Float like a Butterfly, sting like a Berserker.

This week I'm going to continue my musings around the Skills of necromunda by giving you my take on the first two skill tables- Agility and Brawn, this is pretty apt for those who have picked up the new boxed set as they are the primary skills for the two gangs in the box, although as we'll see the Escher skills are not particularly suited for a 2D game..

I didn't play last week due to family commitments, so have no nice pictures to share, instead I went the the 'Chronicles From The Underhive' podcast's Facebook group and stole some nice gangs from there, credits below the image:) you can find more pictures and a nice friendly community HERE.

Agility skills.

Agility is the primary skillset of the Escher gang and a secondary skills for Delaque, Cawdor and the cults (and a primary for Van Saar Juves too, nimble little sods). Agility skills emphasise passive skills and are perfectly balanced between reactive and proactive types. Agility skills are almost always situational, and as such can seem underwhelming compared to the power of combat/shooting/savant skills. That said it has two of the most useful skills in the game in Spring up and Sprint so expect to see these featuring heavily in Escher gangs on the table.

Escher gang by Paul 'Spuddy' Shaw

Catfall- passive/reactive. (half all fall distances, I test to avoid pinning after falls)

One of the most reactive abilities in the game Catfall's usefulness is going to depend entirely on the sort of boards you play on, if you have a tendency to play high in big three dimensional Sector Mechanicus games then it's an option, particularly as a second skill for snipers and heavies who want to get the best field of fire without risking extra injury. Unfortunately this is one of those skills that can be entirely negated by equipment- Drop rigs and Grav chutes will do the same job, and you're more likely to have a rare trade action spare than a hard-to-get skill slot at the moment. If you roll Catfall randomly it's a nice bonus, and gives a fighter more freedom to run around on top so may change the way you use a fighter, but I can't see anyone actually choosing this skill. certainly not in two dimensional Zone Mortalis campaigns!

Clamber- passive/proactive.(full move when climbing)

An underrated ability, Clamber is a movement enhancing skill that like Catfall is only really useful in 3D games. I quite like Clamber for snipers, objective grabbers and even combat beasts- the ability to charge unexpectedly up a vertical surface can catch a opponents out and get you safely into combat whilst taking the maximum advantage of cover.  A great second skill for Infiltrating and Sprinting objective grabbers to get right into the thick of things straight on, it's also a nice add-on for Impetuous Cawdor fighters, giving them a 4" climb after combat that will allow them to change levels on most terrain after taking someone out. Randomly gained it's a skill you will use, but it's definitely up there as a choice, especially if you intend to have a specific role for your fighter in later games. Again- if you only play Zone Mortalis it's no use whatsoever.


Dodge- passive/reactive. (6+ dodge save, move 2" when dodging templates)

Extra saves are always great, especially for the lightly armoured girls of house Escher, but the relative low chance of success balances the skill out somewhat.  Now if you are my mate Steven and have his ability to roll nothing but 6 this is a clear winner for you, for anyone else I'd say it's a good back up skill, especially if you know your regular opponents are the hidey/shooty/fortress types who are unlikely to move more than a few inches from their deployment zone- anything that gets you there is good.thing, But I would not take Dodge as a starting skill unless I was deliberately building a tank, and even then, maybe not.. Randomly it's nothing to sneeze at but it's not on my choice list, even for paper thin Escher.

Escher gang by Tom Carter

Mighty Leap- passive/proactive. (ignore first 2" of gaps  for I test when leaping)

I genuinely have never used or taken this skill (yet) so I'm all theory here, but Mighty leap is probably the least useful Agility skill. It suffered initially from being badly worded in GW1 so it just wasn't a choice then, and even though the errata has fixed it it still lacks the wow factor of other skills on the list. Escher in particular have no issue passing I tests for leaping anyway so it's not even something I'd consider as a back-up skill at this point. Now if you gained it randomly I'm pretty sure you'd find useful things to do with it, it's a surprise factor if nothing else, but it's definitely not a viable choice compared to pretty much any other skill in the set, or in most skill sets really.

