1,850 Necrons vs Eldar

[Maelstorm]

I switched-up the list a bit and played another 1,850 list against a formidable Eldar commander. Random Mission from the Battle Book, Page 78 Fighting Withdrawal - The Eldar took the place of the Tau.

225 StormLord
140 4x Necron Lord
40 4x Warscythe
170 10x Immortals
170 10x Immortals
130 10x Warriors
130 10x Warriors
120 8x Scarabs
120 8x Scarabs
105 7x Scarabs
200 Monolith
150 3x Tomb Spyders
150 3x Tomb Spyders

I spread the Necron Lords out to the Troop squads (buried a Str 7 Power Weapon in each unit)
Lined the Tomb Spyders up behind the 2-8x Scarab units, the 7x Scarabs were used to go after his Eldar Sniper unit.
The StormLord kept Nightfight up for 3 turns. Lightning Strikes killed one of his nasty pie-plate shooting vehicles and his CC unit transport on turn 1. Lightning killed the other pie-plate vehicle on turn 2.
The 2 8x Scarab Swarms were bumped to 11 bases each on turn 1 before they took off across the field.
All 6 Tomb Spyders ran to keep in range of a single trailing Scarab (lagging behind on purpose) - allowing them to bump the unit up to 17 Scarabs the next turn before they piled into close combat!
With Nightfight the Eldar only got off 1 vehicle and 3 troop units worth of shooting the whole game.
We forgot about the Monolith and it sat beside the table turn 1 - I rememebered and deep-struck it on turn 2 (a very rare direct hit).
I pulled 1 unit of Warriors forward for rapid fire mayhem just before the largest blob of Scrabs charged-into Close combat
A unit of Scrabs ate a vehicle on turn 2 (even after the vehicle moved 12" the Scarabs still reduced it's armour by 6 before wrecking it) and headed towards tasty Eldar troops (yes, they taste like chicken).

The Eldar commander tossed in the towel at the end of turn 3. He had 0 of 4 vehicles left, 7 basic troops and 1 HQ model - everything else was wiped-out.
Necron losses: 4 Warriors, 1 Immortal, cumulative 6 Scarabs (I created 18 new Scarab bases).

This is my 5th battle using the new Necrons - In all games the opponent has conceded by turn 3 - only 1 went past and that was just to see if the new Necrons could table Sicarious and the Ultramarines (they did).

Codex's beaten so far:
Grey Knights (4 vehicles, no LOS required shooting-heavy)
Blood Angels (10 vehicles - Tournament spam)
Imperial Guard (Troop & Troops & Troops + LOTS of Autocannons)
Ultramarines (Balanced Tournament List)
Eldar (Nasty-nasty psyker - Tournament Balanced list)

This seems to be the most effective "basic" list I've used so far - No new, expensive GW vehicle models required. The Necron Lords could possibly be dropped to add Orikan to the list to hamper enemy turn 1 movement.

The opponent is so focused on handling wall-to-wall Scrabs in nightfight that by the time they begin to come-up for air the unmolested Warriors/Immortals and Monolith(s) are upon them.

[Maelstorm]

Notes to add:

Use Tokens when a model with Reanimation Protocols (RP) goes down. The rules state that you place a marker and then roll for RP, if you get a 5 or 6 a model is placed back in coherency with the group - you can use this for model placement shenanigans.

When I have 3 Tomb Spyders following Scarabs - I roll for each Tomb Spyder creating a Scarab and then place all 3 new Scarabs at once, I don't feel "right" doing the conga-line trick, so I just place them in a horizontal row 2" in front of the current row of Scarabs (gaining 4" total of forward location including the base diameter). If I have a second unit of 3 Tomb Spyders I don't feel guilty placing their new Scarabs in front of the newly created row of Scarabs from the previous models (for a total of 8" of forward location including the base diameter).

8" of "free" movement (By Tomb Spyder-Scarab placement) on a unit that already charges 19"-24 is huge! Your boosted Scarab unit effectively Charges 27"-32"! If you start 12" in from your side of the board, that means you're hitting the enemy lines 39"-44" away from your edge of the table - An enemy Land Raider with it's back against the opponents edge of the table is fair game for a wave of Autohits at the top of turn 1.

