The Dark Angels Book At A Glance

Well, I have had some time to start reading and reviewing the Dark Angels book and figure now is a good time to start with early impressions.

Here is what Dark Angel players can expect:

• Eight new units.
• Updated fluff and lots of eye candy artwork
• Scouts in Troops Slots again
• Heavy Weapon or Special Weapon for every 5 Tactical Marines
• Flak missiles in all units with Missile Launcher options.
• Several Character buffs (slightly cheaper also)
• Lots of defensive wargear for characters and units.
• Banners are like Icons in the Chaos Codex.
• Chapter Relics (nothing very impressive, most stuff is just ok)
• No special vehicle equipment.
• Terminator Squads can be 5-10 in unit size.
• Ravenwing no longer Fearless (replaced by Grim Resolve)
• No unique psychic powers (except for Ezekiel)

Compared to the Chaos Codex is clearly the anti-Chaos Codex the way hot it was written but lacks some of the special flair that the Chaos Codex got. Sure, there are several amazing looking models but nothing special rules wise that is amazing. I have mixed feelings about the book, not as happy as I am with how they treated the Chaos Codex but overall it is a well done book. 

Chaos Codex Review Part 7: Heavy Support!

On to the last section! Heavy support, one of my favorites!

Havoks: Compare these to Space Marines and you have a very versatile unit here with options out the wazoo! The popular heavy weapon choices is of course the favorite Autocannon and missile Launchers, that makes the missile launchers even more popular more than ever is this codex is the first to take flakk missiles to the mix. Sure adding them on makes them cost more than a lascannon but now you have THREE options when it comes to shooting. The Autocannon is a strong mainstay at STR 7 with good range making it a reasonable choice for it’s price and performance. Also the ability to take up to 4 assault weapons like flamers, meltas and plasma makes this unit form a different use depending on your needs of your army list. Pepper in a Mark of Nurgle and a possible transport (if needed) and this becomes a very strong unit option (perhaps one of the best!) Don’t forget to take Veteran’s of the Long War to get that bonus LDR!

Obliterators: Still good for what you get in the package, the marks now add some value (namely Tzeench and Nurgle) plus the extra weapon additions adds nicely with the assault cannon and heavy flamer. The only real downside is not being able to fire the same weapon you fired in the prior turn. Just be clever with your shooting and use the Obliterators to fill in the gaps to match your opponents and you will find this to be a very useful unit.

Defiler: This was once a great unit, and then went a bit meh when 5^th encouraged people to use them less. Now they have Daemonic Possession, Daemon (Fear and 5+ Inv save), Fleet, Daemonforge (reroll wounds) and It will not Die (let me catch my breath!) making the price upgrade to 195 still very reasonable. I personally am looking forward to trying these guys out as universal filler to my army.

Forgefiend: Again another demon engine that is ok, the Mauler and Defiler weigh in better and the Exctoplasma cannons are nice and helps make the BS 3 easier to swallow as you can adjust at least your template by 3”.

Maulerfiend: I am holding my opinion on this until I see them in action. To me these guys in a pair could be a real threat and could support a close combat based army better than most other unit options.

Chaos Land Raider: Very disappointing to be honest on this one. Price dropped in point value but you get a Marine Version, no variant, no special rules….after all this time in the warp. Take it if you need it, but IMO there is better.

Chaos Vindicator: Another mainstay tank, while the same price the upgrades can make it a bit more worthwhile of an option and 2-3 of these can scare the hell out of many armies.

Chaos Predator: Another mainstay tank, works well in the cheap and simple format of a TL lascannon or simple Autocannon with perhaps heavy bolters. Again the upgrades are what make this guy a gem with adding a Havok launcher to the mix.

Chaos Codex Review Part 6: Fast Attack!

In the last codex this area, well just sucked ass. Now, we have something that makes us proud and perhaps a very viable option for army building when it comes to Chaos.

Chaos Bikers: Price per pound, simply a great choice. Add the mark of Nurgle and some melta or plasma guns and a possible character that is compatible with the unit and have fun! Go on, waste your ammo on this unit, the rest of the army is going to pound you and if you don't pay for it later.

Chaos Spawn: Here was another really bad unit that now has some options to it. To me this is a cheap bullet magnet and can draw attention away from the army without paying a high cost. Ignore it? Well, may suck for you later.

Raptors: Chaos has useful dump troopers again and cheaper (perhaps slightly better) than the marine version. Depending on options this unit could be a serious threat to your opponent with proper scenery and screening by transport vehicles.

Warp Talons: They are very expensive, but if you apply them correctly they can garner a great value on the field. Then again, they can also be a serious liability if you are not careful.

Heldrake: To me the most popular of the choices, load them with a baleflamer and enjoy roasting marines over an open fire. A flying hellhound marine killer is the only way to sum this up.....oh an you can still strike flyers in the air as you pass over...a two for one value. Please leave the Hades Autocannon at home.

Chaos Codex Review Part 5: Troops!

The Chaos codex is very deceptive as it has only two entries but with selecting a character with a specific mark you can shift units around in your book including all four cult troop choices and Chosen (if you take Abbaddon).

Chaos Space Marines: Some people have tried to compare them to a Grey Hunter, which is like holding an apple to an orange. You get something different from each in terms of tastes and nutrition, that can be said in this case. For 2 more points they get a close combat weapon matching the cost of a Grey Hunter, but then this is where it gets different, they can take two special or one special and 1 heavy weapon, their Aspiring Champion makes the unit have a decent leadership (add for another point Veterans of the Long War) and perhaps a mark for a few points more and the unit can be built to suit your needs. A CSM unit is a nice filler between a Cult Troop Choice and a Cultist Troop choice, so keep that in mind.

Chaos Cultists: Cheap, massed troops and with the right leadership hard to break. These guys are great to hold objectives, swamp targets with massed attacks and Marks are cheap. It should be obvious how to take cultists and use them on the table. The favorite of late seems to be taking Typhus and upgrade your units to Plague Zombies, now you have cheap scoring, horde units that are fearless. Yes please!

Bonus Review: Rhino Transports!

I could add this at some other point but I figure that it would be better to address it here.

It is the typical 35 points that is common among Marines what is interesting is how you can modify this transport into some unique concepts.

First it is interesting in the Chaos Wargear list for Vehicle Equipment states a model may can take up to one of each of the following. So this means that with the base combi-bolter, you can add anotehr combi-bolter, a combi-flamer/melta/plasma AND a Havok in theory. Granted where the hell you would stick all these weapons would be a good question. Granted this is going to cost almost the price of two Chaos Marines and with the ability to kill a vehicle is much easier saves you much pain from considering this.

What is one of the best choices is the Havok Launcher and makes the Rhino into what I call a Havokback, something similar to a heavy bolter razorback in theory. Still, what is odd is that you cannot just upgrade the combi-bolter instead of adding another one which is perhaps a weird option.

Daemonic Possession is perhaps the most interesting, being able to ignore shaken and stunned on a 2+ and if a unit embarks it could eat one member of the unit to regenerate a hull point.

To me the best options to keep a Rhino reasonable in price is a Havok+Daemonic Possession at most. Dozer blade is a good runner up option.

Chaos Codex Review Part 4: Elites!

On with Elites!

Chosen: This unit can make a nice specialist unit for the typical multiple small units (MSU). If you have Abbadon you can use them as a troop choice again allowing the MSU unit option for troop choices. This is a specialist unit so build it wisely and don’t forget the rhino.

Possessed: Well, they no longer suck. They do have a high price tag, but they are a specialist close combat unit. Again, build this unit wisely and always take a rhino to ensure they can get somewhere to do something.

Chaos Terminators: Not a bad choice, but slightly more expensive than other choices and while the 2+/5+ (or even 2+/4+ with a Mark of Tzeench) seems appealing using deep striking to get weapons like combi-meltas near a target, again a small unit may be worthwhile but a larger one would be a huge point sink.

Hellbrute: Also known as a Dreadnought, again they no longer suck (no shooting and destroying your own army instead) the Crazed Rule makes them very viable as a unit choice. What makes a nice crown to this unit is seeing the Thunder hammer and Power Scourge return to the Dreadnought.

