First League Game with the New Combat Patrol: Lessons Learned Against Necrons
Battle report from the league table
We had a quick post-game chat after another Combat Patrol league match, and this one definitely sounded like one of those games where the score tells only part of the story.
This time, end3r took his new Combat Patrol out for a spin against Necrons. Final result? 25:66. So yes — on paper it was a rough one. But also the kind of rough game where you come away with a much better idea of how the army actually wants to play.
“I played, learned a lot, and got smashed 25:66.”
And honestly, that is a very relatable start with a new force.
A very different style from Votann
One of the biggest takeaways was that this army plays very differently from Votann, which end3r had been using before. That meant a bit of a reset in habits and expectations.
According to him, it is supposed to be a somewhat stronger Combat Patrol in theory than Votann — but only once you actually learn how to use it properly. And that feels like a fair summary of a lot of Warhammer armies: strong on paper, awkward in the hands of someone still rewiring their instincts.
At the same time, one thing immediately stood out as a big upside:
- lots of rerolls
- a more explosive output
- and a playstyle that clearly rewards getting reps in
So even though the result was one-sided, the overall feeling after the game was still positive.
What went wrong on the table
The Necrons did exactly what Necrons love doing: they were annoying to remove, kept coming back, and punished anything that failed to finish the job.
A few moments from the game really stood out:
- one of end3r’s units got wiped in melee before it even got to swing
- a vehicle got tied up in combat and then never fired again before dying
- outside of one big kill, there just was not enough damage left to fully finish enemy units
- and because of that, the Necron army kept recovering and reanimating instead of actually disappearing from the board
That is such a classic anti-Necron problem: if you do not commit hard enough, you can end up feeling like you are spending the whole game damaging things without really removing them.
The highlight: bringing down the Doomstalker
It was not all one-way traffic though.
The big moment of the game was taking down the Doomstalker, which was apparently the biggest model in the opposing list. That is the kind of kill that still feels great even in a losing game — a proper small victory you remember afterwards.
If we had to sum up the battle in one sentence, it would probably be:
the Necrons kept getting back up, but at least the Doomstalker stayed down.
Also: more dice. Definitely more dice.
One of the funniest practical lessons from the match had nothing to do with strategy and everything to do with hobby logistics.
End3r discovered that his current supply of 16 dice is just not enough for this army.
The best example was a unit of 10 Infernus Marines, where each model had D6 attacks. At one point that translated into 34 attack dice in a single go.
That is a great moment in two different ways:
- it sounds fun as hell
- it immediately tells you that your dice situation needs an upgrade
We love these little milestones in learning a new army. First you learn the rules. Then target priority. Then movement. Then, suddenly, you realize the real list-building issue was that you physically do not own enough dice.
The most important part: it was fun
Despite the loss, the key takeaway was simple: the game was enjoyable.
That matters a lot more than one bad scoreline, especially in a league setting and especially with a new force. End3r came away from the match feeling like this army is worth sticking with, and he is planning to keep playing it in the Combat Patrol league.
And honestly, that is exactly the kind of result we like seeing in our group:
- not every game is a win
- not every army clicks immediately
- but if you finish the match wanting to put it on the table again, that is a very good sign
Final thoughts
So this battle report is not really a story of a glorious victory. It is more the story of a first proper lesson with a new army:
- the playstyle is different from Votann
- the rerolls feel strong
- Necrons are incredibly annoying when you cannot finish units
- getting tagged in melee can completely shut down key pieces
- Infernus Marines can throw a ridiculous number of dice
- and yes, we now know that 16 dice is not enough
A 25:66 loss is never pretty, but if it leaves you more excited to learn the army, then it is still a good game in our book.
We are definitely curious how the next league rounds go once the reps start stacking up.