Necron newb 2k 'classic crons' list

[Sception]

I played Black Legion for ages, but unfortunately accumulated way too big a pile of shame, and adopted way too complex a paint scheme, and eventually it got overwhelming so I ditched them to start over.  I'm a big fan of warhammer undead in general, I always thought necrons seemed cool, they can be painted in ludicrously simple and fast ways and still look ok, and the upcoming Christmas box set looks to be a decent starting point, So I'm brainstorming ideas for a necron army as my re-entry point to 40k.  I intend to be more reasonable this time around and paint anything I get before getting more, but that doesn't mean I can't sketch out hypothetical lists to try out via proxies.

 

The theme I want to stick near as possible to is 'classic crons'.  I'm looking to put together a modern version of the army I would have collected if I had started Necrons instead of Chaos Marines all the way back in 3rd & 4th edition.  That means monolith, overlord, cryptek (any regular type, but the basic technomancer is preferred), exactly one ctan, immortals (with gauss blasters), warriors (with gauss flayers), lokhusts, and scarabs are all must includes.  Canoptek Spiders, Canoptek Wraiths, and Flayed ones are allowed but not mandatory.  Lychguard (with warscythes) are grandfathered in as the modern version of pariahs, as are Lokhust Heavies as the modern version of heavy destroyers.  Special characters aren't preferred, but could be fine if they're just a fancy version of a generic hero who is already allowed - ie Imotekh as a fancy overlord or Orikhan as a fancy cryptek.

 

While I want to stick to classic units, where possible I prefer prettier, more modern models.  EG, for the c'tan shard I prefer the mostly cool void dragon (goopy lightning effects not withstanding) over the ugly transcendent or the ancient nightbringer & deceiver.  Non-heavy lokhusts present a problem here, but they're too critical to theme to leave out imo.  I suppose I could run heavy lokhusts only... but I think I can work with the existing regular lokhust models with a few conversions (swapping out the green rods, or maybe swapping out their weapons entirely), and I can convert a reasonable lokhust lord out of an overlord & a heavy destroyer.

 

Current proposed list looks like this:

 

• Hypercrypt Legion (theme requires a monolith, and teleport shenanigans sound fun, but I'm open to alternatives)
   
• Imotekh - warlord
  10 Lychguard with warscythes
   
• C'Tan Shard of the Void Dragon
   
• Overlord with arisen tyrant, scythe, and orb
  Technomancer with osteoclave fulcrum
  10 Immortals with Gauss Blasters
   
• Lokhust Lord with dimensional overseer, staff, and orb
  6 Lokhust Destroyers
   
• 2 x 10 Warriors with gauss flayers
   
• 2 x 1 Lokhust Heavy Destroyer with gauss destructor
   
• 6 Scarab Swarms
   
• Monolith with gauss flux arcs.

 

EDIT: 2000 points on the nose, instead of 1975, dropping the spyder to fit Imotekh.

 

game plan: The Catan, Immortals, and Lokhusts are intended to be the main threats here.  Warriors try to stand on objectives or score tactics or just block charge lanes to the Monolith.  Monolith anchors the list.  Immotekh & lychguard try to stay out of line of sight, and use dimensional corridor to charge any enemy that gets too close.

 

Scythelord isn't the one that comes in the christmas box, but I like that model better, and I'm not sure the Translord's shroud would really be useful here.  I feel like that model wants to run with tesla immortals, and they're not on theme.  Not sure how much running I'll be doing with this list between teleport shenanigans and non-assault-weapons.  I think I know someone who would be willing to trade a scythelord for the translord anyway, provided they haven't picked one up since last I spoke to them.

 

Obviously hypercrypt really wants deathmarks and hexmarks, but they're off theme.  More immortals would be nice, but I don't know what to drop for them.  I guess I could swap out the lychguard?  But if I'm not using the lychguard then the whole christmas box kind of loses it's appeal.  Plus I feel like there should be more warriors than immortals in the list overall - yeah immortals are core or battleline or whatever now, but my nostalgia-addled brain is defining the theme here, and it says they're still elites.  Imotekh is technically allowed, and hypercrypt wants him badly, but I'm not sure where I'd put him?  I suppose I could run him instead of an overlord altogether, I don't know.

