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I'm looking to create a necron list, but I don't know where to start. My budget can't afford wasted money on useless models so I want to hear some ideas for the best list in the current edition, allies can be included.

I don't have any Necrons as of this moment, just the Codex, so I'm starting things fresh.

It would be helpful to include the best order in purchases to account for units that would be effective in smaller games considering I won't be going out and purchasing all of this in one go. I'm thinking I would like an 1850 point list.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Fill heavy support slots with annihilation barges.

Necron warriors in night scythes and ghost arks (night scythes are better, mostly because they're fliers and very cheap).

Destroyer Lord with 6 wraiths.

That's a very basic idea of a competitive Necron list. Immortals and deathmarks (riding in night scythes, not deep striking) are also pretty good.

Quick and Dirty Competitive Necron List options that respect Dakka Dakka rules

HQ - Destroyer Lord, named unique Overlord (they all have their uses in various lists), Royal Court: Storm-tek, Despair-tek, Chrono-tek.

Elites - Deathmarks

Fast Attack - Wraiths

Troops - Necron Warriors w/ nightscythes

Heavy Support - Annihilation Barges

Mix and match from the above as appropriate to your budget and preferences and you cannot go far wrong. They are the best options of their FOC in the codex.

The absolute 'best' unit a Necron player can field is a full unit of wraiths with whipcoils on at least half of them accompanied by a Destroyer Lord. This is the Necron deathstar, or as close as it comes anyway. Apart from that, the most undercosted vehicles in the codex are annihilation barges and nightscythes, you cannot really go wrong with either.

 Neorealist wrote:
The absolute 'best' unit a Necron player can field is a full unit of wraiths with whipcoils on at least half of them accompanied by a Destroyer Lord. This is the Necron deathstar, or as close as it comes anyway.

Actually, word on the street is there's a new Necron deathstar making the rounds.
Goes by the name "Spyder-star".
Able to give all of the other top tier deathstars (Beast-pack, Screamer-star, Odesa-star, etc.) a decent run for their money.
Might want to check it out if you ever want to try going competitive...

 Neorealist wrote:


The absolute 'best' unit a Necron player can field is a full unit of wraiths with whipcoils on at least half of them accompanied by a Destroyer Lord. This is the Necron deathstar, or as close as it comes anyway. Apart from that, the most undercosted vehicles in the codex are annihilation barges and nightscythes, you cannot really go wrong with either.

Eh. The absolute best unit necrons can field is 5 warriors in a night scythe, followed by an A-Barge, followed by the wraithstar.

Dude...get or convert a Transcendent C'Tan. Game changer.


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 Neorealist wrote:
Quick and Dirty Competitive Necron List options that respect Dakka Dakka rules

HQ - Destroyer Lord, named unique Overlord (they all have their uses in various lists), Royal Court: Storm-tek, Despair-tek, Chrono-tek.

Elites - Deathmarks

Fast Attack - Wraiths

Troops - Necron Warriors w/ nightscythes

Heavy Support - Annihilation Barges

Mix and match from the above as appropriate to your budget and preferences and you cannot go far wrong. They are the best options of their FOC in the codex.

The absolute 'best' unit a Necron player can field is a full unit of wraiths with whipcoils on at least half of them accompanied by a Destroyer Lord. This is the Necron deathstar, or as close as it comes anyway. Apart from that, the most undercosted vehicles in the codex are annihilation barges and nightscythes, you cannot really go wrong with either.

This is what I'd go for, + a Trancedent C'Tan. Destroyer Lords are the best HQ option, but if you want to unlock Crypteks, you'll need a "regular" Overlord. Among the regulrar overlords, I've had the best resultswith Nemesor Zandrehk...he's got all the kit I would buy for a generic Overlord at a cheapr points cost, plus some cool special rules. Imotek is probably the funnest to play and works well against horde armies.


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 tjnorwoo wrote:
My budget can't afford wasted money on useless models so I want to hear some ideas for the best list in the current edition, allies can be included.

