Welcome, Scummer, to the exciting world of Necromunda! While massive armies clash for supremacy of the battlefields of the grim dark millennium, the battles that rage in the industrial hives of the galaxy’s human cities are just as tense, filled with daring gangers attempting to secure fortune and loot.
Whether you’re a juve just starting out and looking to understand what you’ll need to play, a seasoned ganger looking for ways to take your game to the next level, or an arbitrator looking for campaign resources, we’ve got you covered. Necromunday is a weekly Goonhammer column written by Dan “The Sex Cannon” Boyd, Jules “Merton” O’Hare, and Genghis Cohen.
Jump ahead to whichever topic suits your fancy, or browse chronologically here.
Table of Contents
Getting Started
You Should Be Playing Necromunda: An overview for the curious, and a great starting-off point for folks looking to get into the system. If you’re new here, give this one a read!
Mini-Munda; A Quick Start Game Mode: Brand new? Overwhelmed? Try Mini-Munda, a stripped down Skirmish mode of the game that’s ideal for players who aren’t ready to get totally invested just yet! Pre-set House gangs, each able to be built from a single sprue.
The Mini-Munda Campaign: Building on the Mini-Munda skirmish system, this simplified campaign-esque system introduces gang progression, lasting injuries, rewards and more. If a full Dominion or Law & Misrule campaign is too heavy for your group, give this one a try for a taste of the true Necromunda experience!
The 2019 FAQ: The game is constantly evolving, so don’t miss out on any of the tweaks and fixes that might clear up a few questions from the books.
The 2020 FAQ: Stay as up-to-date as possible with a welcomed dosage of official Necromunda clarifications and errata.
Gangs of the Underhive
House Cawdor: Trash collectors with a burning love of the Emperor, prone to building their weapons out of whatever garbage is available. Fond of makeshift flamethrowers and rat-borne explosives.
House Delaque: Sneaky weirdos who depend on gadgets and shenanigans to win their battles. Web Guns and Toxin ammo will steal them their victory, but they’ll struggle in a stand-up fight.
House Escher: Fleet of foot and nimble with a poisoned blade, members of House Escher are the queens of toxin and gas weaponry.
House Goliath: Strong, tough, and just smart enough to figure out which direction to point their Stub Cannons. Goliaths are relentless.
House Orlock: These Miners may be the generalist gang, but don’t let that fool you! They’re tough customers who can take down anyone with pure fundamentals.
House Van Saar: Sharpshooters par excellence, equally as deadly at long range and up close with their pistols.
Corpse Grinder Cults: Crazed cannibal Khornites, the Grinders eschew ranged combat almost entirely to focus on a terrifying melee prowess.
Genestealer Cults: Sneaky, stabby, shooty, and occasionally packing extra arms, these Xenos infiltrators do it all.
- Genestealer Corrupted House Gangs: Spice up your Escher or Orlocks with some off-world tricks, care of your friendly neighborhood Patriarch.
Helot Cults: Teeming hordes of Chaos Cultists, praying to their dark gods for boons and special Wyrd Powers. Occasionally turn into gibbering monstrosities.
- Chaos-Corrupted House Gangs: Mutations, Chaos Spawn, and Dark Rituals, because every Van Saar gang could use a few extra tentacles.
Palanite Enforcers: The cops are just another gang in the Underhive, and this precinct’s packing enough Bolters, Grenade Launchers, and Riot Shields to quash any uprising.
Slave Ogryns: Tougher than anything else in the Underhive and dumber than a box of rocks, Ogryns will happily rip you in half barehanded, if it’ll get them closer to their freedom.
Venators: Bounty Hunters banded together for a common cause. The build-your-own style of gang, with fighter profiles available to fit almost any model in your collection.
Strategy & Resources
Tactics Cards: Every single Tactic Card in Necromunda, ranked and evaluated. Includes our method of integrating them into our Campaigns with a lot less hassle than the standard method.
Overlooked Rules and Assumptions: Necromunda’s a complicated game, and it’s easy to entirely forget or misplay one or more of the myriad rules in the system. Avoid some of the easier mistakes by boning up on ’em, right here!
The Ultimate Skills Guide: Every basic skill in the game, with prospective uses and common pitfalls to avoid.
Special Ammo and Grenades: Special utility for special situations, bullets and bombs that do something more elegant than merely kill.
Dealing With Melee: Goliaths and Grinders getting too close for comfort? Bone up on the always-classy tactical withdrawal!
Into the Badzones: Terrain rules, environmental hazards, and special in-game events from the Book of Peril, perfect for spicing up a standard battle.
Underdogs and Catch-Up Mechanics: Down, but not out. Integrate a few of these systems to keep lower-ranked players eager to claw their way back up to the top.
Psykers and Wyrds: Getting the most out of your Warp-infused friends, and understanding the Psychic Powers.
Campaign Progression Series
Building a Campaign Gang: Campaign gangs grow and change, and what’s great in Skirmish might not be ideal for a crew that’s determined to be the top dogs of your local Dominion Campaign. Find out the differences, and learn how to build accordingly for success here.
Upgrading Campaign Gangs: Leverage your new-found credit income into the right places, to grow your gang into a band of ruthless killers!
Advancements: How to spend your hard-earned Experience, and possible archetypes for your fighters to evolve into.
The Trading Post: Getting the most bang for your buck at the Trading Post and Black Market.
