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Reading Mr. Kyme's Space marine battles book "Fall of Damnos" which details the actions of the Ultramarines 2nd company on Damnos, against the Necrons.

AFAIK the background and general info about the Necrons in this book tallies or is based upon ( to some degree or other) the expanded background and themes of the new/next Necron codex. In much the same way that the Dark Eldar information was in his 2nd Salamanders novel.

I haven't finished the book mind, a little over halfway currently, so should be done in the next day or so. If I find or note anything else of interest I'll add it here.

As we've seen before their appears to be a very strict hierachy to the Necrons, especially in their chain of command. With the commanders being more or closer to rulers or a royal family of sorts. A sort of cross between a coven of necromancer vampire types and so on, a bit like the Tomb Kings really. They even refer to awakening the rest of the "royal house".

The Lords appear to rest, or wait more accurately, inside "revivification caskets". These appear to some form of stasis chamber, more or less, and it can take quite some time for them to awaken and then recover enough of themselves to function. They are aided by lesser necrons, some of whom of course are tasked very much for this exact role. Which is fair enough. If you have a long lie in it's hard to get out of bed sometimes, must be extra awkward after X billion years asleep.

The head of the royal household ( so far...) appears to be an immensely powerful Necron lord referred to simply as "The Undying". The initial awoken necrons, especially the spyders and scarabs are controlled by "The Architect", whose formal and self appointed title is in fact " Ankh, the Herald of Dismay".

Two things here ;

The catacombs were dank and sealed. It was fear. Fear of contamination that drove the necrons to such lengths. And for good reason.

Unlike the Undying and the other dynastic nobles, Ankh did not fear the flayer disease. He had many arcane items to protect him.

This is as we are introduced to the newly, perhaps prematurely, awakened " Sahtah the Enfleshed", who appears to be a -- for want of a better phrase -- Flayed One Lord. He is " a butcher, a skin surgeon". He appears riven, demented almost, frenzied at the loss of his original body, or more accurately the loss of sensation that had -- the feeling of sunlight on skin, of warm flesh, of having a face and taste, the smell of blood -- and this seems to be the cause of his compulsion to drape himself in the flensed skin of others. He takes their face to use as his own, desperate to perhaps feel the blood and viscera as it runs over his joints and cables.

I get the impression this is not unique to him as such, and is perhaps indicative of some form of disorder that afflicts certain necrons, those unable to deal or handle the reality of their current forms.

The fourth Lord we meet from the "royal house" is "Tahek Voidbringer", who has been in command of the necron forces active on the planet so far.

Later one, we get the following

Malady.
The forming of the word in his subconscious had brought something to mind, something aberrant. He regarded the humming caskets of the destroyers. This cancer, the one which the destroyers represented, was everywhere amongst the necrontyr. Ankh would have pitied them if he were still capable of such an emotion. Nihilistic, fatalistic and possessed of the conviction that their sole purpose was to eradicate, the destroyers were a breed apart.
Madness flowed through their mechanised arteries, fed the electric impulses of their cables and hard-wiring. This was the fate of all necrons. They butchered their bodies, removing limbs and replacing them with repulsor platforms, tesla beams and gauss-cannons-- all the better to destroy, all in the service of the destroyers only creed : annihilation.

We also "see" necrons elites -- Immortals in other words -- being spectacularly effective and being quite capable of going toe to toe with and beating marines. This tallies quite well, IMO, with some of the rumours about new rules and or models, especially the comments about their size and bulk.

Again the necron technology is, effectively, magical with regards to what they can do. Time distortion, teleportation..

A vial of liquid adamantium attached to his belt by an ornate chain contained his predecessor; the mirror of the speculum trapped another of his would be usurpers a nano second out of synch wth the rest of reality.

And as ever the guns and pylons of the necrons are especially destructive and effective and they do still phase out/away when they take damage they cannot repair on the spot. Sometimes when they attack, when led by the Voidbringer initially, they advance under a growing "storm" of darkness, eldritch lightning capable of killing a marine, and a general morale sapping or malaise that disheartens the defenders. cadre of wraiths -- which still phase in and out like ghosts -- dart in and out and attack, and communications and even psychic powers fail under its baleful influence.

All in all it sounds quite promising for my metal boys.

We are the Necrontyr. We are legion. We claim dominion of this world. Surrender and die.

That sounds pretty damn shiny...
I quite like the fact that Sicarius gets his arse handed to him... at least that's what it says in the codex so i'm hoping they keep that in.

What are the "Necrontry", Red?

