A Necromunda scenario from Cinderak Burning.

Onwards and upwards with our wildly successful series… !

Necromunda

Necromunda is a tabletop skirmish wargame of anarchy & violence, where players control rival gangs of fighters battling each other for supremacy in the nightmare depths of the underhive – or out in the blasted Ash Wastes. (credit: GW book blurb!)

The Aranthian Succession – Cinderak Burning

Unlike the ‘House of…’ books this is a campaign book and expands on the story of Necromunda following the Great Rift in Warhammer 40k. As you might expect it has lots of additional rules scattered throughout and a great story upfront with the main antagonists being Esher and Goliath (the gangs in the first Necromunda starter set since re-launch – sadly no longer available).

They Come From Below

Wave after Wave of attackers swarm up from the depths whilst the defenders fight them back.

Where

Aranthian Succession – Cinderak Burning: Page 82

Battlefield

• Ash Wastes
• Sector Mechanicus
• Zone Mortalis

Crews

Defender – Random (6)
Attacker – 3 x Random (D3+1)

Rewards – Credits

Rewards – XP

Best For

Defenders: Goliaths, Corpse Grinders, Slave Ogryns – low model count good short range / close combat
Attackers: Slave Ogryns, Squat Prospectors – gangs that can use cover, but with good early firepower

What would Eeyore Do? – The Attacker

The attacker starts out with a low model count and the random selection will definitely change how you play the first couple of games. Terrain and cover are your friend so spot where the defender has left a gap and run for it. If you happen to get a few weaker models consider a sacrifice, but you need to get to round 6 so that you get all your gang on the table.

What would Declan Do? – The Defender

The defender has the same problems as Eeyore with random selection (6), and needs to cover most of the area around the hole otherwise the attackers will try to hide. So cover as many exit routes as you can, and don’t be afraid to use cover yourself.

Where possible make sure than any attackers that charge your gangers can be attacked by other gangers in a subsequent activation – because you have the advantage of activations early on. The key with this mission is to be aggressive early, as later on when the attacker get reinforcements you don’t want to be fighting up to 12 characters.

Thoughts

As is common in many scenarios the defender deploys first so is mostly forced to spread out as above, but once you’ve got an attacker trapped there are lots of options for putting them out of action. As with most Necromunda this definitely needs terrain and if playing in Ash Wastes I would consider giving the attacker a vehicle or two, otherwise the defender will have a distinct advantage.

A fun battle, but inexperienced attackers are likely to get annihilated and could have a lot of lasting damage, whilst cautious defenders may regret it later. I would also be sure to agree how bottle checks are going to work for the attacker – I would suggest gangers in all 3 waves count otherwise losing a ganger early could see a very early bottle and bath time!

— Declan and Eeyore

A Necromunda scenario from Cinderak Burning.

Following on from our first ‘Scenario Saturday’ article last week, Eeyore and I are moving through the narrative campaign from Cinderak Burning.

Introducing Woehammers!

Throughout this article I will be using Woehammers to give an indication to how good the scenario is for certain categories – for example Attacker Credits.

This is three Hammers! So you would expect about average for this result. (Think 3 stars out of 5!!)

Necromunda

Necromunda is a tabletop skirmish wargame of anarchy & violence, where players control rival gangs of fighters battling each other for supremacy in the nightmare depths of the underhive – or out in the blasted Ash Wastes. (credit: GW book blurb!)

The Aranthian Succession – Cinderak Burning

Unlike the ‘House of…’ books this is a campaign book and expands on the story of Necromunda following the Great Rift in Warhammer 40k. As you might expect it has lots of additional rules scattered throughout and a great story upfront with the main antagonists being Esher and Goliath (the gangs in the first Necromunda starter set since re-launch – sadly no longer available).

Gunk War

A Gunk Tank must be defended while it is gained, before the attacking gang can destroy it.

Where

Aranthian Succession – Cinderak Burning: Page 80

Battlefield

• Sector Mechanicus
• Zone Mortalis

Crews

Attacker Custom Selection (6)
Defender Random Selection (6)

Rewards – Credits

Rewards – XP

Best For

Defenders: Squat Prospectors, Van Saar, gangs with good BS, or rapid fire weapons
Attackers: Goliaths, Corpse Grinders, Slave Ogryns, gangs with close range weapons

What would Eeyore Do? – The Attacker

As the Gunk Tank can only be damaged in melee, you need to strike quickly and expect the gangers who try will be taken out of action, so there are sacrifices required. So I would need an Ambot, or Ogryn to launch the attack here and home to get the 3 wounds required quickly.