 

EDIT: I missed that crypteks can join units with overlords, so the both of them can go in the immortals and Imotekh can go in the lychguard.  Or imotekh can join the technomancer and immortals, and the overlord can lead the lychguard?  Not sure.

 

 

I don't need to win games with this.  I know the theme here is too restrictive, throwing away too many important options that have been introduced over the years.  But I would like to at least give random opponents at the game store a decent pick up game.  Does the list above seem on the right track for that, or should I go back to the drawing board?

 

Edited November 14 by Sception

[N1SB]

There's 1 serious Necrons player in our meta, another more casual player, and then there's me who just wanted an easy-to-paint army.

 

I think you're on the right track for what YOU want to do.  The 1 C'tan for this list being the Void Dragon is the right choice; this edition favours Vehicles (and Monsters), so in the same way in previous eds the go-to advice is to suggest more objective securing Troops, now we kinda remind ppl to bring more Anti-Vehicle, so you got that covered.

 

As you probably already know, the meta choice is blobs of 6 Wraiths + 1 Technomancer, I can tell from how you talked about Wraiths that you don't REALLY want them...that's why I didn't choose them, either.  I, too, wanted Space Undead (and in my case, mostly their Star Gods), but just letting you know I'd probably replace the Destroyers with those if anything.

 

So I think you're on the right track for your theme, but if you're open to replacing Destroyers with Wraiths + Technomancer, that'd be cool, too.

[NTaW]

This is very similar to my army list, and given that I started collecting my Necron army in earnest during 5th-6th edition after playing them out of a White Dwarf magazine to start we're not too far off in theme. I've been focused on the Hypercrypt Legion as well because I find the phasing in and out very thematic and also quite useful for pushing objectives as well as keeping units relevant and/or alive. I was using the Nightbringer previously with decent results, but am switching to a Transcendent C'Tan because I have a model to use and it's something different. I use a DDA because I painted it so it's on the table  This is my current list:

 

Overlord [voidscythe/resorb] + Chronomancer w. 20x Warriors [flayers]

 

Lokhust Lord [blade/resorb] w. 6x Lokhust Destroyers

 

Transcendent C'Tan

 

10x Warriors [flayers]

 

6x Wraiths [claws]

 

3x Lokhust Heavy Destroyers [gauss destructor]

 

Doomsday Ark

 

Monolith

 

As it stands I lose most of my games, though I play against people who are much more involved in competitive play than I am. It still gets pretty close at times so long as the dice aren't fickle and I make good decisions. For what it's worth I have fun playing what I have. If you've got a good theme behind your army it's hard not to enjoy gaming with it (dice aside).

[Sception]

On 11/12/2024 at 8:30 AM, N1SB said:

As you probably already know, the meta choice is blobs of 6 Wraiths + 1 Technomancer,

 

On 11/12/2024 at 5:16 PM, NTaW said:

6x Wraiths [claws]

 

You know, I was vaguely aware that 6 wraiths with or without a tech was a thing, but I hadn't really considered it, because yeah they are kind of on the edge of what feels right for this army.  But they /are/ technically within the theme, and I /do/ like their current models a lot more than the ancient lokhust destroyer models.  Swapping the lokhusts out for wraiths would save me conversion work, and allow me to hold out for better newer lokhust destroyer & lord models, or in the worst case I wouldn't be caught with a bunch of models I can't use anymore if GW decides to kick them to legends instead of updating their sculpts, which seems like a very real possibility these days.  If I drop the fulcrum from the technomancer (wraiths shouldn't need it, right?) I can fit a third heavy lokhust, which would make me feel better about dropping the regular ones.  Losing dimensional overseer from the lokhust lord hurts, though, as does losing deep strike on the immortals.

