Req's Guide to Necrons
Special RulesSpoiler
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Basic Necron Tactics: Necrons are built around Durability. That is our defining characteristic. We don't have specialist shooting units like Eldar or Space Marines, we aren't extremely mobile like Dark Eldar or Eldar, we don't spawn extra units- well, we do a bit, but not like Tervigons or Summoning, and we don't have huge masses of cheap units like Guard or Orks.
If you're playing or against Necrons, the one thing that stands out is just how bloody hard it is to remove their models from the table, even the cheapest Troops. You can take advantage of this by being bold with your movements and slowly walking up the table, knowing that more of your footslogging units will make it than would in any other army.
The lack of many special or heavy weapons means that we generally burn down opponents through attrition, which this Durability helps with. You’re really hoping on you and your opponent to put down similar amounts of damage, but for you to last longer because, well, Necrons.
Reanimation Protocols: This is Feel No Pain Plus, and is the source of most moaning from opponents. Things don't just die in the Necron army, unless you shoot D at them and get a 6. And because of that, you can even rely on your basic troops to take a lot of fire punishment and survive reliably. It's boosted via Crypteks (including the special characters) and the Decurion Detachment, which I'll go over later.
Entropic Strike: 6s to wound/pen in Assault always cause a Wound or a Glance. This is really only noticeable on Scarabs, but it's great on them since they have 4 attacks per base. You have a pretty good chance at glancing vehicles (including Knights) to death with pretty little effort if you have a nice big blob of them.
Living Metal: Ignore Crew Shaken (and Crew Stunned if you are part of a Decurion), and you get mini-IWND on your Monolith and Superheavies. It's not bad, guys in a transport will never snap shoot, but since you'll be Jinking a lot the shooting part of Shaken doesn't come up that much. Still, if you're in a Decurion, your vehicles are really hard to hold still, which is great for your Flyers and Transports.
Gauss Weapons: You automatically Glance or Wound on 6s. Amazing, honestly. Drop a unit of 15 Warriors out of a Night Scythe and they'll bring nearly any vehicle low. The Wound portion of it is new. It's nice, since it lets you ping down things that are T8 or above (namely, Wraithknights and Tyranid GCs), but it's not nearly as reliable as shooting at vehicles, which generally don't have any saves. Still, it makes your Warriors not useless against big things if you're trying to plink off that last wound.
Tesla Weapons: Get an extra two auto hits on a 6 to hit as long as you're not snap shooting. A bit less powerful than it has been previously (less good if you're jinking), but still a great rule for a gun to have.
Wargear/ArtifactsSpoiler
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Ranged Weapons
-Staff of Light: A relatively solid stock weapon. S5 AP3 is better than the “pistol” that many Characters get, but unless you go crazy and run a massive Royal Court with a bunch of SoLs, they’re not really a gun you build around. Still, be aware of them if you can’t trade them out.
-Gauntlet of Fire: As it doesn’t replace your main Weapon and is relatively cheap, if you have points left over and nothing to spend it on you can do a lot worse than giving an HQ a Flamer. Something nice to blast away with before charging with that Warscythe, if nothing else. Of course, we often do have better things to spend points on, but that’s up to you.
-Tachyon Arrow: Expensive. But… not terrible? One shot guns are usually not a good investment, but if you take it on an Overlord with BS5, you’re hitting and wounding on 2s. Stick him with a DLord and that’s pretty much a guaranteed wound on most things you can see. Which is… not terrible. You can use it to plink off a T5 Multiwound before the game really starts, or to hit some valuable target if your Overlord is just hiding in a corner. Generally too expensive for what it’s worth, though.
Melee Weapons
-Hyperphase Sword: A Power Sword. If you really don’t want that Staff of Light and don’t have the points for a Warscythe, you could do worse.
-Voidblade: …Like this. Yeah, it has Entropic Strike and Rending. But HQs don’t really have mass numbers of attacks, so that’s not that great anyway.
-Warcythe: The only one that costs points. S7 AP2 Armorbane is worth it.
Wargear
-Mindshackle Scarabs: IF you get into a challenge and IF the opponent isn’t Fearless/ATSKNF and IF it’s not already a fight you’ll probably win anyway… Fear on 3D6 is good. But those stars don’t really align that often anyway so skip it.
-Phylactery: IWND is good. If you’ve already taken the better defensive items and still have the points, this will kill the last hope that your opponent has at killing your tank HQ.
-Resurrection Orb: One use items are generally not that great. But it’s a good inclusion if you have a Deathstar and want them to be even more unkillable. It’s generally kind of a waste on a unit of Warriors or something, so take it only if you have a plan.
-Phase Shifter: 4++ for a quarter. There is no HQ that’s made worse by having an Invuln save, especially since our only 2+ is on an Artifact.
Artifacts
-Gauntlet of the Conflagrator: One use item again. Sensing a pattern? This time, it’s a S7 AP2 Flamer. That’s… not bad, but situational. The best use for something like this is dropping out of a Night Scythe onto your opponent’s scary unit or a squad you need obliterated. Again, it doesn’t replace your weapon, so if this sounds interesting to you, do take it. It’s a bit expensive for one shot, but not bad considering it’s basically a Plasma Flamer.
