Squat Salvagers
In the millenia before the Age of Isolation, long before the rise of the Emperor and his Imperium, hundreds of thousand of human miners, engineers and explorers in specially adapted spacecraft were sent to exploit the newfound wealth of mineral rich heavy gravity worlds near the galactic core.
From this origin emerged the abhuman strain classified as Homo Sapiens Rotundus along with a robust and distinct culture favoring craftsmanship, industriousness, and familial honor. Among the most human-like of the abhuman subspecies, standing about two-thirds the height of a normal human with a sturdy and powerful build, despite being officially designated Rotundus these short and stocky people came to be informally called Squats and the term eventually stuck.
In the early days resources and technological marvels flowed from the Squat Homeworlds back to Terra, and all was well. Then came the Warp Storms heralding the beginning of the Age of Isolation, and in the long years that followed contact with Terra was lost. Thousands of years passed, but eventually the Imperium of Man arose and reestablished contact with the Squat Homeworlds.
A mostly harmonius reunion between the two groups of humanity resulted with the Squat Homeworlds becoming a sort of semi-autonomus tributary of the Imperium, though with occasional points of friction between the two peoples. All to soon though, the Imperium was shaken to its core by the Horus Heresy and entire worlds were ruined or wiped out altogether.
In the aftermath of those dark days, a dozen clans of Squats made landfall on the devastated world of Necromunda and applied themselves to the vast reconstruction efforts being made to restore the mighty Hive World to prosperity.
Ten thousand plus years later the ancestors of these original clans remain, living semi-nomadic lifestyles in their great Land Trains, giant mobile mining and reclamation platforms that wander the Wastes.
In addition to prying raw materials from the planet with their massive machines, every season a handful of small salvage teams also set forth from the Land Trains to engage in a different sort of "mining".
For the vast amount of ancient technology buried in the underhives and ruins of Necromunda is like an inexhaustable mine of relics and componentry. Such salvage teams seek out and extract whatever resources they can, though it often brings them into conflict with underhive gangs and outland factions.
Gang Composition
Fighters
A starting Squat Salvagers team is made up of the following types of fighters.
175 credits
A Salvage Boss is responsible for the ultimate success or failure of the salvage team's venture, they wisely guide their retinue to maximize profit and jealously guard whatever spoils they manage to accumulate.
Engineer (0-3); + 1 per 10 Reputation (rounded down)
100 credits
A Squat Engineer is a skilled technical expert, responsible for the maintenance of the salvage team's gear as well as assessing the value of any technological relics discovered along the way.
Foreman (0-3); + 1 per 10 Reputation (rounded down)
100 credits
A Squat Foreman is a crusty veteran who has done it all; wreck reclamations, contested salvage operations, hostile acquisitions, you name it. Experts at both the practical parts of the job as well as the occasional regrettable violence that sometimes proves necessary along the way.
75 credits
A Squat Prospector is a junior engineer whose job it is to scout out ahead of the main body of the salvage team, looking for promising locations or finds. Thet get a finders bonus for whatever they personally discover and are thus very motivated to accept the greater risk their role requires.
65 credits
A Squat Senior Salvager is a seasoned Salvager with many past ventures under their belt who are respected by their peers. Though they have no special authority, they are deferred to within their areas of expertise and enjoy a position of middling status.
55 credits
A Squat Salvager is a typically middle aged Squat of unremarkable accomplishments who does the humble but necessary drudge work of a salvaging operation.
20 credits
A Squat Scrapper is a young Squat of middle social status on their first venture or one of lower status who managed to survive a previous venture as a Canary and thus earned their place. Either way a Scrapper's main job is to tear down, disassemble, and otherwise render salvaged items that aren't particularly valuable unto themselves into raw materials or componentry. Their other job is to do whatever a more important member of the salvage team tells them to do.
10 credits
A Squat Canary is a young Squat on their first salvage venture. Eager to prove themselves, they take risks so that the more elder Squats don't have to.
300 credits
A suit of Exo-armor modified to serve as an impressive industrial machine suitable for excavation, salvaging, and mining.
However, given the contested nature of many work sites, they are also heavily armed. Because pragmatism! When worn by a veteran Squat Salvager skilled in its usage,
there are few things more dangerous.
Standard Hangers-on
100 credits
If this gang has a Ratskin Guide who is not Captured or in Recovery, during the Determine Scenario step of the Pre-Battle Sequence if the selected Scenario does not dictate that it must be fought as either a Sector Mechanicus or Zone Mortalis battle, this gang's player may select which they prefer. Additionally, if the selected scenario has an attacker and defender this gang's controller may choose whether their gang will attack or defend. However if more than one gang participating in the battle has a Ratskin Guide, they cancel one another out and none of the gangs gain any benefit from their Ratskin Guides for the upcoming battle.
150 credits
Spanners are able hands with their spudjackers, both for the dismantling of scrap and for knocking heads in. A Spanner who is not in Recovery or Captured may join their gang's Crew.
50 credits
If a gang has a Wastes Merchant who is not in Recovery or Captured, the Wastes Merchant may take the Seek Rare Item action or the Seek Buyer action even if the gang they belong to is ordinarily not allowed to visit the Trading Post.
Outcasts Hangers-on
150 credits
While most Ratskins avoid contact with outsiders, some live on the fringes of underhive society and are willing to hire out their services. Unlike many types of Hangers-on, Ratskin Outcasts confer no static bonus to their gang but are always available as fighters unless they are Captured or in Recovery.
However, it costs their gang an additional D3 x 10 credits to add them to the gang's Crew per battle and if this amount is not paid they are removed from the gang's roster immediately.
Tactics Cards
A Squat Salvagers team may select Tactics Cards from the
Squat Salvagers Tactics Cards
list by default, though campaign and / or scenario specific guidelines may modify this.
Campaign
A Squat Salvagers team is available on a case by case basis depending upon the type of campaign. Consult the Arbitrator or campaign write up to determine if a player may run a Squat Salvagers team and what restrictions, exceptions, or guidelines might apply.
If a Squat Salvagers team is allowed in a type of campaign, in addition to any other campaign specific rules that may apply to them the following requirements and restrictions apply and must be adhered to.
Injury
If a Critical Injury result is rolled for a Squat fighter, use the following Survivor Critical Injury table to resolve the outcome instead
of the standard one.
Survivor Critical Injury Table
Roll a D6 and subtract the fighter's Wounds characteristic (not their current Wounds), then consult the table below with the total:
0 or less
Grievous Injury: The fighter goes into Recovery.
1-4
Permanent Injury: The fighter goes into Recovery and suffers a permanent injury. Roll again on the Permanent Injury table.
5+
Memorable Death: The fighter is killed instantly. If the injury was caused by an attack, the attacker gains an additional 1 XP.