Necromunda

BREAKING NEWS: NECROMUNDA IS BACK AND IS GONNA GET NEW MINIS!

Robustly Heterosexual

Necromunda is a skirmish-level wargame based on the second edition of Warhammer 40,000. It is currently in its second edition.

Necromunda is also thoroughly dead and buried in the process of being reanimated. Even though GW still supports the fluff surrounding Necromunda (particularly Kal Jerico), re-released the novels digitally early into 2015, and revived Specialist Games, Necromunda itself got little out of it beyond a capstone added to its grave in the form of Shadow War: Armageddon, which is outright advertised as a spiritual successor to Necromunda, using similar mechanics but with the existing range of factions and models, effectively putting to rest any notion that a true Necromunda reboot will ever happen.

Or so it was assumed...

In a leaked picture from the August 2017 White Dwarf, GW announced that they'll have "some news" for those wanting to see a return of Necromunda. As it turned out, they're preparing to re-release it with a new set of models to go with it. Release date of the newly renamed Necromunda:Underhive is pre-order 11th of November (most GW pre-orders last for one week so you can play it on th 18th of november EDIT: like Blood Bowl, Necromunda: Underhive will be on a 2 week preorder cycle.), but they've been willing to show off the new models for House Escher and House Goliath. House Orlock has been confirmed to be next in line, and the other Houses will be getting their new rules and models later on.

System 2017

Basics

See the video on the Necromunda website https://necromunda.com/start-playing/ A video from a Necromunda demo game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxGWIcTGKJs

Rather than each player taking turns to move their entire gang players take turns to activate a single model with two action points, actions such as moving, shooting, taking cover or reloading consume an action point while some will require two action points such as charging and hitting. A model can only shoot at the closest enemy model unless they pass a coolness check. The gameplay borrows a lot from the simplified hitting and wounding mechanics of 8th 40k, the starter set also bears a strong resemblance to Shadespire with character cards of predefined characteristics and loadouts to speed starting (without the special combat dice though Necromunda has special dice to decide the affect of wounds rather than rolling against a table in the classic version) whilst the full game still looks to old school Necromunda with extended character stats such as coolness, willpower and intelligence and terrain/skill combat modifiers as well as plenty of wargear and weapon options.

Current thoughts on the Underhive Rules is that the Gang War Rules are true Necromunda. A few commentators/reviewers have come out against House Escher and Goliath being the base set as Goliath has high toughness which nerfs all of Escher’s weapons including the poison grenades which force models to take TOUGHNESS tests!

The starting set Necromunda: Underhive comes with houses Goliath and Escher but will be confined to the two dimensional game board, a separate supplement book Necromunda: Gang War will be released at the same time featuring rules for 3D combat using Sector Mechanicus terrain and other houses. Models for Houses Delaque, Cawdor, Orlock and Van Saar will be released in early 2018, the developers are concentrating their efforts in the short term around the release of special characters while in the long term looking to 'Things that must have always been there in Necromunda or other nearby hives, just unseen in the previous edition'. Forge World has also announced support for Necromunda, with their website showing off a redesigned Rogue Trader-era Beastman model as a new mercenary option. Gang War II will add rules for House Orlock, the ability to add Hive Scum mercenaries to your gang, and an extra set of hazard tiles.

Turn order

The Game turn is divided into activations; every activation encompasses 1 miniature.
First, you roll off. The player that rolls higher may choose 1 ganger and activated it for two actions; these actions are known to include:
Link to [PDF] (official necroumda website) where all actions and other info is found.

After one ganger has played, your opponent may do the same for one of his gangers, and so on.

Box contents

http://tabletopgamesuk.co.uk/2017/10/30/necromunda-releases-and-preorders/ Your choice of how reliable the source is.

The Necromunda: Underhive boxed set features a wealth of accessories, components and gaming aids.

• Range ruler
• Vision Arc template
• Fighter cards
• Tactics cards
• Doors
• Door terminals
• Barricades
• Ductways
• Beast’s lair
• Loot casket
• Ammo cache
• Pitfall craters
• Gang relic
• Priority marker
• Dice
• Blast markers and Flame template

Release History

The boxed game was released on the 25th November 2017 alongside the supplement Gang War 1 which contains the full rules for the initial two gangs and campaigns, the second release in early 2018 has been announced as the Supplement Gang War 2 which contains house Orlock, new Harpoon Gun as well as three mercenary Hired Gun models, they also announced a second batch of Necomunda board tiles.

System 1995

Basics

Similar to Warhammer 40,000, Necromunda is a fairly fast paced skirmish game focusing on a small fight between two gangs. Gangs are chosen from the roster below, named, and equipped as the player sees fit. Gameplay represents each man or woman in the gang moving 4", but can run to double the distance or charge to the same effect. Shooting differs from Warhammer 40,000 as the game is less about a fixed ballistic skill and more about modifiers to represent more detailed scenarios of a firefight. Close combat relies on fixed weaponskill and modifiers representing the detailed scenarios much like the shooting phase's mechanics.

