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So I may have impulsively purchased a Necron Battleforce on eBay for $100 last night after being wishy-washy about trying them (I like their background and I like "tanky" and resilient armies). So now I am seriously looking further because, hey, I bought a Necron Battleforce! So I will have:

* 20 Warriors
* 5 Immortals/Deathmarks
* 1 Ghost Ark/Doomsday Ark
* 6? Scarabs

My idea is to not go full cheese (maybe just White American or Colby Jack ) but I want something like two large Warrior units as my core, and then support them, instead of going the flying bakery route (not even sure that's a thing anymore). I'm not sure on the Decurion yet, I might have enough to do one but be able to build it as a CAD as well for less cheese depending on opponent, but regardless I know I want to go for "implacable". The start collecting box will likely be my next buy because it will give me a HQ, more warriors so I can build two 15-man warrior squads, and get the Stalker which is a cool model.

What should i go for after that? I am thinking I want two annihilation barges, and build the ark from the Battleforce as a Doomsday Ark to get some serious firepower with an Annihilation Nexus. I really like how Wraiths look, but I hear they are some of the best (read: cheesiest) units. Praetorians look cool too (and would give me a Judicator Battalion with the Stalker).

Basically, I want a strong army (my GW isn't really "competitive" as in tournaments but people bring strong lists, just not full tournament style WAAC lists) but not the kind of filth that makes people not want to play me.

Personally I like the Ghost Ark option. It's ability to replace fallen troops is great when combined with RP. You could even add a Cryptek to boost the RP. I do like to play my Necrons troop heavy though
What about a Monolith? Very thematic and looks great on the table. It can also teleport troops around the place

If you want to avoid cheese then just play Necrons as a CAD. The cron dex is very reasonable without the Decurion / formation rules but those are the things that make them insanely durable. If the opposition is playing tough then you can fairly easily switch it up to a Decurion for the big bump in power for basically free. As to what to get I think most of the codex is useful and so it depends on how you want to work your army. Only units that really seem ineffective are the annihilation barges, monoliths, and Ctan. Start Collecting box is not a bad way to add to your army and gives you a discount on some very practical units.

The only vehicles you need to care about are the Ark (assuming you want to transport your Warriors like I do) and Stalker (assuming you plan to do a Judicator). Other ones can be ignored outside the Obelisk, which we are still awaiting word on for its firing arcs. That's gonna determine if it is good.

Then outside CTan, all our regular infantry is great and then just avoid some of the named HQ's, but if you make your own like I do you won't worry about spending money on them.

In a non-competitive environment Ctan aren't that bad, actually I had games where a Ctan was the hammer while the rest of the army served as anvil.
Monoliths sadly are great terrain pieces, but not really viable. The best thing about them is to teleport units across the board, but you don't want to pay that many points for that. Same thing with annihilation barges.

If you don't play Decurion, Illuminor Szeras/ Crypteks are very strong, since they provide you with a 4+ RP. It can be cheesy, but most armies should have sth. to take those out (I know my CSM do).

The great thing about Necrons is that all of their infantry units are good and serve a purpose, even scarabs. So choose what you like. Wraiths without their formation are strong, but not unkillable, so you should be fine to use them.

What are your guys views on Prets VS LychG?

 Ratius wrote:
What are your guys views on Prets VS LychG?

Different roles. Praetorians are fast, hard-hitting units with limited survivability (relatively). Lychguard aren't nearly as hard-hitting (unless you give them scythes, but then they're slow and easy to kill (relatively)) but are much more durable.

 Ratius wrote:
What are your guys views on Prets VS LychG?

Well, I'd avoid them and go for Wraiths.

Well I do like Wraiths. I like how the Monolith looks but I'm not sure. Same with the Annihilation Barge. But I have some good suggestions

 Ratius wrote:
What are your guys views on Prets VS LychG?

Only faced Lychguard with scythes so far and they are pretty strong. They are indeed slow, however, Necrons usually lack a bit of heavy hitting and lychguard provides it. Wraiths are quite unreliable and a tarpit unit, they won't kill that much. Flayed Ones tear infantry apart, but they fall against monstrous creatures, walkers and partly heavy infantry. Lychguard on the other hand kills everything, esp. since their AP2 weapons are Ini 2, while most armies only have unwieldy weapons for that (let's just ignore Wulfen at this point ).

Do the cryptech and decurion rp bonuses stack for a bonus of +2?

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
Do the cryptech and decurion rp bonuses stack for a bonus of +2?

Yes. But it can never be better than 4+.

Besides the 4+ why is the decurion so looked down on? Sorry if this is a thread hijack

The 4+ RP is the whole reason it is looked down on . 13ppM warriors that, following the faq, can even withstand S10 weaponry without caring is just stupid and no fun to play against.

Sgt. Cortez wrote:
The 4+ RP is the whole reason it is looked down on . 13ppM warriors that, following the faq, can even withstand S10 weaponry without caring is just stupid and no fun to play against.

D weapons, too.

