Basic rundown of each fleet?

[Spirit]

I do like the idea of Nids being very ordenance heavy and being good at boarding... always loved using lot of fighters/bombers when i tried out playing as chaos before...

Not that it matters because they are still awesome for assault boats, but tyranids do not get bombers of any kind.

[Gorin9SQ]

Erm, how did you get to this conclusion from just one experience?

This wasn't just some minor victory that I had to struggle to get. This was a MASSACRE that took place in a 2250 tournament at the Chicagoland Battle Bunker!
Granted, him and I were the only ones who participated because a Medusa V event popped up and everyone else abandoned ship, as it were...

Either way, he used the same outflanking maneuver that he used to win most every game, (Capital Ships form a gun line while the escorts would speed around the back and pick the feet apart) and the big weaknesses of the Necron fleet were laid bare. Here's how I beat him so easily: Escorts and assault boats.

Most escort ships can do a 180 on a dime with special orders and can protect your flanks and rear easily. This can be used to counter the incredible speed in which necron ships can use to exploit vulnerable spots. Most IN and Chaos fleets I've seen rely too much on cruisers and end up unable to counter Necron tactics.

Use of assault boats can also reduce the enemy's effectiveness in such situations, buying your fleet precious time to survive and counter. They also have the metagaming effect of really annoying your opponent, especially as the crits mount up.

In my game, that same maneuver incited my Vanguard Drones (originally 5 squads of 3 but I don't rightly remember how many he destroyed in the first round. Not many, though) to instinctively Come to a New Heading and his flanking force was shredded. After my assault boats started neutering his gun line and my Hive Ships' guns started doing damage, he fled the field.

[bryantroy2003]

Nids vs Necrons, not so hard to win for the Necrons actually. Just use the SPG more effectivly against the ordinace waves and dont close in so much that you cant fire one off before your hit. Its much easier then it sounds due to the slow speed and turn radius of the Nids.

As far as escorts go, I can see a pair of scythes destroying them in a turn or two of concentrated fire. Which isnt very far from likely, and if you take the ones that start braced any way (kraken I think?) then that just means they hit you with SPG's and force you to make a save for each of them in addition to what ever firing they do that turn. This leaves the Tombship and what ever escorts he decided to field if any free to harass/chew up your backfield on the Capital ships that cant make a decent turn/speed ration to come about.

Its the same thing that happens to my IG and Orkoids Orks every time the Necron player comes to the field, which is why he now plays an AdMech fleet as well. In a game that invovles, imo, 50% sportsmanship like all board games the Necrons are just out of place. And btw, Orkoid is in love with AB fleets, if he isnt launching at least 12 AB's in a single turn that just means he failed his reload. Usually he is throwing out more then 18. So AB's and boarding arent the way to go neccisarily if you have a canny opponent on the Necron's side.

Again I have too many games against the Necrons to not have a bias against them. I have tried the IN wedge, ive tried seperate formations in support. Ive tried the long range NC/Emp fleet. Ive tried just about every combination of things I could think of including a fleet that had an even spread of Dominators and Gothics to force him to give me the maximum potential for hits inflicted. I still did only 4 hits the whole 6 turn game.

Just for kicks I went ahead and asked the guy if we could play again tonight, and ill post the report here so you can see how outmatched I am against this fleet. Then I will face his AdMech fleet and show you how much more I stand a chance. But again I am biased in the extreme against Necrons, dont take my word for it if you want to buy them. I wont recomened it even if they were going for $5.

[Volandum]

Ah right, a Necron using escorts. He should have kept those back and used them to engage your escorts, but they're generally a liability for the Necrons. The Necrons have trouble enough keeping their fleet together without deliberately separating it. Against the Tyranids if you have escorts they just need to try to draw them out and kill them quickly, then drop off the board (which they can do without fail.)