Necron Showcase, Part 2

In part two of this series, I'll show you the rest of my army, and talk about my plans for future expansion now that they've been awakened...

 

I really love the aesthetic of the older models. I think the original Flayed Ones, for example, look much better than the current version. I love their long, flensing knife-fingers; the new ones all have varied "scissor" hands that look like a hodge-podge of broken cutlery and garden shears. I also don't care for the skinned torsos some of the new ones are lugging around.

The uniform appearance of the units seems more fitting for the Necrons. If I ever add any more Flayed Ones to my force, I might convert them out of the plastic Necron Warriors with sculpted skin over top.

 

 

I converted a few of the Flayed Ones to be emerging from the ground as they "deep strike" onto the battlefield. Those were a lot of fun, and remind me of skeletons emerging from their graves.

 

 

The classic Canoptek Wraiths are vastly different from the new models. Whereas the new models look like Spyders up on long tails, the original wraiths bore a closer resemblance to their Necron Warrior brethren. Even with the limited sculpts of the old metal models, you could still get a wide variety of poses by adjusting their arms and bending their tails.

I only had two finished wraiths but luckily there was a third unbuilt wraith in my parts collection. The minimum unit size is now 3+ so I was able to knock out the third model and field them as a unit. Wraiths can now be armed with ranged weapons, and I'll need to play with them a bit before deciding if I'll add that option. Maybe I'll convert some removable shoulder-mounted guns for the squad.

 

 

The old Canoptek Spyders look like a cross between the machine squids from The Matrix and the Necron Destroyer chassis. The new ones are much sleeker and spider-like; these old ones are more like beetles. I'm sure the new plastic Spyder kit is easier to build, as well, but I kind of like the fact that this guy looks like a giant version of the Necron Scarabs. I have the parts for a second one, and (as I note further down) they seem to be one of the few options Necrons have for countering psykers, so he'll be near the top of my Necron painting queue.

 

And then we come to the C'Tan Nightbringer, the Necron god of death. This guy was a joy to paint, and a nice change from washing and highlighting Boltgun Metal. I don't think I've ever used him in a game, though. I'll have to see how he fares under the new rules.

 

 

Last week I participated in a small tournament– 500 points per side, using one Patrol detachment and some other restrictions. My army consisted of the Lord, 18 Necron Warriors, 5 Necron Immortals, and 2 Heavy Destroyers. Both of my games were against Imperial Guard; I won the first round in a closely-fought battle, and I lost the second round to some pretty heavy shooting after my Lord was blasted off the table by Psychic Maelstrom.

A few things I learned: I definitely need something to counter enemy psykers. So I'll need to field a Spyder with a Gloom Prism in every army to deny the enemy's psychic powers. It's starting to look like two Canoptek Spyders with gloom prisms might end up being auto-includes in every list.

That's something both of my 40K armies (Black Templars and Necrons) have in common– Very little in the way of countering psykers. I've played a couple games with my Black Templars against the Thousand Sons and my opponent threw out so many psychic abilities (that I couldn't do anything about) that I may as well have not been playing at all. I hope the Necrons don't fall into the same rut. I'm also not keen on fielding four Spyders just to have some way of contending with overwhelming enemy psykers.

In my games I was also failing a lot of rolls for my Reanimation Protocols. One of the first models I need to pick up is definitely a Cryptek (or three, since their range is so short) to boost the roll to a 4+ for nearby units. That should give my army a little more staying power.

As I mentioned last time, I have six Necron Destroyers in progress. Those, plus the second Spyder will get me through a chunk of my backstock. A Cryptek is the first priority for new purchases, then I can look at some of the other new units. I like the idea of Deathmarks for targeting characters and intercepting deep-striking enemies, and things like the Command Barge, Doomsday Ark, and Triarch Stalkers look like they would be a lot of fun to build and paint while adding some firepower to my force. But first I need to play a few games with what I have to get a proper feel for the army.

'Til next time!