[TOXG]precinctomega - Necrons - 1500pts

[precinctomega]

OK, this is going to be confusing if you didn't read my sign-up post, but you're going to see a lot of Space Marines on this Necrons thread.

This is because Stage One in collecting my Necrons is to finish and then sell my Space Marines. This will raise money to finance the Necrons, which will be finished by the end of 2008, in accordance with the TOXG rules, and then sold.

I'll be selling a lot of other stuff along the way, too, but the marines are the main one because I really only want to have one army at a time (no one mention the half-finished Imperial Guard, please!).

So, here's what I've finished of my marines so far:

Command Squad:



Tactical Squad 1:



Tactical Squad 2:



Scout Squad 1:



Rhino:



I hope you like them. However, fear not that the Necrons will be months in coming. I've already sold enough stuff on eBay to get my first block of new Necrons. My plan is to copy the "upright" design I've seen on Warseer, so pretty much every model will be converted. My plan is to paint them basically in a metallic finish. They'll then have bronzey chest plates and have squad identifiers on their heads.

The aim is: ancient and menacing. Just like Necrons should be.

There might be a C'tan. No promises, though.

[Brother Warchild]

Those are really nice looking marines,i really like the gold on the Helms.

[precinctomega]

Some more Scouts (I have a lot of Scouts):





Meanwhile, I've been investigating Necron tactics. I'm sure you've all heard of this "Necron Phalanx" thing that involves two or three large squads of Warriors, a couple of Lords, each with a Resurrection Orb and one with a Cloak of Darkness. Add a squad of Destroyers and additional units to taste and you have the "typical" Necron army at 1500-2000 points.

Now, a friend at my club has begged me not to do this (which was, frankly, what I had in mind) but I don't know enough about Necrons to put together anything else with a strong "win" factor.

I should add that the friend in question has a record of annihilating all before him with his astonishing Tyranid army. And I have a record of being the worst 40k player in Britain - twenty years of play and I can count the number of proper wins (as opposed to Pyrrhic victories) on one hand. Even if I include said Pyrrhic victories I only get as far as one more hand and maybe a couple of toes - I credit my record mainly to my tendency to build armies I like the look of rather than ones with actual tactical value. So I really do want an army I can actually win with.

Suggestions are welcomed.

R.

[precinctomega]

More pics:



The guy on the right is Master Zureus and counts as Belial (the army's based on the DA codex). The guy on the left is, of course, Uriah Jacobus, but I've always used him as a veteran scout sergeant. I've now decided that he's going to be a custom special character. Counts as an Elites choice, but allows the players to take Scouts as a Troops choice (meaning they can seize objectives in the 5th Ed rules - something that suits the background of the army).

R.

[Hayden]

Very nice models i love the scouts-they look like Arbitres to me
and other models are pretty too(the rocket launcher in tactical squad is sweet,selling such a army is heresy if you ask me)

but anyway i wishing you best luck

[precinctomega]

Less "heresy", more "economic necessity". Also, I fancy a change and don't have room to own more than three armies at once.

Actually, I don't really have room for more than two armies at once, but I'm hoping that if I ignore that half-finished Guard army it'll go away...

R.

[Heroka Vendile]

...into a rubbish bag at the hand of SWMBO perhaps? =P
out of interest, does the command squad captain have a power-crook? or does it just count as a standard ccw?

[Prince of the Night]

Very beautifully painted space marine army you got there. You should have no problem raising the $$ you need for your Necrons with selling that army. Great work.

[precinctomega]

It's a power crook. And SWMBO is far too nice to even threaten to bin any of my models. It would be like me throwing away her shoes!

R.

[Sir_Servo]

Wow those are some sweet looking models. In my experience balck armour is not easy to pull off and you make it look damn good. Keep up the good work.

