Combat in Necromunda Underhive Wars is based around Turn-Based Strategy. Players will deploy their Squad to missions whith different objectives. In Combat, players will have to manage their soldiers by spending action points and performing different actions depending on the situation.
Necromunda Underhive Wars Combat
Basics
Players who are familiar with the classic Necromunda tabletop game know that Gangs often see their numbers dwindle as battle rages on - something called the “Bottle Test” - a series of dice rolls (called “Cool Checks”) performed by Fighters of a Gang after seeing one of their own becoming Seriously Injured, or being put Out of Action. Failing these checks can lead the remaining Gangers (and sometimes, whole Gangs as a result) to immediately flee the battlefield.
Underhive Wars has no such Bottle mechanic. While you will be able to manually extract Fighters from the battlefield, at specific locations and for specific reasons (securing a captured Objective Item, for example), it will be entirely YOUR choice of when to do so.
In other words, each member of your Active Crew will be able to hold its own during combat, provided he or she remains alive - a system designed to make each battle a very engaging and tense affair until the very end.
Rounds and Turns
Necromunda Underhive Wars is a turn-based strategy game, but with a twist. Each battle will be split in a number of Rounds, during which each of the participating Fighters will get their own Turn to act. At the beginning of each Round, every Gang will be able to select one Fighter to put into action - the Initiative stat of each of these chosen characters will then be compared to determine the order in which they take their Turn within the Round.
Moving and Performing Actions
Knowing how to maneuver through the battlefield and how to use all the tools at your disposal is half the battle, or so they say. In combat scenarios, performing most Skills will require Action Points (AP), while each meter moved will require a Fighter to spend one Movement Point (MP).
Movement Points will only be spent when either ending a turn, using a Skill or suffering the effects of one (such as triggering a Trap or receiving damage), meaning that you will normally be free to move your Fighters in real time before committing to a move.
Up High & Down Low
The battlefields upon which your forces will wage combat are humongous places, desolate and covered in wreckage from times long forgotten. Although these locations are very different from one another, they all have one thing in common - Verticality. From Makeshift Bridges, ancient Ziplines, winding pipe works and disused cargo Elevators, you will have to make the most out of all three dimensions in order to survive the brutal fights that await your Gang.
On top of letting your Fighters traverse the terrain more efficiently, making use of verticality is also useful for gaining Height Advantage, which will provide your forces with accuracy bonuses when targeting less elevated enemies with ranged weaponry.
Inventory Actions
Before jumping into battle, you’ll also want to make sure all your Fighters have the best possible loadout, which includes Stats, Skills and Equipment.
Stats are used to represent and measure a Fighter’s attributes and proficiency. Stats are separated in two main categories - Primary and Secondary. The 9 Primary Stats are the ones you’ll be able to upgrade whenever a Fighter ranks-up. Each of these will directly affect two of the 18 Secondary Stats, which will be used and modified by Skills, Equipment and other factors (such as Injuries) in combat.
Skills come in two main categories - Passive (which will automatically trigger when certain conditions are met), and Active (which need to be performed manually). Depending on their level, each Fighter will be able to learn, upgrade and use a loadout of up to 5 Active and 5 Passive Skills at once, and successful players will make sure to create synergies across the abilities of multiple Fighters in order to increase the effectiveness of each individual unit, and the Gang as a whole.
Equipment
Equipment plays an important role in Necromunda: Underhive Wars, with each Fighter being able to equip various Weapons, Armour and Consumable Items (of both Tactical and Offensive nature), as well as Implants and Bionics. While some equipment pieces will be restricted to certain Careers, a great majority will be available to use by any Fighter. From dual-wielded Laspistols, to devastating Heavy Bolters and iconic close-quarters Chainswords - the choice of how you want to build and specialize each of your Fighters will be entirely yours.
Of course, you’ll also be able to apply extensive cosmetic customization to your Gang and Fighters
Tactical Tools at your Fingertips
Necromunda Underhive Wars has a host of powerful and user-friendly tools to get your bearings, and to maintain your battlefield awareness at all times.
Special view toggles such as the Tactical Overlay and Strategy View (3D Map pictured below) are extremely useful to plan strategies, allowing players to visualize the location of all Fighters, Objectives, Interactable Objects, Extraction Zones and other objects of interest
Cover
In Necromunda: Underhive Wars, cover is dynamic, and it is based on the percentage (%) of a target’s body that is visible by attackers. Kneeling behind crates, concealing oneself around tall objects, or getting to higher floors will make combatants harder to hit. At the opposite, getting caught off-guard on open ground will most likely be an open invitation for a carefully placed - and most fatal - Heavy Bolter hit to the head.
While most default attacks will always target random body parts, some Offensive Skills (such as the Aimed Shot pictured below) will also allow Fighters to aim at specific body parts (in exchange for a higher AP cost to use the skill) - a prime occasion to focus attacks on unarmoured locations, or body parts clad in armour pieces that are weak to a weapon’s particular damage type.
