Welcome to the Underhive!
What exactly is this whole “Necromunda” thing?
Necromunda is a campaign-style skirmish game of vicious gang combat set on the Imperial Hive World of Necromunda, ruled by the iron fist of Lord Helmwar. Far below the fancy lords and ladies of The Spire and the cramped industrial sectors of Hive City, the outcasts and outlaws fight for territory, wealth, and fame in The Underhive. Players take on leadership of one of these gangs and clash with other players’ gangs in order to be top of the heap!
Okay, what exactly do I need to play?
Excellent question! In order to get started with Necromunda, you’ll need:
-Necromunda: Rulebook
-Gangs of the Underhive book
-Dice – Necromunda uses specific dice aside from the standard d6, including the Firepower and Injury dice. Though the Gang-specific dice are hard to obtain, these can usually be found in secondary markets. Games Workshop has recently added a generic orange/black set available for $15, but the original yellow/black set from the 2017 starter set can likely be obtained in secondary markets.
-Templates (3” blast, 5” blast, and “flamer” teardrop-shaped template), easily located from former editions of Warhammer 40K or Warhammer Fantasy
-A Gang! Currently there are 6 House Gangs, 3 Cult Gangs, Enforcers, and Venator gangs to choose from, with more on the way! You’ll need cards for each individual member of your gang and an overall roster to track their overall progress. A single box of 10 models is a good starting point (average starting gangs are 6-10 models), but a second box for making extra models and alternate weapon loadouts is a nice long-term investment.
-Good sportsmanship – just because the 41st millennium is awful doesn’t excuse awful behavior!
-A desire to have great, narrative fun! Necromunda is as much about telling stories as it is rolling dice.
Do I need anything else?
If you plan to play any of the non-House gangs, you will need an additional book:
--The Book of Peril for Venators
--The Book of Judgement for Enforcers
--The Book of Ruin for Helot (Chaos) Cults, Genestealer Cults, or Corpse Grinder Cults
There are some things that would be nice to have but aren’t necessary:
-An account on Yaktribe (https://yaktribe.games/), a website that has great tools for creating a gang AND making printable gang cards (it’s free to use).
-Tactics cards – they’re used for flavorful events in-game and were designed to help gangs with lower ratings against tougher gangs, but as the availability of these cards is not great, I will not require anyone to have to seek them out (there are other official methods of helping lower-rated gangs).
-Extra models for hiring on Scum, Bounty Hunters, or Hangers-on to boost your game (some sold by GW/Forge World, but others can be custom-made with kitbashing).
-Forge World weapons/heads packs for getting weapons options and model customization outside of the standard boxes.
Alright, tell me more about these Gangs I can choose from.
First off, there are the six House Gangs, fighters drawn from the powerhouses of Hive City to fight proxy wars in the Underhive:
House Goliath: Brutish, vat-grown hulks with massive strength but limited intelligence (like Orks, but with better shooting). They favor close combat and short-ranged firefights, utilizing weapons that have been adapted from forge tools.
House Escher: An all-female Gang, they are the Amazons of the 41st millennium. They have a mixture of close combat and ranged focus but are better hit-and-run skirmishers than prolonged brawlers. Poison and gas weapons are their trademark.
House Orlock: Orlocks are great all-rounders, capable of both close combat and ranged firepower but excelling at neither. They favor ballistic weapons over las weaponry, choosing rate of fire over reliability. Mustaches are optional but highly encouraged.
House Van Saar: Cursed by the source of their House’s strength, the members of Van Saar wear armored bodysuits that help stave off the worst of their radiation poisoning. Despite this, Van Saar are the kings of the shooting game, using radiation, plasma, and las weaponry more than other Gangs, albeit usually with fewer fighters on the field.
House Cawdor: The poorest of the Houses, they make their living by sifting through the trash of others. What they lack in wealth and hygiene, they make up in sheer numbers (life is cheap, more so in the Underhive) and faith in the Emperor (perhaps too much…). These zealots can take on both close combat and shooting, using polearm weapons, flamers, and bombs strapped to rats to purge the Underhive.
