One battle. No strings attached. No spreadsheet.
Skirmish is Necromunda at its most direct: two gangs, one table, one scenario — and when the final round ends, the story ends with it. No Territories in play, no Stash to accumulate, no XP to manage between battles. It's the perfect mode to try out a new House, teach someone to play, or simply settle a score on the table in a single night.
BASED ON THE NECROMUNDA CORE RULEBOOK (2023) · PAGES CITED IN EACH SECTION
Same core rules, different stakes. Here's what changes between a one-off battle and a persistent campaign.
Founding a gang for Skirmish play follows its own budget, skills and Reputation rules (Core Rulebook 2023, pg. 90-91).
It's only a guideline, not a hard rule — larger gangs are possible, but smaller budgets force hard choices, which usually makes for a more interesting game. A good reference point: 10 to 20 fighters, and 1 to 4 vehicles.
No XP means no Advancements — so a Skirmish gang gets extra skills and stat bumps up front, scaled to how big its budget was. Click a tier.
Reputation is picked when the gang is founded — higher Reputation means more Hangers-on and Brutes allowed.
Equipment: besides the gang's own list, players may agree to unlock Rare/Illegal items from the Trading Post up to a combined level before the game (e.g. up to Rare (10)).
Hired Guns, Hangers-on and Brutes don't count towards any minimum fighter requirement, but they do count towards the maximum.
A gang can only include Hangers-on, Brutes or Hired Guns once it has at least 10 models in its main list.
Skirmish reuses the same pre- and post-battle sequences as a campaign — only a handful of steps are skipped or work differently.
Steps that either don't apply or work differently in Skirmish, out of the 8 steps on pg. 97-98. Everything not listed here works exactly as in a campaign.
Skirmish shines whenever continuity isn't the point.
Curious about House Van Saar before committing an entire campaign to it? Build a Skirmish gang, play a few battles, and decide with the models actually on the table.
No Advancements, no Stash, no history — it's the simplest entry point for a first-time player. Pair it with the How to Play guide for that first battle.
Equal budgets and a fixed Gang Rating make Skirmish the natural format for competitive events — everyone starts on the same footing.
No commitment to continuity: perfect for when the gaming group changes every session, or when there's only time for a single battle.