-Nightmare Shroud: 2+ (yay!) and Fear (woo…). Once per game (again) you can force a nearby opponent to make a break test… unless it’s Fearless or ATSKNF. It doesn’t come up that much, but you can occasionally make something run off the table or away from an objective. Don’t forget you have Fear and the ability, but you’re really buying this for the 2+.
-Orb of Eternity: A souped up Res Orb. The +1RP is basically not that good since you can get it all the time with the Decurion or a Cryptek. Pass.
-Solar Staff: This thing is the SAUCE. One use again, but it’s guaranteed Invis for a turn and turning of Night Fight if it’s still there. And you can activate it on your own turn! Any time you have a Deathstar, you want one. It’s not always feasible (as it replaces your Warscythe), but deep down, you want it. Take it if you can, though again it’s pretty wasted if you don’t have a power unit to use it on.
-Veil of Darkness: How many times can you use this per game? One? Still? Jokes aside, it gives you DS and a one time teleport, even if you’re in combat. There’s no scatter reduction, so be careful, but getting Deathstars across the table without having to rely on Night Scythes is nice.
-Voidreaper: You know how I keep saying “well if you have 10 points left over…”? This is the one you should really consider if you have 10 points left over. If you expect your Warscythe to get into combat, having it have Fleshbane and Mastercrafted is GOOD. You think you hack away good with a Warscythe? This thing will butcher any number of enemies with very little problem. Best used on an Overlord that has an attached DLord for max rerolling power.
HQSpoiler
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Necron Overlord:BS/WS/S/T 5 - that's not bad for a stock HQ. However, he doesn't really add much to a unit other than being a beatstick. His shooting is alright (Staff of Light is a nice gun, but it's nothing special), his Assault is great if you can get him there, and you can give him a Res Orb to help the unit’s survivability, but in general, if he’s not getting into Assault at a reasonable pace, other HQs give more utility and power to your army. Still, he’s fairly durable and can deny Slay the Warlord, and if that’s all you want he’s not a bad choice for it.
Destroyer Lord: A Monstrous Creature who isn’t a Monstrous Creature. T6, 3+, W3, and RP means that he’s tough to take down (though his T6 is often lost in majority toughness). Slightly more expensive than an Overlord, and at -1 to WS/BS. However, he also gives his unit Preferred Enemy (Everything). So, in an odd way, he’s the best HQ to take if you want to increase the shooting potential of one unit. He has limited selection of Wargear in that he can’t take the ranged weapons, but giving him 2+/4++/RP/IWND is pretty amazing and can even enable him to venture off on his own while still being relatively safe.
Lord: Necron Lords are basically mini-overlords. Less wounds and attacks and lower WS/BS, but cheaper. In fact, these guys are your cheapest HQs and are still fairly durable, so if you’re just looking for a cheap way to get a CAD together and don’t really need a Character to do things for you, these guys aren’t too bad.
Crypteks: Technowizards. Statwise, they’re worse than Lords, but the biggest reason to take this guy over one is because of the durability they add to the unit they join. They boost any unit’s RP by +1, which is nice in a CAD. In a Decurion, it does nothing unless you’re hit by ID, which it cancels out (yay!). For a small price you can take a Chronometron, which gives the unit a 5++ against shooting, and that’s always pretty valuable. Expensive to do so, but if you have one power unit (say, Scythe Lychguard) and you want them to be even tougher, sticking one of these on them is a great way to do so.
Catacomb Command Barge: A ride for your Overlord. Chariots are a great unit type, getting the best of Infantry and Vehicles. And yours is a good infantry unit on top of a good vehicle, so it’s fairly excellent! Give the Overlord 2+/4++/Phylactery (and maybe a Res Orb) and he’s all but invincible against shooting since you straight up ignore anything S6 or below on the vehicle and can tank most things on the Overlord’s saves. If you have to take it on the vehicle, Jink!
Be cautious, though. In Assault, the opponent chooses which to hit. So any MC, dedicated assault unit with AP2, or anything with Melta/Haywire attacks is going to make him look pretty silly. Luckily, the CCB is a Fast Skimmer, and can move + flat out 30” per turn.
Play the CCB like a bully. Zip him around with a Warscythe and charge units that can’t deal with him in Assault, while making sure to avoid anything that’s big enough to cause him real harm. Against some lists, it’ll win games singlehandedly. Against others, it’s going to go down like a punk, so just be smart when you use it.
Special CharactersSpoiler
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Nemesor Zahndrekh:A favorite of many, he’s a Warlord with a bag of tricks. His wargear isn’t particularly impressive offensively – despite having an Overlord’s statline, he only took a Staff of Light. But, he did bring 2+/4++, so he’s hard to take down. His big thing is his two special rules.
His ability to steal special rules is occasionally useful, but not something you plan around. It’s pretty darn amusing to get Tank Hunters if you’re in a blob of Gauss, though. More important is his ability to swap Warlord Traits. This means you can basically build an army around a Warlord Trait and know that Zahndrekh will have it starting on T2. So, if you’re going Reserve heavy, Zahndrekh can have Reserve Manipulation on T2 for all your Flyers, for example.
