Necromunday: Halls of the Ancients Review

Howdy scummers! Do you like Squats? You will now! Thanks to Games Workshop for providing us with an advanced copy of Halls of the Ancients for review.

The Ironhead Squat Prospectors came onto the scene in the Book of the Outlands, as part of the Ash Wastes release wave. While the gang was perfectly solid to run in a campaign, it was still missing the trappings that we would expect from a “House of” style book. Enter: Halls of the Ancients. This supplement adds new gear options, a new prospect & champ, a light vehicle, a surprisingly varied subfaction system, and plenty more.

Halls of the Ancients has…

• New background on the history of the Squats on Necromunda.
• An updated Prospector Gang list with changes to weapon options.
• New units, hangers-on, brutes, and vehicles. Squats are a full gang now!
• New skills and a new Squat Ancestry mechanic.
• New scenarios and Dramatis Personae

Background

The book has some absolutely awesome background information, discussing how Squats have been an integral part of keeping Necromunda alive. Ten millennia ago, thirteen League of Votann bastion voidships arrived above Necromunda. One of their leaders, Oryith Ironeye, made a bet that they could make a profit from the dead world. Much to their surprise the planet was already occupied by Imperial forces who were exhausted from constant fighting. Oryith single-handedly boarded the Imperial flagship, demanded to speak to their manager, and negotiated a charter that continues to benefit the Squats to this day. Of the thirteen voidships, twelve descended onto the surface of Necromunda… while the last one did what the thirteenth of anything in Warhammer 40k does and mysteriously disappeared. Upon landing, the Squats got to work, rebuilding hives and creating great works such as the Necromagnium Underway and the Great Ash Road, not to mention stabilizing the atmosphere of the entire planet. Each of the twelve mining clans has a Great Charter which is an agreement between the clan and the Adeptus Terra, meaning that not even the Imperial Governor can revoke it. 

There are a lot of other really cool bits of background here such as the Squats Ancestral Core being lost to the depths of the Necromundan Underearth, the Squats evicting the Ash Wastes Nomads and creating a bitter feud that lasts to this day, an underwater battle between Squats in submarines and tentacled sea horrors which ends in an entire floating hive city sunk to seal the monsters off, a hold where Squats and Ogryns live in harmony, an entire regiment of Squats fighting in the Imperial Guard, and countless other details. There is also a discussion of the eight mining clans that play a major role in Necromunda (the other four located deep in the eastern hemisphere which are apparently even less hospitable than the regions we’re used to), a description of the Squat holds and land trains, and a section on Squat society and culture. This is a really, really awesome contribution to the history of Necromunda and is a solid read.

Genghis Cohen: I am not a Squats player and prior to this book I wouldn’t really have said I was that interested. But I was completely blown away by the Ironhead Squats’ lore in this book. It really sells how they exist on an imperium-held, human world as a humans. Yes, a lot of the Squats’ background is tied into that they’re fantasy dwarves, so living in holds, sticking to their principles rigidly, being all stalwart, and a lot of other tropes from GW’s other offerings. But I thought these themes were very well tied into the wider Necromunda setting, with appropriate details about how the Mining Clans negotiate with other power brokers (like the Clan Houses) and scrape a living from the hive world. As with the previous Ash Wastes-centric books, I came away with a lot of inspiration for elaborate terrain projects and how narrative campaigns could be spread across different settings and themed battles. 

Fowler: One of the twelve Necromundan squat clans (the Helmaeth) are sailors of the sump seas. There are some absolutely fantastic fluff hooks for creating a gang background here. 

Primaris Kevin: Normally I’m not a big fluff guy, but Games Workshop did a really good job of taking something that originally seemed like a gimmick gang and expanding it into a fascinating and really fun bit of lore.

Ironhead Squat Prospector List

The Prospector list replaces the one from Book of the Outlands, adding some new fighters and pets. Before we get to those, there are some new weapons which are available to the already-existing fighter types (which are otherwise unchanged).

