By Helmawr’s BALLS have we been excited for this new update! Well buckle up Cadet! You're in the Force now, and we won't be accepting any lollygaggin or shirking of duties! There's the Law to uphold and we have been given just the tools we need to suppress, subjugate and control the writhing, stinking masses of this foul underhive.

Why choose Palanite Enforcers?

The Palanites are usually considered an elite gang that focuses on high armour saves and reliable fire power, but that's not all. Of all the gangs, I think the Enforcers have the best board control mechanics of the varied options available in the underhive. If you like controlling the game board, neutralising key players in your opponents list, and tanking shots, then this is the gang for you. On top of that, they have one of the most iconic aesthetics in the whole of Necromunda - and no one is bigger than the LAW!

How have they changed?

The Enforcers of old were middling fighters that relied on equipment and armour to keep them alive and in the fight - this is no longer the case. They have become cheaper across the board, but in return you no longer get as much built in equipment. It used to be that you got Armoured Undersuits, Armour and a Stub gun (as well as Magnacles, but they are keeping those) built into the fighters profile, this limited you in how many fighters you could take in your starting lists and took up a weapon slot for a fighter. Now they have taken those things away and made them cheaper, you can build the gang the way you want them to be and not worry about the extra cost.

The Enforcers have had a slight tweak to their stats that now make them a force to be reckoned with, as well as some much needed tweaks to skills that make them feel like specialists in their field, rather than generic all-rounders.

We will go over most of the equipment changes and unique additions very soon, but for now let's look at the fighter profiles and see what's changed.

Fighters

Enforcer Captain - 120 Credits

The Enforcer Captain has had a bit of a glow up - now, you no longer need to pick whether you want a Subjugator or Palanite variant, you just have the one choice and build the rest of the list as you would any other gang. To adjust to the fact that you no longer need to pick a variant, they now boast a 3+ for both their BS and WS, an additional bump to their initiative and a prestigious 3 wounds, which makes them a bit of a tank. Just like before they have decent mental stats (4+,6+,5+,6+) and access to Leadership, Savant (my favourite) and Palanite Drill skills as Primary and Combat, Brawn and Shooting as Secondary. This fighter can do it all - with the right investment of XP. 

Palanite Sergeant - 80 Credits

The shooty sergeant, the Palanite Sergeant has gained a point of BS, now sitting at 3+ as well as 3+ initiative, which is a very welcome change. For Skills, the Palanite Sergeant loses Cunning, which is a shame, but instead they get Palanite Drill and Shooting as Primary and Combat, Ferocity and Leadership as Secondary. The Palanite Sergeant is a good base for whatever ranged weapon you want to give them, and they get a variety of options from the house list and no restrictions from the Trading Post, as you would expect. 

Subjugator Sergeant - 90 Credits

The fighty sergeant, the Subjugator gets its WS boosted to 3+ and a very much needed 2 attacks, but unfortunately the Subjugators don’t get the extra initiative and so they stay sat on 4+. The Subs also keep access to the same weapon access, but unfortunately they no longer get Shooting skills. Instead, they get Palanite Drill and Brawn as Primary, and Combat, Ferocity and Leadership as Secondary. Clearly GW decided that they wanted to specialise the Subjugators, and they definitely have managed to do that, but if you don't fancy that (for whatever reason) you can take any weapons/equipment from the Trading Post with no restrictions. All in all, it's a shame that they have lost Shooting (one of my favourite combos before the update was a Sub Sergeant with Fast Shot and Stun and Flash rounds for the grenade launcher) but I fully understand why they have done it this way.

Palanite Patrolmen - 45 Credits

Considered the basic Ganger for the Enforcers, the Palanite Patrolman hasn't changed much from its original inception. Still sat at WS and BS 4+, 1 wound etc at least now they gain the 3+ initiative like the Sergeant and the Captain. With access to Shooting and Palanite Drill as Primary Skills and Brawn and Combat as Secondary skills there is no doubt that this profile is predominantly here to shoot first and ask questions later. On creation of the list you can choose to take a Palanite Patrolman as a specialist, so you don't have to worry about random progression with XP. It's also worth noting that the Enforcers have kept their pseudo-specialist status and so have no restrictions on equipment bought from the Trading Post and/or you can buy Special/Heavy weapons from their house list as well.

Subjugator Patrolmen - 55 Credits

If the Palanite Patrolman is obviously focused on shooting, the Subjugator is definitely built for melee. Like the Subjugator Sergeant, they gain an additional attack in return for keeping the 4+ initiative they had before, which is a very welcome change. Now, for the skills, the Subjugator Patrolman gets access to Brawn and Palanite Drill as Primary, and Combat and Shooting as Secondary. Obviously (as I've already said) this encourages you to go the Melee route, but keeping Shooting as secondary is a nice nod to the fact that the Subjugators get access to some really good ranged weapons, such as the Heavy Concussion Ram or the SPGL, and with a little bit of experience you can turn this fighter into a threat at any range. Finally, just like the Palentie Patrolman you can take one of these as a specialist on creation, allowing you to take one of each as a specialist in your starting list.

Rookie 25 - credits

The Rookie is a fairly standard Juve. You no longer exclusively get these fighters by losing another fighter (although this mechanic sort of still exists, more on that later) - you can now buy them outright. This is a HUGE buff for the Palanites, and allows you to finally get numbers into your list building. The thing that sets the Rookies apart from the rest of the Juvenile delinquents in the underhive is access to Enforcer Bolters and Enforcer Shotguns. Now you can easily be forgiven for thinking “well thats a waste on a 25 credit BS5+ fighter”  - and you would usually be right - but the Enforcer Shotgun has a scattershot template profile, which negates the terrible shooting until you can increase their BS and start using the salvo profile to full advantage. I like to think of the Rookie being used for one of 2 things; firstly running about with a Shotgun tagging as many people as possible with their template and hoping that scattershot does its job, and secondly lobbing flash grenades before magnacling enemy fighters to keep them out of the game for a couple of turns, while your champions get the hard work done. If the Rookies manage to get some kills/arrests (OoAs) and wrack up the XP, then the more the better - they might even earn the right to wear armour! (But I wouldn't count on it). They also get access to Palanite Drill as Primary, and Agility and Shooting for Secondary, which is a superb set of skills to have access to.

