Hello Folks, Dolch here.
Normally, I’m writing about all things Blood Bowl though I do play other games. I can’t say that I’m anywhere near the caliber of the other writers here at Frontline Gaming, but I have been playing an unusual Necron list that I’d like to share. I would also like to show how it is changing with the release of Chapter Approved 2018. For more great tactics articles, check the Tactics Corner!
First a bit about my game philosophy. I’m an old-school Magic the Gathering player, and the folks over at Wizards of the Coast came up with a neat way of describing their player demographics. Understand, all players want to win. What differentiates them is HOW they want to win.
- Timmy players like to win in the splashiest, flashiest way possible. Go big or go home is a way of life for a Timmy. Big creatures, big effects are huge attractions to this kind of player.
- Johny players like to win through carefully constructed conditions of effects. It is all about style for a Johny. The weirder the path to victory the better.
- Spike players are highly focused on winning as efficiently as possible. They may use Big effects or weird combos, but only if they can reliably win the match in the most efficient way possible. Spikes are all about the goal of victory.
Me? I’m mostly Johny, but I have a couple of Spike streaks running through me as well. This leads me to build unique army lists. I’ve never put any serious effort into the most popular (and good) army builds. I’ve been playing since 2011 and I’ve never got into Scarab Farm, Necron Airforce, Destroyer Wing or most recently Triple Vault lists. I just want to win with a list that I’ve pioneered.
Fast Necrons 2k Points
Necron Nihilakh Spearhead Detachment
- Cryptek – Canoptek Cloak and Staff of Light, Warlord Trail Thrall of the Silent King
- Doomsday Ark
- Doomsday Ark
- Transcendent C’tan
Novokh Outrider Detachment
- Destroyer Lord – Warscythe, Phylactery, Artefact: The Nanoscarab Casket
- C’Tan Shard of the Deceiver
- C’tan Shard of the Nightbringer
- Canoptek Scarabs x8
- Canoptek Scarabs x8
- Canoptek Wraiths x5
- Destroyers x5
For a point total of 1995
I had two goals with this army.
- I just received a Nightbringer as a gift, and I had just converted my own Transcendent C’tan.
- Surprise my opponents with the speed that Necrons can show.
Is it the most perfectly tuned list? Um… no. There are a lot of people who could tweak the backbone of this list and really make it sing. I’m not one of those.
I have seven models with Living Metal, and at least two of them can get back d3 wounds a turn instead of one due to the Nanoscarab Casket and the Crpytek’s Canoptek Cloak. There is also the possibility that the Transcendent C’tan will get Sentient Necrodermis on the Fractured Personality table at the beginning of the game. I have some really strong ranged shooting, as well as some good close combat models.
I’m happy to say that all of my opponents were caught off guard when my whole army moved so quickly. At the start of the game, the slowest models were the C’tan at eight inches. (I had a lot of fun with Grand Illusion on the Deceiver to overcome that slowness.) They were also surprised when I started throwing pseudo-psychic powers all over the place turn one, thanks to the C’tan. “You take mortal wounds. You take mortal wounds. Everyone take mortal wounds!”
How did the army do?
I took it to a local 3-round RTT one Saturday last fall. This was before the big fall FAQ took effect (though we played with the modifications anyway). I dodged the Eldar and Knight players. All of my games were close, but I managed to be one of the four players who ended the day 3-0 (matches were made on battle points, not win-loss record).
How does this army do under Chapter Approved 2018?
Well, the big news for Necrons is the drop in the costs of our troops. Necron Warriors have lost 1 point per model, so you are saving 10 points when you take a minimum unit of warriors. Necron Immortals had a 2 point drop in the cost of both the Tesla Carbine and the Gauss Blaster, so that will save you 10 points on a minimum unit as well.
My list doesn’t have any troops. ANY. As a result of bringing the fast models, I left my five-inch moving models at home.
Below the fold, we see that most of the Necron named characters dropped in points. So did the Catacomb Command Barge and the Lord. While I did consider the Command Barge, there is a reason that it received a price adjustment. I could more easily hide the Destroyer Lord and get a bit more durable unit. No savings yet.
My Cryptek didn’t change, neither did my Destroyer Lord. Scarabs didn’t change, and neither did the normal Destroyers or the Deceiver.
Finally, the Doomsday Ark went down 33 points each, saving me 66 points.
Wraiths went down seven points per model. That allows me to save 35 points in the list above.
The Nightbringer went down 30 points, and the Transcendent C’tan went down 25 points.
All told, my list went from 1995 to 1839. That’s a total of 156 points. Once again, that is without the price changes that are most likely to make the biggest difference… troops and characters.
- I could do something un-exciting like filling out the wraith, destroyer, and scarab squads. I could even upgrade one of those destroyers to a heavy destroyer (who saw a points drop on the awesome Heavy Gauss Cannon).
- I could add a third Doomsday Ark.
I’m not sure which way to go yet. I’ll have to get a few more games in and find out. If you have any suggestions, feel free to post them down below.
But I do know this… people still don’t expect a Fast Necron army.
