lined up their melta rifles on the Doomstalker. My Heavy Intercessors and Infiltrators held position to guard their respective Objectives.

My shooting phase opened dismally with the Eradictaors rolling so poorly to hit and wound that the Doomstalker didn't even need to worry about saves. This was a problem as I had hoped to bracket it at least. The Infiltrators fired their bolters and managed to at least chip 2 wounds off it. My Dreadnought fired is plasma cannnon at the Ark and the rest of its weapons at the big blob of Warriors. I finally managed to force some damage through on the Ark while the rest of my shooting managed to bring down 7 Warriors although 4 of them promptly got back up again. The Wolf Lord suspiciously eyed the Reanimator that was playing unearthly energies over the Warriors.

Seeing his foe's resilience to firepower, the Wolf Lord decided that the only way to destroy these enemies was blade-to-blade and ordered almost all units to charge. The Bladeguard charged into the Warriors who responded with Overwatch. They managed to chip a couple of wounds off one Veteran but not enough to kill him. The Dreanought charged into the Ghost Ark while the Infiltrators charged the Doomstalker to prevent it firing. The Wolf Lord decided that the Veterans could deal with the Warriors well enough and instead charged the Reanimator in an attempt to deny the Necrons the source of their unnatural resilience.

On the left flank, the Infiltrators continued to punch above their weight and chipped another 2 wounds off the Doomstalker. The Dreadnought finally got to grips with the Ghost Ark and tore the floating transport in half, spilling the Warriors inside near the Objective. The Bladeguard cut down 2 warriors each although half of them reanimated. I had killed roughly 20 Warriors by this point yet the squad was still above half strength. The Wolf Lord brought his power fist crashing down on the Reanimator but Dave rolled 3 6s and saved it. To add insult to injury, he managed to put a wound on the Wolf Lord. :o The Warriors only managed to put a single wound on the Bladeguard but this was enough to kill the one they had wounded with their earlier overwatch.

[Karhedron]

At the start of Necron turn 2, Dave conceded. Although I only had a modest lead in points and models, he was pretty sure I was at a tactical advantage. My melee units were all engaged and he did not have much to counter them with. The Doomstalker was engaged and could not shoot in melee because it was a Blast weapon and if he withdrew, I could simply shoot it with my Eradicators and then charge it again with the Infiltrators.

As this was our first proper game of 9th, I won't go too much into Dave's side of things. He charged in, not knowing how nasty Wolves are on the counter charge.

On my side, I was pretty pleased with how my army fought. Here is a bit of a breakdown.

Wolf Lord

Solid and reliable, dishing out damage and buffs. I like the combo of Armour of Russ, Rites of War and Saga of the Wolfkin. They provide a mix of offensive and defensive buffs as well as a couple of neat tricks. A power fist is not the devastating weapon in the game but it is not bad by any means and is probably the best option available to Primaris Captains.

Intercessors

I have to admit that these guys did not get a chance to show their worth as they were cut to pieces by Gauss fire. It is a testament to the increased lethality in 9th that a squad who were touted for their durability in 8th now feel a bit fragile. I suppose if they had not been there another squad would have taken the hits.

Heavy Intercessors

Possibly the toughest Troop unit in the game. They never took any fire and only contributed a little. In hindsight, I should have had then advancing up the midfield with the Bladeguard rather than stuck at the back. If I had played the Gravis stratagem, they would have lost 1-2 models to the shooting that wiped out the regular Intercessors. I know people look at these guys and think of them as backfield Objective campers but I think the real value is with the assault 3 guns moving up the field.

Infiltrators

I am really impressed by these guys. They are not a powerhouse unit but they have a lot of tricks up their sleaves. Deploying forward to snag Objectives early is really useful and their combination of Smoke Grenades and Helix Gauntlet makes them just a bit of a challenge for your opponent to remove. The Omniscramblers din't come into play this game but could have been useful if Dave had put his Ophidians in Reserve. These guys are going to become a regular part of my army.

Redemptor

I was impressed. This guy hits like a freight train for both shooting and melee. He didn't face any serious opposition since he heroically avoided the Doomstalker all game. ;) He will definitely be back again.

Bladeguard Veterans

Definite contenders for MVP. These guys took hits and dished out plenty in return and still had plenty left to give. Our +1 Trait works really well on these guys, particularly with the Wolf Lord nearby.

Eradicators

These guys definitely din't get a chance to shine as they whiffed their only shooting round spectacularly. Other people seem to like them so I don't plan to write them off on the basis of one bad turn of shooting. They are just lucky the Infilatrators were there to cover their backs of the Doomstalker would have BBQed them next turn.

[Axilleas]

Really great batrep and analysis. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the effort placed into the presentation. Thank you brother.

[PeteySödes]

Good write up! I'd actually been looking at some crons for a small side project so reading from the perspective the wolves gave me some much needed context. Grants on the pantsing! 

[Karhedron]

I have also had a hankering for Necrons from time to time. My son plays them so I understand the army fairly well.

 

I think Ophidian Destroyers are too fragile to be used as a hammer unit. Dave would have been better off putting them in Reserves and using them to ambush my Heavy Intercessors. Or used Skorpekhs or Canoptek Wraiths as a hammer as they are more durable.

