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I'm just getting into 40k, the Necrons are the race I've chosen to play, and I like the idea of the Doomsday Ark. I want to build an army around protecting the Doomsday Ark(s), and was looking for any advice in doing so. The rough idea right now is Warriors to form a screen against everything on the table then move to objectives, with Immortals/Commander/a squad of Deathmarks with Harbinger of Despair to quickly respond to deep striking threats, and a Night Scythe for anti air support. Is this an effective plan? I know Doomsday Arks are not viewed that favorably, with most people preferring Annihilation Barges, but I want to make the Doomsday Ark work.

I'm a competitive player in that I like to win and don't really enjoy losing, but I'm not WAAC or, really, even close. I like the Doomsday Ark and Deathmarks, and I would like to take them, and play them competently. Any and all advice would be appreciated! (Let it be noted that I have just being purchasing, assembling, and painting my army, so I have not played a single game, although I have watched others play at my FLGS, so I'm still a relative newbie.)

It's a long-ranged cannon which you preferrably do not want to move. (ever).

Park it (or preferrably, two of them) somewhere in the back of your deployment zone with good LoS on the rest of the table. I'd suggest not guarding it with much as there isn't any unit that you could put around it that wouldn't either get steamrolled by a typical deepstriking squad or not be more worthwhile taking the fight to your foe so they have more immediate concerns. That said: a skyshield landing pad is handy for the invulnerable save and/or porting in deepstriking units of your own if need be.

I would say if you're gonna take them, take 3. Park them in some cover if possible as well.

Hadn't considered the idea of a landing pad, that might be a pretty good idea. As far as numbers, I'm just starting out, so it will only be 1000 point battles for now. I think 3 would probably get me run over in general combat, 1 is all I think I can fit for now, haha.

I was planning on trying to keep them in cover and stationary, was just hoping there was a way to try to keep them alive that was efficient, not just leave them to blast away until they die to deep strikers, haha.

Nah. Anything you guard them with is probably not earning it's points back either and they are expensive enough as it is to field. That said on an objective mission, it wouldn't hurt to put a squad of warriors next to one and next to an objective, but that is about the only time i'd strongly consider doing so.

Think of your army as a whole: any individual part of it is (or should be, ideally anyway) as good as any other more or less, so having a lot of 'points' sitting around instead of directly aimed at your enemy just makes things easier for them to deal with the rest in their own time rather than on your terms.

Also there is a lot to be said for tactical redundancy: If it's good enough to bring one, it's almost always better to bring two. (and it's related axiom: if you can't field something in multiples perhaps consider bringing something cheaper that you 'can'; like annihilation barges or run it as one of a pair of ghost arks)

Pair it with a Triarch Stalker for Super Happy Funtime twin-linking.

You will not enjoy building three of those. That kit is intense.

 Maelstrom808 wrote:
Pair it with a Triarch Stalker for Super Happy Funtime twin-linking.

This. Stalkers pair with Doomsday Arks extremely well.

Also, I disagree with the don't guard it notion. I think a pair of DArks guarded by a couple of Tomb Spyders with Fab Claws is an awesome combination. The Spyders keep the big gun doing what it does best, can charge anything that gets close, and can sit back and either farm scarabs or pewpew Particle shots when they have nothing better to do.

I actually like using a combo of zahndrekh and pulseteks, use the teks to keep the lights out, and have zahndrekh spam night-vision. only works with a single ark though

That being said, this tactic means you don't hafta actually devote units to guarding the damned thing. Another tactic I use is to use a pair of A. Barges as a turn-1 shield, (If I didn't win the roll-off) then move them up and out of the way after opponent has taken their turn.

I always prefer to build them like Ghost Arks and magnetize/lay the cannon in it.
To me it looks better and you can always switch.

This is what I mean:


About the tactic: Play 2.
Why? Because a Doomsday Ark is scary and threatening.
People will focus fire to kill it and you will lose your single Cannon.

Spiders can repair them while they are being shot at.
It's indeed a smart move to block the view with Barges.
Warriors probably won't work as the Ark hovers quite a few inches in the air and that will make it almost impossible to claim the cover.

I actually really like the idea of using Pulseteks with Zahndrehk to give the Ark some protection from other long range units without compromising its offensive power. Thanks a lot!

I also like the suggestion to field more than one, for more damage and to split my opponent's focus. However, do you think fielding 2+ Doomsday Arks is efficient in a 1000 point game? I'm just starting out, sot hat's the point size I'm aiming to hit the ground running at. To be able to field a second Doomsday Ark, I would have to drop my Immortals, and then also either the Night Scythe, my Deathmarks, or a substantial amount of warriors out of my 2 warrior squads. Is that a worthwhile trade for the benefits of having 2 Doomsday Arks for my opponent to deal with?

I think as I move up in points I would absolutely field additional Doomsday Arks, but at 1000 points I kind of feel like I need what I have to not be too thin in other areas.

Doomsday Arks are pretty great in 6th now, with a ton of improvements over 5th.

I wouldn't say Triarch Stalkers are needed though, for 165 points, you almost afford another Doomsday Ark. The Twin-linking is really not a huge deal anyway, I find I rarely miss. I would go so far as to say that Stalkers are just not worth fielding in almost any fashion in 6th.

I'd say you only need one. I like to run 1 DD ark and two Abarges in my heavy slot in a lot of my games.

A necron teleportation pad would be really cool to combo with it

I'm very happy with this thread. I had 2 models and chose to make a GA and a DA. Now I wish I had two GA but its slightly late for that, so I have been looking for some good ways to field it. I never thought of the barges in front. I usually only get one to two turns at the very max with mine, as my opponent just targets it after they see how many models it can kill in one shot. I haven't been able to make my points back yet, but I love how it looks plus the idea of a Doomsday Cannon. Seriously, who doesn't want their very own Doomsday Cannon? Throw a Death Ray on top and you have the coolest sci-fi villain weapons in the game! Or at least the most recognizable by name.

I hope to get in some games in the next few weeks so I can get a feel for actually playing with it, but its damage potential seems huge.

My favorite target with my ark is crisis suits. No armor? Instant death? from across the board? Enjoy!

Two Doomsday Arks at 1000 points?
err, that doesn't exactly sound like a good idea.
One D.Ark, a team of Spyders, and a A.Barge would be a good way to cover yourself... the only problem being, in a 1000 point game, that'll be almost half your points gone to nothing but HS.

Normally it's only ever a good idea to consider D.Arks at higher point levels, but if you must play them at anything less than 1500, just be prepared for a bit of disappointment.