It has been what feels like an incrediably long time since I got to check out some Necromunda content, so when my House of choice, the Orlocks, arrived at Sprues and Brews HQ you can guess who was first in the queue.

House of Iron is the first Underhive Journal since the launch of Necromunda Skirmish. You can read up about the new Core box in a review Matt put together a month or so back here.

Along with the new Journal, the Orlocks are also getting reinforcements to send into the Underhive with not one, or even two, but three boxes of plastic minis. Firstly, we get a new box of Leaders, the Road Sergenants & Cyber-Mastiffs. Secondly, we get a fresh new box of Orlock gangers in the form of the Road Warriors. Finally, we get a box of two Ogryn Minders.

We’ll take a closer look at all three boxes in a moment, which will then be followed by a dive in to the new Journal.

Our thanks to Games Workshop for sending us these kits and book to unbox and review for you folks. As always, you can help us out by preordering your hobby goodies from our affliates over at Element Games, or Tycho’s Games, who have joined us as affilates!

Let’s get stuck in.

Unboxing the New Kits | Road Sergeants & Cyber-mastiffs, Road Warriors and Ogryn Minders

Want to check out a full unboxing of the three kits? Of course you do! You can watch the video below to get my first impressions, and also later in the video check out the finished articles.

We’ll now check out each of the boxes individually.

Orlock Road Sergeants & Cyber-mastiffs

The first box we are going to check out is the new Road Sergeants box. This box provides you with a raft of Leaders for your gang.

This box allows you to assemble:

• 1x Road Captain
• 5x Road Sergeants
• 2x Cyber-mastiffs

You can view the sprue below:

From the instructions, you get a couple of variants and a little bit of choice when it comes to weapons and heads.

They were really easy to assemble, which I am going to be honest is the same story for all three of these kits. For me, they were easier to assemble than the original Orlock range, although that is of course my opinion.

One of the main options is for the Captain, who you can assemble with or without the Cyber-Mastiff. If you go for without, then you get to build it as its own model, which is exactly what I have done.

I really enjoyed building and painting these, even if I found them a little hard to paint, but I think that is more about my painting style rather than the models. You can check out how I got on below:

Orlock Road Warriors

Next up is those new Road Warriors, the Gangers that will make up the majority of your gang. You get a lot more variation in this kit, with a variety of weapons on offer including meltaguns, pneumatic hammers and sawn-off shotguns.

That is because the box offers four archetypes:

• Road Enforcers
• Road Shooters
• Road Engineers
• Road Blasters

More on these when we check out the rules later.

Here is the sprue for you to check out:

One box gives you a solid spread of Gangers, but I’m personally preordering another box of these so I can have more variety when building my gang. I also intend to kitbash my own Gangers using this kit, parts from the previous Orlock kits and the weapon sprue Games Workshop did some time ago.

For this box though, I followed the instructions, as you can see below:

Again, really enjoyed working on these. They were a nice challenge, and I intend to do more work on them to further improve the paint job, but happy with how they are looking right now.

Also, in what I believe is a first (but you can shout at me if I am wrong!) this box includes a small transfer sheet with icons for the three main Orlock houses (Sump Dogs, Sons of Iron and Ashtown Angels).

Orlock Ogryn Minders

Not going to lie, these are the models I worked on first, as they are both so awesome.

You get a couple of options when assembling these, mainly a choice of leg guards, as well as an option to build one with or without the cigar. The Knuckle-Duster equipped one, aside from the leg guards, has no options.

Here’s the sprue:

Fancy seeing how I got on with the kit? Yes? Well here you go!

These were a BLAST to build and paint. I’d happily paint a force of Ogryns (and in fact I think my Astra Militarum army finally needs a unit of Ogryns…).

Necromunda Underhive Journal | House of Iron

So we’ve checked out the new sprues and completed models, now it’s time to check out the accompanying book which is where we will find the rules to field these in a game of Necromunda.

The Lore

The book opens with a raft of background lore for House Orlock, and for me, is the most comprehensive look at the Orlocks that I have read so far.

