N18 FAQ 2025

[TopsyKretts]

A discussion about anything related to the new FAQ/Errata of December 2025 (finally!).
Source: https://assets.warhammer-community.com/eng_22-12_necromunda_faqs-dxlobndhrz-rnas4scu2o.pdf

Got some uncertain parts collected here which I don't quite understand:

• Weapon turrets (Gang equipment): Why update rules for each one individually? Why not apply the update to "Fixed" (weapon trait) which is only used for these turrets?
• Van Saar Rad Cannon Emplacement (turret): While turrets are clarified, including Van Saar's Rad Cannon Emplacement, why is this Unwieldy while the others are not? It's a huge nerf compared to orlock's heavy stubber turret or goliath's heavy rivet cannon turret.
• Omen of Fortune is finally balanced. The Errata part makes it not stack (additional pets with Omen of Fortune doesn't give extra saves). But the FAQ is more cheecky, answering that it is once per round, which is a good quality update, but the rules still say once per turn. So no acknowledgement of the unclear wording around turn/round which may suggest completely different things. Unfortunately FAQ doesn't solve the problem with Rapid Fire (one hit causing multiple hits).
• Outcast can take linked hired guns as Leader + Champion. The question specifically mentions "discount", then examples like Kal Jericho & Scabs and Arbelesta & Aramista. The answer also repeats the point about "discount" as a criteria when buying linked hired guns. However not all linked hired guns come with a discount? So it seems the whole point about discount is mute.
• Flamer/man-catcher (combi) is mostly fixed, but why does this combi weapon not have combi trait for Flamer part? It got Unstable which is only applied when used in combi weapons.
• Insective knife got Toxin, why does it still have Backstab?

Worth noting that parts of old books which have since been fixed/updated may not be mentioned for the original/old books here. For example Rak'gol razor gun has correctly updated Damage from 1 to '-' in N23 rulebook, but this FAQ doesn't mention it for N19 BoJ where it was originally published.

Other quality updates:

• "Force Door" & "Smash Open Loot Casket" can use Melee weapons. This should drastically reduce the value of any equipment or special rule that do the same.
• Book of Judgement is very much still in effect, but the Enforcer list has been replaced.
• Rulebooks older than N23 Core Rulebook are officially and explicitly outdated now.
• Pets don't affect Gang Composition. This clarification doesn't hurt, but did anyone ever ask this question? Would be much better to solve the issue with pets or owner having infiltrate.
• Psykers without a Wyrd Power can select any single universal power. This is a nice and clear update that should apply universally?
• Mighty Leap clarified, I remember some discussions about this in the past.
• Skimmer is clarified.
• Move & Shoot vehicle action clarified to replace sidearm with pistol, which is great (for example for hand flamer which is on several crew weapon lists).
• Neural Flayer finally fixed! Trolled us for 6 years now?
• Cult Icon is now Rare 8! This was previously omitted in N23 rulebook and has effectively been gang specific (exclusive) up until now.
• Webbed doesn't grant XP. Clear and nice update.
• Imperial (alliance) with Enforcer Bodyguards now have cost and rank. Good for Outcast.
• Justicar (alliance) with Justicar Courts now have cost and rank. Good for Outcast.
• Take Down (Delaque skill) now updated to the new capture mechanic.
• Outcast gangs based on alliance delegations don't gain benefit & drawback special rules. Good clarification, this was widely assumed.
• Brood Scum arriving as Roaming Horrors have unlimited credits to buy equipment. That effectively makes them start with Blasting Charges, Frag, Krak, Smoke, Armoured undersuit, Mesh / Hazard suit, Drop rig, filter plugs, photo-goggles and telescopic sights for all ranged weapons! And then any 3 weapons. Minimum starting cost of 275 credits per extremely bloated Brood Scum

 

[Aulenback]

Looking at the update to "Force Door" & "Smash Open Loot Casket" update, it means you can add Melee weapon's strength modifier to open the door? Because I don't think there are much Melee weapons with a fixed stat. Which is... nice? But should drastically reduce the worth of any weird unique equipment, skills or other abilities to open locked doors. Also, people played the game without this change for 8 years... does it really matter now?

That does seem to be it. Also, las-cutters will be phenomenal at it. BUT these may give a high bonus, but count as smashing the door or casket, which has knock-on repercussions. Worse casket results, and doors that cannot then be closed behind you.

