Necromunda is a skirmish tabletop war game produced by Games Workshop since 1995. It has been relaunched as Necromunda: Underhive in 2017. In Necromunda, players control rival gangs battling each other in the Underhive, a place of anarchy and violence in the depths below the Hive City. As in its parent game Warhammer 40,000, Necromunda uses 28 mm miniatures (approximately 1:56) and terrain (in this case, the Underhive – a heavily polluted, underground industrial environment).
Necromunda allows players to develop their gangs between battles, gaining experience, gaining and losing new members or equipment, according to a set of rules. Gangs that frequently win games acquire more credits (money) and fewer injuries and so are able to grow throughout a campaign.
Necromunda also stands out by having a more three-dimensional table layout, with buildings generally having multiple floors, interconnecting walkways, and bridges. The terrain is constructed to simulate a hive city on the planet Necromunda, a dystopian futuristic city resembling a termite mound many miles high.
Game setting
In the game of Necromunda, the eponymous setting is a world covered in polluted ash wastes, the result of thousands of years of heavy industry with no kinds of environmental safeguards whatsoever. Scattered amidst these seas of effluent and unstable continents of compacted dross and ash are between six and nine (the source material is inconsistent) "hive cities". These are massive man-made structures, reminiscent of termite mounds on a staggering scale. So large that they break through the upper atmosphere and can serve as tethering points for starships, the hive cities are described as housing over a trillion people each.
This purpose of a "hive world" like Necromunda, is to be a manufacturing centre to provide equipment for the boundless legions of the Imperial Guard and Space Marines, as well as lay down new hulls for the Imperial Navy. The hive cities produce billions of tons of manufactured goods daily. In return for these services, the hives are described as being supplied with billions of tons of food and raw ore every day, serviced by bevies of ships that make commutes between the hive world and neighbouring planets that are mining or agricultural worlds.
Houses of Hive Primus
In the game the population of the hive city is divided into several 'houses' of genetically distinct people, who apparently do not mix or interbreed, they serve as the various factions for the players to control to play the game. The houses are described as such:
Orlock
House Orlock is known as the House of Iron because its foundations lie upon deep ferrous slag pits. This massive resource has led to the largest profession in the house being miners. While not only iron miners, this is their largest export. They have an exclusive contract with House Ulanti (Mad Donna's House) for the export of raw materials that they took from House Delaque through questionable means.[2]
The structure of the House is significantly different due to its size. No single rule, but rather groups of families ally to form power structures within Orlock. A figurehead is maintained to make relations with other houses easier and has the secondary effect of keeping House Orlock strong despite its fractious nature. Something of a microcosm of Hive Primus in general. Not only because of its size, but because it is centrally located, Orlock borders all other houses. Along with marriages, most notably the current Lady Ko'Iron, House Orlock is ideally situated for trade with all other houses. Even Escher has respect for Orlock due to how much power women wield in the house. The notable exception to these good relations is House Delaque who are bitter over the loss of the Ulanti Contract, but they only share a mile-long border.[3] This rivalry makes the employ of Seek and Destroy to Nemo particularly odd.[4]
Due to their familial structure, gangs are usually an extension of that. Gangs members tend to be older and are more likely to be female than most other houses because they are frequently families themselves. This makes gangs better organised and more willing to work with other Orlock gangs than other houses. The downside to this familial bond is when there are Orlock rivalries they are much more bloody than in other houses.[3] As is probably true of most gangs, they are not averse to slaving if the money is right Cardinal Crimson and their garb tends to be classic biker look. Official models and artwork.[5]
From a player perspective, Orlock is considered the "default" house with no notable strengths or weaknesses, with their gangers getting access to Combat, Ferocity, and Shooting skills.
Cawdor
House Cawdor is the stronghold of the Cult of Redemption. For this reason, all of the gangers wear masks in public to hide their faces from the 'infidels' of the other houses, and are known to utilise scavenged equipment due to their background as bone pickers and scavengers. They are known to hunt mutants and heretics to the point of fanaticism (part of the Redemptionist influence) which brings them into conflict with gangs who would utilise them.
From a player perspective House Cawdor is a fast-moving close combat house with the gangsters having access to Combat, Ferocity, and Agility skills.
Delaque
Other hivers are justifiably suspicious of House Delaque, who specialise in spying and assassination. The gangers often wear large trench coats, with large internal pockets for concealing weapons and other large items. Most are bald and extremely pale. Many wear visors, goggles, or have light filters implanted into their eyes, sensitivity to light being a common Delaque weakness. Delaque territory is even more dimly lit than the rest of the hive, fitting for people who are shrouded in mystery.
From a player perspective, House Delaque are the ranged specialists, with their gangers having access to Shooting, Agility, and Stealth skills.
