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 jy2 wrote:


5. PLAY THE MISSION! Don't get caught up in trying to kill the Tau. Exploit their main weakness, which is getting to the objectives. Make sure to place your objectives either out of LOS or out of range of the majority of his shooting. Then throw your "distractions" at him - wraiths, scarabs, barges, whatever. The goal is to have him focus in on your "toys" while you get into position to take the objectives, a strategy I like to call Positional Dominance.

This, most tau army lists I have seen have awful scoring units so they can maximize toys. Kill his troops and even if he shoots you up all game it's a moot point.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 jy2 wrote:
Sorry, but I am going to show you why a good, balanced necron army is such a fearsome army, especially when piloted by a good general. Necrons can always find a way to win, even when they are taking a huge beating. I've won games that I should not have and despite being thoroughly dominated, I managed to find a way. That is the advantage of necrons, the rulers of the Movement phase.

BTW, my opponent no longer runs his Farsight bomb. Rather, he is running a more balanced Tau army with Eldar allies!

This is what good players start to learn after losing objective missions.

 jy2 wrote:
Sorry, but I am going to show you why a good, balanced necron army is such a fearsome army, especially when piloted by a good general. Necrons can always find a way to win, even when they are taking a huge beating. I've won games that I should not have and despite being thoroughly dominated, I managed to find a way. That is the advantage of necrons, the rulers of the Movement phase.

BTW, my opponent no longer runs his Farsight bomb. Rather, he is running a more balanced Tau army with Eldar allies!

Surely you mean Edition-lagged and Underpriced. The advantage of Necrons remains utterly in their ability to take cheap reliable flyer transports for their troops- and super underpriced Annihilation Barges.

Def, necrons have the advantage of putting troops anywhere on the board really on turn 5 plus their transports protect their troops so well as they dont even take damage if it gets blown up

Asmodai Asmodean wrote:

 jy2 wrote:
Sorry, but I am going to show you why a good, balanced necron army is such a fearsome army, especially when piloted by a good general. Necrons can always find a way to win, even when they are taking a huge beating. I've won games that I should not have and despite being thoroughly dominated, I managed to find a way. That is the advantage of necrons, the rulers of the Movement phase.

BTW, my opponent no longer runs his Farsight bomb. Rather, he is running a more balanced Tau army with Eldar allies!

Surely you mean Edition-lagged and Underpriced. The advantage of Necrons remains utterly in their ability to take cheap reliable flyer transports for their troops- and super underpriced Annihilation Barges.

You mean codex, take these 5 units unless your an idiot

I played a Tau guy a couple of days ago my list @ 1500 points:

3 x Ghost arks
1 x Monolith
2 x Annihilation barges
6 x Wraiths

3 x units of 9 warriors
1 x Lord
2 x Destruktecs

He could barely scratch that armour! I moved the warriors in the arks and glanced his tanks to death and nothing else could hurt me!

The only problem was that bloody riptide... but once I got it in combat with the wraiths (very hard to catch him) he died.

smart man. No more WAAC stuff man. Lets play some REAL Warhammer.

This post has me so excited!!

I'm so happy that the Tau are good and bring an end to the cheap Air Crons. I'm a hardcore Necron player and it just pisses me off when that's the only list people play. That codex is very strong without the flyers, and Jy2 is going to show us what I'm talking about........hopefully

 jy2 wrote:
Sorry, but I am going to show you why a good, balanced necron army is such a fearsome army, especially when piloted by a good general. Necrons can always find a way to win, even when they are taking a huge beating. I've won games that I should not have and despite being thoroughly dominated, I managed to find a way. That is the advantage of necrons, the rulers of the Movement phase.

BTW, my opponent no longer runs his Farsight bomb. Rather, he is running a more balanced Tau army with Eldar allies!

Kubla kan is 1500 right? maybe ill bring my bomb and show you how necron die...

Im hoping to make my exodite list up with the new codex if they dont shaft eldar another codex though, they are my babies.

Think i am in mexico memorial weekend though.

 jy2 wrote:
Sorry, but I am going to show you why a good, balanced necron army is such a fearsome army, especially when piloted by a good general. Necrons can always find a way to win, even when they are taking a huge beating. I've won games that I should not have and despite being thoroughly dominated, I managed to find a way. That is the advantage of necrons, the rulers of the Movement phase.

