Hive Decastus is not Necromunda. Hive Decastus is something else. Whereas tales of Necromunda are covered in the glory of brave gangs and daring adventures, Decastus is less than that.
Hive Decastus is a place not so glorious, but instead a bit underwhelming. Sure enough, the Upper Hive is populated by wealthy(ish) Houses and Guilds filled with political intrigue and titular personalities. That is not where this story takes place. The somewhat cheekily named Emperor’s Getaway sits near the bottom of the bottom of the hive. The EG as it is often called is divided into two areas. The less affluent Blightwater Borough and the downright appallingly destitute Grimfish Harbor. This is the setting for the adventures and, more often misadventures, of what could in the loosest sense be called gangs.
This is their story.
Notes From the Real World
The Emperor’s Getaway is about 15 real years old and has been the setting of Necromunda campaigns at least six times over the years. The game itself has been played since its original introduction, but within the confines of the Irregular(s) group, twenty two years is about right.
The new version of the rules from a few years back was tried but not found to be to the group’s liking so the beat up original books are still in use. Being the self destructive group we are, there are of course modifications to the rules. It was found that once gangers hit the maximum ballistic score of six, the game became unplayable as no one could move without being sniped. Everyone stayed hidden and everyone stayed on overwatch.
So some rules have developed over the years and they seem to work (for us) pretty well.
Each gang starts at 400 creds and is composed of all Juves. Some of the Outlander gangs have some special rules due to their unique nature, but for the most part, all Juves.
The leadership of each gang for purposes of bottling is 7 until a member of a gang obtains a higher leadership. The first ganger to reach Leadership of 8 becomes the Leader and receives the special rules of a Leader per the main rulebook.
Up to two Juves at a time can be designated Heavies. This is done when they would advance from Juve to Ganger. They gain the special rules of a Heavy at that time.
There is a maximum of one medic and two inventors per gang at any time.
The maximum stats are as follows:
M. WS. BS. S. T W. I. A. LD
4. 6. 5. 4. 4. 3. 6. 3. 9
Each gang starts with one territory. The Outlanders start with one crappy territory.
All gangs use the Outlander scavenging chart to determine income until five territories are obtained at which time the traditional income chart is used. Outlander gangs can hold more than one territory. Scenarios that reward territories are a significant part of the campaign.
Overwatch is determined by subtracting BS of the shooter from 9 to determine what is needed to hit with a roll of a six always hitting. So a ganger with BS of four would need a five (9-4=5). This makes stalemates between gangs less likely and was adopted after we ran out of hidden and overwatch counters because everybody on the board was using them.
The biggest change was in the actual playing of the game. Our group games together as a social activity. Pairing off and fighting one on one takes away from this, so we play single large games with all the gangs on the board at once. In order to facilitate this we take a giant cup and each player has a small die for each model they are bringing to the fight. The dice are dumped in the cup and shaken up. Dice are pulled out one at a time. When your die is pulled you activate one not already activated ganger until the cup is empty. Any out of action models will result in the loss of a die. The dice are then dumped back in and the process is repeated.
This process has resulted in a more engaging experience. Instead of waiting for four or five (or however many) complete gangs to take all their actions, the opportunity to activate models is more frequent.
This method of playing Necromunda has created a certain atmosphere to fights in Hive Decastus. To the chagrin of the primary organizer of this particular game, some gangs have a tendency to think they are playing Diplomacy and not Necromunda. “If you don’t shoot me, you can have that loot and I’ll grab this loot.”
This has led the exasperated game master (Hive Master?) to have to come up with other ideas. Besides the taunts in the weekly paper The Grimfish Harbor Howler there has been an uptick in the number of lethal NPCs that show up and terrorize the gangs. Needs must and all that.
And so it is that another campaign in Emperor’s Getaway kicks off.
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