Royal Court Deathstar?

[ZenPaladin]

So building on Brents article today and such has anyone actually used a royal court deathstar?

I regularly play jumper and deep strike blood angel lists and against these FNP marines all the gauss and tesla in the world isn't helping. I need to get past those armorsaves.

A courtstar/lordstar seems like a viable option. But shooting or slicing? A mix of both? Veiling or riding in an arc? Obviously phase shifters for all is crazy right? 2+,3++,4+.

Nobody needs all that do they?

[herigonz]

Would the fully kitted out court deathstar include all 5 Crypteks as well for use of their spare wounds? I'd tend to side with putteing them all in an Ark and giving the lords Scythes for maximum pain. I guess it could be equally killy at a range with Harbingers of Destruction with Eldritch Lances.

Actually had never considered a deathstar unit but the more I think about it, the more deliciously gross it sounds.

[thecactusman17]

I have seen this list work wonders. A good idea is giving a veil and hoping around the table turn after turn. The ridiculous saves involved help, but the real trick is the impossible task of assaulting a unit that causes your best units to turn around and kill themselves. the unit will do most of its work in the shooting phase. This unit is often in the range of 700 points, though, so watch out. But I have seen 630 points nearly win a 750 point tournament.

[Chumbalaya]

That's a ton of points of stupid.

5 Lords, warscythes, mindshackles and an orb are 330 points of awesome, charging right out of a Ghost Ark.

[Necron2.0]

I actually posted something like this back in January (http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?t=19282) (I got jumped on, though, for accidentally using the wrong term <*shock, horror*>).

What I'd come up with was this:

Take one Necron Overlord.
Add 5 Lords.
Add 3 vanilla Crypteks.
Add 1 Harbinger of Despair with a Veil of Darkness.
Add 1 Harbinger of Eternity with a Chronometron.

Total cost: 440

The original idea was the Chronometron would allow you to reroll a missed deep strike roll, but on review I don't think it would legally actually work that way, so revising the above, I get:

1 Necron Overlord.
5 Lords
4 vanilla Crypteks.
1 Harbinger of Despair with a Veil of Darkness.

Total cost: 425

This unit has 10 Staves of Light. If you can land it within 12" of a unit, it can deliver 30 shots at S5, AP3. On average this means it will annihilate most MEQ ten man units whose armor value is 3 or above.

[herigonz]

4 vanilla Crypteks.
1 Harbinger of Despair with a Veil of Darkness.

Out of curiosity, I don't have my Necron codex with me ATM but are you allowed to take 5 of the same type of Harbinger? The way I understood it is you could take all 5 of the same type but coudln't take multiple forms of the same wargear (i.e. no multiple veils or multiple chronometrons) outside of the staves.

I know it would be more expensive but going with Eldritch Lances makes them FNP/Terminator killers. Shoot, just going with 5 of those in a Ghost Ark would add that extra layer of armor/protection. Not quite the protection of Terminators in a Land Raider, but an effective 42" threat range.

[Necron2.0]

Out of curiosity, I don't have my Necron codex with me ATM but are you allowed to take 5 of the same type of Harbinger?

I'm not taking 5 Harbingers, I'm only taking one. The other 4 Crypteks are just stock Crypteks without any upgrades.

[thecactusman17]

You can take as many harbingers of any type as you wish. The two pieces of optional war gear are limited to one per court each. This is explicitly stated in the codex and the faq.

And anyone talking about too many points is ignoring the success if paladins, nobs, thunderwolves, warlocks, etc.

[L192837465]

thecactusman17 You can take as many harbingers of any type as you wish. The two pieces of optional war gear are limited to one per court each. This is explicitly stated in the codex and the faq.

And anyone talking about too many points is ignoring the success if paladins, nobs, thunderwolves, warlocks, etc.

Actually, Paladins aren't that great. One demolisher shell and nearly the entire squad is wiped out.

[herigonz]

I'm not taking 5 Harbingers, I'm only taking one. The other 4 Crypteks are just stock Crypteks without any upgrades.



Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply you were but was just thinking of a situation where you would field the 5 Eldritch Lances is all. I was pretty sure that it was per court (which is why you can only ever have a maximum of 2 Solar Pulses), just wanted to clarify. I guess with the right cover or transportation, just the 5 Eldritch Lances would be tough to deal with for some lists. Wouldn't do well vs hordes though, thats for sure.

