Outfitting Necron Overlords

[Just_Me]

I've recently been building some Necrons (because I start armies with the random compulsivity generally reserved for kleptomaniacs) and I am really having difficulty figuring out how to outfit my HQ's.

First let me provide some context; if you need to know anything about me then you should know I care more about fluff and atmosphere than pure competition in my armies and, while I'm still adjusting to and trying to warm up to the new fluff, when I think Necrons I still think of shooty infantry that make cockroaches look squishy. I also want to evoke something of the old relentless omnicidal death-bots and stay away from some the super flashy choices, so I picture mostly units of tough as nails infantry slogging remorselessly across the board.

With this in mind I want to build my army around blocks of Immortals led by res-lords and supported by Canoptek units of all descriptions. My biggest struggle has been arming my Overlord and Lords. The res orbs are a given because a 50% chance of coming back from death is very iconic for me, so both my Overlord and Lords are probably going to be attached to units of Immortals (not in CCBs).

My Overlord is equipped with the Res-orb, a Tachyon Arrow (because it is just... awesome), and Sempiternal weave (especially now that 6th has made 2+ saves a lot better). I'm still debating some of the other options, a Phylactery seems kinda gimicky (and relies on being dead which is generally... less than desirable), the MSS are also kinda scary and a nice deterrent for units (or characters) that might want to assault me, and the phase shifter SHOULD be an obvious choice except that it's just SO expensive...

The single biggest problem is in deciding between the Staff of Light and the Warscythe (because the others are underwhelming to me). My first instinct was the SoL because it is free and reasonably nasty for all that, plus with my Overlord parked in a shooting unit it seems more helpful than the Warscythe. Even though the only really impressive stats for the Overlord are S5 and A3 I don't see them as dedicated assault units like many other HQs. I feel like any time Necron units have gotten into Melee means I messed up bad and its outcome is pretty much a forgone conclusion given how slow they are. Conventional wisdom however holds that the Warscythe is just too good to pass up for it's crazy low price (especially now that it's been FAQed to AP1 which means it not only gets another boost to tank busting but retains it's threat level against 2+ saves unlike most power weapons), though most Overlord builds with it include a CCB which I do not intend to use. Even though I think melee is a bad idea for Necrons that S5 is still fairly scary even without a power weapon vs anything but dedicated assault specialists, and somehow I feel like the SoL would remain the clear first choice if it had just remained a power weapon as well (which I still fail to understand). On the other hand it's a fairly minor short-ranged boost to a shooting unit that doesn't need a lot of help, while the Warscythe gives them the ability to potentially kill ANYTHING in the game if they have to. Is the Warscythe worth it as an assault deterrent/ace-in-the-hole even if I don't plan on seeing it used most games?

[Melon-neko]

I always put Warscythes on my Lords and Overlords and try to have at least 1 in every unit on the ground. While the Necrons don't necessarily want to get into h2h sometimes you don't have a choice and the Warscythe can do some damage to keep your unit from running. It also keeps your unit from being tied up with a dreadnaught for the entire game and sometimes you just need to charge, not often, but sometimes.

Mindshackle scarabs should be scary, but whenever I used them or have them used against me the LD check is passed 5 outta 6 times =\

sempiternal weave is awesome and the phase shifter just isn't worth it on a lord IMO, i might take it for an overlord but probably not

[Nachodragon]

The warscythe is really the only way to go. The SoL is nice and 3 shots is also nice, but given what you can face on the board, it is better to have at least one guy that can take on dreads and anything else that decides it wants a nice metal piece of you. Nothing worse then a Blood talon wading into the fray and killing almost your entire squad and then when it is your chance to retaliate, not being able to do squat with anything.

Narratively speaking, I like to think my overlord is leading the charge with gauss (or Tesla) flying over his shoulder at the incoming enemy. When the two armies collide my overlord is going to be swinging away and cleaving in twain anything that gets close to him.

[Kawauso]

The warscythe really is that good, for all the reasons mentioned.

That extra 10 points gives you the ability to be scary in CC against anything in the game, from terminators to dreadnoughts.

The staff is nice, but it's pretty short-ranged, and the lack of it one isn't going to have a noteworthy impact on the weight or quality of fire that units in a Necron army can output on their own. Also, close combat has many more chances for the warscythe to hurt things (because it happens in the opponent's turn when a combat is ongoing). And that one warscythe can be the difference between folding in combat like paper or your unit sticking around to keep on fighting (and hit dudes with a warscythe!).

And it's just. 10. Points.

