Anrakyr Mind in the Machine tactics?

[Chapters Unwritten]

I really like the idea of using Anrakyr in my upcoming Necron army. But I have heard that he is not that good. I planned on running him in a Command Barge to fly over units and carve them up while utilizing Mind in the Machine, but I have heard that this is not legal. I guess I do not understand the acceptable usage of this power. Can someone with a bit more Necron experience elaborate on effective, legal ways Anrakyr is used in some lists?

[Str10_hurts]

But I have heard that he is not that good.

He has about as much to slightly as much worth as a necron lord. That is pretty good. But you have other big boy special characters that are better.

The trick is to make him work. Get use out of the boosted immortals, make his special power work, and use his S8 character nuking scythe on a charge.

[Jericho]

After a quick bit of googling on the subject, the question of legality stems from the Command Barge being an open-topped vehicle and thus not having "fire points". The FAQ would allow him to use Mind in the Machine if he was sticking his head out of a Rhino, but obviously that isn't the case and as such, the FAQ rulings don't specify what happens to this type of ability when he's mounted on a Command Barge. Which is a shame, because he's a neat character with arguably more cool factor than omg-he-breaks-the-game factor.

[Lord Damocles]

Use him more like a 'Lord who boosts some Immortals', and less as a 'banzai-charging machine-controlling missile'.

[nagash42]

but it's open top so he can fire out of it like anyone else could out of a open topped vehicle.

[Chapters Unwritten]

If that wording is the qualm, I doubt I will get much trouble from my local players, and it's likely to change with 6th around the corner anyway.

I am building a squad of Immortals with Tesla weapons for the assault, though I suppose in the case of Anrakyr it might be more destructive/offensive to build a unit of them with Gauss and send them into battle with a Phaeron escorting them. Would an attached Lord/Cryptek benefit from the Pyrrhian bits about Counterattack and Furious Charge? I'm not sure, and don't have the FAQ handy as I'm at work and they block PDF downloads.

[Cheeslord]

but it's open top so he can fire out of it like anyone else could out of a open topped vehicle.

Yes, but his power is not a shooting attack, and a (general rules) FAQ was recently passed that seemed to specifically target him (and about 1 other power in the game) by preventing powers other than psychic powers and shooting attacks that require LOS from working from firepoints.

Wether open topped vehicles count as not using firepoints or having firepoints all over is debatable I think. generally the consensus appears to be that he cant use his power while embarked however, making him significantly weaker than originally interpreted by most players before the FAQ.

I dont think this makes him terrible however - he is only 35 points more than an equivalent overlord with the same wargear, and you get the Pyhrrian Eternals upgrade as well as Mind In The Machine for that cost. Just need to adapt your tactics to use him outside a transport.

Adapt is not a dirty word. Crevice, now that's a dirty word but adapt is not...

[DJ3]

After a quick bit of googling on the subject, the question of legality stems from the Command Barge being an open-topped vehicle and thus not having "fire points". The FAQ would allow him to use Mind in the Machine if he was sticking his head out of a Rhino, but obviously that isn't the case and as such, the FAQ rulings don't specify what happens to this type of ability when he's mounted on a Command Barge.

This is completely backwards, actually. The FAQ disallowed the usage of a Fire Point to draw LoS for anything that isn't Shooting or Psychic Powers. If he were in a Rhino, there'd be no discussion--he absolutely wouldn't be allowed to. In reality, there shouldn't be a discussion anyhow.

If that wording is the qualm, I doubt I will get much trouble from my local players, and it's likely to change with 6th around the corner anyway.

The only "discussion" around Anrakyr is people trying to reverse-engineer a loophole by retroactively claiming Open-Topped vehicles don't have Fire Points, which just isn't true, and would also break the game. Prior to this FAQ, you never would have ever heard someone try to claim that, because it's absurd--but ever since, people are trying to cook up whatever they can to try to ignore the FAQ and do what they want. I'm a much bigger fan of Anrakyr than pretty much anyone else around here, but it's just crazy to try to claim the FAQ wasn't about him.

And here's the common-sense version: There's practically nothing else in the entire game that that FAQ would affect if it's not inclusive to Open-Topped vehicles. It was clearly a targetted nerf at Anrakyr, because if it's not about him, it's about nothing. People like to overlook that bit when they're trying to lawyer up a reason to ignore what the FAQ says.

We all knew he was going to get nerfed one way or the other, they just went about it in a weird way. Allowing him to use MitM from inside a Flat Out Command Barge was way too good. We all kinda figured they'd just say "you can't do it while moving Flat Out," but instead went a step further and just disallowed its' usage from inside the Command Barge entirely, which lowered him from "auto-include for every Necron army ever" to "slightly worse than some of the other special characters." He's probably on the rung just below Zahndrekh and Stormlord, but still works fine if you can find a way to utilize him well. I'm still enjoying him.

[Infidel]

If I was to field Anrakyr (sadly I'm Imhotekh's bitch since release), i'd have him hang with Oby, Zahndrekh, 5 Phyrrian Immortals, a MSS/Scythe lord and then a Chronotek. 3+ is not all that reliable, but 3+ with reroll is.

Ofc, this means you don't get to field two Lance/Chrono courts, but I'm starting to open up to the idea of burying 2 Destructoteks in small squads of warriors or immortals.

[Chapters Unwritten]

I've seen a lot of people swear by Zahndrek and Obyron but I haven't seen much use for them, personally. The super-veil seems really handy, but I won't likely need it since I plan on including a couple of Scythes in my list as transports.

[Infidel]

You need the veil to get Anrakyr around quickly, and since half of his point value is in his CC ability, you want to be able to use him in CC quickly and consistently. Scythes are no harder to kill than a rhino with smoke. I wouldn't consider it a reliable form of transportation.

The other use for the veil is something like my blob - a teleporting lance/chrono court that can exploit enemy's flank or rear, packs a whallop in CC and is practically impossible to remove from afar (save for plasma cannons).

[Nebulas01]

Actually a bit curious whether a lord that joins an immortal unit benefits from Pyrrhian eternals the same way a cryptek benefits from hunters from hyperspace. Could be fun to run 3 S8 warscythes into a unit after pulverizing it with it's own vehicles.

[DJ3]

Actually a bit curious whether a lord that joins an immortal unit benefits from Pyrrhian eternals the same way a cryptek benefits from hunters from hyperspace. Could be fun to run 3 S8 warscythes into a unit after pulverizing it with it's own vehicles.

No. HFH is a unique special rule from the Codex that is written as applying to the entire unit. Pyrrhian Eternals are just Immortals who have Furious Charge and Counter-Attack, which are generic BRB USRs. There's no way to suggest Royal Court members would somehow gain a USR from them.

[Nebulas01]

As I understood it crypteks and such got HfH because it specified the unit got it not the deathmarks in the unit. Either way it's not something I'm ever likely to run anyway. :P