Unit of the Week: Canoptek Tomb Sentinel

[NTaW]

 

Welcome to the Necron Unit of the Week Series!

 

Each week a different unit will be highlighted for discussion until we have amalgamated a full list of our available options and their relevant tactics as 8th edition evolves. We already have a few previous entries but things change as FAQs and Chapter Approved books get released and we playtest new ideas so please feel free to reopen a topic when new options become relevant for discussion.

 

Please keep in mind this isn't to lament the status of featured units or compare them to others but to try and find their potential for all types of gameplay.

 

This week’s unit is:

 

 

As a loose guide, here are some questions we could answer to help out any who happen upon our metallic corner of the B&C:

 

• What Code do you prefer?
• What synergies have you found with other units?
• Are there any stratagems that specifically buff this unit?
• Do you build your list around this unit or use it to fill some points?
• What are some of the strengths and weaknesses of this unit?

Now over to you!

[Tyriks]

Personally, I don't like this unit much. It feels unfocused. Heavy weapon, but very short range is rough. Heck, heavy weapon plus close combat weapons is rough. Flat damage isn't bad but it's not a lot of damage. Plus random shots, the bane of Necrons right now. It really has to be Sautekh to get use. I've proxied it a few times and it either lands right in front of the enemy, rolls a crap number of shots and then gets killed, or else it starts on the board and never makes it into shooting range.

[Kaldoth]

I haven't played these yet, but I intend on bringing three. Necrons lack decent anti tank and melee ability. These guys seem to fit both in theory. The fact you can take a gloom prism on them also helps to mitigate the psychic phase.

 

The short range on the gun means I'll never be starting them on the board. The deep strike gets them in range to shoot what needs shooting. I also don't think you can run these individually with any hope of success. Their toughness, wounds, and save are pretty average so just taking one is going to equate to a 150 point fire magnet.

 

Best code seems to be Sautekh for mitigating the heavy weapon penalty for deep striking. A good combination would be a triarch stalker and the 2 CP sautekh stratagem. With 3 sentinels, that gives you an average of 9 hits on a 2+ and rerolling 1s.

[Beatnik cryptek]

Since I built one i'd have to say it needs to be sautekh. Let it move 10" and fire without penalty. It has to target a powerful unit obviously, or be parked on an objective. Set up an Objective  within 3" of a building and hide the sentinel behind it. Surprise any unit trying to DS near the objective. Be prepared to spend command points to reroll low shot numbers. 

 

Also barrage gw with demands to give it quantum armor. 

 

Also give it a gloom prism and let it hurt the enemies psychic powers. Stopping ONE psychic power at the right time can affect a battle well beyond the cost of the tomb sentinel. Or maybe not. 

 

As to never deploying it on turn one,  don't marry that idea. If it starts generating victory points and blocking psychic powers for you on turn one it can be a game  winner for you without firing a single shot in the battle. 

[Tyriks]

It's not worth the points to use it that way. A Tomb Stalker with Gloom Prism is 15 points cheaper and a much bigger threat to infantry units, which are likely to be what would come looking for an objective. And if you're using it to shoot, the Doomsday Ark has 6 times the range, higher average damage against vehicles AND infantry, and is harder to kill, for just 10 points more.

[NTaW]

Keep in mind that this series is a focus on the featured unit and how to best use it, whether competitive or not, whether there's another unit that's similar or not. I don't mean to say that each unit is looked at in a vacuum but let's try to stay focused on how to get the most mileage we can instead of what can do it better (as hard as it may be in some instances).

 

As one of our three units that can take gloom prisms it's almost a no-brainer facing a psychic army. I've seen lists utilizing groups of three coming out of reserve that seem awfully tempting, though it really is Sautekh or bust so you're still hitting on 3s. I would be of a mind to use a Cryptek with canoptek cloak and the Veil of Darkness to zap over to where they have shown up with X supporting unit to help cause a ruckus. The only thing I worry about in this scenario is screen units. Usually my opponents are savvy enough that the exile cannon's 12" range could be a bit of a detriment, but I guess that could be mitigated by a Sautekh/Nephrekh Battalion advancing up and opening fire. I've had some extremely rough experiences trying to Deep Strike my way in effectively in 8th edition.

 

EDIT: Kaldoth's list is a good example of how to utilize and support Tomb Sentinels.

 

 

Necrons 2000 points

 

Battalion Detachment - Nephrekh

 

HQ:

 

Cryptek - 85

Relic - The Solar Staff

Canoptek Cloak

 

Catacomb Command Barge - 146 (Warlord - Skin of Living Gold)

War Scythe

Tesla Cannon

Relic - Lightning Field

 

Troops:

 

10 Immortals - 150

Tesla Carbines

 

10 Immortals - 150

Tesla Carbines

 

10 Immortals - 150

Tesla Carbines

 

Fast Attack:

 

6 Canoptek Wraiths - 288

 

9 Canoptek Scarabs - 117

 

9 Canoptek Scarabs - 117

 

 

 

Outrider Detachment - Sautekh

 

HQ:

 

Lord - 68

Hyperphase Sword

 

Fast Attack:

 

1 Canoptek Tomb Sentinel - 150

Gloom Prism

 

1 Canoptek Tomb Sentinel - 150

Gloom Prism

 

1 Canoptek Tomb Sentinel - 150

Gloom Prism

 

9 Tomb Blades - 279

Gauss Blasters

Shieldvanes

 

Total: 2000 pts, 8 CP

[Kaldoth]

*snip

Speaking of my list I finally got to test it! :D Cheers for using it as an example, though I did end up editing it. I managed to snag two games today with a completely proxied force, and I found the Tomb Sentinels didn't have enough damage output only hitting on 3s. I rolled pretty average for the number of shots (i think 7 was the lowest and 14 was the highest between all 3 combined), but each missed hit is what really took the damage down. I also learned after the first game that focus firing all three of them into the same target (if possible) and charging a different one in the assault phase to tie it up is going to be much more impactful than splitting their fire. One of them can pump out a maximum of 18 wounds during shooting if you roll perfectly, but without +1s to hit and rerolls from methodical destruction you aren't going to get that easily.

 

So, after the matches I wound up dropping the command barge, the wraiths, two scarab bases, the Lord, and one gloom prism. I put in two overlords, an extra cryptek, a triarch stalker with twin heavy gauss cannons, and nebuloscopes on the tomb blades.

 

I haven't tested this new list yet, but with the stalker support and a dedicated cryptek I feel like the sentinels will perform a lot better. They definitely aren't an out of the box unit. They need buffs and support to do what they were built for, but if they have it I think they'll be an absolute menace.

 

@Tyriks: Unlike the Doomsday Ark, these guys can actually shut down enemy shooting by getting a turn 2 charge. A DDA can only peel off wounds every turn against heavy targets, so these guys also have a secondary purpose beyond just sinking damage into stuff. I prefer utility over sheer power, but that's just my playstyle :)

[Galron]

I have found one to be invaluable and am planning on two in the future. They are awesome deepstrikers vs armies that like to hide characters behind things. Mechanicum and Necrons for example. I have successfully DS'd in and assassinated enemy warlords twice in the last couple months and took out several HQs and contested objectives and took on 2 deathrider squads, a DR kommisar and a deathrider command squad and won in one game a couple weeks ago. The 9 wounds and t7 really help a lot. I actually would like to see what the actual hand to hand version would do.