Necron Codex review - part 3 of 3

On to part 3, the final part of the codex review which will look at the detachments, formations and supplemental material.

Decurion detachment:

A new and interesting concept introduced here is the decurion detachment. What this allows is for the Necron player to have an additional way of organising their army in addition to the methods found in the main rulebook. (unbound, combined arms, allied). Effectively, you make up a detachment comprising formations (more on them below). This has the benefit of you being able to keep both the detachment benefits and in addition you get the individual formation benefits. There are restrictions within the detachment and, of course, the usual restrictions within the individual formations. The core formation here is the reclamation legion, which allows you to in turn take 0-1 royal court and 1-10 of any of the other detachments. For every legion you take, you can then add in the same. It's a really nice concept and obviously those who don't like it don't have to use it. The other added benefit is a shedload of formations added into the book.  The command benefit gained from taking a decurion is ever-living, granting a +1 to reanimation protocols and allowing models with living metal to ignore stunned and shaken - this is across the whole army and so is of great benefit if you can organise your army this way. Note that the Star God, Flayed ones and Deathmarks entries are simply chosen from the datasheets and are not a formation in themselves.

 

Reclamation Legion:

The core of the Decurion, the Legion formation grants the models within it move through cover and relentless, as well as allowing the Overlord and units within 12" of him to reroll reanimation protocol rolls of 1. The formation consists of 1 Overlord (or Zahndrekh, Trazyn, Anrakyr or a Command barge), 0-2 Lychguard, 1-4 Immortals, 2-8 Warriors, 1-3 Tomb blades and 0-3 Monoliths. This is a great flexible core to any army and a seemingly obvious sales plug for tomb blades by making them 1-3, though with the new rules chances are you'll want some anyway.

Royal Court:

No Longer a standard option in the army list, the court is now a formation consisting of a single Overlord (or one of the alternatives mentioned above), 1-3 Lords (Or Obyron) and 1-3 Crypteks (or Orikan/Szeras) as a single unit, and as independent characters they may split off and join other squads. They gain move through cover and relentless as with the Reclamation legion, but in addition the Overlord may reroll warlod traits if it is the Warlord.

Judicator Battalion:

Consisting of one unit of stalkers and 2 units of Praetorians, the battalion not only grants move through cover to the units but also target designated, which allows the player to nominate a single unit in line of sight to a stalker. All units in the formation can then reroll to hit, wound or penetrate vs this target until the end of the shooting phase. Potentially devastating if a priority target presents itself.

Destroyer Cult:

One destroyer Lord, 3 units of destroyers (3+ models each) and 0-1 heavy destroyer units. They gain move through cover and also can reroll warlord traits if chosen as a primary detachment. In addition to their preferred enemy, extermination protocols allows all models in the formation to re-roll failed to wound and armour penetration rolls in the shooting phase. Nice.

Deathbringer flight:

A formation of 2-4 doom scythes which allows you to add 2 to your BS when firing death rays at the same target for each preceding death ray shot. Also, enemy units within 12" or 2+ doom scythes have -1 leadership.

Living Tomb:

Consisting of an obelisk and 0-2 monoliths, the tomb requires all units to start in deep strike reserve. The Obelisk automatically arrives on the second turn and allows any monoliths arriving to not scatter if placed within 12". The tomb nexus rule grants monoliths the ability to immediately relocate a single infantry unit from reserves to disermbark at the same time the monolith arrives. A good way of getting an additional Lord of war onto the table and also stopping your monoliths from mishapping as well as getting units in from reserve fairly reliably. 

Annihilation Nexus:

A doomsday ark and 2 annihilation barges make up the nexus. The quantum deflection rule allows you to sacrifice a barges quantum shielding to reactivate the doomsday arks. Not that great to be honest as the barges are themselves an asset not to be easily sacrificed.

