The Squats are a stoic and hardy race of ab-humans who have thrived in the mines of Necromunda for countless ages. Once guided by an Ancestor Core, the Squats have now regressed from a technological point of view, though have used their cunning and tenacity to claim stakes to locations rich with minerals and wealth. In Halls of the Ancients, up for pre order today we learn all about the squats, their history and the gangs they assemble on Necromunda. In this full review we’ll be checking out the book, seeing what they can do, taking a look at the gang list and building up and painting some of the new kits coming out alongside this book.

Massive thanks to Games Workshop for sending us a free review copy of the book and the new Squat kits! If you would like to support the site then why not order your copy of Halls of the Ancients through our affiliate Element Games and save yourself some money too?

We’ve also filmed an unboxing of the new Squat kits coming alongside this book, the Exo-Kyn and the Svenotar Scout Trike which you can see just below or over on YouTube

So gather your gang, get your pick axe and get ready to dive into the secrets of the Halls of the Ancients

Halls of the Ancients Review – Necromunda

The new edition of Necromunda has brought with it some awesome kits and books. Kicking off with the brilliant Hive Secundus boxed set, we’ve had a number of old factions brought back into the fold with the Spyrers and the Malstrain Genestealers. With all of the “House of” books finished the big question was what was coming next – were we going to get new volumes detailing new gangs and fleshing out ones we’ve seen previously. With Halls of the Ancients we get the answer to that with a book dedicated entirely to the Ironhead Squats

While this doesn’t have the “House of” title, this is a book very much in the same of those older volumes. For those who arent too familiar with Necromunda this is essentially a “Codex” for the Squat gang, containing lore building the flavour of the faction, the full and expanded Squat Prospectors gang list (including all their hangers on, brutes,vehicles and hired guns) along with new rules such as expanded skills and squat ancestry mechanics along with a couple of Dramatis Personae.

The “House of” books have been brilliant for Necromunda, and I’ve been picking them up as much for the background as the gameplay rules, and it’s great to see more factions get the love. I really hope we get a book after this focusing on the Ash Waste Nomads, as feel they are struggling for variety as a full gang, and a couple of kits and new options would really flesh them out. So what about the Squats? Let’s jump in!

Lore

One of my favourite parts of the Necromunda books is the lore, across the growing series we’ve seen the universe built up and many old secrets and developments expanded upon while new threads have been created that point at future books. For the Squats we get a great history of the Ironhead Squats on Necromunda and their role on the planet. Being Abhumans they sit in this weird grey area between not being human but equally not being Xenos, which makes them somewhat of an accepted but controlled race on the planet. There’s a great line about the Imperial House reserving the right to classify them as Xenos in the future, a chilling warning that if they step out of line and push their luck too much then the Imperium can easily bring them back in line.

While the Leagues of Votann are not mentioned by name, it’s very clear that the Squats on Necromunda are very much the same race as we see in 40k, and “Squat” is just the human designation for them on the planet. We learn that when they came to Necromunda they brought with them an Ancestor Core, but due to a cataclysmic event this core was lost deep within the planet’s core, falling down a rift. While they had the core they had access to state of the art technology and the ability to clone new Kyn to replace losses, but with the core now lost their technology has regressed somewhat. This is a great in-universe explanation as to why the Necromunda Squats have much more retro looking gear more in line with the 2nd Edition 40k Squats compared to their more high tech Kyn in the current timeline.

In the timeline multiple Great Wars with the Ash Waste Nomads are mentioned, and I hope that this points to a future Nomads book following this, as it would be great to be able to recreate some of those conflicts and battles!

We also hear a cryptic message about all of the great and lesser clans getting together for the first time in a generation to discuss a threat that is coming to consume Necromunda – Rather than let the Humans of the planet what is coming, they instead prepare their holds for the coming darkness…

Ironhead Squat Prospectors List

So on to the main attraction! The main reason a lot of people will be picking up this book is for the full and expanded Squat Prospectors Gang List – this takes the list seen in the Book of the Outlands and adds additional options in order to make them a full fledged gang! Let’s take a look at whats changed and what’s been added!

Ironhead Squat Charter Master (Leader)

First up we have the gang leader, and there’s not too much different here from the profile that we saw in the original book, however there are some tweaks that we see across the Squat list. The main one is that a number of weapons such as the Gem extractor and Arc Welder among others have been reclassified as Power Pack Weapons – this represents weapons are are mounted on the Squat’s power pack itself. These weapons do not count towards usual weapon carrying numbers, and essentially allow the squat to carry two in addition to their usual gear. We also see some new options for two handed close combat weapons in his gear too such as Two-Handed Power Pick replacing the old Power Pick option. On the whole these two handed weapons are now more expensive than the old versions too

All leaders and Champions also have access to some new Exotic Beasts, which we’ll look at a little later

Ironhead Squat Drill Master (Champion)

Like with the Charter Master we see the equipment list expanded out with the power pack weapons and changes to the close combat weapons, and like with the Charter Master they can also take all of the new Exotic Beasts

Ironhead Squat Exo Master (Champion)

The new Exo Kym kit can build a new Champion, the Exo Master. This guy is essentially a Drill Master but better at close combat and equipped with an Exo Suit. He also has the Paragon of the Ancestors rule which lets him to an additional post battle action, but only if it’s an Ancestor ability (More on this later)

There’s lots of nice gear options here from Heavy Meltas to Excavator Hammers (S+2 and Pulverise with Damage 3 to absolutely decimate anything it fights!) They also get a new special weapon in the Storm Welder which is a nice S5 rapid fire 3 weapon with Shock

The Exo Suit itself grants a 5+ save and makes you immune to Blaze and Rad-phage

Ironhead Squat Exo-Kyn (Prospect)

The Exo-Kyn kit also has an optional build as prospects (with all the usual Fast Learner rules and ability to be upgraded to an Exo Master over the course of the campaign). They are also Hot Headed which stops nearby fighters from having to make nerve tests when they are injured unless that fighter is also hot headed.

