Warhammer 40k Necrons Faction Focus Reanimates Even Harder Than Before
| Tags: General
| Author Bence Loksa
Their number is Legion, their name is Death, and their new rules are looking very strong in the 10th Edition of Warhammer 40k.
<An ancient civilisation called the Necrontyr were the rulers of the galaxy before humanity even picked up sticks – but now, nobody remembers them, as they sealed themselves away under the surface of a thousand of planets after defeating the gods who tricked them into becoming soulless machines. Now, they are awakening, and they are not pleased to find other races in their territory, and after defeating the C’Tan, can anything stop them?
Faction Rules revealed in the Warhammer 40k Necrons Faction Focus
Of course, the most important rule for the soulless Necron hordes is the Reanimation Protocols, which let’s Necrons models come back to life after getting knocked down. This ability of the Necrons has been a bit unreliable in 9th Edition, as depending on your rolls, you could bring back either 0 models or every model your opponent destroyed.
But now, Reanimation Protocols are more constant, although you can’t bring back that much units as before. With the new Army Rule of the Necrons, in the end of your Command Phase, each unit regainst D3 Wounds. If there are damaged models in a unit that activates it’s protocols, they regain one wound, up to D3, so there’s some rolling involved. If all the models in a unit have their maximum number of wounds, but they are below starting strenght (meaning that there’s less models in the unit with which it started the match), one model is returned to life with one wound remaning – which should get back more wounds if you roll a 5 or 6 with the D3 roll. Of course, if a unit is full Strenght and Wounds, Reanimation Protocols does nothing for that set of fighters.
As I said, this means that the Protocols can’t swing as high, but always do something if there are damaged models or units that have already lost some warriors – which is overall better for both Necron players and their opponents.
Command Protocols will also change in the 10th Edition of Warhammer 40k: players won’t have to put together a rotating set of Command Protocols, each giving different bonunes depending on which one’s active. The Awakened Dynastys Detachment Rule gives models in a unit lead by a Necron Character +1 to it’s Hit rolls, making them more deadly on the battlefield. This means that Necrons will be an army which has to take a plethora of Character models in order to get the most out of their shooting phase – which will be scarier in the next Edition.
Unit Spotlights of the Warhammer 40k Necrons Faction Focus
The first unit showcased in the Necrons Faction Focus was the Monolith, which will become a popular choice when the next Edition drops sometime next month. While the Monolith lost 4 Wounds, it gained 6 Toughness, so it’s a lot harder to chew through, while also losing the bracketing akin to the other vehicles or Lords of War. It now loses 4 Objective Control pips and gets -1 to Hit rolls if it’s under 8 Wounds.
The strenghts of it’s weapons also got shuffled around, as Particle Whip is now the blobdestroyer, as it can have up to 18 shots, but individual shots are not that strong. Death Ray is the heavy hitter, which can deal 7 damage with a Strenght 12 characteristic – that means only the thickest plate has a chance to block it. Gauss flux arc also received the Rapid Fire 3 and Lethat Hits keyword, putting it up there with the rest of the ranged weapons of the unit. Portal of exile, the Monolith’s melee weapon lost some of it’s AP and the autohit ability, but now reaches it’s mark on a 2+, and always has 6 Attacks.
However, the most important change to the Monolith is the new Eternity Gate ability: in 9th Edition, units could only be teleported to the Monolith from reserves and in a 3” radius around it, but now, you can fly your Monoliths into the fray, while dragging your strongest warriors with it from anywhere on the battlefield, putting them down 6” from the Lord of War – which is a perfect strategy for storming objectives, and Necron players know that the thing that matters the most are taking objectives.
And what better unit to drop into the fray than the Necron Warriors? The most iconic unit of the Necron Dynasties, the Warriors are not the strongest or the toughest around, but they are relentless, that’s for sure. Both their Gauss flayers and Gauss reapers lost a pip of Armour Penetration, but in exchange, both of the guns received the Lethal Hits ability, which makes their shots automatically wound on an unmodified Hit roll of 6. Alongside the Command Protocols, this should make Warriors extremely efficient even though they are the most basic troop of the Necrons.
Their Number is Legion is also getting changed: in 10th Edition, Necron Warriors won’t be able to reroll a 1 for the Reanimation Protocol rolls, but instead they can roll with a D6 rather than a D3, or a D3+3 if the unit is near an objective marker. This means that the Warriors will still be almost impossible to knock down from an objective, as they will just keep coming back over and over again – so you better take out the whole squad, or face the consequences.
Weapon Spotlights of the Warhammer 40k Necrons Faction Focus
The Necrons are eating good, as they received not one, but two Weapon Spotlight in their Warhammer Community post. First, Games Workshop showed the Doomsday Cannon, the big gun of the Doomsday Ark – and no, it’s no longer a Casino Cannon. The Doomsday Cannon will lose it’s two firing profiles in the next Edition, but with the Heavy keyword added, it still recieves a bonus to Hit if it remained stationary – and the Devastating Wounds ability, which let’s the Doomsday Ark deal Mortal Wounds on unmodified 6’s on Hit rolls. It doesn’t really have to move, as the cannon still has a 72” range, and now has a minimum of 2 shots instead of one, but can have upwards to 7. With 15 Strength, -4 AP and 4 Damage, it can basically deal with any target, so don’t get into the line of sight of a Doomsday Ark if you want to win.
The other weapon showcased was the Spear of the Void Dragon, one of the melee weapons of the most iconic C’Tan Shard. It now has a Sweep and a Strike Profile, and as with any weapon similar, Sweep is good against mobs of enemies, with a high Attack cound, but lower Weapon Skill, AP and Damage; whereas Strike has the Anti-Vehicle 2+ keyword, a whopping 12 Strenght and a D6+2 Damage. It’s unclear wether the Void Dragon will keep it’s Canoptek tail blades, but if it does, God help anyone close to it.
Stratagem Spotlight of the Warhammer 40k Necrons Faction Focus
Sadly, GW only showed us one new Stratagem in the Faction Focus (even though they almost scored perfectly with showing two in this department as well). The new Stratagem is an old Command Protocol called Protocol of the Hungry Void. In 9th Edition, this Command Protocol improved the AP of melee attacks on unmodified Wound rolls of 6 or gave an extra pip of Strenght to melee if a unit charged, was charged or Heroically Intervened.
In the new Edition of Warhammer though, it let’s you have the best of both worlds, as it gives a fighting unit +1 Strenght in melee as well as improved AP if the unit is lead by a Necron Character for only 1 CP. This Stratagem is certainly strong, and emphasises the fact that the mindless hordes of Necrons should be lead by their Overlords who still have some sense of will left.
Overall, the Necrons received one of the most interesting Faction Focus articles, which changes up a plethora of things even before the start of Warhammer 40k 10th Edition. The new edition of the most popular tabletop wargame will drop sometime in June – in the meanwhile, follow ESTNN if you don’t want to miss out on Faction Focuses, new rules and all things Warhammer 40k!