Old INDEX Necron 8th Tactica - link to new codex tactics thread in OP

Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:

No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.

If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

**torblind**

Remember the value is to be able to move when the situation calls for it, not darting around whenever you have the chance

**Odrankt**

vipoid wrote:
That seems a waste of the Praetorians' movement though.

Then there is no way you can MWBD Praetorians if your not willing to sacrifice 2 inches of movement for better advance, charge and hit rolls.

Maybe MWBD them turn 1 but after that focus on a different unit to get the bonus?

If the CCB was able to give non-Dynasty Necrons infantry units MWBD/CM that would be the best HQ for Praetorians.

**bobsmith7777**

Hey guys, newer player looking to start collecting Necrons.

I've done a bit of reading on the recent posts in this thread and it seems people are a big fan of using lots of Scarabs? Why is that the case? And what kind of units should be used alongside them?

**Pyrothem**

Scarabs are our conscripts. A wound sponge that is there to protect the core of your army. They are not good at killing or staying alive but they are our cheap bubble wrap that has the movment to grab some objectives when needed.

**bobsmith7777**

Scarabs are our conscripts. A wound sponge that is there to protect the core of your army. They are not good at killing or staying alive but they are our cheap bubble wrap that has the movment to grab some objectives when needed.

Wait so enemy models can't shoot over them?

**Bluepuffoflogic**

bobsmith7777 wrote:
Scarabs are our conscripts. A wound sponge that is there to protect the core of your army. They are not good at killing or staying alive but they are our cheap bubble wrap that has the movment to grab some objectives when needed.

Wait so enemy models can't shoot over them?

Correct. Characters can hid behind scarabs. Also knights can't march over them because they aren't infantry.

**Klowny**

Also, a big part of the meta currently is hordes. And putting out a bucketload of attacks from scarabs, that wound most hordes on 3/4+ is very beneficial. Dont underestimate the damage scarabs can do, remember, they wound an imperial knight just as efficiently as they do a space marine.

Ive had them shred deffkoptas, nob squads, conscript blobs, seekers.

Additionally, while scarabs will wilt to sustained D3/D6 damage weapons, or a heavy volley from single damage weapons, they are surprisingly durable, especially at their price point.

**Pyrothem**

Yup I think that any list over 1000points should include some Sacarbs for bubble wrapping and stopping drops from getting down to juicy targets.

Also I forgot that with the Voidbalde buff giving and extra attack does that bring Canoptek Acanthrites into a better take-able light?
They have High movment and have assault gun so they can mitigate the 12" range. They are -1 to hit with range so you are begging them to overload plasma to deal with the 3 wounds.

I think they may have a place in a list. What to you think?

**CthuluIsSpy**

bobsmith7777 wrote:
Scarabs are our conscripts. A wound sponge that is there to protect the core of your army. They are not good at killing or staying alive but they are our cheap bubble wrap that has the movment to grab some objectives when needed.

Wait so enemy models can't shoot over them?

They can if they can draw LOS iirc, but if there's a character behind scarabs then the enemy can't target that character, as usual.
This makes scarabs the ideal escort for c'tan shards, as odd as it may sound; they both have roughly the same movement and scarabs are considerably cheaper than wraiths. As long as you make sure the scarabs are always the closest target, your opponent won't be able to target the c'tan, as its a character with less than 9 wounds.

What the enemy can't do is charge past them; if there's a line of scarabs in front of your army your opponent won't be able to charge the more important parts without dealing with the scarabs first. Scarabs also protect against deep strike / deployment shenanigans; most abilities require you to deploy more than 9" away from an enemy model, and scarabs can spread out nicely due to their base size.

**torblind**

CthuluIsSpy wrote:
bobsmith7777 wrote:
Scarabs are our conscripts. A wound sponge that is there to protect the core of your army. They are not good at killing or staying alive but they are our cheap bubble wrap that has the movment to grab some objectives when needed.

Wait so enemy models can't shoot over them?

They can if they can draw LOS iirc, but if there's a character behind scarabs then the enemy can't target that character, as usual.
This makes scarabs the ideal escort for c'tan shards, as odd as it may sound; they both have roughly the same movement and scarabs are considerably cheaper than wraiths. As long as you make sure the scarabs are always the closest target, your opponent won't be able to target the c'tan, as its a character with less than 9 wounds.

