Howdy scummers! It’s been a while since we’ve talked about Helmawr’s muscle on Necromunda – the Palanite Enforcers. While we had an article for them before, we have updated it with rules for Badzone Enforcers and the new plastic Brute and Vehicle releases. 

Enforcers are a consistently popular gang with both new and experienced Necromunda players. In the game of brutal gang warfare in the 40th millenium, it makes a lot of thematic sense to have at least one player as the cops in this grimdark version of cops and robbers. Very new players who (unusually) haven’t come to Necromunda by way of Warhammer 40k, may have to learn that as Enforcers you are certainly not playing the good guys, even relative to the other gangs! Regardless of whether the player envisions their Enforcer gang as the thin line holding the chaos of the hive cities in order (albeit with brutal measures) or the repressive fascist jackboot stamping on the underclasses, there are a lot of storytelling possibilities.

Enforcers also strike many new players as the elite, heavily armoured, defensive gang – but this isn’t entirely reflected in the rules, as we will see. Older players, who have vague memories or hard experience of old Necromunda (any time from the mid-90s to 2017) may remember the days when Enforcers genuinely were very elite, with a level of equipment and training beyond all but the most experienced underhive gangs. In that iteration they were intended as an Arbitrator tool to offer an antagonist to strong players’ gangs, as much as an option for players, although that use proved very popular as well. 

The flashlight is what makes this tactical. Credit: Jack “BenBooley” Hunter

In fact Enforcers are a gang with mediocre to poor stats, but good starting equipment and early-mid campaign equipment options. They lack as many in-built options as other gangs for building truly powerhouse Leader/Champion fighters. But options in Necromunda are very wide – regular Enforcers certainly aren’t held back compared to other gangs if you have the wherewithal and imagination to use the Trading Post to complement your normal equipment lists in the late campaign. Their Leader, Champions and Specialists/Juves do have some strong Skill choices available which open up characterful options for reactive, defensive play, as well as straightforwardly strong Shooting skills.

This article (written January 2024) now covers all the updates to Enforcer gangs since their release in the Book of Judgement. The game has moved on a bit since then, with the Clan Houses receiving their detailed Books (of Chains for Goliaths, of Blades for Escher etc) which updated and expanded how fighters are organised and equipment purchased, as well as introducing new unique mechanics for each gang. The old Enforcers list is therefore a bit outdated – they have their own unique skill tree, Palanite Drill, and a strongly flavoured equipment list, but there are some oddities with how their equipment and Champion/Ganger/Juve equivalents work. There is a second, completely separate list for Badzone Enforcers which uses very similar statlines, skills and equipment, but makes some changes to the original gang’s rigid structure and is sort of more in line with how the rules for recent House gangs are presented. We will go through these wrinkles in the article, explaining both types of gang separately; where they share equipment or rules we will try and comment on whether those options are good picks for regular vs Badzone Enforcers. 

Five-oh comin’ up, y’all. Credit: Games Workshop

The Rules

The rules for founding a regular Enforcers gang are available in the Book of Judgement and in the Dark Uprising version of the rulebook. Both are otherwise a bit outdated now, most of the other rules from Judgement made it into the revised Necromunda core rulebook in July 2023. The rules for Badzone Enforcers were published in White Dwarf 477, in June 2022. There are also some pertinent points in the Necromunda FAQ that update Enforcers’ rules and certain weapons, which will be mentioned in this guide. 

The Enforcers’ unique Exotic Beast, the Hardcase Cyber-Mastiff, and their Brute, the Sanctioner pattern automata, are in the Vaults of Temenos campaign book and their unique crew (Palanite Rangers) and vehicle (Tauros Venator) are in the Ruins of Jardlan book. Necromunda definitely spreads its rules around a bit!

Regular Enforcers Rules

There are some unique aspects creating and running a regular Enforcers gang that you may want to note:

• Models are classed as Palanites or Subjugators. This is decided at Gang Creation or Recruitment of new fighters and cannot be changed during a campaign. The pros and cons are discussed below under Fighter types. But this determines their base sizes (28mm for Palanites, 32mm for Subjugators), starting armour, and weapon options. Something you might want to discuss with your Arbitrator, many campaigns have a mechanic where a territory or racket gives a chance to recruit a new Ganger for free. Most groups would play this as giving you a Palanite Patrolman, if you are determined to run a Subjugator-themed force you might want to ask if your group is prepared to create a more detailed rule for you.
  • Whether your Enforcer Captain is a Palanite or Subjugator, you must include at least 2 Patrolmen of that same type at the start of the campaign. See the Captain fighter entry below for the implications. 
• Enforcers cannot hold territories in Dominion campaigns (the campaign in the core Necromunda Rulebook), instead disrupting other gangs’ control of theirs. This seriously limits their income generation across the campaign, causing all but the most successful players to fall behind the power curve. We strongly recommend that if you are playing Enforcers in a Dominion campaign, you simply talk with your Arbitrator/group and disregard this rule. It’s an unnecessary restriction on a gang that isn’t particularly powerful. We get that your Enforcers wouldn’t operate in the same way an underhive gang would, but such a punishing rule just doesn’t work. 
• Enforcers can use weapons from the Trading Post, and indeed Black Market! This is sort of ambiguous in the book but clarified in the FAQ. This gives them flexible options beyond most House gangs. Indeed, many groups may wish to restrict this beyond the RAW and limit Trading Post weapons to Leader and Champions, although it’s not an imbalance/advantage unless an Enforcer player sets out to abuse certain overpowered weapons. 
• Enforcers can include a maximum of 2 Sgts (Champions). Now Enforcer Sgts are probably the second-worst champions in the game, just ahead of Genestealer Cult’s. They have 2 Wounds, but only 1 Attack, and the same 4+ WS/BS as a Patrolman. They blow. Despite this, as in all Necromunda gangs, the Group Activation, ability to perform post-battle actions, and extra Wound make them a better deal than lesser Fighters. In a decent length campaign, most gangs would aim to recruit more than 2 Champions, and we suggest allowing Enforcers to do the same. There’s no reason they should be restricted here. 
• Enforcers cannot recruit Rookies (Juves), these are only obtainable through special Campaign recruitment, e.g. via Territories/Rackets, or by losing a Fighter (dead, captured & sold, or retired) from your roster. In that latter case, you receive a free Rookie to make up the loss – which is actually a very strong benefit, a gang can easily lose a couple hundred credits of gang rating if they take a bad beating and roll poorly for lasting injuries afterwards. Oddly enough, Rookies have a gang rating of 0 credits, so losing models still reduces your Gang Rating, but you get fresh fighters anyway. Remember you can’t intentionally recruit Rookies – no starting your gang with 5 free warm bodies and giving them 5 combat shotguns to circumvent their poor BS. 
• Normal Enforcers cannot recruit Specialists at Gang Creation. They can only obtain them by a Patrolman rolling 2 or 12 on the Ganger Advancement Table (to become a Specialist) or promoting a Rookie with 5+ Advances during Downtime or at the end of a Campaign. Of course those can happen, although promoting Juves really does require a long campaign or freakish luck. Enforcer Patrolmen aren’t barred from using Special or Heavy Weapons, so this only keeps them spending XP randomly and prevents them gaining Skills.
  • FAQ point. In the Book of Judgement it seems to imply that all Enforcer Patrolmen spend XP like Specialists, this is confirmed not to be the case. Patrolmen gain Advances like Gangers, Rookies like Juves. Note that Rookies apparently do not have the Fast Learner skill which helps most Juves/Prospects avoid paying fees for repeated Advances in the same stat.

Bravo Oscar Bravo 8135th Precinct by Beanith

Badzone Enforcers Rules

The rules for building a Badzone Enforcers gang are in some ways simpler, and at least are clearly laid out and defined just as they are for other up-to-date House gangs.

• Badzone Enforcers can hold Dominion Territories normally. This is justified in the background as they have gone a bit rogue and have to self-sustain themselves without direct support from the Imperial House; in practice it’s probably a tacit admission that the restriction was unnecessarily harsh in campaign play.
• Badzone Enforcers recruit a Captain (Leader), Sergeants (Champions) and Patrolmen (Gangers) like most gangs do – no restricted numbers of Champions and no Subjugator/Palanite split. They have to obey the normal rule that your Gangers must be at least half the fighters in your gang. One Patrolmen recruited at the start of a campaign can be a Specialist.
• Additionally, and not counted toward total either way, Badzone Enforcers have another fighter type, Enlisted Hive Scum. These are sort of like Juves in that they can promote, to Patrolmen (not Specialists) after 5 Advances (note that the updated Rulebook now specifies 3 Advances for normal Juves to promote; we would advise Arbitrators to apply that to Enlisted Hive Scum as well). It also appears that Enlisted Hive Scum can pick Advances, including Skills, like Juves can. But they do not benefit from Fast Learner, and are explicitly forbidden from acting in Group Activations. On the plus side, much like most gangs’ Prospects, if a Scum is injured or taken out it does not cause Nerve tests in nearby friendly fighters. 
• To represent their lack of supplies from their remote masters, Badzone Enforcers Patrolmen (not the Captain or Sergeants) gain the Scarce rule on any Enforcer Boltguns, Enforcer Shotguns and Concussion Carbines. Those three signature weapons are real standout strengths for Enforcers and this does curtail that a bit – we’ll discuss the implications under their fighter entry below.
• Badzone Enforcers cannot take the Hardcase Cyber-Mastiff, which is the faction-exclusive Exotic Beast for their regular counterparts. They get a substantially worse equivalent, the Hacked Cyber-Mastiff, instead (see the core rulebook for its rules). RAW there is no explicit guidance on whether Badzone Enforcers can recruit the Sanctioner brute, Ranger crew, or buy the Tauros Venator vehicle – but our assumption and recommendation to Arbitrators would be that they can. 

Enforcer Fighter Types 

Regular Enforcers

Common Equipment

All regular Enforcers come with a stub gun, armoured undersuit, Magnacles (this is clarified in the FAQ) and armour. For the Palanites that is Flak Armour. For Subjugators, Layered Flak Armour, which grants a 5+ save, 4+ against templates or blasts. All of this equipment is included in the cost of the fighter, so most groups would rule it can’t be sold. You’d rarely want to discard it or transfer it to another fighter, since all fighters come with it. The exception is the Stub Gun. Fighters can only have 3 weapons on their fighter card in Necromunda. So clearly that Stub Gun stands in the way of creating some loadouts. RAW you cannot discard weapons, but this rule is commonly ignored by many groups. Consider discussing this equipment with your Arbitrator and setting some guidelines on what you can do with it. 

