Unit Perusal: Canoptek Tomb Sentinel

Welcomes Back Ladies and Gents,  we're today we continue our look at the new (the book and models have been out a while - Evil Daemon-Monkey on Shoulder) units for Necrons in Imperial Armour 12.

Today we look at the little brother of the Canoptek Tomb Stalker,  no not the Canoptek Spider,  this bad boy...

The Canoptek Tomb Sentinel, is a variation on the Tomb Stalker construct,  cited as one of the final war machines designed by Toholk the Blinded (maybe this means he is also responsible for designing the Stalker as well...). With a comparable statline and special rules to the Stalker, also being a monstrous creature, the Sentinel however forego's 2 attacks to gain the Exile Cannon.

The Exile Cannon is a 12in StrX, Ap- Heavy 1, small Blast, weapon with the exile blast rule. Now this does not look good until you look at the rules for exile blast,  which state that all models under the template equate to the number of hits resolved against the unit. Randomly determined models must then pass a strength test or be removed from play,  with units with no str value auto passing. Vehicles and buildings suffer an automatic penetrating hit with no saves possible.

This works beautifully with the Tomb Sentinel's Deep Strike, outflank and fleet special rules and could be considered to be a great way to deal with enemy armour and elite units. Twinning the Sentinel and the Stalker together as well, could make a great combo for hunting super heavy vehicles and Gargantuan creatures. And with non-vehicle Lords of War,  a great way to remove pesky units that could be a major hindrance. Chapter Master with Shield Eternal, no problem,  one failed straight check and buh-buy. At 39 melta bombs I feel this unit is an absolute steal. It might not have the close combat output of the Stalker,  but I feel keeping Rampage nicely offsets this downside. Overall I think this unit might actually be slightly better over all compared to its brother. Also always make sure to have the points to take sepulchral scarabs to increase its survivability.

Of all its rules,  only the ability to take a gloom prism needs amending for use with the current codex as the way the equipment works now is different to how it was in IA:12. Just use the current codex ruling and this will slot straight into any Necron list nicely in the heavy support slot. I feel it would also work brilliantly in a themed battle where you have another mecha-bug to defend your Tomb Complex (which funnily enough is what we will be looking at next time).

What do you think of the Tomb Sentinel,  good? Bad? Meh? Let us know in the comments.

Until next time,
Jonathan

40k Birthday Bash 2.0 Update: Faction Decision! (...Possibly...) Part 3

Good Morning Ladies and Gents!
I hope you all got an excellent night sleep as we return to the horror of the Maynarkh Dynasty,  and the dread legions at they're disposal!

First things first,  Fast Attack and Heavy Support Choices. If you have read the previous posts we are looking at the choices as per my list for the Birthday Bash 2.0 Tournament, so once I've finished this set of rereviews I'll come back and visit the other units in these respective slots.

So I having selected to use X2 Heavy Necron Destroyers,  a Doom Scythe and a Doomsday Ark,  with the Imperial Armour book you are instructed to use the entry from Codex: Necrons,  so these will be the same as you all know and love.  Which leads us to...

The Elites
This is a fun section and presents units that may seem new to some:

Charnal Lychguard
Just like with the current codex,  Overlords can have their fluffy body guard unit.  A Maynarkh Overlord can take a single unit of these deadly close combat bots.  Rocking the same stat line as their codex counterparts,  Charnal Lychguard,  gain the rage and fear special rules.  Now I hear you cry out how can these be reasonable versus their counterparts? I'll tell you.  They cost an extra 22 melta bombs on top for basically rage and fear... In any other life I'd say drop that points value down to maybe another 5 melta bombs on top of the unit and you'd be grand,  but for now,  I think superceding the re-an special rule and leaving them as is,  is an excellent compromise for the tourney without being OP.

Canoptek Tomb Stalker
OMG A GIANT MECHA CENTIPEDE OF DOOM!!! 😝 The first ever Forgeworld model produced for the cash strapped customer (kudos if you have a Necron Pylon,  I secretly hate you lol) this is the beefed up cousin of the Canoptek Tomb Spider.  Rocking the Deep Strike,  Outflank,  Hit and Run,  Night Vision,  Rampage, Fearless,  Fleet,  Acute Senses, and War Construct special rules,  this beastie stat line comparable to a Carnifex,  hits just as hard,  but from many different directions. You can also purchase Sepulchral Scarabs for 4 melta bombs that give it IWND and it's a monstrous creature with X2 glass flayers.

So what is the War Construct Rule I hear you ask,  well it basically means any weapon that wounds on a flat value will only ever wound on a 6. This is a unit that can't be guaranteed to be poisoned to death. Now a lot of these rules really make it seem scary,  but like nid players know deep striking big gribblies into a tabletop can be very hazardous,  and as it draws a lot of fire,  getting isolated is a death sentence for the model with only the wounds of +1 over a base of Necron Scarabs. It's big it's scary,  but it can die very quickly and at the cost of 45 melta bombs.

I feel the unit is fine as it is.  Just like all Canoptek constructs this beastie does not have the re-an rule either so no need to worry about that here.

As I feel the unit is actually well balanced for its points,  and is more of a psychological terror unit for your opponent I don't think this needs amending and worst well within the bounds of the current codex,  but please,  please let me know if you think this unit is overpowered,  and if so what would you change? It's an amazingly sexy model and I think would be a great addition to the upcoming event.

Next time we will be looking at the final entry,  on Kutlakh the World Killer!

Until next time...  Game with the lights on...
Jonathan

Dark Angels Dark Talon

Welcome back everyone!

First up on the upcoming posts is for my Dark Angels Dark Talon! (it was the first one I managed to get my hands on ;p )

Hope you enjoy the images!

Hope you all enjoy, comments are appreciated! I always want to get better with the painting!

Until next time 

Jonathan 

Necron Doom Scythe

Hi Again Everyone,

So first off we have the Necron Doom Scythe, of my personal Dynasty; The Sarybdal Dynasty, Client Dynasty to the Maynarkh.

Think I need to improve my photography haha

Hope you enjoy!
Jonathan