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Thus far, we've confirmed the following new models for Necrons:

1. Illuminor Szeras (redone)
2. Two new Canoptek Anit-Tank Walkers
3. Skorpekh Destroyers and Skorpekh Lords
4. Caoptek Plasmacyte
5. Necron Warriors (redone)
6. Destroyers (redone)
7. Monolith (redone)
8. Unknown C'tan
9. Silent King Szarekh
10. Canoptek Scarabs (redone)
11. New Necron Lord of some kind
12. Some Lord or Cryptek (Technomandrite?) accompanied by two followers
13. One more model that no one can quite identify, hidden behind a monolith in the preview images
14. Possible new terrain pieces

Its quite a massive release for sure, but there's only one model I have truly been waiting for: the Necron Pariah.
Given what the term "Pariah" means to Necron players, being arguably one of the most desired units, it strikes me as quite unusual for Games Workshop to have named the final chapter of the Psychic Awakening "Pariah".

During the GW streams, there were subtle references to the old Pariahs, and there was a single PA short story about humans being kidnapped. Other than that, we've seen very little. Perhaps I'm in no position to be miffed about it, given how many new models we got, but since the Psychic Awakening campaign was first teased, I had it in the back of my mind that Pariahs would somehow make a comeback, given the context. Once the name of the book was announced, my hopes were raised even further. Now I'm not sure where they stand.

At this point, is it possible that GW is still holding something back, or did they decide to completely misdirect Necron players? Even then, why name the book Pariah? Is it because Blackstone is also called the Pariah Stone, and that one Harlequin character, even we never see the term "pariah" outside of referring to soulless beings. I was wondering what everyone else thinks about this.

My opinion is that while possible, it's very unlikely that we are getting anything besides Szeras and the new rules from PA. This is similar to what most armies have gotten, when they have gotten anything.

With everything the Necrons are getting, this is already among the largest supplemental releases an army has ever gotten, and while I'd love to have more, I don't think we are getting anything else between what we saw in the start collectiong+ large army shot.

 Sasori wrote:
My opinion is that while possible, it's very unlikely that we are getting anything besides Szeras and the new rules from PA. This is similar to what most armies have gotten, when they have gotten anything.

This crossed my mind as well. Every faction gets only a new character model, unless they had a recent release, or they came with a big release. However, given that 8th edition is now Last Chance to Buy, it honestly seems like 9th edition will come before Pariah. Perhaps its release coincides with the 9th edition, in which case there may be other units we have yet to see that take part in the final campaign book.

Previously, I wouldn't have thought this was the case, but given 9th edition is compatible with PA, its not outside the realm of possibility. Not only this, but given the economic downturn, GW may be speeding up the release of the 9th edition to present favorable numbers to their stockholders, whereas one would have expected 9th edition to arrive near Christmas instead. GW has also not yet formally announced all the new Necron units

posixthreads wrote:

 Sasori wrote:
My opinion is that while possible, it's very unlikely that we are getting anything besides Szeras and the new rules from PA. This is similar to what most armies have gotten, when they have gotten anything.

This crossed my mind as well. Every faction gets only a new character model, unless they had a recent release, or they came with a big release. However, given that 8th edition is now Last Chance to Buy, it honestly seems like 9th edition will come before Pariah. Perhaps its release coincides with the 9th edition, in which case there may be other units we have yet to see that take part in the final campaign book.

Previously, I wouldn't have thought this was the case, but given 9th edition is compatible with PA, its not outside the realm of possibility. Not only this, but given the economic downturn, GW may be speeding up the release of the 9th edition to present favorable numbers to their stockholders, whereas one would have expected 9th edition to arrive near Christmas instead. GW has also not yet formally announced all the new Necron units

I think you got this a bit backwards. In all likelihood, had COVID not reared its viral head, Pariah (and the rest of the PA books) would have already been fully released by now. I think 9th is releasing exactly where it was always intended to release (traditionally new editions are released in the summer, NOT in the winder/anywhere near Christmas - in my 15+ years in this hobby I really can't ever remember a time where a new edition released anywhere near Christmastime), its just that the other releases that were supposed to come before it were pushed back.

If Pariahs and some good lore get realeased, I build a Necron army. No Pariahs and I don't collect Crons at this point.

I'd love to see Pariahs again, but can live with just proxying my 3rd edition Pariah models as Lychguard.