Escher
Strikingly different from the other houses, the Escher population is almost entirely made up of women. The few men that are there are shrivelled and imbecilic and play no part in the normal affairs of the Escher. Men are held in contempt and pitied by the Escher, especially those of House Goliath who are seen as simple, brutish and unsophisticated.
From a player perspective, House Escher is a fast-moving and hard-to-hit close combat gang with their gangers having access to Combat, Agility, and Stealth skills.
Goliath
The domain of House Goliath is situated unfavourably within Hive City and occupies some of the deepest and harshest areas. By way of compensation, the Goliaths are tough and persistent by inclination. They consider the hivers of other Houses to be soft and slack. In truth all hivers are naturally robust, being inured to the toxins and deprivations which they accept unquestioningly as part of normal life. The Goliaths, however, take a stubborn pride in their ability to endure hardship. The other Houses see the Goliaths as barbaric, and unpredictable. Goliath institutions such as the fighting pits and the Feast of the Fallen do nothing to dispel the impression of a violent people inimical to their neighbours. Size and strength are seen as the measure of a man. Their style of dress emphasises a preoccupation with physique, featuring weighty chains and spiked metal bracers.[6]
From a player perspective, House Goliath is a slow-moving close combat gang, being the only house to have gangers with access to Strength skills, and also having Combat and Ferocity skills.
Van Saar
House Van Saar is renowned for the quality of its technical products. Its technology is no more advanced than that of anyone else, technological progress being almost non-existent throughout the Imperium of Man, but the manufacturing processes are precise and its finished materials are of the highest quality. The Noble Houses pay a premium for Van Saar goods, and as a result, the House is probably the wealthiest in Hive City. The Van Saar are marked out by their tight-fitting bodysuits which help to sustain them in the harsh hive environment. Semi-permeable membranes in the suit reduce the loss of body moisture whilst various spots on the material change color to warn the wearer of airborne toxins and reduce oxygen levels. Older Van Saar are often seen sporting a neatly trimmed beard. [6]
From a player perspective, House Van Saar is the only house whose gangers have access to tech skills - and they back this up with shooting and combat skills.
Other groups
Enforcers
The Enforcers are the chief source of law enforcement in the underhive of Necromunda. Modelled closely after the Adeptus Arbites, the Enforcers apply the laws set down by the High Lords of Terra with an iron fist. Equipped with heavy armour and sophisticated weapons and equipment, Enforcer patrol teams quell riots, suppress inter-gang warfare as much as possible, and monitor mercantile trade to ensure compliance with imperial law .
The Enforcers, while maintaining an organisational structure similar to that of the Adeptus Arbites, are a separate force. The Adeptus Arbites enforce Imperial law on a galactic scale, whereas the Enforcers maintain order within the confines of Hive Primus.
From a player perspective, you always have ten enforcers, but only use five in most battles. They are all well equipped and reliable but almost invariably outnumbered.
The Cult of the Emperor's Redemption
A nod to Laserburn—the 15mm tabletop game Warhammer 40,000 evolved from—the Redemptionists have an extreme hatred of mutants and deviants from the Imperial creed. The most dedicated among them take up arms and hunt these mutants and deviants. They often wear red robes decorated with flame motifs and favour incendiary weaponry. House Cawdor lends much support to the cult of Redemption and has gone so far as to adopt it as their official religion. Their favoured weapon is the flamer, as the Redemptionist war cry is "Cleanse with blood and with flame!"
From a player perspective, the Redemptionists are chiefly known for two things; the one-shot flamers they can buy cheaply and put in two-handed weapons and the ability for the Priest leading many such gangs to convert captured enemies.
Pit Slaves
Slaves of the Guilder's appendages are replaced by industrial tools such as giant saws and drills. When a group of slaves escapes, they already have weapons to help them survive along with experience gained in gladiator-style combat they are often pressed into.
From a player perspective, Pit Slaves are all experienced and expensive, having no cannon fodder. They also all have one of their arms replaced by an expensive close combat weapon.
Ratskins
The Ratskin tribes have lived within the underhive for millennia and treat it as a god, generous in its bounty and merciless in its vengeance. They have little to do with the hivers and are rarely encountered, preferring to steer clear of the heathens who desecrate their sacred hive by poisoning its sacred places.
From a player perspective, Ratskins are a fast close combat gang with no heavies to provide covering fire. They are also less affected by attrition than most gangs; injured Ratskins may re-roll the injury table results at the end of the battle, but they must accept the second result.
Scavvies
Scavvies are humans with mutations too obvious to hide, banished from normal settlements. In Scavvie gangs, the very dregs of society scrape out an existence robbing guilder caravans, raiding isolated settlements, and just generally scavenging whatever they can to survive. Their bands often include a stable sub-species of mutant, the giant reptilian Scalies. Scavvies have often been known to use bait to lure Plague zombies to attack rival gangs during their raids.