Ranged

Enforcer Bolters - What’s not to love about Bolters, except their ammo roll being 6+? Well, the Enforcers have their own pattern - and a surplus of rounds. The Enforcer Boltgun has the same profile but boasts a 4+ ammo roll, and is 5 credits cheaper at 50 credits a pop, which is a bargain. The only trade off for this is that you are limited in the special ammo you can buy - gone are Gas rounds or Shatter shells, but you do get Penetrator rounds that increase the AP to AP-2 and add Rending to the traits, but also Unstable.

Enforcer Shotguns - Basically a Combat shotgun without the special ammo you can buy, the Enforcer shotgun is 60 credits (so a 10 credit discount on the Combat shotgun at the trading post) and comes with the Salvo rounds (4” short range, 12” long with +1 to hit in the short range, Strength 4, damage 2 and a 4+ ammo) and Shredder rounds (template at strength 2 and damage 1, also 4+ ammo). I usually prefer the Combat shotgun because of the ammo options you can buy, but because the Patrolman Rookies can take these on creation they have shot up the list of viable weaponry.

Concussion Carbine - A specialist piece of weaponry exclusive to the Enforcers is the Concussion Carbine. The Carbine is a Blast 3” weapon with a short range of 9” and long range of 18”, Strength 3, AP-1 and Damage 1. You could easily think it’s a frag grenade launcher with shorter range, but the weapon traits is where it's at. The Carbine gets Concussion, Knockback and Seismic, Concussion makes anyone hit by this weapon reduce their initiative rolls by 2 (to a maximum of 6+) until the end of the round, and any vehicle reduces its handling tests by 2 until the end of the round. This combines well with the Seismic trait that causes a fighter, regardless of any other rules that state otherwise, to become Prone and Pinned, and vehicles to take a loss of control test. Not only that, but if the hit roll is a natural 6, no saves roles can be made against the attack. This is obviously superb against vehicles - no, you're not likely to damage a ridgehauler with a strength 3 attack, but because you are forcing them to take a handling check at -2 every time you hit one with a weapon with these traits, you can stack up the chances to roll the beast regardless of how many hull points it has left. Finally, if you hit a fighter with Concussion you can then follow it up with Flash (which is an initiative check to avoid) and/or magnacles (another initiative check) to tie up your opponent and whittle down their effectiveness.

Heavy Concussion Ram - The concussion carbine’s bigger cousin. The Ram is strength 4, takes up 2 hands but isn't unwieldy (so you can move and shoot), has a 15” short range at +1 to hit and 30” long range, just like the carbine has AP-1, damage 1 and 4+ ammo. For nearly double the price, it’s a toss up on whether it’s worth it over 2 Carbines. In the past I have loved this weapon out in the wastes, but now that you can only take them on Subjigators, you can't Fast Shot. It’s still a strong anti-vehicle weapon, but it lacks the punch it used to have.

Subjugator Pattern Grenade Launcher - For 50 credits (15 credit discount on the standard version) you get access to Frag Rounds and Stun Rounds instead of the standard Frag and Krak. You can also buy Krak, Choke, Photon Flash, Scare and Smoke grenades for it. Just like the Heavy Concussion Ram, my biggest issue is that you can only take them on Subjugators, and they lack access to the Shooting Skills now.

Sniper Rifle - Very similar to the Long Rifle, the Sniper Rifle is 5 credits more expensive, but in return you get Rending added on. This means that on a roll of a 6 to wound you are doubling the damage. A funny combination is to take this and the Marksman skill from shooting and you can get up to Damage 4 on a single shot if you successfully cause Knockback… Although you have to be VERY lucky.

SLHG Pattern Assault Ram - I am rapidly falling in love with this weapon.It's often difficult to justify a weapon that has both a shooting and a melee profile, as you can only use one profile at a time - however, there is definitely a use for both profiles on this beast. With a melee profile of +2 strength, AP-1, Damage 2 with knockback, Pulverise and 2” Versatile, this is a beast for close combat. Letting you natively hit at strength 5, you are going to be wounding Ogryns on a 4+ and everyone else on 3s at worst. Not only that, but with Pulverise on a D6 roll you can change a flesh wound into a serious injury (if you roll equal to or higher to their toughness), increasing your chances for that lovely CdG. Finally the shooting profile, you get access to two ammo choices as standard, choke and frag. Choke is good for those multi-wound leader models like Orlocks, Squats and other Enforcers, but be aware that the higher the toughness the less likely you are to hurt them, and because its a gas round you wont be pinning. That said, at least it’s a 3” blast marker, so you can potentially cause some out of action results if your opponent is bunched up in corridors. The Frag rounds are also 3” blast with knockback and strength 3, very standard, and are great for just keeping people pinned and chipping away at fighters as support for your advance. I love using this with the Threat Response skill and walking slightly behind the line popping ‘nades over the top, pinning your opponent, then counter charging when the lines meet and start breaking skulls - using that 2” versatile to guarantee you get into the fight.

Repulsion Pattern Chem-Thrower - An interesting template weapon, the RPCT is a Non-Lethal way of causing chaos with your opponent, with Gas and Fear traits when you hit a fighter you roll a D6, and if it’s higher or equal to their toughness then they have to pass a nerve test at -2 or become Broken. I desperately want to like this weapon, and if you could take it on a ganger I probably would. Unfortunately, it's tied exclusively to the Subjugator Sergeant, and there are so many more efficient options. Against high toughness and good cool gangs like Goliath or Ogryns, it’s basically useless.

Close Combat

Power Knife - A nice little weapon, for 25 credits you get a Power weapon (cant be parried, 6s to hit means no saves can be made and the damage is increased by 1) with backstab (+1 strength if you are outside of their vision arc) that’s +1 Strength AP-2 and Damage 1. This is a really useful weapon to have and wont break the bank to throw on a fighter as a melee backup. It’s a shame that you can't give one to the Rookies on creation, but everyone else can take them.

Power Sword - The aesthetic choice, but unfortunately not the most optimal one. For 50 credits you basically get the same profile as the Power Knife, S+1, AP-2, Damage 1 and Power, but instead of backstab you get Parry, for twice the price? Either the Power Sword is over-costed, or the Power Knife is a bargain.

Power Maul - Probably my favourite purely Melee weapon in this list. Again, you get Power, but also you get +2 to Strength, AP-1 and damage 1 for 30 credits. This is the mid-range weapon of choice, and I tend to find that it does work regardless of your opponent, Even Ogryns are being wounded on 4s straight off the bat.

