New Necron Unit - Venatarkhs & Venatarkh Lord updated rules in OP

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**Medium of Death**

Updated with Current Rules & Additional Lord

Venatarkh warriors are often utilised to decimate the command structures of opposing armies.
They are Destroyers who shunned the use of the grav platforms in favour of the ability to tear out the
heart of the enemy through surprise teleportation strikes. It is not uncommon for Venatarkh squads
to appear within the operation centres of the enemy, enveloped by a dark mist, and annihilate them. These
actions leave the remaining opposing forces scattered and terrified, making easy prey to these brutal, hate
filled soldiers. Darkness will not save you from the predations of the Venatarkh, the shadows are their ally,
fear is their weapon.

Particularly cold & ruthless Venatarkhs gain the position of Lord, and will eliminate the enemies of the Phaeron
without rest. They posses technologies used to inspire fear and dread in the hearts of the enemy that are
normally held solely by Harbingers of Despair. The Venatarkh Lord will lead his cohort across an
entire world, systematically purging their intended targets. The ruination of the foe being the only trace of
their presence.

It has been known for high ranking Imperial Commanders and officials to commit treacherous acts shortly before
disappearing when the Ventarkh Lord stalks the field. It has been theorised that the venatarkh Lord
possess some ability to manipulate the minds of it's enemies in order to further disrupt the ranks of the foe.

Unit - Necron Venatarkhs - ELITE

Necron Venatarkhs - 135 pts
WS 4
BS 4
S 4
T 5
W 1
I 2
A 1
Ld 10
Sv 3+

Composition
3 Necron Venatarkhs

Unit Type
Infantry

Wargear
Gauss Cannon

Options
May add up to 2 additional Venatarkhs - 45 points per model

Special Rules
Reanimation Protocols
Preferred Enemy (Everything!)
Night Vision
Deep Strike
Fear
Our Master's Quarry -
Any model attached to the unit automatically gains the Deep Strike special rule.

Aura of Darkness -
When Venatarkhs/Venatarkh Lords arrive via Deep Strike they, and any models attached to the unit, gain
the Shroud and Pinning USR's until their next movement phase.

For each Venatarkh unit, a Venatarkh Lord may be purchased. The Venatarkh Lord does not take up any space in the FoC, but counts as an HQ. The Venatarkh Lord may only join squads of Venartarkhs, but he may operate independently if so desired.

Venatarkh Lord - 80 pts

WS 4
BS 4
S 4
T 5
W 3
I 2
A 2
Ld 10
Sv 3+

Composition
1 Venatarkh Lord

Unit Type
Infantry

Wargear
Gauss Cannon
Mindshackle Scarabs

Options
May take any of the following
Resurrection Orb - 30 Pts
Tesseract Labyrinth - 20 Pts
Veil of Darkness - 30 Pts
Nightmare Shroud - 10 Pts

Special Rules
Ever Living
Independent Character
Preferred Enemy (Everything!)
Night Vision
Deep Strike
Fear
Aura of Darkness -
When Venatarkhs/Venatarkh Lords arrive via Deep Strike they, and any models attached to the unit, gain
the Shroud USR, and their Gauss Cannons gain Pinning until their next movement phase.

Madness of the Abyss -
The Venatarkh Lord releases a swirling black mist, as it envelopes the enemy they
are forced to confront their worst fears.The Venatarkh Lord can make this shooting
attack in addition to using it's Gauss Cannon, the attack follows the same rules for
the Abyssal Staff

Thoughts?

Edits; Formatting! Argh!

**rohansoldier**

Sounds good (and I really like the name!) but I would reduce their armour save to 3+.

Not even Lychguard have a 2+ save after all. Also I would consider a max unit size of 5. I can see these guys being super rare and a small unit size would negate the need for them to go up to Lychguard levels of points.

**BoomWolf**

Sv 3+ and 40 points a piece sounds right, deep striking guass cannons are NASTY

**rohansoldier**

I would say Boomwolf suggestions are dead on. 40pts with a 3+ is fair, especially with the deep strike, preferred enemy and RP. I would let a Cryptek or Necron Lord join them and deep strike as well. The only way I would say they should stay at 35pts is if they are capped at a unit size of 5 maximum.

I would say they should be an Elite choice. Having the Royal Court already not take up an FOC slot by themselves is enough imo.

BTW, I really like your conversions for the Ventarkhs. They are wicked!

**BoomWolf**

Now that I look at it again, with a 3+ and 40 points its essentially a non-jump destroyers that grants IC that joins them deep strike and comes in bigger teams.

