[akaean]

For those of you who browse all the forums you may recall I made a similar thread over in the ork land, however recent conversations have shown that the idea of painting a green tide was horrifying to my brother, so he decided to collect Necron instead.

I told him to get a res orb Lord + the battle force, then a mono which should put him off to a nice start.

that way he could run res orb, 20 warriors, 7 scarabs with D fields, 3 destroyers, and a mono- which would run him around by my calculations 1005 points for approximately 180 dollars (including codex, and GW prices, so the total would be lower including easily obtainable discounts, etc).

From the outside Necrons don't seem to have much flex in terms of what they can put on the table (especially at lower points). But I figure I'd check with people who know whats what, to see if there is anything else in particular I should mention to him before he joins the undead legions?

 

[the_pariah7]

A Lord, battleforce and monolith should put him to a nice enough start. It will give him some flexibility for 1000pt games but there is little to none flexibility for 500pt games.

Necrons have many intricate special rules and it is important to know and understand them. The codex should be his companion nearly all the time for a couple of days.

I always recommend a solid core of warriors to boost the phase out count but from there, its up to your brother to get some games under his belt, gain experience and decide what works for him.

After the $180 worth of stuff, I'd recommend getting either more destroyers or some elites (immortals or flayed ones).

Just my contribution.

 

[Alzer]

Welcome to the Tomb akean!

Necrons are an anomaly among 40K armies in that they have very few options in list building. It is the table-side of the game, actually playing that all of their options become obvious. You have the ability to choose units and put a list together, however how those units stack together, and combine their abilities is what makes the army strong.

Tell your brother to memorize the codex. Necrons have so many old, wonky and just outright complicated rules that without committing to them, he's not going to be able to play as effectively (and will take all day looking up rules.) Another thing to inform him of, is the unit integrations. If two units look like they work together (Flayed Ones and Pariahs for instance) it is because they are supposed to be working together.

As Pariah said, that will be a good core for his army. When moving to 1250/1500 points, destroyers, and more warriors should be in the bank to consider. (another box of 12 warriors will give him enough to play 2K) Destroyers can be a bit of a kick in the pocket-book, however they are the main-stay of many necron forces (not ALL, but most).

Also, let him know to not be afraid of any one unit, when properly synergized with other units, every option in the codex is viable. Sometimes it's just hard to get the synergy to kick off (see also: Pariahs.)

 

[Dark Trainer]

You should try to locate a warrior phalanx (not to be confused with the dual monolith phalanx)! It has 6 destroyers, like 40 warriors, scarabs, lord, monolith, etc for $200 price tag (FAR MORE VALUE), plus you can usually find a 20% off vendor meaning $160!

Problem is GW has taken it down from their site (probably in preparation of the next codex sometime). However, I'm sure SOME VENDOR somewhere has it. Try ebay, try www.thewarstore.com, etc.

 

[Kelter Skelter]

The $160 warrior phalanx isn't around anywhere anymore.

You can still find them for something around $200 but, that defeats the purpose of getting it because it's no longer a great deal.

 

[Alzer]

No, it's still a great deal. The contents of the Warrior phalanx, en-total is $310 if you were to buy it all seperately. That's $110 that you AREN"T paying. The destroyers and warriors alone surpass $200. Definitely try and get your hands on a box if it is at all possible.

 

[Dark Trainer]

No, it's still a great deal. The contents of the Warrior phalanx, en-total is $310 if you were to buy it all seperately. That's $110 that you AREN"T paying. The destroyers and warriors alone surpass $200. Definitely try and get your hands on a box if it is at all possible.

Yeah, this is right. You get so much even at $200 flat fee. The Monolith $55 and the $120 in destroyers alone seals that deal. 6 destroyers is AWSOME for any army (best unit the Necrons have). I field 10 right now, working on 12...You get more warriors, more destroyers, Monolith, Lord, etc. Basically more of everything plus a Monolith which was NOT included. Just consider it is all.

 

[akaean]

So I talked to him on the phone just a second ago and he, understandably, is worried about such a large initial investment.

The warrior phalanx, while undoubtably a very cost effective meathod of obtaining a necron army, might very easily overwhelm him in the number of models to paint and assemble.

Further for roughly 100 dollars he could have a 750 point or so army (battleforce + lord) and he could decide whether or not he wants to further his investment. This is especially relevant becuase purchasing 2 battleforces seems to give everything the phalanx does with the exception of the lith. There is something to be said for easing into the hobby afterall.

However, if he does decide to go all out and get everything up front (phalanx) where is the best place to buy it? since gamesworkshop doesn't make it any more, the only place i've seen it is one person on ebay. the auction expires tonight, and I doubt he'll have decided by then. In any event I'm a bit apprehentious about my ability to find that box set post production, as I cannot find a windrider host set for my eldar after GW stopped making it either.

 

[visseking]

If in any doubt, buy some basic troops and paint them. If your brother don't find painting 12 warriors amusing, he wont be amused by painting even a single battleforce. That goes for about every army...

 

[Dark Trainer]

If in doubt, buy the codex...proxy some cardboard squares and decide...do you really want to paint 40 warriors all the same scheme.

If you like how they play, and don't mind the mind numbing initial painting of lots of warriors...then he'll do fine. If cost is the biggest issue (and he's not afraid to strip minis) you might look at buying someone 'elses' army on ebay and such. I see whole armies go dirt cheap sometimes. Although I'm always a bigger fan of getting the sprue and assembling them myself. You never know how they were assembled (mold lines cleared, etc).

After searching briefly for a phalanx...it does appear to be hard to find. The one on ebay is a STEAL at $150 right now...anything under $200 is dirt cheap. Even if you parted out some sprue later and sold them back on Ebay, you could net $35-$45 per 3 destroyers alone...$45+ for the monolith...if he decided not to continue, just sell it back...check old listings, you'd see the price would hold up parted out.

Good luck.

 

[akaean]

I'm not too worried about the prospect of painting a battleforce.
Most of the people I play with at local gaming clubs don't even paint their space marines,(let alone orks) and I am rather partial to the painting aspect of the hobby myself, so I'd be more than happy to help him paint warriors to just get it done

+ necron armies seem very aesthetically pleasing anyway. We'll see how it goes what I really want to do is play a 2v2 with him... even though Necrons and Eldar are unlikely to share a bed fluff wise... haha...

 

[JeremyKyle]

C'tan,Monoliths,Destroyers,Warriors,ResOrbLords,pretty much wraps necrons up.