Necromunda: House of Artifice & The New Van Saar Gangers Unboxed
Take a look at the new Van Saar Archeoteks & Grav-cutters plus a quick tour of the new House of Artifice book!
Van Saar fans – this one is for you! The House of Artifice has a TON of great new lore for the origins of your house and the new kit is also pretty RAD (which is fitting on account of the radiation).
High Tech House
Let’s just get this out of the way – if you’ve ever wondered about the origins of the Van Saar, well, here they are finally printed in a book! It’s a good read but the gist of it is that a colony ship crashed on the planet. The crew were hoping to start a new colony on a different planet entirely, but as the warp does, they ended up this toxic dust ball in space. Eventually a settlement springs up around the crashed (and now looted) ship. This is the place known as Junkertown. And this is really the birthplace of the Van Saar.
The Colony ship was also carrying an STC or Standard Template Construction System. This is initially hidden but is uncovered by a particularly brilliant ganger named Sator Davos. It’s a long story – but the short version is that he uses the STC to create some pretty amazing things. Van Saar is able to harness this STC to better themselves. Eventually other gangs and clans find out about it an attempt to take it – but Van Saar has been preparing for it. They fight back in what later is dubbed “The Junk War” and the STC ends up on rails in an underground mag-lev train.
The STC bounces around the “labyrinth of rails” underground for decades as the Van Saar stay on the move. Eventually the STC gets a more permanent home thanks to one of the House leaders – Duke Otto. To be fair, he was trying to move it from it’s “home” in Hive Primus but something went wrong. Instead he creates decoy STC and sends those out to distract this would be assailants. Oh and the STC…it’s leaking Radiation which is why Van Saar has a deal with House Escher for those anti-rad medications.
There is a TON more info and I’ve glossed over many of the details but it’s a great book for the world building of Van Saar. There’s even some time travel and a dire warning about an enemy from the future coming. Heck, the Ad Mech even make an appearance. Seriously, it’s got a TON packed in between the covers. All fitting for a House that is definitely more than meets the eye.
Necromunda: House of Artifice $47
Inside this book you will find:
– House Van Saar History and Background: An expansive and extensive background on the creation and origins of House Van Saar and its development over six millennia.
– House Van Saar Gang List: All the rules you need in order to field a Van Saar Gang in games of Necromunda.
– Hangers-on and Brutes: Rules for hiring Hangers-on and Brutes for your Gang, including Van Saar-specific ones and for using them in games of Necromunda.
– Hired Guns: Rules for using Bounty Hunters, House Agents, and Hive Scum.
– Strong Alliances: Rules for forming alliances with three organisations that House Van Saar has connections with, including the Promethium Guild, Imperial Imposters, and House Catallus – the Noble House that backs the House of Artifice.
– Additional Rules: This section includes new and additional rules usable by House Van Saar gangs in games of Necromunda, providing Van Saar players a variety of options, including Skills, Abilities, and gang-specific terrain.
– Weapon Reference Chart: A comprehensive weapons reference chart for all weapons and wargear available to House Van Saar and their Allies.
– House Van Saar Gang Tactics: A D66 table of Gang Tactics for use in Scenarios.
– Dramatis Personae: Rules for hiring and using three brand-new Dramatis Personae characters in your games of Necromunda.
This is an expansion to Necromunda – you’ll need a copy of the Necromunda Rulebook or the Necromunda: Dark Uprising Rulebook to use the contents of this book.
New Gangers
Now let’s chat about the new Van Saar models! These guys are pretty stinkin’ cool. The Grav-cutters are piloted by some of the younger members of the gang who are still fearless and want to make a name for themselves. I think it’s neat that GW is exploring the verticality of fighting in the Hive with these types of gangers. If nothing else, at least the Van Saar Grav-cutters can take the fight to the Orlock Wreckers and their makeshift jumppacks.
As far as what’s actually in the box, you get two copies of the above sprue. Each sprue allows you to build 2 Grav-cutters and the new Archeoteks (which are basically the new Van Saar Champs). So, with both sprues, you’ll be able to make 6 models total. The Archeoteks are pretty scary on the tabletop, too. Their advanced suit (know as a Bodyglove) allows them to carry some potent firepower. They aren’t quite as jacked-up as the Arachni-Rig – they are really more like smaller versions of that with less arms and armor.
Overall they make a great addition to any Van Saar Gang. I’m particularlly a fan of the Archeoteks just because they are the more elite champion-type ganger and add another potent member to your roster.
Van Saar Archeoteks & Grav-cutters $42
Reckless and young, Neoteks have yet to feel the full effects of the wasting inflicted on the Van Saar by their use of their STC’s technologies. They favour either untested or dangerous tech, and are perhaps most well-known for their use of grav-cutters. Far more respected are the Archeoteks, who can be found at all levels of Van Saar society, including holding valued positions within the clan’s gags.
Expand your Van Saar gang with these six fighters. The Archeoteks are Van Saar Champions that have access to the best technology that the clan can provide – one of these models comes equipped with a deadly rad beamer while the other has an esoteric spider-rig. The Neoteks each fly into action aboard a grav-cutter. They each carry a laspistol and an energy shield, and the kit comes with four different heads.
This 138-part kit makes two Archeoteks and four Neoteks. It comes supplied with four 32mm Necromunda Bases, two 25mm Necromunda Bases, and six 45mm Groove Stems.
Rules for using these fighters in games of Necromunda can be found in the House of Artifice book.
Both of these items are up for Pre-order from GW right now!
