Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

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?

As you are starting out again, Van Saar are argued as the 'best' gang because of the widely available techno skills. I have never tried using Delaque, however, shooting and stealth seem to be a good combination.
Ratskins don't have any heavy weapons afaik, so take that into consideration. A pair of heavy stubbers ruin everyone's day, especially ratskins.
I have never seen the Spyrers in action, but to me, they seem a very powerful, but regularly outnumbered gang.
Can spyrers buy new members when old ones die or retire?

I usually use delaque, I love the combo of shooting and stealth.
Van Saar are good but need time to aquire the skills, unlike combta gangs (Escher, Goliath etc)

Ratskinsn are different and can come across as dickish as in you have to use the funky terrain chart and the fact ratskins are immune from its affects.
But that is nothing compared to the Spyrers. The most common tactic is buy the minimum 3 and just buy XP for them because you know you can. And the ability to call upon the Patriarch (with the only 2+ save in the game) and Matriarch can cause you to be viewed as TFG. But they are "balanced out" by the attempt to limit the amount of time they can spend in a campaign due to the vow you have to take.

Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:Ratskinsn are different and can come across as dickish as in you have to use the funky terrain chart and the fact ratskins are immune from its affects.

This was very true in the campaign some friends and I played years ago (using the hardback rules omnibus, not the revised versions)... I pretty much abandoned that rule as it was Not Fun for everyone involved.

On the other hand, in that edition I could field a gun line of cheap ratskins with lasguns that was scary enough on its own.

Balance wrote:

Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:Ratskinsn are different and can come across as dickish as in you have to use the funky terrain chart and the fact ratskins are immune from its affects.

This was very true in the campaign some friends and I played years ago (using the hardback rules omnibus, not the revised versions)... I pretty much abandoned that rule as it was Not Fun for everyone involved.

On the other hand, in that edition I could field a gun line of cheap ratskins with lasguns that was scary enough on its own.

Blunderbuss spam ftw, Joke.

Yeah when we have a Necro campaign at the LGS the only ratskin player doesn't use the chart as house rule No.1
House Rule No.2 Max 3 wounds in H2H for XP purposes

First off, let me say that I am jealous. I really miss playing Necromunda. We started when it first came out and played the hell out of it for about 3 years or so. I would have to agree that I liked some of the older rules better.

As for gangs, I've tried Delaque, Cawdor, Escher, Ratskins, and Spyrer. My most successful were Delaque, but I was also lucky enough to get the medic skill from techno pretty early in our campaign. However, shooting and stealth are all pretty good skills. I also had an infiltrator and vents with that gang. The only thing I liked about my Cawdor was that it was my first gang that I started off with 2 heavies. The second heavy was only armed with a special weapon though. I think my Escher and Ratskin gangs were fun and challenging just because hth is more challenging to get into. Spyrer gangs are cool, but are usually viewed as overpowered to begin with. However, as the other gangs grow and you become really outnumbered then you start fighting an uphill battle since one model can make you bottle and can really hurt you in the long run. With the other guys in our group we had all the other types of gangs covered and the only ones that I would mention would be Goliath, Orlocks, Van Saar, and Scavvy. Our player hated his Goliaths, complaining that the game is centered on shooting and since Goliath are all about close combat, they are at a huge disadvantage. Our Van Saar player just had rotten luck but the gang was decent overall, the same could be said about the Orlocks. I would group Scavvy in that almost too powerful group as zombies are a huge pain in the . Then again most of my games against the Scavvy gang were with my Ratskins and they are not known for dishing out massive amounts of damage. I just couldn't clear away the fodder before his gang was on top of me. Oh... and my treacherous terrain never seemed to matter much, either the other gangs were able to avoid it easily enough or they didn't suffer much of a disadvantage from it.

If I had it to start over again and had to use the new rules, I would stick with one of the main houses and go with either my Delaque (Ghosts of Darkness GoDs) or my Escher (Twisted Angels TnA ).

I haven't played with or against Spyrers before but I think I'd miss the whole aspect of developing the gang and buying new stuff part of the game.

