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While trying to come up with a Imotekh centric army ("Blitz-Crons" ... 'cause of the lightning, you see), I realized that, despite all the long range weaponry that the Storm Lord's brand of night-fighting would render less effective (Lance-teks, Tremor-teks, Heavy Gauss Cannons, Doomsday Arks, etc), with all the things that don't have to worry about/can exploit the reduced visibility, we're kinda spoiled for choice! (Sweep attack Command Barge, Wraiths, Scarab-Farms, Death&Despair squads, Doom Scythes, hell, potentially even Lychguard+Obyron and Flayed Ones... provided the rules are fixed in 6th to let you assault after deep-striking).

Anyway, if I'm dead set on using Imotekh in this list instead of dual Solar Pulses (I've never actually run the guy in a list yet, so I wanted to try to make something that could make use of him AT LEAST ONCE), which of the many 'Cron night-fighters would I be best advised to use?


PS. No, "Just use them all, lol" is not an acceptable alternative.
If I was running a 3000 point army, maybe that'd be possible, but at the 2000 point or less club, it's not possible (nor is it probably effective if I try to run minimum amounts of things, eg. only one Doom Scythe or only one Death&Despair squad. Both of those are super devastating one-offs (one against armor, one against infantry) that need to be taken in pairs to be effective).

Just run Imotekh, Orikan, C'Tan with Writhing Worldscape, Crypteks with Tremor Staves, and two Solar Pulses. Any points left over grab 2-3 spyders and some scarabs. Use the Night Fighting (guaranteed three turns of NF) to farm scarabs and move across the table. Hit any heavy assault units with tremor staves to slow them down and hopefully cause a few high price wounds. When the scarabs grow big enough let them eat. Also spyders can tie up troop quality units if necessary in combat for a turn or two while dealing decent damage to the unit.

The above list is rough to play against. Hate playing it with my GK. My Space Wolves do a little better getting in more night fighting shooting thanks to Acute Vision but it is still an unpleasant experience.


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Imotekh, Orikan, and the C'Tan can handle their own in combat especially the C'Tan and the hulked out version of Orikan.

Naturally you'll want a less shooty orientated army, so you will have more room for the krumpin' units (as you know) - just remember that Imotekh isn't a brute in close combat.

Though the FAQ has made it clear that the Night Fighting is caused by him directly (since it can be affected by chrono), it's unclear if the lighting is - or if it's merely a factor triggered by his initial presence in your army list. I'm for the latter, but the former would mean that you could use Zandrekh to cause str9 lighting.

Flayed ones would certainly be more comfortable here, allowing them to shamble forward in the appropriate number (15+) - but they work best against hordes (orks, 'nids) rather than against MEQ. .

Night Scythes would also work quite well, being able to drop off some ranged cargo close by the enemy for fire, while Doom Scythes may arguably be able to be used to move up closer to negate Night Fighting and fire away.

I think FTHDace has it right, if by "2-3 spyders" he means "2-3 fully loaded-out spyder units", ie, "6-9 spyders". And of course 2-3 scarab units of any size (6+ to start for alpha CC strike**) for them to poop more little dudes into. And I'm starting to think that he's also right about including Orikan and the C'Tan both**. And the couple of extra Solar Pulses. Probably one fully-loaded Wraith unit at 2K too. (2K works best for these sorts of lists, for a couple of reasons.)

(** Scarab alpha CC strike - because Imotekh seizes on a coin flip, any mech spam/tank gunline has to set up at least 3" back from their 12" line regardless of whether they won their initiative roll or not.)

(**Orikan + C'Tan - pretty much guarantees a full reserve deployment by the opponent b/c of the above Scarab alpha and the fact that any move forward to spotlight risks cheap losses - and then getting struck by lightning anyway. Some question whether it's worth encouraging your opponent to stay off the board and miss the lightning fun, but probably.)

Not sure about moving across the table - you're pretty much guaranteed the opponent will come to you if you don't go to him, so basically just grab all the good cover, wherever it is.

But why take the pulses if you've already got Imotekh?
And don't give me that "So you can cancel night fighting in your turn to shoot" bullsh*t (if you just wanted two turns to deny shooting to your enemy, there's no point in Imotekh being there).

No, I'm convinced the best way to run Imotekh is with as minimal shooting as possible (or shooting that doesn't care about night fight, eg. Doom Scythes and Harbingers of Despair)

For the late game, Skoffs. If your opponent goes second and reserves everything the lightning will be over surprisingly quickly (depends on your continuation rolls, of course). Your scarabs will be big (see what I did there?), but he can still concentrate-by-fire on your guys by coming in as far away from your fast CC guys as possible. Takes some patience on your opponent's part. Anyway, I'd take at least one, and I bet the reason FTHDace suggested them is he's considered the "avoidance" strategy seriously.