Spring up- passive/reactive. (free INI test at start of activation to escape pinning)

Spring up is one of the best skills in the game- possibly top 5 though the fact it's reactive is a downside (you have to get shot and then survive before it kicks in, not exactly something to plan for, though you can pin yourself with Take cover- see later). Great on heavies- pass the test and you can still fire that turn, combat beasts can test and then charge straight in, and snipers can still move and fire or aim if they need to. fighters actions are one of the games core resources and anything that gives you an extra one (or stops you losing one) is golden for me. Update- It's been pointed out to me that in combination with the Take cover action, Spring up is a brilliant tool for good initiative gangs, deliberately pinning yourself as an action, then standing for free next turn before taking an action (like shoot) and pinning yourself again is a great way of keeping a sniper out of enemy crosshairs as they can't target pinned models behind cover- pop up attacks are back on the menu boys! and I've started with this skill in several builds so far, so it's always a choice- in fact I'd say it's a go-to for Escher's in particular due to their awesome initiative. If you rolled this randomly you would be pretty damn chuffed with yourself.

Sprint- costed/proactive (if both actions move, double distance on second action)

I mentioned in Spring Up about actions as a resource, and Sprint is another excellent skill because of the way it stretches two actions into three. This falls into the costed skill category as you need to spend BOTH actions moving to get the bonus movement, but on turn one and two it can be more versatile than infiltrate and once you have a couple of sprinters in your gang you can start pressuring your opponent very early on. A great skill for both objective runners and combat beasts Sprint is a skill that rewards you for having a plan when you hit the table- if you go straight into the enemies barrels you won't get the best from it, but with a little finesse it can turn games, especially when grabbing crates, rescuing prisoners and setting up to despoil relics. I'm always looking to take sprint on at least one model if it fits the role, and if you rolled it randomly you would have spent that XP very well indeed.

copyright Games Workshop

Brawn Skills. 

I think it's fair to say that Muscle was the single worst skill set in the entirety of the original Necromunda, Ferocity was pretty bad, but Muscle was absolutely terrible. Of course it had Bulging Biceps, a skill that was practically mandatory for every heavy, but in reality we all had heavies with Headbutt, Iron Jaw and Hurl opponent before we got the running, gunning brutes we were after. It's refreshing then that Brawn, the N17 offspring of Muscle, is actually pretty good, with some good choices in there for combat beasts and even one to help keep your stimm-heads alive. Almost entirely proactive you'll use these skills when you want to, not when your opponent  forces them on you, but remember it still has one major downside- you need to be very (very) close to your enemy for this list to shine. The Goliath's primary skill set, it also features in  Orlock's and Cawdor (gangs of legend at least) as a secondary skill.

Goliath gang by Ramon Nanez

Bull Charge- passive/proactive. (+1S & Knockback when charging.)

Bull charge is a skill designed for people that want to hit hard and fast. Stick it on a Goliath with S4 as standard, plus a +1S melee weapon and you are wounding most starting fighters that aren't from your house on 2+ on the charge. Once you've had  a few increases or bought some better stuff/drugs then S8 is well within the reach of your champions, making even Goliath's and Aberrants easy pickings. Knockback is a nice bonus too (remember you can get an extra strength and damage if you can trap them with the charge) but needs to be used carefully in melee- you don't want to punch them out of base to base and lose the safety of combat if they have shooty friends around. The biggest downside of Bull charge is that initially it doesn't make a lot of difference to S4 models- they wound most things on 3+ anyway, and as with all strength enhancements- you have to hit first! Like Catfall, a starting model can gain the same benefits from equipment as this skill, (in fact better as +1S on a melee weapon isn't charge only) so I'd never start with it, but it is a grand second skill to choose for a brawler, and you wouldn't be unhappy if you rolled it randomly.

Bulging Biceps- passive/proactive. (ignore unwieldy on melee weapons)

How the mighty have fallen.. Once the height of underhive chic Bulging Biceps has been errata'd down into the sump of potentials, no longer as sought after as a one-in-a-million boltgun... Alright, it's not that bad, it's effectively +1 attack when using an unwieldy weapon as it allows you to gain the benefits of an additional melee weapon, so its ok. Remember though- you split attacks equally between weapons, so if you give a model a Spud Crumper in their off hand they'll have to use half their attacks with that instead your expensive renderiser (that's why I like it with pistols as they are only ever one dice from the combat pool). I've taken as a starting skill in the past, mainly because i love renderisers, so it's definitely a contender, but I'm always torn between this and Berserk Charge for effectiveness. Randomly rolled it could be utterly useless as the model may not have an unwieldy weapon, (and depending on house rules may not be able to swap equipment to get one) but chosen for the right model it can be a solid skill.