If it's your first time playing for a while I'd go with a house gang. Always thought Delaque look like fun.

Oh, and check out the Community Rules (google search for Anthony Case Necromunda). They're ace and do a very good at balancing the game. Muscle skills, for example, are now actually worth having, making the Goliath gang a reasonable option for once.

A good option to nerf, but not just toss out, the Treacherous Conditions rules (that Ratskins are immune to):

Each gang leader rolls at the beginning of the game, and the high roller decides whether Treacherous Conditions are in effect for this game. Modifiers: Gang leader with higher experience adds +1 to his roll, Ratskin Renegades add +2 to their roll, gang with a Ratskin Scout adds +1 to their roll.

Treacherous Conditions are an interesting advantage for Ratskins, but they shouldn't get to use them in every game.

We actually started playing and I did aright for my first game. I lost the game as I bottled out against the Cawdor player. I tried to rush him into hand to hand but he would not fight my Ratskins in hand to hand. I had a couple of guys with swords and that pretty much kept him back. One of my Ratskins was wounded and now has horrible scars and causes fear, and the other was captured which I used my "resilient" ability to remedy with a full recovery. I ended up capturing one of his jukes and killing a ganger of his. He started the game with a seven model gang and is now crippled.

As far as the rules, we are playing with a few mods. I can't use the treacherous conditions chart unless the other player agrees, "resilient" only gives me a reroll not the ability to choose, and I can use the shaman rather than the totem warriors. Unfortunately my shaman rolled the slime dance power. Either way, it wasn't too bad a game.

Spryers are individually the best unit/model type in Necromunda, but if one dies on you it really hurts.

Years ago, I was in a campaign where the Spryer player kept losing a Spryer almost every game. He just kept remaking a starting team because it was more effective than playing with only 3 models.

adamsouza wrote:Spryers are individually the best unit/model type in Necromunda, but if one dies on you it really hurts.

Years ago, I was in a campaign where the Spryer player kept losing a Spryer almost every game. He just kept remaking a starting team because it was more effective than playing with only 3 models.

they can just start with 3 and just but XP with the remaining money

adamsouza wrote:Spryers are individually the best unit/model type in Necromunda, but if one dies on you it really hurts.

Years ago, I was in a campaign where the Spryer player kept losing a Spryer almost every game. He just kept remaking a starting team because it was more effective than playing with only 3 models.

Adam you've hit the nail on the head there. Spyrers are KICK ASS untill one goes out of action in battle. Then it's PRAY for an EXTREMELY good roll or the gang is finished. I played a campaign with them. Two battles in first permanent casualty with another missing the next battle. Unsurprisingly the 3rd battle was a white wash. End of campaign for me.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Found them...
http://www.librarium-online.com/forums/other-40k-universe-games/197611-necromunda-links-all-those-hard-find-pdfs.html

Ctrl+F this
“Ultraviole(n)t” – Rules for Vampire Gangs.
http://files.sigil.biz/data/gw_03_ul...le%28n%29t.pdf

I really loved Necromunda... and I used two gangs for the most part: Delaques and Spyrers. I also used Goliaths and Orlocks at various points.

I found Spyrers really fun to play: they've got a very unque play-style and equipment list that really sets them apart from the other gangs. It's like using Predators in the hive. If you like deathstar units in other games, then Spyrers might be a good fit for you. However, I don't think they're best for beginners. As a beginner, start with one of the 'vanilla' gangs, learn how it all works, and then branch out when you feel like a change. Plus, given their low numbers, experienced gangs can really pin them down and take them out if you don't know what you're doing.


I know they weren't on your list, but I think Orlocks are a good 'starting out' gang, because their skills have a nice mix. You can get a good feel for the different aspects of the game, without 'overcommitting' the way other gangs do to either shooting or hand to hand. Plus, that way any items you get can usually be used by someone in your gang. That's what I'd say to most new players.

Ah... the good old days of Necromunda... but now I'm selling off all my necromunda stuff [shameless plug] to fuel my 40k addiction