"Hiya kirby, ive had the lovely new codex for a few days now (delivered before release) and ive really been chewing my way through the book... metaphorically speaking.
and i think this is what a well balanced list will look like, as believe it or not, the necrons do have some cheap'ish units now. but bad news, theyre the new models!
anyway the list:
HQ
Destroyer Lord, tachyon arrow, ress Orb. 185pts
Traz the infinite 175pts
Royal Court:
Cryptek, tremorstave + Harp 55pts
Elites
3x Triarch Stalkers 450pts
Troops
5 warriors 65pts
Ghost Ark 115pts (total 180pts)
same 180pts
same 180pts
Fast Attack
6 wraiths, 6 whip coils, 270pts
Heavy
3x Annihilation Barges 270pts
total 1945pts
the army plays out like this: the destroyer lord rides with the wraiths, providing a ress orb, to an already resiliant unit, making use of the whip coils to reduce enemy intiative to 1 (finally we can strike first at initative 2!!) creating a nice fast moving assault unit, armed with rending attacks and a warsycthe, and fearless to boot. (judging from the art, i suspect these will be released in a wraith/spyder boxset)
next i have traz or perhaps even a cheaper overlord joining the warrior boats with the cryptek, providing powerful ranged fire. because the ark's are open topped, that allows the occupants to fire, and as the "gauss flayer arrays" are part of the vehicle, there is possibility for 15 gauss shots are turn. 10 to one side, 5 to the other. the cryptek is there to reduce the armour on the most pesky of vehicles from way backfield, thanks to the harps unlimited range, and entropic strike ability.
the stalkers, and Barges work in unison to eliminate tanks, and then their occupants. both making use of the AV13 ability, to really risk getting up close to units. the optional gauss cannon on the barges for free is worth considering with the markerlight properties of the stalkers, but it depends on the meta. as more yummy tesla is very much welcome.
if there are any points for a larger game, consider expanding the court into a melee unit, lead by traz. he keeps them scoring, and the lords have the option for a 3++ save. expensive though:
5x Lords, 5x phase shifters, 5x warscythes, 1x Ress Orb 480pts
Cryptek staff + veil of darkness 60pts
the veil removes the need for an actual transport for the royal court, allowing you to really get up into the opponents face first turn and solidly contest those objectives. traz does not have the luck of an inulnerable save, so his surrogate rule might make you loose those lords quicker than anticipated. still the cryptek has his uses beyond transport *evil grin*
i like the use of wraiths over the court, as being jump infantry they are infinitaly more flexible to deal with situations, and catch up to faster prey. yet the royal court can be a really persistant threat in the enemies lines, and scoring to boot. but yet again suffer from that iniative strike that can cost them in the assault and dont have 2 wounds each.
choice choices.
so what are your views on the crons kirby?"
Now that I have digested the codex and had some play-test games, email replies can start coming out. Oh joy..
The first part of this list that jumps out at me is the lack of scoring. Ghost Arks + Warriors are a nice combo in terms of making a pretty so-so unit durable but all the opponent has to due is wipe out five Warriors in one phase and they won't get any reanimation protocols or regeneration from the Ghost Arks. You need more Troops. Trazyn obviously helps here, which is awesome, but you're still running quite low on scoring potential.
stalkers and barges I'm fine with though we're more than likely going to need to cut a stalker to scrabble some points together for more scoring options. stalkers as well suffer from really piss-poor combat potential (like most Necrons but the opportunity cost here is greater) and only having the Wraiths as a screening unit isn't great. Add in the Wraiths don't all need whip coils (2-3 will do) and we can save some more points there. I like the Desto Lord + Wraith combo but the Desto Lord needs to be cheap - drop the Res Orb as it will only help him as well as the arrow. I think Arrows will only find use with Stalkers where you can re-roll the misses but it's still an expensive proposition at 30 points.
You're still short on anti-tank though...and Troops so I think dropping a Stalker plus the other points we've saved for two small Scarab squads (2x5x), some Immortals on foot with Tesla (2x5x should be fine) and then Crypteks with Eldritich Lances for the Warriors would be a good idea. Furthermore, whilst the Harp is nice, it's very unreliable needing a 3+ then 4+ to pass - certainly nice but not something to rely upon. If you're tight on points I'd be looking to drop the Harp though I would seriously recommend changing the Harp Cyptek to a Solar Pulse Cryptek since having that option is very, very nice for the points.
