Bartertown.com

Hey B-Towners!
A buddy of mine wants to get into 40K, and he wants me to help him do it because apparently I'm some all-knowing master of the grim, dark future.
However, he wants Orks or Necrons. I play Tau.
I've played against enough Ork lists to know what works and what doesn't. Well, I've seen enough lists to know what people do and don't run in various armies.
Necrons, on the other hand, are an army I have never faced on the tabletop. I've never researched them. I've never been particularly interested in them except for The Mexicrons (http://www.dakkadakka.com/core/gallery- ... .jsp#start) But I digress.
My questions are these:
1) Is the Necron Battleforce ACTUALLY a good place to start?
2) What is the best value for new models and price ranges for a list at 500, 1000, and 1500 points?
Thanks in advance. I know this is a lot, but I know someone(s) will pull through for me!

Howdy ulpitt.

I don't play Necrons, but I have went up against them a few times, and went to websites on what each units do, so its safe to say I can help you and your friend on how to get started.

The battleforce is actually a good place to start, you get the option for either two troops with an Elite, or three troops (Just the basic ways, but there're more). The Ghost Ark isn't bad for Warriors, although it fits only half of the Warriors that comes with the box set. The Doomsday on the otherhand is also a nifty Heavy Support choice, but it is fragile (Armour 11 all around and open top, yikes!). The best thing to do with the Ark is to magnetize it so your friend can easily switch between the two.

As of what to get, this advice has been said many times and I will say it again: Start with an HQ and two Troops. Just like I touched on, the Battleforce is a good start for Troops, along with a vehicle and some Scarabs. For your friend's HQ, I'd say a Lord will be a good choice in a 500-1000 pt game. Cheaper than the Overlord, still has access to some of the nice options, but can get killed very easily, so always take a res orb to improve his survivability. In 1500 pts games, the Overlord is one of the nastiest generic HQ in the game. Very versitile, can be taliored to your friend's playstyle. I'm not too sure about the Named Characters, but the Destroyer Lord is his Melee beatstick with a res orb and Mindshackle Scarabs (3D6 leadership test. When failed, the person must hit and wound HIMSELF!). He's best served with a group of Wraiths or Triarch, but that's another topic on why.

Your friend should also consider in investing his money into the Annihilation Barge! It's a vehicle with Tesla weapons, that can generate two extra hits on a roll of 6! It even haves an extra weapon that can be snapped fire, although it's pretty tricky, he could get lucky if he roll a 6 or two. It haves AV13 on the front with a shield generater (Don't know the name), but it will drop to 11 when it gets a glance or pen. To top it off, it's only 90 pts! That's a bargin if you ask me, so he can use it in a 500 pts game if he wants to.

Again, I don't know all the units in the army, but I think this will still be enough info to help your friend build a Necron force should he choose to. As for how to save money on buying the stuff, there is of course Bartertown. But there's also the Warstore, War Game Cave, and feeBay. Those retail stores offer 20% off on GW products, while on Btown and that other site does have someone looking to sell some Necrons cheaper, depending on the condition, how well painted/primed, ect. You should also see if your friend can magnetise his force so he can save more
money, or if you'r playing a friendly game that isn't in a GW store, proxy can be easy for Necrons since alot of units haves at least two different options for a unit in one box.

Overall, Necrons is a nice army to start, and as long if your friend doesn't spam his Flyers (The only broken tactic they can pull), it's a well balance army and very challenging to go against. Anyway. I hope this helped you out, and I'm sure there will be others on here that can help you out more. I just wanted to cover the basics of the Necrons for you.

Good luck, and happy wargaming!

-Johnny