Necron Kill Teams: The Exalted Scythe

Necrons now have the new Kill Team starter, The Exalted Scythe, coming this weekend and with it a look into the Necrons Kill Teams.

via the Warhammer Community
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/09/25/warhammer-40000-kill-team-necrons-tacticagw-homepage-post-2/

The Necrons are an elite and incredibly hardy faction, and though their kill teams will often find themselves outnumbered, they are more than capable of overcoming the odds. First and foremost, their combination of high Toughness and solid armour ensures that they are not easily harmed in the first place, but they can even recover from injuries and flesh wounds thanks to Reanimation Protocols:

Their universal Leadership of 10 means that they are very rarely shaken from failed Nerve tests, let alone broken, and they wield some of the deadliest standard weapons in the game:

But before we go any further, let’s take a quick look at the model types available to a Necron kill team in a bit more detail:

Necron Warriors have a solid profile, and their gauss flayers have an AP value of -1, making them an absolute bargain at only 12 points a model. It’s easy to favour Immortals due to their superior armour and weaponry, but in a Faction that often struggles for numbers, Necron Warriors offer a reliable option to bulk out your kill team. A Necron Warrior makes an excellent choice for a Comms specialist, where they can offer fire support as well as a bonus to hit with the Scanner ability.

The mainstay of most Necron kill teams, Immortals are excellent candidates for both Leader and specialists. Your choice of weapon to arm them with makes for an interesting dilemma – though both formidable, gauss weapons are great for punching through armour, but their hitting power is wasted against lighter opposition. It’s, therefore, a good idea to have models with both weapon options at your disposal so that you can field Immortals with tesla carbines to counter kill teams comprising more numerous, lightly armoured foes.

For the most part, Necron kill teams are better off keeping the foe at a safe distance where they can blow them apart with their deadly firepower. However, Flayed Ones are exceptional fighters at close range and are even able to re-roll failed wound rolls in combat. They have no ranged weapons but, at only 10 points per model, are fantastic choices for contesting enemy-held objectives or serving as a roving defensive screen for your shooters. If you want to close on your foe in the first couple of battle rounds, charge a distant enemy (preferably one that can’t see you to prevent them from firing Overwatch) to increase your odds of a longer move compared to an Advance roll. Flayed Ones benefit greatly from being Combat or Zealot specialists, but if your target is a model with multiple Wounds, be sure to use the Flensing Fury Tactic to potentially double your damage output!

Deathmarks are deadly shots, aided greatly by the fact that their synaptic disintegrators are Rapid Fire weapons that share the abilities of a sniper weapon (meaning that they never suffer penalties to hit at long range and double their firepower at half range). As a result, Deathmarks have a much greater utility than your average long-distance, one-shot marksman. Sniper and Scout specialisms are your best choices for Deathmarks.

There are a number of useful Tactics available to the Necrons (even more if you get your hands on those in The Exalted Scythe Starter Set). Here are my top three:

Use this on a enemy model with a plasma weapon and overcharge it for the potential to take out two enemies at once! This Tactic often has the added benefit of a clear shot, as friendly models are unlikely to be in cover when shooting at one another.

What flesh wound?

Pull this tactic on your unsuspecting opponent when you’re in Rapid Fire range with your Immortal’s gauss blaster to all but guarantee one target’s destruction or cut down multiple foes.

Here are three effective kill team builds that you can try out:

3 Immortals (one with tesla carbine), 2 Deathmarks, 2 Flayed Ones – solid survivability and a flexible range of heavy firepower, with a pair of Flayed Ones for attacking, objective holding, or a sweeping defence.