Necromunda: Underhive - Brutal Gang Warfare in the 41st Millennium

As board game-inspired videogames go, nothing is quite like Games Workshop. From the real time strategy series Dawn of War to the high fantasy world of Blood Bowl football, they’ve been a steady force within the videogame realm for decades now. My own experience dates back to HeroQuest and Space Hulk in the early nineties, and in recent years I’ve also started playing some of the board games that inspired these titles. Not having played a new title in a while, I decided to look back to some of the board games Games Workshop released in 2017 and look forward to what’s coming next. Because of the length of this feature, we decided to split in three parts – here’s part one, which focuses on Necromunda: Underhive.

Necromunda: Underhive

As is the case for many Games Workshop titles, Necromunda: Underhive is a newly released game which has its roots in a previous version – in this case, Necromunda from 1995. A spin-off from Warhammer 40,000, Necromunda: Underhive feels a little bit like the seedy and dark atmosphere we see in the Vermintide videogames combined with the post-industrial feel and gang based dynamics of the Mad Max universe. It’s very much skirmish/battle-oriented, and the base set comes with two very different gangs to play with: the female warriors from House Escher and the brutes from House Goliath – who look like they would do well in a game of Blood Bowl as well.

There is quite a bit of set up time required for Necromunda, because besides assembly of the miniatures there is also quite a bit of scenery to put together. The miniatures alone have multiple components and can be put together in multiple configurations, so there’s a lot of fun to be had with that. It’s labor and time-intensive though, especially if you’re also keen on painting everything to give it the look you desire. Out of the box, everything’s a grey plastic and it’s easy to see all the meticulous details that are on there – I’ve seen other hobbyists create beautiful work with these already and I wish I had their creative knack.