Free equipment in general raises a lot of weird questions about what you can do with it in a campaign, e.g. if the original owner it came with gets killed – which causes all this [theoretically value-0] equipment to go into your Stash. Please discuss with your Arbitrator if this comes up, the fairest solution is probably that you do get the equipment and it counts as its full TP value for Gang Rating.

Enforcer Captain 

Like all gangs, Enforcers must have 1 Leader, the Enforcer Capt. This model can be a Palanite, or upgrade to a Subjugator for +10 credits, and you must include at least 2 Patrolmen of that same type in your starting Roster. So that choice substantially shapes your initial line-up. For the Captain himself, it’s hard to argue that he is better suited for life as a Subjugator. With 3+WS and 4+BS, and being your only model with 2 Attacks, he’s a natural pick as a melee model, and in itself, the improved armour of a Subjugator, and ability to take a shield, is worth the price. Our suggested build for a Subjugator Captain would be as a close-in brawler, using a decent melee weapon (the Shock Stave is the best of a bad lot in the Enforcer armoury, but you should consider Trading Post options) and a Vigilance Assault Shield to try and keep him on the table. The stand-out close combat related Skill available to a melee Captain is Threat Response. Note that if your group allows you to discard the starting stub gun, or you want to start an alternative load-out for him, you could still buy such a Captain a Basic/Special weapon to make him a versatile threat. Alternatively, a Palanite Capt can still take shooting-relevant skills and wield an effective weapon, if you’re emphasising ranged power in your gang, he’s just no better at it than a Palanite Sgt (see below).

Enforcer Sergeants

Ugh, Enforcer Sgts are not great. 4+ WS/BS. 1 Attack. They’re simply bad compared to other gangs’ equivalents. However they do get Group Activation and 2 Wounds, as well as a free skill. Enforcer Sgts can access the Shooting Skill tree, Cunning, and Palanite Drill. This gives them multiple nice options to bolster their shooting options, and only one option, Threat Response, that does anything to improve their close combat utility – and even then, a counter-charge skill isn’t going to allow that 1A on 4+WS to do much to any serious threat. Therefore our advice is definitely to build your Sgts as Palanites, or as Subjugators using their heavy weapon options. Or, if you plan on going to the Trading Post for some punchier ranged options, the only difference between the two types is paying 10 credits for heavier armour, which is a steal.

Suggested builds for Enforcer Sgts would be Overwatch shooters. Some players really like to pair this skill with a sniper rifle, which is thematic, and not at all bad if you play on big, open tables. Personally I think a boltgun is a more flexible choice, and Damage 2 makes a huge difference. Alternatively, there are strong Shooting skills (Trick Shot/Fast Shot) which make any of the ranged weapons better. Even Hip Shooting enables some nice tricks, although it is strongest with a good template weapon – Sgts should consider pairing it with an Enforcer Shotgun or going to the Trading Post. Infiltrate is a very powerful skill that can benefit a range of weapon loadouts. Honestly, being able to deploy so freely can trivialise some scenario objectives to the extent it becomes unfun. But be cautious, if misused Infiltrate can result in a valuable fighter appearing in an isolated position, taking one swipe at the enemy and then being destroyed without support from the rest of the gang.

Patrolmen

Palanite Patrolmen are your all-purpose weapon carriers. Their Basic/Special weapon options are uniformly excellent, so despite their high cost and mediocre stats they can hold their own as the basis for a shooting-oriented gang. After all, Armoured Undersuits being included may not be what you’d choose at Gang Creation, but it’s decent in the long run. The challenge their cost gives you is fitting in enough bodies at the start of the campaign to keep up your activations and avoid a death spiral if you have a few fighters in Recovery at once.

Subjugator Patrolmen are better envisaged as the spicy topping on the nourishing corpse-starch of the Palanites. Their weapon options are mediocre melee tools, or a krak-less grenade launcher. In our experience, you need/want fewer of these than you do the flexible shooting tools the Palanites can access. The defining feature of Subjugators is their armour, paired with the Vigilance Assault Shield. Where a Palanite has a 5+ save, 4+ against blasts, a Subjugator with a shield has a 4+ save, 3+ against blasts, or 3+ from shots in the front arc, 2+ from melee attacks in the front arc (or from blasts/templates in the front arc). This means that your Subjugators can risk body-blocking many attacks, until your opponents start accumulating -AP weapons. It does mean you need to be extra careful about their facings, it makes a big difference to their survivability to be facing the right way when the enemy come calling. You should probably also consider marking their bases with 90 degree front arcs, if the model doesn’t make it completely obvious. You can try to keep your Subjugators nearer the enemy than the Palanites, to force Cool checks if the enemy want to target the lighter-armoured fighters. Just be careful of Stray Shots from your own Palanites. You can avoid Stray Shots by keeping the firing model in base contact with their ally, but of course that sort of close up, shieldwall formation, while very fluffy and cool looking, is going to leave you vulnerable to templates – a better save doesn’t quite make up for not having several models get hit at once!

Subjugator patrolmen tend to be used as melee threats, in which case you should be mindful not just of their survivability, but how far to push it – 1A at WS4+ is not a close combat powerhouse, while you can try to batter an unsuspecting Ganger or Juve, or push forward to Coup de Grace the miscreants your Palanites have downed with shooting, you don’t want to try and take on any melee Champions with these guys. Versatile close combat weapons are your friend to help avoid Reaction Attacks, as are Knockback weapons like the shield, although the latter are riskier. On a melee Subjugator we think grenades, especially Photon Flash, are a great buy, as indeed the launched versions are for grenade launcher Subjugators.

If you are planning to buy a Patrolman his weapons from the Trading Post, Subjugators are a better buy than Palanites – 10 credits is a bargain for a better save, and the shield is one of the items that can’t be replicated or bettered from the TP. We should mention future-proofing your gang though. As seen with the House of books, the trend in Necromunda has been to restrict Gangers/Juves to their House weapons, and keep TP weapon options for Leaders, Champs, and Prospects. So as great as a Subjugator with a Webber would be, you may find in a future update that model will have to represent a Sgt going forward.

Rookies

If you happen to get a Rookie, they’re free, which is actually a really big deal, you don’t have to pay to recruit a replacement for a casualty, and it sort of makes your Gang Rating lower than it should be relative to your strength, which can help you get extra tactics cards or other Underdog incentives. Rookies’ stats are strictly inferior to Patrolmen, and they’re unable to be Subjugators, they do have the same weapon options as other Palanites. Our suggestion would be to keep Rookies cheap, running around with their free stub gun, achieving objectives and threatening to Coup de Grace injured enemies… or buy them an Enforcer Shotgun. 5+BS is rough, but when you have a Scattershot teardrop template it doesn’t matter! They can then use their XP towards enhanced Movement and/or the Hip Shooting skill, or perhaps Infiltrate. Grenades would also work on these cheap and cheerful newbies. 

Hardcase Cyber-Mastiff. Credit: Fowler

Hardcase Cyber-Mastiffs

Exotic Beasts, universally referred to as ‘pets’, sort of blur the line between Wargear and Fighter. They are strictly speaking part of a Leader or Champion’s equipment, they accompany that one fighter whenever they take part in a Scenario. This does mean they can take you over your Crew size for a scenario – e.g. in a Crew of 3 fighters, you can take 2 Patrolmen and 1 Sgt with his cyber-mastiff. In terms of pure stats, a Hardcase is a good deal. T4 with a 4+ Save. 2 Attacks at WS3+, at S3, AP-1, but with Rending and Shock. Frankly these guys are better in melee than almost all of your Enforcers. They also have nifty special rules: enemies can’t Coup de Grace their owner while the Hardcase is still standing within 3”, the mastiff can move into melee to support its owner as a free action when the owner activates (this is one of the only ways to effectively use the rules for assistance/interference in close combat) and if the mastiff is taken Out of Action before activating in a Round, it can take its Activation before being removed. Nice! 

That said, there are some limits on how big a role they can play. You may gain Advances (randomly) but you won’t ever get upgraded weaponry. They’re fundamentally built to savage vulnerable Gangers/Juves/Prospects, they won’t be able to take on elite enemy combatants. A charging cyber-mastiff has a very good chance to inflict one injury roll on a 1W target, provided they don’t have additional protection beyond mesh armour. But it’s not as reliable as most gang’s melee-purposed fighters can get, and it’s a silly risk against an enemy Champion. They must also return to within 3” of their master. So a Hardcase, or even two, is a useful helper for a melee Capt or a Sgt built for close-in fighting. For a fighter built to shoot from further back, they’re more of an insurance policy against sudden melee attacks by the enemy. Hardcase Cyber-Mastiffs are a very cool part of the gang, and you can make frenzied growling noises when you activate them, but make sure you have enough non-pet fighters before you take a couple of these.

Badzone Enforcers

Differences in Equipment & Structure

Badzone Enforcers broadly follow the structure of all the up-to-date Necromunda gangs: you need 1 Leader and you need up to half your gang to consist of ‘Gang Fighters’, which for Badzone Enforcers is Patrolmen, Specialists and Palanite Rangers (vehicle crews). This is where it gets a little different. Most gangs have one bucket of Leader, Champions, Brutes, and another bucket of Gangers, Specialists, Juves, Prospects. For Badzones, your Enlisted Hive Scum are sort of similar to Juves, but they exist outside of the Gang Hierarchy/Fighter structure. Confused yet? 

Bottom line on numbers: you need to have at least as many Patrolmen (inc Specialists) and Rangers as you have Captain, Sergeants, and any Brutes. Then your Enlisted Hive Scum form a separate bonus bucket, you can have as many of those guys as you want. 1 Captain, 1 Patrolman Specialist and 25 Hive Scum is allowed, although we wouldn’t advise such an unprofessional posse! 

Badzone Enforcer fighters all still carry Magnacles and Armoured Undersuits which are folded into their base costs. They have ditched their armour and stub guns though, which simplifies the design of starting gangs quite a bit. Costs are completely normalised for that relative to regular Enforcers, so every fighter is 15 credits cheaper to balance the notional cost of flak armour and a stub gun. The Skills available are also exactly the same for equivalent fighter types.

Finally, any Enforcer boltguns, Enforcer shotguns, or concussion carbines carried by Patrolmen gain the Scarce keyword. See the Armoury section for our wider thoughts on those weapons, but they are all very good and using them widely is a real faction strength for regular Enforcers. Honestly, they are still good even with Scarce – loads of popular weapons in Necromunda have that rule, and it’s a gamble. In some games it absolutely screws you, in others it never comes up, or the game is decided by the time it does, or your fighter is going to be taken out before they could reload anyway. So this is a manageable drawback, Enforcer boltguns and shotguns are still going to be common sights in Badzone gangs (carbines less so, since only Specialists or the Captain/Sergeants can use them).