On the whole, while he has good strategical value, if you’re not planning on getting a specific Warlord trait and would rather have the offensive power, he might not be the best choice. But, if you want to be a man with a plan, there’s no one better for Necrons (and most other armies, for that matter).
Vargard Obryn: A Lord who bumped up his WS and Attacks. He packed a 2+, but not an Invuln save (still not too much of an issue with RP), so he’s pretty great at fighting things. If you get him in a challenge with an enemy who doesn’t have AP2, he’s going to be the best thing in the game. Otherwise, he’s merely pretty darn good.
His one-time teleport is pretty neat, you can use it to jump up a Deathstar or move some Troops onto an objective across the map. Just beware that unless you manage to pull off the Zahndrekh/Obyron combo, that scatters can spell doom for you.
Illuminor Szeras: A 2 Wound, 3+, 4 Attack (????) Cryptek. He has a nice gun, and can boost a unit of Warriors or Immortals (T5 and BS5 are amazing, S5 is… sad), and gives out his RP +1 in a bubble. He also causes Fear, for whatever that’s worth (not much).
He’s a great choice for gunline/Silver Tide Necrons, as you can increase the survival of multiple units while also providing a solid anti-tank gun. Not the worst choice, but Decurion does what his Aura does, and without Split Fire his gun is a bit awkward. He has Eternal Warrior as his Trait, which is good for T4, but at only 2 Wounds, if he’s gonna die… he’s gonna die.
Orikan the Diviner: The other Cryptek Special character. Also gained a wound off the stock, and again has Eternal Warrior, but got 4++. However, his kit is very different and very strong. First, his rerolls of 1s on saves is the basis for a lot of Deathstars. Anything that’s tough, is now tougher (on top of his +1 RP bonus as a Cryptek). His weapon is AP2 and rerolls hits, which is really nice if you’re already in said Deathstar.
His trademark thing, however, is when The Stars Align and he gets a C’tan statline. Now, his rerolling AP2 weapon hits at S7 with 4 attacks, and anything he fights becomes pretty scared. Unfortunately, random as it is, you can’t really count on it all the time. Still, he’s a durable little bugger and makes your hard to kill army even harder to kill.
Anrakyr the Traveler: He brought a Warscythe and Tachyon Arrow. That’s… it. That’s it? That’s not good. He has Counter Attack and Furious Charge, and gives them to a unit of Immortals as well. So… you can make a unit of Hero Immortals that are slightly better than a given Space Marine in Assault. His ability to fire an enemy vehicles’ gun is pretty alright, but only works half the time and can’t turn the vehicle to shoot something if nothing is in range.
Overall, he’s not that great. His Warlord Trait is Relentless in 12”, which would be nice… if the Decurion didn’t give everything Relentless.
Trazyn the Infinite: Another Overlord who decided not to bring anything good. No 2+, no 4++, no Warscythe. He does have the Eternal Warrior Trait, though, which is good. His weapon is good at clearing out hordes, but honestly unless you fight exclusively Orks or Tyranids that isn’t that important.
His ability to come back from the dead would be great if it wasn’t only on non-named Characters. So, unless you’re running a Royal Court, he’s basically going to stay dead. Pass.
TroopsSpoiler
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Necron Warriors: For 13 points, you’ve got most of the durability of a Space Marine, and a weapon that makes a boltgun look obsolete. Definitely a solid choice. For all your tank-killing needs. These guys in a Deucrion will make your opponent pull their hair out, as they watch the cheapest units in your book take more shots to kill than they have any right to.
Necron Immortals: Beefier Warriors, getting a 3+ and two stronger gun options. Gauss is better almost all of the time, but Tesla is pretty good if you’re just going to sit back on an objective and take pot-shots. The math works out that Gauss is always better in the 12” range, but outside of that, Tesla does slightly more damage. But, of course, Gauss is better against Vehicles, so pick and choose.
Immortals are now the premier way to take Night Scythes, as they can be taken in units of 5. Dropping a min unit out of a Scythe onto an objective and into Rapid Fire range is pretty not terrible, especially if they’re toting a shooty IC with them.
ElitesSpoiler
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Deathmarks: 24” sniper rifles? That rapid fire? What a bizarre weapon. They have Deep Strike, and automatically wound on 2s on the turn they come in as such. Unfortunately, with no scatter reduction, that can be risky, but the potential payoff is pretty large. Small, elite unit that you want dead? Wound it on 2s that are AP2 on 6s. Bonus points if you can stick a DLord with them for that sweet PE(Everything).
The ability to “Intercept” enemy Deep Strikers is pretty nice, as you can try to pick off that Drop Pod’s unit (hello Skyhammer!), and get to shoot before they can shoot you back. They’re a pretty solid suicide unit, as far as these things go.
THE GIMMICK: Deathmarks have a gimmick. It’s not a broken one, but it is pretty nice. Basically, any unit that isn’t Necrons counts as an “enemy unit”. Even the ones you control, via Allies. So, if you can bring down an Allied Deep Striker on Turn 1 (say, in a Drop Pod), then you can bring in any number of Deathmarks in afterwards. That can be a pretty fun Alpha Strike – if you go first, watch as your opponent says goodbye to their fancy Deathstar/Gargantuan before it can buff itself up or even move.
