Necron tactics

[NTaW]

Having used Flayed Ones, my beliefs are confirmed that they are very good with a slow army. They distract and take your opponent's attention away from the more important units, and make a real good mess of things too.

 

Two key takeaways from the 1.1 FAQ:

 

- Monoliths now hit on a 3+ again! So good!

 

- Models that flee are destroyed forever, no reanimation protocols.

 

I can get behind all that. Always wanted Flayed Ones but hate Finecast and never got around to converting any. The Monolith change is very nice and makes a lot of sense, give me a break that thing hits on 4+ in a 3+ army :lol:

 

The reanimation protocols one has me thinking that my Overlord may just be gone for now, replaced (in rules only 'cuz I like the new model) by a Lord. That re-roll for morale could mean more bodies on the return and what the heck to I need a combat dood in my infantry blob anyway. At 2k the Overlord can come back to the party rolling around with some Lychguard and Immortals.

[Seahawk]

I hear you. I took the time to source 20 metal ones from ebay because I just like them that much more.

 

On a more "crunch" level, in my games they were used the first game to try and swamp the few terminators the guy had on the board, but I failed my charge. Generally speaking, if it's still possible it's worthwhile to burn a CP to try and make that charge. The sheer amount of attacks will overwhelm if given the chance. Unfortunately they had a unit of Deathwing Knights charge them instead, and that went as predictably as one might imagine. 

 

In my second game, it was an almost mirror match vs Necrons. He went for the tesla Immortals supported by Overlord though, so I knew I'd have to eliminate them quick lest they do exactly what someone previously suggested they can do. This time I was able to connect the charge on the first try, wiping them out completely and engaging a few other units. After a couple more rounds he had wiped them out, but their use so aggressively allowed me to entirely dictate the flow of the game, rendering that entire flank useless for long enough.

 

In my third game, I was facing down 6 Dunecrawlers boosted by Cawl. By the bottom of the 2nd I had lost all my warriors already, so I dropped in the Flayed Ones and they distracted long enough (ie, 1 turn...) to get my characters stuck in. They weren't nearly as effective in combat vs a wall of walkers, but they did force them to stop firing and that made me happy enough. 

 

While they were decent at what they did (distract, attack), I think they were a bit pricey for it still. I'd most certainly use them again and again because they're that good, I just wish they weren't so point-heavy. Instead of having a big unit, another idea is to have multiple small units for end game deep strike objective captures...not a bad idea.

 

 

General tactics now. Talking with my opponent afterward, we compared unit sizes . :lol:  

 

He was an advocate of units of 10 for two reasons: he basically never worried about morale and was able to more easily make a battalion detachment. I meanwhile had figured on using fewer big units so that even if I lose all but one dude, they could all come back still. I experienced many losses through morale, and it allowed my opponents to focus fire, which was painful. 

 

What do we think about unit sizes? 2x10 Warriors better than 1x20? 2x5 Immortals better than 1x10? I think with Overlord bonuses you want to maximize the effect by taking a bigger unit, though it isn't necessary with a Cryptek that simply affects all in range. Personally I wish the Overlord was just a bubble effect like...basically every other HQ, so we can always hope it changes. That being said, I haven't taken an Overlord at all this edition (barely took one last edition). 

[NTaW]

I feel like I can get behind 10 man squads of Warriors, but 5 man squads terrify me even as (primarily) a BA player. I've been digging the durability of 20 man squads even with morale losses but Thursday will be my first game taking into consideration the recent FAQ. Going to try playing my 20 man squads with a Lord and if I get fried by weight of fire or morale then next game I'll check out 10 man squads.

 

My main beef with four 10 man squads is differentiating between units clustered around a Cryptek. Squad markings seem so.....human :/

[Tyriks]

I feel like I can get behind 10 man squads of Warriors, but 5 man squads terrify me even as (primarily) a BA player. I've been digging the durability of 20 man squads even with morale losses but Thursday will be my first game taking into consideration the recent FAQ. Going to try playing my 20 man squads with a Lord and if I get fried by weight of fire or morale then next game I'll check out 10 man squads.

 

My main beef with four 10 man squads is differentiating between units clustered around a Cryptek. Squad markings seem so.....human :/

I was thinking about this, too.  I'm considering maybe using different debris on the bases to differentiate.  So, one squad might have just rocks, one might have unused bits from another army, one might have nothing.  That was the best I could think of besides squad markings, which I agree would seem out of place.

