Tactics: Necrons – Reanimation Protocols

The tactics series fell through last week, but fear not! We return this week with a quick look at Reanimation Protocols, and what they mean for your undying steel horde.

Why it Matters

This obviously isn’t a source of heavy discussion; Reanimation is mostly just a rules mechanic, one that we pay for in the cost of our models and that simply occurs as we take casualties. Therefore, this is less of a tactics article, and more of an exploration of the rule. However, does it really deserve discussion, any more than having Toughness 4 is worthy of special discussion?

I think that the answer is yes. Reanimation Protocols gives the Necrons a unique placement in the resiliency area of Warhammer 40,000. In the days when other armies could easily provide Feel No Pain to significant quantities of their army, this wasn’t the case. Now, however, Necrons are uniquely placed in having this “save that isn’t a save” across the vast majority of their forces.

This means Necrons are uniquely positioned to survive attacks from weapons that most models cannot survive. For example, Cover Saves are a must when facing units with significant amounts of Plasma weaponry. However, the Necrons can take a bigger risk by bringing their cover with them as they cross open ground. The effect of damage mitigation is essentially doubled when you can stop to take cover.

As a result, it allows the Necron player to take ground that might be inaccessible to many similar units, and it also gives them a chance at surviving combats that their peers in other armies might not. Warp Talons will make short work of a Space Marines Tactical Squad, but they will not go through a squad of Immortals from a Decurion Detachment quite so easily. This isn’t to say that you want to be in combat with lightning claw-armed models! Rather, it is to point out that Reanimation Protocols has a good chance of throwing off an opponent’s perception of your resilience. Units that should have curled up and died are somehow still there, giving you time to redirect melee assets and keep the shooters in the fight.

How it Changed

This is another big reason that Reanimation Protocols deserves a closer look. The rule changed in some very significant ways, meaning that Necron players need to give it some serious consideration.

I think the new rule is much improved, and should improve the gaming experience for Necron players and for their opponents. There are no more irritating markers to keep up with, and there are fewer instances when Reanimation is just flat ignored. This gives the Necrons more chance to leverage the rule, and makes everything easier to keep up with along the way.

The biggest strength in the new rule comes in the form of considering Morale Checks. For example, in 5^th edition a squad of Immortals might suffer three casualties in the Shooting Phase. Before the chance ever comes to get these guys back in the fight, the Morale Check is failed, the markers are removed, and the squad is moving for the board edge. Now, the nature of Reanimation means that the Immortals might never go down in the first place. Additionally, if even one of these rolls is passed, the Necrons aren’t even required to take the Morale Check. Guaranteeing that your soldiers stick around in these situations makes the rule a massive improvement for overall Codex strength.

This is doubly true in the Assault Phase, where every hit that is turned aside improves combat resolution in your favor. Not only does it mean fewer casualties when determining assault results, it also means that the slower Necrons have more guys left to swing for return damage. Again, this means excellent damage mitigation, and less chance of entire squads being swept up in one decisive charge.

Most Improved Award contender.

Reanimation Protocols also apply per wound now, rather than only taking effect when the model is destroyed. This makes Overlords, Destroyers, and other multiple-Wound models much more efficient at soaking up damage and continuing to return the hurt downrange.

Finally, getting Reanimation Protocols against wounds that cause Instant Death means fewer instances of entire groups of metalheads getting wiped out in quick succession. The roll is worsened by attacks with this much power, but the fact that the chance for a save is still there is a huge deal. This segues nicely into our final point, because improving the Reanimation roll means that the Instant Death wounds still have a good chance of being stopped.

Getting a Boost

There are many ways across the Codex to improve the Reanimation Protocols roll, making it more likely that you will keep your soldiers in the fight. There are many that could be discussed, from the Cryptek increasing the roll for one squad to Szeras providing a bubble of improvement to the army. However, I want to focus here on the Decurion Detachment.

In addition to giving the Necrons a very unique approach to army construction, it provides an improvement to their Reanimation Protocols roll. This is potentially a big deal, as it allows basic schmucks like Warriors and Immortals to shrug the highest Strength hits a third of the time. It also makes the models with Toughness 5 an absolute nightmare to remove. Even Monstrous Creatures will find it a rough time removing Lychguard with Dispersion Shields. Getting through that 3++ and their Reanimation roll is no mean feat!

Conclusion

These observations are fairly straightforward, but they are important to keep in mind when considering the Necron Codex from a tactical standpoint. As Sun Tzu said, “Know your enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril!” We have to be cognizant of the exact mileage we can expect from our soldiers, otherwise we will either be too reckless or too conservative with them. Both are dangerous to successful prosecution of battle.

Once we understand how much resiliency is added to our forces by the Reanimation Protocols rule, we can more fully appreciate their values and strengths on the field of battle, increasing our chances of success.

What else have you discovered about the role of Reanimation Protocols in the Necron army? Let us know in the comments below.