The whole reason I loved them was the combination of warscythe AND built-in blaster. Lychguard just don't totally do it for me, not having the ranged weaponry.

The ignore-invulns capability was so boss.

chaos0xomega wrote:

posixthreads wrote:

 Sasori wrote:
My opinion is that while possible, it's very unlikely that we are getting anything besides Szeras and the new rules from PA. This is similar to what most armies have gotten, when they have gotten anything.

This crossed my mind as well. Every faction gets only a new character model, unless they had a recent release, or they came with a big release. However, given that 8th edition is now Last Chance to Buy, it honestly seems like 9th edition will come before Pariah. Perhaps its release coincides with the 9th edition, in which case there may be other units we have yet to see that take part in the final campaign book.

Previously, I wouldn't have thought this was the case, but given 9th edition is compatible with PA, its not outside the realm of possibility. Not only this, but given the economic downturn, GW may be speeding up the release of the 9th edition to present favorable numbers to their stockholders, whereas one would have expected 9th edition to arrive near Christmas instead. GW has also not yet formally announced all the new Necron units

I think you got this a bit backwards. In all likelihood, had COVID not reared its viral head, Pariah (and the rest of the PA books) would have already been fully released by now. I think 9th is releasing exactly where it was always intended to release (traditionally new editions are released in the summer, NOT in the winder/anywhere near Christmas - in my 15+ years in this hobby I really can't ever remember a time where a new edition released anywhere near Christmastime), its just that the other releases that were supposed to come before it were pushed back.

I really think this is the case. In the Pariah short story Szeras keeps referring to his "Benefactor" instead of stating who it is. At this point it's clearly the Silent King (Though it was alluded to in the story) and it makes a lot more sense to have had this bit of mystery before the full reveal.

Insectum7 wrote:If Pariahs and some good lore get realeased, I build a Necron army. No Pariahs and I don't collect Crons at this point.

Just out of curiosity, why is that your line in the sand? There is nothing else from this release or their lore that will interest you enough in the army?

 Sasori wrote:

Insectum7 wrote:If Pariahs and some good lore get realeased, I build a Necron army. No Pariahs and I don't collect Crons at this point.

Just out of curiosity, why is that your line in the sand? There is nothing else from this release or their lore that will interest you enough in the army?

I'm honestly on the fence about it. I LOVE the oldcron lore. I like the old style phalanx armies with mostly Warriors, Immortals and Monoliths. I like the involvement of the C'tan, and the lore behind the Pariahs.

The thing is, I alteady have three massive armies right now, Classic Marines, Tyranids and Chaos (including daemons). I have a decent sized smattering of Eldar that occasionally gets attention paid to it, too. A fifth army is just totally unneccessary, especially as I only really play one or two with any seriousness at any given time. Sooo, something really has to grab me for me to commit to Crons, and unfortunately the newer Cron lore is just . . . Unappealing. I like the Immortal models, I like the look of the new Warriors, I like how the Praetorians look too, but a bunch of the other stuff I could probably pass on. I'm also not very excited at the new Monolith so far either.

I'm also still annoyed at the reduction of Crons, ststs-wise since the 3rd Ed book, and the subsequent inflation of marines via Primaris. The fact that Gauss is currently a crappier Bolt Rifle is just stupid.

So I'm just not as excited about the Cron release as I want to be. Buuuut. . . Pariahs and some solid lore involving C'tan influence with some return of the older lovecraftian feel of oldCrons would give me enough to go on. A release of nice Pariah models would at least get me to collect a reasonable force for old times sake, and if the old style phalanx army actually becomes viable with the new release, and they get some more of the flavor I want, then I'll be further incentivised to collect a multi-thousand pointer.

But it all anchors on the lore, and Pariahs are an important part of that for me.

 Sasori wrote:

Insectum7 wrote:If Pariahs and some good lore get realeased, I build a Necron army. No Pariahs and I don't collect Crons at this point.

Just out of curiosity, why is that your line in the sand? There is nothing else from this release or their lore that will interest you enough in the army?

Can't speak for Insectum7, but Necron Pariahs were something that really, really stood out in Necron lore.
Not only did it establish the Necron/C'tan connection to Pariahs in general, it gave Necrons a horrific aspect besides just being T-800's.
Besides this they gave Necrons personality (see Dawn of War), something the oldcrons lacked without the C'tan, of which only two were available.
Finally, not everyone is a fan of the Egyptian asesthetics of the newcrons, and Pariahs have come to symbolize the Necrons of days yonder.

