Faction Guide
Necrons
Ancient machine gods sleeping for 60 million years — and now they're waking up angry. One of the best starter factions: beginner-friendly to paint, durable on the table, and iconic as hell.
Playstyle
Durable Shooter
Painting
Easy ✓
Rules
Medium
Starter Cost
~$170–$250
Who are the Necrons?
Sixty million years ago, the Necrontyr were a dying race — their sun bathed their worlds in radiation, and their lives were miserable and short. Desperate for immortality, they struck a bargain with god-like entities called the C'tan: trade their organic bodies for immortal metal ones.
They got what they asked for. Sort of. The transfer stripped away their souls — leaving behind cold, calculating machines that remembered being alive but could no longer feel it. The C'tan got something too: they feasted on the Necrontyr's consciousnesses like energy. It wasn't a fair deal.
Eventually the Necrons turned on the C'tan, shattered them into shards, and then retreated into stasis — sleeping in vast tomb worlds while the galaxy moved on without them. Now they're waking up. Their ancient empire predates humanity by tens of millions of years, and they intend to reclaim it.
The aesthetic is ancient Egypt meets skeletal robots. Glowing green eyes and gauss weapons, silver metal bodies, and a deeply unsettling calm. They don't rage. They don't fear. They simply are — and they're very, very patient.
How they play on the table
Necrons are a resilient shooting army. They're not the fastest faction and they're not the most aggressive, but they're hard to kill — and that's the point.
Their signature ability is Reanimation Protocols: each turn, destroyed models have a chance to stand back up. It's infuriating to play against and deeply satisfying to play with. As a new player, this is a massive advantage — your mistakes are more survivable than most factions.
Their gauss weapons are efficient at stripping wounds. Their HQ units (Overlords, Crypteks) provide strong auras that buff nearby units. The army rewards you for keeping things in coherent groups rather than spreading out.
Necrons are for you if...
- ✓ You want an army that feels hard to kill
- ✓ You like the idea of models coming back from the dead
- ✓ You're new and want something forgiving to learn on
- ✓ You love the skeletal robot / ancient alien aesthetic
- ✓ You want to spend less time painting and more time playing
Maybe look elsewhere if...
- ✗ You want to get in close and smash things in melee
- ✗ You want lots of movement tricks and speed
- ✗ You want a horde of cheap, expendable troops
- ✗ You prefer organic, living aesthetics
How to paint Necrons
The honest answer: Necrons are one of the easiest armies in the game to paint well. Here's why.
The core body is metallic silver — you can basecoat an entire Necron Warrior in one pass with a spray can. One wash of dark contrast medium later and you've got depth and shadow without touching a brush to 90% of the model. The classic Necron scheme is genuinely achievable by a complete beginner on day one.
The glowing green energy effects (eyes, weapon coils) are where you can add personality — but even those are optional. A wash of the right contrast paint gets you most of the way there.
The classic scheme — step by step
Spray with Leadbelcher
Citadel's metallic silver spray primer. Covers the whole model in 30 seconds. Let it dry fully.
Wash with Nuln Oil
A thin black wash that flows into recesses and creates instant shadow and depth. Apply generously across the whole model.
Drybrush with Ironbreaker
Load a dry brush, wipe most of it off on paper, then brush lightly across raised edges. Brings the metal back to life and adds highlights instantly.
Pick out the eyes and weapon coils
Load a small brush with Tesseract Glow (a green technical paint). Dab it into the eye sockets and the glowing coils on gauss weapons. It's self-shading — one coat is enough.
Base the model
A texture paint like Astrogranite Debris on the base, a drybrush of Administratum Grey over it, and a static grass tuft. Done.
That's a table-ready Necron Warrior in under 20 minutes. The scheme scales perfectly to an entire army.
What to buy first
In order. Don't buy anything else until you've finished step one.
Combat Patrol: Necrons
Includes a Necron Overlord with tachyon arrow (your commander), 10 Necron Warriors (your core troop), 3 Canoptek Scarab Swarms (fast objective grabbers), a Canoptek Doomstalker (powerful ranged walker), and 3 Skorpekh Destroyers with a Plasmacyte (aggressive melee elites). A well-rounded force with shooting, melee, and objective control. It's a legal, playable army out of one box.
See price on Amazon →Necron Warriors (12-model box)
More Warriors means more reanimation rolls — the backbone of how the army plays. If you're having fun after painting the Combat Patrol, this is the natural next box. Gives you two weapon options: gauss flayer (reliable) and gauss reaper (close range).
Search Amazon →Paints you need
~$35 total for all six. Citadel paints are available at most game stores and online.
Honest cost breakdown
Combat Patrol: Necrons
Playable army out of one box
Essential paints (4)
Spray + wash + drybrush + glow
Spray primer
Leadbelcher spray is your primer
Basing supplies
Texture paint + tuft + grey
Clippers + hobby knife
One-time purchase — use forever
Superglue
Standard plastic glue works too
All-in starter total
~$230Prices approximate and subject to change. Some items (clippers, glue) are reusable forever. Third-party paints like Army Painter can cut paint costs by 30–40%.
Ready to start?
Grab the Combat Patrol, get your four essential paints, and follow the painting steps above. You'll have a painted, playable army faster than you think.