I should expect nothing less from the rightful rulers of the galaxy.
Show these upstart lower races the futility of defying our dynasties.

 jy2 wrote:
BTW, my opponent no longer runs his Farsight bomb. Rather, he is running a more balanced Tau army with Eldar allies!

As long as you think this will be more challenging, we're all definitely looking forward to it.

 Sushi636 wrote:
This post has me so excited!!

I'm so happy that the Tau are good and bring an end to the cheap Air Crons. I'm a hardcore Necron player and it just pisses me off when that's the only list people play. That codex is very strong without the flyers, and Jy2 is going to show us what I'm talking about........hopefully

lol, I believe his list is basically the standard air crons.

3-4 NS with min warriors

2 large wraith bombs

3 AB

 Red Corsair wrote:

 Sushi636 wrote:
This post has me so excited!!

I'm so happy that the Tau are good and bring an end to the cheap Air Crons. I'm a hardcore Necron player and it just pisses me off when that's the only list people play. That codex is very strong without the flyers, and Jy2 is going to show us what I'm talking about........hopefully

lol, I believe his list is basically the standard air crons.

3-4 NS with min warriors

2 large wraith bombs

3 AB

I prefer to think of it as a hybrid necron build. Air support is just that - support. The main workhorses are the ground forces.

At 2K, I run 4 night scythes, though I am considering swapping out 1 for a ghost ark. Just don't have the model currently.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 skoffs wrote:

 jy2 wrote:
BTW, my opponent no longer runs his Farsight bomb. Rather, he is running a more balanced Tau army with Eldar allies!

As long as you think this will be more challenging, we're all definitely looking forward to it.

While deathstar armies can be competitive, to me, it's all about balance. I do run deathstar armies, but in competitive, tournament play, I always take a balanced army if I am playing seriously.

 jy2 wrote:

 Red Corsair wrote:

 Sushi636 wrote:
This post has me so excited!!

I'm so happy that the Tau are good and bring an end to the cheap Air Crons. I'm a hardcore Necron player and it just pisses me off when that's the only list people play. That codex is very strong without the flyers, and Jy2 is going to show us what I'm talking about........hopefully

lol, I believe his list is basically the standard air crons.

3-4 NS with min warriors

2 large wraith bombs

3 AB

I prefer to think of it as a hybrid necron build. Air support is just that - support. The main workhorses are the ground forces.

At 2K, I run 4 night scythes, though I am considering swapping out 1 for a ghost ark. Just don't have the model currently.

Sorry, wasn't scoffing at it...much But this is essentially necron air if you ignore the few unstable exploratory lists that popped up just after 6th. I'd argue the opposite, the main workhorses are the min squads that can jump on any objective last turn with silly accuracy, everything else is a distraction until that last turn. After all 5/6 missions in 6th are objectives, objectives win you the game. Come to think of it, that last remaining mission is won through KP denial via NS as well

That's why I previously and light heartedly called it codex: take these 5 units. I mean, with the point efficiency as silly as it is for; warrior scythes, wraiths, d-lords and A-barges it's really hard for any moderate to good player not to end up at the same list at it's core. I like necrons, always have, but that book is hard to respect due to a complete lack of internal balance. That has been a major issue for a while though, but at least the last 4 codices seem to be shifting slightly.

 Red Corsair wrote:
I like necrons, always have, but that book is hard to respect due to a complete lack of internal balance. That has been a major issue for a while though, but at least the last 4 codices seem to be shifting slightly.

Well, at the rate they're bringing new codex out, we may actually see a 6th edition Necron book in a couple years.
I'm a 'Cron player, but I wouldn't mind seeing a new balanced book at all. Not just to correct point costs on undercosted units like the Nightscythe and Annihilation Barge (the vehicles themselves are fine, they just need to cost more), but to correct rules on units that really don't seem right in this current iteration (eg. Flayed Ones, Lychguard, etc. As it is, Deathmarks' "Ethereal Interception" rule makes no f***ing sense at all. We were all hoping for a FAQ to come along and fix it, but...)

Somebody beat me to it, but I was going to say ghost arks. I love them, especially in the current meta.

Here's what you do:

1. Place your objectives as close to the enemy's side as you can

2. Move your whole army as fast as you can towards them

3. Drown them in AV13

4. Let your wraiths feast

herpguy wrote:
Somebody beat me to it, but I was going to say ghost arks. I love them, especially in the current meta.

Here's what you do:

1. Place your objectives as close to the enemy's side as you can

2. Move your whole army as fast as you can towards them

3. Drown them in AV13

4. Let your wraiths feast

Fixed that for you

1. Place your objectives in the most awkward positions possible

2. Move your ABarges and Wraiths into a strong position for turn 2

3. Drown them in Flyers

4. Let your Wraiths feast

5. Drop your troops off on the last turn at aforementioned awkward positions

Because flyers>Ghost Arks


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I'm surprised no one has done a Nicholas Cage spoof Cron Air poster. I'll look in to it.

Against Tau flyers do not beat ghost arks...

Man, I can't tell if people advocating Scythe spam are butt-hurt trolls or new kids who think its cool to play like TFG...

 skoffs wrote:
Man, I can't tell if people advocating Scythe spam are butt-hurt trolls or new kids who think its cool to play like TFG...

This.

 skoffs wrote:
Man, I can't tell if people advocating Scythe spam are butt-hurt trolls or new kids who think its cool to play like TFG...

hahaha, couldnt say it better!


the dudes with 3 riptides and 3 helldrakes are they tfg as well?

Ok, battle report started, though probably won't finish until the weekend.


2K Competitive - Wraithwing Tesla-spam Necrons vs Triptide Riptide Tau

 skoffs wrote:
Man, I can't tell if people advocating Scythe spam are butt-hurt trolls or new kids who think its cool to play like TFG...

Well, I have seen people trying to tell me their flyerspam list was a pure "fluff" list because their army came from tomb world on a swamp planet with lots of fliers hidden beneath the surface.

Yep. I always expected to have Yoda pop up and slap them in the face.

 Sigvatr wrote:

 skoffs wrote:
Man, I can't tell if people advocating Scythe spam are butt-hurt trolls or new kids who think its cool to play like TFG...

Well, I have seen people trying to tell me their flyerspam list was a pure "fluff" list because their army came from tomb world on a swamp planet with lots of fliers hidden beneath the surface.

Yep. I always expected to have Yoda pop up and slap them in the face.

1 to 3 Scythes, yeah, that's normal, no prob.
4 or 5 and it's getting a little ridiculous.
If you see somebody pull up to a table with 6 or more, just pack up your stuff and play someone else. Those a**holes don't need encouragement.

Lol. No?

I feel that Necron VS Tau is like a advanced form of "Rock, Paper Scissors"

Tau counters air
Necron assaults with wraiths and lords
Tau focus CC units
Necrons have armor
Tau Fusion that armor up
Necrons field fliers
etc. etc.

( Just assume these are different games, you cant counter everything in the same list these days...at least not with Tau alone )

 skoffs wrote:

 Sigvatr wrote:

 skoffs wrote:
Man, I can't tell if people advocating Scythe spam are butt-hurt trolls or new kids who think its cool to play like TFG...

Well, I have seen people trying to tell me their flyerspam list was a pure "fluff" list because their army came from tomb world on a swamp planet with lots of fliers hidden beneath the surface.

Yep. I always expected to have Yoda pop up and slap them in the face.

1 to 3 Scythes, yeah, that's normal, no prob.
4 or 5 and it's getting a little ridiculous.
If you see somebody pull up to a table with 6 or more, just pack up your stuff and play someone else. Those a**holes don't need encouragement.

I don't have much of a choice at tournaments. You can't do anything vs. flyerspam with a balanced list. sadface.jpg.

well, yeah, in competitive environments you're out to WAAC, so it's expected, but if someone shows up to a FLGS with 6 Nightscythes expecting to play pick up games, hopefully everybody has enough sense to shun said D.bag.