For me personally, I just think they're really, really cool and cooler than anything else I've read about.

Why does everyone think that pariah means necron pariah ? A pariah is a psychic null, doesnt have to be necron. It can be a human, which has the pariah gene.

 p5freak wrote:
Why does everyone think that pariah means necron pariah ? A pariah is a psychic null, doesnt have to be necron. It can be a human, which has the pariah gene.

It's not a bad assumption.The Pariah campaign features Necrons, the opponent being Sisters of Battle who do not have any Pariah units.
Even then, we have yet to see actual Pariahs being brought up in the campaigns storyline.
We only know that Szeras is up to something and that it has to do with severing reality's connection to the warp.
Thus the confusion: we have a campaign called "Pariah" but there's no Pariahs of any sort mentioned yet.

Insectum7 wrote:

 Sasori wrote:

Insectum7 wrote:If Pariahs and some good lore get realeased, I build a Necron army. No Pariahs and I don't collect Crons at this point.

Just out of curiosity, why is that your line in the sand? There is nothing else from this release or their lore that will interest you enough in the army?

I'm honestly on the fence about it. I LOVE the oldcron lore. I like the old style phalanx armies with mostly Warriors, Immortals and Monoliths. I like the involvement of the C'tan, and the lore behind the Pariahs.

The thing is, I alteady have three massive armies right now, Classic Marines, Tyranids and Chaos (including daemons). I have a decent sized smattering of Eldar that occasionally gets attention paid to it, too. A fifth army is just totally unneccessary, especially as I only really play one or two with any seriousness at any given time. Sooo, something really has to grab me for me to commit to Crons, and unfortunately the newer Cron lore is just . . . Unappealing. I like the Immortal models, I like the look of the new Warriors, I like how the Praetorians look too, but a bunch of the other stuff I could probably pass on. I'm also not very excited at the new Monolith so far either.

I'm also still annoyed at the reduction of Crons, ststs-wise since the 3rd Ed book, and the subsequent inflation of marines via Primaris. The fact that Gauss is currently a crappier Bolt Rifle is just stupid.

So I'm just not as excited about the Cron release as I want to be. Buuuut. . . Pariahs and some solid lore involving C'tan influence with some return of the older lovecraftian feel of oldCrons would give me enough to go on. A release of nice Pariah models would at least get me to collect a reasonable force for old times sake, and if the old style phalanx army actually becomes viable with the new release, and they get some more of the flavor I want, then I'll be further incentivised to collect a multi-thousand pointer.

But it all anchors on the lore, and Pariahs are an important part of that for me.

Understandable. I know the lore change between the 3rd and 5th edition codexes was not for everyone (I prefer the new lore myself) and how that can affect someones enjoyment of the army. They have least seemed to dial in into the more alien feel with some of the new models, like the redone warriors and new walker.

That being said, you could always make an army that is still like a 3rd edition army both in Fluff and feel. You could even have the new C'tan looking model lead it. Hopefully as more about the new edition is revealed there will be enough to hook you.

posixthreads wrote:

 Sasori wrote:

Insectum7 wrote:If Pariahs and some good lore get realeased, I build a Necron army. No Pariahs and I don't collect Crons at this point.

Just out of curiosity, why is that your line in the sand? There is nothing else from this release or their lore that will interest you enough in the army?

Can't speak for Insectum7, but Necron Pariahs were something that really, really stood out in Necron lore.
Not only did it establish the Necron/C'tan connection to Pariahs in general, it gave Necrons a horrific aspect besides just being T-800's.
Besides this they gave Necrons personality (see Dawn of War), something the oldcrons lacked without the C'tan, of which only two were available.
Finally, not everyone is a fan of the Egyptian asesthetics of the newcrons, and Pariahs have come to symbolize the Necrons of days yonder.

For me personally, I just think they're really, really cool and cooler than anything else I've read about.

I get that. I enjoyed my Pariahs, and they were always a blast to have on the tabletop. I guess people think about Pariahs a lot because that's really the only option that's not available--even if in a different form in the army we currently have.

I was pretty certain that we were going to get Pariahs for a while, but once the big release was spoiled with all that new content, It really sank that idea.

 p5freak wrote:
Why does everyone think that pariah means necron pariah ? A pariah is a psychic null, doesnt have to be necron. It can be a human, which has the pariah gene.