Power pack weapons are slightly clarified: a power pack weapon with Sidearm or Melee can be used in addition to ‘any other weapon’ carried by a fighter to make a single melee attack. We are fairly sure that means each melee power pack weapon can only ever make one attack, models can’t use their full Attacks characteristic to use one, even if they have no other melee weapons. We also think that Power Pack weapons can be used in addition to an Unwieldy weapon carried in a model’s hands – that is something of an Arbitrator question, but fluffwise it certainly makes sense. There’s a broader Arbitrator question on whether you can fire multiple Sidearms using the Twin Guns Blazing rule, and whether the Gunfighter skill affects them. 

Power pack weapons are also grouped into one weapon section on fighter lists. Of returning options, the most basic melee option, the Circular Stone Saw, is still available to everyone, while the others – the more expensive Gem Extractor and the incredibly punchy and expensive Arc Welder, are for Gang Hierarchy models or Exo-Kyn Prospects only. The same applies to the prestige Melta Sidearm, the Stone Burner, and there is one new option:

• The Bolt Spitter, at 40 credits, and only available to Gang Hierarchy and Exo-Kyn, is a Rapid Fire(1) Sidearm. It’s S4 and AP-1, but a little shorter ranged than a bolt pistol, and critically it’s only D1. In a common theme for powerpack stuff, it’s not a great deal compared to conventional weapons. The value lies in providing additional dice, probably in close combat. How does it compare to the Stone Burner? Well, it’s substantially cheaper and has a long enough range to be fired in situations where you can’t charge into melee combat. If your group is permissive about multiple Power Pack Sidearms being fired, it might make a decent pistol, but why not just use the regular Ironhead pistol types, which are all better value? Similarly, if you want a sidearm to add melee punch, the Stone Burner is a worthwhile upgrade. So the Bolt Spitter’s niche is probably as a relatively affordable Sidearm to models using Unwieldy close combat weapons. It gives them a token ranged option, which can also aid them in melee. 

Some more new weapons are available to the Charter Master and Drill masters only:

• Ironhead Inferno Pistol. At an eye-watering 160 credits, this is a Sidearm Melta weapon with Rapid Fire(1). Yes, it loses a pip of AP and Damage compared to an actual meltagun, and the ranges are extremely short (4” short range, and a 7” long range which we think might be a typo for 8”). But it will still more than likely put anyone it hits point-blank or in melee straight out of action. Probably not an efficient choice compared to the Ironhead meltagun. But scary as anything. 
• Two-handed chain axe. 40 credits. This is a pretty standard sort of Unwieldy weapon – S+2, AP-1 D2, with Rending. Confusingly, it doesn’t have too much in common with a normal chain axe (which is accurate and has Parry and Disarm) or the other two handed weapons in the new Ironhead weapons pack. 
• Ironhead grenade launcher with seismic grenades. Bit of a mouthful, this one! 50 credits, and note that RAW this can’t be given any additional grenade types which are intended for normal grenade launchers. 

There are two new Unwieldy, Versatile (with a 2” range, but -1 to hit outside of Engagement) weapons which are more widely available:

• Two-handed power pick (available to all the Book of Outlands fighters). 75 credits. This has the S+1, AP-3 and Pulverise of the normal Power Pick, but goes up to D2. 
• Two-handed power axe (available to all but Diggers). 65 credits. This has the S+2 and Disarm of a normal Power Axe, and gains D2, but is only AP-1. We think this is probably fairly priced against the pick, which looks a notch better.
• Are either of these good? Their hitting stats fall into a bit of a valley where there are cheaper weapons with similar stats which aren’t Unwieldy, or you can pay a bit more (especially from the TP) and get a much greater threat. These are available to common Gang Fighters, but that’s one situation where we wouldn’t recommend them. It’s a big investment for a 1A model. The key thing is definitely Versatile, which must have some use cases, although the -1 to hit is going to be a problem.

All the existing fighter types gain access to Power Hammers, and normal Axes, and lose access to regular Power Axes. 