House Delaque: Pronounced “De-Lack”, these fighters are known for their stealth and eerily bald heads/blank faces. Befitting their reputation as Necromunda’s unofficial spy network, they prefer a mix of short-to-mid range fights, using silent or suppressed weapons to conceal their location. Enemies that have gotten too close have found themselves stuck to the walls or floor with the Gang’s web-based weapons.
After the House Gangs, we have the Cult Gangs:
Helot Cults: Recruiting from the worker class, the Helot Cults preach anti-establishment creeds which resonate with an oppressed class. In reality, these Cults are devoted to Chaos worship, gaining benefits from their patrons, the Dark Gods. Numerous and cheap like House Cawdor, Helot Cults make use of Witches and the occasional Chaos Spawn…
Genestealer Cults: Much like their 40K counterparts, Genestealer Cults make use of repurposed mining equipment and extra arms to win the day. Unlike other gangs, they have their choice of one of two leaders (Adept/psyker or Acolyte/warrior) and can bring the muscle of Aberrants to smash through enemy gangs.
Corpse Grinder Cults: A relatively new Gang, these former workers have gone from grinding down corpses into corpse starch foodstuffs to choosing a fresher, more organic meal: people! Essentially, they are Khorne worshippers, and as such, are highly lethal in close combat with minimal ranged capability.
And finally, the two “law” style Gangs:
Enforcers: Not to be confused with the Adeptus Arbites (who investigate higher crimes), the Enforcers are extensions of Lord Helmwar’s will, and occupy a place of a better-equipped, “state-sponsored” brutal Gang. Choosing from a mixture of standard Palanites or heavier Subjugators, they use boltgun and shield to smash the criminal scum of the Underhive!
Venators: A loose alliance of Bounty Hunters, Venators have no “official” models. Players dictate the skills and weapons their fighters will use, purchasing items directly from the Trading Post to create their Gang. The ultimate dream for customizers, your imagination is (mostly) the limit to what a Venator Gang will look and fight like!
Alright, I’ve selected a Gang to play with. What’s next?
Now, you need to build, paint, and name your gang!
Building: Necromunda is all about customization, so don’t feel compelled to build your models just as they are shown in the instructions. The box sets don’t typically contain all of a gang’s possible weapons loadouts (as determined by their House Weapons and Equipment List), but these can be obtained from either the Forge World weapons packs or kitbashing from other existing plastic kits and bits. Plenty of websites will tell you which weapons and equipment loadouts are “optimal” but Necromunda is all about fun and the “rule of cool” so build whatever you like! At the end of the day, the dice can roll either way…
Painting: Gangs are all about their “gang colors” which indicates that the models deserve some paint too! You don’t have to be a pro; we all started somewhere and can always improve! Picking out how you’re going to paint your models can be a nerve-wracking choice but visiting social media groups or sites for inspiration may help you decide. Make your Gang uniquely yours!
Naming: Though each Gang may come from a House or elsewhere, they need to set themselves apart from their peers. This Gang may have originated from House Escher, but they are the Wildcats! That Enforcer Patrol might work for Lord Helmwar, but they are from Precinct Upsilon-Silver! Be as creative* as you want to be!
In addition, each gang member needs a name of their own, to distinguish them from their fellow gang members. It’s a shame that “Bonesnapper” died by falling off a ledge, but “Skullripper” just ripped the skull off that Orlock ganger that got too close! “Sumptown Sally” just increased her Ballistic Skill so she’ll be a better sniper, while “Handsome Johann” bought an Infra-sight for his trusty autogun! It’s more fun and memorable to know which fighters performed well (or not so well…) during the battle and the overall campaign.
*Be mindful that certain words/themes/ideas might not be well-received by all.
Whew! That’s a lot of information! Alright, what’s playing the game like?
