I'm concsidering starting 40k and Necrons have always been my favourite army.

What are the main strengths/weaknesses of Necrons? I hear they're a really tough army to beat.

Necrons are my main force in 40K (though I don't think I have played it this year). I have pictures of some of my units in my painting diary (link in signature).

I prefer them for the following reasons:

- Guass weapon can wound or destroy anything on the board - even you basic trooper with gauss rifle can kill off a landraider. Add in the fact that the basic gause rifle has the same stats as a bolter, you have a nice weapon there.

- LD 10 all the way around (they are not going anywhere you don't want them to normally).

- toughness - as tough as an armored marine, and get a 4+ "we'll be back" roll on 90% of the wounds. Add in the resorb, and you get 100% stand back up.

- Best "fast" units in the game - destroyers and heavy destroys are tough, can "we'll be back", are fast, can "turbo", and have gauss weapons.

- Fast units - with a few options of teleportation, you can bring to bear you army where you need them the most rather quickly.

- Affordable - you get quite a bit for the points you pay.

- Models are very nice and are fairly easy to assemble and paint up (out side the monolith)


Weakness? They have a low initiiave for the most part, (but you are best at shooting and can redeploy out of danger so it really doesn't matter too much) and limited on their upgrades over all (but with squads that can kill anything, not really needed), and can struggle against heavy armor (but if you shoot something enough, it will die).

Beastlord summed it up pretty well, I just have one or two things to add

1. The toughest stuff in the list such as the monolith or nightbringer comes with a hefty price. It doesn't count towards the "phase out" rule, which stipulates you lose the game if your total model count drops below 25%. So by taking 2 monoliths for example instead of other troops in a 2k game, you take that 25% and it is effectivly only applying to 1500 points, thus easier for your opponent to take advantage of

2. They're probably the most boring army GW has ever come out with in either 40k or fantasy, period. The monotomy of having a faceless robotic force is one aspect, but mostly its the complete lack of orginality you will find.

Every effective force you make will end up looking almost exactly the same, and in general the army offers few tactical opportunities and range in the models you will feild. Furthermore, your lists will probably consist of no more than 3-5 different types of units.

I'd say thats the best reason not to play necrons, if you don't mind having an army that quickly grows monotonous, go for it, but if not I'd heavily reccomend against them.

P.S: Looking over beastlords posts, I have more to add. As for the initiative, it is a HUGE drawback. If you do get in combat and lose, with I2 its almost certain you'll be cut down when you run, and cut down necrons can't get back up. Also, the lack of low AP weapons in the army can be a real detriment, aside from a rarely taken upgrade to the destroyers and the odd staff of light, none of your weaponry is below AP4.

I have found ONE exception to said comment :P: http://www.dakkadakka.com/Gallery/tabid/61...74/Default.aspx
So awesome...

Ok baring a few well converted and painted necron armies. On the whole thes not alot you can do painting or converting an again I2 is going to be a major problem. On top of that your choice isnt that great and some of the necron models really dont look well they look like...there awful i.e. flayed ones and the phariohs are the main ones. But the necrons despite all of this are an army which can win battles with some ease and in some cases can be quite cool.

Necrons were my 40k army as well, but I found the monotony of the army ruined it for me. I love their fluff intensely, but I really couldn't stomach playing with them. Maybe if they get a revision to make them a little more interesting to play, I will consider it.

I2 is really only a problem if you fail your LD check (and if you get caught in HTH).

And for the record, I found 7th edition in its entirity to be monotonous.

:P

Oh don't get me wrong...they're one of the best armies in the game hands down (although in tournament play they aren't as overpowering it seems). Its just that they grow tiresome, I don't know a single necron player whos been playing the army more than a couple months who hasn't started another as a secondary army.

The art of necron play is quite easy to grasp and they are limeted into the overwhelming firepower option. As a tournement force there good, but I just find them to background distasteful for me. Well played they can be beautiful like a doctor using a scaple but I find Necro players tend to lose friends because: A) they are slightly overpowered and teach IG a true shooting phase and B) it is really frustating for the Necron player to have all his models get up again C) they are a real diverse army. I do like the look of an undead phallanx marching resolute towards the enemy delivering a hail of firepower. I personally like the whole uniform look of the whole over the individual.

I hope that was intended to be an "aren't"

Oh SNAP! Agreed...

If only Flayed Ones were worth taking... I think they are so FREAKIN' awesome. Wraiths are really neat too and can do some damage at least....

Soz. It was meant to be. Its kinda like saying Iron Warriors aren't a shooty army.
Note: SARCASM

I agree about the opponent thing...honestly necrons are a bore to play against, and are usually very frustrating.

Even from a fluff standpoint, you never "kill" a necron, if it doesnt make its we'll be back roll (or doesnt get one) the fluff states its instantly teleported back to a crypt rather than dying. I mean seriously, where the **** is the fun in beating an opponent army if you know all you did was make them vanish back to their bases.

Sounds a bit like VC and TK doesn't it?