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Here's an idea that I had for a Necron list in 5th edition. I haven't looked at the new rulebook yet, but the sense I'm getting from reading various forums and blogs suggests that this list will be fun and challenging. The strategy is this: Necron Lord #1 joins the Pariahs, and they all hoof it into the middle of the board to spread the Soulless-ness around. The Lord uses its Solar Pulse to keep first or second turn's firepower off the unit, and its Gaze of Flame to help with any would-be early assaults. If the enemy decides to camp, or has plenty of non-Fearless units hanging around, then the Nightmare Shroud is there in the second or third turn to help run them off on mass. Necron Lord #10 zips around with the largest squad of Warriors, either shooting important threats like tanks and artillery (including Lootas), or lending a Ressurrection Orb presence to an assault. The Lord will also be able to pull units out of hopeless situations. The Flayed Ones and the Wraiths drop/move into the backfield and team up against select units, interfering with dedicated assault units where the Orb is available, and lending a hand where the Pariahs run into anything that isn't big enough and dumb enough to tote a Power Fist. The Tomb Spyders, two units of Warriors, and the Heavy Destroyers play the backfield, potting vehicles, guarding objectives, and keeping that core of 16+ Necrons necessary to avoid complications due to Phase Out. Alternately the back-fielders can advance up the field behind the runners (Lord #10 and Pariahs) to engage backfield campers.

Necron Lord #1
Gaze of Flame
Solar Pulse
Nightmare Shroud
Chronometron
Phase Shifter
Warscythe
(210)

Necron Lord #10
Veil of Darkness
Resurrection Orb

Pariahs
x5 (180)

Flayed Ones #1
x10 (180)

Flayed Ones #10
x10 (180)

Necron Warriors #1
x11 (198)

Necron Warriors #10
x10 (198)

Necron Warriors #11
x10 (180)

Wraiths #1
x3 (123)

Wraiths #10
x3 (123)

Tomb Spyders
x2 (110)

Heavy Destroyers
x2 (130)

What the hell dude.... if you're gonna be a major nerd and use binary for your squad numbers, use binary for your number of bodies as well... eg:
Necron Warriors #11
x111 (198)

Or you could act like a normal human and stick to the decimal system.

No monoliths=poop. I'm 100% convinced that monoliths are a must in 5th. And Pariahs still suck balls in 5th. Their initiative is too low to fight of anything that really cares about assaulting.

Jhagadum:

I'm sorry, but I don't find your comments to be helpful or constructive.

The squad names don't need to be written in the same numeral system as the list details, as they're a background detail rather than anything to do with the rules. I could just as well have used Roman numerals, or English letters, or Dakka Ork symbols. Using anything but standard the standard numerals for the rules would needlessly obscure the rules, which is what is at issue here.

Which is why I don't see how your comments about Monoliths and Pariahs means anything constructive or helpful since "=poop" and "suck balls" are meaningless predicates in terms of the game rules.

Presumably you mean that you don't like these units, but simply saying so isn't helpfull or constructive. Helpful or constructive would be citing reasons that I can consider for why you don't like these units and hence why I shouldn't use these units as part of my strategy.

Your comment about the Initiative rating of Pariahs is partway there, since you manage to cite a rule-related characteristic of Pariahs, but it doesn't address the specific of my strategy and only vaguely alludes to why I might not want to use them.

what happens when your wraiths get shot by small arms fire? cover in 5th means that they can now be seen more often, but gain no benifits. with such a low number of wounds they will die to massed firepower. this is why they arent good.

im not a big fan of flayed ones. point for point they just dont kill as much as warriors. theyre about as good in combat as a marine, and marines arent good in combat. you wont be able to get a res orb out to them easily so they will die to power weapons and when they do finally kill something they will be wiped out by everything shooting at them. warriors stay closer to your res orb and kill stuff at range.

