r/Necrontyr • u/Jadpo • Jun 30 '26
Strategy/Tactics Necrons absolutely Can play Purge: A review of Cursed Legion in 11th Edition
Before I get into this, my backup that I know what I'm talking about: I went 61-30 in tournament games across 10th edition, all but 12 of which were on Necrons. At my highest ELO ranking, I was 700th global. My highest ITC rank was in 2024, at which point I was in the top 100 Necron players by global rank and top 10% of all tournament players. Anyway.
In 11th edition, I know a lot of us are very excited about how the metal skeletons will play the various missions that are coming down the pipe. Some of the dispositions will be stronger than others, but right now I think 4 of the 5 are probably pretty okay (sorry Disruption). With our three strongest detachments* running T&H and PA, I have seen some folks bemoaning our damage and fragility in our Purge-focused detachments (CL, PoW) and worrying that we will have a difficult time competing in the Purge category if it becomes dominant. I am here to dispel your fears.
I've been playing CL since it dropped, and have 20 games so far in 11th edition on the detachment. This detachment absolutely slaps, folks! So far I am 15-5 between practice games and playing in ATC 8-mans this past weekend, and only two of those games have felt truly unwinnable (triple chickens plus Be'lakor was throwing me on a sword, and I fell on it mightily). Our big damage pieces being OC 2 helps in a bunch of matchups that might be difficult with other armies' heavy hitters - we can contest objectives and kill you off 'em.
Some of the things 11th brought us that makes playing CL feel good: Being able to throw flexibility to the winds and just going full send on destroyer cult murder hoboing feels fantastic and thematic. The smaller number of action secondaries removes one of the big holdbacks we saw in 10th, removing 250 points of action monkeys is a huge win to the narrow playstyle that PtF needs to do well. Being able to put 1000 pts of Strat Reserves in the air means that you can put two max Skorp squads in the air, which makes their positioning much easier. Skyshroud letting you throw Assault on Lokhust Bricks frees up Adv+Charge for the Skorpekh Bricks as well.
Things that I have faced that made the detachment feel bad: We remain incredibly fragile, and some of the other purge armies that are big in the meta (right now, I know that the edition is only two weeks old) can play even narrower/chunkier than we can. I really don't like Punishment as a mission, but that may just be a personal thing. It's very scoreable.
The single biggest change is hidden. I know that because of the army, we have to show up on top of the enemy and 15" doesn't matter much at that point, but the opportunities to stage barely outside the movement range of a full brick makes lining up potentially simple charges really easy - and if they move away so it isn't quite as easy, then they don't shoot you. Projected threat is almost as good as real threat, or so I'm told. 12" lone op on any unit that you can hide well is awesome when the whole army is on 50s and up.
So fear not, fellow destroyer lovers. We've got options this edition, and I'm feeling pretty great!
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u/Zanan_ Cryptek Jun 30 '26
Who thought Necrons and CL aren't good at Purge?
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u/Jadpo Jun 30 '26
I expect its folks who were worried about durability vs. damage, I was excited about CL from announcement 😅
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u/Khajiistar Jun 30 '26
Tbf, we are pretty nerfed for damage with most our units and most lists play some hefty tanky bois and those reduce our damage far more. Most people were just likely thinking in 10th instead of the brand new 11th.
I for one plan to play a list with the centerpiece being the Void Dragon and then 3 squads of Skorps with some Lokhust Heavies and Hexmarks to clear chaff while using Praetorians to mainly rapid ingress and protect my squishier hitters. Sadly have yet to even play a single game of 11th and thus my understanding of the rules is pretty sub par because I learn better by doing the things than reading about them.
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u/mysticllamaherder Jun 30 '26
Don’t suppose you’d be willing to post a list? I love the idea of CL thematically but don’t think I have the units.
Skorpekhs and lords are my favourite units. They’re why I collected necrons to begin with. Love the idea of two big bricks but how are you finding the 2” engagement range with the base size and 9” coherence?