Gang Generation

Gangs are bought with a set amount of starting cash, along with all weapons and other equipment. The gang grows, levels up, and gains superior equipment between battles, adding a roleplaying element. Lasting injuries can cripple characters, and a few lucky territory rolls can grossly overpower a gang. Basically, fun.

• To start off you need to pick a house to build your gang from. The big six "House Gangs", the base non-expansion gangs, are below. Each gang is more or less identical in practice (i.e everyone has identical stats), but their weapon options differ - e.g. Goliaths dont get swords that can parry but do get Final Fantasy style greatswords, while Escher is vice versa. Each gang has access to a different set of skill tables as well, differentiating them a little more. so in the long run a Van Saar gang will have a different playstyle from an Escher.

• • House Cawdor - Holier-Than-Thou extremists. Think Jake Busey from Contact. Heavily converted to the worship of the Redemptionist creed.
  • House Delaque - Sneaky Molemen/Matrix hybrids. The sneaky, shooty gang. Believed by many to be full of Genestealer Hybrids.
  • House Escher - Crazy man haters with a cyber-punk style of dress. The agile melee gang. Themed as Science Fantasy Grimdark Amazons. 8e even retcons that they use archaeotech to reproduce through parthenogenesis, as the few men born to the clan are inevitably deformed and retarded due to severe mutations in their Y chromosomes.
  • House Goliath - Roid Raging skinheads. The slow, not very good melee gang. Big mutual hate-on for House Escher, because they're the uber-Macho House and Escher thinks they're idiots. 8e makes them ironically dependent on Escher for the super-science gene-mods and stimulants they use to maintain their bodies.
  • House Orlock - Bikers, except they don't have bikes and they're miners. The Jack-of-All-Trades gang.
  • House Van Saar - The hell is up with their Eldar-esque suits? 8e retconned that they actually have a semi-functioning STC, but it also poisons them. The suits keeps them from dying quicker. Techy-Shooty gang; they excel in trying to spam the inventor skill and wrecking face.

• Then we have the expansion gangs.

• • Scavvies - Shittily armed and diseased, they use zombies and lizard hybrids to help with the fighting. They favor melee and can make a pretty badass horde
  • Pit Slaves - Escaped cyborgs armed with industrial digging equipment. Slow, not so good melee gang but they have this scissors weapon and it's like so totally broken it like kills you in one hit. This is true and rather annoying.
  • Ratskin Renegades - The native American archetype. They are sneaky, use shitty, shitty guns and are pretty good in melee. Playing them forced the game to be played using the "Treacherous Conditions" table, but they themselves were immune to any of the crazy shit that could be rolled, such as poison gas, rampaging vermin hordes or the ground collapsing.
  • Redemptionists - Cawdor on crack. A horde style gang; believes heavily that you can kill it with fire.
  • Spyrers - Super 1337 and best armed gang. They are the spoiled rich kids from the hive bored out of their skulls. The gang is tiny, usually consisting of 3-8 models. It's stupid when the other guy pins your entire gang with overwatch, which makes them tricky to use. Fun as hell to play, though. Also, once per campaign, you can take the Matriarch and Patriarch (both in one game if you feel like royally fucking someone's day). If you do this, the game is essentially Slender with miniatures.
  • Fenrisian Wilders - A gang of savage shape shifters that haunt the wastes outside the hive
  • Enforcers - The riot cops of the underhive, Two sets of rules exist for them, One treating them more like a regular gang and one that treats them exactly like you would expect from a police force. Tend to get all their equipment for free, it's pretty good equipment too. downside is you may only every use 5 enforcers a match (though if your opponent is a hard ass the rest of your 10 men put down their paperwork to help on out) Largest skill access of all gangs (everything bar agility and techno for their regular enforcers. handler and sarge get techno)
  • Ash Waste Nomads - These guys live outside the hive, and have vehicles. Good luck convincing anyone to let you play them unless you leave out their rides.
  • Vampyres - An attempt to cash-in on the popularity of Buffy the Vampire slayer during the 90s. Were included as a gang of a few superhuman mutants followed around by useless Thralls whose main purpose was as food.
  • Chaos Cultist Coven - Laughable in regular 40k, but in the Underhive you get to see what Chaos is really like.
  • Genestealer Cults - Yes, they even got Genestealers and with a Weapon Skill of 7, four attacks and all at strength 6, you bet your ass is grass.
  • Ork Gang - Why have Orks in Necromunda when you have Gorkamorka? The answer is obviously, why not?
  • Wyrd Gathering - A bunch of psykers and their pets as a gang.
  • Squat Miners - Even though Squats were on their way out, Specialist Games still remembered them.
  • Guilder Gang - Now you play as the merchants! Good for getting a lot of money.
  • Hive Prospector Team - Basically a merging of the main house gangs and Guilders.
  • Shanty Town Gang - The dregs of society. Hope you love having to recruit half of your gang after they get hit by a stiff breeze.

