Necrons

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In the table-top wargame Warhammer 40,000, the Necrons are a mysterious robot-like race that have lain dormant and unknown by the other races of the universe for sixty million years, and are reemerging in the distant future of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.^[1]

Contents 1 Necrons as an Army 2 History 2.1 The Necrontyr 2.2 C'Tan 2.3 The Enslavers 2.4 Awakening 2.5 The Necrons in the 41st Millennium 3 Necron Forces & Weaponry 3.1 Necron Characteristics 3.2 Necron Units 3.2.1 Necron Destroyers 3.2.2 Necron Flayed Ones 3.2.3 Necron Immortals 3.2.4 Necron Lord 3.2.5 Necron Warriors 3.2.6 Necron Wraiths 3.2.7 Pariahs 3.2.8 Scarab Swarms 3.2.9 Tomb Spyders 3.3 Necron Fleets 4 Living Metal 5 Bibliography 6 References 7 See Also 8 External links

[edit] Necrons as an Army

The Necrons first appeared as useable units for Warhammer 40,000 as Necron Raiders. The rules for these were first published in White Dwarf Issue 217 during the tail-end of the second edition of Warhammer 40,000.^[2] At the time, only Necron Warriors and Scarabs were given game rules and the warriors were armed with Gaus-Flayer Guns.^[3][4] This was quickly followed up with an expanded army list in the following month's issue of the same magazine. The Necron Lord and Necron Destroyer were part of this slightly-expanded army list. At the time, the lord was armed with the Staff of Light while the destroyers were armed with Gaus-Cannons.^[5][6] The issue of White Dwarf also had the Necrons' first major appearance in a battle report in the article entitled Massacre at Sanctuary 101, a battle between the Necrons and the Sisters of Battle. This particular altercation soon made its way into the background material as one of the first times the Imperium had encountered the Necrons.^[7] The first Necron miniatures, all metal, were also released during this time. In fact, a free Necron Warrior was included with issue 217 of White Dwarf. Other units to receive miniatures were the Necron Lord, Destroyer and Scarabs.^[8]

In the release of the third edition of Warhammer 40,000 in 1998, the Necrons had no useable army list. The first, full-fledged Necron army list for the new edition of the game was printed in the March 1999 issue of White Dwarf. This first army list was very restrictive, with the Necrons having mostly one choice per force organization category. The Necron Lord, Necron Immortals and Necron Warriors were the only available HQ, Elites and Troops choices respectively. This early army list had two units for the Fast Attack selections, Necron Destroyers and Scarabs. The latter were different from their current counterparts in that the original Scarabs were controlled individually and were not swarms on a single base as they are today. The Necron Immortal metal miniature was released at the same time as the publication of the army list.^[9] In a later issue of White Dwarf, Games Workshop further expanded the Necron army list by providing different equipment choices (wargear) for the Necron Lord. Along with the Gaze of Flame and Scourge of Light upgrades, this was the first time that the Veil of Darkness wargear was added to the Necron Lord's available options.^[10]

The Necrons received their first, full sourcebook with the release of Codex: Necrons in August 2002. The book featured a multitude of background information expanding upon the origins of the Necron race and expanded the scope of the Warhammer 40,000 history by several million years more.^[11] A full army list was also introduced in the sourcebook, with heavily revamped rules for existing units and the introduction of new ones. New units introduced in the codex were Flayed Ones, Pariahs, Wraiths, Heavy Destroyers, the Necron Monolith and the infamous C'tan.^[1][12] New miniatures were produced and released alongside with the release of the codex. For the first time, Necrons received their first plastic miniatures kit in the form of the Necron Warriors boxed set, which contained enough parts to make twelve Necron Warriors and three Scarab bases with four Scarabs each. The boxed set was a first for Games Workshop, as it was the first time that transparent, coloured parts were included in a boxed set along with the standard polystyrene parts. The transparent, green rods in this case were meant to be used as part of the Necrons' gauss weaponry. The Necron Destroyer model was also revamped and made into a plastic kit. Whereas the old, metal version was essentially a Necron Warrior riding a flying platform, the new Necron Destroyer plastic kit featured a Necron Immortal torso mounted and merged with a floating platform. The other miniatures released for the army were metal, such as the Flayed Ones, Immortals, Pariahs, Wraiths and the Necron Lord.^[13] Two more miniatures soon followed suit - the massive Necron Monolith, the largest miniature kit produced by Games Workshop at the time, and the Necron Destroyer Lord, a Necron Lord mounted on a Destroyer body.^[14]