Reputation, Brutes, and Hangers-on: The perks of notoriety, and how to manage and recruit your new roster of underlings.
Alliances
Introduction to Alliances: Getting started with allies, all of the current options and mechanics for use in Campaigns.
Guild Allies: Full breakdown of all six Guilder factions, with boons, drawbacks, and Retinues.
Criminal Allies: Full breakdown of all six Recidivist factions, with boons, drawbacks, and Retinues.
Noble Allies: Although only two Noble Houses have been released so far, we’ll keep adding ’em as they reveal more!
Goonhammer’s Narrative Alliance System: Make your players wow their prospective patrons with the Ol’ Razzle Dazzle before an Alliance can be formed. Designed to encourage gangs to work toward Alliances as a goal, rather than a mindless optimization choice.
All The Missions
Scenarios – The Rulebook: All of the missions from the Hardcover Rulebook, with explanations and balance recommendations for a better fight on both sides!
Scenarios – Book of Peril, Book of Ruin, White Dwarf: More of the same, with another batch of missions. Includes the White Dwarf Gang Raid pamphlet’s scenarios.
Scenarios – The Open Hive War Deck: Deal yourself a unique mission with the Open Hive cards, all but guaranteed to keep even the most jaded gangs guessing.
Multiplayer Scenarios: More’s the merrier with these missions, able to easily accommodate 3+ players on a single board.
Goonhammer’s Modified Scenario Tables: Campaign Scenario generation tailored to each system, with an eye towards variety, fun, and fairness.
Building Custom Scenarios: Can’t find the perfect mission for your event? Make your own!
Solo Scenarios – The Hunt: Our quarantine-induced battle reports from Necromunda’s first single-player Scenario.
Necromunda Campaigns
Hear Me Out – Just Start a Campaign!: Wondering if you’ve got it what it takes to run a campaign? Well you do – but check out this article if you want a pep talk.
Starting Your Own Campaign: Take the reins and run a Campaign for your group as an Arbitrator. We promise, it’s not as tough as it seems!
Running a Weekend Campaign: Tips for running a short-form Campaign, and lessons learned from our own yearly Weekender, Cinco de Necro.
Dominion Territories: An exhaustive dive into every single Territory you’ll be fighting over in a Dominion Campaign.
Law and Misrule: An overview of the Book of Judgement’s campaign system. Become an Outlaw crime lord, or work with the authorities to make the Underhive safe again.
Uprising: An overview of the campaign system found in the Dark Uprising box set. Self-contained with punishing conditions, but with an amazing narrative setting.
Ash Wastes: We take a look at the new vehicle-focused, map-based campaign in the Ash Wastes rulebook.
House Rules and Modifications
Lost Zone – Goonhammer’s Custom Campaign: Modern Necro’s fancy gear arms race got you down? We’ve come up with a campaign type that puts your gangs in a quiet corner of the underhive and has them fighting for limited resources.
Goonhammer’s House Rules: Whether it’s for game balance or just to quash any confusion over an unclear section in the books, House Rules are a great way to keep everybody on the same page. Here’s a couple of the ones we like to use!
Modified Scenario Tables: Campaign Scenario generation tailored to each system, with an eye towards variety, fun, and fairness.
The Tactics Card Deck: Our method of encouraging Tactic Card usage in our Campaigns, in a way that avoids the same cards from being played every single game.
Narrative Alliance System: Make your players wow their prospective patrons with the Ol’ Razzle Dazzle before an Alliance can be formed. Designed to encourage gangs to work toward Alliances as a goal, rather than a mindless optimization choice.
Player-Driven Bounty System: Finally, an excuse to use some Dramatis Personae, as players set bounties on each other and Bounty Hunters come to collect their quarry.
Miscellaneous
Painting and Conversion
HTPE – Escher (Part One): Goonhammer contributors show off their gangs, and offer some step-by-step tips and how they found inspiration.
HTPE – Orlock: Goonhammer contributors show off their gangs, and offer some step-by-step tips and how they found inspiration.
Helot Demagogue Kitbash: Skails details his procedure for converting up his Blanchitsu-style Cult Demagogue.
Reviews
Review – House of Blades: Updated Eschers, Chem Alchemy, new scenarios and skills.
Review – House of Chains: Updated Goliaths, Slave Ogryns, new scenarios and skills.
Review – Book of Ruin: Corpse Grinder Cults, updates to Helot Cults and Genestealer Cults, House Corruption.
Review – Book of Judgement: Palanite Enforcers, Criminal Alliances, the Black Market, Law and Misrule Campaign system.
Mailbags
Mailbag #1, July 2020: The team answers all sorts of questions that didn’t find their way into dedicated articles, and disagrees on pre-measuring.
Other Authors
Hammer of Math: Goonhammer contributor Primars Kevin looks into the math behind all sorts of Necro stuff – Ash Waste vehicles, ammo and damage rolls, and campaign economy!
Easy Necromunda Terrain: Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms has some beautiful Necromunda terrain, and he’s here to show us how he built and painted it!
Interview with James M Hewitt: Part three of Lupe’s interview with the mastermind behind the rebirth of Necromunda.
40khamslam: Necro contributor Dylan did some amazing work with the the Kill Team: Into the Dark‘s Killzone Gallowdark terrain.
Questions? Concerns? Extra Ghast? Contact us any time at necromunday@goonhammer.com!
