Necron review, the Royal Court

When an Overlord taken as an HQ then he unlocks the option to take a Royal Court.  The Royal Court is made up of a combination of Lords and/or Crypteks. The Royal Court is counted as a HQ unit that doesn’t fill a force organization slot. It can be composed of 0-5 Lords and 0-5 Crypteks. These can all form one unit, or they can be split-up and placed in Warrior, Immortal, Deathmark or Lychgurad squads. Only one member of the court can be placed in a one of these squads (like Wolf Guard, Sanguinary Priests, Heamonculi Imperial Priests etc). This option in not available to a Destroyer Lord, since he is too much of a jerk and nobody likes to hang with him.

The Necron Lord can be an aspiring to become an Overlord, he could be one of any number of nobility turned into a kill-bot, or they can be part of some fancy entourage. Whatever they are, Lords are basically a generic Overlord. They have one wound and one less attack. They have all the silly Necron rules and the Everliving rule as well. They come armed with a staff of light and may swap that for: Hyperphase Sword (free), Gauntlet of Fire (+5), Voidblade (+10) or a Warscythe (+10). They can also purchase Sempiternal Weave (+15), Mindshackle Scarabs (+15), Tesseract labyrinth (+20), Resurrection Orb (+30), and a Phase Shifter (+45). Their basic cost is 65 points cheaper than a bare bones Overlord.

Not much to say about this guy. He can be given all manner of extras, but he is still a single wound model. Personally, I could not spend the points for any gear except a warscythe. Everything else is either useless or points better spent elsewhere. Give him a warscythe and attach him to a squad to give them the chance to do some damage in close combat, or to help if the squad has to fight a vehicle. I don’t see too much use for a Lord. I guess they could form a pseudo-Lychguard unit with five guys and all having warscythes. They could also be Marine killers with just five staves of light. They could be a walking Praetorian-ish squad. Yeah, these are a stretch but I’m thinking outside the box.

Crypteks are the mad scientists of the Necron race. They focus of a certain field of “science” and wield to have devastating effects. They use technology like other races uses psychic powers.  They are a Necron Warrior when it comes to stats. The only difference is they come armed with a staff of light. This does make him cost almost twice as much as the standard Necron Warrior, or ten points cheaper than a Royal Court Lord.

There are a few different technologies that Crypteks study; by choosing one they become a Harbinger of that school (class, group, what have you). Then they get a fancy techno staff that does something super cool! This also allows access to fancy weapons and gear (two extra things for each Harbinger class). There can be many of the same Harbinger, but they cannot all have the same gear. My thoughts are this color.

Harbinger of Despair

Abyssal Staff +5 points- a S 8 AP 1 flamer template weapon. Awesome….wait it wounds vs. the enemy leadership score. So it becomes a lot less awesome since most armies will be leadership 9.

Night Shroud +10- is used in the shooting phase instead of a firing a weapon. An enemy unit within 18” must instantly do a morale check. WOW a moral check! Well since these are pretty pointless, see above comment.

Veil of Darkness +30- is used in the movement phase to deep strike anywhere on the board. It is automatic, follows the deep strike rules and takes the Cryptek and any squad he is attached. It cannot be used if the Cryptek is in combat. A fun item, but is it really worth the added cost of a second Cryptek? I say no. Deep striking is great for movement, but for me it is too expensive for a one unit teleport.

Harbinger of Destruction

Eldritch Lance +10- is a staff that is fired with 36” S8 AP 2 assault 1 A very nice weapon and super popular with the interweb crowd.

Gaze of Flame +10- this gives the unit defensive grenades.  PFFFFFFFFT!  

Solar Pulse +20- is one use only. It can be used at the start of any turn. It will end night fight (and the silly rules) for that player turn, or cause night fight (and the silly rules) for that player turn. So, another popular item with the interweb crowd.  I think it is a waste of points for a one use item. Sure the enemy might not be able to shoot long range, but their mid-range can still hit you. Save the points for something else.

