Necromunda 26 intro game

Peeking around the corners of the Underhive.

We (Rob, Bob and myself) were itching to try out the new Necromunda. The new edition that the internet is calling Necromunda 2026 (or N26) due to the murkiness regarding what counted as a new edition after the launch of 3rd. The stars aligned in such a way that we were able to make it happen. 

My Orlock Gang

We chose to play at Hobbytown in Johnson City mainly to make a show of playing Necromunda. It seemed that quite a few people checked us out as we were playing through this game, so that seemed to work out OK. Anyway, Rob acted as our 'gamemaster', sorting through the rules, making rule calls, clarifications, and other aspects of arbitration. This was was particularly helpful as I hadn't read the rulebook yet at all. Rob also brought the mat and the MDF Zone Mortalis terrain. 

The table is set

I brought a fist full of Orlocks, and Bob brought his Van Sar gang. Unlike myself, Bob has been eagerly painting up his gang, where I have yet to do anything with them. Some of my '90s miniatures have been primed, but that's the extent of it. I aim to fix this soon. 

Orlock Deployment

The first round was mostly spent repositioning gangers and trying to get a bit closer to each other's objectives. The scenario we were playing has three objectives placed in each side's deployment area. 

By Turn 2 the blood bath had begun, as were spent much of the turn blasting each other. However it was quickly apparent that luck favored the Van Sar as the Orlocks had a lot more Seriously Injured gangers as this stage. 

Even though the fight seemed to not be going my way, the fact is that point of this match up wasn't to win but to get as many rule interactions in as possible. Tossing grenades? Check. Mastering long ranged shooting? Check. Learning the value of a medic? Seriously checked. 

We even got to see how bottling works now as my Orlocks slowly started dragging their spilled guts back to their layer. We even got to see how a Grav Grenade works and the Orlock leader was struck by one. 

The blue template represents a grav effect.

All-in-all, it was a fun game. A bit more brutal than. I recall, but as with every game of Necromunda I have ever played, the dice rolls can turn the best laid out strategy into utter folly. They can also turn a humble ganger into a hard-core sniper. Neither one of us ever made it to a. Objective, we were having far too much fun splashing around in the bloodbath. One of the most intriguing character i. The Van Sar gang was the Medic. That guy was so impressive that I feel every gang should have one present. I know I want one in the next gang I create. 

So the take away from this is positive, and we want to set up a sort campaign/league thing here locally. It's still early days yet,  but as we go forward I will chronicle it here. See you in the sump! 

20 Halberdiers (Part 1)

The next unit for my Empire project is a big block of 20 Halberdiers. These are the classic mono-pose miniatures from the GW/MB game Battlemasters. Battlemasters came out in 1992, and although those miniatures were revolutionary for their time, thirty years later... they appear to be quite crude by modern standards.. 

20 guys, primed for action. 

I decided to do up two models first to act as "controls". The first model was stopped at the finished basecoats step. Black Templar on the metal areas, Snakebite Leather on the leather and clothing, Wyldwood on the halberd shaft, and Baal Red on the shield and tassel thingy on the halberd. 

Basecoated.

The second one I worked up to what is often referred to as a 'battle-ready' standard.  My old paint recipe for Reiklander uniforms is worked up from the Snakebite Leathe Contrast Paint basecoat, then  a craft paint by Folkart called Linen. I then went over that with another craft paint by Delta Ceramcoat called Raw Linen. I finalized the scheme with a highlight of Skull White. I used Nuln Oil Gloss on the recesses of the armored areas before topping them off with a Stormhost Silver highlight. 

Battle Ready

I was reluctant at first to add yellow to their feathers, but this choice was supported by the Reikland pages of the Uniforms & Heraldry of the Empire book that GW published way back in the last days of WFB 7th edition (I was always bummed out that they never finished the series, but I treasure the three books that they did release). 


Well, doing 20 of these guys is definitely a time consuming war against tedium, and just the Black Templar stage took me awhile. 

Black Templar. 

In Part 2 my goal is to get all of them basecoated. Stay tuned! 

Mounted Celestial Wizard

 I am building an Empire of Man Knightly Order army and I decided I wanted a mounted wizard to support it. Digging through the Neverness Archive I found three unopened blisters of old mounted wizards. A Gold Wizard, Jade Wizard and Celestial Wizard. I decided to go with the Celestial Wizard as I felt he would fit the theme of the army better than the other two.

Mint in blister, a Celestial Wizard. 

After cracking open that beautiful mint condition packaging, I cleaned up the model of it's flash and mold lines. Then I primed it and got to work slapping on the base coats using Contrast Paints. 

Next came the barded horse. Only the muzzle and saddle have any contrast paint on them. The rest of the model is classic Citadel Paint. Macrage Blue on the barding's basecoat followed by Caledon Sky. A subtle highlight of Calgar Blue finished the barding color. 

Dots of White Scar was applied to create a star field look. And a pentacle was freehanded on each cheek of the horse's rump. 

This all came together nicely, and when the rider was done he was glued into position on the horse's back. 

Finally, the flocking stage. I added the usual variety of grass tufts and fallen leaves, and essentially this model is now complete. 

I dig how he turned out. I think he captures that '90s Wayne England color pallette vibe well. 

Oh, the white under the leaves is the PVA glue which hadn't hardened yet before I snapped these pics. I assure you that is no longer apparent on the model now. The last thing left to do is to seal the miniature to reduce the risk of chipping. 

The the next you see him, he should be in battle. Could be awhile though,  but in the meantime I need to figure out a name for him so he can join the Neverness Fantasy Rogues Gallery. 

Big Guns Never Tire - Empire Edition (Part 2)

 I finished the crew in Part 1,  now for the actual big guns.

These things are fairly basic so I didn't bother with taling any WIP shots  Tbe first cannon I acquired about 20 years ago from Warfrog. He had made it in such a way so that the great cannon and mortar could switched out. I was able to scrounge the other bits needed to turn the leftover bits into a second carriage so that I could use both the cannon and the mortar. I had also found another mortar in my bitz box which gives me the option to field two mortars if I chose too. 

I took the basic idea for the color scheme from the WHFB 6th edition Empire Armies book. The weapons were painted using Leadbelcher topped with Nuln Oil Gloss. I used Leadbelcher to edge highlight the guns and used Stormhost Silver for a few final highlights. 

You might have noticed that one of the mortars has a cannonball in it. This was made by rolling up some greenstuff. I glued it in after I painted the inside of the barrel black just in case there was any gaps. 

Wyldwood Contrast Paint with a layer of old Bestial Brown was the basis for the gun carriages. I finished that off with a few Washes of Agrax Earthshade and some Nuln Oil.

Aftter some grass tufts and a few leaves were added, this project was done.  I hope to get these guys in action soon, but the specific armistice I am building these guys for have a few more units that I still need to add, so, stay tuned!