Introduction

Ash Waste Nomads are definitely one of the most unique gangs in Necromunda. They are locked into a relatively narrow set of specialised, often unique, equipment, and benefit from some powerful special rules, especially when playing in Ash Wastes battles where visibility and the battlefield surface offer special conditions. That natural wasteland setting, though, is where one of their biggest asymmetries with other gangs – their refusal to field vehicles – is most evident. To make up for this they have some specific tools for fighting against vehicles. While they are cut off from almost all of the options other gangs enjoy for esoteric equipment, Hangers-On or Brutes, some of their unique equipment is very good. This makes them a nice gang for players who don’t want to suffer from the ‘analysis paralysis’ of overwhelming options, they are naturally guided into a playstyle. That is quite a fun playstyle as well – Nomad fighters tend to be very mobile, they have shenanigans for fast movement and special infiltration-style deployment, and they can create a mix of effective shooters and aggressive, glass cannon melee fighters. They are are also thematically incredibly rich; the recent Tribes of the Wastelands book (now the single source for all things Nomadic) really sells the idea of a vast, shadowy society, of which the hivebound population of Necromunda sees only the barest fraction of the surface. 

Gang Fighters

Ash Waste Nomads fall into some natural roles for their fighters. The Leader is the best dismounted melee fighter, and can also be equipped with strong close range shooting. The dismounted Champions, Watchers, are natural heavy weapon carriers. The always-mounted Champions, Stormcallers, are like the leader best for melee or short-ranged shooting, but also offer powerful manipulation of Visibility rules when fighting in the wastes. The always-mounted Prospects, Dust Riders, are efficient melee threats, although they can be built to shoot as well. Gangers are almost completely average, and most likely to be used for providing bulk shooting, particularly with massed long rifles. Sha’dar Hunters, a specific type of Specialist, are fast, ambushing close combat models. Finally, Juves are just worse Gangers for a price reduction.

One thing to keep in mind with these fighters is that Stormcallers and Dust Riders cannot ever be used in Underhive battles, they are purely for Ash Wastes games. The Sha’dar Hunters’ special infiltration-style deployment also only works in the wastes. So, if you are intending to play entirely inside the hive, and your group doesn’t want to make any house rule changes to this dynamic, be aware that choices immediately become more limited.

Fighter Special Rules

There are a few pieces of included equipment (not optional, they come included in the fighters’ cost) which we should just look at first, to avoid repetition:

Ash Cloaks

Every single Nomad in this book has an Ash Cloak, so take the benefits as read for everyone, it’s effectively a gang special rule. 

• They all count as having Respirators, making them tougher against Gas weapons (this also keys into certain Ash Wastes scenario rules, which punish models without Respirators). This is situational, but obviously a strong free benefit, guaranteed to vex Escher opponents.
• They may ignore any Battlefield Surface effects when fighting in Ash Waste battles. This is potentially huge; by the rulebook, Ash Wastes scenarios are randomly generated as being in the Near, Deep or Wild Wastes, and the D6 tables for the latter two are extremely punishing, rife with models on the battlefield surface taking hits, losing Wounds unless they move, or rolling to potentially go Insane. Because the Cloak’s benefit here is optional, a Nomads player can also choose to apply the effects where they are beneficial, e.g. a few results allow fighters to claim Partial Cover more easily. 
• They have a 4+, unmodifiable save against any damage suffered as a result of Weather effects in Ash Wastes battles. This won’t always come up; only a third of Ash Wastes battles are fought in the Season of Flame, which is the only 2D6 weather table that actually inflicts hits on fighters, and not even on all of its results. Still nice to have.

Players should bear in mind that a lot of campaigns will specify certain battles, either for Ash Waste road territories or in particular Phases of the campaign, to be fought in the Deep/Wild Wastes or in the Season of Flame, in which case those latter benefits will be especially relevant. The main takeaway from Ash Cloaks is that a Nomads player is completely bought out from some punishing random effects which will have their opponents tied in knots in certain games. Remember that the Battlefield Surface is just that, the tabletop, and not terrain pieces, so in some Ash Wastes games, you will have the run of the board while hivebound gangs are stuck hugging buildings, rocky outcrops, etc. Even in non-waste games, or where the Battlefield Surface and Weather aren’t harmful, hey, at least it’s a free Respirator!

Sky Mantles

These are included on all fighters which aren’t locked onto their Helamite mounts. It lets the model take the Hide in the Wastes Double Action, provided they are more than 12” from enemies, which lets them become Hidden. This works even when Pitch Black rules aren’t in effect (ostensibly, see below), and is cancelled if they move. Rules jank alert! Sky Mantles and the Hide in the Wastes action have come in for a lot of rules debate since the Tribes book was released. There are several overlapping issues:

• RAW, in its entry under equipment in the Tribes book, this action is available in all games, not just in the Ash Wastes. However, one of the Wasteland Skills, Ghost of the Wastes, allows the user to Hide in an Underhive battle, ‘as if it was an Ash Waste battle’. So the RAI is unclear here – one for Arbitrators to rule on.
• Hidden as a condition depends heavily on Pitch Black rules (for fighting in darkness) giving a Visibility of X” – that’s the range at which models become eligible to be shot at, charged, etc. If there are no Pitch Black rules in effect for a game, and a Nomad uses their Sky Mantle to be Hidden, RAW, are they completely invisible, even to enemies standing on top of them? Conversely, Nomads can take this action if >12” from an enemy, but the game might have Visibility(24”) in effect, in which case it might be near-useless, and thematically makes a nonsense of the idea they’re especially good at hiding. Perhaps the fairest solution is to say they gain the Hidden condition as if there was Visibility (12”), which would be useful for hiding from long ranged firepower, but not too hard to close with. In any case, this is a question you will need to thrash out with your group before play, or just eschew using the action to avoid arguments. The fact is that Hidden in itself simply doesn’t work; it is a sort of consequence of Pitch Black/Visibility rules.
• Another wrinkle of the Hidden condition being meant to refer to models in a Pitch Black/limited Visibility type scenario, is that once Revealed (e.g. by firing a weapon), they revert to being Hidden at the End Phase of each Round. So technically, if you spend the first Round doing the Hide in the Wastes action with all your Nomads, they are going to be popping back and forth between Hidden/Revealed all game – even if they’ve moved. This doesn’t seem in line with the idea of how a Sky Mantle works, but Arbitrators may want to make it clear to their groups.
• RAW there is nothing saying that a model which is mounted on a Helamite loses its Sky Mantle, or can’t Hide in the Wastes. But given the mantle is a little back banner thing that Nomads presumably pull over themselves while hunkered down in the sand, it doesn’t seem intended to conceal a giant flea as well. One for your Arbitrators and your own conscience. 

Once you have battled through these rules issues, the question remains: Do you want to Hide in the Wastes? We’ve written before about the Necromundan action economy – if you are using a Double Action to hide away, you’ve given up your entire activation, so you haven’t really made any headway. If everyone hides, you’re not exactly going to be winning the game that way. But it might be useful to have fighters in one part of the board, who are outgunned, Hide in the Wastes rather than taking low-chance potshots and getting mown down by return fire, while your fighters in other areas inflict casualties, hopefully forcing the enemy to Bottle out, or at least do something to change the situation. While we await some sort of FAQ, this opens up some tactical options to think about. And hey, it’s a free thing that other gangs don’t even get an option for.

Dustback Helamites

Nomads get their own type of mount, and it has some benefits over the standard Waster’s Dirtbike available to other gangs. These are included on Stormcallers and Dust Riders, and can be bought for any other fighter via the Nomad Trading Post for 60 credits, assuming you are playing a campaign incorporating Ash Wastes battles where they can actually be used. Besides the 8” Movement and the general rules around being Mounted (e.g. can’t use two hands for weapons besides lances, can do drive by melee attacks, take Initiative checks to not be Pinned by shooting, but can get badly hurt if you do fall off), they give:

• The Mighty Leap skill. This lets you ignore 2” of distance when jumping over a gap. Now fighters can already freely cross gaps smaller than their base while moving, and a Helamite has a 3” long base, so as we understand it, they can simply move and ignore any gaps of up to 5”. They could also make a 10” move as long as it was over a gap between two terrain pieces. That is situationally quite useful, we can imagine, for instance on the GW Ash Wastes terrain, or any similar walkways, that a Helamite-riding melee model might want to leap between structures. That could even be part of a Charge move, which would open up some options. 
• Except…RAW, mounted fighters cannot ever ‘climb’ onto terrain. The strict interpretation of this would be that they are locked to the battlefield surface. Our advice would be to let a giant flea jump onto things (provided the terrain is large enough to support its base) but you may have to discuss this with your group.
• A free extra attack at S3, AP-1, D1. Not to be sniffed at! We are often critical of fighters or weapons that rely on that sort of profile to do damage. But as an extra little dig, it can only help. 