 

The list then looks like:

• Imotekh (warlord) + 10 Lychguard with war scythes
• Overlord (arisen tyrant) with void scythe and resurrection orb + 10 Immortals with gauss blasters
• Technomancer + 6 Wraiths with claws and particle casters
• 2 x 10 Warriors with gauss flayers
• 1 x 6 Scarab Swarms
• 3 x 1 Lokhust Heavy Destroyers with gauss destructors
• C'Tan Shard of the Void Dragon
• Monolith with flux arcs

I'd like to add Dimensional Overseer to the technomancer, but not so much that I'm willing to drop half the scarabs to do it, though future points changes might force me to drop some of the scarabs anyway, we'll see.  Likewise I'd like to add a plasmamancer with the fulcrum to the immortals, but I don't see what I'd drop for that.

 

I'm not quite sure of some of the squad sizes - eg are the scarabs good at 1 x 6, or would they be better as 2 x 3?  Are the Lokhust Heavies best as 3 x 1, or should I put them at 1 x 3 so they all bit hit with a single teleport or strategem?  Is the Overlord best with the Immortals, where arisen tyrant probably does more good, or should I swap him with Imotekh to pair his void scythe with the lychguard's war scythes?  But that's all stuff I can experiment with on the table when and if I ever get all the models together.

 

Overall, I think I like the look of this version of the list better in my head.  If anything, the previous list was a bit too heavy on lokhusts, to the point of maybe distracting from the feel I was going for.  Thank you both for the feedback!

Edited November 14 by Sception

[Sception]

quick question as I consider some purchases:

 

The local hobby store still has a copy of the hierotek circle kill team box.  I've seen pictures of that kill team online with immortals instead of deathmarks - can the 3 deathmarks in that box be assembled as immortals instead?  If so I could maybe pick up a spare immortal off the secondary market, call the despotek a squad leader, and save money vs. buying the technomancer and a box of immortals separately.

 

edit: i just checked ebay, and it looks like not only the deathmarks but the despotek as well can all be assembled as normal immortals including the gauss blaster bits?  Is that right?  And somebody's selling the sprues minus the despotek, so 3x immortals, for 23 bucks with free shipping to the us?  If I have that right then I can pick up the hierotek circle box, order two of those sprues, and have all 10 immortals plus the technomancer for about what I'd have paid for just the immortals.

 

Double Edit:  It was all for naught.  Stopped by the store today and the box was gone.  Oh, well.

Edited November 15 by Sception

[N1SB]

That's great, it's a great deal.  During the price hike update that boxset turned out to be either the same cost or only nominally costlier than a regular box of Immortals, plus you get a Technomancer, the Plasmamancer and an unique upgrade sprue.  It's great not just as a cheap bundle of those minis, but for the modeling options, for a modeler like you (and me).

 

I'm kicking myself for not picking it up when I had a chance.  It sounds like it's the last box at the store.  Let fate decide; if it's still there when you arrive, you should pick it up.

[Sception]

Ugh, the apprentek was /also/ another immortal.  It literally had the 5 immortals sprue in it, plus a technomancer, plus conversion bits.  I could have bought it for like $50 last week.  I'm kicking myself.

[NTaW]

The Necron Kill Team is a good deal I'd say, though you'd have to find it pre-hike as N1SB pointed out. Immortals and Deathmarks are built out of the same box and the upgrade sprue is very cool. It's one of the few things I'm still interested in adding to my collection if I come across it for a decent price.

 

I don't think Dimensional Overseer matters much, or at least it hasn't been on my radar at all after a handful of games with the Hypercrypt Legion. I also haven't found much use for the Fulcrum since you can use the Cosmic Precision stratagem to drop the unit anywhere anyway (see FAQ for specific ruling there). I pretty much just use Arisen Tyrant, though if you have to fill points don't let my comment stop you from experimenting.

 

For squad sizes, I always take max sized units with the sole exception of occasional 10-model units of Warriors. It's the best way to ensure some use out of Reanimation Protocols.

 

Since you can't charge out of relocation with this Detachment I've steered away from Overlord + Lychguard, though if you can manage it with the Monolith you can use the Dimensional Corridor stratagem to make that happen. It sort of saddens me to do this, as my Blades of Talrynos have been a great boon to my army in previous editions, but putting my OL with a blob of Warriors has kept them much more relevant in my games.

 

As always your mileage may vary, and experimentation is key.