Anyone with a melee weapon that causes multiple damage is essential here, and templates & blast weapons could help to clear out Defenders who are forced to deploy in a limited area.

What would Declan Do? – The Defender

With a random selection, we could have a great selection or otherwise… Defending the Gunk Tank is going to be very difficult, so be sure to place enough terrain within the 6″ deployment zone around the Tank otherwise this will be over far too quickly. I think I would prepare to lose but using Juves to get in the way of the Attacker’s gangers and slow them down in the hope that the attacker’s bottle before they can reach the Gunk Tank.

Thoughts

This is definitely a narrative game, and I wouldn’t recommend it for most campaigns unless the Arbitrator wants to do something a little different. Despite the Ring of Fire, the Attacker seems to have the advantage, and starts very close to the defender who is trapped in a small area.

— Declan and Eeyore

A Necromunda scenario from Cinderak Burning.

Following on from my ‘How to Paint‘ series entering the world of Necromunda, I decided to play a game (or two)… and that’s where I came across an issue — there’s lots and lots of scenarios to choose from and I didn’t know where to start.

What was a good beginner scenario, which one was the most balanced, which one was best for Van Saar… so many questions and with so many options I didn’t know where to start.

And so welcome to the first ‘Scenario Saturday’ where I will briefly review a scenario from a wargame, mark them in some manner, and give an opinion. If it goes well my hope is that this will form a useful resource for scenario selection – especially for our readers who are more casual or occasional wargamers.

I won’t list the whole scenario (copyright and all), but will give enough information that, if you’re interested, you can find it and play it!

Introducing Woehammers!

Throughout this article I will be using Woehammers to give an indication to how good the scenario is for certain categories – for example Attacker Credits.

This is three Hammers! So you would expect about average for this result. (Think 3 stars out of 5!!)

Necromunda

Necromunda is a tabletop skirmish wargame of anarchy & violence, where players control rival gangs of fighters battling each other for supremacy in the nightmare depths of the underhive – or out in the blasted Ash Wastes. (credit: GW book blurb!)

The Aranthian Succession – Cinderak Burning

Unlike the ‘House of…’ books this is a campaign book and expands on the story of Necromunda following the Great Rift in Warhammer 40k. As you might expect it has lots of additional rules scattered throughout and a great story upfront with the main antagonists being Esher and Goliath (the gangs in the first Necromunda starter set since re-launch – sadly no longer available).

Fall of Badzones Outpost

A Stronghold in the Underhive is overrun by an enemy gang – the retreating gang must buy enough time to get everyone out.

Where

Aranthian Succession – Cinderak Burning: Page 78

Battlefield

• Sector Mechanicus
• Zone Mortalis

Crews

Random D3+4 for both gangs

Rewards – Credits

Rewards – XP

Best For

Defenders: Goliaths, Corpse Grinders, gangs with close range weapons
Attackers: Escher, Orlocks with Wreckers, gangs with good movement.

What would Eeyore Do? – The Attacker

(Definitely not stolen from ‘What would Curry do?’ which a certain generation of gamers will remember).

As the attacker we would suggest a few fast gangers to get near the defender’s table edge to stop them winning, and then hiding whilst your other gangers keep pinning the enemy. Be careful of any defenders with good combat abilities and use the corners to your advantage to spread the defenders around. This could easily be done in reverse if you have very quick gangers like Wreckers who can sweep down and win in the final round.

What would Declan Do? – The Defender

I would have a few gangers escape early – Juves would likely be ideal for this – assuming the arbitrator didn’t use it for the bottle check; but keeping the enemy away from my board edge is going to be difficult, so keep your close combat fighters to counter attack if the attackers get too close. Steer clear of Group activations in turn 5 otherwise the Attackers will sneak within 3″ and claim a victory.

Thoughts

With the defender deploying first, the attacker has the advantage of knowing where the defenders are, but the fixed game length means that the attackers need to move quickly and perhaps forgo some cover in order to gain a victory. Both gangs need to careful of bottling though because of the small gang sizes., so those with good Cool will likely do well.

A good scenario to consider if both players want a relatively fair fight but with different objectives. It’s unlikely to trouble the Arbitrator with a reasonable level of credit and XP gain for both gangs available.

— Declan and Eeyore