Mutilators: Well, this may be the only item of crap to me in the codex. Expensive, small unit size and limited options unless you can get them into close combat unless you are willing to front for a Land Raider to drive them down the field to get them close enough to be worth a crap. Still, it costs 25% of a 2k list.

Khorne Berserkers: This here is a specialist close combat unit that is very effective; you have to compare them (if you want a reference) to a Wolf Guard unit.   This unit is best as a large unit or at least with a rhino to ensure they get close enough to be useful. A unit with Rage, Counter Attack, Furious Charge and Fearless (and for 2 more points each you can get Hatred) makes this a very impressive unit.

Thousand Sons: Still, a decent unit and a specialist AP 3 killer that if built correctly you can take advantage of the bonus sorcerer and firepower. Be careful to avoid getting tangled in close combat as it will be a slow and painful death.

Plague Marines: Perhaps one of the best choices in the army as they are tough and able to hold up against things with a T5, Fearless and Feel No Pain. What else is just an added bonus that offsets the I3 is the return of the Plague Knife and Blight Grenades making their high cost still a decent value.

Noise Marines: Another decent unit at shooting ignores cover is a great option with the massed firepower they could put out at a low price. Plus they are able to handle getting into close combat taking advantage of the higher I stat they have. Plus throw in the icon of Excess they become another great unit with feel no pain if you are willing to eat the high point cost.

Chaos Codex Review #3: Troops


This should be quick as there is just two options!

Chaos Space Marines: Try no to compare them to a Grey Hunter, they won't match up once you pay the 2 points for the extra close combat weapon, still another point and you can take +1 leaderhip and hatred. Then add a mark and some weapon options to me becomes stronger and more flexabile unit for the game. Oddly GW seems to discourage MSU with this unit build making it more worthwhile to invest in larger squads.

Chaos Cultists: Got Cultists? Take them! for 135 points I can pack in 35 cultists, take a character and they are fearless. Not as great as they used to be but oh what the hell! Cheap squads now for Chaos!

Chaos Codex Review Part 2: HQ Choices

HQ Choices:

Abbadon: He weighs in slightly less than Logan and packs a heavy punch and stat package that is impressive. Drach’nyen now still gives the Demon weapon rule plus a bonus to STR and AP making it a nasty Terminator Killer, the Talon of Horus drops in AP to 3 but allows him to hit like he has a power fist (but not striking last!) and grants Preferred Enemy to all units within range. If you have the points to spare he could be fun but there is more ideal choices. Still, it could be nice to have an HQ sit near all your Chaos units to allow them a reroll to hit in both shooting and close combat as well as to wound.

Kharn: Nothing to sneeze at here with up to 6 attacks with Gorechild at STR 6 and AP 2 and throw in Armorbane for giggles. He also has the ability to piss off psykers with his 2+ Deny the Witch. Yea, he still has the Betrayer special rule if you roll a 1 but who cares? Break him off from the unit and send him to town ripping apart units. Challenge? Oh yea, go ahead!

Huron Blackheart: This is another figure that may see more table time due to the simple price balance of his cost to his abilities. Having Master of Deception allowed him to deploy d3 units using Infiltrate. If you build a list around this concept he is a very strong option to consider for investment. Add in the fact he rolls a random psychic power every Chaos turn and has a power axe (for dealing with AP 2 targets in close combat) and the Tyrants claw (still a heavy flamer with +2 STR and AP 3, with Shred and Armorbane). This allows him to be a unit killer again on his own.

Ahriman: Perhaps the most powerful psyker in the game and cheaper than Najal of the Space Wolves! Able to toss out 4 psyker powers (if all level 1), able to shoot multiple witchfire powers and decent access to 4 psychic power groups. Plus to make him a fan favorite add the Warlord Trait Master of Deception to allow you to infiltrate d3 units again.

Typhus: Another quiet bad ass in the codex, lots of wounds, high Toughness, feel no pain and with the bumps to the Destroyer Hive to AP2, STR 4. OUCH! Plus he can convert cultists to plague zombies thus once again bringing back old school fearless, feel no pain and SAP undead to 40k!

Lucius: Well, if you want someone to be your man for clos ecombat, this is a fairly good pick for the points. He is able to wipe out a squad or handle a challenge on equel level but otherwise not all that impressive.

Fabius Bile: Hey, he no longer sucks! His Rod causes instant death, a character with Feel No Pain and can upgrade one squad to be Enhanced Warriors for no extra point cost. I can give +1 STR and Fearless to one Troop CSM unit? Bile may find his way into a few lists.

Chaos Lord: CHEAP! Need I say more? Well, once you load him up with some cool goodies he can become a huge point sponge. Build these guys wisely and they will treat you right!

Sorcerer: CHEAP! I can have up to a level 3 sorcerer for just 5 points higher than a Rune Priest with two powers (and able to use one!) throw in a 15 point spell familiar to reroll failed psychic tests and blam! Add a Mark of Tzeench and use him as your commander and you get Rubics as core troops!

Demon Prince: People bitched when they saw the point leap, sure you have to pay 205 now to get a base 3+ save, 5+ inv with wings.....I doubt people have REALLY looked at the WS and I now? Yea, look again and tell me they suck now sure they can be gunned down, Mark of Nurgle and Tzeench are a Daemon Prince's best friend. Swoop around and chew up units....

Warpsmith: To me this guy is a sleeper, play against an army that loves cover. Tear it down! need to fix something now? Yes you can! You get a nice package of weapons  with some great perks...enjoy with a twist of lime.

Dark Apostle: I missed this unit option for my Word Bearers, I love it, a radius Fearless character, nice! Plus he grants hate to the unit he joins...fair cheap for what you get, IMO a great buy! Plus if you plan to use the gift of mutation, keep everyone near the Dark Apostle, rerolls anyone?

Chaos Codex Review: Part 1

Well, after having a few days to read, review and look over various parts of the Codex I am ready to start with an overview of the Chaos Codex and my thoughts on the book.

First off Phil Kelly did a fantastic job, perhaps one of the best books GW has done in a long, long time. Unlike other codex books that there are a few good and then a great deal of crap for units this book has upped the balance slightly to allow for what I feel will be an army that you will find more variety with than any other on the table. I know are tired of the same crap army lists over and over. Oh, you have Grey Knights? Space Wolves? Imperial Guard? What template lists are you using is the common topic? Not only that, but the hardback version is also very nice and stands out as a quality book product compared to their past offerings.

What I really like most about this book the most is how they expanded the fluff slightly and updated things. Subtle things but still, there is more there than what seemed to be in the last codex.

Army Wide Rules:

Champions: Some people love this rule, some people hate it. I have to admit it fits the flavor of Chaos no matter what. So, in close combat you have to declare a challenge or accept one if issued first. So, the age of power fists on Champions is long gone. Time to rip them off and give them either power swords, mauls or lighting claws at this point if you want a chance to survive and if you don’t care hand them a chain sword and pat them on the power armor ass out the door to die. The first thing to look at is how often will your list be in close combat? If you are in it often, perhaps you should plan your list out, otherwise if you are more of a shooter list; it is ok to neglect the Champions in favor of focusing on other important aspects in your list. My only complaint about this is rolling on the “favors” or as I call them “party favors” chart if you kill something in close combat, so in theory it should be rare but still to me could drag the game slightly in a tournament setting rolling and bookkeeping constant changes. I am sure Army Builder will have the option to add the roll list to each champion and if you do, stock up on paper as your list will grow about x3 the current normal printed list. I am not sure how I feel about handing a codex to my opponent printed from Army Builder.

Veterans of the Long War: +1 Leadership and Hatred? Usually just for a point more on a standard CSM and a few more points for an Independent Character you can have this great perk. While the leadership is not needed for an IC the average Joe benefits from that with their lower leadership now of 8 on average. You could always take the banner to make your unit Fearless but that gets rather pricey (and works best for larger, more expensive units) and should only go to key units in the game where the benefit gets the best impact. Play Marines often? Shop Smart, Shop Chaos Mart.