Since you are budget conscious, here are a few notes.

The Annihilation Barge box comes with an Overlord, so you won't have to buy an HQ unless you want a Destroyer Lord (which you do) or a named character.

Don't spend any $ on Flayed Ones, Praetorians, or Lychguard unless you get into collecting Necrons more. They don't play well generally speaking.

Crypteks are easy to convert out of other models (the Overlord from the Annihilation Barge box, for example). Alot of the conversions I've seen look better than the Cryptek finecasts, which are expensive and finecast.

A Deathmark/Immortal box can potentially get you 5 Deatmarks, 5 Immortals w/ Gauss, and 5 Immortals w/Tesla. First, build the Deathmarks, then you'd have to get 10 warrior legs, 10 warrior torsos, and 5 Immortal heads from a bits dealer or if you have the extra sprue. Just pop the extra gauss and tesla guns from the box on the warrior frames...not quite as cool as the Immortal models, but a whole lot cheaper, and really not that far off.


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Oh and last tip. If you get Night Scythes, magnetize the portal to the gun socket on the model. You can then build the Death Ray and magnetize it as well, and have the option of Night Scythe or Doom Scythe. I'm not generally into magnetizing, but this model begs for it, and the Doom Scythes are high points but fun to play with IMO

Well how do you like to play the game? I wanted a good parking lot army, necrons do it in a way I like. I did some research, asked around like you are, and narrowed it down.

My list is generally

Lord in barge
2-3 ghost arks with dudes, usually close to 10, someitmes crypteks.
1-2 nightscythes, sometimes with deathmarks.
2-3 annihilation barges
0-1 doomscythe

I have a D-lord and wraiths, its pretty cool but they don't hold well when the rest of the army is in transports.

 ImotekhTheStormlord wrote:

 Neorealist wrote:


The absolute 'best' unit a Necron player can field is a full unit of wraiths with whipcoils on at least half of them accompanied by a Destroyer Lord. This is the Necron deathstar, or as close as it comes anyway. Apart from that, the most undercosted vehicles in the codex are annihilation barges and nightscythes, you cannot really go wrong with either.

Eh. The absolute best unit necrons can field is 5 warriors in a night scythe, followed by an A-Barge, followed by the wraithstar.

I defineately plan on getting some warriors with night scythes. Thanks for all the help


Automatically Appended Next Post:

jasper76 wrote:
Dude...get or convert a Transcendent C'Tan. Game changer.


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 Neorealist wrote:
Quick and Dirty Competitive Necron List options that respect Dakka Dakka rules

HQ - Destroyer Lord, named unique Overlord (they all have their uses in various lists), Royal Court: Storm-tek, Despair-tek, Chrono-tek.

Elites - Deathmarks

Fast Attack - Wraiths

Troops - Necron Warriors w/ nightscythes

Heavy Support - Annihilation Barges

Mix and match from the above as appropriate to your budget and preferences and you cannot go far wrong. They are the best options of their FOC in the codex.

The absolute 'best' unit a Necron player can field is a full unit of wraiths with whipcoils on at least half of them accompanied by a Destroyer Lord. This is the Necron deathstar, or as close as it comes anyway. Apart from that, the most undercosted vehicles in the codex are annihilation barges and nightscythes, you cannot really go wrong with either.

This is what I'd go for, + a Trancedent C'Tan. Destroyer Lords are the best HQ option, but if you want to unlock Crypteks, you'll need a "regular" Overlord. Among the regulrar overlords, I've had the best resultswith Nemesor Zandrehk...he's got all the kit I would buy for a generic Overlord at a cheapr points cost, plus some cool special rules. Imotek is probably the funnest to play and works well against horde armies.


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 tjnorwoo wrote:
My budget can't afford wasted money on useless models so I want to hear some ideas for the best list in the current edition, allies can be included.

Since you are budget conscious, here are a few notes.

The Annihilation Barge box comes with an Overlord, so you won't have to buy an HQ unless you want a Destroyer Lord (which you do) or a named character.