you dont have enough heavy destoyers as it stands if your opponents plant a couple of tanks at the back of the board and shells you to death you cant deal with it. for 1850pts i thing you need a minimum on about 6. sure its a lot, but the alternative isnt really worth thinking about.

there are 3 things wrong with pariahs. fistly they will get shot to pieces. a one wound model with a 3+ save is really easy to kill, so the squad will die quickly. secondly their shooting and combat ability, while good on paper, isnt really. immortals and warriors outshoot them and flayed ones (yes flayed ones!) out fight them in combat. finally, and this is the most important thing, they are not necrons. they wont get 'well be back' and they take points away from your phase out. what will happen is, they will get shot to death (easy to do), tarpitted (easy to do) or beaten in combat and run down (easy to do). for the same points you can have 10 more warriors, why not do that.

monolits, although they get a massive boost in 5th, still arent absolutely necessary. heavy destroyers are though (heck, ever regular destroyers would be better). scrap the wraith, immortals and maybe the tomb spiders and get some destroyers and heavy destroyers.

Nurglitch wrote:Jhagadum:

I'm sorry, but I don't find your comments to be helpful or constructive.

The squad names don't need to be written in the same numeral system as the list details, as they're a background detail rather than anything to do with the rules. I could just as well have used Roman numerals, or English letters, or Dakka Ork symbols. Using anything but standard the standard numerals for the rules would needlessly obscure the rules, which is what is at issue here.

Which is why I don't see how your comments about Monoliths and Pariahs means anything constructive or helpful since "=poop" and "suck balls" are meaningless predicates in terms of the game rules.

Presumably you mean that you don't like these units, but simply saying so isn't helpfull or constructive. Helpful or constructive would be citing reasons that I can consider for why you don't like these units and hence why I shouldn't use these units as part of my strategy.

Your comment about the Initiative rating of Pariahs is partway there, since you manage to cite a rule-related characteristic of Pariahs, but it doesn't address the specific of my strategy and only vaguely alludes to why I might not want to use them.

While his criticisms aren't constructive, I believe there is a grain of truth to them. Pariahs have too low of an Initiative value to be of any worth in a close combat, especially because they do not come back and they are 36 points each. I would drop the pariahs in this case.

Wraiths are always fun, but I always found myself leaving them in the box when playing anything but a 2000 point game (that was the only time I was truly required to use them). They give you good assault power, but have the survivability of 3 MEQs. If they all get wiped out, then you can't get them back, even with WBB.

The Flayed ones give you plenty of assault prowess. While perhaps not enough to go toe-to-toe with the enemy, you should use them as a counter-assault unit if you get stuck in. Try and resist the urge to Infiltrate them.

Tomb spyders are nice, but they are better suited to a list that has a lot of destroyers, or other small, elite units that are bound to get split up. The Wraiths are one of these units, but the Tomb Spyders simply won't be able to keep up with them.

With all of those points you just freed up, you could buy a monolith and maybe some Immortals. Lord #10 can go with the immortals, veiling them as necessary, and the other lord can support the Flayed ones.

If you sit back, and don't intentionally seek combat, I think this could be a very effective list. Good luck with it!

Regwon:

Thanks for your comments.

I'm not sure if I agree with any of them, though. Although I don't have a copy of the 5th edition rules yet, it seems to me that Wraiths are still fast enough that they can take cover behind hills, and other totally obscuring terrain, rather than risk cover/armour/invulnerable saves that they will eventually fail. Considering that they have both a 3+ armour save and a 3+ invulnerable save, it seems that worrying about cover is going to be needless since they'll be wasted in a bunker, and a 4+ cover save isn't going to do anything that a 3+ invulnerable won't do.

I mean, if they are going to get shot at by enough small arms fire, I'll expect them to die, and hence the trick will be moving so that they don't have to take that small arms fire before they hit a unit, and directing my supporting fire so that they don't have to take that small arms fire after they've demolished that unit.