Canoptek Harvest:

This formation is composed of a single canoptek spyder, 1 unit of wraiths and one unit of scarabs. They all gain move through cover and relentless, but also get adaptive subroutines. This allows you to give the spyder and any units from the formation within 12" one of the following rules per turn: shred, fleet and reanimation protocols. Certainly the last one will be useful in keeping already durable units alive that extra bit longer to make it into combat.

Mephrit Dynasty Warlord traits and relics of the war in heaven:

Not technically a formation but I thought I would mention these items here while going over the Mephrit Dynasty (hate the paint scheme) formations from WD and exterminatus.

1 - Eternal will - warlord has eternal warrior

2 - Override protocols - warlords melee weapons have haywire USR

3 - Immortal arrogance - warlord and friendly necrons in 12" can reroll failed morale, pinning and fear tests.

4 - Mental Subroutines - Warlord has admantium will.

5 - Scorn of the ages - Warlord and his unit have hatred.

6 - Repair nanoscarabs - Warlord has it will not die USR.

The God shackle (cryptek only) - as long as the Cryptek remains alive a nominated C'tan shard gains +1 S/T.

Edge of eternity (Overlord only) - a warscythe with precision strikes.

Solar thermasite - (Overlord/Cryptek) - can reroll failed saves of 1 and gains +1S to ranged/melee.

Mephrit Dynasty Cohort

Effectively a Necron detachment if you wanted one as an alternative to the decurion. Essentially the same as a combined arms detachment just with 3-8 troops. Perks include rerolling for Mephrit Warlord traits and rerolling reanimation protocol rolls of 1 for troops. Note that you cannot take tesseract vaults.

Conclave of the burning one

This chap is the C'tan shard mentioned in Exterminatus and the formation consists of a C'tan Shard with 2 Crypteks which form a unit together - they can't be joined by any other characters but benefit from using the Shards toughness. While the Crypteks are alive the Shard gets feel no pain 5+, 6+ if only one is alive. This would seem to work well with the God Shackle, but as these rules were released before the Codex it's not quite clear if you have to take a Shard (Nightbringer/Deceiver) or if you can take a transcendent C'tan - the Burning one is clearly the Transcendent C'tan model just with the old Shard rules, but now the Shards all have disinct rules it's a bit unclear.

Zarathusa's Royal Decurion

The first of 3 mini-decurions, this one grants one of the following rules to the non-vehicle units in the formation: crusader, counter-attack, fearless, monster hunters. The overlord must be alive to benefit from it and you can change the rule at the beginning of each turn to suit the situation. The requirements are rather specific though, consisting of 1 overlord / immortals / ghost ark / stalker / deathmarks / doom scythe / praetorians and 2 units of warriors / wraiths.  

Anrakyr's strategic decurion

The benefits of this formation are rerolling to seize the initiative and being able to re-roll reserves as long as Anrakyr is alive. It consists of Anrakyr, 2 units of warriors and one of each immortals, ghost ark, doom scythe and deathmarks. 

The Guardians of Perdita

One of the formations made up of formations found in Exterminatus, this one is basically all 3 of the above formations combined (for larger games obviously) which in addition to their individual perks all benefit from Zarathusa's command benefits so long as he is still alive.

Mephrit Dynasty resurgence decurion

This mini WD formation is 2 units of warriors, 2 units of immortals and a monolith, which has the locus of resurrection rule. This allows the monolith to repair fallen models from the formation at the beginning of the movement phase. All units of warriors within 6"roll a D6 and all units of immortals a D3. Add this many models to the unit so long as it doesn't exceed starting size. This is a great formation if you aren't using a decurion as it allows a solid firebase which will continue to resurrect itself so long as the monolith remains alive.

Conclusion

Overall I think the Necron Codex is a very good effort on GWs parts. The book itself is extensive and packed full of pictures and datasheets. They've done a very good job of balancing out a controversial codex and as a result have made it so that while the army is still strong, it doesn't have so many auto-include units any more. Highlights include the decurion detachment style of organisation, while areas which fell a bit short of the mark include the simplistic squad markings section, loss of variety amongst Crypteks and the random nature of the C'Tan powers. Overall though very impressed with this release. Cheers. 

