Rumors: New Necron Bubbles

Taking Shape Of This Eldar Fellow's Face Mayhaps

Welcome back to The Magnet Pro! Taking a step back from all of this conversion work I've been doing lately, I decided to read up on what the latest rumor mill had churning for my boys in green. What a day to check! I ended up finding a neato thread over at Warseer about a large amount of supposedly factual Necron rumors. Is this poster a dirty liar? A prophet? A nerdy guy with permanent Cheeto stains under his fingernails? You'll get my opinion and more coming up after the break.

So let's get to it. Here's the list with my commentary in red.

Take this with Salt, and don’t believe me if you don’t want to but here goes:

So first things first. There is a lot that can and will change, but this is what I know for now:

New kits done in plastic:

Destroyers/Heavy Destroyers. This will be released as one kit with lots of options. They look like the old hybrid kits, but in plastic with fancier torso’s. The skimmer body things don’t look much changed, actually. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. With the hefty price drop from their current points cost, expect to be buying a lot of these to deal with your enemy termies and the like, since with the exception of one of the Special Character Lords they are your best option for dealing with 2+ saves, though there is an option for a lawn mower (lown mower as in a gun that has alot of shots, to mow throw hordes) type weapon too if you want to deal with hordes, though considering the other weapon options you have with these guys and the number of other units in the new codex with slaughter hordes better, its sort of a waste. You get 1 per box.

(This sounds like GW taking the same stance they do on Dreadnaught kits. A single kit with tons of options. I'm disappointed to hear of the hover-butts platforms not changing as that style always annoyed me, but I'll mourn in my own way. The price drop isn't a shock; currently at 65 points for a 36" Lascannon, the Heavy Destroyer's cost is outrageous. But as we all know, 3rd and some 4th Edition codices are hindered by overpricing--just the way things were back then. I'm frightened though by this poster's opinion of Heavy Destroyers being the only "viable" option for dealing with Termie hordes. The Necrons currently suffer from the inability to gather a lot of high strength and/or low AP weapons. If this pattern continues into 5th Edition the Necrons just won't be able to keep up.)

Immortals – These look coolish…kinda. I think I liked the simpler look of the old ones, but if you are a fan of all the “bling” that GW has started throwing on with remakes like the BA and GK, then you will like the new Immortals. I don’t really find that they fit with the Necron look, but time will tell, and maybe they will look better painted. They are also bigger. One of the Special Character ‘Cron lords makes them troops. Will come in boxes of 5, can be in units of up to 10.

(I'm a fan of the current Immortal model as well, but I understand the need for diversity. From across the table, an Immortal can look like a Warrior if you're not paying attention. Plastic Immortals is pure good news, much love there. The poster mentions that the models are "bigger" which could segway to the rumor of them getting Terminator-sized bases; which I'm not against. The special character unlocking them as a Troop Choice is far from shocking as this seems to be (along with removing models from play and Monstrous Creatures given to every dex,) GW's new go-to move with the new codices.)

Tomb spider is getting a nice remake, haven’t seen the model yet but I hear it looks cool. Like the Destroyers, the rumor is that this will have several options and be able to fulfill a Varity of roles in the army. 1 per box.

(Hell, if the Tomb Spider could fill any role in the Necron army I think we'd all be pleased. I know, I know; some of you out there really love your Tomb Spiders. But let's be serious here, for 55 points, the Tomb Spider is vastly underwhelming and considering your other Heavy Support choices are your (more or less) only option for high-strength weapons, there are better ways to spend your points.)

New MC/Vehicle type thing that can throw down some long range hurt but is still underwhelming compared to things like the Manticore, and will likely be unpopular. 48” range I believe. It looks really stupid and out of place in the Necron force. 1 per box

(Very very very vague, there fella... An MC or a vehicle with a long range something that's not that great...probably. PS, it looks stupid. This is the first hint that these rumors aren't legit based solely on the amount of vagueness. Let's quickly scamper past this nonsense.)

New giant MC guy with either ranged or melee options. Has a very Wraith Lord feel all around. One of the guns looks similar (maybe the same?) to the new gun the destroyer guys are getting which works well against hordes. He has a lot of weapon options and looks….ok. I am not a big fan of giants though so maybe it’s me. Defiantly a MC like a wraith lord and not a vehicle like a dreadnaught/sentinel however. I think people will either build lists around 3 of these guys (you can’t take them in squadrons, so they really eat up your HS slots, which honestly surprised me since GW seems to be letting people take walkers in groups of 3 so they can sell more) or won’t take them at all. Still in the age where half the guardsman and space marines in the galaxy seem to run around packing plasma or melta guns, I don’t expect these guys will be that competitive even with their high toughness just because to kit them out with the best weapon options makes them a bit more expensive then they are worth, and giant models tend to attract a lot of fire power. I think I saw something about a way to make them available in elite slots as well as HS slots. Maybe through a special character? 1 per box.

