Xenos vs Imperium 3/29/15- Da Eldar hire Orks to crump the humies!

Backstory (Eldar perspective)

Prithee, the human barbarians are nigh upon our gates and we are forced to desperate measures. I regrettably have been forced by circumstance to lower our race in hiring a large tribe of loathsome Orks to bolster our defenses. Their sheer violence may deter these zealots from their incursion into our beloved adopted world, though ...(ships log continues)

Backstory (Ork perspective)

Da gits wif da girly hair say we get teef if'n we crump da humies. Orky!

Backstory (Imperium perspective)

For the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the Emperor

The armies: troops and strategy

Armies of the Imperium: Chris' Space Wolves

Njal Stormcaller, the Tempest that Walks- HQ (rolled all Divination powers and trait: Infiltrate)

Dreadnought with missile launcher

16 Grey Hunters (2 plasma guns)

5 Long Fangs with missile launchers, 1 Ancient

1 Predator tank

1 Stormfang Gunship

Armies of the Imperium: Mike's allied detachments

Sisters of Battle:

Celestine

5 Battle sisters in a Rhino tank

5 Dominions in an Immolator (lots of melta weapons)

1 Exorcist tank

Ad Mech

Company command squad, master of ordnance, lascannon

Veteran squad, 3 plasma guns, chimera tank

Vendetta tank

2x Wyvern tanks

Xenos armies: Eldar 

1 Farseer (Warlord, level 3 psyker) with the trait that lets you target 2 different units
1 Wraithknight
1 Wraithlord
2 War Walkers
2 Wave Serpents filled with Dire Avengers

Xenos Armies: Orks in a Horde detachment

1 Warboss in Mega Armor with Da Lukky Stikk, rolled Prophet of the Waaagh

1 unit of Meganobz in a Battlewagon with a Deffrolla

3 units of 10 Boyz, each with: a Nob with a Power Klaw, a Big Shoota Boy, and a Trukk

10 Stormboyz led by Boss Zagstrukk

1 unit of Tankbustas with 3 attack squigs in a Looted Eldar Wave Serpent

Tactics: I didn't expect to face such a powerful army, but I should be able to get my troops across the board and into close combat (where Orks excel). The Imperium brought a lot of armor (hard to crack through and with big guns), and neither of us have anything to deal with their flyers. Best bet is to have Orks charge across the field and take the hits while the Eldar blow up some tanks. I've got enough units that it won't matter if several of them die, and the Battlewagon will keep my Meganobz safe and mobile so they can do some serious damage when they get into CC. The Tankbustas and Wave Serpents will be crucial to blowing up tanks- he's got a lot of points invested in them and if we take out 3 that's enough for the win (since the Orks can keep them tied down in melee while Eldar grab objectives).

The Battle- turn 1

Deployment:

Off to a very bad start as Xenos fail to seize the initiative and the guns start to fire. First, the Sisters' Immolator moves up using a scout move to get really close and deploys Dominions with anti-tank melta weapons.

They proceed to turn my battlewagon into scrap metal, insuring that my Meganobz and Warboss will not make it to the other side of the field in time to make a difference (and give the enemy first blood).

Chris' new Warlord casts Prescience on the Long Fangs (giving them all twin linked re-rolls to hit), and they proceed to destroy my Looted wagon and pin the Tankbustas in place

While some artillery fire wounds the WraithKnight once, the Wyverns open up. I had never seen anything like this before- 8 barrage shots (with a large blast rerolling any misses) insure that my Stormboyz are hit 40 times.  They take 22 wounds and all die, including Boss Zagstruk. This takes out most of my heavy hitters by crippling their mobility and the Stormboyz' loss will be felt when I try to tie down units in melee. Even worse, these big guns are killing our morale.

On the Xenos turn, I move up my Trukks as far as I can, trying to hide them in cover. The Meganobz destroy the Dominions and the Tankbustas immobilize + destroy the weapon on the Immolator, but the damage is done.

My Boyz attempt a charge on the Grey Hunters, but fail and lose 4 to overwatch shots.

