40K TACTICA: Necron Phase Out
Since 5th edition’s release, the Necron “phase out” rule which was originally intended for balance, is now a major weakness. Unlike all other armies, your opponent mearly has to kill 75% of your Necron forces to achieve a complete victory, regardless of any other mission considerations. This means that even the Monolith, one of the most feared vehicles in the game can effectively be ignored for victory purposes. It will just disappear once you’ve killed enough.
There is really only two ways to try and combat phase out as a necron player. The first way I’ve named…
“Wow, That’s Big!!”
If you’re fielding 3 monolith’s and a C’tan in 2000 points, it can be quite scary for your opponent. The kind of fear only invoked by 16 nob bikers, or 9 leman russ tanks. Unfortunately for the Necron player, the big stuff is not actually as frightening as the other two examples. If the big stuff doesn’t kill a lot very quickly, the opposing force will just kill every other thing on the board. Thankfully, those 4 models can hit pretty hard and definitely presents a ticking clock for your opponent. This is the method I’ve been playing recently with my Necrons, with marginal and occasional success.
The second method that I’m going to be testing out this week with my new forces is called…
“You Can’t Kill THIS Many!”
This method centers around a gigantic force of Necron Warriors that makes phasing out unlikely. This concept centers around a minimum of 60+ warriors with supporting necron forces with specialized purposes scattered throughout the FOC. Though this method leaves you vulnerable to assault, there are enough gauss guns to prevent a second round from just about any squad. Combined with some speed bump squads like scarabs, as well as some dirty tricks, it can be reasonably hard to deal with. I’ll have more information after I do some testing with this method this week.
Any other Necron players out there have any other ideas or methods you’ve used to help you avoid getting phased out? We’re not getting a new codex for a bit, so lets hear what you fellow Necron Lords scattered around the globe have to offer.
