Necron Special Characters, part One ~ Overview

Imotekh the Stormlord

Getting towards the end, the special characters still to go although that may take a bit of time. As with many recent codexes the Necrons have a decent selection and with the C'tan gone they are all completely new.


Perhaps my plan to take things slow and reread enough to give an overview which is more than a first glance is flawed and most people will already have found out all they want, but I started so I'm going to finish and who knows I might inspire some new idea.


In an infinite universe, anything is possible.





Imotekh the Stormlord
Terrible name aside, Imotekh is the ruler of the most powerful Necron dynasty that is currently awake and as the dynasties former military commander he is also perhaps the most skilled ruler in the ways of war.
His statistics are identical to a standard Overlord and he is a Phaeron, so grants the unit he is with Relentless (as well as options for a Royal Court and/or Catacomb Command Barge). In addition he comes with a Phase Shifter, Phylactery and Semiternal weave, giving him 2+/3++ armour and additional wounds when he awakes (probably an idea to keep him near a Lord with a Ressurection Orb to make the most of it).
His only real downside apart from his points cost is he is armed with a Gauntlet of Fire rather than anything that ignores armor, making his combat ability limited against marines but good against some other armies. It especially doesn't go well with his Humiliating Defeat ability, which counts him as scoring D3 additional wounds if he kills a character in combat, since most characters have decent armour saves.
He also has the Staff of the Destroyer, which is an interesting one use weapon. Effectively it draws a line 2D6" long from Imotekhs base and for each model under it, that models unit takes a Str6 Ap1 hit. Powerful but unless he is on a Command Barge (which prevents him benefiting from a Ressurection Orb) he'll have trouble getting into the best position to use it before charging into assault.
His other weapon is used before the game and affects a random enemy unit so Flayed Ones can deepstrike within 6" of them without scattering, which is rather poor both because its random and because the Flayed Ones will then be shot dead or assaulted.
His last two abilities are what makes him most noteworthy, firstly he can seize the initiative on a 4+ unless he is fighting Orks amusingly, where he can't make an attempt at all.

His 'Lord of the Storm' ability, which he is named for, is something people all over have decided tactics for. Firstly it makes the first turn of any game use the Night Fighting rules and as long as he can roll over the turn number each turn, this can continue all game. Then at the start of any Necron shooting phase where Night Fighting remains, he may roll a D6 for each unengaged enemy and on a 6 they take D6 Str8 Ap5 hits!
Whatever some people have said tho, Crptek's with the Solar Pulse wargear are useless with this. Night Fighting activated by the Pulse do not generate lighting according to the ability and since the pulse is activated at the start of the turn and lighting happens in the shooting phase, the pulse can actually prevent lighting!

Over all Imotekh is an interesting character with some nice abilities but he is too reliant on good dice rolls for Lord of the Storm to really be worth his points.

Nemesor Zahndrekh
Another Overlord with standard stats, although he isn't a Phaeron so while he can have a Royal Court and Command Barge he doesn't give Relentless. Zahndrekh (along with his partner Obyron) is one of my favourite fluff groups although again to me personally it is a little too comedic (as is a lot of the necron codex fluff).
Zahndrekh is under the delusion that he is still a living mortal and that everyone he faces are Necrontyr from rebellious dynasties from times before the C'tan even appeared. This makes him the most honourable of the Necron Overlords since tradition dictates one must be honourable against fellow Necrontyr.
Equipped with a Phase Shifter, Semiternal weave and Resurrection Orb, Zahndrekh would be perfectly equipped if he had a Warscythe instead of his Staff of Light. Oh well, he is still great as only 5pts more than an equally equipped Overlord!
And wow does he get some good stuff for that 5pts. Firstly if he is on the battlefield then units in reserve able to Deep Strike (Destroyer Lords, Night Scythes, Deathmarks, Triarch Praetorians, Flayed Ones, Wraiths, Destroyers, Monoliths & Doom Scythes) can choose to do so whenever an enemy arrives from reserve in the enemy turn. Unfortunately unlike the Deathmark ability, the RAW for this at the moment prevents you using the rule in your turn (e.g. if enemy Deathmarks choose to Deep Strike as one of your other units arrived).
His other two abilities (some of the best in the codex) allow him at the start of his turn if on the board to grant either Counter-attack, Furious Charge, Hit and Run, Night Vision, Stealth or Tank Hunters to a friendly unit for the turn... And pick an enemy unit in line of sight and remove all of those abilities from them for the turn!

Giving yourself Counter-attack while removing the enemies Furious Charge or vice-versa has the potential to really alter the game (and mess with the enemies tactics), let alone toying with the other abilities.
While I'm upset over the lack of combat weapon, Zahndrekh is certainly one of the best characters in the codex! - If you're okay with a HQ without a combat weapon.

Oh and lastly, if he is used then Varguard Obyron does not take up a HQ slot. This isn't much as after spending 345pts on them you probably won't be wanting to use the other HQ slot, my question however is does he still count as a HQ for other purposes (deploying in Dawn of War for example)?

Varguard Obyron
Obyron is Zahndrekh's aide and protector, unlike his master tho he fully realises what he is and the reality that faces the Necron race but has given up trying to awake his master to these facts. Dedicated as he is Obyron instead works to tie up any loose ends caused by Zahndrekh's madness, such as making sure that the 'honoured' prisoners of war they capture are 'killed whilst trying to escape'.
Obyron is not an Overlord and thus doesn't allow a Royal Court or a dedicated Command Barge, however he could still take and use someone elses during the game. He has the stats of an Overlord, except for his Ws of 6, far higher than anything else in the codex.
He is equipped with a Sempiternal weave (2+ armour) and a Warscythe! *smiles* In addition he has his Ghostwalk Mantle which is an improved Veil of Darkness, normally available only to Crypteks. Unlike the normal veil, Obyron can use his to leave combat, in fact if Zahndrekh is assaulted by the enemy then Obyron instantly teleports to his side (leaving his unit or transport behind) and doesn't scatter whenever he tries appearing near Zahndrekh (interesting FAQ question will be if they are on opposite sides, does Obyron still not scatter when teleporting near Zahndrekh?).
His other ability is that when it is his turn to attack Obyron gets a bonus attack for every enemy attack which missed him! Unfortunately this isn't of use against Initiative 1 or 2 attacks, but its still nice.

Obyron isn't as much of a bargain as Zahndrekh, 15pts cheaper than an equally equipped Overlord (assuming we use the standard Veil of Darkness cost) is quite good as the improved Veil and additional attacks etc are nice, but its also at the cost of Royal Court and Catacomb Command Barges option..
Still, in an army without any real combat stuff he is nice (if you keep him away from too many power weapons).