Badzone Captains & Sergeants

These guys share the stats and skills of their regular counterparts, so the same logic applies – the Captain is the only one with any melee chops, the Sergeants are pretty terrible compared to other gangs’ equivalents. What differs is the equipment lists (which are the same for a Badzone Captain or a Sergeant). There is no Subjugator/Palanite split, so realistically most of these guys will want to wear Layered Flak Armour (or just Mesh) and some of them will want to carry a Vigilance Assault Shield. It’s really nice to be able to combine that shield with the full range of Palanite-exclusive weapons, like the excellent Enforcer boltgun. But our general advice for normal Enforcers holds true here, Captains should be melee/counter-charge threats, although there’s no reason not to take good ranged weapons on them later, and Sergeants should focus on delivering ranged firepower. We will look at their expanded weapon options in detail in the Armoury section below – there are some decent, punchier melee weapons, a good pistol (plasma) and one superb special weapon, the web gun. But at creation, players might stick to the Enforcer-exclusive basic and special weapons. As campaigns continue, Sergeants are going to be the main carriers of really heavy-duty special or heavy weapons in your gang, but most of those are likely to be bought via the Trading Post. 

Badzone Patrolmen & Specialists

This is where Badzone Enforcers differ most from the regular kind. Badzone Patrolmen are much more like other gangs’ gangers. You can make one a Specialist at gang creation, and unlike regulars, only the Specialist can carry special weapons! This means no concussion carbine or sniper rifle spam for the Badzoners. Patrolmen can’t really be Subjugators like their regular counterparts – in theory you could buy them Layered Flak armour from the TP, but they will never be able to carry Vigilance Assault shields, or indeed Subjugator grenade launchers or any of their exclusive heavy weapons. Frankly, not a great loss since those were always better investments on Sergeants anyway. Patrolmen can just go straight into Mesh armour, which is a steal when you’ve already got an undersuit. They also have interesting options for cheap Basic weapons and we would heavily consider investing in a cheap Autogun for anyone using a Scarce weapon, it’s ok value as a back-up piece. Although the faction-exclusive basic and special weapons are either Scarce or unavailable for Badzone patrolmen, the same strategy applies to these fighters as it does to regular Palanites: use them as solid medium range shooters. Decent armour and good weaponry will make them a reliable staple of a Badzone Enforcers gang, leaving the really expensive weapons and melee work to their Sergeants. While they can access Basic, Close Combat weapons and pistols from the TP, few options are better than an Enforcer Boltgun or Shotgun, even with Scarce added on. There might be some scope to adding efficient close combat weapons, prestige pistols (like Web Pistols, Hand Flamers, Plasma Pistols) later in a campaign, or perhaps you want to model regular shotguns and use their excellent special ammo options. 

Note that Badzone Patrolmen are your only ‘Gang Fighters’ besides [in Ash Wastes campaigns] the Palanite Ranger vehicle crews. So in any non-vehicle-using campaign they must be taken to balance out your Capt/Sgts. You can’t just take the hierarchy and some Hive Scum, you will need Patrolmen. 

Enlisted Hive Scum

Being able to take 4+BS/WS fighters for 30 credits is honestly a pretty big deal. The chance to bulk out your starting force with effective, if bare-bones, fighters for <50 credits is very helpful. Enlisted Hive Scum are a bit of an oddity. They can pick their Advances freely, like most gangs’ Juves and can promote to Patrolmen (note: not Specialists) after 5 Advances – most groups would rule this to be after 3 Advances, which is the common standard introduced for promotion in the updated Core Rulebook. They don’t provoke Nerve tests in nearby friendly fighters if they go down or out, just like most gangs’ Prospects. Against those upsides, they can never be part of Group Activations, which is really a bit of a pain. 

Our first suggested use for Enlisted Hive Scum is as cheap activations, they’re just 40 credits for a warm body with a reclaimed autogun. Second would be as grenade runners, since they can buy blasting charges from their native list, and incendiary charges or photon flash grenades should be easily procurable. While they can use a variety of basic weapons, none of those really compare in value to the Enforcer Boltguns which Patrolmen can carry, even with the Badzoners’ Scarce rule taken into account. So our third and final advised use would be for Scum to form cheap melee threats. A flail or a chainsword won’t impress enemy Champions, but it can be useful to have a non-shooting way to attack weaker enemies or just put pressure on opposing shooting-focussed gangs. 

Hacked Cyber-Mastiffs

So Badzone Enforcers can technically take this Exotic Beast (which is also a Trading Post option). Never do this. It is admirable to give a stray dog a home, but even that doesn’t really justify this, especially since you would just be sending it into brutal gang fights. A hacked mastiff is basically just like the overpriced Orlock version, except it can randomly go Insane, which is a crippling downside. It has none of the good points of the Hardcase (Toughness, armour and counter-charging). Just don’t bother.

Unique Brute: The Sanctioner Automata

These ‘Lawtomata’ are, RAW, a unique Brute for regular Enforcer gangs, but our opinion, which we think most groups/Arbitrators would share, is that they are allowed for Badzone Enforcers as well. One to check before recruitment.

At 205 credits they start at just slightly less than the commonly-available (and very good) Ambot and there are some real similarities. Both bots have T5, 3W and included light carapace armour for a 4+ save. That’s a resilient model. The difference is that Ambots are geared for close combat, with WS3+, BS5+ and S5. The Sanctioner may come stock with a pair of close combat weapons, but make no mistake, this is a versatile shooting and melee threat. It has quite a few options, but let’s go through its special rules first:

• Automated Repair Systems. Don’t roll for Recovery, simply count as rolling a Flesh Wound every time. This is extremely good, meaning the Sanctioner will have to be quite unlucky to go Out of Action from enemy shooting – if you can keep it away from melta weapons and charging enemies, you should have a great chance to keep it in the game even if its toughness and armour fail. 
• Got Your Six. This skill, one of the best from the Palanite tree, is going to help stop those charges! It lets you essentially shoot as a free action to interrupt enemy charges, which meshes extremely well with some of the Sanctioner’s ranged options. The trick to using it is to keep the bot itself protected from melee, usually by body-blocking – as we understand the skill, it can’t be used to protect the user themselves.  
• Mobile Bulwark. Friendly models taking partial cover behind the Sanctioner’s bulk count as being in full cover. This is quite minor and situational, but helps draw an evocative picture of your Enforcers advancing behind the mobile shield of the armoured robot. Cool, but we will investigate the pros and cons below. 

Those skills build a picture of a hardy model which can provide mobile cover from small arms to your Enforcers, and cover them against enemy charges, while shrugging off ranged attacks. Great, but firstly you need to carefully judge the threats, since it’s even more of an investment if it does get taken out by something scary. Of course you don’t win games just by weathering enemy attacks, so let us look at the weapons it can bring to bear:

• Grenade Array with Photon Flash. This is the one weapon all Sanctioners start with and can’t replace. Being able to lob flash grenades out to 18” with no range penalties is great. See the armoury section for a rundown of why these weapons are terrific, especially to neutralise heavily protected, mediocre-to-low-Initiative enemies, but this is a wonderful base capability to have. Note that it’s a special sort of launcher, the grenades don’t have the same ammunition-supply issues as thrown versions.
  • You can spend credits to get additional grenade types. These are all skippable. Smoke is cheap and situationally useful, Stun is less cheap and rarely something you’d want to use. Choke and Scare Gas grenades, as exotic as they sound, are both too expensive, and are Limited – you delete them from your roster if you fail one of their [punishingly hard] Ammo Rolls. That’s ridiculously bad value, especially since, RAW, you can only buy a Brute kit when you recruit it. So if you run out of Choke or Scare grenades for your array, you are never allowed to buy more! 
• Pacifier Assault Claw and Heavy Shock Baton. These are the stock melee weapons, it comes with one of each (no doubling up) and you can swap either or both for the ranged (or dual-use melee/ranged) weapons below. They are broadly comparable – the claw strikes at S4 AP-1, the baton at S5 AP-, both are D2. The claw has Pulverise, the baton has Concussion, Shock and Parry. On the strength of that last rule, which really supports the Sanctioner’s tanky role, we’d pick the baton if keeping one of these options, but it is close enough to use whichever you prefer aesthetically. Either gives the bot respectable damage output, given its 2A at WS4+, but while it is a risk in melee even to 2W enemies, it doesn’t fight as hard as some of those formidable foes. The main takeaway is that you shouldn’t really have both of these options, the optional guns are too important.
• Concussion Cannon. For +80 credits, this purely ranged option is pretty good. S4, AP-1, D2 are respectable, but like all weapons in this family, it’s the Blast, Seismic, Knockback, Concussion traits we’re here for. Not only is it good all-round, its accuracy bonus up to 9” means it’s well suited to stopping charging enemies, especially since Seismic guarantees they will be Pinned, despite Nerves of Steel or similar abilities.
• SLHG Sledgehammer Assault Ram. At a relatively modest +40 credits, this is firstly a significant melee upgrade, at S+2, AP-1, D2, with Pulverise and the incredibly important Versatile trait. Definitely worth considering for that alone. In the unforgiving mechanics of Necromunda combat, if you are going to scrap up close you need to ensure the best chance of victory. The next best thing is to not risk Reaction attacks at all! As a bonus this comes with a frag grenade launcher, which is at least something to do if you’re further away and/or photon flashes are not suitable. Unlike the version your human Enforcers use, this has Choke Gas grenades, which are better than frag in most situations, and especially useful against armoured or multi-wound models since they ignore saves and inflict injury rolls while bypassing Wounds. Remember that Gas weapons don’t inflict Pinning. Like the grenade array ammo, these are, bizarrely, Limited and won’t be replaceable if you run out. So if you do want to fire Choke grenades, maybe save them for those armoured targets lest you run out untimely. 
• Sanction Pattern Mancatcher. The prestige option at +100 credits, this combines an anaemic combat weapon, which is a straight downgrade to the existing options, with a freaking web gun. That’s right, everyone’s favourite busted template is now a stock part of the Enforcers’ armoury. Not to labour the obvious, but as well as being a terrifying threat to anyone in range, this weapon gives you an excellent chance to stop any charge with the Got Your Six skill. Basically, just pass the Wound roll (on its meaty S5). God damn web guns are good.

That dump of information probably seems a bit overwhelming. With one built-in weapon and 5 options, I think there are about 10 possible loadouts. How should you build your Sanctioners (beyond the practical real-life modelling solution of magnets or friction-fitted swappability)? 

