These are not the droids we were waiting for... A Necron Codex Review (part 2 of 4 - The Fluff)

The Fluff Verdict

0b001 Scarab

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Summary

In summary, the Necrons are a shadow of what they once where.  Very little was carried forward from a fluff perspective.  Many will say (and have already said) that the 3e Necrons were very constrained and one-dimensional.  I, for one, think that was part of their charm.  Unfortunately for us, the Necron enigma is gone.  Mat Ward has destroyed the Necron fluff.

Overall Themes

In the third edition codex, most Necrons had completely lost their previous, mortal personality.  They were essentially mindless automatons working to fulfill the will of their Star Gods, the C'tan.  Though perhaps this limited the story arcs for Games Workshop, it painted the Necrons as a silently advancing implacable force; one that would not stop at any cost.  Consider that picture of the half-cleaved Necron ominously crawling forward.

It doesn’t get to be any more of a mind f—k than that!  [Shudders]

The dominant 3e enigmatic, Lovecraftian horror, Terminator, and super-tech themes are all removed or muted in the 5e Necron codex.  Those were supplanted by new themes that I think can be summarized by ‘Tomb Kings in Space meets 1950’s scifi horror’.  Fans are often divided about the prevalence of the Tomb Kings in the 3e codex but I believe it only ever came through in model design and naming… Scarabs, Monolith, etc.  Other than that the influence was subtle.  There were actually several influences from several areas outside of Egypt.  Mesopotamia gave them the Immortals.  Greek myth gave them the Centaur-like Destroyers.  Nearly ever major ancient religion had a trickster god like the Deceiver.  The list goes on…

So what does this Tomb King theme mean for the Necrons in 5e, besides political infighting that rivals daytime television?  Well, there are certainly a lot of head-dressings and other Egyptian bling on the models (see my review of the models) but they also have significantly more personality.  (That’s not a good thing in my Necronomicon.)  Though the rank and file Necron is still considered mindless, there are several named lords (or “overlords” as they call them now) with personalities they carried over from their previous mortal life (tainted by the long sleep as they may be).  The fact that the Necron leadership still maintains their basic personality does not bother me.  What does bother me is how far Mat Ward took it. The Necrons are no longer a single integrated race with enigmatic agendas.  They are fragmented, divided into several unique, independent dynasties linked to the warring kingdoms of their prior mortal lives.  Each dynasty is radically different but most want to conquer the galaxy and restore their empire.  Mat knows, that theme hasn’t been overused.  [Slaps forehead]  The codex is page after page of stories of tomb worlds waking up in a flawed state, becoming destroyed by the Tyranid hive fleets, Imperium counterattack, Eldar tracking, natural catastrophe, or simply not waking up at all.  And what happens after they wake?  Pages 24-27 is basically a sad sob story of Necrons getting their butts kicked (or almost kicked) by the Imperium, Eldar, and Orks.  Arg!  There are a few occasional victories there but they seem more on the edge of a knife.

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For those of you who have already purchased a codex, take a look at pages 18 and 19.  In that two-page art we see Necrons in a battle with GW’s favorite angels, the Adeptus Astartes.  Who is winning that battle?  Come on Mat, this is the Necron codex!  Think I’m crazy?  Look at page 52 in the old codex.  Not only is the art better, but who do you think is winning that battle?  [Smirk]

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Flayer’s Curse and Destroyer Madness

Two other culprits in my distaste for the new codex are the Flayer’s Curse and the Destroyer madness.  In 5e, the Flayed Ones have a condition that drives them to feast on flesh.  This was the last curse, nay virus, infected onto many Necrons when the C’tan Flayer was destroyed.  Other Necrons avoid these Flayed Ones for fear of becoming infected.  There is even a whole dynasty that is devolving into Flayed Ones.  It makes me wonder if the Necrons are actually on the rise or not.  This fluff is absolute excrement.  Thanks, Mat!  The Destroyer madness is described as a nihilistic hatred of all things living and the desire to destroy them all.  Sound familiar?  For those old school Necron players out there, Mat created the Nihilakh Dynasty.  In the new codex and in Fall of Damnos, Destroyers are despised by the Necron leadership because of their complete embrace of the machine having given up their limbs for a mount.  This is considered abhorrent, as most Necrons seem to want their flesh back.