Harbinger of Eternity

Aeon Stave Free- this is a close combat weapon. A model that takes a wound from this staff will lower their BS, WS, initiative and attacks to 1 for the remainder of the game. They will also lose the Fleet special rule if they have it. A weapon for a Crytpek in close combat woweeees! Sure if that multi-wound model happens to take a wound from this he is kind of boned, but he has to take a wound from this. Good luck there! At least they don’t charge for this turd!

Chronometron +15- allows for a single re-roll each phase for a Cryptek or his attached unit. A great ability, but tied to the choice of the stinker that is the Aeon Stave.

Time Splitter Cloak +30- gives a 3++ save to the Cryptek. For those people who really really want to keep their single wound Cryptek alive. If you are that worried, just by a another Cryptek one instead of this item.

Harbinger of the Storm

Voltic Staff Free- a range weapon with 12” S5 AP – assault 4 haywire. Haywire is like the Dark Eldar grenades. A vehicle hit takes a glance on a roll of 2-5 and a penetrating hit on a 6. I don’t hate this weapon. It has a nice strength, high rate of fire, and can really fudge with a vehicle. The range and AP- are the big downers for me.

Lightning Field +10- when an enemy assaults the Crytek or unit they take D6 S8 AP5 hits before blows are struck. More useful than defensive grenades…..maybe not. The randomness bothers me too much. Can always quote Flash Gordon when using it though and that would be awesome!

Ether Crystal +10 when a unit deep strikes within 6” of the Cryptek or his unit, the they automatically suffers D6 S 8 AP 5 hits. If there are multiple Ether Crystals within 6”, then add 1 to the number of hits. Another random item and even more situational than the lightning field, a big pass unless all you play is Demon armies.

Harbinger of Transmogrification

Tremor Staff +5- is a ranged weapon with 36” S 4 AP- assault 1 blast quake. Quake makes any unit hit treat open ground as difficult terrain in the next movement phase. Here is another of the interweb favorites. People like to combine this with the C’Tan Shard terrain ability. I’ll pass as that is too much of an expensive gimmick. Seriously why waste points on the C’Tan and then this? Nice that Quake it works off the hit and not wound, but you still have to hit with a scatter chance blast.

Seismic Crucible +10- is used when an enemy unit (only 1) makes an assault move toward the Cryptek or his unit; they subtract D3 inches from their move. This lasts only during that assault phase. WOW, another item as useful as the lightning field and gaze of flame. If you can always stay 2 inches away from the enemy with the unit this is in, it is super. They’ll never get assaulted, unless there are two enemy units nearby.

Harp of Dissonance +25- is a ranged weapon with infinite range S6 AP- assault 1 entropic strike. Infinite range is awesome! The rest of it is kind of meh. There is a better way to get entropic strike (and a lot more of it too) in an army. Plus a weapon called a harp belongs in a poncy Eldar codex.

Wow quite the list huh? There are only a few choices I really like and would take, the Eldritch Lance. It is such an easy choice. Throw five Crypteks in a Ghost Ark with five lances and you there is a nice Necron Devastator squad. The Ark gives some safety and can be useful for any Warriors nearby. The Voltic Staff is more of a really want to try it choice for me, you know for that thing called fun. Having a group of five Crypteks with this weapon either alongside a squad or floating in a Ghost Ark. They can lay down an Imperial Guard Punisher Cannon worth of shots with a better BS.

I want to like the Abyssal flamer template staff, but I can’t. Wound vs. leadership is crap! If every army wasn’t leadership 9+ (or 8 if you’re lucky) then this could be a great weapon. Needing a 5+ to wound with a S8 weapon is just mind boggling stupid! Plus it does nothing to vehicles. It would be better as a S5 AP3 template and then it might see some use, but sadly it is not. The other staves are drek and I wouldn’t bother  taking any of them.The gear that is available to the Crypteks I would pass on as well. Unless you play in some area where any of that stuff is usefeu. For me it is just added extra cost, I would rather just take more guys or another Cryptek to join a squad.