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1 / 4 · Click to enlargeLore & origins
Lychguard are the elite protectors and emissaries of the Necron nobility. They date back to the Necrontyr Infinite Empire, where they served as retainers and guardians of the phaerons. In those days they were said to be incorruptible and utterly devoted to their charges, but that was as much propaganda as truth. However loyal, they were still mortal and open to every temptation of the flesh.
Biotransference changed that. Careful manipulation of their engrams bound each Lychguard to unswerving loyalty to one noble, or sometimes to a whole dynasty. The ability to disobey was removed, and the old legend became fact. A Necron lord of the 41st Millennium need never fear a knife in the back from his own guard, which makes the Lychguard the last defence against the scheming of rival nobles. They never tire, never think of their own safety before their master's, and fight harder the greater the danger to him.
Unlike Warriors and Immortals, Lychguard kept much of their personality and intellect through biotransference. That lets them serve as lieutenants and envoys, going in their master's place where the danger is too great for a phaeron or his court to risk themselves. They even remember the most effective tactics ever devised and, unlike lesser Necrons, can depart from them to adapt to a new situation. They are capable of leading a legion in their lord's absence.
Lychguard take pride in their bloody work. They favour a single dismembering strike over a flurry of lesser blows. A Lychguard may stand motionless in the heat of battle, blade raised, trusting its armour to hold off the enemy until the perfect moment comes. Then it brings the blade round in one unstoppable arc to sever limbs, take heads or cut torsos in two. Anything less than an immaculate stroke is a cause for shame, and some will seek out their sovereign to ask forgiveness for a clumsy blow.
Appearance & wargear
Lychguard are tall and broad, bigger even than Immortals. They wear the heavily armoured necrodermis bodies usually reserved for Necron royalty, equal in strength and resilience to the lords they protect, with better self-repair than a common Warrior. They are marked out by tall crests or headdresses and often wear segmented metal tabards or capes. Most carry warscythes, the energy-bladed battle-staves traditionally borne by Necrontyr nobles and their guards. Phalanxes serving more influential overlords carry hyperphase swords, whose molecular agitators let the blade cut through almost anything, together with dispersion shields.
Weapons & Vehicles
The dimensional-phasing polearms and emerald energy blades of Necron Overlords, Lychguard and Skorpekh Destroyers, slipping effortlessl…
The arcane techno-sorcerous sceptres of Necron Crypteks and Overlords, unleashing searing bolts of captured stellar radiation while ser…
The iconic emerald molecular-flaying beam rifle of the Necron legions, stripping flesh, bone and tank armour apart atom by atom in a bl…
Explore all 48 entries in the Weapons & Vehicles armoury.
Battlefield role & tactics
Lychguard anchor the Necron battle line at the side of their lord. Their brazen, heavily armoured design is meant as a deliberate challenge to the enemy, so they are always found where the fighting is thickest. Dispersion-shield squads give up some speed and killing power for interlocking force barriers that can stop a siege shell or a defence laser blast and even deflect fire back onto the enemy. Night Scythe transports can teleport them straight into battle to strike an enemy commander. Few Astartes weapons can easily hurt their living metal, while their own blows can fell a Space Marine in one stroke.
Munitorum & Ordo Xenos Technical Dossier
Classified under Ordo and Departmento Munitorum threat-index protocols as a primary Lychguard anchor the Necron battle line at the side of their lord. Their brazen, heavily armoured design is meant as a deliberate challenge to the enemy, so they are always found where the fighting is thickest. Dispersion-shield squads give up some speed and killing power for interlocking force barriers that can stop a siege shell or a defence laser blast and even deflect fire back onto the enemy. Night Scythe transports can teleport them straight into battle to strike an enemy commander. Few Astartes weapons can easily hurt their living metal, while their own blows can fell a Space Marine in one stroke. asset of Necrons, Lychguard relies on a tightly coupled symbiosis between operator conditioning and primary armament. Field maintenance and biological recovery logs indicate that extended deployment without liturgical recalibration or bio-stasis rest degrades targeting and metabolic stability by less than 4% per solar week—far outperforming standard sector baselines—while post-engagement recovery teams prioritize the immediate extraction of their core wargear, neural/gene-seed components, or machine-spirit memory cores before enemy scavengers can exploit them.
Notable battles & users
- Vargard Obyron: the Lychguard who has protected Nemesor Zahndrekh of Gidrim since they were both living Necrontyr, and the main reason the old general is still alive.
- Zahndrekh's court: alongside a trap-laden sepulchre and eighty food tasters for a lord who has not eaten in millennia, Zahndrekh's household keeps three entire legions of Lychguard.
- The Charnel Lychguard of the Maynarkh Dynasty: infamous since the War in Heaven, they are the elite shock troops of the Maynarkh legions, often accompanied by flensing scarabs.
Related
Characters (3)
Vargard Obyron · Vargard of Nemesor Zahndrekh
Nemesor Zahndrekh · Overlord of Gidrim
Imotekh the Stormlord · Phaeron of the Sautekh Dynasty
