A new Necromunda Beastmaster, and its three Wasteland Giant Rat companions, might be the closest thing to Warhammer 40k Skaven models that Games Workshop has yet revealed.
Previewed in a Warhammer Community article on Monday, the Wasteland Beastmaster is a 40k Psyker with the ability to control the many species of hideous vermin that make the hive world Necromunda their home. This new Beastmaster model comes with a giant, mutant rat, and two more will be sold separately.
We’re massive fans of Warhammer The Old World Skaven and Age of Sigmar Skaven, the paranoid, cunning, cowardly, inventive ratmen that we suspect will be the main villains for Age of Sigmar 4th edition. While these Wasteland Giant Rats aren’t Warhammer 40k Skaven, they would fit effortlessly into the Skaven range: the combination of mutations, bandages, stitches, and tattered scraps of cloth are peak Skaven couture.
For Necromunda players, these rats represent the budget end of the monsters that Beastmasters can summon. At 30 credits they’re half the cost of the (admittedly more powerful) Millisaur or Ripperjack. And because of their ability ‘Never More than a Metre from a Rat’, if they’re ever killed, you get a free replacement – there’s absolutely loads of them.
These minis would also work just as well to represent the (slightly more costly) Necromundan Giant Rat, an exotic pet that can be taken by any Gang Leader or Champion. The Giant Rat is, despite its name, so small that enemies have an extra penalty when trying to hit it with ranged attacks, and it has a 4+ unmodifiable save to represent how nimble it is.
There’s no release date or price for the new Beastmaster and rat models just yet, but both previous Beastmaster kits cost $72 (£46); this should be cheaper, as it only comes with one beast while they come with two.
If you love these minis but don’t fancy Necromunda, we can recommend some great horror wargames that they would easily fit into – The Doomed is particularly well suited to taking any and all minis you want to throw at it.