Challenge League Special Character Rules (Part 5)

Two more of my favorite Xenos races: Necrons and Tau.

NECRONS

Lord

Choice of ONE from this list +10 points:

• +1 WS
• +1 BS
• +1 I
• Fearless

Choice of ONE from this list:

• Artificer Lord: This blessed servant of the C’tan is particularly resistant to damage. Its Armor Save is increased to 2+; 15 points.
• Dark Walker: The Lord equipped with Veil of Darkness may re-roll the scatter die when re-deploying using Deep Strike. This ability may be used each time the Lord uses Veil of Darkness, but the result of the second roll must be used even if it is worse than the first; 15 points.
• Flayed Lord: The Lord gains the Flayed Ones’ Infiltrate, Deep Strike, and Terrifying Visage abilities. May not be combined with the Destroyer Body wargear; 20 points.
• Great Harvester: All friendly Necron units with a model within 12” of the Lord count their opponents as a preferred enemy; 15 points.
• Necrodermis: This ancient Lord is clad in the living Necrodermis of the C’tan. It does not suffer Instant Death when wounded by a weapon whose Strength is at least twice the Lord’s Toughness, taking a single wound instead. In addition, the Lord cannot wounded by the Callidus’ C’tan phase sword; 25 points.
• Pariah Lord: All enemy units with a model within 12″ of the Lord count as having Leadership 7, unless it would normally be less than that; 15 points.
• Wraith Lord: The Lord gains the Wraith’s Phase Shift and Wraithflight special rules. May not be combined with the Destroyer Body wargear; 30 points.

TAU EMPIRE

Ethereal

Choice of TWO from this list +10 points:

• +1 WS
• +1 W
• +1 I
• 4+ armor save
• Fearless

AND choice of ONE from this list:

• Bodyguard: The Ethereal may changes places with any member of his Honor Guard at the start of either player’s Assault phase. If this moves the Ethereal more than 4″, then he may not attack in the Assault phase; 15 points.
• Earth Caste Defenses: Any enemy unit with a model within 12” of the Ethereal move as if they were moving through difficult terrain (typically rolling two dice and choosing the best as their movement rate). In addition, they do not receive a bonus attack when charging the Ethereal (or unit he is attached to) in close combat; 30 points.
• Noble Presence: All Tau units (but not Kroot, Vespid, or Drones) with a model within 12″ of the Ethereal count as Stubborn; 15 points.
• Power Weapon Honor Blades: The Ethereal is blessed with Honor Blades made of the finest Xenos technology the Empire can provide. All his close combat attacks count as Power Weapons; 15 points.
• Special Issue Drone Controller: This advanced Drone Controller allows the Ethereal to control up to four Gun, Marker, or Shield Drones, in any combination, from the Wargear list; 10 points.
• Special Issue Shield Generator: The Ethereal benefits from a powerful shield generator prototype that provides a 4+ Invulnerable save. In addition, once per game turn the Ethereal may use the Shield Generator to ignore a failed Save (of any sort). Attacks that ingore Invulnerable saves cannot be stopped by the Shield Generator; 30 points.

Commander

Choice of ONE from this list +10 points:

• +1 WS
• +1 I
• +1 Ld (Shas’el only)

AND choice of ONE from this list:

• Advanced Field Projector: This advanced piece of technology protects the Commander and his squad. The Commander, and all members of an attached unit, benefit from a 5+ Invulnerable save in close combat; 20 points.
• Advanced Targeting Array: All of the Shas’o’s weapons are considered master-crafted; 20 points.
• Command-link Drone: Any Tau unit (including Vespid units witha Strain leader, but not Kroot units) within 18″ may use the Commander’s Leadership for any Morale, Pinning or Target Priority tests; 15 points.
• Flechette Discharger: The Commander’s suit has been modified with charges designed to fire viscious clouds of high velocity flechettes. Any model attacking the Commander in close combat will be wounded on a D6 roll of 4+, with Saves allowed, before resolving its attacks; 15 points.
• Legendary Commander: This Shas’o may be accompanied by a bodyguard as detailed for a commander, but the unit size is changed to 1-7 Crisis battlesuits; 15 points.
• Stealth Field Generator: The Commander’s Crisis suit is cloaked using the same stealth field technology as the Stealthsuit. Use the Stealth Field Generator rules for targeting the Commander (the Commander does not gain the Infiltrate ability). Any Drones controlled by the Commander are also shielded; 15 points.
• Xenos Blades: The Shas’o has blades fitted to his Battlesuit that are made from the finest Xenos technology the Empire can provide. His close combat attacks count as Power Weapon attacks; 15 points.

I’d love to hear from our Tau and Necron readers to make sure that I’m on the right track for cool and fun abilities. I know there are a couple of the ones in the list that I’d love to try!

Next Time: Tyranids…

Author: Guest Columnist

This article was written by a Guest Columnist who requested anonymity.