So I have found a list and a bit of tactica that is sound for Nick to peruse. This was taken form YTTH, post written by Stelek. Tell me what you think Nick...
I've been experimenting alot with the current Necron 'dex. Yes, the new Necrons are different but for now, this is what you've got to live with.
A bit on tactics below--it should be apparent how you run this list, but I'll break it down as it appears there are alot of irritated Necron players out there. lol
2000 Pts - Necrons Roster - Necrons 5th Edition
1 Lord @ 170 Pts
WarScythe; Resurrection Orb; Solar Pulse
1 Resurrection Orb @ [40] Pts
1 Solar Pulse @ [20] Pts
6 Immortals @ 168 Pts
Gauss Blaster
6 Immortals @ 168 Pts
Gauss Blaster
10 Warriors @ 180 Pts
Gauss Flayer
10 Warriors @ 180 Pts
Gauss Flayer
5 Destroyers @ 250 Pts
Gauss Cannon
5 Destroyers @ 250 Pts
Gauss Cannon
8 Scarab Swarms @ 128 Pts
Disruption Field
3 Heavy Destroyers @ 195 Pts
Heavy Gauss Cannon
3 Heavy Destroyers @ 195 Pts
Heavy Gauss Cannon
1 Tomb Spyder @ 110 Pts
Particle Projector
1 Tomb Spyder @ [55] Pts
Total Roster Cost: 1994
Allright, so...how does this list work?
Well, it's a shooty army as that's what Necrons do. I've tried to maximize that while still retaining other options.
Essentially you place your army 'core' in the center of your deployment zone, and place your 'wings' on either side of it.
So what's the core?
The Spyders, your Lord, and the Swarms.
Each wing is made up of 1 unit each of warriors, immortals, destroyers, and heavy destroyers.
You'll want to keep each unit near the Spyders so you can keep going
The Warriors, Immortals, and Destroyers are your primary anti-infantry. The heavy destroyers are your primary anti-tank, but of course you can focus the Immortals and Destroyers at light vehicles to try and attrition them away.
You can survive several turns of close combat with this list, by pretending to sacrifice warrior and immortal units to incoming assault units. With the Spyders nearby, you can "We'll Be Back" entire squads wiped out to sweeping advances and have them teleport freely to another squad of the same type in range.
At any rate, the Spyders and Lord are together (and that 2nd spyder has a PPC for a reason). Each spyder generates it's own scarab swarms and takes wounds separately (they have different weapons). The Lord is infantry, so with just 1 swarm base you get cover for the Spyder unit. The GW FAQ is pretty poorly written in this regard, but at least you can get some kind of cover save, right? ;) Anyways, let's say you get shot at by 6 lascannons (unlikely) on turn 2. You've generated two swarms.
You put wounds on the lord and the scarabs (who get cover saves) with the swarms taking the hits first of course. You usually want to fire off the Solar Pulse your first turn, simply to prevent the other guy from unloading on your core and possibly breaking your army build. It's still a risk, but even on turn one...most players won't shoot your defensive unit, they'll want to shoot your offensive units which are the destroyers and heavy destroyers. Call it a fail safe.
Once you've had 2 or 3 turns to generate swarms, you should probably stop if none of them are dead. Mostly so you don't lose any Spyders. Note, against Railheads and Markerlights...better spread the unit out or you're going to get alot of swarms insta-killed. lol
Note: This really should say 'Spyder' as each unit of Spyders is a single entity.
This 'core' isn't a great counterattack unit by any means, but it's dangerous enough to beat alot of enemy units and that is a good thing for you.
The normal swarm unit is your other failsafe. Against many armies, it will buy you one extra turn of shooting by blocking movement of assault troops or tying something up you don't want near you. Remember you have two Fearless units in your army, the Spyders and the Swarms. Use them wisely, if you cannot stop an assault with them you are probably going down.
This army can win games, and it can handle most army variants. You really need to concentrate your firepower where it's needed though, and use your multiple lines of assault defense wisely.
EDIT: I had a comment about how to 'layer' the units.
Warriors in front. They are, frankly, bait. Let the other guy aim for phase out. You aim for shooting repeatedly with your shooting units while he's not killing them.
