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Hey,

I am new to Necron's, never having played a game with them and just getting the codex and battleforce today along with other models.

I am playing some Tau on Friday night and have no idea what to take or how to play.

My opponent will field a Riptide and the usual artillery heavy Tau force.

From my understanding the Tau folks will out range me with ease so my only options are to move in closer for the kill. Even then they will still be out shooting me right? I am used to playing assault style armies so would normally charge in as quickly as possible.

Any tips for the game or general tips on Tau play style are welcome.

Thanks

Depends on what you have to work with. Necrons are a pretty versatile army and you can make a shooting army that's effective mid range or a assault army with the numerous good assault units. The best aspect of necrons are their durability so use that to your advantage, the necron warrior is arguably the best troop unit in the game based on its durability and ability to damage anything.

Against tau anything you hit their line with will win or at least not lose the combat. So just advance up the board using LOS blocking terrain to mitigate their impressive shooting and just hold the center of the board.

Any of the mini deathstars with veil and solar staff could multiassault after a turn of sitting in their faces nigh invincible. Flayed ones and lychguard both do that rather well while not costing too much.

OK cool.

I'd like to play it as a shooty army to give me a different way of playing but here is what models I have available:

27 warriors
3 lords
1 destroyer lord
3 spiders
26 scarabbases
15 immortals
5 deathmarks
2 night scythes
2 stalkers
Ghost ark
Annhialation Barge

I'm still reading the codex but I'm thinking of 2 units of warriors in the ark and scythe to transport them down mid table.
Immortals in back taking longer range shots with the barge.
Spyders, scarabs and stalkers going for the assault
Deathmarks deep strike in for what I'm yet to decide...

It all depends on what you have available, but if you can start off with a reclamation legion plus an auxiliary as part of a Decurion you would be making a good start. Not sure how you would get all that assembled in one day though!

You can play Necrons in many ways, even as a shooting army that could rival the tau, but typically you'll be starting off with lots of medium range infantry. If that is the case, use your durability to play to the mission. Even Tau shooting won't be wiping Decurion units with 4+ RP off the board, and their usual gun lines can't afford to split up, so you have the board control advantage.

OK thanks.

Based on my army it looks like I have a mid range shooting army.

A question, I can't find Decurion rules in the codex. Am I being blind? What page is it on...

raekone wrote:
OK cool.

I'd like to play it as a shooty army to give me a different way of playing but here is what models I have available:

27 warriors
3 lords
1 destroyer lord
3 spiders
26 scarabbases
15 immortals
5 deathmarks
2 night scythes
2 stalkers
Ghost ark
Annhialation Barge

I'm still reading the codex but I'm thinking of 2 units of warriors in the ark and scythe to transport them down mid table.
Immortals in back taking longer range shots with the barge.
Spyders, scarabs and stalkers going for the assault
Deathmarks deep strike in for what I'm yet to decide...

Stalkers going for assault? You mean tomb stalkers? I don't think anyone would assault with Triarch Stalkers.

I'd suggest putting the immortals in a NS and plop them down in rapid fire range with gauss blasters. You can't do a Decurion yet, so use a CAD and put the obSec GA onto objectives. Send the spyders towards the riptide with loads of scarabs to spawn onto. If they charge it they'll probably kill it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

raekone wrote:
OK thanks.

Based on my army it looks like I have a mid range shooting army.

A question, I can't find Decurion rules in the codex. Am I being blind? What page is it on...

I don't know the page offhand but it's at the start of the Forces of the Necrons section. You can't run it without tomb blades though, so stick with a CAD for now.

Your best bet would to be have 2 units of 5 immortals in your 2 night scythes giving you AA, some fire support and late game objective grabbing.
On the ground you could have the ghost ark with 10 warriors supporting a block of 17 warriors giving you plenty of objective secured troops to take objectives. You could then deepstrike your destroyer lord with deathmarks giving him the ability to get to combat safely and his PE should make the first round of shots by the death marks even more efficient.

You could also run an ok scarab farm but then your list wouldn't be very shooty like you want and would be more reliant on CC. Though until they re-patch turn 1 scarab assault the scarab farm is very effective.

Worth bearing in mind that HYMP ID scarab bases. No problem when they come free from Spyders but best not to buy too many bases of them for points considering how much tau like to spam missiles.