We have to note, if buying them for Gangers or Juves, that a Dust Rider is a ludicrously good deal, and does everything a Helamite-mounted Ganger/Juve can do, but for cheaper, with +1A. Perhaps there’s a niche if you have a fighter with certain skills/Advances, who you don’t mind paying a premium to make more mobile. Players should also remember that being Mounted is more than a straight mobility boost. Initiative suddenly becomes more valuable – passing an Initiative test on being hit ignores Pinning, which is akin to having the superb Nerves of Steel skill. Conversely, failing that test means taking a hit, a very hard hit if you were leveraging your mobility and moving at speed. Cover is harder to find, by virtue of being a much larger model. 

Chieftain

The Chieftain is a natural melee fighter, with WS3+ and an impressive 6” Movement, as well as the standard 2W and 2A, with good mental stats. They get the full sweep of Nomad equipment available, so there is certainly scope for ranged weapons as well. A Watcher would be better for any of the long-range heavy options, but a Chieftain could use a Venom Caster or Web Gun, mitigating their BS4+. But the primary goal will likely be melee, so we expect to see a lot of Chieftains swinging the fearsome Chain Lance around. The Long Blade is probably the best of the cheaper options. Once there are enough human fighters in the gang, they could also really benefit from taking some cheap Exotic Beasts. See below, but as a rule, Ashwing Helamites seem the way to go. Skills are a slightly confused area for a Chieftain. Besides Leadership, they have Cunning and Savant as  Primary Skills (with Wastelands, Combat and Agility as Secondary). Savant has some very strong options, but they are mostly for the gang rather than buffing up the individual. So Infiltrate is a potentially very strong option, and Overwatch is potentially very useful if you invested in a Web Gun or similar template weapon – it mitigates against those situations where you are in direct contact with the enemy, and lose the Priority roll. For a melee leader, the most desirable skill is probably Spring Up, and for that you need to target it as an Advance and pay a hefty 12XP.

Watcher

Watchers, conversely, are for shooting, with mediocre WS (they still have 2A and 2W though) but a best-in-gang BS3+. We therefore expect most gangs to take them with the Charge Caster or Heavy Blaster, to provide long range support – this also puts them in position to group-activate normal Gangers using long rifles or blast carbines. They have the full breadth of close combat weapons available, and there’s nothing wrong with giving them one for self-defence, but it’s not a likely priority at gang creation. If using the Charge Caster, don’t sleep on the 5-credit Rocket Pack piece of equipment. This lets you auto-pass your first ammo test in each battle (for the caster specifically, it doesn’t work on other weapons). There’s a bit of RAW here, technically it works on “a friendly model within 3””, and it is available to Gangers/Juves as well, so the intent seems to be another model carries it, and reloads your Charge Caster guy. But, the Watcher is a friendly model and is always within 3” of itself, so can just carry it themselves? Regardless, with almost any weapon choice, you might expect a Watcher to pick from the Shooting skill tree for its Primary skill, it is notoriously a strong set. But Wastelands skills are also Primary, and the Bring it Down skill is extremely strong, and should be considered. Just be aware that as it grants a Basic Action, it can’t be used with the Unwieldy heavy weapons unless you’ve bought Suspensors. You should buy Suspensors, they are available to the Watcher without any Trading Post palaver. Because of this dynamic, and because using an action is inherently more restrictive than a passive benefit, you should still consider Shooting skills like Trick Shot. We also like the idea of Precision Shot on a Heavy Blaster – since it’s a Shock weapon, that means a 6 to hit will now auto-wound and ignore armour. For subsequent skills in a campaign, note that Leadership, Savant and Cunning are all Secondary. So Overwatch or Munitioneer would both be useful. The other Wastelands skills seem less relevant, but there might be some use in Eyes of the Wastelands if you foresee fighting a lot of battles with restricted Visibility. 

Stormcaller

Always mounted on a Helamite, and therefore only useable in Ash Wastes battles, the Stormcaller is a fighter with a split identity. On the face of it, it’s a WS3+, highly mobile champion, so it would naturally become a model for melee or short ranged shooting, much like the Chieftain. But it has an additional use, for altering the Visibility during Ash Waste battles. That is a Double Action, either introducing Visibility (if it’s not already in effect) at 24”, or modifying it by +/- 6”. This can be done multiple times, so over three Rounds you could impose Visibility, then successively reduce it to (12”). There is a conflict there – the Stormcaller can’t go and charge people in combat, or maneuver up to that point effectively, if they’re spending a Double Action manipulating the weather. The latter role would see them better off sitting at the back. There’s also an opportunity cost, you are using a slot in your Crew to manipulate the Visibility, but probably not doing a lot of direct fighting with that model. Our impression is this is worth leaning into, but needs careful planning as to how the rest of your gang will capitalise on it, both in how they are equipped, and in how they are placed on the table. There’s no pre-measuring in Necromunda, and fundamentally, using Visibility to avoid fire, while still shooting with your own fighters, will need good eyeballing of ranges. 

In themselves, Stormcallers have the good Nomad special weapons (templates) for more expensive builds, as well as a suite of longer-ranged but lower powered stuff, and good melee weapon choices. For a Stormcaller that sits at the back of the board whistling up the wind, we would strongly advise using their Primary Savant skill tree to access Fixer. For more aggressive builds, how about a Wastelands skill, Stormwalker, which is effectively giving +2” Movement for a seriously swift rider. Unfortunately most of their other Primary skills available are thematic rather than effective. 

Dust Rider

These always-mounted fighters are unusually strong compared to most gangs’ Prospect, boasting a solid BS/WS4+, and an impressive 2A. They can access all the good basic weapons, and Long Rifles, characteristic of Nomads, and are a cheaper, mobile, but fragile platform for those strong Web templates. The most stylish use is probably with the expensive, but Versatile, chain lance for charges and ride by attacks. This is a very fun type of fighter to use. Building a whole gang of them ends up very expensive for the amount of actual fighting power – that’s the nature of how the Mounted upgrade is costed in Necromunda. It’s therefore probably better to use dismounted Gangers/Juves for your long range support, they simply don’t need this level of mobility, and will be better of hiding in cover. But 2A base lets you charge with Versatile, swing 3 attacks, and likely get one really punishing hit through the target’s saves. Skill access is a bit of a pain here. The only Primary skill is Cunning, which is always worth looking at for Overwatch (with templates) or Infiltrate. Ferocity and Agility both seem more thematic, but are Secondary, so probably won’t be priorities compared to buying stat Advances. We normally heavily favour Nerves of Steel or Spring Up for melee fighters, but the Mounted rules mean those don’t always kick in. 

Sha’Dar Hunter

Similarly, the Hunters are models with ordinary-ganger stats (BS/WS4+, 1W) but 2A. Being Specialists is something of a red herring – they can pick and choose Advances, which is obviously good, but they can’t carry any special weapons as such. In fact their native equipment list is only melee weapons, although they can buy pistols from the Nomad Trading Post later on. This wouldn’t ordinarily be too attractive, most Necromunda players like to bank on powerful champion type models for their melee fighters, because melee combat is inherently dangerous if you don’t win decisively. However, in Ash Wastes battles, all Hunters can reserve-deploy, and enter in any End Phase after the first, being placed more than 9” from enemy models. Now that distance will still allow them to Charge immediately if they are equipped with a Versatile weapon, like their Venom Whip or Trident, which could be handy. It has a lot more relevance later in the campaign, making Hunters excellent choices to carry Web Pistols, or an Electrostatic Impulse Emitter (a vehicle-disabling bomb). Outside of their immediate ‘threat range’ the round they arrive, being able to place models around the table, or hold them in reserve until you want them, is great. It circumvents a lot of the problems that mass-melee gangs have in engaging more shooting-focussed opponents. We should also note that RAW, a Hunter mounted on a Helamite can still use this ability, which is hilarious and would also make charging into combat upon arrival a lot easier.

