Lychguard coming along!

Lychguard update

Been working on the metals, shields and swords! I will be trying a lightning effect on the swords and shields but will take a little time with free hand!

Necron Lychguard Part I

Will have some pictures with the base coats finished tomorrow, generally the army is coming along nicely and should be mostly done before christmas!

Necron Warriors Finished (Appart from bases)

Necron Warriors Finished

 Next up I will be working on a squad of Immortals with Tesla Carbines :)

Necrons Update

Nearly finished the first squad of warriors, then will spend some time working on Trazyn the Infinite.

New Necrons

So I have been allowed to paint the necron army for games workshop in Newcastle, the design I came up with is to make the models look as though they are 'phasing in', so have them half hologram and half physical metal. I will let the pics speak for themselves!

After this squad of warriors, I will be working on some Lychguard and Trazyn! Stay tuned every other day for more pics!

Necron Codex Review Part V: Elites and Overall Impressions

So to quote one Shawn Gately ‘’so this is where all the good stuff is!’’. The elites section contains 6 choices, so straight away you are spoilt for choice, which is great, but gets frustrating sometimes if you are like me and can’t decide what to take because you just want it all! So let’s jump right in!

  

Flayed One Pack

These are a very basic infiltrating assault unit, fairly decent with 3 attacks and low cost at 65 points for 5. Although they are cheap, can infiltrate and deep strike the elites slot in this book are quite competitive between one another so I can see these guys coming in towards somewhere at the bottom of the pile.

C’tan Shard

These are basically watered down C’tans of the old book, however they do get some very interesting upgrades. First I’ll cover the profile, strength and toughness 7 with 4 wounds they won’t be two easy to take down, they also have initiative 4 which doesn’t sound like much but it is for Necrons! 4 attacks and WS 5 being a monstrous creature they should do fairly well against vehicles and elite infantry. They come with a necrodermis as their only piece of wargear, giving them a 4+ invulnerable save, and when the C’tan shard dies all models within D6 inches suffer a st 4 ap 1 hit. So overall it seems quite tough to take down and fairly strong in combat, now for the upgrades. There are 11 in total so I will just go over the ones I think will be most useful upon first glance. Grand Illusion this is similar or the same as a rule from the old book whereby you may redeploy D3 units, for 40 points it is an expensive upgrade but worth the cost in my opinion as it may give you a good strategical advantage from the beginning. Next up its writhing worldscape at 35 points a little cheaper, and what this does is make all difficult terrain count as dangerous, and all dangerous terrain count as failing on a 1 or 2. Very useful indeed and definitely one I think will be useful if you are playing a defensive list. Now on the more aggressive side of things some close combat upgrades, times arrow costs 40 points and allows you to nominate any model within base contact of the C’tan and force them to pass an initiative test or be removed from play. Is a risk at 40 points as most of the time you will probably want to be taking that special character with high initiative, although maybe that stray powerfist might be taken off the board? Finally the most expensive at 50 points Gaze of death, this is great for hoard armies, after combat centre the large blast template over the C’tan all models touched suffer a strength 3 hit with no armour saves allowed. It is expensive but if you’re up against tyranids, guard or orks I would definitely take it. The C’tan shard may only take 2 upgrades from the list and each one may only be taken once per army, at 185 base it does become and expensive elite choice if you choose the higher end powers but could be well worth it in my opinion.

Deathmarks

The first of the new elite units for the Necrons, slightly more expensive than the flayed ones (95 points for 5), however they serve quite a different purpose. Deathmarks are the Necron snipers, they have two special rules that make them quite useful hunters from hyperspace and ethereal interception. Hunters from hyperspace grants them the ability to select a non-vehicle unit when they deploy and will always wound them on a 2+ shooting and close combat, ethereal interception after an enemy unit has arrived from reserve any Deathmark units in deep strike reserve may choose to deep strike that turn. So basically you can show up right after the enemy and give them something else to think about before they begin shooting or assaulting.  The weapon they carry is the synaptic disintegrator, st X, ap 5, rapid fire, sniper, 24 inches. So wounding normally on a 4+ with rending is useful. Overall I think these guys will make it into some lists, I feel they come kind of close to the flayed ones in terms of popularity but their special rules give then the edge.

Triarch Praetorians

These guys are toughness 5 fearless jump infantry that carry the rod of the covenant, a power weapon with a st 5 ap 2 assault shot at 6 inches. At 200 points they are expensive however and they still suffer from the low initiative and 1 attack base. But with their speed, toughness and fearless I do think they will be able to survive a fair few attacks before being taken down therefore getting to strike back. I find this a hard unit to place in terms of how likely you are to choose them over flayed ones or Deathmarks, I feel they could be a great attacking unit, but at the same time I fear there are a lot of things out there already that would pick on them.