Don't spend any $ on Flayed Ones, Praetorians, or Lychguard unless you get into collecting Necrons more. They don't play well generally speaking.

Crypteks are easy to convert out of other models (the Overlord from the Annihilation Barge box, for example). Alot of the conversions I've seen look better than the Cryptek finecasts, which are expensive and finecast.

A Deathmark/Immortal box can potentially get you 5 Deatmarks, 5 Immortals w/ Gauss, and 5 Immortals w/Tesla. First, build the Deathmarks, then you'd have to get 10 warrior legs, 10 warrior torsos, and 5 Immortal heads from a bits dealer or if you have the extra sprue. Just pop the extra gauss and tesla guns from the box on the warrior frames...not quite as cool as the Immortal models, but a whole lot cheaper, and really not that far off.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh and last tip. If you get Night Scythes, magnetize the portal to the gun socket on the model. You can then build the Death Ray and magnetize it as well, and have the option of Night Scythe or Doom Scythe. I'm not generally into magnetizing, but this model begs for it, and the Doom Scythes are high points but fun to play with IMO

Awesome advice! I will be purchasing a pair of barges for sure!

Are doom scythes good?


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Heres the list I will be working with, my first purchase will most likely be a few night scythes and necron warrior boxes. Now I just need to think of a color scheme. I like the idea of using black as a primary and bone cololrs as a secondary color

 Neorealist wrote:

HQ - Destroyer Lord, named unique Overlord (they all have their uses in various lists), Royal Court: Storm-tek, Despair-tek, Chrono-tek.

Elites - Deathmarks

Fast Attack - Wraiths

Troops - Necron Warriors w/ nightscythes

Heavy Support - Annihilation Barges

I like Doom Scythes. Their weapon forms a 3d6 line of your choosing where every model under the line incurs an AP-FU hit on its unit. Its a bit costly points-wise, but I have reaked havoc on the board with a pair of them several times. I've also had them shot out of the sky the turn after they hit the board, too.

What tactics should I use with my list. What's the trick with Necrons

Depends on the list you play.

Generally:

Try to go second

Use wraiths very aggressively

Move A Barges a lot - survive them - kill troops with em - snap shooting with Tesla is still great when twin linked and getting two bonus hits for 6es

Keep warriors in scythes till late game. Fly off on turn four and fly on and contest/score everything turn five.

This is the basic tactic of the basic necron comp list (scythes, barges, wraiths). It works a lot, but struggles against a lot of current power builds.

If you want to find a way to do something a bit more slippery, Nemessor Zandrekh gives you the most tactical options, especially when used in higher point games and paired with Vargard Obyron. The above mentioned "Spyderstar" involves this combo and their array of special rules. Also "phased reinforcements can be fun against the right lists (especially drop pods)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Depends on the list you play.

Generally:

Try to go second

Use wraiths very aggressively

Move A Barges a lot - survive them - kill troops with em - snap shooting with Tesla is still great when twin linked and getting two bonus hits for 6es

Keep warriors in scythes till late game. Fly off on turn four and fly on and contest/score everything turn five.

This is the basic tactic of the basic necron comp list (scythes, barges, wraiths). It works a lot, but struggles against a lot of current power builds.

If you want to find a way to do something a bit more slippery, Nemessor Zandrekh gives you the most tactical options, especially when used in higher point games and paired with Vargard Obyron. The above mentioned "Spyderstar" involves this combo and their array of special rules. Also "phased reinforcements can be fun against the right lists (especially drop pods)

Well, I'd take the following:

DLord - 160
3x 5 Wraiths - 525
2x 10 Warriors w/ Night Scythe - 460
2x 7 Immortals w/ Night Scythe - 438
3x Annihilation Barge - 270

Someone should take a Wraith-Wing list (similar to what wuestenfux posted above) and run it against a SpyderStar list to see which one comes out on top.

 skoffs wrote:
Someone should take a Wraith-Wing list (similar to what wuestenfux posted above) and run it against a SpyderStar list to see which one comes out on top.

