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So I was checking out this awesome new Warhammer World diorama, which is Necrons vs Blood Angels. The first thing I thought was, I assume like all of you, I thought these guys were bros - what happened?

The second thing I thought was, Necrons always look good in icy environments. In fact, I bet you see Necrons in snow more that Space Wolves. And then I got to wondering.



Do Necrons ever get stuck to cold surfaces?



Do Necrons ever slip on ice?


Obviously, some units have no problems - Wraiths, Spyders, Scarabs, all that stuff that hovers. That being said, I've built a fair share of Necron Warriors and other Necron infrantry. The bottoms of their feet are completely and totally flat with no traction whatsoever, while Space Marines, by comparison, have molded on tread. And Necrons are probably pretty heavy - I bet at least 300 pounds apiece, on relatively small feet.

So do Necrons ever slip and fall, or get stuck?

You know those electric gutter de-icing cables that just pass a current through wire in order to keep ice from forming? I assume they throw on some of those before they go out in the cold. Kind of like their version of a winter coat.

it just looks like they have no traction. I'd imagine that since they're made of necrodermis, their "feet" would have the correct "tread" for the conditions.

Racerguy180 wrote:
it just looks like they have no traction. I'd imagine that since they're made of necrodermis, their "feet" would have the correct "tread" for the conditions.

And to add to this, at the smaller scale, some details obviously cannot be accurately molded and/or are left off for artistic purposes.
Marines having tread on their feet, for example, portrays the slightly unsophisticated nature of Imperial tech. If it can be practically done, why would they resort to fancier tech?
Necrons, by contrast, are incredibile more advanced and thus is distracts from that aesthetic to give them a detail as primitive as foot tread

Practically, it is also because the feet are smaller and more flat area is needed to glue them on. It's the same reason why the prior sculpt of Assault Marines that were only touching the ground with 1 foot had a flat surface on that foot.
We know Marines have treaded feet, but in this instance, it needed to be flat

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If we assume they weren't aware cold medal sticks to stuff, possibly.

But we're also assuming their living metal alloy isn't capable of self heating.

Could they then aquaplane on the wet ice as their feet thaw the surface underfoot?

See all of the white specs on the ice near the portal? Clearly they put some salt down before heading out.

 MannyMcCoconut wrote:
See all of the white specs on the ice near the portal? Clearly they put some salt down before heading out.

Probably the tears of the Blood Angels when they realised they have been betrayed.

Cold metal will only stick to heated, wet stuff. So the Necron flayers tend to stick to the people the are flaying. Apart from that they are ok.
No?

The answer is definitely yes!

 RedCommander wrote:
The answer is definitely yes!

From the Imperial Infantrymen's Uplifting Primer (some warzone with Necrons edition):

Necron skeletal soldiers, apart from being brittle in construction and prone to mechanical failure, are poorly adapted to a wide variety of weather conditions. In snow they frequently slip due to lack of traction and their metal bodies have even been known to stick to the ice! A hearty shove from one of the Emperor's Finest in such conditions is usually enough to send one these so called "warriors" sprawling!

I do not think anyone tryed to lick a necron before..... But they may get stuck like licking a cold fense post.

Who knows maybe a new strat to fight the necron is a snowy hill a hose and a few fans.

 fallinq wrote:

 RedCommander wrote:
The answer is definitely yes!

From the Imperial Infantrymen's Uplifting Primer (some warzone with Necrons edition):

Necron skeletal soldiers, apart from being brittle in construction and prone to mechanical failure, are poorly adapted to a wide variety of weather conditions. In snow they frequently slip due to lack of traction and their metal bodies have even been known to stick to the ice! A hearty shove from one of the Emperor's Finest in such conditions is usually enough to send one these so called "warriors" sprawling!

Yeah! You can count on Uplifting Primer to give it straight and tell how it is!

 MannyMcCoconut wrote:
See all of the white specs on the ice near the portal? Clearly they put some salt down before heading out.

I think that's snow, but I am definitely open to the idea there is a canoptek construct dedicated to the role of salting ice.

 fallinq wrote:

 RedCommander wrote:
The answer is definitely yes!

From the Imperial Infantrymen's Uplifting Primer (some warzone with Necrons edition):

Necron skeletal soldiers, apart from being brittle in construction and prone to mechanical failure, are poorly adapted to a wide variety of weather conditions. In snow they frequently slip due to lack of traction and their metal bodies have even been known to stick to the ice! A hearty shove from one of the Emperor's Finest in such conditions is usually enough to send one these so called "warriors" sprawling!

