Necron HQ review, last and most expensive choice

The super strategist Why then does he have so many random dice roll rules?

Imotekh is known to be a great strategist, perhaps the most accomplished in the galaxy, and is said to have never been defeated in battle (since I have never used him on the tabletop). He has put down a civil war on his Tomb World; forced all other Necrons to stop infighting, has campaigns that encompass entire star systems, and has waged wars in whole sectors of space.


In battle, Imotekh is known to use terror as a weapon against his foes. He channels electrical storms to destroy and frighten armies and can even blanket the battlefield in eternal night. When it comes to fighting, Imotekh leads his from the front and challenges enemy commanders to duels. These are honorable duels and of course the enemy takes that into consideration. Imotekh never kills a defeated foe. Instead he maims them or leaves them wounded. This way they suffer from the humiliation of defeat. Yeah, a real genius move there, since the 40K universe is full of unbelievable bastards who would never do the same, and will only seek revenge.







Well by now we should all know the usual rules and stats for Necron HQ choices. If you don’t...well here is what Imotekh has for stats: WS 4, BS 4, strength and toughness 5, wounds and attacks of 3, initiative 2, leadership 10 and a 2+/3++ save. He also has the usual ever-living, reanimation protocols and independent character rules. He comes armed with a gauntlet of fire, phase shifter (3++), Blood Swarm Nanoscarabs, the Staff of the Destroyer, a phylactery and sempiternal weave (2+). He unlocks the Royal Court unit and can purchase a Catacomb Command Barge. He comes with the Phaeron, Humiliating Defeat, Hyperlogical Strategy, and Lord of the Storm rules. All this for 25 points less than a Astartes land Raider. 


Blood Swarm Nanoscarabs- are used during the first game turn. You choose one enemy unit to be infested with these buggers. After that, any Flayed One packs that deep strike can do so within 6” of the infested unit and not scatter. Super awesome! Well, except for the fact that Flayed Ones are universally shunned; making this bit of gear useless. 

Staff of the Destroyer- is a ranged attack weapon. It has a range of 2D6” S 6 AP 1 assault 1 and is a one use only weapon. Now when fired you draw a line from Imotekh that is as many inches as rolled. Then any unit in this line takes a number of hits. These hits are equal to the number of models in the unit. I am totally underwhelmed by this. Seriously?!  2D6 inches in range!?Yes it hits every model in the unit, but that is if the distance rolled is far enough. Then the one shot only bit, what a damn waste! Good luck hitting one unit let alone multiples. Sure if you are right up next to some guys or a vehicle then go nuts and enjoy this quasi-super non-combi weapon. It is about the only time it will be useful.

Humiliating Defeat- If a character loses their last wound to Imotekh in close combat, roll a D3. The number rolled count as extra wounds for combat resolution.

Hyperlogical Strategy- allows Imotekh to seize the initiative on a 4+. However, when facing Orks, he can never roll to seize, since Orks are too crazy for him to form strategies against.

Lord of the Storm- is the signature rule for this guy. This allows for the Night Fight rule to be in effect on turn one. Then at the start of the following turn, and after, roll a D6. If the result is greater than the current turn, then the Night Fight rules continue. If it is less than the current turn, the night time shenanigans go away. There is a little addition to this rule. This also allows for a bunch of lightning to be thrown around every turn that is still night. As long as Night Fight is in play, during your shooting phase, you roll a D6 for each enemy unit on the board. If you roll a 6, then that unit takes D6 S8 AP 5 hits (vehicles are hit on side armor).

Wow not one, but three random dice rolls in one rule. Holy crap how awesome is this?!? It is not. Making the board Night Fight for a bit can help from some ranged damage, but after a turn it really isn’t super helpful is it? Necrons are not a long ranged gun threat army. They need the mid-field and sadly, so do most other armies. Sure you won’t get shot, but you won’t be shooting either. It can make the game go faster. It also allows for the enemy to move unhindered for a bit as well, especially if you want to keep the night going for more than a few rounds. I find Night Fight annoying for a turn, but after that it becomes pretty useless, especially in the world of mobile Marines. Plus it is random and that is annoying. Just when you want a long Night Fight, you roll that 1 or 2 and watch that plan go by the wayside.

Then there is the lightning storm he can throw around. Does anyone remember Preliminary Bombardment? Did anyone ever think that was awesome? It wasn’t. This is what Lord of the Storm’s secondary trait is, the old Preliminary Bombardment. A hope for a lot of single 6’s to hit and then a random amount of hits, not wounds. This is incredibly underwhelming. Who gets excited about a 1:6 chance to hit a unit with potential random hits? Well, not me.

Imotekh seems like a giant over priced piece of suck. I know a lot of Necron players love him, but I don’t understand why. He is expensive and way to random for me. His 2+/3++ armor is great, but he has no real threat in combat. Sure a re-roll from the Gauntlet of Fire is great, but a Warscythe is a thousand times better. Throw any other Codex big bad against Imotekh and they will probably give him a much deserved pants down spanking. This guy is our Calgar, Abbadon, Swarmlord, etc. Hell, I imagine old dead Eldrad would put a hurt on Imotekh in close combat and that is sad! 

He costs too damn much and all you really get is a bunch of random crap and a Flayed One deployment buff. The 4+ seize is a good rule, but completely not worth the Land Raider-ish price tag. I guess I’m not seeing the badass that others see. All I see in Imotekh is building a battle plan off of rolling a lot of 6’s every single turn and that to me is pants on head retarded.