Eldar shooting surprisingly fails to damage any tanks, and Greg's warlord is out of range for any useful psykik powers. Although the score is 1:1 due to a grabbed objective, my battle plan is in disarray.

Turn 2

This turn again starts badly for Xenos, as both flyers come in

Although their damage is limited to killing 1 Meganob- thank you lukky stikk!- and a Trukk in cover, the Long Fangs kill a second Trukk and pin the Boyz who were in it. 

This effectively cripples Ork mobility, and the hope for a charge from the closer skuad of Boyz fails as the buffed Grey Hunters destroy them. Furthermore, the Exorcist targets an Eldar Warlord's Wave Serpent and destroys it, leaving him in the open. Finally, the Wyverns target the Tankbustas and the carnage is unbelievable. No survivors.

In response, the WraithKnight blows up the Exorcist tank and the Boyz shoot 4 Grey Hunters, but at this point we're losing badly. 

Score is 2 (Orks secure objective 5) to 2 (Sisters recon + 1st blood)- it's all on the (pretty undamaged) Eldar now.

Turn 3

As the reserve Sisters come in and draw the "assassinate" (kill a character) objective, Celestine and the remaining Hunters move on the last skuad of Boyz. After killing all but 3 in shooting, she charges and Freddee the Nob declares a challenge. 

Although he insta-kills her in a brutal combat, she uses her Act ability to come back from the dead and he dies in a sweeping advance :(.

Imperial shooting finishes off the Farseer and his squad, a Wave Serpent, a Nob and his Skuad, most of a third Boyz Skuad, and all of the last unit of Eldar. 

Humies score 5 points for assassinate, and after the Meganobz fail to kill a tank and Eldar fail to slay the warlord we called the game. Final score: 2 Xenos to a lot Imperium (at least 8)

Final thoughts

Thanks to Chris for the venue and to Chris and Mike for a great game. It was a little demoralizing, but we learned a lot. Both Wyverns (destroy any non-tank unit they aim at) and Divination psykik (with re-rolls granted to any miss) powers made a huge difference in the battle. 

If had known how badly we were overmatched (experience counts) I would have used my Stompa and put the Tankbustas/Meganobz in it- besides immunity to the Wyvern shooting it would have survived 2 turns and been able to kill a few tanks. Other than bringing a super-heavy though, I'm at a loss as to how to counter this army with Orks. 

It would have been possible for 1/3 of the Ork army to survive into close combat if I had brought a warband (6 units of Boyz and some support), and Lootas' long range + power would have been able to destroy a Wyvern. I'm also wondering about Grukk's Rippin Krew and their tellyport attack- that would have gotten 1/4 of our army right up in the enemy's face right away. Suggestions are appreciated!

Space Wolves vs Tyranids 1-25-2015 (my first test drive of the Tyranids)

Hive Fleet Kraken touches down on a world protected by heavy Space Wolves armor- will it be consumed?

Hey everyone! By request, here is an older batrep with my first time fielding my Tyranids army. Chris brought his beautifully-painted Space Wolves and Vin of http://atticwars40k.blogspot.com/ offered up the space for a truly epic 1850 point fight.

The armies: troops and strategy

Tyranid Hive Fleet Kraken
As always, numbers are everything with Tyranids, and I brought plenty:

• 1 Flying Hive Tyrant with  Heavy Venom Cannon + twin linked devourers with brainleech worms + regenerate (Warlord and psyker. Rolled Onslaught and Paroxysm for powers and Digestive Denial (-1 to a terrain's cover save) as a trait
• Endless Swarm formation: 
• 30 Hormagaunts in 3 units
• 30 Termagaunts in 3 units
• 3 Warriors (synapse creatures)
• 1 Tervigon to spawn more Termagaunts and provide synapse
• 1 Venomthrope to give cover saves (Tyranids do not have good armor saves)
• 2 Carnifexes with 4 twin linked devourers with brainleech worms
• 2 Zoenthropes for synapse and psykik powers
• Broodlord's Hunting Pack formation
• 1 Broodlord
• 15 Genestealers in 3 units
• 1 Mawloc (high strength, armor piercing deep strike attack)
• 1 Hive Crone (flying unit which wrecks vehicles- thanks to Vin for the loan!)

