History of the Maynarkh Dynasty

Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today we delve into the History of the Maynarkh Dynasty,  what many consider a return to the unknown eldritch horror that once defined the Necron race before the rise of the named Necron characters, specifically set down in the 3rd edition codex.

Renowned in the deep past of the Necron race, the Maynarkh Dynasty were abhorred and feared for their ruthless nature, particularly in the fight against the old ones during the War in Heaven against the Slann. The Maynarkh Dynasty were at the forefront of the battle against the C'tan at the closing of the War in Heaven when the Star God's were considered at their weakest by the Silent King.  For their part in the breaking of the C'tan and particularly Llandu'gor the Flayer, the Dynasty was cursed by the flesh hunger, with the first flayed ones arising within the ranks of the Maynarkh legions.

For there destructive nature's both in the War in Heaven,  and the the downfall of the C'tan,  many influential dynasties counselled the Silent King to damn the Maynarkh upon entering their stasis crypts, a quiet death for the horrific Dynasty. They had shamed all of the Necron race by they're actions... Yet the Silent King allowed them to endure,  they would be needed in times to come...

In the closing stages of the 41st Millennium the death of the Caracol Binary Star, erupting in a supernova would be the clarion call for the Dynasty to arise from their 60 million year slumber.  The Orphean Sector would soon bear the brunt of the horror of the Necrons. Only the forces of the Death Korps of Krieg,  and the Minotaurs Space Marine Chapter would be able to stand in there way.  Indeed at the end Lord Asterion Moloch would fight against Kutlakh the World Killer aboard the bridge of his Cairn-Class Battleship, and both would be blown out into the deep of space. But the Chapter Master of the Minotaurs has survived worse,  and Necrons are not known to die so easily....

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So I hope you all enjoyed the above and are maybe considering picking up Imperial Armour 12. The book, though out of date is still an amazing piece of background, and the effort put into it really shows. I decided not to go too far in, as its perfectly paced and is a great read and I would suggest it on these alone. Other great things with the book, is that it includes Legendary Battles for you to play as the Necrons attack the Orphean Sector and are just like time of war missions,  perfect for the hobbyist who likes to try their hand at historical battles. I had originally expected these to be designed at Apocalypse scale,  but actually are designed from 1500pt battles up, which was great to see. Also for the narrative and campaign players,  we have the usual campaign system which also looks a lot of fun especially using the legendary missions. It's great to get into the events of the universe, a trend Age of Sigmar is really embracing,  and I hope 40k continues to do the same!

Until next time
Jonathan

Unit perusal: Canoptek Acanthrites

Good Evening Everyone!

Following on from me looking at some of the units from Imperial Armour 12, I have decided to look at the rest of the units presented for the Necrons as part of the Dark Harvest list for the Maynarkh Dynasty.

Today we will look at the Canoptek Acanthrites. A new addition to the mecha-bug aesthetic for Canoptek Constructs we have a locust-styled unit, comparable to a space marine captain statline, with standard power armour and an additional point of toughness, rounded out with the standard slow initiative that follows the fluff of the Necron race.

Starting as a unit of 3 at the cost of 30 melta bombs you gain a jump infantry unit,  with fearless, stealth, a void blade (this has the entropic strike special rule so follow the current codex ruling on this), and a cutting beam per model.  Cutting beams are s6 ap2 assault 1 and have the melta rule, so they do have a good chance to pop some vehicles, but your going to want to get up close and personal with max range the same as max charge range. You can also take a further 6 Acanthrites per fast attack slot past the first 3, though this would be an epic point sink for a single unit (almost a 3rd of your available points in a 1500pt game. Maybe a unit like this would definitely be suited more to either Unbound or Apocalypse. These units really want to be hugging the scenery,  running back field disruption.

As always with Canoptek Constructs they do not have re-an so their durability versus standard Necrons is slightly less. These units are fighting for the same slots as other strong units such as destroyers in the Necron Codex m,  where they can be taken,  and with the Maynarkh Dynasty. . I feel they would play great in a fluffy themed game for a Tomb raid,  where Scarabs,  Spiders,  Wraith, Stalkers and Sentinels are a protection force led by a Cryptek. Hmmm... I might just throw something like that together once I get a few of these in the future.

©Games Workshop 2017 

Model wise they look absolutely gorgeous,  as is the standard with Forgeworld, though I really hope the flying bases are pin mounted and not ball mounted as I have had some serious issues with these in the past,  otherwise there looks to be little fiddly bits past the levitation orbs and stalks on its back. You get a unit of 3 Canoptek Acanthrites for £42.00 plus shipping or your regional equivalent,  just stop by forgeworld.co.uk.

Next time we'll look at the brother of the Canoptek Tomb Stalker,  the Canoptek Tomb Sentinel!

Until next time
Jonathan

Update: Awaken The Dolmen Gates... We we make for Warhammer World!!!

