Necron Army Analysis vs. the Top Tier

Time for some more Necron madness ! As I've said elsewhere Necrons have already been labeled as non competitive by a portion of the Internet, ranking them at best as a mid tier army along with dark eldar and Tyranids. I think it's a bit early to start making such bold statements. At worst focus on taking the best units and go from there.





Can Necrons consistently win versus the top three - Imperial Guard, Grey Knights and Space Wolves? In an attempt to answer that query in a meaningful manner let's take a look at the strengths of Necrons and see how they stack up against the weaknesses of the top three to see if they can be exploited.

Here are my picks for the main strengths of Necrons:

— Shooting
— Entropic Strike
— Mobility
— Resilience

The first two are offensive in nature while the third is strategic. The fourth is defensive and no longer do we have to worry about being phased out, so while typically we don't want to engage in protracted assaults it's not quite as devastating as it used to be back when you could automatically lose a game.

Here are my picks for the main weaknesses of the three top tier armies:

Imperial Guard
— Assaults
— Holding Objectives

Grey Knights
— Low Model Count
— Holding Objectives
— Mobility

Space Wolves
— ?

I can't really think of any major weaknesses for the pups as they are very well rounded and can excel in every phase of the game. Versus IG and GK though you have some weaknesses that are readily apparent (at least to me) and can definitely be exploited...

Versus Imperial Guard
I think you can beat IG by assaulting them (including scarabs versus their armor - Entropic Strike) and by holding more objectives. The main strength of IG is their devastating amount of shooting - Necrons have an automatic counter to this via Reanimation Protocol. If an IG player decides to bubble wrap their armor with guardsmen to hold the scarabs at bay then blast them first and keep the scarabs safely tucked away in cover until you can shred the meat shields with your shooting.

Versus Grey Knights
Build a mobile army with at least four troops. Avoid assaults unless you're sure you have a clear advantage. Again focus on holding more objectives.

Versus Space Wolves
This is the tough one as there isn't much yet I can think of that you can exploit. Once I'm able to start seriously playtesting my army I'll spend some time focusing on how to beat Space Wolves. In general Necrons can lay down a prodigious amount of firepower and I think it's on par with any of the armies I've listed here so that is always a strength obviously - this your main strength versus Space Wolves.

Conclusion
Like I said really it's too early to say where Necrons will rank. We need to see how they fare in tournament play to get a better informed opinion. My gut instinct tells me Necrons can beat the top three and I think they can do quite well versus both IG and GK.