Oh man, this is amazing.

The real question is, should i let my friends dare me to lick a necron on an icy planet?

 Torga_DW wrote:
The real question is, should i let my friends dare me to lick a necron on an icy planet?

#collegestories

 fallinq wrote:

 RedCommander wrote:
The answer is definitely yes!

From the Imperial Infantrymen's Uplifting Primer (some warzone with Necrons edition):

Necron skeletal soldiers, apart from being brittle in construction and prone to mechanical failure, are poorly adapted to a wide variety of weather conditions. In snow they frequently slip due to lack of traction and their metal bodies have even been known to stick to the ice! A hearty shove from one of the Emperor's Finest in such conditions is usually enough to send one these so called "warriors" sprawling!

I want to know what that says about Eldar and Tyranids now.

Theres a guard book of a ork invasion and a prometium plant with a necron tomb under it.

Necrons are written as slower and more deliberate than humans actions in places.

Also they navigate ice tunnels just fine in a multi mile thick glacier planet.

Aren't Necrons' bodies made of swarms of nanoscarabs, like big molecules clamped together ? I'd assume then that their "skin" can just shapeshift a little to allow a grip on ice, and to prevent stickiness to apply to their bodies, as the scarabs would just move out or something.

I don't know the answer, but an image of clumsy Necron trying to cross an icy plane slipping here and there is amusing.

Hrm. Interesting observations.

As others have noted, metal doesn't stick to ice. What frozen metal does is freeze moisture to create a bond.

Assuming the surface of a Necron warrior acts like other metal, it would be the same temperature as the world around them. There would be no opportunity to freeze to another surface except when the temperature is right around freezing. Even then, the bond would be weak, it would probably not be enough to inhibit movement.

Walking on ice is another matter. One would assume Necrons have access to something like cleats to trudge across frozen surfaces. If not, they would just skate around, with no real control over where they go or how fast.

Put the situation in reverse. Metal skin would be a huge asset in a frozen environment, assuming component parts of a Necron are not impaired by freezing temperatures. Wouldn't Necrons want to use heated water against their enemies? A fire hose Pylon or a Scarab bucket brigade would give them weapons that are lethal to an opponent but which they are immune from themselves.

I'd always headcanoned that their surface texture was mutable. So, when walking on ice they'll modify it slightly to have lots of little spikes to gain traction. Part of the unrelenting army of the dead vibe.

I also wonder if they might function better in cold environments. Most of our electrical circuitry does...

Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Ouze wrote:
So I was checking out this awesome new Warhammer World diorama, which is Necrons vs Blood Angels. The first thing I thought was, I assume like all of you, I thought these guys were bros - what happened?

Story I heard was Dante caught the Silent King making out with his daughter and when he was all like "Dude WTF?!" the Silent King was all like '...' and since that day they've been enemies.

They obviously have ice skates that flip out whenever they need them...

 Keep wrote:
They obviously have ice skates that flip out whenever they need them...

And heelies for smooth surfaces...

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

 Keep wrote:
They obviously have ice skates that flip out whenever they need them...

And heelies for smooth surfaces...

They even grow little heals and shiny bits for when it's the tomb world ball.

Necrons are made out of Necrodermis. Considering that Necrodermis according to the codex is probably, mostly just nanoscarabs (nanites), Necrons probably can shape their feet to the environment for traction.

 Ynneadwraith wrote:
I'd always headcanoned that their surface texture was mutable. So, when walking on ice they'll modify it slightly to have lots of little spikes to gain traction. Part of the unrelenting army of the dead vibe.

I also wonder if they might function better in cold environments. Most of our electrical circuitry does...

I want to live in a world where if you play on ice terrain, Necrons get a bonus for being overclocked.

On the downside, I have to imagine on that world, they might overhead and BSOD on a hot enough terrain.

You gotta take the good with the bad though.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Wyzilla wrote:
Necrons are made out of Necrodermis. Considering that Necrodermis according to the codex is probably, mostly just nanoscarabs (nanites), Necrons probably can shape their feet to the environment for traction.

This seems the most plausible, like how Geckoes can climb glass.

BSOD, I could see if you roll a 6, every necron just freezes and they have to reboot for a turn.