Making Deathmarks work

[Maelstorm]

Basic Deathmark units need to be taken in sets of 2 to be effective. Mark 2 targets and both units will wound on a 2+ vs. each other's targets. Great for board control.

To make Deathmarks useful at long range add a Cryptek - Harbinger of Transmogrification with a Harp of Dissonance (infinite range). Remove the armour from a Grey Knight Baby carrier anywhere on the table. Fixes the 24" range issue! Park them in-cover on your side of the board and plink away at uber-units across the board. With 2 Deathmark units and 2 Harps you can cover most of the board and abuse each others "Marked for Death" targets.

For Deathmark Deep Strike abuse - a Harbinger of Despair (finally - a use for the oddball staff!). Strength 8, AP1 Template - but with the "Marked for Death" rule they wound on a 2+ instead of the goofy leadership roll. Deep strike in and wipe-out almost any unit in the game in one shot. Ignores FNP and 2+ saves. Not bad for a 125 point squad (including Cryptek).

[Saturn 3]

Your analysis is very much appreciated.

[isotope99]

Good point on doubling up on the targets, hadn't spotted that.

I'm not saying you're wrong and it does currently say deathmark UNIT, but I wouldn't be surprised to see these individual tactics nerfed by the FAQ so that its only the deathmarks themselves that get the 2+ to wound or that it doesn't override the Ld element of the other weapon.

[Maelstorm]

I seriously doubt it gets touched by the FAQ. You can add heavy weapons, Melta bombs and a Power Fist to a Marine Sniper squad.

The staff normally rolls at Strength 8 vs. Leadership (usually 7-9). On the to wound chart, that's a 3+, 4+ or 5+. It's not a stretch to wound on a 2+ with a Strength 8 AP 1 weapon using the Deathmark special ability.

[Crazeh]

There is no way that's legal. Attached characters don't gain unit special rules and vice versa with the exception of a couple of USRs. Dream on.

[Jambo]

dont have my codex handy but i thought that deathmarks had to be 5+ in a squad

[Xenith]

Youre not allowed to attach Crypteks to deathmark squads, are you?

Anyway, point one:removing the armour of the dreadknight - unlikely, as you need to hit, wound, then have it fail it's save.

Point two - not possible - the genberal rule for the models in the deathmark unit is over-ruled by the specific rules for the way the template weapon works.

Remember, if you think youv'e found an easter egg, you're most likely not reading the rules right.

[Maelstorm]

It is legal - check out the discussion on the tactics forum.

[Sonikgav]

Yeah and in that thread you have people saying your wrong too, mainly me.

Ignoring me and posting in another forum doesnt make it right. Saying a Cryptek = a unit upgrade like a sergeant doesnt work when it comes to special rules. Deployment rules, sure so the Cryptek can use their deepstrike with them, but all of a sudden giving the army a flamer that wounds/kills everything in the game on a 2+? Not to mention its on a unit that can then gain a 'deepstrike a turn' ability?

Remember this isnt a new weapon. Its just a Neural Shredder in a new list.

[Maelstorm]

No worries, you're wrong on both postings - I was politely directing others to read the more thorough discussion on the other Forum rather than tracking both.

From the the BRB:
"Some Codex books allow you to field characters together with a special unit that they cannot leave during the game (which is usually a 'retinue', 'bodyguard' or similar). Where this is the case, the character counts as an upgrade character until all of the other memebers of this unit are killed, at which point it starts counting as an independant character and it will do so for the rest of the game"

The Cryptek cannot leave the Deathmark unit during the game. It is an upgrade to the Deathmark unit.

"Marked for Death" applies to the "Deathmark unit" - of which the Cryptek is now a member.

Until the FAQ possibly nerfs it, it works. Enjoy!

@Xenith: From the Necron Codex, Page 90:
"Before battle, each member of the Royal Court has the option of being split off from his unit and assigned to lead a different unit from the following list: Necron Warriors, Necron Immortals, Lychguard or Deathmarks."

