Necrons 1500 - Looking For Advice

[Learn2Eel]

Well, got my Chaos, Grey Knights and co all done and settled.
Now I'm looking at my Necrons.

Ok, the idea I've had is to buy the models to make two 1500 point army lists - one designed for semi-competitive/themed/fun play against friends at a LGS, and one designed for competitive play against skilled opponents/tournament players.
I've come up with two army lists already, and I was hoping for some feedback and possible suggestions for each army list.

So first off, I love the new Necrons. I almost started them when they were re-released - I bought an Immortals box soon after the codex was released, but I put them on the back-burner to complete my Dark Eldar and, more recently, my Grey Knights. However, I would like to re-visit them as I enjoy reading their background and they are a fun and powerful army to use. My favourite character is Vargard Obyron, and to a lesser extent Nemesor Zahndrekh. As such, I would like to work both of them in (or at least Obyron) into the "fun" list. I love the look of the Night Scythes, and thought they were awesome models when I first saw them - I would like to use at least two at all times, but I don't want to come off as a WAAC type of gamer to my friends. As for Warriors VS Immortals - I personally prefer Immortals in both look and rules. I love their 'barges' and 'arks' as well - Necron vehicles are a breath of fresh air from what I own now, they are unique, sleek and very nice to look at.

I am also a big fan of Necrons because of the obvious Egyptian theme, and as such they will eventually make great allies for my Thousand Sons and Tzeentch Daemons. Anyway, now that all that stuff is out of the way, on to business;

The 'Fun' List;

1500

HQ
Nemesor Zahndrekh (Warlord) - 185
Vargard Obyron - 160

Cryptek w/ voltaic staff - 25
Cryptek w/ voltaic staff - 25
Cryptek w/ aeonstave, chronometron - 40

Troops
Immortals (10) w/ gauss - 170
Immortals (10) w/ gauss - 170
Immortals (5) w/ gauss, night scythe - 185
Immortals (5) w/ gauss, night scythe - 185

Heavy Support
Annihilation Barge w/ tesla cannon - 90
Annihilation Barge w/ tesla cannon - 90
Doom Scythe - 175

1500 on the dot now.

The 'Competitive' List;

1500

HQ
Necron Overlord w/ warscythe, mindshackle scarabs, catacomb command barge - 195
Necron Overlord w/ warscythe, mindshackle scarabs, catacomb command barge - 195

Cryptek w/ voltaic staff - 25
Cryptek w/ voltaic staff - 25
Cryptek w/ voltaic staff - 25
Cryptek w/ voltaic staff - 25

Troops
Immortals (5) w/ gauss, night scythe - 185
Immortals (5) w/ gauss, night scythe - 185
Immortals (5) w/ gauss, night scythe - 185
Immortals (5) w/ gauss, night scythe - 185

Heavy Support
Annihilation Barge w/ tesla cannon - 90
Annihilation Barge w/ tesla cannon - 90
Annihilation Barge w/ tesla cannon - 90

I'm guessing the first question about this is - why four crypteks? Each Cryptek joins an Immortal unit; I worked out that, on average, a 5-strong Immortal unit with an attached Cryptek will take 4 hull points off of a vehicle at 12" range. Given that they can disembark from a Night Scythe and shoot at full BS at 24".....yeah. So essentially, there are four 110 point units that are almost assured to destroy any vehicle they shoot at, and there are four cheap flyers that bring the pain to light vehicles and non-vehicle units. I didn't want to go too far down the 'air force' route though, so I keep five barges on the ground.

Some alternatives I've been looking at but usually prefer the options I want to take listed above - 10-strong Warrior squads in Ghost Arks, 5 Wraiths w/ ? whip coils, 5 Tomb Blades w/ shadowlooms, Doomsday Ark, etc.
As above though, I tend to prefer Immortals over Warriors, I find that Wraiths don't fit too well with the rest of my army, Tomb Blades are cool but I'm not sure how to use them/upgrade them, the Doomsday Ark is a big and obvious expensive target, etc. I really like Destroyers as well.

As it stands, I only own two Necron models in addition to the codex - Obyron and a Monolith (I got the Monolith for free so I don't feel 'inclined' to use it). As such, I'm very open to all suggestions as to what you think will make two good Necron armies that I can typically inter-change - one more competitive, the other more for local play. Cheers!

[jgebi]

really I would take the monolith because of it's fire power so it could break a spear tip and also it can be used to bring up your units not to mention the 14 on all sides and a particle whip all for 200 pionts, and on the side of immorts V.S. Warriors well the warriors have their place e.g. soaking up fire from tau and also slaying waves of orks as they can have bigger squads. Why do you have to over lords O.o makes no sence as one would do and you could use the other pionts for a squad of lychguard

[Learn2Eel]

Thanks for the tips!

I have thought about my Heavy Support; having 3 annihilation barges feels kind of "spammy", and a friend of mine who plays Necrons told me that the sweet-spot with them is two usually. However, whilst the Monolith is great, I think if I did switch out the third Annihilation Barge I would rather go for a Doomsday Ark or a Doom Scythe - the former because of the awesome model, the latter because it is more resilient against non-skyfire units usually.
Also, the heavy price tag makes me really afraid of losing it to a single shot - AV14 is great, but there are just too many ways to destroy it quickly. As such, I tend to prefer cheaper, smaller vehicles that aren't obvious targets for my opponent.

