Is this game based on necromunda underhive?

I would love to read up on the mechanics, rules and skills for this title.
Which rulebook edition of Necromunda is this game based on? Is it even close enough for it to matter? Will someone attached to this game please verify?

last edited by Blood Bowl Coach

After watching the videos over the weekend I can tell you that this isnt really based on the rules for Necromunda Underhive nor Dark Uprising. It is more in line with their video game interpretation of Mordheim. So yes, this is their loose interpretation of Necromunda.

Mordheim expert players should be able to tell you more but here's what I've seen or read about NUW:

  • you can pre-measure the movement distance. Only if you activate a trap or perform an action will the movement allowance points used will be spent and you can still move if you have any left.

  • I believe I read in this forum that there is no bottle test. I dont know if it is an option when playing skirmish. I believe that Mordheim lets you set it when playing skirmish.

  • There are no d6 rolls, everything is a d100. Also, "dice" rolls happen instantly like in Blood Bowl 2, Space Hulk Tactics, and Mordheim. I would love to see the actual roll animations, even if they are super quick. At least Blood Bowl 2 (released on an update) and Space Hulk Tactics show you the dice. Mordheim does but, as stated above, it is percents that you are not familiar with from the table top. Note on Blood Bowl 2: I am aware that dice rolls on BB2 are pre rolled before the game, and I don't know if that is the case for the other games mentioned. That would be a good question about how NUW does the rolls.

  • Just like with Mordheim (vg), there is an unnecessary ammount of extra attributes (they may or may not be comparable to the table-top advance rules). You will see, also like with Mordheim an overload of stats on screen, which is cool really, I leave them on in Mordheim.

Thank you. Good answer. Anyone else want to chime in on this?

Its moat defenitly more based on videogame mechanics then lore with regards to armor and weapons.

I was confused when some of the most powerfull weapons like plasma and lascannons are only marginly better (and in some cases worse!) then some of the other options available to the player.

Gear also has a level system.

To be honest, lore-wise, items levels aren't such a problem. They could have named them with better regard for fluff (like, Mars-Pattern Autopistol, Necromunda-Pattern Vambrace, etc.), but different "patterns" give slight differences in functionality, despite the overall usability being similar.

However, yep, the lethality for weapons known to be rare, precious, and able to destroy tanks, is... kinda underwhelming. Lasers have better damage per shot than Plasmas, in this game. An Autopistol (low tech, etc.) does about twice the damage of a Plasma Gun. I was a bit saddened, seeing this.

However, if you put these details aside, the environments are beautifully rendered, and you really feel in the hunderhive. The ganger models are well-made, too, and follow very nicely the look and feel of the miniatures. And the campaign missions are well-designed, and will make you feel right at home (even though the objectives could be better described).

All in all, I don't regret having bought that game, despite some bugs. But, heh, day-0, so it's to be expected.

Honestly I do expect the game to be complete when I buy it 😑 some bugs escaping under the radar I can understand but most of the things that I noticed with regards to bug or glitches I already noticed in the first half hour of playing the game.

Hasent the game been playtested at all?

With regards to armor and weapon levela... to a degree that could work but lorewise the difference isent THAT big between weapon marks. That said, most of the weapons made in game would be made locally.

Theyre more or less jury rigged or akin to real life chinese knock offs. They appear the same deal but theres a quality difference generally speaking.

Plasma doing so little damage is kinda weird to me, or lascannons doing lasgun levels of damage with I guess a bigger powerpack and more range beeing the main difference. Thats not a lascannon though?

I've made and retired 4 Goliath gangs now as the game consistantly freezes when I try to do an operation with a Goliath gang.
Fortunately, the game only crashes 60% of the time with other the other two gangs.

It's very. very loosely based on the tabletop, but only in the sense of the setting and the lore. The majority of the tabletop mechanics are gone in favour of something different (that's the politest way I can describe it).

Its a shame. You would think the lead designers in charge of a warhammer game would create a living version of the table top, would put the gameplay mechanics of the table tops first. Since lets be honest are what people really fall in love with once the setting and esthetic falls away for a deeper understanding of the game. Blood Bowl is the perfect example here. The one time that a Games Workshop title actually made a true reproduction of its table top counter part and look at how that went. Thousands of people still play it consistently (2009 and again 2015) including myself and friends and family. They are about to produce a 3rd standalone that my clan will all glady buy. So. Go the direction of Mordheim VG that gets forgotten in a few months? No, a smart director would go the direction of Blood bowl with the real rules and mechanics. For gods sakes we all bought all versions and races of the games and bunch of hard copies of the Blood Bowl rule books for presents for my family. What a missed opportunity here.

last edited by Blood Bowl Coach

Some things wouldnt translate well from tabletop to videogame but I agree that having more of the tabletop be present in game would be nice.

