Ok, finally managed to get the recalcitrant locals to the table for a playtest of the new Necron list.  This was much more about test and tune so it ended up that there was a lot more chin wagging than dice rolling.  Necron proxies not all complete either  

Orks have setup settlements on an old abandoned Imperial planet.  They soon work out why it was "abandoned" as the Necron assault begins.  The boys get together for a good kickin' !

Setup and the first thing you should notice is the horde-like nature of the Necrons.....



Turn 1

Madboys decide they like it where dey iz and sit.  A pair of Monoliths teleport in on either flank disgording their cargo of Necron Warriors.  The mighty Pylon materialises in the centre of the Necron line.  The Necrons also attempt to seize their left flank with a detachment of destroyers leap-frogging the Monolith there.  

Nightbringer and the Tomb Stalker remain stationary, scanning for targets.



Amost the entire Ork line surges forward and Buggies from the Kult of Speed catch some advancing Destroyers.



The Great Gargant finds a comfortable spot and settles down for some shooting action while Shokk Attacks secure the village.



Fire from both sides is largely ineffective.  The Great Gargant misses the Tomb Stalker and the Pylon saves the Mega-Cannon klanger shot.  In return the massive Necron construct kills a Gobsmasha  

Heavy Destroyers prove more effective, utilising cover and making pop-up attacks they destroy 2 Brain Crushers and a Giblet Grinder.  In the hand to hand combat arena the Ork speedsters smash up the 3 Destroyers but lose 2 of their number in turn.

Advance fire is entertaining if only to watch 3 of 6 Fighta-Bombers explode in mid-air from missfires (well, I guess it wasn't that much fun for the Ork player).  The third Brain Crusher dies and 3 Necron Warrior stands are shot, but in the end phase one regenerates.

Orks 20 - Necrons 0

Turn 2

The Necrons are worried the Orks will steamroller them and decide to try and deny objectives to the Orks.  The final two Monoliths teleport in and unload their cargos...one in the centre and one reinforcing the left flank.  The Destroyers there continue to advance.



However, the majority of the Necron force hunkers down.  The Orks continue to surge forward with the Kult of Speed again in the van, engaging Necron Warriors wherever possible.



The Necrons seem to have decided to concentrate on 3 main targets:  The Madboys challenging the left flank, the Boys charging up the centre and threatening to take another vital location, and the Great Gargant.  However, on the right the Necrons their are mearely fighting to survive and have no overarching objectives.

The Necron big guns achieve little.  The Pylons achieved 2 clean misses, the Skull Hammer shrugged off Nightbringers attack, and a second Skullhammer shattered the Tomb Stalkers' primary weapon rendering it ineffective.  In the violent melee on the right the Necrons gun down a number of advancing buggies but 3 Warrior stands and the Monolith are smashed to pieces in return for 3 Buggies.  

The mighty Great Gargant had begun with a full complement of 12 fields and despite the firpower thrown at it still had 6 of them remaining.  However things went better for the Necrons on the left as they slaughtered the Madboys to a man.  In the centre the Lord and his Monolith did just enought to contest the objective there.

Orks 20 - Necrons 0

And that's as far as we got.  The Necrons had gotten within 2 stands of breaking the Kult for 10 VPs, but they were a long way from getting anything else.  I'd say you'll be going to turn 4 for a Necron win...except maybe if you're playing Titan Legions or they bring an Imperator  .  Orks will be a particularly tough game for them I think.  We did get a lot out of the game though.  Here's the ideas we came up with in game:

- Warriors should be very close to Tac Marines...so CAF will go to 2.
- People didn't like the LoS, auto-hit power for Night Bringer.  Decided to make it hit on a 2+.  Might drop his points a little(?)
- Deep Strike on the Monoliths and Pylon changed to Teleport
- Pylon should count as a superheavy
- Monoliths - no pop-ups
- Destroyers - major change.  Armour drops to 5+, CAF goes to 3 or maybe 4, ranged drops to single 50cm shot, 5+ -1.  So much more "fast attack" ish.

I think that's about it.  Hopefully we'll play a game with the Necrons out to a conclusion soon.