Demon Weapons: Wow, they are more powerful than ever and yes, you will pay for them in huge point costs. Still, it is nice to at least roll a 1 and still swing (at penalty) instead of being screwed over. Roll a 2+ and it is happy days! Demon Weapons are squad killers as well as deadly weapons in a challenge against a character. The only downside is that you have to protect the model with it until he can get close enough to get into close combat. Second you have to wipe out all characters first in a challenge before you can wipe the squad. So, if they have a character to challenge you could get bogged down fighting some units. Think IG blobs for example as they have the ability to throw multiple sergeants at you keeping you busy the rest of the game. Your only hope then is to cause enough wounds to break, unless they are fearless or something else making them hard to break (stubborn for example).

Warlord Traits: This is the first book to assign Warlord Traits to specific characters instead of rolling for them. To me this fits but also limits options taking them, if you take a character with a specific Trait, you are more than likely taking them for that benefit among other thins.  Here are the traits and my thoughts:

Black Crusader: Warlord and all friendly units within 12” of the Warlord have Preferred Enemy. For now this is nice for allies “note the word friendly”. Yes, this will be FAQ’ed later. Until then take Abbadon and park him near a majority of your army and enjoy the rerolls of 1 to hit and wound.

Flames of Spite: All melee weapons in the unit have Soul Blaze. Crap here really.

Master of Deception: Infiltrate d3 infantry units. Note the key word there, infantry. So, no first turn charges but you could very easy put an army in someone’s face quickly or flank.

Hatred Incarnate: Warlord and unit have Hatred. So, saves you points on Veteran’s of the Long War. Otherwise useless also.

Lord of Terror: Fear, another yawn unless you have something that can modify leadership.

Exalted Champion: Reroll on the Boon Table, limited prospects here unless you plan to engage in challenges.

Marks of Chaos

Mark of Khorne: Rage (extra attack) and Counter-attack special rules. This is a great mark to give to general CSM units that are not Bezerkers, they are a slightly cheaper option with ranged ability unlike Khorne Bezerkers.

Mark of Nurgle: +1 Toughness (no longer unmodified!) a great choice for a Biker Unit, Obliterators or Characters, makes them tough as hell to instant kill now. Even the basic CSM benefits well if you are cost cutting and don’t care about the other perks that a Plague Marine gets. Havoks are another that would allow you to take some punishment and still stay in the fight no matter what.

Mark of Tzeentch: +1 to invulnerable save or 6+ if none. Obliterators and Characters stand the most to benefit from here. A simple 6+ to a standard CSM is just a waste when there are better marks to pick (unless you can roll 6’s like crazy).

Mark of Slaanesh: +1 Initiative. What? Wake me up here! This goes best on a few select items, one thing I can say NOT to waste points on is giving them to a Chaos Space Marine. Why? 13 points base and 2 for the mark, 2 more points and you get Fearless instead of spending 1 more point for Veterans of the Long War for that +1 Leadership. 

What do you think?

Guest Editorial: Anglacon from Fantasy Battles Forums

Anglacon over at Fantasy Battles Forums (www.fantasybattles.com) is a long time player of the Dark Eldar as far back as 4^th Edition when I first met him locally in Florida. He has had excellent success during tournaments with his Dark Eldar and has been a huge fan of these fetish, kinky pale elves of the future. He had some interesting words of wisdom posted up on his Forum that I asked to bring here to share.

While many players scream doom and gloom, I know this as a true fact as I have spoken with one player locally back and forth here on Army of the Week and disappointed by what he had already collected and was ready to sell off his Space Wolves and Dark Eldar in favor of a Chaos Army if possible. I explained that they lost a few things, gained a few things and how they work will change slightly. 6^th is much like how 4^th was, weaker transports and mid range firefights are going to dominate the game plain and simple.

Here is what Anglacon had to say:

After reading all the Doom and Gloom on dark Eldar all over the internet, and how they are useless, toast, and pretty much garbage now, I have to disagree. In many, many ways the Dark kin have become more deadly.

As Dark Eldar, our biggest strength was that we were Fast, but a glass hammer. In other words, we got there fast, and hit hard, but when we were hit back, we died. Sadly, 6th edition gave our biggest strength, the speed our army had, to every other army out there.

6TH DID however, make our weakness even worse. Our vulnerability to small arms fire was magnified this edition with the advent of Overwatch and Snap Fire. Our Webway portals were nerfed into uselessness. Our flyers pale in comparison to the cookie cutter Guard and Marine versions, and going first just became SOOO important to the survival of our units.

But, What GW taketh away, gw giveth in other ways.
Dark Eldar are pretty much the only army in the game that ignores night fight. Its not that we are good at it, we just ignore it! Our nemesis, the ol dreadnaught is a joke to our wyches with haywires, as we hit them on 4's, and take hull points off of them on 2's! Guard parking lots, monoliths, Landraiders, all of them are free points to our armies. Units that never before were worth a damn can now be taken... hellions, jetbikes and mandrakes (yes, you read that right, MANDRAKES) can now be useful and scary.

So... on to the Dark Eldar units, the "Webs" perception, and the truth!


Asdrubael vect-
Web- thinks the guy is useless now that his scepter is only ap3.

Reality- Asdrubael did take a hit in the ol ap department, but he became SOO much more powerful in every other way! how you ask? well...
Preferred enemy now affects the entire unit in both hth and shooting. You reroll all 1's in combat. period. Fearless also confers to the unit, so throw him with bloodbrides, they are fearless, reroll all 1's to hit and wound in shooting and HTH, can take out any vehicle or walker with haywires, have a crap ton of attacks, and he still steals initiative on a 4+. With the new JINK rules, moving vehicles before they are shot is MANDATORY. against all marines, this guy is still a killer... just avoid terminators and you are fine! He went from overpriced to fairly priced, and after 6th is played a bit, expect almost all DE players to use him.

Lady malys-
Web- thinks she sucks ass.

Reality- She sucks ass. The only small benefits is that she and her unit ignore all psychic powers, and there are a lot more of them out there now, and she MAY (I say may) be able to cheese the reserve rule by placing D3 units into reserve that normally would not be able to due to 1/2 the army restriction. But, all in all, not worth it.

Baron Sathonyx
Web- better with the hammer of wrath rule (impact hits basically)

Reality- Better all around. His +1 to go first is huge if you have a lot of vehicles, (see vect for more info) and he comes with a grenade launcher, which grants both assault and defensive grenades. When being shot on overwatch, it gives the unit stealth (+1 cover saves). Pssst... don’t tell anyone, but he gave the unit stealth anyway! For his points, the fact he allows rerolls for both Initiative tests and distance for hit and run is huge.. and you want to hit and run to keep getting those impact hits. be careful of overwatch though!

Lelith Hesperax
Web- Who? Oh, not too bad now that she has one of the three dark eldar character HTH weapons that are ap2.

reality- Sorry, but still not great. Yes, she has a buttload of attacks, yes, she can take out terminators, but in reality, she is str 3, and only has a 3++, so those termies she charged will smack her in the face with a hammer and insta gib her. She is GREAT in running down units and in challenges though! Overall- leave her on the shelf.


Kheradruakh-
Web- HAHAHAHAHA what a loser!

Reality- Hmmm... now wait just 1 second. In certain instances, he is not bad. if you infiltrate a 10 man unit of mandrakes, you can deploy this guy 1" away from them, joining him to the unit, giving them a pain token (feel no pain) opening their shooting and making them a decent unit!
However, you cannot charge anything until turn 3 at best if you do this! but 22 str 4 pinning shots are pretty great! Unless you have a plan around him, though he is better, he is still not worth the points or effort.

Duke Sliscus
Web- Slightly buffed, not bad

reality- Agreed. He has a blast pistol, and the only named character that has combat drugs! Though short on wounds, his 2++ is great, and rerolling the drug chart is the real reason to take this guy... He should be taken in wych cults only, because any other way is a waste of some sort. His deep striking MAY, and I say MAY come in handy depending on your opponent, his army, and field saturation.

Drazahar
Web- OMG!! the best ever! holy crap!

reality- meh. He did get better, and can take out termies easily. With his eternal warrior rule, he will ALWAYS be able to take his FNP roll, if he has a pain token. No doubt, he has a lot of great abilities and can dance around the combat, and is scary bad in challenges, but man, is he expensive! Overall, better but not THAT much better!