Sha’dar Hunters are definitely a fighter type which repays imaginative tactics, and hunting around for some weapon/equipment combos in the trading post. See the armoury for a list, but their Exclusive weapons mostly just aren’t that good. There is a use case for the Versatile and Toxin options, but even those might be out-performed by some of the non-Exclusive Nomad melee weapons. Our assessment is that you wouldn’t want all or most of your rank-and-file fighters to be Hunters (although that would be interesting). They work best as a sprinkling of extra reserves who can pressure your opponent and threaten to charge their shooting models at inopportune times. 

Hunters can take a unique pet, the Arthromite Spinewyrm. These are nice enough to have provided you already have enough fighters to fill out your gang, like most Exotic Beasts, but run into the usual problem – even if charging, the 1A on their base profile, at WS4+, S3, and no bonuses to AP or Damage (it does have Rending), just isn’t a threat to anyone tough. They are -1 to be hit with shooting, and can move under impassable terrain, so maybe there are some shenanigans that could be played.

Warrior

At first glance the standard Nomad seems like an above-average stats Ganger, with strong Movement, Initiative and Cool, admittedly for a fair price at 60 credits. Their narrow weapon options set them up well for the common role of Gangers in Necromunda – providing a supporting cast of activations to plink away with basic weapons. But beyond their basic hierarchy of scavenged autogun, blast rifle, and blast carbine, Warriors give mass access to Long Rifles. This really is unique, not in power – they are cheaper than some gangs’ ability to take massed bolters or combat shotguns – but in how they operate on wide-open boards where they can leverage their extreme long range. There’s a tension between Ash Wastes battles, the natural setting for those kind of boards, and the Visibility rules restricting maximum weapon range. But broadly, using Warriors to achieve a critical mass of snipers is a cool, effective tactic if your tables support it. If playing in the Underhive or just on denser terrain, these guys are still handy due to Blast Carbines being a nifty basic weapon, and their inherent mobility. Indeed, in Ash Waste campaigns where your friends lean heavily into vehicles, Blast weapons may still be the preference due to their Haywire upgrades. While Warriors do have close combat weapons and pistols available, there isn’t much point building them as melee fighters when you have other Gang Fighters with 2A base.

Specialists gain access to the normal pair of template weapons, Web Guns and Venom Casters, or the long-range Charge Caster. No Heavy Blaster option, strangely enough. The thing here is that those options are all available to the Watcher, and Dust Riders or Storm Callers can take the templates too. Now all those models have other uses, true, but they all offer some combination of mobility (if in Ash Waste battles), access to free starting skills, or resilience (2W being very useful on an expensively-armed model that will have a target on its back). So while the template weapons may be attractive to a Warrior Specialist, players can also consider just nominating one carbine or rifle carrier as their starting Specialist, and using that status to target BS or Skill advances. Of their Primary skill trees, Agility doesn’t seem to offer much, although Spring Up, Sprint or Dodge are never that bad. Cunning may be more popular for Infiltrate or Overwatch. Shooting is available as Secondary (alongside Ferocity) so saving up 12XP for Hip Shooting could be considered. 

Dust Runner

Now a lot of players will dismiss Dust Runners out of hand. They give up WS/BS compared to a Warrior, as well as having worse mental stats (but note their Cool of 7+ is equal to many gangers), without gaining anything. Many Juves have better Move/Initiative than the corresponding Gangers, for Nomads they’re all uniformly fast. These young guns also lose access to the iconic Long Rifle. So why ever take a Dust Runner? Well, you save 25 credits over a Warrior, and you can pick your Advances, with the Fast Learner rule to avoid any extra XP costs. Arguably, this makes them a better deal for long campaigns, where they will overtake Warriors who you just know are going to roll Intelligence/Willpower as an Advance at some point. That calculus of stats vs long-term value is the only real difference, Skills aren’t super relevant here – Dust Runners only get Cunning as Primary, and the good skills in that tree aren’t super valuable on fighters without strong weapons.

Exotic Beasts

We have mentioned the Ashwing/Unbound Helamites available to leaders/champions, and the Spinewyrms for Sha’dar Hunters. Broadly, they add extra S3 attacks, with a few special rules for mobility. Not particularly punchy stuff, which is reasonable given the low cost per body. But it’s important to consider exactly how Exotic Beasts work in a gang. They are nowhere near full fighters in value, because they don’t increase your number of separate activations. They act immediately before/after their owner, so can’t be used to pressure opponents’ activation economy. There are still benefits to having extra bodies on the field, in blocking enemy movement, threatening Coup de Grace charges on downed enemy fighters, that sort of thing.

Hangers-On & Brutes

Again, Nomads are very heavily restricted compared to hive gangs. The only current hangers-on available, RAW, are the Arthromite Herder, and the Brute which is the Herder’s raison d’etre, the Duneskuttler. The Brute is damn good actually. Big, expensive models that are purely for melee have their issues. But this is heavily armoured, punchy, and fast at 6” Movement. We should note that it has Nerves of Steel, but on an unreliable Cool of 8+. Might actually be worth spending an Advance or two there. The other possibilities that tickled our fancy were taking Spring Up, and/or Sprint, from the Agility tree. That’s Secondary so would be a hefty 12XP for either. But Spring Up would be a nice additional chance to un-Pin, after trying to resist it with Nerves in the first place. Sprint, on a fighter that will almost always double-move when it can’t Charge immediately, would really add mobility. The Herder is just a 40-credit investment to safeguard the Duneskuttler from Lasting Injury (he stops any risk from Critical Injury results, and can roll to heal other debuffs between battles), or if that effect isn’t needed, he can roll to drip-feed it D3 XP after each battle.

Nomads similarly get special Hive Scum/Bounty Hunter options that are identical in stats and cost to their Underhive counterparts, they just have tailored weapon options. While RAW, access to Hangers-On is strictly verboten, we have to point out that there’s no balance or game reason this should be the case. Our advice is that if you, or any other player, particularly wants to make a model for a Nomad-version hanger-on, they could just be allowed to do it.

Armoury & Nomad Trading Post

Ash Waste Nomads explicitly never touch the Trading Post available to other gangs. They have their own, much narrower Nomad Trading Post (NTP), self-contained in the Tribes of the Wastelands book, which does have some worthwhile unique gear. But, and this will be a pain to many players in long campaigns where gangs get very high-value, they lack access to a lot of cool prestige gear that gives very rich, powerful gangs something to spend money on. It also, if your gaming group is quite cut-throat, means no access to certain broken items, or items that would counter them. This isn’t just zany stuff like Falsehoods and Frenzon collars; it means that Nomad gangs can end up undergunned at the point their opponents are rocking multi-meltas, lascannons and heavy rock saws. The NTP just doesn’t have many weapons that expensive – the only big ticket items are the Web Gun, Venom Caster, Charge Caster, and Heavy Blaster that are available from the start to various gang hierarchy. What it does contain is some key equipment (beyond weaponry) that can help an Ash Wastes Nomad gang a lot. 

Protection

All Nomads get access to the usual mundane armours: Flak (boo) and Mesh (hurrah). Take the obvious one on all fighters, although not necessarily on the cheapest guys at the very start. They do also get access to Armoured Undersuits (for an easy Scavenge 7), which is a good upgrade to hand out to anyone important as a campaign progresses. They can take Carapace armours with a good Scavenge roll, but those are fairly overpriced and kind of a luxury flex item for very late campaigns. Field armours are probably a little more attractive, and there all the important fighters can pick them from an equipment list without Scavenging. Unfortunately, Nomads don’t get any access to the more esoteric, situationally-excellent types of armour like Reflec Shrouds, and they can’t abuse Ablative Overlays, or counter Blaze-happy Cawdor opponents with Hazard Suits. So hopefully your gaming group is cool or well-arbitrated enough to avoid that kind of rock/paper/scissors arms race. 

Haywire Weapons (and Equipment)

Haywire is a weapon trait which Nomads can put on certain basic weapons via upgrades (they can also access some equipment which doles out hits with the trait). It means that vehicles are always wounded on a 4+. That’s a pretty big deal against high-Toughness vehicles which are counting on shrugging off almost all hits from low-Strength weapons. 