Likewise I'm not worried about power weapons because the Wraiths and the Flayed Ones should be working in concert and ganging up on assault units. In particular I don't expect the Resurrection Orb to save their them from power weapons as I expect to shoot the assault units and assault the shooting units. The Terrifying Visage might help a bit, but I figure that's just gravy compared to direct support from fellow assault units and indirect support from shooting and other special rules (Tomb Spyders, for example).

That's why, for example, I'm not too worried if the Heavy Destroyers just wonder around plinking transport vehicles, because the army should have the mobility to deepstrike something to harm those vehicle's rear armour. The Wraiths, aside from supporting assaults by Flayed Ones, should put some hurt on those R10 vehicles.

Vis-a-vis the Pariahs, the fact that they are relatively fragile is why I have the Lord with the Solar Pulse. The Lord uses that to protect the initial jog up the board, so that the unit won't have to rely on its T or Sv to defend against attacks. Likewise I'm hoping to present my opponent with more immediate threats so that if they shoot at the Pariahs then they'll be opening themselves up to a greater danger.

Basically, like the Wraiths, they're only easy to take down with shooting if I let my opponent do so (definitely be tricky, but doable as I've learned from playing my Dark Eldar armies). Dissenting from popular opinion, I think that Pariahs actually look bad on paper (W, I, A, Sv, Pts), but synergize well with the right strategy.

This theme of mutual support is why I'm not terribly concerned about their firepower and close combat ability. They have roughly the firepower of a Heavy Bolter Devastator squad, and more than the equivalent powers in Warriors, but that's secondary compared to the effect of Soulless, especially if I spread them out in the middle of the field. If they're going to enter assault then they'll do so supported by Warscythe Lord and a couple of assault units.

The fact that they're not Necrons doesn't bother me much either, particularly since I have plenty of other Necrons in the force and We'll Be Back support in the form of the Lord and the Tomb Spyders. Since Pariahs are Fearless they cannot be beaten and run down in combat, like Necron Warriors.

In combination with the Wraiths, Flayed Ones, and Lords Pariahs better in combat, particularly with assistance from the Lord (the small unit size benefits them where the Lord's wargear is concerned). I mean, if I were to march them up the board and attack my opponent willy-nilly then ten more Warriors would be good, but the army concept is emphasizing the synergy of mutually supporting units.

Basically, I think I have enough Necrons and want the abilities of the Pariahs to make sure that when the Necrons hit the enemy, they hit their hardest.

Burning Star IV:

The close combat abilities of Pariahs are just incidental for me, so I'm not worried about them. Besides, their Initiative is good enough for dealing with Power Fist wielding troops that would otherwise tear Necrons to pieces. I think this list would be terribly vulnerable to stuff like Terminators, Chosen, Veterans, and so on. The combination of the Nightmare Shroud and Soulless should help against anything Eldar-ish.

The army is 2000 pts, and I agree that the Wraiths would be too expensive for anything smaller (I'd switch them for Scarabs at smaller increments), but their risk of losing their We'll Be Back roll is something I've hedged against in three ways. Firstly there are the Tomb Spyders, who'll provide great We'll Be Back coverage if I make them run up the field. Secondly there is the duplication of Wraith units. These units are going to stick close together and hit units together so that return attacks are minimized, and they make the most of their S6 A3 each. Thirdly, I think their mobility gives them survivability more similar to Reaver Jetbikes, which I'm used to preserving and whose battlefield roll they are closer to than tactical Marines.

I don't plan to use the Flayed Ones as counter-assault, as they don't hit hard enough to do that: I have Tomb Spyders for that: slow, hard-hitting, and they support the Warrior's We'll Be Back better than throwing more bodies into a combat. I mean, if I'm being assaulted that means that my opponent will be attacking with their assault units, and attacking their assault troops is a zero-sum game unless I use both units, which is a waste considering their ability to cover the board and the way deepstrike (via their own deep strike or the Lord's Veil of Darkness) I want them their coverage to complement rather than overlap. I think that infiltrating with them will work if I use them to attack tanks, artillery, and shooting troops in concert with the Wraiths.