Something must be altered to make them a bit more unique.

**rohansoldier**

How about upping them to 45-50 pts and giving them something like a unit based veil of darkness which can be used each turn?

Or would that be overpowered do you think?

**Medium of Death**

Thanks for the feedback guys. I thought about giving them a Veil of Darkness, but felt that a rule that maybe enhances the Veil could work well.

I've lowered the save, and upped the cost. I gave them Nightvision & added this special rule;

Aura of Darkness - In a turn in which the Venatarkh unit Deepstrikes the unit gains both the Fear & Shrouded USR for the remained of that turn.

Venatarkh warriors are often utilised to decimate the command structures of opposing armies.
They are Destroyers who shunned the use of the grav platforms, in favour of the ability to tear out the
heart of the enemy through surprise teleportation strikes. It is not uncommon for Venatarkh squads
to appear within the operation centres of the enemy, enveloped by a dark mist, and decimate them. These
actions leave the remaining opposing forces scattered and terrified, making easy pray to these brutal, hate
filled soldiers. Darkness will not save you from the predations of the Venatarkh, the Night is their ally.

Necron Venatarkhs - 135 pts
WS 4
BS 4
S 4
T 5
W 1
I 2
A 1
Ld 10
Sv 3+

Composition
3 Necron Venatarkhs

Unit Type
Infantry

Wargear
Gauss Cannon

Options
May add up to 2 additional Venatarkhs - 45 points per model

Special Rules
Reanimation Protocols
Preferred Enemy (Everything!)
Night Vision
Deep Strike
Our Master's Quarry - Any model attached to the unit automatically gains the Deep Strike special rule.
Aura of Darkness - In a turn in which the Venatarkh unit Deepstrikes the unit gains both the Fear & Shrouded USR for the remained of that turn.

**BoomWolf**

Ok, I defiantly like the new version, however under the current wording Aura of Darkness does not work as intended, as a "turn" refers to player turn.

A more correct wording will read:

Aura of Darkness - When Venatarkhs arrive from Deep Strike they gain the Far and Shrouded USE until their next movement phase.

**Medium of Death**

Thanks for pointing that out.

Updated.

Necron Venatarkhs - 135 pts
WS 4
BS 4
S 4
T 5
W 1
I 2
A 1
Ld 10
Sv 3+

Composition
3 Necron Venatarkhs

Unit Type
Infantry

Wargear
Gauss Cannon

Options
May add up to 2 additional Venatarkhs - 45 points per model

Special Rules
Reanimation Protocols
Preferred Enemy (Everything!)
Night Vision
Deep Strike
Our Master's Quarry - Any model attached to the unit automatically gains the Deep Strike special rule.
Aura of Darkness - When Venatarkhs arrive from Deep Strike they, and any models attached to the unit, gain the Fear and Shrouded USR's until their next movement phase

**rohansoldier**

Sounds good. With T5, Shrouded and a 3+ save they will be a pain to take down (which a 45pt per model unit should be!).

Did you decide whether to have them as Elites or not?

**Medium of Death**

I think probably Elite would be the best place for them, as they are really an alternative to Lycheguard or Praetorians.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Thought about a potential HQ based on this Unit.

Venatarkh Lord - 75 pts

WS 4
BS 4
S 4
T 5
W 2
I 2
A 2
Ld 10
Sv 3+

Composition
1 Venatarkh Lord

Unit Type
Infantry

Wargear
Gauss Cannon
Abyssal Staff

Options
May take any of the following
Resurrection Orb - 30 Pts
Tesseract Labyrinth - 20 Pts
Mindshackle Scarabs - 15 Pts
Veil of Darkness - 30 Pts
Nightmare Shroud - 10 Pts

Special Rules
Ever Living
Independent Character
Preferred Enemy (Everything!)
Night Vision
Deep Strike
Fear
Shrouded

Fluff

Spoiler:

**rohansoldier**

Interesting addition with the Venatarkh Lord, but why does he save 2 wounds and only strength 4?

I would probably make him have the same stats as a Necron Lord, i.e. 1 wound and strength 5.

I would probably also make him a Royal Court upgrade (maybe 0-1 per Court or up to 1 per Venatarkh unit) instead of an HQ, but that is up to you. I would also say he can only join Venatarkh units.

**Medium of Death**

I wanted to make a distinction between him and the other Lords. More relying on his ranged abilities, or scarabs to get the job done in Close combat. I felt that if he had strength five, and 3 wounds he would be undercosted. I felt keeping him fairly weak (in comparison) justified his lower points. I could always give him a 3rd wound, but probably wouldn't increase the strength.