Ironhead Squat Exo Master (Champion)

The new special Champion for the Squats is a melee focused variant. Not on the level of Goliath Stimmers, Escher Death Maidens or Delaque Nacht-Ghuls. These are more of a mirror to the existing Drill-Masters, with identical stats (notably M4” and T4) except for being WS3+/BS4+, where Drill Masters are the opposite. Exo Masters also do not have Group Activation, which is clearly a pretty big downside in itself, and cost 110 credits to recruit.The ‘special’ bit comes in two elements: first, the Exo Master comes with an Exo Suit, which is 5+ armour that makes it immune to Blaze and Rad-phage. That is pretty damn big, since Blaze is a severe and common effect. We can see a nominal cost of 25 credits, the amount an Exo Master costs over a Drill Master, and that is a good deal. But players should be aware this will constrain their Exo Masters slightly as campaigns progress. A model can only wear one suit of armour, so while Armoured Undersuits and Field Armour are available (indeed both are on the Exo Masters’ equipment lists), it’s not very efficient to switch to anything like carapace armour. 

There are some oddities about equipment included in the cost of the model – can you give it to another fighter, as you normally could swap wargear, including armour? With our Arbitrator hats on, we say no, and that’s backed by RAW, since it doesn’t appear in the TP or on any other fighters’ equipment lists. But what happens if an Exo Master is removed from the campaign? Does his armour go into the stash, how much is it worth? To save everyone’s sanity we advise simply treating all Exo Masters (and Exo-Kyn) as being firmly glued into their special armour, and if they ever go, it goes with them.

The second part of what makes an Exo Master special is a campaign layer ability, Paragon of the Ancestors. These champions can take an additional post-battle ability, which must be an Ancestor ability. See the gang special rules section below. 

Exo Masters have the same Wisdom of the Ancients and Brawn (ugh) Primary skill trees, Ferocity and Leadership Secondary, as the Drill Masters. The difference is they also get Combat as Secondary (Drill Masters get Shooting). Which is not the best or broadest access to good skills. But we will say that Bulging Biceps is actually a very usable skill for Exo Masters, as they have nice Unwieldy melee weapons available. 

Some new weapons are exclusive to Exo Masters:

• Ironhead combat shotgun. 40 credits. Weirdly, if ‘Ironhead weapons’ are a rough class that get Rapid Fire over normal weapons, this would more aptly be called the Ironhead normal shotgun. It’s the solid slug shotgun profile with RF(1). Pretty damn good weapon in our opinion, but many Eco Masters will want to invest in heavier kit at some point.  
• Heavy melta. 150 credits. This is a sort of longer ranged Ironhead meltagun (short 9”, long 18”, and yes, it’s RF(1)) which is obviously great. Might be even scarier than a regular multi-melta, on the balance. A true beast of a gun for a very fair price. It’s only limit is being on Exo Masters which are not natural shooting platforms. 
• Heavy Drill. 35 credits. This is by no means a bad weapon – at AP-1 and D2, with Rending, it is perfectly good value – but we’re mystified as to why it’s locked to Exo Masters, when regular Exo-Kyn can take more expensive (or the same price, see below) and destructive options.

They can also access all the weapons available to normal Exo-Kyn (see below), but are limited to pistols, close combat weapons and heavy weapons from the Trading Post. 

Exo Masters are worthwhile just for giving a melee combat archetype for Squats Champions, and a lot of their exclusive melee kit is good value (their power ceiling will still be with high-end TP melee weapons). But we don’t expect these to be the min-maxer’s option, since they are really fairly ordinary champions in stats, and losing Group Activation is big. A lot of their incentive over Drill Masters depends on how much you value the Ancestor’s Legacy picked for your mining clan. 

