The Necrons had deployed in a solidly built village on the edge of the battlefield. But after seeing the massive casualties caused by their weapons, the xenos left the safety of their position and went on the offensive.

“As our casualties mounted, we received a report of the so-called archeotech that we were fighting over. It turned out to be a mid-M39-era autocimulacra, a common enough piece of technology that the scavengers had never before seen. What a waste of troops.“—General Maxan Karbez. commander of the 3rd Converged Division.

* * *

Continuing the story . . .

Imperial Turn 3

The divisional flag of the 3rd Converged Division.

The Imperial commander is at a loss. The Tallarn are falling back out of the range of the Monolith’s weapons, and the Cadians on the west flank are hiding behind the tall mesa.

Is anyone attacking? Why, yes! On the east flank, the conscript platoon is closing on the immobile Ghost Barge. Whether they can do any damage, of course, remains to be seen.

The commander looks nervously at the commissar standing nearby. Clearly, the commander has thrown his carefully designed plan out the window, and the battle is a shambles. If his troops don’t have some luck soon, a promising military career may end.

It would help if someone would shoot down the Monolith. Once again, every lascannon opens fire. But the monstrosity’s armor is too powerful. Only a glancing hit is achieved. Still, that’s two out of four hull points.

By mid-day, much of the Imperial force had been repulsed, with the west flank of the division struggling to protect its flank. Only the conscripts on the east flank, facing relatively light opposition, manage to fulfill its attack orders.

Necron Turn 3

On the west flank, the Necrons press their advantage. While the Annihilation Barge advances to threaten the Cadian flank, the Triarch Stalker joins the Necron warriors in a frontal advance on the Cadian front line. A half dozen more Cadians fall, and the Cadian lines are getting thin.

The Tallarn in the center also are in trouble. Although the desert guardsmen are trying to get out of range, one Guass Flayer Arc hits the rear of the withdrawing troops. Five more guardsmen die.

On the east flank, Necrons pour out of the damaged Ghost Barge and open up on the advancing conscripts. Ten conscripts die instantly. Then a Night Scythe roars over the horizon and strafes the rear of the conscript position. Two precious lascannon batteries are destroyed.

Control of the battle now rests entirely in the hands of the xenos.

TheGM:  How ironic. My conscripts are showing some aggressiveness, while my hardened veterans are in disorder. The battle isn’t lost yet. If I can just destroy the Monolith, I can make a late-game rush for the objective. Damn the casualties. (A true Imperial Guard philosophy, wouldn’t you say?)

If the Necrons warriors could feel emotions, they’d be laughing. The game is theirs to lose.

With the Necron Ghost Barge immobilized, conscripts appraoch the vehicle—only to be confronted by Necrons that disembark and open fire. In the end, the xenos are destroyed.

Imperial Turn 4

The Monolith is immobile, but its powerful weapons systems continue to dominate the center of the battlefield. Imperial forces continue to commit everything to its destruction. Nothing seems to have an impact . . . until the last two lascannons fire. They hit, they penetrate, and the Monolith explodes.

A glimmer of hope appears for the beleaguered Imperials.

When the Monolith explodes late in the day, the beleagured guardsmen begin to hope there still remains a chance of victory.

Necron Turn 4

Damn the loss of the Monolith. Now I’m going to have to work for my victory.

On the east flank, the advancing Necron warriors fire another deadly volley, and the Triarch Stalker gets close enough to open up with its Heat Ray. Human candles light up across the front line. Meanwhile, the Annihilation Barge swoops forward and manages to kill a member of the Platoon Command Squad.

The Cadians are “feeling the heat.”

With the Monolith out of the way, Tallarn confidence is likely to return, and they’ll make a dash for the objective. To deal with that threat, a squad of Immortals—armed with Telsa Carbines—advance to seize the objective and face the human vanguard as they advance.

On the east flank, the fighting also is growing more fierce. The Necron warriors kill five conscripts, and three more are killed by a second squad of Immortals that advance to hold the humans at bay.

TheGM: Agh! As the Necron commander, I’m furious at the loss of the Monolith. It was winning the battle for me. Still, the vast ranks of the humans has thinned considerably, and all I need to do is keep up the pressure.

Finally! As the Imperial commander, I’m giving thanks to the God-Emperor for ridding me of that cursed Monolith. I order a desperate advance. Throw everything at the objective. Casualties are not a factor. This is a live-or-die (for me) situation,

The beginning of the end comes for the Cadian flank when a Triarch Stalker advances into range and opens fire with a deadly Heat Ray.

