PROLOGUE
“This was not the plan”, thought the two Overlords in a moment of infrequent synchronicity. The plan was to fall back to Python III and aid in repelling the Imperial forces who, in their hubris converged upon the planet in the futile hope that they would somehow appease their corpse emperor. But that would have to wait.
Materialising through the nearby Dolmen Gate, the two prestigious leaders of the Khertet Dynasty watched from the great pyramid of their Cairn Class Tombship to witness that the Tyranid threat they had wrongly assessed to be sporadic at best had come in great numbers to the planet of Veil’s Reach. Millions of spores descended upon the Imperial controlled world in great funnels to find and sup on the humans that dwelled upon its surface. At first, Nemesor Phaen found the prospect of the great devourer eliminating their foes somewhat amusing, but he had been freshly awoken from the tombs of Ultrus Prime and had yet to witness the tenacity of a Tyranid invasion with his own eyes. Nemekh, on the other hand, knew all too well of the dangers this alien species posed.
When the Dynastic Phaeron, Nemekh the Summoner, broached the matter with their cantankerous brother, he merely snorted derisively and waved his hand dismissively, stating that his superiority over his sibling would assure that these creatures would be brought to heel, though they both agreed at least that the hive fleets needed to be stopped before they could be allowed to spread to other, more problematic war zones. A teachable moment then, Nemekh thought to themself, for Phaen to learn some humility and experience first hand that a Tyranid invasion should not be underestimated, a lesson that their brother was all to eager to prove wrong.
THE ARMY LISTS
The Khertet Dynasty
Detachment: Hypercrypt Legion
- Warlord
- Wargear: Overlord's Blade, Tachyon Arrow
- Wargear: Plasmic Lance
- Weapon Modifiers: Plasmic Lance - +1 BS, +1 Attack
- Battle Scar: Fatigued (Crusade Core Rules)
- Wargear: Enmitic Disintegrator Pistols
- Weapon Modifiers: Enmitic Disintegrator Pistols - +1 Strength, +1 AP
- Battle Scar: Fatigued (Crusade Core Rules)
- Wargear: 1 x Gauss Destructor
- Wargear: 10 x Warscythes
- Wargear: 10 x Tesla Carbines
- Battle Traits: Undying Revenants (Necron Codex), Will to Serve (Necron Codex)
- Wargear: Synaptic Disintegrators
- Wargear: 3 x Vicious Claws, 3 x Particle Casters
- Wargear: 3 x Feeder Mandibles
- Wargear: 3 x Feeder Mandibles
- Wargear: Twin Tesla Destructor
- Warlord
- Wargear: Psychic Scream
- Enhancement: Neuronode (Vanguard Onslaught)
- Wargear: Broodlord Claws & Talons
- Wargear: Lictor Claws & Talons
- Wargear: Lictor Claws & Talons
- Wargear: Piercing Claws & Talons
- Wargear: Bio-Plasmic Scream
- Wargear: 10 x Genestealer Claws & Talons
- Battle Trait: Fleet of Claw
- Wargear: 6 x Leaper's Talons
- Wargear: 5 x Barblaunchers
PREGAME SET UP
BATTLE ROUND 1
With little else to do, Phaen and his Lychguard advance forward through the ruins in an attempt to reach the nearby objective but fall short of their target. The Lokhust Heavy Destroyer, also with very little in the way of targeting options, partly due to obscuring terrain and partly due to the Tyranids ability to prevent range attacks targeting them over a certain distance also advances towards the objective but also fails to reach it.
The Scarabs in the centre of the battlefield surge forward towards Deathleaper and his cadre of Lictors whilst the Wraiths do the same towards the Von Ryan Leapers. The Deathmarks meanwhile move around the ruin in an attempt to get into cover.
The Nightscythe deep strikes near the cluster of Lictors thanks to its Quantum Invader ability and, knowing from previous battles the danger they pose, rain Tesla Carbine fire upon the nearby Genestealers, decimating their numbers thanks to their Implacable Eradication. Rakantyr meanwhile puts his Plasmic Lance and living fire into Deathleaper, reducing it to a handful of wounds.
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| The Nightscythe swoops down near the Lictor threat |
After a rather pitiful round of shooting with their Particle Casters, the Wraiths unsurprisingly fail their 10” charge move against the Von Ryan Leapers whilst the central Scarab unit are successful in charging Deathleaper who, through a combination of self-destruction and feeder mandibles are able to finish what Rakantyr had begun and take down the notorious vanguard organism. Finally the Immortals retreat back into the Nightscythe using the transport's Invasion Beamers.
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| Deathleaper proves to be no match against the Scarab's kamikaze attack |
The Tyranid retaliation was swift and brutal however, as the Barbgaunts rain down fire against the Scarabs that defeated Deathleaper to slow them down. With nothing else to fire at the Necrons, the lurking Lictor launches an assault through the ruins and viciously cut down the Khertet Deathmarks whilst the Von Ryan Leapers skittered across the blighted landscape to attack the Wraith constructs, cutting the phasing Canopteks down to just a single model.
