Dynamic Intriguing Necron Fleet

[lastspartacus]

Well, at least it gives a fluff answer for if necron use minefields for planetary defence   good idea.

As to launch limits, you could just disband the scarabs like normal.  I think I forgot to say that, editing now.

[lastspartacus]

Another thought for discussion:  Are cron escorts 'too damn fast'?

Was thinking 40cm would be the absolute max for them.  They just shoot past their intended target.  Also, while necrons have access to Inertialess Drive, when under 'normal movement' you would think they were not so insanely fast.

[Xyon]

so, why did you decide to standardize all the reactive hulls to 4+?  It also doesn't say that bracing reduces armor from 6+ to 4+, or if it does I missed it.   Any reasons for those changes? It would pretty much well nullify weapon batteries when shooting at necrons, leaving lances as the only reliable option.

[lastspartacus]

It does make Necrons tougher to batteries.  The 4+ saves were so that they would be roughly as well defended as shielded ships.
They do take a hit to armor, but only -1, so 5+ rather than 4+ armor.  However, if they attempt to repair criticals, thats also -1 to armor, so could still get down to 4+ armor.  I felt Necrons needed some more durability, as they are the most advanced race, yet their light cruisers and smaller had paltry defenses compared to similar sized ships of other races.  Also, its a well known fact that Necron ships, on average, are grossly overpriced for what they bring to the table.  The only reason I can assume is ability to focus the entirety of their firepower.

Right now what is ruminating in my head is the weapons loadout.  Gauss Whips are localized currently in the 'DINF'.  The intent was to have a bit more general firepower at the expense of less focusable firepower, to keep a necron ship from completely pwning another ship into the dust.

I did this because the key things necrons are known for is their durability.  Their firepower is potent, but I personally found all that focusable nastyness very Eldar-like, and I wanted the feel of the necrons to be different than their mortal enemies.

So my question is, is focusable firepower something people feel is 'right' for necrons?  Is the fleet missing something by lacking the ability to pour firepower onto one ship?  Is it missing something with the limitations on what gets a star pulse?

[lastspartacus]

I think ive decided to go back to the original 'moving particle whips', but only left and right.

One thing that has been bothering me is continued necron fragility.  Eve nwith 4+ saves universally, its very much decided on chance.
Shields are great, automatic damage soakers.  Necron defences feel too random.  These are supposed to be the most difficult to damage ships in the galaxy.  Yet, if a necron ship has bad dice, it goes down just like a shieldless ship, which is very easily.  Conversely, with perfect dice, you have an invincible ship against shooting.

Any creative ideas?

[lastspartacus]

Idea:  based on the fluff from the Necron World Engine.

Phase Shields.  A form of shield that also works against ordnance.  Some kind of tight barrier that forms a second skin around the vessel.
Alternatively, it could be described as the reactive hull being worn down from sure saves to rolling for saves.

[Sigoroth]

Oh I like this idea. Something like a healthy cruiser ignoring the first hit each turn, then saving on a 2+ until it takes a hit, then 3+ saves for a cruiser with 1 damage, then 4+ saves for a cruiser with 2 damage, etc, as the self repair and shielding systems become compromised. I wonder if it could be balanced and uncomplicated.

Maybe BFI could do something like have it count as if it were undamaged for save purposes.

[lastspartacus]

Balance shouldn't be too difficult.  I don't think people would object to necrons being the most difficult to damage/destroy ships in BFG, just like it is accepted that Eldar should be the hardest to hit.  Even if it means tweaking their damage output slightly.

Uncomplicated though...that will require a few more night's thought.  You know, on-the-clock thought

[Bryantroy2003]

While I love the idea of revisiting the Necron fleet and tweeking them some. I have some very very very nighmarish games to recall where in a 2000pt game I focused fire from every single ship, id lost none at this point yet, on the Tomb Ship and the damn thing saved all 12 hits it would have suffered if it had a 3+ instead of a 2+ or if it had a straight 4+ it would have been 37 hits. Yet instead it came out with 0. And the next turn the necron fleet proceded to gut 4 cruisers and detonate my BB without having to LO. The next turn I managed to finally inflict 2 wounds into the TS with the remainder of my firepower and my Torps managed to score a single hit against an escort but it braced and saved on the 4+. They disengaged right after this.

Thats just one of them. In the 6 times I have had the misfortune of playing against them I have only crippled a single Cruiser, and inflicted a total of 18 other unsaved hits spread across the TS LC and escorts. So durability definatly is not an issue they have. I bring an even mix of AC/Lances/WB's/Torps with my IN and I usually roll on the high end for total hits even without LO and still I am unable to inflict even a moderate amount of damage on this fleet list.