Necron Codex review part 2 of 3

Welcome to part 2 folks, which covers all the non-HQ datasheets save for formations. These are brief reviews basically looking at what's changed rather than how to use the units and so don't expect an in depth analysis. The more I've read through the book, however, the more Necrons have turned from the army I love to hate into the army I want to love.

Warriors - completely unchanged save for a limit of 10-20 per squad rather than 5-20.

Immortals - again, completely unchanged.

Lychguard - got a massive and much needed points drop. The stats, wargear options and special rules are unchanged, but the wargear itself changed somewhat. Hyperphase swords remain the same as AP3 melee weapons, warscythes are clarified as S+2, AP2, 2-handed, armourbane and the biggest change is that dispersion shields now grant a flat 3++ save. So you can either go for a very tough unit that can dice through 3+ armour easily, or a unit capable of ripping apart vehicles and 2+ armour that is a bit cheaper but more vulnerable to AP3 and below weaponry.

Deathmarks - 1 pt cheaper per head. Hunters from hyperspace changed very slightly in that no nomination of units is needed now in order to wound on a 2+. Ethereal interception also changed in that now it is clarified that you can make a shooting attack when you arrive but cannot shoot in your following turn.

Flayed ones - a much needed improvement. For the most part everything remained the same (save for gaining fear - whoo!) except that these chaps now come armed with 2 flayer claws each, granting an extra attack, AP5 and shred. A much needed boost in melee but may still not make them that desirable.

Triarch Praetorians - like the Lychguard, they also got a lot cheaper. They gained an extra attack and access to a night scythe as a dedicated transport. Rods of covenant are S5 AP2 weapons in melee and gained an extra 6" on their ranged attack also. Particle casters are the same and voidblades are now AP4 base with the new rules for entropic strike (covered under scarabs). Now a much more attractive choice.

Triarch Stalkers - a power fist cheaper and now in squadrons or 3. All else is much the same except the targetting relay now changed so that all Necrons within 6" add +1 to their BS except if firing snap shots.

C'Tan Shard of the Nightbringer - Shards are now separate entities rather than build your own. Probably an IP protecting move but sadly I think it takes away from the uniqueness of the unit. Whereas before you could build a C'Tan to suit your fluff, now you're limited to the 3 that have models. Nightbringer has a slightly different profile to before with WS6/BS4 and retains the eternal warrior, immune to natural law and necrodermis rules. He also gains fleshbane and has gaze of death as standard. This works differently now and rather than being a melee attack is now a shooting attack. A single unit takes 3D6 -Ld AP2 wounds that ignore cover. If 1+ wounds are inflicted Nightbringer regains a wound. Probably a bit cheaper now that his rules are incorporated and not upgrades but still not a great choice for the points - T7 4++ just aint that tough thesedays. Add to that the randomness of the C'Tan powers which I'll cover under the transcendent C'Tan. 

C'Tan Shard of the Deceiver - Same cost as Nightbringer, just shy of a land raider. This chap retains his stats from before and gains a few new rules. Grand illusion is pretty much the same but now he can also hit and run and has dread, meaning models within 12" -2 from their Ld. Less of a beatstick than the Nightbringer and much more of a strategic model to outmanoeuvre and rout the enemy - probably better against slow, low Ld armies.

Night scythe - much needed points increase to make it more balanced, the scythe now has the invasion beam rule clarifying unit disembarkation. Also, the change to tesla is much needed and now clarifies that snap shots do not generate more tesla hits.

Ghost Ark - a bit cheaper and some changes to repair barge meaning you can no longer damage yourself and simply roll D3 to restore models to a unit of warriors. It retains quantum shielding, which is now a fixed 13 for front and side until a penetrating hit is scored. The Gauss flayer arrays are now salvo 5/10 and have independent targetting making them more useful. Speaking of gauss, in addition to auto-penetrating on 6's they now auto-wound on 6's also. Nasty.

