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The original list I've been playing:

Imotekh 225
Cryptek, Lance, Solar Pulse 55
Cryptek, Aeonstave, Chronometron 40

(15) Warriors 195
(5) Warriors 65
(5) Warriors 65
(5) Warriors 65

(6) Wraiths, 2x Whip coil, 2x Particle caster 230
(6) Wraiths, 2x Whip coil, 3x Particle caster 235
(10) Scarabs 150

(3) Tomb Spyders, 1 Fabricator Claw, 1 Gloom prism 175
(3) Tomb Spyders, 1 Fabricator Claw, 1 Gloom prism 175
(3) Tomb Spyders, 1 Fabricator Claw, 1 Gloom prism 175

= 1850


So, after playtesting the Scarabswarm for a while I've ended up with this:

Imotekh 225
Cryptek, Lance, Solar Pulse 55
Cryptek, Aeonstave, Chronometron 40
Destroyer Lord, Warscythe, 2+ save, Mindshackle scarabs 160

(10) Warriors 130
(5) Immortals, tesla 85
(5) Immortals, tesla 85
(5) Immortals, tesla 85
(5) Immortals, tesla 85

(6) Wraiths, 2x Whip coil, 1x Particle caster 225
(5) Scarabs 75
(5) Scarabs 75

(3) Tomb Spyders, 1 Fabricator Claw, 1 Gloom prism 175
(3) Tomb Spyders, 1 Fabricator Claw, 1 Gloom prism 175
(3) Tomb Spyders, 1 Fabricator Claw, 1 Gloom prism 175

= 1850

I've found that against lists containing lots of missiles the Wraiths just tend to keel over and die pretty quick, plus they really can't hold their own against dedicated CC units. Even large units of Grey Hunters w/ a fist WG beat them one on one. So I dropped one squad, and picked up a Destroyer Lord to hang with them. He has a couple of uses: catching missiles for the Wraiths, being able to generate 2-3 wounds per turn in CC that ignore armor saves and have 2D6 pen (a great help against some units, as you just can't always rely on rending: Dreads, Mephiston, THSS) and he's able to slingshot the Spyders into combat if necessary (by joining the unit and bridging the gap between them and an enemy unit, giving the Spyders an extra ~4.5" of range). Though the extra Wraiths might be better against some lists, IMO the Destroyer Lord gives you quite a bit of extra options, and against bad matchups he helps more than an extra Wraith squad.

Using the points left over I upped the warriors to Immortals, as especially during late-game I find that there are usually quite a few beaten up squads running around the field, ie. 2-3 man MEQ squads, small GEQ squads etc. The only anti-infantry the list really contains is in CC units, and if you can't reach those squads in CC you can't remove them. In objective games its invaluable to be able to torrent off small squads that are sitting on objectives, instead of having to dedicate a whole Spyder squad to removing one marine. Plus Immortals are able to move and fire, which lets them maneuver and still shoot for the whole game, unlike warriors who will just be running around, and maybe taking a few potshots if they're already on objectives. All for 20pts etra over Warriors, IMO a fair enough price. The 3+ save is also nice, allowing them to take objectives in the open if necessary, instead of getting torn apart by HB's/autocannons like warriors.

One thing you need to remember when moving you Scarabs is always make sure they're withing 6" of your Spyders. Seems simple, but often they will end up too far away, its pretty much inevitable that it'll happen at some point during the game. Combat especially will pull them out of range very quick. Thus, the reason for 2 scarab squads is twofold: first off it gives you a bigger footprint. 2 scarab squads can be in two places at once, as opposed to one. More importantly, however, it allows you to always keep one squad back by your Spyders, meaning you have far more leeway in maneuvering the other squad. It allows you Spyders to spawn Scarabs for several turns longer than if you just had one squad, which is nice. Spawn into one squad until its out of range, then into the second squad. Send out the second squad when necessary. Just don't charge both squads into the same combat, as you'll be taking double fearless saves, and it'll suck

The Spyders are great at beating up non dedicated CC units, and even units with a single fist will get beaten up by them. Use the Wraiths to give them cover and move up. The 4+ nullify against Psy powers is awesome, especially as it stacks, its saved me against JotWW several times. With clever positioning you can make sure pretty much your whole army is withing range of all your nullifiers, making you almost immune to JotWW and the like.

Imotekh got a very nice buff thanks to the FAQ, allowing the Chrono to reroll his Storm. Thus he has his own big Warrior squad to hang with, giving them Phaeron while allowing him to reroll and keep his Storm alive. When it does end, detach him and join a Spyder squad, he's good at catching bullets for them and is a nice tarpit in CC.

Sorry for the wall of text

Comment, thoughts, musings welcome =)

thanks for the Input man!

It's been a really long time since I've liked a list as much as this one. I've been playing something similar, but I think the DLord is a really good addition because I've found similar problems with my wraith units.

I'm still working on fine-tuning a list that includes Imotekh. He was the first model I bought when the new necrons came out. I've played him twice and have not had much luck with the lightning. Forgot to use it at all one time and the other time it went away turn 2. The Cryptek won't help me on the "forgot to use" issue, but sure could on keeping lightning for another round or so! If he had a power weapon, I think he would be perfect, but as is I'll have to try him with a Cryptek.