Ironhead Squat Exo-kyn (Prospect)

These are Prospects by name (and promote to Exo Masters as you’d expect from that), but they are in some ways more like alternately-equipped, melee themed gangers for the Squats. They all have the great value Exo Suit built into their starting value of 60 credits, which is an absolute steal, although building non-elite gang fighters as melee threats is hardly very efficient in general. Their stats are pretty close to a normal Drill-Kyn, with a poor BS5+ (but WS4+), a slightly improved Initiative and slightly worse Ld/Cool. Perfectly fine for their role.

Weapons:

• Their only ranged option (beyond power pack sidearms) is the Storm Welder, which is unchanged – not bad unless you’ve got any friendly fighters visible, when it becomes suicidal. In any case a 75 credits special weapon is not a sensible choice on prospects with BS5+
• This is important because Exo-Kyn can only use close combat weapons from the Trading Post. 
• Exo-Kyn get the full availability of Power Pack weapons, so you could give them some modest range with Bolt Spitters, or just-beyond-melee reach (4”) if you remortgage your Squat hold for Stone Burners. Probably not advisable on a starting BS5+.
• Excavator Hammer. 50 credits. This Unwieldy, Versatile (2” range but -1 to hit outside Engagement) weapon kind of makes the two-handed power weapons available to other varieties of Prop sectors look like doo-doo. S+2, AP-1, D3(!) with Pulverise, this thing should make a mess of anything without a really stacked save. We guess it doesn’t have Power, but it still seems a really strong all round weapon, for a minor increase over the others. 
• Hydraulic Drill. 25 credits. The budget option an Exo-squat should never take, this is S+1 and Entangle. That’s it. Any budget melee weapon from the TP is better. Shockingly bad craftsmanship. 
• Rock Saw. 35 credits. At S+1, AP-1, D2, with Rending, this is a nice value and objectively better than the Heavy Drill (it gains +1S for the same cost), making the latter completely pointless. We suspect some form of editing error here, since so obvious an imbalance in weapon design is silly even by GW’s standards. 

Note that unlike most prospects, every Exo-Kyn can have up to 2 Techmite Autoveyors and Exovators; this is the gang for you if you like little robot pets!

Ironhead Squat Gearhead (Crew)

This 40 credit crew option is pretty standard, with a 4+ BS and other stats that you’ll almost never roll between 6+ and 7+. They have access to custom vehicles, the Ridgerunner, Rockgrinder, and Wolfquad, and of course the Squat-specific vehicles with the Skalvian Explorator and the Svenotar Scout Trike. Pistol wise they get access to the Ironhead version of the autopistol, bolt pistol, and stub gun as well as the usual wargear of filter plugs, photo-goggles, and respirator.

Techmites (Exotic Beasts)

Squats have access to three different robotic critters called Techmites. Every Charter Master and Drill Master can field 0-2 Autoveyors, 0-2 Exovators, and 0-1 Oculi. Every Exo Master and Exo-Kyn can field 0-2 Autoveyors and 0-2 Exovators. You can bring a lot of bots to the field if you have the credits.

• Autoveyors are basically 45 credit scouts, with the ability to re-roll the loot roll when performing the Bypass Loot Casket (Basic) action. They also have the There’s Always Another Secret skill which adds D6x10 credits when opening a loot casket, meaning the Autoveyor can pay for itself with a single crate. They can carry a single weapon.
• Exovators are 55 credits and have the same Loot Casket ability as the Autoveyor but no bonus credits. Instead they have the Nobody Pushes Kin Around skill which means they are never moved by weapon traits or skills and always pass the Initiative test when going from Standing to Prone within half an inch of the edge of a platform. They can carry two power pack weapons.
• Oculi are 40 credit target painting flyer drones which have to stay within 18” of their owner. When within 6” of an enemy they reduce the negative modifiers to hit that unit from cover by 1. They have no ranged weapons, being equipped with two pincers and flak armour. They have a 7” move and fly which makes them very effective for going after objectives. 