Because every time there's been a Necron wishlisting thread, multiple people have mentioned Pariahs, the unit. So naming a Necron release "Pariah" garnered some excitement.

 p5freak wrote:
Why does everyone think that pariah means necron pariah ? A pariah is a psychic null, doesnt have to be necron. It can be a human, which has the pariah gene.

Of the models GW has released that have the Pariah gene the only ones that are actually called Pariahs are the Necrons. Sisters of Silence and Culexis Assassins aren't. If they were going to release something new for the Culexis Temple the book would probably refer to the Assassinorium in general rather than an oblique reference to just one Temple, and if they were going to release something for the Sisters of Silence we'd be in some kind of bizarre alternate universe, they're never going to release anything else for the Sisters of Silence.

Sorry folks, but I think the 'Pariah' from the book will be this person:

https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Kyganil

I dont think an entire book will be around one person. Pariah will be anti psychic stuff in general. Necrons will get blackstone, they may, or may not get new pariah models.

 p5freak wrote:
Necrons will get blackstone, they may, or may not get new pariah models.

That much is already confirmed from the preview images. Necron Monoliths and the Silent King’s throne and staff are equipped with blackstone, which newer lore calls the “Pariah Stone”. The only reason we know it’s Blackstone is because the GW artists have picked out a color scheme matching the piece of Blackstone on Szeras’ back.

To me, if I’m being pessimistic, it indicates GW writers are trying to make everyone forget about Necron Pariahs by adding a new context in which the word Pariah is used with Necrons. Of course, I may just be overthinking it. I’m not sure the writers actually care that much about detail. Either way, I hope my theory isn’t true.

I think at this point it's pretty clear that Szeras is the only Necron model coming with Pariah, all the others are for the 9th ed box set and presumably a new Necron codex soon afterwards.

I've been thinking and maybe even if Pariahs aren't in the box this could be setting the narrative stage for there return in the main codex. Though I could be being too hopefull there

 Aza'Gorod wrote:
I've been thinking and maybe even if Pariahs aren't in the box this could be setting the narrative stage for there return in the main codex. Though I could be being too hopefull there

I would hope that they at least acknowledge their existence. We have a short story of human being kidnapped, I'm sure that will at least be addressed.

Arent Psykers also Pariahs?

Shunned by most, Living constantly on the edge of succumbing to to the ruinous powers?

Used by the Imperium and rightly feared and held at arms length?

Enslaved to do their masters bidding?

 Mr. Burning wrote:
Arent Psykers also Pariahs?

Shunned by most, Living constantly on the edge of succumbing to to the ruinous powers?

Used by the Imperium and rightly feared and held at arms length?

Enslaved to do their masters bidding?

Not in this context, no. Pariahs were a specific Necron unit, once upon a time.

 Mr. Burning wrote:
Arent Psykers also Pariahs?

Shunned by most, Living constantly on the edge of succumbing to to the ruinous powers?

Used by the Imperium and rightly feared and held at arms length?

Enslaved to do their masters bidding?

Pariahs to the necrons were psychic nulls who back in the day had the ability (this is from memory) to reduce the leadership of nearby enemy units to 7, negate psychic powers in said bubble and ignore armour invulnerable saves in CC along with armour and flesh bane (wound anything on a 2+ and roll extra D6 against vehicles and take the highest). They were expensive but your enemy wouldn't risk going near them

The name comes from the fact that humans with the pariah gene had no presence in the warp and anybody near them had a very bad mental time which lead to most of them being killed. People who survived got recruited into the officio assasinorum or turned into Pariahs by the C'Tan

Pariahs were pretty cool back in the day, the problem was they cost a ton of points due to their great combat stats, ton of special rules and the same shooting output as Immortals; but didn’t have the ‘Necron’ rule so didn’t count towards Phase Out so you just concentrated on killing warriors until they autolost.

Lord Zarkov wrote:
Pariahs were pretty cool back in the day, the problem was they cost a ton of points due to their great combat stats, ton of special rules and the same shooting output as Immortals; but didn’t have the ‘Necron’ rule so didn’t count towards Phase Out so you just concentrated on killing warriors until they autolost.

Agreed, but the ideal solution would have been to make them better units without losing their totally awesome flavor. Instead we got lame Lychguard.