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Hello everybody,

I recently started collecting Necrons and iám trying to build my first army list 1500-1750 points. This list is designed to play in my local Games Workshop mostly against space marine players.(But i want the list to be allround). I have bene collecting CSM for a long time now but when it comes to Necrons i have no idea what iám doing. These are my models and the list i came up with.

I would really like some feedback on tactics/list build and next buy to expand my army.

H.Q:

Nemesor Zahndrekg 185pts

Vargard Obyron 160pts

Royal Court 205pts
2x Cryptek
Harbringer of Despair + Veil of Darkness
Harbringer of Destruction+ Solar Pulse

1x Necron Lord
both: Warscythe
Mindschackle Scarabs
Resurrection Orb

Troops:

total 20x Warriors

total 10x Immortals total 170
Tesla Carbine

Heavy Support:

1x Annihilation Barge total 90
Tesla Destructor

Fast Attack:

total 6x Canoptek Scarabs total: 90

total 3x Canoptek Wraiths total: 125
2x whip coil

Elite:

total 5x Deathmarks total: 195
+ Night Scythe


Total list points: 1480
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I could really use some advice on List/Tactics or tips on my next buy to expand the army to make it more solid.

I was thinking of getting 3x Wraith or another Night Scythe/Annihilation Barge.

Hello,

Please allow me to make one or two comments, as a fairly newish Necron Overlord myself.

Firstly, I know those HQ units are very powerful but your list is very top heavy. Necron troops are about using res. orbs to maximum advantage. I have found that using them similar to a hoard works very well. You can't go far wrong with 3 x 12 or even 3 x 15 troops as the main stay of your army, with a lord with an orb in each.

Once you've got this sorted I'd add some ghost arks to really hit home the advantage of coming back to life. Maybe two arks to support your three warriors units, possibly with even more troops inside those.

Next, wraiths. I contend that wraiths are the very best unit in the universe. 35 pts for a 5+/3++ that can Deep Strike, use jump packs and ignores cover. They have the best wargear options in the Necron codex also, whip coils. Three of these normally require an entire army to focus fire on them. Six in a unit are unbelievable.

Good work on the annihilation barge. Bring two or more. These are awesome.

I also love Tomb Blades. They are fast, can have BS 5 and can throw high strength blasts around, whilst maintaining a 4+ cover save. And depending on scenario, both wraiths and tomb blades can be scoring. As can destroyers, which I can't comment on as I only have two.

Hope this is helpful. My basic advice is don't rely on gimmickry or trickery from HQ or vehicles. Get a big gang of necrons together in the middle of the board, get into range and demolish the enemy.

Alright, I loves me some robot zombies, so I'll point out some things that I know I can do to tweak this.

General advise- Max Squad sizes. You don't get a reanimate if the entire unit dies to one round of shooting, so the more bodies you have, the better chance that unit is living to see the end of the game.
Phase shifters- Overlords only. On a lord- you are spending 45 points on an upgrade for a 1-wound model. Take those shifters off your lords- that's 90 extra points you have to play with.

Royal Court Members - where are you planning on putting them? would be great to know ahead of time, cause I can't tell what's gonna be helpful or not until i know. That being said- prioritize your orbs by which squads are gonna need em the most. A 10 man unit of warriors that sits on a backfield objective all game? probly don't need it. A screen of 20 that runs infront of your army? definitely needs it. 10 immortals that are gonna be taking hits? orb em. lychguard(if you were to take those)- ORB 'EM! Actually running a royal court as a unit? ORB EM!
Also, note the benefits of maybe getting an extra overlord. An extra overlord means an extra court, which means more dudes you can attach to one squad, and more uses of the "1 per court only" cryptek items

Immortals- Tesla ones should be playing at either 24" or assaulting with a choppy lord in the squad, Gauss should be hunting vehicles/4+ armor saves, and try to get in rapid fire. Gauss benefits greatly from a teleport of some kind.

Warriors- the only exception the the max squad size rule. Footsloggers should be at 20, ark squads should be at "whatever fits in the ark after the royal court is added" and you probably want to add a 10 man- ish squad to hold an objective. If you add a court member to that squad, make sure they have a weapon that can reach out and smack someone from across the table. An immortal- heavy troops list will see the backfield, barebone 10 man squad more than an all warriors list.

