Dr DestroyerLord, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Assault

"Lefou, I'm afraid I've been thinking"
"A dangerous pastime..."
"I know"

I've read some people talking about Necrons in assault and how weak they are. The key to beating them appears to be, as Jean Luc Picard would say, "Engage." Others like the surflord tricks (but with D3 attacks, they really are just tricks), or Destroyer Lords - but the loss of the Court seems so bad.

Can it be done?
Yes... Kind of.

Disclaimer: This is an exercise in taking an army against its grain. This isn't meant to be a serious army... somewhat like my initial NippleWing, it will do well against certain opponents, and die horribly to others.

I doubt you're going to find anything here that you didn't already know - but I plan on talking about a couple variants and what to use.

What's good in assault for Necrons?

• Command Barge Lords (pseudo - not true assault)
• Destroyer Lords
• Flayed Ones - kind of.
• Wraiths
• Scarabs
• Spyders

What looks good in assault, but really aren't?

• C'tan Shard - way too expensive, not well enough protected.
• Lychguards - can be a decent anchor, but more expensive than terminators without as much protection.

Inherent drawbacks to a Necron assault list?

• Initiative 2, of course.
• No Troop unit capable of assault - or even really surviving an assault if they get caught.

What can I do to enhance my assault capabilities?
Several things - all of them pretty expensive for the return, but since we're going against the grain anyhow, don't feel too bad if you sub one in. For my purposes, I'm going to go vanilla.

• Imotekh Stormlord/Chronometron combo - gives you night fighting protection, weakens opponent with storm strikes, and makes your Flayed Ones arrive via Deep Strike better.
• Orikan/C'tan Worldscape/Cryptek Tremorstave combo - makes enemy movement hurt themselves
• Nemesor Zahndrekh - remove special rules from opposing units, give to yours

Sample 2000 pt list, no special combos
HQ - 320
Destroyer Lord, Weave, Mindshackle - 160
Destroyer Lord, Weave, Mindshackle - 160
TROOPS - 372
5 Immortals - 85
5 Immortals - 85
5 Immortals - 85
9 Warriors - 117
ELITE - 273
7 Flayed Ones - 91
7 Flayed Ones - 91
7 Flayed Ones - 91
FAST ATTACK - 510
6 Canoptek Scarabs - 90
5 Canoptek Wraiths, 3 Whips, 1 Particle Caster - 210
5 Canoptek Wraiths, 3 Whips, 1 Particle Caster - 210
HEAVY SUPPORT - 525
3 Canoptek Spyders, 1 Fabricator Array, 1 Gloom Prism - 175
3 Canoptek Spyders, 1 Fabricator Array, 1 Gloom Prism - 175
3 Canoptek Spyders, 1 Fabricator Array, 1 Gloom Prism - 175

Lords go in with the Wraiths, Spyders build the Scarabs for 1-2 turns while advancing. Spiders and Wraiths built for wound allocation shenanigans. Flayed Ones can Outflank or Deep Strike to go after soft targets.

I plan on proxying the crap out of this army this weekend - I'll let you know how it goes.

P.S. - Yes, I'm on a Necron schtick here for a bit... they're my shiny, new toys and will be unless I fail my save vs Vampire Counts.