(As the rumors continue I'm seeing a lot of weapon-options mentioned. So no more Gauss ______ and nothing else for this unit, it sounds like. At this point I don't think he's mentioned something without weapon options save the Immortals. I'm not sure how I feel about this, I did enjoy the simplicity of the Necron wargear options and FOC; a nice break from every other codex out there. But I have yet to find someone who feels the same, so I understand the need for it from a money-making standpoint. High toughness, but fragile to melta/plasma means little to no invuln save for this model, so I'd agree with the poster on that point. Finally, we once again have FOC trading via a Special Character. Color me not surprised.)

New fast attack unit that finally gives Necron’s some non MC melee options. Look kinda like flayed ones. They have an 18” charge with their special ability. Think jump infantry with special rules. 5 per box

(When I read 18" charge range, I must admit I pooed a lil'. There's 12" charge range out there, and that's annoying enough as it is. But 18"? There must be a hard downside to this unit.)

Warriors will come 10 to a box; have some new options and also other colors of rod (orange and red I think? Orange is not bright orange, but sort of dark, kinda like a beer color almost) Otherwise look the same.

(An obvious statement followed by what sounds like a personal wishlist. Here we have the second hint at these rumors being full of rainbows and unicorns. I'm in no way against rod options (/giggle), but this doesn't seem like something GW would do. Moving on.)

Didn’t see a plastic lord, but didn’t hear that there wasn’t one. Still, I can’t really say either way, though it would be nice if they put one out I don’t really have any evidence that this is the case.

(I'll recap for those playing at home: "There may be a plastic Lord, but there may not be. I would like to see one. I don't have any evidence proving yay or nay." This guy must be a politician. Hint number three that this guy is full of it.)

I didn’t see or hear anything about an LED kit for the Monolith. I am not saying that something like that isn’t going to happen, but I haven’t heard even the slightest hint of something like that happening, or seen any evidence to suggest it other then what people post on forums like this.

(First and foremost, it sounds like this guy reads my blog. Secondly, who asked for this info? How does this not come off as a wishlist rumor? Where did this guy ever get the idea that GW would start incorporating electronics into their production line of models? Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a Rock'em Sock'em Dreadnaught. What I'm saying is it will never happen. This is a major slip in a list of somewhat tangible rumors.)

New Blisters:

There is a new metal lord on foot, has a staff. Looks really cool, but I don’t like painting metal, so I don’t know if I will be picking him up.

(A little tidbit and an opinion I didn't ask for. Moving along.)

Rules:

WBB is basically FNP for most guys. Not saying its FNP exactly, but well…it pretty much comes out to being FNP. The way Res orbs work has, obviously, been reworked as well.

(FNP, but not FNP. Thanks...really. My gaming buddy mentioned this could mean FNP, but at the end of the turn so it still has the feel of WBB. I'm okay with this if that's the case. I've mentioned before WBB is a pair of rancid smelling goat testicles in comparison to FNP for game mechanics, but WBB and Gauss provide a style for the Necrons that no other army has. This is vastly more important to me than winning a tourney. Once again, however, I have yet to find anyone who agrees with me on this who's an avid Necron player.)

Phase out is…well phased out. Not saying the rule is completely gone, but you won’t have to buy a ton of unit X to keep your enemy from just destroying your “Necrons” units and causing your army to get removed.

(Thank. God. I'm all for style as I mentioned about 17 seconds ago, but Phase Out forced the player to repeatedly take something they didn't want to en lieu of some really fun units/models that the Necron codex has. There's a line style can cross to annoy even my gameplay; Phase Out is that line. Good riddance.)

C’tan are gone, and are replaced with powerful named Necron lords and special characters.

(Once again, I rejoice. I'll bring the topic of style back into this rumor with a hint of lore. Gods, actual gods, have no business in a non-Apocalypse game. They might barely belong in Apocalypse! Their stats would need to be astronomical--something no one has seen before in 40k. But if this was accomplished (basically a 10 statline,) the point cost would be unreachable. Get the C'tan out of here, they don't make sense with this game-type.)

One of the Lords makes Immortals troops, though I am not sure if they are scoring.

(This was mentioned earlier, save the "not sure if they are scoring" note. Moving on.)

Another Special Character has some really nice anti psyker abilities. I don’t think he is a lord, some other sort of Necron maybe? I don’t play Necrons myself, but I didn’t get the impression that he was a boss ‘Cron.

(Anti-psykers look like they'll be a must these days. Another trend I'm starting to see is GW wanting every codex to have a good Psyker. With 5th Edition Grey Knights in existence, I'm for this trend.)

Unlike what people have been saying, not all gauss weapons are rending.

(Quite vague, but I find this tidbit interesting. With colored rods I mentioned earlier, maybe (and I realize this is a big maybe,) the effect the Gauss will have from the weapon will be based on what color the Gauss tubes are. This would be a radical change from GW's normal rule creation, but I could see that being entertaining and quite the money maker as I'm sure as hell not magnetizing Gauss tubes. Not now, not ever.)