[edit] History

[edit] The Necrontyr

Little is known about the origins of the ancient race known as the Necrontyr. They were one of the earliest sentient races in the galaxy, older than even the ancient Eldar, appearing only a few million years after the birth of the stars. Their world was scourged by the radiation of the massive, violent star it closely orbited, cursing them to experience drastically short lifespans. The Necrontyr spent aeons expanding their technology in an attempt to extend their lives. Their technology developed Necrodermis, a "living metal", for constructing their ships with which they were able to leave their planet. These slow "tomb ships" full of cryonically frozen Necrontyr were sent to populate the stars over 60 million years ago. It was during their first difficult steps out into the wider galaxy that the Necrontyr first encountered the Old Ones. The differences between the two races were vast; where the Necrontyr had short painful lives, the Old Ones were blessed with incredible longevity, and where the Necrontyr were impatient, the Old Ones were infinitely understanding and patient beyond measure.

The Necrontyr grew bitter and jealous towards the Old Ones, and it was not long before this jealousy lead the Necrontyr into a futile war against the Old Ones' civilization. The Old Ones were powerful psykers and had an unmatched mastery of the webway. These significant advantages won out over the Necrontyr's superior technology. Then, scientists studying the Necrontyr home star had discovered a being of incredible power feeding off its massive energy output. The full weight of Necrontyr science was put behind detailing this discovery and it was not long before the Necrontyr realized the potential such an incredible power might have on the war against the Old Ones. It was not long before similar beings were discovered and they were collectively called the C'tan (literally "Star Gods" in their language)

[edit] C'Tan

Being without form, the Necrontyr created living metal shells for the C'tan to inhabit and as a result they were able to coax the C'tan into the material universe. As the awesome power of the C'tan became material, the Necrontyr began to see these new beings not as guests, but as gods. The Necrontyr began to worship the C'tan as such, wanting them to destroy their hated enemies, the Old Ones. The first C'tan to pass into a living metal shell was "the Nightbringer". He began to harvest the sweet life force of the Necrontyr. It was only after considerable persuasion and pledges of servitude that the Necrontyr were able to bring to the Nightbringer's attention the Old Ones. The Death God found the Old Ones much more to his liking, and agreed to help the Necrontyr combat their hated enemies.

Soon after, the Necrontyr made contact with a second Star God, "the Deceiver". Far more cunning and insidious, the Deceiver promised the Necrontyr eternal life in living metal bodies, built for combat, and assured them victory against the Old Ones.

The Necrontyr agreed to the process and their souls were transferred into bodies made of living metal. However, the transformation dulled their minds and senses. As such they became the warrior-slaves of the C'tan, harvesting life across the galaxy for souls to feed them. It is probably at this point that the "War in Heaven" occurred, where the Eldar war god Kaela Mensha Khaine fought the Nightbringer and won - but Khaine's victory came at a terrible price. As it died, the Night Bringer exploded into shards of its deathly essence, mortally wounding Khaine and crippling him permanently. It is not known if this war occurred before or after the Eldar became a space faring, technologically advanced race, although some sources indicate the Orks, among others (Gretchins, and Eldar, for instance), were designed by the Old Ones as a weapon-race to be deployed against the numerous Necrontyr (the Orks referred to the "Old Ones" as the "Brain Boyz").

