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Long before the War in Heaven the Necrontyr employed Guardians as mobile weapons platforms and enforcers of the Overlords rule amongst his people, their towering forms were adorned with ornamentation reflective of the tomb worlds stature and seen striding alongside necrontyr legions into battle, inspiring those around them with the knowledge their god-king overlords will would be enforced on their enemies.

The Guardians stand a good twice the height of a Necron warrior, ornamented metallic forms adorned with animalistic representations of primal gods as their headpieces. Since waking from their long slumber many Overlords have foudn themselves awakening their old Guardians, uncomfortable entrusting the plague ridden destroyers as their heavy hand in battle and instead trusting in the old ways.

Unfortunately age and lost technologies has left the Guardians with lesser AI than the more recent additions of Tomb Spyders and wraiths, some claiming that it was the Technomandrite councils final act in response to the overlords betrayal in crippling the Guardians once potent AI, others simply saying that these old creations lack the finesse that came with the more modern constructs. Whatever the reason overlords begrudingly have to entrust the care of these war machines to the Crypteks of their court, many crypteks extorting this fact for higher status.

Tomb Guardians
Points: 50 per Guardian
WS: 4 BS: 4 S: 5 T: 5 W: 2 I:2 A: 1 LD: 10 Armour: 3+
Unit size: 1-3 (Minimum 1 Cryptek attatched)
Special Rules: Relentless, Construct
Weapons: Twinlinked Gauss Cannon

Options:
Each Guardian may select one of the following
May exchange Gauss Cannons for Twin Linked Tesla Cannons for free
May upgrade Gauss Cannons to Twin Linked Heavy Gauss Cannons +15 Points
May upgrade Gauss Cannons for Nanite Swarm Emitter +15 Points

Construct:
Due to the ancient technologies used in the constructs, beyond even Necrontyr standards they require the tehnological knowledge of a Cryptek nearby in order to function appropriately. For this reason they MUST begin the game with an attached cryptek, if at any point in the game there is not a cryptek within 6 inches the unit must pass an LD test to function as normal.

Nanite Swarm Emitter:

Originally used as a method of refining composite materials from a raw source the Nanite emitter releases a swarm of minisule nanobots within a predefined containment field, these automotons then set aobut breaking apart everything within their radius and releasing component elements as they do so. During the war in heaven this was weaponised as a barbaric way of rending opponents it attacked into pieces, not even leaving corpses behind to be mourned, the sheer power required to maintain such a swarm made it unrealistic as a portable weapon instead relying on the power core of ancient constructs to maintain it. On the battlefield horror stories have been told of flesh being ripped from bone and fatigues simply dissolving under the constant metallic barrage of ripping and biting creatures. Guardsmen recall agonising pain and panic overcoming them in the swarm, falling to the ground desperate to find any kind of cover from the relentless tornado.

Range: 24" Strength 6, AP 5 Small Blast, Pinning, Entropic Strike
Once the blast has been put into play the Necron player may opt to sustain the blast in further turns rather than firing again. IN this case the Necron does not have to roll to hit again, instead the blast scatters from its previous position by D6 inches in a direction of the Necron players choice.
If multiple Guardians fire their emitter at the same target each firer after the fire upgrades the blast marker by one degree (small, large, ordanance) rather than placing a seperate blast.
The Necron player may choose to cancel the swarm at any point.

editted twice to refine rules

I'm not so sure about the fluff. Lost tech? The Necron are one of the few races who (technologically) have their Shtuff together.

I don't think a Cryptek should be required in the unit, but should be required in the army. Making this unit only selectable if there is a Cryptek in the army would be good.

I think the H. Gauss Cannon upgrade should cost a bit more and the Nanite Swarm Emitter rule is sort of vague. I'm assuming its a persistent effect, so that any models who wander in get hit by a S6 AP5 hit? Does the Necron player choose where it scatters?

Sorry I was vague in the fluff, it came about in the early hours of the morning during a night shift so how it was written in my head didnt come out too well in writing.

The idea is not lost, but outdated by the development of the Barges, Destroyer Mounted gauss etc, with the destruction of the Technomandrites (is that the right word?) prior to the War in Heaven certain tech was simply not viable to be maintained anymore, its only with Crypteks now working more with the courts and the Destroyers being subjected to their own personal plague that older constructs are being re-awakened.

The swarm is persistent aslong as the firer does not opt to fire at a different target, and maintains line of sight to it. It roams D6 in a direction of the players distcretion.

Good point about not needing a cryptek with them, it didnt settle too well with me but I felt needing the Cryptek as maintenance did. So switching to in the army makes sense.