• First, the really obvious, we would always take the Heavy Carapace for +20 credits. It is definitely worth the extra cost to protect your investment. Similarly, we wouldn’t buy any extra grenade types, you’ve got the best already. 
• We would advise against buying the Concussion Cannon and the Mancatcher. It’s very pricey, you won’t have any punchy close combat weapons, and you can’t shoot both expensive weapons at once so there’s an inefficiency.
• We advise against running just the stock melee weapons and flash grenades. Yes, you will be resilient and stay [relatively] cheap but you’re still not actually that great in melee, and you don’t get much value from Got Your Six – you can try it with flash grenades but that’s not really their intended purpose and a 5” template is tricky to use up close.
• That leaves us with recommended option A: one stock melee weapon, probably the baton but player’s choice, and the Concussion Cannon. A versatile shooter which can contribute whether your opponent comes toward you or not.
• Option B: one stock melee weapon, and the Mancatcher. A priority threat for the enemy if it can get within template range.
• Option C: one stock melee weapon, and the Sledgehammer. This is now a viable melee attacker, which is something Enforcers struggle to field, and it still has some limited ability to engage enemies at range with launched grenades. It’s also relatively cheap. We do advise the baton as a secondary melee weapon here – you want to bash people from 2” away with the Versatile Sledgehammer most of the time, so the Parry rule on the baton becomes proportionally more important as a defensive tool.
• Option D: Sledgehammer and Concussion Cannon or Sledgehammer and Mancatcher. These are the silly expensive realms here, but you are buying the maximum close combat punch paired with the maximum ranged threat (either up close or at medium range). Personally I like the Mancatcher; I see the Sanctioner as primarily a tool for closer quarter engagements.

There you go, bit of a complex Brute that Sanctioner! Overall we think it is perfectly competitive with other Brute options like the mighty Ambot. Effectively it is more expensive than that old standby, because you will want at least one weapon upgrade and the heavier armour. But for that price it has a defensive shooting capability which supports the Enforcers’ playstyle. While it may not be as scary offensively as the best melee gangs’ Champions, its robust statline means it can brawl with most models in the game, and ultimately it’s the best melee model Enforcers can get, except perhaps a later-campaign Captain who has been heavily invested in. 

The Armoury

Regular Enforcers don’t have restrictions on their basic Patrolmen (or indeed Rookies) using things like Special Weapons. Instead, the house list is divided into Palanite and Subjugator options. Fighters can’t mix across those categories but they do have the same wargear, and in Regular Enforcers, although this is a relic of outdated rules, every model can equip Trading Post weaponry if desired. 

Badzone Enforcers’ Captain and Sergeants can choose from a combined list which features weapons usually exclusive to Subjugators/Palanites. There are a few (non-Enforcer-unique) weapons which also appear on their list and the list for Badzone Patrolmen. See the subsection below for weaponry which Badzone Enforcers can access, but their regular counterparts cannot.

Palanite Weapons

Enforcer Boltgun: What if you took the best Basic weapon in the game, and addressed its only weakness, then shaved a bit off the price? Boltguns are great for any gang that can take them, and here they have their Ammo Roll dramatically improved, plus a small price cut to 50 credits. An absolute steal, these things would be absolutely spammable if it weren’t so hard to get enough fighters into your starting roster. Even as is, only the unique capabilities of the other Palanite weapons stop the Enforcer Boltgun from being an auto-take. It’s usable out to 24”, which is often all you ever need, and accurate within a generous 12” – this also makes it pair well with a cheap Telescopic Sight from the TP. Rating: A+, no patrol is complete without some.

Concussion Carbine: Holy special weapon traits, Batman! This thing may look underpowered compared to the boltgun, at S3, -1AP, D1. Its range is also a bit worse, although still flexible. But the beauty of the carbine lies in its special rules. Blast weapons can do more than normal ones. You can affect multiple models at once and even a miss can clip enemies as the shot scatters (this is also a risk to your allies, I admit). You take a -2 to-hit penalty if the blast is not centred over an enemy model, but that’s no worse than targeting a model in Full Cover (and targeting a point on the floor gets around that cover penalty) so there will still be times where a blast template carefully aimed in the midst of multiple enemies is a good move. Knockback is situationally handy as careful positioning can net you +1 Damage, or make your opponent risk falling damage. Concussion inflicts a -2 Initiative malus on your target, which pairs excellently with Photon Flash Grenades. Seismic means a target hit must be Pinned, even if they have Nerves of Steel, are a Chaos Spawn (this could still use a bit of errata clarification) or Lobo-Slave, etc. It also makes hits ignore armour saves on a Wound roll of 6, which is surprisingly handy. For their bargain price of 30 credits, one of the cheapest non-grenade blast templates in the game, Concussion Carbines are a mainstay at Gang Creation and the Concussion and Seismic rules will keep them useful throughout a campaign, unlike many lighter weapons. Rating: A-

Enforcer Shotgun: the classic combat shotgun, it doesn’t get any additional benefits the way an Enforcer Boltgun does, but in fairness it is still pretty good. The reliability of the auto-hitting teardrop template at a relatively low price is a great tool to have. Unfortunately, although the Enforcers’ price is slightly discounted from the TP version, it has been FAQ clarified as a different weapon, meaning it cannot use Firestorm Rounds, the best additional ammo type in the game, which transforms the generic combat shotgun into a Heavy Flamer with Suspensors. You will want 1-2 of these shotguns in any patrol to inflict mass pinning, and if you’re lucky some casualties, on the enemy, but you will find their actual killing power is highest in the early campaign, and falls off as opponents Advance their Toughness and buy armour upgrades. Rating: B+

Sniper Rifle: this is very similar to a Long Rifle, with Rending (not a bad little rule, extra Damage on 6s to Wound). It’s usable to 48”, gaining an accuracy bonus >24”, which makes it the premier option in the gang for truly long-ranged firepower. That will either be a great capability or a bit of a waste, depending on what sort of tables you play on, and we can’t emphasise enough how much those terrain realities will impact your enjoyment of the weapon. If you rock up to your friends’ coffee table and play 2×2’ Zone Mortalis games every week, even if you think snipers are cool, don’t bother! If you commonly use a misappropriated 40k table at your FLGS or club, then go nuts. Just remember that it’s only D1, so unless you can cunningly set up Knockback shots, you won’t often be doming Champions in one shot, unless Rending kicks in. Rating: B, higher if you play on big open tables. 

Credit: Greg Chiasson

Subjugator Weapons

Vigilance Assault Shield. Awesome name, awesome kit. This thing is really half armour, as gone through above, its stacking with the Layered Flak Armour and Armoured Undersuit is the greater part of its usefulness. But it is a weapon, meaning not only can you use it to hit people in close combat, if you want to use it as one of dual weapons (to claim the +1 Attack bonus) you must allocate half your attacks to it. It gives no bonuses to Accuracy, Strength or AP, so this is a double edged sword (or shield – sorry not sorry). My Subjugator Capt charges an enemy. He has 2A, +1 for charging, +1 for dual weapons – 4A. He has to take 2 attacks with the Assault Shield, leaving only 2 for the fancy Power Sword he bought at the Trading Post last week. It would probably be better to swing 3 times with the Power Sword, as he would do if he’d left his shield at home. Unfortunately, most players and Arbitrators would agree that if you don’t use the Shield as a weapon, you can’t claim its protective benefits in melee.

The one upside of the VA Shield as a weapon is it has Knockback, so by rolling high on the hit roll, you can push your opponent back, either gaining Damage or moving them out of engagement and thus unable to make Reaction Attacks without Versatile weapons. Remember that using a Knockback weapon in melee does give you the option to ‘follow up’, moving the 1” in pursuit of your target. This obviously keeps you in Engagement if the target survives, and you survive their Reaction attacks; it also gives you the chance to Coup de Grace if your hits subsequently wound them, pierce their saves and Seriously Injure them. There are a lot of times when you’d rather some enemies stayed Engaged with your Subjugator, who remember has a 2+ Save against melee attacks in his front arc.

As armour more than as a weapon, the Vigilance Assault Shield is the iconic piece of kit for Subjugators, and realistically all of yours will end up with one, unless you are carrying a heavy weapon and your group won’t let you trade in the starting Stub Gun. Rating: A, basically mandatory.

Shock Stave: Versatile is a very, very useful trait for Melee weapons. It essentially lets you use melee Attacks at close quarters without actually entering enemies’ Engagement range, so you’re not locked in place (to be fair, neither are your opponents) or risking Reaction Attacks. Compared to shooting at very close range, this means you can swing a couple times, at least off the charge, while a Shooting attack is only ever one hit roll. The actual hitting power of the Shock Stave isn’t that great unfortunately – you can batter the odd 1W, poorly armoured fighter, and mitigate the risk by using Versatile against your targets, but you won’t be taking down tougher enemies with this. Rating: B, usable but uninspiring. 

Shock Baton: Even more anaemic than the Shock Stave, without any of the Versatile utility. A piss poor melee weapon and overpriced at 30 credits. Parry is a nice rule, but there are TP options that have it which are also excellent melee weapons for the same price! Rating: C- (at best). 

Subjugator Grenade Launcher: a ‘normal’ Grenade Launcher costs 65 credits and is widely agreed to be an excellent budget special weapon. This is partly because of the Blast & Knockback rules (see Concussion Carbine above) on Frag grenades, but it’s also because of how punchy Krak Grenades are. My group often finds that unless you can catch multiple targets in one blast, or the only realistic chance to hit is by using the blast to avoid Cover penalties, we default to firing Krak Grenades. The Strength, AP and Damage are too good to pass up. The 50-credit Subjugator Grenade Launchers do not include Krak Grenades, you have to pay 35 credits extra. Now at 85 credits, Grenade Launchers aren’t so great. 

The difference is you get Stun Grenades. Hmmm. S2, AP-1 grenades with Concussion. They also have a 3” blast, as per the FAQ. That’s a great little special rule, which you can get on a cheaper Carbine which is also S3 for actually damaging enemies. You’re only going to fire these if there’s some specific reason (usually Photon Flash related) to reduce enemy Initiative, otherwise you’d fire a Frag. Just buy Photon Flash grenades for the launcher for 15 credits (see the grenades entry for how these work). Now I’m blinding perps from 24” away. Rating: B with just Frag/Stun; B+ (fine but overpriced) with Frag/Krak; A- with Photon Flash.