Basic Weapons

Blast Rifle. This is a bog standard S3 weapon that can reach out to 24”, except it has Shock. The short range, where it can get +1 to hit, is 10” – a bit longer than the autogun, but much shorter than the lasgun. Fair enough? That really isn’t bad in the wider Necromunda context, Shock being a nice mechanical boost, but what kills the Blast Rifle for Nomads is the availability of the carbine, which is all-around better. Saving 10 credits may seem worthwhile at gang creation, but as the campaign goes on, a player will always want to have carbines instead. Rating: C

Blast Carbine. Still S3 and Shock, but this gains Rapid Fire(1) and becomes deadly accurate within 10”. These are both great changes; getting RF(1) is basically being 1.66x as good as an equivalent weapon without. The +2 to hit at short range is wonderful in close terrain, and late-campaign gangs may want to invest in Telescopic Sights for carbine users, so that Aim/Shoot activations can get a total of +3 to hit up to 24”, more than negating full cover. We expect this to be one of two standard weapons for Nomad gangs. The question of its use over the long rifle depends on the type of battlefield. Because you won’t normally use your short range bonus in Ash Wastes Visibility conditions, those campaigns will really restrict the carbine’s benefits – but don’t forget that it unlocks access to Rapid Fire Haywire (see below). Overall, compared to other gangs’ options, it holds up well. Rating: A-

Upgrade: Electrostatic Generator. This equipment can be bought from the NTP (at an easy Scavenge 7) for Blast Rifles/Carbines (and Heavy Blasters), simply giving the weapon the Haywire trait. This is a no-brainer if playing in an Ash Wastes campaign where opponents commonly field vehicles, particularly vehicles with T6+. We would only caution players not to instantly expect too much of their basic weapons against large vehicles. Wounding on a 4+ is great and will keep the pressure on, but such platforms also usually have decent armour saves, while the upgraded basic weapons have no AP modifier, and remain Damage 1. It will still take a lot of sustained fire to damage a Ridgehauler! Rating: B+, provided you are frequently playing against vehicles. 

Lasgun. As standard for many Necromunda gangs, and as with all the others who pay its full 15-credit price, it is adequate at best. Lasguns are basically a reliable starter gun for campaigns. Since Nomads get cheap autoguns, good Blast Carbines (which can be upgraded), and they don’t have any access to the Hotshot upgrade for lasguns, this weapon is completely redundant. Rating: C-

Scavenged Autogun. This is a normal autogun with slightly worse ammo, for a cheap 10 credits. As such, it’s better value than the blast rifle or lasgun, and the cheapest way to make a functional ranged fighter. But long term, it doesn’t have any upgrades and will fall off in value. Rating: B-

Scavenged Shotgun. This weapon is basic, but actually only available via the NTP (at Scavenge 8) – no fighters have it on their dedicated list. So in practice it can only be given to leaders/champions and Dust Riders. Now we are upbeat about shotguns for most gangs; they have a lot to offer over the bog standard lasgun/autogun weapons. But for 30 credits, we don’t think this stacks up against the cheaper Blast Carbine, or the much longer ranged Long Rifle. It can be upgraded with Electrostatic Ammo, which has the range bands of a solid shot, but Haywire/AP-1/Damage 1 instead of S4/Damage 2. That’s fine, probably useful against vehicles. But not really any better than slapping the Haywire upgrade on a Blast Carbine. Rating: B- 

Long Rifle. This is ordinarily a special weapon, but can be taken by Warriors as basic, and of course it is available already to hierarchy models and to Dust Riders. Sha’dar Hunters and Dust Runners are the only ordinary fighters in the gang who can’t carry one. The big selling point is the extreme range – 48” – and players should note the accuracy bonus over 24”. That can make it inaccurate in typical underhive terrain, where such long lines of sight are rare. But it is especially valuable in the Ash Wastes. Quite aside from wide-open tables, the Visibility rules dictate that all weapons use their long range accuracy modifiers, regardless of actual distance. So a gang relying on Long Rifles will find itself markedly more accurate than opponents. So while Visibility may prevent the obvious use of extreme range, firing from so far away that opponents can’t hit back, Long Rifles will still have a marked advantage. Once shots connect, the profile is fair for the price – S4, AP-1 is a sort of entry point for strong shooting, and Knockback is a decent special rule. Look for opportunities to topple fighters off terrain, or knock them into walls/vehicles to gain additional Damage instead. Rating: A-

Pistols

Scavenged Stub Gun. This is the classic normal stub gun, but without Plentiful. Despite therefore being objectively worse than a bog standard piece of Necromunda kit, it is serviceable enough. Not the weapons you will be relying on to do damage, but probably still the default Nomads’ choice for a budget pistol. Rating: B-

Autopistol. The debate rages on whether stub guns or autopistols are better; I’m writing this review and I say autopistols. For me, the Rapid Fire(1) is just too much fun, and the worse range/accuracy doesn’t figure once you’re using it as a sidearm in close combat. Rating: B

Laspistol. Perhaps a bit less popular overall, this is a single shot, but more reliable option with a longer short range. Rating: C+

Blast Pistol. The signature Nomad weapon type is near identical to a laspistol (S3 with a generous 8” short range) except it trades in the forgiving ammo roll and Plentiful, for having Shock. That’s good, we would take that deal . . . except it also comes with a price bump to 15 credits. This is small beans, and it won’t make or break your gang, but cheap pistols in general, as a class of weapon, are there to give melee fighters a way to pin enemies if they can’t charge, while providing a sidearm attack in close combat. Price is a defining factor. So we can’t see this as the best choice: Rating: C

Web Pistol. Finally, some good pistol. This is in a different league altogether. Although it is a pistol, it isn’t a Sidearm, so can’t be fired in close combat, or two at a time. But on top of being natively available to all gang hierarchy models and Dust Riders, it can be bought from the NTP for Sha’dar Hunters – who can appear in the end phase, 9” from enemy fighters, or well within the Web Pistol’s effective range. Admittedly, you’d expect a 90-credit weapon to be strong, but Web templates are famously obnoxious. The main problems with these are not spamming them until your friends stop playing with you, and also not working at all against vehicles. Rating: A

Close Combat Weapons

Stalking Knife. The baseline close combat weapon available to all Nomads, this is similar to the  (rather poor) fighting knife. It gets +1 to hit (hurrah) but is more expensive at 20 credits (huroo). Perhaps a little worse than the identically-costed Flail that is so popular in other gangs, but it’s not at all bad. The main problem is it might be too expensive to serve as a backup or self-defence weapon, while the punchier options are worth it for melee-focussed fighters. Rating: B-

Long Blade. The other universally available option (although Sha’dar Hunters need to visit the NTP to pick one up) is pretty great. +1 to hit, Parry and an impressive -2AP modifier make this a respectable choice, probably a bit better than hive comparisons like the Chainsword. Rating: B+

Monohook. Available by rights to the Gang Hierarchy, and purchasable from the NTP for Dust Riders and Hunters, this is a bit of a dud. At 35 credits it is more than a Long Blade. While Damage 2 and Pulverise are nice, it trades off with worse AP and accuracy, and loses Parry. Not vastly worse, but enough that we don’t see any reasons to take it. Rating: C+

Chain Lance. The prestige Nomad melee weapon, and probably the natural pick if you’re trying to make a genuinely scary close combat fighter. S+2, AP-2 and Damage 2 reaches that benchmark you need to reliably take out enemy champion types even through some armour, but note that it is Unwieldy. The big draw is Versatile (2”), which enables longer charges and safety from Reaction Attacks – maybe the best special rule for melee weapons in the game. If you are forced into base contact, the -1 to hit is a pain, so these need to be played a certain way. The actual Lance rule (+1S on a Charge or Ride By attack, if mounted) is marginal but can be useful to reach S6, which will mean an effective +1 to Wound against many targets. But the Versatile rule, enabling Ride By attacks in complete safety, is most of what makes this a good choice for Mounted fighters like Dust Riders. This is a damn good weapon, and the only big-budget one Nomads have available, so it will be a common sight. Rating: A-

Upgrade: Electrostatic Discharger. For +20 credits you can give a chain lance a [presumably optional-to-use] profile with the Haywire rule, and with only -1AP. While this may sound like a good idea, be cautious! A normal model using a chain lance and charging is already striking at S6 thanks to the Lance trait. A lot of combat against vehicles can/will be from charging, since you can’t be locked into melee with them. So, this profile is a strict downgrade against any vehicles with T6 or lower. You can definitely consider it if you’re facing a lot of really heavy things, but remember that even without it, you will never wound on worse than 5+. Upgrading that to a 4+ doesn’t provide a mechanical benefit, since it is negated by losing -1AP. This kit would make more sense on a long blade or similar lower-strength weapon. Rating: D

Stormcaller Exclusive

The Stormcaller Staff is really a pretty good weapon for its 35-credit cost. It is Unwieldy/Versatile, with no accuracy penalty even in base contact, with good Strength and AP. So in a vacuum, nice. Our only complaint is that if you really want to build a Stormcaller into a leading melee threat, you would probably spring the extra 20 credits for the higher Damage (and Strength, but Damage is the important bit) on the chain lance. That stat is just too important in whether you actually put down targets like enemy Champions before they can get you in return. Rating: B

Sha’dar Hunter Exclusive

This list of melee weapons can only be bought for Sha’dar Hunters, they are listed in the NTP, but as ‘Exclusive’, so can’t be bought for or distributed to anyone else. Spoiler, most of them are quite cheap but not really any good. This kind of the opposite to the design philosophy you’d expect for weapons restricted to a specific fighter type that doesn’t enjoy any of the abusable Skill combos or WS/Wounds advantages of the Gang Hierarchy.