Lychguard: Lychguard are a pretty great Assault unit. RP is much better for Assault units than it was in previous versions, and they got some good options. Either they get the ever amazing Warscythes in a unit, or they can get 3++ and Power Swords to be darn near unkillable and still pretty good at chopping things. Use Shields in conjunction with Orikan for the lovely 3++ rerolling 1s + buffed RP.
Their major downside is a slow speed. MTC from the Decurion helps, and you can always add the Veil or Obyron to teleport them, while the safer (but slower) solution is just to give them a Night Scythe. While they can footslog pretty safely, an Assault unit that isn’t Assaulting is not that great.
Triarch Praetorians: Fast versions of Lychguard… sorta. They trade the power of the Warscythe and the tanking prowess of the Shield for Jump, Fearless, and shooting weapons. Not a terrible trade. The guns aren’t bad (either S5 AP2, or a S6 pistol for an extra attack), and they’re pretty good in Assault (either 2 S5 AP2 Attacks or 3 S5 Rending attacks) with the ability to get there faster than Lychguard. The only issue is trying to get a character with them if you want one, but they’re pretty ok by themselves.
C’tan Shard of the Nightbringer: Expensive. But, pretty ok for the cost. WS6 Fleshbane MCs are really hard to beat in Assault if they can get there. Yes, the randomness on the shooting powers sucks, but honestly they’re all pretty good as long as you’re not shooting at certain units.
His most broken aspect is the Gaze of Death, which (RAW) is just insane. Doesn’t roll to hit, can be used against enemies locked in combat, can be used while the Nightbringer is himself in combat – it just does 3d6 – LD. If he gets within 12” of the enemy, they better start being afraid.
C’tan Shard of the Deciever: For the same price of the Nightbringer, you get less Assault power and more trickiness. Slightly better at shooting is alright, and the ability to redeploy a handful of units can come in handy if you go first, but overall the Nightbringer blows it out of the water in effectiveness.
You can bring both and get better mileage out of Gaze of Death as well as more rolls on the Powers table, but that’s a lot of points on C’tan for only marginally increased effectiveness.
Flayed Ones: An assault unit with I2 isn’t that great… except that when Necrons do it, we can survive until then. 75% wound ignoring against most attacks if you’re in a Decurion. On a 13pt model. And then once it gets to I2, they have 4 attacks each at AP5 and with Shred. Goodbye, tarpits. And with that number of attacks, goodbye lots of other things as well. A big blob can deal with quite a lot of things (though is still only S4).
Infiltrate is pretty good to have, as it gets your Assault units close to the action. Just be wary that you don’t get blown away before they can charge on T2.
Triarch Stalkers: AV 13 walkers are always decent, although you’re vulnerable to melta bombs and power fists still. And as the only non-skimmer vehicle, it can’t Jink to save itself. The +1 BS bubble is great (combine with Destroyers for fun times), but more often than not these things die really quickly as soon as people realize they’re buffing your army and don’t have any saves of their own. Still, a unit of them can buff a good portion of your army while being pretty spread out, so if you want to make a better Shooting Necron army, these are a good addition.
Fast AttackSpoiler
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Canoptek Wraiths: Most people consider these the best unit in the book. And they would not be entirely wrong – T5, W2, 3++, Rending Beasts is about as good of a statline as you can get for an Assault unit in any book, and then you add 3 S6 attacks each. They lack RP unless you take the Formation, but honestly they’re pretty fine without it (and even better with it).
Whip Coils are a nice buy, the Pistols are fairly worthless in my book, and the Transdimensional Beamers are a nice gimmick gun. Only useful in the Harvest, but then they have the potential to do some serious damage to MCs and ICs. Stick in a DLord for the rerolls and get a nice sensible chuckle as your Wraith shoots a Trygon to death in one shot.
Canoptek Scarabs: Scarabs aren’t bad, just situational, as all Swarms are. Against Blasts/Flamers/S6, they’re going to die in droves. Against small arms fire, they’re actually not bad, especially if you put them in a Harvest for RP. They’re fast, cheap, and you can add more with Spyders. They’re basically your fodder in most situations, and are able to strip Vehicles to parts in a matter of moments if given the chance.
Tomb Blades: Significantly good in 7e. Significantly great in a Decurion, where they gain MTC and 4+ RP and become amazing MSU units that are difficult to kill for a unit of 3 and have the capability for Ignores Cover AP4 guns, which can scare things like Tau, Guard, Eldar, and Nids. For just 3+ and Ignores Cover, you’re looking at 22pts a bike, which is really cheap for what they are.
Necron Destroyers: S5 AP3 guns on a tough Jet Pack body. Look at your Tau friend’s Battle Suits. Now look at your Destroyers. We have no weapon variety, but we’re damn hard to kill and can JSJ as we want. MEQ armies have veritable nightmares about these guys, and they’re well worth the cost.
Ghost Ark: Warriors and HQs only. Unfortunately, as Warriors only come in units of 10+ now, it’s more like Warriors OR HQs only. Still, for Warriors, it’s a nice choice. A durable boat to carry them around in that also fixes them up. Often it’s a good idea to bring two units of Warriors – one big one, one in a Ghost Ark healing them and shooting out of it.