It also covers what happened for the Orlocks during the Aranthian Succession storyarc, bringing you completely up to date on the lore.

Next the book breaks down the structure of the Orlocks, telling you how the gang is structured from top to bottom. Following that is a section which talks you through the heraldry and (really importantly) the armoury of House Orlock. This is really handy for when you are checking your weapon options on the sprues, because if you are unsure what the weapon is you can cross reference it here to find out exactly what it is. It’s a small thing, but for new players I think it’s a great addition.

You then get a bit more lore, this time focusing on the gang’s Holdings, which in this case is the Orlock’s road networks. Finally, the book looks at the most popular Houses and shows you the heraldry of each to help you with your painting. The gangs covered here are:

• Sump Dogs
• Sons of Iron
• Ashtown Angels

Gangers & Equipment

And so we move on to the rules for these new Orlocks, and it’s important to note here that the rules here do not include previous Orlock releases. For example, you won’t find the rules for the Wreckers here.

Alongside the new gangers, this section also includes two variant gang lists, should you wish to really focus down on a specific Orlock force. They are more restrictive when it comes to gang selection, however you get some additional rules, which we’ll cover shortly.

For a standard Orlock gang however, you get to add the following gangers to your roster:

• Road Enforcer
• Road Blaster
• Road Shooter
• Road Engineer
• Ogryn Minder

In other words, all the new gangers provided from the new kits.

They have access to skill sets, which the book lists. No shocks here, the skills are what you would expect, for example Ogryns Primary skill is Brawn, with the only Secondary being Combat. Each of the other archetypes have slightly different available skill sets, so for example the Enforcer has the Primary skill Combat, with Agility and Brawn as possible Secondaries. The Blaster however, has Shooting as the Primary, whilst Brawn and Cunning are the available Secondaries.

The Equipment list in the book only lists additions to the armoury, so you’ll again need the original Orlock rules in order to have the full list of available equipment. For this book however, you get the costs for new weapons available through the new kits. These include a Servo Shotgun (only available for Road Shooters) (20 credits), Outrider Flails (20 credits) and a Scrap Shield (35 credits). The most expensive new piece of equipment is the Scrap Welder, clocking in at 100 credits, and is only available for Road Engineers.

My favourite new equipment choice though? A Bottle of Wild Snake, at 15 credits. Do I need to model an Orlock Ganger drinking? Yes, yes I do.

Wrecking Crew Gang List

I mentioned previously that this book introduces two variant gang lists for you to choose from, should you so wish. For Age of Sigmar fans, think of these as Armies of Renown. It allows you to build a very thematic gang which gives you new rules, but with the other hand reduces which gangers you can take.

The first one the book delves into is the Wrecking Crew. They can only take the following:

• Demolitions Captain
• Demolitions Master
• 0-1 Road Sergeant
• 1+ Wrecker Scout
• 0-3 Road Engineer
• 0-3 Road Enforcer
• 2+ Wrecker
• 0-2 Greenhorn
• Ogryn Minder
• Cyber-mastiff

Any of the above that does not have a number can be taken in your gang without a limit cap. Any that begin with a 0 means you can only take up to the second value (so only 1 Road Sergeant, for example) whilst any with a number then the + symbol means you have to take that number of those gangers, so you have to take 2 Wreckers minimum.

This variant gang unlocks the following rules:

• Fire in the Hole!: If a friendly fighter is hit by one of your Blast weapons, then they gain a 5+ invulnerable save
• Starting Skills: When added to the rost, all Wrecking Crew Leaders and Champions may select a Primary skill

Each of the above ganger types then have a table showing which skills they can take. The box also at this point encourages conversions and alternative paint jobs, to represent them being a Wrecking Crew.

Finally for this gang you have a page showing your available equipment and costs, as well as restrictions where applicable.

Outrider Gang List

The second specialised gang list is an Outrider gang.

