Necron Rumors

Courtesy of Dakka Dakka

• 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).


• 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.


• 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.


• 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.


• Phase out is gone.


• Destroyers now count as jump infantry and there is a new Fast
  Attack Jetbike unit called Tomb Blades.


• Immortals are now a Troops choice. Pariahs are gone. Flayed Ones are Elites.


• 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.


• 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).


• 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


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


• 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.