Arts of the Red Harvest: Support Lords

[Alzer]

Hello again servants of the Star Gods!

On due request this week is going to start off a couple threads about the one and only Necron Lord.
I WILL be going over several styles of Lord, these will include: Support, Assault, Fear, and I'll round it off with a Flying Circus week (yeah that's half immortals...but bite me.)

At the head of nearly every Necron force lies a decidedly powerful core leader. With cold hellfire for eyes, and millennia of imprisonment to plot. Few mortal champions can face their frigid hatred and might. Not only do these terrors bring combat prowess and might to battle, they are also known to carry decrepit and twisted relics. It has been noticed that these relics may cause stoic soldiers to run in fits of panic, or raise their warriors back up from piles of debris and ash that should be impossible to return from. These are the Necron Lords, the Barons of Death.

Well, every Necron player, at some point in their career, runs an Orb Lord, or otherwise a support lord. A big nasty IC to sit back, and turtle up warrior phalanxes like nobody's business. Basic kit for a support lord is the Resurrection orb, because lets face it, nothing says Necron like getting back up after some ignorant mortal blasts you with a demolisher cannon. After this, the selection ranges out slightly to gaze of flame, for anti-charge support, phylacteries to keep the Lord in the best of shape, or maybe some other trinket that the player finds helpful. In the normally combat-helpless ranks of Necron Warriors and Immortals that can make up a Necron force, the Lord creates a beacon of S5 Power weapony hope for the Undying, though for a character, it's weapon skill is a little sub-par, the hits that land tend to wound, even on space marines, which is a really nice ability with the lack of AP3 and power weapons in the Necron roster.

So Necrons, how do you kit out your Support Lords? What are some of your favorite experiances and worst foleys with them? Opinions are welcome as well, please remember to keep this topic on SUPPORT lords though ;)

Enjoy!

[rufusmcdufus]

Most of the time I run the standard Orb Lord with nothing else. He doesn't really need anything else! Sometimes I don't even bother with the orb and leave him naked. Usually, I only do this if I bring 30 scarabs as they can tie up most units with Ap3 and better guns. The 40 points I save goes to giving one of them disruption fields...yum.

I almost always keep the staff of light unless it is a destroyer lord (though if I ever put my lord in a unit of flayed ones he would use a scythe). As necron warriors do not belong in close combat.

I do not really think that there is any other type of "support lord". Most of the other equipment is only useful if you are putting your Lord in a specific role (ie, fear lord, tank hunter, flying circus, etc)

[Canew]

I tend to not run a pure "support" Lord. Mine has the orb, but also is part of the "flying circus" so isn't technically the same thing.

The support lord really comes into his own when the Necrons are at their best, that is, in a solid block of units that are close enough together to support each other. A lord with res orb protecting one unit is good. A lord close enough to protect MULTIPLE units is even better. :D

[Xirmant]

yea if i run a phalanx list then i only need the orb, not worth giving him something else really:

GoF - no point since youll be sticking him in a squad in the middle or back of your phalanx. altho slowing a charges momentum is always nice.

Chrono - doubles your chances of not being swept but you wont want him in combat anyway.

Solar - almost always stops the big range guns from shooting you for a turn. pointless using this thing unless you have 1st turn imo.

cant think of any other wargear right now that you would giv a support lord

[elfneck]

With regards to the Solar Pulse, here I am again with a suggested video to watch!

YouTube - Necron Tactics: Solar Pulse & Dawn Of War Warhammer 40,000 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLOigEDHVtA&feature=PlayList&p=9D0A67E300FA2400&index=0)

Seems like a fun tactic. Perhaps seasoned players could clarify this though.

[Alzer]

Heh, Solar pulse can be a fun bit of wargear. I've started taking it with just to keep me going on dawn of war fights. And if there isn't night fighting, I can shield one of my units from heavy fire for a round, or even keep a soloing Lord from being shot up (not that I recommend that).

Gaze of flame is another piece I've really started to enjoy, it's survivability increase on a charged unit is very welcomed. And someday..just maybe the unit will WIN the combat, and their opponent will take an extra leadership penalty >>.

Xirmant, I must disagree about not wanting the lord in combat, one Lord could potentially keep a Warrior squad from being swept in the first place, the hits a lord makes normally wound whatever charged you, I like him near the front-lines to dish out the hurt in CC. Also that way if they DON"T get the charge off, that staff of light is in range for rapid-firing.

[Sithcron Lord]

I was wondering, if the lord gets the warscythe upgrade, he doesn't get the shooting attacks right? So a way to counter that drawback, to a certain extent, is to give him GoF, which means if you have a resOrb, Scythe lord you can use him to keep the warriors alive in CC and range, and to help against the CC spanking 'crons generally receive. Though would it be worth it to give the Lord the VoD or Chrono as additional anti-CC? I'm thinking that you would run this lord with a squad of 20 warriors to capture objectives and defend them.