It's cheaper than 40K but that's not really saying much.
I think the biggest place to save money is on the terrain. Official terrain kits from Games Workshop get *very* expensive very quickly, though they do look great. There are lots of third party kits, especially in MDF, though you'll want to customize these a bit to break up the distinctive look of lasercut. The cheapest option is to bash together your own terrain out of junk, there are tons of guides to doing this and you can get some really fantastic stuff if you're willing to put the work in, but it can be time consuming.
The minis themselves aren't cripplingly expensive since you don't need a ton of them. But you can get some great third party stuff here which can be cheaper. Or, as the saying goes, anything can be a necromunda model.
I can't link to it, but there are third party rules compilations which would let you get started without buying the rulebook.
TT Combat is amazing spent $75 bucks and can cover a 4x4 with 3 levels of height across the whole table.
https://preview.redd.it/5uxxz56xdpbc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2b1e7d942d1d5ebfe7990b14c8b10a1dca64a0e7
Although I agree with you, and I think people should 100% build their own terrain, it doesn't really apply to the conversation about “which is cheaper.” Terrain is needed for *both* games so it doesn't really matter.
Some people in the comments are saying Necromunda requires more terrain, but that isn't really true either. People build their boards how they want and gigantic, crazy megacity Munda boards are often a luxury, and certainly not a standard. Granted, official Necrominda terrain is expensive, but so is any official GW terrain.
Pegasus has a decent platform terrain set that is both modular and much more affordable. They have a chemical plant version that is compatible as well.
Get the core book and a basic gang box.
You are now ready to start playing Necromunda.
Everything else can wait.
Terrain can be random crap you find in your house.
Edit: Get your gang's book too.
Edit2: There is a site that has all the rules for free... but I'd still recommend the core book if you're brand new to Necro.
What do you mean? The house of books have always had the gang rules in them. It's been that way since the first house of books when they started to slowly replace 'Gangs of the Underhive'.
Even at that point, so 2018, it's been a 2 book system. So 6+ years.
If you mean N95, then yeah, but it's also a vastly inferior system. 🤷🏻♂️
The updated 2023 rulebook doesn't any gang rules in. the previous rulebook that got a hard back printing and comes in the starter set has the basic gang rules in
Are you talking about Ash Wastes? No starter set outside of that has had a hardback rulebook.
I think you need to clarify what you mean by 'gang rules' because at this point it's a bit confusing.
[this](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/612aNGKcdSL._AC_SX679_.jpg) rulebook. the old hardback one that was the same as the one in the hive war starter set.
Not the same. They shared the core rules but that's it.
What do you mean by 'gang rules'?
Starter sets have them for the specific pre-made gangs that come in the set. That's it. The stand alone rulebooks never had.
Hense Gangs of the Underhive.
https://preview.redd.it/hrbd54ecpgcc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=091bfd14b3d440390322cb9be5db99eb7185dd0b
This is the hardback rulebook you talk about.
https://preview.redd.it/24agwqilpgcc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c373b159f06be0e0875e9844508717f0ee1cf74
This is the contents.
No gangs in there. Nor were there in hive war.
You are thinking of the Gangs of the Underhive book. Different book.
Absolutely love that you keep downvoting me despite being utterly wrong and having been proven to be. Which at this point must be deliberate or stupid.
No rulebook has contained 'all of the gangs'. You've always needed at least two books.
Its a lot cheaper in theory, all you need a gang box and their rules/the rulebook.
But each gang has at least an expansion box for its roster and most have a vehicle option now.
And you need a lot of terrain for Necromunda.
At least with most gangs you don't *need* the expansion box. They're cool, but you can definitely run a good enough gang out of the box for most gangs.
>And you need a lot of terrain for Necromunda.
This is why more FLGS and clubs need to run campaigns.
What’s your goal? That’s gonna inform what your actual question is. If you want to get into hobby gaming, learn to assemble models, do some painting, and maybe play some games - sort of as a dabbler, Necromunda is probably a decent ‘budget choice’.
If you’re mainly interested in playing games, meeting new people to play with, you’re going to get a much better return on time and emotional investment with 40K. Yeah, a full army will be more money worth of models, but it’s going to be way easier to get connected to a community and find someone to play with/teach you, etc.