From a player perspective, Scavvies do not get anyone who carries heavy weapons and are not good at ranged attacks in general. On the other hand, the Scalies are the most powerful default close combat troops in the game, and they get a random number of disposable troops, such as plague zombies, for free each battle, providing them with targets that allow the rest of the gang to advance safely.
Spyre Hunters
Young nobles from the Spire come down to hunt underhive gangsters and thereby prove their worth in a world of ruthless politics, plotting, and assassination. Spyre gangs are few in number, and equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry (this can include heavily customised power armour). It is reported that they get at least some of their technology from trading with the Tau Empire.[7]
From a player perspective, Spyre Hunters are a very small and extremely well-equipped elite gang and are the only gang that can not replace any casualties they suffer.
Alternative gangs
In addition to the gang types supported by the rulebooks, various Games Workshop publications have introduced new groups, sometimes supported by mail-order only model ranges, including Ash Waste Gangsters, Imperial Guard, various Chaos Cult gangs, Genestealer Cults, Ork warbands, and Squat Miners. [8]
History
Necromunda was spun off from a previous attempt of Games Workshop to popularise a set of rules for low-key skirmish battles in a Hive World setting. White Dwarf published such a ruleset between autumn and winter 1990–91 dubbing it Confrontation. It was set on the hive world of Necromunda but made no reference to houses and such, instead of concentrating on the various types of gangs: clan warriors from the spires, brat 'poseurs' from the upper levels which went 'down' to experience the thrills of lowlife, undercity mutants, diseased scavengers from the toxic wastes and the Adeptus Arbites ever-ready to deal swift and summary "Judge Dredd"-like justice.
The miniatures released for this game were designed by John Blanche. The game background also included some elements later re-used in Necromunda, such as the 'spook' psychic drug, and some which were disregarded, such as the 'caryatids', largely unexplained blue-skinned cherubs which were presented as unique and integral to Necromundan life.
Compared to the current Necromunda, Confrontation had a more complex system for resolving combat, particularly firing—portions of which were similar in style to Laserburn, a miniatures game that had influenced Warhammer 40,000. In 2003, Games Workshop released a new 148-page gaming sourcebook titled Necromunda Underhive.
As Necromunda continued to flourish, various characters and "hangers-on" whose entries and stats are available in the various Necromunda publications have had models released under Games Workshops' "ForgeWorld" imprint. Models for Necromunda that are for sale at Forgeworld range from unnamed "hive scum" and "dome runners" and other no-names who make a living serving the various gangs of Necromunda; to various characters and "specialty" models, such as the Mercator Slavers Guild, Kal Jericho, and Scabbs, and the Orlock Road Warrior Slade Merdena and his Cyber Mastiff, Macula amongst many others.
On 13 August 2017, Games Workshop announced that a new edition of the game was in development.[10] The new version, titled Necromunda: Underhive was released on 24 November 2017 with gangs Escher and Goliath.[11] More gangs followed in 2018, and now all six major houses are represented. In addition, a range of characters is also available. In March 2019, the Ambot kit was released, giving players the chance to field powerful close combat 'androids' for the first time.[12]
Since the release of the core Underhive release, the game has seen strong reception which has led to continued support for the game. 2018 saw the release of quarterly supplements, referred to as "Gang War", volumes I - IV (Goliaths and Eschers; Orlock; Van Saar; Cawdor), each one covering a different gang in-depth, as well as expanding trading post options and providing new mission and campaign supplements. In the December 2018 White Dwarf, a fifth insert supplement was added to cover off the last core gang, Delaque.
In 2019, a revised version[13] of the Core Rules, as well as an updated consolidation of all the gang war content, was published under a single title Gangs of the Underhive. Throughout 2019, Games Workshop continued providing additional supplementation for the game through books that explored additional options, each one including additional gang options, additional Dramatis Personae/Bounty Hunters, and additional campaign options:
Book of Judgment - Includes new campaign supplements as well as rules for Palanite Enforcers, The Law enforcement arm of Necromunda
Book of Peril - Includes the Venator Gang rules, new campaign supplements, rules for Psychers/Spykers, and additional Bounty Hunters such as Kal Jericho and Scabbs.
Book of Ruin - Includes rules for Corpse Grinders, Chaos Helots, and Genestealers. It also covers more campaign content as well as rules for models tainted with Chaos.