They have access to most of the same wargear, but can’t take Heavy Meltas (Which would be way too over the top if they could be taken in large numbers!)

Like with the Exo Master they can take 2 of the new exotic beasts – the Autoveyor and the Exovater

Ironhead Squat Drill-Kyn (Ganger)

The basic Ganger has not changed much from the original Gang List, but like with the other units, Circular Stone Saws are now classed as a Power Pack Weapon. Other than that, there’s no real changes here.

Ironhead Squat Digger (Juve)

Like with the Ganger, the Juve profile is identical other than the Power Pack Weapon changes.

Ironhead Squat Gearhead (Crew)

The Gearhead crew also returns from the previous book, but now has access to the Skalvian Explorator and the new Scout Trike, giving them access to the full range of vehicles.

Techmite Autoveyor (Exotic Beast)

The first of the Exotic Beasts is the Autoveyor, this can be used to open Loot Caskets, and gets to reroll the dice to determine the contents. They also have the There’s Always Another Secret skill, which allows them to gain extra credits when opening a casket

Techmite Exovator (Exotic Beast)

In a very similar role is the Exovator, this trades the There’s Always Another Secret skill for Nobody Pushes Kin Around in order to auto pass initiative tests and not be knocked off platforms, and gets to wield an additional weapon. It still gets to open Caskets with a reroll too – so this is a trade off between cash output from the Autoveyer or the slightly more sturdy Exovator

Techmite Oculi (Exotic Beast)

The third Exotic Beast is essentially a Squat Marker Light, reducing any negative to hit modifiers by 1 for when within 6″ of the target – it’s also pretty handy in that it is allowed to range up to 18″ away from it’s owner, maximising the hit modifier mitigation.

Claim Jumper (Hanger On)

The book lists a number of returning hanger ons (Slopper, Rogue Doc, Ammo Jack, Lookout, Dome Runner) but also includes a brand new one for the Squats in the Claim Jumper. This guy is really cool – after a battle he can roll a D6 and on a 5+ he picks one of the enemies territories and gets the Boon for it! This doesn’t stop the owner claiming the bonus too, but is a great source of extra income.

We also get the usual Brutes in Ambots and Ogryns , with the Vartijan Exo-Driller also returning with the same profile.

The rules for the Skalvian Explorator also appears in the book with some really fun rules about what cargo it is hauling.

Ironhead Squat Svenotar Scout Trike (Vehicle)

Finally, we get the new Scout Trike – this is really fun with a number of different upgrades available, and can even take it’s own Oculi which can be activated along with the bike even though it is a vehicle. What’s nice about this is that you can take it in a few different builds from 145 credits (plus crew) for a barebones version all the way up to a fully tricked out bike that can cost almost 400 credits

Halls of the Ancients – Other Rules

In addition to the gang lists, we also get quite a lot of other content for the Squats in Halls of the Ancients. Various Hired guns are detailed including 2 new Dramatis Persona including Orrin Grimjarl, the last Charter Lord of Jardlan. Like we’ve seen with a lot of recent characters like him, he can be petitioned by a gang to join them, with the cost being variable based on your reputation.

We also get the full Wisdom of the Ancients Skill list reproduced from the Book of the Outlands, giving your Squats access to some unique skills

What’s really cool however is the new Squat Ancestry rules. This is a way of choosing which particular mining clan your Squats come from, and gives them access to some cool new post battle actions. These Ancestor Post Battle Actions can also be performed for free by your Exo Champions. There’s 9 clans in total, with each clan having a different list of 3 post battle actions that can be done, so this can really add some flavour to your gangs with their actions representing the different ways that they can operate. So for example, Anglish Mining Clan members are very good at negotiating sales, so the first 3 items they sell after each game they get the full credit value for, they can also make Ransom Agreements which basically releases a captured ganger for 2D6x10 credits, with half of that cash going to the gang that captured them, Finally, they can use Recruit Scion in order to get a free Digger after every game. There’s lots of really fun abilities here, so you’ll want to have a read through them all to see which one is most fitting for your gang. I don’t think there’s any bad ones, and the actions are all pretty cool, so this should lead to lots of different gang builds based on what you’d like to lean into.

Finally, we get a couple of new scenarios in Halls of the Ancients that lean into things that the Squats would be looking to do such as protecting their claims from an enemy that is looking to destroy them, and delving deep into the underhive in search of archeotech.

Halls of the Ancients – Summary

So what do i think of Halls of the Ancients? I am very happy to see a new “House of” style book for the Sqauts, and hope that this is a sign of more books coming out to flesh out some of the newer factions that have been part of another supplement.

While there may not be much here for non-Squat players, this is really a must have if you want to run a gang of Space Dwarf Miners! The new additions are fun and add a lot of flavour, and I feel with things such as the Ancestor rules will lead to some varied gangs even if you did have multiple squat gangs in a campaign.

I want to give a quick shout out to the new models too – you’ll see images of some above in the write up, but they are very cool, with the new trike in particular just dripping with retro Squat charm! We do have a full unboxing of those over on YouTube if you are interested!

I’m interested in seeing what book we get next, and if there will be any resolution to the development we saw in the Aranthian Succession series, as I feel we have a lot of hanging plot threads from that…

Halls of the Ancients is up for pre order today and is released on Saturday 11th January

Games Workshop provided Sprues & Brews with free copies for review purposes.