[Sception]

So no Hierotek Circle for me.  Not unless GW repackages and rereleases it for the new edition of Kill Team, which, like, if they were going to do that I feel the would have done so already.

 

In the mean time, I've been gifted the current necron combat patrol and codex by the guy I sold my massive Black Legion pile of shame to for next to nothing.  I was content to make due with pirate sites for rules and fan wikis for lore, but it's nice to have the physical book.  As for the models, the scarab swarms and the skorpekh's plasmacyte will need to be stripped and re-repainted.  The latter in particular was also damaged in assembly, yet another reason I really could should have picked up the hierotek circle while I had the chance I guess.  The rest is assembled but unpainted, which is great.  It's nice to have in case I ever play combat patrol, I guess.  And I won't complain about free models when starting a new army.

 

But out of the box only the scarab swarms and half the warriors (already assembled with half & half weapons as per the combat patrol's nonsensical loadout, though I do have the sprues with the leftover weapons if I want to try to fix them...) actually fit into my target list, and the rest is pretty far off my desired vision of classic old school necrons.  Even if I stray from that theme, the skorpekhs and doomstalker probably aren't the best fits for hypercrypt in general either?  Skorpekhs also seem pretty redundant with the Warscythe Lychguard I was planning on building out of the already-preordered battleforce box.

 

In addition to the combat patrol, I also found an old metal nightbringer that I purchased ages ago to use as a Mournghul in Age of Sigmar, back when they were still a thing.  It doesn't have the little base nub with the scarabs on it, with a bunch of fantasy tombstones on its base instead, but it's still usable, I guess, though I'm not sure I could bring myself to field the original Nightbringer, no matter how nice the model is, instead of the much larger and more impressive and more necronny feeling void dragon.  Running them both at the same time would be even more unthinkable.

 

I don't think any of this changes my long term vision overmuch.  With skorpekhs in my collection I suppose I could compromise the theme enough to assemble the lychguard with shields to give them more of a distinct battlefield role.  Maybe.  I don't know.  The shields make more sense conceptually for a bodyguard unit... but there's something about the glaives that is just so... clean.  It's a shame lychguard can't take the praetorean's covenant rods.  Yeah, they're weaker in melee than the scythes, but still hit pretty hard, and they look even cooler, and the bit of extra shooting they pack in would be a closer match to the old partiah weapons and make them a bit better fit for hypercrypt maybe.

 

Bah, I've got a couple weeks yet to decide what to do with them.

 

I also don't know what to do about the warriors now.  When the battleforce arrives I'll have 20, which I would prefer to arm with all flayers for the old school aesthetic, but now I'll have five with reapers.  Do I compromise the vision to have a unit of 10 of each?  Do I have one unit of 10 flayers and then one wonky half & half unit?  Do I buy yet more warriors and end up using literally nothing from the generally gifted combat patrol in my army?  Do I risk damaging the already built models to try to swap out their guns?  Doing that would leave me without a legal combat patrol... but I'm not sure that matters?  I doubt the people I'm likely to play against would care if I ran a combat patrol with a non-cannon weapon loadout, and I'm under the impression that unlike Spearhead, it's AoS 4e cousin, 10th edition 40k's Combat Patrol was kind of poorly received....

 

......

 

For now, going with just what I already have or have on preorder, the collection is up to 1500 points.

 

Translord

Arrowlord

Void Dragon

Nightbringer

20 warriors - not sure about weapons anymore

10 lychguard - not sure about weapons anymore

6 scarabs

3 skorpekhs

doomstalker

 

with 45 points left over out of 1500 to buy enhancements.

 

Not a particularly coherent 1500 points, and not one that looks at all like my overall vision for the army.  I was kind of hoping to avoid collection bloat with necrons, avoiding my usual 'buy one of everything available' impulse and instead aiming for a particular army and that would be it, no big pile of shame, no boxes of spare models in storage like the old chaos marines.  Maybe I can incorporate some of this stuff into an army I still mostly like, even if it's not the exact vision?  Maybe I can convince myself that combat patrol is it's own game worth having a team for even if it has no overlap with my main army?

 

Or maybe I should just return the combat patrol, or find someone else to gift it forward to.