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New Warhammer 40k Necromunda rulebook promises an epic campaign

The Book of Desolation campaign is a “dramatic narrative adventure” into the depths of a true Warhammer 40,000 hellscape, Hive Secundus.

Warhammer 40k Necromunda expansion, the Book of Desolation, a rulebook with three serious faced sci-fi figures on the cover

After weeks drip-feeding us pictures of gnarly new miniatures for Warhammer 40k’s narrative spinoff, Necromunda, Games Workshop has revealed the new rulebook that will let fans actually play with them. The Book of Desolation lets players build four new kinds of gangs, and the “Underhells Campaign system” will take them into the nightmarish ruins of Hive Secundus.

If you’ve not been following this particular corner of Warhammer 40k news, here’s a fast track summary. Necromunda is a game of gang warfare, up to now set in the abandoned depths of a Hive City and the toxic ash wastes surrounding it. This new expansion moves the action to the ruins of Hive Secundus, once another powerful hive city, now a radiation-blasted crater lined with lost vaults and nightmarish creatures.

Warhammer 40k Necromunda Hive Secundus art - warriors in high tech equipment blast away at aliens in the depths of ruined hive city

The backstory is suitably grimdark. When an Adeptus Mechanicus research project into the alien Genestealer Cults went awry, the entirety of Hive Secundus was assaulted by an ever-growing horde of alien hybrids.

With military containment of the outbreak failing – even with the deployment of Imperial Fists Space Marines – the planetary governor unleashed every orbital doomsday weapon they could muster into the hive. The miles-high structure was shattered to its core, and driven down into the depths of the crater.

This being the 40k universe, that didn’t deal with the problem fully. The hideously mutated descendants of the Genestealer Cult – now called the Malstrain – are still in residence, lurking deep in the ‘Underhells’. A combination of genetic manipulation and the bizarre superweapons they were bombarded with means these ‘stealers have mutated far from their Warhammer 40k faction counterparts – but they remain utterly deadly.

In the shadows of Warhammer 40k Necromunda Hive Secundus, several Malstrain corrupted Orlock gangers are shadowed by a Malstrain Genestealer

This being Necromunda, “a hellish dungeon populated by horrors beyond mortal comprehension” won’t stop treasure-seeking tech hunters, and glory-seeking young nobles in ‘Spyrer’ super suits, from plumbing the depths of the ruined hive.

According to a Warhammer Community post announcing the new rule book, the new Underhells Campaign “tasks players with breaching the seemingly impenetrable Dust Wall surrounding Hive Secundus”, the military cordone that exists to contain the threat of surviving Genestealers escaping from the ruin. Once past that, players must survive “the arduous trek across the exclusion zone beyond” before “plundering the ruins for fame, glory, and riches”.

That journey seems to be a non-trivial part of the campaign. GW states that players will “hire a specialist team of Abyssal Ferrymen when mustering their gang”, “expert guides” that are essential to “crossing the Dust Wall and the exclusion zone”. They’ll be customizable, with access to “Custom Rig vehicles”.

Warhammer 40k Necromunda Malstrain Genestealers

The expansion contains rules for four new gangs, one “designed solely for use in the Underhells Campaign”. That’s the Malstrain gang, which features “hordes of Brood Scum” and “a greater number of Brute-level fighters” in the form of multiple Malstrain Genestealers. This gang will be low on customisation options – mutated though they are, Malstrain Genestealers are all equipped with equally nasty eviscerating appendages.

The Malstrain Corrupted gang lets you put “a limited number of Malstrain fighters” into the six House gangs, Badzone Enforcers, Corpse Grinder Cults, and Palanite Enforcers. This represents the (worryingly common) instances of gangs being corrupted by the Malstrain, and lets you use the neat new models in regular Necromunda campaigns.

Warhammer 40k Necromunda Spyre Hunters - humans in reflective green armor

Spyrer Hunting Parties let players field “three to four” fighters wearing cutting edge Spyrer hunting armor. Spyrers “seek only to kill as much as they can, for their body count unlocks dormant systems in their hunting rigs”. That sounds like a parallel progression system for a gang that already owns the best gear on the planet.

Then, if you want to splash in a little bit of super-power to a regular gang, Secundan Incursion gangs are regular gangs that “simply replace their Leader with an Orrus, Yeld, Jakara, or Malcadon Spyre Hunter”.

Warhammer 40k Necromunda Hive Secundus Incursion gang - a group of Van Saar Tek Hunters led by an Orrus Spyrer

The book will also have rules for Van Saar Tek-hunters, a new type of ganger for the high tech and highly irradiated House Van Saar. These minis will first be available in the Necromunda Hive Secundus boxed set, releasing this weekend.

There are also rules for multiple new special characters that have already been revealed, including the Genestealer Tech Magos Hermiatus the Second Son, and the second incarnation of Lady Hermiata Helmawr.

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I’ll be honest, this seems really exciting. Necromunda is an inelegant and bloated rule system, but it’s all in service to generating stories, something this expansion really doubles down on.

Want to build a suitably ruined board to represent Hive Secundus? Games Workshop has a range of ruined terrain coming soon, but check out our guide to the best Warhammer terrain to make sure you know what your options are.