Issue: Can two Crypteks, one from each of two Royal Courts, join the same unit of Warriors, Immortals, etc.?
Holding: Yes, two Crypteks may join the same unit, as long as they come from separate Royal Courts.
Analysis:
Justicar GiantKiller delivers the opinion of the court.
Since the release of the new Necron Codex, we’ve received a multitude of Necron-related questions by email, and this is one of the most common inquiries. Similar to wolf guard, Necron Crypteks (and lords) can be split off from the court and join a limited selection of other Necron units to serve as a sergeant or special weapon bearer. The issue then becomes, can a unit be joined by more than one Cryptek?
As always, we begin by analyzing the language of the rule:
“Before the battle, each member of the Royal Court has the option of being split off from his unit and assigned to lead a different unit from the following list: Necron Warriors, Necron Immortals, Lychguard or Deathmarks. Only one member of the Royal Court can join each unit in this manner. Otherwise, they remain part of the Royal Court.” Codex: Necrons 2011 p. 90
From even a cursory reading of the language we can readily establish that we cannot assign more than one Cryptek from the same court to any given unit. But what about multiple courts?
Royal Courts are not automatically available in the Necron Army. They must be “unlocked” by taking a Necron Overlord or certain special characters:
“For each Necron Overlord in your army (including Nemesor Zahndrekh, Imotekh the Stormlord, Trazyn the Infinite and Anrakyr the Traveller), the army can also include a Royal Court. This unit does not take up an HQ choice.” Codex: Necrons 2011 p. 90.
So we know an army following the standard force org. restrictions is limited to two Royal Courts. Can we assign one Cryptek from each court to the same unit?
The language of the following sentence is key to this determination: “Only one member of the Royal Court can join each unit in this manner”. We note that it says “one member of the Royal Court” and not “one member of any Royal Court” or even “one member of a Royal Court”. This distinction is incredibly important. The language “the royal court” is singular in nature – indicating that this limitation applies to each Royal Court unit individually, not across all royal court units in the army.
Since the restriction applies to each Royal Court individually, we conclude that one (but only one) Cryptek from each Royal Court unit may be assigned to the same eligible unit. Accordingly, players may assign up to two Crypteks per army to any given unit of Warriors, Immortals, Lychguard, or Deathmarks, provided those Crypteks come from two separate Royal Courts.
So holds the court.