# Versus Necron Destroyers



## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

*Versus: Week Fifteen​*
They're very heavily armed and very, very fast. They move like Jetbikes and pack either Gauss cannons or Heavy Gauss cannons, depending upon the variant. Vicious bastards.

So how do you deal with them?


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## kungfoomasta (May 8, 2008)

they have t5 and 3+ save so get in cc where they suck or just hope they fail alot of saves and wbb rolls


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## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

But as fast as they are, it won't be easy to engage them


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## SyNide (Nov 24, 2007)

My take on this would be to nullify their mobility...I remember a tactic for dealing with mech tau that involved essentially closing them in a space, so no matter where they went, they'd always be within range of your guns.

Likewise, make sure that wherever those destroyers move, they will be within the threat radius of at least one of your units. Shouldn't be too hard to do with a balanced list.


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## Alexander_67 (May 5, 2007)

Destroyers are nasty as hell. Not only are troops at risk from the fire but the heavy 3 gauss will mean lots of vehicle glances. They're range exceeds everything else in the necron army seeing as they move like jet bikes and have 36 inch gun. Most of the tactics of use i've seen are just sitting them behind necron lines and using them like support instead of immortals. The massive range means they arent just like the monolith and can be ignored. 

T5 means they are only denyed there we'll be back with str 10 ranged weapons. Perhaps a pie plate from the vindicator if it can live long enough or the tau rails. Other than that its just piling in the shots and try to get them all in one turn to deny the WBB rule. 

CC is a viable option if you have the means to get there. I've killed a unit of 3 with a callidus before. Then again my callidus is turning into a sort of one stop cure for things lately. But remember they are jetbikes. Get close they are probably just going to run off. And they can move far and still shoot. Nail one of them with shooting and the unit probably wont run far as the WBB needs one of the same type of unit within 6. That should help pin em down for CC to move in. 

Ideally in any fight against necrons these guys should be your anti-tanks first port of call. A full unit of 5 normal destroyers can pump out 15 shots that deny marines their armour save. Against anything from normal marines to battlesuits and demon princes thats bad news. The math on vehicle glances isnt good either.


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## Xaereth (Dec 14, 2007)

Against the 'necron air force' (armies that consist of almost purely destroyers), I tend to do decently. If they're taking almost purely destroyers, they won't have the points to bring a monolith, and therefore if you can get into HtH with them, that entire squad's effectiveness is pretty much shot for the rest of the game. How to get them in HtH?

Being a Blood Angels player, I generally turbo- boost my MM bikes toward the destroyers, making them pretty difficult to kill if the destroyers decide to fire on them. If the destroyers decide to stick around, I can tie them up in CC almost indefintely. If they decide to run away, they'll have to turbo away, and therefore can't shoot that turn anyways. 

Also, making use of a Callidus assassin will stop one of the squads, and eventually destroy it. 

Against destroyers sitting in the back shooting, just take a turn concentrating on shooting them, they'll die easily enough, and if you kill all of them in a turn, they won't get WBB. 

In my opinion, normal destroyers don't do a lot of damage to a marine army. Sure, they can hurt your vehicles, but with BA thats not going to matter a whole lot anyways, since all my vehicles don't do much vs. 'crons anyways.

Heavy destroyers can do a bit more damage, but if you use the same 'concentrate fire on all of them' tactic I talked about earlier, they won't end up hurting you too bad either. I guess in the end its all about target priority and massed firepower.


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## darklove (May 7, 2008)

Alexander_67 said:


> Nail one of them with shooting and the unit probably wont run far as the WBB needs one of the same type of unit within 6. That should help pin em down for CC to move in.


This is not really an option at all. WBB is rolled at the start of the turn, before moving. If it makes the WBB then it is back up and the unit can move off. If it doesn't make the WBB then it is dead and the unit can still move off.

This tactic will not 'pin em down' at all.