Tactics: Numbers, numbers, and numbers. With a Tervigon to keep spawning cheap units and an Endless Swarm formation (means any dead units walk back on from off the board if you roll a 4+), I've got plenty of units to bog the enemy down in melee and take objectives for victory points.

Since my soldiers are pretty slow and starting from a long way off, I'll need to keep them protected with cover (that's what the the Venomthrope is for- he gives everyone +2 to cover) and overlapped with synapse. I fully expect Chris to teleport soldiers behind me, but with that many troops I should be able to hold them off indefinitely.

The armor will be an issue as very few of my troops can crack through the tanks' hide. The Carnifexes can dish out 24 Strength 6 shots per turn, and some of them will crack through. However, the cannon on my Flying Hive Tyrant and the Hive Crone's Haywire shots will crack tanks with ease. Besides that, my 3 units of genestealers will be able to infiltrate pretty close to the enemy and hopefully take an objective or bog down some of his units in bodies to mitigate all the shooting that'll come my way. Also, there's the Mawloc.

Space Wolves
Chris went heavy on armor for this fight in a Combined Arms Detachment

• Harald Deathwolf (HQ with Outflank)
• 1 Land Raider (very heavy tank transport)
• 1 Dreadnought (heavy walker)
• 1 Predator (heavy tank transport)
• 1 Stormfang Gunship (heavily armed Flyer)
• 10 Fenrisian Wolves
• 5 Wolfguard Terminators (2+ armor save and Deep Strike)
• 20 Grey Hunters (2 plasma guns) in 2 units
• 5 Long Fangs (1 is an Ancient, have missile launchers and 1 plasma pistol)

His strategy will most likely be to blast my synapse creatures to make the troops lose control (which is why I brought a lot of them) and to give me a wall of armor I can't break through. This will limit his mobility, though that's balanced by troops like his HQ and the Terminators (though I hope they do come in behind me- there's no way he can hack through that many bodies).

The Battle- Turn 1

Though Chris deployed his troops first, I managed to steal initiative and can deploy second and go first:

Deployment:

I've got my troops in a long line with double synapse coverage, but also used the Genestealers' special ability to deploy them on top of an objective and in cover where I need to roll a 3 or lower to take a hit! He will undoubtably fire on them, but I'm confident they'll survive. Going first helps me get there quicker, and after spawning 8 new Termagaunts, I immediately moved, then ran everyone forward

My Psykik phase was used to extend everyone's synapse, though the Broodlord's was denied (not needed as Genestealers don't need synapse)

As the Space Wolves moved all their units to target my genestealers, I prepared for the worst.

Though the Broodlord denied their psykik Murderous Hurricane and his Living Lightning failed to manifest, the armor destroyed 8 Genestealers and gained a point for first blood. At the end of turn 1, the score is tied 1:1.

The Battle- Turn 2

Again, I spawned another brood of 11 Termagaunts and moved/ran the Swarm as fast as possible toward my embattled Genestealers. Things look grim for the Space Wolves, as my Hive Crone flew in from reserves this turn and targeted Chris' largest tank- the Land Raider. Between a glancing hit from the Flying Tyrant's bio-cannon and 2 Haywire tentaclid bio-missiles from the Crone, the Land Raider collapsed and burned.

As the troops inside disembarked from the ruined hulk, the surviving Genestealers moved up to hold the objective against the upcoming storm of bolter fire from the Space Marines.

Turn 2 for Space Wolves began with a bang, as both the heavily armored Terminator squad arrived via Deep Strike and Harald Deathwolf and his swift wolves outflanked my troops

The surprise attack from the Terminators would target my Carnifexes, while Harald aimed to blast some Termagaunts out of the way and then charge my Tervigon.

On the other side of the board, Chris moved to quickly destroy my Genestealers and claim the objective. However, the Murderous Hurricane psykik onslaught against my Genestealers was denied, and Living Lightning only claimed 2 'Stealers. The dreadnought's fire would scatter and only 3 additional 'Stealers would die (their bodies shielding the Broodlord), and they kept the objective.