Don't get me wrong, I think all of the weapon options the Overlord has are neat, but the warscythe really is so damn good. I keep telling myself that I'm going to try the other options sometime, but I keep going back to that S7, 2DP armour-pen, now AP1(!) piece of awesomesauce.

[dreadnaughtguy]

take a over loard and put him in a unit of 20 warriors. no army wants to go up against that unit. 40 shots that can glance kill a tank or drop a 5-10 man unit is a big deal and it only costs 260 for the warriors.

The trick with necrons is to not take only one type of unit. Both types of troops are great in different ways and fill slightly different rolls. Mix and match for different jobs. A 20 warrior blob makes a great phalanx walking accross the board. Take two and you have your infantry screne. use imortals as a support fire unit following the warrior blobs.

[Mr Mystery]

Always a Warscythe for me. It's just too potent a threat to my opponent to pass up. Our low Initiative is beautifully offset by our sheer resilience, especially for Independent Characters! Remember Precision Strike. You go before pretty much anything that is a viable threat, and with a single precision strike you can take out squad based power fists with ease!

Now, combine that with a Royal Court, and you have one the scariest mixed discipline units in the game!!

[Black Hydra]

It really depends on what army you'll be facing. Since you're not going for competitive I'd suggest using the staff the Overlord has as either a Warscythe or a Staff of Light. I've never used the SoL because I love the Warscythe threat an Overlord has. My friend tried to kill off my Warrior unit that had Res Orb Overlord and failed miserably. His Hellhound was promptly disabled.

3 things that are important to note:

1. The Phase Shifter might be expensive, but I would take it over the Sempiternal Weave if your opponent has a lot of AP2 (i.e. any Imperial army worth its weight and Tau armies come to mind). The Overlord will be just as hard to kill as Wraiths and he has 3 wounds to boot. Plus most ordnance weapons are AP3 or less so an invulnerable save is much better in that regard. Plan accordingly but there's no need to take both the weave and the shifter.

2. Take Chronometron Crypteks. A Tachyon Arrow rocks but it sucks when you miss or don't penetrate since it's a one shot weapon. The Chronometron will mitigate that.

3. Anrakyr the Traveler is my favorite character and he is definitely a good choice IMHO. A couple reasons why. First he upgrades your Immortals. Someone above mentioned the need of both Warriors and Immortals. This is true. But your Immortals will most likely be at the frontlines so Counter Attack and Furious Charge (loss of +1 initiative sucks but whatever) are good upgrades. Anrakyr also has a Tachyon Arrow and can take control of vehicles. All of this is a plus in my opinion.

Additional stuff to include I'd say is a C'tan. For a footslogger army the C'tan is an amazing CC deterrent and has access to impressive powers. Transdimensional Bolt got better since it's AP2 and you can get a +1 on the damage table for vehicles. Tryout Lychguard as well. Warscythes galore or knight loadout are both good.

[Mr Mystery]

I still rate the Sempiternal Weave over the phase shifter. If I have the available points, both my Lord and Overlord take the two upgrades. But, by dropping the phase shifters I can take a further Annihilation Barge, which overall is far, far more useful.

I play a fairly flexible Necron army. Lots of infantry (in 2,000 points, I field 20 Warriors and 30 Immortals) which form an important backbone to my force. With 20 Tesla Carbines, and the rest Gauss I can threaten anything my opponent chooses to launch at me. Combined with 2 Nightscythes, 1 Doomscythe and a pair of Annihilation Barges, I have lots of pin point fire power which has served me very well so far. To add a little CC muscle, I have a unit of 5 Warscythe Lychguard, which tend to maraud behind my main line, waiting to plug any gaps as a counter assault unit (I used to put them in a Nightscythe, but not being able to charge after dropping has put paid to that). And as for threatening my opponents flanks and being aggresive? 5 Tomb Blades with the enhanced save and Particle weapons. Absolutely bad ***!

Overall, it's a nicely flexible little army. A smidge of forward planning, and I can set a game course for my Nightscythes, so that in the latter stages of the game they can support my mainline, before scooping up a unit and depositing them on an objective. Add further planning to ensure said objectives have been swept clean of enemy units, and boom, I can pretty much win any game with them alone (provided of course they haven't been shot down, or all my troop units mashed up). It sounds a lot easier than it is in practice, but it's a list I'm extremely happy with so far!

[Black Hydra]

I hate to break it to you Mr Mystery but you can't re-embark on a Nightscythe if that's what you meant by "...before scooping up a unit and depositing them on an objective."

Also I still stand by the Shifter when it comes to ordnance heavy armies and also low AP weapons. So long as your Overlord is alive with a Res Orb your dead unit has a greater chance to come back. I don't use barges so I wouldn't know what to say to that. Still with low AP weapons, an invul save is more reliable. Maybe not so much on regular lords given the price, but you need to protect that Overlord.