Haha maybe so. This FAQ gives great insight into how GW looks at their rules collection. For example Book of Judgement is still maintained here, but not Enforcer list.


This to me is clear indication that Book of Judgement is very much still in effect, because just like pretty much all books, it includes much more than what has since been republished in a new book like Bastions of Law covers. For example the Law & Misrule campaign. However the release schedule always gave the impression to forget about old stuff and instead focus on whatever is new. This FAQ still breathes life into a 6 year old book, that's 23 books ago!

Agreed. This suggests that the various trading post items in both Judgement and Peril and so on, that were not reprinted in the 2023 core rule book, ARE still in effect, rather than "eliminated from the game by dint of not being reprinted."

About the question if pets count for gang composition, did anyone ever ask that question? Seems so intuitive. Doesn't hurt to clarify, but I can't think of a less urgent matter.

People did keep asking about pets and deployment, since Infiltrate isn't on the exotic beasts' advancements skill list, but this question was explicitly not answered, instead.. I don't remember seeing anyone asking anywhere about whether pets count as Gang Fighter or Gang Hierarchy. Anecdotal evidence, admittedly, but still.

I can only assume that "one hit" means Rapid Fire can bypass it?

Bleh. Rapid Fire as written has one hit cause multiple hits. So which hit is ignored? The one from the To Hit roll, which hits, is a hit, and causes between one and three hits? Or one of the up to three hits caused by the hit? Sigh.

 

[TopsyKretts]

Where was that rule about forced door becoming unusable written? I was sure I saw it yesterday, but now I can't see it in FAQ or rulebook

It was so tempting to say the old TP/BM items of those 2019 books are still in effect. And they certainly aren't explicitly removed by this FAQ. But some of them are included in standard Trading Post now like Neural Flayer. And some that have since not been republished are now labeled "Exclusive", I think it was in the Bastions of Law for some Enforcer equipment. So I can see both sides. I want a clear ruling, but so far unfortunately it seems to me they may be intended for implicit removal.

 

[TopsyKretts]

Not sure if this is confusing or not:

Q. When founding a Van Saar gang is there a limit to the number of Tek-hunters I may recruit?
A. No. Although only one Tek may be upgraded to a Specialist when founding a gang, there is no limit to the number of Specialists a gang may include at creation.

The way I read it is this applies specifically to buying the new special to Van Saar Ganger Specialists (Tek Hunter) compared to upgrading 1 normal Ganger to Specialist Ganger (at gang creation). But there are still a few caveats:

• Tek-Hunter still has 0-8 limitation (0-2 per type), so not strictly unlimited.
• Can still buy 0-8 after gang creation (the FAQ is specifically focused on gang creation because it compares to the 1 normal Ganger to Specialist upgrade). However there are no general restrictions to buying 0-8 Tek-Hunters after any battle.

 

[TopsyKretts]

Q. Since Ash Waste Nomads Warriors treat long rifles as Basic Weapons instead of Special Weapons, can they fit a gunshroud to a long rifle?
A. Yes.

They do have a very specific special rule for this, but otherwise same could be argued for the "enforcer" grenade launcher listed as Basic weapon?

 

[Aulenback]

Where was that rule about forced door becoming unusable written? I was sure I saw it yesterday, but now I can't see it in FAQ or rulebook

Hunting up sources. Core rule book 2023 first.

Doors: These come in various sizes, but their rules are the same regardless of size – they are set up as part of the pre-battle sequence. By default, all doors are closed at the start of a battle, unless a scenario specifies otherwise. Closed doors are considered impassable terrain. They cannot be moved through and block both line of sight and measurement in the same way as walls and solid terrain as described previously.
Any fighter may open a closed door or close an open door by performing an Operate Door (Simple) action during their activation (see page 104). If a door opens or closes within 1" of a booby trap (see page 195), it may be triggered.
Closed doors, locked or otherwise, can be targeted by attacks and are automatically hit. All doors have a Toughness of 5 and 4 Wounds; if a door is reduced to 0 Wounds, it is removed from the battlefield.
[…]
Locked Doors & Terminals: When a door is set up during the pre-battle sequence, two door terminals may be placed, one on either side of the door, touching the wall within 1" of it. The presence of a door terminal indicates that the door is locked and very secure indeed!
A fighter cannot perform an Operate Door (Simple) action against a locked door. Instead, they must perform an Access Terminal (Basic) action or a Force Door (Basic) action (see page 104) in order to unlock the door. Once a locked door has been opened in this way, it remains unlocked for the remainder of the battle.
In a scenario where one gang is the attacker and the other gang the defender, the defender is assumed to have the access codes for any locked doors, and can make an Operate Door (Simple) action on them as normal.
[…]
Force Door (Basic): If this fighter is within 1" of a locked door, roll a D6 and add this fighter’s Strength, adding 2 for each friendly fighter that is also in base contact with the door. If the total is 9 or more, the door is opened.