Hangers-On

The Claim Jumper is available only to Ironhead Squat gangs and costs 60 credits, which is an absurdly low price given that he is absolutely tooled out with multiple melee weapons, grenades, a Techmite Autoveyor, and mesh armour and has a pretty decent stat line. He also has the Part of the Crew rule which lets him be treated like a regular Ganger for selection. He also comes with the Claim Jump ability, which on a 5+ allows you to gain the boons from a territory controlled by your opponent (they still gain it). The only downside is that he is a legitimate Hanger-on so cannot gain experience and will be removed from the roster if he suffers a Lasting Injury. Also you can only have one of them. The Slopper is available to any gang for 20 credits, and for that price you gain the ability for each fighter that’s In Recovery to participate in the battle on a 6+. 

Brutes

The Squat Brute is the Ironhead Squat Vartijan Exo-driller, which comes in at the very affordable price of 250 credits. They’re about as hard to kill as an Ambot, and come with a Firestorm (1) heavy flamer that can be upgraded to a Rapid Fire (3) heavy bolter for 50 credits. They also come with a fist weapon and a seismic crusher, which is a template weapon that has the Concussion and Seismic traits. With a BS of 3+ it’s not a bad idea to upgrade to the heavy bolter for some range.

Vehicles

Ironhead Squat gangs have access to two vehicles, and they’re both absurdly undercosted for what they can do. 

• The Svenotar Scout Trike costs 105 credits for a 8” move, 5/4/4 Toughness profile, and 3 HP with a 5+ Save. 10 credits over the Ridgerunner gets you an extra movement and 5+ Handling. It also has the option to bring a Techmite Oculi along for 40 credits, which is pretty impressive given how useful the Oculi can be. Weapons wise it can field a twin-linked Ironhead autogun, twin-linked Ironhead boltgun, or a twin-linked meltagun. 
• The Skalvian Explorator is a literal tank that costs 265 credits for a 6” move and a 9/8/7 Toughness profile with 6 HP, a 6+ Handling, and a 3+ Save. It’s basically a slightly slower but more agile Rideghauler with weaker rear armor and the ability to destroy obstacles and flimsy structures without taking any damage. And yes, it has the ability to carry cargo in the form of a 40 credit Ironhead Container. Having the container grants D3x10 credits to the gang’s Stash if the vehicle survives, allows the vehicle to make a Trade post-battle action, and cuts the cost of any chems purchased from the Trading Post in half.

Skills

You know how normally gangs get maybe 1-2 decent skills and the rest are hot garbage? Not this time! 

• Where There’s Scrap, There’s Creds! earns the gang an additional D6x10 credits for every enemy vehicle that was wrecked. This is obviously a highly situational bonus but is great for Ash Wastes campaigns.
• Nobody Pushes Kin Around makes the fighter immune to being moved as a result of skills or weapon traits, and they can never fall from going from Standing to Prone when near the edge of a level or platform. 
• Chemical Bonds Never Break allows a model to use a Chem twice before it’s used up. I guess they’re half the size so they get twice the usage?
• Dependable Like Kin lets you ignore the Unstable trait on weapons and re-roll any Ammo checks (tests) they take. Amusingly enough the only Unstable weapon Squats get on their lists is the storm-welder, but there are a lot of Rapid Fire weapons that would benefit from making Ammo rolls safer. 
• Stubborn to the Last lets the fighter make one last Shoot (Basic) or Fight (Basic) action when they’re taken Out of Action.
• There’s Always Another Secret lets the fighter add an additional D6x10 credits to their gang’s stash whenever they open a Loot casket. Techmite Autoveyors get this and get to re-roll the loot roll. 

Squat Ancestry

Much like the House gangs, Squats gain access to a unique ability which can provide a significant benefit. This ability is called Squat Ancestry, and it’s meant to represent the lineage of a particular gang as they trace their history back to a mining clan. Players choose from one of eight options and gain access to three unique post-battle actions. Each Leader or Champion gains one post-battle action when they join the gang, and they can purchase additional actions with XP as if they were primary skills.