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Fire bad, tree pretty - Buffy

Yay for Battle Reports. Thanks for posting. Short but bloody... Nice! Those Necrons had a hard time of it.

- Warriors should be very close to Tac Marines...so CAF will go to 2.

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

One of the reasons we got little game done was there were three of us, and it was useful to have a current (semi-current?) 40K player.  He noted that Necron Warriors are basically identical to TAC marines in 40K so a CAF of 2 is justified.  We also noted that the Necron "regen" doesn't work in CC so beefing them up a little in that regard is probably warranted.

Monolith remains a skimmer, just can't pop-up as that doesn't really reflect how they work.

Destroyer I'm am leaning hard toward CAF 4.  I think it important from a game perspective to make them more useful as a fast attack and less as a mid-range pop-up shooter.  Remember also that this is a company of only 9 + Lord so the CAF 4 just gives them that bit extra stay.  I note Guild Bikes and Trikes, Snakebite Boarboys and Marine Attack Bike Veterans all have CAF 4 so there's plenty of precedent.  

Destroyers and Hvy Destroyers are both plastic 40K Scarabs with Epic dude torsos stuck on.  For Destroyers I've used Mk2 Ork Boyz and for Heavies Mk3 Guardians with a few tweaks.  Destroyer Lords so far have been either modified Nobz or old Guardian Heavies.  I'll see if I can take some close-ups after they've been fully painted.

Next battle should be same time next week.

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Fire bad, tree pretty - Buffy

Next week, great. Will it be reported?!

Those Destroyers look the biz. Really good work Zap. I actually wondered if they were original (Urban Legend)or if the O'man had cast some for you. Oh, great, there goes the price of Necron Scarabs, up again!

In 40K with the exception of Tomb Spiders and Scarabs EVERY Necron construct has a BS + WS of 4+ is GW trying to make a list look cool?
Ok, the way I see it I would prefer the Warriors to remain at +1 Caf but with a better ranged attack due to their Gauss weapons. Perhaps a -1TSM OR a 4+ to hit. However if you want a +2Caf WITHOUT later trying to increase their ranged attack then I guess I can live with it. They do have axe like protuberances on their guns after all. Hey, I had remembered about non-regen in CC, honest.  

The Destroyers... I've had a look and scarabs are expensive as you have to to get them off eBay or buy a box of warriors for only 12 of the little buggers. So I imagine they are quite hard to come by cheaply which keeps the amount you can represent very small. So again I can live with it. I would have preferred to up the Destroyer unit size to 5 not 3 (impractical) but since there is little chance of that happening then a 4+ Caf is not so unreasonable.

Monolith remains a skimmer, just can't pop-up as that doesn't really reflect how they work.

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

Apart from it's always nice to read a battle report and good to see testing going on...

...how about the Alfakta Campaign?  

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It would be nice to get lightspeed,
so far we can only reach slight speed.- Erik M
092b85658e746a91d343e53509d357744e56f641

Yup, I'll definitely throw up a report.  Looks like it will be against Tyranids so should be bloody!  I'm guessing the Tyranids will probably kick toaster butt, however the upside for the Necrons is all those small detachments giving up VPs so it will be interesting.

Necron Warriors have a Gauss weapon, and all weapons with Gauss in the title give an extra -1 against vehicles and larger, so the Warriors are effective at shooting too.

As well as scarcity, the design goal was to keep detachments and therefore companies relatively small.  A large company in conjunction with Living Metal might prove "unbreakable".  So infantry come in 6 and walkers+ 1 or 3.  Personally I'd like to up the Destroyers to detachments of 5 but it doesn't really reflect the above.  Indeed, we'd probably have to make them 6 which then gives a 10 break, which sort of becomes 13 (ish).  It would also be a bugger to try scrounging up some more Scarabs though  

I like the "Always on First Fire" rule.  At the moment the Monolith has a 25cm, 4 dice weapon, but no PD(X).  As they have to be on Advance to Teleport in they are particularly vulnerable when they first arrive.  Upside is you can surround them with troops.  I had thought about changing the close range weapon to PD(6), but always on first fire would do a similar job.  We currently have the points down at 150 (low CAF, dubious benefit of Teleport etc).  Would such a rule affect the points?

