Necrons... dun dun dunnnnhhhhhhh

A new threat arises....

So I have been acting like a little kid lately--saving up money from my birthday, Christmas, and extra jobs to buy my next new toy.  However, as I am also masquerading as a "grown-up", my toys are more expensive and of the plastic crack variety.  The new Necron codex has caught my eye and I plan on building a 1500-2000 point army list to act as a foil to my Ultramarines Second Company and Honorguard.  I have the devious goal to try and get my friends hooked on plastic crack too, and I think the best way to do this is through intro games with two well-painted, evenly matched armies.


First things first... I need to decide on a paint scheme.  Because I am extremely uncreative, I am going with the standard boltgun/silver with green highlights scheme.   I think that the silver and green will look good on the tabletop when paired with the blues, golds, and reds from the Smurfs.  Also, I am going to base them on cork-lava bases like:

http://masterdarksol.blogspot.com/2009/09/painted-skulltaker_28.html

I think if I use orange/yellow OSL off the metal Necrons, they will really make the green highlights pop and help the army look really evil and sinister.  Almost like their rising is making the world split apart...

As for the list itself, I am working with the following constraints:
1.  Used release models as much as possible (aka no Stalkers, Doomscythes, and Nightscythes)
2.  Varied units as much as possible
3.  Built around mechanized infantry
4.  Ideally have Nemesor or the Traveler as the HQ

For 1500, I am going to start off with an Overlord with Scythe in CCB.  I think this unit provides the best way for Necrons to handle Dreads, LRs, and possibly annoyances such as Sanguinary Priests (roll those 6s).  If I have points left over, I will try and add the 2+ save and/or Mindshackle Scarabs.  I want to see Draigo go nuts and butcher half of his Paladins or himself.  At 1500, the Traveler would also be a good buy, as he could make a unit of Immortals stronger while also providing more anti-tank tools.  What's really nice is that buying the CCB provides the Overlord for free.

The HQ was a pretty easy decision, but I have had a really hard time getting a handle on Necron troops.  Tesla Immortals seem pretty amazing on paper, even without Nightscythes.  They can move and fire at 24", so they can maneuver and still contribute to the battle.  I plan on running at least one unit of 10 so they can utilize Reanimation Protocols as much as possible.  I think supporting these guys with a Harp Cryptek could be nasty, as if it goes off it allows them to pen AV11.  That or he could use the Tremorstave to limit the opponent's mobility.

Warriors are interesting in that they have rapidfire weapons, but cannot stand up to any sort of assault.  With my Smurfs, I can drive up, hop out of a vehicle and rapidfire an opponent, knowing that I can probably handle the counterassault, or use pistols and assault myself.  Warriors do not have that option.  If they rapidfire something and it doesn't die, then they are dead next turn.  They can stand off at 24" and take potshots, but that doesn't seem very effective to me.  The major"benefits" of Warriors is that they can be taken in larger squads and can take Ghost Arks and can be regenerated by them.  Larger squads could benefit from a Phaeron with Res Orb, making a 20 man marching blob of shooty death, with Ghost Arks regenerating them each turn... and then they would fall over from the first assault that hits.  That could be mitigated with a Gaze of Flame, Lightning Field, or Tremorstave/Crucible Cryptek, but I think that would be throwing good money after bad. 

I think I am going to run them in groups of 9 with a Lance Cryptek attached in/around Arks.  Arks are kind of expensive for a transport, especially for one that doesn't bring a lot of direct firepower to the table.  They are slow, but at least they are fairly sturdy with AV13.  The AV13 coupled with the ability to regen Warrior squads is what makes them so expensive.  The problem is that if your Warriors are outside the Ark and need regening, then either the Ark is already dead, or the Warriors are going to be getting charged soon.  I still think the Arks can be useful, as they provide AV13 saturation and do bring their own firepower to the fight.  They can also act as shooting bunkers for Lance Crypteks.  I think I am going to try to fit a squad of 3-5 Lance Crypteks in an Ark to provide an anti-tank squad.  The Ark could then regen the dismounted Warriors who might be getting pinged with anti-infantry fire.  That or the Ark could shuffle 6" to place itself right at the edge of 12" and unleash the Warriors and Flux Arrays into a unit, hopefully crippling it.  If the opponent then tries to charge the next turn, he has to pop the transport, and because of the large footprint, you can hopefully place the Warriors outside of charge range.  I see this being especially effective with Tremorstave support.  For my 1500 list, I am probably only going to fit in one unit of Warriors, as I will only be able to bring one Royal Court.  At 2K, I will fit another Warrior/Ark pair to bump up my scoring.

So now my 1500 point army is looking like:
Overlord with Warscythe and CCB
Immortals x10
Immortals x10
Warriors x10 with Ghost Ark

I think that is a solid core.  The Immortals provide solid anti-infantry along with the Ark and Warriors.  The Overlord can swipe vehicles and hopefully provide a little CC punch.  I still need more anti-infantry and vehicle suppression.  The easiest way to get both of those in the codex is from Annihilation Barges.  They are cheap, AV13 and can shred infantry and light vehicles.  Sign me up for two!

I think anti-infantry is covered pretty well.  I still need anti-tank... and the no-brainer choices in the codex are Scarabs and Wraiths.  10 Scarabs are cheap and provide a screen and anti-tank.  At 1500 they should be able to handle any heavy vehicles I run into and can act as a tarpit if needed.  Wraiths are also a stand-out unit.  They can hurt literally every unit in the game and are really the only "decent" CC unit the Necrons have.  I think a unit of five with two whip coils is solid at 195 points. 

That leaves me with:
Overlord with Warscythe and CCB
Immortals x10
Immortals x10
Warriors x10 with Ghost Ark
Scarabs x10
Wraiths x5 with 2 Whip Coils
Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge

That leaves 210 points remaining to purchase all sorts of goodies.  195 points buys 5 Lance Crypteks with a Solar Pulse.  That's a solid core of S8 AP2 that can hijack the Ark and split a couple of Crypteks to other squads.  I don't know if it would be better to drop two of them to make it possible to completely split the Crypteks in KP games.  The final 15 points would go to buy Mindshackle Scarabs for the Overlord.  That's not a terrible 1500 list... four AV13 vehicles, 30 scoring infantry, Scarabs, Wraiths, and five Lances.  The Lances would normally be split with one with the Warriors in the back and four hanging out in the Ark pew-pewing.  If I wanted to go for maximum dispersal (and didn't mind risking a two model KP), I could put one Cryptek in each of the squads and the remaining two in the Ark.  I don't think the Tesla Immortals are well suited to be escorting a Lance Cryptek, but that's just me. 

Dropping a Scarab and a Cryptek would allow me to upgrade the Overlord to the Traveler.  That would provide some extra tools to deal with vehicles and provide one unit of Immortals with Counterattack/Furious Charge.  I could also split the Immortals or Scarabs into smaller squads for MSU action, but I think that would leave the Immortals at risk of not getting their RP rolls.  That's something I will have to mess around with but for now the first draft of the list is:

HQ
Overlord with Warscythe, Scarabs, and CCB
5 Lance Crypteks with 1 Solar Pulse

Troops
Immortals x10 with Tesla
Immortals x10 with Tesla
Warriors x10 with Ghost Ark (Crypteks are probably going to jack the ride)

Fast
10 Scarabs
5 Wraiths with 2 Whip Coils

Heavy
Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge