Vindicare
THE sniper of 40k. This guy has a range of yes, ignores cover, and uses a gun that can do basically whatever you want. Vehicles? S10 AP2 is nice for that. Need that extra wound to drop a MC or the like? 2+ auto wound. Annoyed with enemy making 3++ saves? Ignore invuln, no problem. Having everything be a Precision Shot means that you can easily pick out that Powerfist in the unit, or the guy holding the meltagun. He's like a toolbox full of ways to hurt things.
The downside is that 150 buckaroos is a bit steep to take a single shot per turn. If you're not shooting at vehicles or using Hellfire for the 2+, then you're also only wounding on a 4+, which means if the game goes to 6 turns that's only 3 that went through (good as they are). That can be problematic, but at the same time, you can nearly always have the right attack for the right target.
The Vindi is a pretty solid inclusion. You can set him in the backline or up in a tower and not worry about One Eye Open, and as long as he's in cover he's got a nice 3+ save.
Eversor
Probably the weakest of the bunch. A bit of a black sheep, he's designed to mulch things in Assault. Which he can do... except against vehicles, or things that go before him, or things with good saves. And then, he's really only fantastic when he charges.
But, if he gets to charge against things that don't have 2+ saves, he's basically always hitting on 3s, should wound basically anything thanks to Fleshbane/Shred. That's good enough to be a blender against most non-terminators. Even MCs would give pause to that, except that if they survive, they're just going to crush him.
T4/W3/4++/FNP is great, but on a single model without Eternal Warrior, isn't exactly top shelf. If you let him pick and choose his targets, he'll make his points back and then some. But, if they so much as look at him funny, he's going to be paste. For Necrons, Flayed Ones basically do what he does with more bodies. Pass.
Culexus
A fantastic addition for us. Powerful anti-psyker in an army that lacks it completely. And with Infiltrate/Outflank, you rarely have to worry about his deployment shenanigans, though you still will have to be careful not to move into OEO territory.
This guy is slippery thanks to his semi-Invisibility, and a S5 AP2 gun that's shot in the Psychic Phase is pretty damn good for what it is. Despite being slightly less tough than the Eversor (lacks FNP), he's surprisingly harder to kill - 6s to hit him, and in Assault they're basically always going to be hitting on 5s.
Using one as an Infiltrating anti-Psyker bomb is a fairly good thing to add on to Necrons. Aside from Gloom Prism, we have no way to do anything to Psykers (and even that's poor). He stops things like Grey Knights or Daemons basically dead, which is something that we could desperately use.
Callidus
Callidus (or Cally as I like to call her) is the all-arounder Assassin. Vindicare is a point and click damage output, Culexus is a Psyker killer, and Eversor is a blender.
Cally is farly decent in Assault, able to attack at either S4 AP2 that can ignore Invulns or AP- Poison 3+ Rending. Both have their uses, and she's able to switch to whichever one is best against the threat she's facing at the time. Her template gun is fairly good against most targets (AP2 wounding on 4+). She's not the type of Assassin who has one dedicated job, rather, she's adaptive and disruptive, which actually fits the lore really well.
Nicely enough, she also gives you utility through rerolling to Seize (fantastic if you didn't get that as a Trait) and a -3 to the first enemy reserve roll. Against enemy lists with just one reserve item (a Flyer, or the 2-3 Drop Pod lists where only one stays in reserve), they have to come in on a 6, which can really be nice, but also has the capability to be bad if your Flyers come in first.
On top of that, her Infiltrate and Outflank are on steroids, as she can start anywhere on the board she feels like, or can choose to come in on the enemy's board edge, and either way they can only shoot Snap Shots at her for the first turn. Surprise! This means you're never ever going to have to worry about OEO with her.
It's likely better to do the mega-Infiltrate only if you're going first and do reserve run ons/Outflank if you're going second. If you go second, they'll have one shooting round of snap shots at her, and then one round of full shooting, which she can't survive. The best case scenario is for her to start out close to something she wants to kill, use the semi-invisibility to survive for a turn, and then charge the second turn she's on the table. Alternatively, you could just mega-infiltrate her in heavy cover and hope that she can Line of Sight most of the shots.
So for Necrons, she brings super Infiltrate (nice for early game board presence), the Seize/Reserves shenanigans, and a AP2 template, the last of which is the only thing we can really duplicate, and then only with a 30 point one-use relic. That's fantastic.
Except for the Eversor, any army could make use of one or more of these guys. If you want more long range firepower, the Vindicare has you covered. If you want protection from scary Psykers, the Culexus is your man. If you want utility and early game alpha strike, you could do a lot worse than the Callidus.
If you find yourself with around 150 points left over, think about it. Play them with some proxies, see how you like them. I am very heavily of the opinion that using one is no bad idea, and you might find that there's one that fills whatever gaps your particular list might have! I know I'm heavily considering a Vindicare, as it's rather easy to just plop him on a backline objective and provide extra firepower to the rest of your army. Plus, a cool modeling opportunity for a Hero Deathmark!
Nicely enough, she also gives you utility through rerolling to Seize (fantastic if you didn't get that as a Trait) and a -3 to the first enemy reserve roll. Against enemy lists with just one reserve item (a Flyer, or the 2-3 Drop Pod lists where only one stays in reserve), they have to come in on a 6, which can really be nice, but also has the capability to be bad if your Flyers come in first.
On top of that, her Infiltrate and Outflank are on steroids, as she can start anywhere on the board she feels like, or can choose to come in on the enemy's board edge, and either way they can only shoot Snap Shots at her for the first turn. Surprise! This means you're never ever going to have to worry about OEO with her.
It's likely better to do the mega-Infiltrate only if you're going first and do reserve run ons/Outflank if you're going second. If you go second, they'll have one shooting round of snap shots at her, and then one round of full shooting, which she can't survive. The best case scenario is for her to start out close to something she wants to kill, use the semi-invisibility to survive for a turn, and then charge the second turn she's on the table. Alternatively, you could just mega-infiltrate her in heavy cover and hope that she can Line of Sight most of the shots.
So for Necrons, she brings super Infiltrate (nice for early game board presence), the Seize/Reserves shenanigans, and a AP2 template, the last of which is the only thing we can really duplicate, and then only with a 30 point one-use relic. That's fantastic.
Conclusion
Except for the Eversor, any army could make use of one or more of these guys. If you want more long range firepower, the Vindicare has you covered. If you want protection from scary Psykers, the Culexus is your man. If you want utility and early game alpha strike, you could do a lot worse than the Callidus.
If you find yourself with around 150 points left over, think about it. Play them with some proxies, see how you like them. I am very heavily of the opinion that using one is no bad idea, and you might find that there's one that fills whatever gaps your particular list might have! I know I'm heavily considering a Vindicare, as it's rather easy to just plop him on a backline objective and provide extra firepower to the rest of your army. Plus, a cool modeling opportunity for a Hero Deathmark!
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