Necromunda Weapons Review: Basic Weapons

As with my review of pistols this is for Necromunda community Edition.

Autogun

Ah the much misaligned autogun... It has been made viable again in CE. For anyone who doesn't understand I will briefly explain.
In older editions of the game the difference between Autoguns and Lasgun was that Lasguns had a much better ammo roll and a -1 save mod for only 5 credits more. Which made Autoguns pointless.
In CE the Lasguns short range has been reduced from 12" to 8", making the autogun have its own place again.
This is a good low budget weapon that is ideal for Juves that have just become gangers and makes a cheap backup weapon.

Shotgun

This is easily the most versatile weapon in the game, with lots of ammo types to choose from it has an answer to many problems your gang might face.

In its basic form it is a little sub par. It suffers from a -1 to hit at long range for most of its ammo types. (It is the only basic weapon with a -1 to hit long range)

This makes it a better weapon for a gang member who has had a BS upgrade or two.

I will quickly go over the ammo choices

Solid slug: S4 which is great -1 to hit long range which is not great. Once you buy other ammo types you will never use this ammo type again.

Scatter shot: S3 Ignores any cover modifiers and also hits models in base to base with the target on a 4+ It does still suffer the -1 to hit long range so if the target is in light cover it might be better to use another ammo type, unless you are going for a multi shot.

Manstopper shells: S4 with no -1 to long range, I personally start any shotgunners off with this ammo type

Hotshot shells: S4 with a 5+ to set target on fire. This ammo type is great for denying enemy gangers their turn. As if they have a high toughness and you don't manage to wound but you do set them on fire they have to send their turn putting out the fire! The ammo roll is bad though...

Bolt shells: These basically turn your shotgun into a boltgun, the cost will add up to be the same. With the difference that the short range of the weapon stays at 4" (It does have the same long range as a boltgun)

This is great for gangs that don't have boltguns on their house weapon list. 

It is also worth noting that all the ammo types except scatter shot have the rule Knock back. tests for falling from a shotgun incur a -1 penalty.

Hunting Rifle

A new weapon for CE that fills a nice role. It has a nice long range of 32" and a short range of 8". Uniquely it has a -1 to hit short range. I has a special rule "Head shot" on a roll to wound of a 6 the weapon does D3 damage. This makes it great at taking out multi wound gangers.
This gun is great for a ganger that is keeping a heavy company. I find that a lasgun will often be out of range from where a heavy will be set up, so the hunting rifle keeps the ganger being able to fight too.
If I have the credits I like to have this as a backup weapon on my heavy too.
In our last campaign one of the gangs had an Ogryn, its high toughness meant it could only be wounded by this weapon on a 6 anyway so the head shot always triggers.

Lasgun

The most reliable basic weapon, it also has a -1 save mod. It took a slight nerf in CE to bring it back in line with the other weapons but it is still a great weapon even so.
Its a great weapon and is the standard the others are compared to.

Boltgun

The most expensive basic weapon, it has the rule of cool but little else. A terrible ammo roll, you are paying a lot for that S4 24" range. 

Many people swear by it, not me though. I personally prefer paying less and using a shotgun for my S4 at a shorter range. 

That does mean the boltgun equipped ganger gets a turn of shooting at me before my shotgun is in range, but I'll take my chances! 

It becomes interesting if you find the Hellfire bolts for it (These do D3 damage but like dum dum rounds you have to test for a exploding weapon on a roll of a 1-3) This makes someone with weaponsmith a ideal choice for this setup.

I hope these thoughts are useful to you, feel free to share your own thoughts or ideas about these weapons in the comments I would love to hear them.

I tried my best with this and the pistol review to find old 2nd edition pictures of the guns, I couldn't find one for the shotgun sadly. And the hunting rifle wasn't in those old editions so there was no picture, anyone who can tell me where I got the image from will win a prize!!!