Shock Baton - Also 30 credits, the Shock Baton swaps offence for defence. With no Strength modifier, no AP and Damage 1, with Shock and Parry on a 6 to hit you're automatically wounding your target and forcing your opponent to reroll a single successful hit roll against  them. If paired with a decent armour save, you can make a tanky fighter even more able to brush off more damage then they should. Remember, if your opponent has a trait or ability that triggers on a hit roll of X then you can choose to make them re-roll it and avoid that spike damage.

Riot Shield - The new shield available to Palanite and Captain models - no longer are the shields locked to the Subjugators. Now; the Riot Shield isn't the best melee weapon for 35 credits, it has no modifier to Strength and is -1 to hit with only Damage 1, but the reason to take them is they have the Assault Shield weapon trait. Assault Shield gives the fighter that equips it a +1 to armour saves from ranged weapons originating in their front Arc and +2 to armour saves from melee attacks also originating in the front arc. Basically, you can use a weapon slot to boost your armour saves, and that's very handy indeed. 

Vigilance Assault Shield - The original and best shield available to the Subjugators. The Vigilance Shield is also Strength user, no AP and Damage 1 with no hit modifier, but for 5 credits more than the Riot Shield (40 credits total) you gain the Knockback trait and keep the Assault Shield as well, so you are increasing your armour and if your hit roll is higher then your opponents toughness you can knock them back - either stopping them from fighting back, throwing them off a walkway or into a wall to add 1 to the damage inflicted.

Equipment

Armoured Undersuits - No longer free equipment (which is a shame, but understandable) but still well worth buying as you progress. The undersuit gives you +1 to your armour save and can be worn in conjunction with armour.

Magnacles - Your only piece of free equipment now, the magnacles can be really situational. However, you can really spec into them and they become game changers. Basically, if you are in base to base with a model you can force them to take an initiative check. If they fail, they can no longer take the shooting action or move, and only hit back in melee at -2 to hit. Finally, if they want to escape the shackles then they need to take a double action to “break bonds,” they need to roll under their strength characteristic on 2d6, which means they are likely to stay there for a while, leaving you to deal with something else. It's good to note that RAW you have to charge in, fight, then in the next round you can magnacle. A lot of groups (looking at you GFR) have ruled that you can do it as part of the charge action as well, which I agree with,  but as always ask your arbitrator. Check out “Shackle and Shake” in the Combos section later on.

Hardened flak - Just like Flak this armour gives you a 6+ armour save and a 5+ armour save against anything that uses a template (either a blast or flamer templates). The thing that makes this armour better is it reduces incoming hits’ AP characteristic by 1 to a minimum of 1. This means that a weapon that's AP-2 is now AP-1 but a weapon with AP-1 is still AP-1, confusing I know, I still think this is a mistake and should have been to a minimum of 0 as there are quite a lot of weapons that have AP-1 and if you are being hit with a weapon with higher AP its likely to be -3 or higher rendering your armour next to worthless anyway.

Layered flak - Layered Flak is my favourite of the Enforcer Exclusive armours, it provides a 5+ save and a 4+ save against anything that uses a template (either a blast or flamer templates). This is the same price as the Hardened Flak but in my opinion is much more useful as the extra drop of armour isn't dependent on them having AP in the first place.

Hardened layered flak - A combination of the last two entries, you get a 5+ save and a 4+ save against anything that uses a template (either a blast or flamer templates) AND it reduces incoming hits’ AP characteristic by 1 to a minimum of 1. It's a bit more expensive at 50 credits and to me has the same issue as Hardened, so I would rather just get Layered Flak and the Armoured Undersuit for 45 credits total and save 5 credits as it's going to be more efficient then reducing AP by 1 to a minimum of 1.

Hardcase Cyber Mastiff - The iconic pet of the Enforcers, the Hardcase is a beast, boasting Toughness 4 and equipped with a respirator and light carapace for a 4+ save - that’s pretty tanky! On top of this, they are Tenacious, so if they are taken out of action but still have their activation you keep them on the board until they use that activation, then remove them. But, there is more to come - on top of being a tough nut to crack they also boast 2 attacks with their “Shock Bite” and a WS of 3+. The Shock Bite is Strength user, AP-1, Damage 1, but with Rending and Shock as weapon Traits, if you get a 6 to hit your’e are automatically wounding your target, and if you roll a 6 to wound you do +1 damage. The Hardcase also gets access to Combat skills as Primary and Ferocity as Secondary, but the real reason you take one of these - for its quite considerable cost of 130 credits - is its “Faithful Protector” rule. As long as the Hardcase is within 3” of their owner, and standing and active, their owner cannot be Coup de Grace’d, and if the owner is within 6” of the Hardcase and is in base to base with another fighter, the Hardcase can move into base contact with one or more of the enemy fighters as a free action when it is activated.

Palanite Precinct and Special Territory Boons

If you are playing the Dominion campaign, rather than getting the Settlement territory, you get the Palanite Precinct. This territory cannot be taken from you, provides d6x10 credits every cycle and 1 rep. This is nothing special, but the final thing the Precinct gives you is the Recruit rule, if your gang has deleted at least one fighter from your roster during the post battle sequence you may add a single rookie to your gang. This is almost identical to the rule they used to get, except that it's now linked to the settlement and thus the Dominion campaign.

The enforcers also gain Enhanced Territory Boons from the Toll Crossing as if they were an Orlock gang and the Drinking Hole as if they were a Delaque gang.

“But wait 3O”, I hear you shout “the Enforcers don't get to claim territories”, SHUT UP YOU WILL SPEAK WHEN SPOKEN TO MAGGOT! Ahem, anyway, yes the Enforcers can now claim and profit from territories just like any other gang. This is a mixed bag for me, I enjoyed the enforcers playing arbitrator and stopping any one gang from dominating, it was a narrative choice and I thought it worked well. However I know it wasn't a very popular opinion and also Enforcers were very popular with newer players and having a mechanic that doesn't function like any other gang isn't exactly new player friendly so I accept it as a good move.

Palanite Drill 

Some of the Palanite Drill skills have had a little upgrade as well, so let's take a look at them all!