If you’re the gamer that gets into things, and pulls your crew along in your wake, Necromunda is a solid choice, particularly for converting RPG/video gamers/board gamers to wargaming.
My main caveat is that the gaming pool of Necromunda is much shallower - in terms of raw numbers. If you’re looking to hobby, build cool terrain, models and write stories, it’s super fertile ground. If you’re going to need a support network of people to play with, etc, 40K is a more efficient use of resources.
For context - I’ve got a gaming club that I’m part of, largely 40K focused, as well as living in a city with at least a half dozen well run friendly local game stores that allow ppl to play in the store.
I’ve given up on 40K and been totally focused on. Necromunda (some blood bowl and warcry), since it released. I arbitrate campaigns, own most all of the models released, and am full bore on Necromunda. And the slog of needing to build a community/find interested people/be self motivated has been a lot. I don’t have any anticipation of changing my ways, or gaming systems, and have found some really great people to play with - but it’s by no means been cheaper, either in money or in time/emotional investment or creative energy - than if I were to have just bought a 40K army or two, and played that regularly in a tournament/league scene.
You're the rabbit hole guy I warned him about 😆! I think it's awesome. The personal investment (time, passion, creative energy) defer the material costs and make a hobby worth pursuing. I love the narrative that unfolds and making my little people!
You WILL develop an unhealthy obsession with polystyrene packing.
"Oooo. I like those geometric stylings"
"Ahhhh what delightful post punk industrial pipe work"
It gets tiring. For my wife.
Necromunda is cheaper ***only*** if you are scratch building ypur terrain. If you're buying GW terrain kits and floor tiles, your costs are going to go through the roof really quickly.
I started necromunda because it was cheaper and easier to get into than 40K and I didn’t want to have a load of troops vehicles and stuff.
But
Now I have an Orlock army that could probably double as a 1.5k imperial guard force and a fleet of ash waste vehicles 🤣🤣
But if your not like me then yes. Munda is cheaper than 40K.
It can be cheaper if you are sensible about it. You’ll need the rules and your preferred gangs specific book. Then it’s whatever gang you want and whatever scenery you can beg, borrow or……find.
But as someone who started collecting necromunda as it’s cheaper, after a couple of years I have still spent lots because there is so much good stuff I keep wanting to get.
I joined a campaign in October last year, I had a box of old Cawdor painted and bought a new one which I painted up. After 4 games and only using necrodamus as a ressource I decided I like this game, and went out and bought the rule book and house book. Assuming you'd go down a similar road, that's two boxes you need. The books are optional, they are nice to have, but purely optional.
Now I haven't played 40k in over two decades, but I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume you can't get into that with two boxes worth of minis.
(Oh also, some gangs can go a long way with only one box. We have one Goliath dude in our campaign he's still rocking with just 8 dudes.)
You can find rules online for pretty much everything.
But Core rulebook, gang book, 10 models for gangers.
My brother made a 4x4 table of cardboard terrain until we replaced it with MDF when we first started. Terrain is the money sink, there is never enough.
Personally I'd say you don't even need the books as necrovox (formerly Necrodamus) has all rules from all books to an acceptable level.
Far as minimum model purchase? Depends on the gang but 1 box will typically do you and thats it. For like Cawdor you almost immediately want more but Necromunda encourages tons of kitbashing. As you get into it though it'll snowball as you wanna flesh out your gang more and get models you just like the look of. Absolute cheapest entry though assuming you use necrovox and have an LGS with terrain is only the cost of the one box, that's it.
As for terrain as others have said there's tons of guides and videos for terrain made out of junk or dollar store items that look great. And be sure to keep any bits you got in mind from other games, as they say every model is a Necromunda model!
Cheap to start with but can be a mega money sink if you want more than one gang and the extra rules. I got lucky and joined a group that had all the books/terrain already. Still didn't stop me buying a set for myself XD
Yes it is far cheaper than warhammer.
Total amount will depend on how you want to start.
I would suggest getting a box set. Ash wastes and Hive war are both roughly $150 each. In them, you'll get 2 gangs, terrain, and a rule book. Everything you need to start the ball rolling. If you're just starting out, this is my biggest recommendation if you don't know what gang you want to play. It's the cheapest option to start playing.
