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Been hearing good things about sticking Doomsday Arks on top of Skyshield Landing Pads.

[edit]
New list attempt. Old one is below, for comparison.


+++ The Dark Tower +++
+++ 1999+1pt Necrons +++


+ Fortification + (75pts)

. * Skyshield Landing Pad (75pts)


+ HQ + (340pts)

. * Necron Overlord (Warscythe, Catacomb Command Barge) (340pts)
.. * Royal Court (160pts)
... * Harbinger of Destruction (Solar Pulse) (55pts)
... * Harbinger of Destruction (35pts)
... * Harbinger of Destruction (35pts)
... * Harbinger of Destruction (35pts)


+ Elites + (485pts)

. * Triarch Stalker (Twin-Linked Heavy Gauss Cannon) (165pts)
. * Triarch Stalker (Twin-Linked Heavy Gauss Cannon) (165pts)
. * Triarch Stalker (Particle Shredder) (155pts)


+ Troops + (658pts)

. * 8x Necron Immortal (Tesla Carbines) (136pts)
. * 8x Necron Immortal (Tesla Carbines) (136pts)
. * 8x Necron Immortal (Tesla Carbines) (136pts)
. * 5x Necron Immortal (Tesla Carbines) (85pts)

. * 5x Necron Warriors (Nightscythe) (165pts)


+ Heavy Support + (440pts)

. * Annihilation Barge (Tesla Cannon) (90pts)

. * Doomsday Ark (175pts)
. * Doomsday Ark (175pts)


+++ 1998 / 1999+1 +++


Removed the second Overlord and his Court, dropped some Immortals (the sqaud of five will camp the home objective), added a Nightscythe with 5 Warriors, as well as a CCB for the Overlord (which will be running distraction more than anything else).
Tempted to drop the CCB in exchange for more Immortals again, though.

I think you can afford to drop many, if not all of the destructeks. I find them to be mediocre at best, especially since you have them in squads of immortals. The immortals want to be shooting at infantry with their tesla carbines, but the destructeks want to be shooting at tanks or MCs. The two guns just don't work well together and so one or the other will end up shooting at something that it isn't terribly effective against.

You're also lacking any major anti-air, which is a travesty considering how cheap and effective Night Scythes are against other flyers.

As for the Doomsday Ark + Skyshield combo, I actually kinda like that idea, my only question is (since I don't own those two models) can the Doomsday gun see over the edges of the Skyshield? Because you have to have the flaps up in order to get the 4++ save against shooting, and with how low to the table the gun is set, you could have issues of LoS / giving out free 4+ cover because that stuff gets in the way.

Destruc-teks by themselves? not so hot.
Destruc-teks twinlinked? NOW we're talkin'!

Tesla Immortals + Stalker is always great, but I guess the Destruc-teks don't necessarily NEED to be attached to them.
The one thing they would be able to help the Immortals with would be maximizing wounds to enemy unit if kiting (via the FAQ that said only models in a unit that were in range of your guns could have wounds spread to them. For example, let's say you've got a squad of 10 Marines. Only two of those ten are within 24" of your Tesla-mortals. You shoot, hit, and cause 6 wounds. All 6 of those wounds would go to the two Marines in range, the other four wasted if said two marines die. However, if you attach something with longer range to the unit, your Tesla guns are now magically able to spread their wounds as far as the furthest gun in your squad allows. Don't ask me why, that's how the FAQ makers decided it was going to work, so that's how it works).

Not entirely sure about the gun height versus wall height. Don't actually have the Skyshield yet, so I'll have to investigate that before I actually commit to buying it.

And in regards to Nightscythes: no.

I am very sorry to say it but you should drop this list entirely and start from scratch. Footslogging necrons without any decent CC and with only 1 A-barge for anti-air at 2000 pts... you will be tabled at turn 4 by any decent opponent whether you will have Skyshield or not.

The issue with relying on the twin-linking from the Triarch Stalkers is that you only have 2 of them. If you require that twin-linking to really be effective then that means your shooting is limited to really only 2 units a turn. At 2000 points, that just isn't enough.

The threat range addition is nice, but you still have the issue of one or the other of the guns being ineffective every time you shoot.

