“And it is called the Celestial Orrery?”
“Yes, my Lord” replied Ashkharaofth, Grand Sorcerer of Tzeentch, Seer of Ways. “It is an ancient artifact, older than Mankind itself. Within the web of living metal and hologram may be found every star in the galaxy. By merely snuffing out one of the lights with your fingers, you cause its physical counterpart to go Supernova, engulfing nearby worlds in fiery oblivion”
Abaddon considered for a moment. “Such wondrous technology is wasted in the hands of the Necron. It shall be mine. Where do we find this artifact?”
“Its location is shrouded in mystery to even me, my Lord. Ancient rumors, whispers, and hearsay are all that I hear when I conduct the sacred divination rituals. However… Tzeentch has blessed me with a vision. I see a nearby mining planet… the ancient dead awakened from their slumber… whispers… voices… yes… long forgotten gods… massacre… bloodshed…” Ashkharaofth appeared lost in reverie.
“It is here, my Lord”, he said, pointing to and highlighting a planet in the holographic map of the galaxy before him. “The whispers tell me that the information we seek may be found here, on the mining world of Arjuna IX”
“You mean to tell me that the Orrery is located on this insignificant mining colony?”, Abaddon inquired, incredulous.
“No, my Lord. My visions indicate that this is an awakening Tomb World. Perhaps we may find clues as to its location by—”
“FIND IT!!” Abaddon roared, wind blasting from the sheer force of his voice, his eyes glowing red with impatient rage. “I care little for your riddles and less for your presence! Get out of my sight and do not return until you have found it!”
“My Lord”, the Sorcerer bowed deeply and scurried out of Abaddon’s chamber.
An expeditionary force lands on the Imperial mining colony.
The Armies
Black Legion
RETINUE [425]
8 Chaos Space Marines, (Chaos Undivided), Chaos Lord, 4 Havocs
RETINUE [365]
8 Chaos Space Marines, (Chaos Undivided), 4 Rhino, Chaos Warlord (Supreme Commander)
ARMOURED COMPANY [325]
(Chaos Undivided), 2 Chaos Predator, 3 Chaos Land Raider
ARMOURED COMPANY [250]
(Chaos Undivided), 2 Chaos Predator, 2 Chaos Land Raider
HAVOC RETINUE [225]
4 Havoc units, (Chaos Undivided), Chaos Lord, 2 Rhinos
RAVAGER TITAN [650]
(Chaos Undivided)
DEFILER ASSAULT PACK [275]
4 Defilers, (Chaos Undivided)
CHOSEN [145]
4 Chaos Space Marine Scouts, (Chaos Undivided), 2 Rhino
CHOSEN [145]
4 Chaos Space Marine Scouts, (Chaos Undivided), 2 Rhino
HELL BLADES [200]
3 Hell Blade Fighters, (Chaos Undivided)
Necron
INFANTRY PHALANX [505]
Necron Lord, 6 Warriors, 2 Tomb Spyders, Pariahs, 3 Immortals
INFANTRY PHALANX [405]
Necron Lord, 6 Warriors, Pariahs, 3 Immortals
INFANTRY PHALANX [405]
Necron Lord, 6 Warriors, 3 Immortals, Pariahs
MONOLITH PHALANX [275]
3 Monoliths
MONOLITH PHALANX [275]
3 Monoliths
PYLON [200]
PYLON [200]
ARMORED PHALANX [300]
6 Obelisks
TOMB COMPLEX [75]
WARBARQUE [350]
Supreme Commander
After dropping on planet and massacring the miners, the Chaos forces march steadily toward the menacing ziggurat, wary of the unknown enemy…
They don’t need to wait long. Strange glowing structures appear out of thin air before them, shimmering into existing as if a mirage
Quickly the battle is joined. A Black Legion armored company advances and fires on the strange monoliths, but the laser blasts are simply absorbed by the alien metal
The Necron Pylon crackles to life, and searing beam of light flickers toward the titan, dropping one of its shields
It is followed an instant later by another blinding beam, which drops one more shield
The Defilers open fire on the Warbarque with their long range battle cannons. But, again, the shells are merely absorbed by the strange alien metal
The alien craft appears to spit the shells out of its hull. All damage is repaired as it fires upon the Black Legion Armored Company, but causes no damage
The eerie Monoliths float listlessly forward, and beams of light pour forth, destroying two Rhinos
The Chosen of Nurgle march forward fearlessly, looking to assault the Pylon or to harass the Necron flanks
Metallic undead infantry come pouring forth from glowing portals located in the center of the Monoliths
The garrisoned Chaos Space Marines unleash a hail of overwatch autocannon fire, cutting down three stands
The Necron fire back, but only cause some suppression
A Black Legion Armored Company sallies forth and fires on the Monoliths, but, again, the strange metal seems impervious to their lascannon fire
Monoliths fire beams at the Land Raiders, but their thick hulls hold true
CSM Havoks occupy a building and let loose with their autocannons. The shells find their mark, and one of the Monoliths shatters! Finally! The Monolith formation is broken
The Necron have no more activations for this turn. A CSM Retinue advances along the right flank and fires on the Obelisks, but cause no damage
The Slaanesh Chosen march along the left flank and take cover behind a large sand dune
The Titan marshals, clearing blast markers and regenerating shields. The Hellblades, wary of the Necron Pylons, go on combat air patrol for the time being
End of Turn 1
The Monolith formation that sustained damage in the last turn disappears from the battlefield and reappears in an entirely different location!
