Having figured out the mechanisms for creating custom rosters I have moved onto the task of developing the rosters for the six 'lower houses' of the hive, these are the six originally playable ganges in the Necromunda game: Orlock, Goliath, Van Saar, Escher, Delaque and Cawdor.

General rational

In the original Necromunda game all the stats for the 6 basic house gangs were identical, other than for their skill progression. There were distinct differences in fluff and in later articles (largely unofficial but published in Citadel Journal, Gang War and Necromunda Magazine then collated in Necromunda Compilation 1) different houses got access to different progression charts and some gained access to additional fighter types. Later editions of the Necromunda rulebook also gave the gangs access to different weapons, largely based on those represented on the miniatures already produced for the fighters.

To reflect the essential similarity between the 6 houses I’ll keep the Lineman / Linewoman stat line identical for each gang as the standard human Lineman.

Distinctions will be drawn through different positionals for each team, looking to emphasise different play styles that best reflect the fluff for the house.

A Note on positional design and pricing: I decided that each house would only have access to 1 positional that was in all ways better than the lineman, and all other positionals would have at least one stat that makes them in some way worse than the lineman (although other stats and skills can make up for this). In this way choosing a positional over the lineman weakens the team in one respect while strengthening it in other ways.

As for pricing, I developed a pricing policy based on a couple of variants I have previously seen here and here. I have not 'discounted' any players and tweaked both stat and skill costs (notably Dodge as a 3pt skill equal to Block). I can include details of the pricing process if anyone is interested, however I am sure the current costs of positions will be adapted in light of playtesting so this pricing formula I'm using is just to give a starting point rather than a final cost for each position.

House Orlock

The House of Iron, focussed on mining and industrial production. In Necromunda the gang receives access to a balanced selection of hand-to-hand and ranged weapons and a mixture of close combat and shooting skills.

In the Necromunda Compilation 1 house Orlock remain the least changed of all the houses, with only reduced costs and increased access on weapons to represent the higher industrial output of the house.

I decided that based on this fluff the Orlocks should play as the basic human team in Blood Bowl but not just be a carbon copy of the Human squad. Most human coaches focus on the running game rather than passing, neither using heavy bash nor standing off like agility teams, but a balance of both. It is this play style that I tried to emphasize in the Orlock roster.

Qty	Position	Cost	MA	ST	AG	AV	Skills	Normal	Double
0-16	Lineman	50k	6	3	3	8		G	ASP
0-4	Blitzer	90k	7	3	3	8	Block	GS	AP
0-2	Runner	70k	7	3	3	7	Sure Hands	GA	SP
0-2	Kicker	70k	6	3	3	7	Kick, Hail Mary Pass	G	ASP

Re-rolls: 50k
Apothecary: Yes

The Blitzers and runners are the core of the roster giving the a balance of Strength and Agility access and the line speed needed for an effective running game. The addition of the Kicker positional makes the team slightly more distinct from the other Houses and provides a couple of skills that can complement the running style of the team. Deciding not to give the Kicker Passing access was deliberate, I do not want them to be a poor thrower but to develop as a specialist kicking player.

House Goliath

In a few words - strong, tough, and bashy. The Necromunda gangs have access to close combat and shooting weapons but the emphasis is clearly on the big powerful weapons rather than anything with finesse, this is mirrored in the skill access which is all about bash and strength.

The Companion article allows the Goliath fighters increased focus on Strength and Toughness skill areas and allows the gang access to Ogryn fighters.

This then is an easy roster to put together, essentially and orc style, high strength low skill bash focussed team with access to a big guy (something that none of the other basic House rosters get)

Qty	Position	Cost	MA	ST	AG	AV	Skills	Normal	Double
0-16	Lineman	50k	6	3	3	8		G	ASP
0-4	Brute	90k	5	4	2	9		GS	AP
0-2	Blitzer	90k	6	3	3	9	Block	GS	AP
0-1	Ogryn	130k	5	5	2	9	Loner, Bone-head, Mighty Blow, Thick Skull	S	GAP

Re-rolls: 60k
Apothecary: Yes

Brutes and the Ogryn give this house by far the highest average strength, and Strength access on all positional will allow them to develop strongly in that direction. However, with no access to either Agility or Passing skills this team will struggle to do anything other than beat down the opposition. Finally the higher costs of the positionals will mean the Goliath teams have shorter benches which can balance out the high AV.

House Van Saar

A comparatively high tech and wealthy house both the Necromunda gang skill access and weapons significantly emphasise shooting over close combat: they are the stand back and snipe gang. The later articles give the gangs increased access to techno skills and rare weapons and access to Squat fighters (apparently there is an affinity between this technologically competent House and the squat traders and engineers in the hive).

I decided to focus this house team on the passing play with the strongest player being the team's Thrower starting with the Accurate skill. The team still needed some muscle to hold off the opposition and make some holes for catchers to run through, but instead of another human blitzer identical to the Orlock position I decided to give the team access to some Squat (Dwarf) blockers, with their Strength skill access they should be able to bolster the Van Saar lines long enough to get a pass away.

Qty	Position	Cost	MA	ST	AG	AV	Skills	Normal	Double
0-16	Lineman	50k	6	3	3	8		G	ASP
0-2	Thrower	80k	6	3	3	8	Pass, Accurate	GP	AS
0-4	Catcher	70k	7	3	3	7	Catch	GA	SP
0-2	Squat Blocker	80k	4	3	2	9	Block, Tackle, Thick Skull	GS	ASP

Re-rolls: 50k
Apothecary: Yes

The catchers are deliberately slower (but stronger) than the normal Blood Bowl Human position as I wanted to keep the super fast and agile catcher type for the Escher lineup. This team may seem less playable than some of the others (being an AG3 passing team) but it should be noted that they are the only one of the 6 House teams to have normal access on all skill areas which could give them and advantage in the long run.