There are two aspects to playing Necromunda: individual battles/skirmishes and the larger campaign. To best get an idea of how these are, I recommend attending a demo (which you likely are doing if you have this sheet in your hands!) or watching a demo video on www.necromunda.com
To respect Games Workshop’s intellectual property, I cannot describe or print rules out here, but I can give a brief overview of what to expect:
The Battlefield:
There are two distinct types of battlefields available for Necromunda: Zone Mortalis and Sector Mechanicus. Zone Mortalis boards are on 4 or more 1’x1’ tiles as determined by the scenario; Sector Mechanicus games are typically 4’x4’ areas of engagement.
Zone Mortalis: Zone Mortalis games are fought on “2D” battlefields to represent the cramped corridors and tunnels all throughout the Underhive. Played on either tiles from the 2017 Starter Set or the new plastic Zone Mortalis tiles/walls available from Games Workshop, these boards are contained and have no vertical aspect. Close combat and blasts/templates work well in this environment…
Sector Mechanicus: Similar to a typical battlefield for 40K, this “3D” battlefield will contain all the advantages and drawbacks of vertical terrain, including better ranged sightlines and the chance to fall over ledges/off of walkways. In order to be effective, these battlefields will need numerous pieces of “scatter terrain” to help block sightlines (crates, barrels, barricades, etc.). Close combat fighters will have to play it smart if they want to get into melee.
The Actual Game:
Players will choose their fighters and deploy much like in other Games Workshop games; a key difference, though, is that Necromunda uses alternating activations, so that each player takes turns activating one of their fighters to take 1-2 actions, until all fighters have had a chance to act. During the course of the battle, fighters will take injuries (and try to recover) and potentially panic and run away. Matches typically do not have a set number of rounds, ending only once one Gang has models left on the battlefield, their opponents either all Seriously Injured, Out of Action, or having Bottled Out/Fled from the game.
Depending on the type of campaign, each match will have a series of Pre-Game/Post-Game actions as well, but typically include:
Pre-Game: Hiring Scum/Bounty Hunters, spending XP to purchase Advancements for fighters, determining the Scenario being played and the Attacker/Defender (if applicable), setting up the battlefield, choosing fighters, and deploying.
Post-Game: Determining injuries for Out of Action and Seriously Injured fighters, determining if any fighters were captured by the opposing Gang, and receiving rewards and XP. Leaders and Champions that are not In Recovery or Captured can either visit the Trading Post to seek out Rare items, escort critically wounded fighters to the Doc, or sell off captives to the Guilders. Updates to the Gang Roster are done at this time, including spending those hard-earned credits on new fighters and equipment!
The Long Game (Campaigns)
Each campaign type is unique, running on similar but separate rules and themes:
-Dominion: Good ol’ fashioned territory control! Gangs fight over staked territories that provided benefits for the owners.
-Law and Misrule: Instead of territory, fight for control of Rackets, i.e. lucrative enterprises of dubious legality in the Underhive. Gangs are either Law-Abiding or Outlaw, roughly playing on teams that have different benefits. Alignments can change (except for Enforcers and Helot Cults, which are locked into Law-Abiding and Outlaw, respectively), and there’s nothing stopping Gangs of the same alignment from engaging in some friendly fire…
-Dark Uprising: Survive in an anarchic, post-apocalyptic style campaign that pits Law and Chaos against each other.
Each of the Books beyond the core rules and Gangs of the Underhive adds fun new things that can be optioned into a campaign (making them definitely worth purchasing), including but not limited to:
-Hangers-on: hire on Brutes and Pets to take into battle, and others at home to provide benefits off-battle (though they may have to fight if home is attacked…)
-Guild & Criminal Alliances, each with their own benefits and drawbacks.
-House Sub-plots and Intrigues, which add new objectives to complete for various bonuses.
-Badzones (hazardous terrain rules) and temporary “weather” conditions during battle.
