Return to the Underhive

   Okay, this is a little late.  My buddy came into town to visit and I strong-armed him into a game of Necromunda.  This was back at the beginning of December.  Look- the Underhive is a busy, dirty place and time is never on our side!

  My buddy and I used to play the old Necromunda ALL THE TIME back in the day.  We probably competed in three full league cycles and even ranked sometimes (often at the beginning, before all the good players set their schedules).  Now, all these years later, I had the opportunity to show off the new version.  

  The first and most surprising thing about our game was how quickly my buddy picked it up.  He's read the rules and even purchased his own miniatures, but that was long before and out-of-mind by this point.  I took two minutes covering all the rules and the first turn was off without even a hiccup!  It's surprising to me how 'intuitive' the rules of this new version are.  

  We used the first Sector Mechanicus scenario (a "Kill and 12" mission) and set up using Mechanicum terrain from Shadow War: Armageddon and my awesome Tinkerturf terrain set.  This allowed us to harken back to the old days of Necromunda instead of dashing through tunnels per the new box.  

  The action in the game was brutal.  His Goliaths, the Ironlords, advanced and quickly took half the board.  They were set up to get charges and take advantage of their powerful but short-ranged guns.  My Orlocks, the Sump Dogs, cautiously hugged cover and tried to answer.  

  This led to half the Sump Dogs being knocked out quickly- that Str 5 Stub Cannon is a brutal weapon!  Conversely, the high rate-of-fire coming from the Orlocks bounced off the chemically-fortified pecks of the Ironlords.  Before long, the Goliaths controlled the high ground and had the enemies surrounded.  It was grim.

  Then, in the last two turns, Mo Two-Fist used his gunfighter skills to start mowing down the brutes and stave off some brutal charges.  Lucky dice and karmic resurgence led to the Ironlords being stunned and the odds evened out quickly.  The coup-de-grace was when Zed Hackjaw finally freed himself to the high ground and, like the snipers of Delaque, head-shotted the surviving Goliaths with his harpoon.  With his HARPOON!  Both gangs were long broken and the last three fighters quit the battlefield.

  The game was an absolute blast.  My buddy was so excited that he went back to his state and started working on his miniatures.  We've even planned for another game sometime this spring.  The rules weren't difficult, the action was constant, and the narrative was stunning.  

  Now I'm roping the family into the game again.  My son has slapped together two more gangs (the Delaque and Cawdor) and we're waiting for the spraypaint stock to be replenished to get them painted.  The Underhive was quiet for far too long...

  Happy Gaming!