I tend to run my list somewhat similarly but with key differences. I tend to run 2 HQ's where ever possible. Anrakyr or Trazyn with an Overlord with Res Orb. Since I haven't assembled my second Immortal squad nor the rest of my Warriors yet, I run 12 Warriors and 10 Gauss Immortals so far. To beef up on defenses I have my Wraith as counter-assault units. With Coiling Whips (I forgot the name, I think that's it) they'll usually reduce most dedicated CC units to I1. Plus ignoring all terrain just plain rocks. Regular lords and crypteks are kept flexible so I can load them out however is needed. I tend to run the more offensive Crypteks, especially now that Haywire is pretty good and they have access to long range weapons (i.e. Harp of Dissonance). They also provide back up for my Warriors and Immortals with defensive grenades and that lightning special move.

My C'tan Shard provides nice a CC punch with a Transdimensional Bolt and anything else I might need. I usually load up a sword and shield Lychguard unit with my special character to provide them with 4++'s and a lord with Res Orb or Cryptek with Chronometron (for Anrakyr's Arrow). I put them in a Nightscythe since I want the best position for Anrakyr's vehicle possession or for capturing objectives with Trazyn. A second Nightscythe with Immortals and the Overlord or a regular lord (both with res orbs) for a scoring punch in the gut to the opponent. Sometimes I switch out the Nightscythes for Doomscythes to deal with heavy armor.

I actually use the Monolith. Now when it deep strikes it gains a 5+ cover save since it counts as moving. Though I haven't played 6th ed yet, I'm pretty sure the rules for deep striking in that regard haven't changed. I place it close to objectives or trouble units and portal kickass units there to deal with them. I'm going to be switching the mono out for a pair of Doomsday Arks whenever I can fit them or need them. Wraiths will be switched out for Tomb Blades as needed as well.

TL;DR? Basically, a hybridized Necron army is best. With living metal on all their vehicles and high mobility or armor, their vehicles are some of the ones that came out better from 5th ed.

Since you're going with footslogging OP take advantage of the strongest units, Wraiths, Lychguard, and C'tan Shards, to give you good support. Glancing vehicles to death isn't always reliable. A full unit of Warriors only glances twice at full range.

Sorry for long post.

[Mr Mystery]

I hate to break it to you Mr Mystery but you can't re-embark on a Nightscythe if that's what you meant by "...before scooping up a unit and depositing them on an objective."

Also I still stand by the Shifter when it comes to ordnance heavy armies and also low AP weapons. So long as your Overlord is alive with a Res Orb your dead unit has a greater chance to come back. I don't use barges so I wouldn't know what to say to that. Still with low AP weapons, an invul save is more reliable. Maybe not so much on regular lords given the price, but you need to protect that Overlord.

I tend to run my list somewhat similarly but with key differences. I tend to run 2 HQ's where ever possible. Anrakyr or Trazyn with an Overlord with Res Orb. Since I haven't assembled my second Immortal squad nor the rest of my Warriors yet, I run 12 Warriors and 10 Gauss Immortals so far. To beef up on defenses I have my Wraith as counter-assault units. With Coiling Whips (I forgot the name, I think that's it) they'll usually reduce most dedicated CC units to I1. Plus ignoring all terrain just plain rocks. Regular lords and crypteks are kept flexible so I can load them out however is needed. I tend to run the more offensive Crypteks, especially now that Haywire is pretty good and they have access to long range weapons (i.e. Harp of Dissonance). They also provide back up for my Warriors and Immortals with defensive grenades and that lightning special move.

My C'tan Shard provides nice a CC punch with a Transdimensional Bolt and anything else I might need. I usually load up a sword and shield Lychguard unit with my special character to provide them with 4++'s and a lord with Res Orb or Cryptek with Chronometron (for Anrakyr's Arrow). I put them in a Nightscythe since I want the best position for Anrakyr's vehicle possession or for capturing objectives with Trazyn. A second Nightscythe with Immortals and the Overlord or a regular lord (both with res orbs) for a scoring punch in the gut to the opponent. Sometimes I switch out the Nightscythes for Doomscythes to deal with heavy armor.

I actually use the Monolith. Now when it deep strikes it gains a 5+ cover save since it counts as moving. Though I haven't played 6th ed yet, I'm pretty sure the rules for deep striking in that regard haven't changed. I place it close to objectives or trouble units and portal kickass units there to deal with them. I'm going to be switching the mono out for a pair of Doomsday Arks whenever I can fit them or need them. Wraiths will be switched out for Tomb Blades as needed as well.

