Goatboy’s 40k – The Crons are Here?
Goatboy here again – chatting about the newest “sensation” to hit this 40k nation – Necrons. If you haven’t been living in your mother’s basement throwing down with some video game beta then I am sure you have heard/seen/devoured something about the new Necrons.
If you spent the 9+ bucks to read the White Dwarf or combed through the multiple forums giving information then you know see that the Old Terminator Robots are gone and we now have a new – Cyborg/AI style race in its place. I think that part is good as it gives the army some distinction among the stars and planets in the 40k universe. So instead of rehashing what I chit chatted about last week I want to go over some more things after reading the “preview” in the latest White Dwarf.
First of all – lets get a little rant out of the way. I think this new way of “surprising” the buyer month in and month is a pain in the keister. Look money is fairly tight for just about everyone. Not knowing what is good and decent means that I won’t be buying jack the first week of the release. Hell it might be a month or two before I even think of purchasing any models. Without some kind of preview to generate interest as well as fulfill the planning stage of an army, don’t look for a massive rush to buy new minis. The accidental release of Grey Knight info mixed with a fairly boring model list created a strong interest and buying frenzy for the army. Necrons are completely new and beyond a few “for-sure” purchases (the codex), will take a bit to break down and figure out.
Also this overall smaller release with some major models not getting a body to play with just yet is pretty annoying. Yes we have that new flying vehicle that can be two vehicles, as well as the Flintstones car, but really where is the other “major” new flyer kit. Wouldn’t that be cool to have out to play with right away? What about the rumored tweak Tomb Sypder or Scorpion thingie? Why aren’t they out with the initial release? Isn’t this the age of some kind of big monster thing with every army?
So with that rant over – lets look at what we learned from the Battle Report and the small bits of information. Well – not a whole heck of a lot really.
1. We learned some weapons that we already knew about for the most part. We got two new guns but no real information how they work. Tesla gives more hits if you roll a 6 to wound but that is about it. The Deathmark gun is pretty interesting as we get a sniper rifle that moves and shoots. Yes we already had a model with something similar (Hex Rifle) but this is the first time we have a unit that can reliably cause a pinning hit. Is that enough to make it good? Who knows, but still causing an AP 2 hit mixed with the ability to move and fire is pretty dang sexy if you ask me.
2. The Stormlord guy poses a threat to and is a good force multiplier unit if you build an army around him. Yes he doesn’t add a whole hell of a lot beyond an annoyance but still – causing Night Fighting for a majority of the game can be very dangerous for some armies. Mix that lightnight bolt nonsense and you got a model that can cause some seriously gimicky games. The other guy is neat too with the ability to own an objective as well as “never” die. That is super interesting also.
3. The Cryptic like guys seem neat too. We have rumors on how they work but I thought it was a shame they didn’t go into them during the battle report. Look – a unit of guys that can easily transform your army. Yup they are finecast too so you are going to spend more money on them also. Oh look they are even shinier! If only we have more information. I’m thinking you could convert a few from old Necrons and staffs too…
4. The Doomsday cannon thingie looks awesome but doesn’t it seem kind of meh? I mean strength 9, AP 1, Large Blast all sounds good but I think the lack of being able to move plus being on an armor 13 body (for the most part) means this thing is going to eat it – and fast. Now if cover goes back to 5+ we might see this as a lot better option but for now I am just looking at glancing this vehicle forever till it says “no more bad touch!”
5. So where are the Scarabs? We have all heard how awesome they are going to be so why not show us? Look we know the games of box (mech) 40k is getting annoying so we added a change to a unit that should put the F in the A of boxes. Also what about the C’Tan? Where are they? I know they will have neat powers but really wouldn’t it have been neat to see these old monsters kicking some butt in the battle report. Also – what kind of options are in this book. We had some listed but nothing with what they did. Preview stuff for the love of pete. I mean really all this White Dwarf did was not make me want to buy up every Necron model in sight- it make me want Nov 5th to come around so I can make an informed choice.
6. The neat thing is that it looks like all the IC’s are at toughness 5+. This is pretty awesome as it means that normal powerfist punch of doom will not happen to these guys. Take one wound and call it a day. I think that this type of change would be awesome on the IC front too. Also it seems they can always try to come back. That is pretty friggin cool so there is always a chance your bad ass HQ will still keep on being a bad ass.
7. I did like the story bits with the idea that the Necrons have woken up and want their s%$t back. This is really neat and I think the change from being full of bad guys to just another race with motives that are not really “evil” is a good thing. Look Chaos is the ultimate bad guy and the 6th edition rumors say they are coming back to be the complete dbags of the universe.
So yeah – this White Dwarf was kind of annoying. I wanted to see more Necron stuff with a full issue of metal jerks doing what they do best. I think that the whole “prerelease” we had a week before did hurt this White Dwarf release. Obviously if they had more stuff in there we would have a much more “interesting” rumor dump and most likely a more upset GW. But still I thought that the ball was dropped a bit and I wanted more. I got a week to wait and dangit I want my Necron candy now – maybe!
So did the new White Dwarf make you open your wallet regardless, or will you just wait and see what the codex offers?
