The new House Goliath Underhive Journal is available for pre-order from tomorrow. We’ve asked Rob from the Warhammer Design Studio for some help in getting the most from our muscle-bound gangers.
Rob: House Goliath, also known as the House of Chains, values strength and personal prowess above all. In campaigns they win by surviving hits that would fell others and overwhelming their foes with raw strength.
The Fighters
Having been genetically altered to be the most efficient workers on Necromunda, Goliaths are able to take a beating with their Toughness characteristic defaulting to 4 – higher than any other Clan House gang! Their increased physiology doesn’t stop there; they also gain a +1 Strength bonus during an activation where they Charge (though variant gangs benefit from different quirks of their physiology instead).
The Goliath gang expands on the standard Leader, Champion, Ganger, and Prospect, with Stimmers, Forge-Born, and the Furnace Smelters specialists. Each of these add additional options to your gang enabling them to shore up any weaknesses in their Gang Roster.
Building a Goliath gang follows the same pattern for me as any other gang – I aim for 8-10 Fighters and try to cover the following roles:
Close Combat: Each gang needs Fighters who can get up close and personal. With the higher number of attacks generally available in melee as opposed to ranged combat, as well as cover not increasing the target’s Save characteristic, close combat is often more effective at taking enemy models Out of Action. Goliaths have many great options, but they do need to pay greater consideration to protection – many of their most powerful melee weapons have the Unwieldy trait, meaning that your opponent will often get the chance to attack you first. Luckily your Fighters are able to take this punishment with their increased Toughness and I will often prioritise mesh armour for my combat Fighters.
Objective Control: This is an area where Goliath gangs can often struggle. With their low Movement and Initiative you will rarely be the first one on an objective. However, the gang is great at clearing objectives of enemies and taking them over! Their increased Strength when performing the Charge action, along with devastating weapons like the ‘Renderizer’, means they will make short work of any who are foolish enough to try and stop them from taking ground.
Suppressing Fire: Even though the Goliath are brutally effective at close quarters fighting, it is still important for them to include a variety of ranged combatants. After all, it is no good being able to cave in someone’s head with a spud-jacker if you can’t catch up to them! One of their most effective weapons for this is the stub cannon. With a respectable 18” range and impressive Strength of 5, where it really shines is the Knockback (5+) trait which allows it to clear enemies off objectives, force them off ledges and, if you can get the right angles, knock them out of cover and into the open.
Utility: As with all gangs, starting with a respectable number of Prospects is always useful – expendable Fighters who can claim objectives, perform Coup de Grâce actions and advance quickly are too good to pass up. Forge Patchers are especially valuable for the Goliaths – with many of your best combatants taking Wounds from foes with higher Initiative characteristics, being able to restore Wounds to them is a must.
The Weapons
The House of Chains excels at close quarters fighting. Most of their deadliest weapons are shorter ranged than other gangs’ options, but they pack a far bigger punch. For example, the ‘Krumper’ rivet cannon has a modest range of 9”, but hits hard with Str 4, AP -1 and both the Blaze and Rapid Fire traits. If you want to try a really nasty combo, pair this weapon with the Marksman skill, granting the Fighter +1 to Hit for all targets between 3” and 9” away. The ignition cannon is another great example – this weapon (used to ignite the massive smelters within Goliath forges) hits harder than a plasma gun without the risk of hurting the bearer, albeit with a shorter range of 10”.
Gene-smithing
The Goliath were made to be hardy and strong. During their creation by the Escher and Van Saar, many different genetic strands were added and cut, leading to large genetic variety within the clan, not to mention the experimental procedures used to turn others into Unborn. The resulting qualities, both positive and negative, allow for a large amount of customisation in your gang.
There are a wide array of Gene-smithing options available when adding a Goliath to the Gang Roster, ranging from Adaptive Mind, which allows them to treat Secondary skills as Primary skills when generating Advancements, to Redundant Organs, which lowers the chance of a Fighter suffering a bad result on the Lasting Injury table. When selecting Gene-smithing options, bear in mind the intended role for the Fighter and select ones that complement it. Be careful with the negative ones, as although they can seem really good, there will be times you regret them and they can also prevent you taking full advantage of later Advancements.
Campaign Development
As your Prospects gain Advancements, you should start to specialise them towards certain roles based on their Advancement rolls. If you get really lucky and manage to get a 12, it can be really good to pick up one of the skills that are really hard to acquire for a Goliath gang, like Juggernaut or Infiltrate – however, sometimes it is better to pick up a Characteristic increase.
With your Post-cycle actions, the focus should be on developing the Fighters you have. If a Fighter is just one or two XP shy of their next Advancement, Train is a really strong action for them. I always try to have the maximum of five Fighters perform the Work Territory action as this is the most reliable source of credits for your gang. Visit the Trading Post can be a very powerful action if there is certain equipment you have your eye on. Finally, Visit the Doc and Fit Bionics, while situational, are very powerful!
Conclusion
At the end of the day, these are just the tactics that work for me. There are so many different variables in a Necromunda campaign that can completely change the approach to take. Is your campaign full of close combat powerhouses like Corpse Grinder Cults and Malstrain? Prioritise shooting more – heavy stubbers become incredibly powerful weapons, and those with Knockback can really slow the more melee-oriented gangs down while softening them up for your own charge. Keep going up against Van Saar and Ironhead Squat Prospectors? Invest in some smoke grenades and power through their hail of fire in order to crush them at short range.
As with every gang, there’s only one rule that must be followed at all times when playing Necromunda – if you think it will be fun and lead to a cool story, do it!
Thanks, Rob! The new Goliath Underhive Journal and miniatures are available to pre-order tomorrow. We also have the first FAQ for the new edition of Necromunda, featuring a few tweaks to make your underhive experience even smoother. Download it now:
