These are the Necron units that really need to a fix in Warhammer 40k so they can start rising towards the top tables in 8th Edition.
Whether these fixes come from a Psychic Awakening book or maybe something like a new codex if the 9th edition rumors are confirmed, Necrons could use a bit of tweaking.
Here are some units in the army that we think have great potential, but fall off due to wonky rules.
Necron Warriors Need to be Fearless
Back in 7th edition, Necrons were fearless. Combined with the way reanimation protocols worked, it was incredibly hard to uproot a blob of twenty Warriors on an objective. Now in 8th, you almost have no incentive of even taking Warriors. Sure, they’re Leadership 10, but after you pay the points for a blob of twenty dudes, you seem to increase your chances of just more running away.
Plus, the ones that run away from morale can’t be reanimated back. Big oof!
So it seems like Warriors are almost always put on the backburner and Immortals in squads of five are taken. They hardly fail morale and can have a similar level of damage if they take Tesla.
Necron Transports are Absolutely Horrid
Jumping into the transports, the way 90% of the army’s troop-moving units work is that they beam units down from another world and into the fight. The crazy drawback to bringing a transport like the Monolith or Night Scythe is that if they all get destroyed, you completely kill off the units that were in reserve. At least with other transports in different factions, units get a chance at jumping out.
The bonus to running these methods of transport, of course, is that you can come in 3″ away (which is a big deal). But with the fact that neither the Monolith nor Night Scythes have any invuln saves, you have to spam the models to ensure you can drop your reserves down. But at that point, you’re pretty much sinking points into units that have much better alternatives in your force.
As for the Ghost Ark, it can only transport units of Warriors or characters. Keep in mind that it only has ten open slots for seating. You can also only take Warriors in a minimum squad of ten. So that means that you either pick between a unit of Warriors or an Ark filled with characters. And if you throw a bunch of characters in a boat, you better believe the enemy is going to do everything they can to get to their ooey-gooey center.
If GW allowed any kind of Troops inside the Arks (like Immortals), two squads of five thrown inside might actually see play. Especially with the transport’s Quantum Shielding rule, allowing it to shrug off AT shots and deliver tesla close-range. Even if they bumped up the Transport capacity to eleven to allow for a Cryptek to babysit the Warriors, that would be good. Right now Necron Transports, in general, are so close to being useful rules-wise. That being said, players almost have to bend over backwards to use them currently.
Lychguard & Other Units Are Too Slow
We just covered Transports and how they’re tough to use. But because of their wonkiness, other Necron units are too slow. Especially if you want to run melee units other than Wraiths. In that case, the Terminator-equivalent, Lychguard offers some extremely solid punches with -4 AP 2-damage weapons (AKA Primaris Bane).
But the fact that they only move 5″ and don’t have a built-in rule that lets them advance and charge in the same turn really hurts. On top of that, you can’t mix their weapons up like you can with 98% of the other faction units in 40k. They either get a 4++ invuln save with the shield and a laughable 1-damage pool noodle. Or, they get a -4 AP 2-damage weapon that makes them a target. Plus because of no invuln save, they’ll get melted.
Overall, if you aren’t spamming the four good units out of the Necron codex right now, you’re in for a rough time. The simple tweaking of some rules or even cheap Stratagems could really do a lot for the army.
We know it’s only a matter of time before more Necron support eventually trickles down from GW. But in the meantime…
What’s the first thing you’d fix in the Necron codex? What’s been your experience running Nightscythes and dropping units in?
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
