Codex: Necromancers- Discussion

[Unseen Lurker]

Because the original Codex: Necromancers thread has grown so long, I've decided to split it up into two new threads. This thread is for discussing the Codex- post all questions, comments, queries and suggestions here.

[chaos munk]

I posted this on the old thread then saw you were making this new one. Anyway...


I've been reading throught the thread, I'm on about page 21 or something like that (wow this thing is long!) Anyway, I really liked the idea of the cauldron born, so I'm planning on making a unit. Basically, I'm going to use a normal tactical squad, add lots of battle damage to the armour, mainly holes from bolter impacts, and equip them with a variety of chainswords/knives/ork choppas. Also, you know those chains with the skulls on them in the chaos vehicle accessory sprue? anyway, I was planning on cutting those up and attaching the chains to their arms and legs. So, any suggestions? This army looks really cool, keep up the good work!

[Phalanx]

Yeah. We cut off the first one at around 20 or 21 pages or so, and the last one is now at 39... We've got about 60 pages total for this stuff! This is probably the most stuff done for a fandex ever on LO....

Also, I like the changes made to the shroud and the shield familiar. I'm glad they were approved.

[{I}ron {M}an]

it was me who suggested including other races weapons..and thats not what i meant...i meant that we should keep the stats for the lascannon, heavy bolter, plasma cannon...but change the wording so that it just says weapons that the undead used in life....for example a squad of undead orks would be weilding big shootas and zzap guns as opposed to heavy bolters and lascannons

[Unseen Lurker]

Explain a way to do it and I'll do it. Good to see that no-one seems to have had any problems with moving to this new topic.

Oh, and chaos munk? Good to see a new face, and those Cauldron Born sound pretty good.

Say Phalanx, what do you think of my idea to use the critters from The Suffering as an upgrade or two for Wights?

[Scuba T]

Can any of you guys think of a good GW model I could use as a feral Horde necrophage? Iron Man suggested I use an Ogre gorger, but they are relatively expensive I think.

By the way, I thought of an awesome undead beast model, if you're willing to have to pay a little. The ogre scraplauncher Rhinox would make an awesome model with a bit of modernizing and adding a bit of Undead looking bitz and pieces.

[Unseen Lurker]

Does anyone know where Spacmarine is? I don't recall him posting here for ages, I hope nothing's happened to him. Anyway, I was thinking that for the Wight upgrade, we could use the basic princile behind the creatures of The Suffering; they are the living (well, undead) incarnation of a particular form of execution. So basically, after buying the Execution-Kin (Spawn?) upgrade, the player then chooses which particular method of execution the unit represents- only one type of execution may be represented per unit naturally. All forms of Execution-Kin replace the Wight's default armament with something determined by the method- the Lethal Injectioners use syringes of poison, for example. The main problem is the powers to associate with each form of execution. I can only think of a couple:

Lethal Injection: the Wights become Toughness 5 and Initiative 6, their Strength becomes - and they gain a special shooting attack to represent throwing loaded syringes or spitting venom. Their Strength is now - because they gain the Toxic special rule; their Strength is always considered as being equal to their target's Toughness.

Fire: no stat changes here, but a batch of special rules:
Shroud of Flames- 6+ Inv save, replaces normal save
Speed of Wildfire- move 3D6" per turn instead of the normal- What is the normal anyway?
Spawn of the Flames- immune to Melta Weapons and Flamethrowers
Burning Trail- when the unit moves through a wood, forest or jungle they burn it to ash; remove it from the board and the area counts as open terrain

Electrocution: gain a special Shooting Attack in the form of tossing bolts of raw current (Gerowshow's Codex: Tech Federation has rules for electricity guns) and touch channels deadly voltage, so maybe stuns like a Thunder Hammer?

[Phalanx]

For the weapons thing, we could just do counts as.

As for the execution undead thing, that would work more for ghosts than for wights. Wights are heros, so they would usually die in battle. The alternative weapon obtions sounds good, though. Maybe something like this:

Wights are each powerful undead heros from around the galaxy, with some even retaining the weapons and equipment of their former selves. Each upgrade is for individual models in the squad, and no more than 2 members of the squad may be upgraded. You may not take a unit champion sergent thing. All hero upgrades give +1W. Also, only one pyromancer is allowed per army.

Warlord: REplace weapons with a Thunder Hammer and bolt pistol. Also, you gain +2 WS and +1 attack. +60 pts

Medic: Replace weapons with seringe and needles. You may ignore the first wound the squad takes each turn. As the weapons are poisoned, any model that takes an unsaved wound loses all of its wounds. + 45pts

Pyromancer: Replace weapons with pyro-flamer and power weapon. Pyro-flamer- Rng: 18", S5 ap 5 Special rules: Template. This weapons fires like and inferno cannon. The model also gains +2 BS. +55pts

So, how do these look? I couldn't think of a good way to make those rules really work for Wights, so I decided to try this.