We all get that some things have to be 'gamified' but why can a game like Bloodbowl pull it off but Necromunda cant?

I believe that it is the fact that Blood Bowl is the same both ways that it is so successful and that this is how smart board to video game development should be done.

It actually helps both versions simultaneously, promoting and getting new sales for the unified brand at large, allowing for a sustaining player base(game is actually what the player wants), worthy expansions, sequels and most importantly from your share holders point of view, more money.

Really am hoping whoever thought it was smart to make Underhive wars with these lame mechanics is fired for a person that wants to make faithful reproductions, because you know happy players and more money.

Generally these niche games are bought because people want to see the game translated to TT. The more you change the less appealing it becomes for the fans.

If the game is then filled with bugs, unfunctioning Ai, etc etc then well... You lose a big part of the small players that you have AND you lose good will and word of mouth. Honestly I just dont understand the state that the game was released in!

I do. It was forced out by the publisher Focus. Clearly wasn't ready but when did that ever stop a licensed money grab eh? My issue is how far it strayed from the table top, that was a decision made by the lead gameplay design team. Whoever that was. Bugs can be fixed. Hiring horrible game design directors cannot. I do really like the level design by the way. Great job on the levels

last edited by Blood Bowl Coach

Being a die hard table top Necromunda player I do wish there was a true to table top version of the game, but to be honest knowing these guys and what they did with Mordheim I never expected it.

What we have is a video game reimagining of the game and setting with a fair bit of more modern video game design being built into this version.

And to be honest it’s not a bad video game. It’s not right up there with my favourite video games, but it works as It’s own thing. It’s just not Necromunda as you know and love on the table top (ORB, NCE or N17).

Aesthetically (both in background art, in game models, and in game level design) it fits the current version of the game.

The only thing that seems wonky is the relative damage outputs of weapons and the overall tankiness of fighters. Some weapons that should kill in a single shot (lascannons) take two to three hits to take someone out while autoguns and lasguns seem to do the same.

And fighters just shouldn’t be taking two to three hits, they should be taking one and having a chance of not getting back up.

I understand why they have changed this up to make the game “feel better” for people that aren’t table top players and don’t appreciate the brutality of single hit kills but it’s probably the biggest miss in this game for me.

The problem for me is the sheer mobility we have in the game.

Lascannons (and various other weapons) should be one hit kills, or a least a good chance of this, but coupled with the ridiculous distances characters can move each turn that just wouldn’t work.

They’ve ended up having to make pretty much every weapon, and pretty much every character, the same to avoid the inherent inbalance that the has been created by the massive movement distances.

I quite like the game tbh, it’s interesting enough to keep me hooked for a while (assuming we get a patch for all the crashes soon that is), but simply because of the distances the characters can move it will never play like the tabletop game, or unfortunately have any of the variety or strategy options that the tt game has.

I agree that the weapons feel off. I was amazed and appalled when I found a plasmagun and I saw its damage. Like.... What?

I guess they tried to make weapons balanced but thats just it. Weapons arent balanced in Necromunda. A boltgun (in lore anyway) obliderates a human beeing and surviving a bolt shell is a miracle. Not in this game! But hoo boy better not come across someone with a lasgun who happens to get a crit. You will be obliderated!

Good points guys. I have an idea of how this game could be saved. Well, after they fix the crashes and non functioning game elements (armor primarily).

What if they released a "hardcore" or TT mode that a gang would be locked into on creation and in that mode movement, accuracy and balancing would mimic the TT and something like one shot kills. Think about it Rogue Factor, you could add a great element and value to your product. I would make a gang right now in TT mode if it existed.

Their weapon balancing could work if weapons had more punch then getting hit by a wett paper towel. A plasma that doesent crit isent all that impressive. I like the idea of it bypassing armor as a perk but aside from that it just needs to do more damage to be lore friendly. It also means that early game where noone has any armor to begin with you are just attacking with a weapon that does less damage 😕

I think the other weapons are fine but plasma of any kind should be rare, but powerfull. Now its neither 😑

That said I think lasguns, boltguns and plasmaguns were supposed to be a sort of tiered weapon usable exclusivly to deadeyes. Why? Why can the rest only use autoguns? I get thst theyre our 'sniper' class but the weapons arent sniper weapons nor very rare (excluding plasma I guess)

If the lasguns were a long las (which it seems to be, seeing as it only fires single shots vs bursts...) then I guess it makes sense. But the bolt and plasma guns? I see no reason for it...