I’ve been gaming with the same batch of guys for almost ten years now, and the one game that has been a constant for that entire time is Games Workshop’s oft-ignored game of gang warfare in the underbelly of the far future, Necromunda. We’re roleplayers at heart, and Necromunda’s focus on leveling a small group of guys appeals to our wizard- and elf-making hearts.

But that’s not the only reason we’re still playing a fifteen year old game with some pretty dusty rules. I mean, let’s face it– Necromunda is based on the wonky second edition of Warhammer 40,000. The ridiculous prospect of shooting a ganger with a Lascannon attests to that. The game’s only real balance is that just about everybody has the same random access to the same random crazy shit.

And that’s why we still play Necromunda. It’s “balanced” by its randomness. And as long as you take that into account, you can add houseruled nonsense to your heart’s content. We’ve added train robberies, bank heists, and bar brawls. We’ve added Orks, Eldar, Kroot, and Genestealers. We’ve added ultra-rare equipment, upgradable territories, and vehicles. We’ve added all this by following one simple rule. Just make sure that everybody has to roll on the same table, and make sure that a “1″ results in comically awful consequences.

You can expand your Necromunda game to include the whole of the 40K universe, or you can keep it faithful to its hive-gang roots, which by themselves are an excellently generic gang fighting game. The basic game, human gangs using small arms and melee weapons to fight over territories, can be transplanted to many a different setting, be it post-apocalypse, dystopian future, space western, or the back streets of 1930s Chicago. Just muck with the equipment lists a bit and use some different terrain and Necromunda gives you rules for any setting where you want two gangs of guys (or mohawked gals) to shoot the crap out of each other.

The best part about all this is the rules are free. They’re right there for you to download on GW’s site. You can use the miniatures and terrain you already have. It’s a game that will cost you nothing.

And that’s the third reason why we’re still playing Necromunda. It doesn’t cost us a dime. We spent maybe thirty to forty bucks a piece almost ten years ago, and that’s the whole of our Necromunda investment. There are few miniatures games out there that you can get into so cheap, and if you’re already a miniatures gamer, you probably have all the stuff you need.