Canoptek wraiths - in almost any codex there will always be one unit that stands out above the rest. Already a strong contender in the previous book, the canoptek wraith has gone from good to amazing. A straight 3++ now, plus all the same stats as before including an upgrade to T5, making it much more durable. It is also now a beast unit rather than jump infantry but retains wratihflight in order to bypass intervening terrain. All for a very modest points increase. Whip coils now add 3 to initiative rather than affecting the enemy's initiative value. The transdimensional beamer changed to a S4 AP2 heavy 1 weapons which causes auto-wound/instant death on a 6 and auto-penetrates vehicles on a 6 also.

Canoptek Scarabs - these chaps mostly retain the same stats but have gone up in price a bit and had their save reduced from 5+ to 6+. Also, entropic strike has changed dramatically so that now it is just effectively the same as gauss but in melee. Not as good as before obviously but many would argue they were too good then. 

Tomb Blades - stats remained the same but they got slightly cheaper and all the upgrades got significantly cheaper. What's more, all the upgrades are now useful. Shield vanes remained the same upgrading the blade to a 3+ (so now for the same cost as the old model you get a 3+ save), nebuloscopes now grant ignores cover instead of a pretty redundant (on a TL weapon) BS5 and the shadowloom grants +1 cover save rather than stealth, so presumably it can be stacked with stealth. Several subtle but needed changes mean they're likely to be more commonly seen, especially now they're a compulsory choice in a decurion detachment (more on that later).

Destroyers - Now jet pack infantry which is great as they can use the old Tau tactic of move-shoot-move. The cost remains the same, but now destroyers are a much needed 2 wounds rather than 1. The unit size maximum is now 6 and only a single model may be upgraded to a heavy destroyer for half the points cost of before. But.....

Heavy destroyers - ...they now have their own unit to compensate in the heavy support slot. A 1-3 unit and each is effectively 10 points cheaper than before and, as above, has jet pack and an extra wound. Destroyers are looking like an attractive option this edition.

Canoptek Spyders - Same points as before but with cheaper upgrades. The Particle cannon and fabricator claw are the same, whereas the gloom prism now grants admantium will to all units in 12". The scarab hive is pretty much the same except that the scarab base is automatically generated now regardless of whether you roll a 1 and wound the spyder. Slightly better due to the points adjustments, though the scarab nerf may make them less desirable overall.

Doom scythe - Slightly cheaper than before, the doom scythe has had the same tesla-snap-shot nerf as other units, but has also seen changes to the death ray. Instead of drawing a line 3D6 long, you now simply fire with a 24" range. It is still S10 AP1 but now has blast and lance, making it even more deadly for a single vehicle or heavy infantry unit.

Monolith - This unit may have gotten a little worse. It's the same points cost and has the same weapon profiles but is now officially counted as a heavy vehicle, meaning pretty much the same as before and it can attempt to regenerate thanks to living metal. The eternity gate can be used to transport friendlies still but not to kill enemies anymore.

Annihilation Barge - this chappy saw a much needed tone-down in the new book. Not only did tesla get changed to not apply its special rule to snap shots, but the points cost for this unit shot up 33%. Much more balanced this way.

Doomsday Ark - never a particularly popular choice in the old book, the Ark has only gone down in cost marginally and has had a few tweaks to its doomsday cannon. It's main fire mode still needs the Ark to remain stationary, but is now a S10 AP1 large blast which has the primary weapon rule for the penetration bonus. It's secondary fire mode is also improved somewhat, being S8 AP3 blast now. These slight adjustments may make it a bit more popular now. 