Your heavy support slot- Probably ought to be full at all times at this point value. If you aren't taking arks/scythes/monos/spyders, fill that slot up with annihilation barges. there is little that s7 assault 4, tl tesla weapons can't solve, plus you get your choice of more s6 shots from a tesla cannon, or marine-popping s6 ap3 gauss! And those are attached to a 13/13/11 vehicle! all that for 90 points! Hey, remember those phase shifters you removed? BAM! Here's what they buy!

scarabs- I don't use em, some people swear by em, whatever. They are great when supported by spyders, hit or miss elswhere. make sure they eat vehicles and not people, cause that's what they're good at!

Deathmarks- attaching a harbinger of despair is wonderful, wonderful cheese. Just don't spend too many points here- as in my experience, they get one round of shooting before your opponent declares them to be dead, oh so very dead. Nothing will survive a round of shooting from a 10 man squad with 2 crypteks attached, nor will that squad survive your opponent's revenge-mobile of hate.

Wraiths are always a good buy. Just note that-
Squad size 6- always.
They have 2 wounds, but no reanimate.
They are only t4- s8 is insta-death
Take a marker and cross out any upgrade that is not "whip coils"
No more than half the squad with any upgrades.
Run the un-upgraded ones in the front as meatshields

You may want to drop the point values from everything, just a rule in this forum.

As for the list; the Nemessor and Vangaurd, a good combo. Note that you also get a super charged Veil with Obyron. He would go well with a full group of Immortals and one Res orb Lord. Even better is to stick Zahndrekh in a CCB and charge him up the field only to have Obyron DS without scatter on him in a key location to maximize the range of the Tesla carbines.

Your Royal Court is kinda all over the place. As for the crypteks, you can drop it down to one, maybe two crypteks, both Destruction with one solar pulse. Im personally a fan of the Storm Cryptek myself with the Lightning Field upgrade. Either option goes with a full group of warriors, or nine and him in Ghost Ark (make it a rule of thumb to keep >10 warriors off the battlefield if possible). The lords are no better here, fully kitted out is not necessary with these guys unless your making the disco. The most stuff youll take with these guys will be a WS paired with MSS, or just a RO by itself on him.

Troops choices are ok here, then again, its hard to go wrong here.

As Dragonfodder said about the Anni Barges; these things are a STEAL at 90 points. Four minimum STR7 AP- shots that add two per six rolled on to hit? Sign yourself up for three at all times, unless you allocate one slot to a Doom Scythe or Doomsday Ark.

Last up is the Scarabs. These guys are also a finesse unit. You really need spyders to back these guys up and make them worth while. They definitely eat vehicles, and they are DAMN good at it too. The only problem is, so is all our standard weaponry via the Gauss Special Rule.



So, just some things to rehash real fast:

Dont forget to use Adaptive/Counter Tactics with Zahndrekh at the start of each of your turns (Give a 20 warrior blob Tank Hunters!)

Keep a level head about the Royal Court, its really easy to get caught up in the choices they bring to the table.

Less than ten warriors on the battlefield is bad.

ALWAYS slot out your Heavy Support with three Anni Barges, this rule is golden at ALL point values.

I agree with wraiths im running 2 squads of them now they draw alot of fire but the 3++ is amazing if you want to run them you might want to consider a destroyer lord with mss just for some extra close combat force. lords need to be minimum an orb depending on where your putting them depends on there upgrades but you have a lot of points going on crypteks and lords i personally love deathmarks and abysteks 2 squads of 5 with a cryptek each (if you have 2 HQs) but they will die unless your very lucky, I like using the doomsday ark for some nice pie plate action but watch the placement they can be great but if they have to move its a waste of a turn of shooting.

Thanks all love the feedback i will update the list soon. Got my wraiths today and will try to get 3 more as soon as possible and another Annihilation Barge aswell.

I was thinking the 20 warriors with a harbringer of despair Cryptek and a Lord with res orb to hunt vehicles.

10x Immortals with tesla carbine witha Harbringer of Destruction and a Lord with res orb to hunt infantry.

5x Deathmarks with a Harbringer of the Storm with lightning field and Obyron to hunt any priority targets like monsteres creatures HQs etc.

Not sure where to stick my H.Qs. I was thinking Obyron with the Deathmarks and Zahndrekh with the warriors.

