Games using the Cursed Legion (Destroyer Heavy) Detachment

[Prot]

Well I'm hoping to initiate some conversation on some of the new Necron stuff. Let's be honest the mighty have fallen pretty far from the top. 

 

I'm still quite bothered by some of the nerfs that Hypercrypt brought us, especially the Monolith. I loved that model, but due to how GW works their nerfs, it forever will pay the sins of one detachment.

 

Anyway, the Crons competitively fell off the scene pretty hard shortly there after. Damage is (in my opinion) one of the most obvious issues. Other codexes come out, detachments evolve, points change, and Cron's were left behind all of that until now.... ?!?!

 

So I love this detachment because it deals with the issues I tried to make work under "Canoptyk Court" which is really a bit clunky and doesn't quite fit the bill.

 

With Cursed Legion (for those that have no idea what I'm referring to) you are getting+2 Strength to all Destroyer Keyword units with the possibility of passing this strength bonus on to ALL other non Destroyer units (aside from Monsters) in your army. Sounds pretty good.

 

To me what makes this work is threefold:

1. It works with units I love and have been largely ignored.

2. The Detachment Rules are great but...

3. The support is better... IE: Strats and Enhancements. 

 

This all on paper, to me, seems actually very well thought out.

 

So let me get to this first game with it I had....

 

I'll confess I made my list very, very quickly using 1. Models I owned, and had ready to go (many destroyer units are not popular until now!!) 2. I just used some core stuff I use in many Necron lists BUT I confess they really don't work here.... I'll explain later.

 

 

My approximate list:

Lots of HQ's like any Cron list:

C'tan Nightbringer

Overlord w/Translocator + 5 Lychguard sword/board

Skorpekh Destroyer Lord + 6 Skorpekhs

Immotekh + Plasmancer + 10 Immortals

Chronomancer + 10 Immortals (This may have been a bad unit.)

Technomancer + 3 Lokhust Hvy Destroyers (mixed loadout)

1 Casino Cannon Doomstalker

3 Ophydian Dest.

5 Deathmarks

1 Hexmark

5 Flayed Ones

I think that's the list.... a lot of stuff, but really a lot of it is mosty harmless.

 

I played against 1KSons which were using the vehicle detachment. Very underrated. This detachment turns Predators into true threats. Not to mention the Rubrics in mass themselves just delete infantry and have ferocious overwatch abilities with all those flamers.

 

I went second and this was good.... however I have to admit one unit I really wanted to try was the Heavy Destroyers with the Technomancer, and the squad was deleted by two pred's. (in my defense my opponent proxied the preds, and I did a big forehead slap here as I realzied they aren't Rhino's!!!) What can you do....

 

Anyway, we had some pretty good exchanges but it became apparent by end of Turn 2 I was going to lose quite badly. The Skorpekh Lord and squad were a lot of fun, but relied on strats for true effect. I had to spend gobs of CP to keep them alive long enough to (partially) kill a Warp Beast thing, and a pred annihilator that was being used to block me. Before that I had climbed up 2 of those new Thousand Sons robots on an objective to reach his vehicles.

 

So that was I think the highlight. All my immortals got slaughtered by rerolls on top of rerolls on top of Mortal Wounds, and all that AP-1/-2 No Cover Rubrics just decimated most of my army.

 

The only other unit that had an impact was just too expensive... the Nightbringer. His range is so short... but I got desperate and went in the open in the middle to take on his Land raider. That wasn't a 'great' exchange as his whole army then deleted the Nightbringer. So I traded a 315 point piece for a 220 point piece, plus some added destruction. I don't think the Nightbringer is something I'd keep taking, but I own the 'old' one so I wanted to bring him out. Too many points though for sure in modern 40K. I told my opponent to stop shooting lascannons and just widdle him down with a ton of his rerolled AP2 stuff. Plus the Mortal Wounds really hurt all game long.

