Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I keep seeing people state that Goliaths are vat-born. What's the source for this? My understanding is that they have extra vat-grown muscle implanted (and then maintained with drugs), but that they're born the normal way.

If body size is an issue for mixing and matching parts on a sprue just but an extra female torso in the juve boxes where the legs and arm will be smaller any way.

Duskweaver wrote:
I keep seeing people state that Goliaths are vat-born. What's the source for this? My understanding is that they have extra vat-grown muscle implanted (and then maintained with drugs), but that they're born the normal way.

Bit of both according to the new background,

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Well indeed!

And if Goliaths are Vat Borne - does gender really come into it, seeing as you've done away with our species main purpose for two genders? Would individuals need reproductive capacity beyond sampling their DNA for the next batch?

But overall, Escher are the sole Gang that is expressly only one gender, with background explanation for that (genetic issues, men all drooling imbeciles in their house)

Goliaths are not all vat-grown though, my reading was that they use pretty much every eugenics-adjacent technique that exists - vat-maturation, selective/arranged breeding, retroviral and hormonal enhancements, the works, and organised breeding programmes rather require both Part A and Part B

Plus in a hive with a population in the billions, there will be variation within the houses, and people under less direct comtrol of a house but still members. So a variation in breeding methods would make sense.

Also what happens in the Underhive is anyone's guess Is there much about mixed heritage folk in the Underhive, with mixed House parentage? Or gangs containing members from more than one House?

 malfred wrote:
So the answer is "All but Escher. Maybe Goliaths."

Sweet. I might even pay for resin unless it's like only one model.

Goliath and Escher make the most sense not to to be as mixed, there entire thing is kinda based one that and they both are somewhat tilted to one gender in how they operate, sleect and viiew things.

Now, not to say others could not be mixed up!
theres alot more options in other gangs but the two above are ones that probbl;y should remain mono gender.

Its like nto have male sisters, or female marines, it just breaks the lore to do so.
Guard, and many others, they can do it without a problem!

Except, as previously mentioned, there's no explicit lore that Goliath are monosex, and plenty to suggest otherwise. Embodying a particular stereotype that we in modern reality would consider a kind of hyper-masculinity doesn't mean they all have to have a willy.

Indeed yodhrin is right on point. I do hope they can keep the flow of esoteric models and fill out the gangs properly - the concept art I saw of a female Goliath look ace - I really hope that comes to fruition

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Bit of both according to the new background,

OK, but what's the actual source? Book/page ref? Because I can't find this in either the Necromunda rulebook or GW1.

Lexicanum uses the term "vat-birthed", but its citation points to a page on the official GW Necromunda site that does not itself use that term, only referring to Goliaths as having "vat-grown muscle" (and in context it's implied this is additional implanted muscle, not just what they're born with, as it's mentioned alongside their weapons and armour as something that builds upon their natural strength and endurance).

I also pictured Goliath with gang mostly of male warriors but it didn't stopped my to do some conversion for one female goliath

still WIP but probably will try a few more.


About the problem of mixing male and female pieces in the sprue it could not be big issue if the design is good enough. Almost all of the sprue of the game Monster (from Kingdom of death) have 2 male and 2 female bodies and arms works for both types. If you do not know the game check it out, great design (even a bit disturbing)

There are shots on the internet of a video game btw. I can’t
see it but someone swears there’s a female Goliath in there...

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
It's just not practical to make a mixed sprue when you've got enough room for 5 people and have to have all the heads and arms work with one another.

Yeah, "not practical"

Shadespire elite gangs are three minis. Not 2x five, not even five, three. What was first article WC did on Shadespire stormcast? Why, they took the female model and converted it from dumb looking hammer she has to a sword. Which was somehow miraculously taken from male stormcast bit, despite far more limited options, with no problems. Care to point out what is so 'impractical' about below conversion?



For the record, stormcast have form-fitting plate. So, in this case there is really some small difference in arm look, nothing that couldn't be overcame, though, as can be seen above. On necromunda gangs, though? Where you can just have slightly loose sleeve (if 0.02 mm variation in arm thickness bothers you that much) to show absolutely zero noticeable difference? Impractical? How?

 Irbis wrote:
Yeah, "not practical"

Shadespire elite gangs are three minis.

You just compared a multi-part modular plastic kit to three ezy-2-build plastic models?

Nice try.