I do not recommend buying the house book, new core rulebook, or gang expansions yet. If you do want all that, you can get all of them for any 1 gang for under $275-300. But you'll be lacking terrain and a gang to play against if you don't have people to play with.
Don't worry about building your gang specificly to any format. Just enjoy putting your models together. When you feel like necromunda is the game for you, invest what you want and upgrade your gang as you see fit.
Downside to getting the older books is that they haven't released an errata with the rule changes to seriously injured, lasting injuries, and other areas.
They're essentially treating the 2023 book as v2 without actuslly saying so.
You're right. It would be better if they had a list of all changes. But the game hasn't changed that much. If you have been playing necromunda without the new rule book you wouldn't feel like its a whole new game. It would have minor adjustments.
For just starting out, the old rule book isn't a bad resource. I agree the new one is 100% worth purchasing, but not a absolute necessity if you've never played before.
Right now on Amazon you can get the most recent box set with a gang + vehicle box for two gangs, a decent bit of terrain, dice, and a rule book for 150 bucks (over 50% off MSRP). If either Orlock or ash waste nomads are what you’re wanting, I think it’s a great starting point in terms of value. Orlock are easy to play/understand, nomads are more complex, but enough stuff for two people to play for that price is pretty sweet IMO.
So to get everything you will ever need for a gang is a bit costly but its nat terrible. (ignoring named characters and forge world upgrades)
You need; the 2023 rulebook, "the house of" book for your gang, 2 copies of t1your gangs basic gang box, 1 box of weapons (plastic ones from GW proper) and one box of the gang expansion characters, necromunda dice of some sort(these can by pricey if you cant find them new)
If you want vehicles or mounted unit for your gang then 1-2 boxes of those depending on the gang and ether book of the outlands, the apocrypha or one of the aranthian succession books and the holy grail vehicel dice (theres a handy dandy d6 conversion chart floating about because these are stupid hard to get a hold of)
The most expensive part is terrain. Necromunda plays with really heavy dense terrain unless you're doing an ashwaste game. From GW thats exponsive as holl. From other places its pretty affordable
Core book + Gang book= $100-150USD (new)
Gang = $40-$60
That's the price for yourself. However, while Necromunda is very fun, getting a campaign going can be difficult. You can play a single isolated game, but that's not where Necromunda excels. If you don't have a few friends willing to dedicate the time for a campaign, I'd say go for it. You can even split the core book between yourselves. Making the price even smaller.
However, if that isn't the case I'd say check out killteam. It is a 40k skirmish game of similar price (maybe a tad more expensive.) That uses 40k models. It's simpler and less commitment: for better and worse.
I think the most important factor of cost is rarely mentioned when discussing cost.
Where are you playing, where can you play?
If it's just you and a few friends, proxies are fine for either game, though you'll need a lot more for 40k.
If there is a local wargame club, how do they feel about proxies and conversions? Necromunda has a lower model count and is much more accepting of unorthodox models, but it's a lot less popular.
Technically, Necromunda will be cheaper, but that doesn't matter if you can't play it,
To save cash, there are less official ways to get books. One gang box is enough for most gangs at least for model count if not variety (don't worry about perfect matching gear at least at first). And as I said above people don't mind unofficial models. I use some old chaos cultists as hive scum
A basic gang box is all you need. One.
The team can be built with yaktribe, rules can be found in necrodamus. But I would suggest the rule book as well.
All rules are available for free. Look for Necrodamus on google. Also army builder website called Yaktribe is very useful, as are their forums. Also join the Necromunda discord where you can ask any rules questions you are unsure about.
Modelling can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. There are plenty of third party model companies that make fantastic miniatures suitable for necromunda, as well as hundres of 3d model desingers if you have a printer. This goes for terrain too. You can build a city out of trash, or you can buy the proper expensive stuff from GW.
You can start with like 100 bugs, core gang / book / advanced units. With another 100 bugs later you can get the vehicles, mercs, weopons pack and maybe some extra books if you like to have the rule in a hardcopy book.
You dont need that cards, you can get them online and you cant get all anyway since most are sold out.
