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I've been doing a bit of research and I'm running into a bit of a wall because every tactica assumes you want to use all of the various units that the Codex has access to. Instead, I'm looking to make 1000, 1500 and 2000 point Necron lists using only those units that would be available to a sleeping tomb world. In other words... Crypteks, Canoptek Acanthrites, Canoptek Scarabs, Canoptek Spyders, Canoptek Wraths, Tomb Sentinels and Tomb Stalkers. I'm also willing to add Triarch Praetorians and Stalkers as they'd have been awake during the great sleep and are actively seeking out sleeping tomb worlds to wake up. I could probably also convert up a Lord/Overlord/Cloaktek to be a sort of Triarch Captain type or a Destroyer Lord to be a sort of fast moving combat Cryptek. I'm willing to be a little loose on the HQs, but not on the non-HQ units.
Thoughts on tactics? What should I focus on?
My initial thought is to build out an Outrider Detachment with a Cloak Cryptek with 3x units of Scarabs for Objective grabbing, 2x units of Wraiths for close combat nonsense and a Tomb Sentinel to act as an alpha strike/distraction carnifex. I like the idea of the Acanthrites, but it seems like Wraiths are more useful. I'd probably take the Dynasty that lets me advance a flat 6" instead of rolling? Or would I be better off as Novokh? I'm really not sure which direction to go. Any thoughts on how you'd run tactics for this subset of Necron units would be great.
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I definitely think you'll need a Stalker or 2. (the Preatorian ones) as those are the only units in your limited list that can put out long range fire power. You need this to weaken units on turn 1 while the rest of the army positions for melee.
After that, I'd say go crazy with Wraiths and a few scarab units.
I'm not sure on the dynasty though. I haven't had the chance to full digest those.
Galef wrote: I definitely think you'll need a Stalker or 2. (the Preatorian ones) as those are the only units in your limited list that can put out long range fire power. You need this to weaken units on turn 1 while the rest of the army positions for melee.
After that, I'd say go crazy with Wraiths and a few scarab units.
I'm not sure on the dynasty though. I haven't had the chance to full digest those.
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I think you're probably right. Maybe make the Stalkers the long range support and then have everything else swarm (pun intended) forward?
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IMO, If you opt for less Stalkers (or none), you'll probably want Nephrekh for the additional movement (guaranteed 6" advance) and the ability to move through screening units so you can get your units to CC.
If you're playing another CC army, Novokh probably for the rerolls.
As fluffy as this is, you're putting yourself at a big disadvantage in Maelstrom missions by taking no Troops, as nothing in your army will have the ObSec rule, so contesting objective markers will be tough if not outright impossible
Gojiratoho wrote: IMO, If you opt for less Stalkers (or none), you'll probably want Nephrekh for the additional movement (guaranteed 6" advance) and the ability to move through screening units so you can get your units to CC.
If you're playing another CC army, Novokh probably for the rerolls.
As fluffy as this is, you're putting yourself at a big disadvantage in Maelstrom missions by taking no Troops, as nothing in your army will have the ObSec rule, so contesting objective markers will be tough if not outright impossible
My group tends to be pretty casual and tends to play exclusively with the Open War deck. Missions tend to be a bit of a crap shoot, so stacking Troops for ObSec isn't always needed.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
changemod wrote: Don’t forget sentry pylons. They’re pretty easy to convert out of annihilation barges if you don’t want to sink full price on them.
Good call. I had forgotten that those would be eligible. I might try to work in a few of those as the long range fire support and avoid the Praetorian stuff.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/04/13 14:29:27
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Gojiratoho wrote: IMO, If you opt for less Stalkers (or none), you'll probably want Nephrekh for the additional movement (guaranteed 6" advance) and the ability to move through screening units so you can get your units to CC.
If you're playing another CC army, Novokh probably for the rerolls.
As fluffy as this is, you're putting yourself at a big disadvantage in Maelstrom missions by taking no Troops, as nothing in your army will have the ObSec rule, so contesting objective markers will be tough if not outright impossible
My group tends to be pretty casual and tends to play exclusively with the Open War deck. Missions tend to be a bit of a crap shoot, so stacking Troops for ObSec isn't always needed.
In that case, go nuts. Actually, you might also want to combine detachments and use both Nephrekh and Novokh. Nepherkh Scarab Outriders to cross the board quickly and tie things up in melee with Novokh Wraiths/Acanthrites following up to wreck
So... with the feedback, how would this look from a tactics perspective? Works out to 1500 exactly and has 6CP to work with.
