Yesterday we took a look inside the first new Underhive Journal for Necromunda to see the rules for House Escher. Today it’s the turn of their eternal foes from House Goliath.
Underhive Journal: Goliath – The House of Chains covers the muscle-bound brutes of House Goliath. Originally created in a joint Escher/Van Saar experiment to craft the perfect workers,* the Goliaths broke free and carved out a niche for themselves in Hive Primus, using their brawn and skill to become one of the preeminent Clan Houses.
The Journal includes all this history along with new Fighters and equipment for your Goliath gangs, two variant gang lists, and a suite of campaign rules.
The new gang lists exemplify two Goliath archetypes. Each variant gang has its own list of Fighters, some from the main gang list, and some unique to each variant.
FURNACE BRUTES
Forge Despot
Forge Boss
Forge Master
0-1 Stimmer
0-2 Forge Breaker
0-3 Forge Hauler
0-1 Forge Patcher
Bruiser
2+ Forge-Born
Bully
0-1 ’Zerker
1+ Sumpkroc
UNBORN
Unborn Doc
Twice Born
0-1 Forge Boss
Stimmer
0-3 Forge Gunner
1+ Forge Patcher
Bruiser
0-2 Forge-Born
0-2 Bully
’Zerker
1+ Malformed
Sumpkroc
Furnace Brutes
The Furnace Brutes are those Goliaths sent to work in the most remote and dangerous forges. They’re also the ones sent when rivals need to be taught a serious lesson by attacking them in their own territory. Their special rules allow them to purchase weapons and wargear from the trading post even without using a Visit Trading Post action at the end of a cycle – though they’re limited to TP0 items which they can forge themselves, rather than the rarer gear. They can also enhance their weapons between campaign cycles with a new action.
ENHANCE WEAPON (FURNACE BRUTES FIGHTER ONLY)
The Fighter works on a weapon in order to improve its effectiveness. Select either a Primitive Weapon or a Repurposed Tool with the Melee trait that either the Fighter is equipped with or is in the gang’s Stash and pay 10 credits. Select one of the following options to apply to the weapon:
If the weapon does not have the Unwieldy trait, increase its Lethality by 1 and give it the Unwieldy trait.
If the weapon does not have the Heavy or Paired trait, increase its Strength by 1 and give it the Heavy trait.
If the weapon does not have the Concussive (X+) trait, give it the Concussive (6+) trait. If the weapon does have the Concussive (X+) trait, decrease the value of X by 1 to a minimum of 4.
Improve the weapon’s AP by 1 to a minimum of -2.
If the weapon has the Heavy trait but does not have the Knockback (X+) trait, give it the Knockback (6+) trait. If the weapon does have the Knockback (X+) trait, decrease the value of X by 1 to a minimum of 4.
These changes are permanently applied to the weapon and increase the Credit Value of the weapon by 5 each.
Unborn
The Unborn are those Goliaths not born into the House. They’re the dregs of underhive society, who volunteer to be pumped full of chemicals and stimms to turn them into hulking Goliath brutes.
Unborn Fighters (other than Beasts) can each choose an additional Secondary skill set to reflect their varied pasts, and are led by Unborn Docs who can keep their crews medicated, as well as hitting like a Cargo-8 Ridgehauler.
GOLIATH UNBORN DOC (145 CREDITS)
M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Sv |
4" | 3+ | 3+ | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5+ |
Ld | Cl | Wil | Int |
8 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
Type | Starting XP |
Fighter (Leader) | 73 |
New Fighters and Equipment
Like their Escher counterparts, the Forge Smelters first seen in the Necromunda Skirmish Core Set are included as additions to the Goliath gang list, allowing you to add a range of specialists to your gangs, some of whom – like the melee-focused Forge Breaker and chem-slinging Forge Patcher – have exclusive access to some of the new weapons and equipment. In addition, heavy stubbers, heavy flamers, power axes, and a few other weapons are now available to all your Fighters, giving you many more options when building or advancing a gang.
Gene-smithing
The legacy of the Goliaths’ creation lives on in their use of gene-smithing to adapt themselves to the needs of the House. Each non-Beast Fighter can choose a single adaptation when they’re added to your roster. Some of these have impressive effects, like Iron Flesh, which adds 1 Wound to a Fighter for a bargain 30 credits. Others actually reduce your Fighter’s credit cost, but affect them negatively, such as Data-slug overlay.
DATA-SLUG OVERLAY (-10 CREDITS)
Effect: Something has gone wrong with the data-slug, its false engrams scrambling this Fighter’s mind, making them prone to bouts of madness. When this Fighter activates for the first time in a battle, they must make an Intelligence check. If the check is failed, they become subject to the Insanity condition.
Campaign Rules
Enhance your campaigns, as well as your Fighters, with Goliath-exclusive Side Jobs, Territories, and Gang Tactics reflecting the playstyle of the House. There’s also a new skill table that counts as Primary for all Goliath Fighters – the aptly-named Muscle skills.** These include such delights as Fists of Steel, which gives a Fighter an innate melee weapon at S+2, and Tireless Worker, which allows the Fighter to get extra credits from working territories. Best of all, Unleash the Beast gives a Fighter a new action, as they flex those mighty muscles.
UNLEASH THE BEAST (FIGHTER ONLY)
This Fighter may perform the Flex action while they are Engaged:
Flex (Double): All other Fighters (friend or foe) within 1" of this Fighter must pass a Strength check or be pushed D3" directly away from this Fighter, stopping only if they come into contact with another Fighter or an impassable terrain feature. If this would cause them to fall off a ledge, they test for falling. If there are multiple Fighters being pushed, the player controlling this Fighter chooses in which order they are moved.
Underhive Journal: Goliath – The House of Chains goes on pre-order this Saturday, alongside a card pack and a set of new miniatures to represent your Leaders, Champions, and the all-important Sumpkrocs. If you’re planning to get it, be sure that you also have a copy of Gangs of the Underhive, as you need it to use the rules in the journal.
* It succeeded – have you seen their muscles?
** We refer you back to the previous footnote.