If the FAQ comes out and does not disqualify cheesy "Conga-line" Perpendicular placement, you can place the newly created scarabs end-to-end with 2" of Coherency drawing a line straght to the other edge of the table.

Important: Remember that a single "unsaved" Scarab wound against a multi-wound model eliminates it's armour for the rest of the game! It is much more dangerous for your opponent to allocate Scarab wounds to his multi-wound power-weapon wielding model buried in troops!!

There is nothing that 3 single-shot Heavy Destroyers (just 3 wounds) at 180 points can do that 10 Scarabs (30 wounds) at 150 points cannot do much-much better. Roll 3 dice or 50 dice? Plus the Scarabs will completely change your opponents tactics.

9 Tomb Spyders can add 135 points of FREE scarabs (27 Free wounds of models) to your army every turn. In 5 turns you can add 675 points of FREE Scarabs (135 Free wounds of models) to your army.

[Maelstorm]

Question and or comments are welcome.

[plawolf]

I do wonder about the longevity of this scarab swarm approach.

As impressive as it is doing now, you have to bare in mind that since the codex is so new, few opponents would really have a good feel for it yet, so the results may be a lot different once people have a little more experience about what all the new necron stuff can do.

Relying so heavily on scarabs seems too much like a one-trick-pony list for my liking, and such lists can often become victims of their own success.

Does the list have a Plan B in place for when it comes across a list that can slaughter your scarabs a lot faster than your spiders can pump out reinforcements?

Your typical foot slogging GK list with a few characters attached to a few squads could potentially easily spell doom for this list.

Even if we leave side the very likely scenario of rad grenade lobbing attached ICs, even a regular psyker character attached to a GK squad and stacking hammerhands for S6 will put a massive amount of pressure on your numbers.

Such a GK list could easily bubble wrap their psyrifle dreads and weather the scarab rush, and once night fighting wears off, those psyrifles and psycannons will easily out range and outshoot the rest of your army.

If someone decided to bring along a couple of 5 men suicide incinerator interceptors and gets first turn, he could potentially fry most of your scarabs before they even get out of the blocks.

I hate to pour cold water on someone's ideas, but I can see this list having major issues against a lot of builds if the alpha strike of lightenings and the initial scarab rush does not decimate the enemy before night fighting wears off.

[Tynskel]

As a swarm player, myself, I can tell you--- when the bombards and flamestorm cannons come out, the massive scarab swarms will be no more.

[Maelstorm]

@plawolf: Thank you for your thoughts. Have you played against them yet or is this just electronic conjecture?

Bubble-wrapping Dreads with troops just ties up more points - none of which are shooting at anything in the dark. This allows the Necron army to focus on everything else loose on the table.

The 2 local tournament winning Grey Knight players are having fits with it, as well as the tournament winning Blood Angels player. For the next game against GK I'll try out Gloom Prisms to cancel psyker powers directed against the Swarms.

With 90 wounds for 30 models the Scrabs take a while to whittle down, even with power weapons (3 wounds per inst-gib). It's the 30-50 return attacks every turn that mop-up squads. The whole time 40 Necrons with Gauss weapons are charging/Teleporting towards the enemy backed by Monoliths

Flamer template weapons in 2 big groups (Imperial Guard) has been tried as well, but the unit was mobbed in CC before they could pick up the 8" plastic teardrop. Flame weapons on Land Radiers (2) never got to fire.

Having a Monolith(s) on the table gives Necrons a Strength 8 AP 3 large blast Template against troops (insta-kill) who have just been rapid fired by 10 Str 5 Immortal weapons pulled through the gate - effectively wiping out a squad before they can assault.

Roll 150+ dice on turn 1 (without firing a shot), then 120 dice on turn 2, then 90 dice on turn 3. 330 dice rolls in CC in 3 turns is a war of attrition that not much can stand up to. Get a dice tray or you'll be chasing dice all evening.

The army listed above is about 10 games worth of refinement. 140+ wounds on the table growing by 18 wounds per turn. With only 1 hard target (Monolith) The wounds are spread all over the table - It's tough for them to get to everything, even if the bad guys get loose in the backfield. Remember, 40 wounds of the Necron army can get back up from any Lascannon/Power fist hit.