As you say, Tomb Spyders are suited to lists with lots of small units that split up. They have a lot of things to do, and if they do one at a time then I think they can pull off things like supporting the Wraiths and Flayed Ones (running up the board after them so they're in the area when Wraiths assault), supporting the Warriors, and so on.

I don't think that Immortals would be particularly useful in this army because they're basically expensive Warriors, and need duplication to maximize the benefit of the Tomb Spyders and We'll Be Back. I would include a Monolith if it wasn't so costly, which would definitely cut into my Necron model count without providing the services that I'm getting from the Wraiths, Tomb Spyders, and Pariahs.

Sitting back and not seeking combat would basically be ceding the initiative to my opponent, and all a Monolith would do would prolong the inevitable route as my opponent nibbles me to death unit by unit. Instead, my plan is to use my mobility (jetbikes, deep strike) to methodically bite my opponent's army into manageable chunks if it is a small 'elite' army, or attack in a terrifying host if it's a horde army (Nightmare Shroud bomb).

Necrons was my first army. I can tell you this now. Pariahs were not good in 4th, and are worse in 5th. They take away from your Phase Out. Sure you can run them now, but a smart player will ignore them until they crash into one of his/her units, then just step up to rapid-fire until they are gone.

I speak from the heart when I say I live and die by my Destroyers. I play a army with 15 Destroyers and 6 Heavy Destroyers. They were great in 4th and are now better in 5th since the new damage chart for AV.

A Monolith is NOT needed for the type of army you are trying to make, so dont worry about. The Lord with a Solar Pulse will only force the other player to seek you out. That hurts more then you would think, since combat is not where you want to be with your Lord. Remember, he's not fearless, and will fall of the board if he looses combat. You really need to play test this army first. As a Necron player myself, I would just wait it out against you. Force your Warriors to move, deny them 24" range. Wait and take a pop shot at the Flying Lord (since they can be targeted now) and slowly phase you out.

Hey there Nurglitch, fellow Necron player here.

I'm looking at your list here and it looks really assault based, the only problem with this is that if you face against more assault based armies, such as black templar, you are going to get sweeping advanced left and right. Keep in mind that 1 dreadnaught can sweeping advance one whole unit of warriors, bringing your phase out number to a pretty low level. You do have the tomb spiders to counter this however, which is a good thing.

If your first necron lord is going to be assaulting with a unit, it might be a good idea to give him a rez orb. Also if he dies to a power weapon or str 2x toughness then he doesn't get to stand back up unless there's another necron lord within 6 inches with a rez orb.

It's good you are running a good supply of warriors in 5th, and hope you keep them back and stay shooty instead of assaulting. What I used to run was a necron lord with a lightning field, everytime they wounded me, they would get hit back, and I'd tie them up for 3-4 rounds of combat and eventually win. Obviously this can't be done in the new rules.

As far as pariahs go, remember that they don't get a WBB save, they are pretty much one of the weakest units in the necron army as far as resilience goes, when they die, they die. Couple this with only 1 attack in close combat, you are going to lose a bunch of assaults, and have to take wounds equal to the amount of unsaved wounds inflicted on the unit, because they are fearless.

As far as your strategy to have your warriors attack tanks, glancings have a -2 modifier on them now. If you roll a 6 it counts as a 4. So basically you can only disarm and immobilize a tank, but not destroy it. Chances are if that unit gets into assault, they are going to get sweeping advanced against a good assault team, such as terminators, so veil of darkness isn't really going to come into effect most of the time.

Keep in mind the main thing is, you take a leadership test based on the amount of unsaved wounds you took, minus the amount you dealed and that's the negitive modifier for your leadership test. Aka if I did 7 wounds to you, and you did 2 to me, you would take a leadership test on a 5, which most likely will fail, and with the Warriors low intiative, you will most likely die to sweeping advance.

