So...Tesla or Gauss. The great Debate!

[Sonikgav]

Im about to start building my Necron army and im looking at my immortals, specifically their choice of weapons and im scratching my head. The puzzle is relatively simple but i cant work it out.

Gauss Blasters or Tesla Carbines.

Blasters have AP4, 24" Rapid Fire and of Course the Gauss rule.
Carbines have AP-, 24" Assault 1 and the Tesla Rule

Blasters have the extra shots when Rapid firing and the AP threat to anything not MEQ however unless theyre standing still they wont be shooting at anything untill theyre within 12". That being said Necrons are not a Combat army (at least my list isnt) and if you knowyour about to get charged then why not step up and go Rapid Fire weight of shots. I dont think the Carbines can provide that but im no Math-hammer player.

Carbines dont get as many shots up close but are Assault 24 so in that 12"-24" zone they fire just as many shots as the Gauss alternative and can start firing earlier while still staying mobile. The Tesla rule somewhat makes up for the lack of shots with a few lucky 6's however the negative AP is a little bit of a let down but only against non-MEQ armies.


The Carbines are slightly less Versatile too i think. Blasters with the Gauss rule means that while Infantry is priority target they can be a threat to vehicles. The Carbines not only lose the Gauss rule but also have negative AP.

I am using 4 Units of Immortals however so i may just consider taking 2 units of each. 2 as a Stationary covering force with the Blasters and the Carbine units as Mobile fire support.

Any thoughts on my ramblings? lol

[Tynskel]

This happens to be 1) personal preference, 2) depends one what is the makeup of the rest of your army.

You should think about the rest of your army and how this firepower fits in. If you find that your army is mobile, you might want the tesla so the immortals can keep up. If you find that your army is defensive, you might want the gauss blasters. If your army is low on anti-tank/transports, then you might want the extra anti-tank.

Simply think about how these fit into your list.

[Scrumblegort]

As it stands, I think against Muhreenz you should go Tesla, against light infantry and vehicles go with the Blaster. Both would do nothing against 3+, so the increased mobility (you don't want to be in melee range of anything, specially not most MEQs) offered by the Tesla combined with the potential extra shots make it superior against them. While the AP4 and Gauss rule make the Blaster a clear choice against imperial guard as well as orks.
However with the rumored changes to rapid fire weaponry in 6th edition, the blaster looks like it will get a major upgrade, leaving Tesla for only the most situational of uses.

[AbusePuppy]

Tesla is usually superior by virtue of being an Assault weapon, meaning you can move and fire to full effect. Gauss does have the advantage of not being AP-, and thus better at breaking tanks weakened by Scarabs, as well as getting two shots at point-blank range (though you usually shouldn't get that close.)

Basically, if the unit is Relentless, go with Gauss, otherwise go with Tesla.

[Wildcard]

If you take court for your necron overlord, you can make your immortals relentless (that is, move and fire 1 shot with rapid fire up to 24" with blasters)

Just to notify so that you know tesla carbines ain't the only thing to consider if you are building an army that you wanna move around..

[Amaunator]

You don't need a court to make the immortals relentless, just the overlord. Imotekh, Trazyn and regular overlords have the option.

With assault weapons you can move and shoot and stay away from close combat. If enemy somehow gets too close, you can still shoot and then charge, preventing charging bonuses (furious charge, extra attacks) and getting them yourself (with either Zahndrek or Anrakyr, furious charging immortals \0/ ). More shots further away while moving, and loses nothing VS marines. Marine tanks have AV11 (razorbacks, rhinoes), gauss is useless against those as you glance on sixes anyway. Against dreadnoughts and predators gauss would be nice sure, but grey knights don't have predators and you should have enough big guns to silence the walkers anyway.

[Demonus]

Basically, if the unit is Relentless, go with Gauss, otherwise go with Tesla.

that's how i feel. If i know im going to be playing an army with a lot of troops, Ill go Tesla as I tend to roll a couple 6s. If Im playing T3 army (eldar, ig) ill go tesla. If not, Ill go Gauss with a Phaeron.

Im digging the Annihilation barge and its Tesla array. In the 2 rounds its fired, I got off 14 hits and 11 hits.

[Luke Licens]

If you take court for your necron overlord, you can make your immortals relentless (that is, move and fire 1 shot with rapid fire up to 24" with blasters)

Did I really miss that option? What upgrade for Lords/Crypteks lets them make the unit Relentless?

On the mobility question, don't forget Veil of Darkness. You can get a max of 3 in your army (2 ignoring SCs) so you can potentially deepstrike in to Rapidfire range faster than you could slog into Carbine range. Granted, you could also deepstrike at a much safer distance and still shoot with the Carbines, but that's a question of style.