Night Scythe: Transporting Flyer. Nice. Doesn’t have to Hover to unload. Very nice. Has decent guns and disembarked units can fire normally. Extremely nice. A unit of Immortals or Warriors getting out of this thing can threaten specific targets quite well, while also getting to any point on the map they want. It’s one of the few ways we get reliable mobility, but they get better as you get more. That can get to be a lot of points… but if you’re flying CronAir, then it may very well be worth it.
Heavy SupportSpoiler
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Doomsday Ark: Well… The Doomsday ark is, for the most part, a Vindicator of sorts. Both weapon profiles are ok, and it’s a relatively durable vehicle. It’s nothing special, a bit too expensive to bring 3 and build an army around, but they pack a punch if left alone for too long.
Note: Bring 2-3 and put them on a Skysheild Landing Pad. 4++ on an AV13 vehicle that shoots at board length makes them significantly better. Still not the best vehicle in the game, but pretty darn good.
Annihilation Barges: Decent gunboats. Tesla Destructors are a good gun, but with the changes from last edition (more expensive, no extra shots when snap-shooting), it’s hard to justify spamming them as much as you could before. Not bad, if you use them, but putting 3 on the table is no longer the power-play that it used to be.
Monolith: Very metagame dependent, but some armies just can’t handle AV14. If they can, it’s basically useless. If they can’t, then it’s not going to die ever. It has what is kind of a Leman Russ Battle Cannon, and while that’s a good gun for killing Marines, it’s not particularly a 200 point gun. If you take 3 of them and manage to face someone who can’t deal with them, then you’re going to feel like a boss. If a Drop Pod comes down and it gets melta’d on turn 1, you’re going to feel like a sucker.
Doom Scythe: Zippy and shooty. S10 AP1 Lance is so strong that it might as well say “automatically penetrates”, but then again, since you don’t have Vector Dancer and can never Hover, there’s a very real chance this guy will only get one or two shots off per game, and not always at targets that he’d like to. If you’re taking one, take 2-3 so you can zoom them on and delete a unit per turn.
Canoptek Spyder: A very, very cheap monstrous creature. 50 points for a T6 monstrous creature with 3 wounds and a 3+ armor save is a steal. And you can quickly make some of those points back on turn 1 by making scarabs. The Canoptek Spyder is also the only Pscychic defense you have in low point games where allies aren’t practical. The gun you can give them is nothing to sneeze at – a S6 Blast is a decent gun against lots of armies. A strong choice, overall, especially if you’re bringing Scarabs to boost.
Transcendent C’tan: For 10 points more than either of the other Shards, you get +1 W and S, Deep Strike, and an aura of Difficult Terrain. That’s… alright. It’s no better or worse than the Deceiver, in my opinion. Neither are as good as the Nigthbringer (just due to Gaze and Fleshbane), and it’s more expensive for just the ability to pop in via DS. But, the Nightbringer can do that with the Conclave, so… eh. It’s not particularly good.
Heavy Destroyers: Destroyers, but with a smaller unit size and bigger guns. 36” Lascannons that also have PE(Everything) isn’t bad, especially when you use them to jump in and out of cover. These are really our most useful tools against high Toughness enemies and as hard anti-tank guns. Cheaper than the vehicle options and more mobile, they truly shine at picking off hard targets and turning vehicles to ash.
Lords of WarSpoiler
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Imotekh the Stormlord: Your character who isn’t really a LoW but has to be here for fluff reasons. Imotekh is… not terrible. He has good defensive Wargear (2+/4++/IWND), and his Staff of Light is stronger than most. He has the Reserve Manipulation/Seize the Initiative warlord trait, which is nice, and once per game has an AoE zappy attack that can deal some damage but isn’t that great. The ability to re-roll scatters for Deep Striking Flayed Ones would be great if they weren’t usually Outflanking or Infiltrating.
If you want to take him, he can do some good things. But if you want a durable Warlord that can help you get Flyers in, Zahndrekh does the same thing for less and has more versatility.
Obelisk: A big brick. Basically, the Monolith decided to trade its guns for more HP, SHV, and Tesla Spheres. It can start with a 3++ and keep it as long as it doesn’t move or shoot, which can be nice, and Gravity Pulse is a good way to scare off Skimmers/Jetbikes. But, overall, 300 points can get you a lot more.
Tesseract Vault: 550 points for 1 randomized shot per turn. You’re better off using it to run forward and suicide with the Strength D explosion.
FormationsSpoiler
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Formations really are the name of the game nowadays, and Necrons have among some of the best. Whether you want assault, shooting, or just utility, there’s something here for everyone.
Decurion: The big bad Detachment that everyone fears. Everything gets +1 to RP and vehicles ignore Crew Stunned. Not a bad bonus, though losing out on ObSec can be hard. Still, everything in your army from Warriors to Lychguard are going to be bloody hard to kill, and will often end up with games where even if you lose, you’ve only removed a fraction of your models.
Reclamation Legion: Basic formation, basically the only reason you take this is if you’re going for a Decurion. I don’t really see a reason to take one by itself. That said, it’s nice. The reroll on RP is another level of staying power, and MTC/Relentless on everything makes your Warriors amazing at just stomping up the table and wrecking things that need to be wrecked.
