De'Aynes Spotters Guide to GothicThe Necrons
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The Necron Fleet
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Development of the Fleet The Necron fleet has gone through probably more changes and versions than any other fleet so far. The fleet first appeared in issue number two of Gothic magazine, but received a great deal of criticism due to the fact that they were extremely powerful in attack and almost unbreakable in the right hands. The list then underwent further playtesting and revisions, until the current version appeared in the 2002 Gothic Annual. However, the fleet suffers from a combination of being very tough to hit, and the memories of those players who disliked the previous list. The fleet is tough, no doubt, but it is certainly not unbeatable. In terms of miniatures, the Necrons fleet is common to most fleets in the game in that all of the vessels are metal only. In addition, there have been a few reports that the Cairn is extremely difficult to balance on a flying base, due to its size and uneven weight distribution. The vessels are easy to paint, even compared to other Gothic ships, and can look quite effective quickly. | |||||
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Characteristics of the Fleet The Necron fleet suffers from a large number of special rules and conditions, and for this reason the Necrons are another fleet for the more experienced player. They are a very good fleet in defence, given that all the vessels have the highest armour rating possible, at six. Added to this, the fleet benefits from a save on hits, which varies depending on the vessel. This can make Necron vessels extremely difficult to knock down, even though the the fleet does not have any shields. Lances become the weapon that the Necrons must look out for, but even these need to be massed and concentrated in order to damage a Necron ship. The Necrons can move deceptively fast for ships so powerful, and they are able to race across the battlefield and bring their attacks to bear at will. Not only this, but they can turn better than almost any fleet, with the possible exception of the Eldar. Necron weapons become most powerful and deadly at relatively short range, at about 20cm. Add to all of this the fact that the Necrons have high turret values, making sure that they will not become victims to the first battle plan of a defensive admiral, swamp him with ordnance. So, the other fleets in the game are just waiting to be destroyed and have no chance to counter the Necrons? Not quite. Necrons can have excellent leadership values with the right upgrades, but they need to pay for them. The vessels are not particularly cheap and they have no ordnance of their own (although they will punish any enemy vessel foolish enough to get within hit and run range). While the fleet has an extremely high speed in general, the vessels have a range of speeds and this can make it difficult to make sure that all of the Necron fleet arrives at the same time in the same place. Also, a Necron vessel on Brace for Impact orders is seriously compromised in terms of offensive capabilities. The Cairn Tombship can be a gamble in a Necron fleet. On one hand, it is a very powerful vessel, one of the strongest in the game, however they also represent a significant risk in terms of victory points sacrificed if it is lost. For this reason, they are best reserved for games of 1500 points or more. With the fleet's natural speed mixed with its high armor and usually dorsal-like weapon mounts, there really is no need for the Necrons to clump together like a ball of lint. I find that a line abreast formation typically works well, with the cruisers in the back and the escorts in the front. The speed of the individual vessels means that any ship can completely alter its possition so that it may react to any attack anywhere on the battle line. In addition, the more spread out formation allows for a more limited Nova Cannon damage rate, as with the Iron Box, it is possible to hit three ships with one Nova Cannon, yet at most, the double line abreast tends to reduce the number of maximum ships hurt at two. Now, I have had success with this formation more then just a little commonly, and it always seems to work out better for me then a wedge or box formation, as those are much more clumped together and any ordinance that misses my ships (common with 6+ armor) stands more of a chance of smacking into another one of my vessels. Being spread out cuts down on that. However, due to the penalties in victory points which the Necron faces must face, many Gothic games involving the Necrons end with the Necrons winning or losing by victory points, and not simply destroying more ships than the enemy.The thing for the Necron player to watch out for is that the enemy will mass his weapons, keep his fleet together and take out the Necrons one vessel at a time, completely destroying a ship before moving on. This can be unsatisfying for the players, and more than one game has ended with the Necron player displaying a huge smile, only to be told that he has lost after the victory points have been counted. The fleet is more of a challenge and should be avoided by newer players. Cairn: With all weapons on an equivilent of a dorsal mount (meaning L/F/R arcs), it is really very easy to focus its highly respectable firepower on a single target. However, because they are l/f/r's, one can find