ASH WASTESBEASTIES

EXPERIMENTAL RULESby Chris Ward and Stuart Witter

Despite the conditions of Necromunda'sAsh Wastes, it is not a completely deadwasteland. Life has found many ways, as itinevitably does, of surviving both on andbelow the surface of the shifting ash plains,as well as in the sludge seas. Microscopicbacteria and the creatures that feed on themmay be of little use to wandering Nomads,but there are many larger creatures in theash deserts too. Mutated creatures living inthe wastes may be captured and tamed forriding, and larger, lumbering, armouredbeasts make great pack animals as they cancafry their own weight and more inbaggage. Many beasts used in the wastes areimported from off-world, or geneticallybred to survive in the toxic conditions,especially those used by guilders totransport goods from hive to hive. There aremany advantages of beasts over vehicles:they don't need fuel or fixing regularly, theywill eat virrually arything, and if the ganghits hard times, well, you can always cookthe things.You can use virtually any creatures in yourgames of Necromunda: Battles in the Ash\ffastes. Just make sure you apply the correct

des below and you're away. If you're stuckfor ideas, why not take a look at some of thecreature conversions in this issue.

TYPES OF BEASTSGenerally speaking there are four sizes ofbeast: small, medium, large and gigantic. Asmall beast is a horse-sized beast that oneganger can ride, medium beasts are largegbut still only suitable for one rideq largebeasts are considerable monsters able to lugaround weapons and equipment andgigantic are so large that they are suitablefor several 'crew'. Each of the beast typescan then be tailored to represent the be4styou have created. You just pay more pointsto increase the beast's characteristics. Justtry to keep everything WYSIWYG.

WHO GAl{ RIDE?Anyone can ride a beast of any size,providing they pay the points cost. Notehowever, that large and gigantic beasts mayhave mounted weapons... just like somevehicles, and as such the cost of the weaponis added to the beast.

BEASTS 11{ THE HIVEBeasts may never enter the hive, and so maynot take part in normal games ofNecromunda. It is recognised that Guildersoften use pack beasts, but the riddencreatures described here are not suitable forthe dense environment of Necromunda'shives.

BEASTS A]{D BOARDII{GBeasts may be boarded just like vehicles,with the exception of small beasts, whichare treated as cavalry and may not beboarded at al7, nor may they attempt toboard a vehicle. A cavalry model is a singleentity and is treated in the same way as anyother foot model.

BEASTS Al{D RAMMI]IGBeasts may not ram of run models down, itis not in their nature to do so, and they willnaturally avoid a collision. Beasts movinginto contact with a model must do so bycharging into close combat as normal.

Vehicles can, if they wish, ram beasts. Beastsuse the rider's Initiative to attempt to dodgeramming vehicles but randomly determinewhether the rider or beast is hit as for rulesfor shooting at beasts (see below). Bikesattempting to run down large beasts take ahit at the Toughness of the beast, not therider.

BEASTS, SilOOillIG AIID GI.IFE COMBATAny model riding a beast uses weapons asnormal, note that move or fire weapons mayonly be used if the beast remainedstationary that turn.

Shooting at beasts is treated similarly tomonsters in 'Warhammer. Roll a dice foreach hit to see whether it hits the rider orbeast - 1-3 the beast is hit, 4-6 the rider.Resolve each as you would for shooting atindividual models.

In close combat gangers fighting a rider anda medium or larger beast should be treatedas a multiple combat.

RIDERTESS BEASTSMedium, large and gigantic beasts may findthemselves in the position that they have norider. Any model may take over a riderlessbeast just like a vehicle with no driver,

however, as beasts have minds of their ownthey will not move out of control likevehicles. For each beast with no rider onyour side, you should roll a D6 at the startof each turn. On a L-3 the beast stays whereit is, not motivated enough to move. On a 4'6 the beast wanders D6" in a randomdirection, although it will not endangeritself (by walking off a cliff etc). Any modelsthe beast moves into contact with it willattack in close combat. A beast that ischarged will fight back as normal.

SMAtt SIZEO BEASICost: 25 Creds

Only a single ganger can ride a small beast,they aren't big enough to carry more thanone man and his equipment, and aretreated as one model. The rider of a smallbeast receives a *1 saving throq or a 6*save if it had no save before, to representthe extra protection given by the beast.Movement is increased to 8", which isdoubled as normal when running orcharging and +1 Attack that is resolved atStrength 3 representing the beast's attack.

Models riding small beasts can fire weaponswith a 360 degree (all round) fire arc iust asif they were riding a bike.

MEDIUM SIZED BEASTCost: 50 CredsMedium beasts are considerably larger thansmall beasts. They are stockier, heavy-setanimals often used by the guild fortransporting goods inside as well as outsidethe hive.

Although a medium beast is somewhatlarger than the small beasts we havedescribed above, they are still only suitableto be ridden by one ganger.

Profile M WSBS S T W I A Ld6 3 0 3 4 1 2 1 4

Save: 5* (due to armoured hide, modifiedas norrnal).Leadership: The rider's Leadership is usedfor all Ld tests, the beast's Ld will only beneeded if the rider is taken down or out,and the beast becomes riderless (seeRidedess Beasts).Upgrades: To reflect the variation inmodels between players, the followingcharacteristic 'upgrades' may be bought forthe medium beast : +1W +1 S, +1A, +1 I .

