So, as you might know we'll be having a few articles covering Battlefleet Gothic coming up soon. In the meantime, it seemed best to plan ahead and ask a brief question: Given we have four finished articles, which one do you want to see given the Index Astartes/Xenology treatment next?
Thus far the blog has covered examples of Traitor Legions, Loyalist Chapters, Tau Empire and Craftworld Eldar armies. It's a good variety, but each of them has usually been made in response to the failure of a storyline or codex in one way or another, giving examples of how they could have instead been handled. As the Space Wolves are currently being hit hard with the stupid stick however, and Curse of the Wulfen is hardly the best story to try and base a new army article off of, this could be a chance to take a stab at a less seen army or one which is often pushed out of the spotlight.
Thus far, I have been toying with a few ideas for an Imperial Guard regiment or a Necron Dynasty, each intended to help subvert a few established elements or restore old ideas. In the case of the Necrons you can probably guess what that is. Besides that however, the Dark Eldar and Adepta Sororitas are also fairly high up on the list. While not nearly as well thought out or developed in my head, there is at least a solid concept behind each one to help serve as a starting point for a future army. That said, i'd hardly be averse to taking a stab at something less known or perhaps even going back to an older idea. After all, the traitor and loyalist examples were just World Eaters and Iron Hands successors. So, if you wanted a more general force or something taken in a very different direction that's fairly viable as well.
Anyway, that's really it for today. If you have any specific thoughts or preferences for a force, please leave it in the comments. Really, i'll even take a stab at the Harlequins if anyone does want it.
Personally I'd be interested in seeing a Necron Dynasty force, though if it's what I can guess it is then I've got the feeling it'll be really generic, but if it isn't then it might just repeat ideas.
ReplyDeleteFor example if you make them back into the thoughtless killing machines they used to be, well then there's not really anything at all complicated about them, or really all that interesting (especially when they can be summed up in three words like that). If they're not then it might repeat ideas depending on which dynasty you go with. Go with a weaker one that needs other races and it feels like a repeat of either the Traitors or Craftworld, go with them being powerful but conniving and you just get the Loyalists.
If you do decide to go with them I'd recommend having them go off to do their own thing, rather than their goals being conquest and death. Pretty much everyone loves Trazyn, and it's not just because he's pretty much self-parody, if you make something similar (a force trying to accomplish their own goals irrespective of what the other Necrons are trying to do) then I think there's a good wealth of ideas and it wouldn't just repeat what's already been done.
Honestly, i'm quite surprised you'd keep calling the older edition of Necrons generic. True, they went without an update for many years, but their treatment was ultimately very similar to that of many races of its time. They were viewed from an outside perspective, specifically a human viewpoint, but that was true of the Tau Empire, eldar of all types and Tyranid Hive Fleets as well. Honestly, it was at least the one codex written to make good use of that, presenting them in a manner like the Elder Things where half their terror stemmed from what you didn't know. That and, personal opinion and all to be sure, most of the interesting necron stuff of late has stemmed from going back to that older depiction. The Maynarkh Dynasty retains shades of the nihilistic view of genetically war (not to mention general depiction, sans C'Tan involvement), and the same can even be said of Trazyn from the Deathwatch books.
DeleteStill, if you are worried that it's just going to be "go here, kill everyone, move on" that's definitely not what I have planned. It's going to be different from many prior depictions, but I do have a specific plan which will be followed. It really just comes down to working it into the existing lore as best as possible, and making them powerful without going into suspension of disbelief breaking territory.
Maybe a better word would be simplistic or maybe boring, because there's usually not a lot to them (try finding even one promotional piece that doesn't have them harvesting souls for the C'tan). They had to be viewed from an outside perspective because aside from the Nightbringer and Deceiver they had no personalities for their Lords, whereas you can take one look at the Eldar book and find several different personalities for their characters, same with the Tau. Though admittedly I can find a one time when they break their "kill everything" mold.
DeleteIn the old book there's a bit where the Deceiver guides another species along a specific path for some reason, then the Imperium shows up, kills their priests and leaves, after which they lose faith and when the Deceiver returns he kills them all for having lost faith. What he was trying to do or where he was going with this species is never answered.
That's about it though, in the Tau book you had Aun'shi who was interesting and had a good story (especially since it was before he was blown up ridiculously, killing a Nob rather than a Warboss), and you had Farsight, who allowed you to make the army better at close combat. There were interesting interactions between the Tau and the Imperium, as well as among themselves. The Eldar too that you did a review on still had varying personalities and let you craft your own stories about what they were trying to accomplish, whereas even a mission book that GW put out for various scenarios only had the Necrons harvesting yet more souls and they're so devoid of personality that at one point we get the Eldar to weigh in on what's going on.
Now I don't hate that old version, I just find it really one-note, they're more of a tool than anything else, useful for making campaigns interesting but boring on their own. As always, I'm interested in seeing what you come up with.
Add one vote for necrons!
ReplyDeleteMore Imperial Guards stories are always intersting for me at least.
ReplyDeleteNecrons need more love.
ReplyDelete