The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Necron Codex Review part 4 of 4: Lords of War and Formations

Reecius

10 years ago

Hey everyone, Reecius here with the 4th and final installment in the Necron Codex review series! As always, check the Tactics Corner for more great reviews!

Sorry this one is so late, with the LVO and moving, I got way behind my normal schedule. But, as they say: better late than never! Plus, I have now had a chance to play with and against the crons a few times now, so I feel this review will be the better for it.

Let’s get to it!

The Good

Tesseract Vault

What’s not to like? A 14/14/14 9HP vehicle that reigns death down on the enemy and then explodes spectacularly, hopefully while in their lines? Yes please! For 550pts, this is a really solid LoW. It is durable and has a lot of firepower with the upgunned C’Tan powers and 4 Tesla Spheres. Living metal is icing on the cake. The only downside is the random nature of the C’Tan powers and the fact that you measure LoS from the C’Tan model itself, you could cut off LoS with your own model, so be careful when positioning it. I think that while you won’t see this guy a ton due to its points cost, it is a solid unit.

Decurion Detachment

This is a formation of formations that caused a lot of concern prior to it coming out. Rumors indicated it was a way to play “fluffy” Necrons which is true as it enables you to have a walking Phalanx of the metallic undead….but it also makes for absolutely brutal lists, too! My only complaint about it, really, is that I feel the majority of Necron players you go up against in a tournament setting will be using this. But, that is no big deal in the big picture as this is a fun way to play.

All that said, what it is a way to play Necrons that makes them extremely durable with +1 to RP, which is incredible. You have to take a Reclamation Legion Formation but from there can do a ton of different stuff. You can add in any of the other Formations in the book, or add in auxiliary units such as Flayed Ones, Deathmarks, or a C’Tan. A really nasty combo I played against was 20 Flayed ones in this detachment + Zahndrekh who gives them Zealot. The unit was mega durable due to the improved RP, and had 100 reroll to hit and wound, AP5 attacks on the charge: Holy crap! It was brutal on a unit that is also Fearless. I am a big fan of these style detachments as they are flexible, fluffy but still powerful. You really can’t ask for much more than that. Well done GW!

Reclamation Legion

This formation is solid on its own as it gives some really killer benefits (better than ObSec, though? Not sold on that, but still great). It consists of 1 Overlord (which can be substituted for an Overlord named character or Command Barge), 2-8 units of Warriors, 1-4 units of Immortals, 0-2 Lychguard, 1-3 units of Tomb Blades and 0-3 Monoliths. The Formation grants you MtC and Relentless and all units with RP within 12” of the Overlord get to reroll RP rolls of 1. Wow, that is awesome! So, you get a core of solid troop units, that become very durable (typically a 4+RP with rerolls of 1), and Relentless which allows you to double tap and then charge if you want, plus MtC which is awesome for the Tomb Blades and attached vehicles such as the Monolith or any Ghost Arks you take for the Warriors. I good choice for the Overlord is to take Zhandrekh, who comes with Zealot as his Warlord trait. Stick him in a 20 strong unit of Warriors backed by a Ghost Ark, giving them Fearless+Hatred on a mega durable unit that has turbo-charged RP plus the Ghost Ark brings them back to life. Savage! Zanhdrekh+Lychguard is also incredible. This formation will be the core of many Necron armies.

Judicator Battalion

This formation consists of 2 units of Triarch Praetorians and a unit of Triarch Stalkers. These are all good units, already, and in this formation they gain MtC which rocks for Jump Infantry like Praetorians, and an enemy unit in LoS of the Stalkers gets hit with Target Designated, which gives all models in the formation the ability to reroll to hit, wound and armor pen rolls for that shooting phase. This plus the solid ability of Praetorians in melee, bonuses from the Decruion Detachment and the Stalker buffs makes for a really solid formation and the only reason you won’t see it more often is because everyone will be taking Wraiths!

Destroyer Cult

I have grown to really dig this formation. It consists of 1 Destroyer Lord, 3 units of 3+ Destroyers and 0-1 unit of Heavy Destroyers. These are all good units on their own, but in the Formation they all gain MtC, which is awesome for Jet Pack Infantry, but the secret sauce is the ability for all models in the formation to reroll to wound and armor pen rolls! That is really good, especially considering they already have Preferred Enemy. This formations gives you a ton of mobile, effective firepower.

Deathbringer Flight

This is not a spectacular formation, but solid. It consists of 2-4 Doom Scythes. The formation bonuses are: +2 BS to every Doom Scythe that fires on the same target another Doom Scythe in the formation fired on and enemy models within 12” of at least 2 of the formation’s Doom Scythes get -1 ld. That makes firing on the same target super accurate for the second Scythe which helps a lot to get a hit with the powerful Death Ray. Mainly though, this gives an option for solid AA in a Decurion detachment, but is good on its own, too.