Actually, the "fun" cryptek for deathmarks is Despair. as per eratta-
Deathmarks and ANYONE ATTACHED TO THEIR SQUAD benefit from hunters from hyperspace.
This means that the ap1 template auto hits and wounds on a 2+ and ignores armor and cover. slap that in a night scythe to reliably deliver them anywhere on the board with no scatter, and you got yourself a winning unit.
Obyron should be in a squad that is likely to get melee'd. Instead of the despairtek, I would put him with the warrior blob. If the blob gets charged and manages to live, you can use obyron to teleport the entire squad away.

Zahndrekh should be a backfield or midfield objective holder. Put him somewhere that you could use an orb, and have em sit there. If he gets in melee, you lose obyron from the squad he's assigned to, as obyron has to go help. Fun tip- the personal warlord traits tree is garbage, except, if you manage to roll a 5 and have you warlord (zandrekh) on an objective, then you get the wonders of feel-no-pain necrons. And that gak is HILARIOUS.

Thank you Dragonfodder you are very helpful

Ok so Obyron with the warriors with lord/resorb and harbringer of the storm(focus on CC), Zahndrekh with the immortals and harbringer of Destruction?

Deathmarks with the Harbringer of Despair(stick a lord/resorb with them or not worth it?)

Does this sound right?

(edited the Despair part silly mistake)

Just a note - you can only put one member from each court into any given squad. To double up (a lord and a cryptek in one squad) you'd need to take a second Overlord and assign one of those two to his court instead.

Deathmarks with the Harbinger of Despair/Veil of Darkness and no other characters. They're a suicide unit - they deep strike in when the thing you want to kill appears, mark it, and remove it from the table before being wiped out by return fire.

I can't really comment on Warriors, as I don't use them (I run a pure Immortal list).

Thank you Furyou Miko i overlooked that part of the court rules and was to eager to put res orbs everywhere.

Would you recommend a double court at 1500-1750 point range or is this crazy talk?

(i meant to say Deathmarks with harbringer of Despair/Veil of Darkness)

to Recap:

Obyron with the warriors with lord/resorb/MMS/WS
Zahndrekh with the 10x Immortals(tesla carbine in the back field) and harbringer of Destruction/Solar Pulse.
Deathmarks with the Harbringer of Despair/Veil of Darknes(in Night Scythe)

Does this sound right?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
updated

Updated

Was thinking of buying 3 more wraiths and 1 more AB. would this be smart or should i get more troops first?

Hi Necron Friend,


The things I like in my lists:

Mind Shackle scarabs - Makes random enemy model in base contact with the bearer take a 3D6 LD test. If failed; model attacks his own unit that phase (or himself if its the only one; this is great for challenges.
I've sometimes ran WS Necron Lords in groups of 5 with MSS and an Overloard also with WS and MSS and usually Sempiternal weave (2+ Sv). Its a pricey setup but fun; WS is ST7 weapon which ignores armorsaves. They all also have Everliving which is cool because it allows you to roll for reanimation for all of them even if the entire unit gets whiped out. (Standard reanimation does not)

Warscythes - if the model has the option to bring a WS they are 10 points and you should probably do it (Unless being attached to a strictly shooting unit). ST7 I2 weapon with Armorbane.

Wraiths - My close combat go to crew; Jump Infantry ST6 with a 3+ Armor and 3+ Inv Save. Best in squads of 6 having 3 equipped with whip coils. Any model with Whipcoils drops initiative to 1 to all enemy models in base contact with it. Finally allowing you to hit first and overcome that pesky necron Initiative of 2. When paired up with a Destroyer lord the unit also gets preferred enemy everything allowing the wraiths to reroll failed to hit/wound on 1's. Destroyer Lord has WS and you can throw MSS on it as well. I find myself bringing this particular unit setup with me on a regular basis.

Tesla weapons - Are neat because any roll to hit of 6 automatically gives you get 2 extra hits on top of the original. Although they have no AP they do a really good job against infantry. Tesla Destructor has an Arc ability; which is neat but can suck if you have friendlies close by. Roll a D6 for every unit within 6'' of the target. If you roll a 6 then that unit suffers D6 automatic ST 5 hits.