What's the purpose of the fabricator claw on the Spyders?

Thanks for the replies =)

The Fabricator Claw is there just for wound allocation, as is the Gloom Prism (though its primary function is to save me against JotWW). IMO its worth 25pts to be able to have you Spyders take 6 wounds before losing a single model as opposed to 2.

Liking the new list. Didn't like the previous one, not keen on min units of Warriors on foot, which btw how did you find those?

The gloom prism, how do you get it to be in range with psykers nearly all the time when it has a 3" range?

I like your second list better.
Seems to me, that you might want some more ranged shooting... Nightscythes may be that answer.
They don't take up a FOC slot because they are dedicated transports, and carry the Necron's best gun IMO. Odds are also good, that they will be able to see through night fighting early in the game.
I'd drop 1 group of immortals and 1 squad of spyders for a pair of them.

@ mercer

Thanks =) The min warrior squads were ok for objective grabbing, useless for anything else. All they really did was run around till they got on objectives then GtG as soon as they got shot at. I figured it'd be smarter to pay 20pts extra for the Immortals and have a unit that can actually do something.

The gloom prism lets me nullify on a 4+ if the Spyder's unit or a friendly unit within 3" is targeted by a Psy power, meaning if I chain my units so that at least one model is within 3" of each Gloom Prism spyder I get a 4+ to nullify 3 times. Usually I play the Spyders in this sort of formation:

(opponent)

W W W W D S
W N1 N2 N3 S
W C1 C2 C3 S
G1 G2 G3 S
S S S

W: wraith, D: Destroyer Lord. They're in front to give cover. N: naked spyder, C: fabricator claw, G: Gloom prism. The numbers after them show which squad they're in. They Wraiths are chained to the side so they get the 4+ x3 as well while still giving cover, then I can chain Scarabs (S)/Imotekh's squad on the right to give them the 4+ x3 as well (or swap the Wraith chain to the right side and play something else on the left). In this formation all the Spyders can poop into the Scarabs too.

@ Anpu-adom

If I was to take Night Scythes I'd want to take at least 4, preferably 5, then I'd also replace the Spyders with Annihalation barges and take Overlords in barges too as I'd want armor saturation, and then I'd be playing a different list. Don't get me wrong, Scythes are good, but I wanna keep this list focused on the Scarabswarm concept. I've been thinking about some Scythe lists too though, I'll put them up at some point when I'm satisfied with them =)

mercer wrote:Liking the new list. Didn't like the previous one, not keen on min units of Warriors on foot, which btw how did you find those?

The gloom prism, how do you get it to be in range with psykers nearly all the time when it has a 3" range?

He kind of answered this, but keep in mind GP's have to within 3" of what they are protecting, not the psyker himself.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Jabdo, why not Particle Beamers instead of Claws on your Spyders?

ShadarLogoth wrote:

mercer wrote:Liking the new list. Didn't like the previous one, not keen on min units of Warriors on foot, which btw how did you find those?

The gloom prism, how do you get it to be in range with psykers nearly all the time when it has a 3" range?

He kind of answered this, but keep in mind GP's have to within 3" of what they are protecting, not the psyker himself.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Jabdo, why not Particle Beamers instead of Claws on your Spyders?

I took claws because they're 15pts cheaper, a because the Spyder squads usually want to run instead of shooting so they can get stuck in as fast as possible. They're already pretty slow, and they want to be able to get close enough to charge squads that the Scarabs demech, so they gotta move up pretty fast.

Didn't want to start a new topic, just thought I'd put up some results on how the list has performed (ETC scenarios, so the points go up to 20)

SW: 10-10, 17-3 win, 16-4 win

BA: 12-8 win

CSM: 17-3 win

Mechdar: 19-1 win

IG: 20-0 win

So far its looking pretty promising. Gotta test against Deldar and Orks next, as those matchups are the only ones I'm not too sure about.

Jabbdo wrote:
I've found that against lists containing lots of missiles the Wraiths just tend to keel over and die pretty quick, plus they really can't hold their own against dedicated CC units. Even large units of Grey Hunters w/ a fist WG beat them one on one. So I dropped one squad, and picked up a Destroyer Lord to hang with them. He has a couple of uses: catching missiles for the Wraiths, being able to generate 2-3 wounds per turn in CC that ignore armor saves and have 2D6 pen (a great help against some units, as you just can't always rely on rending: Dreads, Mephiston, THSS)

I like both lists (second one better) so I am not commenting on them but one thing I found odd is that you say is that wraiths die to missiles quickly and you use the D-Lord to take them, while I see its a better 2+ save I just get the feeling that you might not know that the wraiths 3+ is an invul save, sorry if I am wrong on this. I agree wraiths aren't a counter to dedicated assault units but as the say shoot the assaultie ones and assault the shootie ones.

The Wraiths have a 3+ invul, but missiles instakill them, and a couple of bad saves will leave you with half the squad dead. The Destroyer Lord can always catch at least one missile from each salvo that is fired at you, and they don't instakill him, so he helps a lot in that regard.