Advice needed on a Necromunda gang...

[ChiTownPicaro]

Well I have finally found a campaign to join and I am really excited. It has been years since I have played in a Necromunda campaign or any GW games. I stopped by with friends at Adepticon and I remember how much fun miniature war games are so I dug out my old stuff and headed to my local GW store. I was lucky enough to meet some nice guys who were playing Necromunda and they said they would be starting a campaign soon, so I gladly jumped in.


I downloaded the new rules as we will be using those to my knowledge. However I know that the person running the campaign will also be allowing a few non-standard gangs including an Ork gang he got from a link somewhere, I do believe it was in an issue of "Fanatic" magazine. I also believe that he is going to try and do something with the territories and is going to try and do a map. I am not sure yet but I will be finding out on Thursday. However I want to have a gang or two ready to play test with as next week we are meeting about it and then playing for fun. I don't expect the campaign to start until the week after that.


I believe that some of the other players will be playing the following: Ork Waagh, Van Saar, Escher, Delaque, Cawdor (?), Orlock, and I am unsure of the rest. I am not 100% sure of the Cawdor gang either, but we will see. All in all there will be 6-9 people including myself. I have played with a few of these guys and they seem to live shooter gangs more than hand to hand. However we had to use city terrain geared more for Warhammer 40K than Necromunda as we are playing at a Bunkjer. One of the players will be bringing in a lot more appropriate terrain is what I was stole.


As of right now I am unsure of what gang to play. I can field the following gangs easily:


Delaque, Cawdor, Redemptionist, Spyrer, Delaque, Van Saar, and Ratskin Renegades. I don't know which I would like to play but I am leaning towards Ratskins, Spyrers, or Delaque. It has been awhile and I am not as experienced as the others I suspect so I am not sure what to play. I looked at the Spyrer rules called "Death Stalks the Underhive" and they seem better than before as they get more powerful with one boost on their "Power Boost Table". However I am also considering Ratskins but I don't like their lack of shamans and the fact the resilient rule as changed, making them a lot less powerful. The new Totem Warriors are cool but seem rather expensive and underpowered for what you get, as well as nearly useless against the players I have played who avoid HTH like the plague and prefer to shoot it out. To be fair though I only played them as a Spyrer gang and not another more "normal" gang. But either way I am leaning towards Ratskins as the Treacherous Conditions make them really powerful if you get a decent role such as models not being able to see past 8 inches or unable to sit up top on a balcony with a heavy. I also like the Coup stick in the hopes of advancing a juve, but I don't expect it to be that useful. I am going to see if we can use the old rules for Ratskins so I can use my shaman model, as I love the model holding the staff and lasgun. I much prefer that roster versus the new one which seems underpowered. I also had a question about the Blind-Snake Pouches. If I don't buy one for my ganger at the beginning of the campaign, can I still buy it for 20 Credits later when I have extra credits to spare?


I am also considering a Spyrer gang as well since they are painted and ready to go, but at this point I am not sure. The advantage of not having to worry about food and recruiting seems advantageous, but I don't like that I will be limited to the 5 members for the campaign and losing one will take a heavy toll. However they can get powerful quick.


And my final option would be a Delaque or Van Saar gang. I like both houses a lot and have enough models that I can field a decent gang, though they need to be painted. I also don't expect the WYSIWYG rules to be enforced as most people are not willing to butcher some of their older out of print models that I talked to. Both gangs are shooter gangs and the techno versus stealth skills will be the big issue of debate for me, but otherwise I will equip them with Las Guns and auto-pistols as need be.


I am not really a fan of the Cawdor gang and just may use them for Redemptionists, who I enjoy but I am not sure of since they seem to have cut the power of the gang down without the hand flamer templates. I also have never been that big of a fan of them and their fluff. That is just me but fluff makes the world more interesting and fun.


So what does everyone think I should do? I am going to find out more soon but as of right now I am leaning towards Ratskins and Delaque. I was told people don't mind if we double up and have two of the same house represented. So with that said, please send some advice.


I posted this on a few forums to solicit as much info as possible. So if you see it somewhere else feel free to reply or not.


One last thing, am I the only one who misses the old sustained fire dice and templates? It seems so different without them?

[c0un7_z3r0]

If you haven't played for a while and aren't as experienced I'd go with a house gang. Sure they might not be as exiting but are still a ton of fun to play. I'd say it comes down to how easy you want it to be? Spyrers are quite unforgiving, I've never seen a gang last more than a couple of games. Ratskins are more forgiving but can be tricky if you meet a lot of shooty guys, and one of their main strengths is quite dependent on the treacherous condition roll. If I where you I'd go for Delaque as you seem to fancy those more than Van Saar (correct me if I'm wrong). But I guess Van Saar is the way to go if you want to go down the power player path (I've never played them or played against them though, but that seems to be the consensus).