 

Overall Dave had a pretty good army. It was just lacking something to charge in when the Warriors bogged down the enemy. In larger games, a Skorpekh Lord or C'tan shard would fill this role but squeezing everything you need into 1000 points is always hard. The Doomstalker seems lacklustre with the D6 shots and BS4+. I would probably prefer Lokhust Destroyers for ranged firepower. Extermination Protocols means that their high ROF will burn through even armoured targets if necessary.

[PeteySödes]

Yea 1k is fun but man you really have to balance staying power and killing.

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

Karhedron - Thanks for the battle report , I really liked the pictures. Do know which secondary objectives Dave picked? I haven't really had chance to play Crons, besides in crusade games this edition. So I'm curious to see what his game plan was because he really pushed forward hard without a lot of close combat units. I could see the combination of a short edge deployment zone and your choice of domination putting a lot of pressure on him to go forward after the objectives straight away but I do wonder if he had a trick up his sleeve.

 

As far as the Eradicators, they'll have games like that. They're good unit but its hard to get them re-rolls when they outflank and with 6 shots they aren't very consistent. I've became a big fan of deploy scramblers with my wolves, so I typically when I run Eradicators I use cunning of the wolf, and then on the turn they arrive I'll use uncompromising fire. This allows them to typically complete the action in my opponents deployment zone while still shooting. It makes it less frustrating when they drop the ball. Its not the best strategy against horde armies or armies that can prevent/punish reserves but I've found the cp investment to be worth it when its viable 10 vp is a big deal.

 

 

 

 

[Karhedron]

Karhedron - Thanks for the battle report , I really liked the pictures. Do know which secondary objectives Dave picked?

Thanks. Dave picked

• While We Stand, We Fight
• Dominion
• Slay the Warlord

Secondaries are hard to pick on a battle this small since it is hard to spare units to perform action secondaries. We both leaned towards Secondaries that worked with what we would be trying to do anyway.

 

WWSWF seems like a good pick for Necrons with their durability. Dominion fits well with Objective games. It is very much a double-or-bust Secondary though. Despite the durability of the Warriors, I had 3 Troop units to Dave's 2 and also Rites of War on my Wolf Lord. With hindsight, this was an uphill struggle for Dave. Slay the Warlord is not one I favour simply because of the points cap. In a small game it might not be bad since it is hard to find other high scoring secondaries but Dave had no Deathmarks or combat monster HQs who could really pose a threat to my Wolf Lord.

[TheUnlikelyGamer84]

Nice batrep. I have had similar experiences with the eradicators. However I have had amazing games with them killing something big each turn.

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

Yeah picking secondary objectives in small games is difficult. Marines have it a bit easier with uncompromising fire, and oath of the moment (which is just really good).

 

I think attrition or grind them down would have been good choices for him.

 

Edit: there is a new chapter approved with updated secondary objectives coming soon, maybe we will get some for 1000 point games.

Edited May 23, 2021 by Jorin Helm-splitter

[Karhedron]

Got a battle on Tuesday against Dark Eldar. Thinking of swapping out the Eradicators for a Whirlwind as I am less likely to need heavy firepower whereas the ability to reach out and swat something out of LOS could be useful.

 

Any thoughts on whether this is a good idea and which missiles to take?

[Karhedron]

Edit: there is a new chapter approved with updated secondary objectives coming soon, maybe we will get some for 1000 point games.

To be fair, I don't know if we need Objectives specifically for small games. While it is harder to choose in small games, everyone tends to be in the same boat so it is still all fair at the end of the day.

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

Sorta I mean not every army has access to fraction specific ones like we do. So the more viable choices the better. Plus the community article mentioned 9 missions which is pretty exciting.

[TheUnlikelyGamer84]

Got a battle on Tuesday against Dark Eldar. Thinking of swapping out the Eradicators for a Whirlwind as I am less likely to need heavy firepower whereas the ability to reach out and swat something out of LOS could be useful.

 

Any thoughts on whether this is a good idea and which missiles to take?

.

I’ve had terrible experience with the whirlwind. Only good thing about it was the stratagem that makes opponents fight last after it hits. I would not rely on it to do damage.

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

I think you should try using the whirlwind at some point, but eradicators might be more useful against DE than you think. Raiders are a big part of why DE are so strong so having a unit that can one shot one is a big deal.

[Karhedron]

OK. I will give the Eradicators another try and see how I get on with them. Thanks for the feedback.

 

In larger games I plan to run 2 Heavy melta rifles and a Multimelta and use Keen Senses to ignore the -1 to-Hit penalty. However in a 1000 point game I can't really spare the points or the CPs so I will stick with the vanilla loadout.

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

Vanilla eradicators are solid though, I actually run 1 squad upgraded and 1 bare bones in my 2000 point games.

 

As far as the CP are concerned are you adding 1 at that start of each turn? I'm mainly bringing up because it took several games for me to get in the habit of marking it/remembering it in the first place lol.

[Commisar Necros]

Man so many of my games I'm halfway through moving and have to check if I add that 1cp