ODSTau on Necron (2011)

[Panxer]

I played a rather pitched game with a good friend who is fielding the new Necron codex, and I have a few thoughts and observations I'd like to share with regards to Tau tactics while combating the deathless tide.

1. Scarabs aren't as effective effective against XV8's. I've noticed that the entropic strike special rule is HELL on vehicles, but not so much when it comes to XV8 combat teams with drones. Unless the scarab team is 10+ and the dice gods are with them, the XV's are going to end up stuck in combat, but not likely killed outright. I found this out tonight while having an XV unit tied down by those buggers; while they have 4 attacks per base (giving 50 on the charge) they are only weapon skill 2 and require to hit on a 4+ against suits of the garden variety, then the entropic roll of 4+, THEN the wound rolls of 5+... Which then the Tau player rolls for the remainder (which can either go really well or very badly) of x2, 4+ for the drones (assuming they're still there in combat), then the rest fall upon the XV's in ascending order to the team leader. So, in point, saying that once they roll to hit, then roll for entropic strikes, THEN roll 5+ to hit, they probably aren't going to do much damage, and will probably take a couple of turns to whittle you down where you feel the pain. You're gonna be stuck, but that's going to be a hard kill point to score (at least harder than a vehicle)

2. Anrakyr the Traveller is friggen awesome if you put him in a command barge and hang around vehix as much as possible. He's cheaper than most other overlords (minus Destroyer Lords, but I'll get to that). he has a special rule which allows him to take control of an enemy vehicle and fire all of its available weapons and control it like it were a Necron unit. The vehicle can't move, but it can swivel its turret or sponsons and fire all of them at a friendly unit. Not to mention he gives one selected unit Immortal status in addition to giving the declared unit furious charge and counter attack. He comes stock with a warscythe, has 3 wounds, and can play hell with a mechanized opponent.

3. Destroyer Lords. OMFG... These things are Toughness 6, 3 wounds, 3+ armor (2 if you give him the upgrade), is jump infantry, and can be attached to whomever you want. Effing amazing and hard to kill. Did I mention he's cheap too?

4. I've noticed that the new codex makes Tau a little less easy to steam roll when facing a Necron army. Warriors are a 4+Sv now, and most tau weapons with any punch are AP4 (making missile pods FAR more effective), Reanimation protocols are at a 5+ (meaning you may actually KILL some of them before they get to you), The Storm Lord's night fight ability is rendered moot by a simple black sun filter or marker light, vehix with sensor spines can ignore difficult and dangerous terrain, multi-trackers allow you to move a vehicle 12" and still fire (making anything looking to assault your hammerhead need a 6+ to hit you), Disruption pods render all shooting attacks moot on a 4+ even against eldrich lances and tachyon arrows.

5. Monoliths are now 'deepstrike or nothing' vehicles. I've seen my buddy now field his monoliths 3 times and lose them all by turn 3, instead of dropping them close in by an unsuspecting enemy and pulling a unit of immortals or scarabs through to negate any plans a shooty army would've had against the far game. It doubles the mobility of your T800's not to mention brings some pretty nasty firepower to the board if you can get it close enough.

I'm not saying Tau now have the upper hand, but rather I think that Necrons now have to work much harder for their lunch money if they are looking to eviscerate our fishy friends with the schnazzy wargear.

Thoughts?

[thecactusman17]

Scarabs ES doesn't do the 4+ thing against infantry. You just hit with everything, and any failed wounds lose their armor save if they still have wounds left. Even with only a few bases, you should be able to get 1-2 wounds against Suits and then the fight becomes a lot easier or they drive you off and have no saves for the next shooting phase. But you're right, Scarabs have a hard time reliably winning combat vs. any MEQ or dedicated assault unit. If there isn't a nearby tank, then just go out of your way to wrap up any units you can't shoot to death quickly with these guys.

