Saturday 17 March 2018

Necromunda: House Van Saar Gangers 01

Way back in the mid 1990's when I ran my first Necromunda campaign, the gang that proved most popular with my players was House Van Saar. They were noted for their ranged attacks and access to archeotech gear. Four players chose Van Saar gangs and they were called the Assassins, the Desert Rats, the Cereal Killers and the Van Dams. They had mixed fortunes in my campaign. The Assassins were forced to retire, the Deserts Rats finished fourth out of 12, the Cereal Killers were seventh and the Van Dams were eleventh. My players kept their own gang roster sheets and figures, so in this post I'm going to show my own Van Saar figures but none of them were named and they were never used by me. These are all metal figures produced by Citadel Miniatures.
 At the left are the two gang leader figures. Both are armed with Las Pistols and chainswords. The chap at the far right also has a Melta-Gun and the figure next to him has a Plasma Pistol.
Next up are the gang's two heavies. The ganger second from the right is wielding a Plasma Cannon and a Las Pistol, whilst his colleague is armed with an Autocannon and a Las Pistol.
Moving on, we have the regular gangers. At the far left, this ganger is armed with a Bolter Rifle, a Las Pistol and a Knife.
Next to him, this ganger is armed with a Lasgun Rifle, a Las Pistol and a Knife.
Second from the right, this ganger is armed with a Shotgun, a Las Pistol and a Knife.
The white-haired ganger at the far right is armed with an Autogun Rifle and a Las Pistol with a Scope Sight.
The ganger at the far left of this group is armed with a Lasgun rifle and an Autopistol.
To his left, this ganger is armed with a Shotgun, a Las Pistol, Frag Grenades and a Knife.
The ganger who is second from the right is armed with an Autogun Rifle, a Las Pistol and a Knife.
The gang's sniper at the far right is armed with a Lasgun Rifle with Scope Sight, a Las Pistol, Frag Grenades and a Knife.
Finally, are the gang's six juves. The juve at the far left is armed with an Autopistol and a Club. The next two in line are armed with a Las Pistol and a Knife. These are both the same figure but I repositioned the arms of the one third from the left.
The juve third from the right sports a pair of Slug Pistols.
To his left, this juve holds a Slug Pistol and an Autopistol.
Finally, at the far right, this juve is armed with an Autopistol and a Knife.
As is usual with these original Necromunda figures, they are all extremely well sculpted. I can certainly see the appeal of this gang but their style of play didn't suit my own tactics. Despite there being four Van Saar gangs in my old campaign, I can't remember any outstanding moments with any them. They were rather bland. I honestly can't remember the names of any of their leaders. Sure, they were great at ranged combat and generally reliable but they all lacked personality.
Whilst I never got to use this gang myself in my Necromunda campaign, a couple of my players used them instead of going out and buying their own figures. This was quite common with my group! However, those of you who follow my WOIN blog, will recognise these figures as the mercenary company led by captain Erik Finn in my Raid on Sterling scenario.
I have just seen previews of the newest Van Saar gangers that are coming out soon for Necromunda: Underhive and I must admit, I am very impressed with them. What pleased me the most was the fact that they feature male and female gangers in the set. That's a first for a Necromunda gang! I'll definitely be buying them as soon as they are released... but not from Games Workshop! Why pay their prices when other companies offer them for 20% cheaper?

24 comments:

  1. I always rather liked the Van Saar figures and you have painted them very well. I think it was the similarity to the House Atreides characters from the Dune movie of the time.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Many thanks, Roger. I hadn't made the "Dune" connection before, but now you mention it I can see you're absolutely right.

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    2. I was always fond of that Dune film.

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    3. It is so long that I watched it that I have forgotten much of it.

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  2. Wonderful posting. I too like the Van Saar for a very similar reason to Roger, except I thought they were like the Fremen and would certainly be tempted to paint them up as such when they are released.

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    1. Thanks, Simon. Another Dune connection. I'm wondering if they were inspired by this film? Just curious, but did you miss my House Cawdor review last week? I fully understand if you don't like them and thus didn't want to comment on them. My own views on them are very negative.

