Necron transport review, Ghost Ark

The Necrons have two official transports and I’ll cover one now and get to the other one soon. Today I’ll cover the Ghost Ark.

Now this is used to ferry Necrons around the battlefield, but originally it was a wooden cart to carry the dead (insert Monty Python “Bring out your dead.” bit here). Then as time progressed it became metal and carried the lucky individuals to wherever they went to get biotransferenced or is it biotransferized? Once all that was said and done it was re-tasked for battle and now carries and repairs the common Necron battle unit, the Warriors.

The Ghost Ark is an open topped skimmer that can carry ten models*. It is armed with two Gauss Flayer Arrays, quantum shielding, living metal and has the Repair Barge rule. It has a BS of 4 and an armor value of 11 (or 13 on the front and sides due to quantum shield) on all sides. When it comes to points, it clocks in somewhere right in between 114 and 116 points.

First you noticed the * by the carry ten models bit right? Well it can and does hold ten models, but there is a small stipulation. It can only carry Warriors, Crypteks, Lords, Overlords and the special characters.  This makes it the first mobile transport that has a rider stipulation. It can also only be purchased by Warrior squads.

The Gauss Flayer Arrays sound cool, but are really just five gauss flayers mounted on each side. It gives the Ark a cool naval broadside firing ability. It also allows for the firing of both of these at different targets. I guess if you want to drive this between two units and give them both a blast of bolter fire then there is nothing stopping you, well unless you move too far and can’t fire and weapons, but whatever.

Repair Barge is where this vehicle gets interesting. It allows for the chance to bring destroyed Warriors back to their unit, after they have failed their reanimate rolls (which they probably did). During the movement phase the Ghost Ark can attempt to repair damaged Warriors. Now this is any Warrior squad within 6” of the Ark, not just the unit the Ark was purchase for. Now this is done by rolling a D6. If a 2+ is rolled then they chose unit gains D3 Warriors right then. These must be placed like normal and can move/act that turn. Now this repair roll cannot take the Warrior squad over their starting size, which kind of blows, but whatever. If a 1 is rolled then the models are made and placed, but the Ark takes an automatic glancing hit. This is resolved then and no saves can be taken against this hit.

There are some real advantages to having a Ghost Ark in a force. The first is transport for those scoring and cheap Warriors. It is the most reliable transport that Warriors have. Armor 13/11 is tough to crack at long range, unless you know it is coming ahead of time. It should help get your Warriors somewhere before it gets blow’d up good.

Second is that this vehicle is armor 13 for a bit and has living metal. These can both help to keep it moving until some melta or monstrous shows up to ruin the Ghost Ark’s day. Being armor 13 is very awesome and so is the chance of negating stunned and shaken damage. It should survive a few rounds longer than necessary against most armies.

Third is the open topped rule which can be bad since any penetrating hit has a good chance of crippling this vehicle. However, having the chance to shoot out with everyone riding inside is great. Now couple this ability with some of the weapon staves that Crypteks can take (I’ll get to them and touch on this point again) and you can make a nice shooting platform. Hell a unit of ten Warriors shooting out can even ruin something’s day.

Fourth is the chance to replenish loses. Since reanimation rolls suck (in my mind) the chance to bring back 1-3 lost models is a great thing. A Warrior heavy army will really benefit from one or two of these vehicles. Also consider the repair for a unit falling back under 50%. Now this might not happen a lot and would take some luck, but you could repair a unit and give it enough guys back to allow a regroup roll. It will require a bit of timing and luck, but it could happen. A Warrior squad will need to be falling back on the start of your turn, near a Ghost Ark and have to only need 1-3 models to put the squad up to/over 50% and then you have to roll a D3 with some luck if you need that 3. Still it could happen since you roll for repair during the movement phase along with regrouping. You just have to have the right setting, activate the Repair Barge rule on said falling back unit. Now if they are at/over 50% then that unit will get a regroup roll when it is activated. It can be done, as of now. The future may (probably will) change that.

I am Warrior heavy for Necrons, that was is due to old codex. Most people now seem to be more Immortal focused, and who can blame them. Still I have a lot of Warriors and will probably run a few squads of them. Taking a Ghost Ark will be mandatory for me. Not only for the transport that every army needs these days, but for the chance to get guys back after I inevitably fail my reanimation rolls. The armor 13, thanks to shielding, really pulls the teeth from long range fire.  Sure it will still fail eventually, but it will make missile launchers a bit less irritating and will neuter auto cannons. Sure I face a regular batch of Obliterators and falling from the sky melta guns, so it isn’t super safe, but I’ve seen armor 11 last much longer than it should under heavy weapon fire.

Sadly, this is only available to Warriors and the HQ choices as a ride, and even then the HQ has to hijack it (if there they aren’t attached to the squad). I guess it was too overpowered to let Immortals ride in this vehicle, not to mention a repair roll for them. However, I do think they would sell more of these if they let Immortals catch a ride in them. Sure don’t let them get a repair roll, but let them, or anyone else on foot, hitch a ride. Well I guess it was too powerful or game breaking. Sadly I don’t see it, but I’m not a developer for G.W.