There are a few Necron worlds mentioned in the new codex that imply (or overtly state) that the Necrons are looking for host bodies with whom the can use to reverse the process of biotransference.  This is certainly interesting, but I personally prefer the idea that Necrons are omnicidal because of mortal jealousy.

Dead plot points

There are several other fluff changes including a Necontyr civil war, more details on the war against the Old Ones, the betrayal and subsequent destruction of the C’tan.  Though I’m not thrilled at the loss of the C’tan, I can see the issues with 3e codex’s representation of physical gods on the battlefield.  Still, I don’t know the reason for this.  Plus, I guess the story arcs around the Void Dragon on Mars (along with the mysterious and super-stealthy Necron landing there) and the Outsider in the Dyson Sphere are now dead plot points.  One of the stupidest fluff additions is the story of the Celestial Orrery, a representation of every star in the galaxy, which can destroy the stars much like Zeus’ clay models on Olympus.  Don’t worry, Imperium, the Necrons at Thanatos consider themselves the gardeners of creation, using only to prune worlds thus preventing the galaxy from becoming “overgrown”.  [Rolls eyes]  The Enslavers are no longer the reason the Necrons retreated.  Mat needed another reason for them to go into hibernation since the C’tan weren’t around to consume life energy.  Now it is the threat of the Eldar that pushed them into their great slumber.  Whatever…  I was eager to learn more about the Enslavers.

Necron technology

The truth is that I can live with Mat raping the Necron codex in the way I have already described.  What I cannot stand is what he did to the Necron technology.  In the 3e codex, Necrons used faster-than-light travel.  In fact, they were the only race that had that ability.  Knowing this, they were working on the Great Project, one that promised to separate the materium from the immaterium thus irreversibly weakening the younger races that are dependent on the warp.  [This story is what actually inspired the title of my blog site, by the way.]  Now with 5e, the Necrons are bearers of slow ‘torch ships’ due to their lack of warp mastery.  There is no mention of FTL.  Instead, high-speed travel for Necron seems to be reliant on the warp, using so called ‘Dolman Gates’ which provide a path through the webway. Also gone are the Pariahs whose anti-psychic powers were a key step in the Great Project.  LAME!  Seriously, did Mat Ward even read the old Necron codex?  I have my doubts.  If you read the section of fluff related to Necron Warriors you will learn that they are now corroded, oily, jerky, and stumble around a lot.  I think Mat’s taking the walking dead theme a little too seriously here.  I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry.  Excrement.  Also silly is the idea that computer brains of Necrons are slow.  Huh?  Are you telling me that the computer brains of an ancient super-tech race are … slow?  What really throws me is the bit about the Tomb Blades.  They need ‘preprogrammed flight paths’ that only a genius-level intellect could figure out.  So let me get this straight.  Because the ‘computer’ in the Necron brain is too slow and unskilled, there is a different ‘computer’ in the Tomb Blade bike that allows it to compensate.  So why don’t they just use those computers in the brains of their soldiers?  Better yet, just make them drones.  <ERROR>

Masters of time and space, my ass

As masters of time and space, Necrons of course, transport themselves using… big boats.  This has been a sore spot for me for some time but I guess I have gotten a little used to the idea.  Though I think the Arks are absurd, I supposed the idea of making them repair ships does make it an easier pill to swallow.  With the Night Scythe, the theme of a pocket dimension is better than a traditional transport as well.  In this case the fluff wasn’t quite as bad as the rumors suggested.  That said, the rules to back up the Necron’s technology are woefully lacking.

Some 5e charm

With all its terrible hackneyed fluff, the 5e codex does have some charming moments.  For example, there is the story of Necrons giving Orks a Doomsday Ark to placate them.  There’s an interesting ‘laugh out loud’ moment to be had there.  (See 799.M41 on page 24.)  Also great are the letters from Trazan scattered throughout the codex.  Those made me laugh.  Finally, I also like the idea of the Null Field Generators that seem to counter psychic powers.  Pitty they only show up in a few places in the rules.  This harkens back to the old Necrons.  More please!

Part 1 - Review Summary

Part 3 - The Models

Part 4 - The Rules