So I contacted all the local GW’s in the area (5) and not one had stock of necromunda in store.

Is this game already dead?

Yes, I am playing it. It is with Blood Bowl the most inexpensive specialist game. You also need only to paint a dozen or so figures to start having fun. So what´s not to like?
But the target demographic of GW has been brainwashed to accept games like AoS and 8th 40K which feature rulesets that were conceptualised on soiled handkerchiefs. Necromunda´s target audience on the other hand is mostly made of vets from the 90s like myself who still have fond memories of playing the first version of Necromunda. Vets usually don´t hang out in smelly GW stores to play games. This type of environment was only created by GW to sucker in noobs into the hobby and deprive them of their parents´ hard earned cash.

I recently received the van saar gang as a gift and was shocked I coud not pick up more necromunda gear at the local GW (5 in the area).

If I cannot pick up stock for a product, I tend to assume the opposite of the game failing in that it is selling very well, perhaps greater than expectations.

Gw only stocks the main box instore with all the other gangs and gear webstore exclusives due to shelf space

GW has long had a policy of many things being direct order only or not holding huge volumes of stock in local stores. Which makes sense. They have a large product load and making excess to fill all the stores and 3rd parties and fullfil online orders is a vast amount of production; esp if some stuff just won't shift fast or won't sell strongly in some regions as opposed to others.

Heck their stores are already chock full and there's around 600 or so products from 40K and AoS that are direct order only already.


Instead of asking if you can get models locally from stock held and determining if the game is doing well based on that; its better to ask what the player scene is locally and ask how many they've got playing and if there are games you can get involved with. That gives you a far better measure as to what is and isn't being played locally and thus what might be doing well or poorly at the local level.

Accepting that sometimes a game is make or break on just one person being the driving force behind organising games and setting up matches and getting people involved.



GW long ago made the choice that instead of stocking everything at the local level they would stock some at the local level and rely on store orders and internet to pick up the slack. And in today's world that works out pretty well and normal for most stores.

Pancakey wrote:
So I contacted all the local GW’s in the area (5) and not one had stock of necromunda in store.

Is this game already dead?

No. Look at the GW and FW websites? Necromunda still for sale. And, more stuff in the works. Click on Warhammer Community. Yup, still posting current Necromunda articles, including upcoming products.

Try talking to someone who works at the GW store. I did. They will tell you the company wants them to use their limited shelf space to stock products that introduce customers to their core games (40k, Aos, Hobbit), to encourage further sales. GW don't see Necromunda as a one-and-done purchase. They know a gamer who decides to build even a modest 40K army will spend more money than buying into all of Necromunda.

Specialist Games are NOT core games. That's what make them "special." Necromunda is alive and well. I was there at the beginning, over a quarter-century ago. It's never had more product available, more products in the works, or a brighter future. I guess it bears repeating: For Necromunda, THESE are The Good Old Days.

So, two polls saying "Is this game dead" with an actual question that is confusingly the exact opposite. And in both cases the answer seems to be "it's just you, mate".

Did you try asking those GW stores if anyone played Necromunda, rather than asking if they stocked it? Even if they're not playing in those stores, the staff may well know where the local games are.

This game doesnt need gw stores. It would suck playing in there against random people and the power gamers anyway. This is a game better off played at home with trustworthy friends and a few beers.

 Thargrim wrote:
This game doesnt need gw stores. It would suck playing in there against random people and the power gamers anyway. This is a game better off played at home with trustworthy friends and a few beers.

I totally feel you on that.

If the game was selling like crazy though, it would be in stock. It used to be in stock at every GW store. FLGS have some in stock right now , Just not GW. Seems weird so I figured I would ask dakka.

Your premise is probably in error - it can sell "like crazy" despite not being in stores. The reason is probably that given the limited space available in any shop, the priority is given to the things that make the most profit per square foot. Space taken up by Necromunda is probably more profitably occupied by Kill Team, Age of Sigmar or 40k. That doesn't mean Necromunda is a failure.

Not playing and would never play.

ValentineGames wrote:
Not playing and would never play.

OK, I'll bite. Why not?

I must agree with what many has said above. GW stores and. Living games is not comparable! Games like Necromunda and Blood Bowl has lived on for many years without any support from GW and at the moment we're seeing constant releasres for Necromunda regardless of what they put in their stores.

 Gobbla wrote:

ValentineGames wrote:
Not playing and would never play.

OK, I'll bite. Why not?

Personally I think the entire release has been an absolute shambles from start to finish.
When it first came out as just the box game and the rules for 3D that was fine and that should of been it. Done and dusted.
2 books. All the gangs included. Simple. And it all should of been in 1 box.
With rules separate on release.

Instead we've had I think 4 or 5 books now??? At £20 each and all pretty much necessary.
A new one coming out or has come out that spits in your face if you bought all those books (and honestly will this now be the only book you need with rules?????? I doubt it since allot still exists that's not been touched)
WD lists that took forever to come on the website. So if you missed your precious magazine you had to wait ages.
It's taken all till now to release rules on its own (which is a huge deal when you cannot afford the starter)
I've been flummoxed by the monopose nature of the plastics for a game that should be very individual in terms of gangs per player.
The Cawdor, Van Saar and Delaque gang models are appalling.

And of course the nearest place to potentially play is a tiny GW with barely enough room to fart only open 3.5 days of the week

I then compare that to blood bowl which seems to have gone allot smoother and I'm just confused...

I havent played the new one yet as I was waiting for the Delaque gang(what I played back in day) and I said I wouldn't buy into the game until they were out. Now I have my gang and am working on building/painting it. I love the models and they look great!

They did totally screw the pooch with how they handled the release. 6 gangs and 13months. it's not like they were doing a splash release of all the gangs then waiting 6mo to regularly release them.

Honestly I can understand why they've done the release as they have.

GW designed it so that each time they released something the game was in a complete state. With the exception of pets and unique models for mercenaries, each time a book came out it completed a block of the release. This meant that if Necromunda the core box failed to sell well, GW could just end further future support without any problems and the game would be in a complete and functional state for players.

They repeated this several times over; expanding the game, but each time leaving it in a functional state.


This has several bonuses for GW:
1) IT means they are not leaving 3rd parties with big hints on what's to come for each gang and giving them a head start on flooding the market before GW can do so. Whilst we gamers might not like this approach it makes full sense for GW who are well aware that there are many companies who live right off their back by producing alternate sculpts.

2) It means GW could end support without leaving the game in a half-baked state and thus earning hate from their customers and also supporting 3rd parties even more so.


I do agree that it means if you bought all the books you're in a bit of a mess right now. It was a costly way of going about it and there might have been better approaches including free rules supplements. Speed also came into play which might also have been a factor in the staggered release; GW putting more money into it to speed up its release because of its high sales rate.
That said right now its in a fantastic place; you've got all the core gangs with muti-build models in high detail plastic; optional weapons from FW in resin; mercenaries and some of the pets from FW as well as some faction heroes. In addition there's two complete books out there now and the game is selling strongly so there's a decent chance of getting local games or getting them setup.