 

So after turn 3 I conceded. I told him I had no chance, he disagreed, but I'm almost always right about these things, he wanted to play Top of Turn 4 and I was then officially nearly tabled and I told him I'm done! lol 

 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Post game:

 

I don't want to make this terribly long, but I saw a lot of promise in the detachment, but it is EXTREMELY CP hungry. Immotekh is a must as ou are constantly going for -1 to hit (Destroyer units are physically too large to hide too often.) or the 'heroic type charge' strat, or Reanimate strat... you need all these tools I think. It's not like marines where you just throw in AoC and the odd reroll... you will need all your tools firing on all cylinders against good players.

 

I will try this again. I'm pulling a lot of non-destroyer units, and duplicating some of the existing Destroyer units. I don't know what to do about tanks though. That was a very big issue that the Nightbringer, Doomstalker, and luck combined to take out. (And I'm pulling the Nightbringer for sure. Just too expensive/slow/short range.)

 

Please post your experiences! I'd love to hear them!

 

 

[Brother Captain Vakarian]

Great report and feedback @Prot. Love to see someone trying Cursed Legion out. I’m planning to run it in a crusade campaign and I have a few questions for you. 
 

1. How did the Lychguard and Overlord work? I assume the Overlord had Destroyer Ankh? I’m planning to run that setup but 10 Lychguard instead of 5. 
 

2. What enhancement (if any) on the Skorpekh Lord with the Skorpekh brick? I’m planning to use the surge move one but both look useful. 
 

3. Did you deepstrike the Nightbringer or start him on the table? I’m planning to add him to my force for the end of campaign battle, and curious how you played him that he didn’t seem to work so great. At least I know I won’t be playing against Thousand Sons in this campaign. 
 

4. What did you think of the Twchnomancer with the heavies? I was planing to run a Plasmancer with the enhancement and stick him with 10 gauss Immortals to let them take advantage of some of the strats, but the Lokhust heavies option is tempting. 

I won’t be playing Imhotek since I’m playing Szarekhan Crons in crusade… I will aim for upgrades that grant more CP where I can to mitigate the CP issue you mention. I’ll report back once I have some games. 

[Bonzi]

I ran the detatchment yesterday against the new Space Marine deep strike detatchment and enjoyed it.

 

Nekrosar Ammentar

Skorpek Lord: Cursed Circlet

Lokhust Lord

Translocation Overlord: Destroyer Ahnk

Hexmark Destroyer

Geomancer: Murdermind

 

X20 Warriors

 

X6 Skorpek Destroyers

X3 Lokhust Destroyers 

X3 Lokhust Destroyers 

X3 Heavy Lokhust Destroyers: Gauss

X3 Heavy Lokhust Destroyers: Emetic

X3 Ophidians 

X3 Ophidians 

X5 Death marks

X5 Flayed Ones 

 

Doomsday Ark

 

Game went well as I had the mobility to zone out all the deep strike.  Nekrosar is a great utility piece but he bogs out vs invuln saves and 4 wound models.  His Sustain kicked in less than I would like but my units were spread out for zone denial.  +2 strength is a huge boost for thinks like Skorpek, Ophidians, Lokhust Destroyers, Death marks and Hexmark.  You do have to think of your shooting and fighting order if you have non destroyer cult units that you want boosted which is interesting and fun.  Biggest surprise was how great 20 warriors and a translocation Overlord were.  They carried the game for me.  The buffs to the Overlord were amazing and made him a terror for the opponent. 

 

Main change for me is subbing out the Geomancer for a Chronomancer.  Putting him in a unit with Heavy Gauss cannons would give them -1 to be hit and jump shoot jump ability that would be infuriating to deal with.

 

[Prot]

18 hours ago, Brother Captain Vakarian said:

Great report and feedback @Prot. Love to see someone trying Cursed Legion out. I’m planning to run it in a crusade campaign and I have a few questions for you. 
 

1. How did the Lychguard and Overlord work? I assume the Overlord had Destroyer Ankh? I’m planning to run that setup but 10 Lychguard instead of 5. 
 

2. What enhancement (if any) on the Skorpekh Lord with the Skorpekh brick? I’m planning to use the surge move one but both look useful. 
 