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    2. How odd? As I recall reading the posting and comments, and thought your palette was awesome, despite their performance on the tabletop. I'm also looking to get the Cawdors when they're released too for some "Nemesis The Warlock" shenanigans...

      I've gone back and commented :-)

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    3. That's very kind of you, Simon. I could say you're getting forgetful in your old age put that smacks too much of the pot calling the kettle black! LOL!

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  3. My leader was hit and killed by a Van Saar with a plasma cannon. Hit so bad it turned him into a "Puddle" from then on the Plasma cannon was known as a "Puddle Gun!"

    You may laugh now but it took ages to get another gang member to the level of the leader! (early in the campaign and NO starting again ...... If I could have started the gang from scratch I would have been in a much better position in the 2nd campaign!)

    So I have a grudging repect for Van Saar....... still don't like them mind! But grudging respect for the powerful "Puddle Gun!"

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    1. Damn, that was unfortunate, Clint. Losing your leader in that manner is going to give you a healthy respect for Plasma Cannons. Mind you, I am reminded that my Goliath leader, Big Fub, also got hit by a Plasma Cannon, but he survived and gained impressive scars. That's the luck of the dice, huh?

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    2. yes all part of the game. So one must not grumble too much. I was making a come back and the campaign ended (never reached a full conclusion) due to other commitments by other players.

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    3. Sorry to hear that, Clint. It is a common setback that I, too, have suffered.

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  4. Very nice indeed. I did like the Van Saar back in the day as they were just a bit different to the other gangs. I like your colour scheme, very nice. I know a lot of time has passed between these sculpts and the new ones, but the new ones just blow these away. Although, I do think they have done a good job paying homage to these guys. Like you I am so glad there are female gangers, and I thought it was a shame there were none in the Orlock gang, especially as there is a lady gang member in the rule book who looks awesome. I think GW are doing a great job with the new Necromunda as are you with these posts stoking both my nostalgia and my enthusiasm to get mine painted up. Good job Sir.

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    1. Very much appreciated, Undercoat. I, too, am all for more female gangers in "Necromunda". I very much suspect I'll be buying two boxes of the new Van Saar gangers when they go on sale. I do criticise GW a lot but apart from their pricing structures, they have surpassed themselves with this new edition of "Necromunda."

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  5. I liked the Van Saar, never got the minis but really wanted them! The new ones look amazing

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    1. Cheers, Andy. I get the feeling that the new Van Saars are going to be very popular. I've heard a few WH40K players wanting them for Imperial Guardsmen, and why not?

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  6. Nice looking gang Bryan, I believe the Dune movie was indeed the inspiration for these figures, not that GW would ever admit it ! Nice to see GW have listened to customers and included female models within gangs other than Escher

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    1. Cheers, Dave. From the comments so far, I can well believe that these figures were influenced by "Dune." I just never made the connection at the time.

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  7. You've painted these very nicely Bryan, some good touches on these, I like that the older figures have some very nice facial hair whereas the juves don't. Obviously can't grow it yet :-)

    The plasma canon/puddle gun is quite amazing.

    I'll be interested to see the difference with the new figures when you show them.

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    1. Many thanks, John. The original Van Saars did sport some impressive facial hair. The new ones, less so, however.
      Check out this YouTube video showing a preview of the new plastic figures -
      https://youtu.be/4k5rwxv2MQ0

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    2. I meant to give you this link to some vampirella artwork. You probably already know about it, but just in case.
      http://manuelsanjulian.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Vampirella
      Cheers

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    3. John, that is so kind of you and very timely, seeing as I am focussing on the work of Sanjulian for my Monthly Musings this year. I had not seen these paintings before, so i am very grateful to you for the heads up. :-)

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  8. Another great looking gang Bryan, and your series plus the comments from fellow bloggers has really shown me what I missed out on (the only sci-fi we played back then was Traveller)!

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    1. Thanks, Greg. Oh, you sure did miss out, mate. I was, and still am, a big fan of sci-fi games, and "Necromunda" just ticked so many boxes for me. A great game and the new version looks just as good.

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