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Hive of Blood

RAW ✔️ Source: Apocrypha Necromunda: Hive of Blood

Age of the Gang Kings​

Designer's Commentary: Age of the Gang Kings

Presented below are the rules for running battles set in the Age of the Gang Kings, before the rise of the Clan Houses and the line of Helmawr. These rules allow you to recreate the events described in Hive of Blood. They are not designed to be used alongside a Necromunda campaign. If the Arbitrator wishes they may run an Age of the Gang Kings campaign, though significant changes will need to be made in order to make it work.

In the aftermath of the Imperium's conquest of Necromunda, a period of lawlessness endured for many centuries. This time was known as the Age of the Gang Kings and saw a greater number of large scale conflicts than later millennia. Before Martek Helm'ayr and his descendants ratified the Clan and Noble Houses and restricted such open war, the hives and the wastes between them were the site of bloody battles the equal of any Imperial war zone.

Due to the scale of the fighting in Age of the Gang Kings battles, the forces involved are much larger than typical games of Necromunda, with many fighters operating in close-knit units rather than as individuals. Games set in the Age of the Gang Kings use the Outland Armies and Wasteland Warfare rules presented here.

Lost Houses and Ancient Empires​

During the Age of the Gang Kings the Clan Houses and Noble Houses, as they are known at the end of the 41st Millennium, did not yet exist. While this means Goliaths, Escher, Cawdor and similar gangs are not suitable, their gang lists could be used to represent a progenitor to their House – such as the followers of the Blades who would, in time, become the foundation of House Escher. The Outcast Gang list, from Book of the Outcast is also very appropriate to this setting, as it allows players to field diverse collections of fighters to suit a variety of themes.

Outland Armies​

When creating an Age of the Gang Kings force, the normal rules for founding a gang are not used. Instead, players construct their forces using the following guidelines:

  • Increase the starting gang credit limit to 5,000 credits. As always, the Arbitrator may increase or decrease this amount if they wish.
  • The force must include one model with the Leader special rule.
  • Up to 25% of the total credits may be spent on models from a different gang list to your Leader.
  • One model without the Gang Fighter (X) rule may be included for every three models with the Gang Fighter (X) rule.

Wasteland Warfare​

Games set in the Age of the Gang Kings use a limited version of the core Necromunda rules to speed up play, as well as the addition of a new rule: Coordinated Attacks:

  • The following rules are NOT used when playing Age of the Gang Kings scenarios:
    • "I Get Knocked Down…", Pinned and Seriously Injured, the Broken, Out of Ammo, Blaze, Blind, Concussion, Intoxicated, Insane and Webbed Conditions, Bottle Checks, Recovery Tests and Rally Tests, Stray Shots and Injury Dice.
  • The following Weapon Traits are NOT used; count weapons with these Traits as not having them:
  • All fighters are considered to have a 360° vision arc.
  • When resolving damage against vehicles, they lose a number of Hull Points equal to the weapon's damage. If a vehicle is reduced to 0 Hull Points, it is removed from play.
  • Fighters reduced to 0 wounds are removed from play.
Coordinated Attacks

In Age of the Gang Kings, players may activate fighters (not vehicles) with the Gang Fighter (X) special rule in groups, provided they are close to each other. When a player activates a fighter with the Gang Fighter (X) special rule, they may also activate any other friendly fighters with the Gang Fighter (X) special rule within 6" of that fighter (treat this as if the fighters had been activated using a Group Activation).

This does not affect Group Activations made by Champions and Leaders.