Dark Eldar: Nemesis – Necrons

Dark Eldar: Nemesis – Necrons

So back to Nemesis this week and the big cheese at the moment, Necrons. I have a sad confession to make. I played in three tournaments with these guys and I have to say I still feel a bit dirty.

I was playing these guys end of 5^th just as my Dark Eldar were struggling on the tournament scene. There ability to cover every angle appealed to many tournament gamer and frankly after a while just put me off. Theres no doubt these guys are powerful but the question is how about now?

 

Before:

On paper Dark Elder shoulda been brilliant against Necrons. Necrons strengths lie with covering the table in night fight for 2/3 turns. Dark elder had nightfight. Necrons had plenty of av 13 vehicles. Dark Eldar had lances. Necrons wraiths could be shot down by venom fire and the barons unit was brutal against these guys.

Unfortunately this wasn’t the 1 sided contest it seemed.

Night fight was unreliable still even with a reroll. This meant their long range firepower was still brutal especially to our poor venoms. How do you kill the hellions? Well with massed str 7 firepower ofc! Scarabs used to tear apart our weak vehicles and were difficult to shift. There is no doubt about it this was a difficult match up. But it wasn’t as one sided as as the Grey Knight/Imperial guard ones.

What changed:

Well Necrons no longer rely on nightfight. Necrons also boast plenty of wraiths (more than 5^th ed at least) and the staple of 6^th, Nightscythes.

Dark Eldar just don’t have a lot of anti flyer options. Their own flyers are very unreliable and the Necron ones are. But it is the ability to drop troops anywhere turn 5 because of their flyers that really sets them apart.

Not ofc that Necrons stamp all over Dark Eldar, Wraiths can be shot down with venom fire and with the addition of Eldar allies, Necrons inability to stop psychic powers can also be exploited.

Perhaps the real bonus to fighting Necrons (especially if you go north) is that they are predictable. You will allways see the same build of many wraiths, annialation barges and flyers backed by destroyer lords.

The ability to sit on that 30-36 inch window really helps here.

The Conclusion

Nemesis Rating

5^th Ed: 8/10

6^th Ed 8/10

These guys are still a massive threat. This is mainly due to the flyers they bring to the table and their utter (incredibly annoying) ability to stay around after being battered in their first 2 turns.

Eldar Allies does help but still this is a tough matchup not our worst but still up there.

Thanks for reading. Next time ill be telling you how I got on in the GT final. Until then! TATA