Customising the Necromunda models isn't really that hard. See below examples

Also, I don't think there's anything that outright denies the possibility of an exception to the Escher lore about males - you could easily make a skinny little Bishonen gang member who's job it is to do all the cooking for the ladies.

What bothers me much more than the current mono-gendered gangs is the skill primaries/secondaries handed out to each House. I'm currently playing my Eschers as if they're Goliaths, cuz the official rules that portray Eschers as not being allowed Strong/Savant skills whilst specialising in stereotypical Agility and stiletto knife backstabbing is an insult

Nice conversions. It seems like the first of your ladies is as much of a danger to herself as those around her... everyone around her.... out to some considerable distance

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 Irbis wrote:
Yeah, "not practical"

Shadespire elite gangs are three minis.

You just compared a multi-part modular plastic kit to three ezy-2-build plastic models?

Nice try.

I'm fairly sure the point was that if you can design even ezy-2-build monopose female models to be easily converted with components from the male models of the same range, the idea you can't do it with a multipart kit with hundreds of components is a bit silly.

You know, I tend to roll my eyes at the 'gender representation' comments sometimes, but I was a bit sad to see the Orlocks as all-male. I hope that future gangs include a mix of genders. I can understand Goliaths and Eschers being one gender, but it's a missed opportunity here.

The necromunda underhive wars game some of the art work does show a female goliath in the lineup , I doubt the games company would be allowed to stretch lore that much unless it was okay.
If you really want a female goliath now go to heroforge and design one I used an work female body for the template it worked quite well

 Adeptus Doritos wrote:
You know, I tend to roll my eyes at the 'gender representation' comments sometimes, but I was a bit sad to see the Orlocks as all-male. I hope that future gangs include a mix of genders. I can understand Goliaths and Eschers being one gender, but it's a missed opportunity here.

Roll your eyes as much as you want. This isn't about equality but about
having more cool things I want to paint. Therefore I'm interested in fluff
reasons behind the gendered stuff. If there's fluff space for it, I'd like models
for it.

 Adeptus Doritos wrote:
You know, I tend to roll my eyes at the 'gender representation' comments sometimes, but I was a bit sad to see the Orlocks as all-male. I hope that future gangs include a mix of genders. I can understand Goliaths and Eschers being one gender, but it's a missed opportunity here.

I’d recommend mixing Escher heads with genestealer cult arms with orlock bodies to get your femlock’s on the go i’m just finishing one now, just need to add a little bulk on the chest and sculpt hair and done. It’s not feminine but it defo looks female. And that’s what I’m aiming for. I think we should just watch this space - the designers I talked to said they put all the ideas that had made the cut up on a white board to plan out a production time frame and had 4 years worth on content potentially planned out.

 dekinrie wrote:
The necromunda underhive wars game some of the art work does show a female goliath in the lineup , I doubt the games company would be allowed to stretch lore that much unless it was okay.
If you really want a female goliath now go to heroforge and design one I used an work female body for the template it worked quite well

Tellingly, the image released of the Escher gang includes weapons not on the sprue, but coming in the upgrade kits.

So lore aside, that pretty much confirms the game's designers had access to stuff before we saw it. Which gives me hope the female Goliath with the hammer is a digital version of an actual model?

Mr Morden wrote:They specifically state in Feb white dwarf that Orlocks have both make and female gangers.

CthuluIsSpy wrote:Orlocks I think have been confirmed to have women in their gangs.

Just got to take a look at GW2. There's actually a pic of a female Orlock in that one, in page 44.

I have couple of shapeways gang war figures, and while I appreciate whoever did them for the sake of variety of figures, they are pretty.... ...middle of the road.

There are female goliaths, one is very specifically mentioned in the first Kal Jericho book. May have been ret-conned, but even eschers have males, they are just too feeble to fight in the gangs... but remember, the gangers are just one aspect of the houses they represent. It's House Escher, House Goliath, not Gang Escher, Gang Goliath.

Well house van saar definetly have female members as the latest videos shows

He was wrong that it wouldn't be done, let Half Brother of
Marneus Calgar be.

Well... the one female model has one pose (that we're aware of), so yeah, you can put them on the sprue, but like I said, it's extremely limiting.

Seems like Van Saar has the most (and only) mixed gender gang. At least from the miniatures

I expect Delaque will.

For all we know,, there are already female Goliaths in the box kit. You just can't tell - and anyone who's seen excessively-developed female bodybuilders can see how I can be correct in saying that.