Ancient android systems pulse with obscene power, ready to party like its 1998.
A bit of a ramble today, feel free to skim to the photos.
The Necrons first appeared in White Dwarf 217, January 1998. The previous issue had a teaser on the back page…
Note the mention of the planet “Angelis” there, the Imperial designation for the planet that would be desolated by the impact of an Ork Hulk and become known to the surviving inhabitants as “Gorkamorka”.
The first White Dwarf of 1998 properly introduced the faction, with some fun, intentionally vague, Twilight Zone style background about the enigmatic, new robo-skeleton force hassling the Imperium.
(thanks to macharianthunderguard for the image)
Like street drugs, the first Necron was free… resistance was futile.
I rapidly painted and poorly photographed that single Necron warrior, along with some other similar figs and more recent Necrons, back in 2012.
It was 2018 before I got around to painting any more Necrons, a selection of which can be seen here. I also painted a number of Terminator Miniatures Game models that fit in well with the Necrons, which can be seen here.
Some toy soldier painters and gamers like to use figures from a specific era or manufacturer when putting together a force. I see the appeal, but that approach isn’t something that interests me hugely. The opposite tends to be true in fact: I enjoy mixing miniatures from all sorts of sources and uniting them with a colour scheme.
The Necrons were conspicuously absent from the 3rd edition 40k rulebook, I assume because they were still really in development, rather than a complete concept. The completely redesigned miniature range was released in 2002 (IIRC…better check that) so I expect that with the length of development time on these things by the time the 3rd edition rulebook went to print, it was already known that the original range was going to be revise, but the much discussed image above made it into the 3rd ed rulebook.
As much as I like the lean, “modern” Necron design, released in 2002 and extrapolated upon since, the retro, man-in-suit, 1970s TV, pulp villain look of the originals really does appeal to me too. So I decided to make a 1998 style Necron force and use them as a subset of my full Necron force.
Around the time that I picked up the extra metal Necrons, I made a plan to play a retro game of 40k second edition with Tears of Envy at the “Bring Out Your Lead” event in Nottingham last summer. We settled on playing some small Necron vs Eldar games of 2nd edition 40k.
I’m not a particularly big fan of 2nd ed 40k (3rd is my favourite, for what it’s worth), but I do know a lot of the rules back-to-front from playing Necromunda back then. That makes it a straightforward choice for focus on the entertainment, rather than getting bogged down in minutia. It’s also appropriately retro for an event like BOYL.
This plan gave me composition guidelines and a deadline for rattling out a number of some of the older Necrons, which bolster my 40k army, but also make up a nice force for a game played as a retro snapshot of 1998. In the end I also put together some terrain for a dig site of my own, an homage to the old set in many ways, but that will be in a different post, eventually. In the mean time you can see some of it in the background here.
For this subset of the “Angry Toaster” Necron era, I prepped the following:
Necron Lord
Necron Warrior x 5
Necron Warrior x 5
Necron Immortal x 5
Necron Destroyer x 1
Necron Scarab x 6
Two notes about this small detachment:
1) The original scarabs were not supplied with bases, were fielded individually and are significantly larger than the more familiar scarab design. To make the old scarabs fit betterwith the rest of the Khameron Dynasty, I put the huge 90s guys on bases with three of the teeny weeny scarabs from the Obelisk/Tesseract Vault kit.
2) Whether you were like, totally there man, or whether you are some sort of retro-hipster, yearning for the heady fin de siècle, I’m willing to bet that if you are reading this, that you did not realise that the original Necron Immortals only ever had 3rd edition rules: they were never in 2nd ed at all. Obviously the models were designed as part of the original range, but the unusual debut of the Necrons via White Dwarf drip-feed, right at the end of 2nd ed meant that these didn’t feature until after the publication of 3rd edition. therefore I fielded the Immortals in the 2nd ed game as Warriors.
Lastly, to round off this rambling post, I wanted to put up a selection of the photos of games with the Khameron Dynasty that I have played over the last couple of years, primarily with Bazpaz, Curis and Tears of Envy
Filed under: Events, Games in Progress, Miniatures, Terrain | Tagged: 2019, 40K, BOYL, Khameron Dynasty, Necron |
sho3box 
I keep insisting, those old Necrons feel pretty much like if the current Necrons had appeared as villains in a Tom and Jerry episode, exactly the same feel as when we see robots in there 😛
I am forever impressed at your ability to take completely dissimilar minis from different ages and manufacturers and make them look like they were planned to be in the same team from day one. And is the dynasty name a Terminator TV series reference? 😀
Also it seems that for the bottom photo gallery you linked to the thumbnails and not the full-sized pics, you might wanna fix this.