Royal Court: If you need extra Characters, get ‘em here. Of course, it gets expensive quickly, but there’s no better way at filling out that Deathstar or getting extra Warscythes/Chronometrons/Res Orbs than going this route.
Judicator Battalion: One of those things where if you’re taking Praetorians, you should probably just consider this anyway as a Stalker is a cheap tax to give them MTC (very important on Jump). The rerolls are nice too, but as I said above, don’t expect the Stalker to survive very long unless you shell out and put it in a unit and maybe give them HGCs.
Destroyer Cult: One of the best Formations in the book, if not in the game. Giving Destroyers MTC makes their JSJ even better (they should never be without a save), and their shooting goes from good to amazing really quickly. However, it gets expensive fast (3 units of 3 + Lord, any Heavies or Lord upgrades you take), so if you’re getting this it’s basically the core of your army.
Canoptek Harvest: The one that everyone loves to complain about. Do note that you can only take 1 Spyder, despite some people yelling otherwise. Giving Wraiths RP is great, but once the Spyder dies they’re just Wraiths. Not that that’s a bad thing, Wraiths are still great, and giving them Relentless means you can fire off those Transdimensional Beamers at full BS. Just be careful with the Spyder, you want it to survive as long as possible while still giving out that bubble.
Annihilation Nexus: Not great. It’s the only way to get a lot of non-Ghost Ark AV13 in a Decurion, but it doesn’t do much. As above, ABarges are ok but not great, and DArks want to be spammed more than just taken one at a time. The bonus is pretty forgettable. As it requires you to cluster your 24” gunboats next to the massive artillery piece that wants to be in the back of the board. And often, if you take a pen on a valuable target that’s also Open Topped like the DArk, it doesn’t often survive long enough to get QS back.
Deathbringer Flight: Doom Scythes are alright. The BS increase on the Ray occasionally is useful, and the LD debuff is not nothing (though extremely hard to make use of). If you want lots of Doom Scythes, this is how you do it, basically.
Living Tomb: Now this one is interesting. If you’re bringing an Obelisk, consider just running this, as auto T2 DS is pretty solid. Yeah, it’s a big base and has no scatter reduction itself, but it has 24” guns and is really hard to shoot down, so any open ground is usually pretty good for it. The Monolith portion actually makes Monoliths kinda good, since no-scatter DS and spitting out units can be really strong. If you have Reserve Manipuation with Zahndrekh or Imotekh (and/or a Comms), this can be a pretty strong in-your-face Turn 2 play.
Forgeworld: IA12 and Dark HarvestSpoiler
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Dark Harvest: An alternate army for Necrons, as Forgeworld tends to do. The highlights include Flayed Ones as Troops and more of a focus on Assault (with the ability to buy Shred for a lot of units), but it’s a bit janky right now. See, with the 7e update, GW broke a lot of things in here. Also, RAW, many of the Dark Harvest units still use the old statlines, and the old Flayed One statline didn’t have two weapons or Shred. So… poor. It also has a lot of things that don’t really work if you compare codex rules to FW references, but, if your group is ok with some House Ruling, it can be pretty good.
The two special characters are great – Toholk is a good Cryptek special character who makes AV13 spam lists even stronger, and Kutlakh is a murder machine. Shame you can’t take either in a regular Necron CAD, Kutlakh would be an auto-include in many armies.
The following units can be taken in a Necron army:
Elite
Tomb Stalker: Big millipede looking MC. Durable against Poison and Fleshbane and T7 4W makes it pretty hardy against small arms fire, but it lacks a lot of efficiency for the cost. Decent in Assault with 4 Attacks and Rampage, and it has Deep Strike and Outflank to get across the board, but it’s still only moving 6” and with no Invuln save, it’s more of a Distraction Carnifex than a board killer. You can give it IWND to make it last a bit longer, or the Gloom Prism (the old one that “stacks” with DtW), just be careful how much you’re putting into this one model.
Fast Attack
Canoptek Acanthrites: The Wraith’s cousin. For 10 points more, you get the same statline, except with an extra wound and trades 3++ and 1 attack for Stealth. If that doesn’t seem worthwhile… well it just gets worse. They’re Jump and without Wraithflight, they’re prone to DT tests.
Their gun is supposed to make up for it. S6 AP2 Meltaguns often… don’t. For the same price you can get Wraiths with Transdimensional Beamers, which are probably just better overall.
Heavy Support
Tomb Sentinel: Similar to the Tomb Stalker, but at 10 points less and trades the two little guns for one big gun that has special rules. The unit must take a Strength test or be removed. But, the type of things that you want to “remove with no saves allowed” have high Strengths anyway, so it’s kinda wasted. It’s kinda good if you can pick off an HQ non-MC with it, but overall I find the Tomb Stalker better since it relies less on the gimmick gun and more on just having good Assault.
Tesseract Ark: 7e broke this. The new Quantum Shielding rule sets your AV to 13, whereas this used to have AV14 until penned. So, that sucks. But, if you can convince someone to use the AV14 QS, it’s actually not too bad. It has a 5++ and forces Disordered Charges on itself.
The gun is farily versatile. 3 shot Plasma Cannon, or AP3 Flamer, or a 24” beam of Difficult Terrain and general horde damage. Not to mention that it has the AP3 guns of a Destroyer on it. Overall, it’s not too bad other than the QS breaking, but it is quite expensive, so make sure you run it in an AV13 list where it is less likely to get instagibbed by enemy anti-tank.
