The classic image of a Necrons army is that of an implacable metallic wall – a serried mass of Warriors and Immortals resisting any and all attempts to displace them.
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We’ve looked at all sorts of ways you can shake up your Necrons army in our previews so far – from the melee mastery of the Novokh Dynasty to the armour-shredding abilities of the Mephrit Dynasty – but the Nihilakh Dynasty is ideal if you’re looking to field a more traditional force – an immovable, immortal gunline.
From the humble Necron Warrior right up to your Annihilation Barge, there are few units in your army that won’t benefit from re-rolling 1s to hit. One unit in particular truly shines in a Nihilakh army.
In the new Necrons codex, the doomsday cannon has been upgraded to properly live up to its name and is quite possibly one of the deadliest ranged weapons in the entire game, now working just as effectively against small units and single models as it does larger squads.
Cleaving through armour with ease, and shrugging off damage with Quantum Shielding, every Nihilakh army will want a couple of these Doomsday Arks hovering on their back lines. Even if you end up taking damage, you’ll be able to keep firing with unerring accuracy thanks to Damage Control Override:
Of course, a gunline is all well and good, but you’ll need a contingency plan for any enemies that can set up close to your lines or those units that can weather your firepower, like Imperial Knights. For that, Lychguard offer a somewhat insidious solution.
Lychguard have always been an invaluable unit for Necrons players, providing valuable support to nearby leaders, possessing excellent durability and even intercepting wounds. But why include them in a Nihilakh army, which focuses largely on shooting?
For one, Lychguard are a fantastic counter-assault unit – you’ll want to keep a line of them around your most valuable vehicles to prevent them from being charged. Where they really shine is when you begin to combine them with the new Stratagems in the codex.
Dispersion Field Amplification boosts your Lychguards’ invulnerable saves AND forces any foe shooting at them to potentially risk injuring themselves, meaning the usual solution to dealing with high invulnerable saves – namely, overwhelming the foe with a high volume of attacks – suddenly becomes a much riskier prospect. If you really, really don’t want your Lychguard to die, you could even combine it with Reclaim a Lost Empire.
In this way, you’ll be able to transform your Lychguard with dispersion shields into a true shieldwall ideal for holding onto objectives or just keeping deadly opponents occupied. If you combine the two, you’ll receive a 2+ invulnerable save against shooting – the cost in Command Points may be steep, but for a last-minute objective grab, it could well be worth it…
Nihilakh are the ideal Necron Dynasty for players looking to field a defensive force with the firepower to punish anyone that comes close and is capable of holding the line in even the direst of circumstances.
There are still more Necron previews to come – make sure to come back tomorrow, when we’ll be looking into the reality-phasing Nephrekh Dynasty, C’tan Shards and Doom Scythes!
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