This gang can take:

• Outrider Boss
• 1+ Outrider Sergeant
• Arms Master
• 0-3 Road Enforcer
• Road Blaster
• Road Engineer
• 1+ Outrider Scout
• 0-3 Wrecker
• 0-1 Ogryn Minder
• Cyber-mastiff

As for special rules…

• Devils on Quads: Fighters in thei gang get +1 to their Cool characteristic whilst they are Mounted
• Custom Rides: Outrider Gang Fighters may perform the Modify Mount Post-cycle action (can remove a single mount upgrade and place into the gang’s stash, reducing the cost of the mount. Additionally, can be fitted with an upgrade, so long as the mount has 2 or less upgrades already).

Again, the book goes on to the Equipment list, showing all available options, costs and restrictions (where applicable).

Fighter Profiles

All these new Fighters need rules, and this is where you will find them. It starts by displaying the datasheets for the unique Wrecking Crew profiles (Demolitions Captain, Demolitions Master and Wrecker Scout). The you’ll find all the Outrider specific Fighter cards (Outrider Boss, Outrider Sergeant and Outrider Scout).

You then get all the generic new fighter profiles, the Ogryns and the different types of Road Warriors (Enforcer, Blaster, etc).

This is a minor quibble, but why not have the specific profiles in the relevant specific gang section? Like I say, it’s minor, but I think I would have prefered that.

I’m going to do a quick look at each of the generic profiles, and list there skill so you can get a feel for the role they play.

Profile	Skill
Road Enforcer	Has the Bring it On! and Counter-attack skills
Road Blaster	Has the Hip-shooting and Overwatch skills
Road Shooter	Has the Gunfighter and Shotgun Savant skills
Road Engineer	Has the Demolitionist and Strong Arm skills
Ogryn Minder	If a friendly Leader/Champion is hit by a ranged attack while within 2″ of an Active or Supressed Ogryn, the controlling player can choose to transfer the Hit and it’s effects to the Ogryn instead of the original target

The profiles also list what limitations they have when it comes to Equipment.

Legendary Names

A cool addition to House Orlocks is the ability to gain a Legendary Name. These grant an effect, some are lasting whilst others are once per battle.

Legendary Names can be granted under the following circumstances:

• All Leaders and Champions may pick one when added to the Gang Roster, and doing so does not affect the Fighter’s Credit Value
• A Fighter may choose a name as an Advancement if they roll a 6+. If upgraded in this manner then the Fighter’s cost increases by 10 credits
• If a Fighter earns 5 or more XP in a single game, then they can gain a Legendary name. Doing it this way increases the Fighter’s cost by 5 credits.

Leaders and Champions can have up to two Legendary names, whilst any other profile can only have one. Makes sense!

There are 11 Legendary Names in total, such as Bullet Lord (once per battle can turn a bullet hole dice into a three bullet hole dice, but counts as rolling an additional ammo symbol) and Too Pretty for Primus (if the Fighter is on the battlefield at the end of a battle your gang gains 2D3x5 credits to your Stash. However, if you roll a double 1 these credits are given to your opponent instead!).

Really like this, and would be good to maybe tweak the rules a little to reflect how a fighter does in the game, so that the name suits the fighter.

Gang Tactics

Instead of rolling your Gang Tactics from those presented in the Necromunda Skirmish Rulebook, you can instead choose to roll on the table included within this Journal.

As you would expect, these are very much Orlock flavoured and IMO better suit the Orlocks.

For example, if you roll a 1 you gain the Legend in the Making gang tactic, which in short allows you select a freidnly fighter and give them a Legendary Name for that battle only. This also ignores the normal limitations on how many Legendary names a unit can take.

Another example, should you roll a 3, you’d get the Down but not Out gang tactic. You can play this tactic when making a Recovery Test for a Seriously Injured fighter that is within 3″ of a Active Fighter. The Fighter is instead considered to have rolled the Injured result, unless they are within 1″ of an enemy model. They then get a single action, then their activation ends.

Bravado Skills

Bravado Skills are Orlock specific Primary Skills. You’ll have noticed a couple were mentioned when we covered the Fighters profiles and listed the various skills they have on their profile.