I don't see the big deal with scarabs. A single plasma cannon can hit 6 or 7 bases, double wounds, so 12-14 bases dead with one shot. Once you lash them out of cover...Multiply that by 6-9 obliterators, what scarabs?

Okay, well let's consider that we're going full aggression mode here. Imotekh wants that seize the initiative like crazy, and an alpha strike is planned.
By turn 2 you pretty much want to be in assault (or already have caused damage).
What then?

Night Scythes can't flat out and drop off their cargo (yet. we'll see what happens next month).
You can't deep strike and assault (again, yet. July may see a change to that).
What does that leave left?

Lash still has to roll for night fighting...then psychic test...then to hit...If you have the scarabs spread correctly a plasma cannon can only get 3-4 max IF you have them spread correctly.

FTHDace wrote:Lash still has to roll for night fighting...then psychic test...then to hit...If you have the scarabs spread correctly a plasma cannon can only get 3-4 max IF you have them spread correctly.

...and a scarab unit backed by spyders can assault up to 27" or so. Serious threat radius. The spyders will have gloom prisms. A Scarab unit is the most likely Necron unit to benefit from nearby prisms. A bit on the risky side, even for a (expensive) unit that's an almost perfect scissors to the Scarab's paper. <shrug> Spyder/scarab teams are viable. (captain obvious time.) ps - but the spread thing is sorta moot if successfully lashed.

Skoffs, you can play an agressive night-fight strategy, and then yeah. Still hard to charge stuffs that's off the board, but you can position yourself centrally. Risks a move-on Alpha strike from your opponent. Dropping Imotekh instead and adding more initial combat power along with the Solar Pulses might work better in that case. (Charge in there with another CCB and more wraiths.) Basically, you have to decide on a philosophy before anything else.

hmm, in the mean time (while I'm still trying to figure this out), here's an attempt at an alpha strike build-

2000 point Necron Blitzkrieg
(“shock” assault under cover of darkness)

HQ [795]
Imotekh = 225 (A)
Zahndrekh = 185 (B)
Obyron = 160 (C)
Despair-tek (veil) = 60 (D)
Chrono-tek (chronometron) = 40 (E)
Storm-tek (lightning) = 35 (F)
Lord (scythe, scarabs, ResOrb) = 90 (G)

TROOP [340]
10 Immortals (gauss) = 170 (A, C, E, G)
10 Immortals (tesla) = 170 (B, D, F)

FAST [515]
6 Wraiths (3x whip coils, 1x particle caster) = 245
9 Scarabs = 135
9 Scarabs = 135

HEAVY [350]
Doom Scythe = 175
Doom Scythe = 175

Against mech, it'll wreck house. Against hordes, not so much. (and in any objective based games, they're screwed)
...
*sigh*

<sigh> I cannot get Doom Scythes to work for me.

Randall Turner wrote:<sigh> I cannot get Doom Scythes to work for me.

That's just the thing: you've gotta EXPECT them to only last one turn, and so use them like you mean business.
I consider them single-serving one-use units, there to do a job, and then act as a distraction (which in and of itself is a very useful contribution! If you see a Doom Scythe and a unit of 6 Wraiths, most people are gonna be hard pressed to decide which deserves more attention!)
Death&Despair squads would be the anti-infantry version to the Doom Scythe's anti-mech (and at 155 and 175 respectively, they're both kind of reasonably priced for what they do, when you consider that a Wraith Wing usually costs 245 points, a Scarab Farm costs around 265-325 points, and an effective use of Lychguard (say 6-10 with Orb-Lord) costs a whopping 360-540 points. Yes, you'll probably get more out of those units in the long run, but if your goal is to take out a certain tank/deathstar quickly before it can wreak havoc on the rest of your army, then there's no two better suited suicide squads in the codex)

I personally have has great success with the death and despair squads. The Ap 1 template fills a niche that really compliments most necron armies and at only 155pts it really is a bargain considering the prices of the units its going to be hunting

skoffs wrote:if your goal is to take out a certain tank/deathstar quickly before it can wreak havoc on the rest of your army, then there's no two better suited suicide squads in the codex

... in fact, with that in mind, I think I want to take another stab at that Blitzkrieg list...


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They called me mad-- MAD, I tell you!

2000 point "Axis" Alpha-strike
(Kamikaze Blitzkrieg)

HQ [570]
Imotekh = 225
Zahndrekh = 185
Chrono-tek (chronometron) = 40
2 Despair-teks (veil) = 120

TROOP [408]
10 Immortals (gauss) = 170
7 Immortals (tesla) = 119
7 Immortals (tesla) = 119

ELITE [190]
5 Deathmarks = 95
5 Deathmarks = 95

FAST [480]
5 Wraiths (3x coils, 1x caster) = 210
9 Scarabs = 135
9 Scarabs = 135

HEAVY [350]
Doom Scythe = 175
Doom Scythe = 175

TOTAL [1998]

If the Doom Scythes and D&D squads do their jobs properly, by the time the Immortals, Wraiths, and Scarabs catch up, there shouldn't be much left to clean up.