What the enemy can't do is charge past them; if there's a line of scarabs in front of your army your opponent won't be able to charge the more important parts without dealing with the scarabs first. Scarabs also protect against deep strike / deployment shenanigans; most abilities require you to deploy more than 9" away from an enemy model, and scarabs can spread out nicely due to their base size.

Just mind the gap! Enemy can just declare a multicharge and rush passed them within 1" if need be, so keep them less than an enemy base diameter apart (they can not physically move through them unless Fly.

**Pepe96**

So, Im trying to figure out list for local tournament.
There will be 3 missions, Retrieval Mission, The Relic, The Scouring
secondary: Slay the Warlord, First Blood, Linebreaker
tertiary: Cost(pts) of all lost units

So, my first list is Silvertide, hoping that at low pts games, opponents will have hard time dealing with 20 warriors at once, Anrakyr is there for counterattack options (bcs 40 attacks from warriors hitting on 2+ is quite scary), cryptek for 5++ ane better RP. Scarabs should lock opponents tanks, grab objectives and screen warriors)

Spoiler:

Second one is more like destroyer wing, focusing on high number of destroyers, with 5++, better RP and rerolls of 1

Spoiler:

and the last one is mix of both, with some tesla Shenanigans

Spoiler:

At home I have two monoliths, CCB/AB, 10praets/lychguard, boh C´Tans, all named characters, 10 flayed ones and 5 tomb blades.

Which list do you think will perform better? And what would you change on them?

**Nagerash**

Personally I'd pick the last one.
I like the first one, but having no anti tank is a big downside. Although you could exchange one warrior blob for 3 heavy destroyers, drop a few Scarabs and put a small unit of teslamortals for backfield objective camping.
In the second one I'd increase my teslamortals squad to 10 so I'd have something to deal with hordes(kinda). Although exchanging the D lord or cryptek for an OL would be better then.
I'd still use the third list, but exchange the Warriors for immortals. Given the unit of 10 tesla and have 2 smaller units (I'd say around 7) of gauss.
Too bad you don't have any doomsdayarks. Would have also gone nicely with the first list.
Just my 2 cents. Good luck at the tourney

**skoffs**

Saw this vid from a while ago where someone made a list of nothing but Deathmarks and Stalker-DDA combos.
Won in the battle report, but I'm curious about how it would do against other lists.

Spoiler:

**Halfpast_Yellow**

What's the math on the wounds per point on the T7, T8 gribblies compared to Warriors/Immortals?

**Slayer-Fan123**

I'm more curious as to the specific list but it probably won't be hard to just recreate when I have computer access again.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Halfpast_Yellow wrote:
What's the math on the wounds per point on the T7, T8 gribblies compared to Warriors/Immortals?

They probably do less against T8 do to Immortals still having S5, and T7 will depend on the target. He did mention the Doomsday Arks being for that main purpose.

**Anpu-adom**

Has anyone tried NOT deep Striking Deathmarks, but instead using them with an Overlord for MWBD? Mortal wounds in addition to other damage on a 5+ seems really good. (or am I reading that wrong?)

**Lothmar**

Just wanted to know if anyone else has tried useing Nemesor + Obyron +Deciever combo?
Granted how well leap frogging like this works varies on the D3 you get for the deceiver, also based on the order of events i've found that doing this can leave nemesor with only himself as a valid MWBD target~ but im getting off track.

Note - I tend to only really use this tactic if I get first turn but i've pulled off some nasty bates with it too on second in games where people haven't played against necrons yet.

Spoiler:

Start of game, Place Nemesor + Ctan 12 from enemies with grand illusion; if you got 2 then I bring along a shooty bubble wrap since these guys cant charge anyway ; if I get 3 then I bring over the cryptek/diviner

At start of turn - Nemesor MWBD's / Transient madness

Move phase, move to range with Nem as far back as you can to not get wrapped in a charge but as far forward as possible to keep Ob's options open. Make sure to leave spaces for models you're TP'ing in to your bubble if necessary (ex: Cryptek).