AV13 done.

OK, I'll buy some tomb blades for the decurion detachment.

Thanks all.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Wow...it seems everywhere has ran out of Tomb Blades.....blast!

raekone wrote:
Wow...it seems everywhere has ran out of Tomb Blades.....blast!

Meanwhile, at the GW marketing offices...

raekone wrote:
Hey,

I am new to Necron's, never having played a game with them and just getting the codex and battleforce today along with other models.

I am playing some Tau on Friday night and have no idea what to take or how to play.

My opponent will field a Riptide and the usual artillery heavy Tau force.

From my understanding the Tau folks will out range me with ease so my only options are to move in closer for the kill. Even then they will still be out shooting me right? I am used to playing assault style armies so would normally charge in as quickly as possible.

Any tips for the game or general tips on Tau play style are welcome.

Thanks

Ask if you can proxy some models to try different things out.

The Living tomb can bring a back breaking amount of Fire right to the enemy doorsteps. So if your concern is getting there without dying, consider that formatin very strongly. I know you wont have the models immediately, but have it in your long term thinking. I've been testingthis list and its worked pretty well.

Flayed ones are REALLY good, and can deep strike, to help saturate the enemy front and an Aegis Defense Line with a Comms Relay can help.

The AP 2 Instant death pistols that the wraiths can carry are a potential answer to a Riptide. Instant Death weapons in general are very good.

 Jancoran wrote:
The AP 2 Instant death pistols that the wraiths can carry are a potential answer to a Riptide. Instant Death weapons in general are very good.

If you go that route, you'd best take them as Harvest Wraiths with an attached D.Lord (reroll those 1s into 6s, and then assault afterwards!)

Nice advice, thanks guys.

The Destroyer Lord is an excellent addition for any unit but do not forget one VEEEEEERY important thing:

The Destroyer Lord is not a Jump Pack unit. it's a Jetpack unit. So it is considerably slower and might not be able to keep up. Still he IS excellent and a creative General can easily get him into the unit when it matters.

Ive faced the newcrons as Tau about 5 times so far, and oddly enough the one unit they dont seem to bring for some reason is the one i seriously dont know if i can deal with - friggen wraiths.

Way i see it, Tau can only deal with Wraiths through early game luck. Granted i tend to play the rate of fire game vs high nukage game so i technically have decent odds at shooting the gak out of them before they get to me, but they still scare the bejebus out of me. Even without the severely undeserved buff they are a problem (faced the old ones as Orks a bazillion times and i always freakin hated them)

 Vineheart01 wrote:
Ive faced the newcrons as Tau about 5 times so far, and oddly enough the one unit they dont seem to bring for some reason is the one i seriously dont know if i can deal with - friggen wraiths.

Way i see it, Tau can only deal with Wraiths through early game luck. Granted i tend to play the rate of fire game vs high nukage game so i technically have decent odds at shooting the gak out of them before they get to me, but they still scare the bejebus out of me. Even without the severely undeserved buff they are a problem (faced the old ones as Orks a bazillion times and i always freakin hated them)

Seems to me that Tau are well set up to deal with Wraiths via large quantities of Fire Warriors. It takes 2 x 3 x 2 = 12 pulse rifle hits on average to kill a Wraith, 24 if it has Reanimation Protocols. Which is a full squad of Fire Warriors with no markerlights firing in RF range for the former.

Alcibiades wrote:

 Vineheart01 wrote:
Ive faced the newcrons as Tau about 5 times so far, and oddly enough the one unit they dont seem to bring for some reason is the one i seriously dont know if i can deal with - friggen wraiths.

Way i see it, Tau can only deal with Wraiths through early game luck. Granted i tend to play the rate of fire game vs high nukage game so i technically have decent odds at shooting the gak out of them before they get to me, but they still scare the bejebus out of me. Even without the severely undeserved buff they are a problem (faced the old ones as Orks a bazillion times and i always freakin hated them)

Seems to me that Tau are well set up to deal with Wraiths via large quantities of Fire Warriors. It takes 2 x 3 x 2 = 12 pulse rifle hits on average to kill a Wraith, 24 if it has Reanimation Protocols. Which is a full squad of Fire Warriors with no markerlights firing in RF range for the former.