Chitin Dagger. This is identical in price and similar in form to the Fighting Knife, gaining Rending but losing the -1AP. Not a good trade. We see this as markedly worse than a Stalking Knife, just to save 5 credits. In most cases, Rending won’t proc and Backstab doesn’t come into play, so this will hit exactly as hard as an unarmed attack. Rating: F

Bone Talons. For a princely 20 credits, you can get -1AP and Rending. Better, but not at all a good weapon for the price. Again, we’d take a Stalking Knife any day. Rating: D

Insective Knife. This is another Fighting Knife clone, but with Chem Delivery. We’ll get to the chems in time, but in short, none of them are worth inflicting on opposing fighters, especially compared to just trying harder to put them Out of Action. At 20 credits, this is the most pointless weapon option since the broken pencil. Rating: F

Chitin Gauntlet. This at least resembles a real weapon with S+1, AP-1, only Damage 1, but Pulverise. A better weapon but again, nothing special for cost. It’s only arguably better than the cheaper Stalking Knife, and not as attractive as the marginally more expensive Long Blade. Rating: C

Trident. Now we start to get interested, because this weapon is 2” Versatile, with S+1, AP-1 and Shock; the downsides are it is Unwieldy, and has an accuracy penalty in base-to-base Engagement. As we mentioned when first looking at Sha’dar Hunters, the Versatile range is huge to let them threaten enemies immediately after appearing 9” away. We also think that Unwieldy is perfectly fine when you have 2A base and can stop short of base contact to mitigate the risk from Reaction Attacks.  At 30 credits, we would unequivocally take this over any of the cheaper Hunter weapons. Rating: B

Venom Whip. The other Versatile option, though, is in our opinion the obvious pick for Hunters. This is a Toxin weapon, which as a rule of thumb is similar to Strength 4, and Damage equal to the target’s remaining Wounds. So it lacks Shock and -1AP compared to the Trident, but you are a much greater threat to models with multiple Wounds, which tend to be the most dangerous of all. Now that difference is situational, so we wouldn’t always take this over a Trident, maybe mix it up occasionally. We should also remember that Toxin is harmless to vehicles, and Hunters in Ash Wastes campaigns [with other weapons] are a decent threat to light buggies and similar targets. But it’s overall a good pick. Rating: B+

Venom Stave. The most expensive Hunter weapon at 35 credits, this is a non-Versatile option with Toxin, AP-1 and Pulverise (which is also very good on Toxin weapons). We don’t think that slight increase in punch/reliability is worth giving up Versatile, but these might be the best Hunter-exclusive option if you actually want the model to go after the tougher enemies. Rating: B-

Upgrade: Venom Sacs. This is kind of like a Chem-Synth. On Activation, a Standing fighter can take an Initiative test (so usually 3+) to reduce enemy Toughness by 1 against their Toxin weapons, essentially a +1 to Wound roll effect. But Venom Sacs cost 35 credits (Chem Synths are a mere 15 – hiver privilege!), which is significantly overpriced and guarantees they won’t be taken until late in a campaign. A Hunter’s Initiative could easily be made a 2+ for reliability with a cheap Advance. This upgrade might be something to consider if lavishly equipping a Hunter with paired Venom Whips or Staves. But that’s a lot of credits for what is still relatively light melee power. Rating: C

The secret to Sha’dar Hunter weapons is that the best options aren’t on their list. We would heavily recommend supplementing their normal stock with Chain Lances and/or Web Pistols as a campaign develops. Even after your campaign starts, a bit of cash for Autopistols or Scavenged Stub Guns is probably sensible. Nothing is sadder in Necromunda than a fighter purely equipped with melee weapons, who can’t prevent themselves getting Pinned and spends the whole game unable to charge. 

Special Weapons

Note that these are Toxin/Web options, which are nice to see, but do not affect vehicle targets. This can limit their utility in Ash Wastes campaigns – consider your likely opponents’ gangs carefully before adding them.

Venom Caster. This is one of the templates available to Chieftains, Watchers, Storm Callers, Dust Riders and Warrior Specialists, but it is probably the worst one, because it is directly competing with Web weapons (see below). Toxin is a strong trait, best thought of as being similar to S4 with Damage equal to the target’s remaining Wounds. But it is 160 credits, where Web weapons are cheaper, effectively higher Strength, and bypass armour completely. Rating: B-

Web Gun. This is a template guaranteed to infuriate most opponents. At S5, the to-wound roll is the only chance involved in its use. Pass that, and the target is Seriously Injured. No lucky saves, no chance of getting away with a flesh wound. Admittedly, no chance to take a target Out of Action immediately either. But webbing targets is one of the most reliable ways in the game to take them down. The only drawbacks are short range and the inability to hurt vehicles. Rating: A

Heavy Weapons

Charge Caster. This is extremely similar to the stock Necromundan Missile Launcher, offering S4 large-blast templates (with Shock), or a S6, -2AP, Damage 3 single-target shot. That’s pretty damn good and the best ranged tool in the gang for taking out hard targets like Brutes or upgraded Leaders. It’s not cheap at 155 credits, and Unwieldy, so effectively costs 215 including the Suspensors you will definitely buy sooner or later. But most gangs will want one. Rating: B+

Upgrade: Electrostatic Rockets. This is the Haywire profile, for +30 credits. Similarly to the chain lance upgrade, think carefully about the likely targets before buying this ammo. Accuracy is unchanged, and the attack becomes a small blast template, which won’t usually help you strike two vehicles, but does mean a certain amount of your misses will still cause hits, especially against larger vehicles. However, AP is reduced by 1 and Damage by 1. That is a hefty price to wound on a 4+, when the normal krak rockets are never going to be on worse than a 5+. Rating: D

Heavy Blaster. This is a variant on the Heavy Stubber, being S4, AP-1, with Rapid Fire(2). But as well as having Shock, it is considerably more accurate, a big deal under the threat of Visibility conditions. Like all long ranged heavy weapons, it costs – 140 credits, and Unwieldy, which is probably mathematically not great compared to its weight in Blast Carbines. But it is very effective against multiple 1-Wound fighters. Due to the AP and RF(2) we think this is a priority to receive an Electrostatic Generator attachment. Rating: B

Trading Post Weapons and Equipment

Electrostatic Pulse Emitter. This is a once-per-battle item, triggered as a Basic Action and inflicting a hit with Haywire, AP-1, D2 on every vehicle within 12” of the bearer. That might or might not do damage to them – it’s a 4+ to Wound, then they will need to fail an armour save, then roll the actual damage. But those chances add up when you can inflict them on multiple vehicles at once. More reliably, every vehicle hit immediately becomes Stationary and Stalled. This is probably the single best tool that Nomads have to combat vehicle-heavy gangs. Because it’s Basic to trigger, even an ordinary Nomad could move 6” before use; a Helamite-mounted one could move 8”, or a Hunter could deploy 9” from enemies, move 6” then set it off, and this is before we get into Tactics cards or Overseer. This is an incredibly powerful, obstructive effect to apply to a vehicle-based enemy gang, and by a couple games into a campaign, a Nomad player could easily plan on doing this 2-3 times per game. A 12” radius circle is a significant area of the table. Clearly it will be less relevant against gangs which specialised more in mounted fighters, or only field one big vehicle, etc, but in certain match-ups, this is so effective that we urge Nomad players, unless your group really enjoys cut-throat play, to not abuse it. Things might become frustrating for your opponents if their motor pool is constantly locked up by multiple ambushing Hunters with EMP bombs in every game. That said, be aware of the limitations. It’s an expensive effect that every 70-credit item lets you use once per game. It needs to go off at the right time and circumstances to be more effective than 70 credits of conventional bodies and weapons, which can activate every Round. Rating: A (but you need the vehicles to target with it)