House Escher

A genetic flaw in this house makes all the males weak and imbecillic and the house is run by its women, who are arrogant and look down on the more male dominated cultures of the other houses. The emphasis of the house from the Necromunda game is heavily towards agility and close combat but not heavy bashing like House Goliath.

The later rules give the Escher gangs the ability to use 'feminine wiles' to lure other men to fight for them and also gave them access to Ratling snipers (because they are small like Escher men). In this case I decided to ignore both of these when creating the roster for the following reasons - the 'feminine wiles' smacks of gamer misogyny - a female gang must equate to one that is about sex, not just strong fighters who happen to also be female and the Ratling always felt like a bolt on - the other main abhuman races are represented in Goliath and Van Saar rosters so they have to find a place for the Ratling too, also a stunty player would not be a useful addition to the team, finally the fluff for the all female amazon esk team gives enough scope to make this roster distinct without needing to find additional position types to include.

Perhaps the Ratling may make a reappearance once the star players are written.

Qty	Position	Cost	MA	ST	AG	AV	Skills	Normal	Double
0-16	Linewoman	50k	6	3	3	8		G	ASP
0-4	Blitzer	80k	7	3	3	8	Wrestle	GA	SP
0-2	Catcher	70k	8	2	3	7	Dodge, Catch	GA	SP
0-2	Thrower	70k	6	3	3	7	Sure Hands, Pass	GP	AS

Re-rolls: 50k
Apothecary: Yes

I had to fight the urge to make this an Amazon team variant, but I had previously decided that the line(wo)men of the 6 gangs would be identical to reflect the original game having gangs with identical line ups. I gave the blitzer wrestle skill over block and Agility access rather than Strength to reflect their more finesse approach to combat. Finally I gave them the fastest player in the catcher being a clone of the Blood Bowl Human Catcher positional. The inclusion of a thrower rounds out a team that could have either a running or passing play style.

House Delaque

Sneaky little gits, basically bald skaven with no tails. These guys are spies, assassins and general backstabbing double dealers who can play both ends of a double cross and come out smelling of roses. The skills accessed by the gang in Necromunda emphasise stealth and shooting and their weapon load out focussed more on pistols and knives than heavy weapons. The Necromunda Compilation article gave them increased access to stealthy skills and some additional sneaky type abilities.

This roster is clearly going to have three key elements - fouling, stabbing and general agility and dodgyness.

Qty	Position	Cost	MA	ST	AG	AV	Skills	Normal	Double
0-16	Lineman	50k	6	3	3	8		G	ASP
0-2	Enforcer	70k	6	3	3	8	Sneaky Git	G	ASP
0-4	Runner	100k	7	3	3	7	Dodge, Side Step	GA	SP
0-1	Assassin	90k	7	3	3	7	Shadowing, Stab, Secret Weapon (10+)	GA	SP

Re-rolls: 60k
Apothecary: Yes

The Delaque runners are expensive but they are also one skill away from being ST3 blodgesteppers, which seems appropriately Delaque annoying. The Assassin is based on the Dark Elf player of the same name, just made a little faster and given a chance to get caught and punished (something that would embarrass any Delaque).

House Cawdor

The House of Redemption, basically the place is run by the (Imperially sanctioned) Cult of Redemption, all fire and brimstone and the universe is about to be swallowed by a great warp dwelling space goat repent your sins and don't get up to any naughty funness unless its killing mutants and things with your flamethrower. The original game has the gang using ranged weapons but accessing skills that emphasis combat and general bloody minded grit and determination. The compilation gives them a chance to become Frenzied or affected by Hatred by listening to a preacher's sermon.

I wanted this team to be bashy but not high strength like House Goliath, the skill spread on the blockers is to make them more defensive roadblocks and the blitzers are fearless of strength differences. They also get access to a frenzied blood bowl playing sermon spouting lay preacher.

Qty	Position	Cost	MA	ST	AG	AV	Skills	Normal	Double
0-16	Lineman	50k	6	3	3	8		G	ASP
0-2	Blitzer	90k	6	3	3	8	Block, Dauntless	GS	AP
0-4	Blocker	80k	5	3	3	8	Tackle, Stand Firm	GS	AP
0-1	Redeemer	80k	6	3	3	7	Frenzy, Leader	G	ASP

Re-rolls: 60k
Apothecary: Yes

The skills on the Blockers and Blitzers are intended to be equalisers - the blockers gains dauntless to counter higher strength teams such as House Goliath and the Blockers gain Tackle to make problems for the Agility teams like Escher and Delaque. Overall this team seems to me to be the weakest of all six, but then so, arguably, is the Cawdor Necromunda gang. The addition of leader on the Redeemer positional does go some way to balancing this, assuring House Cawdor can have a higher number of Re-rolls than usual when starting.

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These then are the rosters for which I intend to produce sprites etc. and use in the first iteration of Hive Bowl. I am aware that they may need tweaking once playtested.

Any updates will be tracked on the roster page (which is currently just a copy of this blog, but will be edited once the sprites are finished for the teams).

I have now completed step 2 of my original project outline 'To create some custom rosters to represent the 6 lower houses of Necromunda (those that are playable in the original game)'

An updated sequence of the remaining steps to take is:

3. To figure out how to create edit and upload the player sprites and other images for the teams
4. To update roster page with sprites and images
5. To figure out how to use FUMBBL test mode to check everything works
6. To figure out how to set up Star Players in FUMBBL custom rosters
7. To create some star players for the Necromunda theme including sprites and associated images and to update the roster page
8. To figure out how to create a league using the custom rosters
9. Get some people to help play test Necromunda Hive Bowl