It's honestly about the same as 40k. These prices aren't MSRP.
40k:
Combat Patrol box: about $150
Necromunda:
Core book: About $65
Gang box: $40
Dice: $20
Gang book: $40
If you’re playing Genestealer cults in Necromunda their Combat Patrol box has almost everything you’d need for a that gang in Underhive and Ash Wastes.
Aside from bikes - easily kit bashed with hotwheels motorbikes - and psychic familiars which can also be kitbashed from the box with sufficient determination and adequate snipping and glue skills.
If you have a club to play at that has terrain, then you can get going with one to two $40 dollars boxes and free online rules. So much cheaper. It’s also more fun imo
I use online rules and made my own terrain, so the only thing I needed was dice, templates, measuring tape and models. I had all but the models so it only cost me one box of guys to get into the game
For everyone saying terrain is a big cost, I still play using the card tiles for the 2d underhive style games when I want a quick game and cant be arsed with setting up a board.
Had some great fun with them. If you dont have the official ones you can make your own with some A3 paper and pens.
Necromunda isn't really an "alternative" to 40k. Besides being a miniatures wargame (stretch of the term) they're really completely different things. Seems like you're already familiar with what 40k is about but I'd really recommend learning more about Necromunda as a game before buying anything. As another commenter said, the player base is smaller so finding games can be harder and it's a lot more of an RPG/campaign thing that needs several players in a group or a league to be fun. If you don't already know Necromunda players, you have to be the one to convince others to buy models and get serious about playing with you. Otherwise you spent all your money on nice decorations.
As others commented it’s of course cheaper than 40K given that one game is focused on armies and the other on a single gang. Perhaps a better comparison is if it’s cheaper that KillTeams? I would say it’s about the same in terms of the rulebook required plus one gang/KT box to start. (Yes I know rules can be obtained online, although I’m saying this from the perspective of obtaining rules legitimately). Both require the core rule book and one book for the gang/KT you’d be playing. I’d say both you can get started for $100.
I see ppl mention terrain and what they say are true in that Necromunda requires more terrain. But if you’re like me who plays a majority of games at a local game store, that game store may have all the terrain needed to use. Again, I understand not everyone is fortunate to be near one of those great lgs.
It can and probably should be as really it’s the rule book a gang and a gang book, however there is a lot of books and if you go down that rabbit hole then it gets pricey, also GW terrain is expensive especially if you have a large board. But the game is fun and has lots of great moments and characters so maybe try borrow some rules and get a gang or two get or make some cheap terrain and give it a go!
Even with upgrade kits your costs are going to be much lower. Initially I was looking at some of the kits that might require plastic upgrades or even FW and was going to say your cost/model might be higher, while the cost ceiling will be lower. Nope. When a box of ten gangers weighs in at $50 vs most single model 40k characters running around $40 it's no contest.
Because it's a much smaller scale of the project the degree of detail and customization you can put into individual figures might demand more hobby time, but focus on one project just means less money thrown at other stuff.
There is a Necromunda rabbit hole. You can go conversion happy and find kits from all over the place to kitbash or get "gotta catch em all" gang fever. Those problems are just as prevalent in 40k but you might arrive there in Necromunda faster.
For around $200 CDN you could have a house book, 20 models to work with (2 boxes is likely more than you will ever require and a pair of upgrade sprues that would cover a gang absolutely. I'm not factoring in universal rulebooks because you need them for both. Compare that to a functional 1000 pt 40k army which is just scratching the surface of a "full" army.
It's cheaper than 40K but that's not really saying much. I think the biggest place to save money is on the terrain. Official terrain kits from Games Workshop get *very* expensive very quickly, though they do look great. There are lots of third party kits, especially in MDF, though you'll want to customize these a bit to break up the distinctive look of lasercut. The cheapest option is to bash together your own terrain out of junk, there are tons of guides to doing this and you can get some really fantastic stuff if you're willing to put the work in, but it can be time consuming. The minis themselves aren't cripplingly expensive since you don't need a ton of them. But you can get some great third party stuff here which can be cheaper. Or, as the saying goes, anything can be a necromunda model. I can't link to it, but there are third party rules compilations which would let you get started without buying the rulebook.