Urien Rakath
Web: His ichor gauntlet is great!

Reality: um, no it isn’t. His biggest buff is the fact that his clone field makes him a beast in challenges, but he won’t ever get through 2+ saves. His best benefits were the distribution of pain tokens to wracks and grots, but since webways died a horrible horrible death, shelve him.


Arcons-
Web: Nerfed beyond use!

Reality: well, I hate to agree with the masses, but there are better HQ's for less, and the Arcons just don’t cut it any more.

Court of the Arcon-
Web: haven’t heard much from the web on them

reality: Besides the majority toughness boost, they are useless.

Succubus-
Web: Too Weak

reality: A decent HQ choice. You can equip her with haywire grenades.. in fact let me say this now, NEVER take any wych without a haywire, EVER! Anyway, toss her a blaster and venom blade or agoniser, and you have a cheap, decent close combat character.

Haemonculus-
Web: Good for pain token shenanigans only.

reality: Not really. yes, the token shuffle is great, but the sniper rifle they can take is awesome. A roll of 6 to hit means YOU pick the target (bye bye melta gun!) and it causes instant death. How awesome is that?


Incubi-
Web: nerfed to death with their weapons being ap3

reality: yeah, that hurt bad, and they are a bit overpriced now, but the Klaivex is a mandatory investment, as is the demiklave. Don’t be fooled into thinking this unit is garbage, it is not AS good as of old, but it is a far cry from sucking!

Grots and wracks:
Web: Dead and useless

reality: Again, the toughness game in HTH and shooting means any succubus with them is toughness 5! Not too shabby! But it is a huge point cost death star unit that will be shot off the field before it is able to do anything. Damn webway nerf!

Mandrakes:
Web: useless

reality: overpriced and useless unless you use the scenario listed above under Kheradruakh

Harlequins-
web: Better all around! rending rocks and they are very hard to kill by shooting with the new rules.

reality: agreed, but frail, fragile and overpriced.

Trueborn/ warriors:
web: better due to the rapid fire rules.

Reality: agreed.

Bloodbrides/ Wyches
Web: useless and dead due to overwatch.

reality: Now the strongest unit in the Dark Eldar army, if used right!
People whining about overwatch need to use their heads! Say units of 9 wyches lead by homunculi are about to assault out of a raider on a unit of 10 marines.
first, the harem disembarks alone and moves 6" right at the enemy leaving the token with the wyches. Then, the wyches disembark and advance at the marines, staying more than 2" from the harem. Come charge time, you charge the harem FIRST. now the marines need to overwatch HIM, or he will get into BTB denying them the ability to overwatch the wyches! Even if they kill the harem, they can’t overwatch twice in the same turn! So, you’re FNP wyches charge in, and eat the marines for breakfast, or the dreadnaught, or whatever it is you throw them at.

Hellions:
web: better due to hammer of wrath. Also, you can drag an IC out of combat now!

reality: agreed, and hit and run is still huge. Avoid the stunclaw trap, as an agoniser is still vastly superior over dragging an IC out of combat!

Scourges:
Web: awesome with haywire blasters now!

reality: Still way overpriced for what you get. Who cares about impact hits when you never want them in combat! a unit with 4 haywire blasters costs 260 points! for 4 measly shots to hurt vehicles! for 260 you can get:
10 wyches with 2 hydra gauntlets, a raider with ether sails, a hekatrix with an agonizer, 10 haywire grenades and have 25 points left over! the wyches are more mobile, deadlier, better in hth, the raider has a dark lance, they are better in every way! don’t waste the points!

Beasts:
web: better due to ignoring terrain and cover!

reality: better due to ignoring terrain and cover, worse due to the new wound allocation rules, Mandatory to mix the units now though.. you need khymerae and razorwings!

Reavers:
web: sooo much better, lightning fast!

reality:
this is the unit that improved the most! they are sooo much faster, tougher, and with the jink save combined with skilled rider, whenever you bladevane anyone, you have a 3+ cover. when you shoot someone, you have a 4+. You can always move in the assault phase.. they are the fastest thing in the game! They have the hammer of wrath rule, and can upgrade with a champ and power weapon or power spear (my choice). I would take in units of 7-10, and keep them in reserves. there is no reason not to unless you KNOW you are going first, because these guys can reach out and touch anyone on the board!

raiders/Venoms
web: worse due to hull point’s

reality: better due to hull points. I don’t know about you, but my raiders died to glancing hits ALL OF THE TIME! no more! Vehicles die easier this edition, but ours ALWAYS died this easy! In a way, we got buffed!

Talos/Cronos
web: useless without portals, and portals are garbage now.

reality: sadly, they are right.

Ravager
Web: Forget them and take flyers!

reality: take at LEAST 2, and arm them with triple disintegrators! What was that about not being able to take out terminators?

Razorwing/Voidraven
web: the only anti air we have, gotta take em

reality: I haven’t used them enough to make an informed decision, but I am running 2 triple dissie ravagers and 1 void raven for now.


So, as you can see, a lot of changes. Some good, some bad, but it is not the doom and gloom some people are crying about. I will post a 6th edition list in a bit to give you guys a sample.

Who Let the Dogs Out? Space Wolves vs. 6th Edition!

Well, it has been a few days now since I got my copy of 6^th thanks to the logical cluster by GW but I have been on my toes and reading as well as learning as I go everything I could about the new edition. The Space Wolves blogged some of this overview also, but at some points I disagreed with their comments, granted they did publish first as I was still working on my post. I hope to have an allies concepts developed soon to go up with this...

So, let’s talk about one of my favorites on the table of late the Space Wolves and how things have changed from 5^th to 6^th Edition.

Starting with the Army Wide Rules:

Counter-Attack: Pretty much the same with a slight twist, it states now that “a” model with Counter-Attack allows a roll, now the +1 bonus on a passed LD test is valid just for the models with Counter-Attack, but is no longer weighed down by those in the unit that may lack the ability (this is pointed towards allies when you mix Space Wolves in).

Acute Senses: Now you reroll when you outflank. So, this ability is junk for most of the army short of the scouts and the Saga of the Hunter (more on both of these later).

‘And They Shall Know No Fear’ has a few interesting twists now. If one model in the unit has it, then the entire unit has the ability. This is huge when Space Wolves ally with Sister’s of Battle or Imperial Guard. It still allows you to rally below 25%, take a 3” move, then a normal move and then you can still assault. So, your basic trooper could in theory move 3+6+2d6 getting anywhere between 11” and 21” threat range on a rally. That 3” rally is nice. If caught in a sweeping advance, you remain locked in combat.

Next up Sagas:

Saga of the Wolfkin: unless you want the Imitative 5, it is easier to just add an IC with a Thunderwolf to the unit to benefit the ATSKNF based on that character’s leadership.

Saga of the Majesty: Struggles now with the Warlord perks as you could end up with a “double down and waste points” Personally if you want a Leadership bubble go for the Warlord Traits.

Saga of the Hunter:  This one got interesting as it grants “outflank” and “stealth”. The second never changed but the first now states this: during deployment, if one model in the unit has this ability you may declare the unit is outflanking. This is a huge change, now the character can confer the ability to the unit. Flanking Grey Hunters, Wolf Guard and other interesting combos opens up now. Bear in mind when you flank, you cannot assault the turn you arrive, so shooting only. Still…a gunslinger Wolf Guard Battle leader with two pistols could slip in and crack off two plasma shots at once…

Saga of the Warrior Born gets boned if you get hit with a challenge as at best you can only kill one model.

Saga of the Iron Wolf: The huge thing here is the adding d3 to the movement (say a Land Raider) that has the “assault” rule that rolls up that extra distance, Thus a Land Raider could plow forward 12”+d3+6” move from the ramp and roll 2d6 to assault! The only sad part is the unit the Iron Priest joins blows…

A look at Warlord Traits:

Command Traits are good if you have what I call a “rolling thunder army” that is an army that is highly offensive lead by a Lord or Battle Leader with several Grey Hunter elements in Rhinos and Thunderwolf units striking fast and hard into the lines. The key is keeping within the 12” bubble to get the most out of this trait is the hallmark you have to keep in mind.