Martel732 wrote:

Sgt. Cortez wrote:
The 4+ RP is the whole reason it is looked down on . 13ppM warriors that, following the faq, can even withstand S10 weaponry without caring is just stupid and no fun to play against.

D weapons, too.

Resurrection Protocols is useless against Strength D.

I figured it worked against D because it works vs instant death.

Martel732 wrote:
I figured it worked against D because it works vs instant death.

It does not. It specifically states in Reanimation Protocols that it doesn't work against the D.

Aha. I've never hit Necrons with D, only instant death. Good to know.

I love the Canoptek Harvest Formation. I also love the Obelisk. So while i play Necrons less than many who would give you advice, i have played them in tournaments and enjoyed some success doing it. i was 5-0 at one event using the Canoptek Harvest. The problem with it is getting the Scarab bases. I am fortunate and own like 43 of them or some insane number which I got in a trade. They are out there though and its a pretty fun thing to try.

I really liked my Lych Guard with Sword & sheild. They were hard to kill and tied up dedicated melee unites going for entire games.

There are no truly bad units in the Necron codex at all, so just get whatever you like.

The Triarch Stalker is borderline. I mean it IS cool but...

Ghost Arks are good. Transport your warriors around and the open-topped means you get a lot of firepower, and can also regenerate your units.

Tomb Blades are one of the best units in the codex, alongside Destroyers and Wraiths, and one of only three sources of Ignores Cover in the codex.

Monoliths, Annihilation Barges, and Doomsday Arks are bad.

I personally like having a unit of Immortals in a Night Scythe as you can plonk them down pretty much anywhere on the table.

Decurion is strong but not OP, Necrons don't have huge damage output at high S or range, and they are vulnerable to being swept in combat. They're good for surviving and holding objectives, which is why manouvrability in maelstrom is excellent for them (so Arks, Scythes, fast units like Wraiths, and Tomb Blades are great here).

Shame to hear about the Monolith/Barge/Ark as those were models I really liked the look of. Will have t think a bit, since I wanted big squads of Warriors rather than fully mobile (maybe compromise, two squads of 15 and a squad of 10 in an Ark).

Monolith does have some use in casual games. It is 14 armor on all sides and looks imposing so people feel the need to try and kill it. Plus you can get them pretty cheap on ebay if you are trying to get good points / $ value.

zerosignal wrote:
Ghost Arks are good. Transport your warriors around and the open-topped means you get a lot of firepower, and can also regenerate your units.

Tomb Blades are one of the best units in the codex, alongside Destroyers and Wraiths, and one of only three sources of Ignores Cover in the codex.

Monoliths, Annihilation Barges, and Doomsday Arks are bad.

I personally like having a unit of Immortals in a Night Scythe as you can plonk them down pretty much anywhere on the table.

Decurion is strong but not OP, Necrons don't have huge damage output at high S or range, and they are vulnerable to being swept in combat. They're good for surviving and holding objectives, which is why manouvrability in maelstrom is excellent for them (so Arks, Scythes, fast units like Wraiths, and Tomb Blades are great here).

I don't think the Doomsday ark is bad. It is a pretty scary weapon and its tough. I dunno. I like having one. the list in general lacks the higher STR to get through FnP and multiwound models etc... So having something that can help with that has proven to be pretty important against potential mismatches. Its more of an equalizer unit. I dont think you need a ton of them but having one isn't a waste in me estimation.

The Monoliths are transports effectively and they are very tough hard hitting transports. the Living Tomb Formation makes them exceptionally ood at their job, as you are able to then saturate the enemy with threats and what might have been an "easy to kill" unit in the form of the Monolith now becomes entirely of secondary importance to kill. So the Living Tomb really allows the Monoliths to shine.

The Monolith in that situation REQUIRES an Obelisk though, and the effectiveness of the Obelisk weapons is yet to be finalized.

You might as well just bring the naturally more mobile Ghost Ark at that point.

The Oberlisk is awesome. REALLY awesome. So I'm not sure what you're saying here. It's one of the few perfectly priced units in all of 40K. It's absolutely perfect for its role. The whole Formation is very good. I have used it a large number of times and to date i have not lost while using it. Not once. I did get a tie once though to be fair.

The Obelisk can Thunderblitz which is uber. The Obelism can fire a lot of high str shots and can split fire (indeed must) like the monoliths. The anti-air component of the Obelisk is ok, and in any event, better than the "nothing at all" you would otherwise have. The gold that is absolutely flooding the enemy with shots and melee threats all at once makes Null Deployment shenanigans really strong with them. I usually start the game with one unit on the board, just to illustrate that. Only Skyhammer type things change that for me and even then, only slightly. The Solar Staff makes the threat of "sudden shooting" a non issue in turn one. So all in all, the list works. I am a big Canoptek Harvest fan or I would play the Obelisk more. but that obelisk does WORK in the Living Tomb.

Out of curiosity, has anyone ever actually fielded a Baleful Necropolis? The Apoc formation with a Tesseract Vault and 9 Monoliths? Just curious as to how it actually plays.