What’s hilarious is that I had a piece I was writing that was specifically titled “Necromunda is the Fun Part of Roleplaying.”
Everyone I know who plays Necromunda today was involved in some kind of roleplaying game when they were younger. Usually it was D&D, sometimes it was Cyberpunk, rarely it was something niche like Villains & Vigilantes. But there was always a collaborative storytelling element involved. Which is probably why every game played usually involves a similar element, where my opponent and I describe something the dice just made happen in cinematic terms and we laugh about how epic it was.
Last night, for example, I was playing an N23 game as part of the Cinderak campaign I’m involved with when my Orlock grenade launcher guy blew a chaos cult’s grenade launcher guy off a very high ledge. Ten inches. Which the old rules had as a strength nine hit. Anything but a one and he’s basically out of the game. What do I roll? A one, naturally.
Everyone I know who plays Necromunda today was involved in some kind of roleplaying game when they were younger.
So now we have a grenade launching cultist, flying through the air, bouncing off rock like he’s made from rubber! M.V.P., am I right?
It was an epic bit of storytelling and I did not mind at all that it went against my own interests in this case because I play this game for moments like that.
Is it roleplaying in the D&D sense, where you control a single character, form a party with other characters and go on a shared adventure… I mean… it’s not exactly the same. But it is the battle part. Which is the part that attracts a lot of people to the game. Imagining that moment where, as an epic swordsman, you behead the witch. It’s the part that usually gets recounted to people who weren’t there and draws the strangest looks. Because an action scene is easier to relate than how a halfling merchant was intimidated into revealing where he was sourcing his materials.
And then the announcement on Friday happened.
I will be honest, I did not see this one coming.
When I saw that Games Workshop was going to do an announcement, I was pretty sure it was going to be the next batch of journals. Maybe we’d get House of Iron and House of Faith or something. But, no. It was something I hadn’t even heard rumors of. And, they very specifically said this is why the recent core set was titled Necromunda: Skirmish. Because, welcome to the show, Necromunda: Roleplay.
I find I’m very mixed about this! Especially when balanced with the new “skirmish” edition version of the game. And a lot of that has to do with what feels like differing levels of effort.
Let’s start with what got removed from Necromunda: Skirmish… as I keep saying, a lot of the color was drained out of it. The core rulebook is half the size of the old one and the lore section is so minimal that it’s hardly engaging at all. Even the gang books only dedicate two or three pages to each gang’s history and quirks. And we’ll be talking about the journals on Thursday…
Meanwhile, the new core book for Necromunda: Roleplay weighs in at 224 pages if their announcement is to be believed. And there are a lot of things you can skimp on but one of those wouldn’t be backstory or color if you’re releasing a roleplaying game.
The core rulebook is half the size of the old one and the lore section is so minimal that it’s hardly engaging at all.
Then, as previously discussed, the gangs that got released with the new core set were actually the incursion gangs designed for Hive Secundus. So the core set actually stripped a lot of backstory from the game while, also, basically repackaging the model designs intended for another version of the game into this one. I’m honestly impressed that they were able to pivot and put together a whole new box this way. But it does feel a little like table scraps when Necromunda: Roleplay is taken into consideration.
First, there’s the giant new book. Then, there are the brand new character sculpts that really capture the feeling of each house represented while also feeling completely new. And, if I’m counting right, there’s also at least one new sprue of Hive Scum that was designed. Maybe these might also have been intended for Secundus but their new heads imply that maybe they weren’t. The other models are interesting if only because they really demonstrate that GW is intent on shutting down resin production. I have a resin Cadaver Merchant and the sculpt is not only nearly identical but he’s also a very chonky boy. I presume the plastic will be much, much lighter.
I understand that GW is a games company and I’ve said in the past that it should not go unexpected that they try to make money from their games. But this splitting the game into two this way does rub me a little in the wrong way.
When GW created Necromunda, I don’t believe GW’s aim was to set out and create a great, narrative game. I think they meant to create a skirmish game (before such a genre even existed) and then the narrative and storytelling elements were emergent. So it irks me when they take something that’s become what it has and then split it into two the way they have.
GW is not a roleplaying company. The roleplaying game will never get the support the skirmish game gets. So why sap the core game of its color to reintroduce it into something that probably won’t be around for very long?
That point being made, let’s talk about the good stuff! And holy shit there is some good stuff to mention. Starting with the (at least) one new sprue of Hive Scum and the new heads to go with them. In the shots above, the four existing bodies are obvious as are four new ones. My guess is that these four new ones come on their own sprue with a whole selection of new heads and weapons and, I’m inferring from the first photo, a few glue-on bits like pouches and grenades.
Since I already love the hive scummers and have painted more than a few, I consider this great news! Hopefully they expand the base Hive Scum box to have two sprues instead of one. I would expect them to double the price but double the price for twice the options seems fair to me.
Hopefully they expand the base Hive Scum box to have two sprues instead of one
I should also state that I’ve never played any of the roleplaying games that Games Workshop has published. My experience with GW is entirely with their miniature war games… okay, okay… and Blood Bowl. So I have no idea if they write good ones. I do know there aren’t a lot of expansions and I’m pretty sure the ones out now are republished versions of the fantasy and 40k games they put out years ago. I’m also not super encouraged by the storytelling I see in games where it could easily be a bigger part of it, like Warhammer Quest.
Lastly, and I don’t want this to get lost with the complaints above, while I don’t like the way GW has split one good game into two different games, I find it encouraging that they’re actually trying to grow the product. Adding an entirely new way to play within the Necromunda setting definitely means that someone somewhere in the GW hierarchy believes the setting has legs, which is also interesting because I’ve heard the Necromunda novels haven’t been best sellers. But the idea that they seem to think there’s a segment out there that will want to get involved with the story if they refocus away from combat is interesting and I, for one, will be very curious to see if this is the case.
Putting my cards on the table: I’m going to buy this. If only just for the miniatures but also because I like the setting and am curious to see how they’ll explore it in a second game. I just wish they’d left more in the core skirmish game that’s been here the whole time.
