Necron Tactica Part 2

So for this note, I'd like to talk a bit more about specific Necron units and their uses (or lack thereof). Let's take a standard size list for Necrons: 1500, including many units that are commonly found in a Necron army list:

HQ: Necron Lord, Warscythe, Gaze of Flame, Phase Shifter, Phylactery, Resurrection Orb

Elite: Immortals (10)

Troops: Warriors (10)

Troops: Warriors (10)

Fast Attack: Destroyers (5)

Fast Attack: Scarab Swarms with Disruption Fields (10)

Heavy Support: Monolith

Total: 1495 Points

Let's break this list down, one unit at a time:

The Lord is your best bet at defending your Necrons from assaults. As such, he should stay near your infantry block to support them with his Resurrection Orb, and he should be attached to your front-line unit to protect them with the Gaze of Flame. The Phylactery and Phase Shifter are "bonus points" that can drastically improve his durability in both close combat and shooting (you'll want to assign him AP 2/3 wounds so that you can save as many Necrons as possible).

Don't let the two squads of Warriors fool you: The Immortals are the real backbone of this army. This unit takes a HUGE amount of punishment with its toughness 5, rarely needs the support of a Resurrection Orb, and has the ability to shoot a strength 5 gun after moving with no penalty! These guys are your ultimate defense against Phase Out, the reason that the strategy won't work for your opponents - it takes an inefficient amount of firepower to bring these suckers down, in shooting and in assault, if used properly.

The Warriors are NOT in this army to be part of the main battle...in fact, I start almost every game, objective or otherwise, with all of my Warriors in reserve (A tactic that can be seen in a youtube video from Beasts of War). However you choose to do so, make sure that you deploy your Warriors (and objectives, more on this later), separate from your main force. An excellent way to do this is *castling* your army on one side of the board, and letting your Warriors arrive from reserves on the other side (usually with the Lord attached to one of the squads). This forces your opponent to make a choice: Do they split their forces to deal with the Warriors that are on the opposite end of the table, do they change course and gun everything for the weak link in your army, or do they ignore the warriors and attempt to destroy your heavy firepower? The more choices you force, the more likely your opponent is to make a mistake.

The Destroyers are your big guns. For my army, they are used primarily to pop transports, as they're one of the few units in the army that can destroy one - relatively easily - before it's gotten close enough to do its job. They're also great for hunting monstrous creatures like the Tyranid Carnifex or Hive Tyrant - wounding something like that on 4's really takes some of the bite out of it. Destroyers have another main purpose that in many cases outshines even their amazing firepower: they're mobile in an army that simply isn't. Being jetbikes, they are among the fastest units in the Necron arsenal, and each Destroyer is as durable as an Immortal (though there are fewer of them because of their high points-cost). This makes them great for last-turn objective grabs. However, they can become a crutch that Necron players tend to rely on too heavily. Yes, the unit is great, but taking 10 or more of them under 2000 points drastically reduces your model count, an important factor in Necron lists.

Scarabs are, in my opinion, the single best unit in the Necron army list. When a full-sized unit has 30 wounds, a 2+ cover save while getting into position, moves like jetbikes, and has 40 attacks on the charge for a mere 120 points...well, how can you say no to that? Especially when you can add 40 points to make those attacks glance vehicles on 6's? It just seems that every time I look at this unit, I find another use for them - tank hunting with the upgrade (Even the mighty Leman Russ or Land Raider will find itself utterly crippled if not wrecked when caught by a Scarab assault), tarpit for enemy shooters, assault screening, last-turn contesters...these little bugs do it all. Then, if you have the points and HQ slot to spare for a Destroyer Lord with Warscythe to run around with them, the unit becomes a real killing machine.

Ahh, the Monolith. So commonly used, so feared, and yet really, not all that strong. Yes, it's got a big gun (slightly stronger than a Leman Russ Battle Cannon). Yes, it can teleport your Necrons, even out of close combat (I won't lie, this is a VERY handy ability). And yes, it is AV 14 all around and ignores anything that gets 2d6 for penetration (so even if your enemy does bring anti-vehicular weapons, most will be ineffective). However, it has one drawback that is reall just typical of the Necrons, and yet so crucial on a tank with so little range - it can only move 6" per turn. That makes it, officially, the SLOWEST model in the GAME - even infantry with Slow and Purposeful can run in the shooting phase. This doesn't make the Monolith obsolete, but it does mean that you have to be more specific in the tank's goal. For example, DON'T use it as a primary offensive strategy - if you try to Deep Strike it near your enemy's lines, they'll just move away and leave the Monolith behind. Instead, use the behemoth as a distraction. If you fire its S9 AP3 Large Blast at a squad of marines that didn't think it needed cover the first turn, you can be sure that your opponent will throw everything he's got to try to take that Monolith down (which means that he isn't shooting your real killers, the Immortals and Destroyers). Similarly, Monoliths can be used to shut down firing lanes that you don't want to use. Got a group of Devastators on a hill blasting your forces with Plasma Cannons? The Monolith can block their line of sight quite easily. Using it in this way can also help to protect you from assaults. If that squad of terminators has to get around your Monolith to reach your more vulnerable Warriors, it has to get around an 8" barrier - the Monolith itself is 6x6", and the Termies must stay at least 1" away from it unless they assault it. Add in the ability to tank shock - slowly - and teleporting Necrons to the other side of it just as they get close, and you will probably have one very frustrated opponent. Just remember that the main goal of the Monolith isn't to kill your enemies, but rather to defend your troops. Make use of its massive size.

That's all for now! Next time I'll go over some broader tactics that this list can use to compete with the newer, flashier armies out there.