Flyers - Night Scythe Zooming Transport is 100 points and comes with a Twin Linked Tesla Destructor which is the exact same main gun that the Annhilation barges have. They are tough to shoot down since units have to snapshots when shooting them (unless its another flyers or units with skyfire). Also can evade if the need arises, which gives it the jink rule. The list i'm really liking that I'm running now has 6 Night Scythes and 3 Doom Scythes. Doom Scythes also a Zooming flyer that get the Twin linked Tesla Destructor but in addition have a snazzy ST10 AP1 Deathray that can score hits on multiple units.


With the recent changes in vehicles and hull points i've generally been using squads of warriors with a single Harbringer of the Storm Cryptek in each squad and then scoot around them the board in night scythes as my hit and run anti vehicle squads. The Flyer is 100points and is equipped with gives the unit a mobility a like letting me put the cryptek be in the 12'' range of this Voltaic Staff and utilize its haywire rule and also warriors to get into rapid fire range with the ability to fire right off the bat. Crypteks Voltaic staffs assault 4 with haywire allows you to glance on a 2-5 and pen on a 6 regardless of vehicle armor. Then you also have the rapid fire coming from your warriors whose gauss autoglances on a 6.

Triarch Stalkers are fun too; their heat ray hurts and they have a targeting relay (if it scores a single hit, everything else in your army shooting at that target for the rest of the turn counts as twin linked). Makes some neat combos. I.E. drop a squad warriors 12'' away from something that has the targeting relay on it.. Specifically against Vehicles; Twin linked rapid fire gauss shots makes you more likely to roll that 6 for the autoglance if the st4 from the gauss flayer doesn't have enough kick. Drop some immortals in with tesla carbines; twin linked Tesla shots are never a bad thing. I've stopped using my stalkers though to free up my list for more flyers since the flyers all already a twin linked tesla weapon.

Also, CCB being chariots now are pretty freakin sweet which combined with a WS. I love the sweep attack ability it has during the movement phase and now they can assault and have hammer of wrath.


Anyways i've just recently been getting back into playing 40k with my crons but i've been off and on for a couple years. So i'm not an expert this is a 1750 point list id recommend.

1750/1750 Points

H.Q:

Destroyer lord with MSS, WS, and Sempiternal Weave 160pts

Overlord with MSS, Sempiternal Weave, WS and CCB 260pts

Royal Court :
Cryptek Harbringer of the Storm -25 pts
Cryptek Harbringer of the Storm -25 pts

Troops:
10x Tesla Immortals w/ Night Scythe 270pts
10x Warriors w/ Night Scythe 230 pts <---- Paired with Cryptek Harbringer of the Storm
10x Warriors w/ Night Scythe 230 pts <-- Paired with Cryptek Harbringer of the Storm

Fast Attack:

6x Canoptek Wraths w/3 whipcoils and 2 partical casters 250 pts <--- Attached to destroyer lord

Heavy:

2x Doom Scythe 350pts


Also have you heard of Vassel? Its a free nifty program that lets you play tabletop warhammer 40k online against other people. Works great to try out lists to see how well they work before you go dropping money on actual the models.

http://vassal40k.wordpress.com/

Wow thank you Thefishstick that was really helpfull.
Your list looks really strong but i don't like the idea of that many flyers. I own one atm and was thinking of taking 2 max.

I like the idea of a big infantry army.
Now got a block of 20 warriors and 10 immortals (i really like the Tesla)
My three wraiths have been doign great and i want to make the squad 6 wraiths strong maybe stick a Destroyerlord in there.(sounds like a great plan)
I own one AB thinking of making that two.

I haven't played with my Deathmarks yet but i like to try the idea with the harbringer of Despair/Veil of Darknes.
Iám not sure to include my 6 scarabs in my army. I was thinking use them as a speedbump (anti assault shield) or jsut run them at an armoured vehicle. Maybe i should take them out completly and put in another AB.

//Also have you heard of Vassel?//
I have always been looking for something liek this. ty

Any more tips? anyone?

only other tip I have is a modeling one- with scythes and barges, do NOT glue the main guns on. You can easilly make a barge a CCB/AB with the siple swapping of the gun for the railing, and the scythe weapons actually fit in snug enough that you can swap between a night/doom scythe at will between games.

Necrons in general are mostly about knowing what you want from your army, 'casue they have a unit to do it. To be perfectly honest, in a casual environment, even the worst list that you can put together still has a chance of working with necrons, that's just how we roll

A thank you that is a nice tip

 Demic25 wrote:
Wow thank you Thefishstick that was really helpfull.
Your list looks really strong but i don't like the idea of that many flyers. I own one atm and was thinking of taking 2 max.

