Necron Codex final grade

After a fair amount of time, I’m done with the Necron Codex and what is my final opinion? It is pretty average. Only average you say? Why? I’ll be using a +,-, and 0 grading system ( the 0  will be the neutral )

Background

This was greatly expanded for better or worse. The Necrons are no longer mindless killbots, well not all of them anyway. There are now personalities in the world of walking metal killers. They are all part of varying Dynasties and Tom Worlds. Does this really matter to me? Nope. I look at my army as a mindless force of T-800’s and friends. I don’t like robots with personas, well aside from Bender, while others might. The background is a solid 0.

Units

When it comes to units, this codex is really no different than any other. There are some great, good and awful units in this army. Just like in every other army in the 40K universe. Outside of the Troop section, the units all have some use, fans and detractors. Personally, I love the troop choices! It is hard to dislike a base troop that has a strength 5 gun and almost Marine stats. Even the Warrior with a lower armor save is very affordable and can be taken en masse or in a tiny group to save points. The Heavy, Fast, Elite and HQ slots all have their good, bad and ugly choices. It really isn’t any different than every other army codex when it comes to unit like and dislike. I’ll add another solid 0 here.

Artwork

This is about 99% Blanche-free so +.

Wargear

This area I am a bit unhappy with. The majority of the choices are a combination of too expensive, to crummy, one use only or a combination of the lot. There are just too many one use items that are too expensive. The HQ  Warscythe is cheap and a no-brainer, but their remaining gear does nothing for me. The same goes for the Royal Court and all the stuff they can take. There are only two real choices for me,  the Eldritch Lance and Warscythe. The rest of the stuff I can easily pass up. I give the Wargear a -.

Rules

These are fairly well written. The only problem was that people were exploiting the Scarab Hive rule. This was mostly due to the classic, “It doesn’t say I can’t do it this way.” school of thought. Besides that, the special unit rules and the army-wide rules are very straight forward. There is very little if any wiggle room, or misinterpretation. That makes for a welcome +.

Misc
This is the upgradable portion and is mostly a bit of questions. Why is there no Force Organization manipulation in this army? Wouldn't it make complete sense for Trazyn to allow Lychguard as troops, even if only a single squad? Why not let Imotekh allow for Flayed Ones as troops since he gives them a buff? Maybe let a Destroyer Lord grab a unit of them for a bodyguard or troop slot. It seems like the author and "testers" missed a chance with leaving out the minor manipulation of Force Organization.

You can see this pretty much makes for a pretty average codex. It is not overpowered and it should make the codex creepers see the fault in that logic. This is a solid codex, but it is not the best and most powerful because it is new.  There is go easy button or auto-win that people see in every new codex (well what the codex creepies see and believe).If this is the case, then why are the Grey Knights still top dog? Why did the Necrons not dominate or have a majority showing at the large tournaments this year? Is it due to being a new codex? Nope. Is it due to other older armies having more powerful and easier builds? Yup. The Necron codex is solid and should weather the oncoming storm, and years until an upgrade, fairly well. I like the book, the new models and don’t hate the new fiction. This is good codex for one of my favorite 40K armies.