Edit: Whilst Necrons seem to have their tech all together right now they did manage to successfully cripple their own ability to develop when the Silent King took out the biggest source of new (old?) technology when his paranoid about a potential challenge to his own indisputable rule came about. Ultimately in doing so he left himself without any major challenger but crippled what could have been a great boon to his people, many of their great technologies never seeing fruition and perhaps some of the older ones being rendered next to useless in an attempt to prevent them being used to finish what the Silent King had started. The Guardians are meant to be one of such Constructs, potent weapons of war sold into the courts of various Dynasties, the very fact that they became inert with the destruction of their creators led credence to the Silent Kings fear that they may have been planned to one day be used against him, if their creators could damage them or switch them off then perhaps they could have been used to usurp dynasties and blackmail them into turning against him.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
OK, done a quick re-write of fluff and ruling now I am more with it, removing a potentially complicated roaming weapon with a refined dangerous terrain rule to represent the Nanite array tearing up the ground in the area:

Before the Silent Kings betrayal the Technomandrites provided the greatest Dyansties with the weapons and constructs required to maintain their power and wealth across the great expanses that formed their domains. Legions of Necrontyr warriors stood alongside great barges and lumbering cannons, where the men of the Necrontyr were frail and decayed, just fleeting beacons of light against the cold millenia, the Technomandrites crafted great Guardians to stand shoulder to shoulder with the legion. Ancient edifices of living metal draped with the finest ornaments of the Dyansties they came to represent they spanned the height of two men, great animalistc crests adorning their headpieces and the eerie glow of their powersource eminating from their eyes.

These great creations were spread amongst the dynasties, standing as constant reminders of the overlords presense amongst his legions. Where as a mans mortal shell might fall or decay the Guardians were eternal just as the Overlords will who controlled them, where a man might know fear a Guardian never faltered. Their great strength and stature allowed weapons greater than that of the infantry to be mounted on them without causing a falter in their stride, and the ancient power sources mounted within allowed even the arcane Nanite arrays to be carried into battle.

The Nanite arrays were originally highly sophisticated mining and refining tools, utilising a swarm of nano-bots to break down materials in a localised area into component materials without needing lengthy refinement processes. It was not longer however before such processes were superceded by better, faster methods leaving the technology to fester until it was adapted to battlefield use. Seem as barbaric by many an overlord few can question its effectiveness, ripping skin from bone, fabric to thread, armour to dust. The screams of its victims standing as the only mark of their demise, even the corpses rendered down into component atoms.

With the destruction of the technomandrites their constructs fell silent across all of the Dynasties, those at rest simply never awoke, whilst those on the field of battle simply froze as their liquid metal solidified. The Silent King attested to this as proof of a conspiracy against him, if such weapons were still in control of a faction and not their overlords then how could they ever be trusted. Many overlords had their Guardians destroyed rather than face doubt from their leader, others simply let them rest in the tombs as a reminder of the consequences of challenging the supreme leader.

With Tomb Worlds awakening across the galaxy Crypteks have spread throughout the dynasties, their knowledge of the ancient technologies seemingly awakening Guardians wherever they walk. Bringing these creations back online has not been without issues however, once awakening they need to be in the presense of a crypteks staff to maintain their power. This has left many an overlord uneasy at handing such power over to a single member of their court, some option to leave their Guardians sleeping, others paying great sums to keep the Crypteks loyal to their court, unwilling to sacrafice such a potent weapon in such dire times.

Tomb Guardians
Points: 50 per Guardian
WS: 4 BS: 4 S: 5 T: 5 W: 2 I:2 A: 1 LD: 10 Armour: 3+
Unit size: 1-3 (Minimum 1 Cryptek in the army)
Special Rules: Relentless, Construct
Weapons: Twinlinked Gauss Cannon
Options:
Each Guardian may select one of the following
May exchange Gauss Cannons for Twin Linked Tesla Cannons for free
May upgrade Gauss Cannons to Twin Linked Heavy Gauss Cannons +20 Points
May upgrade Gauss Cannons for Nanite Swarm Emitter +15 Points

Construct:
Due to the ancient technologies used in the constructs, beyond even Necrontyr standards they require the tehnological knowledge of a Cryptek nearby in order to function appropriately. For this reason they can only be taken in an army that has atleast one cryptek.

Nanite Swarm Emitter:
Range: 24" Strength 6, AP 5 Small Blast, Pinning, Entropic Strike
Once the blast has been put into play the Necron player may opt to sustain the blast in further turns rather than firing again. The blast counts as dangerous terrain for the purposes of being moved through until the unit fires at a different target, with those under the blast each turn taking a hit as normal.

If multiple Guardians fire their emitter at the same target each firer after the fire upgrades the blast marker by one degree (small, large, ordanance) rather than placing a seperate blast.
The Necron player may choose to cancel the swarm at any point.