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How do the Necrontyr 'work'?


pawl

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So like many I've got a copy of Indomitus coming, but I've never touched the Necrons before.

Rather than selling the other half I thought it might be a good chance to try something new instead, but I'm not really sure where to start (I had a look in the resources thread but there wasn't much there)

 

How exactly do Necrons work? From an Astartes perspective each Chapter and Legion have distinct traits, histories, tactics etc to go with their colour schemes, and you can of course create your own around those. I assume that Necrons work similarly? If so is there anywhere that gives a tl;dr version of the main Dynasties that I could try and start from?

I'm a hobbyist rather than a gamer, so rules and playability don't bother me - I'm looking for a combination of looking good when painted, with a cool enough 'history'. Bonus points if it's easy and fast to paint

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Well, the necron dynasties arent nearly as fleshed out as SM chapters, but heres some info for you:

 

Sautekh: the 'vanilla' dynasty, kind of the ultramarine equivalent. Mostly intact tomb worlds, massive amount of resources. More expansionist than other dynasties. If youre taking named characters, chances are theyre Sautekh.

 

Novokh: focused on CC. More bloodthirsty than other crons.

 

Nihilakh: more defensive than other dynasties, these guys dont really do much beyond reinforcing their territory. So far anyway... also feature the only non-sautekh, non-independent character, Trazyn the Infinite of trolling fame.

 

Nephrekh: unlike most other necrons, these guys dont want to reverse biotransference and become flesh again, but want to go farther and transcend matter. So far, theyve had limited success, but they can become immaterial and blazingly fast. So thats nice.

 

Mephrit: star killers. Currently leaderless, as their phaeron didnt make it. Use said killed stars as power sources.

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The Codex is a great place for Dynasty information and is just about our only source on the matter. The Mephrit have shown up in the Shield of Baal campaign and Maynarkh (not represented with rules) in the Damnos campaign book, I'm not aware of any other resources aside from the odd short story or side-appearances in novels that could offer much more information.

 

This is a handy list on 40k lexicanum that could get you going.

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The link Ntaw posted is our best in-depth list to each Dynasty.

 

The Dynasties are somewhat equivalent to Space Marine chapters though the former are not tied together as one race bound by a single entity (The Emperor) nor share the same goals. Civil war is common within the Necron race.

 

Szarekh has recently returned to unite all the Necrons, however even for him, this is a huge feat.

Edited by Get Thokt
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The Codex is a great place for Dynasty information and is just about our only source on the matter. The Mephrit have shown up in the Shield of Baal campaign and Maynarkh (not represented with rules) in the Damnos campaign book, I'm not aware of any other resources aside from the odd short story or side-appearances in novels that could offer much more information.

 

This is a handy list on 40k lexicanum that could get you going.

Weren't the maynarkh in the imperial armour book too? Unless my memory is worse than Zandrekh's

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My thanks all!

I had seen the Lexicanum list but didn't want to have to go through every single one - having now done so it turns out a lot of the entries were quite short, so it wasn't that painful

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Also keep in mind we have codex coming shortly and if it matters to you, a few bits of fluff could change. I don't expect wild sweeping changes like we had from 4th to 5th edition in fluff, but the king returning and (for the most part) reuniting the necron race could impact a few things. I am mostly curious to hear more details on how the old poster boys Sautekh and Imoteckh will be taking this in more detail. And not to mention GW seems to have amplified a more dark and horror-esque theme to the necrons with this new release. But like I said, we shouldn't see sweeping changes, and likely not enough to change your mind on anything but sill stuff to think about and take into account with the codex coming. 

Edited by Ahzek451
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The new Codex doesn't concern me too much - by the time I get my plastic fix it'll have been released, so changes shouldn't be a problem.

My biggest concern is mostly making sure that I don't break the rules, as it were. From what I've been able to read a smaller dynasty being amalgamated into the Nihilakh is possible, which would give me the freedom of scheme I'm looking for.

 

Thanks again for your help guys - I'm sure I'll be back for more

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Smaller dynasties get subsumed into larger ones all the time. Fluffwise, the Necrontyr race is based around a lot of political shenanigans and subservience to more powerful dynasties. Command hierarchies are constantly shifting and alliances are formed and broken whenever it suits a particular phaeron's needs. You can play one of the big main dynasties listed or create your own sub dynasty. Or, if you don't like the newer fluff and prefer that oldcron "mindless, nameless automated legion of death spitting metal zombies" that's also an option. Many tomb worlds were damaged during the slumber, so having a standalone legion with zero personality or agenda other than killing everything made of organic matter is also an option! Hopefully with the new dex we'll see some create your own dynasty rules. Until then, find a dynasty trait that suits you and go nuts with whatever fluff and paint scheme you want ^_^
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Just try not to use an existing scheme that might clash with your add on Nihilakh force... e.g. don't paint em red with a white stripe... Novokh scheme etc...

but otherwise the world is your oyster :biggrin.:

I look forward to seeing what you come up with !?.

 

Cheers, Mithril

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  • 4 weeks later...

I just got an Indomitus box and my first-ever Necrons... so this thread has been helpful.

 

Thanks, all.

 

I have an idea for a color scheme that might be interesting if all works out, because, y'all know me: I tend to prefer to make up my own schemes and stuff.

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