3. Did you deepstrike the Nightbringer or start him on the table? I’m planning to add him to my force for the end of campaign battle, and curious how you played him that he didn’t seem to work so great. At least I know I won’t be playing against Thousand Sons in this campaign. 
 

4. What did you think of the Twchnomancer with the heavies? I was planing to run a Plasmancer with the enhancement and stick him with 10 gauss Immortals to let them take advantage of some of the strats, but the Lokhust heavies option is tempting. 

I won’t be playing Imhotek since I’m playing Szarekhan Crons in crusade… I will aim for upgrades that grant more CP where I can to mitigate the CP issue you mention. I’ll report back once I have some games. 

 

Thank you Vakarian.

 

1. Not well. I couldn't get them stuck in. I think they were too slow, but more so that damage is so lethargic. Really they become a vehicle for the Overlord (Yes, he had the Ankh) to do some real damage. But I only ran 5. You are right, he needs more, and then they become a very sticky brick to get rid of. I lost mine far too easily, they did very little against all the -AP shooting. But as you mention, 10 might be the number. For me I think I'm going a different direction.

 

2.Yes, the Surge Move one.... What a great tool that the Skhorpekhs sorely need. However, I missread it and assumed it was like other surge moves: IE: Locked to shooting phase and only usable once. My re-read of it (which could be wrong!) is it works on overwatch, and can be used multiple times.

 

3. Nope, I walked him up. There was good terrain sitting in the middle, but I had to get him in there quick as I was fading fast. The dual pred's and other shooting was out damaging me early by a wide margin.  

 

4. He would have been great, but I played him wrong. 

 

Good luck, please let us know how it goes!

 

 

 

 

 

13 hours ago, Bonzi said:

I ran the detatchment yesterday against the new Space Marine deep strike detatchment and enjoyed it.

 

Nekrosar Ammentar

Skorpek Lord: Cursed Circlet

Lokhust Lord

Translocation Overlord: Destroyer Ahnk

Hexmark Destroyer

Geomancer: Murdermind

 

X20 Warriors

 

X6 Skorpek Destroyers

X3 Lokhust Destroyers 

X3 Lokhust Destroyers 

X3 Heavy Lokhust Destroyers: Gauss

X3 Heavy Lokhust Destroyers: Emetic

X3 Ophidians 

X3 Ophidians 

X5 Death marks

X5 Flayed Ones 

 

Doomsday Ark

 

Game went well as I had the mobility to zone out all the deep strike.  Nekrosar is a great utility piece but he bogs out vs invuln saves and 4 wound models.  His Sustain kicked in less than I would like but my units were spread out for zone denial.  +2 strength is a huge boost for thinks like Skorpek, Ophidians, Lokhust Destroyers, Death marks and Hexmark.  You do have to think of your shooting and fighting order if you have non destroyer cult units that you want boosted which is interesting and fun.  Biggest surprise was how great 20 warriors and a translocation Overlord were.  They carried the game for me.  The buffs to the Overlord were amazing and made him a terror for the opponent. 

 

Main change for me is subbing out the Geomancer for a Chronomancer.  Putting him in a unit with Heavy Gauss cannons would give them -1 to be hit and jump shoot jump ability that would be infuriating to deal with.

 

 

I am definitely taking the Nightbringer out for Nekrosor. The buff would have been tremendous as well as the points savings.

 

I'm definitely putting in the Chronomancer with the Heavy Destroyers. Great idea. I don't know why but I just never get anything done with the Ophidians, so I'm pulling them out and putting the points elsewhere. Maybe it's just me but they are so easy to kill and struggle to find a good target in most of my games.

[Brother Captain Vakarian]

15 minutes ago, Prot said:

 

Thank you Vakarian.

 

1. Not well. I couldn't get them stuck in. I think they were too slow, but more so that damage is so lethargic. Really they become a vehicle for the Overlord (Yes, he had the Ankh) to do some real damage. But I only ran 5. You are right, he needs more, and then they become a very sticky brick to get rid of. I lost mine far too easily, they did very little against all the -AP shooting. But as you mention, 10 might be the number. For me I think I'm going a different direction.

