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Hi guys, help a noob please =)

My friend plays Necron and has just started using a 5 man Wraith squad with 3 x whip coils and he includes another HQ jump unit with a 2+ save that gives them preferred enemy.

This unit is hard as nails to take down due to 3+ invul saves and 2 wounds each - He also back this up with 3 annihilation barges. How should I deal with this. I tried focus fire on them but this allows the those barges to move up to spray me with Tesla. I'm saving up for some war walkers - I hope loads of scatter laser will help. But until then what would you do?

Coming from a Necron player the best way to deal with them is try and whittle them down by mass firing or at minimum try and stay away from them. They do not have a shooting attack, unless your friend your friend payed for the 5 pt upgrade. Or you could shoot a str. 8 weapons at them and hope they fail their save and it will insta kill them. They only have a 3+ invun. so it is possible to kill them, you just need to mass fire

Your AT should be focused on the barges. 2x 10 dire avenger squads put out enough fire you should be able to take down wraiths. Try to get the wraiths in front rather than the lord. If you cant, assign the rends first for the chance to kill him. If you can knock out 2 wraiths or the lord, you stand a decent chance even if they get in melee.

Or you can go the other route i did last edition. Harlequins+ farseer. 40 S4 WS5 rending reroll to hit attacks are incredible, even without doom or fortune.

Wraiths are just marines with 2 wounds, and mass S6 will drop them. The other option is go for doubling out their toughness with lances. However, you need those lances to break the quantum shielding on the barges. Once you lance through them, they should go down(or will at least be killable with S6).

There is basically nothing in the eldar codex that can go toe to toe with wraiths in melee, particularly if they have whip coils. If you manage to take those out, a wraithlord/knight, mass witchblades or even scorpions can throw enough dice at them to knock them back, but it is far better to shoot.

If you know they will charge something give them a foot unit to speedbump. Have infantry X bravely march up, shoot and just pray they take a few with them. Make sure they will massacre the unit so next turn you can shoot them again.

Thanks guys.

As I thought mass fire power for the win. It may just be his run of luck with the dice but I made him take 30 saves the other day and only managed 3 wounds

Sh*t happens I suppose. I'll give the mass dire avengers ago, that didn't cross my mind so thanks for that.

Statistically, 10 dire avengers shooting will kill a single wraith a turn, but if the overlord is tanking on 2+ armor, you might get a wound or 2 through. Try to place so that you take out wraiths with the shooting, as the lord will Look out sir the rending hits to the 3++ wraiths.

With range and battle focus, try to stay away from the wraiths. With decent luck, you can stay out of charge range or require your opponent roll hot for charge distance. If the avengers end up getting charged, you have counter attack so you can get in a few extra slaps before your cut to ribbons.

You also have battle focus. You line up at 18", fire, then run backwards. They are then 19-24" away. Good chance for them to fail that charge, especially if you have terrain between you

Not everyone likes the tank...but my Nightspinner laughs at them.

Wraiths tend to clump do to odd model poses/terrain/trying to get as far up as possible.

Your Nightspinner can be way the heck away from them and hit them...and they're I>4 so you're S8 doubling them out.



Didn't have a better target in a different game and got the monofilament wound on a broadside not in area terrain...poof. <-pointless sidenote

Another way to do this if you don't want the tank is 3 Vaul's wrath support batteries with shadow weavers. 3 of them will run you 90 points for 3 BS4 STR7 (8 if their initiative is less then 4) barrage blast markers with AP 6 (AP 1 if you roll 6's to wound). As for the lord with a 2+ armor save you might consider Star Cannons. Half the amount of shots as a scatter laser but AP2. It will force him to take his invulnerable save (if he has one). Unfortunately those barges always give me trouble. Try getting a wraithknight in there and that smash attack will have him crying and the stock wraithknight guns will make barges cry too, or get a crimson hunter (flyer). it has 4 shots of str 8 2 of which are lances and if you buy the exarch upgrade for it you will be hitting on 2+

The Nightspinner is the only one that goes to S8.

Spiders and Shadow Weaver Platforms go from S6 to S7

War Walkers and Wave Serpents. Before any air comes they don't have any different targets (AV13) so just focus Wraiths.
Wraithknight can finish off a crippled unit easily (without a destroyer lord of course).
Night Spinner seems to be an effective thing.
Throw some baits at them.
Use a Jetseer Council.

Yep, as ductvader said night spinners can be surprisingly good vs wraiths. With barrage it means that the Dlord out front cant tank the wounds, and then if the wraiths fail any of there invuls they will be insta deathed.

 zephoid wrote:
You also have battle focus. You line up at 18", fire, then run backwards. They are then 19-24" away. Good chance for them to fail that charge, especially if you have terrain between you

Wraiths ignore that terrain.

I just pile wounds onto wraiths. Use my mobility to shift my lines so that only a single Wraith unit will be a threat in my opponents turn. Shoot all the Wave Serpents at whatever unit I need to until it's gone. They do the same to the next in the following turn. Wraiths are vulnerable to blinding from Swooping Hawks too, due to a low init (3?). That can help limit their output if they make it into combat. The only unit that can potentially hold wraiths in combat is Scorpions. Simply due to the extra wounds they can put on from mandiblasters etc. You'd only want them in combat against a weakened unit though.

I've found Wraithknights are good against Annihilation barges. Guide them, and you're almost guaranteed to break that shielding, then the lighter shooting can finish it off.

Cheers guys. Loads of good advice here. We had another game last night I managed to take them out this time by just focusing my 3 Wave serpents on them. The game ended up a draw and was good fun.

Alternatively, if you use serpents, you could fire those at them, with the shield, and additional weaponry, its a decent way to heap on wounds from a model you likely have on the field already

Belly wrote:
I've found Wraithknights are good against Annihilation barges. Guide them, and you're almost guaranteed to break that shielding, then the lighter shooting can finish it off.

You know how many pens I had against Annihilation Barges in about 20 rounds of shooting over the course of several games? None. And it always had Guide on. Wraithknights are amazing against Wraithwing 'crons, because Necrons have no real way to kill one unless they use Deathmarks or Wraiths in CC(but they move at the exact same speed, so shouldn't catch him if you're careful) or piling Tesla wounds on top of one another and ignoring everything else, which is never a good tactic vs Eldar. Thing is, I have such abysmal luck with him when playing Necrons, that I think either Necrons have some sort of extra shielding that works only against WKs, or it's just my curse.

^^this, WK charged a unit of 3 thunder wolfs after his guided shooting missed, in CC he did 0 wounds with his 6 attacks (1 from HoW) and then he died to TH attacks.