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So I just started playing Warhammer40k and got 2 games under my belt with my very basic starter kit and Im loving the game so far. My starter kit includes:

Overlord
24 Warriors
Annihilation Barge

I am looking to start buying more pieces to make a good army. I also have 3 Night Scythes coming that are good proxy pieces that will work for now, so I wont need to worry about those until later. I was hoping the Dakka Dakka community could help me out and make some suggestions on what to buy next. I used a proxy piece for a ghost ark that seemed to work out decently in our game since I have all warriors I was just flying them around and shooting at things. I want to be able to get to a good 1000 point army seeing as that seems to be the most common spot my friends play at. Any suggestions on what to go for next would be much appreciated!

Put the warriors in the Nightscythes. Get 2 more Annihilation barges and some crypteks.

Then you can either go full cronair with Deathmarks + Despairteks in more Nightscythes. Or hybrid with Destroyer Lord and Wraiths.

Good to see a new robot convert

I don't know how competitive your freinds are at 1k, but I'll give you what I think are the most competitive units.

-3 or 6 wraiths. These guys will completely wreck face. There has never been a game where I wished I didn't take them (and plenty where I wished I had more). They can do nearly anything (kill swarms, terminators, marines, light/med vehicles, montrous creatures, tarpit, contest obj, counter attack). I would also feel bad bringing 6 at 1k, best to use good judgement to see how strong your friend's lists are.

-5 or 6 Scarabs. Not a bad tarpit, and fantastic at destroying tanks. I included these because I assume that you have them already (since they come in warrior boxes).

-5 deathmarks with a cryptek of despair with veil. Nasty little combo, called death and despair. Deep strike on T2 next to the marked unit, and the tek lays down a AP2 flamer that wounds on 2+, and you get the rest of the rapid-fire sniper shots wounding on 2's. Fantastic at taking out termies. Also does well against marines hiding back in cover, or putting some hurt on a monstrous creature.

Note that I would not buy the cryptek model. Instead try and convert some warriors holding staves with deathmarks heads from ebay, and add a cloak. You'll save a lot of money. Aim to build ~5 and you should be set for your collection for a while.

*Another annihilation barge would also be great, and gives you a second overlord who can have an orb or not.

Army with the stuff above:

1 Overlord with scythe, weave, MSS ===130 (joins either warrior unit)
1 herald of despair with veil === 60 (joins DM)
12 warriors === 156
12 warriors === 156
5 Scarabs === 75
6 Wraiths (+3 coils) === 240
5 deathmarks === 95
1 A barge (tesla) === 90

1002 total, maybe get rid of 1 coil

I would be very tempted to run this in a tournament.

Oh, and make sure that for your vehicles, you build them in a such a way that they are interchangeable with the two option the box comes with (either magnetize or press fit). You will save a lot of money.

-5 deathmarks with a cryptek of despair with veil. Nasty little combo, called death and despair. Deep strike on T2 next to the marked unit, and the tek lays down a AP2 flamer that wounds on 2+, and you get the rest of the rapid-fire sniper shots wounding on 2's. Fantastic at taking out termies. Also does well against marines hiding back in cover, or putting some hurt on a monstrous creature

I run 2 death and despair squads (though I have two despairteks in each as I like winning), I have to say DS is NOT a good delivery system for them. Nightscythe is the way forward. Ensures you get maximum hits with your template(s) to ensure you wipe the unit you shoot at.

 FlingitNow wrote:

-5 deathmarks with a cryptek of despair with veil. Nasty little combo, called death and despair. Deep strike on T2 next to the marked unit, and the tek lays down a AP2 flamer that wounds on 2+, and you get the rest of the rapid-fire sniper shots wounding on 2's. Fantastic at taking out termies. Also does well against marines hiding back in cover, or putting some hurt on a monstrous creature

I run 2 death and despair squads (though I have two despairteks in each as I like winning), I have to say DS is NOT a good delivery system for them. Nightscythe is the way forward. Ensures you get maximum hits with your template(s) to ensure you wipe the unit you shoot at.