Heavy Concussion Ram: Please note that this weapon has a 3” blast – in the initial Book of Judgement release (and maybe in your copy now) it lacks that crucial info, you have to look in the FAQ. Makes a world of difference, because as noted, Blast weapons rock. However, this weapon, while not Unwieldy, does take up two weapon slots, and it costs 70 creds. For that budget, you get S4 over the carbine’s S3, and you get much better range, shooting to 30” and accurate within 15”. We’re lukewarm on this. If you play on bigger tables, it clearly has a use. But a Subjugator with this costs 150 credits, a Palanite with a Concussion Carbine costs 100. Rating: B-

SLHG Assault Ram. This is a weird one. For 90 credits, it’s a rather powerful Versatile melee weapon, which includes a grenade launcher. Unlike the regular Subjugator grenade launcher it has Frag and Choke grenades. The latter is a 3” blast Gas attack – it doesn’t pin, but a failed Toughness test causes targets to roll an Injury dice, circumventing armour and Wounds. Really not too bad a capability to have. As a melee tool, it’s the punchiest in your arsenal – S+2, AP-1, D2, with the useful Knockback and Pulverise rules. All the good points about Versatile (see Shock Staves above) apply. It’s still kind of an awkward weapon. It’s a lot of melee investment for models with 1A at 4+WS (ie everyone except your Capt). It takes 2 weapon slots, so RAW you can’t use it with a shield, unless your group lets you drop your starting Stub Gun and it’s awkward to model with a shield; some groups may object on WYSIWYG or ‘realism’ grounds, as it doesn’t look intended for use with a shield. This is an issue, because that means using one of your most expensive/dangerous models with less protection than the lesser threats around it. That said, it’s the best way outside the Trading Post to make a truly threatening melee Captain, who would have a usable medium-long range shooting attack as well. Rating: B

Pistols

Stub Guns and Dum-Dum Rounds. We commonly see new players add Dum-Dum Rounds to their starting Stub Guns. This is not a great use of your credits, our advice is really to save up for equipment that makes more of a difference – a Stub Gun is still a Stub Gun, does the bump to S4 make that huge a difference, especially if you’re sacrificing accuracy to do it? Perhaps if you are using a Patrolman without any better ranged weapons, to make up the numbers and run interference. But in that case the whole point is to save credits and just use the extra body on the table. Rating: B+ for Stub Guns, they’re free after all, B- for Dum-Dum Rounds

Autopistols and Special Ammo. Many gangs can make a reasonable choice between Stub Guns and Autopistols, but when you get the former for free, why would you ever pay full price to upgrade to the latter? The Manstopper (S4) and Fragmentation (-1AP) Rounds get top marks for coolness, but either is an additional 10 credits on top of the Autopistol, and you lose them permanently on failing an Ammo Roll. These upgrades can’t compete with the excellent Basic/Special weapons that Palanites get, and on Subjugators, since you are probably wielding an Assault Shield you want an actual melee weapon to accompany that. Rating: C+

Enforcers can access Shooting skills, which opens up Gunfighter builds with two pistols. This is very thematic if you want to convert a loose cannon detective (sorry, Scrutinator) who doesn’t play by the rules and jumps through the air while firing two guns and screaming. That might even be tempting under the impression that you’re accessing a starting ‘build’ for a Leader/Champion without spending many credits. But ultimately the pistols in the Enforcer Armoury aren’t punchy enough to make a Gunfighter worthwhile. You’d have to go to the Trading Post, something we’ll come back to later.

Badzone Enforcer Weapons

Power Maul & Power Knife. Captain/Sergeant only. These are both punchier and more worthwhile weapons than the normal Enforcer Shock options, although you could still make a case to bypass them and go straight to more expensive Trading Post options. I’d probably take the Maul as being both thematic, and getting slightly more value from the Power rule: it has more Strength but less AP, and Power lets you ignore armour completely if you roll a 6 to hit. Rating: B+

Plasma Pistol. One of the best pistols in the game, this is definitely worth having on any Captain, or more rarely a Sergeant, who is looking to operate at close quarters. As well as the BS attacks, which are comparable to the Enforcer boltgun, if shorter ranged, if you are stuck in combat and don’t want to be there, the overcharged profile is the single punchiest close combat attack that your officers can make – a necessary risk for a 1A Sergeant if he finds himself in melee with an enemy Champion. Rating: A 

Heavy Stubber. Captain/Sergeant and Specialist only. Worth mentioning because it can fire out to 40”, albeit with crap accuracy, and Rapid Fire (2) means it’s not strictly awful. The perennial problem with this iconic Necromunda heavy weapon is it’s overpriced. For a minimal additional buy-in you can get a Heavy Bolter or other long range weapons from the Trading Post which put the stubber’s damage output to shame. Suspensors are practically mandatory on all Unwieldy ranged weapons and Badzone Enforcers need to visit the TP for those anyway – so just get something better. This is one for fluff reasons only. Rating: D

Web Gun. Captain/Sergeant only. This is probably the most terrifying template in the game, and one of the most reliable weapons around at neutralising enemies within 8”. It bypasses Wounds and armour saves, which are the most common defensive tech, and to-hit penalties. You just need to roll to Wound, and it’s straight to an Injury roll, which is simply more dependable than almost any other Necromunda weapon. It’s infuriatingly good, and all the better on a Sergeant who can access gems like Overwatch, Got Your Six and Infiltrate (see the skills section). Rating: A+

Flamer. Only available to Specialists, strangely enough, this is an OK template weapon, but why use it when your Sergeants can take Web Guns which are inexplicably cheaper, and start with several options for Skills that gel with it? Just take a sniper rifle on your specialist. Rating: D 

Autogun. Look, we would never bother with this as a primary weapon for a Badzone officer. They have the best Basic weapon in the game in the Enforcer Boltgun, even if it does become Scarce for ordinary Patrolmen. But the humble autogun serves a purpose as a back-up piece should that Scarce rule kick in. Rating: C+

Enlisted Hive Scum Equipment

Hive Scum can take a broad range of cheap to cheap-ish weapons that proper Badzone officers cannot (although they could always get it from the TP). For Basic weapon options, the autogun, lasgun and shotgun are all solid but not particularly impressive. The most efficient picks for campaigns are probably the lasgun (to upgrade with hotshot packs) or shotgun (to upgrade with inferno or executioner shells). For close combat, they have workable budget options in axes but flails or even chainswords are definitely worth the cost. 

Armour

Confusingly, there are 3 unique types of Enforcer armour, although all can be bought from the TP. Prices differ across regular and Badzone Enforcers and at the TP, so commenting on their relative value is a bit difficult. We will explain what the various armours do first, then will comment on their relative balance for regular and Badzone Enforcers. 

Flak Armour. This comes stock on your Palanite Enforcers in regular patrols, and is folded into the fighter cost. There is never any reason to buy Flak armour outside of that – Mesh armour and Layered Flak armour is definitely worth it for the increased cost. Rating: D, even on regular Palanites who come with it you would consider replacing it during a campaign. 

Hardened Flak Armour. This provides the normal benefits of flak, and reduces incoming AP by 1, to a minimum of -1. It’s sort of like an extra point on your Save, but only against weapons with AP-2 or greater. This is massively overshadowed by other options – instead of Hardened Flak, most players would take Mesh armour. There just aren’t that many threats with blast/template and AP-2 or greater, which are the only weapons where this outstrips the cheaper mesh armour. The one which springs to mind is a multi-melta, which would still completely cut through this armour and an undersuit! Rating: F, absolutely pointless.

Layered Flak Armour. This comes included for Subjugators; in Badzone patrols it is an option for Captains and Sergeants only. It has the basic 5+ save of Mesh, with the increased protection against templates blasts, which is obviously pretty good. Having it on regular Enforcer Subjugators is a nice perk, especially if you are accumulating a better save by stacking a shield with the armoured undersuit. For Badzone Captains or Sergeants the marginal price difference (+5 credits makes it worthwhile over Mesh. Rating: A

Hardened Layered Flak Armour. On top of the normal save from layered flak, this reduces AP by 1, to a minimum of -1. Now this is better than the normal hardened flak armour, mostly because it’s not outshone by cheaper alternatives. But it also makes sense on heavily armoured Subjugators – with a shield they are on a 3+ save from shots in their front arc, or from blasts/templates; they have a 2+ save against close combat attacks or blasts/templates in their front arc! With that in mind, it makes sense that you are most worried about high-AP attacks and protection that only kicks in against them is more valuable. Rating: B

Mesh Armour. This is available to all Badzone fighters – regular Enforcers can still buy it from the TP. At a simple 5+ save for a decent price, this is the norm for most Necromunda models and should be the automatic choice for everyone not able to wear Layered Flak. Rating: A

Armouring your Enforcers

This is so unnecessarily complex across the regular and Badzone Enforcers. This is partly due to legacy rules where fighters had armour included in their recruitment, and partly due to TP access overlaying the armour selection on fighters’ individual equipment lists, with the added weirdness of cost varying according to context. Here’s a quick cheat sheet to try and help players cut through the noise and decide what their fighters should wear:

Regular Enforcers. The decision is made for you – decide what weapons you want and pick Palanites and Subjugators accordingly. Be aware that if you intend to equip a fighter from the TP, then the only mechanical difference (beyond the recommended model and base size) between the two categories is Subjugators get a better save for 10 credits – which is a really good deal – so you might want to recruit Subjugators to carry any TP weapons. As your patrol goes through a campaign, you might want to consider upgrading Palanites’ flak armour into Mesh (15 credits) or Layered Flak (20) from the TP. It should be obvious above that buying Hardened Flak armour from the TP is always a bad idea; for your Subjugators, buying Hardened Layered Flak is a tough sell at 30 credits, since they already have the non-hardened suit included in their price – we would advise saving your credits for the real prestige armour in the game if you want that level of protection.

Badzone Enforcers. For your Captain and Sergeants, Layered Flak is a good deal, although Mesh will be just as good most of the time. The rest of your gang should just wear Mesh – you could buy them Layered Flak from the TP (20 credits) if you wanted. The weird option to avoid is buying Hardened Layered Flak from your hierarchy’s personal equipment lists – bizarrely it costs more than from the TP (50 credits compared to just 35). The TP version is certainly defensible at that price, just check your Arbitrator or Group is OK with this as arguably the increased cost could be intentional by the rules-writers (no one knows why). 

Wargear

Photon Flash Grenades. Basically a flashbang to blind your opponent’s fighters, is both highly thematic, rather cheap, and extremely powerful. It has the short range of all grenades, but it is a 5” blast. When they hit, you are forcing enemies to take Initiative tests to avoid losing their Activations. So of course they are non-lethal, you are only delaying the enemy rather than taking them out. That will eventually be a problem, since you roll Ammo whenever you chuck a grenade and you can expect to run out after 1-2 uses per game. But they circumvent armour, Toughness and Wounds, as well as many special protective rules. So it’s a way that any Enforcer, for the low price of 15 credits, can (temporarily) neutralise the beefiest Goliath Forge Tyrant or rampaging Brute. Of course the usefulness will be less against gangs with good Initiative (or enemies wearing Photo-Goggles, which adds +1 to their roll).