Transcendent C'Tan - This chap is now a heavy support choice and is markedly toned down from his previous incarnation - a good thing IMO as he was overpowered before and cropping up regularly at tournaments as a result. He has the same base rules as the other C'Tan (fearless, eternal warrior, necrodermis and immune to natural law) and a better stat-line than the other two, with 5 wounds and S8. Writhing worldscape is incorporated into his rules now and makes open ground within 6" of the C'Tan difficult. He also has deep strike for when you want to ruin your opponents day. The C'Tan powers now have a very random mechanic to them. You roll a D6/pick a card AFTER choosing a target each turn and then apply that power. This is pretty poor IMO and would work much better if you got to choose the power and then designate a target, as some powers are good against certain units and terrible against others. All these powers are available for all 3 C'Tan and have a range of 24". Here's a rundown:

1 - Antimatter meteor - S8 AP3 large blast

2 - cosmic fire - S6 AP4 large blast ignores cover

3 - Seismic assault - S6 AP4 assault 10 strikedown

4 - Sky of falling stars - S7 AP4 assault 3 large blast barrage

5 - Times arrow - SD AP1 precision shots

6 - Transdimensional thunderbolt - S9 AP1 tesla

Obelisk - A monolith with 2 more hull points that is also a skimmer and packs 4 tesla spheres. It's 50% more expensive than a monolith and can either deep strike or lay dormant, the latter of which gives it a 3++ until you decide to activate it. Tesla spheres are reasonably potent, each being S7 heavy 5. The other perk of an Obelisk is that it has a gravity pulse, which makes all non-ground based units take a dangerous terrain test if within 18". I'm not really sure how effective an Obelisk would be in-game by looking at the stats. It would be tough to shift and an annoyance for your opponent  but not really a game changer unless you came up against say a Saimm-Hann list.

Tesseract Vault - A lord of war and the most expensive unit in the book. Effectively an upgraded Obelisk with 4 Tesla spheres, 50% more hull points and, most importantly, the ability to use the coalescent powers of the C'Tan. These are all BS5 and fired from the C'Tan itself using better profiles than the regular C'Tan with twice the range. Antimatter meteor and cosmic fire are apocalyptic blast, Seismic assault is 20 shots, Sky of falling stars is assault 6 apocalyptic barrage, Times arrow and Transdimensional Thunderbolt are assault 2 instead of 1. It's intimidating for sure, but when the powers are so random it's a lot of points to invest. If it ever gets to the point of exploding though beware as it always blows up big!

Imotekh the Stormlord - Now a Lord of War, Imotekh is essentially an Overlord with a badass staff of light (S6 AP2 assault 3). He also packs a phase shifter, gauntlet of fire and has it will not die. Bloodswarm nanoscarabs allow more accurate deep striking for flayed ones, whereas his lord of the storm rule grants both auto night fighting on the first turn and can hit every unit within 48" with D6 S6 hits on a 5+ once per game. He retains his 2+ save and is a bit cheaper than before but note that he lost some other rules as well as not being able to access a Command barge. He's not bad, but not great either.

That's all for part 2, part 3 will cover formations, the decurion and supplemental material. Cheers. 

Necron Codex review part 1 of 3

Hi folks,

Has been far too long but finally I've got the chance to hammer out some thoughts on the new Necron codex and release. This will be far from comprehensive and there are much more thorough looks at the dex out there but I always like to do these reviews if only to get my head around what's changed and what hasn't. I'll also give brief mention to the rules found within WD and Exterminatus for the Mephrit dynasty. Due to the sheers amount of formations, I'll split the review up into three parts; one for them and another two for everything else. Any wargear that has changed will be covered in the most appropriate entry. 

Overall release impressions:

As has become the norm now, necrons came with both a codex and set of datacards. Both I have to say are very nice and fit in line with what we are used to by now. The codex has the added benefit of being larger than all other codexes save for the Space Marine one, but alas many of the extra pages are taken up by rather low quality CG schematics of infantry and their markings. A lot of this seems rather superfluous and not really that interesting or aesthetically pleasing to look at. A shame as I think it detracts from an otherwise lovely book. The only model release (let's face it, they didn't really need any) is a new Lord with a rather scythe-like warscythe. Much nicer than the FC Lord and the model represents one of the relics nicely.