1. Destroy all paper-thin vehicles (Land Raider/Stormraven/Razorback/Chimera/Lemun Russ - all paper-thin to Scrabs), make them walk in the dark (I prioritize to eliminate Monolith threats and template weapons first).
2. Destroy the soft scoring troops first (Gauss, Monolith, Scarab Assault)
3. Tie-up the non-scoring units with Scarab spam.
4. Teleport the Necron Troops as needed with the Monolith(s) for mop-up.

The original GK/BA/IG cheese that is so effective against other armies is really-really failing hard. They are busily rewriting their armies and painting-up new units. If your opponent runs an army built to handle Scarab Spam in a Tournament they are going to get owned by every other mech-heavy codex army they play that day that didn't change.

Most fun-easy kills to-date:
1: A dreadnought delivered by Drop Pod into my back lines. 40 Guass shots and it was a smoking ruin.
2: 2 Land Raiders placed front and center on the enemy front lines - Armor reduced to 4 (or less), penetrated repeatedly by Scarabs with Str 3 weapons. 4 Flamestorm Cannons never fired a shot.

[plawolf]

Maelstorm

No, I have not played against such a scarab heavy list, but then I am not the one trying to advocate that it is a necron 'leafblower' build. ;)

You seem to think a GK list needs to be specially tailored to deal with your scarabs, but that is simply isn't true.

Your run-of-the-mill GK footslogging list has all the tools it needs to really give your list problems without having to sacrifice any of it's competitiveness against other armies.

I don't play 1850 pt games, so I don't have a list, but just ask your local GK players to buy 2-3 psyrifle dreads; one 10 men GKT squad with banner, twin psycannon and whatever weapons they feel like; an almost standard grenade carrying =I= (psyker or blunt, depending on their points availability and preference, doesn't matter a whole lot regardless); a Librarian with Sanctuary, warp rift, might of titan and whatever other powers he cares to buy; (optional) a 10-11 men/woman death cult assassin and crusader squad with a couple of meltas thrown in for fun in a Chimera, and then just take as many more GKSS or GKTs as the remaining points would allow with psycannons.

With such a list, you can bubble warp your psyrifles and also keep everyone close enough that they are all mutually supporting each other, so you are not likely to get the chance to 'focus on everything else'. That is how a good GK list should be played anyways.

Also, I would appreciate it if you did not try to bluff me like some wide eyed noob who doesn't know the rules or tactics. You can only pull 1 squad out of combat with 1 monolith, so all someone needs to do assault 2+ of your squads in one turn and you are in trouble.

The particle whip is also only 24", so it's not going to stop anyone from bunching up no matter how much you toy with your large blast template during deployment.

A fairly competitive take all comers list I hope you will agree, with hardly anything taken specifically to counter necrons.

How hard would it before for such a competitive GK list to dish out 30 scarab ID wounds?

Lets see, a 10 men GKT squad with a banner has 30 attacks base. 3+ to hit and 2+ to wound, and this squad is dealing around 12.5 instant death causing wounds on scarabs in CC alone. Before the scarabs gets to strike. If we throw in the attached IC and stay conservative and for the sake of roundness, lets say the Librarian totally whiffs and only does 0.5 wounds, that squad alone kills 13 bases of scarabs.

Assuming a fairly standard 6 DCA, 3 crusader and 2 meltagun henchmen squad with attached grenade carrying hammerhand casting =I=, even if we ignore the psychotroke grenades altogether and just consider the rad grenades, you have DCA @ S5 and everyone else at S4, so everything IDs the now T2 scarabs.

Assuming the scarabs get the charge, that's 18 S5 attacks and 6 S4 power weapon attacks (since im lazy, I'm just ignoring the melta acolytes). That translates to another 10 dead bases of scarabs.

So on average, you can expect to loose around 23 bases of scarabs in 1 round of combat if you assault, against just these two squads. And that is a very conservative estimate as I had deliberately left out powerful, but hard to estimate things like Sanctuary going off (or worst case scenario for you, sanctuary making you not get the charge, and then you get warp rifted in the face next turn and shot up by the entire GK army before he assaults you), the effects of psychotroke grenades etc.