The Template weapon works as Strength 8 vs. leadership. From the BRB "To Wound" chart Strength 8 vs Leadership 8 wounds on a 4+, "Marked for Death" wounds on a 2+. Doesn't change the rule, just changes what it wounds on (2+ instead of a 4+). Hope that helps.

[Demonus]

Yep I would have disagreed if it said "Deathmark" however since it says "deathmark unit", I would say that the rule applies, and it wounds on 2+.

[Lockark]

huh. IMHO I'd say that's the way to play it since by RAW that's how it's played.

But I got a strong feeling that's going to get FAQ'd or errata'd, because that also is just realy silly.
XD

[Maelstorm]

Nice to see what I wrote up almost a year and a half ago is now a common tactic!

[Deadlift]

I have used the despairtek deep strike tactic repeatedly to fantastic effect. One of my friends loves to field large units of Terminators. This unit eats them for breakfast and has upset his day more than once. I don't even mind if they get charged either, with that 2 plus to wound on the terminators and re animation protocols they have no problem mopping up what they failed to kill with the shooting. Always make their points back and add a real psychological edge too. Sometimes mine go into a Nightscythe.

[Freakeh]

I've used them twice now, both times as a 5man squad with a cryptek of despair. First game they wiped out a 10man plague marine squad holding an objective in 1 shooting phase and the second time they wiped out 10 man squad of khorne berserkers not bad for 150 point unit!

[Maelstorm]

I'm putting them to use this weekend; 2 units of 5 with 2 Despair-Teks per unit (2 Necron Overlords) in Night Scythes for precise deployment.

Which do you use more often, Veil of Darkness or a Scythe?

[Mr Mystery]

Word!

Just read up on the FAQ. It does indeed work, but only the once. Although the Cryptek can allow them to continually deepstrike, they can only 'Hunters from Hyperspace' once per game. So mild dent in the original tactic, but not enough to render it pointless :)

Hope this helps!

[Learn2Eel]

This is a very strong tactic that has proved to be the most common and powerful way of running Deathmarks in 6th Edition. Nice prediction! :)
Though I've had to put my Necrons on hold for a month or two at least, I plan on running one unit of five with the Despairtek in a Night Scythe. This removes the reliance on a Veil of Darkness and, in conjunction with my other two Night Scythes, grants them a more reliable delivery system. That, and more Night Scythes is never a bad thing :D With an effective template range of thirty-eight inches (twenty four inch movement, six inch disembarkation move, eight inch long template) I have a staggering threat range that is only compounded by the ever strong Tesla Destructor the Night Scythe bears.

[Maelstorm]

I've packed 3 units of 5 Deathmarks in their own Scythes for the weekend 1850 tournament. By taking 2 Overlords I have 4x Despair-Teks and 2x Storm-Teks for the Deathmarks. Together they mark 3 units and the Storm-Teks destroy AV 14 upon arrival. I have 2x Destruct-Teks (2x Solar Pulse) on the board as well in separate AV13 bunkers (Ghost Arks). Even if there is a Aegis Defense Line with Quad gun on the opponents side, I can hug the back of the table with my fliers (fly in at an extreme oblique angle) and use the 2x Solar Pulses to protect them until the next turn.


1850 Points
=======

Overlord #1, Hyperphase Sword, MSS, SWeave, Res Orb (Warlord)
Royal Court #1
Harbinger of Destruction, Solar Pulse
Harbinger of the Storm, Lightning Field
Harbinger of Despair
Harbinger of Despair


Overlord #2, Staff of Light, MSS, Res Orb
Royal Court #2
Harbinger of Destruction, Solar Pulse
Harbinger of the Storm, Lightning Field
Harbinger of Despair
Harbinger of Despair

5x Deathmarks, Night Scythe (2x Despair-Teks)
5x Deathmarks, Night Scythe (2x Despair-Teks)
5x Deathmarks, Night Scythe (2x Storm-Teks, Overlord #1)