[Unseen Lurker]

The Wight alt weapons looks good, but I'd rewrite it like so:

Wights are each powerful undead heroes from around the galaxy, with some even retaining the weapons and equipment of their former selves. Select a single model in the unit to receive the benefit of one of these equipment options; each unit of Wights may have up to 2 of these specialists. However, a unit with a specialist cannot have a unit champion. All of these upgrades give the selected model +1W. Also, only one Pyromancer is allowed per army. (Why is this?)

Warlord: Replace weapons with a Thunder Hammer and bolt pistol. Also, you gain +2 WS and +1 attack. +60 pts

Medic: Replace weapons with syringe and needles. You may ignore the first unsaved wound the squad takes each turn. As the serums in the Medic's kit are poisonous to the living, any model that takes an unsaved wound from an attack by a Medic dies automatically, regardless of remaining wounds. + 45pts

Pyromancer: Replace weapons with pyro-flamer and power weapon. Pyro-flamer- Rng: 18", S5 Ap 5 Special rules: Template. This weapons fires like an Inferno Cannon. The model also gains +2 BS. +55pts

I do think my Execution-Kin upgrade can be done; take a look at this and let me know what you think. I skipped doing Hanging creatures (more traps than creatures) and Drowning creatures (water features are too rare to make them worthwile).

Execution-Kin + 30 points: some Necromancers demand that the deluded souls who would be Wights earn their immortality by allowing themselves to be subjected to a ritualised execution, with the understanding that by undergoing this process they will not only arise from the dead but receive great powers. The points for this upgrade is added to the unit's total cost and you may only have 1 unit of Execution-Kin in the army. Choose one method of execution from the list below- note that all of the models in the unit must have the same execution method.

Decapitation: with their heads held to their bodies by means of vice-like contraptions, Decapitators delight in re-enacting the ritual of their creation- with their enemies on the receiving end! Sleek, deadly and malevolent, Decapitators combine the grace of a ballet dancer with the skill of a professional executioner- a most dire and disturbing combination. The Wights gain +1 Weaponskill, Strength and Attack. They count as being armed with Power Weapons.

Lethal Injection: adorned with syringes filled with a limitless supply of luminescent toxin, Injectors are normally thin, wasted and twitchy creatures, though this doesn’t seem to affect their considerable speed and dexterity, their faces usually contorted in agonized grimaces. Maybe they don’t like the mixture of toxins that fills their veins? Even if they don’t like it, the toxins and venoms in their system numbs their capacity to feel pain inflicted by external forces. Injectors increase their Toughness to 5 and their Initiative to 6. They are armed with Poisoned Syringes and gain the Toxic Special Rule.
Toxic: the Injectors always consider their Strength to be equal to their target’s Toughness.
Poisoned Syringes: the Injectors fling these envenomed needles like throwing daggers; Range 6�, Str: Toxic (see above), Ap 6, Move and Fire.

Fire: these Wights are considered quite conceited by their fellows, but truth be told it requires considerable bravery (or desperation) to willing allow oneself to be engulfed by flames for the promise of eternal life. Quite often, these Wights can actually disguise themselves and project an illusion of normality- of being nothing more than living creatures. However, this illusion is dispelled as one gets closer, coming into range to smell the stench of charred meat and ash. But once a victim gets that close it is usually too late: the Wights shed their disguises and, engulfed in eternal flames, leap with blinding speed towards their doomed prey. Burning Wights gain the following special rules and count as being armed with Power Weapons:
Shroud of Flames- Burning Wights are engulfed in searing flames that, whilst causing no damage to their undead flesh, sear and char anything that gets too near. Burning Wights have a 6+ Inv save instead of the normal save.
Speed of Wildfire- fuelled with the very fires of the Warp, Burning Wights move at blistering (literally!) speeds. Burning Wights move 3D6" per turn instead of the normal amount.
Spawn of the Flames- created as they are from the flames, Burning Wights are immune to Melta Weapons and Flamethrowers
Burning Trail- wherever a Burning Wight goes, it leaves behind a trail of raging flames and searing heat. This burns wood and similar combustibles to ash and reduces barriers to cinders scattering on the wind. When a unit of Burning Wights finishes moving through a wood, forest or jungle they burn it to ash; remove it from the board and the area where it was counts as open terrain from that turn onwards.

Electrocution: Electrocutes are a rare breed of Wight, but one that excels in paralysing the enemy and disabling their mechanical support. Electrocutes often have charred or blackened areas of skin, and many constantly spasm and twitch from the raw current coursing through their bodies. As well as cutting the foe down with blasts of current from a distance, any being foolish enough to close hand-to-hand with an Electrocute is in for a ‘shocking’ experience. Electrocutes are armed with Current Blast, Shocking Touch and Electrical Aura.
Current Blast: this powerful bolt of electrical force is quite capable of scrambling or short-circuiting the electrical components of power armour, bionics and machines- as well as the nervous system of living beings. Range 12�, Str 5, Ap 4, roll a D6 for a model wounded by this attack; on a 6 the model is stunned and cannot attack during the next Assault Phase. Vehicles struck by this attack must re-roll Glancing Hits.
Shocking Touch: when the time comes to go toe-to-toe with an enemy, the ability to scramble their minds and fry their innards with a touch comes in handy. Electrocutes count as being armed with a Power Weapon, a model wounded but not killed by the Shocking Touch must pass a Toughness test or be reduced to Initiative 1 for the rest of the next turn.
Electrical Aura: the powerful field of electrical energy that surrounds them means Electrocutes have a 5+ Invulnerable Save against shooting attacks, in addition they are immune to the Necron Lightning Field item.