Treatment Pouch. This is really an upgrade to your gang, rather than affecting a single fighter. It exactly mimics a Rogue Doc hanger on, granting a free Medical Escort action in the post-battle, for its one-time cost of 50 credits. Be aware that although it can be used even if the carrier is ineligible for post battle actions (e.g. in Convalescence/Recovery), we do think RAW it couldn’t be used if the carrier was Captured. It also would inflate your Crew Rating in a way the Rogue Doc doesn’t. But wasteland beggars can’t be choosers, this is an important economic upgrade for any gang, and we’re glad the rules team took a minimum of thought for what the effects of being disbarred from all Hangers-On would be for Nomad gangs. Rating: B+

Chems

Nomads get their own selection of Chems, which follow the rules common to their underhive counterparts: the initial rarity check lets you buy repeatedly (but that can randomly be lost), credit cost is for a single use dose, they can be taken before or during a battle, and they all have a benefit and some side effects. Because of this, there’s a common theme – they just aren’t worth it from an optimisation point of view. Being one use items kills their value proposition relative to weapons, good equipment, more fighters, etc. On top of that, the downside effects are really punishing on most of them. Game effectiveness aside, some of the chem ideas are at least really cool. So we think there is a place for them as part of custom Scenario conditions, or to be handed out as campaign boons, independent of players’ usual concern about the opportunity cost of spending credits.

• Milk of the Harpy initially seemed the strongest, granting +2” Movement and +1A for 45 creds a hit. The drawback is taking an automatic Flesh Wound if the fighter doesn’t end their Activation at least 5” from their start point. That is easy enough to avoid in the opening stages of a game, most Nomads being M6”, but becomes a problem once the fighter is stuck into melee, or reaches a good firing position, and doesn’t want to move at least once for full distance in a straight line. Of course sometimes you can afford to take a Flesh Wound. Sometimes you can’t. We do like the image of a heavily wounded Nomad, juiced to the eyeballs, frantically sprinting through the later rounds of a long-running game, keeping away from any enemies, just to avoid going Out of Action. It lasts for the whole battle once taken, there’s no way to end the condition once you can’t avoid the side effects. Rating: C-
• Ash Orchid Venom limits Actions to once per Activation unless a Willpower test is passed (each Activation). On the flip side, they remove a Flesh Wound at the end of the Activation, regardless of whether they passed the test. It may be shaken off in the End Phase on a fairly realistic 10+ test of 2D6+Toughness. This is presumably intended to be a way of limiting your capability in return for regenerating Flesh Wounds, and it doesn’t really work. The situations where a fighter’s priority would be to spend an action taking the chem, rather than keep on fighting the enemy, are very few, and clearly starting a game with this chem active would be idiotic. Rating: F
• Tears of the Storm lets a model take a third Action per Activation – wow, that’s super strong! Oh no, wait, it also makes them Insane. For those unfamiliar with this condition, a third of the time it means the opposing player controls the model for the Activation. This would be a completely insane (pun intended) thing to do, let alone pay 45 credits a time for the privilege. The wording, by the way, is frustratingly vague, but we read it as the model is always Insane while under the effects of the chem – this is dumb and confusing because a core part of how Insanity works is that the model has a chance to shake off the condition at the end of the Activation. Tears of the Storm must be attempted to be shaken off in the End Phase (11+ against 2D6+Toughness), and if it is, the model can only take a single Action per Activation for the remainder of the battle. The rules specifically note that shaking off the effects do not mean the model stops being Insane. Wait, what? So can the model naturally recover from being Insane while they’re under the influence? Will they start getting chances to recover in subsequent Rounds, once they’ve shaken off the chems? In a bizarre case of rules-ception, the effects of this chem appear to be making Arbitrators go insane trying to figure out how it’s intended to work. If you do, for some insane (pun again!) reason, want to use this, you’ll need to thrash that out before the game. Rating: D
• Duststalker’s Mandible, for 25 credits, lets the user completely ignore the Visibility(X) rule. Even with the caveats of one-use, there seems like a real use case for a key shooting model, i.e. a Watcher with a charge caster or a heavy blaster. Hive tech like infra sights and photo goggles only extend visibility (by 9”), they don’t cancel the restrictions entirely. The downside is the model auto-fails the test against Flash ammunition – well, that’s situational at worst, and if a model is hiding far off in the wasteland gloom, they can’t be shot by enemies with Flash weapons, at least until their own fire reveals them. Oh, no, wait, all the user’s attacks become Reckless. You didn’t think a chem was going to be worth using, did you? Perhaps there’s a tentative use case if you can find a spot in terrain where you can only see enemies, not allies. Perhaps by using the Hide in the Wastes rule. So to ensure that drugs are always bad, it has an extremely punishing addiction chance, with associated 2d6x10 credit cost to cure the fighter. Mandible: not even once. Rating: D

Ash Waste Spirits

This is Nomads’ special rules mechanic, akin to Escher Chem-Alchemy or Orlock Legendary Names. Like the Squats, it involves a choice at gang creation: which Nomad tribe your gang hails from. This determines which d6 chart you roll on for your Warrior Spirits. There are four tribes: the Oilrun Stalkers, Dustwall Crawlers, Grey Waste Walkers, and Leadsky Seekers. These are broad categories that are separated along the geographic regions/biomes of Necromunda. So Oilrun Stalkers are those tribes living on and along the great Sump Sea, while Dustwall Crawlers are the tribes cut off within the Secundan Exclusion Zone. Clearly there’s a strong thematic choice, as well as the gameplay implications of which Spirits the player has available. After that initial choice, the mechanic is run entirely out of the D6 table you’ve chosen, so it can be different within each game.

Pre-battle, the Nomad player rolls one d6 for every Leader or Champion model in their Crew (so models in Reinforcements wouldn’t count). Each dice result is one Warrior Spirit, that can be invoked once during the battle. This is done on Activation of a Leader/Champion, that model then gains a benefit. Some Spirits last for the Activation only, and some for the remainder of the Round. This gives an effect something like Tactics Cards, although the Spirits’ effects are rather more even, with fewer pointless options, but no real game-breaking benefits. This offers plenty of tactical nuance and interesting decisions, but on the flip side, because it is random, it’s not really something players can optimise. We did look askance at the effects all being temporary, but in a lot of Necromunda games, one Activation or Round is often the decisive point, so there’s not too great a gap between this and the permanent bonuses which some gangs can utilise. A bigger issue is that because Spirits can only be called upon when Activating, there will be times when an opponent rolls Priority and blasts a Nomad Leader/Champion before they can call on a useful Spirit, which won’t feel great.

We are going to break down each tree, rating the individual Spirits and giving advice where relevant, on how to use them, and then giving a verdict on each Tribe’s overall strength.

Baak’Hau – Oilrun Stalkers

• Sump Spirit. The ability to move through impassable terrain is pretty strong, especially since, RAW, this could be used to charge through walls. Obviously it is terrain dependent, but eminently abusable on Zone Mortalis boards. Rating: A
• Mutation Spirit. +1S/T for the activation. That’s not hugely strong offensively or defensively, but it could always be useful. Rating: B
• Vapour Spirit. While confusingly worded, this lets the model ‘fly’ and ignore difficult terrain (but not impassable terrain). That’s a useful movement buff, but seems less likely to enable an unexpected strike than the Sump Spirit. Clearly very terrain dependent, getting better on tables with lots of high walkways etc. Rating: B+
• Radiation Spirit. All attacks gain Rad-Phage. Meh. It might help soften up or finish off a target in some cases. Doesn’t specify close combat attacks, so this could be handy on a Heavy Blaster model which is going to score multiple hits if it connects at all, or it could help make a charge more likely to remove the target. Rating: B-
• Carapace Spirit. +1 to armour saves until the end of the round. Fairly nice defensive buff. Rating: B
• Miasma Spirit. Counts as in Partial Cover until the End Phase. This is really very minor, and you will obviously want to be in cover anyway most of the time, but it could help a model that is caught out in the open. Note that in Necromunda, Prone fighters that are in partial cover can’t be targeted by normal shooting. So if a model is caught out under the enemy guns, you could activate it, call on the spirit, and then use the Take Cover action to go Prone. That would make you effectively untargetable – although watch out for templates or melee threats. Rating: B-

Overall, this is a consistent table, without any super-scary stat buffs or abilities that inflict much damage. The best thing is probably the two movement enhancing spirits, either of which could, situationally, allow for daring plays. 