I'm sorry if I sound so negitive, but I was very big into an assault based necron army too, but I think 5th edition really ruined the option for most necron players to run assault in a competitive enviorment. I think the best way to make assault is to run wraths, with a necron destroyer lord, they will get across the board in 1 turn, and be ready to assault on the second (wraths and lord destroyer can move 24 inches). The wraths get a +3 inv, so they can withstand a lot of firepower. Throw a tomb spider in the back in case the squad is wiped out, and you still get all your wbb rolls.

So basically here's my idea to make this more viable for 5th.

Drop the pariahs, they are kind of a waste of points, believe me I've tried to run them.
Get some scarabs (they can move 24 inches) and have them tie up shooty early on when your lord deploys his solar pulse.
Run a destroyer lord with your wraths
Get a monolith for tank destruction and to draw fire off your assault
Might be a good idea to drop a lord and run the deciever, have him fear units, and draw fire. He can also make it so if enemies assault you, they will have a hard time hitting. In the new rules he can fear a fearless unit, and they take wounds on a modifier (i forget exactly how it works, it's in the faq though).
I'd throw in another tomb spider, they are a must have.

There's my take

-Kree

Soulless + Nightmare shroud is an interesting idea. I'm curious if its better to swap the solar pulse with the lightning field, and put the pulse on your other lord, so the unit is more likely to win a close combat due to the extra strikes back, and then force a LD6 - wounds check.

Burning Star IV:

The close combat abilities of Pariahs are just incidental for me, so I'm not worried about them. Besides, their Initiative is good enough for dealing with Power Fist wielding troops that would otherwise tear Necrons to pieces. I think this list would be terribly vulnerable to stuff like Terminators, Chosen, Veterans, and so on. The combination of the Nightmare Shroud and Soulless should help against anything Eldar-ish.

The army is 2000 pts, and I agree that the Wraiths would be too expensive for anything smaller (I'd switch them for Scarabs at smaller increments), but their risk of losing their We'll Be Back roll is something I've hedged against in three ways. Firstly there are the Tomb Spyders, who'll provide great We'll Be Back coverage if I make them run up the field. Secondly there is the duplication of Wraith units. These units are going to stick close together and hit units together so that return attacks are minimized, and they make the most of their S6 A3 each. Thirdly, I think their mobility gives them survivability more similar to Reaver Jetbikes, which I'm used to preserving and whose battlefield roll they are closer to than tactical Marines.

I don't plan to use the Flayed Ones as counter-assault, as they don't hit hard enough to do that: I have Tomb Spyders for that: slow, hard-hitting, and they support the Warrior's We'll Be Back better than throwing more bodies into a combat. I mean, if I'm being assaulted that means that my opponent will be attacking with their assault units, and attacking their assault troops is a zero-sum game unless I use both units, which is a waste considering their ability to cover the board and the way deepstrike (via their own deep strike or the Lord's Veil of Darkness) I want them their coverage to complement rather than overlap. I think that infiltrating with them will work if I use them to attack tanks, artillery, and shooting troops in concert with the Wraiths.

As you say, Tomb Spyders are suited to lists with lots of small units that split up. They have a lot of things to do, and if they do one at a time then I think they can pull off things like supporting the Wraiths and Flayed Ones (running up the board after them so they're in the area when Wraiths assault), supporting the Warriors, and so on.

I don't think that Immortals would be particularly useful in this army because they're basically expensive Warriors, and need duplication to maximize the benefit of the Tomb Spyders and We'll Be Back. I would include a Monolith if it wasn't so costly, which would definitely cut into my Necron model count without providing the services that I'm getting from the Wraiths, Tomb Spyders, and Pariahs.

Sitting back and not seeking combat would basically be ceding the initiative to my opponent, and all a Monolith would do would prolong the inevitable route as my opponent nibbles me to death unit by unit. Instead, my plan is to use my mobility (jetbikes, deep strike) to methodically bite my opponent's army into manageable chunks if it is a small 'elite' army, or attack in a terrifying host if it's a horde army (Nightmare Shroud bomb).