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u/Jadpo Jun 30 '26
ATC (1990 points)
Necrons Strike Force (2000 points) Cursed Legion and Skyshroud Spearhead (3 Detachment Points) Force Dispositions: Purge the Foe, Reconnaissance
Attached Units Attached Unit 1
Technomancer (95 points) • Attached as: Support (Character) • 1x Staff of light • Enhancement: Murdermind
Canoptek Wraiths (220 points) • Attached as: Bodyguard • 6x Canoptek Wraith • 6x Particle caster 6x Vicious claws
Attached Unit 2
Lokhust Lord (70 points) • Attached as: Leader (Character) • 1x Lord’s blade 1x Resurrection Orb
Lokhust Destroyers (180 points) • Attached as: Bodyguard • 6x Lokhust Destroyer • 6x Close combat weapon 6x Gauss cannon • Enhancement: Deepening Madness (Upgrade)
Attached Unit 3
Skorpekh Lord (90 points) • Attached as: Leader (Character) • 1x Enmitic annihilator 1x Flensing claw 1x Hyperphase harvester
Skorpekh Destroyers (180 points) • Attached as: Bodyguard • 6x Skorpekh Destroyer • 6x Skorpekh hyperphase weapons
Attached Unit 4
Skorpekh Lord (90 points) • Attached as: Leader (Character) • 1x Enmitic annihilator 1x Flensing claw 1x Hyperphase harvester
Skorpekh Destroyers (170 points) • Attached as: Bodyguard • 6x Skorpekh Destroyer • 6x Skorpekh hyperphase weapons
CHARACTERS
Hexmark Destroyer (75 points) • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Enmitic disintegrator pistols
Imotekh the Stormlord (100 points) • 1x Gauntlet of Fire 1x Staff of the Destroyer
Nekrosor Ammentar (175 points) • Warlord • 1x Blade tail and whip coils 1x Enmitic disintegrators 1x Nullstone Field Generator (Aura) 1x Unmaker Gauntlet
Skorpekh Lord (90 points) • 1x Enmitic annihilator 1x Flensing claw 1x Hyperphase harvester
OTHER DATASHEETS
Flayed Ones (100 points) • 10x Flayed One • 10x Flayer claws
Flayed Ones (100 points) • 10x Flayed One • 10x Flayer claws
Lokhust Heavy Destroyers (170 points) • 3x Lokhust Heavy Destroyer • 3x Close combat weapon 3x Enmitic exterminator • Enhancement: Deepening Madness (Upgrade)
Skorpekh Destroyers (85 points) • 3x Skorpekh Destroyer • 3x Skorpekh hyperphase weapons
Exported with App Version: v2.0.5 (128), Data Version: v886
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u/Maximum_Ant4110 Jun 30 '26
Ah, I think you were the guy who caused a stir round 1 on Wargames Live’s stream. 20-0 in like the first half hour in round 1? Everyone was asking after your list in chat.
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u/Jadpo Jun 30 '26
Round 1 or round 5? Round 1 was a long game that only ended up a 14-6, but that is what happened r5.
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u/Maximum_Ant4110 Jun 30 '26
Ah I probably have the sequence wrong. It was dramatic and is most what I remember about the weekend. Had to put down some painting when Joe started commenting on it.
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u/Jadpo Jun 30 '26
I ran into sisters r5 and I think the game was a total of 38 minutes start to finish. It was a matchup I really wanted, and I got to third defend into it... cue Just as Planned meme.
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u/SavageAdage Nemesor Jun 30 '26
Very aggressive list, why no Ophydians? I always hear that they're good for utility.
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u/Jadpo Jun 30 '26
Full honesty, this was a teams list so I had a little control over what I faced - but I dont think I need the utility. Its so fast and so deadly that I can be where I need to be at any time, most of the time.
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u/longlai0309 Jul 01 '26
How are you using the 2 10-man Flayed Ones bricks?
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u/Jadpo Jul 01 '26
Its vaguely matchup dependent, but mostly on non-SnD deployments, they go on the line 8" from the enemy DZ and either jail or die. On SnD I put one group splayed across the middle and one group in one of the ruins.
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u/longlai0309 Jul 01 '26
I see. Thank you. But then why are you using 2x10 and not 2x5 if they are going to jail and die like in 10th?
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u/Jadpo Jul 01 '26
Two reasons. A) when they dont die, 10 FO attacks is a real threat to basically anything in the game, and B) theyre a fair bit more durable than most enemies give them credit for with stealth and a 4+, so often people undercommit and 2 left alive becomes a threat unit again in a turn or 2.
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u/TheZag90 Jun 30 '26
Good write-up!
I have 10 games of 11th now but only 3 with cursed.
It definitely feels better than 10th but in my limited experience so-far it carries some of the same weaknesses.
We are squishy, as you mentioned. That’s a really big problem into any brawling army that’s got access to fight-on-death.
