Necron Lord Loadout and roles

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**porkuslime**

OK.. need a bit of thinkin assistin..

I have gotten hold of a fair size necron army.. going to work on it for eventual codex revamp (I can dream, yah?)

I DO NOT wish to run any C'tan.. personal choice here.. Godlike beings are not my playstyle. I don't use Named Characters either, btw..

Over time, I have gotten these..
2 OOP Necron Lords with Staff of Light
1 current Necron lord with Warscythe, missing off res orb arm.
1 Necron Destroyer Lord with Res Orb arm, missing Warscythe arm.. but otherwise assembled
1 set of Destroyer Lord metal bits.

plus other things for the army..
60 warriors
30 immortals
dozen scarab bases
9 Destroyers
5 H Destroyer
Monolith

My current plan is..

Run a Destroyer Lord with scarab ablative wounds to take out units like Lootas/heavy infantry/support stuff. Not vehicle removal.. unless it is light stuff.

Should I use a Res orb here? Is this use of a DL a good one?

Have a walking Lord with Res Orb and Staff of Light to hang out with Warriors in a "objective camping" role. Bad idea?

Maybe instead to give Lord #2 a Destroyer Body and have him fly around res orbing destroyer units?

Help with this is appreciated.. questions as well!

**themrsleepy**

A DBodied lord with scarabs has it s place. It all depends on how you use them. It really is like adding wounds and extra saves to your lord if you just want to turbo boost him around to cause minor pain all over the place. One Hydra flak cannon, and he's pretty much toast though, but every unit has something that will beat it, just determines whether or not you face it. An interesting idea that just occurred to me, two DB lords with Warscythes and a squad of scarabs, two lords twice the punch and scarabs all day to absorb random dakka. 500 point alpha unit, but depending on what else youre fielding, could soften up the oppenent for a turn or two... for sure it would keep fire off your destroyers/immortals/warriors.

One of my favorite things to do is Veil of Darkness a lord with squad, being able to run them to cover that last bit of drift off the deep strike to claim or contest an objective your opponent doesn't realize you can take is awesome.

having 30 immortals is awesome. Facing a majority toughness 5 army like that can be tough. if i had to face an 1850 list with 30 immortals 9 destroyers and 20 warriors, it would be a very hard fought battle. only reason to field a res orb in that list would be if you are facing some serious s10 shots, as anything less the WBB will not be negated and any s8 or s9 will not be shot at warriors because of the much heftier targets.

If you put a lord on a DB to fly around with destroyers, he will often be out of range to shoot anything with a staff of light. You could use him to absorb ap3 shots just to keep your destroyers alive, but for 200 points, you could just field 4 more destroyers.

**Shake Zoola**

For your first option Destroyer lord Id say youre using him the right way...give the scarabs disruption fields to make it more effective agianst the light vehicles...dont bother w a resorb on that one though...it will only affect him not the scarabs...id give him a phylcary (i dont know how its spelled) and have him avoid power weapons, since his dbody makes him T6 nothing can double strength ID him...having a foot lord sitting around an objective with warriors is a waste of a lord and all the points you spend on him IMHO...if the enemy really wants to remove you from that objective hell simply assault you and sweep you (and your expensive lord) and you lose all WBB and he gets the objective anyway...foot lords are good for veiling and really nothing more right now (which blows cause they are killer looking models!)...Im personally a fan of the wraith wing...get yourself at least 6 wraiths (2 squads minimum...3 if you can) and run your dlord w orb and phase shifter or phylactary (depending on what you want...) and maim rear guard units and frustrate even the dedicated assault units...6 wraiths give you 24 strength 6 attacks at I6 (w frag grenades so terrain isnt a problem here) plus your lord (who should be carrying a warscythe) and you have some serious hurt...

sorry if im all over the place and hard to understand! I did this in quick reply instead of smartly trying to quote you!

**porkuslime**

Maybe I should give the Destroyer Lord with scarab buddies a Lightning Field.. that way whenever someone beats down on the scarabs they get a bit of pain back.. autohit S3 wounds can slowly eat away even termies..