Kreedos:

I've played with Necrons before, but I'm not a Necron player. I'm just looking at this Necron army because it intrigues me enough to consider buying the models for it.

With more assault-based armies, I'm planning on using the army's mobility and shooting to even the odds in my favour instead of keeping enemy shooters off the backs of my assault section. I'm not so worried about sweeping advances, particularly from Dreadnoughts

Something that I'd like to challenge is the idea that glancing hits cannot destroy vehicles. I may be wrong, since I don't have the official rules release, but I was pretty sure that once a vehicle has been immobilized and its weapons destroyed, that the next immobilized/weapon destroyed result upgrades to a vehicle destroyed (wrecked) result.

Also, the fact that vehicles are hit on their rear armour in assaults, and most vehicles have AV10 on their rear means that I decided against disruption fields on the grounds that they aren't needed to glance vehicles and that the points are better spent on more bodies.

Obviously the Warriors are not going to try assaulting, as their shooting will be more effective than assaulting, particularly if they're back-pedaling away from incoming assault troops. Given that numbers no longer affect combat besides extra attacks and wounds, I'd rather these guys basically try to stay alive to capture objectives rather than try to get a few whacks in before getting assaulted or hammered by return fire. That's one reason why I decided against the Lightening Field, because I'd rather not even give the enemy the opportunity to cause wounds rather than bet on coming out on top in a slugging match.

The army isn't really about assaulting or shooting, but about using a combination of assaulting, shooting, mobility, and special effects to either surgically dismantle elite enemies, or overwhelm horde enemies.

So I want to keep the Pariahs, not because they're any good at assaulting or shooting, but because of their special rules - they tie the army together.

I don't want Scarabs because they will be demolished by blast weapons, and Wraiths hit harder - the Initiative and Strength of 6 suit my purposes better (re: rear armour, survivability, mobility).

The Destroyer Lord is something I consider, and am still considering. The problem is that the first Lord is a combination of wargear I'd like to try and I want the Veil of Darkness to act somewhat as a poor man's Monolith.

The Monolith I'm not terribly interested in, as mentioned, because it would take points away from the troops I believe that I need to implement my strategy.

I would add another Tomb Spyder, but like the Monolith, the points don't seem to be available without abandoning the army strategy.

I didn't find your comments to be negative. There's nothing wrong with pointing out what mistakes you think I'm making so long as you make that criticism constructive by telling me how you think I should fix it (which you did).

The constructive part helps me in two-fold ways: firstly, it gives me the opportunity to evaluate your reasoning in terms of the strategy I'm going for, and secondly it gives me insight into the situations where my strategy will fail. After all, if my strategy fails in situations X, Y, and Z, then my job is either to choose a strategy that doesn't fail in those situations (not in the cards), or to figure out how to avoid those situations.

I mean, I think that if I were going to change this army and maintain the strategy, I'd swap the Pariahs for Flayed Ones, the Veil of Darkness for the Destroyer Body, and the Heavy Destroyers for more Wraiths. I think it would sacrifice some of the army's ability to control the initiative, but gain some punch that might payout early in the game with some lucky deep strike rolls. I think, though, it would be virtually throwing the game against Guard armies.