Night Shroud Bomber: Another flyer to go with our already powerful ones. Some people really dislike bombers, but this one is quite good. Large Blast, S10 AP1 with Blind and Pinning will mess up a lot of things. Not to mention that Bombs can be dropped on Invisible units, which is always a plus for weaponry. It’s also tougher than the other flyers, with an extra AV and HP, so it’s a bit harder to bring down, just beware that AV12 isn’t exactly a Land Raider and that Skyfire Lascannons or Autocannons will still ruin his day. Keep the price in mind and the fact that this’ll probably need to fly off the board at least once, so there’s a good chance that it might not do as much as other equivalently priced options.
Sentry Pylons: Crew-less Artillery. Not bad. Rather expensive, but the guns are very powerful and the T7 W3 3+ statlines are pretty decent for sticking around.
-Gauss Exterminator: The stock option, used to be really good when Skyfire + Interceptor meant it could shoot at ground targets too. Now, it’s less so since it just makes them glorified AA guns.
-Heat Cannon: 36” small blast Melta with 2 shots each. Now that’s some artillery. Unfortunately, it’s some pretty expensive artillery, and you need to get within 18” to use that Melta special rule. Still, it’s a nice stationary gunline that will scare the crap out of most anything that isn’t Invisible or a big fearless blob.
-Focussed Death Ray: For a slight points upgrade from stock, get a laser of doom. S10 AP1 that auto hits any model twice, doesn’t care about Invis, and has a potentially huge range to do so in is not a bad thing. However, if the dice hate you the range can be small, and as it is Heavy, it can’t move and Shoot unless you have the Warlord Trait that gives you Relentless. Potentially extremely powerful – but requires a sizeable investment to make work.
Lords of War
Gauss Pylon: The big boomer. Beams of death for all to fear. 3 Shots at D with a range of nearly two boards. 5++ for all nearby Necrons, including itself. Deep Strike with scatter reduction and the ability to just kill dudes. AV14 all around Superheavy with 6HP and – wait what? Skyfire/Interceptor? Well that might have been fine and dandy in 6e, but you know what that means now? This is over 400 points of useless, which is a real pity.
Shield of Baal: ExterminatusSpoiler
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This is a BA/IG/Necron/Tyranid campaign. The stuff inside is alright for Necrons, but has somewhat limited use overall. However, there are a couple gems, and sometimes it’s nice to run something that isn’t a Decurion.
Warlord Traits: Only usable if your warlord is part of the Mephrit Detachment or one of the Formations.
-Eternal Warrior is pretty good.
-Warlord’s melee weapons have Haywire. Considering your melee weapon is usually a Warscythe, I don’t even know how that works.
-May choose to reroll failed LD tests in a bubble. Always nice.
-Adamantium Will on the Warlord. Eeh, pretty situational but nice if you’re facing off against GK or Daemons.
-Hatred for the Warlord and his unit. Nice if you get it with a Deathstar.
- IWND. One of the best ones here… unless you purchased a Phylactery in which case it’s pretty pointless.
Artifacts: RAW (and how most people run it), these are not exclusive with the book Artifacts, so you can have one from each list per character. Still one of each per army, though.
-The God Shackle: +1S/T on a C’tan shard as long as the Cryptek holding it is alive. That’s not bad by half – T8 makes the C’tan immune to most small arms fire. Works well in conjunction with the Conclave below.
-Edge of Eternity: For the same price as a Warscythe, you get a Warscythe with Precision Strikes (2+), which no one still knows what that means. I would imagine it means you always have Precision Strikes, but you never hit on a 2, so why is it 2+? Just confusing all around. I guess take it if you’re getting a Warscythe and don’t have the points for Voidreaper, just get ready to bicker about the rules.
-Solar Thermasite: +1S on all weapons and reroll saving throws of 1. This is a really good tool for a beatstick Overlord, especially since you can have both it and Nightmare Shroud for 2+ rerollable without Orikan. Not to mention that it makes your Warscythe S8 Armorbane, which almost feels unfair at that point. It can also be worth taking on a Staff of Light character, since a S6 Staff is nothing to sneeze at, but that can be a pretty hard sell.
Mephrit Dynasty Cohort: A different option from the CAD. You lose ObSec, but gain rerolling 1s on RP. You also need 1 more Compulsory Troop, but can go up to 8 Troops. This is actually a decent option for a Silver Tide list – lots of models, all getting rerolls (a nice place to take Szeras for his RP+ bubble), but generally not better than just a CAD or Decurion. Still, it’s a way to get access to the Artifacts if you really want them.
Conclave of the Burning One: The best formation for this book. C’tan with FNP, T7 (or T8) Crypteks, lots of wargear options, all good things. A properly kitted out one is a very scary Deathstar. Make sure one of the Crypteks takes the God Shackle. A Veil is pretty nice here as well, allowing you to jump your Nightbringer into the enemy’s line and then Gaze of Death what he wants.
Zarathusa’s Royal Decurion: It’s one of those “this Formation is really a full army” type deals. A bit of everything, and the benefit that you can get army wide special rules on each turn. If you have exactly these models and don’t want to bring anything else, you could do worse. But, it’s nothing special.