Meanwhile, the Carnifexes armor proved to be too much for the Terminators' firepower, while the Warlord missed in his shooting phase. The Swarm, awakened to the interlopers, prepared their response.

The Battle- Turn 3

As most of the swarm continued up, the Tervigon and her broods of gaunts (including a newly-spawned brood of 9) turned to face the new food source in their midst, casting Paroxysm and reducing their Weapons and Ballistics skills by 3 (can't hit or shoot anything well). Registering a new foe, the Carnifexes turned their mighty Devourer weapons on the Terminators, overwhelming their armor with 24 shots (I forgot the twin linked rule) and killing one. Likewise, a nearby brood of 15 Termagaunts turns back and claims a second Terminator with massed firepower.

As Harald moved to charge the gaunts, they turned and unleashed a withering salvo of firepower before charging. Though they would lose 1 unit of newly-spawned gaunts, the sheer amount of ammunition would claim all but 2 of the Fenrisian Wolves and tie down the Warlord in melee combat.

Finally, on the other side of the battlefield, disaster struck

as the Mawloc burst in from beneath the squad of Space Wolf Marines pinned from the destruction of their transport. His brutal attack was right on target and devoured all but one of the Marines

This dramatic event caused me to forget to shoot my flyers, but the damage was done. The game was called due to time constraints, and as Hive Fleet Kraken began to scour the planet of life, the final score was: Space Wolves 2 (First Blood and Linebreaker) and Tyranids 3 (3 objectives).

Final Thoughts

Thanks to Chris for an excellent game (and for being a such a good sport with my lucky dice Mawloc roll) and to Vin for the use of his facilities! Hive Crones are truly impressive, and I will be using the Mawloc again.  Also, I was impressed at the resilience of the Genestealers and believe that the score would have been different if Chris had gone for an objective with his Warlord and used the Terminators (or Marines in the transport) to charge the 'Stealers. 

Tyranids vs Grey Knights (numbers vs skill) 3/14/2015. Written for unfamiliar readers

Small in number but fierce in everything else, the Grey Knights have landed on the flower pattern planet to exterminate an arm of Tyranid Hive Fleet Kraken. Can a small "super army" defeat my horde of glass hammers?

In the finest tradition of Ridley Scott, these 2 forces take the field, rolling for an Eternal War: Crusade mission, but eschewing Night Fighting (which favors the Tyranids) and tactical objectives. Mysterious Objectives did come into play, but mostly had no effect.

The armies: Troops and strategy

Tyranid Hive Fleet Kraken:
overall plan is to drown the enemy in troops and grab objectives while they're fighting. The flying model will shoot vehicles and the 2 Carnifexes will overwhelm the enemy's high armor with multiple shots (24 in total!). Grey Knights have force weapons which can cause instant death, so I'll need to keep my large expensive models away from them. Greg was very excited when I mentioned this.

Using a bound army with Endless Swarm [gaunts and warriors come back to life from off the table if you roll a 4+] and Hive Fleet Detachment [reroll instinctive behavior. Remember that most Tyranid creatures can't get too far from a synapse creature or they revert to instinctive behavior (can eat each other, run, or mindlessly attack)!

Winged Hive Tyrant is the Warlord (synapse creature)
   I gave him a Heavy Venom Cannon and Electroshock grubs for killing vehicles a twin linked devourer with brainleech worms for general killing. Flyijng will keep him safe, except from the StormHawk.
   For psykik powers, I rolled Paroxysm and the Horror (neither of which are much use against Grey Knights) and rolled Mind Eater as a warlord trait (2 points for killing a character in a duel)

Tervigon is the second HQ  (synapse creature). He can spawn more gaunts each turn and factors heavily into my strategy.
30 Termagaunts in 3 units
30 Hormagaunts in 3 units
3 Warriors (provide synapse)
1 Venomthrope to provide cover with his spore cloud (though wouldn't you know it, I forgot to put him on the table)
2 Carnifexes with 4 twin linked devourers with brainleech worms (24 high strength shots)
2 Zoenthropes (provide synapse and psykik powers)
2 Lictors (Heavy attacks but made of tissue paper. Do not need synapse and I'm hoping that they can get close enough to kill a vehicle and help guide the Mawloc to annihilate a squad)
1 Mawloc (can deep strike from off the board and his attacks punch through armor. I'm taking a chance with him, since if he misses he will most likely be killed).