Do they attempt things? Do they succeed?

tesla cannon.. hmmm
this could be the rumoured upgrade gun for the 3 set plastic destroyers that are coming

All these necron "royal houses" might actually be the former ruling class of the necrontyr. You know, the nobles get the shiniest metal bodies and stasis chambers (and thus keep their personalities and souls), and become the commanders of the necrons, even after the death of their civilization.

Laodamia wrote:All these necron "royal houses" might actually be the former ruling class of the necrontyr. You know, the nobles get the shiniest metal bodies and stasis chambers (and thus keep their personalities and souls), and become the commanders of the necrons, even after the death of their civilization.

This is part of the current Necron fluff.
The nobles got the better bodies and have more free will.

It seems to me that they are trying to make the Necrons a little more "crazy"

Flayed ones are crazy because they want to feel again.
Destroyers are Crazy because they tear their bodies apart to better destroy their enemies.
Who knows what neurosis the Immortals, Warriors, Lords, and Pariahs have?

Also, if they go with the theme of Crazy Necrons, Maybe this points to the Outsider as the next C'tan in the code as he is the Crazy one.


I am also interested in they go into further detail about why the Necrons went into stasis, as the "lack of food" thing has always seemed to be a bit underdeveloped for me.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

reds8n wrote:

We are the Necrontyr. We are legion. We claim dominion of this world. Surrender and die.

We are the Borg. Prepare to be assimilated. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is futile.

It also sounds like this book is from the point of view of the Necrons.

Can you shed some light Red?

I don't think it's "from the point of view of the Necrons", but if it's anything like "The Purging of Kadillus" it has portions that are from their PoV.

The Space Marine Battles books tend to have alternate PoVs of the battle in question in there--it's kinda nice.

Eh. Close enough. It has bits from their side.

purplefood wrote:

Laodamia wrote:All these necron "royal houses" might actually be the former ruling class of the necrontyr. You know, the nobles get the shiniest metal bodies and stasis chambers (and thus keep their personalities and souls), and become the commanders of the necrons, even after the death of their civilization.

This is part of the current Necron fluff.
The nobles got the better bodies and have more free will.

I stand corrected.

Sorry, I don't know much about the necron fluff.

Laodamia wrote:

purplefood wrote:

Laodamia wrote:All these necron "royal houses" might actually be the former ruling class of the necrontyr. You know, the nobles get the shiniest metal bodies and stasis chambers (and thus keep their personalities and souls), and become the commanders of the necrons, even after the death of their civilization.

This is part of the current Necron fluff.
The nobles got the better bodies and have more free will.

I stand corrected.

Sorry, I don't know much about the necron fluff.

There isn't too much of it to get and they tend to be ignored a lot...
One of my favorite races for some reason...

IMO Necrons are to much overpowered in 40k.
I mean, it's silly being as their basic troop can penetrate Land raider armor like Bolter penetrates Carpase armor.
I hope that they will fix them a little in a new codex.

Brother Coa wrote:IMO Necrons are to much overpowered in 40k.
I mean, it's silly being as their basic troop can penetrate Land raider armor like Bolter penetrates Carpase armor.
I hope that they will fix them a little in a new codex.

Brother Coa wrote:IMO Necrons are to much overpowered in 40k.
I mean, it's silly being as their basic troop can penetrate Land raider armor like Bolter penetrates Carpase armor.
I hope that they will fix them a little in a new codex.

You're right.
All these decade, 2 edition old codeci are ruining the game.

Brother Coa wrote:IMO Necrons are to much overpowered in 40k.
I mean, it's silly being as their basic troop can penetrate Land raider armor like Bolter penetrates Carpase armor.
I hope that they will fix them a little in a new codex.

In the Necron's defense, it was a Guass Cannon that went through the Landraider. Not that a basic Guass Blaster can't do the same 'cause Necrons are the best!

svendrex wrote:


I am also interested in they go into further detail about why the Necrons went into stasis, as the "lack of food" thing has always seemed to be a bit underdeveloped for me.

Wasn't it something to do with a third big player coming from "outside" and over harvesting for their own purposes and effectively drying up the galaxy?

Nebulas1 wrote:

svendrex wrote:


I am also interested in they go into further detail about why the Necrons went into stasis, as the "lack of food" thing has always seemed to be a bit underdeveloped for me.

Wasn't it something to do with a third big player coming from "outside" and over harvesting for their own purposes and effectively drying up the galaxy?

Enslaver plague. Bunch of warp daemon things that began appearing en mass and killing off everyone.

