I’m Not Loving N26

I don’t love N26. And this is particularly difficult for me to write.

In case you haven’t noticed, I have spent a fair amount of time writing and thinking about Necromunda as a game since launching spudWorks Magazine back in June. One might even say it’s one of the core obsessions of this site. It’s certainly the bulk of the content.

And I was very, very excited when the new edition was announced. Nervous, naturally, but excited. Unfortunately… there is a lot I don’t like about this edition and I think it’s a real step backwards from the last. I’ve already mentioned that I thought the campaign system was weak. But, honestly, there are some core issues that I don’t like in this edition that make the campaign problems seem small in comparison.

First, though, let me begin by saying that it is really easy to shit on something. As the saying goes, it’s a lot easier to tear something down than to build something up. So when I say I don’t like something, I will be providing examples of why I don’t like it and, if comparable to the old edition, how it was handled there and why I think it was better. The onus is on me to show why things could be better rather than just machine gunning a list of things I think got fucked up and leaving it on the table like a still steaming body.

Also, and I want to be extra clear about this, I am assigning no motivations for these problems. I do not think Games Workshop set out to fuck up N26 out of some desire to take the last happy people playing their games and bring them down to the same level as everyone else. I start from the belief that they really do want to create a fun game that can bring in new players while keeping the things that existing players like. I don’t think they achieved their goal. But it isn’t because of some sort of corporate spite.

Lastly, I’ll just say that a game like Necromunda is a large ecosystem of competing rules and priorities that interact with one another in strange and sometimes unforeseen ways. It’s possible that some of these problems stem from the changes they made to the system and the unpredictability of knowing how they’d spin out across all the factions and when coming into contact with every other change made. Of course they play-tested it. But, I can say this as a software developer, there is testing how you intend something to work versus testing how everyone else will use it. One could be perfect and still fall apart under stress from the other.

With all of this in mind, here is where Necromunda ’26 has failed me as a game.

Basic Problems

With an article like this, it’s tough to decide whether to start with the biggest, most obvious changes or to begin with seemingly small things that may not seem like a big deal but really start rubbing you raw like fine-grained sandpaper. Listing these things first can often come off as sounding petty and, for those people who don’t read further, they seem easy to dismiss because, really, he doesn’t like how Agility is handled now? But I’m choosing to list these first because the basic problems establish the foundation on which the larger problems are formed.

And, yes, Agility in this new edition is a problem. In the previous edition, Agility was rolled up into the Initiative stat. At the time, this made sense because Initiative was not a stat that was being used for anything else. And it provided a nice way to represent agility across a range of different factions. An Escher Death-Maiden could be hit on the edge of any platform and almost always hang on because she had a 2+ Initiative. There was always that chance… but it was unlikely.

Now, how agile a fighter is, is essentially a crap shoot. Worse, actually, because rolling a 7 in Craps is, statistically, the most likely thing in the game. Rolling for successful agility is now a 4+, so it’s 50/50. Doesn’t matter if it’s a Goliath or a Delaque, a Scummer or a Gang Queen, it’s a hard and fast 4+. (Escher will be addressed later.)

This is a massive step backwards because Necromunda is supposed to be played on various levels, across platforms and gangways. Just like some gangs are supposed to be more shooty and some are more bashy, some gangs are supposed to be more nimble in high places. But now they’re all random. If you get hit, and it’s more likely now you will be, it’s a 50/50 chance you’re falling.

Which brings me to falling. If any fighter falls more than 6 inches, it’s an automatic Out of Action. That’s it. Done. With standard Sector Mechanicus Terrain, that could be as little as one flight up. With Zone Mortalis, it’s two. With Ash Wastes, it depends on how high things were built but, probably, about half of it means falling is an automatic OoA. In the old version, falling was certainly dangerous but it wasn’t necessarily fatal. I played an N23 game recently where I shot an opposing fighter off a ledge. He failed his Initiative check and fell nine inches! According to the old rules, a 9″ fall is a Strength 7 hit. Against a Toughness 3 fighter, this is a wound on anything but a 1. Guess what I rolled.

The guy fell nine inches, hit the ground, bounced, and lived! Now he would be out of action without even a roll. This is a simplification. But it’s a bad one.

While talking about stats, let me just really quickly point out the most annoying changes made in N26. Throughout so much of GW’s product line, they’ve been moving from raw numbers to target numbers. Much like Weapon Skill and Ballistic Skill are a 3+ or a 4+ rather than a skill of 3 which means you hit on a 4 or however the old pivot tables worked back in the day. They made this change with Necromunda when they relaunched it, they changed Blood Bowl to this system when they put out the 2020 edition, 40k looks like it uses it. I know Kill Team and most of the Book Shop games use it. And it used to be the case that the head stats used it. By “head stats”, I’m referring to the Leadership, Cool, Willpower, and Intelligence stats.

N23 required a successful Willpower check when using a Wyrd Power. My old Psyker Sarah had a Willpower of 5+. On a 2d6, this was pretty close to a sure thing. Now, they’ve ditched target numbers and returned to raw numbers so, when making a check, one must roll at or under the stat to be successful.

Why? Why do this thing?

This reminds me of when I was working my first web development job back in 1996 at the Contra Costa Times. A very nice dude there showed me how to use Photoshop 3.0. Then version 4.0 came out and they re-arranged the menus but it was worth it because adjustment layers became a thing. Then version 5.0 came out and it had no major improvements but you know what they did? They re-arranged all the fucking menus again and it was like working with a completely different piece of software!

Why do I have to stand at a gaming table arguing with the person opposite me over whether my Cool check was successful because I had to roll over my stat or under it? This was a solved problem. Now it’s just different enough that it doesn’t look different and it creates confusion and dismay at the gaming table.

Gang Stats

What’s the difference between an Escher Sister, an Enforcer Patrol Officer, an Orlock Gunner, and a Goliath Bruiser? The truth is very little. Sadly little. So little, in fact, there’s essentially no difference between gangs in a lot of places. Look at the stats below:

Goliaths are one point tougher and one point slower than everyone else and Goliaths and Orlocks have one point less initiative than the other two. This isn’t what I’d call a meaningful difference. Doubly so because what’s changed is that Goliaths have been nerfed a point of strength from N23 and Initiative no longer doubles as an Agility stat.

Why is this important? Because these are designed to be the majority of the gangers on any gang sheet. And the differences between them is now highly situational as it’s based on the new House Rule.

I mentioned Escher and their Agility in the previous section. Their house rule, to represent this supposed dexterity advantage over other gangs allows a player to re-roll a failed agility check on a natural 1. This does change the math a little bit. The odds go from 50% to 66% success but this used to be a stat that could be tweaked by the fighter. An old Gang Queen or Death-Maiden had an Initiative of 2+ whereas a Little Sister had a 3+. Conversely, an Orlock Road Captain had a 4+ Initiative whereas a juve had a 3+. This mattered when I decided what to model onto dirt bikes. A disposable juve on a dirt bike that had a slightly better chance of not falling off had far more utility than a leader who might.

Other highly situational rules: Goliaths get +1 Strength on a charge, which is okay. Enforcers can perform a group activation as a free action, which allows the activating fighter two more actions. This is also okay but is more of an early game feature than a later game one. And Orlocks can have one more fighter work a territory. Again, okay. But it only makes a difference in a campaign context. People always say Orlocks are the most generic gang and if you’re not playing a campaign, in this case it’s actually correct since they have no battlefield boost. Van Saar get a -1 AP for every las gun, by contrast, which negates almost every fighter’s save.

Which brings me to saves…

On first review, it looks great that everyone essentially gets Flak armor now. But they don’t really. Flak Armor used to be a 5+ save on template weapons. For those fighters who have a 6+ save, which is essentially all fighters but champions, anything with an AP -1 negates the save. And there’s not really an alternative. If you’re playing against a lot of Van Saar gangs, it might make sense to spend 25cr per fighter for a bucket full of Reflec Shrouds to negate that AP. Same for if playing against a lot of Cawdor and the Hazard suit at 10cr. But Mesh Armor is 40cr now and only increases the save by +1 in melee.

Light carapace doesn’t significantly increase effectiveness but does reduce Initiative while heavy carapace protects a little bit more while reducing Initiative even more and applying a -1 to the fighter’s agility. So Agility, already shitty, is made even shittier.

This is what I was talking about when I said that these problems stack.

Look, I get it, Escher having a 6+ save. They’re in tank tops and leather chaps. But the Squats and Enforcers are all 6+ also? Wouldn’t this be a good place to differentiate between gangs?

Because there used to be a quick and dirty way to differentiate one gang from another…

Juves

Why would anyone ever take them ever again?

No, seriously… Why would they?

When I was first reading through the gang books that came out with the box at launch, I just saw the stats and thought to myself, “yep, looks the same” but on further reflection, they’re not at all. In fact, while juves (as a thing if even not in name) still exist, they’ve been rendered out of any kind of usefulness.

Going through the gang books, every single fighter of “juve” quality starts with a WS/BS of 5+. Which, yep, checks notes, is the same stat they had in the last edition. But consider these two profiles:

What is the difference?

It’s subtle but here it is: the first profile is fucking useful! I don’t hold out high hopes for the lifetime of the N23 juve but I know one thing, if he gets in close, he stands a real chance of fucking some shit up.

Yes, his base skills are 5+. But a stubgun at 6″ or less has a +2 to hit, so he’s hitting his target on a 3+. And, if he gets into melee, his chainsword has a +1, and he’s fighting with two weapons. This means he gets three attacks on a charge, two of which are hitting on a 4+ even if the last one is on a 5+.

It turns out range modifiers did more than create some math on hit numbers. It allowed members of the gang, cheap and cheerful even if somewhat stupid members of the gang to serve a purpose. Yes, whomever the Greenhorn charged could roll a Cool check and aim behind the juve but they might very well be doing so to their own peril. A 4+ is a 50/50 chance to hit and two hits in melee with a bonus 5+ to hit with the stubgun is a very real and dangerous proposition.

I once ran an Escher juve at a friend’s Venator chief with a laspistol and a stiletto knife. She didn’t even have armor. She didn’t take him out but she did knock him down even if she was turned into a greasy stain in the two rounds later. But she occupied his attention for two rounds and it was an epic story later! It was unlikely and highly situational but a perfect example of why a juve might be included on a gang roster.

Now, if there’s a juve charging toward… anyone… why not just ignore them now? They only have a 1/3 chance of hitting. Worst case, they engage someone who matters and it requires a retreat on their part to get free again. That Shred (5+) characteristic isn’t even that scary. On the off-chance they hit their target and wound on a 5+, the Lethality of the chainsword is increased. Not the AP. It doesn’t affect the save. So the target might still save against it. And if it’s a champion, they will have multiple wounds even if they somehow don’t.

The only way I can see to mitigate this bullshit is with template weapons but that basically means flamers and who’s spending minimum 45cr to make a 20-30cr fighter somewhat useful? They’re not even useful in preventing a Coup de Grâce. Cyber-Mastiffs are. And Sumpkrocs can counter charge an enemy. But not juves. They can’t hit and they can’t stop an offensive attack.

In truth, all this means is that juves, along with the term, are basically a dead concept. They’ve been designed out of the game in all but fact. It’s one thing adding a bunch of weapon loadouts and choosing sub-optimal skills for various fighters to add a little spice. Maybe even throw in a juve as a mobile bullet catcher and last gasp attacker as illustrated above. But when a juve can never be used in a way that brings actual utility, that’s a whole different issue. It’s not about variety. It’s about fielding a useless fighter or one who might do something.

Skills & Injuries

I left out my favorite part of using juves in the last section because it’s been obliterated by “skills”. There used to be a rule called Twin Guns Blazing that allowed any fighter to take up to two pistols and use both of them. It was an easy way to get two shots off. You took a -1 penalty to hit and both shots had to be fired at the same target but it was a thing.

This was a great use for juves. Get yourself a dirt cheap fighter, give them two stub guns and run them into trouble and they could do real damage. But those days are done. Now, you need the Gunfighter skill in order to shoot two guns at the same time and juves don’t get skills.