[Amaunator]

Deepstriking to rapid fire range=giving up the unit for a chance to shoot another unit away. You can't afford to lose a single round of combat, and without SCs you can't get away from combat without winning them. How often do necrons win close combats with their immortals?

[Luke Licens]

Deepstriking to rapid fire range=giving up the unit for a chance to shoot another unit away. You can't afford to lose a single round of combat, and without SCs you can't get away from combat without winning them. How often do necrons win close combats with their immortals?

That's if you're shooting at a unit of marines on foot. There are plenty of other things to shoot, but the one that comes to mind is 'Rear Armor'. Gauss blasters can penetrate AV10, and a full unit of 10 has a decent chance to wreck something.

20 shots, ~13 hits, ~2 pens and ~2 glances. Granted, that totals 210 points, but a unit of 3 Heavy Destroyers is 180 for 6 shots, 4 hits, and when you consider that they'll have a rough time getting to that juicy AV10, you get about the same performance (in the neighberhood of 2 pens and 2 glances) on a unit with only 3 wounds that is less mobile and less flexible (little anti infantry punch and can't score).

Now, not saying that's the way I'd play it, but it's a possibility. My thoughts run more along the lines of a blob of 20 warriors with a Phaeron and Obyron, and a Ghost Ark hovering nearby. *POOF* *DAKKADAKKADAKKA* *POOF*

[Nachodragon]

Heavy Destroyers would only have 3 shots. Heavy Gauss cannon is only Assault 1. Though still a powerful gun at Str 9 Ap 2. And is 36" range.

[theHman]

I did 2 squads of immortals.
1 with gauss
1 with tesla

In my games, I have found tesla to be awesome.
The "exploding 6" giving you 2 extra hits makes even a min unit of 5 a threat to all infantry units.
The AP - doesn't bother me as I go for weight of fire and make my opponent roll tons of dice.
Doesn't matter if you're a terminator squad, you will fail one or two (or more) armor saves even at 2+.

I also like my immortals with Tesla b/c my warriors have gauss and my Pharaoh hangs out with them.
And the extra mobility is extremely useful. It allows you to march across the board with your immortals and still shoot at the enemy.

Hope that helps.

[Luke Licens]

Heavy Destroyers would only have 3 shots. Heavy Gauss cannon is only Assault 1. Though still a powerful gun at Str 9 Ap 2. And is 36" range.

You are correct sir, I was confusing the regular Gauss Cannon (24" Str5 AP 3 Assault 2) with the Heavy Gaus Cannon (36" Str 9 AP 2 Assault 1).

So, a more apt comparison might be regular Destroyers. 200 pts gets you 5 of them, so 10 shots, 7 hits rounding generously. That's just over 1 pen and 1 glance vs AV10, just 1 glance vs anything more. The longer range of the Destroyers is going to keep you safer, but the farther you hang back, the easier it is for enemy vehicles to keep you in their front arc.

Trigonometry Time:
Assuming 45 degree arcs for armor facings, if you're in the center of the front facing and 24 inches away you have to move more than 16 (16.97, disregarding the width of the vehicle) inches to get into the side facing. At 36", it takes more than 25" of movement to change facings. Nothing in the game can move that far in one turn and still shoot without teleporting.

[Slug]

Personally I'm looking at the idea of deepstriking a unit of Immoratals with a Cryptek. It could be risky but it's a great way to deal with backfield objectives, a unit of ten can blast away most non meq units that aren't to big and can at the very least contest objectives, also they can do something to most vehicles even a Land Raider, then teleport away. 20 shots ~13 hits you will get a six or two in there somewhere and against meq you will take out a few marines forcing them to either react to your unit or letting you get them out of there. I would say it's a great tactic for the extra disruption it causes, and if used smartly you can punish a player for leaving units on their own.


So that's my take on Gauss hopefully I can test it out soon and report back.

[theHman]

@Slug: Would you still be able to get the double tap on the rapid fire if you Deep Strike? I thought it counted as moving and therefore negated that.

[Sonikgav]

Ive decided to go with 1 Unit of Tesla and 3 of Gauss.

The Gauss stay more or less stationary as backfield fire support and the Tesla group are The Travellers Eternals so they have Furios Charge/Counter Charge and an Assault Weapon.

The Teleporting unit is tempting but for that id have to drop either a Solar Pulse or a Tremorstave and the Staves are part of my armies tactic.

[Slug]

2 shots even if you moved, I did check that just in case, so yes you can, it makes it quite effective way to use veil with a unit of 10. I haven't tried it out yet but hopefully I will get 750 points built by this weekend and I can test it. the only thing about this combo is making sure you don't get caught, sometimes your better off not using it if you will find yourself to close to too many units.

