21. Murder Cyborg

“Full eradication protocols initiated. No survivors. No exceptions.”
- Vox recording of Murder Cyborg Epsilon-58991 from the Massacre at Broken Dome

In this scenario, a standard gang battle takes a turn for the worse when one of the fighters is revealed to be a Murder Cyborg!

2023 Rulebook version

Source: Necromunda 2023 Rulebook

Battle Type

This scenario is an Underhive battle; vehicles and Wargear that grant the Mounted condition cannot be included in either gang’s starting crew.

Battlefield

This scenario uses the standard rules for setting up a battlefield, as described in the Battlefield Set-up & Scenarios section.

Crews

This scenario uses the standard rules for choosing a crew, as described in the Scenario Rules: Choose Crew section. Both gangs use the Custom Selection (8) method to determine their crew.

Deployment

This scenario uses the standard rules for deployment as described in Scenario Rules: Gang Tactics.

Gang Tactics

This scenario uses the standard rules for gang tactics as described in Scenario Rules: Gang Tactics.

Ending The Battle

If either gang has no fighters left on the battlefield or the Murder Cyborg has been destroyed at the end of any round, the battle ends immediately.

Victory

The player who destroyed the Murder Cyborg is the winner. Any other result is a draw.

Rewards

Credits

Taking out the Murder Cyborg nets the gang a healthy bounty. The victorious gang adds 3D6x10 credits to their Stash.

Experience

Any fighter that inflicted at least one wound on the Murder Cyborg earns an additional 1 XP.

Reputation

The victorious gang gains D3 Reputation. If either gang bottles out, they lose 1 Reputation.

The Cyborg’s Mission

When the Murder Cyborg is first revealed, the player with Priority rolls a D6 on the following table to find out what their mission is. The player who has Priority controls the Murder Cyborg as if they were one of their fighters, although they must follow their directives as detailed below. The Murder Cyborg never counts as a friendly model for either gang.

Cyborg’s Mission

D6	Result
1-2	Extermination Directives: The Murder Cyborg must kill everyone. If they are Standing and Engaged, they will make a Fight (Basic) action, if not, they will target the closest model with a Shoot (Simple) action. If they can see more than one model, they must divide their Shoot (Simple) actions between them as evenly as possible, starting with the closest model and moving outward (they must take Cool tests as normal to target models other than the closest). If they cannot see any models, they must move toward the nearest model.
3-4	Decapitation Subroutines: The Murder Cyborg must kill the Leaders and acts as above. However, they will only target Leader models, only fighting other models if they are either engaged with them, or blocking their path to a Leader.
5-6	Preservation Protocols: The Murder Cyborg must return to their masters. When the Murder Cyborg is revealed, the player who has Priority picks a point on the board edge furthest from the Murder Cyborg – this is the Murder Cyborg’s escape point. If the Murder Cyborg ends any round in base contact with the escape point, they are removed from the board. While escaping, during each activation, the Murder Cyborg must make at least one Move (Simple) action that takes them closer to the escape point if possible, though they can shoot at the closest targets as detailed above, at the controlling player’s discretion.

The Cyborg

Until the Murder Cyborg is placed on the board, whenever a fighter suffers a wound as a result of a hit from a weapon with a Damage characteristic other than ‘-‘, the owning player rolls a D6. On a 5+, the Murder Cyborg is revealed.

Remove the wounded fighter from the board (they do not count as having been Seriously Injured or taken Out of Action) and replace them with an appropriate model to represent the Murder Cyborg. The Murder Cyborg uses the following profile:

M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Cl	Wil	Int
4"	3+	2+	4	5	3	4+	3	8+	3+	5+	8+

Weapon	Rg S	Rg L	Ac S	Ac L	S	AP	D	Am	Traits
2 x Bolt pistol (with las-projectors)	6"	12"	+2	+1	4	-1	2	6+	Sidearm
Shotgun (with execution ammo)	4"	16"	-1	+1	4	-2	2	6+	Knockback, Limited

Wargear: Light carapace armour, displacer field, frag grenades, krak grenades.
Skills: Fast Shot, Gunfighter, Iron Jaw.

The Murder Cyborg is unaffected by the Coup de Grace action and treats any Out of Action results on the injury dice as a Serious Injury instead. While Prone and Seriously Injured, the Murder Cyborg does not roll Injury dice in the End phase. Instead, they will recover (suffering a Flesh Wound as normal) if they can roll equal to or less than their Toughness value. Once the Murder Cyborg reaches 0 Toughness, as a result of Flesh Wounds, they cannot recover – though they may still make a Crawl (Double) action – and can now be removed from the board with a Coup de Grace action.

The Murder Cyborg ignores the effects of the Flash, Gas and Toxin traits, and cannot become Prone and Pinned. The Murder Cyborg may be subject to the Blaze condition, but unlike other fighters only suffers a S3, AP-1, D1 hit at the start of their activation and may then act normally. 249

info

Arbitrating The Scenario

For an especially challenging encounter, the Arbitrator can run a Rise of the Servitors scenario, with the Arbitrator running a force of servitors and Murder Cyborgs against one or more players’ gangs. Using appropriate models in their collection, the Arbitrator should place a number of servitors on the board, using the Hive Dwellers rules (see page 237), for example, equal to at least three times the number of opposing fighters. The Arbitrator can only take Move actions with the servitors as they go about their pre-programmed duties. The attackers’ mission is to find the three Murder Cyborgs posing as servitors. When a servitor is taken Out of Action, roll a D6. On a 4+, they become a Murder Cyborg as above, and roll to see what their mission is. Once three Murder Cyborgs have been revealed, no more are added to the board. The Arbitrator can make Attack actions with any servitors that activate within 12" of a Murder Cyborg as they overrides their simple machine functions for their own ends.