Personal Traits: This is a huge perk for the go forward type list lead by a Lord or Battle Leader, You do have a 1 in 6 change of getting the counter attack option but that is the breaks you get if you want the other advantages and many of them are great such as Feel No Pain (near objectives), Character becomes a scoring unit (yea) among other good things!

Strategic Traits are best kept back for the more timid Space Wolf lists that use Rune Priests with 4 totals in a basic list fewer than 2k and 8 in games starting at 2k could be happen. Even so, this could be rough if you lack elements like a reserve unit (as several of them modify reserves).

HQs:

Logan Grimnar got a little more worthwhile at 275 points. Now able to pass off USRs to the unit he is with Tank Hunters (reroll armor pen), Relentless (able to move and fire heavy stuff with no penalty), Preferred Enemy (reroll 1’s to hit and wound, this includes shooting) makes Logan a stud for any Long Fangs to be friends with. 5 Plasma Cannons with rerrolls (yes please!), walk and fire Lascannons (yes sir! And don’t forget AP2 is +1 on the roll) or add lovely lascannons to Tank Hunters to crack open a target. Throw in a Rune Priest with Divination or a Wolf Priest to get other rerolls and wow! Don’t forget the Wolf Guard with a Cyclone or just a general wound soaker to go to the front of the line.

Njal got access to any of the psychic abilities but has to pick what he wants to go. He knows all the Space Wolves but gets only gets 2 rolls otherwise from their other options in the psychic powers of the rules. The Tempest power is still based on who goes first so, it still isn’t all that. Still, IMO he is overpriced for what you get.

Blackmane lost his +1 Imitative on the charge, making people want to shy away even more.

Ulrik had no real special changes worth noting…

Canis got interesting in a few areas but still, nothing to write home about due to the high point cost.

Bjorn wow, bummer for him…able to be glanced to death, adds VPs and objective options that could penalize you. Pass!

Wolf Lord/Battle leader: This guy is going to have some combo of either pair of wolf claws and belt of Russ or Frost Blade or Power Claw with a Storm Shield now. Runic armor or Terminator armor is automatic now (depends on how you use him). The Battle Leader can access Saga of the Hunter to bolster his unit to outlflank if you want.

Rune Priests: Runic armor got more worthwhile now as it would bounce weapons that would normally kill him back in 5^th. I would be shocked to see a Space Wolf list not have one Rune Priest with the powers from the core rules before dabbling into the book. Short of Divination the most are meh compared to the melody of options in the Codex.

Wolf Priest: At least now his Oath of War applies to shooting, he could join a unit and they could take advantage of the Saga of the Hunter to flank as well as benefit from cover bonuses.

Elites:

Wolf Guard Pack: What was nice here is they were made “characters” now if they join other units via the “pack leader rule”. Sorry, no wound allocation tricks here boys and girls! What is interesting here is that the changes of AP to weapons could now make Terminators perhaps more viable in the game as they are less likely to get swissed by most power weapons.

Arjac: The most interesting thing if note is you have to accept a challenge, so if you die before you can swing your screwed and easy prey. Worth 170pts? I think not.

Dreadnought: Now that you can be glanced to death, best to setup shop in cover with a twin linked Autocannon. Maybe worth looking at venerable again eh?

Iron Priests can repair hull points now; still they are not that great. Still they have a few nice surprises such as a flamer than is defensive on a charge! D3 hits! I do see one argument pop up soon that will need to be FAQ’d…with pistols you can fire both pistols, so a IP has a bolt pistol, a plasma pistol (on the servo) and a flamer…I can see people try to argue to shoot all three, sadly the plasma shot is because of the servo but it is a hard call.

Wolf Scouts got the finger this time, now you cannot assault the turn you arrive. So, MSU scouts, blow up a vehicle and die like a wolf. My friend and I have been discussing and plan to test scouts in cover with sniper rifles. With BS4 and the new sniper rules this could be a new perk and outlet for the Wolf Scouts. Bear in mind you can even mix a unit with a melt gun to have the choice to outflank or infiltrate. If the situation sucks, don’t flank, setup shop in cover and earn your points another way.

Lone Wolf: They got a sweet deal now, as an character they can challenge and avoid having hits against them. Still, if you pick that fight with the Ork Nob as 29 other boyz look on you may have to face a ton of rerolls….granted if you are lucky enough you could tie up a unit a turn longer than before…challenge the first round, avoid the hits, then sit back in Terminator armor with a storm shield and chainfist and wait it out. Despite FNP going to a 5+ he can still make a save against anything as he can’t be instant killed.

Troops:

Grey Hunters: Still as reliable as ever…I suspect you will see more  plasma guns appear than flamer sin units. The banner also has more value when to dangerous/difficult terrain tests among the usual to hit, armor saves and to injure rolls. I can also see lots of MSU groups with Razorbacks with Las/Plas (as both can shoot now easier).

Blood Claws: Still not that useful but they could be effective with some right combos and a Land Raider or cover layering (by this I mean having stealth, psychic powers and using good cover)….plus Lukas can now challenge and try to get killed. Makes his high point cost not so bad now. Challenge a unit, kill the champion as a nasty character hides from him, then next turn challenge again, you either kill him or you could bubble him up with your last laugh rule…

Thunderwolf Calvary: The big change is the urge now to take plasma pistols in the unit to pop tanks with the +1 AP bonuses….worth the risk to overheat if you pop a transport and chomp down the goodies inside. Frost Blades or Powerfists for your single trade out later in the options. Same you could not gunslinger with these guys that would be funny!

Swiftclaws got a bit more useful, the 5+ jink and the 4+ cover save flat out is good, not as great as a 3+ but the jink balances it out. Still the BS 3 needs to be twin linked somehow to be useful, add a Wolf Priest on Bike with that Wolf Guard or keep a Divination Psyker on hand near them! Don’t forget your I10 on a single attack also before any swings are done due to Hammer of Wrath.

Skyclaws: Same boat but not as good as the Swiftclaws without the jink but still has the Hamemr of Wrath rules.

Speeders got a bit more useful with the jink option and now squadrons are reasonable again to consider using.

Fenrisian Wolf Packs: Add that TWC IC to the unit to ensure they benefit from the ATSKNF….

Long Fangs have not really changed that much except that Lascannons may be more worthwhile to take. Make sure to put the pack leader and a standard Wolf Guard if you need a few bodies to take up the first early hits.

Predators: No major changes, a cheap gun tank but not as good as a Long Fang Unit.

Whirlwind: No major changes.

Vindicator: With cover saves reduced a trio of these guys could be bad news, but at the expense of your Long Fangs at less than 2k point games.

Land Raiders (all types): Got a bit more popular, tougher and able to assault out of it as well as able to dump huge amounts of firepower. Only downside is high cost and eats into your Long Fangs (granted you can take them with Wolf Guard and have someone else steal their ride).

Drop Pods: Able to snap fire when they land…so you need 6’s but hey who cares! 

Necron Unit Review: Heavy Choices

Heavy Support

Doomsday Ark: Here you have a great concept that just flies off to almost useless to be honest. You can fire a 24”, STR 7, AP 4, Heavy 1, and Blast if you move at Combat Speed. If you are stationary a STR 9, AP1, Heavy 1, Large Blast up to 72”. Sure you can fire, but you’re a sitting target for that turn. Think about it Space Wolf Scouts and Ork Kommandos with Snikrot can auto hit you, many transports have assault ramps (Land Raiders/Ravens) or Open Topped (Orks/Dark Eldar) that can assault it in a single turn and wreck it, in 5th if you don't move your more likely to die. Even the IG has better ordnance than this! Oh, well back to the box for you!

Annihilation Barge: Armed with a Tesla Cannon and Tesla Destructor this little guy can wreck some havoc to a game but so you have a bunch of STR 6 and 7 shots good for light vehicle hunting and for 90 points not a bad deal.

