Pros of the Necron Warrior:
--> Higher Leadership (10 regardless of Sergeant)
--> Basic gun that can glance vehicles on 6's
--> We'll Be Back!
Pros of the Imperial Space Marine:
--> Higher Initiative (the Warrior only has 2, making Sweeping Advances inevitable in assault)
--> And They Shall Know No Fear (making the Warrior's higher leadership almost irrelevant)
--> Combat Tactics (Necrons are logical about retreating rather than fearful, but Marines are the ones that choose when to run? *mind blown*)
--> Ability to take heavy/special weapons in the squad (allowing the squad to actually DESTROY vehicles or specialize against infantry)
--> Combat Squadding to increase objective-capturing power
And with all that makes the Marine better, he costs 1 point per model less!
Now I've mentioned before the Necron weakness in the assault phase. Warriors are the main reason that this is the case: With only average toughness and WBB not kicking in until the beginning of the Necron player's turn, it is very easy for a dedicated assault unit of any kind to beat a Warrior squad in combat by 4 or even 5. This reduces our awesome leadership 10 to a meager 5-6, so the Warriors will inevitably try to run away. When this happens, our Initiative of 2 will practically guarantee a sweeping advance, destroying the entire squad, including any model that was waiting for WBB.
However, because they are the only Troop choice in the Necron arsenal, we are required to field two of these terrible units. So the real question becomes not how do we avoid putting them in the army, but rather how do we turn this unit around and make it an effective part of the army?
The answer to this lies in one major aspect of the Warrior: its reputation. It sucks. Everyone knows it sucks, and everyone knows how to exploit it to beat the Necrons (killing 20 Warriors will in almost all cases bring you dangerously close to your Phase Out number). So what is its best use? Well there's really only one option.
Bait.
The Tau codex describes a battle tactic called the Kauyon, or Patient Hunter strategy. Quite simply, it involves using a unit to lure enemy troops into a position where the "hunters" can eliminate the target with little difficulty. Although it may seem odd drawing from the battle philosophy of an opposing army, Warriors are perfectly suited to a role as the lure, because of both their reputation as described above and the movement synergy they have with other units in the army.
Think of it this way: If an assault squad is bearing down on your Warriors, take the time while they advance to fortify the position of the Warriors. A key aspect of this is having either a Monolith or a Lord with Veil of Darkness near the "lure" squad of Warriors, as well as having enough firepower to at least severely punish the assault squad as it closes in. It is also worth noting that this tactic becomes significantly more effective if the assault squad's transport, if it has one, is immobilized or destroyed. Once the assaulters get close enough that you know they will assault on the opponent's following turn, use either the Monolith or the Lord to teleport the squad away from the conflict. Then, you should be in position to easily hammer away at the target until it is either dead or only a couple of models are still standing.
If for some reason you don't have any escape options incorporated into your list, you can always use the old standby of a counterassault: Scarab Swarms and large groups of Wraiths can be very effective at delaying and even destroying anything that gets too close to your lines.
Hope this helps, and we'll chat again next week!
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