AstraVlad wrote:
I am very sorry to say it but you should drop this list entirely and start from scratch. Footslogging necrons without any decent CC and with only 1 A-barge for anti-air at 2000 pts... you will be tabled at turn 4 by any decent opponent whether you will have Skyshield or not.

Oh really?
Well this is basically a variation on a AV13 Wall list I regularly played, and that thing tended to do pretty well, so I'm not sure how replacing Warriors and Ghost Arks with Immortals and Doomsdays is going to get me tabled so easily, especially seeing as how anything close enough to threaten will be twin linked against, and overwatching Tesla Carbines will make mincemeat of anything trying to assault it like that.

But okay, I guess I better take 6 Fliers and 12 Wraiths instead, like the rest of the herd.
After all, that's the only way Necrons can win anything, right?

 skoffs wrote:

AstraVlad wrote:
I am very sorry to say it but you should drop this list entirely and start from scratch. Footslogging necrons without any decent CC and with only 1 A-barge for anti-air at 2000 pts... you will be tabled at turn 4 by any decent opponent whether you will have Skyshield or not.

Oh really?
Well this is basically a variation on a AV13 Wall list I regularly played, and that thing tended to do pretty well, so I'm not sure how replacing Warriors and Ghost Arks with Immortals and Doomsdays is going to get me tabled so easily, especially seeing as how anything close enough to threaten will be twin linked against, and overwatching Tesla Carbines will make mincemeat of anything trying to assault it like that.

But okay, I guess I better take 6 Fliers and 12 Wraiths instead, like the rest of the herd.
After all, that's the only way Necrons can win anything, right?

Well Said!

and though Night scythes are probably one of the best transports in the game right now, I can completely understand your reluctance to use them.I think your list would do well in most environments and it would be a pleasure to play against a more balanced list such as yours, rather than the usual Flying Bakery/Wraithwing Army's.

 skoffs wrote:
overwatching Tesla Carbines will make mincemeat of anything trying to assault it like that.

I think you're VASTLY overestimating the effectiveness of overwatch with Tesla Carbines. You have 7 guys in a squad, even twin-linked (which I don't have my Codex on me, but I'm pretty sure it only lasts for your turn, and so you wouldn't be twin-linked in your opponents turn), you average 0.9167 hits for each shot you take (including the bonus hits you get for rolling 6's), so 7 guys shooting gets an average of 6.42 hits, with a S5 AP- weapon. That's not going to be making "Mincemeat" of really anything that would be assaulting you.

If Necrons had the Tau Supporting Fire rule then maybe, but alone, overwatch really isn't all that threatening.

TehCheator wrote:

 skoffs wrote:
overwatching Tesla Carbines will make mincemeat of anything trying to assault it like that.

I think you're VASTLY overestimating the effectiveness of overwatch with Tesla Carbines. You have 7 guys in a squad, even twin-linked (which I don't have my Codex on me, but I'm pretty sure it only lasts for your turn, and so you wouldn't be twin-linked in your opponents turn), you average 0.9167 hits for each shot you take (including the bonus hits you get for rolling 6's), so 7 guys shooting gets an average of 6.42 hits, with a S5 AP- weapon. That's not going to be making "Mincemeat" of really anything that would be assaulting you.

If Necrons had the Tau Supporting Fire rule then maybe, but alone, overwatch really isn't all that threatening.

Ah, yes, Targeting Relay only lasts the one shooting phase, you're right.
The times previous I've used Tesla-mortals they've been max squads, and those times Overwatch has turned out pretty well (admittedly, there was no Stalker present in those games).
Trying to optimize this list, I guess I could always drop the Warriors in exchange for more Immortals? (simple force of habit has me stick Zahndrekh in Warrior units... in fact, I wonder if I really need Zahndrekh in this list? I initially stuck him in to grant/deny Nightvision/Tank Hunters, as well as any defensive rules, but would it really be necessary? For his price, I could get a bunch more bodies on the table...)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Updated original list.

 skoffs wrote:

After all, that's the only way Necrons can win anything, right?

