The Necrons are the hot faction in Warhammer 40k (with permission from the everlasting Space Marines). For many of you just starting out with this game, this is a great time to start playing with them, whether it’s because you picked up the Indomitus box with a brother or colleague, or one of the 9th Edition starter packs.
Necrons never leave anyone indifferent
Although I have been playing with Blood Angels for several years and editions, the Necrons have always caught my attention, so I am one of those who have taken advantage of the situation to start collecting another army. And by the way, I’ve played some first games.
So I’m not going to pretend I’m an experienced Necron player, because I’m not. But I do find it interesting to share my point of view on how to start playing (and who says to play says to collect) this faction, now that it is so powerful.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Necrons
The first thing is to understand what the essence of the Necrons is. This is a reasonably tough faction: their most basic models (the Necron Warriors) have R4 and save 4+. Although they only have 1 wound, in this sense they are just as tough as a marine.
But above all they stand out for their resurrection protocols and for the living metal rule.
Let’s see how the protocols work: when a Necron unit suffers losses as a result of an attack, roll 1 dice for each lost wound, and 5+ these dice accumulate; if the accumulated dice total equals a model’s wound cost, this model is brought back to life.
This, in practice, means that for a unit of necrons, 1 out of 3 will revive (it can be more, using special combos). This makes them especially hard to kill, and is one of the exceptions in this edition where bigger units are worth taking.
As for living metal, it’s as simple as units with multiwounds regenerating, recovering 1 wound each turn. Although it is not as powerful as the revive protocols, the concept is the same: if the opponent fails to kill a unit / model, it will be reinforced in the next turn.
What is the weak point? Psychic Powers: Necrons do not have psychics and are therefore lame in this sense. Although the C’tan have their own powers, they function in a different way. The reality is that Necrons have little to no defense against psychics, in fact the best way to kill Necrons is to kill them without attacks (ie with psychic powers), in such a way that the revive protocols are not activated.
How to Play Necrons: First units
As in any faction, the base of any list is the troops.
Here we have two options: the necron warriors and the immortals. These are somewhat tougher than the necrons because they have R5, but in their case I don’t see the point of playing large units because the maximum is 10. The warriors, on the other hand, repeat the 1s when rolling the command protocols. So they’ll work best in massive numbers: units of 20 (watch out for opponent’s blast weapons and consistency).
I prefer the warriors, but if someone wants to play with the minimum, thinking both about investing the minimum points in troop units and with small units, then the best are the immortals.
Necron warriors come in the Indomitus or starter boxes, by the way, so they’re perfect for building this base.
And then what? Well, it’s time to talk about the characters: the Headquarters is another obligation, and here we will have to start thinking about our tactics. I am not going to go into detail about the VIPs (named characters) because each one belongs to his father and his mother, they belong to a specific dynasty or are dynastic agents (they go free), and they have very specific mechanics. But if we look at the basic CG options, we have the following:
- Nobles: A Lord, Overlord, or a Catacomb Command Platform. It seems obligatory to take a noble on the list , because they activate the command protocols and because they can carry resurrection orbs, which enhance the resurrection protocols. Of all the nobles available, to taste: if we don’t take a VIP (like Imotekh, for example), I recommend the Command Platform for toughness and movement. In the Indomitus box comes an Overlord, which is also a good option.
- Cryptechnologists: specialists who empower the rest of the army in one way or another. We have the technomancer (boosts canoptic units), psychomancer (bitch the opponent), chronomancer (enhances charges, so better for melee) and plasmanante (damage to the opponent).
- Others: Depends on the rest of the list. For example, a Skorpekh Lord, a Royal Guard or a Lokhust Lord.
That is to say, I believe that any list has to start with a Noble and then it depends on our strategy: if we are going to assault, if we are going to use canoptic units, etc. When in doubt, a Crypttechnologist or a Royal Guard (which enhances movement) are always good choices. In the Indomitus box comes a Royal Guard and a Plasmant.
With this we would already have a base for a battalion. For example this minilist:
Overlord with Resurrection Orb - 125p Royal Guard - 75p Necron Guards x20 - 260p Necron Guards x20 - 260p Necron Guards x20 - 260p
That is already a good 980 points, but they are the base on which to build the rest. If we don’t feel comfortable with so much miniatures, the alternative is this:
Overlord - 95p Plasmante - 70p Immortals x5 - 85p Immortals x5 - 85p Immortals x5 - 85p
Only 420 points. Leaving much more space for the rest of the list, but yes, much looser.
Rest of the list
There are endless options. But in order to expand the collection, I am going to try to group them all by categories so that each one can see where to go.
cult of destruction
- Lord Skorpekh or Lord Lokhust: mandatory HQ option if we are going to use with the cult of destruction. In the Indomitus box comes a Skorpekh.
- Skorpekh Destroyers: Very durable and hit very hard on assault. Almost forced to take a Skorpekh Lord with them. These come in the Indomitus box.
