strategy

Have Necrons and can't win? Do you play against Necrons and just get stomped every time? Here is my Necron Strategy guide that can help you either learn to use your Necrons efficiently or to learn the inner workings of a Necron army in order to squash it.

(Copying and pasting is welcome and encouraged, just give me credit for what I write.)

Necron Strategy
written by: William Napier 07/03/03

Updates:

07/25/03
added cheapy tactic about scarabs screening the lord.

07/12/03
I obtained a Monolith. I went to the Thursday night gaming and found that I had been voted "most favored opponent" for the previous Fantasy campaign. I got a $50 in-store credit. Well, that was my chance to get my Monolith and two pots of paint. I have only updated the Tomb Spyder section as I have played a few games with one.

Overview:
The Necrons are a fun army to play. It is ideal for beginners, just like a Space Marine army is. In addition, it is a great army for veteran players as well because the list can really get tweaked to your playing style. Note that this guide may seem incomplete to you. It won't feature C'tan, or a Monolith. This is because I will only talk about the models that I have and how to use them. When I get the models and gain experience with them, I will update this guide. In the meantime, most of the Necron force is listed below and has some great insight on the army in general..

HQ:
Lord: You must have at least one. I only take a second lord in larger games. See my Necron army list which can be found on my Necron main page. That is how I tool-up the lords. I make a close combat lord and a supporting lord. I do not yet have Flayed Ones, but when I do the close combat lord will ALWAYS be a part of their squad! I give my CC Lord a Lightning Field, Gaze of Flame, Chronometron, and a Resurrection Orb. Couple that with a unit of Flayed Ones that have the Terrifying Visage rule and the We'll be back rolls and you have a SERIOUS hard hitting and stubborn unit that your opponents will be hard-pressed to kill. In the pre-codex army list, my favorite wargear was the Veil of Darkness. I used to "veil" the lord and many scarabs (they used to be ind. models and not swarms) into the back line of the enemy. I would hope to survive their shooting attacks then tie up the enemy artillery for awhile. Even pre-codex, I was starting to dislike the veil as it would send me into a mountain, or off the board, or double ones; bad mojo. Now my favorite is the Resurrection Orb. I read the Codex wrong and thought that you can only take one. Nope, can take as many as you have lords! Pay for the orb and never leave without it...EVER period. My lord and a host of warriors stood up to Chaos Marines, Space Marine Terminators, etc. for up to 4 rounds of close combat. Why would you ever fail to use the orb? I will eventuall make a converted lord with the platform of an old destroyer model and a lord riding it like a hover-board. (Necron Lord w/Destroyer body). Check out my pictures section for the Lord mounted on a green-inked crystal. I bought the crystal at a new-age store and inked it. I clipped the base off the Lord and painted/varnished it then mounted it on the crystal. I guess that super-glue really will bond to rock and crystal. I may get more for Eldar crystal forests. One more thing to discuss, Pariahs. Take the minimum of 4 and attach it to the close combat lord for a super hard hitting close combat unit; and/or make the lord join or be in close proximity of a unit of Flayed Ones. Read the special rules for Pariahs and Flayed Ones and you will get the picture! Use Scarabs to screen a lord. Don't make the lord join the unit or the scarabs will be slowed down. Place them in a large circle around the lord and keep the lord more than an two inches away for clarity. Use the scarab-screen for counter charges and to screen from any unwanted charges. They are too small to screen from incoming fire.

Troops:
Warriors: That's it, just Warriors. I'm not complaining. These guys ARE Space Marines with advantages. For 3 points more than a Space Marine, a Warrior gets a lower Initiative, a Leadership 10, KICK ASS Bionics ("We'll be Back"), and the dreaded Gauss Flayer (a bolter that auto-wounds on a 'to wound' roll of 6). They are perfect for your regular, ground pounder, ordinary troops. You can use these guys in lots of ways; screens, holding ground that was taken by stronger allies, counter charge units, and even tank busters! I also play Eldar so I know what those nasty WaveSerpents can do. Well, in one game (turn 1), I destroyed two WaveSerpents and made the cargo walk it in. They walked into a terrible cross fire from my Destroyers and Immortals. Gauss Weapons are great for taking out any tanks. They auto-glance armor on an 'amour penetration' roll of a 6. Now, with 30+ warriors an average of 15 will hit. On an average you can get 7-8 sixes. Out of the 7 to 8 sixes, you can roll on the Glancing table to hopefully flay that tank. I did this against Black Templars. I used turn one to destroy and disable most enemy armor (Demolisher, Whirlwind, two Rhinos, Landraider) Yes, I did, and it was great. Turn two, my foremost unit was in close combat. Well that is just Marine against Marine, and I can get back up and use leadership 10. Take notes kiddies.

