Rumors: Necrons 5

Will They Be Back?

The waves of Necron rumors are starting to becoming overwhelming as of late, which solidifies what is my belief that they're indeed next in line. It wasn't until today that I saw something post-worthy as it seems legit as far as what rules are explained, but a lot of these rumors seem to contradict others that I've heard very recently. I'll give the breakdown and my thoughts in red after the break.

No surprise here, but Necrons are still essentially Tomb Kings in space fluff wise. A shift in fluff is now that all of the higher up necrons are intelligent while the lower level ones are still basically automatons. I guess that’s roughly the same as it used to be, but apparently there is more emphasis in the sentience of the higher Necrons now (hence the named Lords).

This isn't something we haven't heard already. Not much to go into on here.

C’Tan are still in the codex…sort of. They have been moved to the Elites section and are now a single unit choice, but with variable upgrade powers you can take.

This is a major surprise. This is the first rumor I've heard that notates the C'Tan not being taken out of the codex. I'm curious what the wording "now a single unit choice" means. Are all three (the fourth being supposedly occupied within Mars) remaining C'Tan in a group together? If so, I call some BS on this one. A single God on the table is absurd enough, but two or three? They would have to be Avatars in my opinion. But with something like that why wouldn't it be an HQ, the most specialized slot in the FOC? This rumor hurts my head.

We’ll be Back is no longer called that and it is NOT Feel No Pain. Basically it is a 5+ bonus save similar to Feel No Pain, but doesn’t get cancelled out by double strength, AP1/2, etc. In addition, this save is made at the END of the phase after morale tests are taken. If the unit is wiped out or is falling back at the end of the phase, then the save cannot be used. So as an opponent, if you manage to wipe the unit out or make them fall back, then you prevent any Necrons from getting back up…unless the unit has something called the ‘ever-living’ rule, in which case it gets to attempt this save even if the unit is wiped out.

Finally a rumor on WBB that isn't "It's, uh...like FNP, but different. Kinda." This is a great solution to a less confusing WBB if it's true. Essentially every Necron has a 5+ invulnerable save (that GK's can't take away) that is taken at the end of the player turn. And just like in the current rules, if the whole unit is wiped out before WBB, they can't get back up unless there's some extra rule working in the background. I think this is a great way to go and hope this comes out in release.

Gauss Weaponry does NOT have rending. It retains the ‘auto-glance’ on a penetration roll of a ’6′ rule, but apparently otherwise has lost the ‘auto-wound’ on a roll of a ’6′ regardless of Toughness that it used to have. The Gauss Cannon is now apparently Assault 2 & AP3 (I’m assuming the Strength is still 6). The Gaus Flux Arc on the Monolith no longer automatically hits every unit within range, instead each one fires separately and can hit four different targets.

Again, finally a rumor about Gauss that isn't one sentence long with zero information. This is also the first rumor I've read that notates Gauss being worse which is interesting. The change to the Gauss Cannon is expected, but the change to the Flux Arc seems solid. Currently the Flux Arc can draw out a Shooting Phase for 10+ minutes. This way simplifies how it shoots and reduces the time it takes as well.

Phase out is gone.

I've heard Phase Out is going to be removed a long while ago, but as of late everyone has been saying it's still in, but has been changed. Very interesting this rumor says it's gone completely.

Destroyers now count as jump infantry and there is a new Fast

This seems fishy to me. We keep seeing claims that Destroyer's hover-butts aren't changing modeling-wise, yet this rumor indicates that they're not Jump Infantry. I'm not sure about you, but I wouldn't take Necrons seriously if I saw a bunch of these guys bunny hopping from destination to destination on their posteriors.

Attack Jetbike unit called Tomb Blades.

First I've heard of this as well.

Immortals are now a Troops choice.

Old news. Some have said they're unlockable as Troops. Some say they just are Troops. Who knows.

Pariahs are gone.

First I've heard of this. I've heard rumors lately that Pariahs will be a retinue for a Lord, but not that they've been removed. As horrible as they are currently, I'd be sad to see them go rather than being fixed by GW.

Flayed Ones are Elites.

First I've heard of this one as well. Everywhere I look references these guys being a Troop choice.

There are indeed 6 named characters (although I have no more info on them). There is also a Necron Overlord and a bodyguard unit called Crypteks. Crypteks can be split off before the game to lead units of Necrons, very similar to Wolf Guard in the Space Wolves codex. Crypteks can take a bunch of different technology upgrades, so there is kind of a way now to have personalized squad leaders in a Necron army.

I've read this rumor recently, nothing new. It's a great concept and clearly works for the SW. I wouldn't be against this change.

They army is much more mobile now in general. They have several units of jump troops, and 2 new transport vehicles. 1 transport can carry 15 necrons while another can carry 10. Jump pack units count as 2 models and jetbikes count as 5. The one that holds 10 is able to recover casualties to a unit (although can’t take it beyond its starting strength). Necron vehicles besides the monolith are open-topped skimmers. However they have something called ‘Quantum shielding’ which gives their front & side armor +2 until the vehicle takes its first glance/pen, at which point it loses the shielding. One of these two transports (not sure which one) is apparently a personal transport for the Lord (and his retinue).

Last I heard there were zero Jump Troops in the new dex, so idk about this one. The transports being mentioned is new as well, and I pray to Buddha this guy is a big fat liar. If my race frequently teleported across the galaxy, why would I store them in floating bathtubs? It just doesn't make sense. The +2 armour to Front and Side could be nice, but this would depend entirely on the vehicle's originating AV. If it's 10, this is going to suck. 12 armour isn't the easiest thing to glance, but it certainly isn't difficult if your list is well balanced. If transports are included, open-topped would be the way to go in my opinion. Shooting 15 Rapid Fire shots from one barge would make things quite nasty for your enemy. But I stand by my opinion on this: Necrons + Transports = Silliness.

There are six new vehicles in the codex (including the two transports mentioned above). Two of which seem to be based around this old Jes Goodwin design: http://storage.canalblog.com/29/28/731795/53057637.jpg

More AV isn't a bad thing for playing in 5th Edition. But again with the hover-tubs... I guess we'll see.

In general Necrons have a lot more long ranged fire support.

Been there. Heard that.

There is also a new weapon type called Tesla weapons. These weapons, on a roll of ’6′ to hit automatically cause two more hits. The biggest version of the Tesla weapons has a chance of hitting all other units close to the target; both friend and foe. One of the new vehicles carries the doomsday cannon: 72″ S9 AP1 Heavy 1 large blast. BS4.

The Tesla concept sounds grade-A fun. Similar to the never-ending Dreadnought the Blood Angels have, this could be quite powerful depending on stats. Speaking of stats, 72" S9 AP1 Large Blast fired with BS4? Really? I mean, really?

In the Elites section there is a big new walker. It has a heat ray that that is either a melta or flamer depending on what you want to do. Any unit hit by this vehicle is marked (as in: laser targeted), which means that all other necrons count as being twin-linked for shooting at the marked enemy unit that turn.

So there's a single unit that can choose to either Flamer or Melta and also gives everyone Twin-Linked when he shoots at something? I don't know what the other Elite choices are (other than a unit of Gods, apparently,) but why would you ever choose anything else? What's the downside to something like this?

That's about it for the new roundup. What do you guys and gals think?