While I can agree that they released it in "blocks", it never was very functional. We've only just now, 1 year after release, got somewhat quality rules (still some flaws). The entire past year has been a trainwreck when it comes to rules.

Oh - and I completely agree now it is better than ever. If you want to play Necromunda, there is not better time than now (thanks to much of the trainwreck has been fixed in new books).

Necromunda a dead game?

Is this a joke?

Johanxp wrote:
Necromunda a dead game?

Is this a joke?

Nah, just a normal gak post from a gak poster.

ValentineGames wrote:

 Gobbla wrote:

ValentineGames wrote:
Not playing and would never play.

OK, I'll bite. Why not?

Personally I think the entire release has been an absolute shambles from start to finish.
When it first came out as just the box game and the rules for 3D that was fine and that should of been it. Done and dusted.
2 books. All the gangs included. Simple. And it all should of been in 1 box.
With rules separate on release.

Instead we've had I think 4 or 5 books now??? At £20 each and all pretty much necessary.
A new one coming out or has come out that spits in your face if you bought all those books (and honestly will this now be the only book you need with rules?????? I doubt it since allot still exists that's not been touched)
WD lists that took forever to come on the website. So if you missed your precious magazine you had to wait ages.
It's taken all till now to release rules on its own (which is a huge deal when you cannot afford the starter)
I've been flummoxed by the monopose nature of the plastics for a game that should be very individual in terms of gangs per player.
The Cawdor, Van Saar and Delaque gang models are appalling.

And of course the nearest place to potentially play is a tiny GW with barely enough room to fart only open 3.5 days of the week

I then compare that to blood bowl which seems to have gone allot smoother and I'm just confused...

Thanks for not assuming I was trolling, and for writing a cogent response.

I haven't loved everything they've done. But, they have rebuilt the original game. I have loved playing the game in multiple campaigns over the last year. My concerns are more for the future, than the past. The old Outlanders expansion was a mixed bag. If they go down that path, I hope they use some restraint. Of late, they seem to want to cater to the "Must have it all, must have now!" modern gamers who want all the bells and whistles, and want to field META busting armies. I hope they can resist.

Again, thoughtful post!

My 7 month going on 8 month campaign says no. Personally i have all the currently released bounty hunters, Escher and Goliath gangs painted up. My Orlocks and van Saars just arrived in the post yesterday.

Not for a while( House Delaque has just been released ) but one gets the feeling that Kill Team will eventually take over the reins from both Necromunda and Shadow War: Armageddon.

I personally have little interest in Necromunda, but if GW released a Necromunda expansion for Kill Team then I would definitely take the plunge...

The dice are out of print, though.

It's not very popular here, mostly old timers who feel nostalgic about the previous Necromunda.

Kill Team, ironically, is even less popular than NM. Shadespire, on the other hand...

It is selling very well.

Evidence:

1. Many Necro products on the GW website released in the last year are out of stock= It is selling well.

2. That GW released the compilation books recently = It is selling well.

3. That a slipcase edition of the above exists- It is selling well.

4. GW indicates more products for it are imminent in the coming year= It is selling well.

Gw launched it a bit sloppy, and the Gang War books editors were dead on asleep at the wheel...but the product is selling.

And if the product is selling, it's fair to assume that somebody....somewhere.... is playin'....

You just never see it played or discussed anywhere...
But I'm sure that's not any indication of anything.

Well, it’s not a game suited to tournament type play. It’s one you play at a club, or with a gaming circle at home.

As for discussed?

Huv ye heard o’ a thing called......Facebook.



Because that’s where it’s at for SG discussion in general. Fewer inane questions. Easier to find other local players etc.

I have indeed heard of Facebook...and don't use it.

And what does it matter if not suited to tourna-....oh wait.
Dakka

I've been interested in it but man you have to buy two kinda expensive books for a relatively small selection of models. The rules would cost more than a gang box to start with!

ValentineGames wrote:

 Gobbla wrote:

ValentineGames wrote:
Not playing and would never play.

OK, I'll bite. Why not?

Personally I think the entire release has been an absolute shambles from start to finish.
When it first came out as just the box game and the rules for 3D that was fine and that should of been it. Done and dusted.
2 books. All the gangs included. Simple. And it all should of been in 1 box.
With rules separate on release. ...

I enjoy your material and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
I say this as somebody who thinks GW have really done some smart moves over the past 2-4 years.
I've enjoyed most of their boxed games and appreciate the streamlining of 40k (removing templates and cross-referencing STR/T alone is a blessing).
However, they have really milked the Necromunda community on this game's release model.

But being otherwise a low cost game, if that’s the price of keeping it around on a permanent basis, it’s one I find it hard to fully object to.

It’s not dissimilar to Blood Bowl and Adeptus Titanicus in that regard. None of them require a large force, so model sales are more restricted in terms for now much a player will need to buy. If divvying up the rules is what it takes for GW to have a viable business model, I’d rather that than no game at all.

was sorely tempted but nu-GW made such a dogs dinner of the rules releases I threw my money at some kickstarters instead, yes the are trying to salvage it but far too little far too late

It’s a pitty to see some of the responses here.

There’s no doubt that GW totally butchered the release. But it’s done now, it’s as it should have been upon release.

The question anyone looking to play needs to ask is not “hows it’s been up to now” but “what is it currently like to play”?

If you get in to it now and get the rules compilations. You get an amazing game. The rules are great. It has a deceptive amount of depth. Going back and forth from KT to Necro, to me it’s clear that necro has the best rules and campaign.

It’s great that you can use your KT terrain with necro. But that almost doesn’t help it. GW have no way of knowing what game you buy terrain for, so if your getting loads of it for necro, they may not know the source or thier income. They may think KT or 40k.

And while the rules are expensive, once you have them that’s your biggest thing bought. The gangs are actually very cheap when you consider how litttle you need to buy for infinite replay ability.

Costs a bit to get into but then you have all you’ll ever need.

Yes it’s pretty much online only for getting hold of it, but that’s no bad thing these days. If you think it is Amazon would like a word with you.

Shop space is for items they want to push. To get people to make impulse purchases or let parents be pressured by thier kids to buy. It’s for flashy items. Once it had an audience it doesn’t need shop space anymore.

Great game not in anyway dead.

Guppet wrote:
It’s a pitty to see some of the responses here.

There’s no doubt that GW totally butchered the release. But it’s done now, it’s as it should have been upon release.

The question anyone looking to play needs to ask is not “hows it’s been up to now” but “what is it currently like to play”?

If you get in to it now and get the rules compilations. You get an amazing game. The rules are great. It has a deceptive amount of depth. Going back and forth from KT to Necro, to me it’s clear that necro has the best rules and campaign.

It’s great that you can use your KT terrain with necro. But that almost doesn’t help it. GW have no way of knowing what game you buy terrain for, so if your getting loads of it for necro, they may not know the source or thier income. They may think KT or 40k.

And while the rules are expensive, once you have them that’s your biggest thing bought. The gangs are actually very cheap when you consider how litttle you need to buy for infinite replay ability.

Costs a bit to get into but then you have all you’ll ever need.

