GW releases some cool new info on Crons in 9th ed 40k!
Welcome to the first installment of our new Faction Focus series! Over the coming days and weeks, we’ll be introducing each of Warhammer 40,000’s warring races and offering some hints and tips to help get your existing armies ready for the new edition. To kick things off, we’ll be discussing the Necrons – stars of the awesome Indomitus boxed set – ably assisted by expert playtester Werner Born.
Who Are They?
The Necrons are an ancient machine race whose alliance with the godlike C’tan and mastery of hyper-advanced technology saw their civilisation rule the stars. Yet after a bitter conflict with the Aeldari known as the War in Heaven, the Necron empire was finally humbled. Now, after millennia of slumber, the time has come for the Necrons to rise up once more and reclaim that which was once theirs – even if doing so means exterminating all sentient life in the galaxy!*
How They Play in the New Edition
Now, we’ll hand you over to Overlord Werner Born who helped put the deadly machine warriors through their paces during development. As a hardened veteran of the tournament scene with his Necron legion and Team USA coach for the ETC, it’s fair to say he knows his stuff! He’ll be giving us some insights as to how they’ll play in the new edition and which units will help you in your cause for galactic dominion.
Werner: Hi everyone! I’m Werner, from the Mournival playtesting group. While I’ve played a variety of armies over the years, Necrons have long been my favourite for matched play. With some heavy reinforcements around the corner for our beloved machine empire, there’s never been a better time to be a Necron player. Even before those reinforcements arrive though, there’s a lot to be excited about for Necrons going into the new edition, so it’s time to awaken those tombs!
One of the biggest improvements for the Necrons is they’ll no longer be hurting for Command points (CPs). Without allies or a cheap minimalist Battalion Detachment at their disposal, Necrons were traditionally one of the factions that had a tough time starting games with a lot of CPs. However, in the new edition, they’ll have more CPs to work with than ever – a significant boost that will put them on a level playing field to the other armies when it comes to the number of Stratagems they can employ.
Even beyond the changes to Battle-forged army structure, there are a number of other key changes in the new edition that will affect Necrons for the better. Vehicles are already a mainstay of many Necron armies, but they’re about to get even better! With all Vehicles able to move and fire Heavy weapons without penalty, you’ll be able to pull off some powerful combinations. For example, getting within range to make the most of the devastating firepower of the Mephrit Dynasty has never been easier…
With the updated rules for Aircraft in the new edition, Necron Flyers will no longer fear having their movement blocked by units on the ground, and they will also be able to move back onto the battlefield in a later turn should they leave combat airspace.
Personally, I like to play a reactive game, and Necrons are well equipped for that strategy through their combination of deceptive speed and a deep bag of tricks. They pack the firepower to take down any threat as needed, but because many of their units have a 24″ range, you have to carefully consider target priority. Sometimes you need to settle for a secondary choice and let the biggest threat in your opponent’s army live for an extra turn so that you don’t overcommit early.
Key Units
The Necrons are already blessed with a number of devastatingly powerful units, and they’re set to receive some seriously brutal reinforcements in the near future, too! Here are some great units to look out for in the new edition.
C’tan Shard of the Deceiver
Werner: Always a popular inclusion on the tournament scene, the C’tan Shard of the Deceiver remains a great building block to include in your army due to its Grand Illusion ability. It’s complementary to loads of different unit choices available to the Necrons, and trust me when I tell you it’s even more valuable in the new missions!
Doom Scythe
Werner: In the absence of dedicated indirect fire units, the best way to (literally) get around line-of-sight-blocking terrain is by making use of the myriad movement abilities that Necrons have at their disposal. The Doom Scythe, in particular, can use its speed and freedom of movement to get eyes on a valuable target from across the table, then obliterate it with its death ray. What’s more, as a Blast weapon, the death ray will be effective against large enemy units as well as enemy vehicles – you’ll automatically get your maximum of three shots against units of six of more, which will be great for zapping Space Marines.
Necron Warriors
The mainstay of many Necron army lists are the humble Warriors. Like most units in the new edition, Necron Warriors will be increasing in points – more specifically, to 12 points per model – but they’ll still comfortably outnumber Space Marines on the battlefield. Not only that, but you’ll soon be able to equip your Necron Warriors with the gauss reaper, which trades range for increased hitting power. Combine this deadly new weapon option with the Mephrit Dynastic Code and you’ll be cutting your enemies down in droves with devastating point-blank fire.
Thanks, Werner! What units will you be adding to your Necron phalanxes? Have you already been adding some in anticipation of the new edition? Let us know on the Warhammer 40,000 Facebook page, Instagram and on Twitter using #New40K.
* In fact, the full and terrible truth behind their plans will soon be revealed in the climactic final book in the Psychic Awakening series – Pariah…
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
Great to finally be hearing about some necron details!
It’s cool to hear about tweaks to the old mainstays, I suppose =).
