Creating A Skirmish Gang
This section deals with how to create a gang for a Skirmish battle. For the most part, this is exactly the same as creating a gang for a campaign, right down to using the gang lists found in various Necromunda supplements. However, there are some distinct differences to be aware of.
Founding A Gang
For stand-alone Skirmish battles, gangs should be between 1,250 and 2,000 credits. Larger is possible, but it is worth bearing in mind that smaller credit limits force hard choices to be made. Sometimes, having to choose whether to include one thing or the other is better than having both, as it adds to the challenge of the experience. It may be the case that a minimum and/or maximum number of fighters or vehicles should be specified. A good rule to follow here is that gangs must be a minimum of ten fighters and one vehicle, and a maximum of twenty fighters and four vehicles, and that a gang must contain ten models before Hangers-on, Brutes or Hired Guns can be added.
As in a campaign, a blank Fighter card or Vehicle card must be filled in for each member of the gang and for any Hangers-on, Brutes and Hired Guns, and all fighters, vehicles, Hired Guns, Brutes and Hangers-on must be represented by an appropriate model. Finally, all of the normal rules regarding gang composition must be followed, as described in Gang Composition.
Credits not spent when a Skirmish gang is founded are not added to a gang’s Stash, they are simply lost and not added to its Wealth.
Leaders and Champions: As normal, the Leader and Champions should gain a free starting skill when founding the gang (or an ability, depending upon the gang being used) and, as always, this extra skill should be noted on the fighter’s Fighter card.
Equipment: Gangs should be equipped following the usual rules with regard to weapon types and total number of weapons available to a model of each type. Additionally, gangs may be allowed to purchase rare and/or illegal items from the Trading Post, in effect building a Stash of rare items that can then be given to the models they are hiring when founding the gang, provided, of course, that they follow the normal rules with regards to how individual models can be equipped.
A Rare (X) and Illegal (X) level should be determined beforehand. For example, players may be allowed to select items up to Rare (10) but not above.
Hired Guns, Brutes and Hangers-on: In Skirmish battles, if there is a minimum number of fighters required, Hired Guns, Hangers-on and Brutes will not count towards this. For example, if gangs must contain a minimum of ten fighters, they must contain ten fighters drawn from the gang list before any Hired Guns, Hangers-on or Brutes can be included. They will however count towards the maximum number of fighters if a maximum is in effect.
The number of Hangers-on and Brutes that can be hired when a Skirmish gang is founded is covered in more detail in the Reputation section that follows. Any Hangers-on and Brutes included in a gang must be represented by appropriate models, even those that may not spend much time on the table.
Gang Attributes
In a standalone Skirmish battle, Gang Attributes work differently. Gang Rating, for instance, is predetermined and will not fluctuate.
Reputation: For Skirmish battles, rather than starting with the usual 1 Reputation, gangs may be given a Reputation of 5, 10, or 15 when founded. Players should decide before the battle how much Reputation their gangs will have.
The Reputation of Skirmish gangs serves to determine how many Hangers-on and Brutes can be included when the gang is founded.
Model Attributes
During stand-alone Skirmish battles, models do not gain Experience, so there is no obvious way for them to gain Advancements the way their counterparts in a campaign will. The following section deals with how to add extra skills and characteristic increases to fighters within a Skirmish gang.
Additional Skills: In Skirmish battles, it is a good idea to allow certain fighters to start with some free additional skills as well as the free starting skills given to the Leader and any Champions. This works well with the increased credits players have to found a gang and the access to Rare Trade items and Hangers-on to create the feel of an established, veteran gang that can be used in a stand-alone battle.
There are many ways to do this, and players should feel free to experiment, but as a general rule it is recommended that gangs be allowed to choose a number of additional free skills as follows based on the credits value of the gang:
| Credits Value of Gang | Number of Additional Skills |
|---|---|
| Up to 1,300 credits | Five Primary skills |
| 1,301 to 1,500 credits | Six Primary skills |
| 1,501 credits or above | Five Primary skills and one Secondary skill |
Skills should be distributed amongst Leaders, Champions, Prospects and Juves. Skills may also be allocated to Gangers or Crew who are nominated as Specialists. The number of Specialists included should be decided beforehand by the players.
There should, however, be a sensible limit on the number of skills each model can take. As a good rule of thumb, models should be allowed a number of skills based on their type as follows:
- Leader: One free starting skill and up to two additional skills
- Champions: One free starting skill and up to one additional skill.
- Prospects, Juves and Specialists: One additional skill.
Characteristic Increases: In addition to extra skills, gangs should be allowed a number of free characteristic increases. Again, there are many ways to do this, and players are encouraged to experiment, but a good rule to follow is that the number of characteristic increases should be half the number of extra skills rounded down, which makes two or three the norm. No model should be allowed more than one characteristic increase. As is usual during Campaign play, characteristic increases may be given to Gangers and Crew as well as Leaders, Champions, Prospects, Juves and Specialists. As with additional skills, these free characteristic increases do not increase Gang Rating.