[NTaW]

After today's game I'm quite torn on 20 man squads. The durability is there but having that many models tied up by one successful charge is a real nuisance. Next match I'll be playing four 10 man squads organized into two ranks on either flank of my Cryptek, supported by the Triarch Stalker. I'm not going to bother putting a Lord or Overlord with my Warriors from now on. While I finally got to use my ResOrb (first time in five games) and it did save some Warriors it would have made a lot more difference on a unit that can actually deal with enemies once they're close, like Lychguard. I'm thinking that my Overlord roaming about with my Lychguard and Immortals may be part of the key to flank support in my matches.

 

I'm thinking of a series of lines and/or dots on a shoulder pad will do for squad markings. Just gotta think of something that serves two squads of 20 as well as four squads of 10. 

Edited July 28, 2017 by NTaW

[Tyriks]

You could do the markings on right shoulder for 10, left shoulder for the other ten.  If you bring groups of ten, which shoulder is marked will matter; in groups of twenty only the mark itself matters.  

[Seahawk]

Well, there are unit markings in the codex... ;)

 

Me, I just won't bother with them. I'll just keep track of it like normal, ha.

[NTaW]

The reason for unit markings isn't them just standing around, it's for when they get charged and ranks get messy as pile in and consolidate moves happen.

 

I'm thinking lines may denote 20 man squads (squad one gets one line, squad two gets two) then the 10 man break downs add a dot as well (same pattern).

 

Definitely will be playing it before I got bonkers doing 40 little markings.

 

How have people been finding Wraiths in this edition?

[Emicus]

Got some on the building bench. Not sure about them. They're no longer the supreme anvil unit.. But with more emphasis on losblock terrain I reckon they will be useful just for phasing through and spoiling the enemies plan.

[The Unseen]

Wraiths are still a great anvil unit, except vs Mortal Wounds. Smite just tears them apart, but a unit of 6 had no problem holding a bloodthirster in combat for like 4 game turns, and knocked quite a few wounds off it; at least enough that when their was just 1-2 left I fell back and a unit of 20 warriors double tapping and an annihilation barge managed to finish it off.

Vs non-combat stuff their killy enough that their scary and hard to kill from range, vs a dedicated melee unit, their usually faster and can be used very effectively as interceptors, keeping your phalanxes safe and still shooting,

[NTaW]

I am thinking the key for Wraiths is numbers. My unit of three has been hard to use effectively but a unit of six would be a lot stickier. Just so happens I have three with pinchy claws and three with whip coils, figure it will be a matter of some I'll take off as shooting casualties and some as combat casualties to capitalize on the presence of wargear. Pistols seem like a waste on them, but as I didn't build the models and don't have the bits I may be biased. 

 

How have people been equipping them?

[Eldorien]

Hello guys!

 

I have been wondering how the Cryptek "Technomancer" rule works. I dont know how exactly it works, bucause If I read it, I see that you can only benefit of that +1 to Reanimation Protocols for the models close to 3 " um of the Cryptek, but not units. It is correct?

 

Anyone consider to benefit their units at 3 " um of the Cryptek? or the models? I think is very important because if its all about "models" you must creat globes around the Cryptek to benefit of that +1 to RP, and even so, maybe not all the units around him will benefit of it.

 

What do you think?

 

Cheers.

Add

1

to

all

Reanimation

Protocol

rolls

for

models

from

friendly

<

D

Y

N

A

S

T

Y

>

units

within

3"

of

any

friendly

<

D

Y

N

A

S

T

Y

>

C

R

Y

P

T

E

K

[NTaW]

As long as the unit has models within 3" every model in it may benefit from Technomancer, otherwise it would just say "models within 3" of the Cryptek".

[Eldorien]

I see. Then is very good to keep a Cryptek between two units of 20 warriors hehe.

 

Thanks mate.

[NTaW]

Straight up, though morale can be a real pain for larger squads even at Ld10 (as I've been saying previously in the thread).

 

I was just thinking in addition, models that are making RP rolls aren't on the table so having them being what needs to be within range of the Cryptek would be a little borky to say the least :lol: