Expanding the start collecting box

[Matt_149]

Hi guys looking on the best way to expand the start collecting box to 750 pts and then onwards! Is the annihilation barge any good? Would two of them work at 750 pts? Just thinking of two start collecting boxes and if that would be a good start. The end goal is 1500 points.

 

Thanks for any advice you can give

[Daimyo-Phaeron Lenoch]

First thing to add is a Doomsday ark to sit and bombard. I would then recommend a box of melee, be that wraiths?, lychguard, or praetorians. I would also add more warriors; twenty-two is a decent start but you realistically need 40 or more warriors and at least a full-size immortal squad, maybe a second half-size one to really control objectives and put out firepower. Also grab a cryptek or two. You have lots of vehicles, or will, do a chance to either repair them or give your infantry a Chrono will do wonders.

 

Double Annie is pretty decent, but can die pretty quickly. Keep them screened and aimed at the right targets, and they’ll do fine.

 

Double SC is a good start, and I look forward to seeing them painted. :tu:

[Matt_149]

Nice, thanks buddy really enjoyed reading the codex and am feeling inspired! Is there anything to stay away from in the codex?

[Daimyo-Phaeron Lenoch]

Ehh...flayed ones are situational, and need really good synergy to make them work (I.e. sautekh for imotekh, a deceiver for positioning, etc) and are just warriors with knives instead of guns. If they get to combat they’re good, but getting there is where they struggle.

Also Trazyn isn’t as good as he used to be back in 6th or so, when he could take over lychguard. Now he hijacks other characters, which makes him a) weaker due to his rule (fewer wounds) and b ) more expensive to keep alive. He’s cheap, though, so it’s not all bad.

Other than that, though, no negatives I can really think of.

[NTaW]

Annihilation Barges, like all Necron vehicles really, work best in 2s and 3s. Catacomb Command Barges are also worthwhile though so it may be worth leaving the main tesla weapon swappable with the console for varies gaming.

 

Two SC boxes is a solid start to a collection, with two squads of Warriors and a full strength squad of Immortals (my vote is for tesla) you'll have a solid core of Troops to sort of leave along while you flesh out the fancier units you like. With two Barges supporting you could likely say you have anti infantry covered at lower point levels. Off the top of my head including Scarabs you'd have ~900 points with those two boxes.

 

Adding in some heavy weapons is a must for me at all point levels so I would echo Lenoch's advice on a DDA (or two). They are pretty great units, though if you were so inclined Destroyers or Doom Scythes could work in the same faculty.

 

In my lists I typically take a combat element at all levels but that has more to do with the lore behind my army than optimal gameplay. Necron units are decently expensive, so with ~600 points to use after two SC boxes it's sort of a tough call as to what could be better for you; going all-in for either anti-armour or melee may be better than trying to split the difference between the two. What you're up against and what your interests are could sway those ideas greatly.

 

I'm not much a fan of saying anything is "unplayable", but there are absolutely less optimal situations for Necron units where they will get totally wrecked but that's the same for any Codex really. Your personal gaming situation has the final word on what is or isn't applicable.

[Tyriks]

Nice, thanks buddy really enjoyed reading the codex and am feeling inspired! Is there anything to stay away from in the codex?

Whatever you don't like the look or playstyle of, really. If you mean what does the competitive meta avoid, there are a few things like Monoliths, Praetorians, Spyders. But I actually do use praetorians a lot and they do good work for me when I play marines or sisters. I'm also playing around with a list to make a Monolith work but I haven't had a chance to try it yet.

[Matt_149]

Cool thanks guys. When it comes to combat I guess we are looking at lychguard with scythes?

[Tyriks]

I like them with Warscythes because for 1cp they're strength 8, which makes them a pretty good threat against almost anything in the game. But they are pretty durable with Dispersion Shields so I get why people like running them that way. So whichever suits your playstyle better is what I'd suggest there. They accomplish very different things.

[NTaW]

I play my Lychguard with sword and shield to great effect, but I am jealous of the damage output of scythes. Not too sure if I could keep them alive the way a 4++ save would for long enough to do much damage though. I think I'm sort of embracing a less damage per turn but consistent damage across turns approach to Necrons these days. Barring Destroyers everything in my army needs to work together for a one-turn kill or accept it will take 2-3 turns to properly defeat a high Toughness/Wounds target.