[edit] The Enslavers

After countless years of slaughter, and the destruction of the Old Ones, as well as most of the lesser races they created, there was little life left in the galaxy. The countless rifts into the warp caused by their battles allowed various powerful entities to pass through, most dangerous of all being the Enslavers. The ensuing Enslaver plague swept throughout the galaxy, killing billions. Though they had no effect on the C'tan or the Necrons, the toll on the C'tan's food source was immense and the C'Tan withdrew into stasis tombs to be guarded by their immortal slaves. There they would wait for close to 60 million years, until the Enslavers had returned to the warp and the galaxy was teeming with life again.

[edit] Awakening

Now, millions of years after the Enslaver plague, the Necrons and their masters have finally awoken to reclaim the galaxy, and begin, once again, to herd the living as their cattle. Finally, after so long, the galaxy is ready for the return of the Star-Gods of the Necrons. The deadly power of the invincible Eldar Empire is long gone, the unstoppable might and momentum of the Emperor's Great Crusade has had 10,000 years to grind to a bloody and brutal stalemate against the inimical forces of the galaxy, and the Orkoid races have long since lost whatever cohesion they may ever have had. All who might have opposed the C'tan are either gone or humbled, the galaxy is a swirling maelstrom of regional and factional conflict and the lives of its trillions upon trillions of inhabitants are ripe for the picking. The deathly silent ranks of the Necrons stalk forth across their tomb worlds once again, to reassert their masters' rule and inspire fear in the living.

[edit] The Necrons in the 41st Millennium

At present, the Necrons are still a shadowy presence rather than a fully-fledged force. They strike out of nowhere without warning, wreak havoc and leave before any major reinforcements can arrive. The origins of these various attacks and their motives are unknown, though it is evident that the current Necron forces in the galaxy are only harvesters, rather than the full might of the enormous C'tan juggernaut.

The Necrons seem to be able to attack anywhere: Necron scout ships once passed by the fleets and defenses protecting the Solar System unnoticed, reaching as far as the orbit of Mars (homeworld of the Adeptus Mechanicus) before being gunned down. Even then, the wreck of the last vessel managed to land on the surface of Mars itself and deliver its unknown cargo. Understandably this casts doubt on the impregnable status of Holy Terra, though this incident is a heavily guarded secret within the Imperium, which has been unable to capture a single Necron body, weapon, or craft in an attempt to learn their secrets; entire Necron forces simply vanish into thin air when retreating and take their 'dead' with them.

The Necron forces originate from uncharted tomb-worlds. Their phase technology allows them to swiftly deploy anywhere in the galaxy. In defeat they "phase-out" and return to the tomb-world for repairs. Any Necrons that have fallen in battle can be repaired there and re-animated so their losses thus far have been minimal. Should a Necron be totally annihilated in battle then they are truly beyond phase-out or repair but again, often so little survives that Imperial and Tau scientists have nothing to work with.

Other than direct battle, the Necrons have infiltrated the Imperium to an unknown extent. Their elite anti-psyker troops, the Pariah, are a cross-breed with human genes and it is as yet unknown if the Necrons developed the Pariah project by themselves or with the help of Imperial traitors (or possibly even Adeptus Mechanicus). But it is known that the C'tan had the Pariah Gene placed in the human genepool several million years ago. This has since manifested itself in the agents of the Culexus temple, specialist anti-psyker assassins and Untouchables such as Alizebeth Bequin, one of Inquisitor Eisenhorn's entourage. Rumours are also rife that the 'Machine Spirit' the Adeptus Mechanicus worships as a god is in actuality the dormant Void Dragon.

[edit] Necron Forces & Weaponry

Main article: Weapons, equipment, and vehicles of the Necrons

[edit] Necron Characteristics

Most Necrons are tall, skeletal figures made of a living metal which provides excellent protection in battle and also has the special self-repair effect, which means even heavily damaged Necrons can quickly return to the battle. Curiously, this ability seems to only work when the Necron is in the vicinity of other Necrons of the same type.