And as to the down-side of forcing a loot casket:

Smash Open Loot Casket (Basic): If this fighter is within 1" of a Loot Casket, roll a D6 and add their Strength. If the total is 6 or more, the casket is opened. However, subtract 1 from the roll to determine the casket’s contents, to a minimum of 1 (see page 195).
Bypass Loot Casket Lock (Basic): If this fighter is within 1" of a Loot Casket, make an Intelligence test for this fighter. If the test is passed, the casket is opened.

My error. I thought that once a door was forced, it remained OPEN for the rest of the scenario. Rather, a forced door remains UNLOCKED for the rest of the scenario.

And that also matches the text in 2018’s core rulebook, though the 2016 rule book is far less clear on the matter.

So a locked door then has four possible actions to affect it: access terminal (temporarily unlock? only because can Access Terminal also be used to lock doors again in some secnarios?), force door (permanently unlock), fight (permanently open), shoot (permanently open).

 

[Aulenback]

some of them are included in standard Trading Post now like Neural Flayer. And some that have since not been republished are now labeled "Exclusive"

True. And the 2023 edition Core Rule Book states “The following pages contain rules for all of the weapons and Wargear available to gangs and fighters through the Trading Post,” which has been used as the argument by some to say that it invalidates the Trading Post additions from Judgement and Peril. But then that would ALSO invalidate the Trading Post additions from several Apocrypha articles, and also Book of Desolation, which doesn’t SEEM to be the intent.

And this FAQ does prove willing to invalidate parts of earlier books - such as the Enforcers’ gang list and rules. That the FAQ does say the Enforcers gang from Judgement has been invalidated but does not say the Trading Post appendix from Judgement is similarly invalidated could easily be read to suggest that it hasn’t been. Instead, the errata and FAQ continue to keep their updates to the Book of Judgement’s Trading Post section. Similarly, then, Peril. And Ruin. And the various Apocrypha. And the other books before and since the 2023 core book’s Trading Post (such as the vehicle additions in Secundus, confirmed in the FAQ to not be campaign-specific, so therefore not invalid despite not being in the 2023 core rule book).

So while a direct “yes or no” would be welcome, so would consistency, and that part seems unlikely at best.

 

[Aulenback]

They do have a very specific special rule for this, but otherwise same could be argued for the "enforcer" grenade launcher listed as Basic weapon?

Their repeated insistence that the Subjugation Pattern Grenade Launcher is a completely distinct weapon from the Grenade Launcher (thus its not having access to the multiplicity of grenade types available to other grenade launchers) would indicate that yes, it is simply a Basic Weapon, and thus by the rules, able to be fitted with a gun-shroud.

 

[MusingWarboss]

They still haven’t clarified as to whether the CGC unique weapons are now just commonly available in the Trading Post or whether in order to unlock that you have to own Book of Ruin or if it’s all now irrelevant since the 2023 Core Rulebook’s updated TP and the subsequent free PDF version, which doesn’t seem to include them, has superseded all previous Trading Posts?

 

[Aulenback]

They still haven’t clarified as to whether the CGC unique weapons are now just commonly available in the Trading Post or whether in order to unlock that you have to own Book of Ruin or if it’s all now irrelevant since the 2023 Core Rulebook’s updated TP and the subsequent free PDF version, which doesn’t seem to include them, has superseded all previous Trading Posts?

Well, at present, we have the following:

1. This FAQ lists what full books have been invalidated and superseded, and Ruin is not among those.

2. This FAQ lists parts of books that have been invalidated and superseded, such as the Enforcers gang as written in Judgement, while still including the rest of the book. The Ruin trading post appendix is not among those.