At End of move - Obyron TP's himself +1 infantry unit. If you got a 2 then have Obyron bring over the Cryptek since he's infantry. Now you have front line rapid fire crew with invul saves and decent get back up. If you got a 3 and everythings already over there, then Obyron comes over with either an additional shooting team (or shooting/melee like Praetorians) or brings in a melee force to lay the smack down after the shots soften up the target for em (Lychguard can be decent if you keep them in range of chrono so they can warscythe with 5+ invul, but if you dont want to worry about distance sword and board.).

Alternatively if im playing more shooting heavy I tend to include a Triarch stalker in the Deciever TP to get into weapons range (since obyron cant ghostwalk those). With heat rays 1/2 range special ability this can be pretty nice for damage. However this tends to mean I have to do Triarch on 2 and then infantry on 3 and ghost walk over the cryptek. It can also be a little riskier since if you get a 1 or a 2 you're most likely leaving the cryptek behind.

But yeah if I get unlucky with a 1 that's worth the command point, if you're really unlucky with a second 1 on that d3 then you have lost the major advantage of the build and have to advance across the board on foot.

---

But yeah I like this strat cause as long as you can keep Nemesor and Obyron alive and close to the melee, then you can continue to push mower every turn by ghost walking the unit out of the melee and then setting them up so all your forces can shoot / charge in again at top of initiative. Helpful in keeping a particular unit (if not flying) locked down somewhat cause at best they're gonna fall back if they aren't good at melee etc.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Anpu-adom wrote:
Has anyone tried NOT deep Striking Deathmarks, but instead using them with an Overlord for MWBD? Mortal wounds in addition to other damage on a 5+ seems really good. (or am I reading that wrong?)

MWBD is advance, charge and hit rolls~ *double checks* yeah so this effect wouldn't effect the to wound at all sadly.

-----

Quick question on Scarab hive ability.

Spoiler:

Is this a once a turn thing, or can you do it as many times as you have tomb spyders units / models as long as you're willing to risk the mortal wounds?
Just had a silly mental image of a bunch of scarab squads at 9 models and fielding 3 units of 3 spyders and assuming the wound pool wasn't wiped just spitting more onto the unit until back up to full capacity every round so long as the spyders were alive.

**Anpu-adom**

Quick question on Scarab hive ability.

Scarab hive: at the beginning of your turn, you can roll a d6 for each friendly canoptek scarabs unit that is below its starting number of models withing 6" of any canoptek spyders. On a roll 1 one of those spyders takes d3 mortal wounds. On a 2+ one of the canoptek spyders units unleashes reinforcements. Return a canoptek scarab swarm to the depleted unit, in cohereency and more then 1" from enemy models.

Is this a once a turn thing, or can you do it as many times as you have tomb spyders units / models as long as you're willing to risk the mortal wounds?

So, let's imagine two groups of Spyders and 2 groups of scarabs. Both units of scarabs are in range (6") of both groups of spyders.
At the beginning of your turn, Spyder Group #1 checks to see that the units of scarabs are below strength... they are. You resolve the ability, rolling for each scarab group (not per spyder... like in the old days).
Then Spyder Group #2 checks to see that the groups of scarabs are below strength. If one of the groups of scarabs is now at full... you can not roll for it this turn.

So, in summary. You can roll for each spyder group once per round. If you have 3 groups of Spyders, you can add up to 3 scarab bases to each of your Scarab units, but you risk 3d3 mortal wounds.

**vict0988**

Lothmar wrote:
Just wanted to know if anyone else has tried useing Nemesor + Obyron +Deciever combo?

Yeah I used it against a melee SW list in a relic mission. Deceiver took a Ghost Ark with Orikan, Anrakyr and Nemesor up the table and Orikan brought some Lychguard right into the face of some Wulfen. I attacked his Flyer with my C'tan (which I just now realised I couldn't do), my opponent then used the counterstrike stratagem with his Wulfen against my Lychguard and devastated them. He kept picking up the relic and I kept killing his models with my character deathstar. I didn't learn much about the army due to me being stupid with my order of attacks and me being so lucky that we still went more or less even. It was the last time I attacked in the wrong order though.

Anpu-adom wrote:Scarab hive: at the beginning of your turn, you can roll a d6 for each friendly canoptek scarabs unit that is below its starting number of models withing 6" of any canoptek spyders. On a roll 1 one of those spyders takes d3 mortal wounds. On a 2+ one of the canoptek spyders units unleashes reinforcements. Return a canoptek scarab swarm to the depleted unit, in cohereency and more then 1" from enemy models.

Is this a once a turn thing, or can you do it as many times as you have tomb spyders units / models as long as you're willing to risk the mortal wounds?

Once each turn. Spyders are bad, their durability is laughably low for their cost. But then I thought Scarabs were bad and C'tan were meh. Instead of taking a C'tan and a ton of Scarabs I've had success with just taking Wraiths, except against smite, damn smite. I don't think the ghost ability of Wraiths should be taken for granted, moving through a bubble wrap screen to hold up a vehicle can be brutal. I only play against Marines and Guard though, Scarabs would get shot by Guard before they did anything and they don't ever do anything against Marines.

**Lothmar**

Hmm, conflicting answers on spyders... Guess i'll ask local shop owner and crew and get consensus before trying it.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

vict0988 wrote:

Yeah I used it against a melee SW list in a relic mission. Deceiver took a Ghost Ark with Orikan, Anrakyr and Nemesor up the table

*facepalm*

I tend to overlook ghost ark as a transport because I forgot it could take characters and it can only carry 10 warriors otherwise (granted still use it as firesupport and secondary fire support for warriors)…

This has given me something to think about since I have a few builds which are 4+ HQ based.

Thanks.

------

On another note, don't own the current edition yet and didn't find my answers in the update splat.

Was looking to see if 8th edition had special rules or unique info on some of the keywords in my necron army.
Swarm, Monsterous and titanic specifically. I remembered in 7th swarm helped scarabs a bit and was hoping it would in 8th but since there's no template now I could see it's benifit being waved.

---

Also, on Catacomb command barge. Since that comes with an overlord, does he survive if the barge blows up?

**Bluepuffoflogic**

Anpu-adom wrote:
Has anyone tried NOT deep Striking Deathmarks, but instead using them with an Overlord for MWBD? Mortal wounds in addition to other damage on a 5+ seems really good. (or am I reading that wrong?)

It's not a bad idea if your opponent doesn't have anything in reserves. But if they are holding something back you'd be wasting Ethereal Interception and that sweet sweet chance to blow through a 5 man squad or character falling from the sky. Though pair a full 10 Deathmark squad with an Overlord and make an alpha strike against your opponent's warlord using the Deceiver's Grand Illusion? 20 shots hitting on 2s = 16.66 hits, you should get 2-3 6's out of that for 2-3 mortal wounds plus the wounds on 4+ or 5+ depending on your target; that's another 6-8 wounds to be saved against. It should net you 3-6 unsaved wounds on the enemy warlord, more if you are lucky. That could really put the hurt on an army, especially one with Cawl or pappa smurf or another high cost model riding at the head. It would probably work best in lower point games with an enemy warlord that only has a 3+ save, but still. Interesting idea.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Lothmar wrote:

On another note, don't own the current edition yet and didn't find my answers in the update splat.

Was looking to see if 8th edition had special rules or unique info on some of the keywords in my necron army.
Swarm, Monsterous and titanic specifically. I remembered in 7th swarm helped scarabs a bit and was hoping it would in 8th but since there's no template now I could see it's benifit being waved.

---

Also, on Catacomb command barge. Since that comes with an overlord, does he survive if the barge blows up?

No news on our keywords yet, I assume that will come when our codex drops, whenever that might be. As for the CCB, nope, the Overlord is part of the model not a separate unit being transported by the model. Once it goes the Overlord goes with it. I seem to remember that being the same in 7th.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Lothmar wrote:

Once each turn. Spyders are bad, their durability is laughably low for their cost. But then I thought Scarabs were bad and C'tan were meh. Instead of taking a C'tan and a ton of Scarabs I've had success with just taking Wraiths, except against smite, damn smite. I don't think the ghost ability of Wraiths should be taken for granted, moving through a bubble wrap screen to hold up a vehicle can be brutal. I only play against Marines and Guard though, Scarabs would get shot by Guard before they did anything and they don't ever do anything against Marines.

So far I agree on the Spyders, totally useless for the points. Scarabs however have been a beast for me, though you are right you really need to keep to cover and run like hell to get them somewhere useful. Way cheaper than wraiths and they tie up shooting units forever. They are also great for bubblewrapping your characters. 4 attacks per base that hit on 3s and wound on 5s cut through MEQs faster than you might think, you just have to bring enough bases, which for the point cost isn't that hard to do. They are also great for taking minimum units and sitting on backfield objectives.

**torblind**

And great for screening for incoming deep strikes.

Though there is a devil in the detail. Since they are "Swarm" and not "Infantry", they need to be in terrain and 50% obscured to get cover save.

(important note: applies to the advanced rules, covering woods, ruins etc)

**iGuy91**

Is it even possible to make a decent Necron list at 1k points? Trying to come up with a doubles list...and just struggling mightily.

**Klowny**

Yeah so the wording on the scarab hive means you get one scarab base back per turn, not one per spyder.

More spyders mean redundancy if one dies but they do not grant additional bases

**Fragile**

Well it means, 1 base per Scarab unit each turn. The number of Sypders appears to be just redundancy.

**Odrankt**

iGuy91 wrote:
Is it even possible to make a decent Necron list at 1k points? Trying to come up with a doubles list...and just struggling mightily.

I had a game today against Ad mech at 1k. I was winning 5-3 till his Dune Crawler charged my unit of 9 Immortals that had only 3 left and exploded in CC, dealt 3 MW on the Immortals and he got 2 points for that using the latest Konor mission.

I thought my list was okay but i definitely felt like I was lacking CC and reliable strong weapons.

**Anpu-adom**

Klowny wrote:Yeah so the wording on the scarab hive means you get one scarab base back per turn, not one per spyder.

More spyders mean redundancy if one dies but they do not grant additional bases

Fragile wrote:Well it means, 1 base per Scarab unit each turn. The number of Sypders appears to be just redundancy.

You roll on the basis of the Spyder Unit... not on the scarabs.
Example: I have a group of scarabs that are down 2 bases, and that unit is within range of 3 units of Spyders. I will roll with the first unit of spyders and probably add a base to the scarab squad. I would then roll with the second unit of Spyders, and probably add a base to the scarab squad. If both of the first two units were successful at adding a base, my third unit of Spyders wouldn't get to roll for that unit of scarabs as it isn't below strength.

They have taken the fun out of Scarab Farm, that's for sure. If I have a single Spyder surrounded by three understrength units of scarabs, it has a 50% chance to take at least d3 mortal wounds. With the benefit of adding maybe three bases of scarabs. I don't think that exchange is a good one.

**torblind**

I'm pretty sure that's not what the rules say, from my understanding you roll once for each scarab unit that is within 3" of any spyder. One spyder could then perfectly well add scarabs to several units. A second spyder unit could not add scarabs to a scarab unit that already had one

Automatically Appended Next Post:
(by scarab units I mean understrength scarab units)

**Lothmar**

iGuy91 wrote:
Is it even possible to make a decent Necron list at 1k points? Trying to come up with a doubles list...and just struggling mightily.

Depends on what you're tagging with I suppose...

If you want to be the backline and they can spare some screening to prevent infiltration, I have an artillery build I haven't tested yet...

Spoiler:

If you're looking to cause chaos and jump into their faces and possibly assassinate a particular character while your ally gets into position etc I have an assassin build (also untested)... If you position correctly and they dont wipe your deathmarks then keep push mowering them with Vargard and ghost walk mantle to pull them out of melees if someone gets them and then fire and charge, lather rinse repeat while Ctans cause big explosions and go afield with their slightly higher speed after other nearby units (position them to take advantage of that 4+ explosion to Suicide bomb as many squads as possible if the enemy fires without repositioning or plays badly.

Spoiler:

Alternatively if you're looking to support with a little speed...

Spoiler:

Alternatively, if you want to focus all your points up and pound a single location while your ally gets into position etc.

Spoiler:

Zambo horde isn't bad, thought it gets better at 1500+ and due to speed you're pretty isolated in one section of the map and can easily be kited after initial burst.

Spoiler:

**Nagerash**

Imo at 1000 points you should keep it simple. I wouldn't use named characters unless you're sure they will get their points back. The Nemesor/oby combi is definitely too expensive imo. A combination of destroyers/stalker/Ddarks/troops with a OL or cryptek and you should do fine.
If you expect elite cc units some pretoria should could be useful, but I wouldn't go overboard.