Sautekh Spearhead
- Cloak-tek
- 3x Sentry Pylons w/Heat Cannon and Teleportation Matrix
Nephrekh Outrider
- Cloak-tek (Warlord w/Solar Staff and Implacable Conqueror)
- 3x units of 4x Canoptek Scarabs
Novokh Outrider
- Cloak-tek
- 2x units of 3x Canoptek Wraiths w/Particle Casters
- Canoptek Tomb Sentinel
Theoretical Tactics...
1. The Tomb Sentinel would deploy within range of the toughest unit in my opponent's army and try to hurt it bad with shooting and then assault.
2. The Scarabs would scatter towards the various objectives, if present.
3. The Wraiths would run towards the most likely target, followed by the Crypteks.
4. The Warlord would fire the Solar Staff to hopefully blind whoever I want to charge with the Wraiths.
5. The Sentry Pylons would teleport in first turn into an optimal firing position and start shooting. The 36" range of the heat cannons should give me enough backfield fire support.
Do you think this would work? I don't tend to face many horde armies in my local meta, so I think I'm good.
Thoughts?
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The mixed dynasty detachments seem a little minmaxy for my tastes whilst simultaneously resulting in superfluous hqs, but in context:
The Exile Cannon on the sentinel is a heavy weapon, and could benefit from sautekh. It would be fairly easy to change the scarabs from 3*4 to 4*3 and move a unit over to the wraith detachment for tax purposes.
I also don’t see much point in particle casters on the wraiths.
changemod wrote: The mixed dynasty detachments seem a little minmaxy for my tastes whilst simultaneously resulting in superfluous hqs, but in context:
The Exile Cannon on the sentinel is a heavy weapon, and could benefit from sautekh. It would be fairly easy to change the scarabs from 3*4 to 4*3 and move a unit over to the wraith detachment for tax purposes.
I also don’t see much point in particle casters on the wraiths.
The Tomb Sentinel burrows up out of the ground, fires his gun and charges. The Warlord brings the Wraiths to where the Tomb Sentinel is and uses Implacable Conqueror to give both Sentinel and Wraiths a free re-roll on their charges. The Scarabs scatter towards objectives or weak to melee horde units. The Pylons do their thing and drop in, moving and advancing as needed. The only dude without a real job is the Sautekh Cryptek. I guess he would probably float along with one of the Scarab units to provide support.
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I’d love to be able to suggest more variety, but acanthrites would be redundant to the pylons and spyders are a bit too jack of all trades master of none unless they have a vehicle to guard. Personally I’d take some Spyders for fluff reasons at least at 2000, but that’s just me and not a gameplay issue.
I might suggest making scarabs as MSU as possible because it adds flexibility to their nature as more a board control than direct damage unit. You can have two small units mimick a large unit by sticking together, but you can’t have one large unit mimic two smaller units.
Alternatively,
If you'd be okay playing with customized/conversions/counts-as minis, you could remove the Praetorian driving the Triarch Stalker and play it as a counts-as Command Barge ("Canoptek Overseer"?). Then the Cloak-tek might actually have some more use, following it around to repair (though I might want to use Szeras model as a stand in there. Looks more in theme).
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/04/14 08:53:38
I found it was pretty easy to model a triarch stalker as a giant spyder using only the rear section of a spyder instead of it’s stubby tail, a riptide shoulderpad as a head (pedipalps already come with the kit) and leaving the cockpit section off.
My question is, is it better to use Novok or Nephrekh codes on the Canoptekh units heavy detachement? One will get you faster into combat, the other let you hit harder when you engaged.
Neophyte2012 wrote: My question is, is it better to use Novok or Nephrekh codes on the Canoptekh units heavy detachement? One will get you faster into combat, the other let you hit harder when you engaged.
Canoptek units Heavy detachment? (as in, Spearhead, so Spyders and Sentry Pylons?)
Probably neither? They don't really do much for those units.
Ideally you'd probably want Sautekh (so the Pylons can fire at full efficiency the turn they arrive. Same for Sentinels).
It might also be good for Particle Beamer Spyders... but Spyders aren't really worth bringing.
If you meant a detachment that is heavy with Canoptek units, Novokh best for Wraiths and Nephrekh best for Scarabs, but both Dynasties are fine for both units. There isn't a wrong choice in that regard.
I've been running a list pretty similar to this theme since 8th dropped, all metal bugs and some vehicles. Some thoughts:
Spyders aren't particularly good even with vehicles to repair if the points level is high enough. I love them, own six, but I can never justify fielding more than one, and even that's a concession since canoptek crypteks are the go-to hq. If you're taking them, particle beamers are overindulging as well, save points by skipping them. Six shots, three hits (if not advancing), two wounds (if against T4) and no ap? Even with the dearth of shooting from most canoptek models, it's hard to justify buying it.