The Chaos Space Marines, with their superior tactical abilities (Strategy Rating 4), go first. The Chosen fire on the formation and immediately break it.
The Black Legion retains the initiative. Defilers fire battle cannon shells at the Warbarque, finally managing to damage it
In a cunning move, a Necron Monolith formation disgorges a phalanx of Warriors, Immortals and Pariahs into the flank of an Armored Company and CSM Retinue
An intermingled assault ensues!
The Necron are victorious. The Armored Company and Retinue break and flee!
The titan advances and unloads on a Necron phalanx, breaking it
The Obelisks float unnaturally and unleash dizzying colored lights on the Chosen, killing and breaking the formation. The Necron retain and a Pylon fires at the titan, but only drops one shield
A Black Legion Armored Formation advances and fires on the Warbarque, failing to penetrate its hull but confusing its systems enough to break it
The other Necron Pylon fires at the titan, but the Necron technology is having a hard time getting past the shields.
The Slaanesh Chosen go on overwatch, choosing to take cover and threaten the Necron flank
The Necron are out of activations. A CSM Retinue sustains fire on a Monolith formation, destroying two and breaking the formation
Havoks advance and fire on the broken Necron Phalanx, destroying it utterly
The End of Turn 2
The Warbarque teleports back onto the battlefield, but the Armored Company is waiting for it. Their lascannons find their mark and destroy the Warmachine
The Black Legion retain the initiative. The titan lumbers forward and opens fire on a Necron phalanx, but destroys only one stand
The Monolith floats over the dune and unloads its deadly cargo
The Necron phalanx assaults the Armored Company
Their gauss weapons shred the hulls of the Chaos tanks
The CSM Retinue shifts slightly to capture a nearby objective and fires at the Obelisks, again doing no damage
Black Legion retains the initiative. The broken CSM Retinue rallied in the recovery phase. It now pushes forward and fires on a phalanx, killing two stands and occupying an objective.
A Pylon sends a crackling bolt of pure energy at the titan but misses
The Defilers fire their battle cannons at the Obelisks and manage to destroy one
The Necron phalanx marshals and moves to contest a Black Legion Defend the Flag objective. Its position in the Black Legion half of the battlefield also denies them the They Shall Not Pass objective. Will they hold on?
If the Chaos Marines can shift the other Phalanx from this position, they can capture the Take and Hold objective. Slaanesh Choosen circle around and set up a crossfire, but don’t do enough damage to break the formation
The Obelisks float over to protect the Necron tomb, and fire on and break the Nurgle Chosen
The Havoks sustained fire on the Phalanx, hoping to capture Defend the Flag and They Shall Not Pass objectives. But the Necron hold on just one blast marker away from being broken!
The Hellblades, which stayed off the battlefield all game in fear of the Necron Pylons, fly on and fire on the Phalanx, breaking it!
The Black Legion have captured the Defend the Flag and They Shall Not Pass Objectives. The Necron, seeing the futility of continuing to fight, disappear from the battlefield
The Chaos Space Marines advance on the ancient and mysterious ziggurat, not knowing what they might find inside….
Post Game Thoughts
What a fun game!!
This was my first time using my Black Legion army and it was my opponent’s first time using his Necron army. This was purely a friendly match, not a league game or anything, so our goal was just to enjoy ourselves. The Necron have a lot of funky special rules that probably take a while to get the hang of, so he didn’t know what he was doing, especially at the beginning of the game. We’ll chalk it up to the Necron battle protocols not quite being booted yet – they are freshly awake after millions of years asleep, after all!
But we still had a lot of fun. The Necron seem very interesting and I think have a great deal of potential for making a crafty and dangerous opponent. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with as he gets a feel for the army.
I was quite impressed by the Black Legion. This is pretty much my first time running anything other than loyalist marines, and it was cool playing by the same set of rules as everyone else for once. The Black Legion feels like a horde army with bad ass armor saves. Kind of like an elite Imperial Guard. I was impressed by their resilience on defense and aggression on offense. Super cool army that I look forward to getting familiar with in the future.
I’ll be continuing to write more showcase battle reports, and we will have a part two of this particular narrative! Stay tuned!
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