It's your game and you can play it any way that you find pleasure in but at 2000 points you should be ready to face some really nasty matchups: 3 Hellturkeys (each burning a squad per turn), daemon flying cyrcus, IG with flyers and a lot of Ordonance Barrage pie-plates, drop-pod Space Wolves, all-bike DA and so on. I do not see a way to deal with this threats in your list.

And replacing Ghost Arcs with Doomsday ones is the very thing that will make your roster weaker: you lose protection for your troops along with mobility, ability to restore their numbers after taking losses and a good bunch of anti-air and anti-armor potential.

Look, I've run Wraith-wing and Deathscythe, as well as AV13 and Silvertide. Hell, I even ran Scarab-farm for a while.
I know exactly how good they all are.
But I'm sick of uber competitive builds. I do not find them fun.

This was just an attempt to try running something new, based on an interesting tactic I saw.
Claims of "you should just replace everything with Nightscythes and Wraiths" are completely unhelpful.
Actual constructive advice based around the list at hand would be very welcome.

Like I said at the end of my updated OP, I could potentially free up 235 points by dropping the second Overlord and Royal Court.
This would potentially hamper my shooting with four less S8 AP2 shots, but it opens up the potential for other options.

I'll toy around with the list on battlescribe and see what I can come up with.

I like the list iv always hated the hard core nightscythe spam its dull, saying that one thing id change is drop the destruction teck for a despair and some deathmarks, whats that? twin linked flamer that wounds on a 2 and is ap 1

i do love wraiths though have to admit as far as necron go iv never not had one squad of them just to annoy my friends who feel the need to get them off the table as soon as possible.

Enjoy bud let us know how it goes

Beattie wrote:
one thing id change is drop the destruction teck for a despair and some deathmarks, whats that? twin linked flamer that wounds on a 2 and is ap 1

I'm fully aware of what the Death & Despair combo does and employ it frequently (Deathscythe aggressive alpha strike build). But were I to include Deathmarks it would use up an Elite slot, which at the moment is taken up by all three Stalkers (which provide the biggest force multiplier to my army). Removing even one has a big impact on the whole list, and we've already gone into why I don't want to do that.

I didn't think that necron warriors could take a nightscythe, only immortals... my codex is packed for a move so i could be wrong.

I'd love to see a formation with 2 skyshields at 2k points, but i gather you're playing on a single force org.

the crypteks, i presume, are the ones with the S8 guns. they'd be best either used in 1 squad to kill tanks, or replaced with necron lords to give your we'll be back a boost.

the skyshield could also be useful to allow you to go on the offensive and then ping home to claim the home objective in turn 4-5, used in conjunction with a cryptek with a veil of darkness. that way your army marches forward to kill the enemy as a unified force, then the doomsday ark opens the skyshield on turn 4 and a unit of troops is sent back to claim the home objective, no scatter. might be worth mixing one of them in.

to be honest, mind, I'd swap half the tesla carbines for gauss, it'll give you some much needed anti-tank, and if a stormraven turns up, you've got a decent amount of shots that can glance it.

if you're after fun, fairly competitive and not bringing the bandwagon-jumpers ideals along with you, run the things people don't expect. one example is to make all the crypteks different, get some gimmicks, like the harp of dissonance - as soon as you drop a landraider to AV13, your prospects get a lot better. right now you're saying you're after a fun list, so you're spamming immortals, spamming destruction crypteks and spamming stalkers, with a small spam of doomsday arc on the side in a skyshield.

the only thing spam is fun for is a days carp fishing.

 some bloke wrote:
I'd swap half the tesla carbines for gauss, it'll give you some much needed anti-tank, and if a stormraven turns up, you've got a decent amount of shots that can glance it.

Uhh, I think you're missing the point of this list (massed twin linked Tesla Carbines are glorious. Twin linked Gauss Blasters don't get the same bonus).
Besides, with two Doomsday Cannons, two Heavy Gauss Cannons, and four Eldrich Lances, I don't exactly think this list is lacking anti-tank capabilities.
If that Storm Raven shows up, I've got a couple Tesla Destructors as well (and yes, Warriors can take Nightscythes).

