Final Showdown
Overlord Kamanakh, Supreme Warlord of Alamacria had established his HQ in the captured imperial fortress complex at Storven Pass and a Tau cadre and Dark Eldar raiding force moved to prevent the Necrons consolidating their position, at last bringing our supreme commander into action on day 117 of the campaign, the day that would prove to be the final decisive battle.
The Necrontyr had seized the fortress complex largely intact and brought its systems into full operation rapidly. On the right a bunker including a quad gun was manned by a squad of warriors. Centre right an Aquila stronghold with a huge cannon was manned by a squad of praetorians and a cryptek.
In the centre a large redoubt with three more weapons batteries manned by a squad of immortals and a cryptek, across the left, a fortress of Redemption with missile batteries and a fifth gun emplacement. Two more squads of warriors and a squad of immortals occupied this fortress.
All these installations were protected by void shields, some double or triple layered. Behind the fortress more tried and trusted technology in the shape of a sentry pylon reinforced the Necron firepower with a Heat pylon between the fortress and the redoubt. On the right hand side of the redoubt, a death pylon. A screen of war scythe equipped lychguard screened the front of the fortress of redemption.
Behind the redoubt, a transcendent C’Tan and the Overlord with a squad of lychguard armed with Hyperphase swords and Dispersion shields plus a cryptek. On the flanks behind the buildings, two squads of four wraiths, those on the left with particle casters, those on the right with whip coils.
To the right infront of the Aquila strongpoint, five destroyers and behind the redoubt on the right five more plus a heavy destroyer. A C’Tan shard, the Deathbringer lay on the right flank.
In reserve the Night Scythe NNV Bloody Banner with immortals and a cryptek aboard, nine tomb blades equipped with shield vanes Nebuloscopes and a variety of weapons, plus two teams of five deathmarks. A tomb sentinel also lay in reserve.
Total forces deployed were 3278 with fortifications and artillery amounting to another 2000. Reserves were 977. Tau forces included a giant Manta transport, itself worth 2000. Its passengers brought Tau strength up to an estimated 3000. The Dark Eldar had two units of scourge, a Tantalus bearing an Archon and incubi, three grotesques, two raiders, two ravagers, a venom bearing wychs, a huge unit of 15 wychs and a Razorwing fighter, estimated strength 3000. It was assumed that the raiders were carrying Kabal warriors, though this was never confirmed.
The enemy fleet bombarded the sector and most void shields collapsed but they did their job protecting the majority of the buildings, however the central redoubt suffered some serious damage and the cryptek with the Overlord’s unit was killed together with one destroyer. The weapons battery on the fortress of redemption was knocked out.
The Tau swept in from the North west in the huge Manta which began inflicting damage. A riptide landed to the extreme North west and three crisis suits also arrived. Also to the west, the Dark Eldar brought in a Ravager, Venom and Tantalus. To the east a Razorwing zoomed in.
Two units of scourge also dropped infront of our destroyers on the right. The scourge encountered Krak mines and suffered losses as a result. Our interceptor fire killed the Razorwing for first blood. The sentry pylon damaged the venom, in return heavy damage inflicted on the fortress of redemption and the central redoubt forced their abandonment by the immortal squads.
The lychguard, targeted by multiple units suffered heavy losses on the left and the scourge assaulted our destroyers on the right injuring one. The second smaller scourge squad, no doubt traumatised by the heavy losses they took deep striking, failed to assault the central immortals.
Our left hand immortals now wrecked the venom causing the wychs to disembark where our few Lychguards assaulted them. The Tantalus took a hit from the Heat Ray but survived. The central destroyers wiped out the smaller scourge unit.
The Tantalus also survived an Aquila canon shot as did the Ravager that was also caught in the blast. Now a webway appeared close to the centre from which a huge unit of wychs arrived plus three grotesques. The grotesques hit krak mines which killed one of their number, and two wychs fell in the same manner.
Incubi disembarked the Tantalus led by the enemy warlord and a pair of raiders arrived to the east. The Manta now fired on and destroyed the Aquila Cannon and we took one or two casualties from other units in the area. Our immortals were now destroyed by the incubi assault centre left. The wych assault in the centre ended deadlocked, the cryptek surviving a challenge despite the unit being affected by fear.
The C’Tan advancing with the wraiths on the right was heavily targeted and destroyed. Our transcendent C’Tan advancing on the centre was badly hit and the Death Pylon was damaged though it had a lucky escape from the destroyer weapon.
We now brought in our reserves with mixed results: The Bloody Banner arrived on the left, dropping its immortals behind the incubi who had seized an objective. Our tomb blades deep struck behind the pair of raiders but mis-happed and remained in reserve, probably saving the enemy transports.
Two squads of deathmarks struck near the crisis suits but again one mis-happed and reappeared wildly off course to the south east. One deathmark fell as the other squad arrived in difficult terrain. They death marked the Tau crisis suits and cut one down despite their reduced numbers.
Our missile batteries from the fortress failed to damage the western ravager, but the Bloody Banner assisted by other units wrecked it and the Heat Pylon destroyed the Tantalus with its melta fire at the second attempt. The Sentry pylon hit but failed to damage the Manta, meanwhile our warriors and immortals plus the wraiths surrounding the Archon and his incubi wiped out the enemy HQ in a fearsome crossfire causing him to explode injuring warriors on the battlements above.
Our other immortals were now wiped out by the wychs in the centre who consolidated to take the central objective despite it being occupied by elements of our HQ unit. By now our destroyers had wiped out the scourge and fired on various enemy units without success, the raiders and ravagers all jinking well. On the left, one lychguard and a cryptek remained locked in combat with the few wychs left from the venom. Our tomb sentinel arriving on the right missed a raider with its Transdimensional beamer.
Our death ray did damage a Raider but the Praetorians’ fire also failed to destroy anything. The action broke off; we retained five objectives and had first blood and the enemy warlord. Our warlord’s survival was also worth a point. They had secured one objective for an overall result of eight – one. The Tau had largely failed to deploy and had lost just one Crisis suit to our deathmarks, the Riptide and Manta were undamaged.
The Dark Eldar having deployed 16 units had lost eight of them; their surviving units were mostly damaged, depleted and or wounded. The two units aboard the raiders were the only definitely unharmed units though one or two of the three vehicles remaining may not have been damaged. Dark Eldar losses were estimated at 1800, the Tau lost just one crisis suit, possibly 60% and 1%.
Our losses were six units out of 30 deployed, nine units damaged though only one, the lychguard with war scythes had taken serious losses. Warriors were down about 10 %, immortals 76% including two complete squads, crypteks 50%, lychguard 50%, Praetorians 10%, Destroyers 9%, deathmarks 10%. The Transcendent C’Tan was seriously wounded and the shard of the Deathbringer destroyed. Sepulchral scarabs were already working on repairs to the Death Pylon. Losses totalled 1226 plus 1120 worth of fortifications, about 38%, which included the destruction of three of the six objective buildings. The Tomb Blades, strength 202 had failed to deploy at all.
The final action of the campaign, this win sealed victory for the Necrontyr, the alien encroachment on Necron territory continues to be rolled back. In 15 engagements we won eight, drew one and lost six. A total deployment of in the region of 46,000, 292 units with about 22,000 comprising 124 units lost, enemy deployments estimated at 40,000 with 13,000 lost, mostly Tau and Dark Eldar, one or both of which took part in all but one of those battles.
28.2.15
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