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?