14 DAY TRIAL // The Annihilation Barge shoots first, softening up the enemy line and dealing some satisfying ricochets, followed by the Heavy Destroyers and Tomb Blades. The very specialized Deathmarks choose their targets, mark them, and fire. My leader, the Haxmark Destroyer, plants its feet and then attacks three enemies at the same time before my melee units try to close in for some blows.
Necrons is the first major downloadable content pack for Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector, developed by Black Lab Games and published by Slitherine. It adds a new faction, risen from their ancient tombs to haunt the 40K galaxy, and a new planetary conquest campaign.
The Necrons come complete with their most iconic units and some weird and capable hero units. They gain momentum by moving, can regenerate hit-points and recuperate units, and have very specialized units for long-range and close-up engagements. It takes a while to get comfortable playing them, especially if one only previously used the Space Marines in the core campaign.
The new Planetary Supremacy campaign drops all three factions on a planet, with 15 strategic hexes between them. The Necrons, Tyranids, and Space Marines, each have two action points, used to either attack an area or two reinforce their armies. The goal is to reach the two opposing Citadels and then annihilate their armies.
It’s a nice extra layer, used to create justifications for battles that include the three big forces of the game, as well as neutral armies. The battlefields are too samey but the engagements pose difficult tactical choices and players really need to learn how to play a faction to reach victory on the higher difficulty levels.
Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector – Necrons does not introduce any massive changes to the presentation, apart from delivering a lot of units for the new race. The various Necrons all look appropriately menacing and metallic and have solid if somewhat repetitive barks. The new planetary battle strategic map needs more personality. The soundtrack is too subdued for this universe, dominated by momentum and violence.
Conclusion
Fans will probably welcome the addition of more armies from the 40K universe to the Battlesector. I want to see expanded mechanics for the strategic layer of the game and units that break the rules in interesting ways. Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector is one of the best tactics-driven titles to use the setting and I want to see it evolve in interesting ways.
Review code provided by the publisher.