 

2.Yes, the Surge Move one.... What a great tool that the Skhorpekhs sorely need. However, I missread it and assumed it was like other surge moves: IE: Locked to shooting phase and only usable once. My re-read of it (which could be wrong!) is it works on overwatch, and can be used multiple times.

 

3. Nope, I walked him up. There was good terrain sitting in the middle, but I had to get him in there quick as I was fading fast. The dual pred's and other shooting was out damaging me early by a wide margin.  

 

4. He would have been great, but I played him wrong. 

 

Good luck, please let us know how it goes!

 
You’re welcome! 

 

I will definitely be running the Overlord +10 sword and board Lychguard then and will let you know how they do! In the smaller starting games I may run only 5. I’ll keep your thoughts in mind there. 


The surge move enhancement it definitely will be then. I didn’t realize it worked in response to overwatch. That’s excellent. 


Given how the campaign will work I should get a decent hand on the detachment before the Nightbringer shows up, so I’ll give some thoughts on that in the meantime and probably plan to deep strike him when I do use him. But very ope to others’ thoughts.

 

Finally, I’m now tempted to do the Chronomancer with the Lokhust Heavies too, between your thoughts and @Bonzi. 


At any rate I am very excited to try the detachment and will share thoughts when I can. Might be a while because I only get to game once or twice a month these days. 

Edited yesterday at 02:35 PM by Brother Captain Vakarian

[Prot]

Give it a try! I'm curious how it works for you. I think after my first game I quickly realized that one of the best parts of this detachment is simply the options.

 

Timing your first kill with destroyers and then benefiting army wide is pretty cool. It's not as easy as it sounds, but when it works... it works!

 

I may try 10 immortals or 20 warriors with the Translocator Lord, but I'm not sure if it will be my next game. Again... lots of options.

[Brother Captain Vakarian]

I think there’s a world where the translocator Overlord, 20 reaper warriors, and a relevant cryptek (Plasmancer probably) is a pretty nasty package. I’m set on trying the Lychguard for now but that’s probably my backup. 
 

I’m going to work out lists with two enmitic exterminator heavy Lokhusts and the Chronomancer to see if I like how that feels then. 

Edited yesterday at 05:12 PM by Brother Captain Vakarian
Autocorrect is not my friend today.

[Tawnis]

I was originally already a fan of Annihilation Legion conceptually (especially after it got buffed, to actually work with the Lokhust Destroyers) however it did kind of suffer from the fact that stat wise, it felt just as strong in most cases to use Awakened Dynasty, and the list was FAR more flexible to build that way. (Better enhancements and the detachment rule being far more broad in scope). 

 

So, of course I was stoked to see what Cursed Legion had to offer and what it could bring that Annihilation couldn't. Here's where I see it at the moment.

Pros: 
- +4 Strength across the board is insane and not very hard to trigger at all with the right list. 
- WAY stronger enhancements, they are all worth taking and 2 help with the army flexibility issue. Bring able to field an overlord (And thus convert any unit it could lead to Destroyers) as well as get a single Cryptek for their key buffs are huge boons. 
- Improved Stratagems. The good ones like -1 to be hit and Reanimation on killing were kept, or improved in the latter's case. While adding more powerful ones like Sustained Hits, advance/charge, and an intercept mechanic.  
 

Cons: 
- Loss of Flayed Ones synergy. A little sad to have out small objective units take a back seat, but I get that S:8 Flayed Ones might have been a little too good if you took them as a fighting brick of 10. 
- Less overall charge consistency, though these are partially offset by strats. 
- Less AP at range, though offset somewhat by higher strength value, I think this is usually a wash. 
- Very CP hungry. 