Crushing Blow- passive/proactive. (increase one non-pistol melee dice Str and Dam by +1)

What's that you say? another skill for +1 Strength? this time with +1 damage as well? crikey! There's a theme in Brawn as you can see, and it mainly involves punching people really hard in the face. again this Crushing Blow can be replicated by weapons but (like bull Charge) it does stack with those very same weapons and can make some horrifyingly effective killing machines. I might choose this for a starting skill for an executioner type champion, someone I was definitely going to send after enemy champions and leaders and kit them out appropriately (two melee weapons, one already D2 with knockback if I can get one for the potential D4 smash!). Randomly rolled you'd be happy, and it's a viable choice but only if you have a plan for it- Bull charge or a better melee weapon are probably wiser options for the most part.

Goliath gang ' The Warboys' by Tom Carter (yes, I used him twice as these are ace!) 

Headbutt- costed/proactive. (may headbutt (basic action))

I love Headbutt, it's like an extra attack in melee (remember we talked about action resources earlier) and what's better most other houses have puny T3 so you are very likely to smash face at S6 D2 when you use it! I like it on shooty champions, so they have a back-up plan if they do get engaged, but it's also obviously useful for pure melee beasts to cause even more carnage if they don't get the charge. Probably not worth taking on a renderiser or serious damage dealer as they can usually be relied upon to drop the enemy without needing to plant face. One of my favourite uses is when you have been ganged up on- you can use this before your melee attacks to try and drop one of your opponents as it isn't effected by interference modifiers, and you can potentially take out 2 enemies in the same turn:) I like this skill as a starting skill, a choice for brawlers and I'd be well pleased if it came up randomly. alright there's a chance you can hurt yourself, but that's what Necromunda's all about!


Hurl- costed/proactive (May Throw Opponent (basic action)) 

Probably the best consolation prize in old school Necromunda when you once again failed to get Bulging Biceps, we all have fond memories of our Heavies throwing cheeky Juve's off buildings when they had inevitably ran out of ammo. Suffice to say it's still pretty much doing the same thing as before, with the difference being that it is it's own action now. between this and Headbutt there's actually little difference, if you tend to play tough opponents Hurl is better, against nimble enemies go for Headbutt. they both allow you to get out of melee without using a melee action, which is great for stopping interference modifiers, but where Headbutt relies on you passing a test, Hurl relies on your opponent failing one. Hurl is also less likely to injure an opponent, but will allow you to re-position them and pin them so again it's swings and roundabouts. Where Hurl really shines is on your 3D sector mechanicus boards, the ability to throw someone of a ledge for them to take the initial S3 hit, then falling damage, and then be pinned is a big advantage. Also Hurl is good for sharing kills and XP amongst a team- if your melee attack only wounds a multi-wound enemy, or flesh wounds them, chuck them into a nearby allies charge/shooting range for them to finish the job- especially easy with group activating champions and leaders. My favourite use for Hurl is on people with Combat shotguns, use hurl to get your opponent out of melee then give them a taste of the old Salvo. Marvelous. If you know you are fighting low Initiative enemies in a campaign it's worth picking, and it's pretty good if you get it randomly too.


Iron Jaw- passive/reactive. (+2 Toughness vs unarmed attacks)

Sort of the black sheep of the Brawn family, Iron jaw is an odd one. It's the only reactive skill in the set, and the only skill that on the surface isn't about beating face. This skill is pretty damn situational- but when it does kick in it makes a fighter very reliable in melee. A lot of players tend to load the living crap out of their leaders and champions, then just straight copy and paste autogun/lasgun etc down the gangers with no back-up weapons or melee reserves, and it is against this sort of gang that this skill is frankly epic. If you charge a standard ganger who's not got a melee weapon equipped, then even if you utterly fluff your melee attacks (which I do a lot) when they retaliate they can only wound you on a 6- even another Goliath needs a 5. Early doors in a campaign this allows you to throw your melee monster in against these morons that brought guns to a knife fight with very little risk, so it can change the whole way you play. However- late in a campaign when credits are more free and everyone has their backup pistol or fighting knife it's not as useful, though you can offset this by picking up Disarm skill or Disarm weapons. Definitely worth considering as a starting skill if your opponent has a cookie cutter gang and low imagination, and not bad if random (again, buy a Disarm weapon ASAP.) I can't see this being a viable choice as a skill in later campaign games unless you do have Disarm AND a Disarm weapon, in which case that's a pretty nasty combo for stopping enemy melee monsters in their tracks.

Copyright Games Workshop

That's the first two skill sets done, I just realised there's eight of them so i'll need to do a whole month of skill reviews before I move on! What I may do is intersperse them the game reports etc to break up the tedium for me and you:) Anyway I hope this is useful to someone out there, and I'll hopefully see you next week! comments and arguments more than welcome:)