In the lead up to the N26 release, it was touted that now every fighter gets a skill! But that’s not exactly true. Prospects like a Wyld-Runner got Clamber to give people any reason to take them and bog standard fighters could select from a limited selection of fighter specialty skills. But juves didn’t get them. 5+ BS/WS, no skills, no weapons that might make them worthwhile… I mean, just remove them from the game already…

But, go ahead! Enjoy the skills. While you have them…

Skills are all well and good and they can be used, often as actions or free actions or bonuses to stats, right up until the fighter takes a wound. Or, to be more accurate, right up until a fighter reaches 0 wounds. Champions and leaders have more than one wound so they can take a little more damage before they start forgetting how to shoot with two pistols or run and fire their guns or put a bandaid on someone. But, for the average fighter, they will have an extra ability right up until they take a wound and then they won’t have it any more and everyone will forget about this second part.

Because that’s been my experience playing every single game.

I suppose the idea is that injured fighters are limping around, trying to hold their guts in, so they’re not running and gunning like a more healthy fighter might. But when you’ve started planning a fighter around a skill, it’s tough to remember, oh yeah… this sonofabitch is hurt, I guess he can’t use the second pistol he’s holding in his other hand.

Frankly, it’s very, very annoying. And it’s doubly so because almost everyone forgets until someone remembers and then you’re either stuck trying to unwind the last couple of activations where no one should have done what they did or the poor fucker who was left holding the bag when the collective memory returned now can’t do his activation the way he’d planned because his fighters don’t have their skills any more.

I can absolutely see why this was included in the game. But it’s a whole new thing players have to hold in their heads as they’re trying to navigate a still complex set of rules while attempting to enact some strategy. And it was never this way before. Leaders and champions in N23 didn’t magically forget their Nerves of Steel when they were injured. I did more than a few times… and that was with only two or three fighters maximum that skills had to be remembered for. Now it’s the whole gang. Which makes it harder, not easier.

Honestly, this is the first thing I can see being revised away in the next release. It’s just so clunky and it doesn’t bring anything to the game except exposing poor memories, strategically timed remembering, or, worse, bad feelings toward other players. Removing the rule would remove a potential friction point while changing little about how the game actually winds up getting played.

Which brings me to my very last point. Injuries…

There’s been a lot of ink spilled about whether injuries have been made more or less lethal. I don’t really care if you can one-shot a guy or if it takes a couple of battle rounds. That’s a decision for the game designers and what type of game they’d like to have. My biggest problem is that I find the whole injury system confusing now. And it’s confusing because of how injuries and wounds interact (or don’t).

This doesn’t seem like it should be this hard. It’s a skirmish game. Knowing the state of a character seems like it should be the easiest information to convey. Unless the games designers have been watching a bunch of Dark Matter and all our fighters are somehow in super-position now… In which case, this all just got a lot more interesting…

But, now, when you damage someone (and it’s always 1 point of damage unless there’s a Damage (X) trait in which case it can be more), you remove that number of wounds down to 0, at which point you start rolling the number of injury dice that corresponds to a weapon’s Lethality stat. But you only pick one! If you roll what had been a flesh wound, well… you’re wounded so you lose your skills but… that’s it? Whereas a Serious Injury means you’re on the ground until you can recover at which point you’re… wounded? But wounds after being reduced to 0 don’t mean anything and I can be healed all wounds… some wounds… one wound…? And then, no matter how many wounds I’ve taken, I get skills back again?

The way that wounds, injuries, and skills interact seems like a prime example of what I mentioned before with a system tested as intended versus a system tested as used. Without trying to get too far into the minds of designers, I can almost see it being tested with leaders and champions, where multiple wounds means the fighters keep their skills until close to the end. Saves are easier, both because leaders and champions are more likely to have Refractor Fields or Mesh Armor, so it feels like the system works. But when you apply that same system to a bog-standard fighter with a single wound and then removing skills that enable them to do things that used to be common (like using two guns), the system becomes a convoluted mess.