I have one of the forgeworld sentry pylons, but my other heavy support comes from two annihilation barges with the pilots popped off and spare canoptek bits and heads stuck on. I'd read something in one of the older codexes about them being able to be deployed at the spyders' command, so they provide a decent amount of firepower, I tend to leave them with underslung gauss cannons to multitask when they shoot.
Wraiths and Arcanthrites are both pretty fun, though anyone with vehicles are going to point most of their guns at the arcanthrites if they've fought against them before. If you can deploy them well, they can either lessen the damage to the rest of your army, or just be a looming threat in the back of the enemy's mind that influences their own movement. Wraiths, despite being arguably more efficient against some targets, just don't attract the same attention, probably because they aren't fancy forgeworld resin. (side note, I had a terrible time trying to put my arcanthrites together, not going to purchase those again.)
Scarabs took a step sideways dropping to 4+ WS, but gaining fly. Even though they can't shoot while falling back due to it, it lets your swarms bypass their screens and tie up their valuable units in melee. Most of my opponents have ways to get rid of them though, given the 6+ armor save and how hard it is to keep spyders within replenishing range, they get whittled down quickly.
Overall, with how many things can fly on their own, I don't think Nephrek's Code is a necessity, but it does have its uses, especially when combined with the stratagem for a first turn Move + Advance 6" + Charge. Still, rerolling hits would up the output of scarabs and spyders pretty significantly given they're each stuck at 4+, and wraiths and arcanthrites would enjoy it as well.
I tend to play at or near 1000, so hard for me to say how well it'll scale when it goes upwards.
Diputs wrote: I've been running a list pretty similar to this theme since 8th dropped, all metal bugs and some vehicles. Some thoughts:
Spyders aren't particularly good even with vehicles to repair if the points level is high enough. I love them, own six, but I can never justify fielding more than one, and even that's a concession since canoptek crypteks are the go-to hq. If you're taking them, particle beamers are overindulging as well, save points by skipping them. Six shots, three hits (if not advancing), two wounds (if against T4) and no ap? Even with the dearth of shooting from most canoptek models, it's hard to justify buying it.
I have one of the forgeworld sentry pylons, but my other heavy support comes from two annihilation barges with the pilots popped off and spare canoptek bits and heads stuck on. I'd read something in one of the older codexes about them being able to be deployed at the spyders' command, so they provide a decent amount of firepower, I tend to leave them with underslung gauss cannons to multitask when they shoot.
Wraiths and Arcanthrites are both pretty fun, though anyone with vehicles are going to point most of their guns at the arcanthrites if they've fought against them before. If you can deploy them well, they can either lessen the damage to the rest of your army, or just be a looming threat in the back of the enemy's mind that influences their own movement. Wraiths, despite being arguably more efficient against some targets, just don't attract the same attention, probably because they aren't fancy forgeworld resin. (side note, I had a terrible time trying to put my arcanthrites together, not going to purchase those again.)
Scarabs took a step sideways dropping to 4+ WS, but gaining fly. Even though they can't shoot while falling back due to it, it lets your swarms bypass their screens and tie up their valuable units in melee. Most of my opponents have ways to get rid of them though, given the 6+ armor save and how hard it is to keep spyders within replenishing range, they get whittled down quickly.
Overall, with how many things can fly on their own, I don't think Nephrek's Code is a necessity, but it does have its uses, especially when combined with the stratagem for a first turn Move + Advance 6" + Charge. Still, rerolling hits would up the output of scarabs and spyders pretty significantly given they're each stuck at 4+, and wraiths and arcanthrites would enjoy it as well.
I tend to play at or near 1000, so hard for me to say how well it'll scale when it goes upwards.
Thanks for all the feedback. Are you able to share a common 1000 point list you play?
I've decided to stick to 1000 points for now and am building as such...
Novokh Outrider Detachment
Cloak-tek
6x Wraiths w/the Heavy D3 guns
3x Scarabs
3x Scarabs
4x Scarabs
4x Scarabs
Tomb Sentinel w/Gloom Prism
Sentry Pylon w/Heat Ray and Teleporter
I might have the number of Scarabs a bit off. I don't have my list in front of me right now. Should I drop the Wraith guns for more Scarabs?
I'm hoping to be able to play my first game with these guys this coming weekend.
Check out my website. Editorials! Tutorials! Fun Times To Be Had! - kriswallminis.com
Diputs wrote: I've been running a list pretty similar to this theme since 8th dropped, all metal bugs and some vehicles. Some thoughts:
Spyders aren't particularly good even with vehicles to repair if the points level is high enough. I love them, own six, but I can never justify fielding more than one, and even that's a concession since canoptek crypteks are the go-to hq. If you're taking them, particle beamers are overindulging as well, save points by skipping them. Six shots, three hits (if not advancing), two wounds (if against T4) and no ap? Even with the dearth of shooting from most canoptek models, it's hard to justify buying it.