Factoring in the possible spread in the results and the rest of the GK army attacking, and it is not hard to imagine your entire scarab swarm disappearing in one round of combat. Before they get to even swing.

Now, I am sure there are many things I have said you would disagree with, or have counter tactics of your own that you are sure can counter this list and deployment, and we can go on theory hammering till the cows come home.

But an easier and more informative approach could just be for you to game it out with some of your local GK players using some of the suggestions I made, and see how well your scarabs would fair against such a 'nightmare' GK list for you.

[Brymm]

It is silly to attempt to argue when one person has 10+ games of experience against supposedly good players while the other person hasn't played as or against such a list.
To dismiss actual evidence, even from as small of a sample as this, with none of your own is very short sighted. I understand if you think you could present some scenarios in which his list would have a hard time, which you have done, but to attempt to counter his response with no real evidence is silly and a waste of time.
It is becoming painfully obvious that this is going to be a game changing codex. The game is currently dominated on the highest levels by spamming mid-armor value transports and vehicles paired with whatever is the most points effective choices that a codex has availible: Imperial Guard Chimera/Vendetta spam, Grey Knights psyfilmen/chimera spam, Space Wolves razorback/long fang spam, Venom spam...
And from what I've seen with my two eyes, what this gentleman is reporting, and what other internet sites are reporting is that lists similar to this absolutely wreck that type of army. I mean WRECK those armies.
This might have been intentional by GW. It makes sense in the competative world and in the REAL world where only the bottom line matters. This will probably be a big reset button.
I currently own 41 Scarab bases. I plan i using that many nearly every game until a FAQ comes out or until the landscape changes. Because if those things don't happen, I think that I will enjoy quite a few wins in the months to come.

[Maelstorm]

Scarabs are nuking our local GK lists, BA lists and Vanilla Lists. Note: Vehicles with flame template weapons (Land Raiders, Baal Predators) are not getting a single shot off. Baal Predator Scout moves bring them closer to the scarabs, woohoo! Pie plate template weapons are shootng in the dark - parked as far away from the front line as possible to save their thin hides.

Against Sunday's Imperial Guard Leafblower list it was over at the end of turn 3, ZERO vehicles survived. The 2 Vendettas that moved flat out were assaulted from 19-24" and immobilized. Lightning accounted for 1 additional Vendetta and 2 vehicles in 3 turns. The rest were eaten by Scarabs. Casteling-up a pile of vehicles in an attempt to save them just makes for a parking lot of burning wrecks the inside vehicles cannot escape.

Scarab casualties do happen quickly but it is a war of attrition that the Necron commander accepts, all the while cranking out more bases every turn. All of the opponents firepower and CC power is directed at stopping the scarabs - not much is hitting the 40 Troops and Monolith(s) rolling forward into range.

Multi-assulting a vehicle and a troop unit at the same time is strategic fun. Pop a vehicle (or two) and prevent point blank return shots from hitting the scarabs the next turn.

Once the GK/BA/IG/SW armies reset and begin to take a more balanced approach, things will be different. But as long as they keep their heads buried in the sand and try to take their favorite internet spam turnament list, they are easy kills. The EASY button imperial army spam commanders will have to learn to list build and think - a very healthy thing for the game.

I'm playing in a tournament in 2 weeks with a Necron list similar to this. The results will speak for themselves.

@ plawolf: You haven't read the Codex. A Monolith cannot pull troops out of combat anymore, that special ability is limited to 1 Character HQ unit.

Note: To a scarab, Vindicare Assasins taste like chicken :p

[plawolf]

It is silly to attempt to argue when one person has 10+ games of experience against supposedly good players while the other person hasn't played as or against such a list.
To dismiss actual evidence, even from as small of a sample as this, with none of your own is very short sighted.

What is silly and short sighted is making a strawman argument instead of reading and understanding what has actually been written. :rolleyes:

Where have I dismissed anything exactly? :rolleyes:



I understand if you think you could present some scenarios in which his list would have a hard time, which you have done, but to attempt to counter his response with no real evidence is silly and a waste of time.

