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Ran the Maelstrom of Gore today in a 1000 point game against my brother's Necron army. I ran 5 8 man squads and Kharn... and got shot to death in the first turn. Admittedly, I just rolled bad all game, but by the end of my turn 2 (so before his second shooting phase) he'd killed Kharn, 23 Berzerkers and 2 of my Zerker Champions.

Anyone have any suggestions? He took a pretty basic list, two overlords in Chariots, a C'tan, and 38 warriors and just absolutely ripped me apart. One of his overwatches killed 4 Berzerkers! Was this just a result of bad rolling (I failed 4 charges turn 2, even with the +3" charge from the Maelstrom) or should I just use a better army?

Did you have no rhinos? If you foot slog infantry towards a gunline army you WILL get hammered, you'll probably get hammered anyway by his Necrons but we'll gloss over that for now.

As well as transport, it is also a good idea to take some kind of long ranged support;
1. Because you can then try to remove some of his more dangerous targets before they blow your cc units to hell and back.
2. Because it gives your opponant another threat to think about so he doesn't unload everything upon poor Kharn.

Hope this helps.

 mrhappyface wrote:
Did you have no rhinos? If you foot slog infantry towards a gunline army you WILL get hammered, you'll probably get hammered anyway by his Necrons but we'll gloss over that for now.

As well as transport, it is also a good idea to take some kind of long ranged support;
1. Because you can then try to remove some of his more dangerous targets before they blow your cc units to hell and back.
2. Because it gives your opponant another threat to think about so he doesn't unload everything upon poor Kharn.

Hope this helps.

Yeah, stupidly I thought that since my guys could reroll charges due to fleet, and with the extra 3" added to every charge roll (all part of the Maelstrom formation) I would be fast enough to get into his gunline before he could completely shred my guys. Didn't happen.

Part of the problem I've consistently faced is that Chaos and especially Khorne armies seem to really struggle in low point value games. I can usually beat him when we play 2000-2500 points, but man he just gips all my gak when we play lower than like 1850.

Warriors also have good chances at beating zerkers in melee point to-point if they pull the charge off.

Zerkers are just like 30-40% overpriced. They still have this point tag from the time MoK was straight +1 attack and they could charge out of a stationary rhino. And from when you didn't have a chance of running into a wraithknight, riptide or re-rollable 2+ crap.
On the other hand, necron warriors still have this point tag from the time their reanimation protocols worked at the end of the phse - meaning you could sweep them with zerkers like no big deal even before they get to roll reanimation protocols (not happening now).

So, all in all, you're fielding an overpriced + nerfed unit against a decent one. What else did you expect?

Note against Necrons in general:

Necrons are extremely durable. However, they also generally have very short range when it comes to their firepower. Necron shooting usually happens within 24 inches. You should keep that in mind when positioning, moving, etc. your units.

As with any close combat oriented army, you have to use terrain and other line of sight blocking things to your advantage. Necron warriors can't shoot what they can't see.

Note that when you are planning your actual charges, you have an average of 16 inches to work with. 6 inches for the movement phase, average 7 on the 2d6 charge distance roll + 3 inches for the formation bonus.

If you have rhinos or other vehicles, I recommend switching out at least some of the berserkers for rhinos.

Not even necessarily to put the berserkers in the rhinos. Rhinos = cheap mobile cover/line of sight blocking stuff.

Get a hell drake and a telepathy bike,/ Khorne doggy death star and procced to shroud/and Invisibility your hell drake so that he hits you on 6plus that means 38 warriors in rapid fire make 76 shots 16% hit, that's 12-15 hits, then he glances on 6 that's roughly 2 glances with gauss weapons and then you have a 2plus jink and a 5plus daemon save.

But that's utter cheese and rule abuse...

Alternative, For 1000pt

HQ
Warlock: ML3
135pt

TROOPS
Cultists 10
50pt

Cultists 10
50pt

HEAVY SUPPORT
Obliterators 3 marks of Nurgle (HQ goes here)
238pt

Havocs: 5 Marks of Nurgle, auto cannons(anti-warrior)
130pt

1000pt

That's how you win with zerkers! Take no zerkers.

Anywayz, if you run a sorc to support them with at least invisibility or durability than you'll have a much easier time.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Another thing you could use is a Juggerlord for turn 2 charge. Try to hide him out of los as much as possible. At least hide him from part of his army.

Then Drop something and take a warlock. And some cultists for cover.

sushi2001 wrote:
Then Drop something and take a warlock. And some cultists for cover.

Heresy! AoS player in a 40k forum!

Ok sorcerer, but i still call him warlock.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And yes I play AOS

I'm going to second taking autocannons on havocs against Necrons, nothing like out-shooting a gunline army because they can't get in range. Kharn + berzerkers are a combi that should be awesome, but cost too much to make sense at 1000 points.

Berserkers are like foot BA. That just sounds like an impossible situation.