Psychologically most Necrons lack independent thought. However, some do retain sentience and are either driven mad or elevated to the rank of Necron Lord.^{[citation needed]}

Another interesting phenomenon is that when a battle has turned strongly against the Necrons, the entire army will simply vanish from the battlefield. This includes even 'dead' Necrons (those who have not yet repaired themselves) and those already engaged in close combat. Because of this, enemy forces like the Imperium have had great difficulty in obtaining Necron artifacts or "corpses" to study.

It should be noted that the terms for the weapons and Necrons that follow are given to them by their opponents, not the Necrons themselves. Aside from the C'tan, the Necrons never communicate to non-Necrons; only the C'tan known as the Deceiver has been observed infrequently communicating with non-Necrons.

[edit] Necron Units

[edit] Necron Destroyers

• Destroyer: Destroyers are Immortals fused to fast and agile hovercraft platforms. Equipped with Gauss Cannons and sophisticated targeting systems which enable them to fire while moving, Destroyers are ideal for hit-and-run attacks or disrupting enemy flanks. They also come in a Heavy Destroyer variant, which is armed with the more powerful Heavy Gauss Cannon, useful for destroying foes with the heaviest armor.

[edit] Necron Flayed Ones

• Flayed One: Flayed Ones are Necrons who retain some of their original consciousness and have been driven mad by their ageless imprisonment. They are quite capable melee fighters, with claws and blades that can flay a man alive in seconds. They usually adorn themselves with still wet pieces of skin and hide from their latest victims. In such a state, they are a terrifying sight to behold, so much that sometimes enemy fighters lose their nerve by just looking at them. Flayed Ones also frequently act in a manner similar to scouts, sneaking ahead of the main Necron force or even burying themselves in the ground, and use either method to gain the element of surprise during a battle. (see also Xipe Totec for the cultural reference)

[edit] Necron Immortals

• Immortal: Those favored Necrontyr who were among the first to give up their flesh and embrace the metal were rewarded by being Immortals. They are more durable, heavy variants of the Warrior and they wield Gauss Blasters.

[edit] Necron Lord

• Necron Lord: Necron Lords are the commanders of Necron forces, chosen due to being one of the few Necrons to retain sentience. They are formidable foes on the battlefield, being quite adept with both ranged and close combat weaponry. Due to their special position as "leaders" in the Necron forces, they are often equipped with special gear. This gear often increases the effectiveness of other Necrons around the Lord, such as augmenting their healing factor, or allowing them to teleport to crucial points in a battle; other gear carried can increase the Lord's survivability or his prowess in battle. Necron Lords are also some of the few Necrons who keep some of their memory from their previous lives. The Necron Destroyer Lord is the upgraded version of the Necron Lord, it floats around the battlefield on an agile hovercraft platform.

[edit] Necron Warriors

• Warrior: Necron Warriors are the backbone of the Necron army. They are numerous and provide strong fire support with their Gauss Flayers. Their 'living metal' bodies allow them to sustain massive damage and continue functioning.

[edit] Necron Wraiths

• Wraith: Wraiths are one of the more sophisticated Necron units. They lack legs or a body (except for the spinal cord) and hover over the battlefield, moving at supernatural speeds. They are fearsome close combat warriors, and they can phase in and out during their flight, becoming ghostly figures (thus the name wraith). This phase shift ability allows them to move through solid objects or even to avoid damage. It has been suggested that Wraiths were murderers and psychopaths before their imprisonment in their bodies.

[edit] Pariahs

• Pariah: Pariahs represent the true horror of a Necron-ruled galaxy. They are created by fusing Necron technology with human victims who bear the "pariah gene" (a rare and unusual genetic defect in which the bearer lacks a soul). Each Pariah is a formidable warrior, especially since they wield deadly warscythes; but they also radiate an unnatural aura which can have a severe unnerving effect upon their enemies, especially psykers. Interestingly, since Pariahs are partly human, they lack the incredible healing factor that most other Necrons have.
• The humans that are turned into Pariahs are the ones used by the imperium as "Culexus Assassins", these assassins are used by the imperium to combat enemy psykers. The "Pariah gene" (see above) allows them to do this, but the gene itself was implanted in the human race by the C'tan. Although it is unsure which one it was, it is a fair bet that it was the Deciever as he has been the cause of many things such as this.