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## kungfoomasta (May 8, 2008)

Alexander_67 said:


> Ideally in any fight against necrons these guys should be your anti-tanks first port of call. A full unit of 5 normal destroyers can pump out 15 shots that deny marines their armour save. Against anything from normal marines to battlesuits and demon princes thats bad news. The math on vehicle glances isnt good either.


destroyer gauss cannon is ap 4 so there marines get their save. i gererally play against horde armies so they are of course i use lots of them. their movement makes it impossible to pin them down with one unit but if you make a pincer tactic they are forced to prioritize which is when you hope they make mistakes. jump troops deep strike and bikes are great for getting them and if you can infiltrate on necrons it gives the rest of your army a chance to move without being hit the first round


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## Son of mortarion (Apr 24, 2008)

COVER COVER and more COVER. As one of my instructors at armor school told me, A tank's best friend is the hills you put between it and the enemy. The adage is still true for infantry, if not more so. If the destroyers have no targets they are a points sink at 50 points each. My usual method of dealing with an opponent that can seriously out shoot me is to pick some heavy cover, try to place my forces in such a way that kill zones are no more than 10 inches, preferably with intervening terrain. After that I try to create overlapping fields of fire. When I do this, the necrons have to come and dig my death guard from the positions they occupy.:biggrin: The destroyers are neutralized without my devoting a single unit to the task.


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## darklove (May 7, 2008)

I think that will be hard to do mortarion. Destroyers have a long range and are very mobile, so it won't take them long to move into advantagious firing possitions. If the Destroyers have no targets, as you suggest, then neither have you. Hiding does not deal with the threat posed by Destroyers, it only stalls your army and gives the Necron player the initiative. Did you know, for example, that it is possible for a squadron of 5 Destroyers to move 30" in a single turn and still fire their 15 S6 shots? They will be able to get an angle on the enemy, one way or another.


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## Steel Nathan (Apr 26, 2008)

Ahhhhh Destoryers.... very annoying. But fun to kill IMO. There are actually several possible ways to kill these dudes IMO. Probably the best one is to shoot them ( either heavy Firing or mass firing). Mass firing at Heavy Destoryers with your own mass dudes is probably the best way, seeing that they only get one shot . Against Destoryers..... it be a good idea to fire heavy weapons which are like S 7 +. 

Combat can be a good thing too, depending who's charging. AS someone said before, they arn't the best in combat. They really don't have anything special in combat ( except for that T 5 :ireful2. But agin it might be hard to catch them if your opponent is playing " try and catch me (jerk ). 

Other then that the only REAL way to kill them is by shooting, preferably with Long Ranged Weapons or mass firing


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## Son of mortarion (Apr 24, 2008)

darklove said:


> I think that will be hard to do mortarion. Destroyers have a long range and are very mobile, so it won't take them long to move into advantagious firing possitions. If the Destroyers have no targets, as you suggest, then neither have you. Hiding does not deal with the threat posed by Destroyers, it only stalls your army and gives the Necron player the initiative. Did you know, for example, that it is possible for a squadron of 5 Destroyers to move 30" in a single turn and still fire their 15 S6 shots? They will be able to get an angle on the enemy, one way or another.


gonna have to explain hoe they can move 30 inches and still fire.


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## darklove (May 7, 2008)

18" for portal to Monolith + 12" move = 30" in 1 turn


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## Son of mortarion (Apr 24, 2008)

darklove said:


> 18" for portal to Monolith + 12" move = 30" in 1 turn


the monolith is kinda spendy on the points isnt it? Necrons need numbers to beat my death guard, so bring it on, less necrons on the board means an earlier phase out:laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## darklove (May 7, 2008)

I see you laughing, so you haven't played many Necron armies. Monoliths are arguably more dangerous than Land Raiders, but cheaper and harder to kill. In a 1500pt game you will still face enough Necrons to make phase out unlikely. Especially when you consider that the Monolith allows some Necrons to re-roll their WBB!


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## Lord Reevan (May 1, 2008)

I faced them twice but I destroyed them using similar tactic to Son Of mortarion there. If you use cover well enough they'd have to go around it fire and then they'd be within range of several squads at once. Including baals and DC. Also if they're staying back and firing best thing is to deepstike som termies. Either by charging up with an assault squad armed with a teleport homer(vanilla marines) or by scattering and hoping for the best. Both have worked for me


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## darklove (May 7, 2008)

I agree Lord Reevan, about the deep strike. Getting some termies in close and shooting them down is a great way to take out Destroyers. They have a great armour save and there is almost nothing in most 1500pt armies that can kill them easily. Can termies carry assault cannons?


