The latest preview for Warhammer 40k’s skirmish spinoff Necromunda, the Squat Scout Trike, is another absolute winner. It’s both a loving call-back to the original Squat range from Warhammer 40k’s first edition, and a weird, cumbersome, gnarly bit of sci-fi hardware that would look right at home in the pages of the comic 2000AD or John Blanche’s sketchbook. And once again I’m left wondering – why isn’t Warhammer 40k this cool?
The Squats were part of the first edition of Warhammer 40k, but disappeared for three decades, before eventually returning as a full Warhammer 40k faction called the Leagues of Votann. Their new model range takes very light inspiration from the original 1980s models, leaning much more heavily into a high-tech aesthetic.
The Necromundan Squats are descended from Votann kin who have gone native on the Imperial hive world, and consequently use much more rudimentary technology. The model designers have used this as an excuse to go hard into call-backs to the original Squat miniature range. This week that’s the Scout Trike, following on from last week’s excellent, egg-shaped Exo-Kyn, a callback to the 1989 Hearthguard in Exo-Armor model.
Are they cool and slick? No! They’re wonky and weird and idiosyncratic. But that’s part of the charm of the 40k universe. Space Marines cover their advanced power armor with wax seals and devotional scriptures. The Sisters of Battle’s main artillery vehicle is a church organ. It’s cool because it’s awkward and weird and slightly insane.
The Necromunda miniature range seems to get the absolute cream of the crop of new brilliantly weird-looking models. The Mercator Guilds are all sinister weirdos. The Ash Wastes line is absolutely packed with brilliant whackjob vehicles, from House Cawdor’s rickety mechanical legs to House Escher’s death-trap jetbikes.
The recent Malstrain Genestealers are gnarlier and grosser than anything in the Tyranids range, while the Xenos-technology-infused Spyrer suits are the most genuinely alien bit of technology I’ve seen in a 40k miniature since Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress. The whole range feels more like Warhammer 40k than Warhammer 40k does!
Yes, yes, there’s probably good business reasons for this. Warhammer 40k kits need to be a smidge easier to put together than Necromunda, as they’re targeted at a wider audience, and players need to build many more individual models to play. But when there’s such delicious weirdness on the Necromunda buffet, I can’t help but feel Warhammer 40k is getting the scraps.
Come on, GW! We got into Warhammer 40k because it does the wacky nonsense no other sci-fi universe does. Give it to us weird.
Necromunda isn’t the only spin-off skirmish game that’s getting peak figures. Check out my Kill Team Hivestorm review for some glowing praise for the new Aquilons and Vespid miniatures.
Source: Wargamer
