GW just dropped three Necrons new detachments for the new edition, and the old Silver Tide is finally about to advance, shoot, and act in the same turn.
Necron Warriors are about to advance, shoot with the assault keyword, and still do an action all in the same turn, and that’s just for starters. GW dropped three new Necrons detachments for the 11th Edition: Hand of the Dynasty, Skyshroud Spearhead, and the Phaeron’s Armory, and every one of them rewires a different speed problem the Necrons Silver Tide has carried for editions.
This is Games Workshop’s last 40k Faction Focus before the 11th Edition Core Rules PDF drops next week, and the run has leaned heavily on the new edition’s detachment-stacking framework. Each one costs 1 Detachment Point, so all three slot into the same Strike Force list if you want them to.
Best of all, these new rules feel like the playstyle a lot of Necrons players have been waiting for years. Sure, the last time the faction got new detachment news was January’s 500 Worlds Pantheon of Woe and Cursed Legion drop, which focused on C’tan shards and Destroyer Cult discipline.
But the three from today head somewhere completely different now, but still fun for a traditionally slow faction: mobility, mobility, and more mobility.
- Hand of the Dynasty puts Warriors and Immortals on the move with [ASSAULT] and action-eligible Advances: the Silver Tide gets to shoot and stay on the objective in the same turn for the first time.
- Skyshroud Spearhead Deep Strikes Tomb Blades at +1 to hit on the ingress shot: pair them with Lokhust Destroyers running Deepening Madness for pressure from the table edge.
- The Phaeron’s Armory hands Monoliths, Obelisks, and Tesseract Vaults a flat +6″ of Movement: Necron titanic flyers stop being parked targets and start crashing midfield.
Hand of the Dynasty Puts the Silver Tide on the Move
The Silver Tide has always been a slow army, and Hand of the Dynasty is the first detachment that lets the bulk of the infantry move with renewed purpose. Warriors and Immortals can cross the board quickly and contribute on the turn they get there.
- Hypermotility Protocols (detachment rule): friendly IMMORTALS/NECRON WARRIORS units’ ranged attacks gain [ASSAULT], and an Advance move does not stop the unit from being eligible to start an action. The detachment has the DYNASTY tag, so it doesn’t combine with Awakened Dynasty or Annihilation Legion.
- Tools of Dominion (enhancement): an IMMORTALS unit’s ranged attacks gain [RAPID FIRE 1]. The killing power was already there; this enhancement turns it into double-tap volume while moving now.
- Nanosaturation (1 CP stratagem): in your opponent’s Shooting phase, after an enemy unit shoots a friendly IMMORTALS/NECRON WARRIORS unit, that Necron unit fires back with snap shots, but only at that enemy. That’s free retaliation built into the screen!
A blob of Warriors that advances, shoots, and stays action-eligible is a different unit than what you’ve been pushing across the table for editions. Pair this with Annihilation Legion from Codex: Necrons, and the Destroyer Cult side of the army gets the same kind of forward pressure.
Skyshroud Spearhead Sends Tomb Blades In From the Sky
Tomb Blades are the closest thing Necrons have to a bike unit, and Skyshroud Spearhead drops them onto the table from above. So, if you’ve been running Lokhust Destroyers in the same list, they get some buffs from this detachment as well now.
- Transdimensional Deployment (detachment rule): friendly TOMB BLADES units get Deep Strike, and a Tomb Blades unit that shoots after making an ingress move this turn has +1 to hit on its ranged attacks.
- Deepening Madness (enhancement): DESTROYER CULT MOUNTED unit only, ranged attacks gain [ASSAULT]. Lokhust Destroyers shoot at full effect on the move, no Heavy penalty.
- Evasive Protocols (1 CP stratagem): when an enemy unit targets a friendly NECRONS MOUNTED unit in the Shooting or Fight phase, ranged attacks at higher Strength than your unit’s Toughness have -1 to wound. The anti-anti-tank you need when a big gun gets a line on some of your skimmers.
This detachment picks off targets the enemy thought were safe, and then has just enough survivability to hold them up for another turn.
The Phaeron’s Armory Turns Monoliths Into Missiles
Monoliths, Obelisks, and the Tesseract Vault are the big bruisers of the Necron range, and the Phaeron’s Armory is built for those big units. They have always been impressive on the table, and best of all, with these new updates, they’re also fast!
- Empowered Engines (detachment rule): friendly NECRONS TITANIC FLY units get +6″ of Movement. The detachment has the HYPERCRYPT tag, so it doesn’t combine with Hypercrypt Legion.
- Prelocational Optimizer (enhancement, NECRONS model only): a unit set up using a Monolith’s Eternity Gate, this turn shoots with either [LETHAL HITS] or [SUSTAINED HITS 1]. Pick whichever does more damage.
- Subsurface Quantumweave (1 CP stratagem): When an enemy unit targets a friendly NECRONS TITANIC FLY unit in the Shooting or Fight phase, attacks against your unit have -1 AP until that enemy attacks back. Stack this with a Toughness profile that already shrugs off most chip damage, and you’re only getting plinked by true -1AP weapons.
A Monolith that moves 14″ and disgorges a character or a unit with [LETHAL HITS] or [SUSTAINED HITS] on arrival is a different kind of problem in the middle of the board. Now, your opponent has to commit anti-tank to lock it down, and the stratagem takes an AP point off whatever they bring.
Final Thoughts on Necrons New Detachments and What Comes Next
All three cost 1-Detachment Point apiece, so building a Strike Force around the three new ones together is a real option in the new edition’s stacking system. Or you can keep one and pair it with a Codex detachment (as most codex detachments will still cost 2-DP).
As we said, this is the last 40k Faction Focus, and the Core Rules PDF drops on Warhammer Community next week. Three mobility detachments closing out the run tells you which axis the new edition is going to <run on> pull on, and Necrons getting last crack at the rework hopefully doesn’t mean they’re last in line for an 11th Edition codex…
🔗 Related Reads:
- Pantheon of Woe and Cursed Legion 500 Worlds Detachments
- Starshatter Arsenal Detachment Rules
- Warhammer 40k 11th Edition Rules
- How to Play Necrons in 10th Edition 40k Rules Guide
- 40k Codex Release Schedule 2026 Roadmap