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| The Von Ryan Leapers more than match the Wraiths claw for claw |
With nothing else to attack, the Necrons recall their Nightscythe and the Scarab swarm on the right flank into reserves via hyperphasing.
BATTLE ROUND 2
The Canoptek Wraith, which had now become two again thanks to the boon of their reanimation protocols, fall back through the Von Ryan Leapers, taking out two of the vanguard organisms as they do so (DJ: It specifically states Canoptek Wraiths can only use their Wraith Form ability during a normal move, however it has since come to my attention that, despite my previous belief that advance and fall back moves are still classified as “normal” moves, it appears that is not the case, so my bad and apologies to my opponent!). Meanwhile the Nightscythe and Canoptek Scarabs ambush the very same unit, the Nightscythe from deep strike and the Scarabs setting up from the table edge. The Immortals disembark and let loose a second volley of shots at the Genestealers and Brood Lord, putting the threat down for good. The Scarabs then proceed to make their mighty 9” charge into the Von Ryan Leapers, and through a combination of exploding and some very lucky attack rolls are able to finish them off. The Immortals return to their Nightscythe, ready to commit their Tesla Carbines elsewhere on the battlefield.
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| The Immortals arrive to lend aid to the Wraiths |
On the other side of the battlefield, Nemesor Phaen and his Lychguard continue to slog slowly towards the enemy lines whilst the Lokhust Heavy Destroyer takes aim at the nearby Neurolictor, however through some bio-adaptive camouflage trickery the Destroyer had lost its target, forcing it to fire at and completely miss the Barbgaunts in the Tyranid lines.
Having suffered a number of losses to the Necron weapons, the Lictor and Neurolictor creep around the Necron backlines to prepare a charge against the, as yet untouched Necron flank as the Barbgaunts fire on the central Scarabs, destroying them. With little else to work with at this moment, the Tyranids laid low, whilst the Nightscythe predictably went into Hyperspace, waiting for their chance to strike back…
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| The Lictor duo hide amongst the ruins |
BATTLE ROUND 3
With the Von Ryan Leapers and Genestealers taken care of, the Canoptek Scarabs and Wraiths manoeuvre around the Tyranid's right flank to attack the Tyranid mastermind - the Neurotyrant. With only the smallest of distances to cover, the Wraiths charge the Tyranid monster, but are completely wiped out by the creature’s psychic scream. Taking advantage of the Neurotyrant’s spent psychic energy, the Scarabs follow up and, yet again through a combination of self-destruction and alot of luck are able to fell the Hive Leader before hiding themselves away to repair their numbers.
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| The Wraiths make a sacrifice to allow the Scarabs to deal the finishing blow |
The Lokhust Heavy Destroyer remains on the nearby objective and takes another pot shot at the Barbgaunts, but fails to hit again. The Nightscythe reappears nearby and drops the Immortals nearby in an attempt to take out the Lictor lurking nearby, but the vanguard organism activates it’s chameleonic adaptation, and with the Neurolictor’s Lone Operative ability the Immortals find themselves unable to target anything; as a result they retreat back into the Nightscythe. The Hexmark meanwhile finally makes an appearance and deep strikes down on an objective near the Tyranid deployment zone, taking aim at the Barbgaunts and killing one outright.
Reacting to the sudden threat to their home territory, the Screamer Killer appears behind the Barbgaunts and lets out a bio-plasmic scream at the Hexmark but only inflicts minor damage on the Destroyer. Displeased with the Hexmark's continued existence, the four clawed monster makes a mighty long distance charge and smashes the six armed Necron to pieces. The Barbgaunts meanwhile fires upon the Nightscythe hoping to slow it’s flight but underestimate it’s super sonic speed. The Lictor charges the Lokhust Heavy Destroyer and badly wounds it, and the sturdy Destroyer lives to fight another round.
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| The Screamer-Killer appears to protect it's territory |
With little else to do, Nemesor Phaen and his Lychguard go up into Hyperspace, whilst the Nightscythe uncharacteristically remains screeching above the battlefield.
LAST TWO BATTLE ROUNDS
The Tyranids unleash their Shadow in the Warp and battle shock every unit in the Necron army with the exception of the mighty Neurotyrant killing Scarabs who had reanimated to full strength, robbing the Heavy Lokhust Destroyer of the chance to claim the nearby objective and granting the victory points to the Hive Mind instead. The aforementioned Scarabs jump out of their cover and assault the Barbgaunts, destroying the unit in their typical combination of exploding and chewing whilst Phaen and his Lychguard re-entered the battlefield on the Tyranid's left flank, preparing to attempt a charge against the bio-weapon monstrosity. This would prove to be in vain however, as the Nightscythe screeched over head, dropping Rakantyr and his Immortals behind enemy lines and, through a combination of Tesla Fire, Plasmic Lances and Living Fire, are able to drop the Screamer Killer with little effort.
