Imotekh the Stormlord
The Stormlord has more than enough potential to really ruin your opponents day. He's extremely resilient, has amazing abilities to cripple the enemy army, but he is just not very good in combat of any kind. From turn one he can strike any unit on the battlefield with his lightning that can instant kill most all units and he forces night fighting for a minimum of at least one turn. Couple him with a couple of crypteks with a chronometron and solar pulse and you can have night fighting in effect all game long. He even takes your chance of seizing up to a 50%. You're going to have a tough time killing him, but odds are he won't be killing you. In melee he's just a fairly high strength character that gets some re rolls. At range he only has a basic flamer and fairly random one shot weapon that can do some good damage. Not exactly a powerhouse, but has some amazing abilities that come close to warranting his price, but it's still a lot to swallow. Imotekh is a great choice, just don't expect him to get into combat and do some damage. He's a buffer.
Nemesor Zahndrekh
Another character of pure defense backed up by utility. Armed only with a Staff of Light, you won't be dealing much serious damage with Zahndrekh. Luckily he does have some extremely nice utility powers that can bolster your army in a multitude of ways, all while crippling your foes. You get a nifty list of universal special rules that you can add to one of your units per turn and take away from the enemy. This provides you a monkey wrench to toss in your opponent's spoke at just the worst times. The other major utility that Zahndrekh gets to bring to the battlefield is that on any turn your opponent brings in any unit(s) from reserve you can immediately bring in any number of your deep striking units on the opponent's turn without having to roll for reserves. A great force multiplier that can really do an excellent job of controlling the game.
Vargard Obyron
The Nemesor's sworn protector, Varagard Obyron is the reason that Zahndrekh doesn't have to lift a finger in combat, he does all the work necessary. Few targets can stand up to the fury that is Obyron's Warscythe. As long as they don't have an extremely high AP weapon that strikes at initiative 3 or higher, you will cleave through the unit like tissue paper. The best part? The more times they miss him before he gets to strike the more attacks he gets! He has a possibility of 10 attacks on the charge and at his massive strength, you can cut through just about anything. If the going gets tough, just Veil your way out of that combat. The double edged sword of Obyron comes from his duty to protect Zahndrekh. If at any time Zahndrekh is engaged in combat Obyron is forced to use his modified Veil of Darkness to pile in to that combat immediately. Using Zahndrekh as a beacon to pin point Obyron and his squad is more than a valid tactic, but has to be used carefully due to the fact you can not assault til the following turn after deep striking. He's a nice beat stick to have around.
Illuminor Szeras
With such a fantastic model, it's hard not to want to use Illuminor Szeras. Although once you look at his stats you may just want to field him as Harbinger of Destruction instead. He's basically just a Harbinger of Despair with an extra wound, 3+ save and for some reason 4 attacks! He brings an interesting buff to a squad of Warriors or Immortals that is random and can't be relied on because of that. (On a 5 or 6 you get to give them +1 to their strength! Wow!) You can probably find more use in any of the other choices, but the price is fairly nice.
Orikan the Diviner
Probably the most interesting character in the book. He controls your opponent's first movement phase, has an extremely powerful gun, can help your reserve rolls and when the stars line up just right, he "Hulks out". The Diviner is okay in combat until he decides to rampage and becomes an unstoppable beast. However, all good things must come to an end and as quickly as his new found power comes, it can fade. Pairing him with a Chronometron will drastically increase your ability to keep this amazing power going. Orikan is best paired with another Overlord of some variety to give him a royal court. Best used in higher points games, but still an excellent battlefield controller.
Anrakyr the Traveller
One of my personal favorites, Anrakyr does a great job of chopping up high wound toughness 4 units because on the charge he strikes at strength 8! Mounting him on a Command Barge for extra mobility is an excellent way to get into range to control your opponent's vehicles. He's another one of those characters that is pure fun and poses a massive threat at all times. Attach him to a resilient squad of Lychguard or Wraiths and he won't go anywhere fast while absorbing a massive amount of fire. What do you do when you can't force your enemy to have his own vehicles shooting him? Well, Tacyon Arrows make short work of just about anything. If you decide to go with the Traveller, you should take at least a single squad of Immortals for the free upgrade to Pyrrhian Eternals. Giving them some added CC benefits isn't the best, but always nice to have.
Trazyn the Infinite
Following the theme of most of the characters, Trazyn is hard to remove from the board. This resiliency doesn't come from exceptional wargear like the others, but his ability that whenever he "dies" roll a die and on a 2+, he can possess another Lord, Cyptek, or Lychguard and continue to fight on. Trazyn brings his full might down on horde armies. All it takes is one kill to make approximately half of the remaining enemy squad with the same name be forced to take an armor save. On top of that he comes with Mindshackle Scarabs to make that same enemy that is dropping like flies attack themselves! Trazyn is an extremely fun character that isn't always the most effective, but does a great job of upseting your opponent at every turn. Also, he's scoring! Can't complain about that.
What characters do you guys like to include on a regular basis? My favorite is by far the Traveller, but I love hearing what kind of nasty strategies you have concocted. Let us know in the comments and be on the look out for part 3 of my Necron Tactica: Troops.
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