As for winning necron lists something like this

Lord with Res Orb with about 10 Immortals (T5 and Gause Cannons = lots of dead stuff)

4 squads of 12 warriors

2 squads of 4-5 destroyers

Tomb Spider or two

Monolith

This gives you the fire power and survivability that you should need. Honestly it is not my list or army, but my buddy JD has taken home quite a few 1st place trophies with a list similar to the above.

my two cents,
Servo

[precinctomega]

I like that list. The presence of Immortals is good, because I really wanted to take those awesome harbingers of much, much mega-death-kill. I'm going to buy just a small number of Necron warriors over the weekend to test out my colour scheme before returning to the ever-patient marines, so you'll get to see some Necrons soon.

R.

[Chaos Lord Horus]

good stuff, not too keen on the rhino but fantastic scouts and marines!

[Heroka Vendile]

I've been thinking recently that, seeing as the Immortal models are so expensive, wouldn't it be possible to just bulk-up and double-barrel some Warriors? might require a bit of work, but I'm sure you'd be up to it Robey, and it may well save you a good amount of cash considering a single Immortal is £6 from GW, while it would take £36 to buy 2 Warrior boxes to be able to convert 10+ Immortals (i say 2 boxes to create the 10 double barrels).

[liveevil2000]

I have gone with the following list and it has won more battle than it has lost. The strength of the following list is in its warriors.
1 Lord on destroyer body (res orb / staff of light / phylactry<--however you spell it)
6 immortals
3 Wraiths
2x3 destroyers
4x10 warriors
8 flayed ones (with destruptor fields)
I have never had this list phase out on me. Now giving you the list and not telling you the strategy is useless. So here is how I play them.
Since the weakness of the Necrons is their initiative in melee I always keep the flayed ones and the wraiths close by my warriors for that counter attack against assaulty lists. Versus shooty lists, I infiltrate the flayed ones and keep the wraiths in reserve for that last minute objective grab.
The list basically sets up with all 4 units of warriors surrounding the lord in a phalanx. The entire block marches forward to get into firing range for the first turn or two. Meanwhile the immortals lend a bit of fire support as they march forward. The destroyers are carefully placed behind the entire block within 6" of the lord, they are the ones which will give the bulk of the fire support as you forge ahead with the main body of the force. By turn 2 or 3 you should be in range of the opposing force and ready to lay down some heavy duty fire.

With the new incarnation of the 40k rule set just around the corner, this list may (and most likely will) change. I have put all my 40k projects on hold until the new rules come out.

I have also heard rumors of the Necron codex being redone in the future (just rumor so far)


Here are Necron pros and cons as the current rules go.
Pros:
Warriors are tougher than marines (unless in melee) - Necron warrior stats are (with the exception of initiative) exactly the same as marines plus they have the "we'll be back" which means warriors are coming back 50% of the time ... pretty good for such a cheap cost.

Excellent anti armor ability - Gauss Weapons auto glance armor on a roll of a 6 when penetrating ... bring on the Tau "flying fish of fury"!! <--6-0 against this list.

Mobility - Destroyers, flayed ones, scarab swarms ... all act as jet bikes which means they can clear 24" in 1 turn. Great for that flast minute grab of an objective.

Fire Power - Gauss Weapons are just as good as bolters with an anti-vehicle kicker. Destroyers are mobile heavy weapons that can train a good barrage on a unit from anywhere on the field, and immortals are awesome with 24" assault2 str5 gauss weapon (which means they die first most of the time)

Now for the Cons
Melee - Initiative is the problem here. The only thing slower than necrons are powerfists. Melee is not a Warriors best friend here. Your only options here are wraiths and flayed ones.

Lack of good HQs - Lords are your only choice unless you want to use the pricey C'Tan. Lords, as HQs go, are VERY underpowered with stats that rival a regular marine.

Beware Phase Out - 25% and gone. A crafty opponent will use this to their advantage. If you go with a small specialized force prepare to be phased out often. Sure having those 10 destroyers and a monolith lays the smack down on people, but at the cost of model count.

Thats it. I could go unit choice by unit choice, but this is now becoming a "Long Post Alert!"
If you want to know more about these machines of death, let me know. I have played Necrons for a few years now and I have a pretty good feel for the tin men.

[BrainDeleted]

Whats the name of that Marine Chapter?