Lychguards

I think these will be the staple of every Necron army, the same stats as the praetorians but with an extra attack and armed with the warscythe. They are normal infantry, the warscythe gives +2 strength so that’s st 7 and gives 2D6 penetration vs. vehicles, they are not fearless but for 5 points can exchange the warscythe for a hyperphase sword and dispersion shield. The hyperphase sword is a basic power weapon, so they lose the +2 st and 2D6 vs vehicles, but the hyperphase shield grants a 4+ invulnerable save that if passed deflects the shot onto an unengaged enemy unit of the Necron players’ choice. The shot hits automatically with strength and AP equal to that of the firing weapon. So Lychguards are definitely the top choice in my opinion just edging out the C’tan shard for first place, they are tough to take down and can hit very hard, making the perfect bodyguard for your overlord.

So overall the elites I would rank something like this

1.       Lychguard (tough and strong)

2.       C’tan Shard (Many army building influences)

3.       Triarch Stalker (covered earlier in the review)

4.       Deathmarks (Effective assassins)

5.       Flayed Ones (Distraction unit)

6.       Triarch Praetorians (can’t quite see where these guys fit in yet

      Overall Impressions

I for one am very satisfied with the new book for Necrons, I think increasing the number of options they have available has done them the world of good. So far there is nothing that really changes the game too much, but obviously time will tell. However you look at it you will definitely have to reconsider how you play or play against this army in the future. Over the next few posts I will be looking at some different builds and initially what units I think will work very well together. Oh and on a small side note I might be getting to paint some of the models for my local GWs Necron army, should be finding out more about that this Thursday so stay tuned!

Necron Codex Review Part IV: Fast Attack

So as I mentioned before I think maybe the best unit in codex has fallen into this section! But before that I will look at the other choices available starting out with the brand new tomb blades.

Tomb Blades

These are the new and only jetbikes for the Necrons, weighing in at 20 points and +1 toughness for being mounted not integrated like a destroyer they are an ok choice. Units of up to 5, no special rules save for reanimation protocols; however they do get to take some decent upgrades. Enough said really, I can’t see them being taken very often especially when you consider the other choices in this section.

Destroyers

Now moved to the fast attack section from heavy support, they now count as jump infantry and still have toughness 5, 40 points and add 20 if you wish to upgrade to a heavy destroyer. They can be taken in squads of 5 however only 3 can be upgraded to heavies, reanimation protocols and preferred enemy everything. Still a good choice for Necrons and better now they are in this section, 3 heavy destroyers for 180 points is a decent anti tank unit with toughness 5 and relentless so I would expect to still see these commonly on the table.

Canoptek Wraiths

So basically the same wraiths from the last book but with some vital changes to stats and rules. They count as jump infantry, have 2 wounds, rending and are not slowed by terrain and automatically pass dangerous terrain tests. They still have phase shifter 3+ invuln, however they do not have reanimation protocols so when they are gone they are gone. They have some basic upgrades; the particle caster st 6 ap 5 pistol, whip coils models in base contact strike at initiative 1 and transdimensional beamer, shooting attack one model hit takes a strength test or is removed from play.  For 35 points wraiths are still good value, although they are a little slower than they were in the last book, I could still see taking them.

Canoptek Scarabs

These will definitely change some things in the game, but firstly let’s talk about the changes to them. Scarabs are now classed as beasts not jetbikes so they can’t move as quick but get the 12 inch charge range and move through cover and fleet! Secondly in exchange for their small target rule which gave them +1 to any cover save they now have the entropic strike special rule. So this means a unit of 3 bases comes in with 15 attacks hitting a vehicle on 4+ let’s say, so 7.5 hits and then half of those  will reduce all the armour facings by one point. So let’s say 4 on average, that means a land raider reduced to a raider and a raider reduced to armour value 6 all round! If the armour is reduced to 0 then it becomes wrecked, quite possible with units of 10 scarabs. Although they are weak with toughness 3 and swarms special rule vulnerable to templates this is a small price to pay if used correctly they can cause a lot of damage to your enemies vehicles.

So overall fast attack definitely seems the place to buy all of your anti tank needs, scarabs are going to be seen in every list I should imagine and destroyers will still remain quite highly placed as well. As for the tomb blades it remains to be seen how effective they will be, at first glance they are nothing out of the ordinary but it is early days. Next up I will be looking at the elite choices!