Monolith: Easing down to 200 points, no longer can it shun melta and other bonus penetration rolls like it used to. Still, being able to ignore Shaken and Stunned results is a good thing. The weapons have been toned down some with each array only able to target a single target (but may fire at different targets) along with a Particle Whip and still use the Portal at the same time! The portal works pretty much as before except for unengaged models only, but the Exile option is just insane! Granted it is 6”, but if you get close enough you could such up several models at once with a good position making this a very ugly ability to use. Always use this option first (as it is shorter range) before using the other weapons systems. Anyone that is STR 3 only has a 50% of survival! Imagine if you get within range of 30 Orks! 15 goes pop like that! Even a full Marine squad can take about 3 losses on average.

Doom Scythe: Here is another GW famous, great idea and bad execution. Not Quantum Shielding for starters makes this an AV 11 glass flyer that is a bit pricey, the only saving grace is it isn't open topped. The death ray is amazing and perhaps there is still a chance for it. To me it would be a one hit wonder if anything. As anything STR 6 or higher can shoot it down (and they will). It lacks any special options unlike a Storm Raven that can go flat out and still shoot using the Machine Spirit rule. Interesting that the Necrons never figured out this ability!!!!

Canoptek Spyder: This guy is a deal for 50 points if you have a spot for him! Able to generate scarabs to add to the ranks of swarms (and with their boosts that makes them even more deadly), not only that but they can be made into a Techmarine of sorts able to fix vehicles on a 4+, nullify psychic powers (within limits on a 4+ like a rune blade) and they can have a particle beamer. A vehicle heavy list can benefit from the repair array and the ability to nullify psychic powers can be useful against “directed” psychic powers against your units.

Necron Wish Listings - What Went Wrong – What Went Right with the Codex:

What Went Wrong

GW should have maintained their standard for Quantum Shielding for the flyers. Sadly, they won’t get much table time because of this. Why put out AV 11, when you can put out AV 13! If GW FAQ’ed this as “we forgot it” they would be viable. If anything, they should have lowered the points on the Scythes to make them more appealing. Mainly the Night Scythe (transport one), 100pts is a bit stiff.

 Destroyer Lord being able to take a Phase Shifter! Something geared for close combat and no Inv option? What?

C’Tan could have used flight (or some movement option like Beasts or Fleet) to make them faster to move.

Deathmarks should be able to shoot at the unit they mark upon deep striking.

Flayed  Ones should have gone troops. Add Rending. Also, assaulting out of deep strike would have been nice.

Resurrection Orb should have been cheaper or given a radius like a Sanguinary Priest.

Spyders should have had some bonus to help “repair” other Necron Units using Resurrection Protocols, something like a +1 to the roll bonus for every Spyder. Up to a 2+.  Maybe limit it to one unit per turn they can nominate.

Gave the Doom Ark the option to move and fire the big gun. Should have been combat for the big shot and if it goes over 6” only the lesser shot can be done.

What would you have changed?

What Went Right

Character and Variety are not in the codex, army lists can be different instead of carbon copied and look like the next Necron Army.

Great looking model line! Everything new, even if it sucks on paper looks wonderful!

Named Characters, despite the fact I hate them the Necrons was due as only the two C’tan was all they had! It has given them some balance.

Able to build your own C’Tan option. It is great to have the Mr. Potato Head of C’tan now to build!

Tons of new wargear options and upgrades with several fresh unit ideas.

Necron Army Road Map: Trends Most Likely

Necron Army Road

Map

Here is how I see Necron Army builds will start to appear on the internet. So far here is what I see will be trends in favorites, occasional and very rare for armies.

Favorites: Will appear in tournaments and will be on early lists to try out. For the most part you can expect to see them in every list without much surprise.

Occasional: These will pop up in lists once in awhile, mainly for players trying to find out if they fit into any specific army build or for fun games.

Very Rare: Short of a fun game, these guys will not be making very many appearances. Only new players getting into Necrons that don’t understand the units will also be fielding these units. Unless someone finds a way to make them a useful tool for a specific list I doubt again they will get much table time until 6^th Edition makes us evaluate all units in every codex again to what is most viable.

HQ

Favorites: Imotekh the Stormlord, Trazyn the Infinite, Necron Overlord, Destroyer Lord, Crypteks

Occasional: Nemesor Zahndrekh, Orikan the Diviner,

Very Rare: Vargard Obyron, Illuminor Szeras, Anrakyr the Traveler, Necron Lord

Troops/Transports

Favorites: Immortals, Warriors (at least until people can phase out warriors for Immortals), Ghost Ark (if Warrior heavy)

Occasional: Catacomb Command Barge (If there is points IMO), Night Scythe (AV 11 with no Quant. Shields is why along with points)

Very Rare: None

Elites

Favorites: C’Tan Shard, Triarch Stalker

Occasional: Lychguards, Triarch Praetorians

Very Rare: Deathmarks, Flayed Ones

Fast Attack

Favorites: Canoptek Wraiths, Canoptek Scarabs

Occasional: Necron Destroyers (this could go to Favorites depending on play style of a player)

Very Rare: Tomb Blades (due to lack of models and better choices)

Heavy

Favorites: Canoptek Spyder, Monolith

Occasional: Doomsday Ark, Annihilation Barge

(The Doomsday Ark has to remain still to shoot the big gun, which is why it is here and is almost as expensive as the Monolith which is way better!)

(The Annihilation Barge is cheap but also lacks any major firepower to make it a viable vehicle)

Very Rare: Doom Scythe (due to lack of Quant. Shielding again)

Notes:

Changes in 6^th may change these trend predictions as I have commented earlier. Clearly there are weird things that don’t make sense in 5^th for the Necrons that may become clearer when the 6^th edition rules roll out.

Quickly the Necron army is going to fall into a standard build that is going to be common at tournaments like any other list. It will take a bit of time for players to figure out the perfect configurations. I give it a month or two and we will see very stable lists hitting the table making Zenos a favorite again away from the MEQ armies.

One quandary I can see is the Regeneration Protocols, even with Ghost Arks and Resurrection Orbs a MSU could stand to be wiped out before you roll. I feel this may be the fist codex to start pushing back away from MSU once that “perfect balance” of a unit size has been found. Back in 4^th, when I made my Word Bearers they was tough as a foot slogger unit due to unit size balance with points in ratio. I feel the same will happen here with the Necrons.

Necron Review: Troops and Transports

TROOPS

Necron Warriors: Now 13 points from 18 the Gauss Flayer is still a bolter in with a different name with the Gauss rule. Every Pen roll of a 6 causes a glancing hit.

Necron Immortals: Are now 17 points and stand up better with a 3+ save over the Necron Warrior and will be the popular choice. To boot you get a STR 5 AP 4 instead of a STR 4, AP 5 that a Gauss Flayer can do. Hands down the Gauss Blaster is the better choice when it comes to weapons. Telsa Carbines are not worth the upgrade unless you plan to assault…yea right!

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS

Catacomb Command Barge: This is one of those toys you will see in an army if there are points to spare. It has a nasty pair of surprises including the Sweep Attack that can open up a vehicle on a sweeping pass without danger to the Lord. If it blows up, who cares! He is in a transport! The Symbiotic Repair rule is nice as it can keep the vehicle in the game at the cost of wounds to the character. We all know that in 5^th that a transport can be the difference of losing a unit or not.

Ghost Ark: Expensive, but worth every point you spend on them. Everyone is going to scoff them due to high point cost but they are better armored (with Quantum Shielding AV 13), two Gauss Flayer Arrays, Living Metal Rule (able to ignore Stun and Shaken results) and can aid to repair d3 Necron Warriors on a 2+. So combined with the usual 5+ (or 4+ with res orb) you can keep your units from being wiped out. Your opponent is going to have to disable the vehicles first before he can move on to the troops. Expect Ghost Ark spam.

Night Scythe: A mix of your standard fighter that the Dark Eldar got with some troop transports. It lacks any real major firepower compared to the Doom Scythe. Without Quantum Shielding it isn’t worth it as for 15 points more you get the Ghost Ark with better options short of being able to carry 5 more Necron Warriors. The saving grace is that there is no open top issue and in essence you have a flying Rhino. With the trend of MSU who cares about large units? The Night Scythe will be a rare thing on the board IMO. Also, in the event the transport is wrecked, you have to enter from reserves for those that it was transporting...or if you have a Monolith around. Unlike other transports, it is just a teleport beam in essence that deploys them around the fighter. That extra 100 points can start adding up quickly for a transport.

