Wicked Necron List that hurts me so...

[Mosk]

So I decide to walk into a local club and play a game. The guy who decides to play against me runs necron. When I see his list I think well this will be easy.

 

2 necron lords w/ various upgrades

 

6 troops choices of 10 necrons

 

3 destroyers

 

I avoided the destroyers as they basically did nothing all game.

 

The troops killed me.

 

they lined up like so... (troops in one of the standard necron formations that I see many players run the troops in a U shape)

SO the lord was in the middle of the troops, I think he had res orb, and he ran two big chunks like that, all of the squads were within 12 inches of the lord sometimes closer.

 

 

xxxx

x

xxxx

xxxx xxxx

x L x

xxxx xxxx

 

What should I do about this?

 

I run a witch hunter army w/ 1 exorcist generally, and this game I ran a landraider as well.

 

Any suggestions would be great.

[Mosk]

Ok this picture did not work for the formation

 

 

the entire set up was a pyramid shape, with a squad of 10 in front, the lord behind them, and two squads of 10 to the side.

[Mal]

I think I understand what your trying to describe... the first thing I would have to note, is that the res orb only has a 6" range so those out at 12" don't get it use its effects, it also says any necron within 6" not any necron unit... so casulaties at the edges of the unit, if they are out of 6", they don't get to use it.... I have seen a lot of necron players try to get away with these little things...

 

But that aside, if the lord is not in a unit, turn him into a crater, if he is in a unit.. well, i'd normally say get a combat unit in there, but for sisters, thats going to be a very expensive choice.... but worth taking against crons... the power weapons are great for over running them, even the lord isn't fearless....

 

But to kill 6 units.... well i'd advice hitting the 4 units without a lord in combat with a unit with lots of power weapons first, they have I2 and are easy to overrun, once they are over run, they ain't comming back... pop off those 4 units and suddenly hes lost 2/3rds of his necrons... oh wait... you only need to kill another 5-6 more to make him phase out....

 

Lets face it, necrons suck in combat... but you need power weapons if you want to beat them by enough to make them run....

[Aidoneus]

For the record, the Res Orb works on any Necron that is part of a squad with at least one model within 6" of the Necron Lord. That's how it's written in the book, and that's how it's ruled in the latest FAQ. For some reason the 4th ed FAQ changed the rule to the way Mal said it, for reasons passing understanding, so I understand why you'd be confused. But at the moment, a single model within 6" of the Lord means the Res Orb protects the whole squad.

 

Other than the Destroyers, his entire formation has nothing with a range of more than 24", and nothing that can fire more than 12" on the move. Take 'em down from afar. Exorcists work well, as do shooty inquisitors, land raiders, retributors, etc. He's going to have to try to advance on you, so you just sit back and shoot until he's close enough to rush forward 12" with your Rhinos, disembark everyone, and blast one unit at a time to smithereens.

 

Whichever squad the Lord is joined to, focus fire on THAT UNIT!!! He's protecting three squads, but is only protected by one. That unit will be exactly three T5 wounds harder to kill than any other unit, but killing it will break the cohesion of half his army. Once one of the Lords is gone, focus on wiping out that flank with S8 weapons and power weapons in close combat.

 

His army has a lot of wounds, so it will be hard to kill. (The Magic number, by the way, is 15. Get him down to 15 models and he's gone) However, it's a very inflexible list, with absolutely no tricks up its sleeve and no ways to deal with adverse circumstances. It's terrible in a long-range firefight, and it's terrible in close combat, so those are the two areas you must focus on to win. Do that, and you shouldn't have any problems.

 

Edit: If you have any Penitent Engines, take those. He can only glance them from afar (except with the destroyers, which you would absolutely have to kill early), and he could do nothing to them in close combat, while they would munch through his lines with ease.

[Divergent Reality]

remember that necrons are not fearless.

 

as has been said previously, take what you have and pummel the lord's squad.

 

if its in the back, that means it is nearest to the board edge. make that squad run off and put the pain onto the rest of the squad.

 

the funniest thing about such a phalanx is the ability for there to be one, 30+ model squad of warriors.

[Thaelion Hexis]

There was a time where combat monstrocities like the Eversor assassin could mug a unit, advance over it and consolidate into the next. You could try your luck with a Callidus to at least soften up the lord early. Unless your opponent has the lord completely surrounded with no space to charge. Then take a vindicare. With only one main model to focus on, he may just make up his worth.

[number6]

A Callidus can be useful against the 'crons, just not on her own. When she shows up, be ready to coordinate her assault with an assault of your own, seraphim if you have them. If you don't sweep the 'cron unit off that initial charge, leave the Callidus behind to hold the unit in place and hit-n-run the girls away so they can charge in again. If you're really lucky, the Callidus will survive, be able to jump back herself on the 'cron turn, and then you can double charge again to seal the deal. Even if she dies, you should be well positioned with the Seraphim to head back in or to have had the opportunity to put Sisters in place to rapid fire/divine guidance the unit to bits.

 

Basic 'crons are so mediocre in close combat that it's still possible, even under 5th edition, for an Eversor to wipe out entire units on his own, though you'll need just a bit of luck on the charge to help you out there. Again, coordinating him with another unit for assault can make a huge difference. Way back in 4th edition I coordinated a unit of Seraphim with my Eversor and used that combo to almost single-handedly force phase out as they chewed through unit after unit.