You can increase the odds by smashing the enemy with Concussion weapons before chucking the Photon Flash, for -2 Initiative. We cannot recommend these things highly enough. It is a good idea to scatter them liberally around the patrol. I especially like them on melee Subjugators. Your Palanites have a job to do already firing their awesome ranged weapons. The Subjugators don’t necessarily want to charge forward, not if the enemy is actually good at melee – much better to stand back and chuck Photons, you can move forward and take some unconscious perps into custody after they’re seriously injured. Rating: A, one of the best tools in the game against hard targets.

Infra Sights. These are an excellent improvement to any powerful weapon, except they can’t be put on any Rapid Fire or Blast weapons. So their use for Enforcers’ ‘house’ weapons is restricted to sniper rifles. That’s fluffy and cool, but paying 40 credits to improve the accuracy of a 35 credit weapon which isn’t especially punchy is a luxury purchase. Consider these after you’re happy with your weapons and armour, and remember to weigh them against the other weapon attachments in the Trading Post. Rating: B

Magnacles. All Enforcers carry these for free, as noted in the FAQ. You can use them by making a Fight (Basic) Action, or as part of a Charge instead of fighting. Essentially the target makes an Initiative check, if they fail they cannot move, make ranged attacks, and can only make melee attacks at -2 to hit. They can only break free with a Double Action and a difficult roll (equal to or under Strength on 2d6). This is obviously pretty strong against models that are great in melee but have poor Initiative. What’s not entirely clear is if successfully using Magnacles on a target prevents them from making Reaction Attacks back, or if (as would be our interpretation) they can make them at -2 to hit. Magnacles are a strong, situational alternative to fighting that all your Enforcers have for free. Rating: A, probably wouldn’t ever buy them, but hey, they’re free!

Credit: Games Workshop

Skills

Palanite Drill

The Enforcers’ unique skill tree is available to all of their fighter types as Primary, and there are two great skills here:

• Got Your Six. This skill lets you interrupt enemy charges against a friendly model, taking an immediate shot at them and stopping the charge entirely if you at least pin them. This is a more focussed version of Overwatch (see below) – it only works against Charge actions specifically, so will only frequently come up against gangs that are including significant close combat threats. On the other hand, it does not require the skill-user to be Ready, or remove that Ready marker if they have one. So unlike Overwatch, where you give up your Activation for a single Shoot Action at the right time, with Got Your Six you aren’t giving anything up. This is damn powerful and ideal for punchy mid to close range shooters. It will be intensely frustrating for melee-heavy gangs trying to get into combat with you, if you position models with this skill correctly. Rating: A
• Threat Response. This is a very similar skill but in melee version – when an opposing fighter charges a friendly one, you can counter-charge them, and fight before they do! Hardcase Cyber Mastiffs start with this skill. As well as acting before your opponent, always a good thing, remember that by getting a second model into the combat before dice are rolled, you will usually be gaining Assistance and inflicting Interference (+/-1 to melee Hit rolls). But of course, as with all melee fighting in Necromunda, you need to be better at fighting than your opponent to justify the risk. Declaring that a Hardcase Cyber-Mastiff, or Subjugator Sgt, is using this skill to interrupt an Escher Juve’s charge is a nice move. Doing so against a kitted out Delaque Nachtghul or Goliath Stimmer is foolhardy, unless you are very lucky and take them out immediately, you’re just feeding them more of your models to carve up. Unlike Got Your Six, this skill does require a Ready marker which you give up to use it. So it requires more care in positioning and the order you declare activations in. Also note that this is the only specifically melee-leaning skill Enforcers can pick. Rating: A-

One other skill is worth mentioning:

• Team Work: This is functionally identical to the Leadership skill Commanding Presence. Lets you activate an additional model in Group Activations. Group Activations are a powerful way to get the drop on your opponent once gangs are in full contact with each other, so it’s not bad. Just be aware that making full use of Group Activations (for any gang) is a really fine art. It requires you to stay clumped together in a way that makes you vulnerable to blasts and templates (how much do you really trust your flak armour?) and while it may let you activate more fighters before your opponent, it then causes you to run out of activations sooner in the round, leaving your opponent to take some final moves you can’t respond to. RATING: B

The others are more or less crap:

• Helmawr’s Justice: Roll twice on the lasting injury table when the skill-bearer performs a Coup de Grace, and pick one. This is a terrible skill, as it does zero to get you closer to performing the CdG in the first place. The only argument in favour of this skill is an extra chance for a memorable death for a credit bounty in the Law and Misrule campaign. It’s not even Win More, it’s just a recipe to lose friends. RATING: D
• Non-Verbal Comms: The bearer of this skill can use a double action to trigger a Cool check on a friendly model within 6” to have a 360° vision arc for the remainder of the round. This is…bad. We’re not quite sure how a skill with this many trigger restrictions can possibly be attached to a result so minor. A model’s facing is not very significant in Necromunda. You could ensure a vulnerable Subjugator can use their shield in any direction, or that a model which might get charged doesn’t have to turn to face in melee. Those are really pretty minor benefits, and you need to give up a Double Action (on one of your better fighters) and there’s a pretty big chance it won’t even work? Why? Like some other crap skills in Necromunda, there’s barely any imaginable situation that you would use this instead of just moving, shooting, fighting or in any other way addressing the threat. RATING: F
• Restraint Protocols: This skill is broken as of the July 2023 updated Necromunda Core rulebook. It works off the now-outdated mechanics for Capturing enemy fighters in the post-battle admin, it doesn’t have anything to trigger from in the current rules. Even when it used to work, it was a rather mediocre campaign-level skill. Capturing enemies can get you credits, but it can also open you up to playing the defender in a Rescue mission, which can be extremely punishing. RATING: F

Shooting

Perhaps the best skill tree in the game, this has a lot of great choices for Enforcer fighters, which complement their good special and basic weapon choices, but work equally well with Trading Post weapons. It is available to Captains, Sergeants and Patrolmen Specialists as Primary (but not at all to Rookies):

• Fast Shot. If you’re in position to shoot, shooting twice is obviously great. Bear in mind that even your Capt and Sgts have a starting BS4+, not Van Saar’s infamous BS2+, so it’s not quite the same. This skill is still straightforwardly powerful, especially since you can access good weapons that aren’t Scarce or a 6+ Ammo Roll. Rating: A
• Trick Shot. My personal favourite, this basically equates to +1BS in most situations. A major reliability boost throughout a campaign. Rating: A
• Gunslinger. Enables some fun with 2 pistols. Probably better if you really lean into it with Plasma Pistols from the Trading Post, wielding Stub Guns akimbo isn’t going to scare anyone. Rating: B-, would be better if Enforcers had natural equipment for it.
• Hip Shooting. This is a powerful skill because it enables shots when your opponent thinks they’re safe. Best of all with auto-hitting teardrop template, since they avoid the -1 to-hit penalty. In the Enforcers’ arsenal, the Enforcer Shotgun is the only such weapon, and it does well in the early campaign. If you swing by the Trading Post, this skill pairs very nicely with a normal Combat Shotgun with Firestorm Ammunition, or with a Webber. Rating: B+, moving up to an A if you invest in the right weapon for it. 
• Marksman. Double damage on a 6 to hit, and ignore target priority tests – this is good, but not quite as reliable as some other options in this tree. Rating: B
• Precision Shot: Ignore all saves on a 6 to hit – again, good, but not as good as some other choices. Rating: B

Cunning

This skill tree has 2 particularly useful skills for Enforcers:

• Overwatch. A popular reactive skill, very similar to Got Your Six from the Palanite Drill tree. It does require (and cost you) a Ready marker, but you can interrupt and shoot at any activating model, not just one making a Charge action. Which of these skills you take is down to how much melee fighters are a threat in your own group. Rating: A
• Infiltrate. Deploy after all other models, anywhere not visible to the enemy and not within 6” of them. This skill opens up a lot of options, provided you aren’t using such wide open tables that you can’t find anywhere to deploy out of sight (and you shouldn’t be). It is most commonly used to get destructive short range weapons or melee fighters into range, but that runs the risk of the user being isolated and destroyed in turn. We only advise using Infiltrate aggressively if you have a fighter geared up enough to inflict a devastating blow. It can also be used to seize safer, longer range firing positions, which is great for some Sergeants. 

The other big use of Infiltrate is to seize objectives. Lots of Necromunda scenarios involve gangs starting either end of a table, and interacting with an objective or objectives placed in the middle. If you can be there at the start, the game is halfway won. Be cautious with this, not because it’s not effective, but because the skill sort of breaks these scenarios. After the first time or two, your friends might fairly object to losing simply because you can be running away with that loot crate before they’ve even got near it.  Rating: B+

Credit: Greg Chiasson

Vehicles & Ash Wastes Campaigns

Strictly RAW, the unique Enforcers crew and vehicle could be said to be for regular Enforcers not Badzone types, but that would be nonsense, so we are assuming that either gang type can take these.

Palanite Rangers

The Enforcer-unique crew is rather mediocre, in line with the gang’s general stats trend. 7+ across the board in the mental stats (most gangs get Cool 6+), but they do cost 30 credits which is similarly slightly below-average. They also have Savant & Driving as Primary skills, which isn’t really as good as having Shooting Primary. It’s still Secondary for them, so not a huge problem. In most vehicle builds, that will be far and away the most important skill tree, so this just means it will cost 3 more XP if you want to unlock those crucial shooting skills. Overall this fighter type does what it needs to, providing a vehicle crew that’s also a Gang Fighter (so affects the number of Sergeants you are allowed in a Badzone patrol). 

Tauros Venator

The Enforcer-unique vehicle, just coming onto the market at the time of writing, is a medium-weight, highly mobile shooting platform for one weapon. The combination of 7” Movement, 5+ Handling, with its Dedicated Gunner rule allowing it to move its full distance and fire a single weapon as a Basic Action (most vehicles are limited to half move distance), and 360 degree vision on its weapon mount, mean it should have no problem moving into position to fire. At the same time, 3 Hull Points and a 4+ save make it better protected than almost any light-medium vehicle – although below the custom Heavy vehicle, Rockgrinder, and far below the mighty Ridgehauler and its equivalents. 

