The First 2,000: Necrons Part 5

Whether you are new to Warhammer, or even wargames, or you’re interested in starting your second or fifth new army, getting started in Warhammer 40k can be confusing. We’re here to help get you started, and show you how to get your new favorite army on the table with our new series: The First 2,000: Necrons. 

In Part 5, we look at options to lead our troops.

Last time we talked about lessons learned from a 1,000 point test game. As part of that we examined using Necron Warriors over Immortals because of the cost (in dollars) efficiency of the Warriors. They come packed in every Combat Patrol and Battleforce box, after all. Immortals are the better unit, and I’ll likely make that upgrade in the future. For now, Warriors fit the objectives of this blog army, which is a lower-cost way to build a fun 2,000 point list.

When choosing leaders for the Warriors to give them a bit more utility, I chose Chronomancers. Partially, that was cost. Chronomancers are sold by Games Workshop as single character units, whereas something like a Plasmancer only comes in the Online Exclusive Royal Court box, which is about four times the cost of a Chronomancer. There are other options, like the Royal Warden or Psychomancer, but a Royal Warden can still join a unit with a Chronomancer or Plasmancer, and I don’t find the Psychomancer to have the utility I’d like for buffing up our humble Warriors.

Plasmancer.
Chronomancer.
Psychomancer.

Psychomancers force battle-shock tests, which isn’t overly effective at the moment. There’s probably something fun to build around that mechanic, but it’s not worth us trying to theme a starter 2,000 point list around that concept. So, that leads us to Chronomancers or Plasmancers.

For the purposes of this particular adventure, let’s take cost out of it. Maybe you can splash some holiday cash for two Royal Court boxes. We’ll compare the two units strictly on stats and abilities, and work out what character is the best for us to use to lead our blocks of Warriors.

Warriors

Warriors are one of two Necron Battleline units. They can be taken as 10 for 90 points for up to 20 for 200 points. Warriors have a Move of 5″, Toughness 4, Save of 4+, with 1 Wound, Leadership 7+ and Objective Control 2. Their default weapon, and the one I’ll be using, is the Gauss Flayer. Gauss Flayers have 24″ range, with 1 Attack, and hit on 4+. They are Strength 4, with AP 0 and 1 Damage. They have Lethal Hits 1, where a rolled Critical Hit automatically wounds the target, and Rapid Fire 1, where if they’re attacking within half range they add 1 to their Attacks.

Chronomancer

Chronomancers cost 65 points. They have a Move of 5″, Toughness of 4, Save of 4+, 4 Wounds, Leadership of 6+, and Objective Control of 1.

They have a Chronomancer’s Stave, which is both ranged and melee. At range, the Stave can hit from 18″, with D6 Attacks. It hits on 4+, at Strength 5, with AP -1, and does 1 damage. It also has the Blast keyword, so it gets an extra attack for every 5 models in the unit it attacks.

The melee Stave has 3 Attacks. It hits on 4+, with a Strength of 5. It has AP -1 and does 1 Damage. In melee, it has no keywords.

Chronomancers have a Timesplitter Mantle, When leading a unit, Chronomancers reduce the hit roll of attacks to that unit by 1. The also have a Chronometron, with allows the unit a Chronomancers is leading to make an additonal 5″ normal move after shooting, as long as it is not engaged. The unit led by Chronomancers also benefits from Command Protocols, which adds 1 to the hit roll when that unit makes an attack.

What I like about the Chronomancer is that it takes a typically slow and easy to hit unit, like Warriors, and makes them a little bit faster and also makes it slightly more difficult to hit. They also get a bonus to their own hit rolls. Warriors that use their 5″ move, shoot at 24″, then move 5″ are pretty mobile. You can use this to get one objectives early, or pop out of cover to shoot, then duck back. Pairing the -1 to Hit Rolls with Reanimation Protocols, Warriors can potentially survive a bit longer. Sadly, my experience has been that Toughness 4 means that with a focused fire they can be wiped out before being able to reanimate. Still, Warriors need all the help they can get. They’re not here to delete units off the board, but I do want their 20-40 dice to do something, so the +1 to the Hit Roll is pretty helpful. Weight of fire can be good. Sometimes.

Plasmancer

Plasmancers cost 60 points. They have a Move of 5″, with a Toughness of 4 and a 4+ Save. They have 4 Wounds, with a Leadership of 6+ and Objective Control of 1.

They have a Plasmic Lance, with is both ranged and melee. At range, the lance has an 18″ Range, with 3 Attacks. It hits on 4+, with a Strength of 7, AP -3, and 2 Damage. It has no keywords.

In melee, the lance has 2 Attacks, and hits on 4+. It is Strength 7, with AP -3 and 2 Damage.

Plasmancers have Harbinger of Destruction. While a Plasmancer is leading a unit, unmodified Hit rolls of 5+ are Critical Hits. They also have Living Lightning, where in the Shooting phase an enemy unit within 18″ makes a 4d6 roll, and each 4+ causes a Mortal Wound.

Plasmancers also have Command Protocols so they add 1 to the Hit roll when their unit attacks.

What I like about Plasmancers is that they really buff the Lethal Hits on the Warrior’s Gauss Flayers. 20 attacks, or 40 at half range, where 5+ on the rolls grants an automatic wound is pretty strong. This is particularly good since I’m bringing 20 Warriors in a block. That’s lots of dice to fish for 5+ rolls. This means that while my Warriors might not be here for a long time, they might just be here for a good time.

The Verdict

For the purposes of our overall blog list, I am sticking with Chronomancers because of the cost. However, for the fun of this little writing adventure, and for my future Necron list, I don’t have to follow that rule. Because of that out I’ve given myself, I would take the Plasmancer almost every time.

While I like the Chronomancer’s additional move, the whole of Necrons are a slow army. You have to get used to that, or play something like Hypercrypt Legion. I’m a subscriber to the idea that rolling more dice is more better, so I want to capitalize on my Warriors rolling a lot of dice. The Plasmancer does that the best.

And, while the Plasmancer doesn’t help keep Warriors alive, access to two of them also means I have access to two Reanimators, which buff the Reanimation Protocol rolls (that Warriors can reroll). So, while the Plasmancer might not make Warriors more survivable, it can make them hit harder, taking potential return fire off the board. And, with a Reanimator in tow, Warriors have some extra survival.

If you have the ability to add Plasmancers, it’s worth a serious look.