Army special rules

Reanimation protocols is now different and works a bit like feel no pain in that it is an additional roll made after a failed save. Only destroyer and remove from play rules invalidate it. Roll a D6 and on a 5+ the model survives (subtract 1 if it was an instant death wound). The roll can never be better than 4+ and if the model/unit has feel no pain the you must choose which roll to use, not both. This seems a much better way of doing reanimation as it saves any confusion with models laid on their side with the old version. Ever living has also been moved to a formation perk. Living metal now not only ignores crew shaken, but also has the chance to reclaim a single hull point on a roll of 6 every turn for the heavy/super heavy vehicles. Note that the Phaeron rule has disappeared.

Warlord traits are as follows:

1 - Enduring will - Warlord has eternal warrior USR.

2 - Eternal madness - Warlord has zealot USR.

3 - Immortal hubris - Warlord and friendly Necron units in 12" can reroll morale, pinning and fear tests.

4 - Hyperlogical strategist - May +/- 1 from seize the initiative and reserve rolls.

5 - Implacable conqueror - Warlord and all friendly Necron units within 12" have relentless and crusader USRs.

6 - Honourable combatant - Warlord must always issue/accept a challenge. Can then reroll failed to hit rolls in challenge. No-one may intervene save for Obyron. If enemy refuses challenge then Warlord gains hatred for the rest of the game.

Artefacts of the aeons (relics) - a lot of these are formerly cryptek upgrades:

Gauntlet of the conflagrator - S7 AP2 template - one use only

Solar Staff - 12" S5 AP3 assault 3, blind, solar pulse (once per game can cancel out night fight and only snap shots can be made against the bearer and his unit)

Nightmare shroud -  2+ armour save and fear USR. Once per game can choose an enemy within 18" and make them take a morale check.

Veil of darkness - bearer has deep strike and can also relocate once per game via deep strike even if in combat.

Orb of eternity - after a reanimation protocol roll is failed, can activate this item (once per game). The failed roll can be rerolled as can any failed reanimation protocol rolls in that unit for the rest of the phase. Also, all rolls get a +1 bonus.

Voidreaper - a master crafted, fleshbane warscythe.(especially cool if you use this chap)

Tactical objectives:

11 - thrall of the Silent King - generate an additional objective - if it is achieved you score that plus D3.

12 - Dust and ashes - Nominate one Necron character - score 1 VP if still alive at the end of the turn.

13 - Reclaim and recapture - roll a D6 - if odd numbered you score D3 if controlling all 3 odd numbered objectives. If even, then same for even numbered objectives.

14 - Age of the machine - Score 1 VP if an enemy gun emplacement, vehicle or building destroyed (or D3 if at least 3). If super-heavy or mighty bulwark, score an additional 3.

15 - Slaughter the living - 1 VP if an enemy unit was destroyed.

16 -Code of combat - 1 VP if you issued a challenge.  

Units

Overlord - Now a bit cheaper and with 1 point extra of WS/BS but otherwise unchanged. Ever living is now gone as it has been made redundant by the changes to reanimation protocols. Sempiternal weave and tesseract labyrinths are now gone and much of the wargear has changed. I'll cover the melee weapons under elites but save to say the all got cheaper except the warscythe which doubled in cost. Phylactery now grants it will not die, a resurrection orb works as for the orb of eternity except that you don't gain the +1 bonus and mindshackle scarabs have been changed (thank goodness) so that in a challenge the model causes fear which tests on 3D6. Gauntlet of fire and tachyon arrow are mostly unchanged, with the arrow now having a 120" range. Phase shifters are now a 4+ invulnerable save which does NOT confer to chariots. Overall, the wargear seems much more balanced now so that Overlords are not overpowered.

Lord - now a cheaper alternative HQ choice rather than part of a court, Lords got a bit more pricey but gained a wound. They are otherwise identical to overlords in terms of options and rules. 