Do you have problems with reading comprehension? Where exactly have I dismissed anything?

I have asked the question how just how effective such lists will do against a competitive GK list taking some of the most popular and common GK units, hell, I even specifically mentioned that others might have differing opinions so suggested they go play test this scarab list against such a GK list to see how it fairs instead of wasting time theory hammering it out on the internet. :rolleyes:


It is becoming painfully obvious that this is going to be a game changing codex. The game is currently dominated on the highest levels by spamming mid-armor value transports and vehicles paired with whatever is the most points effective choices that a codex has availible: Imperial Guard Chimera/Vendetta spam, Grey Knights psyfilmen/chimera spam, Space Wolves razorback/long fang spam, Venom spam...
And from what I've seen with my two eyes, what this gentleman is reporting, and what other internet sites are reporting is that lists similar to this absolutely wreck that type of army. I mean WRECK those armies.
This might have been intentional by GW. It makes sense in the competative world and in the REAL world where only the bottom line matters. This will probably be a big reset button.
I currently own 41 Scarab bases. I plan i using that many nearly every game until a FAQ comes out or until the landscape changes. Because if those things don't happen, I think that I will enjoy quite a few wins in the months to come.

And now things start to make sense since it is painfully obvious you are a fanboy who is nerdraging hard because someone had the audacity to question the invincibility of your new hard-on list.

Maybe you and your list can get a room together while the grown ups try to discuss things like mature adults. :rolleyes:

[plawolf]

Scarabs are nuking our local GK lists, BA lists and Vanilla Lists. Note: Vehicles with flame template weapons (Land Raiders, Baal Predators) are not getting a single shot off. Baal Predator Scout moves bring them closer to the scarabs, woohoo! Pie plate template weapons are shootng in the dark - parked as far away from the front line as possible to save their thin hides.

Against Sunday's Imperial Guard Leafblower list it was over at the end of turn 3, ZERO vehicles survived. The 2 Vendettas that moved flat out were assaulted from 19-24" and immobilized. Lightning accounted for 1 additional Vendetta and 2 vehicles in 3 turns. The rest were eaten by Scarabs. Casteling-up a pile of vehicles in an attempt to save them just makes for a parking lot of burning wrecks the inside vehicles cannot escape.

Scarab casualties do happen quickly but it is a war of attrition that the Necron commander accepts, all the while cranking out more bases every turn. All of the opponents firepower and CC power is directed at stopping the scarabs - not much is hitting the 40 Troops and Monolith(s) rolling forward into range.

Multi-assulting a vehicle and a troop unit at the same time is strategic fun. Pop a vehicle (or two) and prevent point blank return shots from hitting the scarabs the next turn.

Once the GK/BA/IG/SW armies reset and begin to take a more balanced approach, things will be different. But as long as they keep their heads buried in the sand and try to take their favorite internet spam turnament list, they are easy kills. The EASY button imperial army spam commanders will have to learn to list build and think - a very healthy thing for the game.

I'm playing in a tournament in 2 weeks with a Necron list similar to this. The results will speak for themselves.

@ plawolf: You haven't read the Codex. A Monolith cannot pull troops out of combat anymore, that special ability is limited to 1 Character HQ unit.

Note: To a scarab, Vindicare Assasins taste like chicken :p

Oh dear, I can appreciate you being excited about your new wonder list, but a little modesty and composure surely wouldn't hurt.

And FYI, I have read the Codex, but since I do not play necrons, I did not bother to try and remember it all by heart, just as I doubt you know everything about every other codex out there by heart. And if monoliths can't pull your guys out of CC anymore, your list just got a whole lot more vulnerable if the enemy managed to survive your alpha strike with enough forces.

I see you have completely ignored my questions in terms of how you intent to deal with your typical foot slogging GK list. Is it still only your opponents who are burying their heads in the sand?

I just wonder how long it will be before the IG players in your area realize that against scarab swarm lists, having their troopers get out of their transports and bubble wrap them is better than sitting inside them. If his troopers can tarpit your scarabs until night fighting ends and his big guns get to come into play, it will be a very different game.