[Necron2.0]

Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply you were but was just thinking of a situation where you would field the 5 Eldritch Lances is all. I was pretty sure that it was per court (which is why you can only ever have a maximum of 2 Solar Pulses), just wanted to clarify. I guess with the right cover or transportation, just the 5 Eldritch Lances would be tough to deal with for some lists. Wouldn't do well vs hordes though, thats for sure.

Oh. Well, actually, per the Errata you could have 5 Harbingers of Destruction and each one would be required to carry an Eldritch Lance. It's the Gaze of Flame and Solar Pulse that are unique, and you can only have one each per royal court.

[thecactusman17]

One demolisher shell will wipe out a unit of Paladins (if caught unawares in the open bunched up, sure). But 1 unit of psycannon-toting Paladins deep striking will typically handily destroy or prevent the equipped vehicle from firing.

[Sure]

They seem a bit too fragile to be a deathstar unit...the closest thing in that codex is likely the Lychguard with shields along with a warscythe/resurrection orb lord OR a Destroyer Lord with Wraits.

[ZenPaladin]

But each of the lords can have a weave for 15 points.

*imagines a bunch of necrons in wigs...*

I think I will try a court star for a few games. If nothing else its a fluffy unit.

[Neb08]

The issue is if you are playing a competent player who knows the abilities of that unit 1 your ghost ark will be popped turn 1 or 2, and that unit will be a very killable number 1 target priority. I take a heavily RC depenent army but have found them spread out to do better than all together. Worth trying though for sure...

[Render Noir]

1 Necron Overlord.
5 Lords
4 vanilla Crypteks.
1 Harbinger of Despair with a Veil of Darkness.

Total cost: 425

This unit has 10 Staves of Light. If you can land it within 12" of a unit, it can deliver 30 shots at S5, AP3. On average this means it will annihilate most MEQ ten man units whose armor value is 3 or above.



I think you have stumbled onto something. Many players seem to have overlooked the vanilla Crypteks as an option. Swap the overlord for Trazyn and the Deathstar now becomes scoring!

At 25 Pts each they are actually more efficient than Praetorians. No jump backs or power weapons but not 40 Pts a model either.

[DarkLink]

What happens when your opponent counter-assaults and wipes out your "deathstar"? Heck, I'd leave you a nice big target for you to jump in and try to shoot, just to see if you're dumb enough to hand me 400+pts of your HQs on a silver platter. Heck, you've only got 13 wounds, I can probably shoot that to death before I even assault it.

[Necron2.0]

What happens when your opponent counter-assaults and wipes out your "deathstar"? Heck, I'd leave you a nice big target for you to jump in and try to shoot, just to see if you're dumb enough to hand me 400+pts of your HQs on a silver platter. Heck, you've only got 13 wounds, I can probably shoot that to death before I even assault it.

It would likely never happen. The unit I described would be used to role up a flank or to destroy a unit that has already been isolated. Any infantry unit shy of a Terminator squad it will completely annihilate, if the deep strike gods don't hate you. You would never put it into a position where it could be assaulted, and you would never use it unsupported.

I will say this, though. It is a risky unit to use.

[ZenPaladin]

Any deathstar unit could be considered risky. There's pretty much not any such unit that can't be crippled or killed by a well placed high strength pie plate and yet they are used by many to effect.

The question isn't are deathstars good or usable. The question is Does the Royal Court offer a decent deathstar option.

[MatthewTiger56]

In my experience with Necrons (both as and against) The royal court -can- be a nasty deathstar unit. My main cringe factor is that sinking so many points into the unit can make it just as much a liability as an asset.

It can be argued that such a build is a real gamble. IMO the crypteks are the real killers in the squad. That Lance is n-a-s-t-y when you're opponent is closing the gap. However, like almost any other deathstar unit, it will generally be dealt with via ranged saturation or by tying it up in combat with a likewise resilient unit (TH/SS termies being a good example). Sure, you might get lucky and smear them in a few turns and roll on through for more murder.

My latest list uses 2 phaerons with barges with 2 Courts 3 destructoteks in each (3 arks for warriors). Destroteks ride 2up in an 8man warrior squad's Ark. U get a comfy AV13 shell to sit in, TWO ap2 shots (6/turn) at not-inconsiderable range and a fairly resilient unit if you hop em out for an objective camp. You now have a non-deathstar setup for the basis of the list and enough points left over to round out your army as you see fit. Also, having two flares is deliciously annoying for your opponents... except those damned dark eldar...... *hissss* but they're all flying paper-planes anyway.

Works pretty well for me, but I also play in an area with alot of melee and vehicle-heavy armies.

Hope this helps!