Urh’Nag – Dustwall Crawlers

• Chitin Spirit. Until the end phase, treat all weapons that hit the fighter as AP-. Pretty great, at least once you have bought an armoured undersuit (or even carapace armour) for some key models. It’s a nice buff to throw on a model that needs to fight close to the most dangerous enemies. Note that RAW, it won’t stop certain things, like Web, Phase, or Power weapons that rolled a 6 to hit, from straight up ignoring your armour. Rating: B
• Toxins Spirit. Every enemy within 3” takes an immediate Toxin hit, before the model takes any actions. This is straightforwardly good. Clearly it’s quite rare to be that close to multiple enemies before you get a chance to move, but the situations where that is true are the most dangerous. This is a solidly good one. Rating: B+
• Fire Spirit. Not only is this +2A and +1WS for an activation, but uniquely, you can (optionally) give it to another fighter within 12”, instead of the model calling on the spirit. Absolutely great and obvious in its uses. Spark this up and charge two enemies at once with a Versatile chain lance. Fiery! Rating: A
• Darkness Spirit. Only hit on rolls of a natural 6 until the end of the Round. This is an absolute prize, giving probable safety against everything but template weapons. An absolutely great spirit to call on before sending a model into a risky attack. Rating: A
• Insect Spirit. Cause enemy vehicles within 3” to stall out on a failed handling test – quite powerful – and enemy fighters to be affected by difficult terrain – extremely minor. Clearly a total dud if you aren’t playing an Ash Wastes battle, and the range is a problem, you generally won’t be that close to vehicles. But, if you are, stopping them moving away from, e.g., a Chieftain with a chain lance, is pretty handy. Rating: C
• Blood Spirit. This is a weird one because it has a mechanically powerful effect – doling out Toxin hits to engaged models – but only when the affected model rolls an Injury dice. So it’s not a spirit you call on before making a winning move; you need to use it before activating, in the knowledge that your model is going to get charged later that round. This then provides a pretty good melee deterrent, at least against very tough/heavily armoured models, or presents the chance to take them with you. Bizarrely, it’s most good at stopping the most dangerous enemy models. A Goliath Stimmer would normally be overjoyed to charge your Watcher and swing 8 attacks at him, but not if it means multiple Injury rolls coming back at them! Rating: B

Overall, this is a very strong table, which appeals to us as the buffs relate to incoming and outgoing damage. That makes it straightforward to use and get value out of, but players seeking to maximise their mobility will want to look elsewhere. 

Tsun’Ghar – Grey Waste Walkers

• Ash Spirit. Before any actions, enemy fighters in 3” have to pass Initiative or become Blind (loses their Ready marker or does not gain one next Round – essentially they lose a turn). This is a fairly mechanically powerful effect, if you’re fighting a gang without good Initiative across the board. The difficulty is that not many activations will see you starting within 3” of multiple enemies. But it could still be useful to try and neutralise even a single dangerous opponent. The biggest variance is in whether you’re facing susceptible opponents (like Ogryns or Squats) or those who will usually laugh it off (like Escher or other Nomads). Rating: B
• Electro Spirit. Attacks gain Shock for the activation. This is really very minor, except  if the weapon already has Shock, all attacks auto-wound. Spool this up on a Heavy Blaster and target an enemy vehicle. Nice. Rating: C, but B+ with the right combo.
• Life Spirit. Remove all Flesh Wounds, but at the cost of your activation. This is bad because in almost all situations, the point of activating the model is to attack the enemy. You just can’t afford to sit there; removing Flesh Wounds is pointless if it guarantees the enemy another chance to take you out before you can activate again. This will only be useful on models which are Prone/Pinned in cover, or Seriously Injured. In the latter case, we suppose it could avoid bleeding out, while friendly models get close enough to assist. But this is a very passive sort of spirit. Rating: C
• Roads Spirit. Increase movement by 2”. Situationally useful, especially for enabling a charge against an enemy who thought they were safe. Rating: B
• Scrap Spirit. 5” blast centred on the fighter, which does a S3 hit to any enemies (doesn’t affect friendly models). That’s fine, but it runs into similar problems as the Ash Spirit. It happens before actions, so you can’t directly move into a better position for it, you need to take your chances, and the hit itself is weedy. Useful, but don’t expect too much. Rating: B-
• Technology Spirit. Place a 5” template, all models, friend and foe, underneath must take ammo checks for all their weapons. You have to centre the template within 6”, so you can affect models up to about 8.5” away. This is again potentially powerful; lots of enemies are threatening because they have a meltagun/plasma gun/whatever; take that away (unless they pass a hard ammo roll) and they are nearly harmless. It depends on the match up, but can be useful. Rating: B

We were very pessimistic about this tree when the rules were first released. It doesn’t have any obvious ‘hell yeah’ powers on offer. What it does have is several things that let you affect multiple enemies close to the activating fighter – trying to inflict Blind, or unloading their guns, or even just doing a S3 hit, which would at least Pin them. So it may be stronger in close-terrain Underhive battles than in the Ash Wastes. But our gut instinct is that it’s a weaker table overall.

Ka’Toka – Leadsky Seers

• Storm Spirit. This needs Visibility(X”) to be in effect, but is a teleport anywhere outside of X” of enemy models. That is extremely good movement shenanigans! Coupled with Stormcallers’ ability to manipulate Visibility, we see this as a real winner. Clearly it will mostly come up in Ash Waste games, but Underhive battles fought in Pitch Black would also qualify. Rating: A, but only if you regularly play under Visibility rules.
• Motion Spirit. As long as you move 5”, the fighter counts as being in Full Cover, not just for the Round, but until their next Activation. This is pretty decent and gets better if you abuse the Take Cover action to be safe from all normal shooting. Rating: B+
• Blade Spirit. All melee or Versatile attacks count as AP-3, and gain +1 Damage. This is the good stuff. Simple and deadly, call on the spirit and send some hivers to hell. Rating: A
• Eclipse Spirit. Can only make a single close combat attack, but that gains Sever. Now that’s a strong trait (it bypasses the Injury roll completely – if you reduce the target to 0W, they go straight Out of Action) but anyone who can call on the spirit gets at least 2 Attacks. To proc Sever, you still need to hit, wound, get through armour, and do enough Damage to equal the target’s Wounds. So reducing your number of attacks should always be a disadvantage that outweighs the bonus. This is a complete dud, the rules writers seem to have forgotten some additional traits. Rating: F
• Chem Spirit. Centre the 5” template on the fighter, and all enemies treat it as Dangerous Terrain until the End Phase. This is actually surprisingly deadly – models moving in Dangerous Terrain need to pass an Initiative test or go Out of Action. So this is of limited use against shooting-focussed models, or gangs with good Initiative scores. But if you are under threat of charging from most gangs, it is excellent protection – most opponents simply won’t dare to charge or otherwise move near you. The only downside is that you can’t really make them provoke the test, they could just not move, which makes this more of a delaying tactic. Rating: B+
• Chance Spirit. The model can set one dice roll during the activation to a 6. That’s quite powerful as it can almost confirm a hit, e.g. by taking a 6 to hit with a Shock weapon. They can also set a dice to a 1, which RAW is odd. There’s no reason to set any of your dice to a 1. Could it be applied to an opponent’s save roll? The rule doesn’t specify that the dice must be one you, the player, throw. It just says “for the duration of the activation, this fighter may declare that the result of one D6 rolled is either 1 or 6”. Under long standing wargaming conventions (at least in GW games) that modifying your opponent’s dice rolls is almost unheard of, we wouldn’t try to argue this interpretation. Rating: B+ 

Overall this seems like a good strong table, with a variety of different sorts of effects, so it might suit players who want to regularly mix it up. The most striking dissonance is the gap between the spirits of the Blade – a very strong melee buff – and Eclipse – a slight downgrade in fighting power. The latter is the only spirit we can definitively say is useless, if you roll it for a game, you probably wouldn’t even want to note it down.

