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Hey folks, I've just recently started the hobby and I am working on a Crimson Fists army.
Now I somehow managed to get my mate into the hobby but since I don't know a lot about the game yet, I'm not sure if I'm guiding him to the right direction.

He wanted:

a) a low-to-medium model count army
b) the HQ has to be a slaughter-machine
c) paint job not too high on the difficulty scale (so a bit forgiving on the paint skills).

At first I suggested CSM but got around to suggesting Necrons and after searching through the GW website, he said he'll give them a shot.

Now, me and my mate have some questions and we were hoping to get some guidance from fellow wise Dakkarians

1) Do Necrons fulfill the above criteria of what my mate asked for?

2) How are Necrons doing on the table-top? Are they a good starting point for beginners like us?

3) Is the Start Collecting box worth it?

4) Can you have a Necron army without the warriors but Immortals as core troop choices instead?

5) I've heard of the 'cheese' business... do Necron armies get a lot of hate?

Thank you guys for any help/advice and feedback.
I've recently started but I've gotten so much help from DakkaDakka. You guys are great.

Cheers!

Necrons are medium model count. They aren't as bad as orks or guard, but I usually have more models on the board than my opponents.
HQ can be a slaughter machine, but not all by themselves. Need to bring wraiths (D-lord) or Lychguard (O-Lord) to protect. Or go with scythe in a sled.
Super easy to paint. The nice part I found with Necrons is the simpler infantry units you can basically spray metal and add a little detail and they are done. Then you can spend time doing detail on your more unique units.

No psykers to deal with and super forgiving of mistakes, necrons are great for starters.

Start collecting can be worth it, though only if you want the stalker. A new box is coming out soon that has a set of warriros with an ark, depending on price point I would just buy a couple of those with an HQ to get started. New FAQ made arks strong again.

You can use immortals, I would not recommend it unless they make Tesla worth it again.

I have a win rate of probably 75-80%, and I almost never play the cheese necron detachment. One thing to note is I only play pick up games or with my friends, so I don't go up against tourney lists. I am sure I would be humbled in that venture.


Another army you might consider is Space Wolves. They have a battleforce, a start collecting, and a new box set (drop pod and troops I think) coming out soon. I have played against them a few times and they seem like another option you could consider. Harder to paint I am sure but lower model count. I think they are pretty straight forward as well.

1) Absolutely.Their basic troops can be taken in 20 man squads, but generally that's about all you want, or 2x 10 man squads in Ghost Arks (their transports). The HQs are generally pretty beefy and killy. And the paint job is fairly easy, just prime them black, hit them with the Necron Compound Drybrush, and pick out the details. Done.

2) I'd say so. They're not the strongest army, but they're up there. Their basic troops and most of their units have a shorter range (24"), but they are very durable.

3) Absolutely. Most of the Start Collecting boxes are a great value and come with a cool formation to play immediately.

4) Not sure, your codex can tell you.

5) Sometimes. They get a lot of hate for taking their strongest detachment (the Decurion) because it makes them nigh invulnerable and they can spam Wraiths (one of their best melee units) easily.

1)
a)not a good option for them, but their basic infantry is good and easy to paint - so he`ll want more guys on the ground.
b)they can be if you don`t mind going last(not a problem with necron durability, most of the time)
c)Necrons are easy to paint — that is about warriors and immortals, rest of the models - not so much(triarch, ghost ark, lychguard) but everyone forgets to say that they fiddly as hell to assemble - basic warrior is 9 pieces model, dont let me start about ghost ark...
If you dont take decurion and canoptek harvest - theyre are not super durable than.

2) Theyre doing good, not space marine amazing (or eldar for that matter) but good.
3) If you can find old battleforce or megaforce - theyre good, start collecting is good too.
4) Not in the "cheese" decurion formation, and you dont want that too - warriors are good, but it can be done.
5) Its not very fun with 4+ renimation save for the opponent, but if you dont spam some choices - necron are not too cheesy.