I absolutely agree, deep-striking D&D units is bad. And i mean really, really BAD. You will either risk a deep-strike mishap at the smallest deviation, or you will be out of range with the template. With scythes, on the other hand, you can be sure to disembark them at 1" from the enemy, and maximize the number of models your cryptek will hit (wounding on a 2+ negating cover and armor, you want him to be effective...). It's not an alternative way of using them, it's the only way that makes sense.

Thanks everyone for the input. I was wondering, what capes would you use to convert the warriors into deathmarks? And how would you get their weapons?

It wasn't turning warriors into Deathmarks it was turning them into Crypteks. However I think better conversions are the Lycheguard/Praetorians set or the fantasy plastic Cairn Wraiths (the later being perfect for despairteks with a Death mark head you're good to go).

I have done the same, bought some lycheguard and coverted them in crypteks, me being the dork that I am have modelled them after the Ninja Turtles for two reasons;

1. Because they now look awesome
2. Because I could lol

Now back to your OP, I recently went from one Nightscythe in my army to two of them and I can honestly say that two is obviously double the fun. I don't play tournaments or play competitively but here is the list I typically run;

Overlord
3 crypteks
1 Lord
1 Destroyer Lord
10 warriors
10 warriors + Nightscythe
10 Tesla Immortals + Nightscythe
3 Wraiths
Gauss Sentry
2 ABs

I've used this list in my last three games and have done pretty well, I haven't destroyed my opponent but I have enjoyed the game and it's different from the Cronair I'm used to seeing.

Think on how you want them to play and buy the models appropriately, what I do is have my army layed out in front of me in its entirety and plan on what I'm going to get next either to expand my force to make it more efficient i.e. more movable.

I doubt what I put has answered your question but if I had one piece of advice when I first started collecting Necrons it would be "Don't underestimate tesla immortals"

Teschio wrote:

 FlingitNow wrote:

-5 deathmarks with a cryptek of despair with veil. Nasty little combo, called death and despair. Deep strike on T2 next to the marked unit, and the tek lays down a AP2 flamer that wounds on 2+, and you get the rest of the rapid-fire sniper shots wounding on 2's. Fantastic at taking out termies. Also does well against marines hiding back in cover, or putting some hurt on a monstrous creature

I run 2 death and despair squads (though I have two despairteks in each as I like winning), I have to say DS is NOT a good delivery system for them. Nightscythe is the way forward. Ensures you get maximum hits with your template(s) to ensure you wipe the unit you shoot at.

I absolutely agree, deep-striking D&D units is bad. And i mean really, really BAD. You will either risk a deep-strike mishap at the smallest deviation, or you will be out of range with the template. With scythes, on the other hand, you can be sure to disembark them at 1" from the enemy, and maximize the number of models your cryptek will hit (wounding on a 2+ negating cover and armor, you want him to be effective...). It's not an alternative way of using them, it's the only way that makes sense.

And I completely disagree. Deep striking Deathmarks is slightly more risky, but can be better than not seeing them until T3 (or worse), at which point there usefulness is limited. A Pure D&D squad is a suicide squad is not expensive. Start it on the table with a veil, then use a T1 attack to get first blood.

If you want to use them as quasi heavy support, with multiple despairteks etc then sure, use a Scythe. Otherwise, use them to get first blood and stuff the oppos plan.

Thanks again everyone for all the input.

I found a good deal on ebay that let me buy 3 proxy night scythes for cheap, so I took advantage of that and will use those temporarily until I can purchase regular ones.

I also bought a squad of Deathmarks and a box of wraiths.

I am now looking at:

Overlord
24 Warriors
Anni Barge
6 Scarabs
3 Wraiths
5 Deathmarks
3 Night Scythes

I also wanted to check, for the harbingers of despair, storm etc. Do I just need to purchase a Necron Cryptek and then you declare what it is? I wasnt sure how this worked.

Re the Cryptek, that is fine. You can also make your own, out of warriors with leftover deathmark heads plus bits and pieces (the Lychguard box is great for rods, backs etc to make lords and crypteks) if you can find some.