TL;DR? Basically, a hybridized Necron army is best. With living metal on all their vehicles and high mobility or armor, their vehicles are some of the ones that came out better from 5th ed.

Since you're going with footslogging OP take advantage of the strongest units, Wraiths and C'tan Shards, to give you good support. Glancing vehicles to death isn't always reliable. A full unit of Warriors only glances twice at full range.

Sorry for long post.

Bah! Checked the FAQ and it appears you may be correct. However rather than a change, it's an addition to the Invasion Beam rule. Think I'll send them a clarification request on that matter, just to be sure.

[Black Hydra]

I think it's in the BRB that a unit can't embark on a Flier. Unless they have hover (but that's me guessing). But it would make sense to some extent. And they are called Invasion Beams. I don't mind too much since it does balance Nightscythes. They already have an impressive 24" range for dropping their guys down and the unit can still fire regularly.

[Just_Me]

Ok, well I guess Warscythes it is then. It is just hard to argue with the threat of being able kill literally ANYTHING in the game for 10 points...

As far as some of the suggestions for including a Harbinger of Eternity in the squad with the Overlord for the re-roll(s) go I was actually thinking of a Harbinger of Despair instead for the Veil. The ability to bounce a squad of Immortals and a Tachyon Arrow around the board seems like way too much fun, fire support or objective grabbing wherever it's needed and potentially easy a rear armor angle for the Arrow.

As for the Tachyon Arrow itself I see the TA as less a "kill the Land Raider" weapon (which is iffy) and more designed to pop a softer target first turn. Ideally a shot at something like a Basilisk, Valkyrie packed with veterans, or Psifleman dread that it can more than likely pop and whose early removal will have an effect on the game out of all proportion to it's AV. Frankly I'm willing to pay the points for it because a) it's 30 points that can MAYBE kill 200+ points and PROBABLY kill ~100 points, and b) it's really REALLY cool!

I probably will end up springing for the Phase Shifter on the Overlord because I think HQs without a ++ are just asking for it (especially now that there are more ways to single them out), and a 3++ IS a 3++.

C'Tan Shards were mentioned several times and it gave the impetus to get one. Frankly the fluff change for the C'Tan is one of the things I'm most conflicted about. On one hand the old C'Tan enslaved Necrons had a sense of terrifying inevitability and menace; they were old as the stars and maybe even the universe (litereally) and were here to eat you and all your friends because it's just how they roll. It was all very lovecraftian and chilling and having them neutered down to the point that even their overthrow was a one-paragraph footnote was a huge let down. On the other hand there being only 2 left active was sorta bland, and as essentially gods they seemed to have no place on the tabletop at the 40k scale, the new Shards make more sense at that scale, not to mention offering numerous options for customization and variation. Plus the fact that the Necrons murdered their own gods is just so delightfully nihilistic that it ALMOST makes up for the loss (or at least diminishment) of the lovecraftian vibe...

[Mr Mystery]

Tachyon Arrows are fun. Manage to stick one in Astorath's face today. Down like a sack of spuds!

The other took out a Landraider. That was pretty cool.

[Black Hydra]

I actually like the way the C'tan are handled. While it is disappointing to lose that "C'tan want to kill every living being in the universe" part of the Necron story, it has added more sense and variety like you said. And the C'tan did not go quietly. Apparently millions if not billions of Necron died in the revolt. That is why they had to go to sleep because the Eldar were stronger at that point.

I think it all kind of makes sense together and is still suitably grimdark. Besides the new conversion possibilities has allowed me to make a Void Dragon C'tan Shard.

[Just_Me]

Besides the new conversion possibilities has allowed me to make a Void Dragon C'tan Shard.

Actually as far as I can tell that is one of the few shards you CAN'T make. The Dragon is the only C'Tan we can reasonably assume to be intact because the Emperor has had it imprisoned on Mars for tens of thousands of years after defeating it in Earth's ancient past, probably after the Dragon had been hiding out there to escape the Necrons for millions of years. Which in itself is a very interesting development as it adds a whole new twist Necron raid on the Noctis Labyrinthus...

Of course, there are plenty of ways to work around that in fluff terms and make a Dragon shard, maybe it was only partially injured and while some fragments were imprisoned the bulk of the creature fled into hiding. Regardless, it makes the Dragon's continued existence rather interesting...

[Black Hydra]

Well I prefer the Void Dragon over the other C'tan Shards now because one is "Golden Six-pack" and the other the "Emobringer". A dragon made out of liquid metal seems far more cool. Still fluffwise it's a bit iffy but my Necron forces aren't fluffy.