Welcome back, Scummers! It’s Monday and we’re deep in the Season of Ash, and here at the Necromunday offices, we decided to try and sandblast those blues away with a brand-new scenario for you and your friends to try out. Start those engines, because it’s time for Ash Wastes Rocket League!
A couple of weeks ago, Merton and I attended a Necromunda weekend at our friend Peter’s house. We had a lot of fun playing games with gingerbread terrain and hunting down Santa on his sleigh, but what turned out to be the most fun game of the weekend was an impromptu all-vehicle rally to attempt to refresh everyone on the vehicle rules.
We called it Ash Wastes Rocket League, after the delightful videogame where rocket-powered cars attempt to knock a huge soccer ball into a goal. But unlike in Rocket League, cars on Necromunda generally all have guns and don’t simply bounce off one another when they collide!
We envision this scenario as a multi-player throwdown, best used to get your group ready for vehicle combat at the start of a campaign, or a fun Downtime game to let your players blow off a little steam.
So, get your keys and hazard suit and jump behind the wheel of your favorite Necromunda shitbox, because it’s time to rumble!
Ash Wastes Rocket League
Two teams of vehicles line up against one another to see who owns the arena in this high-octane contest!
Battle Type
This scenario is an Ash Wastes battle. Only vehicles may be used. For the duration of this battle, all Passenger-Operated weapons mounted on vehicles count as Crew-Operated weapons.
Battlefield
This scenario is meant to be played on a 6’x4’ table. Place two markers on each short (4’) table edge so that they are both exactly 4.5” from the midpoint of the table edge they are on. This will create two 9” wide goals on each side of the table.
The edges of the battlefield are considered to be Impassable terrain, with the exception of the 9” openings between goals. These spaces are treated as Cliff Sides (page 88, Book of the Outlands).
Sparsely fill the rest of the battlefield with scatter terrain and barricades. Try to make it so that both sides of the arena have similar amounts and placement of terrain. All the placed terrain is understood to be flimsy as explained on page 68 of the Ash Wastes rulebook. Do not place any terrain within a 6” radius from the center point of the table.
Finally, place the Ball at the exact center point of the table. The ball is a large spherical object that fits onto a 40mm base. If you don’t have an appropriate orb, just use a 40mm base or a Terminator who doesn’t mind getting bounced around.
Crews
This scenario is played by two teams of 1 or more players on each side. Before the game starts, you must decide how big your game is: 3-on-3 or 4-on-4. Custom vehicles are allowed alongside stock, and all upgrades available at the Trading Post are permitted.
In a 3-on-3 game, each team has 1,250 credits to build their roster (don’t forget to purchase crews!). In a 4-on-4 game, each team has 1,500 credits to build their roster.
Deployment
Both teams roll off. The team who wins the roll-off chooses which goal they will defend. Then, the other team (who had lost the roll-off) must place their first vehicle so that the rear facing of the vehicle is touching their table edge. The teams alternate placing vehicles in this manner until all vehicles are placed. All vehicles must be placed along their short table edge with their rear facings touching the table edge, but they can be placed anywhere along that table edge.
Priority
Roll for priority as normal.
Gang Tactics
Gang Tactics are not used in this scenario.
Ending the Battle
The battle lasts for 10 rounds. At the end of the 5th round, remove all non-wrecked vehicles from the table and deploy as outlined above (including placing the ball at the center point of the table). However, the team that deployed first at the beginning of the game now deploys second. At the end of the 10th round, the game is over.
Re-deployed vehicles are deployed in-state. If a vehicle is stalled, drivers are knocked out, or has a broken component then the effect still applies. Vehicles are not healed at the halftime re-deploy.
This game is played to a set number of rounds, and it is possible that a team might lose all of its vehicles and still win on points. If at any point in the game one team has no operable vehicles left on the board then the game might not necessarily be over. If the wrecked team was losing at that point, then the game is over. However, if the wrecked team was winning, then continue playing the game until the unwrecked team has taken the lead OR the 10th round ends.
Victory
The team who scored the most goals is the winner. If the score is tied at the end of the game, then the game is a draw.
Rewards
This game is played purely for fun, and there are no credit or Reputation rewards associated with it. Your Arbitrator may want to have prizes for the winners or something, but that’s up to them.
Experience
No XP is rewarded during or as a result of this game. Your Arbitrator may want to play it differently, though.
The Ball
The most integral part of Ash Wastes Rocket League is the ball. The ball cannot be shot at and is indestructible. The ball never blocks line of sight. The ball is moved by vehicles striking it. Vehicles do not take damage from striking or being struck by the ball.
There are two ways a vehicle can strike the ball: deliberately and inadvertently.
Deliberately Striking the Ball
When a vehicle deliberately comes in contact with the ball, the player controlling the vehicle moves the ball a number of inches equal to the Strength of the hit the moving vehicle would cause in a collision of this type as described on page 67 of the Ash Wastes rulebook. Always assume that the ball has the same toughness as the vehicle striking it. The ball is moved that number of inches anywhere within the arc of the vehicle facing that struck it. If a vehicle has enough movement to strike the ball more than once during an activation, it may do so. This is called dribbling and it is completely legal.
If a vehicle strikes the ball during a Ram (double) action, add d6 to the number of inches the ball moves.
Equipment such as Rockgrinder Rams and Power Rams increase the strength of vehicle collisions for the vehicles that are equipped with them. For the purposes of striking the ball, they will work in the same manner, increasing the distance that the ball is moved.
When the ball is deliberately struck, it is considered to be moving at ground level and will not pass through terrain, other vehicles, or anything else if it collides with something. If it hits another vehicle or piece of terrain, it will scatter as described below.
Inadvertently Striking the Ball
When the ball is inadvertently struck it will ricochet randomly. Inadvertent strikes include things like chain collisions, swerves, rolls, and any other non-intentional movement (including a deliberately struck ball colliding with something). If the ball is struck inadvertently, it will immediately scatter 2d6” in a random direction shown on the scatter dice. This movement is considered to be an aerial ricochet and will pass through (over) vehicles, terrain, and anything else.
If the ball would come to rest (land) on anything that is not open terrain, it will scatter 2d6” again and will continue to do so until it comes to rest on open terrain. If this movement takes the ball into contact with a goal, a goal is scored.
GOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!
When a goal is scored, the ball is immediately placed at the center point of the table. If the center point is occupied by a vehicle, it will scatter as described above. Scoring a goal does not necessarily end a vehicle’s activation, and if the vehicle still has actions after a goal is scored, it may carry them out.
At halftime, if a wrecked vehicle is occupying the center point of the table, the freshly placed ball will scatter from that point as described above.
Campaign Suggestions
If you’re running a campaign, it might be a fun idea to gather your players’ vehicles and enter them in the Rocket League instead of creating new vehicles for the match. You may even want to offer cash rewards for the winner and experience for all who participate! However, remember that if there are rewards, then there need to be risks. If credits and experience are on the table, then permanent vehicle damage is, too!
There you have it, Scummers! Get those vehicles out there and give Ash Wastes Rocket League a try! We guarantee that it will be a blast, and we hope it becomes a Ash Wastes Downtime fixture! As always, if you have any questions of suggestions for us feel free to drop us a line at necromunday@goonhammer.com. See ya next week, Scummers!