**Shake Zoola**

porkuslime wrote:Maybe I should give the Destroyer Lord with scarab buddies a Lightning Field.. that way whenever someone beats down on the scarabs they get a bit of pain back.. autohit S3 wounds can slowly eat away even termies..

tried that once...didnt work out to well as your scarabs have to fail their save...so for every saved wound thats a hit thats not happening (this is the main problem w the LF) and if they are duking it out w termies well thats a dead swarm for every wound...and S3 can be somewhat difficult to actually wound on...

**porkuslime**

it says "wound inflicted" as opposed to "wound taken" .. I read that as a difference, but, I also may be in the minority.

Would not "wound inflicted" imply that an armor save is possible?

EDIT - read the GW FAQ.. I lose.. unsaved wounds only.. crud.

**Shake Zoola**

porkuslime wrote:it says "wound inflicted" as opposed to "wound taken" .. I read that as a difference, but, I also may be in the minority.

Would not "wound inflicted" imply that an armor save is possible?

EDIT - read the GW FAQ.. I lose.. unsaved wounds only.. crud.

I wish they worked that way...theyd be soooo much more useful....Id take em!

PS 100th post WOOT!

**themrsleepy**

LF does have it s uses, especially for tying up a large squad of boys, the nob will try for the lord usually, and the scarabs just help resolve combat evenly... you will spend two or three turns locked up with a 30 boy squad and that lightning field insures you dont take too many no retreat wounds. but if they are smart and the nob goes on the scarabs, ouch instadeath a base or two with that power klaw. interesting thought there, do you get to strike back with three s3 hits for each dead base in that case? never thought about that....

**Shake Zoola**

themrsleepy wrote:LF does have it s uses, especially for tying up a large squad of boys, the nob will try for the lord usually, and the scarabs just help resolve combat evenly... you will spend two or three turns locked up with a 30 boy squad and that lightning field insures you dont take too many no retreat wounds. but if they are smart and the nob goes on the scarabs, ouch instadeath a base or two with that power klaw. interesting thought there, do you get to strike back with three s3 hits for each dead base in that case? never thought about that....

You get a strike back for each unsaved wound so yes you would get it...but as i said S3 really isnt that hot...wounding on 5s most of the time? but if he IDd a swarm hed still only get 1 hit back not 3.

Not worth it...like i said ive run em before...if you got the strikes for each wound saved or not it would be a good upgrade...but you dont, the lord has waaaaay better upgrades available to him than the LF.

**Kevin949**

@Shake Zoola
Regarding the wraith comments (and the same for scarabs here) the rules state you go last in assault if you had to roll for Difficult/dangerous terrain when you assaulted. Since wraiths and scarabs ignore difficult terrain (and wraiths ignore dangerous) they will always go at their normal initiative when assaulting into cover. I think it was different in 4th edition maybe (don't know, didn't play 4th) but the way it is written in 5th edition, they don't get hampered in assault by terrain.

**Shake Zoola**

Kevin949

Is that so? Hmm I was unaware of that! The codex states that "when assaulting into cover they count as having frag grenades and will therefore strike at the same time"...

I dont have the rulebook or codex on me to check but i gotta say I like what you have to say better! Ill have to check that out!

**Kevin949**

Ya, I know the codex states that for the wraiths but I think they reworded the rule in the BRB (my buddy and I looked this up for a while during one of the previous games I played against him) for assaulting into cover. I'll check the BRB and get some references for ya later on tonight.

**Shake Zoola**

Cool! If thats the case then wraiths are just that much better for me!!!

EDIT: but in the end doesnt the codex always trump the BRB?

**Kevin949**

Yes, and my answer to that will best be taken after I verify my memory of the situation.

In summation though, the BRB says you go last in assault if you rolled for a terrain test to get into assault unless equipped with frag grenades or something with a similar effect (not verbatim obviously). Wraiths (and scarabs) ignore that roll all together because of their never rolling for terrain tests, thus the "acts as having grenades" rule is null at that point since they can never qualify for the event that requires them to use that ability.

**Aduro**

Because I love running maxed Destroyers, I've stopped giving my Destroyer Lord a Scarab retinue. He tends to run with a Warscythe, Destroyer Body (duh), Phase Shifter and Nightmare Shroud.