Elites:
Immortals: Immortals are like Super-Necron Warriors. They cost 10 more points a model and get one extra toughness than Warriors. Their Gauss Blaster has reversed stats to the Gauss Flayer. Flayer has S4 AP5, and the Blaster has S5 AP4 plus it is assault 2. So for the extra 10 points a model over the Warriors, you basically pay for the weapon and +1 toughness. The toughness of 5 is pretty good in case you move them out of the range of the Resurrection Orbs, your opponent would need strength 10 weapons to auto-kill them. In close combat, you loose the advantage of the +10 points (basically the shooting weapon). Keep them out of combat. If you can't, then get the Orb in range to bring them back! I think the +10 points are worth it and I bring between 5 and 12 Immortals to the games.

Pariahs: I have 4 Pariahs and will use them like an unofficial Lord body guard. Since I will almost always attach the close combat lord to a unit of Flayed Ones, the Pariahs my join the support lord or just hang around the Flayed One/CC Lord combination. Take a look at the Pariah's Souless rule: "Any enemy unit with a model within 12" of a Pariah counts as having leadership 7, unless it would normally be less than that." Now read the Flayed Ones Terrifying Visage rule and the Close Combat Lord with the Gaze of Flame. Make sure the enemy charges the Flayed Ones and not the Pariahs. The enemy must take a psychology test before attacking the unit (Terrifying Visage) off of a leadership 7 or less if they normally are less (Souless), and subtract one from that score -1 leadership and do not get +1 attacks for charging (Gaze of Flame). If the test was failed then the enemy can only hit your unit on a D6 roll of 6 for each attack that turn. Test every turn in combat too. Couple all of that with the Pariah's and CCLord's Warscythe attacks (no armour save of ANY type) any you can make squishy Space Marine puddles.

Flayed Ones: Two words..."Terrifying Visage"! Attach these to your Close Combat lord. Tool the lord up with the Resurrection Orb, Chronometron, Gaze of Flame, and a Lightning Field. This makes a very wrong close combat unit that even will make Tyranids and Kroot shudder. Enemies that charge this unit will have to make a leadership test and if failed, can only hit the unit on a roll of a 6. The Gaze of Flame reduces the enemies leadership by -1, which is a GREAT combo. The Orb will let you get back up even if you are hit with instant death weapons or power weapons, the Lightning Field will give your enemy a little strength 3 shock for every wound that they deliver to you, and the Chronometron will allow you to roll an extra D6 for pursuit or fleeing. All of the Necron Elites are great, It is hard to choose. I would just choose according to what you may be facing.

Fast Attack:
Destroyers: Destroyers are my favorite. I personally like the older models over the newer ones. When I think 'Necron', I think of the old destroyer model. I picture the photos of the old raiding forces. The old models just stood out. I had to ask, "What are Necrons", and "Is that some sort of Jetbike?"; nostalgic I suppose, but I will be ordering from the GW archives or Ebay. 50pts a model is completly worth it. I usually take 5, but will vary from 3 to 8. The new rules make it harder to make many groups of destroyers, but at least the one large group of 5 can dish out 15 strength 6 ap4 shots. Since they move like jetbikes, they have an effective targeting range of 48" (36" weapon range + 12" movement). That's a healthy sphere of influence. I usually keep them behind a screen of warriors or immortals and go tank-hunting on the first and second turns. By turn three, I usually have to move them into flanking positions and hunt pockets of infantry-type resistance. These models are extremely versatile and can even hold up in close combat. Thanks to the new rules, Destroyers get back up as Destroyers. The old rules made them get up as Warriors. Once again, I apologize to anyone that I played when using them like Eldar Jetbikes. They can't do that. I play both Eldar and Necrons and got confused. The new Necron book states that they move like Jetbikes. Which means 12" movement, difficult terrain checks like Eldar, but the Eldar get the extra movement in the assault phase and the Necrons do not. RoolzBoyz helped me with that one.

Wraiths: I make a very limited use of Wraiths. They are menacing-looking so new opponents who are unfamiliar with Necrons will almost always target these first. It is sort of like Imperial Guard Stormtroopers. Opponents see that they are different, get scared and think that they might be a serious threat and boom, no more storm troopers. Wraiths are good at moving through walls and solid objects. They remind me of Eldar WarpSpiders. If you are familiar with them then use Wraiths the same way. Don't rely on the invulnerable save. These things are only good in close combat. Keep them in cover until the enemy is within your sphere of influence. (18" = 12" movement + 6" assault). Don't forget to support the Wraith's charge with another unit charging, or at least make another unit charge into that same combat the following turn. Wraiths aren't super-uber-machines and will go down. Make them pay for their points by killing the same amount of the opponents points before you allow this to die.

Scarab Swarms: The new army list is great and I have two minor gripes. (Doesn't everyone). GW can't please them all, but this list is just fine. 1) the destroyer unit sizes changed, but they get up as destroyers, good. 2) they just trashed the Scarabs. They made destroyers SO MUCH BETTER, but the Scarabs are no longer fielded in my army. It was great when they were individual models and could blow up. I would move them into close combat and detonate them on the enemies turn. That would open it up to a free turkey shoot for me. Now what Necron commander has failed to use that tactic? Another OLD tactic was to have the Lord join the Scarabs and "veil of darkeness" them into the enemy's back line to tie-up artillery. Those were basic and valuable. Now the Scarabs come in as swarms. I guess swarms are ok, but not my playing style. If you use them, make them tie-up the enemy while you handle more pressing issues, (Demolisher Cannon, Lemann Russ perhaps?). I like the interesting thing GW did with the Tomb Spyders/Scarab Swarms. I use the Tomb Spyders and only will use Scarabs if the TS creates them.

Heavy Support:
Heavy Destroyers: I only use one. No extra write-ups needed for this one. Go tank-hunting or demon busting. See the Destroyers entry. I still use the old model for this one too. The regular cannons are Bilious or Scorpion Green and I make the heavy cannons Ice Blue. Some people simply extended the old model's barrel with tubing.

Tomb Spyders: I have played only a few games with the Tomb Spyder. I learned not only can the TS help you make WBB rolls, but it can also be a PERFECT nuisance to the opponent. In my last game, I charged a Black Templar Dreadnaught with my TS; just to tie it up in combat. Before I made my charge, I created a swarm of scarabs to charge with me. (I checked and found that YES you may create a swarm and then charge it. The Artificer rule stats "...at the begining of the assault phase...") Now the dreadnaught had more stuff to deal with while I took care of more important business at hand, like all of those tanks. In the second round of combat, I made another swarm. They tied up combat until the lord could come over and finish it. I used to think that you may roll 5 dice (any number) and create that many swarms, but If you got two ones the Spyder would die in the process. That no longer seems to be true. After debating the rules awhile, I found that you may only produce one swarm per assault phase, per Spyder. I know, the rules in ANY codex are never very clear. In that last game, the Spyder wasn't needed for any WBB rolls but did keep the Dreadnought off my back for 3 turns until I could get over there and finish it off.

Rigor Mortis(Necron VDR): This was a product of necessity, not out of beardy cheesiness. I built this pre-codex when the Necrons did not have a Heavy Support choice. My heavy destroyer was not considered HEAVY at that time. You can view the picture on the photos section and see the stats on the Army List section. I used an archive Rhino model (wasn't archive at the time), and left out the tank tread parts. I went to the Hobby Lobby and bought small wooden bowls for doll-houses. I inverted the bowls and glued them underneath the chassis for skimmer-jets. The turret is made out of a flight base stalk, ball bearing chassis, and a carved up plastic inhaler, and brass tubing. I modified the front of the Rhino to allow the upper torso of an older model warrior to sit and pilot the craft. I had fun with this and needed it. Now that the new rules are out, I really don't need it but bring it for fun.

Final Thoughts: Try various army compositions that work for you. As I mention in my Eldar strategy guide, bring several army lists to gaming nights and the models to support each list. When you show up and find out who and what your opponent is, briefly scan your collection of army lists and use the appropriate one. You won't need to do this if you know exactly what you will be facing. I try to bring two Necron Lords and tool one up as a close combat lord and one as the support lord. Destroyers make the army. Bring at least three. I take anywhere from 3 to 8 destroyers, depending on agreed points value of the army.

Because of the Phase Out rule, I try to take as many warriors and anything labeled "NECRON" as possible. To clarify, I really only do this in 1000pt battles. In larger battles I may start using the Monolith and more Pariahs.

The Necron "We'll be back" rule can help out a lot but try not to depend on it. Usually half of what dies gets back up (average). At the very least, Necrons who get back up are fairly demoralizing to your opponent. How would you feel if you fired 3 Heavy Bolters and 2 Lascannons into 10 Necrons and after the "We'll be back" rule, 4 out of 6 get back up? (Yes, the Resurrection Orb was in effect for this example).

On fighting Tyranids: I have yet to beat the Tyranids. I have only played against a close friend who uses the bugs. I have a plan in mind but haven't implemented it yet. I will alter my list to include two close combat lords and stick each lord in their own unit of 10 Flayed Ones. That way, I can dominate the first round of shooting and in the inevitable 2nd round of Close Combat I can stand a chance. Read and understand the Pariah and Flayed Ones entry on this guide. It has to be so cheesy and broken, but I can't complain.

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