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69. The Last Round

RAW ✔️ White Dwarf 459, Going Out With A Bang!, p120 (12/2020)

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Multi-player Games​

End Game scenarios work best when they are multi-player games. While it might be appropriate for a single powerful gang to see if they can break free of the underhive, take down the local warlord or escape into the wastes, these games will be more memorable and more exciting if all the players have a stake in the outcome rather than watching from the sidelines. Fortunately, Necromunda is a game that lends itself well to multi-player games, and guidelines for running Necromunda with more than two players can be found in the Necromunda Rulebook, covering such things as determining Priority when there is more than two players and limiting the number of fighters each player can field in especially large games in order to keep the action moving. The End Game scenarios presented in this article are all designed with multiplayer gaming in mind.

A powerful gang celebrates their final victory at a local drinking hole - only to discover the fight is not over yet...

Attacker and Defender​

In this scenario, one or more gangs are the attacker and one other gang is the defender. The defender is always the gang with the highest Gang Rating, and, while this scenario can be played one-on-one, it has been designed for a single powerful gang to face multiple, less powerful gangs.

Battlefield​

This scenario uses the Battlefield Set-up guidelines as described in the Necromunda Rulebook with the following exceptions. The battle takes place in a drinking hole somewhere deep in the underhive, and so the battlefield should emulate this to some extent. Players should set up the battlefield so that there is an open area in the middle (roughly 12" across) to represent the taproom – this area should still have a reasonable amount of scatter terrain for fighters to hide behind (such as tables, crates and barrels). Surrounding this open area should be walls or other impassable terrain with at least two entrances covered by doors. The rest of the battlefield may be set up as normal.

Crews​

This scenario uses the standard rules for choosing a crew, as described in the Necromunda Rulebook. Each of the attackers uses the Custom Selection (10) method to choose their crew, while the defender uses the Custom Selection method to choose – meaning they can field their entire gang. If there are three attackers, they each use the Custom Selection (7) method, while if there are four or more attackers, they each use the Custom Selection (5) method.

Deployment​

The attacker(s) set up their fighters anywhere within 6" of the edge of the battlefield, while the defender places their entire gang within the taproom (see Battlefield).

Gang Tactics​

Each player may choose two Gang Tactics from those available to their gang.

Ending the Battle​

The battle ends when only one side (attacker or defender) has fighters remaining on the battlefield.

Victory​

If the defender has at least one fighter that is not Seriously Injured remaining on the battlefield at the end of the battle, the defender is victorious. Otherwise, the attacker(s) are victorious.

Outcome​

Win or lose, the defender's glorious run as the most powerful gang in the dome ends here: if they are victorious, they enjoy one last round of drinks (over the corpses of their rivals) before disappearing from the sector and into legend. Otherwise, they become permanent fixtures of the bar's decor …

Rewards​

Experience​

Each attacking fighter that took part in the battle earns 1 XP.

Reputation​

Each attacking gang gains 1 Reputation.

If the defender bottled out, each attacking gang gains an additional 1 Reputation.

limited ammo​

Not only have the defenders been caught by surprise by the attack, they only have a limited supply of ammo to hand:

  • For the duration of this scenario, all weapons carried by fighters in the defender's crew that do not have the Scarce trait gain the Scarce trait.
  • For the duration of this scenario, all weapons carried by fighters in the defender's crew that have the Scarce trait replace it with the Limited trait.

In addition to being short on ammunition, the defenders haven't brought all of their firepower with them:

  • Any weapons that have the Limited trait on their profile as normal cannot be used by fighters in the defender's crew, as they are considered to have been left in the gang's hideout.

On The Clock​

The attackers might have caught out the defenders while they were not expecting it, but their gangs could easily lose their nerve – they are trying to take out the toughest gang around, after all!

In the End phase of the third round, and in the End phase of each round thereafter, every player rolls a D6. If, however, the Leader of an attacking gang is not present on the battlefield, or is Out of Action, Seriously Injured or Broken, that player does not roll a D6 for their gang.

Compare all the dice rolls:

  • If at least one of the attackers' rolls is equal to or higher than the defender's roll, then all is well. The attackers have not lost their nerve and the attack continues.
  • If, however, the defender's roll is higher than any one of the attacker's rolls, all of the attacking gangs must immediately remove D3 randomly selected fighters from the battlefield, as they lose their nerve and flee.
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Arbitrating The Scenario​

There are many ways for the Arbitrator to balance this scenario, either to make it more even for the attackers or to give the defenders more of a fighting chance.

If the attackers seem out-gunned, the Arbitrator could allow them to take on free Bounty Hunters or Hive Scum. An Enforcer patrol might show up to give them a hand, or a Guild entourage might offer an alliance just for the fight. The Arbitrator may wish to simply modify the attackers' crew size, increasing it as they see fit (and possibly decreasing it if lots of gangs have shown up to take on the defenders).

If the defenders are looking a little weak, the bar itself may have defences that can work in their favour, giving them some sentry guns to set up, or a friendly Ogryn bouncer for protection. If the Arbitrator just wants to add to the chaos, the bar could be on fire – smoke giving everyone a -2 modifier to hit with ranged weapons and in each End phase D3 random fighters on each side must test to see if they catch fire just as if they had been hit by a weapon with the Blaze trait!

A variation of this scenario could pit the Arbitrator against all the gang Leaders in the campaign. Each player starts with just their Leader as one of the defenders drinking in the bar, while the Arbitrator takes on the role of the attacker and throws Enforcers, outlaws, plague zombies, or whatever else they want against them.