I also cannot help but wonder just how much of these initial successes are down to the inherent strength of the list compared to the surprise element of having so many scarabs in their faces so early in the game.

Once people know what to expect, they will be deploying and playing differently. It would be more telling if you can maintain your success rate against players who have a better idea of what the new necrons can and can't do.

There are lists that are strong enough that others will have to tweak their lists to compensate, and there are lists that can be countered with different tactics alone.

If all you are doing is springing the same surprise on different people, you are not testing just how well your list will perform against an opponent ready for it, or in cases where you don't roll amazingly with night fighting and lightenings.

Surely it is better to test these things out now and have a plan B in place instead of being forced to come up with one on the spot during a tournament match when your scarabs don't get a spectacular multi-charge off and take out most of his army before they get to do anything, and/or your scarabs runs into a list and the kill them off far faster than your spiders can pump out re-enforcements.

If you are serious about play testing a list to refine it and make the best list you can, you need to take a scientific approach and try to test it to it's limits to find out what they are, and how you can address them.

Forgive me if I have gotten the wrong impression, but from what you have been writing so far, it just seems you have been more interested in beating up unsuspecting opponents and basking in the glory.

You have come up with an interesting and potentially game changing build. But unless you ask yourself the hard questions and test it in worst-case-scenario cases, you are wasting opportunities both to find ways to better refine the list and to develop tactics for when the die gods decide to go against you.

[Brymm]

I got the room and my list and I had a great time. Thanks for the suggestion. Also, I fail to see what the straw man or any other Wizard of Oz character has to do with Warhammer 40k.
I am not a nerd-rager. I found that very offensive.
Why are you so angry with this guy and his success with this list? Do you enjoy being a wet blanket? Did you think of any more "what-ifs" to run this gentleman and his list through? I'm sure you did, but your last post was much too long and I didn't read it. :)
Back to the original poster:

Have to seen the other variations of this list running around? The one over at Frontlinegaming has only one 10 base squad of scarabs supported with 3x3 Spyders. This frees up 300 points (not spent on the other scarabs swarms) but looks like it might really hamper your ability to have plan B and C.
Secondly, have you played anything resembling a mirrior match up yet? I'm interested to see how Stormlord v Stormlord works and what is to be done besides grinding scarabs vs scarabs out.
Third, what changes do you think the players of those other tourney lists (IG, SW and GK's with lots of vehicles) will do to combat these new necron lists? How should they be playing? What should we be doing to counter act that? Should they footslog ahead of the vehicles?
Fourth, have you thought of adding Zahndrek to give your scarab carpet furious charge or tank hunters (does that just affect shooting or combat too?)

I have a few games coming up against a pretty good IG player who does Vendetta vets and a grey knights player that spams chimeras with henchmen and psyfilemen. Different than what I've played against so far (who had no idea what they were up against), these guys are pretty good and are probably expecting the scarabs. I'm interested to see how it goes and I will report back as soon as the games are over tomorrow.

[Maelstorm]

I got the room and my list and I had a great time. Thanks for the suggestion. Also, I fail to see what the straw man or any other Wizard of Oz character has to do with Warhammer 40k.
I am not a nerd-rager. I found that very offensive.
Why are you so angry with this guy and his success with this list? Do you enjoy being a wet blanket? Did you think of any more "what-ifs" to run this gentleman and his list through? I'm sure you did, but your last post was much too long and I didn't read it. :)
Back to the original poster:

Have to seen the other variations of this list running around? The one over at Frontlinegaming has only one 10 base squad of scarabs supported with 3x3 Spyders. This frees up 300 points (not spent on the other scarabs swarms) but looks like it might really hamper your ability to have plan B and C.
Secondly, have you played anything resembling a mirrior match up yet? I'm interested to see how Stormlord v Stormlord works and what is to be done besides grinding scarabs vs scarabs out.
Third, what changes do you think the players of those other tourney lists (IG, SW and GK's with lots of vehicles) will do to combat these new necron lists? How should they be playing? What should we be doing to counter act that? Should they footslog ahead of the vehicles?
Fourth, have you thought of adding Zahndrek to give your scarab carpet furious charge or tank hunters (does that just affect shooting or combat too?)