• Got your Six - One of the staple choices from the old book, It hasn't changed in the new one and is still well worth having. Once per round, if this fighter is standing and active, if you can see a model and it declares a charge against a friendly fighter, before they begin you get to interrupt and make a Shoot action against that target, potentially pinning them and stopping them from charging. Great against most melee gangs, but just remember you need to be able to see them before they charge, if they are hiding round a corner then you're out of luck.

• Helmawr’s Justice - One of the updated Skills, now when this fighter performs a Coup de Grace action they earn an additional 1 XP. Not a skill I would generally pick on purpose, mostly because there are better skills about and it would take 9 of these actions to pay for itself, but if it was a random roll I wouldn't be upset. Its kinda nice to know that you could get 6 XP from CdG’ing a champion and turning up to the battle.

• Non-Verbal Communication - Any Friendly fighter in line of sight of this model can use this fighter's Cool characteristic for the purpose of nerve tests. With the mental stats being as good as they are on Enforcers this is easily looked over, but if you are taking a lot of Juves in your list then having a “Big Brother” keeping them on the board and fighting on can be incredibly helpful.

• Restraint Protocol - Instead of making a Coup de Grace action you can make a Restrain (simple) action, this action lets you take a fighter out of action but instead of rolling on the lasting injury table they are automatically captured as if you rolled a 55/56 within 1”. It is also worded to make sure you can do this action as part of a charge as well and that is super helpful. This is a really thematic skill that can shape campaigns as well as potentially bringing in a lot of credits if you can capture people of note like leaders or champions.

• Team Work - Increase your Group Activation by 1, if the fighter doesn't have a Group Activation usually it gains Group Activation 1. If you are running a control list that's heavy Concussion, Flash and Web, this is a skill that will be super useful to you. Slap it on either Sergeant and give them GA(2) and you can concuss with the leader/champ, Flash with a Ganger/Juve then charge in with another Ganger/Juve to Magnacle while they can barely fight back.

• Threat Response - The other skill that was a staple before the update that is still going strong and unchanged. Similar to “Got your six” , if a model within 6” gets charged, and you have a ready marker and are standing and active, you can activate and perform a Charge action. This activation interrupts the enemy fighters activation, being performed after their movement but before they attack. This is arguably the the best skill in the bunch, you don't have to see the target before the charge, just after they have finished moving, because the enemy fighter will be trying to get into engagement range you will get assistance (+1 to hit) and they would get interference (-1 to hit) on their return attacks, it’s a double whammy!

Prefectures

The Prefectures are sort of the Enforcer sub factions and as you will see the options you can take are less about changing the gang from game one and more about adding flavour as you go through the campaign.

Palanite

The Palanite prefecture is themed on the Enforcers of hive Primus and thus are the most “Enforcer” enforcers, they gain additional skills added to the Palanite Drills skill tree; 

• Call reinforcements - if a model of yours gets taken out of action this model can take the “call reinforcements” double action to bring on a fighter from your gang that wasn't picked as part of the starting crew as reinforcements. Just like reinforcements you get from the scenario rules, there is a chance your opponent gets to set them up, potentially making them less helpful, but being able to guarantee your big bruiser/heavy hitter gets onto the board even if they are not picked in the starting lineup can be a game changer.

• Priority Target - randomly choose a fighter from your opponent's gang and if you take that model out of action you gain d6x10 credits, potentially easy money if a Juve gets picked, or maybe it will make you work for it and be a stimmed up monster? It's well worth the risk for something you are probably trying to do anyway, and if you're faced up against an opponent you don't think you are going to be able to win against, at least you have a secondary objective that nets you some credits. A lovely, fluffy and thematic pick.

• Shield Companion - being a fan of Enforcers with shields, I love this skill. Any model in base to base with this one, while it is equipped with a shield, gains the benefit of its shield trait. Basically you gain +1 armour to anyone in base to base contact against ranged attacks and +2 in melee provided the model isn't already equipped with a shield themselves, this lets you protect your fighters without them having to take a shield themselves for the extra armour.

Mynerva

Fighting in the underhive of Hive Mynerva, the Enforcers are adept at training the local Fauna to fight on their behalf, it's really important to note that all of these skill state “exotic beasts” so you can take more than just the Hardcase Cyber Mastiff to benefit.

If you like bringing pets to the battlefield, or really want to have a K9 style fighter then this is the prefecture for you, it's fun to play about with and gives your gang a unique feel.

Additional skills added to the Palanite Drills skill tree;

• Advanced beast handling - A fighter with this skill treats the leash range of all exotic beasts it has as 6” longer. So if you have a Giant Rat, which usually is 3”, it now can be up to 9” away from its owner. This is really helpful for things like Rats that get backstab as they can position themselves in a way to utilise that trait better.

• Beast mastery - A fighter with his skill can make the “Command (Basic)” action, on a successful leadership test you can pick an exotic beast this fighter is equipped with and make 2 actions as if it was the beast's turn, without using its activation. Basically you can burn an action of the fighters to activate your pet twice.

• Attack order - If the fighter with this skill and the Exotic Beast that they are equipped with are both engaged with the same fighter, add 1 to the attacks of the Exotic beast. Not as exciting as the other 2 skills in this list but definitely one to consider.

Secundus

The Secundus Prefecture channels their inner Mad Max (the first one with Mel Gibson) and charges into the wastes to bring order to a lawless land.

Rather than additional skills, the Enforcers of Secundus modify their vehicles instead and so gain 3 additional pieces of vehicle wargear;

• Suppression Siren - For 50 credits, the Suppression Siren, once per game, any fighter within 12” has to do a Toughness check, on a fail the fighter takes a fleshwound with no saves allowed. Slap this on 3 light vehicles with their crew for the 400 credit vehicle allowance and run them all near your opponents transport bed and boom! No more enemy gangers.

• Vox Disrupture - Deny your opponent any group activations within 9” of the vehicle that's equipped with the Vox Disruptor. At 45 credits I'm not sure how useful this will be generally, but against gangs like Cawdor or Slanneshi Cultists it can be incredibly helpful.

• Electro-Shock Projector - Worried about your vehicles getting swarmed with mooks? Tired of having your vehicles boarded? Why not get the Electro-Shock Projector? For 60 credits, when a fighter finishes their activation within 6” of this vehicle you roll a d6, on a 5+ that fighter takes an automatic Strength 3, Damage 1 hit. Sure this isn't the most deadly solution, but it will give you opponents pause when they consider going near your vehicles. If you are playing on the battlefield conditions that make the surface dangerous terrain, you find that fighters tend to swarm the pockets of safe terrain, make it even riskier by planting a vehicle with this nearby and make them panic, control is key.