You can put the Immortals behind them, their job is to provide mobile small unit killing capability or just more attrition shots.
Then the Destroyers and Heavy Destroyers behind them.
Don't be afraid to run your Necron Warriors your first turn, just do your best to get them cover saves to make them survivable.
NOTE:
The Lord can join a single Spyder as part of deployment. The rules says that an IC cannot join a unit that always consists of a single model. The Spyder unit would be an exception to that, as it frequently gains extra models from swarms, therefore does not always consist of a single model. The rule does not say the IC cannot join a unit that consists of a single model at the time, just one that always consists of a single model. So an IC could join a unit of >1 MCs, even if that unit had been brought down by casualties to just one MC, for example.
Not sure if you noticed Nick, but you do receive a WBB roll after a sweeping advance if all other criteria for the roll apply.
ReplyDeleteThat helps quite a bit, as necrons are so low on initiative that they will lose to any other equivalent unit because they almost always take casualties first.
ReplyDeleteWhy would generating a swarm get cover for the spyder&lord unit? The swarm is part of the unit, and they are even stuck moving only 6" per turn according to 5th edition rules on models with different movement methods. Is he meaning to use the swarm unit to cover the lord and spyders?
I'm also not quite certain of why the lord has the warscythe or the spyder has the PPC.
PPC is basically the staff of light's ranged characteristics, 12" s5 ap3 assault3, but the spyder has a BS of 2, meaning he only hits on 5s. The spyder also loses a close combat attack with it.
I'm not sure on this guy's interpretations on spyders. He mentions that they take wounds separately due to different weapons, but how are they even in a unit together? They are monstrous creatures, and I though ineligible to join a unit. And if they have scarabs, they are already a unit and you can't join two units together.
A lord with warscythe has no ranged attacks. He loses his staff of light and the warscythe does not have a built in gauss blaster like the pariahs have. I'm guessing he intends to try to use the lord as a melee IC or vehicle buster. The only downside to that is that the lord is typically inferior in melee, usually having a worse WS and/or initiative.
Ok Nick let me attempt to answer your questions in order.
ReplyDelete1.)Why would generating a swarm get cover for the spyder&lord unit? The swarm is part of the unit, and they are even stuck moving only 6" per turn according to 5th edition rules on models with different movement methods. Is he meaning to use the swarm unit to cover the lord and spyders?
I think he made assumptions here based on major experience with 5th. What he meant was for wound allocation you would want to put wounds on the scarabs before your put any on the spyder or lord. You would do this because scarabs are swarms and follow the rules for swarms. The swarms rule would give you the Stealth USR. Basically Stealth grants you a +1 cover save. Oh and before you start off with a smartass remark a +1 means you will -1 to any cover you're actually in! On the flip side though, swarms do have the vulnerable to blasts/templates rule. So for every unsaved wound it counts as two wounds. As a side note the rules for wound allocation are in the rulebook page 25 under Complex Units for this particular instance.
2.)I'm also not quite certain of why the lord has the warscythe or the spyder has the PPC.
Well he really didn't make any references to this. Here is what I assume though. He stated at the beginning that Necrons are a shooty army and he would try to stay true to theme. The PPC is a marine killer even if hitting on 5's it will at least be able to have some shooting and not just wait to be assaulted.
The warscythe basically turns the Lord into a MC. With it denying all saves and it's 2d6 armor penetration he is similar to the spyder as far as CC. As for him being inferior, Stelek said, "This 'core' isn't a great counterattack unit by any means, but it's dangerous enough to beat alot of enemy units and that is a good thing for you." The core being "The Spyders, your Lord, and the Swarms.".
3.)I'm not sure on this guy's interpretations on spyders. He mentions that they take wounds separately due to different weapons, but how are they even in a unit together? They are monstrous creatures, and I though ineligible to join a unit. And if they have scarabs, they are already a unit and you can't join two units together.
The simple of it, they can't. The lord can only join one spyder, not multiples.
Oh and he's wrong with the Lord not being able to join the spyder turn one at the start. The rule states that IC can't join models that are ALWAYS single model units. As spyders aren't ALWAYS single model units the Lord can join from the start. Hence my NOTE at the bottom of the post.
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