The List

Part of getting motivated to paint an army I have found is to get it ready for tournaments. Many tournaments require a certain level of paint, so part of this project is giving reports not only on the hobby progress, but on the military progress.

Even as a competitive player, I try to take lists I enjoy, which usually means creating a balanced force with a few different elements with  some tactical flexibility. This also means I don’t take the hardest hitting things and by playing Necrons I am already putting myself at a slight disadvantage to start with the current state of the army in 8th edition.

I will be taking this army to events, but I have no illusions to how well it will do. The plan is to try to get good enough with the army to win as close half of my games as possible. Thankfully, I also have a great group of friends and players to get my practice on with, so I hope to see real progress playing this army very quickly.

What will make this particular Necron list its own special butterfly is by using a few different Dynasties at once, something I rarely see with Necron lists. What makes this possible is a few special characters, that can use their special abilities on any Necron in any dynasty. Namely, Anrakyr and Szeras they also of course have good fringe benefits, like Infantry buffing and the Traveller’s Mind in the Machine ability which allows him to take control of a single weapon on any Vehicle (hello Castellan). I have made these two dudes the focal point of the list, as they can play off multiple elements and are free of Dynasty restrictions. As for the Dynasties themselves I will be using is the Novokh and Nephraekh.

I chose these Dynasties, because of the combination of codes and stratagems. I like playing armies that have the ability to move around the board quickly and bring a nasty assault. These two things typically don’t on the surface appear to fit the Necron stereotype, but surprisingly there are plenty of tricks and units that can accomplish just what I want. It helps though with the Nephrekh Translocation Crypt stratagem and and Translocation Beams code. As for assault the Novokh Dynasty is the only dynasty that can do it right with Awakened by Murder Code and Blood Rites Stratagem. This gives me both fast moving units that can be anywhere on the board, combo with re-rolling hits on Assault and double fighting. This of course goes to waste unless you pick the right units to exemplify the possibilities. 

The units pictured above are the linchpins to the army, the Flayed Ones and Necron Warriors are both Novokh. Flayed Ones are obvious with the tons of attacks and re-rolling both hits and wounds and fighting twice ability. As for the Warriors they are a sneaky unit in the hands of the Novokh, with the help of both Anrakyr and Szeras you have getting good amount of attacks, along with a good chance of  strength or toughness buff. The Flayed Ones fit perfectly being able to strike anywhere with free deep strike and if Anrakyr is your Warlord you can re-roll your charges distances. The Warriors are also a good target for Veil of Darkness if they need to be repositioned.

The other two units are using the Nephrekh Dynasty and with that I get Deep Striking Destroyers with Translocation Crypt and the fastest Canoptek Wraiths around thanks to the Nephrekh Code. Destroyers are an auto take unit in most Necron armies, but keeping them alive can be challenging at times, so hiding them and coming down where ever is clutch. The Canoptek Wraiths can easily get anywhere with an effectively 18″ movement and used with Adaptive Subroutines stratagem can still Assault where needed. This large threat range is pretty fantastic.

As for the rest of the list you just have to click the little thumbnail to your left and find out, but if you keep in mind the two themes of mobility and striking ability you will see a clear theme. All future posts in this category will be battle reports with lessons learned and any tweaks to the list I feel will be needed.