Badlands

Not to be confused with the Badzone Enforcers, the Badland Prefecture is located in the Spoil, they are masters in the “Art of the Deal” selling off the random junk found in the Hives run off.

The Badlanders get a mix of additional skills and wargear;

• Spoiling for a fight - The first time this fighter makes a charge action each game, you can add d6” to the charge instead of the usual d3”, this is a handy skill for a Subjugator Sergeant to make sure they get stuck in as early as possible, but obviously that long charge can be a massive risk, no one wants to get carried away and fail a charge, leaving you out in the open and vulnerable.

• Reclamation contacts - When this fighters gang sells any common equipment, rather than selling it at half price, they sell at full price. In addition the first piece of common equipment this gang purchases from the trading post each cycle can be reduced in price by d3x10 Credits to a minimum of 5 credits). Its important to note that at no point does it say this fighter needs to be the one going to the trading post, nor do they need to be active, so in theory you could do this even if the fighter is in recovery.

• Bionic Replacements - Being on the Spoil the Badlands Prefecture have ready access to Bionics, because of this they reduce the rarity roll needed for various Bionics, which I wont go into fully here, as well as a reduction in price. Talk about (bionic) arms dealers… I will let myself out…

Poison Sea

Enforcers from the Poison Sea have decided that if they can't beat the Narco Lords and Chem Dealers then the next best thing to do is join them, now that's the “outside of the box” thinking that has no parallels in real life politics and policing today… right? If you choose to run this prefecture then I feel like you are required to call your Captain either Hook or Admiral etc just to lean into the nautical theme. 

The Poison Sea Prefecture gets a mix of things they can access, so lets have a quick look.

• Poison resistance - A new skill added to the Palanite Drill Skill tree, Poison resistance says that if you get wounded by a Gas or Toxin weapon, you can change the result of 1 serious injury dice to a Flesh Wound. Obviously this is very situational but if you are going up against a lot of Escher gangs or Outcasts with needle rifles then at least you have options to increase your survivability.

• Shock Amplifier - A weapon attachment for melee weapons, the Shock Amplifier lets you trigger the shock trait on a weapon (that already has it) on a 5+ instead of just a 6 to hit for 30 credits. This basically doubles the cost of the Shock Baton if you were to use it on that , but shock on a 5+ is a massive benefit. Dealers choice on that one, Shock is very good at dealing with Vehicles, so maybe get the sump boat rules out and fight on the Low Sump Seas! 

• Plentiful chem supply - Because the Poison Sea Enforcers deal so closely with Narco Lords and Chem Dealers, they get a ready supply of Chems funneled to them, because of this they get to reduce the rarity and/or cost of chems, I wont go over all of them but Ghast being Common, even though it stays at 30 credits, is superb especially with how good the mental stats are across the board with Enforcers.

Starting Lists

So as usual I have built two example starting lists for you to try, it's worth noting that I am not including prefectures because I feel like these lists can work with any of them (not really looking at you Secundus, you’re more for the Wastes and vehicles anyway) and the Prefecture will just dictate how you will want to progress the gang as you go.

The Thin Black Line

This list is trying to use as many tools the Enforcers have in a single list, It is very much a take all comers gang.

Captain with SLHG pattern assault ram, flak armour and armoured undersuit - Inspirational  - 245 Credits

The Captain is a decent all rounder, being able to shoot and fight in hand to hand, with a 5+/4+ (against templates) armour save that can be improved quickly I figured the SLHG fits the profile perfectly, you can sit back lobbing Frag rounds to support the rest of your gang, or get stuck in with the melee profile, wounding most things on 3s at damage 2, no matter what you choose your opponent is going to have to deal with this model.

I would pair this fighter with the Subjugator Specialist and Photon Flash Juve to try and neutralise your opponents big hitters either by stunning, flashing and magnacling (and then beating them to death) or with overwhelming blasts from frag or gas rounds.

You could also give your leader “Threat response” and use them as a counter charge threat, but as you will see later I have used this skill and dislike doubling up.

Sargent with enforcer bolter, flak armour, armoured undersuit - Got your 6 - 165 credits

Starting with a 5+/4+(templates) armour save and the staple of the Enforcer effectiveness, the Enforcer boltgun, this Sargent is going to be dishing out the damage, I would pair this fighter with your Shotgun Juve and rush up the board into that sweet 12” short range so you are hitting on 2+ in the open while the Shotgun Juve keeps people pinned around you / can mop up the chaff after you shoot the target you need killed first using the group activation. Keep the Juve ahead of you to soak up some of the incoming shots and absorb any charges that might come your way, remember if the Juve is charged, Got your 6 will allow you to take a shot at them first, interrupting their charge once per round, note that it doesn't burn your activation to do this.

Subjugator Sargent with power maul, vigilance pattern assault shield, layered flak armour and armoured undersuit - Threat Response - 205 credits

The counter punch / melee threat, the Subjugator is a tank on legs. With a 3+/2+ (against templates and in melee) you can take a beating and still be alive again to punch them back, pair this with the shock baton Juve and rush them forward to apply pressure onto your opponent, again let the Juve go first so if they get charged you can threat response and counter charge them (using it activation to do so) gaining you the assist bonus (+1 to hit) and then the interference debuff (-1 to hit). On the charge you are getting 2 attacks with the power maul at Strength +2, a blip of AP and power while the other 2 attacks (charge plus 2 weapons) is placed onto the shield that is a little bit less impressive, you are probably going to be hitting on 3s or 2+ if you have the added benefit of a Juve to assist.

If you choose to go with the Palanite Prefecture you could swap out their skill with the “Shield Companion” skill for more defence to your front line and opening up the leader to take threat response instead.

Patrolman specialist with sniper rifle - 80 credits

Keep your opponent's big guns pinned at all costs, you can hopefully get enough XP together to get shooting skills and BS upgrades to make them even more efficient.