Canoptek Harvest

This is an incredibly good formation. It consists of 1 Canoptek Spyder (and yes, that is a single Spyder, not a unit of them), a unit of Canoptek Wraiths and a unit of Canoptek Scarabs. They all gain Relentless and MtC…and, wait for it, the Spyder can choose to give all units in this formation within 12” of it, Fleet, RP, or Shred for a game turn. Good lawd! That is nuts. Wraiths are already brutally tough, this takes it to an extreme. With a 3++ followed by a 5+ or 4+ RP, at T5 with 2W….good luck! MtC is just icing on the cake. The RP also makes that singular Spyder twice as hard to kill and makes the Scarabs really tough, too, as RP works even with ID attacks. This is a formation that will be in a LOT of Necron lists, particularly in Decurion lists. If you go first against this, and can draw LoS to that Spyder…kill it! Kill it with fire! Don’t let them get juiced up or it is very hard to stop.

Royal Court

Another solid formation. This gives you 1 Necron Overlord (which can sub out for a named Overlord character or CCB), 1-3 Necron Lords (which can sub out for Obyron), and 1-3 Cyrpteks (which can sub out for named Cyrptek Characters). They also gain relentless and MtC because hey, why not? This gives you extra HQ slots+benefits. Obviously, this helps a ton if your list needs that, and it allows you to gain access to models such as Orkian, Obyron, or Szeras in your Decurion Detachment which can be extremely useful.

The Bad

Imotekh

Ye Old Stormlord is just not what he used to be. Now, let me preface that saying on his own, he isn’t bad. He has a lot of cool utility, and is durable, but is a bit pricey and doesn’t have much offense. Plus, he comes in the LoW slot which means you have to take an HQ. That alone is why you will rarely see him as the actual HQ choices are better for less points. That said, if you do want to take him, you won’t be upset about it. His Hyperlogical Strategist is pretty dang good, allowing you to add or subtract 1 to reserve and the seize roll. He also allows Flayed Ones to reroll the deep strike. That is really solid in an army that uses lots of reserves. He also always triggers Night FIght turn 1, which is good in a list built with that in mind (again, favoring a reserves heavy army). He also is a tough nut, with RP, IWND, 2+ and 4++. However, his offense is pretty meh at best. He has a flamer, and a Str 6, Ap2, Assault 3 gun (which in and of itself is solid, but not at his price point). If he had some sort of melee power, he’d be a good all rounder, but he doesn’t, and he is neither fearless nor stubborn, so he is very susceptible to being run down if caught in melee. For all these reasons, you will rarely see Imotekh on the table.

Living Tomb

This formation is a bit clunky and doesn’t really provide much utility at a high price points. It consists of 1 Obelisk and 0-2 Monoliths. All models in the formation must Deep Strike, the Obeslisk automatically comes in turn 2. Monoliths that come in within 12” of the Obelsik don’t scatter. Necron units that are Infantry or Jump Infantry that are in reserves can then move out of the Eternity Gates of the Monoliths. So, if it works, you get a sort of Russian Doll effect where the Obelisk comes in, then Monoliths, then Infantry…but it all hinges on the Monoliths coming in on turn 2, lol. Meh. Expensive, unreliable, not much utility, comprised of not the best units. I’d pass.

The Ugly

Obelisk

This is an interesting unit and one I would love to love, but it has some really poorly written rules. In general terms, it is an AV14/14/14 6HP vehicle that has decent firepower with 4 Tesla Spheres and is really cheap for what you get at 300pts. However, it’s big, cool power, the Gravity Pulse, is worded in such a way that it doesn’t actually do what it clearly (IMO) was meant to do. It forces Difficult Terrain checks on FMCs and Flyers…but all MCs have MtC, which means they auto pass these tests…lol! For the ITC, we voted that it does work on FMCs if they roll a 1 despite MtC, as if that was not the intent, why go to the bother of specifying that they take the test? At any rate, per RAW, it doesn’t do what it says it does, but it depends on your local groups house rules as to how that goes down. Regardless, it is a nice deterrent to flyers as with an 18” radius off of a big model, it covers most of the table. It won’t work all of the time, but it can be really nasty when it does. Otherwise, the unit can start the game in defense mode wherein it has a 3++ which is nice if you find yourself going second. Not a bad unit, it is cheap as chips after all, but not great.

Annihilation Nexus

This Formation consists of 2 Anni Barges and a Doomsday Ark. The bonus is that if the Doomsday Ark loses its Quantum Shielding, an Annihilation Barge within 6” can give it back by sacrificing its shielding. Nothing special here. The Formation is comprised of decent units that you may want to use in your Decurion Detachment which is why it is not in the bad category for me, but it definitely flirts with bad.

And there you have it! The Necron codex kicks serious butt, GW did a great job. My only complaints are that Wraiths are a bit too good, the Monolith actually got worse, and some of the formations are just a hair too good and will be very common. In all though, this is a really great book and I can only hope future codex offerings have as much character, variety, and fluffy, powerful builds to offer as this one does.