The next wave of Necromunda releases is up for pre-order this weekend, so with time ticking down until you can send your own Spyre Hunters down into the Underhells, we tasked two of our own Necromunda fanatics with constructing their own teams of House Helmawr hellions. Here’s what they had to say.
Tom: Spyrers have always been one of my favourite aspects of one of the best games Warhammer makes, and I was extremely excited to build a gang. They have everything: character, menace, and a blessedly low model count – and they’re a pleasure to build and paint.
I decided to paint them in rich (yet muted – they still need to stalk) colours you don’t often see in the underhive, because they’re amped up aristocrats who would rather die than seem tatty. You get two Orrus to a single sprue – who will see you through an entire campaign – and four assorted light Spyrers on two smaller, identical sprues.
There’s a surprising amount of customisation, and you can build one of each alongside a leader who gets to mix and match armaments like an underhive Autarch. I actually kitbashed my leader – who sadly didn’t get finished in time for this piece – to wield a Malcadon whip and a Yeld rocket gauntlet, taking the whip from the main Escher sprue. It fits beautifully with a minimum of chopping, and small conversions like this are a great way to give your hunting party their own character.
On the face of it, Spyrers seem like a formidable gang. Every model is substantially lethal, especially in close combat, but you really have to play them as hunters. If you fail to stick to the shadows and charge into combat, you will get taken down.
Even lowly Cawdor gangers can lay down enough crude flame weapons to ensure you never get up, and while your hunting rigs are very durable, they’re not going to tank too many plasma blasts. I cannot wait to take my gang – menacing name TBC – into my local meta, where my luck with dice means they’ll probably be smeared into a superweighted paste by a fusillade of grav cannon fire anyway.
Ken: As a Necromunda player in the 1990s, this was a labour of love for me. The designers have done a fantastic job updating the original miniatures to smash, soar, and sneak around the underhive.
I wanted to give the new Spyrers the paint job my younger self would have wanted, so I went back to the originals I painted (or tried to) back then. Others were based on the original schemes, like the green and white Orrus.
I went a bit blend-mad with all their smooth curves – this was mostly patient glazing, but the Jakara sword and shield were wet blended from Incubi Darkness through Sons of Horus Green to Sybarite Green. I had fun with the Caryatid, painting directly with Drakenhof Nightshade and Druchii Violet shades over a Wraithbone Spray, and the Yeld wings were based with Leviathan Purple contrast, then glazed up through Xereus Purple to Genestealer Purple, highlighted with Slaanesh Grey.
I made the bases rusty and decrepit by applying Typhus Corrosion before I primed them, then stippled Rhinox Hide, Doombull Brown, and Skrag Brown, before finishing with drybrushed Corvus Black and Leadbelcher. A wonderful project – if only I could take them back in time.
Pre-order your copy of The Book of Desolation and a quartet of Spyre Hunters this Saturday, along with the Van Saar Tek-hunters, the Malstrain Abomination gang, and a new Dramatis Personae for House Delaque.