GW's New Releases: A Positive Perspective

[40kGamer]

I find "Squats" interesting. Only because they were dead and buried before I started playing. What Mantic did with their Forge Fathers I really liked and I would be all over a similar army. Maybe Space Dwarfs are just not grim dark enough any more. But I was hopeful when the Tau / Demiurge starting doing the rounds. Alas it didn't happen.

I had hopes for a reimagining with the Demiurg too... still a possibility.

[Lexington]

They can still be the soulless ancient mystery machines because the new fluff opens up the possibility of different tomb wolrds being part of different dynasties, you want soulless ancient mystery machines? Ok, your army comes from a world where an accident wiped all personalities before they could be uploaded to the bodies. Done.

I'm always amazed at the frequency in which this argument gets played out, since it's based entirely on a misconception. The 3rd Ed. Necron book pretty well defined the Necrons as having a hierarchy of consciousness, with Lords' personalities remaining more or less intact, Immortals being a bit dimmer but certainly better off than the practically lobotomized Warriors, etc. Almost identical to the new canon, actually. It just wasn't well-illustrated in the C'Tan-focused Codex, and readers seem to have taken the fact that most Necrons were mindless to mean that they all were.

Really, the big retcon of the new Necron Codex was taking the C'Tan out of the picture in modern times. This removed the Necrons' motivations, leaving a race who've conquered death and scarcity, but seem to need to go wage enormous galactic wars for some reason.

[Charon]

I'm always amazed at the frequency in which this argument gets played out, since it's based entirely on a misconception. The 3rd Ed. Necron book pretty well defined the Necrons as having a hierarchy of consciousness, with Lords' personalities remaining more or less intact, Immortals being a bit dimmer but certainly better off than the practically lobotomized Warriors, etc. Almost identical to the new canon, actually. It just wasn't well-illustrated in the C'Tan-focused Codex, and readers seem to have taken the fact that most Necrons were mindless to mean that they all were.

Not quite..

"Only a few of the very strongest retained their intellect and even they were shadows of their former selves"

from the 3rd edition codex. While yes some of them survived with some of ther intelligence intact it does not say "with their personalities intact" which is a huge difference.
This is a huge step to eccentric metal humans which they are now. But yes, the lack of purpose is far worse. For me personally the lack of fluff on one of the most epic story arcs between Necrons and Eldar (War in Heaven) was the final nail.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

I think they felt that the C'tan stuff, which they'd been seeding thoroughly into everyone's background from late 3rd-4th edition, was distracting too much from the central conflict with Chaos. Worse, it was diminishing some of the mysteries and particularities of the other races' backgrounds, ie. that it was All Really the C'tan. There's some of that stuff still floating around, though.

Whatever you think of the change, that's probably the reason.

[Mr Mystery]

GW chose to never properly develop them in the 40k setting

Sort of

From the lips of the design studio staff at some Games Day yonks ago (possibly 1999?), their issue with Squats that they just couldn't get the fun of the Epic Squats into 40k.

And to a degree, I can see what they mean.

In Epic, Squats had lots and lots of big, honking Super Heavy vehicles. Land Trains, Colossus, Cyclops, all that stuff. But at the time (and one could argue still, even with the advent of Apocalypse and Escalation) 40k just couldn't do that justice, as the big stuff would pretty much be your army.

None of the efforts put in came up with results the design studio found pleasing, so it was knocked on the head. Seemingly permanently. But then, just ten short years ago, nobody would believe we'd get a Horus Heresy setting, complete with Primarchs!

[40kGamer]

Sort of

From the lips of the design studio staff at some Games Day yonks ago (possibly 1999?), their issue with Squats that they just couldn't get the fun of the Epic Squats into 40k.

In Epic, Squats had lots and lots of big, honking Super Heavy vehicles. Land Trains, Colossus, Cyclops, all that stuff. But at the time (and one could argue still, even with the advent of Apocalypse and Escalation) 40k just couldn't do that justice, as the big stuff would pretty much be your army.

None of the efforts put in came up with results the design studio found pleasing, so it was knocked on the head. Seemingly permanently. But then, just ten short years ago, nobody would believe we'd get a Horus Heresy setting, complete with Primarchs!

Yes indeed! With all of the design advances over the last 15-20 years there is always a chance that anything may make a reappearance. On the downside Squats would require even more reworking then the Dark Eldar did to bring them into the modern era so I don't expect the studio to put that kind of effort into them anytime soon... so many possibilities for the future!

[eldargal]

Necrons don't have an Egyptian flavour.><

[daboarder]

Stereotype

[Arkhan Land]

Necrons:

Yes indeed! With all of the design advances over the last 15-20 years there is always a chance that anything may make a reappearance. On the downside Squats would require even more reworking then the Dark Eldar did to bring them into the modern era so I don't expect the studio to put that kind of effort into them anytime soon... so many possibilities for the future!

I think it could be started off with something as small as the tempestus release was, Infantry box, HQ, Vehicle dual build.
3 kits, codex, army. kitn kaboodle.

SO

Sqaut HQ In better than normal armour, alternate for sqaut heavier armour (the og exo)
Sqaut Infantry + Mole mortar as heavy weapon option.
Termite-Transport/Alternate Kamikaze Robot Explosive/Sapping Heavy Choice - take out all those strongholds
Mole mortar/Heavy weapons team sprue repack

if its going to be small production perhaps itll even be served up FW similar to the Mechanicus. I dont expect to see anything bigger than those three kits HQ INF TRANS

[Al Shut]

Whatever you think of the change, that's probably the reason.

I always thought the reason was that someone watched the Clone Wars cartoon and thought it was cooler than glimpses at the future from Terminator.

Although it is beyond me how anybody could seriously think that.