I don't mind Warriors but I find that the extra points per-model spent is worth it usually, though it does depend on the army list. 3+ armour means you aren't heavy flamer bait, and the higher strength and AP on the weapons makes you much more threatening when shooting at non-vehicle units - they can also hurt Wraithlords, rejoice! Lol. Not that I think Warriors are worse, but I like Immortals more and I'd rather stick to one than have both.

[Learn2Eel]

Lulz combo time;

Step 1: Get Nemesor Zahndrekh and a Doom Scythe.

Step 2: Give the Doom Scythe Tank Hunters.

Step 3: ............

Step 4: Profit!

[jgebi]

hahahaha just weird

[Learn2Eel]

Rather than make an entirely new post, I thought I would resurrect this one instead.
My birthday is coming up (tomorrow) and I've wanted to do a new army for a while to spice things up, now that I've sold off most of my Grey Knights and Dark Eldar. With only minimal additions required for me to be completely settled on my Chaos (Marines and Daemons) and Tyranids, I feel like returning to Necrons; I love the Egyptian theme, I like the models - particularly the vehicles - and it is a good, balanced codex that has all kinds of competitive builds using most of the units available. Given that neither of my other armies are really ranged-heavy (both my Chaos and my Tyranids are mostly monster/horde), Necrons look to be a good match up. Given also that my compatriot is doing Tau, with Eldar looming a few months away, I think Necrons are a perfect fit; the only other army I would want to start would be Imperial Guard, but given they are due a new codex in the next year too, I think Necrons tick all the boxes.

Anyway, I've been struggling with designing an army list I would have fun with whilst not being overly cheesy. I wanted a mixed force of different elements, with a mostly ground force featuring some added fliers. At 1500 points, I can feasibly run two Wraithwings with Destroyer Lords, a bunch of fliers and three Annihilation Barges (that last one being a staple in every army list); obviously though, it wouldn't be an army that my opponents would want to play against. I don't want to go down the route my Tyranids have gone (winning every single game with them in over twenty games and absolutely annihilating all but one opponent has its consequences), and as much as I like the aesthetics of the Necron fliers, I also don't want my opponents feeling short-changed because they don't have enough anti-air firepower. I even had an AV13 wall list of ten AV13 vehicles at 1500 points, but decided against it in favour of a balanced army. So, I eventually came up with this army list, designed to be decently competitive, but most of all, fun to play with and against. What do you think?

Necrons 1500

HQ
Overlord w/ warscythe, sempiternal weave, mindshackle scarabs - 130
Cryptek w/ abyssal staff - 30
Cryptek w/ voltaic staff - 25
Cryptek w/ voltaic staff - 25

Troops
Necron Warriors (10) w/ ghost ark - 245
Necron Warriors (10) w/ ghost ark - 245
Necron Warriors (5) w/ night scythe - 165
Necron Warriors (5) w/ night scythe - 165

Elites
Deathmarks (5) w/ night scythe - 195

Heavy Support
Annihilation Barge w/ tesla cannon - 90
Annihilation Barge w/ tesla cannon - 90
Annihilation Barge w/ tesla cannon - 90

The Overlord is a typical combat-monster variant, there to go with a unit of my choice; I'm not sure exactly which Night Scythe to put him in, really. The Abyssal Staff Cryptek combines with the Deathmarks to give me a powerful, reliable unit - deploying from a Night Scythe, giving them an effective 36" rapid-fire range when they deploy - for taking out a hardy enemy unit. The Voltaic Staff Crypteks go with the five-strong Necron Warrior units that, like the Deathmarks, have an effective 36" rapid-fire range and, on average, will strip four hull points off of a vehicle; they are my Land Raider hunters, basically. The Night Scythes are the gravy that give me anti-anything really with their Tesla Destructors, but mostly to deal with other fliers and get those nasty short-range units where they need to be. The Warrior units in the Ghost Arks are suitably beefy and I'll make sure to use them wisely so that they stay a good distance away from worrisome assault units. The Annihilation Barges are pretty self explanatory. Any criticisms or critiques?

And for laughs, here's the AV13 spam list I was initially thinking of doing but dropped because of the minimal Warrior squads and the lack of fliers;

HQ
Necron Overlord w/ warscythe, catacomb command barge - 180
Necron Overlord w/ warscythe, catacomb command barge - 180

Troops
Necron Warriors (5) w/ ghost ark - 180
Necron Warriors (5) w/ ghost ark - 180
Necron Warriors (5) w/ ghost ark - 180
Necron Warriors (5) w/ ghost ark - 180

Elites
Triarch Stalker - 150

Heavy Support
Annihilation Barge w/ tesla cannon - 90
Annihilation Barge w/ tesla cannon - 90
Annihilation Barge w/ tesla cannon - 90

[Learn2Eel]

So far, I've built and based three Annihilation Barges, twelve Necron Warriors, three Necron Lords (the Overlords from the Barges), three Scarab Swarms, and Vargard Obryon. I'll be able to get some small 500 point games in this week; I'll report how it goes, though obviously these early thoughts won't mean much as my 500 point army list is basically dominated by the three Annihilation Barges. Thankfully, I should be ordering in three Night Scythes on Wednesday, and a fortnight later, I should have the Deathmarks and Crypteks ready to go.