10th ed Faction Focus - Necrons

[Daimyo-Phaeron Lenoch]

Now that we've seen Votann and AdMech as other shooty armies, with their faction foci, I think maybe the warrior BS reduction isn't quite as bad as we think. Vanguard (and I'm presuming Rangers as theyre the same kit) went down to 4+, as did the Votann basic troop. We have an inherent +1 to hit from the Awakened Legions (assuming we attach characters,  which, of course we will), so it's not as big an issue.

 

I will say, if Immortals take the BS hit, I'll be displeased, because one of my favorite things to do with Immortals is park them on a backline objective and score points, and I don't want to be attaching characters to them. However, I think if any unit in our army is a good candidate for 'battleline CP refund when stratted,' it'll be Immortals, with Warriors still filling the 'expendable but dangerous chaff' role with Their Number is Legion

 

And with AdMech's detachment ability, I think we can basically ignore it. D3 MW at the start of the game might be a bit dangerous, but if we go first we neglect the damage almost entirely, and completely at the start of each of the other battle rounds if units are still hanging around (like, DDay arks, for instance, who have an incentive not to move). Obviously this won't apply to every matchup, but I think detachment wise, compared to AdMech, I think we came out ahead.

[Ahzek451]

I'm not too worried about immortals. I except a retention of BS 3, T5 and 3+. It seems GW is furthering the devide between a marine and...well...everyone else. And GW might be doing similar in various ways in different armies. For example, the difference between a warror vs. an immortal is actually pretty vast. A warrior is from the civilian/poor class in the necrontyr, roboticized and gun shoved in hand. Warriors are somewhat "junky" for lack of a better word. I often have to tell myself that GW has evolved warriors from when I first started necrons back during their initial inception. Back then they were more "elite", tough as nails bots. I have watched GW slowly and subtly shift warriors in lore and on the tabletop to being a low class, low-quality unit in the necron forces. Helping to justify an increase in their numbers to get that "we are legion" feeling.

That being said, immortals are from the military branch of the necron forces. Having a lot more in common with lychguard than warriors. I would hedge my bets that they retain much of their current stats. However, I would simply question if GW takes a slightly bold step and they give them an extra wound. 

[Ahzek451]

Some good new, acccording to the rulebook leak, battleshock comes after the reanimation roll. 

[Malakithe]

On 5/17/2023 at 5:02 AM, Ahzek451 said:

Some good new, acccording to the rulebook leak, battleshock comes after the reanimation roll. 

Warriors be like: Battleshock? Never heard of her

[NTaW]

That is a worthwhile stipulation. I can remember having to keep models lost to morale in a separate spot because they couldn't reanimate. It was...tedious.

[punisher357]

On 5/17/2023 at 6:02 AM, Ahzek451 said:

Some good new, acccording to the rulebook leak, battleshock comes after the reanimation roll. 

This is assuming the reanimator roll didn't change from 9th, right?

[Captain Idaho]

Ooo I thought of something after rereading the faction focus - attaching leaders to units to boost them might see a change I'm quite interested in -

 

Hexmark attaching to Deathmark! It would be a change but it's totally a possibility that this character can be changed to be a "traditional" character. 

 

Same could go for the Skorpekh Lord and Skorpekhs. 

 

Or at least some other benefit to those models at least, though Auras aren't a thing as often.

 

It makes sense as Skorpekh Lords surely won't just be a beat stick solo, but you never know.

[Captain Idaho]

Oh missed this in the article that confirms it - Skorpekh Lords leading Skorpekh Destroyers:

 

[NTaW]

Something I noticed today in today's faction focus article is that the previewed BA character could only be attached to units specified on their datasheet. I'm a little apprehensive about this but will wait to see how it's rolled out for Necron characters.

[Mandragola]

On 5/17/2023 at 1:02 PM, Ahzek451 said:

Some good new, acccording to the rulebook leak, battleshock comes after the reanimation roll. 

 

 

I don't think this is right. Battleshock is step 2 of the command phase and reanimation is at the end of the phase. Battleshock tests seem to be first.

 

On 5/31/2023 at 11:44 AM, Captain Idaho said:

Ooo I thought of something after rereading the faction focus - attaching leaders to units to boost them might see a change I'm quite interested in -

 

Hexmark attaching to Deathmark! It would be a change but it's totally a possibility that this character can be changed to be a "traditional" character. 