I have a few games coming up against a pretty good IG player who does Vendetta vets and a grey knights player that spams chimeras with henchmen and psyfilemen. Different than what I've played against so far (who had no idea what they were up against), these guys are pretty good and are probably expecting the scarabs. I'm interested to see how it goes and I will report back as soon as the games are over tomorrow.

I'll ignore the wet blanket.

Yes, I've seen several variations of this list and I've tried a couple. I'm not a fan of the list that starts with just 10 Scarabs supported by 3x3 Spyders. You would have to wait at least 1-2 turns before sending 1 Scrabs swarm forward to engage 1-2 enemy units. I beleive that gives the opponent too long to reposition and set themselves to minimize the single large charge. By placing the 25-30 scarabs in a long Horizontal row (minimizing possible flamer template or stray blast damage) from one side of the board to the other with a small gap in between there is no place to hide on the other side of the table - 3-6 units are getting assaulted or hard-pressed from turn 1 on. I like putting the opponent on their heels and forcing them to try to adapt to 25-30 (+6 per turn) units with 24" assault covering every inch of their front line. You'd be suprised at how few shots actually get fired into the Warriors/Immortals/Monolith/Tomp Spyders the whole game.

We only have 1 or 2 other Necron players at the club - plus some new guys buying them up quickly. I have yet to face-off against another Necron commander.

If I was playing flavor/color of the month Marines on the other side of the table - 2 rows of sideways parked Rhinos, (the first row being sacrificial) with Spotlights backed by cheap Heavy Bolter Devestators & Land Speeders with Heavy Bolters/Assault Cannons on the back edge of the table - lined-up to fire between them. Thunderfire Cannons guided by spotlights would be lethal. Inside the first row of rhinos might be min squads with Flamers. Force the Scarabs to eat the first row of Rhinos as a spead-bump and keep them out of CC. Follow-up with spotlighted torrent of fire (heavy bolter/Assault cannons) and blast templates. Heavier weapons should be focused on killing the Tomb Spyders to remove their support. Scarabs are just as prone to being bogged down in CC. Tie them up with a sacrifical unit and then drive around them to deliver the goods to the walking warriors. This is a concept that most push-button army commanders (IG/GK/Longfang Spam) will never grasp.

Yes, I've considered adding Zahndrekh to my forces to give me tank hunters/fuious charge/counter charge. However starting with larger units (45-50 attacks) precludes the need to "boost" them for effectiveness. When it comes down to it, the Scarabs, Tomb Spyders and Monolith are all 100% sacrificial to get the Warriors and Immortals into scoring position - always keep the end-goal/mission in mind when sending them forward. I just want to tie up enough of the enemy long enough to get my scoring troops in place for the win. If I table the opponent along the way, so much the better.

Good hunting!

[Brymm]

Success!!!
I played:

Immotek
Zhandrek
Lord w/orb and warscythe
Cryptek with lance and solar pulse
cryptek with chromotrom
7 Lychguard with sword and board
10 scarabs
10 scarabs
5 Warriors
10 Immortals
10 Immortals
2 Cy Spyders w 1 Gloomprisim
Monolith
Annihilation Barge

I played against Coetez/Chimera/Psyfilemen
about:
Coetez
Psyker battle squad
3 chimeras, 1 rhino
strike squad
10 deathcults with a librarian in a land raider crusader
3 psyfile men (1 was venerable)
vindicare
2 henchmen squads, one with flamers and one with melta

