Wednesday, February 12, 2020
The House of Chains Preview... and a look ahead at future releases for 2020
The new House of Chains is coming to Necromunda this weekend for pre-orders. Here is a first look at this new house and it's rules.
At the bottom there is a look ahead! What is coming for beyond the House of Chains.
via the Warhammer Community
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/02/11/enter-the-house-of-chainsgw-homepage-post-4fw-homepage-post-2/
Background
House Goliath is the youngest of the six Clan Houses on Necromunda, and the House of Chains book takes a deep dive into their history, from their beginnings as slaves to the present day where they prosper. There’s a look at how the House is organised from the Over-tyrant, through the Alphas and down to the enclaves within a hive. It also takes a look at House industries, House territories and some gangs of legend.
Alongside the timelines and glorious new artwork, there are additional options for the tabletop too.
New Fighters
House of Chains introduces Prospects into gangs for the first time. These are the up-and-comers of the House and represent the future of the gang. In House Goliath, they’re called Forge-born, and they are desperate to prove themselves to the Alphas of the clan so they can take their place as future champions and leaders. As you can see from their profile, they’re not there quite yet.
They’re cheaper than a regular ganger and have different abilities to Juves, which offers you a lot of customisation in how you build your gang. These fighters also bring new weaponry with them. Choose a storm-welder to provide a high rate of covering fire so the rest of your gang can advance.
But what good are new rules without new models to go with them? Well, not only are the Goliath Forge-born getting some miniatures, but they come in a kit with Goliath Stimmers, who are new House-specific Champions.
Think those Stimmers look pretty deadly already? Well, wait until they activate their Combat Chems Stash and smash their way through the underhive. Of course, sometimes even Stimmers can have an adverse reaction.
It’s not just new fighters that Goliath are getting, though – there are a heap of gang-adjacent options too.
Hangers-on and Alliances
House of Chains introduces a range of new Hangers-on to Necromunda, including the Goliath-specific Pit Trainer. They can improve your fighters by putting them through a few rounds in the pit, but be careful – this is more than just sparring, and your gangers can get injured.
Depending on your preference, you can form an alliance with one of the noble Houses of Necromunda, House Greim, or the Slave Guild. Choosing the latter means that you may be sent a Slaver Entourage to “help out” your gang. Forge World are even producing some models to represent the Chain Lord, Shaklemen and Pit Fighters on the tabletop.
Whether you join an alliance or not, there are still plenty of ways to improve your Goliath fighters.
Grow Your Gang
The House of Chains goes into detail about the different origins of fighters in House Goliath, be they Vatborn (those created in a vat), Natborn (those born naturally) or Unborn (those from outside the House). If these fighters aren’t quite what you need, then there are rules to apply gene-smithing to them. Vatborn, Natborn and Unborn fighters can all take different Gene-smithed upgrades that increase both their characteristics and credit cost. Want your fighters to be even tougher than regular Goliaths? Give your Vatborn the Dermal Hardening upgrade and they will laugh off all but the strongest attacks.
Vatborns are your “baseline” Goliath fighters, but you can upgrade any number of them to Natborn or Unborn and then Gene-smith away to your heart’s content!
New Skills
To represent the physical dominance of House Goliath fighters, they now have access to a new skill set called, appropriately enough, Muscle. Maybe one of your fighters is so hard that he can just walk off wounds that he takes.
This is just a small sample of what you’ll find inside House of Chains. It’s absolutely packed with Goliath goodness, and it’s indispensable whether you play the gang or you’re just a fan of Necromunda and its background.
In the Gang
Of course, we couldn’t just let Goliath have all of the fun! All six House gangs are going to get their own book and, just like the House of Chains, they will all feature extensive background, new fighters, alliances, Bounty Hunters, House-specific tactics and more. Each gang will also get new plastic kits along with their book. Exciting, eh? Let’s take a look at the (Ash) road map for what’s coming up.