2018 Rulebook version

Source: Necromunda 2018 Rulebook

Battlefield

Standard.

Crews

• Custom.

The attacking crew must include a random Ganger or Juve to be the wounded fighter.

Tactics Cards

• Custom (2).
• Underdog (starting crew cost): +1 random per 100 credits.

Deployment

Standard.

Special Rule: The Cyborg

An augmented Hive Assassin is operating in the gang’s territory. Until the Assassin is placed on the board, whenever a fighter suffers a wound, roll a D6. On a 5+, the Cyborg Assassin is revealed. Remove the wounded fighter from the board (they do not count as having been Seriously Injured or taken Out of Action) and replace them with an appropriate model to represent the Cyborg Assassin.

When the Cyborg is first revealed, the player with Priority should roll a D6 on the table below to find out what its mission is. The player with Priority controls the Cyborg, although it must follow its directives as detailed below. The Cyborg Assassin never counts as a friendly model for any gang.

Cyborg Assassin

M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Cl	Wil	Int
4”	3+	2+	4	5	3	4+	3	8+	3+	5+	8+

Weapon	Rg S	Rg L	Ac S	Ac L	S	AP	D	Am	Traits
2 x Bolt pistol (with las-projectors)	6"	12"	+2	+1	4	-1	2	6+	Sidearm
Shotgun (with execution shells)	4"	16"	-1	+1	4	-2	2	6+	Knockback, Limited

Skills: Fast Shot, Gunfighter, Iron Jaw.
Wargear: Light Carapace (4+), displacer field, Frag & Krak grenades.

Special Rules

• Ignores the effects of Flash, Gas and Toxin traits (while taking damage from Blaze, it may take actions and move as normal while on fire).
• Can't be Pinned.
• Unaffected by the Coup de Grace action.
• Treats Out of Action as Serious Injury instead.
• While Seriously Injured, do not roll Injury dice in the End phase. Instead, pass a Toughness test (roll equal to or lower than Toughness) to recover (suffering a Flesh Wound as normal).
• Once Toughness reaches 0 as a result of Flesh Wounds, it can't recover. Although it may still Crawl as a Double action and can now be removed from the board with a Coup de Grace action.

D6	Cyborg's Mission
1-2	Extermination Directives: The Cyborg must kill everyone! If it is Engaged, it will take Fight actions. If not, it will target the closest model with a Shoot action. If it can see more than one model, it must divide its Shoot actions between then as evenly as possible, starting with the closest model and moving outward (it must take Cool tests as normal to target models other than the closest). If it can't see any models, it must move toward the nearest model.
3-4	Decapitation Subroutines: The Cyborg must kill the Leaders. The Assassin acts as above, however it will only target Leader models, only fighting other emodels if they are either Engaged with it, or blocking its path to a Leader.
5-6	Preservation Protocols: The Cyborg must return to its masters. When the Assassin is revealed, the player who has Priority picks a point on the board edge farthest from it, this is its escape point. If the Assassin ends any round in base contact with the escape point, it is removed. While escaping, in each activation the Cyborg must make at least one Move action that takes it closer to the escape point if possible, though it can shoot at the closest targets as detailed above, at the controlling player’s discretion.

Ending the Battle

The battle ends when at least 1 condition is true:

• Only one gang has fighters remaining.
• At the end of a round in which the Cyborg was removed.

Victory

The gang who destroyed the Cyborg Assassin is the winner. Otherwise it is a draw.

Rewards

Credits

• 3D6x10 for delivering the Coup de Grace to the Assassin.

Experience

Scenario specific rewards:

• +1 for taking part.
• +1 for wounding the Cyborg.

Standard rewards:

• +1 for taking an enemy Out of Action.
• +1 for taking an enemy Leader or Champion Out of Action.
• +1 for killing an enemy (during the battle).
• +1 for Rallying.

Reputation

• +D3 for delivering the Coup de Grace on the Cyborg.
• -1 to any gang that bottled out.

Alternative Variant

Use a Rise of the Servitors scenario against one or more gangs. The number of servitors should equal to at least 3 times the number of opposing fighters. Use the Hive Dweller profile for the Servitors (from the Downtown Dust-up scenario). The servitors can only make a Move action with the servitors as they go about their pre-programmed duties. The attackers’ mission is to find the 3 Cyborg Assassins posing as servitors. When a servitor is taken Out of Action, roll a D6. On a 4+, they become a Cyborg Assassin. Then roll to see what their mission is. Once 3 Cyborg Assassins have been revealed, no more are added to the board. Servitors activating within 12” of an active Cyborg Assassin can make Attack actions as the Assassin overrides their simple machine functions for its own ends.

Alternative Endgame Variant

Gangs work together or against each other, but there will be a Murder Cyborg for each gang. The game only ends when all the Cyborgs or Gangs are killed. Alternatively, the Murder Cyborgs might be chrono-gladiators turned assassins, and if not killed by the end of a set round, they explode!