Skills

Wasteland Skills

These are Primary, so available at Gang Creation, to Watchers and Stormcallers, but are also Secondary for Chieftains and Dust Riders. XP costs for adding Secondary skills are high, but it can always be considered.

• • Ghost of the Wastes. This lets the fighter use the Hide in the Wastes action of their Sky Mantle in Underhive battles. Which (see the Sky Mantle section) they forgot to forbid anywhere, so the value of that will depend on your group’s interpretation. More interestingly, it makes it a Basic Action, so it would be completely valid to Shoot and then Hide during an Activation. We’ve already discussed the rules mess of the Hidden condition if Visibility rules aren’t in effect. But if your group does have a workable consensus on this, and you want to be tricksy and annoying by shooting without being shot back, this is a good skill. Note that Stormcallers and Dust Riders don’t get Sky Mantles, so can’t benefit from this at all. Rating: B
  • Stormwalker. Add +2” to Movement provided the activation starts on the battlefield surface. This is pretty good, especially for a melee-seeking Stormcaller or a Dust Rider. Actual Movement Advances are cheaper than buying a skill, but our RAI interpretation is that this can boost mobility over the 8” mandated in the core rules as the maximum Movement stat. Rating: B

• Eyes of the Wasteland. Treat Visibility as X+6”, and can target Hidden models from 9” away (the norm is 3”) if playing in Pitch Black rules. Provided your group actually plays those rules consistently, and especially if you are leaning into controlling Visibility with a Stormcaller and centring your tactics on it, this is potentially an OK skill. RAW, it stacks with the Photo-Goggles or Infra Sight bonus. Rating: B

• Beast Handler. Get an extra attack from any Additional Attacks effects while mounted. Which currently is only the Helamite’s single, S3 AP-1 attack. An extra attack of that quality (it uses the rider’s WS) is nice for inclusion, but we aren’t sure it stacks up against other Advances. For example, if you have a Dust Rider with a chain lance, you can pay 12XP to pick this Skill, or, for the same price, add another attack directly onto your profile, which will be made with that chain lance, at higher Strength, AP, Damage, with Versatile. Your call. Rating: C+

• Ever Vigilant. +1A when making Reaction Attacks, and never takes -1 to hit for turning to face. That’s mechanically not bad, however, if a skilled melee model gets charged in Necromunda, it’s by another skilled melee model, so if they survive the initial swings, it’s usually by pure luck. We’d rather invest in a skill that helps before that point. Maybe this has some legs as a late-campaign pick for a melee fighter who has been made as tanky as possible (and some Warrior Spirit invocations can help there). Rating: C+

• Bring it Down. This is the strongest choice by some margin. It gives you an eponymous Basic Action, which grants re-rolls to hit (already universally better than using the action to Aim) then it spreads that effect to all other fighters on the board, who can also ignore Target Priority to ensure they can shoot at it, Line of Sight permitting. We can see this being the obvious choice for any Watcher with a decent weapon (remember you need Suspensors to combine it with anything Unwieldy). But remember it is primarily for use against Vehicles. Combining fire against a single fighter is rarely possible in Necromunda, because they’re almost always Prone and in cover (and thus untargetable) after the first shot. But against a Ridgehauler, this is magic. Activate it with a Charge Caster shot, then unleash hell with massed Blast Carbines. Rating: A+ (but only a B if playing in non-vehicular campaigns)

Other Key Skills

Shooting is definitely the skill tree for Watchers (and Specialists) to look at. Fast Shot, Trick Shot, or Precision Shot if using weapons with Shock, are all great. Chieftains and Stormcallers can pick from Savant, and there’s no gang that doesn’t benefit from taking Fixer. Everyone can access Cunning as Primary or Secondary, and that has excellent options: Infiltrate is a stalwart, Overwatch is iconic on heavy weapons/Long Rifles, but also terrific on Web templates in those sticky situations at close quarters.  Dust Riders can benefit from Ferocity, which has a lot of solid choices, and Agility, which could let them cross the board in a single bound. 

Example Starting Gangs

Come visit the Underhive!

• Chieftain – Mesh Armour, Chain Lance, Web Pistol. Skill: Infiltrate (or Fixer) – 280
• Watcher – Mesh Armour, Web Gun, Scavenged Stub Gun. Skill: Hip Shooting – 245
• Warrior Specialist – Mesh Armour, Blast Carbine – 100
• Warrior – Mesh Armour, Blast Carbine – 100
• Warrior – Mesh Armour, Blast Carbine – 100
• Warrior – Mesh Armour, Blast Carbine – 100
• Dust Runner – Mesh Armour, Scavenged Stub Gun, Stalking Knife – 75

Total: 1000 credits, 7 models.

This list can be created out of a single box (with a weapons upgrade kit, or some light conversion, or some flexibility about WYSIWYG. It does show an issue with making effective Underhive Nomad gangs – you just end up with Web weapons and Blast Carbines everywhere. If your group (sensibly) dislikes duplicated models and encourages variety, you could drop the Web Pistol from the Chieftain, and switch one or two of the carbines into rifles or scavenged autoguns, and squeeze in two more cheap fighters:

• Chieftain – Mesh Armour, Chain Lance, Scavenged Stub Gun. Skill: Infiltrate (or Fixer) – 195
• Watcher – Mesh Armour, Web Gun. Skill: Hip Shooting – 240
• Warrior Specialist – Mesh Armour, Blast Carbine – 100
• Warrior – Mesh Armour, Blast Carbine – 100
• Warrior – Mesh Armour, Blast Rifle – 90
• Warrior – Mesh Armour, Scavenged Autogun – 85
• Dust Runner – Scavenged Stub Gun, Long Blade – 70
• Dust Runner – Scavenged Stub Gun, Stalking Knife – 60
• Dust Runner – Scavenged Stub Gun, Stalking Knife – 60

Total: 1000 credits, 9 models.

In either of those examples, the loadouts can be swapped around if you prefer the Warriors to do close combat and the Runners the shooting.

How We Do It In The Wastes

Here we have a mix of the Ash Wastes capabilities Nomads offer, with an unarmed Stormcaller purely to control the weather, and the bulk of the gang split between Long Rifles, and mobile Chain Lances (with one cheeky Web Gun). 

• Chieftain – Mesh Armour, Chain Lance, Long Rifle. Skill: Infiltrate – 220
• Watcher – Mesh Armour, Charge Caster. Skill: Trick Shot – 270
• Stormcaller – unarmed. Skill: Fixer – 120
• Warrior Specialist – Long Rifle – 90
• Warrior – Long Rifle – 90 
• Warrior – Long Rifle – 90 
• Dust Rider – Mesh Armour, Chain Lance – 150
• Dust Rider – Mesh Armour, Chain Lance – 150
• Dust Rider – Mesh Armour, Web Gun – 220

Total: 1400 credits, 9 models.

Final Thoughts

So what does a good, strong Ash Wastes Nomads gang look like? Well firstly, with their relatively narrow weapon selection, there won’t be as much variation as most gangs. We see three basic capabilities: mass deployment of long range weapons (typically long rifles in the Wastes and Blast Carbines in the Underhive); powerful Web templates, perhaps with Infiltration/Ambush type abilities to get them into position; and very mobile close combat fighters with Versatile weapons. Whether you lean hard into one of these areas, or blend all three, there are definitely strong builds available. Beyond simply having different weapons, the scope for using the Hidden rules (as much of a mess as they are) and manipulating Visibility makes this a uniquely rewarding gang to play in their intended, Ash Wastes, environment. The asymmetry of being the one gang locked out of vehicles, but having Haywire tools against them, reinforces that. In the Underhive, while they have good tools available, they can often lack variety, because key fighters (the Stormcaller and Dust Riders) are barred, while other tricks (Sha’dar Hunters’ ambush, and arguably everyone’s ability to Hide using Sky Mantles) are unavailable. House rules for Nomads outside of their natural habitats remain a live debate in many Necromunda communities. Some people are enthusiastically pro, others take the fluff-based stance that they should be more capable in the Wastes. Our parting reminder here is that Necromunda campaigns are intended to be fun. Our advice tends to be grounded in what’s effective in-game, because that gives you, the reader, the understanding to go forward and make your own informed decisions. We say, if you can play Nomads in the Underhive and have fun, do it from the book. If you object to being cut off from certain common items like grenades, or your opponents object to constant Web spam due to lack of other options, then by all means, house-rule access to additional weapons/wargear.

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