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Okay, so maybe there's no such thing as a 'friendly' decurion...

I've started playing at my local GW store, and this will be my first 7th ed game with Necrons (and only a couple removed from my first game of 7th ed). The main driving factor is that I want to put ALL my warriors on the table.

Reclamation Legion-
HQ
Overlord (with undecided wargear)
Troops
20x Warriors
20x Warriors
20x Warriors
10x Immortals (Gauss Blasters)
10x Immortals (Tesla Carbines)
3x Tomb Blades (gonna have to build and paint these fast)

Flayed One Auxiliary
Elite
14x Flayed Ones

Unfortunately, 3 is all the tomb blades I have right now. What I'd like most is advice on how to equip the Overlord, and advice on how to play super foot sloggers (98 models T4 models at 1500 points! Woo hoo!). I know that even with the Decurion (along with the +1 to reanimation protocols, everything withing 12' of the overlord gets to reroll 1s on reanimation), this a far from optimum list. Lack of mobility is going to be thing, as well as only having weight of fire to deal with most threats, especially CC pain that might end up sweeping whole warrior squads at once.

My thinking is that the point sacrifice to add a Royal Court formation, bringing in another overlord, lord, and cryptek would not be worth it, considering my goals, as nice as it would be to have a character leading every squad.

Would it be better to run the Flayed Ones as 2 x 7 instead of 1 x 14?

As cool as it'd be to have the overlord on a command barge, can I do that and satisfy the Reclaimation Legion requirements?

I'm thinking that a Veil of Darkness on the Overlord, and have him deepstrike in, and then the one use teleportation will help with some of the mobility, but I'm behind the curve on how the meta has shaped their gear choices.

Any and all C&C appreciated, apolegies that this is more a strategy request, and less a 'help me fine tune my list.'

Saw your questions on other thread, so I came over here to offer advice. While your list may not be 'optimized', it's pretty close.

Your list is solid and very similar to what I run, so here goes.

1) Overlord - Get Nemesor Zahndrekh if you can or proxy him if your opponents allow. This will take care of the 'what to equip' question as the ability to change Warlord Traits gives you some flexibility against whatever your opponent brings. Read 'Target Priority' in the BRB and you'll get an idea of what 60 Warriors can do in a foot slogging list. If you're worried about CC, he starts out with Zealot, and can then 'Fearless' and 'Immortal Hubris' are available options.

2) You're not as 'immobile' as you think. The Reclamation Legion grants you both 'Move through Cover' and 'Relentless'. While you are stuck at moving the 6" a turn, you can take advantage of Cover without it slowing you down as often. With that many models, you'll have a good footprint, that your opponents mobility options will become limited in most games. I've found that running when you can't shoot will often offset the game enough. With 'Relentless' you'll be able to move into Rapid Fire range, and if you don't annihilate whatever comes in range you'll have the option to charge. It'll take some experience to know when to charge and when NOT to charge. Don't buy into the hype that Necrons are bad in CC, often denying the your opponent the charge is more than enough.

3) The Gauss Immortals are the tricky unit with this setup. With no delivery system they're going to have this weird position of 'where do I put them?' They want to be closing in on the enemy where they can make use of that Rapid Fire. They're nice to have near the Overlord, but don't benefit as much from them as the Warriors will IMO. They'll do fine out on either Flank operating on their own, but against more mobile armies they will be outmaneuvered very easily, which can work to your advantage if done right. If you find that you do like them, then I'd recommend getting a Nightscythe for them. The Tesla Immortals are perfect in this setup, as they can comfortably sit behind all those Warriors (and Flayed Ones) and not have it impact their shooting for most of the game.

4) While you already know you need more Tomb Blades, a 3 man unit is fine. In a Decurion, you will only need to 'jink' in the most serious of shooting, because of their T5 they will almost always have their 4+ RP. You should have Nebuloscopes on them and I'd recommend Shield Vanes. Gauss is a good all around choice and you'll be able to use them as Tank Hunters, Objective Grabbers, or Assault Speed Bumps. Particle Beamers are worth looking at if you want to use them in more of a Support role.