I haven't been able to get out for a game yet with the detachment, but here's the list I'm looking at running: 

Lokhust Lord x2 (One with Mark of the Nekrosor): 180pts
Lokhust Destroyers x12: 360pts (I've got a lot of these kicking around from back in the day, but I hope we get new ones soon.)
Skorpekh Lord x2: 180pts
Skorpekh Destroyers x12: 360pts
Overlord +Ankh: 105pts
Technomancer + Murdermind: 95pts (With the way Murdermind and Anhk interact, he can now join the Lychguard/Overlord) 
Lychguard x10: 170pts

Lokhust Heavy Destroyers x6: 330pts (3 of each kind) 
Hexmark Destroyers x2: 140pts

Ophidian Destroyers x3: 80pts

Total 2000 points. 

The idea behind this list is maximizing the +4 strength to be always on. It's easy to turn on in your shooting phase with the 4 units of ranged destroyers. You want to try and pop something with the Destructor Heavy's first if you can, since they have by far the fewest shots, but if you can't all three others are great at hosing pretty much anything. I want to also test out the Plasmancer with the Exterminator Heavies at some point to as that seems really strong for 36 5+ sustained shots, or a Chronomancer to spread out the -1 to be hit buff, though at the moment, I think the melee durability the way I have it is better. Using the strat for sustained on the Lokusts for 5+ Lethal/Sustain with full re-rolls (and if you're hitting on 2's with the Mark unit, you get even more value from pitching any non crits for more re-rolls pumps out insane damage. (Running the math on that, its an average of 23-24 AP-2 D:2 to a MEQ unit, or 15/16 AP-2, D:2 against a T:10+ tank. That's going to take a squad off the board or drop something like a Russ every turn and needs to be a priority target... though that will be hard for them to deal with when all the melee threats are flying across the board.)) 

One thing to remember too, is that once you're stuck in, you can trigger Cold Fervor on your opponents turn through overwatch. The Lokhust's 5+ crits and the Hexmark's free overwatch and shoot back abilities are great ways to do this if you can set them up right. 

With how CP hungry this list is, it's tempting to try and slot Imotekh in for more CP, but then you also need a unit to protect him and I think that takes too much away from the overall gameplan of just throw a mountain of S9+ attacks at things on durable frames until they all fall over.  Personally, I think it's a trap. Kinda of the same thing with the Nightbringer, as good as he is, there are just so many more Destroyer bodies you can put on the table for those points. 

 

The Lychguard brick seems pretty unassailable. Using the overlord for -1 to be hit for free, 4+ invul from shields, 5+ FNP from the Technomancer, and an extra reanimation. Seems like it's going to be one heck of a durable bunch of bodies. Also, while I still don't really think that Cryptothralls are worth it at 60pts, this would be the place to put them if you ever did. 

The Hexmarks and Ophidian's serve as the screening units and action monkeys of the army. 

Nekrosor Ammentar looks really strong, but at 165 pts, I'm not sure if I can find a nice place to slot him in. If I did, I think I would swap the technomancer for a Plasmancer to put with the Exterminator heavies, to save 15 pts, then cut a Hexmark and the Ophidians. I'd be a bit shorter on action/screening units which is a bit risky, but I think the list would punch even harder, and you don't need them if everything is dead anyway.  

So, yeah, that's the idea. Once I finally get a chance to put them all on the table, I'll let you know how things turn out. 

Edited yesterday at 06:57 PM by Tawnis

[Bonzi]

11 hours ago, Tawnis said:

Pros: 
- +4 Strength across the board is insane and not very hard to trigger at all with the 

Sadly it's only +2 strength for destroyer cult models (not units, an important distinction for the unit the destroyer overlord joins) and +2 strength for non-destroyer cult units in a phase if a destroyer unit has already killed a unit or reduced it below half.  +4 strength would be bananas good.

[Tawnis]

9 hours ago, Bonzi said:

Sadly it's only +2 strength for destroyer cult models (not units, an important distinction for the unit the destroyer overlord joins) and +2 strength for non-destroyer cult units in a phase if a destroyer unit has already killed a unit or reduced it below half.  +4 strength would be bananas good.

