Well I have partaken of the Kool Aide. I started a Necron army. I am still of course playing my Eldar and Dark Eldar, but after one game using a rather hodge podge list I decided to start up an army. Being on the receiving end of successive beatings by the forces of the Tomb Worlds got me thinking. What better way to beat my foe than to join them. Play the army and come to understand its weaknesses and strengths, then exploit the weakness with my other armies.
So I have picked up a command Barge aka “The Douche Canoe” a squad of 10 Immortals, 5 Death Marks and Nemesor Zahndrekh with his trusty bodyguard Vargard Obyron. I have them assembled and I plan on actually making an effort to get them painted before I buy more. Although if I can find legs and chest pieces from the many bits merchants on Ebay and such I will be building more Immortals and Death Marks from the bits leftover from my current built units.
BigMek SkrapKlaw and I got a game in with my “Codex Tour” army list so I could try out some of the units and get a feel for the army. As it stands it is a very powerful codex and actually has lots of leeway when it comes to tactical errors and the loss of units effect on the whole army. There are also many dirty little tricks that are fully supported by the FAQ.
So why Nemesor Zahndrekh? Well The character appeals to me. Also I didn’t want to step on The Stormlords toes and take his namesake. I figured it would be ok just being a General in the undying armies of the Necrotyr. I am also planning on playing with Trazyn The Infinite as I find this character highly entertaining. Of course I will also run just dual overlords as having just one command barge kind of leaves it open to lots and lots of fire.
I did have a though about the Command barge though. The main strength of the Command Barge is that it is a very effective harassment unit. Its effective against vehicles, very effective, and it can thin units out a bit all using its sweep attack. Zahndrekh is a nice HQ because of his ability to strip units of their universal special rules and to let units deep strike on your opponents turn. Granted your units must be able to deep strike to begin with to take advantage of this rule.
So I have been mulling it around a bit and the way I am reading it, the rule states you can Deep strike any number of your units that can deep strike. So it sounds like I can deep strike all of my units if just one enemy unit deep strikes. It also sounds as if I don’t need to make a reserve roll. Unless this is implied, and should be actually stated, that for a unit to deep strike it must make a reserve roll. So I can drop all my deep striking units on my opponents turn. This really would mess with an opponent. All of a sudden their plan of attack has to alter, maybe radically, to deal with your entire army on the board after they only have one unit come in. I am exploring this ability and seeing what I can do and what use it is. I like the idea of dropping a monolith on the opposing force, especially when I can use it to deploy reserve troops in the enemy deployment zone enmasse on my actual turn.
It also occurs to me that Night Scythes and Doom Scythes also can deep strike. Flayed ones can as well. I definitely must explore this ability more it seems untapped and left behind in the wake of Tesla spam and Colombian Death Squads.
I am also taking hard looks at Immortals and Warriors as my Troop Choices. Immortals are better. They have better weapon options and have a bit more survivability. The more I read the more I lean towards the Immortals. Now Warriors did take a hit on armor, but the rapid fire rules changing did make the Gauss Flayer better. As long as you use squads of warriors in conjunction with Ghost Arcs you get an increase in survivability. The Ghost Arcs are also very robust, despite being open topped. You can add warriors every turn and really gives the Necron army that undying feeling.
Well I have a lot of studying to do before I buy any more models. This army must be planned as there are lots of different options and possibilities. There are great units that all fit into an army because of good distribution in the force organization chart.
Lots of research, studying and playing indeed. It will be a good filler until the Eldar Codex comes out. Then the real fun can begin.
I will be making an announcement this weekend as well. I have been asked to run a 40K tournament this year at Ucon. I will have details Saturday both here and on Dark Future Games. This is a game convention in the Ann Arbor area that has been running for years. I am glad to be part of a local convention. Look for details Saturday.
Until next time.........................
Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!