Awww. The Flayed Ones miss having skin.

Oh man I have to get this book now. I have tried to get any stories about Necrons. All somewhat disappointing from adding to Necron fluff though.

In the Necron's defense, it was a Guass Cannon that went through the Landraider. Not that a basic Guass Blaster can't do the same 'cause Necrons are the best!

I did that once. My opponent had a Land Raider shooting up my troops from range. I spent two turns running a squad of Necrons across the board (through difficult terrain). He kept shaking his head wondering what I was doing. Then on the 3rd turn...this squad here moves up and rapid fires on the Land Raider. He actually laughed , like what's a bunch of troop weapons going to...then he remembered what gauss weapons do and...well his face looked kinda funny . I didn't blow it up, but i think it was immobilized without any weapons that turn.

I have to pick this up now after reading your mini-review. Sounds almost like it's ten times more in depth than the actual codex.

A new release codex can't come soon enough - I hate the idea of Platinum/Gold/Aluminum Lords but I am all for Flayed and Wraith Lords.

That all sounds pretty awesome. I'm most curious about this "flayer disease".

All the advancements in the fluff are just what I wanted, especially the sentient Lords, and it seems they even have rivalries.

asimo77 wrote: and it seems they even have rivalries.

... aint that the truth.

Finished the book last night, an enjoyable read, enhanced by the "niceness" ( so to speak) of new Necron fluff.

Now i have to get this book as well. Off to amazon!!!








Gah! not released until 14/04!! That's not good for my holiday reading from 03/04. Damn you amazon!!!

Necrons are the physical embodiment of emo/deathcult teen angst (I'll bet they even have pimples.) wrapped in terminator movie kitch.

I've always liked the Necrons, but I've always wanted to redo their fluff. There are really sweet elements to their history and I wish GW had taken them a bit more seriously.

I would think after some 65 million years (give or take) they'd be a bit more fleshed out... haha, *cough* ...sorry.

I think Chaos is closer to "emo", if I had to pick a faction. My god that word is so overused (and usually wrongly so) that it has lost all meaning.

Necrons are emotionless which is the opposite of emo(tional). Ok they have a lot of hatred, but they don't whine about it. They're as emo as Daleks

EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!

asimo77 wrote:I think Chaos is closer to "emo", if I had to pick a faction. My god that word is so overused (and usually wrongly so) that it has lost all meaning.

Necrons are emotionless which is the opposite of emo(tional). Ok they have a lot of hatred, but they don't whine about it. They're as emo as Daleks

EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!

Yeah, I agree that the word 'Emo' is over used still, there is a certain irony to my description... Not to mention, I think the Necron elite are suceptible and have at least the vestiges of emotions. Their 'hate' is not simply a codified emotive experience.

That's all true but I always thought someone who was emo complained when there was no reason to, or complained and did nothing about it. Being trapped in a metal shell for countless millennia seems like an ok reason be start ragin and hatin, and of course they do something about their feelings...namely disintegrating people.

All in all this bodes well for Necrons, I really like the idea of advanced Crons like Immortals, Lords, and possibly Destroyers having some personality. The rest should remain as shambling husks.

I like it. The fluff right now doesn't give any reason why some necrons are destryers and some are wraiths.

If this stuff is in the new fluff then it woudl be possible to build more themed necron armies.

asimo77 wrote:That's all true but I always thought someone who was emo complained when there was no reason to, or complained and did nothing about it. Being trapped in a metal shell for countless millennia seems like an ok reason be start ragin and hatin, and of course they do something about their feelings...namely disintegrating people.

All in all this bodes well for Necrons, I really like the idea of advanced Crons like Immortals, Lords, and possibly Destroyers having some personality. The rest should remian as shambling husks.

I thought the Necrontyr were already whinin', complainin', Hatin' and manipulatin' well before they decided to 'cheat' death by signing that unholy bargain that made them what they are now. Those grasping personalities are what shapes them as we know them in the fluff.

They are not the wronged remnants of a dead race. They were pretty rotten individuals through and through before they were encased in their metal shells. The leaders harbor all of their hate which lies undiminished after millions of years.

What I do find interesting about the Necrons is that of all the races in the fluff, the Necrons basic shape (albeit skeletal) is the closest to that of humanity. It has been noted in the fluff that even the Eldar can be distinguished from humans by their bones. Other than a bad confluence of events and hijacked terminator kitch, what would explain this?

That is, if in fact, what we see are actual reflections of Necrontyr physiology... had to edit that.