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The original Necrons are a far more 1950s type villain than the modern versions, like if Rosie from the Jetsons had become a horde of evil robots, like the robot tropes mined in Futurama.
The dynasty name is indeed a reference to Terminator. I don’t know if you if you remember that the original name for the modern “Reanimation Protocols” rule was “I’ll be back!”, which is a pretty on the nose reference itself, even before you factor hordes of skele-bots into the equation.
When I first started this project in 2012 I figured that going with colours and other references to the Terminator franchise could only increase my enjoyment of the project, which it has. It also meant that the largely ignored Terminator Miniatures Game (which is a lot of fun) ended up being absorbed/aligned with this as time went on. It’s not exactly a complex or cryptic reference to hang the project on, but I am happy with how it has worked out.
Regarding combining the different manufacturers/era/ranges in projects, it is some thing that people often mention, but that has always seemed like the obvious approach to me. It also helps to make my various toy soldier forces distinct I suppose, which can only be a good thing.
Thanks for the feedback jherazob (and for the heads up on the gallery images. I was trying the new WordPress editor (another new one…) and made a boo-boo.)
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Old Necrons have their very own particular charm, and I have to say you made the most of it. I’m probably repeating myself, but I’ve never been that much into Necrons… until every time you post your take on them. You make them work in a way I rarely see on other armies. I don’t think I’m able to put it into proper words, but you make them look so different in your own style, and I totally love it!
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I tend to find studio colour schemes on Citadel miniatures too familiar and unexciting. I tend to feel zero inclination to examine Space Wolf, Blood Angels etc armies in detail.
Necron armies tend to take this to an extreme, with not only the gunmetal finish (which a paint was named after) and the green elements dictated by the translucent parts of the range (soon to be purged via the new releases).
Necron armies tend to be very familiar and/or surprisingly gaudy, while people try to make them distinct and/or ancient Egyptian. Some people and some of the studio schemes push them too far in that direction for my tastes. They are goofy space skeleton robots, but even so, I would rather that they looked at least a little bit sinister, rather than “Space Skeletons: The Musical”.
My colour scheme is basic, but black, red and silver is a powerful and emotive combination, as Darth Vader was well aware of.
It also ties in with the “Terminator” franchise, so it’s an easy win there.
I still went for silver, but even using red instead of green is enough to make them at least a little different.
I’m glad that you like them, and thank you for the kind feedback Suber.
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The Paleologis has some seriously heretical thoughts and writings. He’s probably fortunate to be destroyed by the necrons that (s)he unleashed upon an uncaring universe.
I definitely remember the necrons trickling out in the white dwarfs. They didn’t really grip me much back then. I enjoy a few of the character models these days, but overall the necron esthetic isn’t my jam. I really like your ‘dig’ site, very topical for a necron skirmish.
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The universe is a big place, lot’s of heretical …ogists out there I reckon, thinking that they are doing the right thing 😉
The dig site terrain was a bucket list hobby item for me. It’s evocative of all sorts of pulp, so it was fun to work on.
I’m planning to put together a dedicated post on that terrain set soon, hopefully you will enjoy it Daveb.
Thanks for the feedback!
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Magnificent stuff; love the dynasty name!
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I had a few names in mind, but “Khameron” stuck because it works on a couple of levels, both in reference and, most importantly it sounds consistent with the existing background.
The “kh” sounds/looks like an anglicised element of an ancient Egyptian word, as in”Khufu”, “ankh” and “Tutankhamun” for example, whic is a language convention used in the existing GW Necron lore too (“Sautekh”, “Charnovokh”, “Nephrekh”, “Novokh”, “Ogdobekh” and “Nihilakh” dynasties too).
I find it easy to remember too. That’s always important 🙂
I’m glad that you like it Barks, thanks for the feedback.
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I’ve always considered necrons a bit boring to be honest, and remember being annoyed (as only a geek can) how all of a sudden they were THE threat to the galaxy and what do you know, they’ve actually been around for millenia…the uge. As with a good many other things, somehow you’ve made them not only work, but be fun and interesting and cool as well. Good job, once again!