Grey Knights Chapter:
This is briefer because I don't know GK as well. They are tough, durable, hit hard, have psykik powers, and are expensive. most of them will . He is taking the Brotherhood formation, which can grant teleportion to each unit and can make his reserve units (i.e. flyers) come in on turn 1 (also bonuses for psykik powers).

1 Librarian in Terminator Armor (level 3 Psyker) is the HQ. Lots of space magic powers, which can crush large amounts of troops.
10 Terminators in 2 units (1 psilencer each). The quintessential Grey Knight. Force weapons and psykik powers too. Only a 1 in 6 chance to kill them if you don't have armor piercing (only my Mawloc does), so weight of numbers will be important to overwhelm them. The psilencer has 6 high strength shots and force (can be instant death).
10 Strike squad members with 1 psilencer each in 2 units. Smaller armor (1/3 change to kill) but cheaper and also have force weapons.
1 Stormraven Gunship. This flyer will come in and kill whatever it aims at while evading fire. Good thing there's only one
1 Dreadnought- Heavily armored walker with lots of firepower. Strategy will be to camp on an objective and shoot whatever comes close.
1 Dreadknight- Oh boy. This behemoth is not a vehicle, but is incredibly tough, has force weapons, and a personal teleporter which can shunt it 30" once per game. Will most likely teleport behind me and try to kill mt Tervigon.

The Battle- Turn 1

Playing on a new board- "flower field"! And using Revolutionary War terrain, mostly conferring a 4+ cover save.

Tyranids opted to go first, but Grey Knights stole initiative. Not good for Tyranids, as the GK are set up to counter their formation and they get to go first. Both armies deployed in a line, but Tyranids infiltrated the 2 Lictors (assassins) behind a wall nearby. They will try to use their abilities to guide the Mawloc in.

However, disaster struck as not only did the GK flyer fail to come in, but the GK's Librarian in attempting to use lots of dice to activate his psykik powers (Terrify and Shreik) on the Lictors failed to protect himself from the Perils of the Warp and was destroyed by the Empyric Feedback. Greg decided that the Psykik phase was over. 

In the shooting phase, all GK's in range and line of sight fired on the Lictors and killed one. On the Tyranids turn, the whole army moved forward, the Tervigon's spawning belly pumped out 6 new Gaunts with Fleshborer Beetle rifles, and the Flying Hive Tyrant (Flyerant) shot at the Dreadnought and failed to wound.

The Battle- Turn 2

Here's where things got interesting. Though the Stormhawk flyer failed to come in again, Greg deep struck a unit of Terminators behind the Tyranid lines and cast Hammerhand and Force (instant death) on them. They then fired a Force Psylencer on the Tervigon and killed him right away (I decided not to surround him with troops because I didn't want them to get in the way of him spawning new troops- big mistake!).  

The synaptic backlash destroyed a large number of the gaunts around him (her?) and the loss of synapse destroyed the new unit of gaunts, who fled off the table in fear.

 All in all, 12 models were destroyed, but none of the formation units (meaning that they can't come back using Endless Swarrm):

In addition, the Lictor was killed by the Dreadnought (who took Mysterious objective #1- Sabotage with not enough power to hurt the Dreadnought), and the 2nd squad of Force terminators shot at the Hive Tyrant (luckily both wounds were saved). Strong opening from the GK, but the Tyranids prepared their response:

As the Terminators reveled in their victory, the Carnifexes turned and opened fire, slaying 4 Terminators due to the sheer number of shots overwhelming their armor saves. Furthermore, 2 units of Termagaunts reversed course and assaulted the Terminator. Though they lost one of their number, the remaining Terminator made his armor saves and survived

On the other side of the table, disaster struck as the Mawloc entered and completely missed the second squad of Terminators. Failing his instinctive behavior, he gnaws on own leg but his armor saves him from doing damage. 