Firing Squad: for countless ages, Necromancers disbelieved that Execution-Kin could arise from so simple a death as being gunned down. But that opinion has changed. These Wights, simply referred to as Barrages, bear numerous projectiles welded into their very flesh. As well as discharging an incredible amount of ranged death, a Barrage can prove equally potent in the melee. If slain, a Barrage erupts in a final shower of metal fragments and raw energy, a self-executed military salute that often ensures its enemy’s join it in its eternal rest. A unit of Barrages is armed with Close Combat Weapons and Barrage Artillery; it also has the Self-Destruct special rule.
Barrage Artillery: this is simple a loose classification for a staggering amount of guns that seem to grow from a Barrage’s undead flesh. Range 24�, Str 6, Ap 4, Move or Fire.
Self-Destruct: when slain, a Barrage’s internal supply of ammunition is detonated all at once in a last-ditch attempt to destroy its enemies. When a Barrage is slain, place the small circular template so that it is centered on the slain model. All non-Barrage models under the template are affected automatically; all non-Barrage models partially under the template are affected on a 4+. Affected models take a S7 Ap3 hit.

Live Burial: to buried alive is considered by even the Necromancers to be a truly horrific fate. To simply lie there in the darkness, the loose soil tearing at your sanity by hinting at the possibility for escape while truthfully holding you prisoner, unable to do anything but scream as your air runs out… it is small wonder that Necromancers who command Burrowers are truly feared, or that Burrowers are generally considered crazed even by the low standards of Wights, for all too many of them leave their sanity behind in the cold dark earth with their mortality. Wrapped in leather or cloth bindings and still draped in the barbed chains that held them fast in their tomb, Burrowers are all too eager to initiate the living into the true horrors that death can hold. Burrowers are armed with Barbed Chains and have the Earthmeld and Deep Strike Special Rules.
Barbed Chains: Burrowers use the cruelly barbed chains wrapped around their bodies to attack their foes, lashing out with them and cruelly ripping and tearing at the flesh. Barbed Chains have the Rending rule and a model armed with Barbed Chains can make its full attacks against a model 2� away.
Earthmeld: Burrowers have the unique ability to sink back into the soil from which they came and arise elsewhere. During the Shooting Phase, Burrowers may opt to forfeit moving to instead move to another position up to 6� away, ignoring all terrain special rules between their present and desired destinations.

:DIT::
Whoever it was who asked for a Necrophage model, if you have a supply of 40K bitz, then the Blood Dragon Vampire (for martial lord) or Strigoi Vampire (for feral beast) could be converted.

[Scuba T]

thank you for that. I'll go look at the stuff my local store has. Just so you guys know, I've gotten through the basic intros in the fluff story, and I am currently working on the body of the story.

Here's the intro.

“Lord Khalgar, the Imperial Guard are dead,� reported Angelos through the vox-com. “They were killed by a race known as “the Tau�. Do you wish for us to continue?�
“Yes young one. These “Tau� seem to be a strong race, to kill a detachment of Imperial Guard so quickly. They will provide us a good stock. We will descend when it is night on your position. Hold your position, and create some guards. We don’t want these Tau to ruin the celebrations.�
“Yes, my Lord.�

“Vau’N, prepare for battle. They are preparing for another attack!�
As Vau’N pulled out his pulse rifle, he could see the dead Gue’la standing up again. He braced himself as he felt the dull thump of the Hammerhead’s railgun, and watched as the great pulse smashed 20 of the foul things into the air.
He began to take aim and fire his rifle, hoping that he was doing his service to the Greater Good…
It all began after he and his squad had been sent out into the outskirts, a search team to discover what had happened to a research center out in the forest that High Command had lost contact with. It was a standard mission, until the first discovery. They were attacked by a pack of flayed dogs that tore apart a member of the squad and pursued them to the station, where they were able to mount a solid defense and kill them all.
However, not long after, they came under siege by the Gue’la known as the Imperial Guard. However, they were different. Stronger. More difficult to kill. And Tau were in the ranks of these Gue’la. They were no longer Gue’la, but Gue’la’tor’a, those who walk in death. Soon the station was completely overrun by these foul creatures, and one by one, Vau’N’s squad was killed. He managed to destroy the Gue’la’tor’a by setting the self-destruct sequence on the building, but not before he radioed in and discovered the same was happening in the city. Quickly, he made his way back to the city to help the defense.

I'd like some comments on what I need to do. I dont want to post this and delete it only to find out that you don't like it. I'd like to know how you would write it.