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## Lord Reevan (May 1, 2008)

2 in one squad. that's why I love them:biggrin:


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## darklove (May 7, 2008)

Then that is probably the best way of all.


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## dizzington esq (Apr 24, 2008)

Maneuverability is their biggest advantage to avoid being tied up in cc. It becomes a ranged fight. Try to use long range hvy weapons to dismantle them. Usually with their deployment they may be isolated from a nearby lord with res orb so wbb rolls most likely apply unless it is S10 due to their high T5 value.

If you can catch them in cc then you will have the advantage but they are fast suckers.

Did I mention that I like scarabs...


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## Cinder (Apr 3, 2008)

I say if you plan on firing at some destroyers you need just concentrate one unit at a time. Their min/max is 3/5 guys per unit. So if it is just 3 guys it shouldn't be that hard to get rid of them, although higher toughness mean mass/heavy fire to hurt them. Plus I would also like to point out that even if you some how got rid of one squad and their is another squad of destroyers within 6 inches they will still get their WBB rolls and then if they do get up they immediately join that squad. So in a sense you could actually be doing your oppenent a favor and making two squads into one large squad. Whats worse if they have a tomb spider around then the destroyers are able to be spread out over a 24 inches. If you get rid of one squad and there is a tomb spider within 12 inches and another squad of destroyers within 12 inches of the spider then they are still allowed a WBB roll. In which case any destroyers that do get up immediately get into coherency to the destroyer squad that was 24 inches away!! Meaning this could potentially overload one side of the table with lots of long range gauss. So the thing to do is to take out any supporting units that help with WBB rolls and then concentrate fire one unit at a time.


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## oreomaster3 (Mar 13, 2009)

they cannot teleport to another squad if that squad is doing wwb rolls too


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## Daneel2.0 (Jul 24, 2008)

One of the things to keep in mind when facing Destroyers is that, against a good Necron player, you will always be facing at least 2 squads. Additionally, since they are such a large investment of points (500 for 2 full squads) you are probably going to see a Destroyer Lord with them. 

That said, as with all Necrons, CC is the best option, followed by AP3 or better weapons. 

Against CC, most Necron players will sacrifice a round of shooting to avoid CC and will turbo-boost their 24" to get away. If they have the ability, they will also use terrain and other units to funnel and attack chasing opponents. A Pincer or a Envelopment can prevent this, but its tough to do against jet bikes since they can go over the blocking units. To combat this you should hold units at a 18" distance from the Destroyers on each side (and 18" apart from each other in a loose umbrella) and then attack with a 3rd unit. This is unit expensive, but against Necrons you almost always have unit superiority. Keeping blockers at 18" means it doesn't matter if they move between 6 to 24" in either direction since you will be able to get the charge. And using a 3rd attacking unit means they can't stay still. If they are able to retreat then you just follow until they can't anymore. It may take time, but it can eventually force CC.

AP3 or better weaponry, on the other hand, can be used to prevent the armor saves. They will still probably get a WBB, but if you can focus enough fire that can be overcome by eliminating all the squads in the area.


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## DarknessWithin (Jan 4, 2009)

[My Thoughts On You Idea] No offence but you're saying that you keep three units within 18" but what ar you thinking? No matter what they can still shoot, at any of the units. Depending on what the units are,with a few lucky shots they could create an exit. Also they could start shooting at the units when they're 36" away. So you'd really need cover to get there.[/My Thoughts On You Idea]
DarknessWithin


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## cafel (Dec 21, 2008)

Obviously you would want to use either a horde big enough to take some shots, or perferebly a tougher unit with a better armor save . It'll take awhile, but it seems like a tactic that would kill them eventually. I think that at 500 points those two units are 1/3 to 1/4 of your opponents army, so devoting three high survivabilty units wouldn't be too disproportionate use of force.


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## Ferik (Nov 5, 2008)

My first thought on this was to use Vanguard which seem ideally equipped to deal with the Destroyers.

They can deepstrike right close to them (though granted thats a crapshoot) and if using Shrike they can Fleet to get into grips with them all the quicker.

Also if they end up that close they have nowheres to run and will die in combat especially if running all Lightning Claws (though insanely expensive).

Probably not the best choice points wise but it would be effective I think.


