Necromunda’s Dramatis Personae are getting some attention along with the game’s new artwork.
Pre-orders for the new edition of Necromunda open tomorrow, and ahead of that, we’ve received quite a bit of information. Since the last round, we’ve learned more about the fate of the game’s numerous special characters, or “Dramatis Personae” as they’re referred to in the rules. Alongside this, we’re also getting a sneak peek at what looks like a lot of all-new art to be found in the rulebooks.
Special Rules for Special Characters
You can make a strong case for Necromunda as the arm of Warhammer that consistently produces the coolest figures. In a game line full of wild and imaginative stuff it’s the special characters of the Dramatis Personae that GW’s sculptors seem free to indulge themselves creatively. It pays off with some truly beautiful and weird miniatures depicting the strange and deadly characters that have carved a name for themselves across the underhive and outlands.
Since the game’s previous edition launched in 2017, dozens of Dramatis Personae have been added to the game. With the advent of the new edition there have been a lot of questions about what the future holds for these characters. Fortunately, it seems that all Dramatis Personae that have so far received an official model will have rules at the edition’s launch.
All of these profiles will be found in the upcoming pair of books Gangs of the Underhive and Gangs of the Outlands, both available for pre-order tomorrow. As a bonus to this information, the studio has also shared a first look at the full tables of contents for both of these books.
However, those Dramatis Personae that have not yet received a model will not be getting refreshed rules at this point. Per the studio:
There were also some characters who got rules in the current edition of Necromunda who didn’t get a miniature. The studio will be looking at giving some of them updated rules in the future so you’ll still be able to use any awesome conversions you’ve made.
There are relatively few of these, fortunately, though. Given the DIY attitude of most Necromunda players this shouldn’t be too much of a drawback. We’re used to using characters are gang leaders or bounty hunters and the like. Still, hopefully these characters will return along with official models before too much time passes.
New Edition, New Art
The art preview today is full of cool artwork, of course. But interestingly, so much of it is full-color. Historically, Necromunda has had some fantastic artwork but all in black and white (leaving aside box and book covers, of course). Now, it seems we’re getting quite a bit of full-color art and everything we’ve seen so far is extremely cool.
Happily, we’re also getting more of the miniature-photography with overpainted environments that have long been a hallmark of Games Workshop “Specialist Games” books. I absolutely love this kind of stuff using an actual painted miniature for the basis of an expanded environmental image. This style was part of what made the Horus Heresy books so immersive and I love seeing it in full color here for Necromunda.
As for me, I’m torn between just which gang I’ll use for my first foray back into the hive. But whichever I choose I’m glad all my cool resin characters can come along for the ride.
Are you a veteran ganger or making your first corpsestarch run this edition?
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Simon Berman has been a wargamer since 1993 and has worked in the tabletop games industry since 2008 as a staff writer for the first three editions of WARMACHINE and HORDES. These days he’s the General President of the Brush Wielders Union, a worldwide organization of miniatures painters of all skill levels, a freelance games writer who has contributed to a number of roleplaying games like Eclipse Phase, Dune: Adventures in the Imperium, and The Hammer and the Stake. He runs his own small-press publishing company, Strix Publishing, and paints more miniatures than he can keep track of. Simon lives with his wife in Tacoma, Washington along with a number of cats and a pack of savage wiener dogs.
Source: Bell of Lost Souls