[Maelstorm]

I'm not sure I understand line item 2. Unless the suit has a vehicle Armor Value (AV), you don't roll entropic strike. You roll to hit and to wound as normal, if it takes an unsaved wound then its armor becomes [-] (dash) for the rest of the game.

10 Scarabs = 50 attacks
A 4+ to hit (50%) should result in 25 hits
A 5+ to wound (33.33%) should result in 8.34 wounds
3+ armour save (66.66%) leaves 2.78 unsaved wounds = no more armor

vs. fast moving vehicles you are closer to correct

10 Scarabs = 50 Attacks
A 6 to hit (16.66%) should result in 8.33 hits
Entropic Strike on a 4+ (50%) should result in a reduction of 4 armor
10 rear armor becomes 6
8.33 hits at Strength 3 rolled against armor 6 = 3 to glance and 4 to pen = 4 pens (50% chance to wreck), 1 glance = dead vehicle.

Please correct me if I'm out of line.

[Panxer]

The 2.7 wounds should be allocated to the drones before any of the suits are even touched.

Worst case scenario, 2 drones junked and 1 suit suffers a wound and has no armor save after the first combat, but that leaves 3 suits to strike back, and the unit isn't dead. It can't shoot, but no kill point.

Best case scenario, The scarabs have attacked a suit unit with the force commander attached (that means x2 gun drones from the regular unit, and x2 shield drones from the commander), attacks will be soaked up from the 4+ sv drones, then the 3+ shield drones (they take the profile stats of the ownership unit), THEN the suits. So again, 3 wounds, first round of combat, no dead XV suits.

[Panxer]

RE: Anrakyr the Traveller, if there's a vehicle within 18" on a 3+ he can take control of the vehicle and fire it at his enemy. It's pretty cool, and I had a Hammerhead explode because he took control of my other tank, and he took it out.

I could see how this could be devastating against a mechanized army.

[Amaunator]

Do note that destroyer lord does not allow for a royal court and can't take an invulnerable save.

Anrakyr is 35 points more than similarly equipped overlord, gives you 2 USRs for Anrakyr and 1 unit of immortals both and the ability to hack enemy vehicles. Of course you lose the option for 2+ armour save, res orb and so on. Still pretty good a deal.

[Panxer]

Oh, I agree. D. Lord is just an option as a cheap secondary HQ. I'm tau so I shiver whenever destroyers are on the board. I think a destroyer lord would be a terror to deal with if put in with a squad of his own kind. You don't get an invul save, but you can give him the septernal weave that'll give a 2+ not to mention he's got eternal warrior and reanimation protocols (which you can augment with a res orb * I don't have my codex in front of me so correct me if I'm mistaken on the res orb)

I like Anrakyr! Ok, he's more expensive than an overlord, BUT put him on a command barge, keep him near the enemy meqs and take a regular squad of warriors which you can give immortal stats + furious charge and counter attack... he's not modifiable, but I think for the points in comparison to some of the other characters, I'd use him almost exclusively against mechanized forces; Tau especially.

Some of the other IC's are nasty too, but I haven't played anyone who has them yet. I'll report on how tau do with them as I gain more experience with them.

[Sonikgav]

You keep saying The Traveller can give a unit of Warriors Immortal Status. He doesnt magically make 1 unit of Warriors into Immortals. He provides a buff to a unit of Immortals in an Immortal based list.
I know in his fluff entry it says you can include a unit that shares the statline of Immortals etc but if you read his actual entry in the points list it says 'One unit of Immortals is upgraded to Eternals at no additional cost'.

Also i wouldnt count out the Monolith. Its easy for a Tau player to notice that suddenly his RailCannons are having a better effect on the newly (and rightfully so) nerfed Monolith but its still a tough nut to crack and has a huge amount of firepower of its own. If played right, ie scarabs doing their job and not wasting their time going after XV8's then the Lith will be a much more credible threat. XV8's tend to not enjoy the attention of Particle Whips or Tomb Spyders.