5) Always start with your Flayed Ones on the board. This is a key element into making this army work. You don't have to infiltrate anymore, but having them off the board is what is really going to hurt you. Throw them against anything that isn't T8. Remember that they also cause 'Fear', so don't forget to make your oppoent roll if he's not immune to it's effects. Keep the Flayed Ones as one Large unit for now. If you find that you're only using them to get onto objectives early, then split them up. It's not uncommon to find players running 2-3 units of them for this reason. They're one of the best Assault units we have, so I prefer to run them 12+.

7) Unless you like the model, I wouldn't recommend the CCB. Sadly I can't answer if they meet the Decurion requirements or not because I never run them, but the codex should say it's an option.

NOTE: A common mistake that players make (myself included for a while). Flayed Ones do NOT benefit from the Overlord re-roll 1's on RP or Move through Cover, as the aren't a part of the Reclamation Legion. So don't feel that the need to be bunched up or near the Warlord for any of the Formation bonuses.

Hope this helps.

Is there such thing as a 'friendly' Decurion? This list would benefit from a Monolith I think. Deep Strike down and start teleporting units through the gate.

In a Decurion, Gauss Immortals win over Tesla hands down because of that relentless. Something to consider.

 counterwavecounter wrote:
In a Decurion, Gauss Immortals win over Tesla hands down because of that relentless. Something to consider.

This is one of those situations where the whole Gauss>Tesla doesn't work. The "When in doubt, go Gauss" is a good idea but like everything it's entirely situational. IF you are running the Immortals at the enemy, THEN Gauss Immortals win the argument 'hands down'. I regularly run 50+ Warriors in my lists and my experience has told me differently. While I'm not going to disagree that Reclamation Legion Gauss Immortals are powerful, they change when running a Warrior heavy list like this. As long as I can run large blocks of Warriors, I wouldn't trade the Tesla Immortals for anything. Keep in mind that I also run 1-2 units of Flayed Ones, and 1-2 units of Tomb Blades.

In smaller Reclamation Legion based lists, like Min Warriors, the Gauss Immortals play a different role by bolstering the gunline with S5/AP4 shots. It's also easier to keep the Immortals in range of the Warlord for the re-roll and any WL trait you might want to take advantage of. With larger blocks of Warriors, like the OP, it becomes a problem when playing because of where to actually play them. They do great out on the sides of the Warriors for a 'Trap' tactic. They also won't contribute their shots to anything that on or can move to the opposite board edge with ease. This is fine if that's what you WANT your opponent to do, but can be frustrating if you only have one unit of Gauss Immortals on one flank. If you put them in the middle of the army, then you're either tripping over the Warriors or bunching up for even happier Template/Blast hits for your opponent.

With the Flayed Ones adding a Layer of models out front, and the Tomb Blades able to cover the flanks better than the Immortals, the next best place for them is behind all the Warriors. Whether in a CAD or a Decurion, Tesla shines here and few players take advantage of that, mostly because of the belief that Gauss is always better than Tesla, etc. In the rear you're rarely going to see Rapid Fire range, you're not competing with getting units into range like the Warriors, and Tesla shooting isn't lost by not being in Rapid Fire range. They can easily stay in range of the Warlord being in the back, and mid game, they don't need to be babysat like the Warriors do, and can break off to reclaim objectives on the Necron side of the board, often still contributing their full Firepower. Tesla can wound anything up to T8 just like Gauss, and the advantage of Gauss is for AV12+ vehicles, which shouldn't be an issue for 60+ Warriors. Especially at this point level and/or if Zahndrekh is around to guarantee 'Target Priority'.

