How to kill Necron Wraiths

[Syward]

Greetings brothers! 

 

I have a Primaris Space Marine Army with the following units available:

​

Captain in Gravis Armor, Primaris LIbrarian, 4x Intersessor Squads (5man) 1x Hellblaster Squad, 1x Predator w/TLLC & LC Sponson, 1x Interceptor Squad (3man w/Assault Bolters)  and I have a Redemptor Dreadnought on the way.

 

My son has a Necron Army and he has a unit of 3x Wraiths (3 wounds & a 3+ inv. save) that if he uses them, it's a garanteed loss for me. I can't ever kill them before they get into melee combat with my units. 

 

So far the most effective I've been at killing them was with my Librarian and inflicting mortal wounds with Smite. I've been able to kill 1 or 2 of his 3 that way. I've also been able to kill 1 or 2 of his 3 wraiths using the Hellblaster Squad in rapid fire range, but only if I get lucky and he rolls poorly on his 3+ inv. save.

 

I had one stalemate with them using my Gravis Capt. w/Burning blade, my Inv. save kept me alive and his kept him alive, so I figured that may work, to keep the unit occupied, but It's only happened succesfuly once. The predator's lascannons have been completely useless against his 3+ inv. save.

 

So my question is, what is the most effective/efficent way to kill this unit? The 3+ inv. save messes me up every time. And if I do manage to kill one, or wound one, he uses a reanimation protocal strategem to bring back the dead one and the living metal special rule to regain the missing wounds.

 

Thanks in advance. 

[Daimyo-Phaeron Lenoch]

Hi, Necron/marine player here.

 

The biggest threats to wraiths are massed small-arms fire, counter-close combat units, and null zone. Massed fire may be tricky for you, so I'd recommend throwing the redemptor dreadnought at them for the gatling cannon shots, as well as the power fist. In addition, send your librarian at the wraiths. Null Zone will remove their invulnerable save, which is the bane of wraiths. After you remove the invul save, even your bolt rifles will start dealing significant damage to the wraiths with their AP-1.

 

I will also point out that wraiths do not have living metal. They cannot regenerate wounds. Ask to see the specific page in the dex that lets him do that the next time he says they can. I doubt its malicious, but check to make sure. Best of luck with dealing with Wraiths!

[Syward]

Hi, Necron/marine player here.

 

The biggest threats to wraiths are massed small-arms fire, counter-close combat units, and null zone. Massed fire may be tricky for you, so I'd recommend throwing the redemptor dreadnought at them for the gatling cannon shots, as well as the power fist. In addition, send your librarian at the wraiths. Null Zone will remove their invulnerable save, which is the bane of wraiths. After you remove the invul save, even your bolt rifles will start dealing significant damage to the wraiths with their AP-1.

 

I will also point out that wraiths do not have living metal. They cannot regenerate wounds. Ask to see the specific page in the dex that lets him do that the next time he says they can. I doubt its malicious, but check to make sure. Best of luck with dealing with Wraiths!

 

Thank you! Null zone is a great idea. I didn't even think to use that. (Now if I can just successfully pass my psychic test!) And I'm sure he's not being malicious, we're both still learning the game. We've got maybe 7 games played at this point, and TBH, I may be confused on which units he's using living metal on.

 

So if ​I can't get a successful cast of Null Zone, you recommend using volume of fire, (Bolters, Gatling, Frags, etc. ) instead of things like plasma or lascannons because their AP is wasted against his inv. save. Or is it better to just avoid shooting his wraiths unless I can get a Null Zone bubble up?

 

Thanks again, I really appreciate the help. We're both really enjoying the game so far, but I was really starting to think I had chosen the wrong army.

[Daimyo-Phaeron Lenoch]

Don't prioritize the wraiths if you can't get null zone off. If they're in range with no other targets, then go ahead and shoot them, but otherwise they're a great distraction carnifex. Don't let them distract you from the more fragile damage dealers of his army (like destroyers). 

Countercharge them so they don't hit back as hard, or at the very least they're angaged by a unit of your choosing that has a good chance of killing them (even if it's a character). If you let him dictate how they're used, he'll prevail. If you can control their battle, then you'll do better against them.

[Syward]

Don't prioritize the wraiths if you can't get null zone off. If they're in range with no other targets, then go ahead and shoot them, but otherwise they're a great distraction carnifex. Don't let them distract you from the more fragile damage dealers of his army (like destroyers). 

