Cosmetical update, table of content added on first page in 2.32, no rules have changed.
I take this opportunity to write about Squat lore concept: their look is a mix of skaven (lizard scale skin), rat face (having some furs aswell) and a bit of dwarf size (they are average 140-150 cm yet somewhat resilient, sturdy), and their lifespan is a bit shorter that of humans.
Their technology is a bit of nowadays real tech and with some fantasy twists and a lot of traded stuff from other factions, races.
Squats also incorporate other races like vespids, ogryns, ratlings! [which were eliminated from other factions, to find haven in the Republic!]
For trade and diplomacy they are the most open, compared to other factions, although they are less likely to welcome outsiders within their strongholds!
Of course they can't do anything with tyranids, whom have almost wiped them out, but some colonies have survived subterrain and / or underwater cities.
Squats were deeply religious in the past, but the origin of their faith in the spiritworld is DIRECTLY connected to the Warp and the Chaos Gods! They call them different names, and the masses are deluded to think them as something else than evil. Smarter, unbeliever squats are excommunicated, hunted.
In later times, due to technological advancements, decreases the number of believers, wizards, druids etc. Squats slowly farthered from their religion, placing their faith in wealth and become materialistic. (which gave them mediocre protection from the Ruinuos Powers!)
With the cataclysm of the events giving birth to the Eye of Terror as a huge shockwave in the Warp, also affected the Squats, and their psykers have arisen once more as they were in their ancient history. By re-exploring their forgotten religious customs, rituals from ancient books, scrolls, engravings .... will eventually lead them to the trap. A trap which were sat thousands of years ago and is still devilishly waiting unsuspecting Squats to follow their Visions, their Ancients.... until it is too late to realize what is going on... what is the real, dark truth of the past...
Also there is a completely new and different path in Squat history. Though they can live and lived on surface, they also established vast underground & underwater cities. To survive the Tyranid invasion (at the time Squats were technologically inferior and thus weaker compared to 40k, current level), Squats made desperate efforts to drill down even deeper....
The result was meeting something else, perhaps even more dangerous than the Tyranids...
Necrons.
Still sleeping, yet some automatons detecting the intruders, activating partial awakening process that would soon delete all opposition...
However the Necron leadership is highly sopistichated and looking way beyond the schemes of any being in the Universe, they understood that their entire existence is slowly decayed in the passing eons and at some point every bit of them will disintegrate and cease to function!
Since even the simpliest scarab unit is extremely old, and all their tools, programs, everything, they just became unable to completely refresh, nenew themselves. [though reanimation, living metal works, and will work for many battles ahead... it's just that Necrons do know it won't hold for eternity!]
All this means that Necrons need help. Help of someone that won't fall to corruption. (they are aware of what happened to humans computers, and what is happening with tau artifical intelligence... they understand the means how demons can possess them.)
And then, a little faction that is about to lose the war of their survival, a faction whose members are quite good technicians being materialistic, unlikely to fall to Chaos while staying that way.
Calculating these elements within miliseconds the Necrons, instead of wiping out the Squat intruders, offered them protection against Tyrainds (the very reason how Squats managed to defend their strongholds, fending off the sieges of Hive Fleets!) and in return recruiting Squat research teams, technicans and all the necessary tools to recreate Necron technology, and in that the world of Necron.
The concrete research projects are actually kept secret in front the people of Squats, but of course there are rumors of hideous projects, mad experiments... among them the most vicious: Project Pariah...
In 40k these projects aren't finished, the final solution is still out of Necron hand, but small progresses, partial success have been reached!
Squats also repopulated and regained their strenght on their own, forming the Republic.
Chaos Squats also increased their territory as the old faith became widespread, and while the Republic have once again is standing on their own, there are still Squats siding with Necrons, although publicly they slide toward the perimeter of Squat society (risking exile in some cases). Unofficially these research teams, agents are kept close and monitored, to maintain the fragile alliance* with Necrons and to snatch some technological achievements.
[one of these are Mag technology which players can use in actual gameplay]
*confrontation beetween the two can happen for any reason, even a Chaos Squat agent could erupt a fight, by confusing Necrons to think that entire Squat Republic battlegroups have received their Visions and turned to Evil!
So... that's all for now.
Do you like it?
EDIT: Up to 2.34, it's just fixing the new cosmetics. On my PC it shows perfectly, while on phone the application may translate the file incorrect, and everything gets messed up. It did happen earlier, but eventually fixed themselves, and now happens again. So far every result began with a patch on the phone application.
. Your ideas seem super fun i would be thrilled to check full rules and armybooks.