10 Warriors, Night Scythe (Overlord #2)
5x Warriors, Ghost Ark (1x Destruct-Tek)
5x Warriors, Ghost Ark (1x Destruct-Tek)

Annihilation Barge

=======

I've never taken more than 1 flyer before - should be an eye-opener for my opponents....:D

[marandamir]

The ap1 flamer cryptek combo is cool and dandy. However, that really is a buff to crypteks that carry that template. What about plain deathmarks? Are they worth taking by themselves? They seem stupid priced for their capabilities. Their sniper rifle is only 24" and with a max unit size of 10 that means they don't dish out much damage at all. 10 shots at BS4 means 7 hits and likely 6 wounds against the marked unit. That is like 2-4 casualties depending on saves and the only benefit you really get over basic gauss rifles is rending and precision shots. Against non-marked targets they are really just warriors that costs twice as much with a slightly better gun. Even then the sniper rifle to me is only better in certain circumstances. Against tanks it's useless and against T3 or lower is is arguably worse than the S4 Gauss or tesla. It shines only when hitting T5+, better armor from rending and the chance of sniping a special weapon guy with precision strikes.

So i'd be curious if anyone has had any luck with them outside of the Despair-Tek combo.

[Maelstorm]

Even against non-marked targets, Deathmarks have Rapid-fire, Pinning, Rending and Precision Shots - picking out Heavy Weapons, Characters and Independent Characters from their meat-shields. They also have the much coveted 3+ Armor Save and Reanimation Protocols from Strength 10 AP 1 weapons. Not bad for 2 points more than a Necron Immortal.

There will be 3 Marked for Death high-value enemy targets on the table. Eliminating 400+ points of Terminators/Paladins in 1 round with 1 unit... Priceless. Repeat 3x against a Deathwing Terminator force and drop 1,200 points of terminators in 1 round...

Want to really thumb your nose at your opponent? Night Scythe moves in 24", disembark 6", Rapid-fire and 2x Despair Template 8" while the Night Scythe shoots a different target more than 6" away. Next turn, walk back 4" get back on the Night Scythe and fly to the next target that has been "Marked for Death" by another unit. 3 Units of Deathmarks all Wound each others targets on a 2+. A Night Scythe is the only flier that can pick up units without slowing down (Necron Codex pg. 51 "Access Point").

After the Alpha-strike, with 2x Storm-teks they will get 2x D6 Strength 8 hits (or 2x D3 AP1 Template hits from Despair-Teks) plus Rapid-fire, Rending, Precision shots and Pinning checks from the Deathmarks when they are counter-charged. Curious to see what survives to finish the charge.

With Necrons it's all about Synergy. Crypteks with Deathmarks, Destroyer Lord with Wraiths, Lord/Overlord w/Resurrection Orb with large squads (10+), Solar Pulse with Wraiths and Scarabs, etc. They are a much more bland/weaker force without synergy (force-multipliers).

For grins, 10 bare-bones Crypteks (250 points) put out 30 Strength 5 AP 3 shots with an Assault weapon (Staff of Light), killing more Vanilla Marines in 1 Round than 400 points of ThunderHammer Terminators.

[Learn2Eel]

The ap1 flamer cryptek combo is cool and dandy. However, that really is a buff to crypteks that carry that template. What about plain deathmarks? Are they worth taking by themselves? They seem stupid priced for their capabilities. Their sniper rifle is only 24" and with a max unit size of 10 that means they don't dish out much damage at all. 10 shots at BS4 means 7 hits and likely 6 wounds against the marked unit. That is like 2-4 casualties depending on saves and the only benefit you really get over basic gauss rifles is rending and precision shots. Against non-marked targets they are really just warriors that costs twice as much with a slightly better gun. Even then the sniper rifle to me is only better in certain circumstances. Against tanks it's useless and against T3 or lower is is arguably worse than the S4 Gauss or tesla. It shines only when hitting T5+, better armor from rending and the chance of sniping a special weapon guy with precision strikes.

So i'd be curious if anyone has had any luck with them outside of the Despair-Tek combo.