Countercharge them so they don't hit back as hard, or at the very least they're angaged by a unit of your choosing that has a good chance of killing them (even if it's a character). If you let him dictate how they're used, he'll prevail. If you can control their battle, then you'll do better against them.

 

What do you mean counter charge? Charge them before he charges me?

[arigatous]

Unfortunately, Primaris SM armies don't have anything besides Null Zone vs Wraiths. Conventional SM have a lot of ways though. Say, Heavy Bolter + Signum + HB Stratagem for a total of 2d3 mortal wounds.

 

Honestly, since Deathwatch Codex is out there is not much sense in Codex:SM full Primaris armies. Hopefully GW will change it somehow later on.

[shandwen]

Also, the predator autocannon can be nasty against them, as it is damage 3, and will wound on 3's. If you still can make the main turret gun swappable it may be worth a try.

Edit: typos

[Syward]

Honestly, since Deathwatch Codex is out there is not much sense in Codex:SM full Primaris armies. Hopefully GW will change it somehow later on.

I'm not sure what you mean by this? (Sorry, I'm a new player, been modeling collecting for years, but just starting playing within the last month or so)

Also, the predator autocannon can be nasty against them, as it is damage 3, and will wound on 3's. If you still can make the main turret gun swappable it may be worth a try.

Edit: typos

I played my predator using counts as for the autocannon and had the same issues killing them, but I also haven't tried using null zone against them yet either. I'll give it another try pairing w/Null Zone.

[arigatous]

 

Honestly, since Deathwatch Codex is out there is not much sense in Codex:SM full Primaris armies. Hopefully GW will change it somehow later on.

I'm not sure what you mean by this? (Sorry, I'm a new player, been modeling collecting for years, but just starting playing within the last month or so)

 

 

There is a new Codex: Deathwatch, which is different from Codex: Space Marines. Rules which were introduced for Primaris in Codex: Deathwatch are much more powerful than rules in Codex: Space Marines.

[Captain Idaho]

Wraiths have fly so a combination of Hellfire Shells and Flakk missiles can reliably do 2D3 wounds per turn.

 

Add to that hitting them with lots of small arms should result in dead models.

 

I'd go for a Librarian to hit them with Psychic Scourge and Smite, then combine with the Stratagems for 4D3 wounds in a single turn. 5 if you spend the Cherub.

[NTaW]

Wraiths do not have the FLY keyword.

 

Mortal wounds are what have killed mine more than anything else, though I am often up against armies with a fair amount of psychic powers to throw around.

[GreyCrow]

Massed firepower, weight of dice !

 

They are annoying to deal with, but not too much of a pain.

 

Get 2-3 units on them at any given time and you’ll be fine.

[Tyriks]

Helverins cut through mine without a problem. I've lost nine in a single turn. No Null Zone, just their native weight of fire.

[GreyCrow]

Tyriks is right about weight of fire !

 

That’s the way the game is built. There’s a threshold of points and dice at which stats become efficient. Below that, they’re not.

 

To me, it takes about 500pts of ‘focused’ spending on the same ‘unit’ to make a ‘practical’ unit. That’s the minimal.

Ex : A squad of Assault Marines does nothing. 30 Assault Marines is a pretty sizeable roadbump/firemagnet.

It takes quite some dedication to dispose of, while my other, more critical to the mission and firepower, units are not being shot at.

 

For comparison, 500pts of Wraiths is 10 models

 

30 Assault Marines versus 10 Wraiths :

- 2 Wraiths casualties rounded down (20%, counting the bolt pistol)

- 9 Assault Marines casualties (30%)

 

Statistically, the Wraiths will have miches the Assault Marines in 4 turns, but will have been rendered down to 2 models.

It’s a relatively effective output to bog them down.

 

Firepower wise, 500 points of Hellblasters is 15 models, they will also kill about 2 Wraiths a turn in Rapid Fire range overcharged. But the wraiths will kill also 9 Hellblasters a turn due to damage 2.

 

Really not as worth it as much as the weight of bodies. Might as well use the tactical Marines to deal with them, really, and keep the bigger firepower to put pressure on something else.

[shandwen]

If you can manage dmg3 hits, it will be a rather dramatic uptick in kills. So a Dark Angel hellblaster squad overcharging with relics of the dark age (or whatever that stratagem is called) will kill on each failed invuln, or a predator auto cannon or thunder hammer. Otherwise clogging them up is probably best.