I have one of the forgeworld sentry pylons, but my other heavy support comes from two annihilation barges with the pilots popped off and spare canoptek bits and heads stuck on. I'd read something in one of the older codexes about them being able to be deployed at the spyders' command, so they provide a decent amount of firepower, I tend to leave them with underslung gauss cannons to multitask when they shoot.
Wraiths and Arcanthrites are both pretty fun, though anyone with vehicles are going to point most of their guns at the arcanthrites if they've fought against them before. If you can deploy them well, they can either lessen the damage to the rest of your army, or just be a looming threat in the back of the enemy's mind that influences their own movement. Wraiths, despite being arguably more efficient against some targets, just don't attract the same attention, probably because they aren't fancy forgeworld resin. (side note, I had a terrible time trying to put my arcanthrites together, not going to purchase those again.)
Scarabs took a step sideways dropping to 4+ WS, but gaining fly. Even though they can't shoot while falling back due to it, it lets your swarms bypass their screens and tie up their valuable units in melee. Most of my opponents have ways to get rid of them though, given the 6+ armor save and how hard it is to keep spyders within replenishing range, they get whittled down quickly.
Overall, with how many things can fly on their own, I don't think Nephrek's Code is a necessity, but it does have its uses, especially when combined with the stratagem for a first turn Move + Advance 6" + Charge. Still, rerolling hits would up the output of scarabs and spyders pretty significantly given they're each stuck at 4+, and wraiths and arcanthrites would enjoy it as well.
I tend to play at or near 1000, so hard for me to say how well it'll scale when it goes upwards.
Thanks for all the feedback. Are you able to share a common 1000 point list you play?
I've decided to stick to 1000 points for now and am building as such...
Novokh Outrider Detachment
Cloak-tek
6x Wraiths w/the Heavy D3 guns
3x Scarabs
3x Scarabs
4x Scarabs
4x Scarabs
Tomb Sentinel w/Gloom Prism
Sentry Pylon w/Heat Ray and Teleporter
I might have the number of Scarabs a bit off. I don't have my list in front of me right now. Should I drop the Wraith guns for more Scarabs?
I'm hoping to be able to play my first game with these guys this coming weekend.
My list has been:
Outrider
Cryptek (Previously just hiding on points in the back, but with the new codex is probably going to suit up in a canoptek cloak)
1 minimum unit of arcanthrites
1 minimum unit of wraiths
2 units of 7 scarabs
1 unit of 3 scarabs
1 Sentry pylon, gauss exterminator, teleporter
1 Annihilation barge, gauss cannon
I haven't looked into how best to equip the wraiths, I tend to run mine bare to save on points, but I like the heavy weapons as well. Not entirely sold on whip coils, but that might just be my meta. I wouldn't worry about filling out scarab squads too much - I like mine middling size on the occasions I do try to run a spyder to patch them back up, but even minimum units help deny deepstrikes or hold random objectives. Running a larger unit might help with the stratagem that gives a canoptek unit resurrection protocols for a turn, but make sure it's not better used elsewhere, to make the more expensive wraiths pop back up or something. Even if there's a good spot for a sentry pylon to deploy first turn, they have a target on their back, so holding them in reserve is a good idea. I learned that the hard way - Ravenwing cut through my screening scarabs and a Nephilim did the final blow. Overall, looks like your list will do pretty well - I just can't justify not using arcanthrites with how much I spent on the resin things.
I took the advice here and played a game over the weekend versus my buddy. It was a wild, yet bloody success.
We played Open War with a mission that was essentially 'wipe out your opponent'. No objectives at all.
My list was a Voidreaper bearing Destroyer Lord, 7x Scarabs, 6x Scarabs, 6x Wraiths, a Tomb Sentinel and a Sentry Pylon. His list was Skarbrand, a generic Bloodthirster, 3 units of 10x Bloodthirsters and 6x Chaos Marines.
I ended up tabling him with only a damaged Sentry Pylon left. It was a bloody battle.
With almost everything in my army having a 10" or 12" move, I was able to dictate pretty much all of the charges. The Wraiths hit like a Mac truck. The Scarabs forced a lot of armor saves. The generic Bloodthirster went down in the second round of combat. I charged him with 7x Scarabs, the 6x Wraiths and the Destroyer Lord. My Lord went down quick, but the 3++ on the Wraiths was unreal.
The Tomb Sentinel was underwhelming. I think I'd be better off with more Wraiths or even more Scarabs. The Pylon was also underwhelming. It rolled 1 for it's Heavy D6 the first two times it fired. The last time it fired was versus the Chaos Marines in the last round and rolled a 6 for the hits, wounding and killing all of them. It's just so swingy. It can deal between 1 and 36 damage if it hits and wounds with every shot it's allowed to take.
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