Starting your Gang

Once you have picked your "faction", then you get to the nitty gritty of actually building your starting force which most tabletop gamers will be familiar with. You start with 1000 credits (read points, at least at this stage) with which you purchase your gang-members and equip them.

The original six gangs are all built the same way, with the same selection of membership options, though they have access to different tables of starting gear depending on the faction you choose. The other more specialised gangs will have access to different character archetypes depending upon their fluff, but basically your gang's minimum size is three models and you can go nuts from there.

• Gang Leader: Most gangs have a "leader" equivalent who you must take if he's available to your gang. He usually starts off as a WS/BS4/I4/Ld8 Veteran. He's good because you need him to keep the gang together and take most of their leadership tests, as well as determining what happens between battles. He also gets access to some of the best gear, making him one of your most effective warriors in addition to his statline.
  • Gang Leaders invariably start out with a lot of experience to account for all the cool stuff they do. This usually equates them to about ninth level on the advancement scale, meaning they can only accumulate a few more advancements before maxing out.
• Ganger: After that, most gangs will have the equivalent to a squaddie, who represents your rank-and-file warrior. They have the same statlines as imperial guardsmen, and you just need them because most gangs have a minimum number of these guys you need to take. They're good because they cover most of your bases and they level-up readily.
• Heavies: Then you have the specialists, but some gangs have a variant which works in a different way (eg: Techno / Mastiff-Handler / Totem Warrior / Zealot). Usually, these guys are veterans of equivalent level to your Gang Leader, but often only have similar statlines to your regular Gangers. This sounds like a poor deal, but even at their most basic, they get access to the biggest guns, making them really useful in laying down the pain during your battles. They will also have access to different upgrade options, often acting as the techie dudes that fix the rest of the gang's broken shit.
  • Some gangs do it differently, and have these specialist dudes perform a more unique function. These guys will have different special rules depending on the faction you've chosen, but generally you're always going to want a few in your gang for the utility they bring.
• Juvies: Not all specialist gangs have access to them; they are usually the last things you consider, but they have some of the greatest potential. They start out as WS/BS2 conscripts and they don't have access to basic (ie: rifle) weaponry. However, they are cheap to add to your gang, and they start at level zero which is actually a good thing in the long run. That is four advances behind regular gangers, therefore when they upgrade to the same level they will have earned themselves several skill or characteristic bonuses that make them stand out and excel. If you build them correctly, who cares if they keep their BS2 through-out their whole career if you made them into power-sword champions? They eventually earn the right to carry rifles later anyway so if they turn into ace marksmen you can hand them the gang's good weapons.

Setting

The Hive World of Necromunda, originally restricted to Hive Primus, but with the current expansions, also includes the Ash Wastes (the shithole desert immediately outside Hive Primus, infested with motorcycles, pointy homosexuals, and homebrew Orks.)

Also of note is that the comic The Redeemer by Pat Mills, Debbie Gallagher, and Wayne Reynolds centers around one of the Redemptionist cults on Necromunda, led by a psychotic mofo named Klovis, who lights his head on fire and leads his men to murder shit-tons of mutants and zombies led by a chief Ratskin by the name of the Caller.

History

Formerly known as Araneus Prime, the planet now known as Necromunda was settled during the Dark Age of Technology as a mining and manufacturing colony. During the Age of Strife, it had remained in contact with other planets in its system thanks to a network of Warp Gates, and by the time of the Great Crusade Araneus Prime had become the capital of a human civilization called the Aranean Continuty.

The Imperium stumbled over the Continuity by accident when a squadron of Imperial ships entered their territory; the Technobility that ruled the Continuity responded to the Imperium's demand of fealty with its own demand that the Imperium should become their tributary.

Two months and one intervention from the Imperial Fists later, the Aranean Continuty had surrended to the Imperium of Man. Unfortunately, the Imperium would not be able to celebrate its victory for long. Something was coming out of the Warp Gates and ransacking every planet in the Continuity, and by the time the VIIth Legion had destroyed the Warp Gates to keep more of the mysterious invaders from getting through Araneus Prime was the only habitable planet in the Continuity left. It was at this time the planet came to be called Necromunda in recognition of its near-annihilation.