I would mount up in night scythes to give you some mobility and firepower. Scarab farms are also nice as some armies are going to guarentteed reserve against it.

Kevlar wrote:I don't see the big deal with scarabs. A single plasma cannon can hit 6 or 7 bases, double wounds, so 12-14 bases dead with one shot. Once you lash them out of cover...Multiply that by 6-9 obliterators, what scarabs?

how are you lashing something that can move -> assault 24"?
the problem with scarabs isn't that they are just mean in cc, or just baby-makable, its that they are SUPER fast too.

Grundz wrote:

Kevlar wrote:I don't see the big deal with scarabs. A single plasma cannon can hit 6 or 7 bases, double wounds, so 12-14 bases dead with one shot. Once you lash them out of cover...Multiply that by 6-9 obliterators, what scarabs?

how are you lashing something that can move -> assault 24"?
the problem with scarabs isn't that they are just mean in cc, or just baby-makable, its that they are SUPER fast too.

Because lash has a 36" threat range on a prince?

Kevlar wrote:Because lash has a 36" threat range on a prince?

There are some night sight range issues but I don't even know if they apply to the lash. (Not sure if it's a psychic shooting attack or not.) Either way, doesn't matter, you can make it work and yes, it's a very powerful tool that's particularly effective against Necrons - but let's not get into it, it's not really on topic in this thread.

And re: Doom Scythes, heck, might work out - maybe reserve them and use Orikan's reserve reroll ability to make their entry more predictable. I have bad luck with them (and it makes me feel bad), doesn't mean thay can't work period. And they *can* fire into melee, tarpit everthing with one huge spread-out scarab sacrificial unit the turn they come in maybe? Not sure if it'll work, dead certain it'd be fun to try. ('cause it's a frikken' DEATH RAY. pretty much the definition of "fun"!)

Annihilation Barges really benefit from not getting hit with long range anti-tank in my experience.

So, if the doom scythes are problematic, why not switch for Doomsday Arks instead?

Use the nightfight/Lightning in T1 to move the DA to position, drop the D&D squads, race the scarabs wraiths, run the troops.

T2, depending on how the board looks, pop pulse to enable the DA to shoot, hit with Scarab/Wraith, troops move/shoot.

T3 well, you'll just have to see what's left?

Doomsday Arks can't see far enough during night fight to be of much use (Annihilation Barges too).
Using Solar Pulses on your turn to cancel out the storm is a waste of points.

I have a feeling if you build a list with Imotekh, it should be a reduced-emphasis-on-shooting list... except shooting that disregards night fight, like the Doom Scythe.

[calls himself names] Good points skoffs


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Back to the codex!!



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So, I've been thinking more about the axis alpha strike list you posted. If opponents reserve because of Imotekh you'll need to be careful at the end of T1 because you won't know where they are coming onto the board.

So maybe the play is to use Zahndreks phased reinforcements. Reserve most of the army except for Imotekh, wait for the opponent to come in, THEN Bring on the reserves in the opponents turn. If we get 6th Ed rules saying we can shoot out of turn (ie in opponent movement phase) this would be an awesome shock and awe move - you'd just deepstrike everything assaulty - deathmarks, wraiths, doom scythes.

Even under 5th Ed rules, if you deep strike a couple of doom scythes, the wraiths (maybe drop a scarab unit for more wraiths), deathmarks, vod a troop block, something has to survive their shooting. Also, given the speed of the wraiths, range of the deathmarks it isn't like you'll need to deepstrike right next to his troops and risk losing the charge.

If you put the doom scythes in the opponents turn it really will be a kamikaze charge!

Thoughts?

Honestly I think shooting can still be effective. On average you will roll aroun 18", and with most cron shooting being 24", won't be much an issue. Only issue id see is trying to run lanceteks, but with immo plus some scarabs, shouldn't be much of an issue

MarkCron wrote:If opponents reserve because of Imotekh you'll need to be careful at the end of T1 because you won't know where they are coming onto the board.

So maybe the play is to use Zahndreks phased reinforcements.

heh heh heh, so you saw through my master scheme then, eh?

(some of them, anyway. Gotta make sure they're safe behind cover until my turn comes around. the Doom Scythes can come in on my turn, though. Pretty much paint a line or two across some expensive unit, then hope for the best... of course, like you said, depending on the new rules for Fliers/deep strike assault/shooting in your opponent's turn, etc., this list could become quite vicious.)

Hmmm. I hear a plan hatching. I'm going to post an army list when i get it half sorted!