• The Anglish Mining Clan are the trading dwarves, and their actions allow them to sell goods at full price, automatically free a captive by paying 2D6x10 credits (only half of which goes to the other gang), and add a free Squat Digger to the gang roster if at least one fighter is deleted from the gang roster.
• The Scragfrid Mining Clan are the explorer dwarves. Their ancestral abilities allow them to gain an additional D6x10 credits from their territory in exchange for not getting any Boons other than income, getting a free 2D3x10 credits that must be spent on vehicle Wargear or Upgrades, and adding 3 to the Availability level when seeking rare and illegal stuff.
• The Svardhol Mining Clan are the grumpy dwarves who really hate Orks. Their post-battle actions allow them to give themselves the Berserker skill for their next battle, purchase any bionic as if it had a Common rarity, and give newly hired fighters D3 XP when they are added to the gang roster.
• The Tapferkeit Mining Clan are the artificer dwarves who make the Van Saar wish they knew what technology did. They actions can permanently give one of their weapons the Master-crafted trait, reduce the cost of Negotiate Repairs by 2D6x10 credits, or give D3 friendly fighters the Infiltrate skill for the next battle.
• The Helmaeth Mining Clan are the pirate dwarves who sail the Poison Sea in a fleet of submersibles. They can send fighters on Sump Safaris to either gain D3 XP or go into Recovery based on a Leadership test, make a Leadership test to hire D3 Hive Scum for free (!!!!), or allow every gang that participated in a battle to add D6x10 credits to their Stash. Squat Leaders and Champions have Leadership characteristics of 5+ and 6+ so this is a pretty good option.
• The Snorrag Mining Clan are the prospecting dwarves, delving too greedily and too deep. They can automatically force their next mission to be in Pitch Black conditions, allow one of their exotic beasts to move freely through impassible terrain, and gain all the Boons and Income from a Territory twice in exchange for it not being available at all for the next two weeks.
• The Trocken Mining Clan are the scavenger dwarves that pick over the corpses of lost hives that have been long forgotten by the Imperium. They can gain an extra 2D3x10 credits that can only be spent on Common Wargear and weapons from the Trading Post, boost one weapon of a fighter’s exotic beast, or gain D6x10 credits if the fighter passes an Intelligence test (they go into Recovery on a failure). 
• The Vossinki Mining Clan are the druggy dwarves, flying around in a giant void ship that was somehow converted into a sky fortress and hasn’t been shot down by the orbital defenses. They can have fighters perform combat drops and arrive as Reinforcements in Ash Wastes battles, gain a second roll when determining which scenario is played, or petition a House Agent for free.
• Splinter Mining Clans are the “choose your own adventure” dwarves. They can have a friendly fighter re-roll a Lasting Injury, change one of their skills, or choose any other Ancestry ability from another clan and use it for themselves.

There are a lot of really fun and flavorful abilities, but there are also some absolutely insane ones. Being able to gain an extra 90 to 180 credits worth of Hive Scum, or a House Agent with an extra 150 credits worth of toys, is pretty nuts. Note that you can only hire a maximum of 5 Hive Scum and one House Agent, so players hoping to double or triple down on these post-battle actions should curb their enthusiasm. 

Final Thoughts

Genghis Cohen: I think it’s a great book. Fits fine into the power curve, nothing bonkers as some gangs, but great vehicles. Really awesome setting expansion. Eight distinct ancestry options is terrific support.

Primaris Kevin: This is the first time I’ve seen Games Workshop provide House-level support to what was previously a fun but gimmicky gang, and I think it’s fantastic. There’s definitely some potential for balance issues here with the Squat Ancestry abilities, particularly the ones that allow you to add a bunch of free fighters, and that’s something that Arbitrators will want to keep an eye on. This is the first book that’s made me want to just go out and buy a new gang and paint them immediately.

Fowler: I was initially worried when I saw the preview for a squat-focused book. It seemed like this would feel like a “slight” kind of supplement, but am pleasantly surprised. Halls is a welcome glow-up that I hope every “get-you-by” gang is able to get in the future. This might be the kick in the pants that I needed to actually finish my squat gang.

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