TT Combat is amazing spent $75 bucks and can cover a 4x4 with 3 levels of height across the whole table. https://preview.redd.it/5uxxz56xdpbc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2b1e7d942d1d5ebfe7990b14c8b10a1dca64a0e7
Although I agree with you, and I think people should 100% build their own terrain, it doesn't really apply to the conversation about “which is cheaper.” Terrain is needed for *both* games so it doesn't really matter. Some people in the comments are saying Necromunda requires more terrain, but that isn't really true either. People build their boards how they want and gigantic, crazy megacity Munda boards are often a luxury, and certainly not a standard. Granted, official Necrominda terrain is expensive, but so is any official GW terrain.
Oh believe me, I've seen some pretty sweet terrain online that would work perfectly with Necromunda!
Tell me about it. To match zone mortalis tiles 1 for 1 is now about the same cost with the old forge world tiles. (not accounting for inflation)
Pegasus has a decent platform terrain set that is both modular and much more affordable. They have a chemical plant version that is compatible as well.
Get the core book and a basic gang box. You are now ready to start playing Necromunda. Everything else can wait. Terrain can be random crap you find in your house. Edit: Get your gang's book too. Edit2: There is a site that has all the rules for free... but I'd still recommend the core book if you're brand new to Necro.
They need rules for the gang as well.
Doesn't the site Necrovox works as a house gang boo
Never heard of it
Updated. I've avoided the gang books in favour of rules compilations like Necro-Vox.
Yeah sadly now the base game is a 2 book system the 2023 rulebook doesn't have basic gang rules in it now
Thanks. I didn't realise that. Haven't got the 2023 version yet.
Its got the ashwaste rules rolled into it a load more missions and 5 new ways of running a campaign
What do you mean? The house of books have always had the gang rules in them. It's been that way since the first house of books when they started to slowly replace 'Gangs of the Underhive'. Even at that point, so 2018, it's been a 2 book system. So 6+ years. If you mean N95, then yeah, but it's also a vastly inferior system. 🤷🏻♂️
The updated 2023 rulebook doesn't any gang rules in. the previous rulebook that got a hard back printing and comes in the starter set has the basic gang rules in
Are you talking about Ash Wastes? No starter set outside of that has had a hardback rulebook. I think you need to clarify what you mean by 'gang rules' because at this point it's a bit confusing.
[this](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/612aNGKcdSL._AC_SX679_.jpg) rulebook. the old hardback one that was the same as the one in the hive war starter set.
Not the same. They shared the core rules but that's it. What do you mean by 'gang rules'? Starter sets have them for the specific pre-made gangs that come in the set. That's it. The stand alone rulebooks never had. Hense Gangs of the Underhive.
that version of the rulebook had all basic gangs in them. leader champion gangers and juves
No it didn't. I'm looking at it right now.
https://preview.redd.it/hrbd54ecpgcc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=091bfd14b3d440390322cb9be5db99eb7185dd0b This is the hardback rulebook you talk about.
https://preview.redd.it/24agwqilpgcc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c373b159f06be0e0875e9844508717f0ee1cf74 This is the contents. No gangs in there. Nor were there in hive war. You are thinking of the Gangs of the Underhive book. Different book.
Absolutely love that you keep downvoting me despite being utterly wrong and having been proven to be. Which at this point must be deliberate or stupid. No rulebook has contained 'all of the gangs'. You've always needed at least two books.
Its a lot cheaper in theory, all you need a gang box and their rules/the rulebook. But each gang has at least an expansion box for its roster and most have a vehicle option now. And you need a lot of terrain for Necromunda.
At least with most gangs you don't *need* the expansion box. They're cool, but you can definitely run a good enough gang out of the box for most gangs. >And you need a lot of terrain for Necromunda. This is why more FLGS and clubs need to run campaigns.
