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Hi, I sketched out a tactic/list, that Im calling phalanx, using 5crypteks as 36" tank/mc softener, with a lord with orb. Two ghost arks with ten warriors in them, giving 15 shots apiece, with 20 warriors screening the crypteks. With two squads of jet bikes (3), on the flanks with particle shreddars. I was wondering peoples thoughts on this in general, with the understanding that it doesnt have any aa, which other then our fliers we dont really have any of.

Severite wrote:
Hi, I sketched out a tactic/list, that Im calling phalanx, using 5crypteks as 36" tank/mc softener, with a lord with orb. Two ghost arks with ten warriors in them, giving 15 shots apiece, with 20 warriors screening the crypteks. With two squads of jet bikes (3), on the flanks with particle shreddars. I was wondering peoples thoughts on this in general, with the understanding that it doesnt have any aa, which other then our fliers we dont really have any of.

Annihilation Barges are some of the best AA in the game actually.

As for what you're calling "phalanx" - it's a combination of the Royal Court Disco Inferno (RCDI) and Silver tide strategies. Each of them work decently on their own but combining them leaves out a lot of key aspects needed for the true success of each one.

The 5 Destructeks work well enough but are really easy to kill off since they only have a 4+ save. A lord with RO isn't going to save them that much (16% better chance for RP isn't that useful for only 5 models that are 35pts each).

Tomb blades are crap when you factor in how much anti-infantry you already have in your warriors. Using Destroyers (heavies or normals) would be better due to their same approximate cost and overall better (and more accurate) weapons.

How does the anni barge work as aa? It get s, 8 chances to hit at 6, and wounds on a 4+, against av 11. Though each 6 is three wounds which is nice. Is there a definitive list on what those strategies are? Thank you much for the feedback. The warriors are also supposed to supply a bit of protection for the crypteks, do you have a better suggestion?

You need to put the orb lord in the 20 Warriors and the crypteks in one of the Ghost Arks.

I would drop 1 unit of 10 Warriors and just take a G.Ark as a DT for the 20 man blob (which the cryptecs will jump in).

Anni Barges are good AA. They can move 12" to get in range/rear armour then they will usually get three or six hits at S7.

Do exactly what the guy above me said.

EXACTLY WHAT HE SAID.

3 anni barges = love. I never leave home without them and I can't imagine a list that would not benefit from them.

annihlation barges do decently as AA, with the TL tesla, you can get a decent number of hits. 3 of them will complement the Ghost arks nicely and provide a decent AV13 wall, which is quite a handful on its own.
Monstrous creatures can be handled quite handily by overlords, with a warscythe and Mindshackle scarabs, you have roughly a 50% chance of getting a LD10 model to hit itself, and S7 attacks can usually do the rest.
Deathmarks also provide a nice little counter, hunters from hyperspace allows you to mark the enemy, combine that with a despairtech you can get a nasty amount of wounds on to any unit. they are great as elite unit assasins. one of the best units (outside of troops) to deploy from a nightscythe.

Personally, i like Tomb Blades, with the relative lack of long range weapons, being able to quickly get in range of enemy support and respond to threats makes them a very useful unit. where they usually fail though is that they are in the same slot as wraiths, who are excellent at killing pretty much anything in CC, and scarabs. Scarabs are brutal at taking out vehicles, and have a small enough profile that they can usually avoid getting shot at, and if not, benefit in most cases from cover. they are great for taking out vehicles.

As to the list in general. i find that taking 2 overlords, and then assigning 2 destructecs each to minimum sized warrior units in arks gives them decent firepower 2 seperate targets rather than 1 with the court, gives them a tough transport each, some ablative wounds, and makes them scoring

I had destructeks with a squad of immortals, and with a warrior blob, I didnt like the way they were stuck firing at what the troops fired at, where I needed the armor piercing elsewhere. I was planning on running two spyders with fabricaors, supporting the ghost arks. The idea of having the squad of crypteks in the ghost ark is an excellent one, I really like it. I left out the spyders, and the overlord with orb, that I was placing with the warriors, but I can save those 60 or so points putting the crypteks in the ark. Oooh, plus the points for a ten man warior squad too....hmmm, that is really intereting

Ive been running one barge, I suppose if you run two of them the chances of killing a flyrant are much higher. Though I think between the barge, and failing a grounded check, he lost all of three wounds. The tesla not having ap really hurts. The barge also only managed to do one wound to a tyranafex.....I guess they just arnt as good if you run just one? I dont mich like spamming units. Was quite unimpressed with the forward mounted doom scythe weapons, either. Only highlight was the short range death ray, that can still only cause one wound/hull point. Awesome against squads of troops, though.

Look, you're new, so we'll excuse your not knowing, but let me/us make this very clear: Tesla Destructors are the single best weapon in our codex.
There is a reason every decent Necron list has at least three of them present (normally 2 Annihilation Barges are the minimum, with Nightscythes added for flavor).

Additionally, the reason people are suggesting the 2 Destruct-teks attached to 5 Warriors over multiple Destruct-teks sticking together in a Shooty Court is three fold: target saturation, redundancy, and objective claiming.
Yes, you have a better chance of doing more damage to a single target with 4+ Destruct-teks shooting at it. But what happens if the target goes down after the first shot? Now all the other shots are wasted. Split them in twos and now, if the first fire team takes out the target, fire team 2 is free to pursue other targets. If fire team one doesn't take it out, no sweat, you still have the other guys to fall back on.
Plus, if the Shooty Court gets shot at, there's no one to take Look Out Sir rolls for them. If they get wiped, there goes your heavy shooting. Broken up and embedded with Warriors, they're more survivable.
And most importantly, as a shooty court, all they can do is contest. If they're broken up into smaller bands with Warriors, come turn 5, you've got a much better chance of capturing/winning.

A very common core would be-
Overlord (ResOrb, Weave, etc)
Destruct-tek
Destruct-tek
5 Warriors (Ghost Ark)
5 Warriors (Ghost Ark)
15-20 Warriors

Throw in a couple of Annihilation Barges and some Deathmarks + Despair-tek in a Nightscythe and you begin to have yourself a viable threat.