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## Daneel2.0 (Jul 24, 2008)

DarknessWithin said:


> [My Thoughts On You Idea] No offence but you're saying that you keep three units within 18" but what ar you thinking? No matter what they can still shoot, at any of the units. Depending on what the units are,with a few lucky shots they could create an exit. Also they could start shooting at the units when they're 36" away. So you'd really need cover to get there.[/My Thoughts On You Idea]
> DarknessWithin


Of course they will be shooting! That's why the Necron Player bought them presumably :biggrin: And they're going to be shooting you anywhere within range anyway. If you are able to position your units in the formation I described, you can at least make a reasonable attempt to close to w/in CC range.

Which was all I was thinking. It is simply an tactic designed so that a small number of units can negate the movement advantage possessed by Destroyers. Nothing more. 

Now, depending on the units you have available, you may need to double up on each side, or even triple up on each side. But the type and make up of the troops used are less important than the distances. Once you know where to place the units, you can use whichever unit you find most effective, in as many numbers as you can swing.


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## Jack Jack (Nov 16, 2008)

I don't know how would that pincer work. Don't forget that, even if the destroyers are 1/3 of my army, I've still got the other 2/3 to prevent this. I could, for exemple, send in a bunch o' scarabs on a rescue mission on one of the sides of your pincer to tie you in cc and while I'm at it, shoot on your other side of it. To buy some time.

Then, anything trying to catch my destroyers will cleverly be taken away from any objective and warriors are tough as nails to nab 'em an' keep 'em. If you can't get objectives because you are trying to kill my destroyers, even if you succeed, their job is done.


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## Daneel2.0 (Jul 24, 2008)

True, you have more forces, but in almost all situations you opponent will have more than you do and can send more in to "rescue" or envelope your Destroyers. Besides, this is a thread on how to kill Destroyers, not how to kill them AND the rest of the Necron army :biggrin:

The biggest advantage that the Destroyers have is mobility, the second biggest is their gauss cannon. Taken together these advantages allow them to move and shoot to very good effect. In order to stop them you need to take advantage of their weaknesses (low model count) and negate their advantages at the same time. 

Envelopment allows you to control movement. Then, if you use units that can take the hit from the cannon, you'll be good :grin:


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## Mud213 (Nov 20, 2008)

I have found that Jump Infantry can be the bane of Destroyers. If they keep making a B-line to your destroyers, they will either corner them or lock them up in close combat.

I had the unfortunate game of playing against a Jump-Infantry-as-Troops BA force and things went poorly since they were able to catch my Destroyers and that made my Wraiths rather ineffective since Death Company in Jump packs will own any and all Wraiths you try to throw at them.


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## Winst0n (Mar 12, 2009)

i use destroyers in almost all of my battles and have only once have had them taken out effectively. i was playing nids. and i got stuck in a table corner with terrain blocking them except for two openings. the nid player saw the situation and sent swarms down both lanes. my squad could only shoot one which ended up with the other hitting me and while locked in cc the remnants of the other squad hit my destroyers. 

while it my bad tactics played a part in the defeat it was also due to 1] terrain and 2] having enough models to absorb the 15 hits. both of which have been previously mentioned in this thread.


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## Jack Jack (Nov 16, 2008)

So this is what a nid, guard or ork would do I presume, since it is easy for them to field enough models to swarm the destroyers so they cannot escape the close combat. (Now, can they turbo boost over enemy units to escape a pincer since Jetbikes usually can go over impassable terrain as long as they do not end their movement on it) 

However, how would a marine or any army with similar model count fare against them? what must I be afraid that my opponent will do?


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## hockeydude16 (Apr 22, 2009)

if i'm correct you play orks? If so just blast them with lootas, thats generally what i do. Granted they still will have a save and wbb but most of the time its very successful for me. just throwing out an idea


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

Ah the joys of SW- A drop pod with 2 plasmagun and 2 plasma pistols is my weapon of choice.... I should kill 3 destroyers without much trouble. Since thats all my opponent uses they're dead and out of the battle.

Last game I played him with my nids and by turn 2 I had a winged tyrant in combat with 3+lord and a lictor in the other 3.... all the destroyers ended up in combat with the lictor (damn WBB) but he still held out for about 4 rounds of combat. Meaning that by the time They could shoot they were in range of an absolute #### storm of gaunt fire and MCs (after the next WBB roll my opponent had only 2 necrons left... it was harsh)


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