[Theoryhammer] Crypteks of Casnewydd

 So earlier this year, when I had money, I scored a ticket to the Newport Open Narrative event. I thought it was rather courteous of Sir James to throw one of his Open events in the nearest city to my humble abode, and I would like to encourage this sort of thing. I also really want to play in an Open Narrative event anyway, as all accounts consulted indicate they're quite a lot of fun once you give up on faffing about with Crusade. The current edition of 40K has done this wholeheartedly and so I am even more keen to set sail than I was.

Approaching a Narrative event requires a different set of considerations from the norm. The actual rules of engagement are not as they would normally be: per the player packet, one should expect 1000 point games, but prepare 1500 points of stuff to "sideboard" during the event, and also be prepared to scale down into 500 point team games should the offer or opportunity become available.

Furthermore, and this is the key point, this is an exercise in dice telling stories and letting emergence occur from games and forging the narrative, which means having a clue what kind of story one wants to tell.

And finally, there's the brain-ache of a new edition of the rules meaning that whatever one brings, it had better be something with which you've had some practice.

That last point means it's going to be Cryptek Conclave, come what may: that's what I've been playing in my teaching and learning games. That implies some claims regarding story: we have a cadre of highly advanced undead robot wizards and their immediate attendants/bodyguards operating without much rules support from care for the commandments and protocols of nobility.

This suits me down to the ground. The events of tenth edition and early essays into Kill Team have left the Crypteks of the Nephrak expeditionary cohort calling the shots, via their puppet despotek Teznet the Loyal, Voidlord of the Endless Legions. One imagines them operating with a small force, capable of independent tactical processing but aligned to the Conclave first and foremost. The sort of troops that turn up in the Kill Teams led by Crypteks: Immortals, Deathmarks, Macrocytes, Crawlers. To this I might add further Canoptek constructs - Scarabs and Wraiths, perhaps the Doomstalker for an attempt at managing the larger target types.

So now I just need to come up with a 1000 point list that scales back to a 500 point list and also has 500 points that are easy to hot swap on the fly. That means units with similar point costs, or combined point costs, an almost modular approach.

Here's what's cooking so far.

Chronomancer [80 pts]

Technomancer [80 pts]

2 x 3 Canoptek Scarab Swarms (Battle-ready) [40 pts] [40 pts]

These things cost 80 points: two options for Warlords, and another unit that can be exchanged for one should there be no appropriate unit for it to lead. (Crypteks must join units in the eleventh edition rules, which is a bit of a kick in the teeth for Geomancer and Psychomancer enthusiasts, but we stay silly.)

5 Deathmarks [60 pts]

2 Cryptothralls [60 pts]

80 + 60 = 140, an important number for reasons we'll come to shortly. Either a dirt cheap "action monkey" unit, home objective minder, general mission-point-scoring duties afoot, or an extra layer of defences for the Cryptek in charge (there's a lot of Precision about these days).

10 Immortals [140 pts]: Tesla carbine

Canoptek Doomstalker: [140 pts]

Immortals: to be fielded alongside a Chronomancer as the mobile, destructive heart and soul of a Cryptek Conclave list. Doomstalker: to be the vessel of my hopes, and the bearer of my disappointment.

Halving the cost of those pieces gets us 70 points, a magic number which can buy many things in a Necron army: additional objective controlling capacity, scouts of various flavours, or the defensive/support drone of choice for the discerning Cryptek. I'd quite like to give the Tomb Blades particle blasters, but this is a strict WYSIWYG event and the thought of building more Tomb Blades fills me with a sort of creeping malaise.

5 Immortals [70 pts]: Gauss blaster

5 Immortals [70 pts]: Gauss blaster

Tomb Blades [70 pts]: Nebuloscope, twin Tesla carbine

Canoptek Macrocytes (Battle-ready) [70 pts]: Tesla casters

Canoptek Reanimator (Battle-ready) [70 pts]

The 80 and 140 we discussed earlier are also crucial because they add up to 220, which happens to be what these cost:

3 Canoptek Wraiths (Battle-ready) [95 pts]: claws and particle casters

3 Canoptek Wraiths (Battle-ready) [115 pts]: claws and particle casters

Wraiths are A Bit Good with their Cryptek masters handing out Anti-[Keyword] abilities to go with their Devastating Wounds, but the unit of 6 is both a lot of points in one place and a figure that sits awkwardly at 220. It is 140 + 80, admittedly... but it also brings the army as a whole to 1210, which is untidy.

Anyway, that's where I am now. 1200 points and no idea what the last 300 can possibly go on. A few things suggest themselves but I'm running out of modularity, and having real trouble visualising what complete 1000 point armies might look like beyond this point.

Maybe I'll just go nuts and take a C'tan in the sideboard. Actually... that might work. Make this endeavour the story of a Chronomancer and Plasmancer, the two Crypteks for whom I haven't yet forged a narrative, and their search for a Shard of the Void Dragon, which will manifest on the second day of the event...

He's even got the one-eye mask thing going on.