40K Tactics : Maximum Threat Overload Necrons

Reece here from Frontline Gaming to share how I recently had the pleasure of getting my teeth kicked in by a very well constructed Necron list piloted by my friend, Jy2. Here is the list and tactics he used.

Jy2 is a very skilled competitive 40K player. You may not have heard his name before because due to his work schedule, he doesn’t have the time to play in large events. At any rate, I felt the list was very solid, and could easily be piloted by a newer player to good effect. As such, it would provide a great starting point for someone wanting to jump into competitive Necrons.

Now, the actual game doesn’t tell the whole story. I was using a derivation of a meta-game busting IG list I have been playing which I recently won a local RTT with (report here). My list was designed to counter the current competitive meta of str 6-8 spam by providing only Av14 tanks and hordes of infantry as targets; thereby rendering the points spent on those weapons largely wasted. The concept has proven successful against your average tournament lists, and a lot of fun to play.

Jy2 wanted to try his Necrons against my list at 2K so I threw in a few off the wall units just to jump up from 1850 (what we tend to play in my area). The only reason I offer up this explanation is because I know there will be people who think the list I was using (since it contains units that the internet thinks are not optimal) will undermine the points I am about to make. I acknowledge that my list wasn’t optimized, however, I don’t think that in this case it is all that relevant.

I feel that the list Jy2 constructed was very, very good. While one game doesn’t prove anything unequivocally, I feel that this is a list that bears serious consideration for those who are looking for a competitive Necron build. While I honestly think it has less pure power than the Scarab Farm list, it is also a lot less gimmicky. The Scarab Farm provides overwhelming force that tends to crush your average tournament list. The Maximum Threat Overload list is more of a well rounded list that doesn’t have the weaknesses that the Scarab Farm list has.

So what is it?

Anrakyr

Catacomb Command Barge

1x Cryptek – Harbinger of Destruction, Solar Pulse

Necron Overlord – Mindshackle Scarabs, Phase Shifter, Warscythe, Weave

Catacomb Command Barge

1x Cryptek – Harbinger of Destruction, Solar Pulse

5x Warriors

5x Warriors

5x Warriors

5x Warriors

10x Canoptek Scarabs

6x Canoptek Wraiths – 3x Whip Coils, 1x Particle Blaster (Raveners)

5x Canoptek Wraiths – 3x Whip Coils, 1x Particle Blaster (Raveners)

3x Canoptek Spyders – Claw Array, Gloom Prism

Doom Scythe (Vendetta)

Doom Scythe (Vendetta)

The list is predicated around the concept of overloading your opponent with threats that are on him turn 2. The Warrior squads tend to reserve and hide, going for objectives and generally keeping their heads down while the rest of the army does the heavy lifting. Those little squads may look weak, but due to the plethora of much higher priority targets and reserving tactics, are often ignored.

The reason I think this is a fairly easy list for a beginning Necron player to use, is that it is very straight forward. You bum rush the other player in nearly every situation. If you go first, your opponent has one turn to try and stop you before you are multi-assaulting with Scarabs, Wraiths and the Overlords. If the Necrons go second, the Solar Pulses help to mitigate any incoming fire. There are also a large number of high priority threats to increase survivability of each unit through target saturation.

It is also has a mini-Scarab Farm, giving you all of the strengths and weaknesses of that list in miniature.

The Doom Scythes are essentially sacrificial units. They have an intimidating weapon array that in this day of light mech spam, can be deadly. However, they are not the real damage dealing units of the list. They can’t be ignored though, and as such, are excellent distraction units.

Anrakyr is a great addition to this style list as he is just so useful, being able to potentially destroy 3 units in a single turn with his special ability and the Command barge. The second Overlord is incredibly durable and has the ability to walk through tanks and non dedicated assault units with ease.

In my opinion, this is a great list. I think it would struggle with any army that is superior to it in combat or that don’t have many vehicles, such as a Fatecrusher Daemon list or certain Tyranid builds. However, Daemons and Bugs are typically very rarely seen in tournaments and as such are an acceptable weakness.

A fast, shooty army could also prove problematic such as Mechdar or Mech Dark Eldar. With high rates of fire, and lots of str 6-8 on mobile platforms, that could be problematic. Particularly Dark Eldar with Night Fight to cut through the solar pulses. These match-ups are much more common and we will definitely play them out to see if the Maximum Threat Overload Necrons can stand up to them.

Jim has recently played this list against a tournament Draigowing and Purifier Spam list, and defeated them both. Again, this is not definitive data, but it certainly goes a long way to proving both the flexibility and power the list has.

We need more data to ascertain the real power of this list, but I believe it is solid, and a great place for a Necron player to start in the competitive scene. From this foundation, it would be fairly easy to fine tune it into a list that suits your local meta and play style.