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This is in the vein of some of the "what armies do you like the most", but in the form of a fairly specific question.

Of all the armies in 40k, there's really one that I really don't see the base appeal of (outside of ally armies like assassin temples that aren't really a whole organization/group). So, I'd like to ask all of you Necron players a question: why do you play necrons? Either lore-wise or mechanically, why do you like them? It's not that I hate them, I've skimmed their codex and read a few articles and don't see the appeal. I'm sure that a lot of you do though, and I'd like to get an opposing point of view.

A few reasons.

1. The Aesthetics of their models/architecture. I've always loved how their vehicles look, and how cool the Tomb Worlds and structures are. I've also always liked skulls, and in Fantasy I played Tomb Kings, so take that as you will.

2. Lore. I really enjoyed reading about the War in Heaven and how they fell from grace. It baffles me that they are "completely done with science", and the amount of fancy, mind-boggling gak they can pull off is amazing. Like, the World Engine. Come on, how is that not awesome? Or the Celestial Orrery.

3. The Diversity throughout the Dynasties. A lot of people view Necrons as "metal tyranids", and there are sects of them that act like that. But then you have Anrakyr the Traveller who is simply journeying across the stars to awaken the Tomb Worlds and defend his once great Empire. Orikan the Diviner who is like "I told you it was a bad idea to accept the gift from the C'tans, didn't I?". Illuminor Szeras is simply trying to unlock every mystery of every form of life in the galaxy, to one day reverse the effects of the biotransference. Zandrakh is insane, and perceives things as they used to be millions of years ago. The Silent King, who felt so bad for what had happened to his people based on his decision, that he put them to sleep (also to out-live the annoying Eldar at the time. "Hah, we'll just go to sleep until you die off"), and then put himself into exile and left the known galaxy. But then he NOPED all the way home when he found the Tyranids, and then allied with the Imperium in hopes to stop them (since he realizes that he can't awaken his people one day if there are no people to awaken). Then take into account all the Overlords and their enormous hubris, the Necrons that ally with people because of mutual benefit, The Flayer Virus, the Dynasties that have been deranged and have become Destroyers, ext.

4. Gameplay. I love the feel of the army, especially after the 7th edition codex came out. They feel like an endless wave of metal slowly crawling towards you, led by mad Overlords who want to squish the pitiful existence of those beneath him.

I played Necrons for a while back in 3.5-4th edition. I did get bored of them, but back then the codex was a shell of what it is today. I'm not jealous of Necrons for having so many cool-looking options! Their remake, with the whole idea of being an ancient empire looking to reclaim their land, is far more intriguing than the "Robot Space Slaves" of the Ctan in the old book.

Yeah, it's pretty much Tomb Kings in Space, but that's not a bad thing. 40k lacks a real empire that challenges the Imperium, making most of the Imperium's enemies defeatable if the Imperium were to bring all its force to bear, and the only reason they can't is all these little enemies threaten to tear them apart on all fronts.

I think the Necrons still have some way to go. Part of the 40k mythos works as "manifest destiny falling apart", the idea that humans won all the way up until we didn't. A Roman Empire of the galaxy in the midst of its own tumultuous collapse. But at the end of its height, Rome had no enemies the size of Rome. The Necrons right now, with more and more Tomb Worlds awakening, are starting to feel like an enemy the size of the Imperium itself.

This is where I think the Necron codex should go - it needs its own enemies that threaten to tear it down too. Like two giants (one maybe a little giant-er than the other), who are both dying. A battle between titans just to see who lives longer. Perhaps the Necrons are doomed themselves somehow, their worlds are running out of energy to support them (hence why they're dead), and they're waking up now to try and conquer new territory to keep alive. Maybe they still are fighting the Old Ones (new faction!), or the Old Ones are coming back too, and dismantling Necron worlds with ease.

I don't know for sure what, but having two big super-empires isn't where the story should be heading. Thankfully, it'd be easier to tack now and steer the ship in a new direction without dismantling their current and much more interesting story.

I've been looking at getting some Necrons, they would probably have been my army if I didn't get into 40k via fantasy (with daemons).

First draw is the aesthetic, I really like the look. I would be disappointed if there was not a robot army in the Grimdark.

The main draw is the play style, they simply suit how I approach wargames. I assume I can get space marines that work in a similar fashion, but I really don't want to play an Imperial army, for the same reason I never wanted to play Romans in Ancients.

They're robot skeletons, and that appealed to 10 years-old me. Once you make models with little bling (I made my Necron HQ's outside the old Destroyer Lord and oldskool metal Lord), they look great as an army and have a very cohesive feel.

Also they fulfill the niche of "not too hot offensively but good luck killing anything".

Egypt is cool. Robots are cool. Undead are cool. Undead Egyptian Robots are cool.

The aesthetics of the army appeal - phalanxes of faceless massed infantry.

The background has a nicely Lovecraftian vein running through it. The way it was presented prior to the 5th edition Codex - in bits and pieces, references here and there which needed to be put together, lots of in-universe theorising and unreliable narrator going on; rather than everything spelt out in a single source - was very evocative (if not ever so effective as far as getting the information out there was concerned).

The playstyle appeals - 'aggressive defence' - grinding the opposing army down on a block of expendable and resilient infantry, before counter attacking once they're too weak to resist.

Also I don't feel guilty if I feed dozens of unfeeling Warriors or Scarabs into a meatgrinder.

How can you not see the appeal? It's no different than any other faction.

I initially played Necron back when they got their first official book in 2002. There were a multitude of appealing factors for me:

1) Easy to paint
2) Lore behind them was really cool - IIRC the Orks were produced in order to combat the threat the Necrons posed.
3) Monoliths

The 4th biggest reason was that they shared a lot of characteristics to the Tomb Kings, who I believe had also just received their own book in the same year. The concept of Egyptian themed skeleton armies was very appealing to me, so it translated over quite well.

Being able to field MEQ warriors that glanced on 6's and a monolith was fun. My first game of 40k was actually with Necrons, even though I had a relatively robust list of Space Marines at the time.

I hate their new Reanimation mechanic, but I think they're a cool, if somewhat OP, army

Model wise they are cool.

it gets same ee but what army doesn't.

the rules also changed a lot over the editions but i dont like where it ended up. it became super boring to play against.

but that doesn't detract from the 10 year old terminator appeal.

I started 40K with Necrons during their 5th Edition codex. I liked Necrons because I was a big fan of the Terminator franchise as a kid, and they are the closest thing to in 40K. Same thing with Tyranids and the Aliens franchise. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion, I suppose.

They were pretty cool when they launched in White Dwarf (arguably....crap models) but it was very Terminator-esque at the time. They weren't a real army, more of a fun fluff piece to play some one-off games with. Their army list was maybe four entries?

I preferred them as a faceless mass, impossible to stop. I like the modern models far better than the old metal ones. I don't know that I'd play them as an army but I think they used to be really good for fun multi-player games. Hey, here come 100 necron warriors...good luck.

Oddly I think that adding a lot of the fluff/expanding has diminished the appeal a bit. I know it's necessary for codexes, justifying models and generating renewed interest but it was awfully cool to have a faceless "why!?" type of army. Just a walking mass of unkillable metal.

 Elbows wrote:
They were pretty cool when they launched in White Dwarf (arguably....crap models) but it was very Terminator-esque at the time. They weren't a real army, more of a fun fluff piece to play some one-off games with. Their army list was maybe four entries?

I preferred them as a faceless mass, impossible to stop. I like the modern models far better than the old metal ones. I don't know that I'd play them as an army but I think they used to be really good for fun multi-player games. Hey, here come 100 necron warriors...good luck.

Oddly I think that adding a lot of the fluff/expanding has diminished the appeal a bit. I know it's necessary for codexes, justifying models and generating renewed interest but it was awfully cool to have a faceless "why!?" type of army. Just a walking mass of unkillable metal.

Tyranids kind of fill the "nameless, tireless, faceless horror from beyond" niche, so Necrons needed something else to make them feel unique. I started with Necrons because Dawn of War: Dark Crusade was my introduction to the 40k universe. Even though that game featured the pre-Ward Necrons, I still like the Newcrons better.

They fill a similar niche, but having both wasn't bad. They're easily different enough. Also"fluffwise" it's far easier to understand Tyranid. Creatures gonna creatch.

A faceless horde of automaton robots with a penchant for death-dealing? Far more spooky.

The army that got me into 40k (but sadly I never owned a fully legal army, even to this day) is the Necrons.

What drew me to them was their theme at the time; loosely egyptian, there was something esoteric about them being undead space robots that defied the laws of reality simply because of their technology. The Destroyers were terrifying; unlike Tyranids or Zerg who were modified with their purpose in life for a combat role, Destroyers modified themselves after the fact, permanently fusing themselves into technology for greater firepower.

They were, at the time, totally unique in that the army neither relied on tanks nor on monstrous creatures; you had a grand total of 1 vehicle and 3 monstrous creatures, two of which were special characters and one was a support unit with mediocre combat skills, while the rest were all infantry. They were the definition of implacable; a silent, marching death. This being my first introduction into 40k (and not having heard about the warrior-cults of the Space Marines, the Chaos Gods) made them greatly interesting. The most interesting was the Pariah; creepy, disturbing cyborgs made from soulless humans that wielded weapons that tore holes in the fabric of reality with every swing. Pariahs remain one favourite unit to this day despite not being able to legally field them anymore and they had one of the most badass metal models of the time (something that the Lychguard can't hold a candle to).

I originally started an army of Necrons as a lark after seeing Terminator 3 in the theater, then I really got into their lore of hyper-physics and horror from beyond Ctan.

Killer robots from outer space. They're maybe the most classic sci-fi faction in the game.

I enjoyed the lovecraftian element they had prior to the Wardcrons and their portrayal in both Hellforged and Xenology had me sold with the terrifying all but unstoppable aspect shown in Hellforged and what came across as well placed arrogance, frightening intelligence, and fittingly condescending behavior in Xenology.

Then Wardcron effectively killed them for me especially with my favorite Necron Lord loadout being made unobtainable (warscythe, veil of darkness, and nightmare shroud). Not to mention the element of Saturday morning cartoon villains that Trazyn, Zandrekh, and Orikan suffered from while Anrakyr came across as a Saturday morning cartoon or B action movie honorable lone hero out to try and unite everyone (read Necrons) to save the day with what seems to be insurmountable odds facing him. But quite a few people seem to enjoy the foundation that ward set for the crons so whatev. And don't get me started on the Celestial Orrey and the robotic interstellar equivalent of tree huggers who possess it or the ridiculous concept of having an intergalactic empire with no FTL especially with a such short lived race... really bitter about the Wardcron fluff, perhaps that bitterness is what has driven me to do an Iron Warriors army instead.

Undead space robot Egyptians who's primary weapon attacks you on the atomic level. Incomprehensible legions still to awaken and ultimately going to run the show

It's an army of terminators that's what attracted me to them in 2nd ed.

I really like the Crons, the models are some of the best sci fi models GW produces, while still maintaining a grim dark feel.

I like the current fluff, but wasn't around for the old fluff so I've nothing to compare it to. The last white dwarf I ever bought in the 90s had a free necron on the front! So I just missed their full introduction back in the day.

Still have that mini though.

Yeah, I don't get the confusion. They're killer robots. That's a really classic sci-fi thing.

First time poster here (hi!) and mostly competative player. Here's my 2 cents:

I've played Necrons since the beginning of 5th, and they got me back into the hobby after a couple of years in hiatus. I can't really remember what made me pick Necrons in the first place, but probably the aestethics as I didn't know that much about their playstyle at that time. I do remember choosing between DE and Crons tho, and in reptrospective I believe I made the right decision instead of playing an army that solely relies on spamming vehicles made of papier mache.

I'd also liked the 5th edition codex more then the current one, as I think we took a big hit in tactical flexibility (which is a fun way to play) when they took away the old Crypteks. More on that later.

Most people probably say that Necrons core strength is their resilience. Which might be true (at least for this codex with the buffed and simplified reanimation, and decurion abilities), but I wouldn't choose it as a reason of playing them. As, at least in my opinion, it's a kinda boring way to play. I'd say that the biggest pros of the Necron codex are their high diversity of different units and roles. We have really good melee pushers and counter chargers in especially Wraiths, but also Flayed Ones or Scarab farms. Solid, resillient and fast ObSec (in a CAD, that is) with Warriors in Ghost Arks and maybe Immortals in Scythes. Pincer and backfield harassers in Praetorians and maybe Deathmarks. Some really good and flexible HQ-choices. Especially Destroyer Lords, Orikan and Zandrekh. Crypteks has their uses if you're not playing a Decurion and Obyron and / or the Ghostwalk Mantle is really good in some lists. As a bonus some of our formations are pretty good too like the Harvest, Destroyer Cult and Judicator Battalion.

The cons with Crons I'd say first of all the lack of heavy and special weapon choices (which was what the Crypteks were there for). Even being able to wound and glance everything with Gauss still makes Immortals and Warriors kinda one sided and unflexible to play with. Another bad thing is that our alliance matrix is pretty crap and we're not friends with anyone who doesn't keep an eye open, which removes a lot of list building options. Finally, which kinda correlates with alliances, is that we don't have access to any magic, and since we're not battle brothers with anyone there's no way we can get blessings cast upon us and we have no real magic defence except for Gloom Prism which only works on offensive magic and is kinda meh.

Overall I'd argue that the Necron Codex is one of the most well written and balanced codex in 7th ed. Apart from a few units maybe (I'm looking at you C'Tans and Monoliths) and if played correctly it's very varied and super fun. Rules wise that is, as I hardly ever read fluff.

Hope that gives you some kind of picture on why I like to play Necrons.

These responses were really interesting. As with most factions Necrons seem to appeal to people in a lot of different ways, and I now understand how they work mechanically, how there lore is interpreted pre- and post-Wardcrons, and what about their aesthetic is well received. Thank you to everyone for answering my very vague question.

You're welcome now hand over your soul and join ussssss.

I'm not a necron player but for me they have a nice aesthetic for the most part and they're a good alternative to tyranids as a sci-fi xenos race. Aesthetically tyranids and necrons are almost polar opposites; one being completely biological and the other completely mechanical. In-game necrons offer vehicles, Meq statlines and more conventional characters. Overall they're a bit more conventional than tyranids if you don't want to go FULL xenos

If Age of Emperor came and a xenos race had to be squatted it would be between eldar and tau for me. Necrons would be safe.

While I like Necrons, I wouldn't consider myself a Necron player. Yet. But how I got interested in Necrons was with my son. At the time, Necrons were boring for me and didn't really care for their "story".

Then when my son was little 8 or so, he wanted to play Terminators. That is Arnold Swartznegger Terminator. After reading the fluff and everything about them so I can put his minis together, I loved it. Now my son doesn't care for 40K anymore. But I will make a Necron Army one day. Only after I finish my Nids and Dark Angels.