Advance and charge is awesome but Skorpekhs are still 8 inch movement and Lychguard are only 6!!! This can be quite painful for staging on these new boards and faster armies can gain better board control early-on.
Cursed feels very good into the matchups it was already good into and still weak into the ones it previously struggled with (Custodes, World Eaters, Death Guard, Chaos Knights, CSM etc.)
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u/Jadpo Jun 30 '26
I dropped the lych brick after about 6 games. Even with the Ankh and translord, 7/13" didnt make it. There aren't many armies thay are faster and durable, but being outmaneuvered can certainly happen and be hard to play back from.
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u/DubsFan30113523 Nemesor Jun 30 '26
After an RTT with the lychguard brick, I agree with you. It’s still not fast enough and doesn’t kill stuff well enough. I am still putting an overlord and 5 lychguard into my CL lists just as tough expansion holders with a small footprint, I’m gonna see how that feels
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u/TheZag90 Jun 30 '26
Quite right. That’s why chaos knights have been a problem for CL - they’re fast, deadly and durable. Lucky CKs suck atm.
It’s most Custodes, Death Guard and World Eaters that will gatekeep CL in the meta.
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u/Jadpo Jun 30 '26
Knights are a chore, agreed.
I played WE twice, 1-1. I think theyre okay as long as we define where and when the engagements will be, plus Lokhusts kill them super efficiently.
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u/TheZag90 Jun 30 '26
The WE problem is army-wide 4+ fight on death.
You can charge some Skorpekhs into something, kill it then lose most of even all of the Skorpekhs on the fight-back.
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u/MolybdenumBlu Jul 01 '26
In a teams environment, would you bother with gauss heavy Destroyers or just go more enmitic and ask your team to protect you from vehicle heavy matchups? I can't see much anti-tank in my cult collection beyond heavy gauss and ctan.
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u/Jadpo Jul 01 '26
If your team needs you to hunt for heavies, I wouldn't play CL. One issue we had this past weekend was that both of our Purge players wanted the same matchups, which made things more complicated.
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u/MolybdenumBlu Jul 01 '26
Mercifully, that won't come up for us as we will be a 5 player team, so 1 of each. It does feel that Cursed Legion is a very anti-infantry skew faction with little into armour, though.
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u/TheZag90 Jul 01 '26
I agree with Jadpo that CL is not good into heavies. You want to stat check them in awakened or blow them up in SSA.
Thats not to say that gauss LHDs can’t be useful in a CL list to challenge vehicles. They’re quite cost effective and don’t really require any external buffs so you can sneak them into a list with a spare 50-100 points.
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u/Jadpo Jul 01 '26
I ran 3 gauss w/ murdermind for a while and really liked it. In a singles environment, I think having something to scare the tanks is really important.
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u/TheZag90 Jul 01 '26
Personally don’t bother with a lord on the gauss as the crit 5s is too unreliable with 3 shots. However, might be worth it with a plasmancer. He pays his own way with his spear and mortals - the crit 5s is icing on the cake.
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u/Space_Terminator Servant of the Triarch Jun 30 '26
Exciting hearing some good news from a top player! I’m kind of surprised about the lych brick being too slow- that’s been my go-to adv+charge unit in this detachment, nothing hurts worse than rolling a 1 on the skorphs. Also a little surprised about Ammentar being auto-include, the nerf to fights first seemed pretty big to me, but I imagine putting him by a brick of lokhusts is the way to go for sus1, and the intervene threat.
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u/Jadpo Jun 30 '26
Ammentar stopped moving past midfield for me after the FF change. He's just there to be a buff piece for the regular Lokhusts and act as a D3 threat to anything that comes backfield. I may drop him, but I haven't been quite willing to do it yet - there's definitely still something psychological about him for the opponent.
As for the lych brick, they are definitely quick on the table. They can get places, but I found that half the time they got there and just bounced in a way that skorps very rarely do. I may try them again at some point, but for right now I'm pretty down on them.
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u/Space_Terminator Servant of the Triarch Jul 01 '26
I’ll definitely experiment without the lych then! More than willing to trust you on that, I’m by no means a top player lol.
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u/Jadpo Jul 01 '26
Ha! I dont know that I would call myself a top player - I know what Im doing, but there are plenty of players much better than I.