12 fire warriors rapid fire into wraiths, killing one without RP. Next turn, the rest of wraiths gets an almost guaranteed charge. It might work with a couple of FW squads versus a single wraith squad, but versus two or three the tau player is in trouble.

Thats the issue.

I tend to run 30-40 FW in a 2k pt game, almost always with an Ethereal hiding in a fish behind them.

Against 1 unit, even a large one, i wouldnt be surprised if i could deal with it because in doubletap range thats 30shots per 10man squad, probably two of which are fully in doubetap range if i play my cards right.
However even if it was the same number of wraiths, but split into two squads or worse yet two full squads of wraiths, i'd doubt i could take out more than one of them either because too many to kill, or the wounds not spilling over and the 2nd unit didnt get hit due to my own bad luck and lack of ML support for both.

Im probably overthinking this, as its all speculations and i dont know every living detail about the wraiths, but just the hearsay i hear about makes me shake in my boots.

TompiQ wrote:

Alcibiades wrote:

 Vineheart01 wrote:
Ive faced the newcrons as Tau about 5 times so far, and oddly enough the one unit they dont seem to bring for some reason is the one i seriously dont know if i can deal with - friggen wraiths.

Way i see it, Tau can only deal with Wraiths through early game luck. Granted i tend to play the rate of fire game vs high nukage game so i technically have decent odds at shooting the gak out of them before they get to me, but they still scare the bejebus out of me. Even without the severely undeserved buff they are a problem (faced the old ones as Orks a bazillion times and i always freakin hated them)

Seems to me that Tau are well set up to deal with Wraiths via large quantities of Fire Warriors. It takes 2 x 3 x 2 = 12 pulse rifle hits on average to kill a Wraith, 24 if it has Reanimation Protocols. Which is a full squad of Fire Warriors with no markerlights firing in RF range for the former.

12 fire warriors rapid fire into wraiths, killing one without RP. Next turn, the rest of wraiths gets an almost guaranteed charge. It might work with a couple of FW squads versus a single wraith squad, but versus two or three the tau player is in trouble.

Killing one without markerlights. Kroot will hold up Wraiths for quite a while by the way if they have an Ethereal giving them Stubborn.

Anyway the point is that Necrons are an army that you need volume of fire to take down, which in the case of Tau means lots of Fire Warriors (not just one or two units). They do not respond to the "small number of low AP attacks" approach (as exemplified by plasma Crisis Suits) that works against MSU Meq. This applies to Necron Warriors as well as to Wraiths.

Alcibiades wrote:

TompiQ wrote:

Alcibiades wrote:

 Vineheart01 wrote:
Ive faced the newcrons as Tau about 5 times so far, and oddly enough the one unit they dont seem to bring for some reason is the one i seriously dont know if i can deal with - friggen wraiths.

Way i see it, Tau can only deal with Wraiths through early game luck. Granted i tend to play the rate of fire game vs high nukage game so i technically have decent odds at shooting the gak out of them before they get to me, but they still scare the bejebus out of me. Even without the severely undeserved buff they are a problem (faced the old ones as Orks a bazillion times and i always freakin hated them)

Seems to me that Tau are well set up to deal with Wraiths via large quantities of Fire Warriors. It takes 2 x 3 x 2 = 12 pulse rifle hits on average to kill a Wraith, 24 if it has Reanimation Protocols. Which is a full squad of Fire Warriors with no markerlights firing in RF range for the former.

12 fire warriors rapid fire into wraiths, killing one without RP. Next turn, the rest of wraiths gets an almost guaranteed charge. It might work with a couple of FW squads versus a single wraith squad, but versus two or three the tau player is in trouble.

Killing one without markerlights. Kroot will hold up Wraiths for quite a while by the way if they have an Ethereal giving them Stubborn.

Anyway the point is that Necrons are an army that you need volume of fire to take down, which in the case of Tau means lots of Fire Warriors (not just one or two units). They do not respond to the "small number of low AP attacks" approach (as exemplified by plasma Crisis Suits) that works against MSU Meq. This applies to Necron Warriors as well as to Wraiths.

Absolutely, ROF is what it's all about. But vs Necrons I'd rather overload on HYMPsides. Ap4 against the warriors/flayed ones and S7 vs the wraiths.