Yes it’s pretty much online only for getting hold of it, but that’s no bad thing these days. If you think it is Amazon would like a word with you.

Shop space is for items they want to push. To get people to make impulse purchases or let parents be pressured by thier kids to buy. It’s for flashy items. Once it had an audience it doesn’t need shop space anymore.

Great game not in anyway dead.

Botched relese? Check
Not available in store? Check
Angry players? Check
Gw apologists? Check

Nu-GW has serious issues. I would expect necromunda to get the same amount of support as silver tower going forward!

IDK, our gaming group loves Necromunda... So I am biased (I am also GM for our Necro games so...), the rules release ye was a pain in the ass but they got them sorted (to an extent). The models are ok but it was good enough.

Personally, I think necro was a trial for other specialist games or a game in the future, wait out for that... Was a good trial, showed what the community hated and loved. Same with AT.

Spectral Ceramite wrote:
IDK, our gaming group loves Necromunda... So I am biased (I am also GM for our Necro games so...), the rules release ye was a pain in the ass but they got them sorted (to an extent). The models are ok but it was good enough.

Personally, I think necro was a trial for other specialist games or a game in the future, wait out for that... Was a good trial, showed what the community hated and loved. Same with AT.

While you might be on to something, the questions that GW “asked” were moronic.

“Do you think we should put all the rules in one book?”
“Naaah break it up into 6-7 books, fracture all the rules, piss everyone off and THEN release a compendium of rules so they have to buy the rules again! That’s what people want!”

See warhammer 8th edition for more of these garabage “trials”.

Pancakey wrote:

Spectral Ceramite wrote:
IDK, our gaming group loves Necromunda... So I am biased (I am also GM for our Necro games so...), the rules release ye was a pain in the ass but they got them sorted (to an extent). The models are ok but it was good enough.

Personally, I think necro was a trial for other specialist games or a game in the future, wait out for that... Was a good trial, showed what the community hated and loved. Same with AT.

While you might be on to something, the questions that GW “asked” were moronic.

“Do you think we should put all the rules in one book?”
“Naaah break it up into 6-7 books, fracture all the rules, piss everyone off and THEN release a compendium of rules so they have to buy the rules again! That’s what people want!”

See warhammer 8th edition for more of these garabage “trials”.

Honestly it didnt piss me off (prob 1 of few), I understood it took time to develop rules but they wanted us to play test, I knew I was buying into a trial system. perspective I suppose

I preferred regular updates I knew where coming than random changes

Think this worked out better than 8th or a system where if had of released since start we would of had 3 updates or more etc etc. I think this worked out better, just people only see initial out lay not overall

Pretty much no one plays the game in the shop, but there are several people playing with local groups. Sadly I haven't found one myself despite loving the game

Necromunda survived for decades with little or no support from GW at all, the idea it would be "dead" with an annoying but ongoing official release schedule of plastic models is just...lol.

So, just for clarity, are we to assume that by ‘GW apologist’, you in fact mean ‘anyone that disagrees with you, and offered no more than an opinion you cannot/will not offer a counter point to’?

Yeah?

Pancakey wrote:
So I contacted all the local GW’s in the area (5) and not one had stock of necromunda in store.

Is this game already dead?

So you made a thread for Titanicus, now for Necromunda, when do we expect one for LotR, Bloodbowl, the rest of the specialist or non core games, etc?



-Edited by insaniak-

Oh I didn't even notice it was the same guy. That explains that then.

 privateer4hire wrote:

I've enjoyed most of their boxed games and appreciate the streamlining of 40k (removing templates and cross-referencing STR/T alone is a blessing).
However, they have really milked the Necromunda community on this game's release model.

Ummm 8th ed has as much s/t table crossreferring as before. No streamlining there

Wow... I'm surprised how close the poll results are

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
Wow... I'm surprised how close the poll results are

Honestly I think it might even be a false result considering this is a Pancake thread and, well, overly negative in its outlook to start with.

Also the poll doesn't really tell us anything useful because there's no real breakdown of the results. You've got people who don't like it, don't play it, want to play it and can't all voting alongside people who like the game, want to play it, have a local playing scene but don't play it etc...

And a happy New year to all!

How could it be dead? It's only just come out of Early Access.

Pancakey wrote:
So I contacted all the local GW’s in the area (5) and not one had stock of necromunda in store.

Since when do GW stores carry Necromunda products outside of the initial release weekend?

Pancakey wrote:
I would expect necromunda to get the same amount of support as silver tower going forward!

It's already had 10x more support than Silver Tower ever got.

Pancakey wrote:

Spectral Ceramite wrote:
IDK, our gaming group loves Necromunda... So I am biased (I am also GM for our Necro games so...), the rules release ye was a pain in the ass but they got them sorted (to an extent). The models are ok but it was good enough.

Personally, I think necro was a trial for other specialist games or a game in the future, wait out for that... Was a good trial, showed what the community hated and loved. Same with AT.

While you might be on to something, the questions that GW “asked” were moronic.

“Do you think we should put all the rules in one book?”
“Naaah break it up into 6-7 books, fracture all the rules, piss everyone off and THEN release a compendium of rules so they have to buy the rules again! That’s what people want!”

See warhammer 8th edition for more of these garabage “trials”.

Thing is expecting all house models released at once is unrealistic and thanks to chapterhouse gw won't release rules in advance to avoid losing money or legally be the one doing copy of other models.

The current strategy is to release enough new stuff on a regular basis so that the old things with all their flaws cannot settle and are replaced before people start worrying about

Problem is just that this does not work with all games and all groups.
There are those that used to play long time campaigns and now don't like the new stuff as things changes before their campaign is done or the campaign gets boring because the initial release was not meant to be played over a long time

I haven't seen a new Necromunda campaign running for long and people who like it just play games/campaigns that last for one evening

Those that want it different moved on to other games or back to the old community rules

tneva82 wrote:
thanks to chapterhouse gw won't release rules in advance to avoid losing money or legally be the one doing copy of other models.

Apart from all the Bounty Hunters except Gor Half-horn, all the Brutes, pets, hangers-on and a significant number of the weapons? Or all the Blood Bowl teams except Orcs and Humans, most of the weapons for Adeptus Titanicus, ...


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 kodos wrote:

I haven't seen a new Necromunda campaign running for long and people who like it just play games/campaigns that last for one evening

Ours ran for six months, and accepted the release of Gang War volumes 2-4 with no issues. All we did was rule that we wouldn't start using a new book in the middle of a Cycle.

Pancakey wrote:

Guppet wrote:
It’s a pitty to see some of the responses here.

There’s no doubt that GW totally butchered the release. But it’s done now, it’s as it should have been upon release.

The question anyone looking to play needs to ask is not “hows it’s been up to now” but “what is it currently like to play”?

If you get in to it now and get the rules compilations. You get an amazing game. The rules are great. It has a deceptive amount of depth. Going back and forth from KT to Necro, to me it’s clear that necro has the best rules and campaign.

It’s great that you can use your KT terrain with necro. But that almost doesn’t help it. GW have no way of knowing what game you buy terrain for, so if your getting loads of it for necro, they may not know the source or thier income. They may think KT or 40k.