Great paint.

[precinctomega]

Woo, lots of interest.

First, what is it about the Rhino that bothers you, berserker?

Now, onto Necrons...

I'll be converting every single model in the army, pretty much, Heroka. I have to "straighten up" the Warriors, for a start. So using warriors to make Immortals shouldn't be a major problem. Then, if I end up with surplus warrior parts, I can make some objective terrain.

That's a really interesting list, liveevil2000, and I'll certainly give it my full consideration. However, I would observe that the usefulness of those jetbike turbo-boosts is about to be restricted. First, the distance is, I understand, going to be reduced to 18" and, second, I believe that only Troop units will be able to hold objectives...

Still, the Warrior-heavy army seems to be my best option.

R.

[liveevil2000]

Like I said, once the new rules hit the shelves I will be re-working that list. I might actually add another 10 warriors and use 1 monolith. I dont know yet, but it should be interesting.

[precinctomega]

I should have added that the chapter is the Dark Pilgirms... probably. I'm still brainstorming other ideas.

R.

[precinctomega]

Now with Necrons!

My first batch of four Necrons arrived this morning:



And this is what I'm doing with them:



You wouldn't believe how much taller they are when they stand up! I'll do a scale pic at some point so you can see how they look. I got the idea from someone on Warseer. I'll work out who so he can get due kudos for the inspiration. This guy took me about 30 mins, but I think I can cut that down to 10-15 mins per model once I've got the hang of things. Still, it's going to be time-consuming. I guess that's a good reason to get started ASAP.

There isn't a start date to this TOXG, is there? I sure hope not.

Anyway, at the moment, I plan to make four squads of 10, plus a Lord with Res Orb and Cloak of Darkness to start me off (at about 1000 points). Then I'll fill out the next 500 points with Immortals, Scarab Swarms and something else (probably Destroyers, but maybe Wraiths or Flayed ones).

R.

[precinctomega]

OK, in the absence of any interest, I've forged ahead anyway (pun intended). I've finished the initial work on my first four Necrons:



From L to R: Necron advancing, Necron surveying (my first, rather static attempt), Necron running (I know you don't usually imagine Necrons running, but as they'll be able to in the new 5th Ed rules, I thought I'd do a convo and I rather like how it appears) and Necrons resting foot on Scarab (I rather messed up the photo so you can't see the scarab, but it's actually floating about a millimetre off the base; no doubt the effect will be lost one I've put sand on the base...).

I still have to do the ProCreate bit on these - there are lots of areas that need touching up both to strengthen the joins and to cover up the cut-away areas. Then, of course, there's basing and painting to come.

I don't plan anything elaborate for these guys. They'll have a Boltgun Metal drybrush coat over black followed by a brown ink wash and a touch up of Chainmail on the highlights. Then I'll do Skull White faceplates with markings to indicate squad.

R.

[BrainDeleted]

Planning on any cool metal effects like rust?

[precinctomega]

Nope. I don't think that rust (oxidization of iron) is appropriate on creatures made from exotic and unidentified alien alloys.

R.

[BrainDeleted]

Its easily justifiable if you want it for your army but alright!

I just think you need something to make them stand out color wise....

[precinctomega]

I don't particularly want them to "stand out" colourwise. They're Necrons, after all! I mean, I looked over the colour schemes in the codex with the "ceramic" look and the different metal finishes and stuff and, basically, I like the plain metal look.

That said, this army's name is "The Children of the Dragon". This is kind of how I justify the upright pose: these are the Necron Warriors of a new C'Tan - one who may not have emerged yet but whose dreams of twisted metal march to a different beat to those of his cousins...

A vague plan to convert the Nightbringer lurks at the back of my mind...

R.

[BrainDeleted]

Haha...

The Void Dragon. Awesome.

Go with destroyers and a monolith by the way. You'll need the heavy fire power.

[Chaos Lord Horus]

dont get me wrong the rhino is well painted jus not the color scheme i would have chosen, but the actual paintsmenship and effort gone into it is fantastic, just not my colors if you get me bud, but very good tank!