Necrons + Comp = Fail!

Hello Fritz, I've been a reader and follower of your tactics for my Necrons for a good while now, and although the 1750 Deceiver list in your necron pdf works really well, unfortunately in the Australian tournament scene it seems to be shot down very quickly in comp, being viewed as too tough and powerful, the C'tan and monolith are the two big offenders here. In an effort to soften up the really overpowered Necron (!) list, I tried to write two lists that still incorporate the phalanx, while maintaining the scarab threat. I just wanted to see what you think of these two builds, and if you have any suggestions on improving them. Keep in mind that I am trying hard to not spam anything in particular.

List 1: Lord + rez orb + gaze of flame + solar pulse
8 immortals
8 pariahs
2x 10 warriors
2x 4 destroyers
9 scarabs
3 heavy destroyers
1750

The aim of this list is to have a strong gun line, the lord jumps with the HD's for a little wound allocation, while the warriors will stay in reserve for late contest/reinforcement, the scarabs are there to threaten and scare the back line, slowing down the advance if necessary.

List 2: Lord + rez orb + gaze of flame + solar pulse
Lord + gaze of flame + veil of darkness
9 immortals
8 pariahs
2x 10 warriors
2x 4 destroyers
8 scarabs
1746

Same kind of thinking, except that now there is nothing to get rid of big nid warrior squads in cover, however it does open up a good gap for an expensive lord and his immortals to mishap, i mean deep strike into enemy back line, giving some strategic edge.

What do you think?

Reply out.

Funny, “comp” on an army that is old, over costed, and underpowered compared to the newer codexes, and comp hammer comes down on the two best units (and possibly most needed) in the codex. Ok, whining over, let’s build a stealth Necron list to pass under the comp score. I’ve had to do something similar with my Saim-Hann more than once since seer councils got you whacked in comp, yet TT/SS termies, mepheston, etc. are all game. Huh?

We want to put something down on the table that will make your opponent giggle like a school girl with glee since they are going to roll over your army like nothing, and then your army rolls up and punches them in the face. Can ‘crons do this? I see another list variant coming up…

Here is an aggressive Necron list that I sometimes use- you need to be bold an in your face with it.

HQ: Necron Lord W/ Destroyer Body + Phylactery + Solar Pulse + Warscythe
HQ: Necron Lord W/ Destroyer Body + Phylactery + Warscythe
Elite: 8 Immortals
Troops: 2 X 10 Warriors
Fast: 2 X 4 Destroyers
Heavy 2 X 3 Heavy Destroyers

You deploy as a core in the center of the table and just shoot away. Lords stay attached to a unit so they are hidden and can’t be picked out. Solar pulse in DOW for a round of shooting, or join one of the destroyer of heavy destroyer groups and pulse with them to keep them up a bit longer.

After your opponent has deployed- and you want to take first turn if you can, you move and shift over to the weaker side of the table shooting and blasting. Now best pracitve 40K says you shoot a unit till its dead. So for example, let’s say a tac squad in a rhino- heavy destroyers blast the rhino and then the destroyers and immortals blast the marines till they are dead. Rinse, repeat, and move to the next. Not so with this list. You want to blast away at a unit till it gets down to a bite sized chunk for the lords. Take that tac squad down to five or so guys, and then assault them with the lord. Phylactery is on there to make them super annoying, especially if you roll like a champ. Nothing more aggravating to your opponent then your lord getting back up with full wounds. For bigger squads or embedded units like those ‘nid warriors, shoot them a turn, and then assault with both your lords. Lords, destroyers, etc. that are fast moving contest objective, etc. as usual.

-Fritz