Deathmarks don't function like other snipers though. Firstly, Deathmark Sniper Rifles (I forget the name) are rapid fire 24" guns - unlike other snipers, they aren't Heavy and they can double-tap at 12". This is huge, especially when paired with a Night Scythe, as that unit has a reliable rapid fire range of about 42" (24" move, 6" disembark, 12" rapid fire), meaning they get loads more shots than most other sniper units. They are also tough and very mobile for snipers owing to their cheap (and hilariously effective) dedicated transport or the option for deep striking. That they also mark a unit means they can force loads of saves. They don't cost twice as much as Warriors - they are about seven points cheaper than that - but if it suits your argument, sure. Secondly, how is massed sniper fire useless against vehicles? Against heavy vehicles, yes, they are unlikely to do much, but against AV10 to AV12 vehicles, ten Deathmarks have a good chance of getting some good rends. Still, that isn't the point of them; they are definitely intended for anti-infantry, or anti-monstrous creature fire. Look at the fact that they can mark a monstrous creature - that many shots at rapid fire range hitting on a +3 and wounding on a +2 with the potential for armour-ignoring wounds owing to Rending will make most monstrous creatures weep. Ten Deathmarks rapid firing (which they should with that effective 42" range in a Night Scythe) averages thirteen hits, eleven wounds, two of which are Rending, against any monstrous creature you want. Take a Wraithlord for example; it will statistically suffer six unsaved wounds, reduced to three if it is in +4 cover - enough to kill it outright. The same is true of a Tyranid Trygon or Tervigon - if they don't have cover or Feel No Pain (Iron Arm won't make a difference here) then they will be killed in one volley on average. Not bad for a unit that costs 190 points, and that doesn't even account for the incredibly effective Night Scythe. And by the way, unlike Warriors, Deathmarks have a +3 armour save, meaning they aren't heavy flamer bait and will actually survive volleys from Immortals and the like. Deathmarks are a great unit that are made even more deadly when combined with Crypteks, and as Maelstrom said above, Necrons are very much about synergy.

[Maelstorm]

@LEarn2Eal: Well put sir.

[Maelstorm]

Below is the link to the battle report from my outing with 3 Deathmark units with double Crypteks in each unit.

1,850 Dark Angel vs Necron, Adepticon Primer

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?30922-Necrons-vs-Dark-Angels-1-850-Adepticon-Primer&p=296680#post296680


And here is a photo of the 1,850 force I took:
3909

[marandamir]

Well, that does look good on paper. I was thinking that warriors were 10 pts for some reason. I must have the tau codex on the brain :P I think the issue I have with deathmarks is they can get trounced in CC and their rapid fire benefits ensure they are within assault range of something. The marked unit may not be interested in assaulting them due to the lethality of being marked (or the ap1 flamer they'd eat), but any other non marked unit wouldn't sweat it. While deathmarks do have MEQ type profiles, they still only got 1 attack and init 2, and that means a good chance of getting beat in CC and swept. I dunno, maybe it's spamming them and giving them all better targets that makes them super threatening.

[Maelstorm]

In the game they were just BRUTAL! I now have solid experience using them. I felt bad for my opponent.

Read the Battle Report - They dropped Belial, a Terminator Librarian and 10 Terminators in 1 round. They killed 1,750 points of Dark Angels in 2 turns. The DA general had 4 Bolters and 1 Whirlwind on the table at the bottom of turn 3... Brutal.

You have 6 feet of table edge to bring them in from. They will completely wipe-out whatever you Mark for Death. If you drop them where they can be countercharged by a more powerful unit, you've made a mistake.

[Demonus]

Yeah you lucked out with those 2 crypteks standing back up otherwise the Terminators might have stood a chance. I definitely love the Deathmarks though, the models are so cool and very cool fluff wise as well.

[Maelstorm]

The 2 Crypteks that stood back up were Storm-Teks in the Anti-Vehicle/Character bait squad. :)

[Demonus]

ah ok :).