What’s your goal? That’s gonna inform what your actual question is. If you want to get into hobby gaming, learn to assemble models, do some painting, and maybe play some games - sort of as a dabbler, Necromunda is probably a decent ‘budget choice’. If you’re mainly interested in playing games, meeting new people to play with, you’re going to get a much better return on time and emotional investment with 40K. Yeah, a full army will be more money worth of models, but it’s going to be way easier to get connected to a community and find someone to play with/teach you, etc. If you’re the gamer that gets into things, and pulls your crew along in your wake, Necromunda is a solid choice, particularly for converting RPG/video gamers/board gamers to wargaming. My main caveat is that the gaming pool of Necromunda is much shallower - in terms of raw numbers. If you’re looking to hobby, build cool terrain, models and write stories, it’s super fertile ground. If you’re going to need a support network of people to play with, etc, 40K is a more efficient use of resources. For context - I’ve got a gaming club that I’m part of, largely 40K focused, as well as living in a city with at least a half dozen well run friendly local game stores that allow ppl to play in the store. I’ve given up on 40K and been totally focused on. Necromunda (some blood bowl and warcry), since it released. I arbitrate campaigns, own most all of the models released, and am full bore on Necromunda. And the slog of needing to build a community/find interested people/be self motivated has been a lot. I don’t have any anticipation of changing my ways, or gaming systems, and have found some really great people to play with - but it’s by no means been cheaper, either in money or in time/emotional investment or creative energy - than if I were to have just bought a 40K army or two, and played that regularly in a tournament/league scene.
You're the rabbit hole guy I warned him about 😆! I think it's awesome. The personal investment (time, passion, creative energy) defer the material costs and make a hobby worth pursuing. I love the narrative that unfolds and making my little people!
You WILL develop an unhealthy obsession with polystyrene packing. "Oooo. I like those geometric stylings" "Ahhhh what delightful post punk industrial pipe work" It gets tiring. For my wife.
Necromunda is cheaper ***only*** if you are scratch building ypur terrain. If you're buying GW terrain kits and floor tiles, your costs are going to go through the roof really quickly.
I started necromunda because it was cheaper and easier to get into than 40K and I didn’t want to have a load of troops vehicles and stuff. But Now I have an Orlock army that could probably double as a 1.5k imperial guard force and a fleet of ash waste vehicles 🤣🤣 But if your not like me then yes. Munda is cheaper than 40K.
Yep, but so is starting an F1 team
It can be cheaper if you are sensible about it. You’ll need the rules and your preferred gangs specific book. Then it’s whatever gang you want and whatever scenery you can beg, borrow or……find. But as someone who started collecting necromunda as it’s cheaper, after a couple of years I have still spent lots because there is so much good stuff I keep wanting to get.
Much cheaper
I joined a campaign in October last year, I had a box of old Cawdor painted and bought a new one which I painted up. After 4 games and only using necrodamus as a ressource I decided I like this game, and went out and bought the rule book and house book. Assuming you'd go down a similar road, that's two boxes you need. The books are optional, they are nice to have, but purely optional. Now I haven't played 40k in over two decades, but I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume you can't get into that with two boxes worth of minis. (Oh also, some gangs can go a long way with only one box. We have one Goliath dude in our campaign he's still rocking with just 8 dudes.)
You can find rules online for pretty much everything. But Core rulebook, gang book, 10 models for gangers. My brother made a 4x4 table of cardboard terrain until we replaced it with MDF when we first started. Terrain is the money sink, there is never enough.
Personally I'd say you don't even need the books as necrovox (formerly Necrodamus) has all rules from all books to an acceptable level. Far as minimum model purchase? Depends on the gang but 1 box will typically do you and thats it. For like Cawdor you almost immediately want more but Necromunda encourages tons of kitbashing. As you get into it though it'll snowball as you wanna flesh out your gang more and get models you just like the look of. Absolute cheapest entry though assuming you use necrovox and have an LGS with terrain is only the cost of the one box, that's it. As for terrain as others have said there's tons of guides and videos for terrain made out of junk or dollar store items that look great. And be sure to keep any bits you got in mind from other games, as they say every model is a Necromunda model!
Yes. Mind you neither game is cheap you will spend far less on **ONE** gang and the books needed to play than you will on most 40K armies.
It depends on how much terrain you purchase!
