A buddy and I played Ghast Harvest because it just looked silly. A psycho-active something or other that can either drive a scummer insane or turn them into a psyker? I mean, sign me up! That’s just my level of stupid. Doubly so because I was playing an Outcast gang against a Goliath gang, so guess who was going to be failing their Toughness checks more often?
I definitely don’t go into every game looking for an edge to squeeze out a win. For me, Necromunda is about the story you tell on the table together and, more often than not, I enjoy the games I lose as much if not more than the ones I win. There are exceptions… So the Toughness differential didn’t bother me. And the table was set up well, with the ghast deposits spread out at good intervals. So it seemed like it could be interesting.
And… oh boy!
But I’m getting ahead of myself…
The victory condition for Ghast Harvest is that the gang that collects the most, wins. But collecting it comes with risks. First a ganger has to pass an Intelligence test to even harvest it. Then it’s a d6 roll. On a 6 the deposit is exhausted. And then it’s a Toughness check.
If a fighter fails their Toughness check, then it’s onto what effect the ghast had on you.
- 1-3 – Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! – Your fighter can activate again, right then, but is controlled by your opponent.
- 4-5 – It’s like the Universe is in my Mind! – Your fighter becomes an unsanctioned psyker for the remainder of the battle. Roll again for a random power.
- 6 – Today, I am the Emperor! – +2 to all dice rolls going forward and you roll for a random power.
What this scenario presupposes is… maybe more psykers are better?
And there’s a great list of powers to roll for:
- Assail
- Flame Blast
- Freeze Time
- Weapon Jinx
- Terrify
- Quickening
Aside from the few times I’ve played Genestealers, I’ve never really played that many games with psykers until setting up the Psyker Sarah Clan. But, what this scenario presupposes is… maybe more are better?
And that was definitely my experience.
The game I played this scenario in, I had some hot dice. I was two-for-two with harvesting ghast, failing the Toughness check, and then rolling boxcars so I had two scummers running around the battlefield pronouncing themselves the God Emperor. And the truly hilarious thing was, I don’t think I ever got to use their powers since one was “blessed” with Assail and the other got Terrify and both required line of sight. And my opponent, for reasons that remain mysterious, kept his Goliaths suspiciously out of their sight lines. But the threat of them made the whole game kind of hilarious and one of the most fun games I’ve played recently.
What I’d like to do is to try this as a multi-player scenario. Imagine, three or four gangs, all high on ghast, blasting each other with psyker powers, possibly opening up Warp rifts? What could possibly go wrong?
So… final verdict?
Pros
- Easy Concept – the winner is the one that collects the most ghast. There are a lot of “collect this” scenarios.
- Interesting Twist – Suddenly having a bunch of psykers running around the table can lead to a lot of hijinx! I had hoped to see at least one Perils of the Warp but, unfortunately not.
Cons
- Mechanic Can Be Chunky – Each time you harvest ghast it is, minimum, three additional dice rolls. Plus, potentially another. That’s a lot of steps to remember if the scenario isn’t in hard copy next to you to consult.
- Takes the Right Opponent – If your opponent likes the potential silliness that is about to happen, then this is the scenario for you. If they’re a strategic thinker or don’t like things that can get out of control… maybe less so…
It should be noted that this isn’t an underdog scenario but it could be if instead of deploying d3+4 as the crew size, it was limited to, say, five or six fighters, with the usual rule of underdog is custom, opponent is random. It could also help contain the damage!