So alternately:

Necron Lord #1
Destroyer Body (30)
Resurrection Orb (30)
Chronometron (10)
Phase Shifter (25)
Warscythe (10)
(210)

Necron Lord #10
Destroyer Body (30)
Nightmare Shroud (30)
Solar Pulse (30)
Chronometron (10)
Warscythe (10)

Flayed Ones #1
x10 (180)

Flayed Ones #10
x10 (180)

Flayed Ones #11
x10 (180)

Necron Warriors #1
x11 (198)

Necron Warriors #10
x10 (180)

Necron Warriors #11
x10 (180)

Wraiths #1
x3 (123)

Wraiths #10
x3 (123)

Wraiths #11
x3 (123)

Tomb Spyders
x2 (110)

Total: 1992
Phase Out: 18

If you are looking to use soulless to tie your army together, I'd focus on running a full squad of pariahs to ensure that they don't get killed right away. The pariahs are going to get targeted first in your army, this is most true when fighting against shooty based armies because they see the pariahs as your tank distruction. 30 flayed ones in the back field of any shooty army is definately going to damage quite a few things and ensure you win combat. 9 wrath strategy works really well, but ties up a lot of points for your phase out that could be put into something else.

I think you really undervalue the use of immortals however, they are far superior to warriors. They get 2 str 5 ap 4 shots at 24 inches as to where warriors only 1 str 4 ap 5 shot at 24 inches. Immortals are also more resiliant at toughness 5. This means you don't need a rez orb when being hit with str 8 cannon fire either. The str 5 shot also means you can pen AV 10 instead of just glancing it. All and all I think the extra points are worth it and and I'm planning on running about 16 in my army with a lord to back up one of the squads.

All that being said, with your list the way it is (Even though I really think a deciever would work well here) would really do well against some armies, but not so much for others. You will do very well against shooty, such as shooty IG, TAU or even shooty space marines, but as far as pure assault armies go, I think you will have a rough time when you see how much of an impact the sweeping advance rules make on low initiative necron assault.

Also, scarabs aren't really meant to deal a lot of damage WS 2 toughness 3. They are meant to tie up units and assist other assaults. Also as far as the blast goes, a good player isn't going to go for your scarabs first, they are going to blow your warriors and pariahs away in attempt to make you phase out, so they don't even have to deal with the rest of your army.

Kreedos:

I don't think a full squad of Pariahs will be necessary, but that's because I'm gambling on the Lord's Solar Pulse to obscure him and the Pariahs from the first or second turn's shooting, long enough to get some Flayed Ones and Wraiths into combat with vehicles where cover won't save them. A combat squad of Marines isn't the toughest unit out there, even back up by the trickery of a Necron Lord, but I figure I can probably stand to lose the Necron Destroyers if the suggestions concerning their number stand true.

I'm not sure I really agree with the idea that nine Wraith tie up lots of points. While Wraiths are expensive per model, the low model count of the unit means that they're some of the least expensive units. With regard to Phase Out, I think combining Wraiths with Immortals would lower my overall Phase Out number, but the combination with the (relatively) cheap and plentiful Flayed Ones evens things out a bit.

The reasons you cite for taking Immortals seem to apply equally to Pariahs, although I think that's only superficial: Pariahs treated like Immortals are free victory points. If I was planning on slugging it out with my opponents I'd want three units of Immortals, but they don't really fit into my strategy so far as I can see. They're low risk, but low return where dictating play is concerned (a ordnance bait...).

I'd be inclined to risk a relatively low Phase Out number for a couple of reasons. The first is that trying to protect against Phase Out by adding bodies means that you've capitulated the initiative; you're expecting to get hit and hope for the best rather than using mobility and the application of force to prevent attacks in the first place. I would rather have a good chance to kill a unit on the second or third turns than have a good chance of weathering its ability to apply force for six turns.

From a purely game-play perspective I like glass-hammer strategies like this because (1) I find moving stuff around the board more fun than rolling dice, and (2) it feels like I've accomplished something when I pull it off.

Regarding the low Necron Initiative, the Initiative ratings in my preferred army go up to 6 with the Wraiths, and I'm trying to compensated for the I3 of the Pariahs with the Lord's Chronometron. The idea behind hitting with the Wraiths and Flayed Ones (only going it along against vehicles that don't hit back) is that the Wraiths will be able to pull more weight than their profiles suggest by performing Sweeping Advances well. I could also exchange the Heavy Destroyers for a third unit of Wraiths, but I could squeeze four more Pariahs in for that cost, or even split the difference.

