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Offline NecronCell2131

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How many Melee units
« on: August 27, 2012, 08:33:33 PM »
 Close combat isnt something that necrons generally want or excel at but a few of our units are decent in cc. With that in mind i was wondering how many close combat units do you run/need in your average size lists.

 I normally always run 1 unit of 6 wraiths, they eat marine squad pretty well and can even beat Th/SS termies if i am lucky.

 At 2000 points i find that single unit of wraiths is effective but limited by only hitting 1 unit at a time, and when 2 units of assault marines are coming at my warriors i find i need something else. So at this point i take 10 warriors or immortals and put an overlord with MSS, 2+ and warscythe as well as a similar equipped necron lord with a rez orb. Makes them able to usually able to survive combats and win those 1v1 combats.

 Ive thrown in the lychguard but being slow they wont do anything unless my opponent comes to me, but given that if i model them with axes they will be better then wraiths at least in cc against termies then wraiths would.

 Ive tested out the super expensive necron lord deathstar and against other rock lists i really enjoy how killy and durable it is. Closing in on 400 for just the basics its either great or not lol.

 Scarabs are more vehicle killers then melee but against certain xenos they fit the bill. Same goes for flayed ones, but i wont generally use them.

 So what do you use and would you suggest running more cc units or stick to shooting?

 
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Offline BritishBill

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Re: How many Melee units
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2012, 11:00:40 PM »
My 2000 point List has two close combat squads in it, one is the almost obligatory Wraith Unit, and the other is a Praetorian squad with Rods of Covenant. BOTH are led by Detroyer Lords which means that there are no Cryptek or Necron Lord upgrades for my troops.

I do not use a second squad of Wraiths in this role, because I want two squads of shooting Destroyers. The Preferred Enemy rule works for shooting as well now and with a BS skill 4 model, shooting is an almost certain hit and wound which is very powerful.

Finally do the Math Hammer and see how many Tactical Terminators a squad of Praetorians with Rods led by a Destroyer Lord are likely to kill before the Power fist return happens if they get the charge, which as Jump troops they should. I make it about 7 which is pretty impressive, even against Thunder Hammer and Storm Shields you should get 3 to 4, and for that squad, the Res Orb looks like a sound investment.

The Praetorians look less impressive when stuck in close combat, which to avoid I would need Nemesor Zahndrak. Oh, the decisions an Overlord has to make !!

Offline NecronCell2131

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Re: How many Melee units
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2012, 11:10:01 PM »
 I may end up running Praetorians one of these says but that single attack really bothers me especially since its 2bucks for 5 guys.

 I only havent run destroyers that much lately i always lose them to bolter fire and each time one goes down it hurts my souls lol.

 Thanks for the reply BritishBill
My Tesseract Labyrinth Collection:
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 Enemies Doored by Monolith:
 1xBlack templars dreadnought,1xChaos lord,1xEmperors champion,1xDante,1xBelial,4xMelta guns that failed to kill it,1xWolf lord,1xStraken

Offline Shas'Oink

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Re: How many Melee units
« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2012, 03:29:25 AM »
I'm starting to think if my force will just fold in combat. I have no dedicated assault unit in my army (instead, lots of flyers to get me strikign where I want - and so lots of tesla destructors to hopefully swamp enemy with shooting).

I do currently list some scarabs, though they are pretty situational in terms of their combat prowess. They might be okay for simply tying up enemy combat units for a few turns, and maybe that is enough to work on the rest of the army in the mean time.

One thing you should note though (form your OP) the lychguard have swords, although the printed codex is a little ambiguous (in that they are called swords but referenced as power weapons), the downloadable re-print from GW lists them specifically as power swords - so you might have trouble claiming them as axes.

Offline Reepy

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Re: How many Melee units
« Reply #4 on: August 28, 2012, 04:08:30 AM »
I've had a lot of luck with a unit of 5 Lychguard with shields and swords, my only Overlord with res-orb, weave and scythe and a Veil of Darkness cryptek. They go where they need to be and have a very good hitting power AND they are very survivable. They won't handle most really great heavy hitters (storm shield terminators for example) but are very good against the not so supreme ones.

Offline Idaho

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Re: How many Melee units
« Reply #5 on: August 28, 2012, 02:34:59 PM »
To me the Destroyer Lord with Warscythe, Mindshackle Scarabs and a Sempiternal Weave added to a unit of Wraiths is possibly the best choice we can get. It isn't just a powerful melee unit on the attack, the multiple wounds and invulnerable saves mean we can expect it to make it into combat most games.

For 200-odd points (an inbetween figure really) plus Destroyer Lord it also isn't such a big investment to enable us to afford other choices without serious restriction or limitation in our choices.