I like the idea of a big infantry army.
Now got a block of 20 warriors and 10 immortals (i really like the Tesla)
My three wraiths have been doign great and i want to make the squad 6 wraiths strong maybe stick a Destroyerlord in there.(sounds like a great plan)
I own one AB thinking of making that two.

I haven't played with my Deathmarks yet but i like to try the idea with the harbringer of Despair/Veil of Darknes.
Iám not sure to include my 6 scarabs in my army. I was thinking use them as a speedbump (anti assault shield) or jsut run them at an armoured vehicle. Maybe i should take them out completly and put in another AB.

//Also have you heard of Vassel?//
I have always been looking for something liek this. ty

If you want to tone down on the flyers you might want to give a couple of squads of destroyers a shot. I played a couple a games with them in my list over the weekend and had some pretty decent results. Jump infantry in squads up to 5; they are Toughness 5 which is a nice change and also have a STR 5 AP3 assault 2 gauss cannon along with a 3+ Sv. Whats great too is they have preferred enemy everything. I paired them up with a couple of stalkers. The stalkers were cool because of their head ray which can be used as either focused beam (ST8 ap 1 Heavy 2,Melta) or dispersed beam (Template Str5 AP 4 heavy 1). Their targeting relays came to be useful; when they score a hit on a unit anything else that shoots at that same unit counts as twin linked. It was a neat combo with my destroyers gauss cannon twin linked preferred enemy everything.

Here is the list I used for the 1750pt game:

Total: 1745

Taryzn the Infinite w/CCB 305pts

Royal Court:
Cryptek - Harbringer of the Storm
Cryptek - Harbringer of the Storm

Elites: 300pts
2x Triarch Stalker

Troops:
10x Immortals w/ Night Scythe (270pts)
10x Immortals w/ Night Scythe (270pts)

Fast Attack:

5x Necron Destroyers 200pts
5x Necron Destroyers 200pts
5x Necron Destroyers 200pts



Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Dragonfodder wrote:
only other tip I have is a modeling one- with scythes and barges, do NOT glue the main guns on. You can easilly make a barge a CCB/AB with the siple swapping of the gun for the railing, and the scythe weapons actually fit in snug enough that you can swap between a night/doom scythe at will between games.

Necrons in general are mostly about knowing what you want from your army, 'casue they have a unit to do it. To be perfectly honest, in a casual environment, even the worst list that you can put together still has a chance of working with necrons, that's just how we roll

I magnitized my barges. Makes it easier to swap out the gun with the overlord and control panel. I also magnitize the overlord so i can jump him in and out as needed and won't have to worry about him falling off when I scoot around.

thank you for the feedback will take a look at destroyers

Any more tips?

The thing I really like about 'Crons is the variety of playstyle you can go for. As one of the guys above said, you cant really go wrong with most of the units in the dex provided you have a theme and bring units that can cover all your requirements. If you want to win games consistently then a bit of list tailoring to cover your common opponents will certainly help but otherwise a few things you proably want to consider.

Always have 2 tesla destructors in your list. This is the bare minimum for having a decent shot at flyers your opponent might bring.

Don't use flayed ones, praetorians or lychguard. Everything they can do can be done by other units in the codex for cheaper.

Have a plan for dealing with monstrous creatures and thier like (mephiston/dreadknights/Eldar mega wraiths/riptides)...crons biggest weakness is the total lack of a plasma (mid str ap2) equivalent. You need to be able to mitigate threats like this using MSS, deathmarks, mobility and tarpit units.

Have a plan for your HQ. If you're not using court units then destroyers with preferred enemy and wraiths are undeniably better than any other kitted regular lord.

Only use res orbs in max sized units otherwise you won't get your points worth.

Always fill out the3 heavy support slots. 1 more anni barge or a spyder with a gloom prism are totally worth it.

If you want to be the cheese then the most common (and thus one of the most hated) lists played at tournaments is a max wraith, 2 destroyer lord, 3 anni barge, min troops in nightscythes list.

I am too lazy to read all the other posts. i'll keep this one short.

Drop one named character in favour of another barge, then make up the difference with more warriors. drop Obyron for example, and get another barge and 6 warriors, split your warriors into 2 units of 13 with a res-orb wielding lord in each.