Since the OP has a unit of each, and has the large blocks of Warriors, he's probably going to run into the same issues that I did when running Gauss Immortals. The best place for them is out on the side, where Tomb Blades do a better job because their movement can compensate for their range and can get into the fight better than the Immortals can. With his setup, he'll probably end up putting the Immortals on one side, and the Tomb Blades on the other. I can see his opponents learning real quick to either deal with the Immortals or avoid them and deal with the Tomb Blades. They're a great unit, but if he does that, he might not be impressed with them because they'll die first or last. Either way, the Tesla Immortals will probably sit center behind all the Warriors and be able to put out the shots for whatever direction the opponent comes from.

Having a Nightscythe, Veiltek, or even a Monolith helps out the Gauss Immortals, as any of those will fix being able to avoid them and become less predictable to their opponent. A monolith isn't a bad idea for this list either, but he runs into the situation of if it comes in from reserve on time, or if his opponent can deal with it.

Thank you for the breakdown of your reasoning, but I think you're only looking at the game from a deployment perspective. Once the first turn starts and those drop pods start falling, things change. In your scenario, you're making the assumption that the Immortals will never be in rapid fire range. If that were true, then I completely agree, Tesla is the better choice, but we both know that won't be the case. Depending on how aggressive your opponent is, by turn two or three you're rapid firing, at which point Gauss outperforms Tesla.

Tesla is just too unpredictable, sometimes you roll six 6s and sometimes you roll none, and it only really has a place inside a CAD where the Gauss Immortals can't charge after shooting. I love the concept behind Tesla weapons, but Gauss is all around more reliable in most scenarios. My two cents.

Yes, I am looking at deployment because it's actually relevant here. That's what I'm trying to get at, and it's why the Gauss Immortals aren't always the optimal choice. I have to state that this is experience, not math talking.

Not going to debate here that Gauss Immortals outshine Tesla Immortals once inside Rapid Fire range. There are threads that the OP can look up if he really wants to be that dedicated. The OP has stated that he already has a unit of each, so some advice on how to play each unit with his setup was all I was trying help with. In games where I only start with one or two unit of Warriors on the board in a Decurion, or a CAD then everything you've said about Gauss Immortals is correct. That all changes when you run large blocks of Warriors/Flayed Ones. Immortals have the same movement/range as Warriors. In order to outperform Tesla (vs. Infantry), they need to get into Rapid Fire Range, which means they need to be deployed and played like Warriors. Even if he only ran 2 units of Warriors, he could center the Immortals, and put the Warriors around them and work. This changes because he has that 3rd unit.

Not everyone runs Drop Pods / First Turn Deep Strikers. Not everyone runs Tau suits which won't be in Rapid Fire range for 1/2 the game because of Jetpacks. So all we can really do is give TAC advice, especially in a situation where he already has the models. Aggressive opponents doesn't always change that either. I feel you're coming in from the perspective of the rest of the army not doing any damage either. There are 60 Warriors on his list. 60 Warriors that will be seeing Rapid Fire range and don't have a Tesla Option. To be effective he'll learn how and when to get close with those models, which also affects Gauss Immortals. Tesla is unreliable, if you're relying on 6's to generate hits. They still generate the same number of hits as Gauss Immortals outside of Rapid Fire range if you discount the 6's. If we were to go off this logic, we should never take Wraiths because they don't rend reliably, or take Flayed Ones because it's rare that opponents will take or fail a Fear test. When taking these units because of these reasons, you're not going to win games. (Admittedly, you'll have some awesome stories when they do work.)

Tactically, you're also basing your assumption that anyone who Deep Strikes is automatically going to go after the Immortals. While they are a prime Target for getting a KP/First Blood, they are extremely resilient in a Decurion. It's practically impossible to do so without getting into range of that many Warriors Rapid Fire/Assault. I've yet to see someone attempt to even do it, largely because I don't run them out front anymore. Even when I did, they ended up dropping back behind the blobs of Warriors because their impact on the game wasn't helping and it became a better option for me to make my opponent EARN finishing off that unit. That aside, no matter where he goes, he is going to have to deal with Warriors, which is the tactic on a list like the OP. Since most Deep Strike units have a 3+ sv, the 20 S5 hits aren't nearly as scary as the 40 S4 shots from Warriors. No, not always going to happen, but I hope it illustrates the point.