Furthermore, the Flyeraunt's bio-cannon shot missed the Terminators and struck the Mawloc instead, wounding him. The rest of the swarm advances behind cover, with hormagaunts taking objective #2, leading into:

The Battle- Turn 3

As turn 3 began, the Stormhawk finally zoomed in and blasted the Hive Tyrant, causing 2 wounds. Due to grounding rules, he fell from the sky and suffered another wound.

The surviving Terminator squad cast Force (instant death) on themselves, losing one of their number to Perils of the Warp, and assaulted the Mawloc killing him (though he took 2 more with him).

On the other side of the board, the DreadKnight made his move, shunting behind the swarm, successfully casting Sanctuary (4+ invuln), and attempting to kill the Zoanthropes.

This would have caused half my army to run due to instinctive behavior, but lucky for me they made their invulnerable saves. The remaining GK forces fired on the advancing swarm and killed 1 Hormagaunt and wounded 1 Warrior. While the Strike Squad took objective #3, the remaining Terminator survived the 15 gaunt assault and killed 2. ^&*%!

On the Hive's turn, they all continued their advance, though all the Zoanthropes' psykik powers were denied (stupid amount of dice the GK's are allowed!). However, the again swooping Tyrant flew behind the Dreadnought and killed him with his Devourers (the cannon turned out to be useless- the internet was right). The advancing Carnifexes shot at the Strike Squad and killed 2.

The nearby hormagaunts and termagaunts responded to the DreadKnight with an assault

While they would only do 1 wound for the rest of the game, the 2 units would successfully tarpit the monster, keeping him away from the nearby objective. The Zoanthropes were forced to stay behind to watch these 2 combats (otherwise, all Tyranids out of synapse range would most likely run away). The score was now 2:1 Grey Knights (1st blood, 1 objective [and one more close at hand] vs 1 objective).

The Battle- Turn 4

As the final turn began, all GK units cast Force and prepared to charge. The Stormhawk dropped into Hover mode and disembarked a Strike Squad

, who would run and shoot (they can do that) 2 Warriors (causing 2 wounds). The Stormraven had flown out of shooting arc to hit the Warriors, and then would fail to wound the Zoanthropes (whew). The second Strike Squad shot Force weapons at the Carnifexes, who thankfully made their 2 saves. The remaining combats (DreadKnight and 1 Terminator) whittled down the attacking Tyranids, but no wounds were made on the GK.

In addition, the Terminators moved to take back Objective #1 and passed their armor saves against the Sabotaged objective. Score is now 3:1 GK

Finally, Tyranids moved to take objective #3. The Hive Tyrant dropped to glide mode and moved to within 12" of the table edge to take the point for Linebreaker. He fired on the Strike Squad guarding objective #3 killing 2, and the Carnifexes finished the job by killing 2 in shooting and then mopping up the rest on a successful charge (4 Hammer of Wrath hits). 

The remaining combats did not cause any GK casualties

Still Alive!

Final score: Tyranid victory 3-2 (Linebreaker and 2 objectives vs First Blood and 1 objective)

Hard fight and congrats to Greg for an excellent fight from the Grey Knights.

Final thoughts: The way for Tyranids to deal with GK is definitely force of numbers. Genestealers instead of the Lictor/Mawloc combo would have been a better idea. Also, Twin linked Devourers with Brainleech Worms for Carnifexes and Tyrants are the way to go- they successfully destroyed more units on the board than any other weapon (4 Terminators, 1 Dreadnought, 4 Strike Squad members). Do not bring Bio-Cannons. Do protect your Tervigon from deepstriking units. Be mindful of the number of dice used for psykic tests, as Perils of the Warp is a real concern (it wiped out the GK's leader in 1 turn!).Take the flowered tablecloth off the table before play. Remember all your models (though the Venomthrope wouldn't have made a huge difference, as I planned to bring him away from the Tervigon anyway). 