And while the rules are expensive, once you have them that’s your biggest thing bought. The gangs are actually very cheap when you consider how litttle you need to buy for infinite replay ability.

Costs a bit to get into but then you have all you’ll ever need.

Yes it’s pretty much online only for getting hold of it, but that’s no bad thing these days. If you think it is Amazon would like a word with you.

Shop space is for items they want to push. To get people to make impulse purchases or let parents be pressured by thier kids to buy. It’s for flashy items. Once it had an audience it doesn’t need shop space anymore.

Great game not in anyway dead.

Botched relese? Check
Not available in store? Check
Angry players? Check
Gw apologists? Check

Nu-GW has serious issues. I would expect necromunda to get the same amount of support as silver tower going forward!

Bah. This is true for the majority of wargames. And most GW games. Lot of Aos ad 40k stuff is available online only too... what are you talking about?

Do I have to play such a disgusting game like Aos just because it is partially available in GW store? No thanks and honestly the most important think is the game is good and I like it.

I've cleaned a bunch of off topic nonsense from this page.

Please stick to the topic. If you disagree with the premise, that's fine. Do so politely, by addressing the premise, not dog piling on the poster.

And if you see something you feel is inappropriate for the forum, just hit the Yellow Triangle of Friendship and move on, don't exacerbate the situation by responding in kind.

Take a look at this forum, see how many active posters, projects etc there are on there. https://yaktribe.games/community/

Vast majority of these were present before the updated GW release. The new releases will only have swelled the number of players even further.

Like all of the best GW games, it will continue to live with or without a presence on a GW store shelf and continue to have an active community. It's impossible to say for sure, but I would say it will still be played in some form well into the future, while people are still wargaming at least!

Not dead where I live, but quite a few players as well as veterans have been waiting for the book they now released in December along with the final gang. My guess the only way now is up from here.

Plus Forgeworld have just announced their resin head kit which implies they are selling enough Necromunda to justify such projects.

I dont understand why they would release similar games so close together

 shakespear wrote:
I dont understand why they would release similar games so close together

Their current specialist games strategy seems to be to throw a bunch of crap against the wall and see what sticks. That's why it's so hard for me to justify getting into any of these games right now. We don't have gaming clubs like Europe does. The people that frequent the FLGS and Warhammer stores here tend to play what is officially supported. FLGS hosts 2k ITC tournaments every month. The GW Kill Team event got a bunch of people playing that. However, without any officially supported events, or the models being available on shelves at Warhammer stores, nobody here is going to pick up that game system. I bought AT because I love the models but still can't find anyone other than my gf to actually play a game with. I want to run a Necromunda campaign, but nobody else expresses any interest in playing. I can get a game of 40k, AoS, or Kill Team 365 days a year if I wanted to.

I've bought some of the gangs for conversion fodder, and I know I'm not the only one. If the rule book comes out in a complete form eventually, I'll get it, but in the meantime there are plenty of one page rules or generic rules.

As for the necessity of a store gaming culture, that has not been the case in my experience. Here, boardgames are more of a family and friends activity that one hosts out of his or her home. My friends and family used to play Monopoly or Risk out of sheer ignorance. I got them into BFG, Space Hulk, and other games simply by providing an alternative. Necromunda might provide a great change of pace from Shadows of Brimstone (our current favorite) sometime down the line.

In my experience, most young people would love to jump from Stratego or Ticket to Ride into something like Necromunda if given half a chance.

Isn't Space Hulk a bit too much complicated for being a family game ?

It's a lot less complicated than SoB, which I played with my 5 year old. However, we tend to avoid two player games since there are three of us (or more when friends or family join us). It was the first GW game my wife had any real interest in...but only if she could play as the Tyranids.

Space Hulk is more complicated than some, but not vastly so. The main barrier to it being a family game is that unless the parents are into the game chances are they won't want to bother to learn the rules.

The original target market for it was young teenagers so the rules are certainly not beyond most.

Even complicated games are easy to learn if there is an enthusiastic player eager to teach you how to play.

 godardc wrote:
Isn't Space Hulk a bit too much complicated for being a family game ?

Space Hulk has very simple, logical mechanics. Very straightforward, at least in it's basic form, and I've used it to introduce people to wargaming/40k.

That being said it's utterly unsuitable as a family game simple because unless you start splitting up squads of marines or control of the Genestealers it's only a two player game.

I'm not sure what GW games I'd recommend as family games (which for me have to be fast, fun and pick-up-and-play). In amongst the massive variety of modern family games now available think you'd have to be pretty GW-mad to push one forward as a preferable option. Possibly going back to something like Space Crusade or Trolls in the Pantry? Although I haven't played the new Warhammer Quest games so don't know if they would be suitable.

Assassinorum could be a family game if the assassins were push fit models
4 players, quick to play and easy rules

 godardc wrote:
Assassinorum could be a family game if the assassins were push fit models
4 players, quick to play and easy rules

That was going to be my suggestion. It's a surprisingly okay game hampered by its lack of variation in replay. I bought it for the assassins (got a deal where the box cost less than the four assassin models) expecting nothing from the game and was pleasantly surprised.

That Barnes & Noble exclusive game with the Space Marines and Necrons looks great for younger players - as well as us old timers who fondly remember Space Crusade. Using tokens for the Necrons was quite sensible, but if one really wanted the miniatures that badly, then the "Start collecting Necrons" box set would fix that. Shame its not here in the UK...

They've also done a lite version of Blood Bowl called Blitz Bowl which makes one wonder if Necromunda could have one of its own....

Never knew blitz bowl was BB lite !
Yeah I could see push fit premade gangs, some carboard terrains ala Dark Imperium etc. and light rules.
Could work !
But no, Necro isn't a dead game: where I live, there are few games in stores / flgs but several campaigns have been launched since october by different people

A couple of mates have been waiting for the game to finish being released.
We bought the starter box. We played it a couple of times on the tiles from the starter.
I got Gang Wars 1-4, and a Van Saar box. I've been buying scenery for use in 40k and KT since Shadow Wars, to use in this.
When the books were re-released, we got the ePub versions.

We're only just now working on getting games going.

To add to the comments about stock on stores:
We went to our local 1-2 man GW store, looking to get into Blood Bowl. No stock, apart from a Skeletons team box they had returned recently.
The GW manager is well-versed in telling us to order it through the web console they have set up, and get it sent home for free.
There is no shelf space for specialist games after their first 2-4 weeks of release. If only GW learned to stock their shelves sideways, and they could do what FLGS do, actually sell stuff people come in asking about. The non-GW store had a couple of BB teams in, loads of the cards packs (that GW has no stock of any more), but no rules or starter box.
GW doesn't know how to handle the specialist games after the Warhammer rebranding they kicked off a couple of years ago.

I think part of it is also production strain. Don't forget over this last year we've seen the GW main store run out of stock on quite a few things and that's with over 800 products not being stocked in stores (both own and 3rd party) and being weborder only.

The new factory GW is building might well help resolve these issues; allowing GW to produce more stock to allow specialist games to be stocked in their local stores in greater volume.