I found a pic from an old Batrep vs a Tau buddy of mine for Reference. (He had the typical Plasma Squad of death in Reserve.)
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This is only 50 Warriors, and as you can see they take up 1/2 of the DZ on their own. If he based them on the new 32mm bases, this footprint will be even larger. If I ran Gauss Immortals here, there are two good places to put them. One unit on either flank. As you can see, my opponent has a lone Riptide hidden in the building opposite which would have the option to jetpack away. So putting Gauss Immortals there won't have much of an impact on the game, and I'm filling that role with the Flayed Ones. The second place would be on the frontline, alternating between the Warriors. While this is a decent tactic, I found that the Casualties from blast weapons not worth the effort. Drop Pod Flamer units had a field day when that happened as well.

The third place for them is in the rear, like I have mine here. This is where they can be in range of Zahndrekh/WL, for the Re-rolls and Target Priority. They're not bunched up, and probably won't see Rapid Fire till Turn 3. I used to run Gauss here as well until I realized that against the majority of opponents they weren't seeing Rapid Fire range for a majority of the game. Toward the end of the game, they were going back to hold objectives in my own DZ or Casualties caused by the Warriors would affect the range of the Immortals. No math behind it, just an experience that is different. I will admit that I've had 2-3 games where I've killed all of the infantry in range and only had vehicles left where the Tesla Immortals just derp'd around. Didn't bother me as I still had 2 units of Warriors left to deal with that. There actually is such a thing as too much Gauss.

Please understand, I'm not trying to say you're wrong or prove my point. Just trying to illustrate for the OP, that the tactic changes dramatically when you run large blocks of Warriors. There is such an points investment in Warriors that using them to support Immortals isn't the way to go, and he'll need to look at doing it the other way around. He doesn't think it's optimal and sounds like he needs some reassurance that he'll be find. He's also not in a situation where he's trying to decide if he's building Gauss v. Tesla Immortals. He already owns them. So advice on how to play each, on a list like this, is where I think he is asking for help.

I appreciate the in-depth anaylis and the C&C. Thank you to everyone for your input!

I didn't even occur to me that necron warriors got changed to the new base size. Redoing 60 bases... that sounds like a special hell.

The reassurance helps - I've spent seventh edition hearing about how craaaaaaaazy some armies are, and how Belakor roflstomps his way up and down fields, and scatbikes ruin everyones' day... but have yet to get any practical experience to put it into perspective.

The tactics talk is definitely helping me get an idea of what I need to get my head around. I'll see about putting up some battlereports once my army hits the table.

You're not required to change the bases over, and very few places require it. I prefer the smaller bases because it's easier to manage ranges off the Warlord. I will admit that the Plastic Warriors fit and look better on the 32mm bases though.

Hi Akar. We have been in touch elsewhere. Your advocating for using tesla immortals have convinced me to include 10 in my collection. I try to get close to the enemy lines with veil of darkness or with a scythe with my 10 gauss immortals. But as a big squad slowly advancing or maybe staying back to hold back field objectives could be a great idea. Actually the necrons lack small squads with long range weapons to grab those objectives so the tesla immortals could come in handy here.

@ bookwrack: I have great use with Anrakyr the traveller in cad list to ensure to get relentless warlord trait and couple him up with a squad of gauss immortals and a cryptek to make a mini death star. Anrakyr gives the immortals furious charge, counter attack and sweeping advance bonus (I think). The cryptek carries the veil of darkness to teleport the unit deep behind enemy lines and provide 5++ against shooting attacks and 4+ RP.
Going decurion with relentless lets you do the same trick with just a regular warlord as he gets to take veil but miss the 5++ from the cryptek chromatron.
Still at a level where you don't loose friends as its more just a funny gimmick than a invincible death star.