So I have two anecdotal mini batreps against O'vesa star (straight copy of Justin Cook's list) with the spyder star.

Game 1: ATC scenario - Crusade + emperor's will and heavy support scoring, Vanguard strike deployment

Necron turn 1:
Jump the spyder star in Ovesa and company's face, bring two wraith units on the flanks and one right up the middle. Anni barges flat out from LoS for the riptides.

Tau turn 1:
He unloads all his shooting, including all the seeker missiles, into the spyder star. Zandrekh and d-lord go down to one wound each, Obyron dies and doesn't get back up, one spyder makes it out. He makes a huge mistake and doesn't jump back from the impending assault.

Necron turn 2:
Zandrekh takes away hit and run from Ovesa's unit, gives furious charge to wraiths, Multi-Assault Ovesa and the skyray with the depleted spyder star and 1 wraith unit. D-lord dies to overwatch and the skyray is now out of combat. Zandrekh dies and the last spyder dies, but the wraiths tie up Ovesa and that units whole shooting for the rest of the game which was more important. D-lord gets back up but is stranded out in the open. Night scythes come in and stay away from interceptor. two flanking wraiths units prepare for a turn 3 charge into Ovesa star.

Tau turn 2:
Farsight and a unit of crisis troops drop down and pop an anni barge sitting on his emp will objective. But they will be largely out of the action for the rest of the game. Splits his fire from non-engaged riptides at the flanking wraiths and fails to kill any. D-lord is killed (he doesn't get back up). His crisis suits are moving out of cover to get away from anni barge shooting. He's completely castled up as the wraiths are boxing him in. Wraiths start to put wounds on Ovesa in assault. He is still affected by Zandrekh's debuff so no hit and run.

Necron turn 3:
Nightscythes move up and shoot troops, killing a few single crisis suit units. Anni barges move flat out again as they are still out of range. Wraiths charge into Ovesa, overwatch from neighboring units puts a couple wounds but no serious damage. Wraiths from one of the flanking units get into B2B with the commander, he starts failing look out sirs and takes a few wounds, Ovesa and the other riptide start taking wounds. He fails to hit and run out on a 6.

Tau turn 3: His unengaged riptides have no other targets but nightscythes to shoot at and puts a glance on a couple. Wraiths kill the commander, Ovesa and the other riptide go down to one wound each, He had been using his stubborn bubble so they had yet to break.

Necron turn 4:
Damaged night scythe flies off, the other two get into position to kill remaining crisis suits, anni barge sits on an objective. Wraiths finish off the Ovesa star and break towards the skyray and riptides, shooting kills off the remaining crisis troops and kills one of the 3 man unit, they break and run an inch from being off the board (he broke farsight off to go contest objectives earlier).

Tau turn 4:
2 man crisis suit team rallies and move up closer to his emp will objective. Shooting from riptides is largely in-effective against the wraiths (my 3++ saves were red hot) he jumps back from the impending assault. Farsight is out of the game completely now. The skyray manages to down a nightscythe.

Necron turn 5:
Warriros walk on next to a riptide that is contesting my emp will (get intercepted and I lose 3 while one gets back up), two wraiths multi charge a riptide and the skyray. One wraith squad assaults the remaining riptide by my emp will objective. Wraiths wipe the skyray and force the riptide to break, but I do not catch him. The other riptide breaks and is run down. Nightscythe that came back on shoots at his remaining crisis suits but no wounds drops warriors on his emp will. Other nightscythe turns towards objectives incase game goes on.

I have 1 crusade and his emp will and mine, up in kill points (which is tertiary). He has no objectives.

Tau turn 5:
Riptide rallies snap shoots and does nothing, crisis troops shoot and charge warriors wiping them off his objective, farsight sits next to an objective being sad.

Final Tally: Tie Emp will, Necrons take crusade and kill points, both have line breaker and he has first blood and Slay the warlord. Necron Victory.

