The exotic beasts available to gangs are one of the more colorful aspects of playing Necromunda. Each of them are so varied and interesting, usually so thematic for the gang that can field them.
But, are they any good?
Well… the thing about exotic beasts is that they’re technically Wargear that’s treated (most of the time) like a Fighter, except for when they’re not. The idea was clearly added to the game after the original rules were written because they read like kind of kludge to have this thing that acts in some way that wasn’t originally accounted for. They’re like an early version of the Ash Waste vehicle rules. A pretty good bolt-on but clearly not part of the original chassis.
And there are two ways to play exotic beasts in Necromunda, the way the rules are written… and the right way.
Honestly, I don’t know why the rules are written the way they are. Roughly speaking, (and don’t take my word for it) to activate an exotic beast attached to a fighter, it’s part of a Group Activation for that fighter. Rules as written says that each model is fully activated before activating another. Rules as written also state “Exotic Beasts must always end their activation within 3″ of their owner. If the Exotic Beast is more than 3″ away at the end of its activation, it must pass a Nerve test or become Broken.”
What this means is that you can send your Cyber-Mastiff or Millisaur or Sumpcroc out ahead of you to attack an enemy and its owner might be hot on its heels, might be one activation away from being three-inches away but if it’s not when that beast finishes its activation, it has to check its cool or break. I assume it gets to take a second nerve test in the rally phase. But if it fails that, too, then its activation for the entire next round is shot because it does a double action to move within three-inches of its owner and auto-recovers if it does.
This has never been the way I’ve played this rule in any group I’ve been a part of.
Because it’s fucking stupid.
The way we play is that a beast might exceed its three-inch range (or more, in some circumstances) but it doesn’t have to test for being broken unless its owner doesn’t finish the group activation within three-inches of it. Only then does it make a Cool check.
What’s the big difference?
Consider a scenario that’s very near and dear to my heart, my Psyker Sarah Clan. Sarah has two Hive Rats specifically to run out in front of her. If they end their activation and might end broken, that means she has to lead and then they can pass by when they activate. The difference in this situation is that, if your opponent has overwatch, they can now shoot her without worrying about target priority whereas before the rats were always the first, best target.
Now, I can already see the pushback. The idea being that this works just like a normal “Group Activation (X)”. The difference is the “leash” range and the cool check. And the very theme of these beasts to begin with. These are supposed to be battle beasts, loyally fighting beside their owners. What good are they if they loose their cool if they’re outside of leash range even if their owner is coming up behind them?
As such, I propose a compromise rule: Exotic Beasts that finish their activation outside of their leash range (usually three-inches) must make a Nerve test. If it fails, they become Broken. Rules as written. But, in the end phase, when checking to see if they rally, and if their owner is within leash range, they can make a Rally test with a +2 modifier. Then, regardless of result, everything continues. Rules as written.
Since I’ve never played where any of my beasts could break so long as I finished the whole group within three-inches of their owner, this addresses my concern about losing a full round of activations if a stupid rat breaks because Sarah wasn’t right behind him. At least, it partially, addresses my concern. The Nerve check is always a gamble. But it makes the rally test a little easier and thus mitigates at least a little of the risk of sending beasts out in front.
Just my opinion as someone who love painting and playing with Exotic Beasts and wants others to find the joy in them as well.
Update: New Rules Addendum
In one of the new Warhammer Community articles, they screenshotted a page that seems to outline how beasts should be played with in the new edition. In it, they specifically say that if a “pet” is outside of leash range at the start of an activation, the pet will panic but, otherwise, the owning fighter and it’s pets can activate in whatever order they choose.
This seems to imply, by rule-rewrite, that the intention was always that beasts/pets could move with their owners without a panic/cool check necessary so long as the owner finished their activation within leash range. So this is essentially validation for the way I’ve always understood playing with pets.
Just to clarify for people who don’t zoom in on blurry screenshots, it looks like the activation order is now: Pick a fighter to activate, see if any of his pets are outside of leash range, if outside, give them the “panicked” status, otherwise, activate the fighter and pets in the order of the controlling player’s choosing.
How is this substantially different?
The old rules didn’t seem to differentiate between a standard group activation and an activation of a fighter with pets. Thus, when the rules stated that any beast that “ended it’s activation” outside of leash range must make a cool check, the implication seemed to be that it had to do so before the “owning” fighter finished their activation.
This new rule seems to clarify that, at the start of an activation, if a pet is outside of leash range, either because the controlling player ran them too far forward or because the owning fighter couldn’t catch up, that is when a “cool” check must be made. Or, now, just be put into “panicked” status. This means you absolutely can run your beasts ahead of you. But if you don’t follow up, then they might be in trouble.
Which is how I always viewed it but, according to Yaktribe and several other forums, I was wrong about. But I guess I wasn’t!