About the sustain fire dice, I'd love to see it again as long as it brought back the 2nd ed Assault Cannon :-D!

[Catferret]

c0un7_z3r0's advice is pretty sound. The house gangs are great for getting back into the game after a hiatus. Less fancy rules to remember. Keeping everybody to the six houses may be a good idea for the first quick campaign. Gets everybody up to speed with the basics before bringing in the crazy stuff.

Be very wary of including the orks. I vaguely recall them being immune to pinning. Couple that with T4 and you have a very powerful gang from the start. I'd suggest counting them as Goliaths if the player really wants to use his models.

If you do go for the basic gangs, I'd probably run with Delaque. Having access to Stealth on everybody is great. Techno is good, but you can usually cope fine with access on your Leader and Heavies. That's probably enough to get you a Medic or Armourer. The other stuff is less important in my opinion. Specialist is fun but you sink a lot of creds into buying all those special weapons. Delaque can usually go without that due to all the Gunfighters with Hipshooting and Evade. Or an Infiltrating Marksman.

Plus Delaque give you an excuse to buy these awesome models.

[Whitesilk]

Have to agree with whats been said already. Stay away from the Syprers, those and Enforcers should been storylline gangs. They can both get ridiculous real quick. The Ratskins, the new ones, are ...ok, but seem incomplete. As in the descriptions of skills/abilities lead one to think they were to have more information coming down from GW before they closed the door on Necromunda.

Go basic house gangs. Van Saar are powerful, mainly cause they all can get techno skills. BUT...if enough of your gang survives long enough that advantage wont matter much. Stealth and Shooting is where its at.

oh, and why they love shooty gangs.....HtH in Necormunda is incredibly dangerous!!!! Those T4 Orks are going to have the upper hand when it comes to HtH.

edit:: Make sure that if you plan on playing in a GW shop/bunker that you get the ok first before buying non-GW models. My understanding is that GW staff won't allow that to happen.

[aglondier]

One last thing, am I the only one who misses the old sustained fire dice and templates? It seems so different without them?

Nope. We still play with the old dice and templates.

[ChiTownPicaro]

Well I submitted a Ratskin gang and I am playing them. We're not using treacherous conditions in every game but the campaign manager has something similar to them so we will see. We also decided to use the new resilient rule rather than the old one which was broken. I am using the old gang list otherwise.

[Malo]

If you're playing Living Rulebook current version of Necromunda from GW website, you MUST play treacherous conditions in any game the Ratskins are participating in.

[Whitesilk]

Why "MUST" they? Chi stated that the CM is using something similar. Also if all parties are in agreement on this subject then why muddy the waters with "MUST"?

I understand, and I hope Chi does to, that the new Ratskins are the Treacherous Conditions...its what makes this gang shine, takes their abundant shortcomings and allows them to be able to go toe-to-toe with the "normal" gangs. Without it they'll be steamrollered. But, if there is a agreement that the TConditoins will be used in some and in others the CM table then ....its ok...for this group of players.

Chi: Just out of curiosity, what is the table the CM is using? Their own? Another systems? Would be interesting to see/know if it is viable to use in my campaign. I hope you are able to TC in all your games. Makes for a more dynamic game.

[Malo]

I'm just going from the wording on the rule. Any players can do whatever they want with the rules, that is their prerogative.

[ChiTownPicaro]

Why "MUST" they? Chi stated that the CM is using something similar. Also if all parties are in agreement on this subject then why muddy the waters with "MUST"?

I understand, and I hope Chi does to, that the new Ratskins are the Treacherous Conditions...its what makes this gang shine, takes their abundant shortcomings and allows them to be able to go toe-to-toe with the "normal" gangs. Without it they'll be steamrollered. But, if there is a agreement that the TConditoins will be used in some and in others the CM table then ....its ok...for this group of players.

Chi: Just out of curiosity, what is the table the CM is using? Their own? Another systems? Would be interesting to see/know if it is viable to use in my campaign. I hope you are able to TC in all your games. Makes for a more dynamic game.

I am not sure what ruleset he is using. I do know that Malo is correct using the new Ratskin list but I don't believe we are using them as they can give a serious advantage to the Ratskin player.

I will find out on Thursday.