- Ophidian destroyers: combat destroyers. They have DR. Personally, between these and the Skorpekh I prefer the latter because they already come in the Indomitus box. But watch out for DR.
- Cursed Destroyer: A character who does 6 shots and is very annoying.
- Lokhust Destroyers (and Heavy) – More shooting destroyers. These are the usual ones.
canoptics
- Spiders: units of 1 to 3 flying monsters that shoot and stick and also resurrect beetles. Good idea to use them in pairs.
- Beetles: flying swarms. They only hit melee, but they are cheap, fast, and annoying.
- Specters: very fast and very deadly in melee, and very tough thanks to his 3H and invulnerable save.
- Resuscitator: Vehicle that does not threaten almost anything, but improves resuscitation protocols. It comes in the Indomitus box, but it’s on the wrong side because it’s too soft.
c’tan
There are four options. They are very broken, especially the Nightbringer. Personally I recommend not focusing the lists on their use, since it is a matter of time before they are adjusted by GW so as not to be so broken.
In any case, you can only take one per detachment, but it’s worth it: they’re a monster that’s going to mess things up in their style.
Also, magnificent miniatures.
Vehicles
- Scythes of death and night : flying, the famous croissants. Most interesting is the gimmick where a basic unit in reserve can be set up 3″ from the scythe but no more than 9″ from the opponent, so you can set up an assault unit on their face.
- Triarch Stalkers: A 12H and R6 vehicle (soft) but with the wonderful quantum shields and shoots a lot.
- Annihilation Platforms: Like the stalkers, lots of shooting and with quantum shields.
- Ark of Extermination: Another vehicle with a lot of shooting and quantum shields, and with 14H.
- Ghost Ark – Much less shooting, but carrying ability.
Others
- Skinners: large units (I mean with many models) that hit a lot, have DR and take leadership away from the opponent.
- Blades of the necropolis: bikes, very good at taking distant targets and reasonable shooting.
- Praetorians of the Triarch: Heavy infantry (R5 2H) quite fast (they move 10″) that shoot well and fight well. Although I think there are better options in the codex.
- Necroguards: heavy infantry melee only. With shield they go on 2+/4++ saves, so they can be very tough.
- Omnicides: snipers (can target characters). They’re not much, honestly.
super heavy
I’m not going to go into detail because if you’re starting the collection, I personally think you shouldn’t focus on these: huge miniatures (watch out for the price) with a lot of destruction capacity and very tough.
But if you are thinking of buying one, without a doubt the recommendation is the Silent King, a brand new miniature that has just arrived with force. They are 450 points but they are worth it.
Dynasties
Perhaps before deciding where you are going to shoot, you should review the dynasties, to see which one will be the one that convinces you the most. Again without going into too much detail, and without counting the dynastic traditions by which you can make a custom dynasty, the options are the following:
- Mephrit – Shooting specialists, especially at close range.
- Novokh: the best to the assault.
- Nephrek: translocation specialists, which is an advance ignoring miniatures. In other words, very good mobility.
- Nihilak: everything has an assured objective. Also by stratagem they can perform actions and shoot. This is probably the most popular dynasty today.
- Szarekhan: no pain 5+ against mortals (very good against psychics, who can also be nullified by stratagem) and repetitions to wound. They have the Silent King Szarekh.
- Sautekh: Improve rapid fire range to 18″, and better on morale rolls. They have Imotekh, Obyron and Zandrekh.
The truth is that there is no bad dynasty. If you’re going to play Silent King, you obviously have to pick Szarekhan; and the most versatile is Nihilak. But any choice is good if it suits your playstyle.
How to play with necrons?
I will not get tired of repeating it: the ninth edition is won by controlling the table. You have to control objectives and take actions. And for this there are three keys: stamina (the entire Necron army has it, so good to go), mobility and an assured objective (hence why Nihilak is so popular).
Starting from the base that I have explained before (the minimum to build a battalion), it remains to be seen how we are going to take advantage of the rest of the list.
We should wear a C’tan while they work so well, but it’s not required.
And the rest is choosing what best suits us: while the necron warriors occupy objectives and shoot, the rest of the army is going to do damage, either by shooting, assaulting, flanking… If we are going to assault, it is always better to use a basic unit with a scythe to secure the assault on turn 2.
When in doubt, motorcycles will always be a good choice.
In order to build on what’s already in the Indomitus or starter sets, let’s just say the non-cores are Skorpekh Destroyers and Scarabs + Reviver, so it might be good to build your set from there. For example with some spiders, ghosts and a technomancer.
If we go for the Silent King, well, nothing, Szarekhan dynasty at its best. It’s not really required, since his auras apply to any dynasty. But man, it’s his thing, isn’t it?
And nothing more. I’m already working on the Necrons Game Guide, where I’ll go into all of this in depth, so stay tuned for the news.
