 |
| Molten metal - the best way to kill robots |
In case you hadn't heard, the Necrons have a new codex out. It seems that everyone in the Blogroll to the right has done some kind of initial codex review and/or some first stabs at army lists. Well, it's time to fight back! Having had a week with the Codex, here are my initial thoughts on how to beat those evil natured robots...
Combat is King
With We'll Be Back getting beefed up into Re-Animation Protocols, it's become even more important to wipe out whole units, thus denying them the chance to get back up. Well, with their incredibly bad Initiative, probably the best way to do this is in combat. Their standard troops also have a pitiful 1 attack each so aren't going to be doing much back to you. However, all Necrons are a minimum T4 and with a 4+ Save, 5+ RAP and Ld 10, you need to make sure you hit hard with the initial strike or you risk being locking in combat.
Don't forget that the Necrons also have a couple of quite useful counter-attack units in their Elite section. If they do charge you while you're locked in with a unit of Warriors or Immortals then you're going to lose a lot of guys to Power Weapon attacks. Plus, with the Elites being T5 with a better save you're probably not going to do much back to them. Best thing to do is focus on the Troops, pray to the God-Emperor and hope you win on Combat Resolution (note - praying and hoping are incredibly popular tactics here on C&F!)
Focus Fire
Living Metal is going to change how we shoot at vehicles - usually, with Tanks, we're happy if they can't shoot and with Transports if they can't move. Since Living Metal allows Necrons to ignore both of these effects on the roll of a die, we now need to make sure that we do some proper damage with our shooting. The combination of Living Metal and Quantum Shielding really lessens the impact of our Missile Launchers but we should still have sufficient Melta to be able to destroy vehicles.
As mentioned above, it's really important to wipe out Necron units to prevent them getting their RAP roll. This means, keep shooting at a unit until it gone, not just until it will no longer have an effect in game.
Acute Senses
Never forget about this. We're going to see a lot of Night Fight shenanigans from the new Necrons so don't forget that most Space Wolf units can re-roll the distance they can see at night. Also, all of our vehicles come with Searchlights as standard so remember to use them to illuminate the enemy (this is especially useful against a Solar Pulse since it only lasts for a player turn so the enemy don't get the benefit of being able to see your vehicle)
Conclusion
We can still see well at night, we can still blow up vehicles with Melta and we have Krak which gives us options at range. We're better in combat than Necrons and have a good chance to Sweeping Advance and wipe out units. However, we need to be careful of where the Necron counter-attack unit are. Hmm, t'was ever thus.
Anybody played the new Necrons yet? Please share any tactical tips below the line...
Also remember that Necrons can't make RP rolls if the unit is broken.
ReplyDeleteUnlike GK, Living Metal is rolled each time a damage result (Shaken/Stunned) occurs to see whether or not the vehicle ignores it. Thus, you know with each shot whether you have succeeded in silencing the tank and don't have to worry about the chance of them shaking it off on their turn vs wasting firepower, etc.
Winning combat against Necrons isn't hard, since they're pretty bad at it, but it may sometimes take one or two goes before it really sticks and they fail the morale test, since they have good Ld.
Necrons rely heavily on torrent shooting to hurt most enemies; this means that, for MEQs, cover will mean nothing to you. They want to fight at the very precarious 13"-24" zone where they can shoot and not easily be charged; TWC, assault transports, and anything else that can get into combat will give them a bad time.
Lychguard are probably the only counterassault unit you need to worry about, and they are best handled by Heavy Bolters, Autocannons, etc, since you are likely to see them with shields fairly often.
Quantum Shielding is very nice, but fickle, much like Flickerfields are. Once that hit goes through, the vehicle is basically dead. Remember that anything with QS is also open-topped and thus will evaporate if you can get Meltaguns in range.
Everything Necrons have is _expensive_. Basic troops are pretty cheap, as are a few other things, but their vehicles, Elites, etc, are all pricey, though often worth the cost. Generally, they will be outnumbered by even Space Marine armies.
Scarabs are absolutely brutal and very cheap for what you get- if you have some easy S6/7 guns or Flamers, definitely aim at them, otherwise pile in a big charge and try and kill them with combat resolution (No Retreat). Avoid letting them touch multiwound models and vehicles at all costs. Also beware of first-turn assault shenanigans.