The Necrons are a race of alien robots that feature heavily in the world of Warhammer 40,000. They are effectively ‘space undead’, robot skeletons that look human enough to be spooky, and complete Warhammer’s ‘fantasy but in the far future’ vibe that began with Space Orks, Space Elves, and Space Dwarves. These spooky space skeletons have a heavily ornate, Egyptian God sort of vibe that will be familiar to fans of Stargate SG-1 and the like.
They’re an implacable enemy with some cool-looking models in the game itself. The back-story for Necrons has changed heavily over the years, with some pretty meaty story developments in recent releases. They’ve gone from being a footnote to one of the biggest threats in the setting, featuring some of Warhammer’s most memorable characters. This is in part because ‘cabal of cosmic zombies and interstellar necromancers who can’t quite remember how to be people’ is a pretty solid hook to hang a story on and partially because the models look cool in a heavy metal album sort of way.
Codex Necrons (2023) presents the new background material and rules for the tenth edition of Warhammer 40,000. Rules-wise, there isn’t anything terribly exciting for experienced players here. The new game is more a logical iteration of the previous edition, and as such, all of the units here are already balanced and thought through. There are a few changes that squeeze the playstyle into something a lot smoother and fun. Necrons are a little less tough and a little faster and are still as hard to kill as ever. Fans of swarms will find it easier to build an army list, and the Necron hero characters have had a slight boost in flexibility.
The book is jammed with lore and written in an accessible way, and the narrative has moved a little bit further forward, with the Necrons having more of a reason to fight each other now, which is nice. We only received the digital version for review, so we can’t confirm the quality of the actual book itself. As always, the book is filled with glossy photos of amazing Games Workshop art and photos of models.
Codex Necrons (2023) is exactly what the game needs right now and a good sign that future codexes will also be satisfying.