Thanks for reading! This brings my score to 2:0 Tyranids (I'll write up my previous battle against Space Wolves later). Any new challengers?

Necrons vs Space Wolves and Tau (Very old batrep day)- in progress

1750 points of old Necrons vs allied Tau and Space Wolves! Custom battle and deployment, pictured using Viseo. Hope you enjoy

Space Wolves:
Harald Deathwolf with 2 Fenrisian Wolves
10 Grey Hunters (1 Melta gun)
10 Grey Hunters (1 plasma gun)
1 Stormfang Gunship

Tau:
Commander Shadowsun
3 Stealth Team
3 Crisis Team
4 Gun drone
2 Marker Drone
11 Fire Warrior Team
12 Fire Warrior Team
1 Piranha
5 Vespid Stingwings + leader
1 Broadside Shas'ui
2 Gun drone

Necrons:
Trazyn the Infinite in a Catacomb Command Barge
Varguard Obyron
5 Lychguard with disbursement shields and voidblades
1 Lord with Ressurrection Orb and MindShackle Scarabs
16 Necron Warriors
1 Ghost Ark
1 StormTek (Cryptek with 4 Haywire shots)
1 Night Scythe
10 Immortals in 2 units (1 with Gauss, 1 with Tesla)
5 Canpotic Wraiths (3 with whip coils)
5 DeathMarks paired with a Despair Cryptek (with veil of darkness)

Deployment:

Turn 1

 Lots of deep striking this turn! My (now) brother in law Greg asked me if Necrons were so bad at close combat then why am I trying to get into CC with Obyron. Answer from around the table: "Because Tau are even worse".
Obyron and the Lychguard teleported in and survived a round of shooting, ready to charge the Crysis suits. On the other side of the board, the Deathmarks were veil teleported by the Cryptek to mark and shoot at the Grey Hunters, but only killed 1.
Lots of action in the center of the board as Trazyn's Command Barge moved up and engaged Tau Fire Warriors (killing 2). Massed fire and marker lights from the Broadside and others immobilized the Ghost Ark, but the Warriors/Lord/Cryptek inside survived and moved out.
End of Turn 2:

New! Necrons vs Chaos 2-9-15 (cut short)

My first battle using the new rules (just getting around to posting it now). 720 points:

Necrons
Lord (I rolled the "Immortal Hubris" Trait)
10 Warriors in a Ghost Ark
1 Tomb Stalker
1 Canoptic Harvest formation: 5 Wraiths, 1 Tomb Spyder, 3 scarab bases (no upgrades)

Chaos
Ahriman
10 thousand suns troops in 2 units, each led by a Sorcerer
2 Rhino transports with Havoc launchers
1 Hellbrute

Rolled for Eternal War= Crusade mission with Dawn of War deployment. Necrons went first.

In turn 1, Necrons moved up and took an objective. Chaos moved up afterward and Ahriman's summoning succeeded (10 Horros of Slaneesh). He suffered perils (Empyric feedback), but passed leadership. For the next 2 turns, his Horrors would duel the Ghost Ark/Warriors. They would be destroyed and summoned again, and their psychic powers would help score a warlord kill off my hiding Necron Lord

On the other side of the table, the Canoptic Harvest formation would cause havoc for the enemy. The Wraiths would take no damage (new toughness of 5 and rezzie protocols from the formation make them a little OP IMHO) but would kill a Rhino and a Hellbrute (though fail 2 assaults on the Sons). Meanwhile, the scarabs would chew up a Rhino for the Wraiths to finish, then run and take an objective while using resurrection protocols to save blast wounds. 

The Triarch Stalker blew up the other Rhino, causing 1 Thousand Suns and 1 Pink Horror death, but the surviving Horrors and Sons took an objective, tilting the final score at 3-2 Chaos.

