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Author Topic: Ghost Ark or Night Scythe?  (Read 4077 times)

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Offline Antaeus

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Ghost Ark or Night Scythe?
« on: October 3, 2013, 03:38:50 AM »
Which one do you think is better (or: which do you prefer) and why?  Or do you think it depends on certain conditions, such as the opponent you're facing or your own list?

I have my own answer with my own reasoning but I want to hear from others first -- I love debating 40k tactics in depth so let's get on it!  8)
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Offline Spectral Arbor

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Re: Ghost Ark or Night Scythe?
« Reply #1 on: October 3, 2013, 06:51:11 AM »
Well, Night Scythe probably comes out as the superior choice. Better mobility, harder to bring down, better gun...

I would use a Ghost ark to support a footslogging mob of warriors, however. The repair bit, coupled with a Res Orb gives you one tough nut to crack!

Offline Milford Cubicle

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Re: Ghost Ark or Night Scythe?
« Reply #2 on: October 3, 2013, 07:08:25 AM »
I like them both. I think both of them are good units which have their place in almost any list. I usually use two Arks and one Scythe to transport my Troops (2 squads of Warriors and 2 squads of Immortals). I could use one or two more Scythes at times, but at the moment I only have one.

I use the Arks to transport my Warrior squads with Harbingers of the Storm, and usually my Overlord also hitches a ride in the other Ark. Being open topped and armed with gauss, it complements the Warriors and StormTek really well. Vehicles don't usually stand a chance, and they pack quite a punch against infantry too. It's also nice to use the Arks guns to strip that lone hull point of a vehicle, while the more firepowerful (is that a word? It is now :D) squad inside aims at something tougher or the disembarking squad :). The Arks resilience also helps the Warriors stay alive a lot longer. At least I find that once the Warriors disembark, they're pretty much gone if there are any enemies left to target them. I have to admit I haven't had much use of the repair barge ability, as as usually either the Arks are dead once the Warriors are out, or the whole Warrior squad is destroyed in one turn (I really need to start learning how to throw those 4+ saves and 5+ cover :D)

I've also thought about adding a third, footslogging Warrior squad, which the Arks would help keep alive through repairing. But I feel the unit would have to be quite big to be survivable enough to not be wiped out of board in one turn, so would be quite a points sink for something that doesn't do much at range and is quite easy to remove through CC  ???

As for the Scythe, I use it to deliver a squad of Gauss Immortals (usually 8-10) where the fighting is fiercest. Together with the Scythe's firepower, they can really turn a tide on one flank. Ideally they come in, disembark, shoot & destroy their target, weather enemy shooting, embark back in and try to repeat :). That rarely happens, but they're also great at coming in, clearing an objective and then holding it while the scythe goes to wreak havoc elsewhere. As everyone knows, the Scythe is pretty great for it's points :).
« Last Edit: October 3, 2013, 07:12:04 AM by Milford Cubicle »
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Offline Foxfire

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Re: Ghost Ark or Night Scythe?
« Reply #3 on: October 3, 2013, 08:24:27 AM »
I don't own either model so I haven't seen them in play, but I think it's good to point out that--in theory anyway--they operate on different principles.  The Ghost Ark isn't designed so much to pick up your troops and drop them off as it is to be a combat platform they can fight from throughout the game, increasing their offense, defense and mobility.  The Nightscythe on the other hand is more of a true transport: it can move your troops around the board much more easily/quickly/safely than the Ghost Ark, and while its gun is definitely stronger and more versatile than the Ark's, it isn't really meant so much to compliment the passenger's weaponry.

