Necron Tactics

Following on from yesterdays Destroyer Wing army list is this tactica by Stelek...

Much of the value of this tactica is based on this list and the tactics listed under the army list: Necrons in 5th.

I’ll start with the following advice:

Avoid close combat at all costs with anything but the Spyder/Lord and the Scarab Swarms.

Now for direct answers:

Yes, Necron Warrior squads are indeed important but overpriced at 19 points each. You have to bait and switch. Move up with them, make it look like you are going to let him rapid fire or assault them in a turn. Then on your turn, not only do you move directly away but you also run away. Throws people off every time, and time is what you buy with that kind of move. It’s not exactly easy to counter, even if you expect it. What are you going to do? Make the warriors not be 10″ away from where you wanted them? It’s all about experience, you need to play every list at least 10 times before you can really know how it works.

I’d pretty much always keep the Lord and Spyders together. If you are running the Destroyer Lord (personal preference for some) then you can change what you do with him after the first turn. He is actually quite dangerous to basic squads when he charges with a Warscythe + Destroyer, you can win combat against even tactical marines due to the power fist nerf. Just a heads up.

No need to turtle against assault armies. Setup in the middle of the board, and if/when you need to get away…zoom the wings out. Tomorrows post will hopefully help illustrate this idea. You can let him kill the middle of your army if need be, you don’t really want to lose it but if sacrificing it will get you more time to shoot your wings, might as well. Don’t be afraid to run your slower units away, not just the Warriors but Immortals and Spyders too. Better to run to the board edge and suck him straight in, than let him move diagonally and get movement towards your wings AND crush your center.

Against MC in a nid army, your target priority is: Gunfexes, Dakkafexes, then Tyrants with bodyguards. This was written back in 2008... so obviously target priority chances. You should not really care about stealers unless they are scuttling, then kill them (and most likely, his flyrant supporting them) first. Hormagaunts should be a top priority, because they will be on you faster than anything else in the game really. You don’t need to smash these units, just whittle them down so they can’t do enough casualties to win CC nor take the wounds you are going to dish out and survive long enough to lock you down in CC for stealers to arrive. It’s a delicate balancing act, but one that experience will teach you.

Against Tau, you need to learn to ignore hammerheads. Odds are they just won’t die. Devilfish should get your heavy weapons fire first. If he has crisis suits or broad sides, and you can see them….focus fire into them. Ignore FW picking at you from afar. Nullify Tau mobility (devilfish, crisis suits) and utility (pathfinders) and you stand a much better chance. Anytime you can hit any Tau infantry EXCEPT KROOT IN WOODS, with destroyers…you probably should. Always take the guaranteed kills if you can, most players try to kill the things they fear instead of whittling down Tau–and thus lose to them. You should also take all of your CC elements, and run them right at the Tau. Force them to kill them. If he has Hammerheads + Pathfinders, spread your scarab swarms out or risk them being annihilated in one go.

Against Deathwing, since they aren’t going to run away…you need to deploy as far out as you possibly can. Spread out in an anti-deeps strike formation in a table quarter, swarms in front. He can smush them, but you can focus fire into him and beat him down. You do need to get the terminators down to like 1 guy, then charge with your CC units and finish them off. Killing 2 terminator squads a turn should not be a problem for you. Just remember to keep focusing on each unit and have the CC unit standing by to finish them off.

I hope that helps.

- Stelek from YTTH in Email: Necron Tactica