Posted by I was quite looking forward to the Ash Wastes expansion to Necromunda…
As someone who has fond memories of both the Outlanders expansion to the original Necromunda, and the Gorkamorka game, I was really looking forward to this box set! Unfortunately, I’m pretty disappointed in what GW is putting in there! Overall, I feel they made some serious cost-cutting decisions, and the set is simply not worth the MSRP of $299 USD.
The good
The terrain is pretty interesting! This is some good height-based terrain, plenty of room to maneuver figures and vehicles around and under, places for minis to occupy vantage points, and so on. It’d be great in any of the 40K-setting games including Warhammer 40K and Kill Team. It will also go very well with such items as the Necromunda Underhive Market. It also looks highly modular, with the walkways looking like they will clip-in to the other pieces, allowing things to be rearranged.
This was a very important feature of the original Necromunda sets. Many walkways creating a true 3d experience, something I think the previous box sets have really failed to deliver. Only with the recent releases, such as the Gang Stronghold, have they really brought this back. Take a look at the original box game terrain pieces below to see what I mean!
While I am not really a fan of the new Nomads, they are pretty good sculpts! The bug-riders are new to the Necromunda lore, and I’m sure a lot of folks are going to be keen on adding these to their gangs. There’s also some pretty good kitbashing opportunities here as well. Chaos-warped Squigs? Who knows!
Also of note, these are all ‘human’ scale figures, which should give a reasonably good idea as to what future Astra Militarum figures might be like. I could see these being used as classic Tallarn with very little work!
The Bad
Orlocks? Really? Couldn’t take the opportunity to introduce two new gangs? I’ve already have plenty, I don’t need more. This was a truly wasted opportunity. I understand GW wants to milk out the releases, but they truly missed the Land Train here…
Not even new sculpts! Just the sprues from the current Orlock gang box, with some Ash Wastes bases. Which, by the way, look REALLY BORING. I bet this set just has basic black bases and they expect you to put on some of their textured paint.
As for the quad-bikes? They’re okay. I think they look back-heavy, and that they’d just roll over when making tight turns. Sidecars would have been better? I don’t know, what do you think? I might buy some for some Squat conversions…
Take a look at the old-school Gorkamorka buggy in comparison.
The Ugly
Hoo-boy. First off, for three hundred of my hard-earned dollar-dollar-bills-yo, putting a cheap paper mat into the box? What the hell was GW thinking? I really dislike their paper mats, with their permanent creases, and think this was the ultimate cheap-out for this set. I’m a big fan of their cardstock boards, and this just feels like a total afterthought. Like someone was looking at the contents and went “Oops!” when they realized what was missing.
Also, once again, these do not tessellate! You cannot put multiples of them together to make a larger playing field. It wouldn’t have even been that difficult! I appreciate the “night” side, but wouldn’t a straight road been a better choice for, I don’t know, that sweet-sweet Land Train coming out soon? I find a disappointing when GW fails to look at making things ‘mesh up’ to their other game systems. They used to be very good at that.
The End
I won’t be buying this set. I will pick up the standalone rulebook and probably one or more sets of the terrain. Otherwise, this was a solid swing-and-a-miss. If they had put in two new gangs, or maybe just vehicles for two existing games (instead of infantry figs), and really showcased the new vehicle rules, I think that would have been a much better choice.
And that game mat needs to go, you cheap sons of b-