Matt-Shadowlord wrote: I had my first game against the Necrons, and think they've done a good job of making them unique and interpretting their background into rules well (perhaps with the exception of the Monolith Slingshot below, which makes a slow army incredibly fast!). It will be interesting to see what people can do with an army that looks slow but can actually pacman across the board, going in a portal on one side and coming out on the other.
I'd like to hear how other people are using or combatting them, but I've got three questions to start with:
Appear-Assault-Escape: Was it an intention of the rule designers that Necrons can appear out of a Monolith, fight and assault, and then escape into a second Monolith or is that just a byproduct of the consolidation moves?
Thanks for posting regarding the Necrons. The original design never had in mind the appear-assault-escape. But when people pointed out years ago that you could use it that way, the Army Champ rolled with it. Corey pointed out that it was very much in theme that the Necrons could do this. It has been a matter of Necron tactics through multiple iterations of the list. But as Zombocom pointed out, the chances of you pulling it off are not great unless you orchestrate the move very carefully.
Quote: Monoliths: Does breaking Monolith formations have any impact on units' ability to use them? (For some reason I thought units coming through broken monolith formations got a blast marker so made a big effort to break them, but can't find that rule. Maybe I optimistically imagined it  ) You are remembering a discussion on the forum, perhaps? This was tossed about as an idea for some time, but ultimately rejected to keep the Necron portal working similarly to the Eldar portals.
Quote: Monolith Slingshots: Have 'slow' Necrons actually got one of the largest assault moves in the game, since their Monoliths can double move (15cmx2) deploy (+5cm) and engage (+15cm) an enemy that was 50cm away from the Monolith's start position in close combat, or 65cm away in a firefight.
As pointed out by others, the Monolith, Warbarque, and Abattoir are not transports. They function as Eldar Storm Serpents, bringing the portal to the enemy. There are obvious benefits to this. If the unit is destroyed, there are no transported units to lose. But the drawback is that you must use another activation via retaining to bring your formation from the portal onto the board.
When fighting with the Necrons, it is important to have overlapping support. Gone are the days when you could surround an opponent on turn 1, assault like mad, and end the game. If your opponent has set up an obviously weak flank, Necrons are good to capitalize on it, crushing it quickly before it can be supported. Try using larger Monolith formations to teleport in and then perform double assaults (assault, win, retain, assault) to clear scouts and then subsequently break the formation behind them. Scouts are typically weaker formations but there is usually a stronger formation behind it. Bring your strongest formation out to break the scouts and survive the supporting fire. Move the Necrons up as far as you can and then retain. Assault again with a 2nd formation. Even if it is weaker than the first formation it can be positioned behind the first, pulling off a clipping assault at times. This shields it from countercharges (any sane person won't want to draw in the 1st formation into the assault) and potentially protects it from the full firepower of the defending formation. You also get all the supporting fire from the Monoliths and the 1st formation.
To counter this type of attack, players fighting against Necrons should pay careful attention to their set-up. There is simply no time to maneuver out of a mistake if you make one. Have formations close enough to support, but watch out for intermingling. Scouts are a great way to force Necron players to waste activations 'peeling the onion'. Be watchful for Aeonic Orbs and the Deceiver C'tan, which can lay down BP fire. If neither of these units are about, you are safe to bunch up your units.
A common tactic against Necrons is to target the portals. Even if the Necron player manages to bring all of his formations to the board, they will be outmaneuvered by most armies without the portals. Unfortunately, Monoliths are difficult to kill. MW fire is IMO wasted on them. Save that for the infantry. Massed AT weapons are best for the Monolith formations.
Remember that end of turn 2 is important for Necron players because turn 3 is when victory conditions are determined. Formations off board may have limited options to get on the board, so watch for seemingly erratic Monolith movements. This may be your opponent seeding the board with formations just to claim/contest objectives (little combat involved). Also watch for smaller Monolith / Obelisk formations that will teleport on at the last moment in an objective grab. Of course if you are going to turn 4, your chances of winning go up.
Formations broken are taken off board and -if they don't come back- count as destroyed. So bringing a Necron player to points is usually a smart way to win a game. Don't spend time shooting at broken formations in turn 4. They are disappearing anyway and won't count as anything. Deny him objectives and use the point advantage to crush him.
There are a lot of other ways the Necrons can be played, but this should give you a basic framework to build off of.
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That was one of the first tricks I thought of when reading the list, it's not like it's not an obvious tactic.