I would like more than a single such unit, but unfortunately my Fast Attack slots are full. Oh well eh. We can get away with a single one though and still have an effective game.

Offline NecronCell2131

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Re: How many Melee units
« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2012, 06:41:06 PM »
One thing you should note though (form your OP) the lychguard have swords, although the printed codex is a little ambiguous (in that they are called swords but referenced as power weapons), the downloadable re-print from GW lists them specifically as power swords - so you might have trouble claiming them as axes.

 Nova ruled for them to count as power weapons so thats generally what i base my argument around, though they are classified as power weapons in the armory section of the necron codex so i dont really get why people get hung up on the term "sword" in the weapons name.

 But besides that i field a few planes myself and i like how my stuff is kept out of harms way most games until i choose for them to be deployed.
 
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Offline Shas'Oink

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Re: How many Melee units
« Reply #7 on: August 29, 2012, 04:20:35 AM »
One thing you should note though (form your OP) the lychguard have swords, although the printed codex is a little ambiguous (in that they are called swords but referenced as power weapons), the downloadable re-print from GW lists them specifically as power swords - so you might have trouble claiming them as axes.

 Nova ruled for them to count as power weapons so thats generally what i base my argument around, though they are classified as power weapons in the armory section of the necron codex so i dont really get why people get hung up on the term "sword" in the weapons name.

 But besides that i field a few planes myself and i like how my stuff is kept out of harms way most games until i choose for them to be deployed.

Currently, you are right in that the printed codex only notes them as power weapons, which means you can use the power weapon types from the rule book. However, the electronic Necron codex (which is technically also the most recent) says specifically they are power swords, as opposed to just power weapons. I think you should be prepared for the independent ruling from "Nova" to be superceded by an official correction because it is not really acceptable to have two versions of rules for the same unit from the same army!

In other words, just don't build your army based around the idea they can use axes, because it currently looks like a loophole that is waiting to be filled.

(PS: I have no idea what "Nova" is, and seeing as it's not official GW then it is purely house rule. The only true authority on the rules is GW).

Needless to say, I'm a little surprised that you haven't found scarabs to be very useful. on paper they look great, but importantly they can threaten a range of targets. More to the point, if they come up against those tough to kill multiple wound units such as Nobs, Nid Warriors or even Paladins then it only takes a bit of getting lucky to strip models of their saves completely. I would have thought the threat of that is enough to make them pretty scary?

Have you had any success with scarabs?


Offline NecronCell2131

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Re: How many Melee units
« Reply #8 on: August 29, 2012, 12:45:03 PM »
 Ive used scarabs a bit and i find i have to have them in a unit close to 10 to make it to the vehicle in question. If i dont hit a landraider i will probably not make back my points destroying a rhino and then tying up a marine unit and dying is just meh.

 That 100-150 points i could get quite a few things for and be better choices in my mind, unless i come up against 2 landraiders or 3 lol
My Tesseract Labyrinth Collection:
 1xDreadknight
 Enemies Doored by Monolith:
 1xBlack templars dreadnought,1xChaos lord,1xEmperors champion,1xDante,1xBelial,4xMelta guns that failed to kill it,1xWolf lord,1xStraken

Offline Partninja

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Re: How many Melee units
« Reply #9 on: September 1, 2012, 07:28:32 PM »
I wouldn't say Necron assault units themselves are bad. Low initiative hurts, but most of the units are fairly durable (higher T, invul saves, WBB etc.) to over come this. However, some of the units are rather pricey for a useable squad size. This is really the down fall and what makes Wraiths the most economical and reliable choice (also user friendly).

One club member is making great use of Flayed ones actually. They're fairly inexpensive and a large squad of 15-20 can be rather scarey. Specially with infiltrate and outflank.

Offline Shas'Oink

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Re: How many Melee units
« Reply #10 on: September 2, 2012, 03:04:21 AM »
Indeed with Zahndrekh in an army, you can also give the flayed ones acute senses (for re-rolling the outflank), counter attack, (if you expect the enemy to charge in) or even furious charge (to give each guy S5!!!) They get a lot of attacks that's true, but with not being able ot assault when they come on from reserve you need to be able ot take a really big lot of them in order to really scare the bejeesus out of the opponent. it really is an all or nothing... spending close to 200pts on a big unit (or multiple units).

But yes, it shows that there are options depending on the type of combat unit you need.

Offline Recluse

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Re: How many Melee units
« Reply #11 on: September 6, 2012, 03:03:50 PM »
The last game i played, i used 2 spyders and a lord in a chariot as my main melee units.  I use these as a sort of hammer unit with my warriors as the anvil.  The spyders also boost my 3 model scarab swarm into a decent tarpit by the time the enemy closes in.
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