Necromunda: Ash Wastes – This Planet Wants You Dead
Games Workshop has a new video out explaining the harsh environment of the Ash Wastes of Necromunda.
If you thought life in the Hive was tough wait until you step outside. At least the habs in the hive had environmental controls and (mostly) non-irradiated air to breath. GW has a sit down with a couple of the designers of Ash Wastes. They expound on the harsh reality of the surface of the planet:
Ash Wastes Environment
“Many travellers to the ash wastes find themselves unprepared for the sheer vastness – and lethality – of their chosen holiday destination. While the beautiful brown skies, radiation-bleached sands, and unparalleled freedoms may make the wastes seem like an ideal getaway, you’ll want to learn all you can before braving the Ash Nomads’ home turf.”
The planet outside the hive spires of Necromunda is a vast and deadly landscape. The planetary resources have been ravaged by mining to the point where parts of the surface are literally falling apart. Lakes of poisonous chems have formed and the skies rain acid. The harsh desert winds blast irritated sands across the surface at paint-stripping speeds. There’s basically two seasons on the surface as well: Fire and Ash.
This of course begs the question: What the heck are we doing out here?! It’s a fair question. The answer is money and profits. The Imperial tithes aren’t going to pay themselves and deliveries must be made. Those convoys must be protected and if you can safely deliver the goods you can come out ahead. Or so we’re being told.
The designers really dig into the surface of the planet in the video above. They also get into how they started to come up with these points of interest on the planet. Maybe there’s a mining facility here or promethium lake here. How do they all connect and what’s in between these great distances?
This is how they started to work on this (literal) sandbox of Ash Wastes. These routes and the shanty towns and refill stations in between are just blips on the maps. That’s not accounting for all the rough, life taking terrain in between each of these “safe” spots. And even those aren’t that safe. Raiders can come from anywhere in the lawless wastes.
Nomads developed their own culture outside of the eyes of the Palanite Enforcers. The question is how will you interact with them? A quick trip through their territory just might be seen as an act of aggression. And in the wastes, everyone’s looking for an excuse to take your stuff!
If the raiders don’t kill you the planet is sure going to try! Don’t head into the Ash Wastes unprepared because if you do you might not make it back alive.
It’s a lawless frontier where the Wild West meets the Grimdark. Are you bold enough to make your mark?