I have a near even record with pretty much every other fleet list out there. And though Eldar in all forms give me nothing but headaches if they make one mistake I can paste them. Necrons have no such weakness, some say Boarding but really, lets be honest. Anything that reaches them is going to be in piss poor shape and loose any boarding regardless of what you roll outside of Orks with Mega Armored nobs and a Warboss by the time you get that close. They zip across the board in the first turna nd the second lock on and obliterate at least 2 cruisers worth of ships without much issue.



I am not saying that this is the universal experiance, though it may come off that way. Just the only way ive seen it happen in our gamming group. The necron player actually stopped playing them because he didnt have much fun knowing he was going to win by a landslide every single fight. Just wanted to show that the "near invincible" version of the Necrons makes people hate them vehimitly and refuse to play them.

[RayB HA]

Hi Guys,

I've given the task of improving the Necron fleetlist and ruleset much thought over the years. Here's my two pence:

Firstly the number of special rules should be as limited as possible while still keeping the theme.

Special victory point rules should be dumped as they don't cover many scenarios victory conditions!

Leadership should be highier than normal, +1 Ld. (No idea why it wasn't from the first draft!)

Normal Critical chart! port, starboard and prow affecting lightning arcs in those arcs, dorsal being particle whips.

Living Metal: 4+ save versus ALL damage caused. Including boarding and damage caused by criticals, but not the critical effect.
BFI: a 4+ save as normal. In the end phase repair critical damage on 4+'s and hits lost on a 6+!

Lightning arcs: WB's that always count targets as closing but have to shoot the closest target!  LArcs's should always be LFR! (this will reduce the value of larcs while making them characterful).

Particle whips: Lance that passes through shields when it equals or beats the targets armour!

Starpulse generator: Range equals remaing hits in cm, otherwise same as normal.

Portals: not a weapon! Simply makes necron teleport attacks have range 30cm!

Campaigns: Refits and leadership increases explained as the ships slowly bringing their allready existing special systems online. Obviously having a unique refit table!

Ships speed: Tombship 25cm, Scythe 30cm, shroud and jackal 35cm, dirge 40cm.
AAF: normal!

Inertialess drive: CTNH may turn like ordy!

[RayB HA]

...continued.

No Nightmare Field or Sepulchre! This was ridiculous! If anything this should be a leadership bonus and that's it! Like an admiral!  

Disengaging: this should not be automatic! But should instead be automatic on CTNH! (Inertialess drive)

Tombship: Reduce Particle whips to str5 but increase range to 60cm.
Reaper(Scythe variant): current scythe stats, may have a sepulchre(admiral).
Scythes: Reduce particle whips to str 3! Increase larcs to str10!(LFR)
Shroud: 6hits! +2 Str to larcs. +1 turret. Stealth; wbs suffer right shift!
Jackal: +1turret, lose portal! +1 larc. (LFR)
Dirge: Larcs LFR.
  

[Browncoat(USA)]

I think I'm going to playtest this... Daddy likes.

[RCgothic]

An idea that's a mix of the certain absorption of normal shields and the always save of current necrons:


Forcefields – instead of void shields, which use warp technology to interdict weaponry at a distance , necron vessels use a sophisticated array of forcefield emitters to project an incredibly powerful skin-tight barrier around the vessel. This second skin is incredibly difficult to suppress entirely and still provides some protection long after other shields would have failed.

After the forcefield has absorbed hits equal to its starting damage capacity, the necron vessel receives a 4+ save against hits that would have struck the hull. For each successful save, place another blast marker in base contact to represent the hit being absorbed by the forcefield. When the number of blast markers in contact is double the shield capacity, this save is reduced to 6+.

When a necron vessel braces for impact, instead of receiving a 4+ save its shield capacity and repair dice are doubled. Forcefields also save against attacks from ordnance and ramming.

[RCgothic]

I'm really not keen on the idea of launch bay equivalents for Necrons, just doesn't feel very necron-y. However, that said I do very much like the idea of scarab swarms that stick around and cause havoc. Try this:

Scarabs: Scarabs are small, swarming insectile automata frequently found in necron tombs and starships. Equipped with gauss cutters for repair and maintenance, they can quickly make a mess of enemies.

A Scarab swarm functions as both an assault boat and a fighter with a movement range of 10cm. When a Scarab swarm executes a hit and run attack, do not remove it from play, as the scarabs latch on to the hapless vessel and will move with it, continuing to carve it up. In every subsequent ordnance phase the victim's turrets may fire again at the scarabs, and any surviving swarms will continue to attack. Scarab swarms are never removed from play unless they are destroyed.

Necron capital ships may launch one Scarab Swarm for every four starting hits. Instead of being replenished by a Reload Ordnance special order, each repair roll of a 6 may instead be used to replenish one swarm, to represent new scarabs being found and activated. Scarabs are not subject to fleet ordnance limits.

[Zelnik]

I like the idea of a newer, more fleshed out necron fleet, but I strongly suggest we wait until the next necron codex is released so we can observe their fluff updates.