Anrakyr’s Strategic Decurion: Same thing, but a bit cheaper, so you can take it alongside another small Formation. You can reroll Seize and Reserves as long as Anrakyr survives… that’s not bad but it’s really just not a good choice overall since you’re stuck with what it makes you take and get neither ObSec nor 4+ RP.
AlliesSpoiler
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Necrons don’t particularly need Allies. But, we do lack things like Special/Heavy weapons en masse, we don’t really have cheap blobs of dudes, and we don’t have any Psykers. Allies can help that, if you want to go down that path.
Tau: More guns for your guns. Here, what you’re really looking at is if you want their heavier things (Riptides, Broadsides, Ghostkeels, Stormsurge) with you, as most other options you have similar if not better versions of. If you want a unit of Riptides in your army, then yeah go for it. Not bad if you’re going Assault focused and want a long-range gunline that the rest of the book doesn’t provide.
CSM: A cheap way for Necrons to access Psykers. Most of the Troop options we have better versions of (who doesn’t?) but things like Havocs, Obliterators, and Heldrakes have access to guns that complement our own quite well. Getting a Daemon Prince is not a bad idea, and you can use it to Summon as well! If, you know, you want to be that guy.
KDK: CSM but Khorne. If you don't want to use Wraiths, these guys are a great way to get fast, powerful Assault with Hounds, Lords, Heralds, and Bloodthirsters. You're clearly not taking them for their guns, so capitalize on your own shooting while Khorne runs up and ties up/kills everything that you don't want to shoot.
Renegades: A Forgeworld army, if your meta allows it. Basically, cheaper but worse Imperial Guard. If you want lots of cheap bodies, artillery, and tanks, these guys can do it. Using their blobs and Artillery to camp backfield objectives while you play the midfield game is a perfectly reasonable use of these guys.
Orks: Desperate Allies, so be careful of OEO. Blobs of cheap units and Powerklaws are the things we get mileage out of here. They can be the frontline while our mid-range units stand behind and pick off things that they can’t tie up.
Come the Apocalypse: I don’t like CtA allies. But, if you want to use them, you can use them.
-Space Marines (and BA/DA): Easy to work with the Deployment issue. Either put all your Necrons in Flyers, or put all the Marines in Drop Pods. Getting the special weapons like Melta and Grav is nice here, since we don’t have anything similar.
-Grey Knights: Can have them all in Deep Strike, and they give you a bunch of Psychic Dice. Dreadknights are scary.
-Imperial Guard: Just go Renegades. If you really, really want Guard for whatever reason, then just plop them in a corner with long range guns and have a 30 man blob squat objectives while the rest of your army does things in the midfield. Also, decent flyers.
-Sisters of Battle: Why
-Daemons: Basically, if you’re doing this, just bring a bunch of FMCs and let them fly around blasting out Psychic dice and possibly summoning. Which they do better than CSM, but with the issue of CtA, so balance that out in your mind.
-Eldar: Everything in the Eldar book is good. Take Fire Dragons for Melta or Wraithguard/Knights for D and GCs. Farseer Psykerstars are good too. But why are you doing this? It just doesn’t make sense.
-Dark Eldar: WHY
-Imperial Knights: Sure. Just have the Shooty Knight sit behind you with the RFBC and Dakka gun, or have one of the other ones charge ahead and Stomp things that get in your way.
-AdMech: Special weapons galore. Actually a bit fluffy, as well. Grav guns and Haywire guns help shore up the holes in your armory quite well.
-Tyranids: Flyrants are good, we get it. Otherwise, why are you taking them?
Assassins and Inquisition: Come the Apocalypse - but a special case. As they are/can be run as single-unit allies, you can just tack them on and bring one guy off by himself while getting the benefit. It's much more manageable than other CtA allies, for the most part.
-Culexus: Anti-psyker, which we lack in droves. Really good if you hate dealing with enemy Psychic deathballs, but a bit harder to use for us since we can't give him a Drop Pod (though I guess you could get a SM allied for one... but that's starting to get silly for a Necron army), but if you can Infiltrate him in tough terrain you'll create a bubble where that Deathstar will fear to tread. Bonus points if you make him a Pariah.
-Calladius: The super-infiltrator, easy to use since you can just place her on the board or Outflank on the enemy's board edge. Really good for threatening or eliminating that scary unit in the back line that we would otherwise having trouble getting to. Relatively cheap for a back-field threat that people have to deal with or die.
-Vindicare: Sniper. Set him up in some terrain (preferably somewhere tall) and have him start plinking off enemies. This is nice since we don't really have any super long range single target focus (our range is mostly on the DArk). Bonus points for modeling a tricked-out Deathmark.
-Eversor: Um, pretty bad. He's the psycho charging Assault dude, but honestly he's not even that good at it in Imperial lists and you have Wraiths. Pass.
-Inquisitor: Coteaz on a gun emplacement for his Interceptor++ and Seize denial/bonus, or things like Servo Skulls to deny Scout and the like is what you're looking for here. Easy to bring, but it's not a whole lot.
Re: Warhammer 40K Tabletop XXIV: ...And They Shall Know No Fluff
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