Compare it against a Rhino, it has better weapons, faster and carries more men. Against a Chimera, it is faster, carries 3 more men and weapons on the Night Scythe are only a tad more powerful. Worth the price jump compared to a Chimera? I think not.

Necron Codex Review: Fast Attack

FAST ATTACK

Canoptek Wraiths: Wow, they did a great job with this unit despite some changes. They are now a jump unit with rending ignore difficult terrain and pass all dangerous terrain tests. So, you can deep strike into scenery without worry. Second, you can take some upgrades for them; the particle caster gives you a STR 6 pistol which is nice if you deep strike behind something with weak armor, granted the range is only 6”. The Transdimensional Beamer forces a STR check or they disappear from the table, this is nice against weaker races like Orks, Eldar, Dark Eldar and IG that can allow you to single out models in a unit such as champions, special weapons and heavy weapons. The Whip coils forces some models to go to Init 1 which can cause fits for a Grey Knight player that smirks knowing they are going to get to use their power weapons first. NOT! In theory you can even build this unit into a complex unit taking one of each upgrade to wound distribute.

Canoptek Scarabs: Oh, these guys will be the favorite! Fearless swarms that move as beasts and has Entropic Strike. These guys will draw much fire and leave a mech player cowering in cover. Swarm a few tanks and CHOMP!

Tomb Blades: A second wave model for the Necrons and simply they are jet bikes. IMO there is better options out there but they could still offer a nice chance of pace if you’re bored with the other Fast Attack Choices.

Necron Destroyers: Now your heavy destroyers and destroyers are one. You can build up a mixed unit and take all your earlier hits on whichever is the better deal. A few heavy gauss cannons are a great deal now that they are no longer fighting for a heavy choice. Also Preferred Enemy (everything) can be helpful against opponents in a pinch.

Necron Codex Review Part 2: Elites

Elites

Deathmarks: Aside from being the first rapid fire sniper, this unit has a lot of bells and whistles with no real substance. You can deep strike in on your opponents turn when one of their units deep strikes in. Still, you can’t shoot or do anything other than setup for your next turn. If they perhaps had the option to shoot, there is almost no purpose to this option. The Hunters from Hyperspace is about the only real ability of merit. You would on a 2+ to the selected unit and this benefit only works best if you take multiple choices. Great looking models, but the rules are a bit lacking. My attitude on this unit may change if the rumors are true about 6ths with changes to rapid fire rules. You can shoot twice at 24" if you don't move. If you move, you can fire twice up to 12" and once at 24".

Lychguards: They have a Warscythe base and 2 attacks they are little else better than a standard Immortal with a T and S of 5. They can be armed with hyperphase swords and dispersion shields, but is that a good trade for 5 points a model? To get a 4+ inv save and a power weapon instead of the warscythe leaves this unit lacking in umph.

Triarch Praetorians: Same price as the Lychguards (200) for 5 and you get the Rod of the Covenant. A STR 5, AP 2, 6” single shot assault weapon is all you get. While they take a loss of the extra attack they do become Jump Infantry. This can lead to some interesting options. Deep strike near a target, shoot their rear armor for example. For a free swap you can take the voidblades and particle casters getting a slightly stronger pistol but you trade your power weapon for an entropic rending sword. In a group this can be nasty in an assault, if you can get them there! These guys will merit further research as to their viability on the field.

Flayed One Pack: These guys should have been put into the Troops section. They have Deep Strike and Infiltrate, yet they lack Rending or Power weapons to make them a terror. Nor do they cause any Morale modifier for their appearance! Great looking models but with limited usefulness in the game.

Triarch Stalker: This bad boy weighs in a tad more than a Dreadnought for a marine but with more toys. Who could hate an AV 13 dreadnought? Not to mention one that can move through cover. It comes with a few weapon options as well. The melta/flamer is stock on it and IMO the best you could consider. The Particle Shredder just gives you a simple template and the Twin Linked Heavy Gauss Cannon just gives you a bit more range like a lascannon.

C’Tan Shard: Now you can have up to 3 in your army and will be by far the most popular choice. Several powers are expensive (they can cost between 10-50) and you must take two. One major complaint I could have is the lack of any option to modify their movement as a beast, fleet or wings to move faster. I feel GW missed some other great options that they could have expanded on.

Here is a break down of their powers:

Entropic Touch: Same as the base power and cheap. Figure this will be a popular choice for a second power.

Gaze of Death: Expensive as hell but if you get him into close combat and survive; you can at least earn a wound back. This power is nasty if your good at rolling a 5+ against marines or hordes. Again, the key to using this is to SURVIVE the attack. With 4 wounds, 4+ inv save and T7 one better hope for the best!

Grand Illusion: This should be a popular choice among many Necron Players. To take de units after scout moves and such are done and redeploy them within normal deployment rules! This includes putting units into or pulling them out of reserve. OUCH!

Lord of Fire: All flamer (and melta) weapons can blow up on their target. While this looks like a cool option (and is cheap) it again banks on the fact someone is using a flame weapon against you and you roll a 1 if they are fired near you. Not a bad secondary power for just “in case” if you need something cheap.

Moulder of Worlds: A large blast bolter is what you get. Not very impressive.

Pyreshards: Slightly more impressive with an Assault 8 bolter with a slightly shorter range.

Sentient Singularity: This would have been a great power if it had a distance greater than 6”, perhaps 12” as it can affect Deep Striking and Vehicle movement around it. Most people will just keep their vehicles away from you and shoot you; their deep striking units will just land away from you. Useless.

Swarm of the Spirit Dust: The concept of assault and defensive grenades is great, but with an I 4 not that great! You also get the Stealth USR; let’s see stealth on a MC? Sigh, ok….a bit expensive for what you get.

Time’s Arrow: A base to base Jaws of the Wolf power. So, hope your playing against a low Init army!

Transdimensional Thunderbolt: Perhaps the best shooting that a C’Tan can take, STR 9, AP 2 as an assault power.

Writhing Worldscape: Expensive but IMO will be VERY popular in many early games. All difficult terrain is dangerous. If scenery is already dangerous, you can get hurt on a 1 or 2. Not only that but any bikes going into scenery or a jump trooper landing in scenery can take some serious losses. Pay attention to that when you play! Get the most for your points.

Necron Codex Review: Part 1 Overview/Wargear/HQ

I just bought my copy of the Necron Codex this weekend and have had a little time to review the book. Here is my thoughts right out of the book with it fresh on my mind. Some of these opinions may be subject to change once I play a few a few games with the new units and try out a few lists.

First off, we will start with the Necron Special Rules for the army:

Reanimation Protocols: At the end of the phase, once Morale and everything else has been done is when you roll. On a 5+ they stand up, a 4+ if you have the Resurrection Orb (more on that later under wargear). It no longer matters if you were hit with a Railgun with a STR 10, AP1 shot or a STR 3, “-“lasgun from the lowly IG grunt now. Same goes for close combat, a power fist or a fist still allows a roll to reanimate. One major downside is if the unit is destroyed, you don’t roll to see if that unit reanimates.  In close combat this is going to be painful for a Necron as they are slower and less likely to survive with an average of 4+ armor saves. In a shooting game, they will do well enough recovering every third or every other (if you have the orb). One thing that is nice is that you may fall back, but if the unit reanimates enough models you could rally the next turn if you go above half.

Ever-Living: I am MUM-RA…er, sorry Thundercat moment there! This pretty much is the same as the Reanimation Protocols but just for independent characters to give them a chance to stand up.

Entropic Strike: This can be a nasty thing if a clever player figures out the right army build and rightly can put the fear into mech armies, ICs and Monstrous creatures. A group of Scarabs munching on some armor can be a very scary prospect and to find your IC or MC without armor save can be daunting to anyone.

Living Metal: This ability lost much of its punch from the old codex. It ignores Shaken on a 2+ and a Stun Result on a 4+. Meltas and other weapons now get their bonuses increasing their odds to breaking down armor now. More on that later!

