Necrons | Warhammer 40,000 Tactical Guide

Your basic NOBLE HQ, though you’ll likely only be using him if you’re tight on points or at low points levels. With a decently robust profile, they can do combat fairly well, though don’t throw them away carelessly (T5 and a 4++ is nice but 5W and 4A only go so far), and realistically you’ll only be considering the Warscythe as a weapon option for the most part so much of their wargear is dead weight. Having said that, they aren’t meant to be frontline beatsticks, but actually leaders. Coming with Relentless March to grant CORE units +1″ Mv and My Will Be Done to give a CORE unit within 9″a tasty +1 to Hit (both shooting and melee), they should be buffers for your battleline first and foremost. Only get them involved when a weakened threat can be dealt with. The Resurrection Orb is mutually exclusive with the Tachyon Arrow (which incidentally is rubbish and has to come with a pretty mediocre weapon option so no major loss), and is a whopping 30pts, but it can make its points back and then some if you go from 2 Lychguard to 5 (the average, not accounting for any RP buffs), it’s worth serious consideration.

For the pricey sum of +60pts you can put your Overlord on a personal boat, granting him +6″ Mv, +1T, +4W, FLY, becoming a VEHICLE, an extra gun, and trading his 4++ for Quantum Shielding. It’s a big cost but with some big upsides, and the Barge is generally one of the best HQ slots Necrons have. The stats are the obvious ones but other things to consider include his much bigger footprint which is useful for his abilities or using an Orb, being a VEHICLE (which has both downsides and upsides) and his greater impact in more phases due to having decent ranged options. Generally it’s a flexible option, able to utilise speed to act as a beatstick or support element far more effectively than the basic Overlord, whilst still benefiting from Character protection. The only real advantages the base footslogging Overlord has is being INFANTRY (unlocking access to a few Stratagems and rules interactions), but these are rarely worth it over being a Barge.

Your lower level Lord for cheaper, but boy does it show. Worse WS, BS, W, and A, as well as granting reroll 1s to hit instead of +1 to Hit (which whilst nice is not nearly as strong, and still only applies to one CORE unit). Can be loaded with an Orb so could be useful as a backup caddy, but he just doesn’t really bring much to the table, and can be safely passed over.

A strategic advisor of sorts who lugs around a big Gauss Blaster with an extra shot and extra Dmg (though annoyingly only BS3). Has the Overlord’s Relentless March and his own unique ability to pick a CORE unit within 9” in the Command Phase and let them Fall Back Shoot and Charge, a powerful ability for a wide variety of uses, from simply allowing your block of Warriors to continue firing with impunity after being consolidated into, to letting your Lychguard pick a better target for combat that turn. He’s a decent pick, it’s just a shame he’s in an extremely competitive slot.

King Murder Crab, packing a beefy defensive statline and bunch of weapons. The gun is cute but can help whittle away at lighter units, and the claw can be useful if you find yourself bogged down by basic infantry, though really you want him throwing down with bigger targets and his Harvester. Whilst hitting on 3s with it is a pain, his built in rerolls help alleviate it somewhat. He’s quite pricey, but if used well he can cause major damage to a bunch of targets.

The floaty version of the above, trading raw power for a little more versatility. With the same reroll auras for DESTROYER CULT units he can support them just as well, alongside being able to bring things like a Resurrection Orb or having a wider access to Relics, but with lower offensive stats, he’s more of a support Lord compared to his tri legged counterpart.

All four of the Crypteks are support characters with pretty much identical Statlines, FLY (except the non-Cloak TECHNOMANCER), and the Dynastic Advisors rule that lets 2 CRYPTEKS take up one slot provided there is a NOBLE in the same Detachment. They are pretty flimsy (T4 4W 4+) so be careful with them lest they die to a stiff breeze.

The Medic Cryptek, here to heal and revive. Comes with a Staff of Light, revives either a single model for one CORE unit within 6” in the Command Phase, or D3 WARRIORS. Can also be given one of two mutually exclusive bits of wargear, either a 6” Aura for +1 to Hit for all CANOPTEK units, or a 10” FLY move as well as the ability to heal D3 wounds to a friendly unit within 3” at the end of your Movement. Will pay for himself after reviving 2 Destroyer or Wraith models. The Cloak is a steal at only 5pts, and lets him support multi-wound models and move into position for things like Protocols or any Auras he might have from Warlord Traits. The Node is great if supporting some Doomstalkers, but the lack of speed and healing ability is a big blow, especially as keeping up with the fast CANOPTEK units to give them the +1 to Hit is a struggle with his base walking speed.

The Spooky Cryptek, who debuffs the enemy. His Abyssal Staff is a weaker Staff of Light with better AP, he has a 6” aura of -1 Ld and Combat Attrition to enemy units, and a 12” targetable ability done in your Morale Phase, that can either turn off Actions, remove ObSec, halves Advances and Charges, or denies Overwatch, Set to Defend and makes them strike last. All of those effects are powerful, though it requires you to roll over the enemy unit’s Leadership on 3D6 so is not guaranteed, and with a low range it’s easy enough to play around. Given his short ranges and purely debuffing role, he needs to be in the thick of fighting, which is a dangerous place for Crypteks to be. If the stars align he can turn the tide of a fight or even game, but he’s not easy to use.

The Buffing Cryptek, here to make your units better. Faster at 8”, packing a 4++, some MechaChronotendrils for a few tickle attacks in melee, they’re somewhat tankier and more competent in combat than the others (but don’t), as well as having two staffs to choose from, the anti tank Entropic Lance or the random shot but Invulnerable ignoring Aeonstave. Most importantly though they use their Chronometron in your Command Phase, giving one friendly unit within 9” a 5++ and reroll charges. Both of these are powerful benefits, able to make a blob of WARRIORS very tough to shift, a unit of SCARABS one of the most obnoxious units in the game, or a bunch of SKORPEKHS more likely to survive and make their charge. Whilst you’ll want to maximise both benefits, don’t neglect using it on a unit that will only benefit from one aspect if it’s the most useful at the time (reroll charges on a unit of WRAITHS that are going off to deal with something, or a unit you don’t want in combat this turn but is going to be taking heavy firepower). Overall the best of the Crypteks, albeit the most expensive, but the Chronometron is completely worth it, and you should seriously consider at least 1 in your army.

The Zappy One, here to inflict damage on your foe. A pure damage dealer, she comes with a decent anti-Marine Plasmic Lance and some rules to inflict Mortal Wounds. The first does 1 Mortal Wound to each enemy unit within 6” of her in the Fight Phase on a 4+, and the other targets the closest visible unit within 24”, rolling 3D6 and doing a Mortal Wound for each 4+. Both are nice to add some stacking damage, though they aren’t the most reliable and a good opponent can screen out or just avoid the short range. As with the Psychomancer she wants to be relatively up close and personal to make the most of their abilities, which isn’t the best place for your squishy technowizard. She’s cheap enough, but given she only does damage, one of the more support-oriented Crypteks is a generally more useful use of the points and the slot.

No

Ok fine. For such an awesome model it’s very disappointing. Whilst a reasonably cheap 80pts and an attractive boost to Reanimation Protocols, it’s far too easy to mitigate. A short 6” range, needing to remain there and be in line of sight is the first of the problems, as often you will want to hide him, because the minute it’s targeted it’s likely dead. Secondly as it only affects 1 unit, your opponent can just target something else. Sure you can spend a ludicrous 2 CP to move the boost, but then your opponent…just shoots the original target. If the stars align and you can get it to work on a key unit whilst keeping the Reanimator alive, it can be a massive force multiplier, but realistically it is a fairly easy kill for your opponent without bringing much outside of an admittedly strong but limited buff. Also has CORE, cos it needs something I guess.

An odd unit that doesn’t really do anything you can’t already do well elsewhere outside of extremely specific circumstances. With 6 Pistols that hit very accurately and can generate more shots when they kill something, he’s a decent horde clearer (and it combos nicely with the Gauntlet of the Conflagrator vs hordes, that extremely specific circumstance mentioned), but that’s it. Can’t shoot Characters, despite being a Deathmark, only AP 1 and Dmg 1 means they’re only really suited for light infantry, which can be done elsewhere, and no buffs or army supporting abilities outside of being a Character for Command Protocols. Cheap enough at 75pts, and comes with Dimensional Translocation which can be useful to get Command Protocols where you need them, but you can safely pass without missing him too much.

The beefiest CORE unit, rocking a healthy statline, the ability to protect INFANTRY NOBLES from shooting (no Barges sadly) and great wargear options, these are a solid combat unit for a reasonable price. Depending on what you want they can be made a tough anvil unit with their Swords and Shields, or trade the defensive abilities for a Warscythe. Either loadout makes a good bully unit to take Objectives or defend your lines, though remember Reanimation only goes so far, and a 2+/4++ is a big defensive trade off for +1 Str, AP and Dmg- if you’re dead it doesn’t matter how killy you are, so if going for Scythes a Chronomancer is practically a must for their 5++. However whilst they are tough and have Reanimation, they are far from invincible so don’t throw them away, and make sure you don’t bite off more than they can chew.

An Immortal that trades it’s 2A for BS2, comes with Dimensional Translocation, and a decent sniper rifle with Str 5 and AP2. Good for holding the backline, or being used as cheap Objective grabbers via their Translocation, they can also help weaken either Characters or tougher units with their decent weaponry, and although they are Heavy with CORE and BS 2 it’s easy to get them back to extreme accuracy so don’t be afraid to move them around when needed. Cheap enough that a unit of 5 won’t be breaking the bank, but can help in a pinch in a variety of situations.

An Infantry blender unit with a bunch of attacks that explode (unless against VEHICLES) and Leadership modifiers. Not the toughest or swiftest of things, but they do come with Dimensional Translocation and are cheap, making them ideal for objective and secondary capping, and can be turned into real blenders with the right CORE buffs. As they are only really geared for killing light Infantry, don’t think of them in an offensive way, more as a useful utility threat that can nab you points and put pressure on your opponents backfield- its a 9” charge sure, but do they want to risk it happening, or screen you out and limit their movement?

The cheapest Infantry unit in the book, providing the bodyguard “please don’t shoot my boss” rule for CRYPTEKS within 3”, as well as getting some stat boosts when near them as well. Whilst 4W at T5 and 3+ does not make them survivable, being 2 small models does, as hiding them out of Line of Sight is very easy, and still ensures a nearby CRYPTEK cannot be shot at all. Perfect Action caddys or Secondary achievers (things like Engage for example) and for a low cost, they are a useful pair to have, provided you act cagey with them.

The Murder Crabs are your premier shock unit, packing a great statline and potent melee punch. With built in reroll 1s they’re fairly accurate, and can be pushed into the stratosphere with CORE buffs. Whilst they don’t have an Invulnerable outside of the Chronomancer (look just run at least 1, they’re that good), T5 3W and Reanimation does make them a reasonably tricky prospect to shift, and don’t neglect the amazing Whirling Onslaught Stratagem (which realistically should be used every turn with them if they get shot at) to help get them there in one piece. Whilst the ever increasing amount of -1 Dmg rules does make their basic weapons feel a little less good, that just comes with picking the right targets for them. The decision between 6 to get the second Reap-blade, or 5 to minimise the impact of Blast weapons is a tough one, and honestly it’s dependent on your meta and what you’re expecting to face- a few Frag Grenades is probably not worth worrying about. 3 Tank Commanders with Demolishers is a bit more concerning.

An adorable little robo-mosquito that can only be taken if you have DESTROYER CULT units in your army, and scampers back to the Tomb World if it’s more than 6” away from one of them in the Morale Phase. Injects a DESTROYER CULT unit with 100% Grade A Madness, giving them +1 Str and Attack, with a chance of straight up killing one of the unit on a 1. Goes without saying this is practically worthless on your ranged DESTROYER units, and incredibly risky on a lone Character, but can power up Skorpekhs and Ophydians to immense levels, and can be worth doing on a Character if they were likely to die in the following turn anyways, or you would lose anyways unless they killed the one thing that would steal you victory and you couldn’t do it without it (rare sure but it could happen). Whilst they can’t do Actions they do count towards holding Objectives or things like Linebreaker, so don’t neglect that (provided it’s near DESTROYER units of course)

A support spider tank that comes with a good defensive profile, solid if few melee attacks and a choice of decent ranged options. The main draw is their Targeting Relay rule, granting your entire army reroll 1s to Hit in the shooting phase against a particular enemy unit, provided the Stalker hits them first. With a choice of a Multi-melta/Heavy Flamer hybrid for flexibility, a Twin Gauss Cannon for semi decent Anti-tank/Heavy Infantry hunting, or a Particle Shredder for mass shots, the Stalker can fill a variety of different roles, though they are quite short ranged and often a bit counterproductive. Want to give reroll 1s vs that tank but you’re packing the Particle Shredder, the shots might just bounce. Need to ensure that the unit in range of your Warrior blob is extra dead your Multi-melta shot is a bit superfluous. They also have a weird quirk of being a tall legged Vehicle with no base, meaning pinning them is incredibly easy as you just need to wrap around their pointy legs and then they can’t move. They are quite cheaply costed as far as anti-tank options for Necrons go, so they aren’t a bad buy, but there will be times they just don’t pull their weight due to their oddities.

Tough mini-monsters with a good melee statline and access to some decent wargear, from some anti infantry ranged firepower, to Vehicle repairing and Deny the Witch access. Tough vs small arms with their T6 and 6W, they won’t hold up too well against dedicated anti tank fire, but with Living Metal and Chronomancers they can stick around for a good amount of time. When buffed up with various CANOPTEK abilities they can become real terrors, but bare in mind a 6” Mv isn’t the fastest, and the support will often be needed to ensure they survive.

One of the most points efficient units in the game in terms of overall effectiveness, and that’s before the force multiplication they can get. With 10” FLY, 4W and tiny visibility they are an excellent harassment unit that can be hard to get a bead on and absorbs a lot of firepower. Sure they only have a 6+ Sv, but that’s why you bring Chronomancers. They won’t kill a huge amount, but are fantastic for screening, tying things up, funneling units, contesting objectives and being a general nuisance.

If the Skorpekhs are the Lychguard of the Destroyer Cults, Ophydians are the Flayed Ones. But we’ll call them Murder Snakes. Not as strong or tough, but faster, with additional attacks, Tunnelling (which is Translocation with another name because reasons) and a -1 to be hit in melee, the Ophydians are definite glass cannons, and quite pricey at that. However they can make mincemeat of most heavy and elite infantry they charge, and the threat of them appearing in the opponents lines can shift their game plans. If however you’re looking for a more robust or mainstay combat unit, Skorpekhs or Lychguard are your better bet.

Warriors on Jetbikes, though given their statline and weaponry the closer comparison would be to Immortals. Shieldvanes are only 3pts for a 3+ Sv and unless you are desperately strapped for points should be a serious consideration on every Tomb Blade. Giving them a Twin Gauss Blaster or Twin Telsa Carbine will make them 33pts, or 1pt less than 2 Immortals with Gauss for the same T, Sv, number of Wounds, same shots, but with 14”, a -1 to be Hit by shooting and FLY BIKER instead of INFANTRY. Both come with their own inherent advantages and disadvantages, and not being Troops and having innate ObSec is one of them of course. You can also look at giving them a 5++ or Ignore Cover but this brings the points cost up higher. All told they are a solid unit, fast enough to harass infantry that might have thought themselves safe behind cover, whilst also being solid enough to take a reasonable hit. Being CORE means they can benefit from many buffs, and they can be useful for Objective capping and be put on Secondary duty.

Elite Jump Pack Infantry with the choice of horde clearing Particle Caster and Voidblade, or the more elite busting Rod of the Covenant. The Rod is generally the better choice due to Dmg 2 and you able to get anti Infantry attacks elsewhere. With the same tough profile as Lychguard but with double the movement and FLY, at the cost of being TRIARCH so no Dynastic Codes (or DYNASTY Keyword for important buffs like Chronometrons or My Will Be Done, so be careful), the Praetorians are ideal shock troops for the first wave of combat, and are quite efficient for their cost. However with no access to Invulnerables outside of Orikan, be careful with your advance lest they get gunned down quickly, or end up fighting a unit they can’t quite handle and will hit them back hard.

The fastest CANOPTEK unit, who care not for terrain or models being in the way being able to pass through them, as well as being able to Fal Back and Shoot and Charge. Whilst they can be given guns, don’t as it’s better to keep them cheap, and whilst they do have a solid melee statline with their Claws (the Whip Coils are sadly a waste of time), don’t expect them to kill anything too heavy, unless buffed up via CORE rules. They are however ideal units to tie up stuff whilst almost never being tied up themselves, can go light Character or backfield unit hunting, or provide a threat with multiple charges to gunlines. With T5 3W and 3+/4++ they are fairly robust, but given the nature of their threats they often draw a lot of firepower. Fortunately they are fairly cheap, and this fire magnet nature can work in your favour, absorbing shots against other elements of your army.

An odd Tank that is expensive for what it does, which is lots of Tesla. Whilst it kicks out a lot of firepower at good Strength and all with Tesla, it is with no AP and only 1 Damage, making it best suited for horde clearance duties…which the rest of your army does already. The sheer quantity of shots can make it good for forcing saves on heavier units and chipping away at light tanks, but it’s not the most efficient, and despite Quantum Shielding, 8 wounds only goes so far. If you have need for anti infantry it is by no means a bad choice, but that is one of the areas Necrons tend to struggle least at finding.

Sigh. Random McGee here, with his D6 Shots at D6 Damage that it can only use if it never moves, coming in at a pretty hefty 170pts. Urgh. Whilst its a pretty robust platform with Quantum Shielding and a massive 14W, as well as practically packing a full 10 man squad of Warriors as it’s secondary weapons, the big gun boat is just so lacklustre. Whilst long enough range to hit the entire board and AP to punch through anything shy of Invulnerables, the random shots and damage, whilst generally wounding vehicles on 3s means, on average, it’s doing a total of 5 Wounds against your standard Vehicle profile (T7 3+). And that’s not accounting for things like Dense Cover, Invulnerables etc. So it just about brackets a Rhino. With a weapon described as threatening super-heavies. So yeah. Urgh. Let’s not even talk about when it moves (doing an average of TWO WOUNDS). It can be good, like one shot a Knight good, and with it’s large size and decent secondary guns can be useful for blocking stuff, but you’re paying so many points for the big gun (which if it gets tagged it won’t be using unless you’ve lined up Protocols) it’s wasting it’s…”potential”.

The shooty members of the Destroyer Family, these guys each pack a decent enough gun but are quite expensive and a bit all over the place that it makes them a hard sell. They’re a bit too slow and short ranged to be fire support, which often puts them into dangerous positions or firing lanes, the strength just isn’t enough to make them efficient tank hunters, and the pesky D3 damage makes them unreliable elite hunters. Whilst they have the decent statline of most Destroyers, and they are of course effective sooner due to being ranged, they become a primary target and each one lost is a heavy blow, whilst only just breaking even themselves. With support however, they become much more effective, being buffed via CORE abilities for offense and defense. They can require a fair bit of investment to make work, but when they do they do pack a decent punch.

Even chunkier floating gun bots, these are actually fairly reliable anti tank platforms with their Gauss Destructors, or potent horde clearers with their Enmitic Exterminators. As with other units in the army, light infantry killers are found very easily, so as good as the Exterminators are, the Destructor is more likely what you’d be looking at, and at Str 10 AP -4 and a very nice 3D3 Damage (yay for reliable anti tank at last!) they can do some serious damage. Only one shot each however, so each one will not take out a tank by themselves, and given the low rate of fire and need to wound, you’d still realistically need 3 of them to kill a tank, and even then it’s only just (average of 10 wounds presuming no invulnerables etc). Which at 180pts for 3 fairly easy to kill models again makes this a pretty tough sell. There are worse anti tank units in the army, but you’ll need to screen and hide these guys lest they be taken out first thing. 

A sort of cross between the Canoptek Reanimator _{(oh no)} and the Doomsday Ark _(OHNO) which is actually…decent _(oh?). Cheaper with the same gun as the Ark albeit slightly shorter ranged, and although it comes with less Gauss Flayers and is not quite as tough due to 2 less Wounds and no Quantum Shielding, it does have an innate 4++ as well as CANOPTEK (so can benefit from certain buffs related to that), can Overwatch for itself and any friendly units within 6” for free (anyone that says you need to pay the CP for it can’t read the rules), and whilst only BS 4 it doesn’t degrade so it will remain a ranged threat until it is brought down. Whilst it shines supporting your battlelines and ideally with a Technomancer nearby for the +1 to Hit, you must still be wary as with no melee output and a Blast weapon it is a prime target for tagging, so position carefully. As with the Doomsday Ark, if it moves it has to use the worse profile (there’s only so much my eyes can roll backwards), so ideally set them up in a solid position first, or to be able to get to one and set up firing lanes for later turns.

The Doom Scythe packs a pretty big punch with it’s Twin Tesla Destructors and the Death Ray provides some good anti tank firepower. However they will die to a stiff breeze (comparatively to other units in the army, as no Quantum Shielding or innate Invulnerable makes them very expensive for their flimsiness), so it my be worth considering putting them in Strategic Reserves. This will cost a chunk of CP however so it may be worthwhile putting other units alongside with them. Can work well with the Deceiver as they can start on the board then be scurried away to safety should you not get the roll off in your favour.

As with the Doom Scythe these Flyers are by no means tough so you should be careful, but with a whopping 20 Transport Capacity they have to be dealt with turn 1 lest you suddenly drop off a huge threat deep in your opponent’s lines turn 2. Cheap enough and with Twin Tesla Destructors they can add some firepower to the fight, but again that flimsiness will hurt in certain matchups. Yes you can fill it with like 18 Skorpekhs for the lols, but that is a pretty big one trick pony, and you best hope it doesn’t die whilst surrounded…

Cheap-ish set of terrain that looks incredible and acts as a good battlefield buffer, granting Leadership bonuses and Command Protocols for units within 6”, and can be moved around the battlefield by CRYPTEKS via an action. Unfortunately they are targettable and not all that tough, and don’t provide anything offensive past 12”. They’re certainly cool, but by no means an essential take.