Good xenos starting point for a power armor player?

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

Hiya. I'm a power armor player, both the spiky and loyal varieties, and I'd like to get into a xenos army. I've got a bit of Wraith Host, but I don't think it's my thing. Does anyone have any suggestions as to a good xenos army which plays similar to power armor?

[Tyriks]

I don't think any play very similarly to power armor. What qualities do you like or not like about the armies you have? That would help more, probably.

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

3+ saves, 6" movement and S4/T4 across the board is nice.

[The_Chaplain]

3+ saves, 6" movement and S4/T4 across the board is nice.

Have you considered necrons?

 

Majority S/T 4 across the board, similar movement ranges (some units are 5'' which is close), and many units have 3+ saves.   Many of their weapons have similar ranges to bolters as well.

[GrinNfool]

3+ saves, 6" movement and S4/T4 across the board is nice.

Could look at haemonculous coven for Dark Eldar?  At least t4 army wide generally t5 or better, going prophets of flesh is army wide 4++ and their bigger stuff is 3+ save.  You would probably still want some kabal though for ravagers and flyers at some point though.  Those are at least vehicles so wouldn't be AS squishy though still squishy compared to marine stuff like repulsors.  Tau most of their suits are harder to kill but they can't melee other than a token wound here or there.  You mentioned eldar their wraith guard would fit your criteria here too but other than their wraith guard they are squishy.  Last would be necrons, they tend to be slow but are s4/t4 some have 3+ and can be hard to kill.  They are a reasonable choice if you don't mind having poor mobility.  Nothing is going to match up 100% with power armor playstyle though, xenos armies tend to be very specialized while marines tend to be generalist, or have options for any play style.

[Trokair]

Tau Stalth Suits based army, they are a bit faster with M8 but they are S/T4 2W and 3+ so very marine/Primaris like. I have a 1000p list I have been running since mid autumn with 18 stealth suits and it plays interestingly and not at all like a sit back and castle up stereotypical Tau list.

 

Necrons are also a good bet, and probably the closest, while warriors are no longer MEQ like they were back in the day but they are still S/T4 and getting back up can make their 4+ act a bit like a 3+ (in terms of overall numbers of shots needed to kill them off for sure.

 

Immortals are now MEQ (they used to be T5 if memory serves) so you could even skip on the warriors and go Immortals, Lychguard and so on.  

 

The one downside is M5 but Lords and My Will be Done can help somewhat with that.

[MegaVolt87]

I would recommend necrons as a gateway xenos army if you are a Astartes player. I am strongly considering DE myself instead of a new primaris army. 

[NTaW]

I would also recommend Necrons on the basis that they are awesome.

 

You'll spend less time fretting wargear and magnets at least :lol:

[ImperialTuba]

Not so fast! Haven't you still got a Raven Guard army to build? 

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

Not so fast! Haven't you still got a Raven Guard army to build? 

Shh, that's locked in and back burner until I get Shrike this Friday.

[Daimyo-Phaeron Lenoch]

I would also recommend Necrons on the basis that they are awesome.

 

You'll spend less time fretting wargear and magnets at least :lol:

I second my fellow Phaeron’s opinion. Go ‘crons (this is in no way whatsoever the necron mods plugging for more traffic and converts. Nope. Absolutely not. What possibly gave you that idea? :teehee: )

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

 

I would also recommend Necrons on the basis that they are awesome.

 

You'll spend less time fretting wargear and magnets at least

I second my fellow Phaeron’s opinion. Go ‘crons (this is in no way whatsoever the necron mods plugging for more traffic and converts. Nope. Absolutely not. What possibly gave you that idea? )

 

I think I will go Necrons if I do a xenos army sometime soon. Necrons were my first love in Dawn of War, after all - and Dawn of War was my first entry into 40k - and they were also a planned army back when I was gonna have 1k each of Death Guard, Spess Mehreens, AdMech and Necrons and nothing else because moderation. Ahh, how naive I was.

[Kaldoth]

Also putting in a vote for Necrons. The playstyle isn't exactly the same, but stat lines are very similar and Gauss weapons of all varieties are very similar to marine weapons of different types. Tesla is still king though ;)

[Panzer]

I question the point of starting a Xenos army that plays similarly to Marines, however in that case there's really only Necrons. I play T'au with a lot of Stealth Suits and I can tell you that while their stats are similar on first glance the BS4+, not having anything Marine like in the Troops section and being almost completely unable to be a threat in melee makes them feel very different compared to Primaris or even regular Marines.

[FlamingDeth]

Or, go least similar to power armor, get some variety! Ork Boyz did to a stiff breeze but you can get a lot of them so it's no big deal. Alternatively, get a bunch of meganobz and run deffwing.