3. There ARE new errata and FAQs for the Book of Ruin, in this FAQ. The trading post appendix is not among those.

So it honestly looks as though the Ruin trading post appendix, according to this FAQ, stands. At least for now.

As for needing to own the book to “unlock” access to those items, the same can be said for every publication with trading post additions: Judgement, Ruin, Peril, several of the Apocrypha PDFs, Desolation, etc.

 

[MusingWarboss]

So it honestly looks as though the Ruin trading post appendix, according to this FAQ, stands. At least for now.

That would be my guess too. Which would make it the only gang to completely give away all of its unique weapons.

As for needing to own the book to “unlock” access to those items, the same can be said for every publication with trading post additions: Judgement, Ruin, Peril, several of the Apocrypha PDFs, Desolation, etc.

That was the mechanic back in N18 when there were multiple posts that could be visited. Once N23 came round they scrapped the Black Market, merging it into the main TP list and (as far as I can remember) actually included several formally separate TP items into the main big one too.

So Peril, Judgement and Ruin (and any PDFs before the N23 Core) I can accept as being just the older version rules.

I don’t know about Desolation, not read it. Though it’s not unheard of for the design team to just completely forget they changed something and copy in a version from an older ruleset.

EDIT: We had this conversation about a year ago.

N18 - Rotary Flensing Saw* - buyable as Goliath @ Trading Post

Hi all, Question: Is a Rotary Flensing Saw* a buyable option for a Goliath Forge Tyrant from the Trading Post/Black Market? Best regards, Dluu

yaktribe.games

 

[Aulenback]

EDIT: We had this conversation about a year ago.

We did, though that discussion did not have the advantage of an updated FAQ/errata the way we do right now, in December 2025.

 

[TopsyKretts]

A nitpick but don't remember all corpse grinder cult unique weapons was added to trading post / black market? But certainly several. However it has been some years since I last looked at it.

 

[Hobo86]

in an older version it was in the book of ruin? trading post,
but in the core book they weren't present anymore

 

[TopsyKretts]

Ok so they did go wholesale haha.

 

[Hobo86]

yes, I think they had a community trading post pdf between the older versions and current core?
(I did not check the date of the pdf)

 

[Aulenback]

in an older version it was in the book of ruin? trading post,
but in the core book they weren't present anymore

Yes, though this FAQ suggests, by including errata for the Book of Ruin, without saying that trading post has been superseded (the way they do with the Enforcers gang list in Judgement), that it is simply STILL in the Book of Ruin trading post, and is STILL an addition to the Core Rule Book’s trading post. Just like the several other addenda to the N23 CRB trading post.

 

[Hobo86]

Yes, though this FAQ suggests, by including errata for the Book of Ruin, without saying that trading post has been superseded (the way they do with the Enforcers gang list in Judgement), that it is simply STILL in the Book of Ruin trading post, and is STILL an addition to the Core Rule Book’s trading post. Just like the several other addenda to the N23 CRB trading post.

the separate campaign type might mean you could still use 'that' trading post for 'that campaign'
opposed to the general campaign post that could be used with any campaign.

the same with the rules from book of peril / its specific ammo types

 

[Beebopalulla]

Also the FAQ open the possibility of bad zone enforcer using a lot of hive scum. So now you can have a horde of hive scum just equipped handcuff that you can sacrifice instead of your enforcer

 

[Hobo86]

you would need to buy (20? creds) each magnacle separatly
infiltrate does offer other options to magnacle (perhaps) concussed targets

the enlisted scum rules don't permit them to be mass deployed in closeknit large blobs as they risk chain-routing if one gets injured

"Expendable Conscripts: Fighters with this special rule are drafted in to bolster a gang’s numbers but are not truly part of the gang. They can never benefit from other fighters’ Gang Hierarchy (X) or Group Activation (X) special rules. Additionally, fighters with this rule can never gain the Gang Fighter (X) special rule.

Other fighters expect fighters with this special rule to be short-lived and consider them expendable. Should a fighter with this special rule be Seriously Injured or be taken Out of Action, friendly fighters that are within 3" do not have to take a Nerve test, unless they also have this special rule."