Necromunda!

Hey everybody!
For a good while now, I’ve been posting the odd thing here that has been excitedly talking about the latest boxed game from Games Workshop, Necromunda. Well, I thought it was probably time that I actually took some time to look into this game and check out the rules etc, as I’ve been faffing about with painting some gangers from House Orlock and, more recently, House Van Saar. So I’d like to present to you all now a bit of an insight into my experiences as I try to get to grips with the rules, and my initial thoughts prior to getting any kind of game in.

Let’s begin!

First off, let’s talk about the setting of this game. Like a lot of Games Workshop games, the setting is really very well realised. It takes place on the hive world of Necromunda, where industry has taken over and the population ekes out a living in the ash wastes of the planet. In this harsh environment, gang warfare is rife, and several factions regularly clash in the Underhive. The gangs conform to several Houses within Hive Primus on Necromunda, the most notable are: Escher (all-women), Goliath (hulking brutes), Orlock (bikers), Cawdor (masked fanatics), Van Saar (technologically superior) and Delaque (spies and assassins).

There are other factions within the Hive, notably the Enforcers (Adeptus Arbites), but also bounty hunters, hired guns, generic hive scum and the like.

The game evolved from a skirmish game originally published through White Dwarf, with the original Necromunda itself arriving in 1995. A defining trait of this original game was its multi-level terrain, linked together with walkways and ladders. The game went out of print as the years wore on, until specialist games made a reappearance in the new Games Workshop of recent years. Necromunda was almost something of a golden goose for many fans, who were just chomping at the bit waiting for its announcement. When Shadow War: Armageddon was released early in 2017, this was seen as a bit of a disappointment – not only because the boxed game had such a limited release, but because it just wasn’t Necromunda. Fortunately, an announcement over the summer put those fears to rest, and Necromunda: Underhive was released in November 2017 with House Escher vs House Goliath. While tile-based, Necromunda was back.

The game lends itself really well to campaign play, with gangers leveling up as they gain control of more territory. This aspect of the game is something I hadn’t first realised, but have come to find really fascinating. In so many ways, Necromunda feels like an actual RPG, with some exciting opportunities for telling stories through the gameplay. There’s the chance for your gang to kidnap a member of a rival gang, gain the affiliation of bounty hunters and other hired guns through reputation, etc etc. It’s all pretty marvellous, I have to say!

Of all the Houses, I think I first liked the sound of House Delaque. Spies in trench coats hold a certain appeal for me, though it soon transpired they would be the last gang released for the game, coming around Christmas 2018 I’m guessing. When the Orlocks were previewed, though, I was enamoured, and immediately bought everything I could for these chaps. Their almost 80s biker aesthetic really caught my eye as being so very different to anything I was used to seeing from GW, and I set to work trying to get some painted.

Sadly, I set to painting these incredibly detailed miniatures – which feel a lot smaller than other minis from GW, as it happens – while I was trying to get over a painting slump, and it really didn’t go well for me. I lost interest, and put them aside in favour of the Tau army I started to build. Then this happened…

House Van Saar is the sort of thing I would never have thought I’d get into so much. I’ve been buying everything that they release for Necromunda as they release it, but hadn’t seriously looked into the game until a fortnight or so ago, when I got all the Gang War books out, and started to actually read the rules for gang creation. It helped that I’d also been working on Genestealer Cults for Kill Team, and remembered that the rules for using these in Necromunda actually came out in White Dwarf earlier in the year.

Looking again at Van Saar, I was enamoured, and have set to work making my actual gang with gusto! The only thing that has so far given me pause is the fact I’m not sure where I’ll be able to play it, as I don’t think my local GW really likes the specialist games being played there. But still, I’ve got six gangers to paint up as my starting force, and I’m loving it!

This past weekend, we’ve had House Cawdor released, the religious fanatics that look vaguely medieval, but still manage to fit the grim dark vibe really well, I think!

I’m still picking up everything for the game, of course, so have picked these dudes up as well, but I’m not sure if/when I’ll get round to building and painting them. Maybe soon I’ll draw up a list? I’ve been thinking a lot about drawing up starting lists for all the gangs that I have – even the Goliaths, who I haven’t so much as looked at the sprues for since I got the game for Christmas last year. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to convince my fiancée to play, though I might make a suggestion in the near future to see how she’d feel about trying something immersive. Eldritch Horror was a surprising success with her, so who knows!

At any rate, it looks like a really amazing gaming experience, and is one that I’m hoping to explore in depth soon enough!