They might also try other tricks such as producing re-useable cards so that they can have a shelf of product cards that shows off the model in store, but which you then just buy, scan and order for home/store delivery. That not only makes the buying more interactive, but also lets GW local stores sell products that some gamers might not be aware exist and imlupse purchases on products that otherwise would only be seen online. Cheap and light on shelf space and yet lets them show off a lot more - could be used to also show off forgeworld stuff

Its a niche game so wont have mass appeal, I don't play Titanicus or Kill team don't mean its dead.

Kiarn wrote:
Its a niche game so wont have mass appeal, I don't play Titanicus or Kill team don't mean its dead.

It's only a niche game because GW doesn't market it properly or stock it at their stores.

SamusDrake wrote:
They've also done a lite version of Blood Bowl called Blitz Bowl which makes one wonder if Necromunda could have one of its own....

Minimunda: The Game of Controlling the Local Furnace Stack!

 Overread wrote:
I think part of it is also production strain. Don't forget over this last year we've seen the GW main store run out of stock on quite a few things and that's with over 800 products not being stocked in stores (both own and 3rd party) and being weborder only.

The new factory GW is building might well help resolve these issues; allowing GW to produce more stock to allow specialist games to be stocked in their local stores in greater volume.

Whilst GW do have a lot of SKUs and I understand why specialist isn't carried in most of their stores, a lot of this is a problem of their own creation. They're so afraid of 3rd parties these days that rather than making a great new modular Ork Buggy/Wartrack kit with lots of options they made six completely new products, none of which have any options (always built the same way each time) and none of which are interchangeable with one another. And for the Orks, no less, the single most ramshackle kit-bashy race in any of their games. For a company that has problems getting things in stock for months, I don't see how intentionally adding a ton of very similar products to their already stretched production lines is a good idea.

 Toofast wrote:

Kiarn wrote:
Its a niche game so wont have mass appeal, I don't play Titanicus or Kill team don't mean its dead.

It's only a niche game because GW doesn't mark it properly or stock it at their stores.

We have seen this before!

Necromunda is discussed in fierce details over at yaktribe every day. I play it regularly with my friends. But nobody else is watching us play.

Baxx wrote:
Necromunda is discussed in fierce details over at yaktribe every day. I play it regularly with my friends. But nobody else is watching us play.

You're also in Norway. Specialist games seem to be much more popular in Europe than they are here in the states. We don't have gaming clubs, we have Warhammer stores and FLGS. If a product line isn't stocked at either of those locations, and no official events are run for that game system (like the recent Kill Team campaign organized by GW HQ), the game is not played. That was the case when I lived in Ohio, Alabama, and in Florida. Talking to my friends around the Southeast, that's the case in Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Kentucky as well.

Why you don't have gaming clubs? I only know the gaming history from the city I grew up, but apart from starting playing in the basement and at friends, the gaming club was the foundation where you met new people and the hobby grew. It is the free-minded open community, where people bring whatever minis they like, play whatever game they like and pay a yearly fee of about 30$. What is or isn't stocked in any store has little to no effect. There aren't much events (locally), so what is played is what people bring to the tables. On the other hand, we never had any FLGS with space to play in.

Part of the reason I play specialist games today is nostalgia. Necromunda was the first miniature game I ever played, so it has a special history to me. Blood Bowl was also one of the early games I played, along with GorkaMorka, Mordheim, Battlefleet gothic etc. I'm not quite up to date with all the numerous games around today, but I see others at the club play things like batman miniature game, some x-wing, star wars miniature game, bolt action, flames of war, kill team and shadespire etc. Of course games like 40k and fantasy/AoS has always been on top.

Gaming clubs are nowhere as big in the US as in other parts of the world. In Europe, I'm told, there are community centers and church halls for cheapish rent. In the US such spaces are very hard to come by and their access price is at a premium. Also, even if a church would allow cheap or free access, the moment that demon-looking guys come out (are you guys playing D&D???) on the table or war is mentioned, it can close doors.

In Washington DC I tried a group that wanted to meet in the local library, for example. It wouldn't work because the availability fo the space was always random so you couldn't plan recurring meetings. Had we tried to rent a suitable space, it would have been a few hundred dollars.

Yeah we had some problems during the past getting good locations. In the first years, most members were youths under 18 years old, so because of that we got a very nice place in a public community center (the type of place where you'll find various activities like wall climbing, skate ramps, dance practice etc). But some years later, most members were grew to be adults and that place was only preserved for youths. So we've been to various places like renting school class rooms in the evening. At the moment our club has free space at the library which is just awesome.

I haven't been able to find anyone locally to play with. And now it seems to be in direct competition with kill team, which isn't going to help at all. I'm probably going to just ebay the stuff I bought already and give up.

Necromunda is awesome... You don't have people to play against... make your own team and play... Idk if different in the states but in AU we get along and have the "mate syndrome". Years ago, I made a table asked some gaming mates to make some miniatures (was for original Hero quest or space hulk or something I think). Went from there, introduced necromunda. We played for like 10 years or something. I moved location and did the same thing. Now have a Necro group/infinity etc. We play different games but is the same format. We all play each others games etc.

Just do that. go to local, find people interested, ask questions, and then play together.

 argonak wrote:
I haven't been able to find anyone locally to play with. And now it seems to be in direct competition with kill team, which isn't going to help at all. I'm probably going to just ebay the stuff I bought already and give up.

Not to mention AOS skirmish and kill team arena. So many mini skirmish games!

Spectral Ceramite wrote:
Necromunda is awesome... You don't have people to play against... make your own team and play... Idk if different in the states but in AU we get along and have the "mate syndrome". Years ago, I made a table asked some gaming mates to make some miniatures (was for original Hero quest or space hulk or something I think). Went from there, introduced necromunda. We played for like 10 years or something. I moved location and did the same thing. Now have a Necro group/infinity etc. We play different games but is the same format. We all play each others games etc.

Just do that. go to local, find people interested, ask questions, and then play together.

..

Baxx wrote:
Why you don't have gaming clubs?

In the cities I've lived in, there was no suitable space to have a gaming club other than renting a store in a strip mall. That requires a business license, insurance can be expensive, and rent is typically $2k+. If you only charged $30/yr, you would need 800 people to sign up, and that's just to cover rent. That doesn't even factor in insurance, utilities, tables, play mats, terrain, lockers, TV, internet access, etc. It's just not economically feasible here. Libraries don't have space that's always available and it's too hard to bring tables, gaming boards and terrain and set it up every time you want to play. An apartment would be too small and not laid out very well for that type of thing. I had a table at my townhouse and a few friends would come over to play sometimes, but that's not quite the same as a well established gaming club. We looked into setting one up but even in Alabama where rent was cheap, it was still nowhere near doable unless someone who was independently wealthy was willing to cover half of the cost for the whole group.

 Toofast wrote:

Baxx wrote:
Why you don't have gaming clubs?

If you only charged $30/yr, you would need 800 people to sign up, and that's just to cover rent. That doesn't even factor in insurance, utilities, tables, play mats, terrain, lockers, TV, internet access, etc.