I'm going to be testing the effectiveness of each different Cryptek and see how they can be used, solar pulse is very useful though some armies can ignore it to an extent whilst others will get thrown badly by it so it can be a bit situational but lots of things are.

[Tynskel]

@Slug: Would you still be able to get the double tap on the rapid fire if you Deep Strike? I thought it counted as moving and therefore negated that.

Need to re-read the rules for Rapid Fire.

no moving= 1 shot at 24"
moving/no moving = 2 shots at 12"

[thecactusman17]

I would say Gauss weapons, but that's based on experience with other armies. Weapons which can reliably function against all other unit types are exceedingly rare, so a weapon that can do decent damage to infantry, MCs, and heavy armor is a pretty solid argument. Plus, with warriors and Ghost Arks you can pump cheap squads up to a point where they threaten expensive ones with ease.

[Saturn 3]

Gauss blasters. The more I look at it I like the warriors better 170 points - 10 immortals ,130 points - 10 warriors. I figure rapid firing against marines 5 deaths immortals and 4 for the warriors but the immortals have the 3 up . Maybe take big warrior squads out with veil of darkness and bomb on targets of opportunity? Less of a save but more of em .Costs alot though. Also that veil would come in handy. Remember you don't have to just use it to strike into enemy country but to retreat or to bolster your back lines!

[thecactusman17]

Saturn, you could take a few squads of 10, then pump with the Ark and bomb with VoD. Keep everything in the back under heavy cover and move it out only when and where you need it, and much stronger than initially expected too. and since Warriors DO die easier than they used to, you'll have plenty of extra bodies to pump those units with after one or two bombs.

[Saturn 3]

So many ideas on how to play these guys. Can't wait for the scythes.

[Tynskel]

Saturn, you could take a few squads of 10, then pump with the Ark and bomb with VoD. Keep everything in the back under heavy cover and move it out only when and where you need it, and much stronger than initially expected too. and since Warriors DO die easier than they used to, you'll have plenty of extra bodies to pump those units with after one or two bombs.

You cannot use the ark to make the unit larger than starting size.

[thecactusman17]

Yeah, i realized that afterward. It's an annoying restriction. It makes perfect sense to say that can't go over the MAXIMUM squad size, but I guess they thought this would be too broken (and they might be right, look at the crapstorm going on with Scarabs).

[Maelstorm]

I'll take the leftover Tesla guns from 2 Deathmark units to convert old Necron Warriors into Tesla-wielding Immortals. I should be able to get them onto the table soon!

[Tynskel]

Yeah, i realized that afterward. It's an annoying restriction. It makes perfect sense to say that can't go over the MAXIMUM squad size, but I guess they thought this would be too broken (and they might be right, look at the crapstorm going on with Scarabs).

Although, I will say, I played my first game of Necron's the other day.

I had a Ghost Ark with 8 Warriors, Cryptek with Eldritch Lance, and a Phearon with Tychon Arrow and Gauntlet of Fire. CTan with 2 dakka powers, 3 Ñ00ß scobe particle beamer tomb blades, and a 10 Immortal squad with Tesla Carbines with a Cyptek with Siesmic Stone and Quake Staff.

It is pretty sweet to use the ark. The fire power that thing has with 5 Gauss rifles per side, plus the 8 on board (not to mention the 2 anti-tank weapons) was sweet. I was blasting away, then hopped out shot n' charge another turn. The beginning of the turn after that, repaired all the downed warriors, got back into the ark, and moved to blast some more!

The Tesla Carbines held a flank. The cryptek quake staff combined with the Tesla Carbines was pretty sweet. I could just back peddle blasting the enemy unit, slowing them down to a crawl with the difficult terrain checks. The C'Tan came back to back up the Immortals. The Tomb Blades are pretty wicked. I kept getting good hits--- -5" to your scatter roll makes a big difference.

Overall, I really enjoy the Necrons. Much more fun than before.

[Kawauso]

Yeah, i realized that afterward. It's an annoying restriction. It makes perfect sense to say that can't go over the MAXIMUM squad size, but I guess they thought this would be too broken (and they might be right, look at the crapstorm going on with Scarabs).

I think the main thing behind it is the fluff, really.

The Ghost Ark is a repair barge. It's not assembling new Necrons. Whereas Spyders are supposed to fabricate new Scarabs.

Gameplay-wise, though, I think there would be the potential for that to be quite nasty, were it the case. I think the Arks are fine as-is, personally.

[Brymm]

I'll take the leftover Tesla guns from 2 Deathmark units to convert old Necron Warriors into Tesla-wielding Immortals. I should be able to get them onto the table soon!

I've done this and it works pretty good!