At The Big Summer Warhammer Preview Show 2026 event, Games Workshop announced the Warhammer Necromunda Roleplay miniature board game, which will offer players entirely new ways to explore the Underhive.
Participants will play as a group of headhunters – Venators – carrying out missions assigned by the Arbitrator, the local equivalent of a game master. The Arbitrator presents the story to other players, ensures game rules are followed, and develops the narrative created by the participants' actions.
This project is compatible with the entire Necromunda miniature line and comes with new charismatic models. Player characters will include Ophelia Scar – an Escher House assassin, Zakk Merdena – an Orlock House gunfighter, Jarl Hanson – a Squat fixer, and Vorg Kurrak – a Goliath House champion. For each of them, the box includes quick-start rules, as well as alternative build options if the player wishes to create their own Venators.
These "heroes" will be able to meet many interesting personalities, such as the fence Nix Scrad, the saboteur Kaiborn Nex, the Hive preacher Helman Forge, the corpse merchant Harl Gorronia, and the heretek with a servo-skull Ateraxis.
During dangerous adventures, players will be able to fight the dregs of the Hive. This refers to eight nameless mercenaries who can be assembled with a wide variety of weapon options. Along with 18 brand new plastic miniatures, the starter set includes a 224-page rulebook containing a wealth of information about the Warhammer 40,000 universe, as well as the game's rules, character creation, and development between adventures, including skill improvement.
It also includes advice for the Arbitrator and two full adventures: "Foul Intellect," where players hunt the Van Saar heretek, and "Pilgrimage of Bones," where participants are tasked with eliminating the Cawdor preacher on behalf of the corpse-collector's guild.
Additionally, the box will contain two double-sided cardboard game mats depicting regions of the Underhive and Ash Wastes, where Venators will battle dangerous opponents, and 11 player reference cards. The set includes an Arbitrator's screen, filled with useful reference information, allowing them to conceal their cunning plans from other participants.
Combat encounters in Warhammer Necromunda Roleplay follow a system familiar to Necromunda Skirmish players: miniatures are used with single and double actions, hit and wound rolls – but with a role-playing twist. The box also contains D10 and D100 dice, familiar D6s, firepower and injury dice, which work together with character skills and show what results participants need to roll.
Necromunda Roleplay will be released simultaneously with the first expansion in the series – Journal Apocrypha: Denizens of the Hive – Adversaries Book 1. This 48-page journal includes profiles for 51 additional potential enemies or allies, created using a wide range of Necromunda miniatures.
The Warhammer Necromunda Roleplay Core Set and the first journal are expected to be available for purchase in the near future.