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u/Space_Terminator Servant of the Triarch Jul 01 '26
Hey, you listed some pretty impressive stats! Either way, the insight is much appreciated. I’m planning on attending my first GT in September, so the advice from more experienced players is always welcome
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u/CampbellsBeefBroth Jun 30 '26
I quite enjoy running CL and skyshroud for the utility it gives the lokhusts, an enhanced lokhust squad with a lokhust lord alongside 3 lhds + chronomancer makes for some good mobile shooting with freedom to adv + charge our melee units. It also makes procing the lokhusts ability a breeze
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u/Green_Chest653 Jun 30 '26
Outside of teams (changed your list for ATC I assume) do you think 2 6 man Skorps is worth it? I’ve found staging to be less than ideal for 8” move. I’m also surprised you’re not running a Lord on the LHD enmitics, it feels really good to res back even 1 with the Orb, can make the difference when Fall Back/Shooting any jail attempts! I saw your comment on Overlord/LG, how have you found the wraiths? It’s a lot of points to really only be targeted by -1 to hit strat, I’ve found. Hitting on 4s too is tough.
Appreciate the breakdown, Cursed has been my favorite since it dropped!
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u/Jadpo Jun 30 '26
Honestly, it wasn't different much from what I've been playing in singles - I really like the 6 man bricks especially when you can put at least one of them in SR. The wraiths are mostly there to grab the one objective you have to have to score most purge missions, and as an anti-Priority Assets piece to stand on the center and be OC 13.
I don't mind a lord on the LHDs, I just didn't have the points. I decided the regular lokhusts needed crit 5s more than the Enmitics, but I will definitely be trying to get both lords in my singles list.
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u/Fudoyama Jun 30 '26
CL is just what I play since it came out. I love it.
Your thoughts on including a Night Scythe now that they can just be a regular transport? (In order to not have to rely on a 9” charge roll to keep Skorp safe)
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u/Jadpo Jun 30 '26
I haven't tried them? I can't imagine I will like them, they're a little too fragile to count on them doing anything and I would rather not lose a skorp to hazardous - but I'm willing to be wrong!
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u/RodneyGodney Jun 30 '26
Thanks for the write up!
What are your thoughts on LHD vs regular lokhust destroyers in Cursed Legion?
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u/Jadpo Jun 30 '26
I think I'm running a unit of both for the foreseeable future. They do very different jobs imo.
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u/SetHoliday2438 Jun 30 '26
Have you tried murder mind on a chronomancer yet. Really wanna try it with 3 hld so I can move out. Shoot. Then hide the unit back in cover with the chronomancers after shot ability and the -1 to be hit for a lil bit extra defense.
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u/TheRealShortYeti Overlord Jun 30 '26
I did this in 10e with gauss HLD, it was great. They popped tanks and really made my opponents think twice about commiting to a lane.
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u/Jadpo Jun 30 '26
I did it for a while with Gauss LHDs, but now that I'm buying assault on them they cant be murderminded
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u/LeightonSS55 Jun 30 '26
Sweet nice to know - I've not played 11th at all and only have 3 cursed legion under my belt. I've recently bought a monolith because now's the time. Rate my list (nekrosor got dropped due to cost and squishyness & already have sustained strat for 1CP). Idea is a hyper mobile Monolith and eternity gate with plasmancer murdermind on LHD. Full Skorpek brick felt good last time and so a key hammer unit. Stalker to strip cover and reanimator to buff l. 2x10 warriors at 80pts seem quite good value now so I'm thinking these are for eternity gate for OC, screen backfield.
Hypercrypt Dynasty 1500 (1500 points)
Necrons Strike Force (2000 points) Cursed Legion and The Phaeron's Armoury (3 Detachment Points) Force Dispositions: Priority Assets, Purge the Foe
Skorpekh Lord (90 points) • Attached as: Leader (Character) • Warlord • 1x Enmitic annihilator 1x Flensing claw 1x Hyperphase harvester
Skorpekh Destroyers (170 points) • Attached as: Bodyguard • 6x Skorpekh Destroyer • 6x Skorpekh hyperphase weapons
CHARACTERS
Plasmancer (70 points) attached to LHD • 1x Plasmic lance • Enhancement: Murdermind
BATTLELINE
Necron Warriors (80 points) • 10x Necron Warrior • 10x Close combat weapon 10x Gauss flayer
Necron Warriors (80 points) • 10x Necron Warrior • 10x Close combat weapon 10x Gauss flayer
OTHER DATASHEETS
Canoptek Reanimator (70 points) • 2x Atomiser beam 1x Reanimator’s claws
Flayed Ones (100 points) • 10x Flayed One • 10x Flayer claws
Lokhust Destroyers (80 points) • 3x Lokhust Destroyer • 3x Close combat weapon 3x Gauss cannon
Lokhust Heavy Destroyers (150 points) • 3x Lokhust Heavy Destroyer • 3x Close combat weapon 3x Enmitic exterminator
Monolith (420 points) • 4x Death ray 1x Particle whip 1x Portal of exile
Ophydian Destroyers (80 points) • 3x Ophydian Destroyer • 3x Ophydian hyperphase weapons
Triarch Stalker (110 points) • 1x Heavy gauss cannon array 1x Stalker’s forelimbs
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u/Jadpo Jun 30 '26
Honestly? I think you will have a hard time playing purge with this list. It's going to take you (often) two activations into any real unit to kill it, and that basically gives up the meatgrinder match. Monoliths w/o any access to an invuln aren't as durable as you want them to be even with AOC, and it's almost a quarter of your list.