The club I go to is:
In a church hall, used for dance lessons, scout/guide meetings, etc. This means there is a shared 'rent' from the church, and insurance and such is part of that.
It has tables and lockers. There is a kitchen, but with just a microwave and a sink,
They charge £2 or £3 per session, adding up to ~£150 per person per year,
Terrain is either provided by players, or bought out of surplus takings.
It is open 4 hours a week.

There is no TV or internet access.
Mats are sheets, bought from a market stall, or in a sale.
Scenery is often home-made (we are lucky to have a very good modeller for that).
Other opening times were discussed, but this is often enough for most people.

So, you don't need anything dedicated, as that is a store.

 Pacific wrote:
That's a great piece of advice there, agree with it 100%

Get some gaming buddies, play the games together that you want to play. Blood Bowl, Necromunda etc were games with thriving communities before the relaunches. They will continue to thrive long after GW has stopped releasing new items for them.

These new releases now will help prop up these communities even more, and get a whole generation of younger players that weren't about first time around, to get into them. And rightly so, as Necromunda is a bloody brilliant game, in one of the most immersive and downright cool settings that GW have ever produced.

Yep. Works here too as well for smaller games.

From what I've read the issues with hobby clubs and the USA is linked to a few elements:

1) They have more retail outlets with gaming space; which aren't just GW stores. So there's often more store level support, even if the store only supports select titles (and most geek stores heavily support Magic the Gathering before wargames); its already acting as the social hub for the area.

2) They don't have the same hobby club level support network. The UK (as an example) is readily used to the idea of community centres and church halls being used for clubs; and at the kind of finances clubs operate with and are thus able to pay.

3) In some areas of the USA there are religious limitations on the use of things like Warhammer in church properties - demons, blood, magic and such are frowned upon and would not be permitted.


I think its a cultural thing, however it could also be that with more active store support a culture of club formation hasn't grown up as strongly.

 Overread wrote:
From what I've read the issues with hobby clubs and the USA is linked to a few elements:
2) They don't have the same hobby club level support network. The UK (as an example) is readily used to the idea of community centres and church halls being used for clubs; and at the kind of finances clubs operate with and are thus able to pay.
3) In some areas of the USA there are religious limitations on the use of things like Warhammer in church properties - demons, blood, magic and such are frowned upon and would not be permitted.
I think its a cultural thing, however it could also be that with more active store support a culture of club formation hasn't grown up as strongly.

Or a sports club, or art store, or whatever. If shops have a spare room for groups to use, space is the main requirement.

But, I've dragged this way off-topic, so sorry about that.

Definitely a dead game locally for sure. Still trying to scrape up a player or two. Building from the ground up is the only choice. No necormunda comunity to speak of. How long before they discontinue the models ?

Ah yes. Locally dead so dead worldwide. What an amazing pile of evidence!

Oh wait. It's the OP with his crusade against specialist games.

tneva82 wrote:

Oh wait. It's the OP with his crusade against specialist games.

Its more of a general gak posting crusade.

tneva82 wrote:
Ah yes. Locally dead so dead worldwide. What an amazing pile of evidence!

Oh wait. It's the OP with his crusade against specialist games.

Unfortunately I do not have access to the “worldwide” player base.

I actually own necromunda and I am attempting to build up a small group of players with some friends. It’s our only choice as locally necromunda is dead. There is no necromunda scene at the local FLGS or GWs.

GTs like Mechanicon and Nova had Necromunda events, so I'd consider that alive and well.

Someone has to start somewhere. My friend and I splitting the starter set is what set my club off. Now we have 7 or 8 players, and are starting to branch out to other clubs.

Be the change you want to see in the world, instead of starting X number of threads about how games are dead because you have to actually put effort into the community.

What if you don’t GT????

Pancakey wrote:
What if you don’t GT????

What if you live at the North Pole? What if you're an astronaut on the ISS? What if we're all just programs in a simulation?

The point is that as a general rule, if big event stuff is happening that's indicative that the game is, overall, healthy, or at the very least not "dead".

Pancakey wrote:
What if you don’t GT????

Because of the way you've phrased the title of the thread and the opening post and a few of your others this thread is running on two purposes.

1) Is your assertion that the game is "dead" and thus unpopular everywhere. Your comments are not specific that its your area or game club where its dead, but everywhere - ergo the world market. As a result many are replying to the thread with multiple examples of where the game is not dead.

2) Is your views (in the latter part of the thread) which seem to clarify that its your personal area where its dead and that you've no tools or methods to restore it locally. This is a totally separate subject because what you're really asking is how can you help the game thrive in your area and what you can directly do to promote it and thus have opponents to play with.

Note that alongside this you've also got the poll, which is mostly meaningless because, again, many have voted not at the national nor global level, but at the regional or just personal level. Some hate the game so vote it dead; some have no local scene; etc....


In the end I think you need to decide if you want to continue arguing that the game is universally dead; or if you want to start a new thread discussing your local scene for Necromunda and how you might help it along and get ideas, tips and advise from people as to what they have done to promote games at the local level and at least build up a group of friends to play with.

 Skinnereal wrote:

 Toofast wrote:

Baxx wrote:
Why you don't have gaming clubs?

If you only charged $30/yr, you would need 800 people to sign up, and that's just to cover rent. That doesn't even factor in insurance, utilities, tables, play mats, terrain, lockers, TV, internet access, etc.

The club I go to is:
In a church hall, used for dance lessons, scout/guide meetings, etc. This means there is a shared 'rent' from the church, and insurance and such is part of that.
It has tables and lockers. There is a kitchen, but with just a microwave and a sink,
They charge £2 or £3 per session, adding up to ~£150 per person per year,
Terrain is either provided by players, or bought out of surplus takings.
It is open 4 hours a week.

There is no TV or internet access.
Mats are sheets, bought from a market stall, or in a sale.
Scenery is often home-made (we are lucky to have a very good modeller for that).
Other opening times were discussed, but this is often enough for most people.

So, you don't need anything dedicated, as that is a store.

The above really doesn't exist in the US. At least not in my area. To rent a church or fire house or other public place out is at least a few 100 dollars for the night.

It's like the US system is geared toward commercial use of the rented space only and not community use. It's a surprising cultural difference since in the UK community places, like church halls, are far more geared toward community events and support - hence the lower rental to use so that it doesn't bar smaller events.

A few hundred dollars a night for basically renting a small room sounds really odd. It would actually be cheaper to rent a really small flat for a month than it would to rent a hall for 4 evenings a month.



I wonder though if its a case of beating down the pay wall and having a chat with the direct owners of the halls/churches and explaining the situation in detail to them. Then again if you're talking $20 a night and they are talking $200 it might just be too much a difference for them to accept it.

How well do you know your fellow gamers? Personally, I don't often game against anyone who I wouldn't be happy to invite into my house, but depending where everyone is situated, that could be difficult, if you all live in different suburbs and the shop is in the centre of town.

I regularly have players at my house, especially now that 8 of us are travelling to Adepticon, most club nights are people getting practice games for it.