Until next time,
Best Blitzes,
Dolch
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
What’s your opinion about Necrons in the competitive scene? I recently listened to a Necron player’s rant saying Necrons aren’t competitive mostly because of two things, always according to him:
1-lack of cheap enough infantry to make screens
2-reanimation protocols rule being useless, because its so easy to wipe out entire units. This makes most Necron models overcosted according to him
And second. Whats your oppinion about C’tan powers?
Mine is Sky of falling stars can be useful if fighting against large model count units, use antimatter meteor otherwise, its just a more reliable smite. The other powers are too unreliable
Too add more fun to #2 – you can’t RP at all if you are surounded by a horde unit in combat (very easy to do). As you need to RP within coherency of the models that are already on the table and 1″ away from enemy models
I’m not really the guy you need to talk about competitive lists. I’m just a bit too off the wall (as my list shows).
I will say this… Necrons have problems that points adjustments just won’t fix. These are rules problems, and the designers have made it clear that we will need to wait for a new codex in order to have major rules changes. In the mean time, I’ll play my off-beat lists and have fun (while trying to win the last game each day).
#1. I don’t think that we will see Warriors even cheaper. The designers don’t want to see a necron horde army (for good reasons, it would be unfun to play with and against). We will need to find a different way to protect our vital support units (Quantum Shielding is dang good, though!)
#2. There are a lot of ways for our opponents to shut down reanimation protocols, and this is a problem. A stratagem that allows us to make an out of sequence Reanimation Protocol roll would go a long way to fixing that. The bigger issue is that our buffs are just not up to the same level as other armies. Not only is “My Will Be Done” limited to a single unit, but it also has a range restriction. A lot of people suggest taking away the number limit (so we are effectively Space Marines)… I’d rather take the range restriction away. But like I said, we’ll need to wait for a new codex here.
#3. On the C’tan powers, I rolled for them each game. I’m not used to psychic powers, so I can’t compare the C’tan powers to those. I do know that I couldn’t keep what they did in my head from turn to turn (could be a factor of my aging mind…) I think that they don’t have a strong enough theme to actually stand out. It might be better if there were only 3 powers, but they really worked differently and fit very thematically.
I really liked both Sky of Falling Stars and Antimatter Meteor. Honestly, I’d be hard pressed to tell you what the other powers are or do.
Suggestion with your 156 points left. Taking a unit of 3 heavy destroyers. I miss long-ranged antitank in your list
Like the quirky list. I think this is what we Necron players should be focused on for the foreseeable future.
Our codex even with the point drops can not play in on the big kid tables with the likes of Eldar, Orks and Knights no matter the list we try to make. (we have a 16% win rate vs them) So we might as well make some off the wall cool stuff and try to catch some players off guard.
So that is my advice. Forge some Narrative, have some fun and just forget about what place you rank at the event. We have a 28% winrate total since the Ork codex dropped but that is ok, because we can learn from those old Ork players that for years even with an underpowered army fun and dice can be had.
Thanks! Overall, I had fun that day. I wish that the pairings had been done with Win-loss so I could have seen myself against armies that had similar records. I expect that I wouldn’t have really gone 3-0.
At the end of the day, I really just want to win the last game that I play each day.
Orks have fun… I can’t disagree. I’ve never had a bad game with or against orks (I have a Dread Mob and Evil Sunz Trukk and Burna Boyz army).
I like that categorization system of play styles, I hadn’t seen that before. I am 100% a Johnny, haha.
I have found that Tomb Blades do work and they’re fast as hell. They also received a price drop because they roll with those Tesla and Gauss weapons. Just a thought.
Poor crons, still bottom tier. Need an army wide fnp among other changes.
I myself am currently also getting back in to the Necrons.
Currently working with a list that does have some infantry to give it ability to grab a objective in the back field. I do notice that if i want my Immortals to do anything else besides that… they just dont cut it.
I am currently planning on fielding 9 tomb blades, the Tesla’s look very nice, but i am still doubting to grab the Guass Cannons due to getting in range 12 isnt that hard for tomb blades.
also planning on fielding the Monolith, becase… we all need a distraction “carnifex”.
Good to hear your C’tans have been doing well! I have had mixed results so far, how have you mitigated the T7/S7 ?
Just some friendly advice don’t ever field the Monolith unless it is an EXTREMELY fluffy game. Even with its point drop in CA the to 320 points you literally could pick any other unit (besides the Obelisk) and have a better army for it.
It is a failure of a unit.
It can not kill things.
It can not transport things with its laughable movement and if you deep strick it you can not deploy units till turn 3
And the biggest it dies to one turn of shooting or melee against what the other armies easily bring to every game.
No invuln and a 3+ save means you will never get to use its lackluster guns or ‘transport’ ability.
I did luck out and miss most of those armies. I did face a couple of Helverins, and managed to pound them pretty hard with the Doomsday arks. It still took 3 turns of shooting to drop one. Played a Tau player with a Riptide… and it got ripped up too.
I really want the Doomsday ark to be the solution, but it just doesn’t fire enough shots.
Very curious as to how this fun kind of list will work out under 9th Ed and with the new toys we are getting.