Necromunda Hired guns review Part 1.

Continuing my review of all things Necromunda, here are my thoughts on the hired guns.

Ratskin Scout

Easily my favorite hire gun, they tend not to impact too heavily in game but that's not what you hire them for. Guide and Explore are abilities that make the ratskin scout worthwhile.

Guide guide gives you a +/-1 on the scenario roll regardless of who is underdog.

The amount of times the +/-1 to the scenario roll has given me the choice of scenario alone makes a Ratskin a near permanent presence in my gangs over the years.

Explore allows you to use the ratskin to look for a new territory for you if you win a game. On a roll of a 6 you find one, on a 1 however he leaves your gang.

In game I tend to use them sparingly, preferring to allow my gang members a chance to gain wounding hits before I let the Ratskin shoot. (Often just to ensure an important enemy gang member is pinned)

They often have a mobility skill with skills such as Leap, Sprint, Dive and Infiltration. This makes them ideal flankers, send one off on one side of the board and your opponent will have to divert at least one member of their gang to deal with the Ratskin. Even if the two never actually end up attacking each other that is one less ganger for you to worry about.

Underhive Scum

These gunslingers add some fighting punch to any gang. With an impressive 6 upgrades they are the equal of a ganger with 101 exp! With no long term injuries! And although some of the upgrades they can roll are not the best they are still all at least relevant to their role. Their initiative is doubled in shootout, but as you don't choose who participates in shootout it is down to chance if he will even be there...

I personally don't use them as I would rather my gang gain exp than pay a guy to take it for me.

But still they are a cheap and effective hire for a underdog gang.

Bounty Hunter

Very expensive. Very well armed. Very deadly. (At least at the start of a campaign)

These guys are great but by hell do you pay for it! Used correctly though you can use them to earn extra credits, but at the cost of your friends.

They have a special rule that means if they down a fighter in combat they are automatically captured. A good use of this is to down fighters using shooting then charge in with the bounty hunter the next turn. This would make him very unpopular with other gangs so he would quickly become a huge target.

Repeat rescue missions or paying ransoms will soon get old for the other players.

Buying Screamers, Bioscanners and Infra red goggles makes it even harder for successful rescues to take place,. 

Bounty hunters quickly become outclassed by members of gangs though once a campaign gets going. Hire wisely.

New models arrive!

I got a few models off the interwebs for my Cygnar army.
Having played in a local tournament last weekend I would have liked to have gotten these earlier so I could have tried them out during it.

I got a new caster in eCaine, who I am excited to try out. Also a unit which will work well with him pAlexia and the risen. Rupert the piper works well with the risen and reinholdt the gobber is all about helping Caine.

The odd duck in this lot is a Firefly light warjack who is for eNemos theme list that I'm slowly working toward.

Really looking forward to trying these out and getting them painted up

Necromunda Weapons Review: Special Weapons

Thought seeing as my camera isn't ready yet I would start off my posting again with another weapons review.

Diving right in

Flamer

The cheapest costing special weapon in the game, one of the most widely used as well. Very short range of the template means you will have to get in close to use it. Best used on Heavies with low BS and WS upgrades, to make themselves more useful in the gang. Also a great option on a ganger or juve that rolls up specialist but has not got a great BS. S4 is decent all the way through a campaign and setting fire on a 4+ is a great bonus. Having to roll an ammo check after each shot means you shouldn't rely on it lasting too long without Armourer or Weaponsmith skills. 

One problem that was been noticed in our group is people getting 40k syndrome when shooting it and forgetting that it is still subject to the targeting rules and unless the shooter has the Marksman skill they must target the closest model. So you can't aim where you choose to catch more models. A way around this is to be careful of your placement when moving.

Autoslugger

A new weapon added in community edition, costing 45 credits it is essentually an autogun that shoots D3 times and has a 5+ ammo roll. Range, strength and damage are all the same as its basic weapon counter part.

I have not used this weapon myself but I can see it as a very nice (but slightly expensive) back up weapon for a heavy. Or perhaps on a ganger or a juve that gains specialist.

Grenade launcher

This weapon nearly deserves its own post!

Changed from LRB it being a move or fire weapon with a very long range and costing about 120 credits, to a 28" and a costing 60. It can fire all but meltabombs, which gives it a versatility that is unmatched.  Often started with just frags it gives you a great pinning weapon able to hit everyone in a large blast stops most gangs from getting them up from pinning. Krak grenades add some needed punch to the weapon, being its highest strength ammo type. Plasma grenades do slightly less damage than Krak but have the potential to stick around for a long time and cause more damage. The gas grenades add a lot of utility to the weapon but limit your exp gains so are best used sparingly, as if any of the shots you make cause you to run out of ammo the gun cannot be fired even with the other ammo types you carry.

Meltagun

The highest strength special weapon, with a really short range of only 12" you will need to be a good shot with this gun, if you miss most gangs will not let you take a second shot! Best used on high BS gang members like leaders. Although it is pricey it gets the job done. Don't forget its high impact so -1 LD for nerve tests when you down guys with this gun!

Plasma gun

A great special weapon with two firing modes like other plasma weapons. Nice range and a high strength, although the strength of the high power shot was reduced by 1 in CE. You have the choice to fire on low power for a S5 shot, or high power for D3 S6 shots but with a roll on the gets hot chart and a lower ammo roll. Often its better to shoot low power saving a high power volley of shots for a nice group of targets. With the gets hot having the possibility of doing a strength D3 hit on the owner, it is nice if the owner has a toughness or wound increase to help mitigate this. 

Needle rifle

The only "rare" special weapon, it costs a hell of a lot for what it offers. It is silenced so if fired while hidden roll a D6 and on a 4+ you remain hidden, also great for rescues and raid. If you hit with this gun and they fail any armour save they might have then then take a wound without you having to roll for it. There is also an improved injury chart 5-6 being OOA instead of a 6. Also gangers downed by this weapon cannot crawl 2" a turn. But once gangs get a bit of exp under the belt they are likely to have multi wound gangers that make this weapon not worth its 180+4D6 credit price tag. 

I hope this was useful to you guys if you want me to do more in this series please let me know, and if you have any comments or questions on these weapons or better advise post these in the comments below! All are welcome if I got anything wrong I will get it fixed!