Overall, the Necrons are quite fortunate to have two very fieldable transports.  In the end though, most people seem to agree that the Nightscythe is the better of the two for doing its transport duties more efficiently and being a solid gunship in its own right.  The Ghost Ark goes a long way towards obviating the Warrior's intrinsic weaknesses, upgrading it to a real presence on the battlefield; but that usually doesn't have the impact of zooming halfway across the table to drop a tiny squad on that far-flung objective, placing your Deathmarks+Harbinger of Despair /directly/ next to your enemy with no scatter and decimating them, and simply the sheer terror your enemy faces in the knowledge that you can drop rapid-firing, Cryptek-accompanied squads anywhere you need to at a moment's notice to inflict maximum damage to his army and win-strategy.
« Last Edit: October 4, 2013, 05:39:12 AM by Foxfire »

Offline Milford Cubicle

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Re: Ghost Ark or Night Scythe?
« Reply #4 on: October 3, 2013, 11:49:36 PM »
I (almost ;)) completely agree with what Foxfire said above :). Especially about Scythe being a true transport and Ark being a combat platform. People I play against have rarely seen other Necron players use Ghost Arks, and are almost always surprised by how well they work in tandem with the embarked unit and how resilient they are ("That thing has HOW many hull points!?  :o").

One thing that hasn't been mentioned about the Scythe is probably their biggest downside (at least to me). Being fliers they have to start the game in reserve, and as Necrons don't have many ways to manipulate reserves (that one special character and Aegis with Comms are all I can think of) you're just pretty much stuck with hoping the dice roll your way. I don't like that, so I don't like to depend heavily on fliers. It's also interesting to see how much anti-air there will be on tournament tables now that more and more codices have access to better AA options. Scythes are quite easy to bring down if you can hit them with S 6+ weaponry.
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Offline Antaeus

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Re: Ghost Ark or Night Scythe?
« Reply #5 on: October 4, 2013, 02:40:14 AM »
I really like Night Scythes because:
- Unless my opponent has a list that's balanced to take on flyers, I generally don't have trouble with taking out things with skyfire. Given that my city's big on university students (we're all poor), it means people don't generally have much experience with fliers, and anti-air weapons

- If my opponent's list doesn't have anything with skyfire (or if I've destroyed it all, which usually happens as they're target priorities for me), then he's hitting me on a 6+ which, statistically, is the same as a 2+ invulnerable save (done 'before the fact', rather than 'after the fact')

- I can bring my models onto the table during the late part of the game, which is a way of protecting them throughout the course of the battle; you can't kill what's not in-play, which is better than any kind of save! This is good too, because my style of play usually has Warriors arriving around turn 4 or 5, just to claim objectives

- Their weapons (unlike the Ghost Ark) are the same as A-Barges and hence really sweet for killing troops, in addition to other fliers. With multiple Night Scythes, I can even target TEQs and chance at killing flying monstrous creatures

- They're anti-flyer models by virtue of simply being fliers

- My buddies are very competitive and I'm one of the few people in the group who's taken the time to learn (experiment, read about, etc) flier and anti-flier tactics, so I feel that I generally have an edge on most people in my circle in that regard. One of the keys with fliers is that you want them to arrive after your opponent brings in their fliers, so you can gun them down when you arrive, as well as after your ground forces have taken out anything with skyfire. So far this hasn't been difficult for me, although I can see myself investing in a comms relay (and defence line) for 70 points

I haven't been using Arks because:
- I want to keep my Warriors safely off the battlefield so I can drop them onto objectives late into the game

- Again, because of my style of play, my Warriors are generally for claiming objectives, while I let Wraiths and Scarabs get their hands dirty

- I don't have much experience with using transports in my armies. I plan on changing that, because I like what I'm reading here! Currently I have 12 Wraiths and 12 Scarabs running up the center of the battlefield -- I'm considering adding a Ghost Ark and 10 Warriors to that spearhead to smash through/across the tabletop. I'll have to experiment..
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Offline Milford Cubicle

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Re: Ghost Ark or Night Scythe?
« Reply #6 on: October 4, 2013, 04:15:26 AM »
Style of play and list building is what it really boils down to. I like my troops to be out there in the front lines, killing stuff :D. I'm not "comfortable" using them as just late game objective grabbers. That's why Ghost Arks work really well for me. But I also like all the things a Night Scythe brings to my list. Luckily we don't need to pick just one and stick with it  ;D. I think we have an excellently balanced pair of transports in our codex :)
Strange movements at the graveyard detected... Is the Necron board coming back to life?!

 


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