Imperial Turn 5

The Tallarn platoon commander receives the order to advance at all costs. Clearly, the battle has reached the crisis point, and he raises his sword and orders a charge. A few minutes later, he sees the vanguard of his troops reach the objective—but he is worried about these new Necrons approaching. They don’t look like any Necron he’s seen before.

To the west, the Cadians are at the end of their endurance. They fire volley after volley to no avail. Their lascannon finally turn their barrels and join the fray, but not a single xeno vehicle is damaged.

To the east, the conscript numbers begin to tell. Despite the power of the xeno weapons, the Necrons are being whittled down. Has the tides of battle shifted back to the Imperials?

Although the Tallarn finally reach their objective, with conscript support approaching, a late-afternoon counteroffensive by the Necrons drive back the exhausted desert warriors. As the sun begins to set, the 3rd Converged Division is in retreat.

Necron Turn 5

The advancing Immortals in the center open fire on the Tallarn. Meanwhile, a squad of Necron warriors turn and rake the Tallarn flank with deadly fire. It is too much for the Tallarn, who have no choice but to withdraw in the face of such firepower.

The objective falls to the xenos.

To the west, the Cadians begin to crumble. The Triarch Stalker uses its Heat ray to burn a hole through the Imperial line, and Necron warriors advance through the hole, firing into the backs of the routing guardsmen.

On the east flank, the Necrons are forced to fall back, outnumbered and outgunned by the conscripts. But this small victory is too little, too late. The sun is setting, and the Necrons have won the day.

Commentary: The Imperial commander speaking to the commissar: “I thought we had a great plan. It ust didn’t work out. Well, yes, I may ave waited a bit too long before throwing my entire weight on the objective, but how was I to know that I’d roll a 2 and end the battle on Turn 5?” (The single shot of a boltgun firing is heard. Then all turns silent.

Necron commander:  “Ha! Take that, you humans. You may have destroyed my Monolith, but I shouted “boo” and you whimpered and hid behind your mother’s legs. I owned you this fight. I took the initiative away from you on Turn 2, and I never let you get it back. You may have made a “brave” charge on the final turn, but my counterattack kicked your butts.”

(The Necron’s remarks lose some drama as he is doing a victory dance, and he looks like a drunken skeleton.)

Necron Victory Points: Hold the objective (3 v.p.) + Linebreaker (1 v.p.)

Imperial Victory Points: First blood ( 1 v.p.)

Major Necron Victory!

General Maxan Karbez tries to rally his men from the top of a sand dune. After the battle, give his indecisive orders and the severity of the division’s defeat, he was summarily executed for incompetence.

—

TheGM: I have this annoying tendency to be timid in battle. I organized my Imperial army into three giant blobs so I could be aggressive, seize the objective, and just tough it out to victory.. I even took out the Monolith as I intended.

But, psychologically,  I couldn’t stomach the casualties on the west flank, where I was helpless to strike back at the Necrons because of their cover in the village. Yes, they did come out of those buildings, but by that point, I was properly intimidated by them.

Clearly, if I lived in the 41st Millennium, I would better serve the Emperor as a logistical officer—or, as the commissars would suggest, as a servitor. I should never command a battle.

Still, one of the advantages of solo gaming is that I can try tactics, learn from them, and attempt to become a better—if mediocre, at best,  general. This battle offers me plenty of lessons. Now let’s see if I can internalize them and be less of a namby-pamby next time around.

On the strategic level, the Necrons are using a strategy that, unbeknownst to them, was used on Terra in M2. Back, then there was this general called Napoleon, and after getting their butts kicked many, many times, his opponents realized that the way to win was to fight any French army except the army commanded by Napoleon.

That’s my plan now that the Adeptus Mechanicus has brought a Mechanicum Ordinatus Ulatoris to Myopolis. It is one of the most powerful weapons in the Imperial arsenal, and it’s deployment has shifted the balance in the planet-wide war. But, now, I can offset this advantage: Wherever the Ulatoris is fighting, the Necrons will retreat—and attack somewhere else.

The fate of Myopolis remains unclear.

Click here to return to the battle’s start.

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The Corvus Cluster is a Warhammer 40K blog documenting our gaming adventures in the fantastical sci-fi universe of Games Workshop.