-The Black Market, for things even a typical Underhive Trading Post can’t provide…
-Corrupting House Gangs to serve the Chaos gods or the interests of the Genestealer Cults…
Necromunda is a campaign-style skirmish game of vicious gang combat set on the Imperial Hive World of Necromunda, ruled by the iron fist of Lord Helmwar. Far below the fancy lords and ladies of The Spire and the cramped industrial sectors of Hive City, the outcasts and outlaws fight for territory, wealth, and fame in The Underhive. Players take on leadership of one of these gangs and clash with other players’ gangs in order to be top of the heap!
Okay, what exactly do I need to play?
Excellent question! In order to get started with Necromunda, you’ll need:
-Necromunda: Rulebook
-Gangs of the Underhive book
-Dice – Necromunda uses specific dice aside from the standard d6, including the Firepower and Injury dice. Though the Gang-specific dice are hard to obtain, these can usually be found in secondary markets. Games Workshop has recently added a generic orange/black set available for $15, but the original yellow/black set from the 2017 starter set can likely be obtained in secondary markets.
-Templates (3” blast, 5” blast, and “flamer” teardrop-shaped template), easily located from former editions of Warhammer 40K or Warhammer Fantasy
-A Gang! Currently there are 6 House Gangs, 3 Cult Gangs, Enforcers, and Venator gangs to choose from, with more on the way! You’ll need cards for each individual member of your gang and an overall roster to track their overall progress. A single box of 10 models is a good starting point (average starting gangs are 6-10 models), but a second box for making extra models and alternate weapon loadouts is a nice long-term investment.
-Good sportsmanship – just because the 41st millennium is awful doesn’t excuse awful behavior!
-A desire to have great, narrative fun! Necromunda is as much about telling stories as it is rolling dice.
Do I need anything else?
If you plan to play any of the non-House gangs, you will need an additional book:
--The Book of Peril for Venators
--The Book of Judgement for Enforcers
--The Book of Ruin for Helot (Chaos) Cults, Genestealer Cults, or Corpse Grinder Cults
There are some things that would be nice to have but aren’t necessary:
-An account on Yaktribe (https://yaktribe.games/), a website that has great tools for creating a gang AND making printable gang cards (it’s free to use).
-Tactics cards – they’re used for flavorful events in-game and were designed to help gangs with lower ratings against tougher gangs, but as the availability of these cards is not great, I will not require anyone to have to seek them out (there are other official methods of helping lower-rated gangs).
-Extra models for hiring on Scum, Bounty Hunters, or Hangers-on to boost your game (some sold by GW/Forge World, but others can be custom-made with kitbashing).
-Forge World weapons/heads packs for getting weapons options and model customization outside of the standard boxes.
Alright, tell me more about these Gangs I can choose from.
First off, there are the six House Gangs, fighters drawn from the powerhouses of Hive City to fight proxy wars in the Underhive:
House Goliath: Brutish, vat-grown hulks with massive strength but limited intelligence (like Orks, but with better shooting). They favor close combat and short-ranged firefights, utilizing weapons that have been adapted from forge tools.
House Escher: An all-female Gang, they are the Amazons of the 41st millennium. They have a mixture of close combat and ranged focus but are better hit-and-run skirmishers than prolonged brawlers. Poison and gas weapons are their trademark.
House Orlock: Orlocks are great all-rounders, capable of both close combat and ranged firepower but excelling at neither. They favor ballistic weapons over las weaponry, choosing rate of fire over reliability. Mustaches are optional but highly encouraged.
House Van Saar: Cursed by the source of their House’s strength, the members of Van Saar wear armored bodysuits that help stave off the worst of their radiation poisoning. Despite this, Van Saar are the kings of the shooting game, using radiation, plasma, and las weaponry more than other Gangs, albeit usually with fewer fighters on the field.
House Cawdor: The poorest of the Houses, they make their living by sifting through the trash of others. What they lack in wealth and hygiene, they make up in sheer numbers (life is cheap, more so in the Underhive) and faith in the Emperor (perhaps too much…). These zealots can take on both close combat and shooting, using polearm weapons, flamers, and bombs strapped to rats to purge the Underhive.