[edit] Scarab Swarms

• Scarabs: Countless small, beetle-like robots called Scarabs often appear on the battlefield; these clouds of Scarabs are termed Scarab Swarms by their opponents. These swarms rely on sheer numbers to make themselves difficult to destroy, and are useful for disrupting enemies who are caught unaware. They can be upgraded with "disruption fields" which can also make them effective against lightly armored vehicles.

[edit] Tomb Spyders

• Tomb Spyder: Large, spider-like robots which are normally tasked with maintaining the Necron tomb complexes. They sometimes appear on the battlefield, where they make resilient fighters who have limited ability to augment the healing factor of the 'living metal' on nearby Necrons. They also can use their internal systems to manufacture Scarabs in the midst of a battle.

[edit] Necron Fleets

While Necron forces are usually land-based, Necron space vessels are not unheard of, though are quite possibly much more common than people realize, and simply not seen. This is supported by the Necrons' terrifying ability to appear anywhere. There are more than two dozen records of Necron contacts in space in Imperial archives, and accounts of other races battling Necron fleets also exist.

Necron mastery of physical technology is beyond anything the galaxy has ever seen, surpassing even that of the highly advanced Eldar. Their ships are stunningly fast and agile, equipped with propulsion systems which are capable of traveling interstellar distances without entering the Warp. This is achieved, as far as is known, by somehow making their ships unbound by inertia, allowing them to accelerate almost instantly and infinitely, which explains why Necron ships are often seen to be visibly decelerating upon reaching the site of battle. This also protects them from many of the practical problems and dangers of warp travel. All Necron ships are well-armored, equipped with self-repair systems and utilize some sort of advanced stealth technology which makes them difficult to detect for enemy targeting systems, granting Necron vessels surprising staying power overall. Although still devastating, Necron naval weaponry does not seem to match the raw power of some Imperial designs. They are, however, known to by-pass many conventional defense systems, such as void shields and even Eldar holofields, and strike with an unearthly accuracy.

In every battle so far the Necrons could only be defeated by superior numbers, and engaging Necrons on even terms proved to be suicide. Fortunately, all of the Necron fleets encountered so far were small task forces that usually disengaged and phased out like their land-based counterparts, rather than putting up a full fight. But their frequency seems to be increasing and the possibility of a massive Necron attack is dreaded by the Imperium as well as other sentient races. Even as a raiding force, they are a serious threat as they are fully capable of outmaneuvering most other fleets (probably with the exception of Eldar and their dark kin) to pick fights on an even footing. This often leads to catastrophic losses for enemy fleets and forces them to somehow stall with an utterly inferior fighting force for overwhelming reinforcements to arrive, at which point the Necrons simply disengage.

For a list of known Necron spacecraft, see: Weapons, equipment, and vehicles of the Necrons.

[edit] Living Metal

Living Metal is the basis of Necrontyr technology. It is extremely durable and can dynamically restructure itself to change shape or to adapt to an outside effect, as well as having the capability to mend itself when damaged. The physical shells that contain the C'tan are made from it, so called Necrodermis as are the Necron metal bodies (including starships and vehicles) and some of their weapons. The C'tan Phase Sword and C'tan Phase Knife also utilise similar technology. Literally, the name means "corpse skin" (from Greek νεκρος (as discussed earlier), and δερμις dermis)

[edit] Bibliography

• Chambers, Andy; Haines, Pete, McNeill, Graham, and Hoare, Andy (2002). Codex: Necrons, 3rd Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-190-7. 

[edit] References

[edit] See Also

• Weapons, equipment, and vehicles of the Necrons

[edit] External links

• Necrons and C'tan @ the Unofficial Warhammer 40,000 Encyclopedia
• Xenos Imagnifier - Imperial map of the galaxy highlighting Necron encounters.