am i building my overlord wrong

[ChaosChosenMarine1994]

So when it comes to 1250-2000 pt. Games i usually run an overlord with warscythe, res orb, phase shifter, and either mind shackle scarabs or semipaternal weave. He is usually paired with either a cryptek of despair to get into combat quickly or cryptek of eternity for re-rolls. But he normally dies to chapter masters with power fists, mega-armoured Warbosses and such. Am i building him wrong for close combat?

[Tyrendian]

not really much else you can do - and your odds really aren't that bad, even against those, at least with MSS. A Chapter Master (assuming Fist+Shield to make it as equal as possible) has an additional attack and wound and hits you on a 3+, but you strike first. Both wound on a 2+ against a 3++ save, so things will take a while, with him winning out in the end. But some 50% of the time MSS will make him hit himself instead of you, which should swing things in your favour quite a bit.
Thing is, what unit does your Overlord tend to do this with? Necrons have a distinct lack of good CC units, except for Wraiths and Scarabs, which I kind of doubt he will be paired with in this case. So maybe I wouldn't use the Veil to "get into combat quickly", but to do the opposite - poke at the enemy from relative safety, until you need your Overlord for a counter attack...

[Dave Mcturk]

run a destroyer lord ? much harder to kill and faster around the board.

my oppo play crons and the most annoying lord build is in the necron blob with a cryptek - everything gets back up and then the mss makes close assaulting tricky for anything but orc blobs.

[Tyrendian]

run a destroyer lord ? much harder to kill and faster around the board.

by himself, hardly, because of lack of Phase Shifter. Many competent assault HQs tend to have S8 or more or some form of poison, so the added Toughness doesn't help much... and faster, yes maybe until you factor in Veil of Darkness. On the other hand, they are always in a bad mood which helps a bit with the less-than-stellar damage output of regular Overlords, and Wraiths make for a much deadlier bodyguard than any 'Cron on two legs. Also, DLords can't bring a Royal Court, so (staying within FOC) you couldn't double up Crypteks in units if you run one.

[John Bower]

Dump the phase shifter if you need to recoup points; always without fail take the scarabs (that ld check on 3d6 will force your opponent into Friendly fire more often than not), and the Sempiternal weave for a 2+ save is great against the stuff that will beat you to the draw. Do you stick him in a chariot? I don't what the consensus is on those but at least you get HoW at I10 and get to shoot them before you charge. Also with the chariot you can keep him away from CC monsters that will kill him.