Cryptek - These chaps got a lot more pricey and also gained a wound. They are also a separate HQ choice now and no longer part of a court. No longer do they have so much variety and flavour with their wargear choices sadly and so have to make do with the relics and regular wargear. They do however bolster your reanimation protocols by +1 for the whole unit as well as having sole access to the chronometron, granting the Cryptek and his unit a 5++ against shooting attacks. A useful bolstering model but no longer the must take of old. 

Destroyer Lord - not much to say here. Bit cheaper, otherwise unchanged. The big difference is that he's now jet pack infantry (I will discuss later). 

Nemessor Zahndrek - a fair bit cheaper now and one of the few models to retain access to a 2+ save. He lost phased reinforcements and his resurrection orb, both of which are a shame. Instead of granting special rules for units, adaptive tactics now allows him to change his warlord trait every turn but he may not duplicate. Counter tactics has also changed and now allows you to mirror special rules from other nearby enemy units  - as long as they're on the list and within 24" there doesn't seem to be a limit to how many per turn. Overall he seems different but not really better or worse for the points. He's quite a tricky character to use effectively, but with the right squad and against the right enemy I can see him being effective. 

 

Varguard Obyron - Again, a fair bit cheaper in this edition. Obyron retains the ghostwalk mantle and a 2+ save, but has lost a wound. Varguard's duty now auto passes glorious intervention tests. The mantle can no longer be used if he is locked in combat and is a one use only piece of wargear. He doesn't scatter if he arrives within 12" of Zahndrek. Cleaving counterblow is much the same. Overall I would say Obyron hasnt really changed as the loss of a wound evens out the points drop.

Illuminor Szeras - A bit more expensive than before, Szeras retains the same stat-line and is now the only Cryptek with access to an eldritch lance. Mechanical augmentation is the same and he also benefits from a better version of technomancer, enhancing not just his squads reanimation rolls but that of other squads within 6". He did lose gaze of flame, but on the bright side now causes fear! Overall, pretty good and worth considering now ordinary Crypteks are more limited.

 

Orikan the diviner - significantly cheaper than before, though he did lose the transdimensional beamer and temporal snares. His two profiles remain the same as in the previous book as does the manner in which he upgrades, except that it is now a permanent change. The staff of tomorrow is pretty much the same except that the AP2 is now clarified. Master chronomancer is an another better version of the standard cryptek rule, which means not only does his squad add +1 to reanimation rolls but also that they can re-roll saving throws of 1. I think this chap is again worth considering as an alternative to a Cryptek if you have the points spare. 

 

Anrakyr the traveller - About the same points as before and pretty much fulfils the same role as a pimped warscythe overlord. He still has his tachyon arrow, counter attack and furious charge, plus retains his two special rules. Mind in the machine is slightly different in that he must select a vehicle within 12" now and it only works on a 4+. If shaken/stunned it must fire snap shots and it can only be one of the vehicles weapons, not all as before. He's been toned down a little but is pretty much the same as before and still worth it IMO. 

Trazyn the infinite - yet another character to see a significant points drop (spotting a pattern here?). Trazyn has lost his mindshackle scarabs and, due to the changes to scoring in this edition, also lost his 'another piece for the collection' rule. The empathic obliterator is pretty much the same (fairly lame) and his surrogate hosts rule is similar, in that on a 2+ he replaces a character model (non-unique) when he dies. Given that the necron army isn't replete with characters I think it's a rather limited rule and given that Trazyn isn't actually that great would you really want to replace your destroyer lord with him, assuming you bothered to take him in the first place. IMO the weakest of the Overlord characters. 

Catacomb Command Barge - now a seperate entry rather than dedicated transport, these guys have changed a fair bit. They are overall a lot cheaper now and obviously the chariot rules now govern things such as sweep attacks and the passenger. Phase shifters have been clarified and symbiotic repair now no longer exists, again due to the chariot rule changes. A new rule exists in the form of command wave, which either grants the same benefits as the immortal hubris warlord trait, or stacks with hubris to extend to 18". Also, it's a big change in that now it can no longer be taken as a dedicated transport for named HQ characters.

 Part two will look at the other codex datasheets for individual units. Cheers.