Game 2: Much larger margin of victory for the Necrons, in this game I played conservatively as it was emp will/crusade/scouring (wraiths were scoring) and just let him come to the wraiths, they tied up his shooting and the nightscythes and anni barges killed his troops and cleared objectives for my troops. Spyder star jumped behind his castle and were annoying all game.

God, I wish there was some way to get a Chronometron into the Spyder-Star. It's pretty much the only thing missing.
Also, it would be nice if we could get to do something with them apart from sit there and get shot on the turn after Ghost Walking with Obyron. (would it be worth considering giving the Spyders their shooting weapon?)

 skoffs wrote:
God, I wish there was some way to get a Chronometron into the Spyder-Star. It's pretty much the only thing missing.
Also, it would be nice if we could get to do something with them apart from sit there and get shot on the turn after Ghost Walking with Obyron. (would it be worth considering giving the Spyders their shooting weapon?)

God no, its already a min/maxed list, those spyder guns aren't worth the points. I too would love to have a chronometron in the list as well, but so far the list has been fun to play and even a hard matchup like O'vesa (while played poorly) was still manageable. What I've noticed so far is that its useful to use the spyderstar as a distraction which allows the wraiths to move into position to hunt troops and supporting units. Its either deal with the spyders or lose whatever they're pointed at.

Yeah, 25 pts is way overpriced. At 10 or 15, it could be worth it. Maybe.

If only they had been given the Transdimensional Beamer instead of the Wraiths (seriously, I think that was a f*ck up. As in, it was SUPPOSED to be on the Spyders (MCs are relentless, so don't care if a weapon is Heavy), but for some idiotic reason the Wraiths (who are fast assault models, therefore would never use something that would prevent them from charging) ended up with it).
*sigh*
Maybe they'll fix it in the next edition...

So I might try a tweak to that list by dropping 2 wraiths and picking up a chronometron cryptek and MSS on the dlord, see how bad losing a wraith from two units is.

I'm in the same boat, and thinking of playing a few games against close friends using my IG as counts as models for a few games to see what works before I splash cash I don't have.

 salamanders4lyfe wrote:
So I might try a tweak to that list by dropping 2 wraiths and picking up a chronometron cryptek and MSS on the dlord, see how bad losing a wraith from two units is.

Which list are you talking about?
(and I sincerely hope you don't intend trying to attach a Chrono-tek to anything that can't have Royal Court members join)

I tried the spyder-star today, but it wasn't much of a test, as the rest of my army (wraithwing, basicly) did all the work.

In somewhat related news, tank hunters on a night scythe is really awesome whan that damn heldrake just needs to die. All hail the nemesor.

MLKTH wrote:
I tried the spyder-star today, but it wasn't much of a test, as the rest of my army (wraithwing, basicly) did all the work.

In somewhat related news, tank hunters on a night scythe is really awesome whan that damn heldrake just needs to die. All hail the nemesor.

What was your list, I have a Army list I'm trying to build thats a "balanced" list for Necrons with multiple threats that combines Wraithstar and SpyderStar a little bit.

I assume you are already a 40k player wanting to start a new army? Why not just proxy the models and make a few lists. See which ones you like best.

 skoffs wrote:

 salamanders4lyfe wrote:
So I might try a tweak to that list by dropping 2 wraiths and picking up a chronometron cryptek and MSS on the dlord, see how bad losing a wraith from two units is.

Which list are you talking about?
(and I sincerely hope you don't intend trying to attach a Chrono-tek to anything that can't have Royal Court members join)

You're right that wouldn't work, just realized a cryptek can't join the ICs and the spyders.

My 1500 won a 20 man tourney here local.

Lord 2+ MSS

Imperial Bunk Coms

2 Hvy Destroy

4 Night Scythes 5 War each

3 Doom Scythes

EDIT: Oh and it was my 1st time w Necrons. 3 Games total. I forgot Pref enemy on the Hvy Destry all 3 games and I forgot the Night/Dooms were twin linked the 1st 2 games and none of my games were still even close. My list was the only one to stand up vs a nasty Eldar Wraith Titan that stomped every other list.

