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Been playing 40k, but never touched Necromunda. Thinking of starting, but as with 40k, my interest in anything starts with conversion possibilities... in this case, GSC Aberrants.

I'm not bothered by their availability, rather their relatively monopose models. So my question is: if i convert my own aberrants out of a taller miniature, am i going to completely screw myself over on the tabletop due to them now having larger hitboxes for line of sight (over terrain and cover)? I'm specifically looking at using crypt horror/vargheist torsos/legs - i know it'll be a tight fit, but i'm fairly certain i can fit them on 32mm bases (even if a little snipping is required) to match the official aberrant base radius for legal measurement purposes. My concern is with their added height.

As i said, never played necromunda, so thought i'd ask since i'm not sure how line of site plays out for you guys in your experience. I like making miniatures my own and unique, but also don't want to jeopardize the game being fun if it's just going to give my guys an auto death sentence and render them 100% useless.

Unfortunately that's one of the drawbacks with a terrain-heavy true-line-of-sight system like Necromunda. Converting a large model is just gonna be more visible. Preferably you would use a pre-defined cylinder like a cork to calculate cover, but it could be quite cumbersom to replace each model with a cork each time the model is targeted. If that's something you can house-rule and willing to do, it would solve the problem and make the entire game fair for all parts really. Or you would have to "imagine" a cylinder instead of the model when eye-balling LOS. Other than that I have no suggestions.

It’s also why I prefer the tiles over the 3d terrain, as LoS there is simply drawing lines from the center of your base to their base.

Sounds like the answer to the general question, though, is yes - Necromunda works in such a way that i would indeed feel a tangible repercussion for doing this. Mkay.

Also interesting that not even 24 hours after i ask this question, new aberrants are announced on Warhammer Community haha. Guess i'll wait to see what the full range of options is like...

Playing on tiles, really only the base size matters.

Playing 3d, it's pretty unlikely to effect your game, depends on the terrain sets obviously , but most stuff you can either visible or not visible.
Cover is determined by hiding the base, so height is less of an issue.

FWIW, Necro isn't really "true LOS." Not like 40K, where a tiny bit of a model is enough to target it. Necromunda specifically states that's not the case. Now, if a conversion is significantly taller, that will make it easier to see and target. But, this also depends on the height of the terrain you use.

Captyn_Bob wrote:
Playing on tiles, really only the base size matters.

Playing 3d, it's pretty unlikely to effect your game, depends on the terrain sets obviously , but most stuff you can either visible or not visible.
Cover is determined by hiding the base, so height is less of an issue.

That's just not correct. Playing 3d, it's highly likely to effect your game. A model is either out in the open, partial cover (less than 50%), heavy cover (more than 50%) or out of sight. The base doesn't affect LOS at all. Height is much an issue if you're behind a fence or other partial/heavy cover.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Gobbla wrote:
FWIW, Necro isn't really "true LOS." Not like 40K, where a tiny bit of a model is enough to target it. Necromunda specifically states that's not the case. Now, if a conversion is significantly taller, that will make it easier to see and target. But, this also depends on the height of the terrain you use.

Please quote the rules, cause from what I remember, Necromunda is exactly "true LOS" where even a tiny bit of a model is enought to target it. At least that's what I always played it like.

 Gobbla wrote:
FWIW, Necro isn't really "true LOS." Not like 40K, where a tiny bit of a model is enough to target it. Necromunda specifically states that's not the case. Now, if a conversion is significantly taller, that will make it easier to see and target. But, this also depends on the height of the terrain you use.

Please quote the rules, cause from what I remember, Necromunda is exactly "true LOS" where even a tiny bit of a model is enought to target it. At least that's what I always played it like.

Pretty sure its in the front of the Gang War 1 book? has images to show you the differing amounts of cover.

How does that contradict anything I said or support the original statement?

Baxx wrote:
Unfortunately that's one of the drawbacks with a terrain-heavy true-line-of-sight system like Necromunda. Converting a large model is just gonna be more visible. Preferably you would use a pre-defined cylinder like a cork to calculate cover, but it could be quite cumbersom to replace each model with a cork each time the model is targeted. If that's something you can house-rule and willing to do, it would solve the problem and make the entire game fair for all parts really. Or you would have to "imagine" a cylinder instead of the model when eye-balling LOS. Other than that I have no suggestions.

In the past when I've been bothered, I've just used a piece of card cut to roughly the base width and model height of whatever it is, then if it needs checking you bluetac it to the front of the base facing whatever is checking LOS to you. Saves faffing with replacing models.

That's a useful tip! If you color the card in 4 squares, it could help finding the magic 50 percentage too.

Baxx wrote:

Captyn_Bob wrote:
Playing on tiles, really only the base size matters.

Playing 3d, it's pretty unlikely to effect your game, depends on the terrain sets obviously , but most stuff you can either visible or not visible.
Cover is determined by hiding the base, so height is less of an issue.

That's just not correct. Playing 3d, it's highly likely to effect your game. A model is either out in the open, partial cover (less than 50%), heavy cover (more than 50%) or out of sight. The base doesn't affect LOS at all. Height is much an issue if you're behind a fence or other partial/heavy cover.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Gobbla wrote:
FWIW, Necro isn't really "true LOS." Not like 40K, where a tiny bit of a model is enough to target it. Necromunda specifically states that's not the case. Now, if a conversion is significantly taller, that will make it easier to see and target. But, this also depends on the height of the terrain you use.

Please quote the rules, cause from what I remember, Necromunda is exactly "true LOS" where even a tiny bit of a model is enought to target it. At least that's what I always played it like.

I'll quote from the online rulebook (pg. 12), because it's easier than going upstairs, retrieving my rule book, returning and typing it all out. The rule is the same (underline's are mine):

True Line of Sight
To check a fighter's line of sight to another fighter, stoop down to look from the first fighter's point of view. If the other fighter is not entirely obscured by terrain or other fighters, the first fighter has a line of sight to them. If the fighter is entirely obscured except for their base and any insignificant elements (a protruding hairstyle, the barrel of a gun, or a spike from their armour, for example), the first fighter does not have line of sight to them.


It's a slightly more nuanced true-LOS system than 40K. Keeps the BS to a minimum.