Help Me Teach Necrons

[ElectricPaladin]

So I'm getting the idea that the monolith isn't that useful anymore. This makes me sad

That's not what I'd say - and it's not how I put it to the Necrontike. I think it's more like it is a model of somewhat limited utility that's best with a certain army build. Consider that nobody would think of this as a huge loss if it weren't for the fact that the Monolith used to be nigh on the best thing the Necrons had.

It's kind of like us Tau players and our Devilfish. Fish of Fury used to be so... damned... good. And now...

Ok, I think the only difference is that now the Devilfish is just objectively bad. And also our only transport. Other than that, though, it's a similar situation.

[Drakkan Vael]

I also passed along your advice: he should use both Immortals and Warriors, but for different purposes, Doomsday Arcs are worth it as transports and generally viewed as better than Annihilation Barges, and the Monolith has a mixed reputation but might be useful in the right kind of list.

I think you mixed the unit names a bit. The Gost Ark is the transport and it is worth its points and the Annihilation barges are way better than the Doomsday Ark (you'll get two Barges for +5 Points compared to the Ark). The Doomsday Ark has its uses, but the Annihilation Barge is better for its point cost.

The Monolith is still armored like a Land Raider and cheaper. It is especially useful against Orcs which lack decent ranged firepower to destroy it. It is kind of a shooting mobile LOS-Blocker with a couple of dirty tricks up its sleeve. I use it to keep my C'tan Shard save from harm (writhing worldscape is worth it). And its main gun is still a Leman Russ equivalent - albeit at a third of its range.

Warriors and Immortals are equally good and can be fine-tuned with the addition of krypteks and lords (imagine the surprised look on the face of the Blood Angels player facing three sets of mindshackle scarabs - two lords and an overlord - needless to say: they struck each other dead) - it is not a standard built but workes quite well sometimes.

[Chuckachu]

I find my Mono is a terminator eater. At my FLGS I send it after terminators threating them with the vacuum of doom while my Annihlation Barge blasts into them, and/or my Combat Barge flys over their heads and forces them to take their Invul save. Its not a game breaker, but even at 200 pts its one model I'm always willing to throw at an enemy and force them to react to it while my scarabs or CCB are screened by it. But for 200 pts usage will vary for each person.

[AbusePuppy]

I can't imagine why Terminators would be scared of it; the Particle Whip is only AP3, the Flux Arcs don't get all that many shots at a given target and the Portal is so laughably short range you'll be lucky to actually use it once- and when you do, it kills 1/3 of the models in range. Whoo. So you maybe take out one Terminator in return for being point-blank with Space Marines, who have easy access to all kinds of Melta.

The Monolith just doesn't really do anything for its price tag- AV14 is tough, but not "I can never be killed" tough, just "you're going to need Meltaguns" tough. Combined with its mediocre firepower I just can't see an army where the Monolith does something that you ever really need- other vehicles are better at screening things for lower prices.

[Alxmas]

I still use a Mono in my list. It is far from the heavy hitter it was in the last codex but it is usable in the right build. Ap3 is a tough Ap to get for necrons most of the stuff that can be massed is ap4 or worse and the Ap1 and 2 weapons are mostly specialized antitank. The Mono plate allows me to really scare marines.

The offensive punch it brings is menial at best I use mine for redeployment tricks. This is the reason to take it in the new codex. For a foot army the portal is amazing. I also think it needs to be paired with immortals on foot as 20 warriors cannot physically fit within 2" of the portal. I run 2 Annhilation barges and a single monolith in a tesla spam list and its performed admirably. It just plays like a completely different unit than the old Mono.

[Drakkan Vael]

I use it as well with great success. It is not the same as before but still durable and dangerous if used right.

[Chumbalaya]

So I'm getting the idea that the monolith isn't that useful anymore. This makes me sad

It wasn't good before, at least now it doesn't actively make your army worse.

[Toaster36]

Wait, no one seems to have addressed the fact that Necronlike is 12 and has enough disposable income for 40K. Lucky kid.

If he's still learning the rules like most beginners I'd recommend smaller point games with troop centric armies. The benefit to this is rules simplification and game speed since you don't have to keep looking up rules for different unit types AND he has more of a chance to play around with warriors and immortals so he can feel them out and decide what role he feels they should play in his army.

As for the vehicles I'd say he should try out a barge or two and a monolith. The barges are pretty good and cheap and if you're doing those small troop centric games it's easy to squeeze two barges into a list. The monolith should sate his youthful desire to field that awe inspiring mega tomb of death. After a few games, like the warriors and immortals, he'll be able to see where it should fit in his lists. I'd tell him to hold off on either of the two arks for right now, despite their usefulness on the table. I'm quite a bit older than 12 and have been playing 40K for years and putting those things together hurts MY head (For the love of the Emperor why is there a separate piece for the drivers NECK?!)

Hope that helps.