The guy I was playing is a great player. He knows whats up. We played Annihilation/Pitched battle
Quick summary: Immoteks night fighting lasted FOUR turns! That was easily the biggest factor in me winning this game, even though lightining only struck 3 times (really below average), killing a rhino, stunning a dread and killing his assassin.
The monolith can still soak up a lot of fire power and tends to shrug off a lot due to living metal. Most of what does hit it is glances and they can be ingnored a lot of the time. It was eventually killed by the Librarian and Coteaz swinging hammers at it.
The Scarabs took a lot of fire but still killed the land raider and tied up the deathcults.
The annihilation barge was sweet also, shaking off lots of psyfilemen fire. I accidently cheated a bit and was using it as a FAST skimmer the whole game, which it is not.
The Lychguard were suprisingly the MVP of the game. I used them as a countercharge unit in the last few games I played, but in this one I used them to multiassualt 7 Grey Knights of a strike squad and 6 henchmen. They ripped them up. Not to mention that I took an army worth of shots on the turn before I charged and managed only to lose one Lychguard, then took an army worth of fire the next turn (because I won and swept the remaining henchmen), and still lived to tie up a dread for the rest of the game.
The game ended after turn five with me killing:
Rhino
Chimera
Assassin
Strike Squad
Henchmen
Henchmen
Pyskers
Landraider

I lost:
1 Scarab Swarm
Monolith
Annihilation Barge
Lychguard

I benefited greatly from kill point denial due to night fighting! Amazing!

[Demonus]

killing his assassin

worth it just for that LOL.

yeah i wish the barge was fast skimmer, but it is only 90 pts. I made the mistake first time using it. Moved 12. Lined up my shots and then realized. "DOH".

did the assassin die early? i would think he would have blasted the monolith from the sky. maybe nightfighting helped there?

[Brymm]

did the assassin die early? i would think he would have blasted the monolith from the sky. maybe nightfighting helped there?[/QUOTE]

He did not die early, 3rd turn. He was making his pointless nightfighting hits, like chimeras, but then his assassin or dreads would roll 1/2 or 1/4 and be just out of range. My opponent learned pretty quick to spend the ONE point per chimera for searchlights, because they aren't standard. Neither are they standard on Dreads.

What a fun game. Plus, I was making reanimation protocol rolls like a boss. The crons are much more survivable in this codex, I love it.

[Maelstorm]

Excellent results - post it up under it's own heading so others can find it!!

Well done!

[Demonus]

haha nice. Down with he Imperial Lap Dogs!

[Requiemnex]

So now that we have two people in this forum talking about this list. I am curious. Does it feel very gimicky?

I am going to a 2k point tourney in Feb (templecon) and I am honestly trying to avoid a gimick army. I do believe that scarabs have their place, the tomb spiders do not really appeal to me much. I am curious if the majority of your success comes from the ability to crap out nearly an entire unit of scarabs each turn?

Imotekh, how is he rolling for you? as many have stated he makes MSU armies cry. Is he doing anything for you other than keeping it dark out, striking things down with his nasty storm and allowing the easier sieze?

[Bitrider]

Excellent results - post it up under it's own heading so others can find it!!

Well done!

I may have missed it, but what was the composition of the Eldar list?

G

[Brymm]

. Is he doing anything for you other than keeping it dark out, striking things down with his nasty storm and allowing the easier sieze?

Does he have to do anything else? :)

I don't think you need to do the Scarab Conga line and you don't need to make 9 Scarab bases a turn. I found 2 squads of 10 came in at a fair price backed by the ability to make 2 more a turn didn't really cost me too much and added me lots of flexibilty.
Relying on just scarabs and spyders might not be viable when the cat gets out of the bag, but who knows? I really think Immotek makes the list and it seems like he'll work with almost any Necron army.

[Requiemnex]

So Brymm i have a list I was hoping you could take a look at.. I am not a big fan of the whole scarab spam stuff but I can understand that Scarabs are a vital asset to my army. I currently have one 10 base unit in my list with about 344 points left to use... I will shoot you a PM with the list as not to highjack your thread.

[Saturn 3]

I don't know if the cat is gonna come out of the bag for a while. I dont know how many people have joined in on the crons with the new codex. Surely more. I did. In my opinion 1- I think people don't like them generally so they wont bone up. 2- I dont think there are enough cron players for people to start retooling their lists against this. Until they meet somebody with scarabs and get hammered. Either way I think people are so in love with mech they'll resist. 3- If guys start to win with Scarab Farm enough at tournaments players will have to include more infantry to try and stop them or disembark premature.

That would change the game. Then cron players could change their lists while others chase. There are alot of interesting things in this codex ( bouncing eldritch lance crypteks around, Orikan and C'tan ).

Just some of my thoughts.