New Necron Article

New article on how to "win" with Necrons up on BoLS:

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2011/12/40k-winning-with-necrons-part-2-troops.html

I posted a response as mr_juzam. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. Does anyone seriously think this is good?

Ghost Ark's aren't really that good.

You'll only ever get 5 shots from the flayer arrays. The other side will be facing away from the enemy. If not, your Ghost Ark is toast. Ghost Ark's are also open topped, and therefore a bit squishy. A Lascannon wrecks your day.

To pay for itself, the Ghost Ark has to create 9 warriors. At D3 a turn, likely not counting turn 1, I don't like your chances. What does it get you? A squishier transport that's less useful and more fragile and more expensive than a Night Scythe.

Warriors can be cool. That big unit is resilient, but you're right, it's not as much of a threat as it is a distraction.

I'm a fan of the concept of MSU's with a cryptek with an eldritch lance.

THat said, I think the scoring unit solution for Necrons "How I'm going to win the game" is all about MSU's in Night Scythes.

I will agree that the night scythe is better than the article lets on. I've been using fast skimmer transports for a while now and they are so good. Because they don't drop the unit when it is destroyed I would be wary about their use however. The usual tactic of shooting forward with a unit is not as appealing. As for scythes carrying warriors, I think it's a bad idea. The scythes imo should be used for getting close range units into close range.
I like the concept of using the arks as a mobile shooting platform. Throwing a small unit of warriors with a cryptek or two can be decently survivable and still make a lot of shooting attacks in a game. And armour 13 is pretty good for a transport. I wouldn't discount it so easily, gentlemen. If you are worried about them being targeted by AT then provide the enemy with juicier targets.

Annihilation Barge, Open topped, slow, Twin-Linked Tesla Destructor 90pts.

Night Scythe, Super Sonic (36" turbo boost), fast, Carries 15 guys, 7 jump infantry, or 5 jetbikes , and has Twin-Linked Tesla Destructor 100pts.

5 terrible troops, 65 pts. 5 less terrible troops, 85 pts.

One thing I've been thinking about is having a bigger squad of warriors (10ish) for my Overlord or Imotek to join, buying a Scythe for them. Get them out of the Scythe on Turn 1 to camp an objective, or just move around and be relentless, and then have Praetorians hop in. Then move the scythe. If the Praetorians get out of the Scythe next turn, they have a 14" threat range. If the Scythe is popped, they're fast enough to get in the thick of it after. Also a doable thing with 5 Tomb Blades with Particle Cannons. (That 150pt unit is kinda seksy, IMO).

What you lose in objective missions (the unit coming on at the board edge when the scythe is destroyed), you gain in kill point missions (opponent doesn't get a free kill point for killing 5 warriors).

What dude seems to be forgetting, Necrons that lose combat by 4 or 5 run away at initiative 2. Also, Ghost Arks only hold 10 guys. Do you take a 9 strong unit and add a cryptek?

If I were to take an Ark, I'd take an MSU of warriors, add a cryptek of destruction (he can shoot his face off from inside the ark) and float it around a unit of warriors with a Phaeron in it. That said, that's just a lot of below average shooting for way too many points.
(150 for cheap good Phaeron Lord, 260 for 20 warriors, 100 for MSU warriors w\ cryptek, 115 for Ark = 625)

5 warriors in a Night Scythe is 165 pts, spam that times 4 is 660 pts. Each Scythe averages 5 S7 shooting *hits* a turn, not counting arcing against horde units.

Night Scythe is the clear choice.

4 MSU Scythes, 3 Annihilation Barges is a foundation of a ded-seksy 'cron army.

is 9 warriors a bad thing in an ark? thats 14 guass flayers, wich admittedly is not str 7, thats still a lot of possible hits and wounds. Add a cryptek with some fancy equipment to boost their potential and I think that is respectable. Now, Lore Weaver (Mark is it?), I know you are going to math hammer my face off on possible hits and wounds comparison, I nonetheless still like the potential of that ghost ark unit.

Keep in mind though, I am the guy that hates unit spam. I would rather take different units with different options if at all possible. I think it's possible to be able to compete without take multiples of what most people think is the best possible unit in a 'dex. Thus, I am not a fan of MSU spam.

I appreciate your point-of-view. The concept of a Ghost Ark or two and the phalanx army seems quite seksy, I just don't think it's as efficient as Night Scythe Spam.

As far as Crypteks go, you've got some swanky options to put in that ark, but I think the Eldritch Lance is most efficient and solves more problems for 'crons.

The warriors inside though count as moving if the vehicle moves, so it's 2 shots per warrior at 12". I don't think a ghost ark wants to be within 12" of much. :-)

One thing you can do is have a pair of Ghost Arks and a monolith in one central location on the board and Nemesor (the awesome veil guy), and port warrior units back and forth into battle, then back to the rez-shop to reload. It'd be fun, somewhat effective, but expensive.

There's nothing wrong with a stationary ark firing at 24". You can have a couple of those with a cryptek and have a third with a phaeron to give it the added range when it's moving to farther objectives.

I have no problem with the ghost arc. I think an MSU type build with ghost arcs with eldritch lances firing out of them could be decent. What I do think sucks is the big block of 20 warriors on foot that the article was advocating. The night scythe/ghost arc debate is a whole other can of worms.

The stupid continues. http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2011/12/40k-necron-unit-analysis-lychguard.html

8 Lychguard with no attached Lord and no Scythe. Oh ya, and the not-as-good-as-you'd-think shields.

Fail.

Edit: By Scythe, I mean the transport.

@LW as a assault defense unit, why would the Lychguard need a transport? He does discuss adding a lord as well. The opening section also mentions his 'portal army' so that also suggests to me that he is not big on the transport vehicles here. I've noticed that many necron reviews don't usually take the transport vehicles. This may be due to the fact that the model is not yet released. I do think that a necron foot army is a viable choice. Not everything in 5th ed. needs to be MSU in fast transports, even though it is a strong choice.

I can see using the shields if you have Obyron with them and they can get out of a crappy assault. Otherwise I like the threat that the warscythe brings.