[Halandaar]

I question the point of starting a Xenos army that plays similarly to Marines

 

That was my first thought as well. If the main requirement "similar statline and playstyle to Marines", you might as well just do Marines, right? There are enough chapters/legions/warbands/successors that you could probably do something a bit different to what you've already got whilst still being fundamentally a Marine army.

 

But yeah, if it must be Xenos but close to Marines in terms of style, Necrons is as close as you're going to get.

[Ishagu]

Necrons!

[phoenix01]

My son is trying to get me to buy Necrons to go with our Space Marine Adventures: Labyrinth of the Necrons game. I'm finding it harder to resist...

[Reyner]

Are Necrons good in this edition? I've always fancied an Immortals based army. They look so much cooler than Warriors :( 

[NTaW]

Right now Necrons are OK, with some decent but not overly effective rules. Immortals with tesla carbines are the #1 Troop choice for most given their synergy with Overlords.

[Kaldoth]

Are Necrons good in this edition? I've always fancied an Immortals based army. They look so much cooler than Warriors :(

 

Necrons are solidly "meh" this edition unfortunately. Their biggest issue is their cost vs survivability. The reanimation protocols ability is built into the cost of every unit, but with shooting the way it is units often get wiped before they can use it. When it works it's great, but it often means you're paying a premium for units that ultimately don't have any staying power. You've really gotta rely on playing the LoS games and stratagems to get the most out of your units.

[Tyriks]

I will always vote for more Necrons. That said, they don't actually play like marines very much at all - so if you really like the playstyle you might be a bit let down. The similarities are only in some stats.

 

Are Necrons good in this edition? I've always fancied an Immortals based army. They look so much cooler than Warriors :(

 

Immortals are better than Warriors right now by most metrics. Both have uses. Necrons overall are not great, but they're better than they used to be.

[Exilyth]

Well...

 

for humanlike space elves, there's:

• Aeldar (aka craftworlds, eldar) are fast GEQ with extremely specialised units and psychic shenanigans.
• Drukhari (aka dark eldar) are similar but slightly more meelee oriented.
• Harlequins (aka clowns) are a scalpel that needs to be applied at the right time & location.
• Ynnari (aka cat lady & entourage) mix the above with additional units and would be more of an "If you already play one of the other factions" deal.

for more exotic xenos specimens, there's:

• Orks are usually an infantry horde somewhere between GEQ and MEQ - much worse BS & saves though. Speedfreaks (vehicle heavy) or a botmob (killacans/deffdreads) would play more like a guard tank company though. Very open to conversions.
• Tyranids put the hivemind onto the table with their synapse rules. Somewhat lower in power this edition, tyranids can swarm the enemy with cheap stuff or run a nidzilla list of big monsters, but most lists tend to be a combination of the two.
• Tau are fishy high-tech space communists/socialists. They can be the most shooty army, but completely abhor meelee (except for farsight enclaves). Tau are usually combined arms this edition, but pure battlesuit and/or infantry armies are not unheard of. Like to hide behind drones and/or their auxilliaries.
• Genestealer Cults share a bunch of units with guard and can bring genestealers. They're a finesse army with squishy units relying on ambush rules and a roster of support characters to bring their mutated spawn into meelee.
• Necrons are sleepy robots who reclaim their tomb worlds with self-repairing units and gauss weaponry. A bit low on unit choices (and having many units without loadout options), necron lists tend to be somewhat simlar: usually a bunch of warriors supplemented by flyers - although variations do exist.

 

 

If you don't mind painting a lot of metal, necrons would be most similar to space marines statswise, but they tend to play somewhat differently.

Their units tend to be a bit on the slower side and most are shooty. Also their signature unit, the monolith, is somewhat below the power curve this edition.

A complaint I keep hearing about necrons is that they're somewhat monotone in modelling/painting (but I've also seen some great conversions using Khemri & undead units) and that they can be a bit non-interactive on the tabletop - with units either completely destroying the enemies or being completely destroyed.

Just some things to be aware of.

 

 

Now for something(s) different to consider:

• What kind of playstyle are you looking for? horde, elite or a mix? shooty, meelee, psychic focus? static or mobile? straightforward or finesse?
• Which of the xenos factions would you go for if you went by looks/aesthetics/lore alone?
• Is there a certain theme you'd like to explore with a xenos army?

 

Bonus question:

Some xenos species in the 40k universe are not available as a faction/models (e.g. zoats, hrud).

Would you consider scratchbuilding/kitbashing/converting one of the xenos factions which does not have rules/models?

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

I've decided on Necrons, and picked up a set of rescue metal Immortals from a FLGS bargain bin - nine, four servicable, plus seven bases of Scarabs and a single Warrior - and I'm doing up a test model. I think I can make the others servicable by picking up an Immortals box and building them as either Deathmarks or Immortals with tesla and using the muzzle parts off of the plastic ones to repair the metal lads.

[NTaW]

Let the reanimation begin! :tu: