Hello, internet, Chumby here to talk about Necrons!
You know Necrons, the most OP unbeatable WAAC spam fotm bandwagoner cheesy broken beardy army in the history of 40k!
Necrons were the last of the 5th edition Codices and were said to have been written with 6th in mind. And boy, were they. Nearly every rules change benefits the brobots and really brings them to the forefront as the army to beat for the time being.
Obviously, this isn't true just for Necrons as pretty much every army has returned to viability with the change of edition. And, of course, as we continue on this edition things will change, we'll figure out how things work together and once new codices start dropping everything in this post will likely end up laughably inaccurate.
So, let's check out some of the most significant changes to Necrons as well as some interesting little tricks that are now possible.
Flyers
The elephant in the room, Flyers are easily one of the most significant changes in this edition. Necrons are unique in that their flyers can be bought as dedicated transports for many units, limiting their air force only by points as opposed to FOC slots. Night Scythes are cheap, durable and have an incredible damage output even when evading (4 TL Tesla D shots average ~1 hit, upgraded to 3 thanks to Tesla Awesomeness). The new Invasion Beams give Necrons one of the fastest transports in the game, sadly limited by their inability to re-embark. Doom Scythes give up transport capacity for the DEATH RAY, a giant beam of DEATH that inflicts DEATH. Flyers are awesome, and Necron flyers are awesomer.
Allies
Necrons don't have any friends, but they can trick some chumps to paint their tomb world's fences or whatever, probably with MIND CONTROL RAY BEAMS. Allies open up a lot of flexibility in your list, filling gaps, opening up new list types and generally making list building a very difficult process. Allies deserve their own post really, they're just that huge.
Vehicles
Haywire and Gauss are the new black. A Harbinger of the Storm averages 2 HPs stripped in one volley and even basic Warriors can wreck a Land Raider in one volley. Scarabs and Wraiths now hit vehicles on a 3+ at worst. Vehicles are much easier to wreck with Necrons. Necrons will rely less upon Eldritch Lances and dedicated anti-tank weapons in general, but don't expect to wreck tougher vehicles without getting into rapid fire range.
On the flipside, Necron vehicles are quite resilient thanks to Quantum Shielding and universal Jink (apart from those poor Stalkers) and are pretty much impossible to suppress thanks to Living Metal and changes to Glancing Hits. Penetrating Hits are still a death sentence, especially with AP1. The changes to blast weapons and an increase to 4 HP suddenly makes the Doomsday Ark an attractive choice.
Chariots
As the only current army with Chariots, Necron players need to get familiar with them. Chariots are awesome. Command Barges are cheap, durable and capable of all sorts of wacky things like shanking flyers out of the sky and diving into big mobs of enemies to slow them down, not by locking in combat, but by blocking movement.
Psykers
Psyche! Necrons have no psykers, so they don't really care. Gloom Prisms are amongst the best psychic defenses in the game, so that's nice. Further, most psychic powers are either fancy guns or powerful effects with limited application (only affecting a few units at a time). For the most part, guns beat magic. Don't panic.
Rapid Fire
Hey look, Phaeron is totally useless! Warriors and Gauss Immortals are loving life now, enjoying increased threat ranges and mobility in addition to the buffs to Gauss.
Combat and Challenges
Necrons are the kings of challenges. Even a basic Lord with Mindshackle Scarabs can send the deadliest characters packing, without lifting a finger! Warscythes return to form as the best combat weapon in the game and the coveted 2+ save is readily available for characters. Further changes to Preferred Enemy allow the Destroyer Lord to confer it to his unit, such as Wraiths. Look for the Challenger Overlord (Scythe, 2+ Save, Mindshackles) and Destroyer Lord to make serious competition for your HQ slot.
Those are the most relevant changes, but far from the only ones.
Now we get to the fun part, talking about all sorts of weird combinations and tricks you can do with Necrons.
Spinning Topolith: Monoliths are skimmers and, as such, get Jink if they move. Enjoy that mental image.
Zahndrekh and Obyron: The dynamic duo love 6th. Zahndrekh has a whole toolbox of fun abilities, particularly conferring new Tank Hunters to units with gauss weapons, stripping Stealth away from units protected by Night Fight and bringing Flyers on turn 1 with Phased Reinforcements. Obyron is a solid challenger, capable of leaping to his master's defense in a single bound.
Stormjerk: Imotekh does not play well with others. As Necrons have no Battle Brothers, all allies are treated as enemies you cannot shoot or assault. The Stormlord's lightning, however, is rather indiscriminate, and will zap ALL enemies, regardless of which player controls them.
Derpstar and Wound Allocation: The Derpstar gets all kinda of fun tricks with Look Out, Sir and funky wargear like the Chronometron. Enjoy bouncing wounds onto that one Lord with the 2+ or 3++ and smashing units in combat by turning them against each other.
As we go I'm sure more things will pop up.
Necrons got a lot of love from 6th, all sorts of new options have opened up and it's a great time to join in on the fun. As things settle down and new codices drop the Necronphobia will turn into Necronphilia as folks figure out how to handle things in this new edition.
Peace out, mortals