The teleport back to the home objective on the last turn idea isn't bad. I do have one more Cryotek slot open... but no way to spare the 60 points required... unless I drop the Warriors? (and just so you know, adding ResOrb Lords to units of Immortals isn't very point effective. They're not worth enough by themselves to warrant adding another 65-100 points just to keep them alive longer. ResOrbs are best for more expensive units, such as blobs of Warriors (16+), Lychguard, etc.)

But this isn't a "fun" list, so much as a unconventional one. If it works, cool. If not, well, I guess I'll have to go back to using one of the several other types I play... but they're all getting a little stale...

Hey skoffs, I like what you're trying to do. There are times to play ultra competitive builds, and there are times for other styles too.

I've also been looking at a similar list and think since the synergy of the list is based off of the twin linked immortals perhaps you'd want to shift a few points to add more immortals. I'm thinking take your lord off the barge? take out the skyshield? maybe 2 Abarge and 1 ddark? Just trying to imagine 40 TL-ed immortals. This way opponents have to decide whether to shoot your big guns out or deal with the immortals.

Not saying this is the way to go, just options for you to think about.

The only way to see what works for you is to try it. I'd suggest playtesting it with proxy immortals before you buy 40 of them though? Unless you have them already of course... Would love to hear your experiences with the list after a few games!

Dakkon wrote:
perhaps you'd want to shift a few points to add more immortals. I'm thinking take your lord off the barge? take out the skyshield? maybe 2 Abarge and 1 ddark?

I was thinking something along the same lines. Perhaps something half way: drop the Command Barge, but keep the two Doomsdays and Landing pad (it is the whole point of this exercise, after all). That would give me enough points to take two units of 9 and two units of 8 Immortals. That should be pretty decent.
I could drop the unit of 5 Warriors as well, but I have a feeling keeping them there for a turn 5 disembarkment next to a objective might be a good idea.

TehCheator wrote:
I think you're VASTLY overestimating the effectiveness of overwatch with Tesla Carbines. You have 7 guys in a squad, even twin-linked (which I don't have my Codex on me, but I'm pretty sure it only lasts for your turn, and so you wouldn't be twin-linked in your opponents turn), you average 0.9167 hits for each shot you take (including the bonus hits you get for rolling 6's), so 7 guys shooting gets an average of 6.42 hits, with a S5 AP- weapon. That's not going to be making "Mincemeat" of really anything that would be assaulting you.

If Necrons had the Tau Supporting Fire rule then maybe, but alone, overwatch really isn't all that threatening.

Your math seems to be a bit wrong.
120 Immortals shoot:
40 miss.
20 hit with a 6 => 6 hits.
60 hits.
Total: 120 shots, 120 hits.
Tesla is awesome because it gives you a 100% hit-chance.
With Twin Linked you'd even get 120 shots and 160 hits, making it a 133% hit-chance.

Translated to 7 Tesla: 7 hits without TL and 9.33 with Twin Linked.

That's normal shooting, I was calculating snap shots (overwatch), which is obviously less hits than normal shooting.

Also, while you are correct that with normal shooting each shot averages one hit, that doesn't mean you have a 100% chance of hitting. It's just a wording thing, but 100% chance of hitting means that you can't miss with any of them, which is obviously not true (even in your example, 40 out of the 120 miss).

Yeah, but that's just the wording.
The expected outcome of 120 shots is 120 hits is what I mean.

And wow, impressive numbers if that is overwatch.
Without TL you'd come down to: 7 shots => 3.5 hit.
That's like overwatching on BS3.

^
Which is why Tesla Immortals are the second best overwatchers in the game, after tightly packed Tau.
(hopefully so close together that even if my pie plates scatter, that's not going to matter much)

Quick suggestion for increasing mobility a bit. What about swapping the NS, Warriors and AB for a Monolith? You coulld use leftover points to beef up the remaining immortal squads.

Yeah, but... then I'd have no anti air defense.
(That's the only reason I put both of those units in the list in the first place)

Fair point, but you still have 4 Destructeks and 2 HGC. You could do it if you swapped the CCB, 5 warriors and AB. Then put the unit of 5 Immortals with the Scythe with the Overlord?