Necron Codex Review Part III Vehicles

The number of vehicles available to the Necrons has greatly increased this time round, from the lone monolith to 7 additional vehicles of different kinds. First of all though a general overview of the available mech, apart from the monolith everything is armour value 11 on all sides, and apart from the two scythe vehicles everything is open topped. So from this it might sound like the Necrons are only slightly better off than the Dark Eldar paper skimmers, however it’s the rules for the vehicles that make them something special. 

Since I will be covering only 4 of the vehicles in this section, in subsequent parts of the review I will only go lightly over their placements in fast attack and heavy support etc. Again as there are so many I have highlighted the ones I think will prove most useful or interesting at first glance.

First up the one probably most people have been anticipating how it would be changed if at all...

The monolith

The monolith has changed in 5^th edition, it costs less (235 down to 200), the living metal rule has changed and the portal is now called the eternity gate for which the rules have changed. So the living metal used to mean you were not affected by melta, lance and monstrous creatures or anything else that rolled 2D6 for armour penetration. Now we find that you do get affected by these things however stunned results are ignored on D6 roll of 2+ and shaken on 4+. The eternity gate still has the dimensional corridor moving units from around the battlefield or bringing in units from reserve. The new rule though is called portal of exile, basically counts as firing a weapon with the following rules D6 range all units in range are hit automatically and must pass a strength test or be removed as a casualty with not saves of any kind allowed, roll separately for each model. This will doubtless be useful against certain foes and of course will work against walkers. For the other weapons they remain the same with the particle whip and 4 gauss flux arcs. So overall although the monolith still seems more vulnerable than it was in the last book AV14 on all sides is still as tough as a land raider and str8 v armour 12 from a lance still isn’t the deadliest weapon. The monolith is still a solid choice for the Necron codex and I can’t see a reason so far not to take one.

Triarch Stalkers

Triarch stalkers are the first walker the Necrons have ever had, like everything else armour 11 all round with quantum shielding and living metal, open topped plus it has move through cover! Which is very useful considering its only weapon is medium range 24 inches and can be fired as a multimelta with 2 shots or as a heavy flamer. So a bit of an stronger version of the imperial guard sentinel? Not quite, with its special rule targeting relay! If the stalker hits an enemy unit in the shooting phase place a counter next to it, all other friendly units shooting at that unit in the same shooting phase count their weapons as twin linked. So if you have something you need to concentrate on this stalker would definitely be useful to include. However it does take up an elite slot, unit size is 1, however cost is not too high at 150 points and it does have 2 other weapon options the particle shredder st7 ap4 large blast useful against troops or twin linked heavy gauss cannon st 9 ap 2 range 36. So a solid new option for the Necrons that will prove to add some synergy to the army and also a bit off close combat punch with strength 7 and 3 attacks base.

Ghost Ark

This is a dedicated transport for Necron warriors and can carry 10 of them; it has the same rules as the other vehicles and is classed as a standard skimmer. It comes with 2 gauss flayer arrays that can fire at separate targets with 5 gauss flayers each, combine this with 10 warriors shooting and you have quite a little gunship! What its good about the ghost ark not only the fact that now you have a faster transport for your warriors but that it can repair and replenish your warrior squads. Each Necron movement phase on the roll of a 2+ the barge can repair D3 warriors from one squad either on the barge or within 6 inches up to their starting strength. However if you roll a 1 then the ark takes a glancing hit with no saves allowed. This is useful for keeping more of your warriors alive especially if you are failing some of your reanimation protocols. At 115 points a reasonably priced transport for your warriors and quantum shielding will always prove useful I’m sure.

Annihilation Barge

After the monolith this is the heavy support choice I think I would always try to take in my Necron army. The annihilation barge is an anti-infantry / anti-light vehicle skimmer, with the standard Necron rules and wargear. The weapons it comes with are a twin linked tesla destructor and a tesla cannon, as we went over the tesla rule in the troops part of this review I won’t go over it again. The tesla destructor is strength 7, assault 4, tesla, arc, this means once you have resolved the shot roll a D6 for every unit within 6 inches of the target unit. On the roll of a 6 that unit suffers D6 strength 5 hits AP-. Potentially then this can cause mass damage to ranks of massed infantry and light vehicles. For 90 points this is an outstanding new addition for the Necrons and I can’t wait to see it in action.

Overall I am very impressed with the new vehicles the Necrons have, diversity is always a good thing and I don’t think at all that they will be too tough or too easy to bring down. They seem to be well balanced between their rules and point costs and the models out so far do look very nice indeed!

Next time I will be looking at the fast attack choices in the book and what I feel might be the best unit in the entire codex! Stay tuned!