Old assumptions have been shattered and the playing field of the game has been reset. As a long time 40K player one has to reevaluate everything in the game to not only understand and apply the new rules, but look for the hidden gems and the not so apparent tactical angles one can exploit for the win. I’m in the process of this now with all my armies but am especially focusing on Necrons since I have three variants of the army- scarab farm, warrior horde, and now air force to experiment and play with.
A few posts back I talked about going for the secondary mission objectives in relation to Eldar so you have the option to then play for a tie on the main objectives- focusing all your resources on the “tie” by killing troops and scoring units, etc. and securing the win by then picking up the secondary objectives.
I’ve been figuring out how to do the same thing with Necrons, and for this post let’s look at how to secure the slay the warlord bonus point since that is a double edged sword for Necrons…
In the transition from 5th to 6th Necron HQ choices kind of took a hit- night fight is no longer useful to prevent shooting as your units get to mid field where they excel, lightning strikes are also hurt as guys start shifting to less low AV tanks and more troops, and the other special quirks and abilities of the HQ choices while fun for fluff don’t translate over well tactically. Among other things this has forced me to drop Stormlord from my HQ roster, despite how much I love him, and it pains me greatly to let him go, but the points are just too high and his two abilities (lightning + night fight) are no longer top notch. The 4+ seize is, and is a component in getting the first kill point bonus point, but there are other ways to make this up.
I then went to the cheapest HQ I could get, essentially place holder to fill the mandatory slot, and nothing else, of which the Necron Overlord did the job. Of course he was weak in the assault as all Necrons are, and he mostly hid in the back trying to look heroic, skulking away from other Space Marine killy HQ choices looking for the warlord bonus point.
I tried to use this to my advantage, putting the overlord in a place where opposing HQ choices had to wade through my warriors and rapid fire spam to tag my overlord in an attempt to gun them down. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn’t, and most of the time it was just ignored.
Had (have) to find another way.
I don’t mind spending the points on an HQ choice, even dropping 200+ as long as it furthers the goals of the army. Many of us have a bias to spending points on an HQ choice since they are pricey and only one model- quantity vs. quality perhaps being the issue, but sometimes we have to get past this mantra also.
So now I have an overlord right at the front of my army- attached to a quad of 20 strong warriors with a res orb to start. This huge warrior block is an important first thrust of my army using strength of numbers to both stay a threat and get some nice long range and rapid fire going- 20 to 40 shots while the res orb goes a long way to keeping the unit up while on the march.
The large group also protects the lord for a while from being taken out from saturated shooting which means an assault on an HQ choice or even me launching the assault against an HQ choice.
So when the challenge is accepted, and many will see the overlord as an easy push over they hit the first layer of mindshackle scarabs which have a good chance of causing some wounds. Of course I then have to survive the assault since the opposing HQ is most likely striking first- the weave and invil save + T5 try to minimize this, and then when I strike back I unleash the T. labyrinth, hopefully at reduced wounds and take the HQ out of play. Failing that next turn I then rely on the war scythe. Of course if I die, we then try to get the point back through regeneration…
So will using my overlord as a high priced trap work? Dangle the bait, and see who takes it? I’ll see in a few games and report back…
Interesting idea me thinks with T. Labyrinth.
ReplyDeleteNot sure why you think an overlord is something people will think of as an easy option option for taking out a Warlord.
With Mindshackle a lot of people tend to try avoiding combat with him (in my experience).
On the Stormlord, while I have never used him I would suggest that S8 lightning against even a Landraider could help remove a Hull Point early in the game, something that you can't rule out as useful. Don't get me wrong popping transports with it is a good idea and the main use, but given that to pop the transport you now need the 6 on the pentration chart I would look at how many hull points it could save you as tanks are still gonna be around, add in an Aegis defence line for yourselves and Night fighting can make the Crons very difficult to shift.
I was just wondering, does the T. Labyrinth replace the overlords regular attacks? If it does not you could hope to reduce the opposing HQ to a low enough wound count with the warscythe in the first round of combat so that it would be nearly impossible for him to pass the T. Lab test.
ReplyDeleteI still find that most of the time the Mindshackle Scarabs do the job for you, the Warscythe I take to deter Dreadnoughts from hitting my Crons.
ReplyDeletewell since Mindshackle and Challenge happens at the start of fight sub-phase then the player whos turn it is chooses what order they go off in..
ReplyDeleteso he charges you, if he is smart he will not charge so his character is in base with yours, he then lets you use mindshackle, then he challenge and beat the snot out of you.
Ah so what you are saying is that because the rules allow a way around Mindshackle scarabs then the opposing player should simply nullify them by bending how the rules should work.
ReplyDeleteWe all know that in a fluffly game the character has to try and survive the mindshackle scarabs, but from a WAAC perspective I see how it would work.
I comment on these things to help clear up my understanding of the rules, and while this is useful to know, it will also let me know the type of player I am playing when they do something like that.
Of course if the Necron player is smart then his Overlord wont be able to be engaged by enemy units, so he wont be in base to base till a challenge is declare at which point at the start of the fight sub phase he would be in base to base with the enemy character. Of course the WAAC players will simply disallow it because otherwise it might jepordise their chances of a victory.
Sigh.
Well I guess its one more rule I understand correctly on the plus side, it unfortunately also allows me to understand how WAAC players will work, its the little things I see.
Its not WAAC when it says in the rules that if 2 things happens at once the player whos turn it is chooses in wich order it happens. So if you charge him, you can challenge and then use the mindshackle. and he will do the opposite if he is even remotely familiar with the rules.
ReplyDeleteIf you Kraggi wants to bend the rules so your mindshackle goes off when ever you feel like it.. isnt that a bit of WAAC thinking?
Nope, cause I will play the rules I learn from being involved in those comments, thats why I comment.
ReplyDeleteIt just makes me think that Mindshackle Scarabs went from being pretty good to not as good, which I suppose makes their points a little more balanced.
Although on the flip side it does make Phaeron more useful if you want to get the Shackle Scarabs on the right model.
My previous comment was a bit of a rant, which was out of place, apologies if it offended you, unless you are actually a WAAC as those are the players i should be aiming at.
@Kraggi - Yes you are right, Mindshackle got a bit less scary, and I think its a good change. I to apologies for snapping back, I´m not a WAAC player but our gaming group are very competitive so there is no fluff in our games, this is how we like it.
ReplyDeleteOnce people learns how to work around Mindshackle they will not hesitate to charge in and finish us.
if he dies and comes back the other player still gits the point as it says the first to make a kill and he still died. the rules say nothing about the point going away if he comes back.
ReplyDelete