The starting options for the Tauros’ one weapon mount are twin linked Heavy Stubbers or Concussion Cannons. The former have good maximum range, but are -1 to hit from 20-40”, and that means that in certain Ash Wastes Visibility conditions they are always going to be at -1 to hit. Twin linked helps the Rapid Fire (2) stubbers a hell of a lot, making it likely to score 3 or more hits on a successful BS roll. Against that, Heavy Stubbers as a whole aren’t popular heavy weapons; players can simply get so much more punch for a little more investment, and the price difference is minor once you consider the already sunk costs of the vehicle and crew. Concussion Cannons have a drastically shorter maximum range (18”) but at least are more accurate, and the Tauros’ inherent mobility might offset that problem. Like all this line of weapons its strengths lie in the special traits. Blasts are always nice to have and Seismic has a vital niche in Pinning enemies who have invested in Skills like Nerves of Steel – it also gives the weapon a real boost against Mounted enemies, by our understanding of the rules it would force a Mounted fighter to go Prone and suffer the resulting hit for falling off. Concussion is actually a very good rule to use against enemy vehicles – because it affects their Handling stat, any wounds that go through are more likely to provoke failure on Loss of Control tests. Not only is that a good way to mess with your opponent’s movement and plans, you can fish for that magical ⅙ chance to roll and wreck the target whenever it fails. Hardly reliable, but against really big vehicles like Ridgehaulers, that’s actually one of the best ways to try and wreck them. Despite these great rules, the overall damage profile of the Concussion Cannons just isn’t that impressive. Neither stock weapon option is really competitive with Trading Post favourites – and remember, as with all vehicles, you can slap any TP weapon onto the Tauros Venator’s weapon mount. 

So the Tauros can absolutely perform that role of zipping around shooting its one crew-operated weapon. The broader question is whether it compares well to the custom vehicle profiles (probably yes) or to the other preset vehicles (not so much). The sticking point here is price. A Tauros Venator hull runs to 140 credits, which is much more than the Ridge Runner (95) and just a smidge less than the heavier Rockgrinder (145). The former has worse Handling and Armour Save, the latter worse Handling and Movement, but better Toughness. But critically, both have two weapon mounts. There is a strong argument to be made that most vehicles are primarily shooting platforms – putting multiple strong weapons onto a vehicle is very efficient. Passenger-operated weapons are also quite strong since they can be used by your Sergeants, who can start with Shooting skills. Now we don’t think this is a one-way street, the more weapons you pile onto a vehicle the more eggs you have in that basket should it get wrecked, spin out of position and stall, get blinded by smoke grenades, etc. Additionally, having passengers on a vehicle operating weapons makes you very vulnerable to Blast weapons. But Enforcers players should be aware that the Tauros Venator is going to function a bit differently to the generally-available vehicles and is arguably a worse value. We don’t think it is at all bad in a vacuum, especially if you put a nice gun on it. 

While it doesn’t have the complete freedom to pick Upgrades that a Custom vehicle enjoys, the Tauros Venator does have some of the better options available to it: Reinforced Armour to add another Hull Point is great, Tyre Claws to improve Handling into really safe territory is cheap and easy. For the Tauros’ crew, the Shooting skill Hip Shooting meshes very well with the vehicle’s role as a single-weapon mobile gun platform (as long as the weapon is not Unwieldy, so it would work on the Concussion Cannons, but not on the Heavy Stubbers). Shame it’s Secondary for your Palanite Rangers, but still worth picking at the 12XP cost. Action economy is a big deal. 

Should I play Badzone or Regular Enforcers?

This is a common starting question for many players who like the models and faction. The first answer should of course be which narrative theme you prefer. Badzone Enforcers are the ones operating on the edge of central authority, without much direct support from their imperial masters; regular Enforcers are more regimented units that are still operating in a functioning chain of command. But there are obviously some major rules differences and you may want to consider how the choice will affect your play experience. 

First, there are two big issues for regular Enforcers which are frequently house ruled. Consider whether the following are deal breakers for you:

• Controlling Dominion territories. This is a major handicap to regular Enforcers in Dominion campaigns, which explicitly doesn’t apply to Badzoners. If your group is playing Dominion and won’t compromise on RAW here, you probably do want Badzone Enforcers – it is genuinely challenging to keep your gang on a level footing with competitors otherwise.
• Having more than 2 Sergeants. Again, your group can (we say should) house rule out this restriction from regular Enforcers, but RAW only Badzone gangs can have more than 2 Sergeants. As poor as they are compared to most other gangs’ champions, Sergeants have 2 Wounds and a starting Skill (with strong options to pick from) so really are one of the best fighters to add later in a campaign. Unless your group is willing to compromise on this, or perhaps you have a plan to spend  all your income on Brutes and Vehicles, this will also nudge Enforcers to the Badzone for long campaigns.

Against those powerful arguments, there is one big outstanding FAQ point for Badzone Enforcers – can they access Sanctioned Automata, Ranger vehicle crew, and the Tauros Venator vehicles? We think that’s an obvious yes they can, but if your group disagrees, and you are keen to use any of those options, it would nudge you back to regular Enforcerdom. 

Additionally, regular Enforcers have a major strength in that all of their fighters can access special weapons, including from the Trading Post. Badzoners are more in line with other gangs, where this privilege is restricted to their Captain and Sergeants – their Patrolmen can access Basic, Pistol and Close Combat weapons from the TP. Some groups might want to house rule restrictions onto regular Enforcers here. The Palanite weapons are very effective but the overall Enforcers weapon list is narrow compared to many gangs’, which arguably fits their theme of a rigidly organised force. We think it’s fine for Enforcers to pick TP weapons but Arbitrators should intervene if this privilege is abused, e.g. by spamming Web guns and Corpse Grinder melee weapons.

These rule ambiguities are a pretty clear illustration of why Necromunda’s spread of sourcebooks is a problem and how important an Arbitrator is to the game!

Below those big headline issues, let’s recap the differences in fighters and equipment between the two gang types. Bottom line here is there are pros and cons to each; we think Badzone Enforcers may be a little stronger in a skirmish environment.

• While Regular Enforcers have a strict Palanite/Subjugator split, Badzoners have a Captain & Sergeants who can pick anything, while their Patrolmen are more restricted: their best weapons are Scarce and only Specialists get sniper rifles or concussion carbines. 
• Regular Enforcers are the only options for an ‘all Subjugators’ force, since Badzone Enforcers can only put Vigilance Assault Shields on their hierarchy. 
• Regular Enforcers get free replacement Rookies if they have to delete an existing fighter from their gang roster. While these Juve equivalents aren’t anything too special, simply getting handed fighters for free is a big boost should things go wrong with lasting injury rolls. 
• Badzone Enforcers get no Rookies, but can buy cheap Enlisted Hive Scum fighters. These weirdos similarly fill the ‘Juve’ slot, with some oddities compared to normal House gangs. 
• Badzone Enforcers are not locked into armour types at creation. That’s good because no one should be forced to buy regular flak armour when mesh is so much better. They also don’t start with stub guns, which is good if your group enforces the ‘no ditching weapons’ rule – fighters only get 3 weapon slots, so starting with 1 slot used up on a peashooter is a problem for many builds. 

Overall Starting Gang Composition

Our advice in previous articles has always been ‘boys before toys’ with the aim of fielding 10 models, or close to it, in a starting gang. This is a stretch with regular Enforcers, especially if you want to use Subjugators. Because of their included gear, the base bodies are expensive (70 credits for a Palanite Patrolman, 80 for a Subjugator). The cheapest effective fighter you can get is a Palanite with Concussion Carbine, for 100 credits. Because of this, Enforcer gangs often include one or more fighters with a simple stub gun at the outset. These (relatively) cheap fighters let you have sufficient activations in early games. But as we’ve discussed in previous articles, what you really need in Necromunda is for each fighter to have one good weapon they can use to hurt the enemy. So don’t use too many at once, and have a plan to equip them after the first game, even if it means swapping models or playing some options as not WYSIWYG. It’s hard to get more than 7-8 models into a starting Enforcer patrol. This is exacerbated by the fact that Captains usually want to be Subjugators, meaning you end up paying for 2 Patrolmen to be Subjugators as well, and they take more investment in equipment to even approach the effectiveness of a ranged Palanite.

Badzone Enforcers obviously find it a lot easier to get a healthy 8-10 models provided some of those are Enlisted Scum. There’s something to be said for including a couple warm bodies with a Basic Weapon (and maybe Mesh Armour) just for their activations and board presence.

Some example starting gangs:

The Palanite Firing Squad

If you only have access to Palanite models, say because you only bought that one box, it makes sense to focus your starting gang on shooting. Bear in mind the 10-model kit comes with options for 4 boltguns or shotguns, but only 2 concussion carbines and 2 sniper rifles, so some proxying may be needed. 

Palanite Captain: boltgun, Got Your Six – 190 credits

Palanite Sergeant: boltgun, Trick Shot – 150

Palanite Sergeant: boltgun, Fast Shot – 150

Palanite Patrolman: concussion carbine – 100

Palanite Patrolman: concussion carbine – 100

Palanite Patrolman: concussion carbine – 100

Palanite Patrolman: sniper rifle – 105

Palanite Patrolman: sniper rifle – 105

Total: 1000 credits, 8 models

Flexible Mix

Here we can use a mix of Subjugator models, to lay the groundwork for a passable melee Captain and some resilient models, and Palanites for fire support. This isn’t as good in the first game of a campaign as the purely shooting-focussed Palanites above, but it will give you more variety and options to develop during a campaign:

Subjugator Captain: shock stave, vigilance assault shield, Threat Response – 215 credits

Palanite Sergeant: sniper rifle, Overwatch – 135

Palanite Sergeant: boltgun, Fast Shot – 150

Subjugator Patrolman: vigilance assault shield, photon flash grenades – 135

Subjugator Patrolman: vigilance assault shield, photon flash grenades – 135

Palanite Patrolman: concussion carbine – 100

Palanite Patrolman: boltgun – 120 

Total: 990 credits, 7 models

Shieldwall!

Do you think Subjugators are rad? Do you have little regard for common sense and a righteous fury to nightstick the revolting subjects of Lord Helmawr? Is your gaming group a long way from competitive? Try roleplaying an all-Subjugator battalion!

Subjugator Captain: vigilance assault shield, Team Work – 190 credits

Subjugator Sergeant: vigilance assault shield, subjugator grenade launcher, Overwatch – 200

Subjugator Sergeant: vigilance assault shield, subjugator grenade launcher, Fast Shot – 200

Subjugator Patrolman: vigilance assault shield, photon flash grenades – 135

Subjugator Patrolman: vigilance assault shield, photon flash grenades – 135

Subjugator Patrolman: vigilance assault shield, photon flash grenades – 135

Total: 995 credits, 6 models

Badzone Patrol

For a Badzone Patrol we have some more freedom with our hierarchy models’ equipment. Much like Van Saar, it also makes sense to get some nice efficient armour on all our proper Enforcers, to take advantage of their Undersuits and start the campaign with decent armour saves. I tried to squeeze in a Web Gun on one of the sergeants but it would have meant going down to 7 models and/or compromising on some other equipment. 