Strong Arm is one of those, which grants an additonal 3″ to the Long Range throw of a Grenade. Another is Shotgun Savant, which allows Fighters equipped with a Shotgun to always consider enemy fighters to be within the weapon’s Short range for the purpose of Cover. In addition, all Shotguns they are armed wtih are considered to have the Reliable trait.

Orlock Territories

One for Campaign fans.

When generating starting territories, an Orlock gang can generate one from the ones listed in this Journal, rather than the ones in the Core rulebook.

Should the person running the campaign wish too, they could use these territories when generating unclaimed territories mid-campaign.

Each territory has three rules. One is Income, how much you can earn when collecting income, an Orlock Controlled Boon and a Battlefield Effect.

An Ammo Factoria, for example:

• Income: 20 Credits
• Boon: Instead of gaining Income, the Orlock gang can instead purchase a ranged weapon with a TP of 3 or less from the Trading Post for 10 credits less than normal, even if no Fighter peformed the Visit Trading Post Post-cycle action.
• Battlefield Effect: In a battle with this Territory at stake, all weapons with Ammo (X+) improves the value of X by 1, to a minimum of 2.

Anything that adds more narrative flavour to a campaign is a big thumbs up from me, and all the territories here do just that.

Side Jobs

We are now getting to the end of the additional rules available to the Orlocks, and the book finishes the rules off with Side Jobs.

These can be generated for a scenario instead of the ones listed in the Core Rulebook, by rolling a D6 against these Side Jobs.

Again, to give you a little taste on what is here:

Dice Roll	Side Job	Effect
3	Call Them Out	After both crews have been deployed you select a friendly and a enemy fighter. If at the end of the game the friendly fighter took out the enemy fighter, then you have completed the Side Job
6	Earn Your Name	After both crews have been deployed, you randomely select a freindly fighter. That fighter gains a Legendary name of your choice. If the Fighter survives the battle, then you complete this Side Job

Equipment Reference

Pretty straight forward this section. This is where you’ll find the stats for the weapons introduced in this book (so you again won’t find the weapons Orlocks could previously take here).

I’m sure you’ll want a taster of what is here, so here are a couple of examples:

• Knuckle-Dusters: Grants S+1, L2. Comes with Concussive (5+, Melee and Paired (2) traits.
• Scrap Shield: Gives you the Melee, Parry and Shield traits
• Servo Shotgun: SR 4″, LR 12″, S3, L1. Has the Assualt, Light and Rapid Fire (1) traits.
• Ripper Gun: SR 8″, LR 16″, S5, L1. Has the Assualt and Rapid Fire (2) traits.

You’ll also find here the rules for the other non ranged or melee equipment, such as:

• Bottle of Wild Snake: Can use this item by using the Interact action (of which the bottle is then deleted from the Fighter’s model card). Increase your Cool characterisitc by 1, but reduce your Willpower by 1, for the remainder of the battle.
• Mechanic Kit: If this Fighter aids a Vehicle’s Recovery Test, they you can roll an additional injury dice and choose which one to keep.

Summary

And with that, we come to the end of the Journal, and for us the end of this article.

So what are my overall thoughts?

I’m a big fan of House Orlock, and this book has me chomping at the bit to play another game (heck, make that a campaign) of Necromunda. It features lots of cool new profiles, equipment and narrative-fitting special rules which really gives the Orlocks a lot more toys to play with.

The new models, in particular the Ogryns, are fantastic additions to the Gang. I’m really looking forward to kitbashing between all the old and new kits, to see what cool Gangers I can create.

With this being a House of Iron Journal by name, I don’t think I’ll be alone in assuming this book would be your one-stop shop for your Orlock rules, and feature every available profile and pieces of equipment available to your gang, not just the new additions. Instead, you need to have two books instead of one. This is more of a Journal Add-On. I won’t lie, I am disappointed by this, I’d have much prefered one book for all my Orlock needs.

However, the book is filled with fantastic content, and is simply a must-have for Orlock players new and old if you want to add any or all of the new available gangers to your games.