The new Warhammer 40k Necrons codex is here– from Stratagems, Datasheets, and army rules; this is our review guide on how to play them.
With new army rules, detachments, enhancements, and a plethora of changes, this codex review guide is your source for everything you need to know about how to play Necrons. Featuring a detailed breakdown of each detachment and its strengths, this guide also offers insights into key rules and stratagems. The new 10th Edition Necrons codex is here, and it’s time to join the elite living metal warriors in their quest to restore the galaxy to a state of cold stasis.
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How To Play 40k Necrons: Army Guide, Rules & Review
Reanimation Protocols are such a staple of the army; it’s good to see them sticking around! As with past codexes, there are plenty of ways to regain more lost wounds in the book, so don’t think D3 wounds are all you’ll get!
Nercons Codex
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Warhammer 40k Combat Patrol: Necrons
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Combat Patrol: Necrons is an elite contingent of living metal warriors with a burning desire to return the galaxy to a state of cold stasis, including 10 Necron Warriors, three Skorpekh Destroyers, a Canoptek Doomstalker, and three Canoptek Scarab Swarms, all ready to do battle under the command of the implacable Necron Overlord Amonhotekh.
Tyranids Codex YouTube Reviews:
If you’re looking for reviews on YouTube, be sure to watch your favorite presenters talk about their take on how to play Necrons and their new codex book at the links below:
Necrons Codex Detachment Rules:
Now, let’s get into all the new detachments; the five Necrons Detachments for 10th Edition 40k are:
Awakened Dynasty Rules
Getting plus 1 to hit every time a character joins a unit is a serious buff to your army! For enhancements, you can make your units harder to hit and even harder to kill!
Protocol of the Undying Legions will let you get back an additional D3+1 wound, and if you get to reanimate afterward, you can bring back up to 7 wounds or models!
Annihilation Legion
This is the detachment to run if you want a ton of Destroyers or Flayed Ones. Then, the enhancements really increase your combat power.
The Stratagems are quite strong to either give you extra melee power, make you harder to hit, extra movement, or even dish out some mortal wounds.
DESTROYER CULT units – and their equally deranged Flayed One buddies – are relentless when the opportunity to reintegrate mortals into the cold, hard ground presents itself. The Blood-fuelled Cruelty Stratagem ensures no-one can escape their blade-tipped grasp. Such is their lust for blood that the thrill of the kill sends their living metal bodies into overdrive, stitching wounds and fallen warriors back together through Murderous Reanimation.
Blood-Fuelled Cruelty is interesting, as it causes mortals when the enemy falls back; however, they just make a normal move toward the enemy and can’t recharge. While moving forward is nice, they will still be out of combat and can be shot at, but they might be able to get out of sight of some shooting with the move.
Canoptek Court Rules
This detachment focuses on the Cryptek and Canoptek side of things and some really interesting rules with the power matrix.
Getting Devastating Wounds on your units is really good, but at 2 CP and a limited unit selection, it hasn’t seen a ton of play since the NERF.
Obeisance Phalanx Rules
This one focuses Lychguard and Triarchs, and adding 1 to the wound roll is super strong. Eternal Conqueror is the standout here with re-rolling hits, and plus, one to wound will really buff up a unit.
Enslaved Artifice giving you 5+ critical hits is super strong and can really increase your efficiency. Then, Suffer No Rival will let you rip characters apart.
How To Play Necrons: Hypercrypt Legion
This is a pretty interesting rule, as you just phase out and come back to the battlefield on your next turn! This can help you reposition a large portion of your army and easily capture objectives around your deployment zone, get units out of trouble, and much more!
The masters of a Hypercrypt Legion spin the immeasurable wisdom of the Necrons into one irrefutable truth: walking is for squares, and Hyperphasing is the new hotness in the 41st Millennium. Each turn, entire units of mechanical warriors slip between the bounds of conventional space-time and return from unexpected quarters, ambushing enemies as they aim to secure the all-time jumpscare record for the 35-millionth year running.
Attentive Overlords will notice that you phase out units at the end of your opponent’s turn, so you can shamble them right back onto the battlefield in your own Movement Phase. It’s like they never left.
However, this is most powerful when you have a Monolith or two and a bunch of deep striking units! Luckily, there’s an enhancement for that.
Once placed in Reserves, units like slippery Ophydians or ruthless Deathmarks can ignore the battlefield edge to Deep Strike wherever they please. Better yet, a leader with the Osteoclave Fulcrum Enhancement can do the same, treating Strategic Reserves like an extradimensional taxi service for themselves and their bodyguard. Dropping an Overlord with 10 Lychguard heavies right next to the opposing Warlord on turn 2? As diabolical as it is hilarious.
Getting deep strike for a warlord and their entire unit is pretty awesome with this army ability! You can keep them back in a non-threatening position, then drop them in!
As veteran Necron commanders will know, the Monolith provides its own portal for Reserve units to enter the fray precisely where you need them. The Hypercrypt Legion has mastered this Dimensional Corridor, and can grant close combat specialists an all-important charge right after arriving – potentially within 2″ of their hapless target – for the low-low cost of just 2CP.
While two CPs really aren’t that cheap, taking a giant combat unit off the board, then phasing them through a Monolith, and charging is obviously super strong!
New Necrons Unit Datasheets
Imotekh didn’t get a ton of changes, but he’s still quite strong and can dish out a bunch of mortals and get you free CP every turn!
Right off the bat, he gives the entire unit a 4+ invulnerable save. Then, when he unleashes the stars, he gets six attacks at Strength 12, and every wound is a critical wound!
How To Play Warhammer 40k Necrons: Points
You can find the latest points for playing this faction in 10th Edition Warhammer 40k here on our Munitorum field manual points updates page.
Latest 40k Rules Updates For the Necrons:
The latest updates for the Necrons 10th Edition rules will be released in what Games Workshop calls a Balance Dataslate, sometimes along with accompanying points changes as well.
You can see all the latest Balance Dataslate updates here in our post, which breaks down the most recent changes.
10th Edition Warhammer 40k Necrons FAQ
The latest FAQ comes from Warhammer Community.
Canoptek Court is the most significant change here, as everyone was using Immortals with an Overlord in the unit to get the Devastating Wounds for free every turn. Now, you must pay the 2 CP for it, which can only be used on a few units. This is a giant change for the army, as Immortals can no longer get the Devastating Wounds. We’re not sure if this will be used much at all anymore, as most of the Cryptek or Canoptek units don’t really get enough shots to justify the 2 CP usage. However, it is still not bad with Wraith Whip Coils.
Is It Still Worth Playing Necrons?
Of course! The undead robots of the Grimdark are super fun and quite strong. Plus, they just got a swathe of new units and are great to hobby on. Overall the new 10th Edition Warhammer 40k Necrons codex is packed with a variety of new rules, detachments, and enhancements that make playing as Necrons even more exciting. This how-to-play Necrons codex review guide covered the various detachments, their unique rules, and the enhancements that players can use to further customize their army. Whether you’re a veteran player or just starting, the Necrons codex has something for everyone. So grab your army and get ready for battle!
Here’s the most up-to-date list of new Games Workshop bits from preview models that we should watch out for.
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Joined: 2019
Socials: @paschbass
Bio: Dark Eldar Dracon and Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the third edition in 1998. He also loves camping because you can only paint so much! He joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the main daily writer since 2020.
Maybe one day, he’ll finish converting all his Ad Mech models and turn into a true tech enjoyer, complete with sad and happy robot noises!