Subjugator Patrolman Specialist with Subjugation pattern grenade launcher - 105 credits

Either keep with the Captain like I said before or just use them to keep heads down and throw templates out. If you can stun a fighter, imposing a -2 to initiative tests, then use the Juve with Photon Flash to take away their next activation, very strong on low initiative fighters. As soon as you can get enough XP get Fast Shot from the Shooting (secondary) skill tree and the Photon Flash ammo and you can be taking away your opponents activations without your Juve to assist (or use them to charge in and Magnacle them).

Rookie with enforcer shotgun - 85 credits

Quick and potentially deadly, this Rookie is mostly there to cause as much carnage as they can but in my test games I have found them to be the MVP. As the campaign progresses focus on BS and maybe look at skills from Agility and Shooting.

Rookie with shock baton and stub gun - 60 credits

Melee defence for your Subjugator Sargent, the Rookie will be surprisingly helpful at getting in the way, if you get the chance you can also attempt to magnacle a fighter that's been flashed and stunned before putting the boots in with your baton and stub gun.

Rookie with photon flash grenades and stub gun - 45 credits

Stick with the Captain and/or the Subjugator specialist and use those proton flash grenades on targets stunned by the Subjugator before running in and magnacling your target taking them out for another few turns.

Enforcer Academy

This list could be taken as a “Meme List” but it's surprisingly effective at controlling the board state as well as creating a gang that can be specialised against any gangs you might come across. The idea behind it is to use the group activations alongside Concussion and flash weapons to remove activations from your opponent while the Shotgun Rookies keep everyone pinned and injured, the Melee Rookies can Flash and Magnacle or put the boots in.

Captain with Flak Armour, Armoured Undersuit and Concussion Carbine - Mentor - 185 credits

The Captain is here to Concuss the enemy then use their Group Activation (2) to activate a Rookie with Photon Flash to take their activation away while a second one either tries to Magnacle them or shoot them in the face with their Shotgun then every time they gain XP the mentor skill increases that XP by d3 on a 4+ leadership test. Easy as that.

Sergeant with Flak Armour, Armoured Undersuit and Webgun - Hip Shooting - 215 credits

Hipshooting Webguns are super dangerous on their own but having a frustration of Juves following around CdG’ing anyone they web is *Chefs Kiss*. 

Subjugator Sergeant with Layered Flak Armour and Heavy Concussion Ram - Non-Verbal Communication or Teamwork - 180 credits

Hit your opponent hard with the Conc Ram, follow up with Photon Flash and a Shotgun or Magnacles. Exactly the same as the Captain. If you take Teamwork you get Group Activation 2 but if it's non-Verbal then the Sergeant is there to keep the Juves in line and in the fight.

2 Rookies with Enforcer Shotguns - 85 credits each

Simple and effective, because of the Shredder round profile you can negate the terrible 5+ BS with a template, and the fact that it has scattershot even if its only Strength 2 is still terrific. Once they have enough XP I would consider some BS improvements so you can start using the Salvo profile as well which is a lovely Strength 4 and Damage 2.

3 Rookies with Photon Flash Grenades, Shock Baton and Stub Gun - 75 credits

One for each Leader/Champion, the purpose of these buggers is to Flash anyone thats been concussed by your Concussion weapons so they have reduced Initiative in order to take their activations away, once they are dazed and confused you can charge in and try and batter them down to the ground with the Baton and Stub gun, but if they survive then they are hitting back on 6’s and you can force them to re-roll one successful hit per round thanks to Parry. If you can get any of the Juves, regardless of their loadout, near a bunch that have been Webbed then take the advantage to charge in and get some free XP. I would be very tempted to get a couple of these “Restraint Protocols” asap so you can start kidnapping enemy Gangers and ransoming them back for profit.

Campaign Progression 

Hangers-On

The Enforcers only get 2 unique Hangers on, both Haunts, but there are a couple of other thematic choices for Generic Hangers-On we are going to look at as well.

Haunts - 85 Credits

First of all lets look at Haunts, Haunts are Sanctioned Psykers exclusively available to the Enforcers. There are two flavours of Haunt, which we will get to soon, but first let's look at what they share.

The Initial profile doesn't look to be anything special, 5” movement, 5+ BS and WS, Strength and Toughness 3, 2 Wounds and 1 Attack. It's nothing exactly to write home about, but that's not why we take them, each flavour Haunt has access to 3 Wyrd Powers depending on the type and has a WP of 5+ (that's on 2d6) so the chance of them passing the check is high, they also get the fearsome skill baked in. As for equipment, the Hunts have no weapons or personal equipment and only get Hardened Flak armour, and we know my feelings about that. 

Now they get a couple of different special rules, Starting with “Part of the Crew,” this rule basically allows this model to be picked for each game, just the same as any champion or ganger, but this fighter cannot gain any XP or advancements and if they take any lasting injury that changes their fighter card (even the positive ones like Horrid Scars or Bitter Enmity) then they leave the gang and you will have to re hire them for full price again. Next they get “Sanctioned Psycher,” this rule is fairly straight forward, you can reroll a single WP test per game, either to avoid Perils of the Warp or to attempt another shot at getting the power off at key times in the battle. Finally they get “Hexagramic Dampers,” this rule states that if your Haunt suffers from Perils of the Warp (double 1 or double 6 when making WP checks), instead of rolling on the lasting injury table they just go out cold as the Voodoo inside their special suits dampens their powers and puts them to sleep.

Psyrender 

The first of our Haunts, the Psyrender is all about causing chaos and breaking your opponents mind. They gain a “Fearful Aura” which is exactly the same as the fearsome skill that they already have and this is completely pointless. If I was to guess I'd say they meant to give them Iron Stare from the Orlock Legendary names but who am I to question, I will just put it in the pile of “useless psychic powers GW have dished out” like Overcharge on the Awakened Ogryn.

As for Powers the Psyrender gets Mind Control, Terrify and Hallucinations.

• Mind Control - a Basic action that can be a continuous effect (free to keep up but you need to pass a WP check every round, or you can use an activation for a +2 to your roll), you can pick a fighter within 9” and in line of sight , that fighter then immediately takes a Shoot (basic) action, even if they have already activated this turn, and targeting a fighter from your chosen fighters gang. If you are playing against a gang that has a powerful shooting platform, like a Plasma cannon Van Saar, and can get close enough you can force them to nuke their own fighters.

• Terrify - a Double action, pick a fighter within 18” and in line of sight, that fighter needs to take a Nerve test at -3 or become Subject to the Broken Condition. A good way to neutralise an enemy for at least 1 turn, possibly longer if they have poor cool.