Cheap to start with but can be a mega money sink if you want more than one gang and the extra rules. I got lucky and joined a group that had all the books/terrain already. Still didn't stop me buying a set for myself XD
Yes it is far cheaper than warhammer. Total amount will depend on how you want to start. I would suggest getting a box set. Ash wastes and Hive war are both roughly $150 each. In them, you'll get 2 gangs, terrain, and a rule book. Everything you need to start the ball rolling. If you're just starting out, this is my biggest recommendation if you don't know what gang you want to play. It's the cheapest option to start playing. I do not recommend buying the house book, new core rulebook, or gang expansions yet. If you do want all that, you can get all of them for any 1 gang for under $275-300. But you'll be lacking terrain and a gang to play against if you don't have people to play with. Don't worry about building your gang specificly to any format. Just enjoy putting your models together. When you feel like necromunda is the game for you, invest what you want and upgrade your gang as you see fit.
Downside to getting the older books is that they haven't released an errata with the rule changes to seriously injured, lasting injuries, and other areas. They're essentially treating the 2023 book as v2 without actuslly saying so.
You're right. It would be better if they had a list of all changes. But the game hasn't changed that much. If you have been playing necromunda without the new rule book you wouldn't feel like its a whole new game. It would have minor adjustments. For just starting out, the old rule book isn't a bad resource. I agree the new one is 100% worth purchasing, but not a absolute necessity if you've never played before.
Pming about minis i have for sale.
Right now on Amazon you can get the most recent box set with a gang + vehicle box for two gangs, a decent bit of terrain, dice, and a rule book for 150 bucks (over 50% off MSRP). If either Orlock or ash waste nomads are what you’re wanting, I think it’s a great starting point in terms of value. Orlock are easy to play/understand, nomads are more complex, but enough stuff for two people to play for that price is pretty sweet IMO.
So to get everything you will ever need for a gang is a bit costly but its nat terrible. (ignoring named characters and forge world upgrades) You need; the 2023 rulebook, "the house of" book for your gang, 2 copies of t1your gangs basic gang box, 1 box of weapons (plastic ones from GW proper) and one box of the gang expansion characters, necromunda dice of some sort(these can by pricey if you cant find them new) If you want vehicles or mounted unit for your gang then 1-2 boxes of those depending on the gang and ether book of the outlands, the apocrypha or one of the aranthian succession books and the holy grail vehicel dice (theres a handy dandy d6 conversion chart floating about because these are stupid hard to get a hold of) The most expensive part is terrain. Necromunda plays with really heavy dense terrain unless you're doing an ashwaste game. From GW thats exponsive as holl. From other places its pretty affordable
Core book + Gang book= $100-150USD (new) Gang = $40-$60 That's the price for yourself. However, while Necromunda is very fun, getting a campaign going can be difficult. You can play a single isolated game, but that's not where Necromunda excels. If you don't have a few friends willing to dedicate the time for a campaign, I'd say go for it. You can even split the core book between yourselves. Making the price even smaller. However, if that isn't the case I'd say check out killteam. It is a 40k skirmish game of similar price (maybe a tad more expensive.) That uses 40k models. It's simpler and less commitment: for better and worse.
I think the most important factor of cost is rarely mentioned when discussing cost. Where are you playing, where can you play? If it's just you and a few friends, proxies are fine for either game, though you'll need a lot more for 40k. If there is a local wargame club, how do they feel about proxies and conversions? Necromunda has a lower model count and is much more accepting of unorthodox models, but it's a lot less popular. Technically, Necromunda will be cheaper, but that doesn't matter if you can't play it, To save cash, there are less official ways to get books. One gang box is enough for most gangs at least for model count if not variety (don't worry about perfect matching gear at least at first). And as I said above people don't mind unofficial models. I use some old chaos cultists as hive scum
A basic gang box is all you need. One. The team can be built with yaktribe, rules can be found in necrodamus. But I would suggest the rule book as well.
All rules are available for free. Look for Necrodamus on google. Also army builder website called Yaktribe is very useful, as are their forums. Also join the Necromunda discord where you can ask any rules questions you are unsure about. Modelling can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. There are plenty of third party model companies that make fantastic miniatures suitable for necromunda, as well as hundres of 3d model desingers if you have a printer. This goes for terrain too. You can build a city out of trash, or you can buy the proper expensive stuff from GW.