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| Rakantyr arrives to finish off the Screamer-Killer |
The Lictor finishes off the Lokhust Heavy Destroyer and moves behind the Necron enemy lines alongside the Neurolictor and a recently emerging second Lictor. The Necron Nightscythe swoops around in an attempt to thin the enemy numbers and deny the Tyranids from breaking through, though even their best efforts are only enough to turn the single Neurolictor into a xenos blighted smear on the ground.
The battle ends with three Necron units in the Tyranid lines (Phaen + Lychguard, Rakantyr + Immortals and a unit of Scarabs) and two Lictors in the Necron lines, granting the Necrons an additional 30 VP and the Tyranids an additional 20 VP. This slight lead in end game victory points however wouldn’t prove quite enough to eliminate the Tyranid threat…
HIVE FLEET EX UMBRA VICTORY!
35 VP - 45 VP
POSTGAME ANALYSIS
What a crazy game! So much death, such a tight game, could’ve been anyone’s but unfortunately it wasn’t mine. Massive shout out to my opponent who played extremely well despite the nasty Nightscythe/Immortal combo I was testing out (more on that in a moment).
First things first though, Vanguard Onslaught versus Hypercrypt Legion is a really interesting and very cerebral match up as both detachments rely heavily on sneaky redeployment tactics and manoeuvrability and both of us absolutely took advantage of our chosen rulesets - Unseen Lurkers is a very annoying stratagem to deal with and created some infuriating, but not quite rage inducing moments for me as some units found themselves sitting around with nothing to shoot at as my opponent’s Lictors sat just out of 6 inches with their Lone Operative/Unseen Lurkers combo. I, on the other hand, used the Hyperspacing rule to test out a Nightscythe trick I have been concocting recently whereby I utilise the unit’s newly added Deep Strike rule to deploy from turn one thanks to the Quantum Invader ability, drop off a unit of Immortals, blow a unit to pieces before picking them back up at the end of my turn using Invasion Beamers and use Hyperphasing to do this every turn, and it was incredibly effective considering my opponent’s lack of ranged weapons or even flying units - I’d like to try this tactic out against other opponents just to see how truly effective it is, but against this ‘nid list it made up for the majority of my army's unit kills.
Whilst “Marked For Greatness” was awarded to the Nightscythe for it’s outstanding contributions, were they able to gain experience I would have definitely awarded that honour to my Canoptek Scarabs, they went on an absolute killing spree! 40 points and they took out three units that total 310 points, what a bargain and 100% totally unexpected and unplanned for! To be honest I wouldn’t rely on that kind of luck again but putting Scarabs in Hyperphasing when you have no other units to take off the board is worth a consideration, if only to use them to harass and inconvenience your opponent.
To be honest, other than seeing what did and didn’t work I don’t think there’s was much else I could’ve done other than maybe put my Deathmarks into Deep Strike reserve and maybe not take an expensive unit of Lychguard because they are sloooooooow. Aside from that my opponent just outplayed me, pure and simple. They triggered Shadow in the Warp at exactly the right moment and robbed me of claiming at least one objective that would have given me enough VP to either draw or even win and the use of Lictors and the Unseen Lurkers stratagem prevented me from destroying point scoring units at the end of the game. Maybe I could have used my Lychguard to prevent those units from getting into my deployment but that might have been the only poor play I made. Otherwise a great game, very close and well played to my opponent!
EPILOGUE
Nemesor Phaen beheld the impressive mounds of smoldering and half devoured bodies of Tyranid organisms, revelling in the triumphant path of destruction that he had orchestrated in spite of his sibling's futile grievances.
And yet, despite the his self-proclaimed flawless strategy, of which he had no doubt would overshadow Nemekh’s own endeavours, these feral, alien creatures seemed to be appearing from places even his keen observation skills were unable to track, enhanced as they were by his necrodermal body and his cold, calculating detachment from the emotions that would otherwise limit the creatures of flesh. He found himself strangely confounded by these apparently limitless creatures.
Though he was loath to admit it, it seemed as though Nemekh may not have been entirely wrong about this endless swarm of chitinous clad vermin, and whilst he would love nothing more than to lead a full scale campaign into wiping out each and every Tyranid that dared to set a claw on this world, he was forced to resign to the fact that Nemekh would never allow him the resources, nor would they allow themselves to be distracted from the greater conflict against the Imperium. Veil’s Reach was only one planet and if they had to sacrifice it to win the greater war then so be it, let the Imperial forces be consumed, the Protocian Dynasty required aid on Python III against the growing threat of the Astartes and the Khertet Dynasty would answer their call.
Despite this, Phaen could not completely ignore what was occurring here. The Khertet Dynasty would need to do something to at least contain the Tyranid threat on Veil’s Reach, lest they spread to other, more problematic worlds for them.
“It is time to send ‘him’ back into battle, it seems.” Phaen murmered to himself as the Nightscythe swooped by to beam him back to the Dynasty’s flagship.
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