In short:

-Necromunda is alive and well
-If you don't have a local following, make one

Pancakey wrote:


Unfortunately I do not have access to the “worldwide” player base.

-The internet is a real thing, so you very much have access to the worldwide player base. The only thing stopping you is you.

Necromunda requires less space to play and is geared toward a narrative style. To me this means it is less likely to be sought out by people who play pick up games in stores and more likely to be played by groups of friends at home.

I'll concede that the books are annoying, but the quality of the plastic gangs has made up for it. I have played more Necromunda in the last 5 years than 40k, as the size and time required is ideal for me.

 Strombones wrote:
Necromunda requires less space to play and is geared toward a narrative style. To me this means it is less likely to be sought out by people who play pick up games in stores and more likely to be played by groups of friends at home.

I'll concede that the books are annoying, but the quality of the plastic gangs has made up for it. I have played more Necromunda in the last 5 years than 40k, as the size and time required is ideal for me.

This is what we are aiming for now with the local scene being what it is. We have three players and we are going to be playing at someone’s home. The rule book thing did keep us all out of the game until recently.

Necromunda never caught on in my area, but I chalk a lot of that to a relatively slow release of the gangs and just the absolute saturation of GW products right now, not even thinking about other table top games.

You have Necromunda, Kill team, Normal 40k, Blackstone Fortress, all the other various box games and now Battlefleet Gothic is in the wings. Only so much time in a week, and I am starting to feel like GW is starting to eat it's own a bit.

Do you know what, there was an article about almost the same thing for Warhammer Underworlds posted in one of the UK Facebook Groups and it got this very well thought and quite well written response:

https://canyourollacrit.com/2019/01/16/how-to-grow-a-local-scene/

This is how you get your local community playing the game you want, you put some work in.

Rik

What Rik said.

This is a community hobby. Yes, we're spoiled by the overall popularity of AoS and 40k. Those make it easy to get games.

All others require effort on behalf of interested parties. Arrange games. See if you can get a campaign or league going (whatever floats the boat of your local scene).

Don't just stand with your hands on your hips (or indeed any other pose) demanding the mountain comes to Mohammed.

So if i understand this correctly.

Necromunda is not dead. Even though there is no local presence in my areas FLGS or GWs.

GW doesn’t stock it in store because “reasons” even though it is “selling well”.

The only reason it’s dead locally is because I haven’t personally started a scene.

Drip releasing the books then releasing a compendium of those books did nothing to make the community feel ripped off.

Thanks dakka!

Pancakey wrote:
So if i understand this correctly.

Necromunda is not dead. Even though there is no local presence in my areas FLGS or GWs.

GW doesn’t stock it in store because “reasons” even thought it is “selling well”.

The only reason it’s dead locally is because I haven’t personally started a scene.

Drip releasing the books then releasing a compendium of those books did nothing to make the community feel ripped off.

Thanks dakka!

Any game without a current active scene in your local area requires work.

GW don't stock their "Specialist Games" in store after the initial release splash, because these games require active engagement from the local community.

The book release planning was poor, some people will get over it, others won't.

If you're not prepared to put any work into developing a local scene that's your look out, but it is explicitly the nature of the Specialist Games range and of other games with a lower player count.

Rik

GW stores at least in my area tend to not stock large swaths of GW product due to size. The NYC has a nice staff but It's not very large and the only other store I've been to was basically a walk in closet.

Pancakey wrote:
Necromunda is not dead. Even though there is no local presence in my areas FLGS or GWs.

The only reason it’s dead locally is because I haven’t personally started a scene.

These are experiences common to you. If all of us were saying we'd never met another Necromunda player, but your local store had 60 players, would you be saying "Nah dawg! Necro is alive an' kickin' yo!".

To put it another way Pancakes - your anecdotal evidence isn't.

Pancakey wrote:
Drip releasing the books then releasing a compendium of those books did nothing to make the community feel ripped off.

Which has all of what to do with it being a 'dead game'?

Pancakey wrote:
GW doesn’t stock it in store because “reasons” even though it is “selling well”.

GW doesn't sell it in store because they don't sell specialist stuff in store outside of its release weekend. How many times must this be explained?

Pancakey wrote:
Thanks dakka!

Boy you made this thread with your mind already made up. We just pointed out how you line of thinking was bull gak. Don't get all snarky 'cause you were challenged.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

Pancakey wrote:
Necromunda is not dead. Even though there is no local presence in my areas FLGS or GWs.

The only reason it’s dead locally is because I haven’t personally started a scene.

These are experiences common to you. If all of us were saying we'd never met another Necromunda player, but your local store had 60 players, would you be saying "Nah dawg! Necro is alive an' kickin' yo!".

To put it another way Pancakes - your anecdotal evidence isn't.

Pancakey wrote:
Drip releasing the books then releasing a compendium of those books did nothing to make the community feel ripped off.

Which has all of what to do with it being a 'dead game'?

Pancakey wrote:
GW doesn’t stock it in store because “reasons” even though it is “selling well”.

GW doesn't sell it in store because they don't sell specialist stuff in store outside of its release weekend. How many times must this be explained?

Pancakey wrote:
Thanks dakka!

Boy you made this thread with your mind already made up. We just pointed out how you line of thinking was bull gak. Don't get all snarky 'cause you were challenged.

It was in stores much longer than “release weekend”

Based upon what little evidence has been proffered I would suggest that the reason the OP isn’t getting more Necromunda games is probably the OP.

 notprop wrote:
Based upon what little evidence has been proffered I would suggest that the reason the OP isn’t getting more Necromunda games is probably the OP.

Or it isn't played or stocked in his area. The nicest person on Earth couldn't get a Necromunda game where I live because nobody plays it. My FLGS ordered 1 starter box and 1 box of each gang as they were released. The starter box and all but 1 gang are still sitting on the shelf today, and the gang was purchased by an employee to use the models for a D&D campaign.

Just FYI all the gang cards are on last chance to buy now.

Pancakey wrote:
Just FYI all the gang cards are on last chance to buy now.

As are cards for everything else - its GW changing their supplier, but their store back-end doesn't account for it and so its listing them as last chance as there's no "order" coming into the system.

 Overread wrote:

Pancakey wrote:
Just FYI all the gang cards are on last chance to buy now.

As are cards for everything else - its GW changing their supplier, but their store back-end doesn't account for it and so its listing them as last chance as there's no "order" coming into the system.

So it’s not the last chance to buy the cards then?

As far as the website is concerned it is - far as I've been able to work out it "shouldn't" be however we don't know for certain. We know its abnormal because Killteam stuff (that only just went on sale) is also wrapped up in this.

I believe one of the GW staff answered it in an online feed/webpodcast somewhere.

Pancakey wrote:

 Overread wrote:

Pancakey wrote:
Just FYI all the gang cards are on last chance to buy now.

As are cards for everything else - its GW changing their supplier, but their store back-end doesn't account for it and so its listing them as last chance as there's no "order" coming into the system.

So it’s not the last chance to buy the cards then?

