Unit of the Week: Annihilation Barge

[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!

[Beatnik cryptek]

Obviously using this unit is problematic but i've seen them pull their weight in a few necron batreps.

 

The fIrst issue is what dynasty to use. Sautekh has a strategy that let's you add 1 to hit rolls if you score a wound on a unit. It costs 2cp tho. If you use it in a unit you can bring a lot of guass fire on itcs worth it to have hits triple on 5+

 

Mephrit has some appeal as a dynasty for this unit, the 1ap at half ramge can drastically raise the body count against low save units, plus mephrit has a 1 pont strategy that let's you make an additional attack with a weapon every time you roll an un modified 6. These hits cannot produce additional attacks but can produce multiple hits as per the tesla rules. This strategy only affects a angle unit but costs a single point.

 

The second option is what is the secondary weapon. A tesla cannon is a good choice but so to is a gauss cannon with it's 3 shots, ap3 and d3 damage making it useful against well armored targets. If you take it you suffer a penalty for moving and firng unless you take sautekh.

 

The most important thing is to use it on the right targets. It's of little use against targets that are well armored. Against lightly armored targets it's much more likely to rack up a decent body count. Unfortunately targets like that tend to have lots of single damage weapons that defeat the barge's quantum armor.

 

The best case for it is to use it against infantry thast has low saves and no ranged attacks out to 24".

 

You can park it on an objective to deal with claim jumpers trying to DS it. If the objective is in cover so much the better. if doing this a gauss cannon is a very viable secondary weapon as it suffers no penalty for moving and firing.

 

This unit is cheap but of limited use, GW should buff it a little, perhaps give the tesla destructor have a 1ap normally, which would make mephrit even better for this unit.

[Tyriks]

I play Orks a lot, so I love the Annihilation Barge. But I also play power armor a lot so I hate it.

 

In all honesty this unit is better than it gets credit for. Even against power armor or light vehicles it can be effective due to good strength and very high volume of hits. The lack of AP can be frustrating for sure, but I think the biggest issue is not getting My Will Be Done.

 

When you fight Orks, Daemons, Harlequins, or maybe Tyranids, the Annihilation Barge becomes amazing. Daemons and Harlequins rely almost entirely on invulns so all AP is wasted. The volume of shots will win out massively.

 

I run mine as Mephrit but I also run everything as Mephrit usually.

[Mr4Minutes]

I think for what it actually does, it’s in the over pointed category, but I’m not sure by how much. Like most Necron light vehicles it’s got low toughness and a weak save(t6 8w). And while it does get quantum shielding and living metal, it’s extremely vulnerable to plasma like weapons that are more frequently run in competitive games. This makes it pretty easy to remove by most armies.

 

With that said, it’s a good screen vehicle. I run double Tesla to keep it cheap. With a good move characteristic and fly you can zip it around, screen deep strikers and tie up less threatening CC units to deny their shooting. The positive side of 8W is no degrading profile, so it’s fully functional even st 1W.

 

I run Mephrit, so it’s usually always Mephrit. But, I’d recommend Sautekh if you want to take the gauss cannon. This unit wants to stay moving, so you don’t want to be suffering the -1 to hit.

[NTaW]

Tyriks, do you play yours full-on tesla?

 

I've often considered adding this unit to my army as a vanguard option, potentially to support my faster moving units that don't like big units of infantry so much. In this faculty I feel like I could get away with only a single unit accompanying a unit of Wraiths, for example, but if I wanted to employ it fully I'd be tempted to play at least a pair of them with a CloakTek and keep a couple CP handy for Quantum Deflection to help increase their chances of longevity.

[Tyriks]

Yeah, I always run it with Tesla. I would say overall it's another unit we have that is almost good, but doesn't quite get there. I've seen a lot of posts complaining about how awful it is and I don't think it deserves that but it's also not an auto include by any means.

[Beatnik cryptek]

Ok what do you all think the AB need to make it worth taking? Most folks agree it's not very useful, so what buff could it use?

 

Improve the main weapon?

 

A better save?

 

Let it take a pair of gauss cannons in place of the tesla destructor?

 

Give it a lightning field type close combat effect that scores MW on units in close combat?

 

I think any one if these would help.

[NTaW]

Please keep in mind that this series is about how to use the featured unit, as currently available, with as little lamentation of status as possible. If anyone finds themselves curious about homebrew options there's a thread in the Homegrown Rules sub-forum with lots of units and rules being discussed that welcomes you chiming in.

 

On paper the Annihilation Barge looks like it is a great mid-ground unit. FLY, a good number of shots and a Strength high enough to weigh in against armour/always threaten even elite infantry, protection from high damage weaponry, and high enough toughness to run interference on chaff infantry in assault all for just under 115 points. If you play it as Sautekh you could take a gauss cannon and if you're plan right capitalize on the Methodical Destruction stratagem, while Mephrit offers you an AP bump and Talent for Annihilation. Both stratagems let you squeeze a bit more out of the tesla rule. As someone who pays more for arguably less from Mortis Dreadnoughts with autocannons I'm having a hard time seeing why this isn't an amazing deal. Is the 4+ save that much of a dealbreaker here?

[Bonzi]

Please keep in mind that this series is about how to use the featured unit, as currently available, with as little lamentation of status as possible. If anyone find themselves curious about homebrew options there's a thread in the Homegrown Rules sub-forum with lots of units and rules being discussed that welcomes you chiming in.

 

On paper the Annihilation Barge looks like it is a great mid-ground unit. FLY, a good number of shots and a Strength high enough to weigh in against armour/always threaten even elite infantry, protection from high damage weaponry, and high enough toughness to run interference on chaff infantry in assault all for just under 115 points. If you play it as Sautekh you could take a gauss cannon and if you're plan right capitalize on the Methodical Destruction stratagem, while Mephrit offers you an AP bump and Talent for Annihilation. Both stratagems let you squeeze a bit more out of the tesla rule. As someone who pays more for arguably less from Mortis Dreadnoughts with autocannons I'm having a hard time seeing why this isn't an amazing deal. Is the 4+ save that much of a dealbreaker here?

No, on paper and for most other armies the Annibarge is a great unit, but for Necrons it doesn't do much that other units don't do better. Tessla is a great ranged weapon but it's pointless for Anti-tank work because it's ap0 or -1 at best and it only does one damage. You could spend an entire game trying to kill a single Rhino.

 

As anti-infantry it comes up against all our other amazing anti-infantry units like Tessla Immortals backed by My Will Be Done or Tessla Tomb Blades which have a better save, -1 to be hit at range, and reanimation protocols. At the end of the day Str 7 Tessla and Str 5 Tessla are exactly the same when it comes to killing most of the games infantry. GW would need to bump the Destructors up to 8 for that math to change.

 

That aside they're a fantastic harasment unit with a lot of underhanded potential...it's just hard to realize that when you're struggling to afford enough Anti-tank into your list.