Necropolis28
A free narrative diorama skirmish game by Peter Vigors. Undead liches and their warbands fight over relics in the ruins of the Endless City, on a 16 × 16 inch board built like a diorama.
"This is the epitome of what the hobby can be."
What is Necropolis28
Necropolis28 is a narrative diorama skirmish game by Peter Vigors, who goes by OwlShield. Everything in the world is dead. Undead liches and their minions fight over power and relics in the ruins of the Endless City, and you play one of them, building a warband and a story across a campaign.
The board is the big idea. It’s only 16 × 16 inches, on purpose, so instead of a big table you build a small, dense diorama. Every game happens somewhere that looks like a real place.
It grows out of the DIY storytelling of Mordheim, Turnip28, and Inq28, and the look is somewhere between Dark Souls and Bloodborne. The rules are free, and Peter has said they always will be. It’s been in open development since early 2022, and it won Best in Show at the South East London Wargames Group show that October.
How it plays
Your warband, a Gathering, is a leader plus up to six minions. The leader is a Lich (a wizard), a Revenant (a warrior), or in newer versions an Ascendant Undead. You build it with Obols, the game’s points, spent on minions and equipment. Each warband also follows a Covenant, which gives it its theme, from the beasts of the Crawling-dark to the Eternal Autumn of the Barksap.
Turns use alternating activations, and every model gets two action points. All the rolls are D10s, and there are no clean misses: a weak attack is a glancing blow for a little damage, and a good one is a full hit. Liches cast with mana dice tied to Blood, Bone, or Plasm.
The part that really stands out is the Others. After both warbands activate, the models that belong to neither side get their turn, and the players bid mana dice to control them. So the board is never just two warbands. There’s always something else in the ruins that might be on your side this turn.
On top of that there’s a campaign layer: Ambitions for magic, battle, exploring, and reputation, plus lair upgrades and treasures, so your lich grows from game to game.
Solo and co-op rules are in beta. I have a copy, and I’ll be doing a video on them in October.
How to start
- Get the rules. They’re free in the rules folder. The Discord is the place to ask questions and see what’s changed.
- Build a 16 × 16 board. Small and dense, like a diorama. I built mine out of foam offcuts and a thrift-store picture frame: How to Build a 16x16 Necropolis Board.
- Make your dead. A leader and a handful of minions. Anything vaguely dead or undead works, and kitbashing your own dudes is the whole point.
- Or print the official ones. The official minis are STLs sculpted by Blightbones from Martin McCoy’s designs, including the multipart Denizens kit. They come with the £4 tier on the Patreon.
A hardback edition is coming through Kickstarter, with the STLs included. It hasn’t launched yet, so follow the page to hear when it does.
Community
Discord & Patreon
Tools
Reviews & videos
Goonhammer overview
Written overview of the game
Wargamer: Warhammer meets Dark Souls
Feature from the Best in Show win
The Fluffenhammer
Written review
Spruedude
Blog post on the game
Creating a Character for Necropolis28
Video by manuelsminis
Necropolis Readthrough
Video rules readthrough by Hobby Homies
The Hobbinomicon take
I love this game. I love the small, diorama-focused board. I love anything necromancer and skeleton related, and I love kitbashing and making your own dudes. This is the epitome of what the hobby can be.
If you like Necropolis28, try
Other games in the directory that scratch the same itch.
Videos
More on YouTube →Terrain & basing
Bases, boards, and the scenery to put them on.