All of this and they’ve nuked rules like target priority and stray shots by default. Now those are optional “Arbitrator Toolkit” rules. But there was a reason for them and there still is. Fighters should be forced to shoot at the nearest standing target rather than one far away to prevent sniping at important characters while, say, ignoring juves like in my example. What’s the point of taking a single wound fighter with medicae skills if your opponent can snipe them in the first or second round and remove that ability? Instead of being a game about gang combat, it instead rewards highly accurate champions with long rifles engaging in a sniper duel. That doesn’t sound fun to me.

Wrapping Up!

I just don’t like this system because the onus that had been on the shooter to accurately land a shot has now been placed on the target to survive it. And, in a system where it’s elite warriors with laser-sights and bad ass training, I get it. These are supposed to be gangers though. There might be a lot of gunshots but most of them weren’t going to hit. Think South Chicago. The people who live in the buildings where the gang shootings take place are probably more at risk than the gangers themselves.

I think the biggest thing that sticks in my craw is the way juves have been nerfed into absolute uselessness. They had utility before. They weren’t important pieces but, like pawns in chess, they would occasionally surprise you. But I very much doubt that will happen now.

When I voice my issues with this game, I’m frequently asked if the journals have made any difference. And the honest answer is, “no, why would they?”

The two journals released so far have both included alternate gang composition lists made up of the shittiest fighters either gangs have to offer: the Escher Wyld-Runners and the Goliath Unborn. Both suffer from the 5+ WS/BS problem I’ve laid out and the additional fighters allowed by the lists don’t compensate for this. Having more shit fighters is not a better thing. The other gang options are things, I guess, but neither of these make up for a single one of the core gameplay issues outlined above.

Additionally, as I mentioned in the review of the journals, when compared to the N23 hardback editions of the same name, these “books” are a pale shadow in terms of depth and richness of lore. Everything has been reduced to the bare minimum while new things of marginal benefit have been added. But the problems with stats, agility, house rules, shooting, saving, skills, and the utility of juves all still remain and they’re all still problems.

Obviously, everything should be evaluated in terms of what it is and not necessarily against what was. I read the Jack Reacher novels and, as I’m reading the latest, I don’t necessarily ask myself how much I’m enjoying it in comparison to every one that came before it. But, when I’m done, I do wonder if the latest ones are leaving me as satisfied as the ones in the middle of the series did. And that’s only fair. They’re both labeled as “Jack Reacher” books. A comparison will be made.

The same applies to Necromunda. Had the old game been scrapped and a new one started called “Hive Fuckaround” and this was the system they wanted to run it with, it would be easier to divorce my thoughts between the Fuckaround and Necromunda and to forgive things I didn’t like as much as the other game. Comparisons would still be made because they’re both GW games but there wouldn’t be the legacy one built that the other was now claiming to be an inheritor of. And, unfortunately, that’s the position we’re in with N26. It is now Necromunda in the very real, very official sense. And it’s just not as good.

Honestly, I’m just not having any fun. The games of N26 that I’ve played are far more frustrating and far less pleasurable than the ones I’m still playing as part of the Cinderak campaign I’m a part of. I don’t know if I need to step away from the game for a year, just paint, and fuck off, because the new edition is just not bringing any joy into my life.

I sincerely hope it is for other people. I hope people who have been dancing around the edges of Necromunda for a while but hadn’t yet tried it because of the density of rules have found all the same things that attracted me to the game without any of the problems of knowing what was.

I hope it’s a success and that new models keep coming out! Nowhere in any of this did I state that I wasn’t going to keep collecting the journals. Hope springs eternal and I hope they might revise some of the worst things I’ve brought up here. They did quiet revisions with the last edition, pushing out tiny rule changes first with the Gang War books then with Ash Wastes and finally with the book everyone calls N23. I hope we might get an N28 that fixes a bunch of the things I’ve brought up. But I don’t know how much interest I have in playing this edition until something like that happens.

Lastly, if there’s one thing to take away from this article, it’s that if you see an N26 gang list with a juve on it, wait for a very good explanation or call them out for what they are: a snake oil salesman, trying to sell you a bill of goods. Because there are no good reasons to ever take a juve again.

And that makes me sad.