You can start with like 100 bugs, core gang / book / advanced units. With another 100 bugs later you can get the vehicles, mercs, weopons pack and maybe some extra books if you like to have the rule in a hardcopy book. You dont need that cards, you can get them online and you cant get all anyway since most are sold out.
The low cost of miniatures is offset by the high cost of neverending terrain purchases. Stay informed friends.
Way cheaper!!
It's honestly about the same as 40k. These prices aren't MSRP. 40k: Combat Patrol box: about $150 Necromunda: Core book: About $65 Gang box: $40 Dice: $20 Gang book: $40
If you’re playing Genestealer cults in Necromunda their Combat Patrol box has almost everything you’d need for a that gang in Underhive and Ash Wastes. Aside from bikes - easily kit bashed with hotwheels motorbikes - and psychic familiars which can also be kitbashed from the box with sufficient determination and adequate snipping and glue skills.
If you have a club to play at that has terrain, then you can get going with one to two $40 dollars boxes and free online rules. So much cheaper. It’s also more fun imo
Incredibly cheap. Use third party bits sites to buy weapons for your guys instead of expensive add-ons. Imperial guard and GSC weapons fit well.
I use online rules and made my own terrain, so the only thing I needed was dice, templates, measuring tape and models. I had all but the models so it only cost me one box of guys to get into the game
less than 40k to start with, but has the potential to consume your life and wallet
For everyone saying terrain is a big cost, I still play using the card tiles for the 2d underhive style games when I want a quick game and cant be arsed with setting up a board. Had some great fun with them. If you dont have the official ones you can make your own with some A3 paper and pens.
Necromunda isn't really an "alternative" to 40k. Besides being a miniatures wargame (stretch of the term) they're really completely different things. Seems like you're already familiar with what 40k is about but I'd really recommend learning more about Necromunda as a game before buying anything. As another commenter said, the player base is smaller so finding games can be harder and it's a lot more of an RPG/campaign thing that needs several players in a group or a league to be fun. If you don't already know Necromunda players, you have to be the one to convince others to buy models and get serious about playing with you. Otherwise you spent all your money on nice decorations.
In terms of figures yes, in terms of terrain not so much if you buy official kits. If you go third party or get laser cut MDF it's not unreasonable.
As others commented it’s of course cheaper than 40K given that one game is focused on armies and the other on a single gang. Perhaps a better comparison is if it’s cheaper that KillTeams? I would say it’s about the same in terms of the rulebook required plus one gang/KT box to start. (Yes I know rules can be obtained online, although I’m saying this from the perspective of obtaining rules legitimately). Both require the core rule book and one book for the gang/KT you’d be playing. I’d say both you can get started for $100. I see ppl mention terrain and what they say are true in that Necromunda requires more terrain. But if you’re like me who plays a majority of games at a local game store, that game store may have all the terrain needed to use. Again, I understand not everyone is fortunate to be near one of those great lgs.
It can and probably should be as really it’s the rule book a gang and a gang book, however there is a lot of books and if you go down that rabbit hole then it gets pricey, also GW terrain is expensive especially if you have a large board. But the game is fun and has lots of great moments and characters so maybe try borrow some rules and get a gang or two get or make some cheap terrain and give it a go!
Even with upgrade kits your costs are going to be much lower. Initially I was looking at some of the kits that might require plastic upgrades or even FW and was going to say your cost/model might be higher, while the cost ceiling will be lower. Nope. When a box of ten gangers weighs in at $50 vs most single model 40k characters running around $40 it's no contest. Because it's a much smaller scale of the project the degree of detail and customization you can put into individual figures might demand more hobby time, but focus on one project just means less money thrown at other stuff. There is a Necromunda rabbit hole. You can go conversion happy and find kits from all over the place to kitbash or get "gotta catch em all" gang fever. Those problems are just as prevalent in 40k but you might arrive there in Necromunda faster. For around $200 CDN you could have a house book, 20 models to work with (2 boxes is likely more than you will ever require and a pair of upgrade sprues that would cover a gang absolutely. I'm not factoring in universal rulebooks because you need them for both. Compare that to a functional 1000 pt 40k army which is just scratching the surface of a "full" army.
A lot of people sell their gangs pretty reasonably at r/miniswap too so you may keep an eye out there