Oh.... well that far less amazing than I thought. 

Guess I gotta go re-toll my list.... or, maybe not, it should still work good as is, just less good than I thought. Still is basically +2S across the board and not having to worry about the setup anymore. 

[Brother Captain Vakarian]

@Prot this is the list I am thinking for 2K after discussion: 

 

Spoiler

Szarekh CL 2K v2 (1995 Points)

Necrons
Cursed Legion
Strike Force (2,000 Points)

 

CHARACTERS

 

Chronomancer (80 Points)
  • 1x Chronomancer’s stave
  • Enhancements: Murdermind

 

C’tan Shard of the Nightbringer (315 Points)
  • 1x Gaze of death
  • 1x Scythe of the Nightbringer

 

Overlord with Translocation Shroud (105 Points)
  • Warlord
  • 1x Overlord’s blade
  • 1x Resurrection Orb
  • Enhancements: Destroyer Ankh

 

Plasmancer (55 Points)
  • 1x Plasmic lance

 

Royal Warden (50 Points)
  • 1x Close combat weapon
  • 1x Relic gauss blaster

 

Skorpekh Lord (115 Points)
  • 1x Enmitic annihilator
  • 1x Flensing claw
  • 1x Hyperphase harvester
  • Enhancements: Cursed Circlet

 

Technomancer (80 Points)
  • 1x Staff of light

 

BATTLELINE

 

Immortals (150 Points)
  • 10x Immortal
     ◦ 10x Close combat weapon
     ◦ 10x Gauss blaster

 

Necron Warriors (200 Points)
  • 20x Necron Warrior
     ◦ 20x Close combat weapon
     ◦ 20x Gauss reaper

 

OTHER DATASHEETS

 

Canoptek Doomstalker (140 Points)
  • 1x Doomsday blaster
  • 1x Doomstalker limbs
  • 1x Twin gauss flayer

 

Canoptek Reanimator (75 Points)
  • 2x Atomiser beam
  • 1x Reanimator’s claws

 

Lokhust Heavy Destroyers (110 Points)
  • 2x Lokhust Heavy Destroyer
     ◦ 2x Close combat weapon
     ◦ 2x Enmitic exterminator

 

Lychguard (170 Points)
  • 10x Lychguard
     ◦ 10x Dispersion Shield
     ◦ 10x Hyperphase sword

 

Ophydian Destroyers (80 Points)
  • 3x Ophydian Destroyer
     ◦ 3x Ophydian hyperphase weapons
     ◦ 1x Plasmacyte

 

Skorpekh Destroyers (180 Points)
  • 6x Skorpekh Destroyer
     ◦ 2x Plasmacyte
     ◦ 6x Skorpekh hyperphase weapons

 

Triarch Praetorians (90 Points)
  • 5x Triarch Praetorian
     ◦ 5x Rod of covenant

 

Exported with App Version: v1.46.1 (1), Data Version: v728

General unit planning is this:

 

Translocation Overlord with Ankh of course goes with the Lychguard. 
 

Skorpekh Lord and brick have the Cursed Circlet and are the primary melee push, with the Lychguard also. 
 

Murdermind Chronomancer goes with the two enmitic Heavy Lokhusts and they try to pop the army-wide +2S bonus early in the shooting phase. 
 

Plasmancer (and probably Royal Warden) join the gauss Immortals and can get Lethal+Sustained on 5+ with the cryptek and strat. 
 

Technomancer joins the Warriors and sits on the center objective with them, the Reanimator, and the Doomstalker. 
 

Ophydians and Praetorians trouble shoot (especially with +2” to supporting charge strat from deep strike). 
 

The Nightbringer is either a true monster or a solid distraction, but either way he’s the narrative centerpiece for the campaign. 
 

This is a friendly crusade campaign so the list is deliberately unoptimized in some ways while still trying to present teeth and be a good campaign capstone for an Ordo Xenos inquisitor and his Deathwatch pals to deal with. Thoughts? 
 

I will probably be trying out a 500 point game with some part of the list in a week or two.