I’ve gotten a few emails recently asking for some advice on how to deal with necrons with a Saim-Hann list. Going over a few of my past battle reports and posts here is what I have learned from my experiences.
Personally I have found Necrons to be the hardest army that I have faced with my Saim-Hann, accounting for the majority of my losses with my warhost. I attribute this to the mistake of thinking of them as space marine equivalents since they have rapid fire weapons, a 3+ save and a T of 4. When I have won (and crushed) my necron opponents it was because I addressed the three unique parts of the necron army that I faced.
The first taken into account the we’ll be back rolls of the nercon warriors- take them out and on a 4+ in the next turn they get back up from self-repair. What worked best for me was to keep my distance from large necron warrior squads sniping them with my jetbike shuriken cannons focusing on one enemy squad at a time to mass my fire. I had to change charging in with my jetbikes and blasting away with shuriken catapult fire and warlock destructor fire. What was happening if I charged in was that I was maybe knocking the necron unit down to 2-3 ‘crons only to have a good number of them get up next turn and then rapid fire me to death. Assaulting is also out since even necron warriors are surprisingly tough for non dedicated assault eldar units. With the necrons hitting you on a 3+ along with a S & T of 4 & the we’ll be back roll means they are surprisingly resilient in the assault.
Next up is dealing with the necron lord. Most that I have encountered run with a veil of darkness which allows a deepstrike move each turn with any necron unit within 6” and a resurrection orb which allows a more powerful we’ll be back roll. The veil of darkness is a powerful piece of wargear by which the lord can deepstrike next to one of your units along with a large warrior or immortal squad and then rapid fire. I’ve lost a lot of lone jetbike squads that were sniping out at the edge of the board this way. First thing to do is mindwar the necron lord to get him off the table, but with multiple wounds and a LD of 10 this will be difficult. Barring that I’ve had good luck with keeping my units close together or around large groups of terrain to make deepstriking a risk. If my opponent is brave or luck and does veil in and take out one of my units I make sure there are others around to at least take out the lord and the squad he veiled in with.
Finally there is dealing with any necron destroyers since they can match the speed of your jetbikes and the firepower of vypers. Given their toughness of 5 you will want to hit them with shuriken cannons, starcannons, etc. to beat their toughness and score wounds.
Personally I have found Necrons to be the hardest army that I have faced with my Saim-Hann, accounting for the majority of my losses with my warhost. I attribute this to the mistake of thinking of them as space marine equivalents since they have rapid fire weapons, a 3+ save and a T of 4. When I have won (and crushed) my necron opponents it was because I addressed the three unique parts of the necron army that I faced.
The first taken into account the we’ll be back rolls of the nercon warriors- take them out and on a 4+ in the next turn they get back up from self-repair. What worked best for me was to keep my distance from large necron warrior squads sniping them with my jetbike shuriken cannons focusing on one enemy squad at a time to mass my fire. I had to change charging in with my jetbikes and blasting away with shuriken catapult fire and warlock destructor fire. What was happening if I charged in was that I was maybe knocking the necron unit down to 2-3 ‘crons only to have a good number of them get up next turn and then rapid fire me to death. Assaulting is also out since even necron warriors are surprisingly tough for non dedicated assault eldar units. With the necrons hitting you on a 3+ along with a S & T of 4 & the we’ll be back roll means they are surprisingly resilient in the assault.
Next up is dealing with the necron lord. Most that I have encountered run with a veil of darkness which allows a deepstrike move each turn with any necron unit within 6” and a resurrection orb which allows a more powerful we’ll be back roll. The veil of darkness is a powerful piece of wargear by which the lord can deepstrike next to one of your units along with a large warrior or immortal squad and then rapid fire. I’ve lost a lot of lone jetbike squads that were sniping out at the edge of the board this way. First thing to do is mindwar the necron lord to get him off the table, but with multiple wounds and a LD of 10 this will be difficult. Barring that I’ve had good luck with keeping my units close together or around large groups of terrain to make deepstriking a risk. If my opponent is brave or luck and does veil in and take out one of my units I make sure there are others around to at least take out the lord and the squad he veiled in with.
Finally there is dealing with any necron destroyers since they can match the speed of your jetbikes and the firepower of vypers. Given their toughness of 5 you will want to hit them with shuriken cannons, starcannons, etc. to beat their toughness and score wounds.
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7 comments:
I agree. It is best to ignore Warriors because of their lack in range. Take out Destroyers and Immortals first. Usually, I play Nids against Necrons, so I have no issue with shooting at Monoliths (str 10 Venom Cannons), but since Eldar are hard pressed to hurt AV14, you should only worry about 'Liths if you have CC units that you want to stay in CC (otherwise 'Crons can teleport out and rapid fire you)
Don't forget that Necrons only get their We'll be Back if there is another model of the same type within 6", so I usually try to take out a whole squad of Destroyers or Immortals in 1 turn. If there aren't any other Destroyers or Immortals nearby, they don't get We'll be Back.
The Lord is the exception to this as he doesn't need another Lord nearby.
Even though I don't play Eldar, I can appreciate a little tactical insight into how you guys go about defeating the mindless legions.
Ron, you mean don't play eldar yet...
Well said...
Maybe they'll be my next army if I don't succumb to the Genestealer Cult calling my name.
Hi Fritz--
I'm talking about destroying necron armies that are two monoliths strong over at my blog, but I'm talking about destroying them in general. Not specifically with a fast army.
I wonder whether you can't just beat them at the Victory point game. Destroy anything that's fast, get your points, and then just move.
Hey, just left a post over at your blog. 2 monoliths is an interesting question. At least in 5th edition the army you would be facing would only have 2 scoring units so beat him at that game.
After reading on Mostros Blog I have this to add:
Rending doesn't work on the Monolith either. I used to play necrons and the thought of only taking 2 squads of Warriors is stupid. I also play 'Nids and I will tell you that every game I have every played with 'Nids against Necrons=DEAD NECRONS.
Against a 'Lith heavy army, I take 2 Sniper Fexes (carnifexes with venom cannon & barbed stragler). The VC gets 2 str 10 shots and the BS get 1 str 8 large blast. I have never seen my Monolith or anyone elses last more than 2 turns with this combo.
The sad true that many players don't realize is that Monoliths are big point sinks and only good at teleporting. Their fire power is not that great.
Necrons can't get up from a sweeping advance, so here is where 'Nids vs. only 2 units of Warriors hurts. All you have to do is win combat and sweeping advancwe them and not even the Ressurrection Orb can help them.
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