Interesting that we get a night scythe blurb that totally leaves out any details to invasion beams.
Interesting to see a pic of the old deceiver. If he isn’t a build option in the new c’tan kit I guess it’s conversion time.
Looking foreword to hearing about more of the new stuff =)
Specifically melee crons.
I am very confused about this post by GW.
I understand that the flat CP will really help with most that want to stay mono faction but the rest of the article seems like a highly censured CIA document.
Unchanged Mephirt Dynasty code. “With all Vehicles able to move and fire Heavy weapons without penalty, you’ll be able to pull off some powerful combinations. For example, getting within range to make the most of the devastating firepower of the Mephrit Dynasty has never been easier” What? What Necron vehicle with HEAVY weapons did you need to get into half range to get and extra -1ap? I feel like this was part of a sentence that said maybe the new stuff needs this to be effective maybe, Maybe? I don’t know but as is it does not make any sense as is.
Unchanged Deceiver Grand Illusion. “Always a popular inclusion on the tournament scene, the C’tan Shard of the Deceiver remains a great building block to include in your army due to its Grand Illusion ability.” What tournament Scene is he talking about? It does not help at all with the new gun for the Warriors. It is too swingy and the Falcons data proves that those lists without Deceiver had a higher win%. Again I think there was more to this paragraph that got cut.
Use a flyer because Necrons lack indirect fire. K. Talk to any Necron player and those that play against them. The Doom Scythe can safely be ignored if there is less then 3 so the strat doesn’t go off. They don’t have the offensive output vs cost to warrant any attention.
Now on the the Warriors and man do they really give up a big meh with the lack of information.
First off what list in the past 6 years has the Warrior been a mainstay? Second and more importantly Necron Warriors will not outnumber the SM by were it counts. By Plastic sure but per Wound for a better Save and Gun the Space Marine is 20% more cost effective. With large units having pretty massive penalties and Warriors having a min size of 10 it is not promising we will see the new models on the table.
The new gun for the warriors is the biggest clue that the original write up for this has been censored pretty hard. There is no real way to have Warriors get within 7″ to make the gun do what you need it to justify bringing them to the table. (I guess the fear that those with the old Warriors would need to get the new ones or kit bash for the better gun is unfounded)
So I am just confused. An army focus write up that doesn’t help anyone brand new to the game or army and for those that do the only new information is a 1 point bump in cost and a very short ranged gun in an army with low mobility.
If Werner was told to write up something and the ONLY new thing he could say was about the point bump and gun well hats off to him but man 90% of this could have been put up here on FrontLine 3 years ago when the codex came out.
Here’s to hoping that there are some amazing rules and units that make armies functional again that GW want to keep hidden for the release but man they need to rethink what to post in these to gather excitement for the new stuff they want to sell.
I love Werner talked about the first 2 units, which are considered to be pretty competitive (as far as Necrons are concerned). And when it came to warriors(who are currently horrible and blast is on it’s way in 9th and all the talks of “horde is dead, MSU is king”) it’s suddenly GW talking instead: “plz buy these, they are totally good, guys”, because Werner probably didn’t want to lie.
We don’t know the rules yet and warriors might be great but god damn, this seemed super suspicious and, tbh, funny. All in all TERRIBLE article. Makes it look like “so this faction sucks right now, but don’t worry, everything is staying the same!”
I agree with most of the comments already here. Definitely a slapped-with-a-wet-fish sort of announcement for Necron fans:
— No new dynasties shown off
— No new strats or rules
— No indirect fire
— No changes to otherwise low range on weapons
— A points bump on a model that was already arguably 2-3 points over-costed last edition
I was holding out hope though. Perhaps the new war gear for warriors was that Primaris-killing gun that I was hoping for ….
Nope. Just a basic “1 damage” gun that’s only situationally better than the existing gun AND the close range you have to be at virtually guarantees a charge next turn 🙁
Even though I already have plenty of warriors I was still going to split THREE boxed set with my “Imperial” friends. Now I’m thinking about backing out of all three of those agreements just because “my half” of the box is crap compared to the Space Marine half 🙁
Nailed it! Long time Necron player and I can’t believe that this guy has the audacity to put Necrons and tournament in the same sentence. How outta touch can you get. Life in a bubble and all that I guess. Nothing struck me as really informative here. Bummer.
There are some Rumors that RP is getting a compete overhaul so maybe thing truly will start clicking together with more info. I really want those War of the World models to see more then the shelf.
Drip feed is doing more harm then good I think. With the amount new stuff they could release a ton of info per faction updates (all need FAQs to work in 9th) once a week in full and they still would have till end of August before running out of factions.
It’s not a rumor
It has to be a rumor at the point in time.
I adore those new constructs. The things you could build from those. I just sold my Necrons during 7th, do not tempt me deceiver*!
*not that Deceiver, he’s the same ugly old bastard