Dramatis Personae

Kal Jerico

Perhaps one of the most famous and recognisable characters to come out of the setting. The bastard son of the Planetary Governor and Inquisitor Jena Orechiel, who described his conception and birth as "one of the unpleasant things one has to do for the Imperium". Jerico is a dashing figure who dual wields master-crafted pistols and acts as a swashbuckling hero who manages to get shit done through good luck and panache rather than actually planning anything through. Despite being a bounty hunter, he also has a bounty on his own head due to a combination of debts and having quite a few enemies in the Underhive, and he has a habit of causing random shit to happen to your gang when you deal in bounty contracts, to the point that you can score double credits or he can double-cross you and take the money himself... what a bastard.

• He can be taken by any Gang (other than Pit Slaves / Enforcers / Spyrers) as a special character. Though he can be hired for between 15-90 credits, the bounty on his head is 250 credits, so it would be profitable to double-cross him if that were possible.
• Scabbs - is Jerico's half-Ratskin sidekick, he can accompany Jerico for a measly 20 credits extra. He has a very basic statline, but he's useful because he brings his Ratskin skills along with him.

Karloth Valois

One day, a rogue-psyker stumbled into the underhive from the spires above to get away from all the voices he kept hearing and the dreams he kept having. He was promptly assaulted by plague zombies... though bitten, Valois' psychic talent was enough to keep him the zombies at bay while the disease ate through his brain. He "survived" the ordeal but remained infected by the plague, giving him mastery over zombies (essentially making him the Zombie king... with a crown and everything) which he can bring with him into battle and boost them from "Night of the Walking Dead" undead to "28 Days Later" undead, without losing the original's durability. He's also a telepath, and he can suck the life out of his opponents... badass.

• Trivia: Valois (pronounced "Val-wa") is probably named for the real-world mad king Charles Valois VI of France, who is immensely more hilarious because it actually happened: Valois suffered schizophrenia (hallucinations/delusions, which bring on erratic behaviour), probably brought on by encephalitis and/or porphyria (a genetic disorder that can also cause victims to break out in blisters when exposed to sunlight, like a really sucky Vampire); he went around the castles howling like a wolf, attacked and killed his servants because he was convinced they were traitors, pissed himself in public, thought he was made of glass, and even had holes drilled in his skull to relieve pressure because it was considered to be a cure for mental illness at the time.

Others

• Phanta Claws - the 40k equivalent of Santa Claus

• Farseer Yrthrian Mardawn - The only known Eldar on the planet. He isn't 100% alone, accompanying him are two Fire Dragons. Originally from Saim-Hann. His purpose in the Underhive is to find someone ho will fight for his family back on the Craftworld so that they will win whatever power struggle they are currently embroiled in.

• D'onne "Mad Donna" Ulanti - A crazed daughter of a nobleman from the Ulanti House. She was kept locked up, Rapunzel style, where something made her go off the deep end. Once her dad figured she was old enough to be married off to another nobleman, shit hit the fan. After killing her husband-to-be and his guards along with more people during her trip down to the Underhive; she got employed by the Eschers. Known for having a plasma pistol and a chainsword. The sword is not for show as she had the unique rule "Psycho-Bitch" which basically made her into a Khorne Berzerker. To emphasize just how bat-shit insane she is, the reason she wears an eyepatch is because when some guy tried to hit on her in the Underhive, she gouged out her own eyeball so nobody would call her pretty again.

• Brakar, The Avenger - A Ratskin heavy with a heavy stubber. He is unique since Ratskins can't have "proper" heavies.

Necromunda on /tg/

Rarely brought up, generally on a tangent to 2nd edition 40k.

Necromunda:Underhive Wars

A new turn-based tactical RPG game is being developed by Rogue Factor and Focus Home Interactive, which is a video game adaptation of Specialist Games Necromunda. Current information is limited.

Mordheim Similarities

The core gameplay is going to be very similar to Rogue Factor's previous game, Mordheim, meaning e.g. movement will be in real time, not turn-based; the game is basically being developed from Mordheim as a starting point. Changes include levels being less procedurally generated and more hand-crafted, although there will still be a strong general reliance on procedurally generated level elements. Hopefully they will release all standard and extra factions as DLC's before stopping development like it happend in Mordheim. Witch is sad indeed.

External Links

• yaktribe.org, hosts a community-maintained Necromunda rulebook.

The Specialist Games of Games Workshop
Warhammer 40,000 (Classic):	Battlefleet Gothic - Epic - Gorkamorka Inquisitor - Lost Patrol - Necromunda - Space Hulk
Warhammer 40,000 (New):	Aeronautica Imperialis - Assassinorum Execution Force - Adeptus Titanicus Betrayal at Calth - Blackstone Fortress - Shadow War: Armageddon Necromunda - Kill Team - Space Marine Heroes - Combat Arena - Space Marine Adventures
Warhammer Fantasy:	Blood Bowl - Man O' War - Mordheim - Warmaster
Warhammer: Age of Sigmar:	Gorechosen - Warhammer Underworlds - Skirmish - Warcry
Board Games:	Chaos in the Old World - Relic