No. They're changing supplier due to high demand and so the barcode will change meaning a change of stock number. Same reason you see standard products go last chance to buy before a reboxing. Chances are they'll be reissued as one pack for all the gangs. On a separate note, you seem utterly desperate for the game, any of the specialist games to fail for that matter. Why exactly?

Maybe this means they can keep decent stock of the Killzones.

Which means stockists with discounts can keep decent stock of the Killzones.

Hows the local necromunda scene doing these days? Still DOA in my neck of the woods.

Pancakey wrote:
Hows the local necromunda scene doing these days? Still DOA in my neck of the woods.

Last campaign just ended with 6 active players (started with 11, I think), but we can get 15-20 people for an event day/weekend. Hopefully the (rumoured) new boxset will kick-start things.

Pancakey wrote:
Hows the local necromunda scene doing these days? Still DOA in my neck of the woods.

Same as always! The game has just received massive amount of new contents (Book of Perils, Book of Judgement), new mini-campaign in October White Dwarf.

We are continuing the same campaign (running 1.5 years) and we've updated our games to include new stuff from the Law & Misrule campaign (Outlaws, Black Market and tons more). We also started trying Perils battlefield effects and terrain special rules. Gonna take a long time to test all the new stuff, we got enough for at least a year.

Necromunda was an urban legend in the shops here.

Now, first of all the reason few FLGS carry it:

1- You can only get the core gangs, books, and a few terrain options in the FLGS. A LOT of the stuff is Forge World. In the US, we still have shop owners that act like Forge World products are made by Hitler out of powdered orphan bones and Lucifer's seed. So, even walking into their stores with something they didn't sell will have some obese shop owner wheezing his way back to the game tables to kick you out before you contaminate his wholesome honest business with that foul resin taint (that he can't sell, therefore you're not advertising his products on his tables).

2- Even the ones that don't care about Forge World are under the impression that you can buy one or two gang boxes and some dice and that's all you need to play- so it's not a 'big investment' game like 40k. So, you're not buying those big tanks and jets and monsters for hundreds of dollars to keep that winning advantage.

3- Because most people don't know anything about it, therefore it rarely gets repped at the FLGS. Therefore, the casual gamer sees it as "some weird mohawk guys shooting at each other over some hazard stripes".

Now, that being said- I've done demos for Necromunda at a few places, and it's always had an AMAZING response.

When I showed my best friend how to play, we met up with a couple of other friends- and we both walked them through how to play the game. It not only blew them away at how fun and deep it was- but we drew a crowd. People asked questions, people were very curious about all these other nifty rules that just made Kill Team look like a silly joke in comparison.

As we packed away, two employees of this store approached me and asked if they could speak to me. I apologized profusely for gathering a crowd, stated that it was not my intent and it wasn't planned at all- and they said, "No, you don't understand- look at this...." They showed me some shelves. "This was our Necromunda section a few hours ago. We sold out, and we have orders in for more. Here's a gift card from us, to say thanks."

Here locally, I still do demos for it in the shop where I work weekends. I have every gang, multiples of them (two different color schemes for each). I even have Venator gangs made from random GW stuff, Genestealers, Chaos Cults, and other more oddball things like Ork Kommandos and Aeldari Corsairs and Tau squads just to show "this is completely legit and here is how you do it".

I do fun goofball events like "Unhallowed Underhive" for Halloween with zombies (poxwalkers), Ambull, deranged servitors, Gellarpox Infected, ghouls, and the newest addition to the menagerie this year is "The Severed Seven" (using the Unmade with guns) as "all the gangers who were retired from the roster for lasting injuries to their limbs, returning from the grave for revenge.

Also, once you drum up interest- it's fun to have people run up to you and tell you their new idea for a Venator Gang.

Pancakey wrote:
So I contacted all the local GW’s in the area (5) and not one had stock of necromunda in store.

Is this game already dead?

GW stores don't carry Necromunda. They don't carry most of their specialist games, like blood bowl, titanicus, LOTR. They carry the big 40k and AoS stuff.

Is it a dead game? heck no. There are a lot of really loyal players. It just has a slow release schedule, that's all.

My local GW stocks AT & Necromunda(albeit) limited in selection.
the FLGS stocks pretty much every specialist game GW makes and judging by how the stocks ebb & flow, they cant keep BB/necromunda in the store. Titanicus & AI are another story as I'm only sure about 2-3 other players locally. Tho I am currently trying to set up a couple demo days for AI since it's one of the most fun games I've played in a while. I've had some interest from the local X-Wing players so hopefully we can get a campaign going.

Still playing and loving it here, my 1.5 year long campaign is still running. We've not even delved into the later books. Enough content to keep us going for years and now they bring out a plastic zone mortalis? This is expensive...

Not a dead game. Although I have not played a single game of it, I keep collecting minis, books and other stuff related to it. Not many of my friends play it, alot of focus is at 40k, aos and killteam. I still think that necromunda is a way better game than a killteam, for it's balance.

Necromunda is like DnD in a way. Whenever it's brought up, I hear a lot of people saying "Man, I'd love to play it, but I can't find a game."

Actively working to bring people in my city together to game more and slowly but surely it's working. For many of these specialist games, you gotta sometimes just push to make it happen. Show people how enthusiastic you are about it, the good points, the fun that can be had, the gorgeous models and terrain, and usually the rest comes together.

New starter, more gangs, more supplements. Seems pretty alive for me. Instead Aeronautica Imperialis seems already dead!

Johanxp wrote:
New starter, more gangs, more supplements. Seems pretty alive for me. Instead Aeronautica Imperialis seems already dead!

That game had a REALLY rough time getting off the ground. Only now, months later, are people starting to take notice of it. It is a really good, well-rounded game system, but the starter box being zero value (no full rules, pathetic paper map, need to buy full map, ground assets, and full rulebook outside of the starter set) and the built up hype for it being next to zero... that was rough..

Necromunda, as I said, has a really loyal fanbase that kept it alive for years of zero support. Now that it's getting some good releases, albeit slower than other GW games, it's at a really good point.

I had to wait a year for my Delaque.

drbored wrote:

Johanxp wrote:
New starter, more gangs, more supplements. Seems pretty alive for me. Instead Aeronautica Imperialis seems already dead!

That game had a REALLY rough time getting off the ground. Only now, months later, are people starting to take notice of it. It is a really good, well-rounded game system, but the starter box being zero value (no full rules, pathetic paper map, need to buy full map, ground assets, and full rulebook outside of the starter set) and the built up hype for it being next to zero... that was rough..

Necromunda, as I said, has a really loyal fanbase that kept it alive for years of zero support. Now that it's getting some good releases, albeit slower than other GW games, it's at a really good point.

Absolutely.

The game survived many, many years in a strong fashion without any GW support whatsoever (other than the rules being published and permission to keep the rules in circulation).

I would say other than Blood Bowl it was probably the most popular non-supported GW game, prior to the recent round of releases.

Take a look at YakTribe - the new releases have been lapped up by the community, the rules already with some player-community amendments, and I'm sure it will keep going for many, many years.

Think it all comes down to it being an extremely cool concept and a bloody brilliant game, so there will always be people that want to play it!