Ideally he would be a Lord option that allows you to take Venatarkhs in the place of the Royal Court.

The idea of the Venatrakh Lord & Venatarks would be to represent a Necron strike force. Used to cut off the head of a particularly nasty enemy.

I guess he could be made into a Character upgrade, specifically for that unit.

Updated OP with your ideas, appreciating the feedback.

**Shadox**

At the moment Fear on the Aura of Darkness does not work as you can not assault in the turn you arrive, or is it supposed to count the second turn after ds too? If not, you should either make it something like their weapons count as pinning on the turn they arrive or drop the ld test altogether.

**Medium of Death**

I had thought about in the event that they are assaulted Fear might help... a bit.

I could probably change it so that they have fear as standard but the Aura of Darkness gives pinning when they arrive as you suggested.

EDIT. Updated.

May need cost adjustments now.

**rohansoldier**

I actually like the idea of the Lord taking the Venatarks (up to 5 I guess?) as a kind of bodyguard unit.

Keeping him weaker than an Overlord is a good move for keeping them balanced as well.

**Medium of Death**

I think this way, it allows an additional type of play style, without stepping on the toes of the already over-crowded HQ section.

I guess it could be that for every Destroyer lord a Venatarkh Lord could be chosen. Kind of like a sub commander. He doesn't count towards the HQ total, but opens up the Venatarkhs to be used instead of the Royal Court which the Destroyer Lord doesn't unlock, sadly.

In saying that I think the Destroyer Lord should unlock a Destroyer Court, or something like that.

**rohansoldier**

I quite like the sound of the Venatarkh Court idea, but I don't think it has the same flexibility as a Royal Court so probably best to leave it. Keep it as the Venatarkh Lord being a HQ that doesn't take an FOC slot and Venatarkhs as Elites.

**Sasori**

You could have the Ventarkh Lord as an upgrade character, that would solve the issues of royal court and lords.

My question though, is why take these over Destroyers? These cost more than Regular destroyers, and rely on deep-striking and reserves. They don't have the mobility of Destroyers, or near the effective range.

I like the idea of where you are going with them though, I think evolving them more a long the despair and nightmare route will help them find a more unique, and desirable role, a long with making them an even more unique choice.

**Medium of Death**

Just thinking about how to make them more unique, will pursue the Nightmare/Despair route.

Here's something else in the meantime.

The armies of Zantragora march to war with a single purpose, the harvest of specimens. Many have been brought back to the Blood Vats to endure experimentation and study comparable to the worst excesses of the Dark Eldar. The goal of these twisted experiments attempted to reach is the reunification of flesh with the Necron minds. No longer do the Necrontyr of Zantragora wish to endure in their cold necrodermis bodies. Many twisted crypteks and lords dwell on Zantragora, each striving for their own particular solution to their problem, the most infamous being Illuminor Szeras. His demands of specific prey are not unique to him alone, many Crypteks and Lords will require or believe that a certain species holds the key to undoing the curse wrought by the C'tan.

The Zantragoran Wraithkind were born out of this desire for specific test subjects. They are Necrontyr combined with the bodies of Canoptek Wraiths. The maneuverability of the Wraith, combined with the Cold Intellect of the Necrontyr make for most competent and deadly warriors. Such ghoulish creations can be seen leading swarms of Wraiths across the battlefield, ensnaring and dragging their victims back to face their grisly fate.

Many other tomb worlds have begun to use such creations as the greatly improve the battlefield effectiveness of the mindless Canoptek Wraith

For every unit of Canoptek Wraiths a Zantragoran Wraithkin may be added to the unit for the following cost.

Zantragoran Wraithkin - 80 pts
WS 4
BS 4
S 6
T 4
W 3
I 2
A 3
Ld 10
Sv 3+

Composition
1 Zantragoran Wraithkin

Unit Type
Jump Infantry (Character)

Wargear
Staff of Light
Phase Shifter
Whip Coils

Options
May take any of the following
Resurrection Orb - 30 Pts
Tesseract Labyrinth - 20 Pts
Mindshackle Scarabs - 15 Pts

May exchange Staff of Light for
Warscythe - 10 pts
Voidblade - 10 pts

Special Rules
Ever Living
Fearless
Wraithflight
Phase Attacks
Wraithkin - Canoptek Wraiths in a unit with the Zantragoran Wraithkin benefit from the Reanimation Protocols special rule.