Update: looks like Warhammer World won't be happening quite yet,  Ian called up for some tables and the events team had the gall to be running an event... How dare they do their jobs 😝

Anyways playtesting will still be completed just not in the hallowed halls of nerd heaven,  I'll update again once we know where we're headed. 

The Antechamber whistled with the cold brush of air on metal and stone. The occasional dripping of what could possibly be water punctuated the silence. This was a dead place.

No.  This was a place of the dead.

Soft, sickening lights shimmered from the recessed pillars on the floors, glyphs of magma-level complexity and mathematical impossibilities shone to life upon their surfaces. One by one, the procession of pillars lit up with the light of dying suns in the wake of a giant. The heavy clanking of footfalls echoed dolorously, as they lead up to a fresco at the back of the room.

Silvered motifs of the Dead Necrontyr race adornrd the fresco facing. Depictions of the triumphs of the Dynasty in its heyday of power. Framed in the centre, what could be considered to be a humanoid female, sat resplendent upon a throne of cold metal, the bodies of her enemies under her boot heels. Her face belied her inhuman nature, eyes dispassionate and dead, compared to the life in the imagery of the rest of the fresco.

As the giant approached the wall,  the soft hissing of mechanical limbs came from the deep corners hidden in shadow as the wall began to run like mercury.  Slowly but surely the females form pulsed outwards as the rest of the metal flowed with her, until a goddess of death was all that remained. Sitting upon her throne.

Like the chiming of soft bells, she said, "It is time,  summon Toholk to awaken the gates".

None would have thought the chiming of soft bells would herald the death of a world.

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Good Evening (or Good Morning/Day depending on where you are in the world)!

So, the Legions of The Maynarkh Dynasty (along with me), are headed to Warhammer World in Nottingham on the 28th of this month! The plan for the visit for myself, is to get a game or two in with my current list for Dave Westons Birthday Bash 2.0 Tournament (it looks like I'll be good to bring this to the event! 😁 WOOOO!!!!!!). I'll be up with my friend Ian from Krakaddict.blogspot.co.uk,  so if you're there say Hi! Other items include having a refreshing tipple in Bugman's Bar, torturing myself in the forgeworld store, and the standard trip around the Hobby Museum.

I've been once before, just after the release of the Warlord Titan,  so I am looking forward to seeing what else in new in the exhibits whilst in there.  That should give me roughly 3 and a half weeks to post about the visit and how the list played (not that I will be changing it!).

There is a good amount of fixing up to complete for the army in relation to being table top ready but a week off prior to the tourney should be more than enough time (fingers crossed).

I'll update on the progress of each unit as the weeks progress,  and I hope you pop by to see!

Until next time
Jonathan

40k Birthday Bash 2.0 Update: Faction Decision! (...Possibly...) Part 4 - The Finale

Hello Again Ladies and Gents!

Today we see the home stretch for me looking at the Maynarkh Dynasty and trying to see if anything needs amending for using the Force in 7th Ed,  and the current codex.  And to finish out this little exercise for now we will look at the MacDaddy of the Maynarkh Dynasty, Kutlakh the World Killer!

But before we get into the meat of Kutlakh's rules I think it would be good to have a wee look at this mechanical bad-ass.

Kutlakh to start is, not the leader of his Dynasty,  he is the highest ranking general of their armies,  and in his own right,  as powerful as some phaeron's of lesser dynasties. The leader of the Maynarkh Dynasty has only ever been referred to as the Mother of Oblivion,  and has been hinted to have been either romantically or physically connected with the Silent King.

Kutlakh has never been focused on the political trappings of the Dynasty structure,  preferring to put his efforts into his martial might. At the close of the war in heaven,  the Silent King ordered the most powerful of weapons to be turned on the C'tan after he realised their insipid betrayal. The Maynarkh Dynasty was at the front of unleashing these cosmically destructive weapons on the Star Vampires,  with many being shattered into the shards they are in the 41st Millennium. Of all the C'tan attacked and defeated by the Necrons,  none was so utterly obliterated as Llandu'gor the flayer,  personally falling to Kutlakhs hand. With this act all of the Necron race was doomed to the possibility of the flayer curse. None more so than the Maynarkh themselves. But of Kutlakh, devolution to a flayer has yet to happen, he still maintains the majority of his sanity... For now...

Ooooooohhh Drama!!! 😝
I hope that all got you tingling,  as now we move on to look at this bad-ass on the tabletop!

Statline wise the S, T, and WS all rock in at a Melta bomb with,  W3 standard Necron initiative,  and A of a melta bomb -1. He comes equipped with a staff of light and the Obsidax.  Special rules include, Independent Character,  Adamantium Will, Re-An,  Splinter of Madness, Phaeron,  and Ever-living; these last two in the vien of the articles so far will just be straight dropped. Kutlakh comes with the Death Incarnate Warlord trait as standard,  so refer to my thoughts on this from the first article in the series.  He also is rocking a 2+sv.

The staff of light does not have the specialist weapon rule,  which conflicts with the obsidax,  which does. I can't remember if the previous iteration of the staff had this rule, but currently it doesn't,  so we'll stick to the current profile.