I always see 6+ Scythe armies at tournaments...in small numbers...at the bottom tables. It boggles my mind how an army as patently bad as Scythespam has remained an Internet boogeyman for so long. I have to assume this mostly originates from the assumptions of casual players: "I never go to tournaments! It's all WAAC D-bags with 20 Night Scythes!" In reality this list is rarely seen, even rarer is it seen performing well.

The real competitive Necron lists -- that is, the ones that actually win -- tend to look like jy2's: a modest amount of Flyers balanced against a strong ground presence. Of course, even 3 or 4 Flyers can be enough to get people fired up about the horrible space-mummies and how they've ruined 40k forever. But 3-4 Flyers do not make 'Flyerspam', nor are they particularly abusive. If your army really can't handle 4 AV11 Flyers, it's time to stop blaming the book and revise your list. And 6+ Flyers should be a cakewalk.

Back OT, Necrons have a potentially bad matchup against Tau. Interceptor/Skyfire/massed S6/S7 are bad news for Night Scythes. Firewarriors put out enough S5 at range to stop Wraiths in their tracks and can help dink Scythes as needed. Tau might struggle with AV13, but (with the exception of CCB's) Necrons' AV13 vehicles are easy enough to ignore early in the game.

At the same time, Necrons struggle with a lot of the threats Tau can present. The Riptide's T6/5W/2+ is a nearly insurmountable statline for Necron shooting to handle. Doable for Wraiths, but they need to make it there first. Necron shooting should most likely focus what it can take down: Ethereals, Pathfinders, Suits, Firewarriors, while letting the Riptides/Broadsides/Hammerheads do what they like. Immortals (with Gauss) drop out of Night Scythes and watch Firewarriors evaporate (Warriors will do...but Immortals are better). Wraiths advance at breakneck speed. Many of these units will die horribly, but those that make it to the Tau lines will do heavy damage. Even if you lose every unit you send at them, if you can keep your opponent on their back foot most the game you should be able to win. But now I'm repeating jy2.

Tau and Tyranids are, IMO, the worst match up for Necrons currently. Riptides with HBC+SMS in particular put out a terrifying number of shots. With skyfire/interceptor that's a 205 point unit that scares literally every unit in the game and due to long range+jetpack, it has amazing area dominance. It's been really interesting to see the changes made to fire warriors as well. 50 of them plus an ethereal gives you 5 troops+HQ, yet only costs 500 points and outputs up to 150 shots at 15" and 50 at 30". Add markerlights, at least 2 anti-flyer things and some anti-tank for instant list. I think it's also worth mentioning how scary SMS are on a riptide vs a horde. Up to 8 S5 AP5 TL shots ignoring cover, plus 8 S6 AP4 shots, which are normally BS3 but realistically BS4/5 after markerlight support? Yeah, that's more than a bit terrifying.

Some mathhammer tells me that 2 Riptides with this set up will kill a Scythe per turn on average, assuming no markerlight support, failed nova charging and no jink. With overcharging and jink, they also kill a scythe per turn (and interestingly using ripple fire will do slightly better in terms of hull points). Against all flyer armies that's not saying much, but against a more balanced list (aka a good one) that can be devastating. Heck, this would make me consider running 3 Riptides because then with markerlight support you can kill Heldrakes pretty effectively, though I think i'd go with two HBC/SMS, one IC/FB (who can pass up S8 AP2 large blasts with the potential to deny cover?).

Honestly, I think the best way Necrons have to deal with Tau is to take allies. Tau are very good now and between the Riptide and Dreadknight, you NEED to be able to kill 3 T6 MCs with a 2+/5++, which frankly normal Necrons don't have outside of assault (which when you're facing Tau is more than a little unreliable). I do wonder about how Necrons can hold up without flyers, but that's a tale for another day.

The two things everyone say are bad in this edition, assault units and vehicles, are notably also what the tau struggle with. The irony is, they used to be great at killing tanks, now, they do it, but they are not absolute anti-tank powerhouses.

So, wraiths are a fantastic option. Monolith's will be a tough nut for them to crack, and thanks to deepstrike, you can get it right where they don't want it, up close and personal.

AV13 is also a good thing to have against them, they will struggle to crack that.

Silly question, but do Riptides (and Dreadknights, I guess) have hull points?
(I've never run up against either before, so I've never needed to know, previously).