Warhammer 40K: Choose Your Necron Dynasty
If you want to start a Necron Army, you’re going to want to pick a Dynasty. How do you decide? Let’s take a look at their rules to find out.
Picking a Necron Dynasty is your first step to determining the type of army you want to build for Necrons. Each one has some advantages and brings a little something special to the tabletop. Today, we’re going to do a quick break down for each Dynasty to hopefully help you figure out which one would best suit your playstyle. You can also completely ignore our advice and create your own Dynasty from the custom Dynastic Tradition rules – hey, it’s your army, you do what you want.
We’ll also need these Command Protocol rules for later so just keep them in mind. Now, on to the Dynasties!
Szarekhan
The first question you have to answer is “Do you want to use the Silent King in your army?” If the answer to that question is YES then you might be a Szarekhan player. Overall, they are going to be tougher as the army has access to a 5+ “Feel No Pain” save – that’s on top of all their other Necron related saves. They also get a free re-roll to wound when attacking so that’s a bonus. That makes your low shot, high damage weapons more effective. The Command Protocol they get to double down on is Undying Legions, which again, allows them to survive better than everyone else.
So what type of play style fits best with Szarekhan? It’s actually a pretty universally solid army as these abilities don’t pigeonhole you into any one thing – it’s just a solid “Generic” Dynasty to play. Now, if you wanted to really maximize some of those re-rolls, a ton of bodies on the table might suit you. I could see a hyper aggressive army with a ton of Necron Warriors loaded up with Gauss Reapers being tough. Go ahead and shoot us, we’ll just get up and keep on coming with a wall of str 5, AP -2 shots.
Sautekh
This one is a bit easier to pin down. Sautekh is perfect for an army that has a ton of Rapid Fire weapons. If you have an old-school Necron army with a bunch of warriors with Gauss Flayers, this one is perfect for you. Or if you want to expand into some of the newer guns with Rapid Fire. Conquering Tyrant also helps buff auras and allows units to fall back and shoot.
With some careful planning you could lure your enemy into charging a bait unit, then fall back and have your army melt them at an extend Rapid Fire range along with some extra auras to pump up the damage. I think a Warrior heavy army would benefit from being Sautekh as well. This Dynasty is for those players that want a gunline of gauss!
Mephrit
Mephrit is another Dynasty that focuses on pumping up the ranged damage by extending the range of their guns (except pistols – sorry hexmark gunslingers) by 3″. And those weapons get even nastier at 1/2 range with an additional AP bonus. Vengeful Stars doubles down on BOTH of these abilities as well.
What type of play style would work best? Well, if you’re looking to go heavy on anti-armor shooting this Dynasty is calling you. The extra range and AP at 1/2 mean that even their small arms fire is going to have AP -2 or better. This of course plays into having a gun-heavy army as well. I could see this army also playing well with the new Heavy Lokhust Destroyers. If you wanted an army that can really light up the enemy armor at mid-range and closer, Mephrit is for you!
Novokh
We’re finally into a Necron Dynasty that isn’t afraid of getting their hands (or blades) dirty. This Dynasty gets bonuses for getting to and getting in to close combat. Hungry Void also doubles-down on those things, too.
If you’re looking for a Dynasty that can mix it up in close combat this is it. This could be the first real Necron army that bucks tradition. It’s an army that really wants to get into close combat and they might actually be good at it now. It’s not that they couldn’t do it before, but now with this dynasty and the new models and units that have more of close combat slant, you build an army that could be quite successful now. Take advantage of the new terrain rules to close the gap and surprise everyone with your deadly close combat attacks!
Nephrekh
Alright this one is kind of a weird Dynasty. Thematically, this is a Necron Army that is both fast and *slightly* more durable. I say slightly because that 6+ invulnerable is nice…but it’s not exactly super reliable. However, the movement buffs this dynasty provides are going to be helpful. And Sudden Storm will allow you to move fast, claim objectives that require actions and still shoot!
A good fit for this fighting force is an army that is looking to maneuver heavily. If you want to be able to snag objectives, and then mess with you opponent with fients and advances, I don’t think any other Necron Dynasty is going to do that better than Nephrekh.
Nihilakh
When it comes to protecting their own turf, Nihilakh does it best. They are more Objective Secured than Objectives Secured! Plus, they can shrug off AP -1 shots as long as they are still in their deployment zone. And Eternal Guardian will provide them with some extra cover AND some bonuses to shoot in overwatch or defend themselves in close combat.
If you’re wanting a VERY defensive army that can hold their own objectives safely while moving up to pressure the enemies, the Nihilakh Dynasty can do that. You’re just going to have to find the right balance between backfield, long range firepower and aggressive elements to push up. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure the plan of turtling up and going for the late game objective grab is going to work in 9th edition due to the missions. However, if that’s what you want to try I can’t see anyone else doing it much better.
Which Dynasty fits your playstyle? What units are you looking forward to running?