Badzone Enforcer Captain: layered flak armour, power maul, plasma pistol – 225

Badzone Enforcer Sergeant: layered flak armour, Enforcer boltgun. Skill: Trick Shot – 155

Badzone Enforcer Sergeant: layered flak armour, Enforcer shotgun. Skill: Hip Shooting – 165

Badzone Enforcer Patrolman Specialist: mesh armour, sniper rifle – 105

Badzone Enforcer Patrolman: mesh armour, Enforcer boltgun – 120

Badzone Enforcer Patrolman: mesh armour, autogun – 85

Enlisted Scum: reclaimed autogun – 40

Enlisted Scum: reclaimed autogun – 40

Enlisted Scum: flail, 2 stub guns – 60

Total: 995 credits, 9 models

Ash Wastes Convoy

Let’s see what a thematic Enforcer vehicle patrol might look like, using Tauros Venators and an Ironcrawler, which they are pictured and described using in some of the recent campaign books. I’ve gone Badzone here, but this could be done with regular Enforcers as well. The idea is your dismounted hierarchy don’t even have armour because they stay in the Ironcrawler, using its firing ports. This is a very vehicle-centric, shooting focussed way to play the game and only makes sense in that context. While an Ironcrawler or similar heavyweight vehicle is very thematic for Enforcers and certainly powerful, it might be better to scrap the Tauros Venators and invest in more models and weapons to ride that central vehicle, adding different platforms later in the campaign. Conversely, if you start with this kind of gang, the priority will be to get more infantry models to fill out the transport. 

Badzone Captain: Enforcer boltgun – 175

Badzone Sergeant: sniper rifle – 120

Guild of Coin Haulier – 40

Ironcrawler: grenade launcher – 455

Palanite Ranger – 30

Tauros Venator: twin concussion carbines – 275

Palanite Ranger – 30

Tauros Venator: twin concussion carbines – 275

Total: 1400 credits, 3 vehicles and 2 passengers

Developing your Patrol through the Campaign

As outlined in previous articles, a priority for any Necromunda gang is to get to 10+ members, so you’re not outnumbered in large-crew scenarios; but not too far above, because then you are diluting your strength for scenarios with smaller crews. Make sure everyone has a punchy weapon, then invest in armour. Get a Brute, get Hardcase Cyber-Mastiffs to stack on top of your fighters, get some income-producing hangers-on to improve your economic situation.

Trading Post Options

Many guides to Necromunda gangs focus on Gang Creation, and thus on the initial lists of available weapons. We can’t stress enough how much of a difference it makes to use the full gamut of options in the wider Trading Post. When people say that a given gang has access to X good weapons, well, in most cases, everyone has access to those weapons, they just have to take a post-battle action and relatively easy rarity roll to buy them. Regular Enforcers are more flexible than most gangs at time of writing – all of their fighters can use external weapons. This also partially applies to Badzoners, although Enlisted Scum can only pick from their own list, Badzone Patrolmen can get most weaponry types from the TP, just no Special or Heavy weapons. Again, you may want to discuss that with your group, since House gangs don’t have this luxury for Gangers or Juves, and it may change in a future book or FAQ update.

But for now, there are a lot of powerful weapons available to Enforcers. The most straightforward advantage is that you can go ham with powerful Special/Heavy weapons. Bigger guns are one of the most cost-effective ways to spend creds in Necromunda. Plasma guns, melta guns, heavy bolters – the world is your oyster. Badzone Enforcers are limited to distributing such toys to Captain and Sergeants, but that still opens up plenty of options. 

You can also spend on Enforcers’ armour – they start out with more investment in this than most gangs, but it can easily be improved. Here are some suggestions for adding effective, thematic weapons to Enforcer gangs:

Heavy Weapons

Enforcers’ long range (>24”) firepower in their armoury is restricted to Sniper Rifles and the Heavy Concussion Ram (Badzone Enforcers can also take the mediocre Heavy Stubber). If you play on big open tables, there is a lot of value in classic long-range Heavy Weapons, although they are expensive, and being Unwieldy practically require an additional upgrade, Suspensors for 60 credits, to work well. Heavy Stubbers are OK in that long range situation, but the Heavy Bolter is a lot meaner (although it will run out of ammo sooner or later). Missile Launchers, Autocannons and Lascannons can all be converted for Enforcer models and are worth using. The fearsome Multi-Melta, which is more mid-range since it’s usable to 24” and terrifying within 12”, is probably the deadliest weapon in the game.

Variety of Basic Weapons

There’s a lovely piece of special ammo for regular shotguns in Necromunda – Executioner Rounds. These S4, AP-2, D2 weapons, with an accuracy bonus at 4-16”, have been in the background for years, as seeking rounds used by the Adeptus Arbites. How are they not an option for Enforcers!? Fix this injustice by buying a shotgun and Executioner rounds (total cost 50 credits) for one of your fighters today. 

The Trading Post is also a good way to give Subjugators some punchier ranged weapons. First of all, the generic Grenade Launcher with Frag/Krak (65 creds) is a better value weapon than the Subjugator version with Frag/Stun. It would also be cool to have Subjugators with Combat Shotguns (with Firestorm Ammunition!), Boltguns or even Storm Bolters – all would look awesome being fired around an Assault Shield. 

World Wide Web

I think the Webber, a weapon designed to non-lethally incapacitate groups of enemies, should have been a weapon available to the cops. Obviously the fact it’s one of the most effective weapons in the game is just a coincidence. Ignoring armour and circumventing Wounds and the Injury Dice, Webbers are infuriatingly good. As an auto-hitting template weapon, they go great on Rookies or on Sgts with Infiltrate. I don’t think they would be as easy to convert and make look good, but Web Pistols and Web Gauntlets are also great.

Melee Options

As discussed above, Subjugators have a great armour save in melee combat, but their hitting power isn’t up to scratch. Enough credits can solve that problem. One themed option for a Captain is a Power Sword. It hits hard and Parry can help avoid hits, even from other Power weapons that would threaten to breach your armour. At the prestige end of the spectrum, there are Imperium-friendly options like the Thunder Hammer which hit incredibly hard. That sort of spending is hard to justify for your ham-handed Sgts or Patrolmen, but how about a humble Power Maul? At 30 credits for S+2, AP-1, D1, but with the excellent Power rule, these compare very favourably to the Shock weapons in your armoury. They lack Versatile but have a much better chance at putting opponents down. I personally love the look of the spiked-head Imperium power maul (there are some good bits available from Genestealer Cult kits) and wish they had been an option in the Enforcer armoury. Chain Swords or Axes are of course great value, as are most of the Corpse Grinder weapons, although you’re straying further from the law-enforcement theme there.

Armour

Mesh Armour is one of the best values in Necromunda, and regular Enforcers should at least consider swapping their Palanites into it, even though they get Flak Armour for free. Subjugators’ Layered Flak Armour is a bit better already – and it’s available from the Trading Post for 20 credits! An Enforcer gang can always consider buying Layered Armour for its Palanites. As well as being fairly effective, this opens up some cool modelling possibilities, using the beefy Subjugator models as Palanites and giving them Enforcer Boltguns, Shotguns and other cool toys. It’s a shame it costs 20 credits when upgrading a Palanite to a Subjugator normally costs 10, but that’s a fair price to pay to retain access to the good ranged options in the armoury. 

Down the line, Carapace Armour (Light and Heavy) is rather high priced option in Necromunda. It’s highly thematic for Enforcers but most patrols will struggle to fit it onto every fighter, and could find themselves outclassed by competing gangs who simply bought good guns. Field Armour is worth looking into late in a campaign when opponents start to accumulate a lot of high-AP weapons. Reflec Shrouds (30 credits from the Black Market) are one of the best armours in the game if you face a lot of las/plas/melta weapons. It gives a 5+ save, but counts all such weapons as AP ‘-’. This is a good way to end friendships with Van Saar players, so maybe speak to your Arbitrator.

We have seen several new Enforcer players ask for advice and be told that Ablative Overlays are a great way to make their patrol effective. Seriously, we advise all Necromunda groups to either ignore these items or house-rule them in some way – they are very effective, they’re too effective, if you don’t curtail their use they become omnipresent and very annoying.

Other Wargear

You already get pretty much all the grenades you need (Photon Flash) from your armoury. Obviously Incendiary, Blasting and Demo Charges are all great, if not particularly fluffy for Enforcers. Weapon sights are useful, I get a lot of value from a simple Telescopic Sight (25 credits) for a Boltgun, or a Concussion Carbine. But those are luxuries to consider after you’ve got enough weapons. 

They’re kind of weird, and not as good as the wonderful Hardcase Cyber-Mastiffs, but Grapple-Hawks could be a very cool, interesting conversion for Enforcers.  

Converted Squat Enforcers. Credit: Fowler

Final Thoughts

Both variants of Enforcers bring a unique approach to the Underhive. Although their stats are far from elite, Palanites have excellent weapons available and Subjugators have excellent armour. They have the capability to be an absolute force in the beginning and middle of a campaign. If you’re not forced to play Dominion campaigns with your hands tied, or to abide by the 0-2 limit on your Champions, Enforcers can still keep up with the House gangs later on, but they need to make smart use of the Trading Post to compare to other gangs’ special Champions and extra mechanics. Although it’s no one’s goal when starting a campaign, it’s nice to know that sustaining casualties will be immediately, effectively offset with free Rookies! With their access to good skills, equipment and helpful cyber-mastiffs, regular Enforcers can be one of the scariest gangs in a campaign.

Badzone Enforcers have greater freedom to create effective Captain and Sergeants at the outset of the campaign, as well as starting with better armour. While their Patrolmen are in many ways more limited, they can access cheap back-up weapons and indeed cheap back-up fighters! We’re not sure that Enlisted Hive Scum are a reliable pillar of the gang, as cheap, weak fighters are super important at the outset, and fall off as gangs develop through a campaign. But they do add options for filling out the numbers, which is important. Most of all, Badzoners offer some great opportunities for a thematically distinct Enforcers gang. 

Have any questions or comments about Enforcers? Want our opinion on adding them to your campaign? Want to share photos of your rad Enforcer gang with us for us to feature in a future article? Feel free to start a conversation with us in the comments, hit us up on Facebook, or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. We’d love to hear your thoughts about Enforcers or the Book of Judgement or whatever else! We’ll be back next week with another Necromunday column, so make sure to check back. Thanks for reading, now get out there and indiscriminately stomp some bad guys, rookie!