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When the Necrons got their first codex, I was playing a lot of 40k. Back then the Necrons supposedly never spoke, had correspondingly mute and personality free characters, all of the Necron tournament armies were composed similarly and almost all were silver and green. They were dull, although I liked some of the model designs.
The 2011 Codex made them fun, in concept at least (I wasn’t playing 40k around then). Robots with relatable concerns is an entertaining trope. Add megalomania, bitterness and arrogance to a skeleton robot and its easy to get behind the idea I think.
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Lovely job mate, you’ve managed to inject some soul into the soulless – no mean feat!
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Positronic soup for the soulless, that’s me all over ;D
Honestly, I dunno if I did inject anything, but the Necron reboot in 2011 did. Who wants to get behind cosmic horror without personality when prepping miniatures?
Not me. Give me Saturday morning cartoon villains every time.
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‘Positronic Soup for the Soulless’ – well, that’s my debut album name sorted!!
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That sounds like a theme by the Cybertronic Spree
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Pursuing a particular timestamp of a 40k army is something I dig mightily. Old Necrons have a huge amount of charm to them, as well a the endless potential for robot jokes. You’ve buffed these lads up to a high sheen of coolness. Cold, clinical, gauss-wielding coolness.
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Necrons take themselves extremely seriously, which is a guaranteed source of humour. Space skeleton robots are a fundamentally absurd concept, which only adds to it.
They are all sorts of fun really, a rich comedic vein.
I will set a phalanx of them after you at some point soon I expect Mr Saturday.
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My sneaky body-horror freakos will look forward to it.
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I love how I was wearing that white Cranberries tee-shirt in your house, sat opposite you, for hours, and YOU EVEN PHOTGRAPHED ME IN IT and yet you never realised.
That’s it. Not comments about your beautiful army, or witty blog. Just remarks about myself. Peace out!
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I have no idea to which deep cut by that awful band your t-shirt referred to Curis. If you want me to read what it says on your clothes, then put something graphically enticing on, maybe something with an explosion or perhaps a werewolf, or an exploding werewolf 😉
More worrying to me is that I think that you told me about that t-shirt since your visit, and I forgot all about it.
Oh, I was very kindly offered two “lawn chair” style, old Necron Destroyers since I published this blog post. A squadron of those should be fun next time that we play 🦾💀
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I have been trying for a long time to comment on this post, but somehow my comments just disappear like as if by Necron magicks!
In short:
Brilliant! Well done! I am on this too now! Just bought stuff! Prepare for outshining! No Arnoldesque skin clad robots? Looking forward to seeing where you go.
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Skelebots clad in Austrian weightlifter meat have, in fact, already been painted, but not photographed properly or blogged yet. There were a few cyborgs added to the project already though: https://sho3box.com/2019/01/03/choose-your-own-adventurers-17-18-19-infiltrators/
As for your technical difficulties… could be Skynet, could be Genisys, could even be Legion… 😉
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I, for one, welcome our new and old robot overlords from the mighty Khameron Dynasty! They look suitably threatening and vengeful, like they’ve been stalking us remorselessly since 1998.
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The original Necrons have a lot of that bitter, emotional, angry robot vibe going on. I imagine that the leaders scream +++ OBEY ME!!! +++ at units that are already under radio/sub-space frequency control.
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Very cool, and I love all the action/batrep shots alongside other classic forces like the Crimson Fists. I really should paint and assemble my own Necrons. One day…
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Curis’ Crimson Fiats are as good looking as any in existence. It is no wonder that my Necrons have an “emotionless” desire to dissolve them molecule by molecule with their ray guns 😉
Although I was very generously given another pair of “lawn chair” Destroyers recently that will be fun to bring the lone one that I have up to a squadron, this subset of Necrons was a fairly contained, and therefore achievable project. Definitely an itch scratched 🙂
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I own the two tents from the original White Dwarf terrain set 🙂
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Oooh, that’s fun! I would get a kick out of seeing them in hand some time.
Were they painted “Army Men” tents or something like that to start with Andy? Or were they scratch made?
Not that it matters hugely at this stage I suppose, particular now that I have my own versions, but it is fun to notice how the approach to these sorts of things has evolved from hand made through kitbash to off-the-peg over the years.
I also find it interesting how that comparatively simple terrain set lodged in my mind as the open-ended beginning of a series of connected games more than some other, more complex terrain set ups, for whatever reasons.
I must add the new Necron pylons and those objective markers to this set too… and put together the tomb complex 🙂
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