You may only buy one of each characteristicupgrade. The first characteristic increasecosts 10 creds, the second 20 creds, thethird 30 creds and the fourth 40creds. Allfour upgrades total therefore 100 creds.Upgrades must be purchased at the sametime as the beast; they may not be addedlater to a beast your gang akeady owns.

LARGE SIZED BEASTCost: 100 CredsThese are substantial beasts often used tocarry goods as well as gang fighters fromhive to hive. They may often be seen fittedwith harnesses that allow the beast to carrya heatry weapon, such as the crudeharpoons favoured by nomad beast riders.

Although alarge beast is thicker set and ableto carry greater loads, they are still onlysuitable to be ridden by one ganger.

P r o f i l e M W S B S S T W I A L d4 3 0 4 5 2 2 2 4

Save: 5* (due to armoured hide, modifiedas normal).

Leadership: The rider's Leadership is usedfor all Ld tests, the beast's td will only beneeded if the rider is taken down or out,and the beast becomes riderless (seeRidedess Beasts).Heavy Weapon: A Healy mounted on alarge beast may have a heatry weaponmounted just as if he were the nominatedgunner on a vehicle. Here the cost is addedto the beast, not the Healy, in a similar wayto vehicle guns.

Fearsome: Large beasts are so big andfrightening they cause Fear. This also makesthe rider immune to Fear from other fearcausing models.

Upgrade: To reflect the variation in modelsbetween players, the followingcharacteristic 'upgrades' may be bought forthe large beast: *1 V +1 S, *1 A, *1 Save.You may only buy one of each of theseupgrades. The first characteristic increasecosts 20creds, the second 3Ocreds, the third4ocreds and the fourth 50creds. All fourupgrades are therefore 140creds. Upgradesmust be purchased at the same time as thebeast; they may not be added later to a beastyour gang already owns.

GIGANTIC BEASTSCost: 250 CredsThese massive, elephant sized beasts arevery rare in the ash deserts of Necromunda,but nonetheless may be found from time totime. They are huge creatures eitherimported from off wodd or horriblymutated from millennia of pollution, areable to carry several fighters or giant cargos.

Gigantic beasts may be ridden by up to fivemodels, just as if it were a vehicle with atransport capacity of five. Note that asuitable area for riding models must be onthe model, iust as with vehicles.

Profile M WSBS S T W I A Ld4 2 0 5 6 5 2 2

Save: 5* (due to armoured hide, modifiedas normal).Leadership: The rider's Leadership is usedfor all Ld tests. The beast's Ld will only beneeded if the rider is taken down or out,and the beast becomes ridedess.

Heavy Weapon: A Heavy mounted on agigantic beast may have a healy weaponmounted iust as if he were the nominatedgunner on a vehicle. Here the cost is addedto the beast, not the Heavy, in a similar wayto vehicle guns.Close combat: This is treated differentlywith gigantic beasts. Only the massive beastitself may fight as the riders are invariablytoo far away to reach the combat. However,the models riding are not engaged incombat and may continue to shoot in thesame turn that the beast is in close combat.To fight models riding the beast it may beboarded in the same way as a vehicle.Fearsome: Gigantic beasts are so big andfrightening they c use Fear. This also makesthe rider immune to Fear from other fearcausing models.Upgrade: To reflect the variation in modelsbetween players, the followingcharacteristic 'upgrades' may be bought forthe gigantic Beast: +1 S, +1 \fS, +1 A,*1 Save.You may only buy one of each of theseupgrades. The first characteristic increasecosts 30 creds, the second 40 creds, thethird 50 creds and the fourth 60 creds. Allfour upgrades are therefore 180 creds.

Upgrades must be purchased at the sametime as the beast; they may not be addedlater to a beast your gang already owns.

ASH WASTE BEAST COIIVERSIONSAfter we had completed our vehicle rulesand the gang rules we decided thatminiatures riding beasts would look great.Just as we had done with the vehicles wedecided to write rules that allowed you tofield any type of beast you decided toconvert. This allows nearly total freedom totailor-make beasts to reflect the rules or viceversa.

The large sized beast @elow) is the firstNomad riding a hideous mutated animalthat I converted. It is alarge beast that canhave a healy weapon fixed to its back.The beast of burden was made from aWarhammer Vlrvern, a fantastic model thathas a really aggressive look to it. Its torsowas cut off iust below the chest and thenpinned to the lower body. I did this becausethe shoulders would have been too high toadd arms to, but also to make the beast lookstockier. Next I tried to find a new pair ofhorns to replace those that you get with theWyvern. After trying dozens of horns Ieventually decided it looked most differentwithout any and as such I left them off. It's

horn holes were filed downand I sculpted a scaly headplate in its place. In order togive the beast the right sortof arms, with the rightnumber of claws, I usedsome from a Dragon Ogre. Icut the arms off the DragonOgre and pinned them inthe right area on the wyvernbefore green stuffing someshoulders on. Havingallowed the shoulders to dryI added scales to blend theminto the rest of the miniatureand filled any other resultantcrevices.

The Nomad was made froma Tallarn with missilelauncher. I cut him away atthe legs and used MutieRaider legs, I had to carve offthe extra toes but they werethe perfect size to sit on theLarge beast with Heavy rider armed with harpoon

nm6 11.pdfnm6 12.pdfnm6 13.pdfnm6 14.pdf