A Land Raider Helios of the Space Wolves Chapter approaching a Gauss Pylon network in the distance
A Gauss Pylon is a mysterious static Necron defence turret armed with a potent Gauss Weapon known as a Gauss Annihilator. Gauss Pylons were first encountered and recorded by the Imperium on the uncharted Tomb World of WDY-272. Rising suddenly from the desert sands, the Gauss Pylons opened fire without warning and with devastating effect. Tanks and armoured carriers burned as the crescent-shaped weapons tore through an unsuspecting Imperial Guard column whilst resisting all return fire. Necron attacks supported by Gauss Pylons often teleport to the surface of a planet, or suddenly rise from the ground after their long dormancy to engage any trespassers upon a Tomb World. A Gauss Pylon is incredibly well-armoured for its static defence role, and is able to hold off, or destroy, whole armies alone whilst further Necron reinforcements teleport into combat all around it.
Notable Formations
A Gauss Pylon armed with its Gauss Annihilator
- Gauss Pylon Network - Utilising the Necron’s unmatched mastery of space-time manipulation and inter-dimensional physics (laws of the universe that the Imperium is still wholly ignorant of); Gauss Pylons can be carefully positioned within four dimensional space-time and become interconnected through extradimensional space, much like Monoliths in a Monolith Phalanx. Gauss Pylons in this network can then generate shimmering energies by emitting a specific frequency waveform that distorts space-time. Two or more Gauss Pylons in a Gauss Pylon Network can create a Nightshroud barrier between them. Enemy shots which pass through this barrier lose energy and strength whilst the Nightshroud also obscures those Necrons lying in wait behind it. The extradimensional energies that pervade a Nightshroud barrier are also anathema to psykers and as such they cannot unleash their psychic powers through it. However, if three or more Gauss Pylons in a Gauss Pylon Network are close enough, they can project a nodal grid, which bolsters the Necrons within the grid itself by increasing their resistance to damage, making them all but impossible to destroy. A Gauss Pylon Network acts as a null field upon the battlefield, completely draining the energies of psykers trapped within it. As yet, this configuration has only been encountered once, during the infamous Artaxexes Incident. The existence of such potent alien technology is kept secret by the Ordo Xenos, lest awe at the power of the Necrons should spread heresy throughout the upper echelons of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
- Necron Pylon Network – The grandest of ancient Necrontyr Tomb Worlds are guarded by vast networks of living metal pylons. These unfeeling constructs rise from the desiccated sands whenever intruders dare to venture into the realms of their slumbering masters, obliterating the enemies of the Necrons while shrouded from retaliation by the energy of the vast underground generators that power them. A Necron Pylon Network is similar to a Gauss Pylon Network, except it consists of a linked multitude of both Gauss Pylons and smaller Sentry Pylons. In these formations, dark webs of crackling energy surround the network, obscuring it from the primitive sensor devices of younger races, and making the Pylons within it far harder to target.
Armament
Side view of a Gauss Pylon
- Gauss Annihilator - A Gauss Pylon draws energy from a main Necron power matrix, before discharging it through its hard-wired weapon systems. However, the most fearsome weapon of a Gauss Pylon is its Gauss Annihilator -- a tight beam version of a Particle Whip that is capable of engaging targets at extreme ranges. Sophisticated guidance and target-lock systems are combined with a rapid rate traverse to allow Gauss Pylons to engage ground units and incoming aircraft alike with unparalleled ease, thus also making a Gauss Pylon an extremely effective air-defence turret. Gauss Annihilators can also be fired as a flux arc similar to the Gauss Flux Arcs mounted on a Monolith. However, a Gauss Pylon's version of this weapon is stronger and can even destroy Space Marines with comparable ease in a larger radius as anti-matter beams lance out all around its emitter.
- Phase Shift Generator – All Gauss Pylons are equipped with a Phase Shift Generator, which emits a temporal bubble that alters the natural flow of space-time within its confines. As such, Necrons near a Gauss Pylon can often move out of phase with reality, causing ranged shots and close combat blows to pass harmlessly through them as if they were not fully corporeal.
- Necrodermis - The armour of Gauss Pylons is made up of the same living metal Necrodermis that makes up all Necron bodies and vehicles. Its remarkable regenerative properties allow it to automatically repair damage to itself; whether this is the regeneration of parts of its hull, the reknitting of metal plates, and the reconnection of circuits and other delicate systems to bring its weapons online again.
Sources
- Apocalypse, pg. 164
- Imperial Armour Apocalypse, pg. 89
- Imperial Armour Apocalypse (2nd Edition), pg. 92
- Imperial Armour Apocalypse (2013), pp. 90, 91
- Imperial Armour - Volume Twelve - The Fall of Orpheus, pg. 48
- Warzone: Damnos, pg. 62
Gallery
A Gauss Pylon attended by two Necron Warriors for size comparison
A Gauss Pylon deployed by the Necrons during the Orphean War