Warhammer 40K: The Artwork Of The Szarekhan Dynasty
Games Workshop has unleashed new artwork of the Szarekhan Dynasty along with a ton of lore to boot! Who are these mysterious brass warriors? Let’s find out!
There is a new Dynasty in town! Well, it’s actually a very old Dynasty…Necrons, man. So who are the Szarekhan? Why have we never seen them before and why are they such a big deal? All those questions and more are answered by GW today along with some cool new artwork to show off, too.
The Art of the Szarekhan Dynasty
Let’s just take a look through the gallery of cool artwork first and then talk about why their return/arrival is such a big deal.
First up, we have this really cool shot of a Necron Warrior backed up by a legion of menacing other Necrons. Note the much larger Skorpekh on the lower left. We also have some pretty omnious things in the background with a Necron structure on the left and a pylon firing off on the right. I’m not saying the Necron codex needs a new cover image, but I think this one could be it.
Up next we have one creepy looking image and this one could be my personal favorite of the batch. For starters, this screams undead metal space zombies, amirite!? But I really like the creepy canoptek reanimator walking in that muck and mire just doing it’s reanimator thing. I also really like the image of that crazy green beam illuminating the water – is it teleporting things up or depositing more bits for reconstruction? Also, what the heck is that massive machine!?
But finally, I just want to point out the warrior (?) in the foreground on the left. Uh…is that a warrior? Or some other type of unit? Maybe it’s just an artists prerogative…because it seems a bit more human in form almost like a Pariah.
And holy crap. It’s an invasion force! A legion of Necrons is on the warpath and I really love this art peice, too. Now, there are gaps in the crowd but that doesn’t make this scene any less imposing. Under the smoke and the green haze you know this horde of awoken Necron Warriors is here to take the fight to their unfortunate enemy. Great stuff.
And finally, we get a look at what I’m calling the “rust bucket” version of Necrons. These are the ones who’s reanimation protocols might have started to get a little lax over the millions of years in their slumber. They look beat-up and run down. At the same time, their missing eyes and battle damage adds an extra aura of menace to them – kinda like that creepy doll head with spider-legs from Toy Story. You know the one. Anyhow, we also have a great shot of the Skorpekh Lord in the middle of his troops. I can’t wait to see more!
The Szarekhan Dynasty Lore
So, now on to the lore section. First up, who are these guys anyhow? GW has that spelled out:
“As the name suggests, the Szarekhan are the dynasty of Szarekh himself, the last Silent King. Before the Great Sleep, they were considered far and away the most prestigious and influential dynasty. But that changed with Szarekh’s disappearance…”
Now, if you don’t know who the Silent King is, we have a couple of primers on that. Go check those out to get caught up. But the point is that he’s back now and he’s reactivating his Dynasty. Now, not all the other Necrons are thrilled about it. Some are falling in line, while other are…slower to sign-up. Why? Well, since his self-imposed exile, the Dynasties that have come back have been busy carving out their own kingdoms. Oh and pillaging the holdings of the Szarekhan.
“If he didn’t want us to take his stuff then he shouldn’t of left!”
It wasn’t just internal squabbling either, it was also the Aeldari hunting down and destroying Necron outposts when they found them. Because of all this damage to the Szarekhan Dynasty, they were a little slow on the whole “wake-up mode” protocols. But they did eventually rise and, with the return of the king, they are once again asserting their dominance.
The Szarekhan Dynasty also has one other important technological advantage – they know how to work with blackstone the best. Their Crypteks have a reputation for being able to manipulate it very well. In fact, they are able to equip all their forces with enough to help protect them from the warp – even their basic foot-troopers.
You can bet with the return of the Silent King and the awakening of the Szarekhan Dynasty, things are going to shift in the political world of the Necrons.
New Paints Incoming
One last tidbit – if you want to paint your forces to look like the Szarekhan Dynasty, GW has a couple of new products coming soon:
“A new set of paints will be released to help you achieve that aged brass look, alongside our first-ever Technical paint formulated to create glowing effects!”
New glowy effects? Sign me up!
What do you think of the art and lore of the Szarekhan Dynasty?