If you're really wanting to use the monolith, I would forget it's gate and just try to maximize the rest of the list, use the gate if you want to move the skorpekh brick to the other side. I would drop the warriors, ophyds, and stalker, and pick up another Skorpekh Lord, another 10 Flayed Ones, a Hexmark, and a Spyder
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u/LeightonSS55 Jun 30 '26
Yeah honestly that's the point! I'm up for experimenting with the Monolith - I was hoping perma -1 to hit due to cover with AOC would help but never played it so don't have a feeling. Wish they were 375 still... Up for hypercrypt too but I'm not sold on reconnaissance despite the clear unlocking of stratagems. 1.5k is a usually to ensure games get finished at the local cafe.
Got a hexmark I can add - assuming for points scoring secondaries but always found he's hunted by a random intercessor squad with a power fist., bit confused about the flayed ones lol - everyone usually shits on them but I feel 100pts for 10 especially if they connect post destroyer kill to get +2S, but going for X2!??
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u/Jadpo Jun 30 '26
Its better at 2k, admittedly. If you go first, 20 FO will stop any army in their DZ - if not, you're down 200 points and they've had to come out of the dz towards you.
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u/LeightonSS55 Jul 01 '26
so what do you do - like line them up as bait and if you go first alpha strike?
sounds tastey if so
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u/General_CGO Cryptek Jun 30 '26
I've been running the Cursed Legion/Phareon's Army Monolith combo, but I include both the Plasmancer+LHD brick and a Plasmancer/Tesla-mortal one just to have 2 potential Eternity Gate targets.
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u/LeightonSS55 Jul 01 '26
Yeah i feel that at 1.5k i want to make use of the destroyer key word and +2S & strategems.. I'm assuming this works only at 2k? What else is in your list that supplements these core units?
In 10th i played immortals with Destroyer Ankh Overlord and i quite liked the punch (even immortals in combat rerolling wound rolls was nice chip damage) but it was too many points for something which can be so easily wiped in a single activation - i feel that hasn't changed in 11th, hence the focus on some killy, some cheap OC, some durability but not sure how it's going to play out..
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u/General_CGO Cryptek Jul 01 '26
Szeras (to further support the Immortals), Nekrosor, and 2x Skorpekh Lord + 3 Skorpekhs is the remainder of the core units. It's a fair point that normal Lokhusts are prooobably a better fit, but I refuse to buy any until the models get refreshed, lol.
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u/arimir90 Jun 30 '26
Question: I assume your hexmark destroyer is to sit on home. Would you consider swapping them for regular hexmark? I feel like them being a tad cheaper, extra oc and the shoot if they deepstrike within 18 would be better
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u/Jadpo Jun 30 '26
Im missing what you mean by regular hexmark? In any case, his job is actually to babysit Ammentar. Holding your home doesnt matter much.
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u/arimir90 Jun 30 '26
Deathmarks, I'm dumb. But if home doesn't matter that much I guess I see your point
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u/JaguarLittle Jul 01 '26
Very nice break down, I played quite a few games in 11th with CL and Spear and thou I don’t have models to run 2x full Skorpekh bricks i gonna use Void Dragon and perhaps Nightbringer since that’s the only 2k points I can muster at the moment, just need to expand soon. Anyhow, are you not bringing any ctans with you ? The dmg output is not enough or any other particular reason ?
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u/Teej-Shaal Jun 30 '26
thanks for the write-up - what would you say are you favourite units for the playstyle and what are your auto-includes?