In addition to these campaigns and support supplements, Games Workshop would release a second two-player starter box for the game called Necromunda: Dark Uprising. The box set saw an ambitious start package for new players which included models for the Palanite Enforcers and Subjugators squaring off against the Corpse Grinder Cult. The starter would also be the first to include a comprehensive 3D plastic terrain kit that allowed players to explore the three-dimensional playscape the game has to offer by including elements such as elevators and stairs. The kit also came with a new "Dark Uprising" campaign book. Much of the contents for the Corpse Grinders and Palanite Enforcers/Subjugators in the campaign module mirrors the content published in "The Book of Ruin" and "The Book of Judgment" published earlier in 2019, but also offered the players a unique campaign that was only available in the box set.
The 2020 release for Necromunda began focusing on expansions for the previously established "Core Gangs", with a planned release for each gang. These books include an extensive history of the gang, including relationships with the various guilds of Necromunda as well as relationships with the higher "royal houses" of Necromunda. In addition to the new books, each book would see releases on both the Games Workshop line and the Forgeworld line to allow players to use models specifically made for the new material in the book.
These books were expected to adhere to a quarterly release, but complications stemming from the global COVID-19 pandemic delayed the development of these volumes. Prior to COVID-19, Games Workshop was able to get the first volume, "House of Chains" into circulation before halting the production of subsequent books. In June 2020, Games Workshop announces that they were restarting the production and development of these books. Below are the currently released books, as well as any further announced ones:
House of Artifice - Focuses on House Van Saar (release date 20 March 2021)
House of Blades - Focuses on House Escher (release date 28 August 2020)
House of Chains - Focuses on House Goliath, also includes a new playable gang, the Ogryn Slave gang (release date 22 February 2020)
House of Faith - Focuses on House Cawdor (release date 12 June 2021)
House of Iron - Focuses on House Orlock (release date 31 October 2020)
House of Shadow - Focuses on House Delaque (release date 7 August 2021). As of the release of House of Shadow, all the traditional gangs have received their rules updates for this cycle of books.
To further supplement the existing models and rules, Book of the Outcast was launched in December 2021, alongside the requisite Tactics cards and models. The book contained a more robust "Psychic Ruleset" as well as a more Dramatis Personae and additional minor subgroups of other gangs. .[14] In 2022/2023, Games workshop continued to expand the range with even more gangs,kits, a Narrative campaign, and an updated core ruleset.
Continuing Releases
Ash Wastes
After releaseing supplements for all of the core houses as well as the book of Outcasts, Games Workshop began publishing content othat took players beyond the walls of Hive Primus. The Release of the Ash wastes box set and "Book of the Outlands" in 2022 gave us not only vehicle rules for navigating the Ash wastes of the planet but also the rules for two new gangs: The Ash Wastelanders; and Squats, the latter being an expansion to the return of Squats, or "Space Dwarfs" to the 40K universe under the name "The Leagues of Votann". The Book of the Outlands not only covered the return of the squats and the Ash watelanders, but also provided players for rules for building your own vehicles, whether they were kitbased from other models, or made from home made materials, while the box set included House Orlock with two new ATV style vehicles; while the other factionw as the new Ash Wastelanders with their "Helamite marauders, large insectoid creatures that the wastelanders use to navigate the wasteland.
The Aranthian Cycle
The Aranthian Cycle, released throughout 2023 was Games workshop's first attempt at a large scale campaign. Spanning three books released at different points throughout the year, the Aranthian Cycle focused on the attempted murder of Lord Helmawyr, and the chaos that ensued after. The saga covers three books, each one a sort of "act" in the larger story and including threads for players to follow to accomodate a major narrative event within the world. The Books in the series, in order are "Cinderak Burns", "The Vaults of Temenos" and "Ruins of Jardlan".
Rules Redux
In addition to the Aranthian Cycle trilogy, Games Workshop released a new redux of the Core rules. this new volume was a combination of the Core rules and some of the more universal details present in the older "Gangs of the Underhive" while aiming to update a variety of rules. The book boasts a 366 page count which is about double the size of the core rulebook.
Hive Secundus
In 2024, Games workshop took us to the rumours of Hive Secundus, which was another hive that was undermined by a genestealer incursion. When the infestation could no longer be hidden and the truth of it came out, Helmawyr ordered the city to be utterly destroyed. Although much of the subterranean undecity survived. The Hive Secundis takes your gang to the ruins of the city to locate key wreckages while feigning off new strains of genestealers.
Reception
Mark Donald reviewed Necromunda for Arcane magazine, rating it an 8 out of 10 overall.[15] Donald comments that "It's a spawn of the Warhammer 40,000 universe and the family resemblance is marked, but this time there's a rumble in the concrete jungle. And fortunately, you're in the thick of it."[15]
Necromunda: Hired Gun is a first-person shooter set on Necromunda. It released on 31 May 2021 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, and PC Windows.[18]
Necromunda: Gang Skirmish
Necromunda: Gang Skirmish is a strategy game. It was released in 2021 for iOS and Android devices by Legendary Games.[19]
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