We did wonder if there was some way to provide extra bonus VPs to the Necrons similar to the Dark Eldar "capture the slaves" rules, but couldn't come up with anything at the time.  Otherwise I think it will be a bit hard for Necrons to win...but playtesting will tell all.

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Fire bad, tree pretty - Buffy

Damn, I've already spotted some scarabs on eBay I want to buy and I have some bits and pieces to make the rest. This is your fault, bloody Necrons.

Monoliths. How many do you get for 150points? Tzeentch Towers are 350 while Squats also have a Always First Fire rule for the Zeps but I can't remember the cost and it's too late to look it up (lazy!) Always fire on first fire and have a maximum move (not double for charge) usually they are slow so that limits/detracts from the ability so limits the cost increase if any. What do you think for cost?

A three unit squad is rubbish it'll never work.    Try a five unit squad next time and see how you go. Perhaps squads only, no companies? Damn! I want to own some Destroyers... If I get any scarabs will I get in touch if I have spares?

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

I'll leave it at 3 I think.  They have the option of a mixed Flayed Ones/Wraith Assault Company if you want a larger number of models.  The advantage too is with 10 stands only the Destroyers are a nice cheap company option.  I'll try it as is and see how it goes, and will see if I can perhaps think up a Wraith proxy/model between now and Tuesday so I can try that company as well.

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Fire bad, tree pretty - Buffy

Took a look at the Monolith (assuming you are using Yahoo Group v5 list) I would only increase it's cost from 275 to 300 points and max it's movement to it's basic of 20cm.

Not a very extensive list for the poor Necron. I'm sure I have seen in earlier lists Knight class units (Not C'tan) and I know there is mention of an Abattoir or something...

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

I wanted to keep things strictly cannon, so I didn't copy any of the E:A constructs.

The list has changed quite a bit since that version...I should take it down.

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Fire bad, tree pretty - Buffy

When you say ' should take it down.' I hope you mean 're-post with updated list for my good pal Warhead...' that is what you meant...    

Well that's me bidding for Necron scarabs now so I hope you are pleased with yourself...  

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

Hi!

Zap, I would like pictures of your Necron stuff for the gold books if you can provide them.

Primarch

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Primarch


The Primarchload
Magnetized Titans Tutorial
Net Epic Gold
Heresy Rules

That's me now won twenty new Necron Scarabs from eBay... and it's all your fault. Nothing to do with me, oh no sir, not this time.    Oh, and my wife would like a word...  

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

@ Warhead - Yes, once it's closer I'll put up a new one.  I have learned my lesson however and will make sure it's a locked PDF.  Say hi to the wife, she can drop by next time she's in town if she wants to bend an ear  

@ Primarch - Happy to, but I think we have a pretty good selection of potential donors for the Necron pictures.  Did you get all the pictures from Gary Clarke for the rest of the Slann book?  I think they'll be the harder ones, particularly Exodus and Dracon.  Bans did some great art for the book too.  After this weeks test and tune I'll package up all the latest (last?) version of the 5.0-5.1 files and send them.  I can put together photos to support the Slann/Necron book too (and far too many of the others too if necessary    ).

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Fire bad, tree pretty - Buffy

Oh, Warhead, don't worry about one more project.  I just went through my "pending" pile to decide whether to finish scratching/building and painting up the Exodite, Dark Eldar, or SoB army, or just finish off the Necrons.  Necrons won hands down....but the Exodites will be soon after.  If EW hurry up and release their mounted Bounty hunters it would save me some conversion time and I could get them done sooner too!  

I quite liked your use of IG Assault troops as Seraphim, but I think I'll wait a little longer to see if Tom gets a restock of the Guild Assault girlies.....I think I have everything else I need for the rest of the army put away....oh except for some Repentia now.

Of course, I still have Tyranid, PDF, Marine and my new style Eldar armies to paint on top of the exotics, and I do keep tossing up the idea of a Dracon army.....

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Fire bad, tree pretty - Buffy