 

Same could go for the Skorpekh Lord and Skorpekhs. 

 

Or at least some other benefit to those models at least, though Auras aren't a thing as often.

 

It makes sense as Skorpekh Lords surely won't just be a beat stick solo, but you never know.

 

I definitely agree that characters sound far more interesting in 10th. Hexmarks, Skorpekh/Lokhust Lords and so on could be great additions to units. Lesser characters, perhaps even the ones from the Kill Team, could be useful additions to units of warriors, immortals, flayed ones etc.

[NTaW]

For what it's worth I think RP will be after Battle Shock. My main reasoning for this is the difference of wording between "phase" and "step".

[Lord_Ikka]

Due to the following, I think RP happens before Battle-shock-

"Then, if you have any other rules that need to be resolved in the Command phase, you do so now before progressing to the Battle-shock step." and "Once you have taken Battle-shock tests for all of your units that require them, your Command phase ends and you progress to your Movement phase."

 

This leads me to see the Battle-shock step as the absolute last thing you do in the Command phase, period. The wording that says any other rules needing to be resolved is where RP should be done. They do need to update the wording of RP to remove the confusion, but the fact that they specifically call out other rules needing to be resolved in a portion of the Command phase leads me to assume that after that portion of the phase you can do nothing but Battle-shock.

[Malakithe]

Seeing Marine and Nid datasheets is making me anxious waiting for Necron datasheets lol

[Captain Idaho]

When do we get ours? I can't wait!

[NTaW]

I've been reading the SM datasheets and am pleasantly surprised at how much fluff is reflected in the rules. Points values will be critical, but I'm very interested in seeing what becomes of the Necron options. With so many stratagems and faction rules worked into unit abilities, and the return of some rules I'd thought long gone like Drop Pod Assault, I'm cautiously optimistic for what the Necrons will receive.

 

One thing I'll be looking out for is for dispersion shields to have their old reflecting damage ability-turned-stratagem returned as an ability for the wargear, even if it's a "once per battle" deal.

[Malakithe]

1 hour ago, Captain Idaho said:

When do we get ours? I can't wait!

Based on the leak I saw they are releasing them in batches and is been accurate so far. Next up 'should' be, based on leaks, June 12, the other Marine chatpers.

 

June 13th - Chaos

June 14th - Imperium 

June 15th - Xenos

June 16th - GT pack and points

June 20th - Combat Patrol stuff

[Captain Idaho]

That's like a million years away.

[Lord_Ikka]

One thing that will probably happen is that scarabs will be OC 0 like ripper swarms, so no more cheap objective grabbing swarms for us.

Edited June 10, 2023 by Lord_Ikka

[Ahzek451]

I'm hoping to see less seen units get a boost. Reanimators for one. 

[Karhedron]

13 hours ago, Captain Idaho said:

That's like a million years away.

 

"What if I get bored? Anyone for chess? Bring me knitting!"

 

It will be interesting to see how the various RP buffing mechanics get translated into 10th. Looking at the SM vs SM battle report, it seems like lethality remains high in 10th, despite GW's attempts to boost durability. Keeping key units alive long enough for RP to actually kick in is going to be crucial. 

[NTaW]

I noticed one of the SM Dreadnoughts essentially has the Ever-Living stratagem wording as an ability, but also that while every unit gets bespoke abilities they aren't very consistently distributed. I only really figure it will be on a couple characters but it sure would be cool to see it spread liberally across character/leader units.

[Ahzek451]

Based on trends I'm seeing in the new marine and nids datasheets, I'd be willing to be the doomstalker's ability is a free overwatch. 

[Daimyo-Phaeron Lenoch]

10 hours ago, Karhedron said:

 

"What if I get bored? Anyone for chess? Bring me knitting!"

The cryptek-playwrights have a lovely short performance for us in the meantime— a mere six years long, practically nothing at all!

[Ahzek451]

[Captain Idaho]

Seems the Stormlord has lost his attachment to Flayed Ones, though I didn't ever feel like it was a fluffy choice.

 

I'd like to have seen him more established as a rival to the Silent King, even if not as powerful. He doesn't feel that special truth be told.