• Hallucinations - my favourite of the 3. As a basic action, choose a fighter within 12” (not in line of sight, just within 12”), this fighter immediately becomes subject to the Insane Condition. Simple, easy and efficient.

Bone Crusher

The Bone Crusher is the aggressive one of the 2 Haunts, preferring to throw Wyrd Energy about rather than the more subtle art of deception like the Psyrender. The Bone Crusher gets the “Fists of Fury” rule, this rule means that when you make unarmoured attacks you can increase the Strength and Damage of your strikes by 1, this effectively makes your unarmed attacks Strength 4 and Damage 2 but you still give your target +1 to their armour save… considering how squishy the Haunts are I would avoid melee combat like the plague.

Now onto the Bone Crushers Powers, Just like the Psyrender they have 3, Crush, Force Field and Force Blast.

• Crush - pick a target  or obstacle within 12” and in line of sight, make a hit roll using this fighters BS (5+). If it's an obstacle then it is destroyed and taken off the board, if the target is a fighter then they need to roll an armour save, if the save is PASSED then you can roll an injury dice and immediately apply the result to the fighter, regardless of how many wounds it has left as they are entombed inside their own armour. This would be a superb way of getting rid of enemy champions that have been invested in enough to stack armour saves, if it wasn't for the terrible BS of 5+. Its REALLY situational and unlikely to be pulled off anyway so im not keen.

• Force Field - a basic action that can also be continuous, while the power is active, every fighter within 3” of the Bone Crusher gets a +1 to their armour saves, and if they dont have any armour then they get a 6+ save. The best of the 3 in my opinion, the Enforcers are capable of stacking armour saves, and this only adds to that.

• Force Blast - take a basic action to push every enemy fighter within 3” d3+1 inches directly away from the Haunt, great if you are on a gantry and want to push people off it, and what's best is it doesn't effect friendly models so you can do it with impunity. Just note that the fighters you push do get to do their initiative check to stay on the platform but pinned, also if they get pushed into a wall or object then they also become pinned and take a hit with the Strength equal to the number of inches rolled (minimum of 2, max of 4). Another situational power, but if you are using the Bone Crusher to protect a group moving forward or they happen to find themselves in a spot of bother, it's a handy backup to have.

I find the Haunts to be incredibly squishy and difficult to use efficiently, you need to keep them covered and preferably out of line of sight because they are such a threat they get targeted straight away. Out of the 2 I think the Psyrender is the most effective, just because you can hide behind walls and make your opponents models insane while running away from anyone who can cause them pain. Saying that the Bonecrusher does have its uses for pushing forward and keeping you models alive with Force Field. All said and done I wish this was a Prospect with the option to take one of the 3 on creation and unlock the rest with XP (Guilders Ford Radio did this before BoL was released and they were bang on in my opinion) but it is a fun model to use and I love that they included it.

Narker - 30 Credits

The Narker is great in some campaigns and useless in others. When determining the scenario you are playing you can change the result of the dice by 1 in either direction per Narker (as you can have 0-2 of these it's a maximum of 2). This means that you have much more control of what scenario you will be playing and should be fighting on your own terms as much as possible. Thematically I love this hanger-on, having spies in the underhive, or CI’s, letting you get the jump on the rif-raff just feels right to me.

Propagandist - 30 Credits

State imposed media control is a staple in the Underhive, expressing the glory of house Halmawr’s finest with the Propagandist. During the pre battle sequence the gang can use their propagandist to declare their inevitable victory, if you win the game you gain D3 reputation, but if you lose then you lose an additional reputation. In addition to this if the gang adds a Juve (rookie) to their gang by any means, you roll a d6, on a 6 you gain an additional Juve for free. With how helpful the Rookies can be, you could pay the cost of this Hanger-On quite quickly if you are lucky.

Bullet Merchant - 50 Credits

What's better than most of your guns having a 4+ ammo roll? Being able to re-roll if you get a 1, this basically gives you a 60% chance of passing your ammo roll. This might not seem like a huge bump but in a game it can make all the difference. Again a thematic choice, I imagine the Prefecture has got a decent Armoury Sergeant making sure the supplies stay consistent and the weapons are well maintained.

Brutes

Sanctioner Pattern Automata (Lawbot) - 205 Credits Base

For the remainder of this section I will be referring to the Sanctioner as the Lawbot, just to keep things easy. The Lawbot is a decent Brute that is versatile and worth having even without any of the upgrades available to them. The Lawbot has a Movement of 5” (the same as the majority of the gang), WS and BS 4+, Strength 4, Toughness 5, 3 Wounds and 2 Attacks making it a decent all round fighter that can soak up small arms fire fairly efficiently.

The Lawbot has a couple of decent special rules, starting with “Automated Repair Systems,” during the recovery step of the end phase, do not roll for recovery, the Lawbot automatically recovers as if they rolled a Flesh Wound. This keeps them in the game a lot longer then they otherwise would, especially if you can get assistance to them so they don't even take the Flesh Wound, like Chumbawamba, you aint ever gonna keep me down.

The second special rule they have is “Mobile Bulwark,” If a friendly model is obscured at all by the Lawbot they gain full cover, this is great for pushing the Lawbot forward and adds extra protection to those behind them.

We have looked at the rules, now let's look at the equipment. As standard the Lawbot is equipped with Light Carapace Armour, a Pacifier Assault Claw (Strength user, AP-1, Damage 2 with Pulverise), Heavy Shock Baton (S+1, Damage 2 with Concussion, Parry and Shock) and the Grenade Launcher Array with Photon Flash (6”-18”, blast 5” Flash with an ammo roll of 5+). You can replace the Claw and/or the Baton with a Concussion Cannon for +80 credits which has a ranged profile of 9”-18” with +1 to hit on short range, Strength 4, AP-1, Damage 2, Blast 3” with Concussion, Knockback and Seismic with a 4+ ammo roll, a Mancatcher for +100 credits that has a melee profile of Strength user, AP-1 Damage 1 with Entangle, or a ranged profile that is identical to a Web Gun, or the SLHG “Sledge Hammer” for +40 credits, which is the same as the Subjugator version. You can also buy different ammo choices for the Grenade Array, Choke Gas +35, Stun rounds +25, Smoke +15 and Scare Gas +45 as well as all this, you can upgrade your Lawbots armour to Heavy Carapace (3+ armour in the front arc and 4+ everywhere else but -1 movement) for +20 credits.

