Necron review, the little transport

When a Necron Overlord wants to go to battle in style he jumps in this sweet ride.

Catacomb Command Barges are Necron anti-gravitational skimmers used by Necron Overlords as personal transports. These are used to help these guys survey the battlefield. There are times when an Overlord in a command barge will personally influence a battle by flying by and attacking the enemy.

This vehicle is a single model transport that is only available for Overlords. Well they are the only unit that can purchase it. It is basically and Annihilation Barge, with the big gun removed. It has A BS 4, Armor 11 (13), 11 (13) and 11. It is a fast, open topped skimmer with living metal and quantum shielding. It also comes armed with a tesla cannon. It can swap the tesla cannon for a gauss cannon for free. This is the only upgrade option available. It has two special rules; Sweep Attack and Symbiotic Repair. It clocks in at the same points as the atomic number for mercury. It seems fitting, since that is what I picture the living metal effect looks like.

Symbiotic Repair- allows for the character to take damage to repair damage to the command barge. If a weapon is destroyed or the vehicle is immobilized, then the Overlord can take a wound. By doing this, then the immobile or weapon destroyed result is negated. This can occur as long as the character is riding, and has more than one wound left. You cannot have the rider kill himself to fix the vehicle.

Sweep Attack- is what everyone is crazy about. This allows for the character riding in the barge to make an attack during the movement phase. Well actually it is three attacks. During the movement phase, you pick a unit that the command barge has moved over. You can then attempt to hit and wound that unit. If the barge moved up to 6” then the enemy is hit on a 3+. Any movement over this then the to hit roll moves to a 4+. All successful hits use the strength of the character riding and any upgrade bonuses he has. On a hit roll of 6 you can choose the model that is wounded. If you are hitting vehicles, then the hits go against the rear armor. Then there is the fact that no cover saves can be taken against these hits.

A semi-expensive one man transport, but it looks like it is worth that cost. A cheap warscythe lord and a command barge is not super expensive. This gives you a sweep attack with a strength 7and no armor or cover saves allowed. Then there is the quantum shield to keep it safe from most long range shooting and living metal to negate (try to at least) those shaken and stun results. I can see why this thing is crazy popular.

Wait there is also a under slung weapon. You can go with the S6 tesla cannon and all the silliness it can cause. It can also go for a gauss cannon swap to really scare Astartes with the AP 3 it has. I guess that is just personal choice as both are good ranged weapons.

I wouldn’t call this a must have, but it a definite to really consider. This vehicle really depends on play style. Personally, I don’t want Necrons near close combat range. An Overlord in this thing can be a descent front line assaulter, well almost. Even the coolest Necron HQ is initiative 2, so that makes for a not so super close combat unit.Just make sure he doesn't have to get out of the vehicle. If anything, and the points were available, I would run a pair of these with warscyhte only Overlords. When one can cause problems, a pair can really stir things up, or has the potential for greater shenanigans. I call it redundancy, everyone else calls it….… spam.

 If you like your Necrons walking then the command barge might not be the best fit. If you want them Ghost Ark-ing or Night Scythe-ing then the command barge might be for you.  If you like a lot of armor 11 (13) then definitely take a command barge to add more of that type of vehicle. It has a place in many Necron lists, but it will all come down to personal preference and/or what the 40K interweb muckity mucks think (if you only listen to them).

Query:

Since this hits in the move phase can the Overlord then disembark and assault in that assault phase? That is if the barge didn’t move too far? It is open-topped and would allow for this right? A curious option if it is allowed.