The Ancient Menace

Our adventures in 2nd Edition 40k have already taken me down some unexpected routes, not least starting an Ork army to add to my Daemons and Blood Angels. However, when you already have three armies for an obscure game you rarely play, what's a fourth between friends?

Enter the Necrons...

These six models are part of the original range of metal Necrons that were released in 1998 alongside some accompanying White Dwarf articles detailing an army list that included a grand total of four units: the Necron Lord, Necron Warriors, Necron Destroyers and Scarabs. There was also a Necron Immortal model released around the same time but I suspect that it didn't get rules as 3rd edition came along shortly afterwards. 

The Necron Warriors cam in six sculpts, of which I currently have three. However, they do give you a pretty good feel for the range as it appears that the other sculpts were basically these guys with their heads in different positions.

I approached painting them in the same way I did the single modern Necron a couple of months back: Leadbelcher base, wash with Agrax Earthshade and pick out details with Brass Scorpion. The green pits were picked out in white and washed liberally in Hexwraith Flame.

I quite like mixing the original models with a more modern aesthetic for the Necrons.

These tiny models are Scarabs and actually fight as individuals rather than as a swarm. This has the potential to hand an awful lot of points to the opponent in certain missions, however, at Toughness 8 with the ability to leap 16" over terrain, they might prove difficult to hunt down effectively.

In game they latch on to enemy vehicles and reduce their armour values, making the vehicles more susceptible to the Gauss rifles of the Necron Warriors. Against some opponents I can imagine they'll be really annoying. Against others, such as the Tyranids, they'll be best left at home.

The Destroyer is my favourite model of the bunch, partly due to the casually reclined Necron piloting it, who for some reason reminds me of the 80s cult sci-fi classic 'Battle Beyond the Stars'.

Destroyers provide the speed, manoeuvrability and punch of the army, but will still need help from the Scarabs to be able to effectively deal with enemy vehicles.

It's quite a heavy chunk of metal an balancing it on an old-style flight stand was no easy feat. I only have one more of those bases, so unless I can lay my hands on some more, I may well transfer it to something more stable at some point.

Added to my existing not-Necrons that I painted a while back, I have a fair sized force developing. I need to work out what the other models will count as. The smaller walkers can probably work as proxy Necron Warriors, and I think I'll see if I can use either Eldar War Walkers or Space Marine Dreadnoughts as a basis on which to convert a profile for the larger walkers to be 2nd edition Tomb Spiders.

I received another five Necron Warriors in the post last week that are currently siting in a Dettol bath, and so the army should start to grow fairly soon. I'm keeping a close eye on eBay for affordable lots to try to snap up and add to the army. There seem to be plenty of old Necron available, just not always at a price I'm will to pay.

The trickiest model to get hold of will be the Necron Lord and I may need to splash out for that one when an undamaged version shows up.

Acquired: 81

Painted: 199

Lead Mountain: 483