Necron Wargear

Gauntlet of Fire: This is your basic flamer that you can give to the ICs in the army. Nothing special to write home about.

Gauss Weapons: Most average now 24”, ranged at 24” or 36” with the two Gauss Cannon and Heavy Gauss Cannon bringing AP 3 and 2 to the table. The heavy cannon are your lascannon for the army. The Gauss Flux arc has changed and now just targets one single unit within range.

Hyperphase Sword: Congrats the Necrons got a powersword!

Mindshackle Scarabs: These little guys are nasty as you can force someone to roll 3d6 against their leadership. If they fail, you make them attack their own unit instead inflicting d3 hits with whatever options that model has. After that round of combat, they return to normal. This is going to be a favorite among Necron players IMO.

Particle Weapons: A new face to the weapons selection, most are heavy weapons when it comes to shooting and shifts from the lowly pistol to a blast marker, then a large blast and finally the Ordnance (Monolith shot). Only the Particle Whip is AP 3 and these weapons are mostly mass template damaging weapons.

Phase Shifter: Your good ole 3+ invulnerable save is back.

Phylactery: Pretty much as before, the model gets up with d3 wounds. Personally it should have been reanimate with one wound and +d3 bonus wounds up to your max.

Quantum Shielding: All armor on Necron vehicles are 2 points higher until a penetrating hit happens. In essence all of the Necrons are AV 13 for the first half of the game until they take a few pens.

Resurrection Orb: Overpriced now IMO, go into that later. Only allows the Reanimation Protocol on a 4+ to the Lord and Unit only. It lost the radius ability which sucks.

Sempiternal Weave: 2+ save the Necron Runic armor.

Staff of Light: Standard Issue to Lords now. No real changes, STR 5, AP 3 with 3 shots at 12”.

Tachyon Arrow: One shot weapon on ICs, no range with a STR 10, AP 1 shot. Imagine the Necron Hunter Killer Missile.

Tesla Weapons: There are three new types of weapons here, the carbine, cannon and destructor. All have the same range and are assault weapon based gaining a shot each step until you get to the destructor. Every TO HIT roll of a 6 inflicts 2 additional hits. The Destructor has an Arc rule that can last out at other units nearby (friend and foe). Only on a 6, but be warned.

Tesseract Labyrinth: Same as the Grey Knights pick a target, make a wounds check or poof! You’re gone.

Transimensional Beamer: Short range, heavy weapon that can exile something to a pocket dimension.  A STR test is required to see if you get sucked away to never never land!

Voidblade:  A standard weapon that has rending and the Entropic Strike rule. Only allowed on a select few models and could be a viable change from their standard weapons.

Warscythes: You can’t make something that is already the best any better!

More on the other goodies later during unit reviews….

HQ

Imotekh the Stormlord: A very expensive character that can give some good benefits if your list is built around Imotekh. Bloodswarm nanoscarabs allow a unit of Flayed Ones to deep strike without scattering within 6” of a target. So, no benefit to charge so you could be assaulted and wiped out before you can do anything. Not too impressive. Staff of the Destroyer, a one use special weapon. Roll 2d6, that many models in each unit that is touched in a line take a STR 6, AP 1 hit. Pretty much a Jaws of the Wolf power with some ump to it. Humiliating Defeat, well if you win, you can win big, but you HAVE to win and based on his stats that is pretty tough against another IC! Hyperlogical Strategy, so I can steal the initiative on a 4+. Ok, that is a good thing. Lord of the Storm, his really good power. He can call first turn night fight and maintain it on a roll of a d6 each turn to try to maintain the night fighting rules. Also the storm can strike things with a STR 8, AP 5 lightning bolt, so if you’re good a rolling a 6’s…..this isn’t a shabby power. Still for the price there is better IMO. Where this guy would shine is Ard Boyz and Apocalypse games!

Nemesor Zahndrekh: Another expensive character, but with a bit more reality to his abilities. He can grant one Necron Unit one of several special rules and he can negate one enemy unit within line of sight to lose all their USRs on a list.  He also allows units that can deep strike in reserve to appear on the opponents turn. Now, this may not sound like much at first, but if they survive their arrival turn, they could take action next turn including, move, shoot and assault!

Vargard Obyron: This guy is pretty good if you’re using Nemesor. One major issue is this is both of your HQ choices and both can eat up some serious points in your list. The Cleaving Counterblow on him if he survives combat can be VERY ugly against a unit and the Ghostwalk Mantle can offer some unique tactical choices. While it works like a Veil of Shadows, he can leave combat, if he appears near Nemesor he does not scatter either and can assault into a combat if Nemesor is assaulted. Thus he will leave his unit to join the combat. Some nice fancy tricks, but still not worthwhile for the investment IMO.

Illuminor Szeras: There isn’t much here to talk about except that he can boost one unit using his Mechanical Augmentation ability. So, one unit can get one of the following: T, BS or STR of 5. This only can be applied to Immortals or Warriors.  Again, there are better options out there for your investment.

Orikan the Diviner: Not a bad character for your points, if a reserve is your plan that is. He allows once per game to reroll all unsuccessful reserve rolls. He also rolls randomly each turn, if you get equal to or less his stats pump up making him a nasty beast in close combat (almost a mini C’tan). His best perk is that during the first turn all enemy units count as moving through difficult terrain. If they are in difficult terrain they must move the lowest result instead! He could stand for further review to see how he works out.

Anrakyr the Traveler: This Necron Overlord has a nifty ability to take over an enemy vehicle within 18” on a 3+ and force it to shoot as it was your own. Sadly, you cannot chance the facing, but a clever player could turn the tables on a mech army turning their own armor against them! He also unlocks the Pyrrhian Eteranals, Immortals that have Furious Charge and Counter Attack. Not bad, but not that impressive either. Sure an extra attack or STR bump is nice, but they still Init 3 with Furious Charge. Yay! I strike before Tau, most Necrons and Orks! Whoo!

Trazyn the Infintate: This guy IMO will be the flavor of most Necron lists! In close combat he can force all models of the same type he kills in that combat to be subject of taking a wound also on a 4+! Fighting Orc Boyz? Kill a few and watch the rest fall like flies, that is if you survive being krumped first. Another great thing about him is that he can be a scoring unit as well. Last as long as there is another IC on the table, he can “Swap” out with him making him a very tough target to kill in missions that require you to destroy a specific HQ, namely the general.

Necron Overlord: This is you’re “build your own Necron Lord” in a nutshell. Most of his weapon swaps are not that great. To take the Gauntlet of Fire for a flamer you take a loss of a good AP 3 assault weapon. Trading up to the Hyperphase Sword and Voidblade are not worthwhile. A Warscythe could be of merit if you survive the combat.  Again, Necrons are kings of shooting, so why would you give up the staff? He can of course take other goodies from the Resurrection Orb, Phase Shifter, Phylactery, Mindschackle scarabs, Semtiternal Weave, Tesseract and the Tachyon Arrow. So you can toughen him up some.

Destroyer Lord: This guy is going to appear as another common fixture in a Necron army. Warscythe plus Preferred Enemy (everything) and you can give him a few toys. Sadly, no Phase Shifter otherwise you could boost him to a 2+/3+ beast with a T 6, S 5 with a Warscythe!

Necron Lord: Part of the Royal court and dropped in points from the old days his Wound also reflect it with a whopping 1! Still T and S 5 that is all he has going for him. He has a few upgrade options but with only one wound, I think he should go lean. The Cryptek’s is where you’re going to get your big perks. The Lord can be taken up to 5 times in the Court and opt to lead one of several units like Wolf Guard can.

Crypteks: The only other choice for the Royal Court and much like a Necron Lord, they can be allocated to join other units like an upgraded sergeant! Whoo! While a tad cheaper, you can pick at least one Harbinger option to kit out all the Crypteks in that unit. So, you have a unit that you can build up to support your army in the long term depending on your needs. They all must take the same Harbinger kit, so if you want a second, you have to work a second Court in via another HQ choice. Out of the Court Choices, this will be the one you will see the most of.