Necromunda Skirmish Core Set: What’s Actually in the Box?

The Necromunda Skirmish Core Set is not just a box containing two small gangs and a quick-start booklet. Games Workshop has packed the 2026 starter with two complete crews, a full rulebook, terrain, a game board, campaign tools, cards, dice, templates, markers, and the other accessories needed to begin fighting in the Underhive from day one.

The important question for anyone considering the box: What do you actually get — and which parts will you still be using after your first few games? Here is the complete breakdown.

Browse the Core Set, gangs, rulebooks, terrain, and accessories in our Necromunda collection at Tistaminis.

Full Contents at a Glance

MINIATURES 8 New House Escher Fighters

These are not simply the existing Escher gang sprues placed into a new starter. The Core Set contains eight entirely new plastic Escher miniatures leaning into feathers, pelts, distinctive hairstyles, and dynamic poses while retaining House Escher’s familiar light, agile visual identity and a selection of Underhive weapons. The result is recognizably Escher without repeating the original modern gang kit.

Who Are House Escher?

House Escher are one of the six Great Houses of Necromunda, known for speed, agility, toxins, chemical weapons, and highly distinctive miniatures. Choose Escher if you like fast fighters, mobility, poison-based weaponry, stylish models, and finesse-oriented gang tactics.

MINIATURES 8 New House Goliath Fighters

The opposing crew consists of eight brand-new House Goliath miniatures — again, not recycled from the existing gang box. The 2026 crew leans harder into the House’s industrial origins: heavy plate armour, massive physiques, foundry equipment, repurposed industrial tools, and heavy weapons. The visual difference between the two gangs is immediate and unmistakable.

Who Are House Goliath?

House Goliath produces enormous industrial workers bred for strength and survival in some of Necromunda’s most brutal environments. Choose Goliath if you like hard-hitting fighters, large miniatures, close combat, industrial armour, and brute-force gang tactics.

Are the Two Gangs Full Starting Crews?

They give you enough fighters to begin playing immediately — but one of Necromunda’s biggest pleasures is expanding and personalizing your gang over time. Your starting crew can later gain additional Gangers, Champions, Prospects, Brutes, Hangers-on, Pets, weapon upgrades, and Hired Guns. Think of the Core Set as the foundation of two collections rather than the final version of either gang.

RULES The Full Core Rulebook

You receive the full Core Rulebook, not a heavily reduced starter-only rules pamphlet. That means the book remains useful well beyond your introductory games, covering movement, shooting, close combat, injuries, activations, terrain interaction, conditions, battle procedures, campaign-related core systems, and background material introducing the Underhive setting.

Do You Still Need a Gang Book?

Eventually yes. The Core Rulebook explains how Necromunda works. The gang books provide the updated faction-specific rules, fighter options, and equipment. If you continue with Escher or Goliath, Gangs of the Underhive is the relevant companion — it also covers House Cawdor, Delaque, Orlock, Van Saar, Palanite Enforcers, Venator Gangs, Corpse Grinder Cults, Hired Guns, Brutes, Hangers-on, and Pets, making it the main expansion purchase for most Core Set players. Gangs of the Outlands covers Outcasts, Free Ogryn Gangs, Genestealer Cults, Chaos Helot Cults, Ironhead Squat Prospectors, Ash Waste Nomads, Spyre Hunting Parties, and more.

TERRAIN Zone Mortalis: Ruined Factoria Pipes

Necromunda needs terrain — lots of it. An open battlefield creates the wrong game entirely. The Core Set includes Zone Mortalis: Ruined Factoria Pipes, designed to provide cover, blocked lines of sight, narrow movement routes, and industrial atmosphere. The pieces match the broader Zone Mortalis terrain aesthetic, so you can expand later without the starter scenery looking out of place.

Is there enough terrain in the box? Enough to start, yes. Enough for a fully developed Necromunda table, no — and that is completely reasonable. Browse our terrain collection to build a denser Underhive battlefield over time.

CARDS Gang Tactics and Campaign Scenario Cards

The Gang Tactics cards put tactical options directly beside the battlefield, reducing rulebook checking during play. The Campaign Scenario cards may be even more valuable long term — they streamline the process of generating and setting up campaign battles, helping determine scenario structure, setup, and objectives without lengthy table searches.

TOKENS 54 Condition and Status Markers

Necromunda fighters can end up in a lot of unusual states simultaneously — injured, on fire, pinned, affected by toxins, subject to special rules. The 54 included markers make the battlefield state readable at a glance. Note that Games Workshop also sells a separate 64-marker set, but the Core Set’s 54 are more than sufficient to begin playing.

TOOLS Ruler, Dice, and Templates

The folding range ruler, dice, and templates are all included so a completely new player can begin without a separate shopping run. Long term, many players prefer a standard tape measure over the folding ruler, but all three components are immediately functional and remain useful well beyond the introductory games.

GUIDE Starter Guide and Construction Booklet

The starter guide helps new players learn the core systems without absorbing everything at once. The construction booklet covers assembly for both multi-part plastic gangs and the terrain. You will also need hobby tools separately: sprue cutters, plastic glue, primer, brushes, and paints — find these in our hobby supplies and miniature paint range.

What Is NOT in the Core Set

Just as important as knowing what is included. The box does not contain: every Necromunda gang, every gang-specific rule, every campaign supplement, a complete Zone Mortalis terrain collection, paints, glue, or sprue cutters. It is complete enough to begin playing — not intended to contain the entire Necromunda ecosystem.

Is This a Two-Player Starter?

Yes — and it works particularly well for two people starting together. Player one takes House Escher, player two takes House Goliath, and the rulebook, board, terrain, cards, markers, dice, and templates are shared between them. That removes most of the "what else do I actually need?" friction from a first purchase. One person can also buy and use the entire box to teach friends, try both gang styles, or run demonstrations without asking anyone else to spend anything.

Is the Core Set Good for Existing Necromunda Players?

It depends on what you already own. The Core Set makes sense if you want the new Escher or Goliath miniatures, the terrain, the campaign cards, or the complete new rules package. If you already own several gangs and extensive terrain and are not collecting either House, buying the Core Rulebook and the relevant gang book separately may be more efficient. Good news either way: existing Necromunda miniatures remain compatible with the 2026 edition, so nothing you own becomes obsolete.

Long-Term Value: What Will You Still Use?

The majority of the box does not become obsolete once you finish the introductory games. That is a good sign for a starter product.

What Should You Buy After the Core Set?

Painting the Core Set

Escher and Goliath give you two very different painting projects. Escher reward bright hair, colourful fabrics, skin tones, leather, and toxic weapon effects. Goliath call for metal armour, rust, battle damage, industrial grime, and heavy weapons. This makes the Core Set particularly good for painters — you are not repeating the same palette across sixteen nearly identical models.

The Factoria Pipes terrain is also a quick and satisfying paint job: dark prime, metallic drybrush, brown and orange rust, wash recesses, add grime and any warning panel markings. Necromunda terrain benefits from looking dirty rather than pristine, and large drybrushes with weathering products can finish it fast.

Who Should Buy the Core Set?

Frequently Asked Questions