House Delaque: Pronounced “De-Lack”, these fighters are known for their stealth and eerily bald heads/blank faces. Befitting their reputation as Necromunda’s unofficial spy network, they prefer a mix of short-to-mid range fights, using silent or suppressed weapons to conceal their location. Enemies that have gotten too close have found themselves stuck to the walls or floor with the Gang’s web-based weapons.
After the House Gangs, we have the Cult Gangs:
Helot Cults: Recruiting from the worker class, the Helot Cults preach anti-establishment creeds which resonate with an oppressed class. In reality, these Cults are devoted to Chaos worship, gaining benefits from their patrons, the Dark Gods. Numerous and cheap like House Cawdor, Helot Cults make use of Witches and the occasional Chaos Spawn…
Genestealer Cults: Much like their 40K counterparts, Genestealer Cults make use of repurposed mining equipment and extra arms to win the day. Unlike other gangs, they have their choice of one of two leaders (Adept/psyker or Acolyte/warrior) and can bring the muscle of Aberrants to smash through enemy gangs.
Corpse Grinder Cults: A relatively new Gang, these former workers have gone from grinding down corpses into corpse starch foodstuffs to choosing a fresher, more organic meal: people! Essentially, they are Khorne worshippers, and as such, are highly lethal in close combat with minimal ranged capability.
And finally, the two “law” style Gangs:
Enforcers: Not to be confused with the Adeptus Arbites (who investigate higher crimes), the Enforcers are extensions of Lord Helmwar’s will, and occupy a place of a better-equipped, “state-sponsored” brutal Gang. Choosing from a mixture of standard Palanites or heavier Subjugators, they use boltgun and shield to smash the criminal scum of the Underhive!
Venators: A loose alliance of Bounty Hunters, Venators have no “official” models. Players dictate the skills and weapons their fighters will use, purchasing items directly from the Trading Post to create their Gang. The ultimate dream for customizers, your imagination is (mostly) the limit to what a Venator Gang will look and fight like!
Alright, I’ve selected a Gang to play with. What’s next?
Now, you need to build, paint, and name your gang!
Building: Necromunda is all about customization, so don’t feel compelled to build your models just as they are shown in the instructions. The box sets don’t typically contain all of a gang’s possible weapons loadouts (as determined by their House Weapons and Equipment List), but these can be obtained from either the Forge World weapons packs or kitbashing from other existing plastic kits and bits. Plenty of websites will tell you which weapons and equipment loadouts are “optimal” but Necromunda is all about fun and the “rule of cool” so build whatever you like! At the end of the day, the dice can roll either way…
Painting: Gangs are all about their “gang colors” which indicates that the models deserve some paint too! You don’t have to be a pro; we all started somewhere and can always improve! Picking out how you’re going to paint your models can be a nerve-wracking choice but visiting social media groups or sites for inspiration may help you decide. Make your Gang uniquely yours!
Naming: Though each Gang may come from a House or elsewhere, they need to set themselves apart from their peers. This Gang may have originated from House Escher, but they are the Wildcats! That Enforcer Patrol might work for Lord Helmwar, but they are from Precinct Upsilon-Silver! Be as creative* as you want to be!
In addition, each gang member needs a name of their own, to distinguish them from their fellow gang members. It’s a shame that “Bonesnapper” died by falling off a ledge, but “Skullripper” just ripped the skull off that Orlock ganger that got too close! “Sumptown Sally” just increased her Ballistic Skill so she’ll be a better sniper, while “Handsome Johann” bought an Infra-sight for his trusty autogun! It’s more fun and memorable to know which fighters performed well (or not so well…) during the battle and the overall campaign.
*Be mindful that certain words/themes/ideas might not be well-received by all.
Whew! That’s a lot of information! Alright, what’s playing the game like?
