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Monster Rain wrote:To me, not getting a Royal Court takes you out of the running for a competitive list at anywhere above 1000 points.

Exactly why he's not exactly horrible to take along in 500-1000 points games.
(I must admit, I ran him and Anrakyr in a Deathstar with 10 Immortals and a ResOrb Lord in a 1000 point list, and it actually did pretty well).

skoffs wrote:

Monster Rain wrote:To me, not getting a Royal Court takes you out of the running for a competitive list at anywhere above 1000 points.

Exactly why he's not exactly horrible to take along in 500-1000 points games.
(I must admit, I ran him and Anrakyr in a Deathstar with 10 Immortals and a ResOrb Lord in a 1000 point list, and it actually did pretty well).

I hadn't thought of that combo, FC S5 / T4 Immortals has some merit.

I didn't intend to 'slag' of Illuminor Szeras, he does have his uses but it is only a small niche. The problem with this IC is points cost, Doesn't unlock a RC and his ability's can only be given to Warriors and immortals which is also random.

+1 Strength on a Warrior unit is pointless as they should never be relied upon in assault.
+1 Toughness is quite good and one I would certainly use if I could choose.
+1 BS is alight hitting on +2 with a big block of warriors/Immortal can be harsh but its still only Str4/Str5 and with a Stalker it could be TL.

This ability isn't worth 55points (45pts for a Cryptek with GoF) Sure his stats are W2 A4, but as that only favours assault its foolish to be taking him for that benefit.

I do really like his model and will mostly likely get one just to paint.

I don't know...chuck in Stalker as well a blob of 20 BS5 warriors and you pretty much guaranteed to hit.

Sounds ok to me.

skoffs wrote:

Monster Rain wrote:To me, not getting a Royal Court takes you out of the running for a competitive list at anywhere above 1000 points.

Exactly why he's not exactly horrible to take along in 500-1000 points games.
(I must admit, I ran him and Anrakyr in a Deathstar with 10 Immortals and a ResOrb Lord in a 1000 point list, and it actually did pretty well).

Heh. At 1000 I like to bring Vargard Obyron (again, because at 1000 points I really don't miss the second court) and a Overlord with a scythe in a barge.

Obyron is a beast at the lower point values.

Topics like these get so damn depressing.

Does nobody play 40K just for fun anymore? Sure, Szeras isn't the best. Maxing royal courts is powerful. But he's fun, has a unique ability, and looks awesome. No, he might not win you any tournaments. But you have plenty of cheese to do that with already, don't you? If all you care about is winning, why do you even care that an army with several competitive strategies has a unit that isn't quite up to par?

For those railing on the GW Necron armies article, you are attacking it from entirely the wrong angle. Saying "Here, buy 2 battleforces and some HQ" is FAR less effective at enticing new buyers than "Battleforce gets you this...and look at this walker! And these wraiths! And the monolith!". These are NOT competitive lists, and they are NOT meant to be - they are meant to be lists that show off some of the coolest looking units in the army so that you can build it and enjoy the game for what it is.

I sure hope I'm not the only one left in this thread who is excited for awesome new models and doesn't give a damn whether or not they will be "top tier".

Oh, for sure all the new stuff looks awesome (even the Tomb Blades, to a degree), but it helps when the things also PLAY awesome.

If GW wants to get new players into the game more, giving them sub-par suggestions on how to build an army may actually HURT their chances, as those new players who take their advice and go to play their first game may be woefully disappointed on how badly their army performs.
Yes, a sensible person may realize they need to look at their codex to see what works best with what and adjust their army accordingly, but not everyone is sensible. They may just consider it a waste of money and quit (people do that all the time with hobbies when they start out: either they're immediately hooked, or they come away dissatisfied after their first experience and drop it).

Regarding Szeras, I think we all may still be a little butt hurt over him (awesome looking character in the art from the codex... and then we noticed that he's a "meh" HQ choice. I, for one, was very, "Why would they take such a cool looking and awesomely fluffy character, and make him crap to play with?")

Szeras is one of those characters that I may run when I want to teach other players how to play the game. He's not as good as a lot of the HQs, but he's not unusable either, and he's an all-around "fair" character; no nasty tricks, no leaving the opponent feeling like he's cheesy, nothing like that.

Taking Mindshackle Scarabs in each of your units and having Catacomb Barges flying around everywhere will scare off new players. Szeras will look cool, not be unfair to the opponent, and not completely handicap your own army.

Nightbringer's Chosen wrote:Szeras is one of those characters that I may run when I want to teach other players how to play the game. He's not as good as a lot of the HQs, but he's not unusable either, and he's an all-around "fair" character; no nasty tricks, no leaving the opponent feeling like he's cheesy, nothing like that.

Taking Mindshackle Scarabs in each of your units and having Catacomb Barges flying around everywhere will scare off new players. Szeras will look cool, not be unfair to the opponent, and not completely handicap your own army.

Szeras is definitely cool. I could picture taking him in a scarab farm list in a 20 warrior unit for benefits. I just wish immortals could mob up.

Defeatmyarmy wrote:Szeras is definitely cool

Rofl, suddenly this is a Szeras appreciation thread.
"Let's all gather around and say what we like about Illuminator Szeras. I'll go first. I like that he comes with Gaze of Flame, so when I stick him in a unit of Eternals who are in terrain, it makes that unit even better."

I like Seraz because, um, he has a 1/3 of a chance to upgrade 1 of my immortal units, or my warriors to become tougher, have BS of 5, or be stronger

I, um, like Szeras because he has a cool name, and, um, he has spider legs, which are cool.

"Good! See, Szeras, people DO like you! Now, who likes that he has a severed Eldar head in his hands? Anyone?"

I do, I do!






EDIT: this thread is going slightly off the rails....

"We have since reached rock bottom and began to dig." :-)

I've resigned myself to buy 2 spyders in the next month... I may have as many as 6 some day. I think that spyders are going to be the Necron equivalent of Rhinos.

As far as Wraiths go... I'm going to continue making my conversions from Praetorian parts. Such things are looked on with favor in my area.

I like the tombblades mostly because they are something very different. Maybe someday, I'll make a Necron on a Hog to Counts-as a Destroyer Lord...

I'll pick up Namesor and Obryon... these are the HQ's that I fell in love with then I first got my codex... They are so flavorful and good!

Szeras doesn't thrill me. I do love the idea of running him with the Traveler... His bonus on Eternals makes me giggle.

I think this thread has served it's purpose now. Feel free to discuss spin off topics in the relevant 40k board.

With a bit of luck a new Necron release thread will take off soon.