Finally for the options, we have the Skill access. The Lawbot starts with the Palanite Drill skill, Got your Six. This skill lets you take a shot at an enemy fighter that is attempting to charge a friendly fighter within its line of sight, before they make the charge, potentially stopping them from making it into combat. On top of that, they have access to Ferocity skills as Primary and Agility and Combat as Secondary. I would be B-lining for Nerves of Steal ASAP so that they can stay standing up, providing cover for the rest of your gang and keeping them charging forward and applying pressure.

For loadout I like to run mine with the Heavy Shock Baton, SLHG “Sledge Hammer”, Grenade Launcher Array with Smoke all for 260 credits. Its pricey sure, but you get access to a Strength 6, Versatile 2”, melee weapon, and a Strength 5 melee weapon with parry and shock as well as 4 ammo types over 2 ranged weapons to choose from that keeps you capable of taking any any opponent on and having the right tool for the job.

Jotun Ogryn (COPGRYN!) - 210 Credits Base

If you have read any of my Guides before, you are likely to have been recommended to take an Ogryn in your list, I mean come on! They are great.

Every Enforcer needs a CopGryn to help deal with troublesome doors, crowd control and riot suppression. As always I recommend Furnace Plates, Augmetic Fist and Spud Jacker for 205 credits, it's relatively cheap, tough and the melee damage output is superb. The CopGryn is a great addition to a starting list early on in a campaign if you can afford it to help keep momentum or late stage in addition to the Lawbot to provide twice the worry for your opponent.

Equipment 

One of the first things I would do with an enforcer gang is try and get them armoured up to the 9s, this is probably the only gang I will say this about but when you can get even your standard  ganger on a 3+ without much effort it seems like a smart move. Layered Flack or Mesh from the trading post will have you on a 5+, add Armoured Undersuit for 4+ then wither the Vigilance or Riot Shield makes that 3+ against ranged attacks from the front or 2+ in melee, all for 85 credits Max, thats 15 credits cheaper then Heavy Carapace 

Combos

Shackle and Shake - The best way to use the Magnacles. Hit them with a concussion weapon so they are at -2 initiative, Photo flash them (making them lose their activation and fight back on a 6+ only) before charging a rookie in to magnacle them to the floor. Just go and arrest everyone and then administer a bit of “rough justice”, the Emperor will know his own, and to the warp with the rest of them.

Grox Snout - Based on a medieval technique called the Boar Snout, this combo is a way of delivering your melee fighters into the frey as uninjured as possible. First take the Sanctioner Pattern Automita and put them front and center, due to their Mobile Bulwark special rule, any fighter that's even partially obscured by the LawBot gain full cover, add a Subjugator Sergeant with the Palanite prefecture skill Shield Companion and a Shield (obviously). You then stack your melee fighters behind the LawBot in 2 rows and push them all forward, you get full cover from shots in the front and then the Lawbot, who usually has a 4+ save, is sitting on a 3+ save from ranged attacks from the front arc and a 2+ save in melee thanks to the Shield Companion skill. If you fancy it, and have the Rep, you could also add a Bone Crusher Haunt and cast the Force Field power giving everyone within 3” of the Haunt +1 to their saves, making the LawBot have a 2+ armour save and giving everyone else about a bit more survivability as well.

If we are REALLY leaning into this tactic, support with Smoke Grenades, How Cinematic is that?

Badlands Bazar - Captain with Fixer, Sergeant with Reclamation contacts prefecture skill. Buy common items for a discount, then sell them back at full price. Sure this wont make you rich but it will keep a steady stream of income coming in. The most expensive piece of common equipment that I can think of is Wild Snake at 30 Credits, now if your lucky and roll a 3 on your d3 (5&6 on the D6) you could buy this for 5 credits and sell straight back to the Trading Post for 30, this is as good as Fixer, and would you look at that! We have Fixer on our leader for an additional d3x10 credits. On average you will be bringing in 35 credits per cycle just for existing, and you could add an additional Fixer hanger-on into that mix to make it 55.

We have Haunts at home - Poison sea prefecture and then buy all the Common Ghast you can afford and pump a champion full of the stuff every game, this lets them have access to a random wyrd power from the discipline of your choice and laugh as they cause havoc. Just be careful of the side effects, they could just go insane (and stay insane for every battle going forward) but that's more of a feature than a bug.

Malforcers in Mynerva - I don't usually talk about corrupting gangs in my guides, but Malforcers are some of my favourite flavours of corrupted gang. For this Combo we are going to start with The Mastrain Infected Enforcers and take the Mynerva prefecture. Lets take a Sergeant with the advanced beast handling skill and a Tyramite, now we have a 9” leash on our angry ball of Rad/Toxin that can fly down levels and attack whoever they need to, all while the Sergeant is shooting them full of holes. While we are Malstraining, why not add Wyrd powers on the Leader and use that 5+ WP the way it should be used, to cause chaos. If your group uses the expanded universal Wyrd Powers then you have a plethora of options but if not then Paroxysm is my top pick, you can hit a Heavy hitter with that then Shoot them before your next fighter charges in and makes short work of them.

Final Thoughts

I will start off by saying I really enjoy this update to the Palanite Enforcers, the fighter updates make them feel less "mediocre”, the skill changes make the different fighters feel more specialised. My major gripe is they had a chance to update and clarify some of the rules, like being able to magnacle as part of a charge, the subjugator pattern grenade launcher getting Blast on its stun rounds or the hardened flak ignoring a point of AP to 0 instead of 1, etc. All this plus the obvious copy/paste errors that have already been FAQ’d once in the Book of Judgement that now needs to be done again takes some of the shine off what is otherwise a superb book.

The inclusion of Rookies into the selection of available fighters allows you to run enforcers that are both elite in their hierarchy and yet now they don't have to worry so much about being outnumbered because they can take cheap juves to pad out the list.

The Prefectures are a nice bit of narrative addition, giving you multiple ways to progress your gang rather than a different way to build your initial starting list, I think this will let you take the same starting lists and encourage you to progress them in very different ways depending on the narrative of your gang or campaign much easier than you would with other gangs. 

All in all the Palanite Enforcers are a versatile gang that have multiple viable and fun ways to play depending on how you want to bring to the table.

Fin

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