  in the fictional universe of warhammer 40,000, the necrons are a race and a playable army in the tabletop miniatures wargame. they are an ancient race of skeleton-like robots who are awakening from an aeons-long slumber and fighting to reclaim the galaxy from the younger races. ==tabletop game mechanics== necrons are characterized by strong ranged firepower and tough armor. they are known primarily for their trademark "gauss" and "reanimation" abilities. as robots made of "living metal", many necron units possess the ability to reassemble themselves after being slain and fight on. in addition the "gauss" weapons carried by their troops have the potential to damage vehicles, making necron troops pose a legitimate threat to enemy armor. being machines necrons possess maximum leadership across all units but are also extremely slow in melee. necron armies often prefer to use overwhelming fire power as opposed to melee, though they do have several units capable of it. while fragile, necron ground vehicles possess powerful shields that boost their armor, but are lost upon being penetrated. being soulless, the necrons have no psykers (though they do have some "spellcaster-like" units), which makes them somewhat more vulnerable to psychic attacks. ==development history== the necrons first appeared as usable units for warhammer 40,000 as necron raiders. the rules for these were first published in white dwarf issue 216 towards the end of the lifespan of the second edition of warhammer 40,000. at the time, only necron warriors and scarabs were given game rules and the warriors were armed with gauss-flayer guns. this was quickly followed up with an expanded army list in the following month's issue of the same magazine. the necron lord and necron destroyer were part of this slightly-expanded army list. at the time, the lord was armed with the staff of light while the destroyers were armed with gauss-cannons.{{cite journal | last = | first = | authorlink = | title =the valley of death - necrons background| journal =white dwarf | volume =218 | pages =73 
Fictional_robots Fictional_undead Fictional_warrior_races Warhammer_40,000_species