There are two aspects to playing Necromunda: individual battles/skirmishes and the larger campaign. To best get an idea of how these are, I recommend attending a demo (which you likely are doing if you have this sheet in your hands!) or watching a demo video on www.necromunda.com
To respect Games Workshop’s intellectual property, I cannot describe or print rules out here, but I can give a brief overview of what to expect:
The Battlefield:
There are two distinct types of battlefields available for Necromunda: Zone Mortalis and Sector Mechanicus. Zone Mortalis boards are on 4 or more 1’x1’ tiles as determined by the scenario; Sector Mechanicus games are typically 4’x4’ areas of engagement.
Zone Mortalis: Zone Mortalis games are fought on “2D” battlefields to represent the cramped corridors and tunnels all throughout the Underhive. Played on either tiles from the 2017 Starter Set or the new plastic Zone Mortalis tiles/walls available from Games Workshop, these boards are contained and have no vertical aspect. Close combat and blasts/templates work well in this environment…
Sector Mechanicus: Similar to a typical battlefield for 40K, this “3D” battlefield will contain all the advantages and drawbacks of vertical terrain, including better ranged sightlines and the chance to fall over ledges/off of walkways. In order to be effective, these battlefields will need numerous pieces of “scatter terrain” to help block sightlines (crates, barrels, barricades, etc.). Close combat fighters will have to play it smart if they want to get into melee.
The Actual Game:
Players will choose their fighters and deploy much like in other Games Workshop games; a key difference, though, is that Necromunda uses alternating activations, so that each player takes turns activating one of their fighters to take 1-2 actions, until all fighters have had a chance to act. During the course of the battle, fighters will take injuries (and try to recover) and potentially panic and run away. Matches typically do not have a set number of rounds, ending only once one Gang has models left on the battlefield, their opponents either all Seriously Injured, Out of Action, or having Bottled Out/Fled from the game.
Depending on the type of campaign, each match will have a series of Pre-Game/Post-Game actions as well, but typically include:
Pre-Game: Hiring Scum/Bounty Hunters, spending XP to purchase Advancements for fighters, determining the Scenario being played and the Attacker/Defender (if applicable), setting up the battlefield, choosing fighters, and deploying.
Post-Game: Determining injuries for Out of Action and Seriously Injured fighters, determining if any fighters were captured by the opposing Gang, and receiving rewards and XP. Leaders and Champions that are not In Recovery or Captured can either visit the Trading Post to seek out Rare items, escort critically wounded fighters to the Doc, or sell off captives to the Guilders. Updates to the Gang Roster are done at this time, including spending those hard-earned credits on new fighters and equipment!
The Long Game (Campaigns)
Each campaign type is unique, running on similar but separate rules and themes:
-Dominion: Good ol’ fashioned territory control! Gangs fight over staked territories that provided benefits for the owners.
-Law and Misrule: Instead of territory, fight for control of Rackets, i.e. lucrative enterprises of dubious legality in the Underhive. Gangs are either Law-Abiding or Outlaw, roughly playing on teams that have different benefits. Alignments can change (except for Enforcers and Helot Cults, which are locked into Law-Abiding and Outlaw, respectively), and there’s nothing stopping Gangs of the same alignment from engaging in some friendly fire…
-Dark Uprising: Survive in an anarchic, post-apocalyptic style campaign that pits Law and Chaos against each other.
Each of the Books beyond the core rules and Gangs of the Underhive adds fun new things that can be optioned into a campaign (making them definitely worth purchasing), including but not limited to:
-Hangers-on: hire on Brutes and Pets to take into battle, and others at home to provide benefits off-battle (though they may have to fight if home is attacked…)
-Guild & Criminal Alliances, each with their own benefits and drawbacks.
-House Sub-plots and Intrigues, which add new objectives to complete for various bonuses.
-Badzones (hazardous terrain rules) and temporary “weather” conditions during battle.
-The Black Market, for things even a typical Underhive Trading Post can’t provide…
-Corrupting House Gangs to serve the Chaos gods or the interests of the Genestealer Cults…
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