Hollismason wrote:

MLKTH wrote:
I tried the spyder-star today, but it wasn't much of a test, as the rest of my army (wraithwing, basicly) did all the work.

In somewhat related news, tank hunters on a night scythe is really awesome whan that damn heldrake just needs to die. All hail the nemesor.

What was your list, I have a Army list I'm trying to build thats a "balanced" list for Necrons with multiple threats that combines Wraithstar and SpyderStar a little bit.

HQ1: Nemesor Zahndrekh (Warlord) [185]
HQ1b: Vargard Obyron [160]
HQ2: Destroyer Lord (125), Sempiternal Weave (15), Mindshackle Scarabs (20) [160]

Troop1: 5 Necron Warriors [65]
Troop2: 5 Necron Warriors [65]
Troop3: 5 Necron Warriors [65]
Troop4: 5 Necron Warriors [65]

FA1: 6 Canoptek Wraiths [210]
FA2: 6 Canoptek Wraiths [210]
FA3: 8 Canoptek Scarabs [120]

HS1: Annihilation Barge (90), Tesla Cannon (0) [90]
HS2: Annihilation Barge (90), Tesla Cannon (0) [90]
HS3: 3 Canoptek Spyders (150), Gloom Prism (15) [165]

Transport1: Night Scythe [100] (Troop1)
Transport2: Night Scythe [100] (Troop2)

1850 pts

MLKTH wrote:
HQ1: Nemesor Zahndrekh (Warlord) [185]
HQ1b: Vargard Obyron [160]
HQ2: Destroyer Lord (125), Sempiternal Weave (15), Mindshackle Scarabs (20) [160]

Troop1: 5 Necron Warriors [65]
Troop2: 5 Necron Warriors [65]
Troop3: 5 Necron Warriors [65]
Troop4: 5 Necron Warriors [65]

FA1: 6 Canoptek Wraiths [210]
FA2: 6 Canoptek Wraiths [210]
FA3: 8 Canoptek Scarabs [120]

HS1: Annihilation Barge (90), Tesla Cannon (0) [90]
HS2: Annihilation Barge (90), Tesla Cannon (0) [90]
HS3: 3 Canoptek Spyders (150), Gloom Prism (15) [165]

Transport1: Night Scythe [100] (Troop1)
Transport2: Night Scythe [100] (Troop2)

1850 pts

I like this.
This is my favorite version of Spyder-Star I've seen yet.
(slightly tempted to drop a Wraith from each unit to add a Veil-tek to one of the foot slogging Warriors, just so I'd have a third mobile scoring unit. Opponents normally never expect that one, too. Sudden out of no where teleport onto an objective to steal the win).

When I started Necrons.. I came up with a theme and then built an army list around it, and then refined it with help from DakkaDakka etc. I'd recommend you do the same -- that way you'll be more attached to whatever you end up choosing.

EG --- I chose to make my Necrons based around teleporting/ extreme mobility, drafted an army list and posted it on dakkadakka for review/ refinement.

 skoffs wrote:

I like this.
This is my favorite version of Spyder-Star I've seen yet.
(slightly tempted to drop a Wraith from each unit to add a Veil-tek to one of the foot slogging Warriors, just so I'd have a third mobile scoring unit. Opponents normally never expect that one, too. Sudden out of no where teleport onto an objective to steal the win).

Thanks.

I was actually thinking that I might drop the fourth unit of warriors to buy that veiltek, and make do with just three scoring units. The 5 points left over are quite annoying, though... Maybe drop a scab base and get one whip coil for each unit of wraiths. I always miss having those when fighting mostrous creatures. I'd prefer just straight up having a third scythe, but I can't quite fit it into the list. Not without dropping a wraith or half the scarabs, and I don't like either of those ideas.