The Obsidax is a beefed up Hyperphase blade. It's S user,  Ap2,  Melee,  Instant Death,  and as previously shown a specialist weapon.  Pretty tasty.

Coming back to the Splinter of Madness Rule,  this confers,  Fear and Fearless to Kutlakh and any unit he is attached to.

It also gives a little interesting aside as well...

First off Kutlakh must always fight in a challenge if possible both declaring and accepting.  Next at the start of the sub fight stage both Kutlakh and his opponent roll a d6 and add it to their ld value. If Kutlakhs total is greater,  the opponent has their WS reduced by the difference for that assault phase 😱! Such it Imhotekh and your hand removal fetish! 😝

Kutlakh is nothing short of a beast in combat. He wants to chase your chapter masters,  your chaos Lords,  your big hitters and mess up their day. I think he is a good character,  and is reasonably priced at 44 melta bombs. High shooting and blob squads may cause him lots of issues though.  Protecting him with the Charnal Lychguard is key.

What do you all think? Is Kutlakh worth it? Is he too OP? Would you change anything about him,  let me know in the comments!

Hopefully I will hear soon on whether I can run this list,  and I will follow up soon,  if not I'll be feverishly looking at something else soon...

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

40k Birthday Bash 2.0 Update: Faction Decision! (...Possibly...) Part 1

Hello People's of the interwebz!!!

Today I come to you with some thoughts on what I may be taking to Dave Westons 40k Birthday Bash 2.0 Tournament! After much thought I have come to the conclusion that I would like to deviate a little from the standard armies that we are all familiar with to have a look at the Necrons of the Maynarkh Dynasty,  as presented in Imperial Armour 12.

The first thing to acknowledge is that using this list has not yet been checked or approved by Dave,  so I'll let him know then go from there (fingers crossed I'll hopefully be able to bring it for something a bit different). Secondly the army is, to say the least,  "bit " out of date. To this end I propose the following amendments and non-amendments (might not be correct grammar but let's roll with it) to the rules for the Maynarkh Dynasty, as found in Imperial Amour 12:

Warlord Traits:
1. Predictive Strategist
Reserve Manipulation +/-1 whilst Warlord is on the table. Many armies can use similar warlord traits,  so I don't think this needs amending for use at the event.

2. Dust and Ashes
Denying Slay the Warlord to your opponent nets you a victory point. Not too power inherently but can be a game changer.  I still think this is OK as is.

3. Blood of Ancients
Just like good old Chaos champion rule for challenges,  with the exception ICs killed in combat award victory points.  Really need Dave W to make a call on this one. Any suggestions for the communities opinion on whether this is too OP is also welcome (and if so suggestions to update).

4. Unbending Will
Reroll re-an's within 3in of an objective. . Not too shabby, I think this is grand as is.

5. Fire of the Heavens
During the shooting phase (every one!)  a unit which is a vehicle or artillery can resolve a single ranged attack at +1S! Doesn't exceed max S,  but is still a bit OP for a friendly tournament...  Maybe reduce this to one use a game.

6. Death Incarnate
Warlord and unit gain Crusader. Not too shabby,  so fine as is.

Army Special Rules

Reanimation Protocols
So IA:12 was originally written with the 5th edition codex (some call it the first 6th edition codex,  but that is neither here nor there) in mind.  To this end,  I would say all units with this rule,  must follow the rule as presented in the current codex: Necrons.

Flensing Scarabs 
Unit equipped with Flensing Scarabs has the shred rule for the first turn of assault in the game.  Doesn't seem to bad,  keep it as is.

Entropic Strike
Harks back to the previous codex where you could remove a models armour save or reduce the armour value for vehicles.  I suggest replacing this to the entry in the current codex,  as this rule specifically applies to scarabs (I haven't seen any other units that can make use of this rule in IA:12).

Living Metal
Wording same as in current codex. No need to dwell here.

Ever-living
The rule no longer exists in the current codex,  so for all intents and purposes this rule should be ignored for all units that have it in IA:12.

Mark of the Flayer
Roll a d6 if a Maynard overlord/or unit they have joined fails a moral check or wipes a unit in close combat. Immediately apply result from MoTF table:

Berserk
Basically what kharn does when he misses in close combat (at d3 auto hits). Hits himself if on his own for a wound.  Fluffy and not to powerful,  definitely a hazard to use Maynarkh HQs,  love it.

Remains in Control
No effect.

Transfiguration
Overlord gains fearless and rage. At end of the battle,  overlord counts as destroyed for the purposes of victory points and StW.
More of the same,  a hazard to take but love the fluffiness,  can stay as is currently.

Next time I'll post about the units I may take in the book ((depending on whether I can take this army) some units are massively over costed these days hahaha) and what it may look like for my list.

Please let me know what you think in the comments,  are the amendments reasonable? Have the things that stayed the same reasonable? Shout out and let me know!

Until next time
Jonathan