him or herself falling into the habit of approching the enemy head on. While that might be a good idea for Imperials, for the Necrons, with 6+ all around, it can only hurt them as enemy weapon batteries will hit all the easier. Instead, try to force yourself to approch abeam to the targets at all times. Your firepower is not reduced, but your opponent's firepower sure is! A good combo to use on the Cairn is, utilizing a Sepulcher, attempt to have the enemy fail to make a leadership check, then blasting away at that one vessel with extreme prejudice. Now, if the enemy passes his leadership, just be sure you rolled for split fire ahead of time so you can decide what to do next. (Unless your group forces you to allocate attacks against vessels before actual rolling is done, in which case it may or may not be too late.) If he failed, the target vessel can do 1 of 2 things: 1) Use a reroll up to pass the test, thus hurting him in the long run, or 2) Accept the -1 perminant Ld penalty and also loose the ability to make any special orders that turn. Situation 2 is particularly fun because that also means no brace for impact. Nothing spells OUCH like multiple combined attacks from this NEXT vessel.... Scythe: Just like the Cairn, this ship should never approach head on. However, with L/R fire archs for both the Portals (was this a typo or on purpose? Because all other portals are L/F/R except for for Scythe's...) and the Flux Arcs it takes on a higher importance. Although a powerful ship, this baby works best with at least one other of its type helping it along. If you have never seen three Scythes combine firepower with lock on to a single vessel, you ain't seen NOTHING yet - especially when they are within 15cm. With its high strength lances and respectable battery array, the main guns of this ship are more on par with some battlecruisers. This vessel's speed, and innertialess drive, allow it to reach a maximum of 90cm a turn, making a 45 degree twist every 20cm. This means it is really easy, with just a little bit of luck, to outflank the opposition and even get behind them. As far as Exterminatus is concerned, these things are great! No dorsal weapon means no lost guns, and their high speed allows you to make a B-Line towards the planet before the enemy can even react. Parking two Exterminatus platforms on turn 5 in low orbit whilst taking minimal damage in the process is a real shock to an opponent's moral.... I would like to conclude my review on the Scythe with this option of my particular observation: Cairn are good, but for the exact cost of one Cairn with sepulcher you can fit in two scythes which have two more lances, two more teleport attacks, one more star pulse, move 10cm faster a piece, turn tighter (10cm rather then 15cm), have the same armor value, have the same turrets when using turret share, and have four more combined hits whilst only losing four points of Flux Arch strength, and I have not even mentioned that even if one of the ships are crippled, you are still putting out more total firepower then a crippled cairn, even in the batteries, plus the loss of one of the ships is less damaging in the Victory Points than losing one Cairn. I say getting two Scythes is a smarter investment than getting a single Cairn. Shroud: While not cheap, the Shroud is one of the best Light Cruisers in the game. It is faster than the cruisers of other races, while at the same time having generally better armour. On top of this, it has a higher strength Lightening Arc than a Scythe, although this is the only weapon that it has available. Perhaps the biggest advantage is its ability to generate an extra +1 to the Necron Command rolls, as long as the Necrons have one of these uncrippled and in play. While the whole Necron fleet acts more as a loose group of individual vessels than a combined force, the Shroud in particular benefits from operating on the edges of the conflict. Here, while it is unlikely to destroy an enemy vessel alone, it is able to pick off damaged ships with the Lightening Arc and is less likely to be picked off in return. Operating in this way, a single Shroud is able to cover a lot of space, relocating to where it is needed and ensuring that the enemy are never given time to recover from any attacks. Dirge: These things are blindingly fast, even before All Ahead Full. And with a firepower of three to boot, pack quite a punch each. This combination, along with their status as escorts (more fun with column shifts!) allows them to be perhaps even more well suited to coming in from the sides of an enemy fleet and making focused, pinpoint attacks on enemy vessels, taking the enemy apart piecemeal. And as they are not capital ships, you can be a lot less conservative with how you risk them. Jackal: These are, in short, all that a Dirge is, and more. Sure they move 10cm slower, but they are still freakin fast! And a strength four battery PLUS TELEPORT ATTACKS means that they can, if one uses 4+ of these at once, take out an enemy cruiser in a single pass. And even if the target survives, it might very well be lacking all of its weapon systems and so needs repairs before returning fire. Kind of freaky when your opponent is more worried about your escorts than your cruisers. Unfortunatly, at 50 points a pop, these little bugs are pricy and so usually come in relatively low numbers compared to other escort squadrens. | |||||
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