Regarding Scarabs, from what I've read on these board tar-pitting isn't going to be an effective tactic anymore since they'll take extra wounds from losing combat, as you point out with the Pariahs, but on a Sv5+. The Pariahs and Tomb Spyders already cut into my Necron count significantly, and Scarabs don't hit hard enough to do the unit sniping I have planned.

I'm not sure why you think a good player won't go after the Scarabs, particularly since their weaknesses (low toughness, low armour, swarms) are exacerbated in 5th edition, and so they're both useful to the Necron player when in strength and relatively easy to clear away in a single phase of firing. I'd say it depends on what the player is doing with them and what the targets of opportunity are. I'd take Scarabs if I had a Fast Attack slot open and spare points to spend, but I can't really find a place for them in 5th edition.

Preferred List, V1.1

Necron Lord #1
Gaze of Flame
Solar Pulse
Nightmare Shroud
Chronometron
Phylactery
Warscythe
(210)

Necron Lord #10
Destroyer Body
Resurrection Orb
Phase Shifter
Chronometron
Warscythe
(210)

Pariahs
x9 (324)

Flayed Ones #1
x10 (180)

Flayed Ones #10
x10 (180)

Necron Warriors #1
x10 (180)

Necron Warriors #10
x10 (180)

Necron Warriors #11
x10 (180)

Wraiths #1
x2 (82)

Wraiths #10
x2 (82)

Wraiths #11
x2 (82)

Tomb Spyders
x2 (110)

Total: 2000pts
Phase Out: 14

I'm on the wall between splitting the Wraiths into three groups and having nine Pariahs. Any ideas about how to go about spreading the points spent on Pariahs and Wraiths into an optimal distribution between these sorts of units?

9 Pariahs seems like a good amount to base out on seeing that a lot of your army will be based on them, and lowering leadership across the board. Two wraths per squad should be enough just as long as you keep a tomb spider within 18 inches in case the whole unit goes down. On the necron lord running with a warrior squad (if you are still doing that) I'd reccomend using a staff of light instead of a warsythe. I was looking at the staff of light stats today, and they are pretty sweet. 12 inches, 3 shots str 5 ap 3, ignores space marine armor saves. When you combine that with a shooty unit, it can really help add up deaths in my opinion. All and all it looks like a good choice. I can actually test this out in a game to see how it does against my friends, and let you know. I have most of the models needed and can just proxy the rest. FYI, I posted my shooty army list in this section as well, let me know what you think.

I don't know if you saw it, but I had a list somewhat similar to yours, and it did really well.

Nightbringer 360 points

Necron destroyer lord - 210 points
Phase Shifter, Destroyer Body, Res Orb

9 Wraiths -369 points

22 Warriors - 396 points

12 Flayed ones with disruption orbs - 252 points

3 Tomb Spiders - 165 points

1752 points

Phase out - 11 models

This army list did awesome against an IG and Ultra marine Space marine army.

The nightbringer took out 9 terminators that were deep striked in my backfield in two turns without taking a wound.

Kreedos:

I believe the Tomb Spyder has to be within 12" of the Wraiths for them to benefit from it providing We'll Be Back rolls.

The first Necron Lord, the one with the Solar Pulse, I plan to accompany the Pariahs. He's their to improve their survivability with such tricks as the Solar Pulse, Gaze of Flame, and Chronometron. The Warscythe will give him some decent hitting power - like I said earlier I don't want to rely on the Pariahs to do serious damage and the Staff of Light is simply too short range. Moreover it competes with the Solar Pulse and the Nightmare Shroud for something to do in the Shooting phase.

About your army list, what are the configurations for the units?

(why would your opponent drop Terminators anywhere near the Nightbringer?)

You have to drop Terminators close to Necrons. Otherwise, they get out shot. Nightbringer sits close to the units of warriors to provide back up.. Now with the new running rules, he's a force to behold.