[Vermintide]

Cool thanks guys. When it comes to combat I guess we are looking at lychguard with scythes?

They're more or less equivalent and suffer from all the same issues as Space marine Terminators, really, namely poor mobility and relative fragility. Whenever I use mine I Veil of Darkness them and attempt to get a charge off, but it rarely works. I've struggled to find much use for them otherwise, but I haven't had enough games to try out the different Dynasty traits etc.

 

Assuming you already have two SC boxes as a base (really great value tbh), you can't go wrong by just adding either-

 

-Wraiths

-Destoryers

-More Immortals

 

And definitely throw in a Cryptek or two to keep them on their feet. Also, scarabs are not to be underestimated, they're one of the best chaff units in the game IMO.

[Matt_149]

So this is my plan for 750;

 

 

Battalion Detachment [43 PL, 7CP, 750pts]

 

Dynastic Heirlooms [-1CP]: Dynastic Heirlooms: 1 Extra Artefact

 

Dynasty Choice

. Dynasty: Mephrit

 

+ HQ +

 

Cryptek [5 PL, 95pts]: Artefact: The Veil of Darkness, Chronometron, Staff of Light

 

Overlord [6 PL, 94pts]: Artefact (Mephrit): The Voltaic Staff, Staff of Light

. Warlord: Warlord Trait (Mephrit): Merciless Tyrant

 

+ Troops +

 

Immortals [8 PL, 150pts]: 10x Immortal, Tesla Carbine

 

Necron Warriors [6 PL, 110pts]: 10x Necron Warrior

 

Necron Warriors [6 PL, 110pts]: 10x Necron Warrior

 

+ Fast Attack +

 

Canoptek Scarabs [2 PL, 39pts]: 3x Canoptek Scarab Swarm

 

Canoptek Scarabs [2 PL, 39pts]: 3x Canoptek Scarab Swarm

 

+ Heavy Support +

 

Annihilation Barge [8 PL, 113pts]: Tesla Cannon

 

++ Total: [43 PL, 7CP, 750pts] ++

 

And then for 1k drop a unit of scarabs and 2 warriors for 10 immortals and a doomsday ark. I guess that's the best I can do with what I have. Thanks very much for all your advice so far

[NTaW]

Just a small point on the list, nothing to do with the models. The Merciless Tyrant trait combined with the Voltaic Staff is a little lacklustre in my experience, and I often play my Destroyer Lord with that relic because "reasons". It does have a very specific worth but I often find Immortal Pride to be a particularly useful selection when employing units of infantry close by.

 

All that aside I use the Crimson Haze trait again because of my arm's backstory instead of more competitive options so really don't feel bound by that particular nugget of shared information.

 

Vermintide, I use the Veil with my Lychguard out of absolute necessity now since my opponents will single them out for destruction before they let me get them in motion. If I'm really looking for a charge I use the Phaeron's Will stratagem before the Veil for a +1 charge bonus for them and their accompanying Overlord. Often I will place them intending on using the Dispersion Shield Amplification stratagem for a charge the following turn if I'm feeling pressed by available landing space.

[Matt_149]

I will definitely try all the dynasties to find what suits my playstyle best. I see a novokh outrider of wraiths would work well. With the Repair subroutines strategem, can that be buffed by a cryptek?

[NTaW]

I play mine in a Novokh Outrider but can't say I've encountered much use for Repair Subroutines.

 

Crypteks buff RP rolls provided they share a <dynasty> keyword so yes, when using the stratagem you could boost it to 4+.

[Tyriks]

I like that stratagem when I have a huge swarm of Wraiths. Some opponents struggle to pick them off so when they get it down to 1 and suddenly you have 3-4 again it can be great, but that's very situational. Now, if it just gave the unit RP for the whole game, I'd use it all the time, but currently you have to have a large unit that's taken heavy losses while still alive AND they have vulnerable targets to go after. That's a lot of variables so it won't always be helpful.

 

I love wraiths because they force your opponent to deal with them. They're durable enough (usually) that it takes real effort to remove them, and if they aren't removed they can do some nasty work. That said, I'd rather they had twice as many attacks at half damage because a lot of chaff is W1 and so they "waste" a lot of damage. At least in my group people tend to think they're more dangerous than I actually think they are because they've taken some very memorable kills. But I've also lost them to a squad of ork boys that cost half as many points so it's not like they're the biggest baddest thing in the world.