Living metal is changing, but if anything its getting better. Kinda.

(If I had a dollar for every fickle, wishy-washy, useless statement this guy has spewed out I could have a pretty good night at a strip club.)

A lot of the weird complicated rules from the codex are getting simplified and a lot of the war gear options are vanishing, though many of them will be back in slightly altered form as special abilities or items owned by some of the new special characters.

(Rules being simplified is what GW has been about since 4th Edition; no surprises here. The wargear options must be all about the Necron Lord as wargear options are currently few to none. This is interesting, though. From the rumors above this line, it seems GW is all about streamlining Necrons into the norm of wargear choices out the wazoo. This is the first mention of eliminating any.)

Necrons will have their magic power guy, but no he isn’t a psyker. I mean he is LIKE a psyker, but is not actually, you know, a psyker. Even if he plays and feels…well you know, just like a psyker.

(I'm all for personal flare and incorporating sarcastic jokes, but a rumor list isn't the time or place for that sort of thing. I dissect this as a Psyker without psychic tests. The only thing that makes a Psyker is their powers. And the only way I could see a Psyker being a Psyker without actually being a Psyker is the removal of the psychic test. Either that or his powers aren't "psychic powers" and thus a Psychic Hood, for example, would be useless against it.)

While the Ctan are themselves out of the codex ( a good thing, since they were way underpowered for gods) look to see their influence still in place.

(Very interesting info here. The C'tan are out as models, but will still exist in the codex in some manner. My first thought was the Chaos Space Marine's Mark of *enter gross god here*. Like a Mark of the Nightbringer or Mark of the Deceiver mechanic of sorts. I'm intrigued by this one.)

Over all Necrons are a lot cheaper across the board point wise, though that’s to be expected (GW wants you to buy more little plastic men, and the best way to do this is make it so it takes more of them to fill up an army). Monoliths remain expensive though, and one of the lords was something crazy, like 240 points or somewhere around there. He looks like he has potential to be beastly in CC though.

(Cheaper Necrons is pretty much a "duh" statement. Monoliths remaining expensive is pretty obvious as well, even with Living Metal being changed for the better...Kinda. Sort of. In a way. Probably. Maybe. It's possible. Potentially. Perchance. Mayhaps. A "beastly" CC Special Character that's 240 points isn't very uncommon these days either. This rumor is pretty underwhelming...possibly.)

I didn’t see any rules for a transport for the warriors, though I was really hoping they would get something to bring them into the age of 5th edition mech. I wish I could tell you they had a necrhino or nechimera but I just didn’t see anything like that, and I didn’t hear about anything like that either. They have been giving some interesting new fast attack and CC options, but it looks like, at least to me, that they still won’t be at the power level of BA/SW/GK. Still, they will get a much needed boost from their current state, and should be a lot less confusing to play.

(First, I'm glad. Second, I'm glad, you son of a bitch. Necrons with transports really doesn't compute (pun intended.) Necrons teleport onto the battlefield or come up from the ground like the badass robot-zombies they are. They don't ride around in "Nechimeras" with their first aid kits and mocha lattes. Quick quiz for you movie-goers out there. In the movie *enter any zombie movie here*, did the zombies jump in a truck with their shotguns towards the nearest humans? The answer you are looking for is a big ol' nope. I've heard of others wanting transports for the Necrons, but this comes down to fluff and how the Necrons work. They don't have a use for transports. If we humans could teleport wherever, you think we'd have cars? I think not. So to all you truck-riding Necron lovers out there, stop getting your 100% focus on gameplay mechanics in my Necrons. It's not going to taste as good as getting your chocolate in my peanut butter.)

I don’t have a release date, but I am expecting an October release. That’s a guess though.

(We'll chalk this up as another useless piece of info that can be ignored.)

Again I fully expect at least some of this to change, so take this with all the salt you want, but I thought maybe some folks might want some more rumors, and since no one else seemed to want to put this stuff out, I figured I would. Likewise I am only human and it’s possible I remembered something wrong. Anyway, Enjoy.

("And with his last breath he muttered the words, 'Perhaps...maybe.'")

So that's all of the info for now. A ridiculous amount of uncertainty in every rumor, but this is the largest single list I've seen thus far. Is it true? That's hard for me to decide. A lot of this seems legit, while others seem wishlisty. A lot of the legit-sounding statements are quite obvious, or things that have been rumored before. So do I think this guy is a dirty liar? I'd say I'm 70% on the side of calling this truth with a 5% margin of error due to the fact that I like a lot of these rumors. The amount of wishy-washy statements is overwhelming, but there are a few solid rumors that sound legit. The writing style suggests he's legit, because...ya know--he knows what a period and a comma are. But honestly, I don't hold that in high esteem. I could make well-written rumors any day of the week, it doesn't mean they're factual. Overall it's a good read regardless and I'm pretty pleased with the rumors if this is the direction GW ends up going with them.

So what are your guys/gals' opinions regarding these rumors? Likes? Dislikes? Belief? Pessimism?