Final thoughts: If the game had continued, I am sure that it would have been a Necron victory. Ahriman's summoning power is very strong, but the Ghost Ark/Warriors were holding its own and the Canoptic Harvest formation was literally unstoppable (IMHO, a must bring for all Necron games). I will mention that there's a pretty demoralizing effect from the +1 WS boost from the Stalker and the Canoptic Harvest, and Necron players should consider the relationship aspect of the game when setting up their armies.

Orks vs Chaos 2-27-15 (Cerastus Knight Lancer!)

In brief: Foregoing the Orky Terminators for this rematch, I brought in a tripped out skuad of Tankbustas in a Looted Wave Serpent to deal with Joel's newly-painted Cerastus Knight (a super-heavy walker with obscene 13 armor and stomp attacks doing Destroyer damage).

Da Nooble Orks (Andrew)
3	DeffKoptas	Fast Attack, with Rokkit Launchas
5	Tankbustas	Elites (w 2 tankhammers, 4 boyz, a Boss Nob with Klaw, and 3 squigs)
3	Trukk	3 Dedicated transports
1	Looted Wave Serpent	1 Dedicated transport
30	Shoota Boyz	3 Troops
3	Nobz with Klaws	No slot
1	Mek	No slot
1	Big Mek with Shokk	HQ, Brutal but Kunnin (I forgot to use this)
5	Lootas	Heavy support
1	Painboy	HQ, 1 squig
1	Deff Dread	With 2 Rokkit Launchas

Da Iginomineeos Kaos (Joel)
1	Cerastus Knight Lancer
2	Chimera Tanks
3	Renegade Squads
3	Rapier Laser Destroyer Artillery batteries

Rolled for Maelstrom-> Tactical Escalation Mission-> Dawn of War deployment (no night fighting or mysterious objectives)

In brief: Foregoing the Orky Terminators for this rematch, I brought in a tripped out skuad of Tankbustas in a Looted Wave Serpent to deal with the Cerastus Knight.

 Everything that could be upgraded to Rokkit Launchas was upgraded and I assumed that I could bring down the Knight in 2 rounds of shooting (Lootas, a Shokk Atak gun, 8 Rokkits, and the Tankbustas seemed like it could do the trick even with Ork ballistic skill).

Didn’t happen

Even though I fired everything including 4 bomb squigs into the Cerastus, the result was 1 glancing hit. The Tankbustas charged (because why not, it’s a “let’s see what happens” battle) and only 2 lived, though a surviving tankhammer Ork did manage a penetrating hit- Crew shaken. 

I switched gears and attempted to bypass the Knight, but 1 Trukk fell prey to heavy artillery fire (the krew started running and didn’t stop until they ran off the board) and the second one was stomped to death by an angry Cerastus Knight (the krew of that one was plowed under in a sweeping advance by Renegades).  

On the right side of the board, all was well as Trukk #3 managed to do its job and deliver 10 angry Ork Boyz and a power Klaw Nob into charge range where they wiped out a second group of renegades and the Deff Dread glanced a Chimera.

Cold comfort when my warlord and his 2 surviving Lootas ran off the table away from 6 Str 7 shots from the Cerastus Knight.

Final score: Chaos: 8, Orks: 3

Thoughts: Things may have gone better with a different strategy- either adopting a strategy of ignoring the Cerastus or going all out. I did forget the Tankbustas' "Tank Hunters" rule which would have averaged another 3 hull points, and had I charged the Knight with one of the Boyz squads to tie it down in melee (maybe- 60% chance of running instead), I could have charged the Tankbustas against a vulnerable rear arc instead. Having said all that, the most reliable way to deal with Super Heavies is another Super Heavy. 

Check out Joel's blog @ burntheimperium.blogspot.com to see his batrep

Mistakes made: 

• Doks can's carry bomb squigs
• Super Heavies can't fire overwatch (we're still working out whether they can get tied down in Melee, but haven't found any rules saying otherwise)
• Tankbustas have Tank Hunters (can't stress this enough)
• More to come

Still, a great time was had by all, and we're planning the next game under the rigorous "when we have time" schedule. I'm thinking my Necrons using the new rules, though Joel and Greg are sold on my Stompa vs their combined Chaos Cerastus Knight and Eldar WraithKnight.