Set him up protected in other units, and on your first turn Turbo Boost him in the general direction of the enemies Heavy Support. With a Toughness of 6 and a 3+ Cover Save he takes a lot of firepower to bring down. When he gets to the enemy lines he'll shred enemy tanks and devastator squads with equal ease, and even make a decent character assassin. The Nightmare Shroud is not always effective due to so much Fearless/Mech now days, but I've had games where it causes So Much destruction on the right opponent. Tau Crisis Suits are very susceptible to it for example. Otherwise I pretty much consider anything it does to be icing.

Either way a Lord run like this has been my MVP in both 'Ard Boyz and a following 1750 pt Tournament.

**Kevin949**

Shake Zoola wrote:Cool! If thats the case then wraiths are just that much better for me!!!

EDIT: but in the end doesnt the codex always trump the BRB?

So hey, page 36 in the rule book, right hand side middle paragraph -

"...if an assaulting unit had to take a difficult or dangerous terrain test during their assault move, all of it's models have their initiative value lowered to 1."

So, like I said previously, wraiths will never have to make terrain tests so they are never hampered by assaulting into terrain and scarabs are the same as well regarding difficult terrain.

I'd also like to add that while reading the rules on assault grenades it states that units equipped with grenades don't suffer the initiative penalty and will "fight as normal" when assaulting into cover. When it comes to wraiths, that pretty much means they're going first as usual.

**themrsleepy**

Glad I wasnt the only one that noticed the wraiths would never use their 'grenades' under new rules. This does make their assualt better, well equal to something that actually does have grenades. lol. Something to think about along these same lines, CTan never take terrain tests either, so if you actually manage to slowly run one across the table, assualt that unit in cover and tear them to shreds

As Aduro said, a lord with a DB and WS is a brutal beast, and my friends absolutely cannot stand when he stands back up with all his wounds due to an excellent phylactery/wbb roll. Nothing like taking a whole turn to shoot something down and then it eats your face off anyway. I am a big fan of the nightmare shroud as well. During the qualifiers for 'ard boys this year I had two squads of fire warriors and a broadside team decide to run like chickens... it was awesome, one teleporty lord and squad of ten warriors took out crazy when deep struck into the back flank of the tau. Oh, almost forgot, used it in third game to make three squads of DE run too. One of was a heavy support with two dark lances, one was a squad of combatty wyches and the last was his HQ

They rolled horrible for leadership, was kind of funny. While they fell back I just shot them to death. Quick question on that, can you make them fall off the table with nightmare shroud, because technically it is a fall back move, and fall back moves can take you off the table. Are they allowed to regroup if there is an enemy within 6"? I ve heard arguments both ways, and I usually play it under the fluff idea that if they are scared enough to run, they wont stop till theyre off the table, just like a regular squad falling back. Just some thoughts on it would be nice.

**The Grog**

Note that, however you make a Lord, it is not a good close combat character. You can count on one wound per turn on anything not WS3.

**themrsleepy**

The Grog wrote:Note that, however you make a Lord, it is not a good close combat character. You can count on one wound per turn on anything not WS3.

Yea, 3 base attacks and not having anything awesome in the armory to help you with that does suck on occasion, but wounding on 2+ or 3+ for majority of things and no saves ever from the WS almost makes it worth it, almost, but I agree there will be days where the most you can hope for is 1 wound. although I ve take down demon princes and logan grimnar with a lord on good rolls. phase shifter helps a lot to keep him alive against beastly 1 on 1's.

**The Grog**

1 wound is average when not charging. 3 attacks, 1.5 hits, 1 wound on WS4 T4.

**Aduro**

But unless they have a Powerfist, whatever the Lord is fighting is unlikely to do much if any damage either, so he's great at tying up something like Devastators or Sternguard who can cause a lot more damage with their shooting.

And I think my best single victim of a ScytheLord in HtH was Vulkan He'Stan. "Oh, you have a 2+/3++? Isn't that quaint." Wasn't even on the charge, but I believe it did take two rounds, three if you count the turn I did charge and dispatched his bodyguard.