Necromunda Weapons Review: Heavy Weapons

Continuing the series of reviews of the weapons in Necromunda here are my thoughts on Heavy weapons.

Heavy stubber

The "standard" heavy weapon from which all others are compared. Its the cheapest traditional HW and you get what you pay for in some regard. It has the lowest strength (S4) which makes sense given its cost. Pumping out between 2 and 6 shots a turn with an average ammo roll, it should keep going for a while during a firefight. Remember that though you can fire full auto with two sustained fire dice, you don't have to. You could choose to fire one sustained fire dice, or only fire a single shot. This could be useful if you only have one target and don't want to risk running out of ammo.

I would recommend this weapon to anyone new to the game, its very forgiving to new players. If you lose your heavy early not too many credits are lost, this lessens the sting somewhat. Later in a campaign it will become less useful at downing gangers that have toughened up. It becomes more of an area denial piece used for pinning more than killing.

Heavy flamer

A new addition to community edition and a good one. Its a S5 flamer that does D3 damage, It also has one better ammo roll and chance to set a target on fire than a standard flamer. It is worth noting that although it is a HW you can more and still fire unlike the rest. It still encumbers the heavy with a -1 penalty in combat however. The fact that it does more damage and has a higher chance to set on fire makes it much more deadly than its special weapon counterpart. 

Missile Launcher

The grenade launchers big brother.although with less options. It has two ammo types which are sold seperatly (Reminds me of toy adverts form the 90's) Frag and krak missiles are both good and if you are investing in this weapon get both. Just do it. The frag missiles having S4 makes it comperable to the heavy stubber (Trading sustained fire for a large blast template). Krak missiles however is the same a an autocannon shot. It will only hit one model but if you do and don't roll a one to wound... that model is most likely going to go OOA. It might be fun to come up with extra ammo types but thats for another day...

Heavy Bolter

Take the heavy stubber increase its cost by 60 its strength by 1 and give it D3 damage. That is awesome, but your ammo roll goes down to a 6... That sucks. If you can get weaponsmith on you heavy though it becomes a monster. It is worth bringing two heavies from the start one with the H bolter and the other with a basic or special weapon until one of them gets weaponsmith then give him the weapon. Other things that make it more viable are the Workshop territory, an auto-repairer or a weapon reload. These all increase its life span during a game. The auto-repairer is better as it helps your whole gang, the weapon reload costs a lot for what it does really. I wouldn't really go for it myself.

Heavy Plasmagun

One of the more expensive HW's. Like the other plasma weapons it has the two fire modes. Low power is S7 D3 damage small blast, high is S8 D6 damage large blast but a roll on the gets hot chart. Its a premium weapon with a premium price, well worth it though. 

If you manage to get a wound or toughness increase on your heavy firing on high power becomes less risky.
Even if you don't fire it on high power its a formidable weapon, but if you get that chance to catch a few gang fighters in one shot and they all go down, well thats worth it even if you do go down to the gets hot roll.

Autocannon

High strength and one sustained fire dice make this weapon deadly, but the high cost for what it does. The effect is basically the same as a missile launcher but with D3 shots, you can only rely on firing once but when you get three its great. It does have a much better ammo roll than the missile launcher though, so chances are you will carry on shooting after the launcher would have run out of ammo.

Lascannon

The most expensive weapon in the game, and the most powerful. At strength 9 and 2D6 damage unless you are unlucky enough to roll a one to wound what ever you hit will go down. And with an ammo roll of a 2+ you should keep firing for the whole game. It also has a special rule which means that nerve tests trigger at 6" rather than just 2". Remember that it is high impact too so they will all suffer -1 to their LD rolls. This means even though you will only ever down one ganger at a time with this weapon, it has a great board presence. I can't see it used very often as anyone good at the game will try their best not to give you line of sight to any of their gangers  

 What are your thoughts on these most powerful of weapons?? Drop a comment below at least saying your favorite one!

Warmachine Cygnar vs Skorne failed batrep

Last Wednesday I had a game against a new opponent Sam a nice player who is starting out with Skorne.

I had never played skorne and was looking forward to seeing what they can do.

We played the 3 flag scenario (although not the newest one) 

I was trying out a few of the new models I had got that month.

My caster was eCaine, I was using Alexia and the risen and the piper and reinholdt. 

I would do a full battle report but the photos after turn 1 got lost...

We will be having a rematch so I will aim to get proper photos for each turn as well as lists. 

Skorne Deployment

Cygnar deployment

After turn one all things run/walk up

Same for mine

Will try to do better next time :)

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!

New year,,,, hoping for better

Well working in a kitchen = zero hobby time over the holiday period.

I am hoping to get back to regular posts with varied content this year. And to finish off some of the projects that have been sitting on the shelf for a long time (Skullhamma I'm looking at you!)

Hope you all had a good new year and that you will check out my stuff over the coming months

Guilders Wrath: Week four, Scalies Lair - Battle report

This turned out to be a great game, lots of note worthy things.
And so many pictures it is hard to insure this is all in the right order...
I decided to split it in half as there is so much going on its hard to keep track of.

I will do my best though.


Initial deployments

Irondogs fall back from Jon J and make for the central corridor, knowing that's where the best loot is likely to be

 Simon advances into a group of young Scalies and closes one of the entrances...for now











 Jon J makes first contact with the Scalies, gunning them down in a hail of fire










 the pit slaves advance into the dark corridors of the scaly cave there weapons buzzing gnashing and snapping as they go making alot of noise in the darkness trying to drive the scallies out of there hiding places






















Slowly but steadily The Remnants advance, taking out the baby Scalies one by one.

The Irondogs sneak past the scalies running towards Jon J and the cyber mastiff, A SCU-773R, seals a hatch.

Pitslaves surounded by young scalies cut a swath through them

The Irondogs enter the central corridor, desperate to shut down a nearby hatch before they are overwhelmed

The pitslave leader finally gets taken down by shear numbers

With the Irondogs getting overwhelmed Shift 36 lend them a hand shooting down many of the young scalies

 the loss of their leader only enrages the remaining Pitslaves and they pile into the mob of juvenile Scalies

Jon J's gang fights a desperate, but successful, defence against a seemingly endless horde of juvenile Scalies

 taking advantage of the chaos caused by the charging Scalies, one of Dan R's Pitslaves attempts to charge Tom, only to (narrowly) fail his charge range

 For two turns shift 36 keep the pitslave pinned and fend off the scalies, until they turn the corner and the pitslave takes down a ganger and a cretin and follows up into the heavy with a flamer.

Desperate they shoot into the combat and down their own man and wound the pitfighter.

Lucky for the rest of Shift 36 the pitslaves bottle after that...

 Due to a pit fighter disturbing papa scalie and taking a harpoon to the chest!

 The Irondogs take the center of the Lair and find a unmapped set of vents, which they disappear into, heading home.

And on the other side of the board

The Bonehunters start to lose gangers 

The Sepulchre enter the lair, dusting every scaly in their way

The Remnants advance further into the lair but end up being attacked on both sides

Even after loosing fighters the Bonehunters carry on

Until after loosing his last ganger the leader Confessor Kindly, finding himself alone in the dark, breaks for cover and flees

The ratskin tribe fights to keep their location free of scalies, and with Simons gang closing on them they have a choice to make...

They charge out of the darkness into combat with the Cawdor

But are cut down eventually

This leave the Cawdor gang in control of the middle of the Lair, but with the Guard remnant gang fleeing, they are the only invader in this half of the board

Keen to find riches they disturb mama scalie who fires off her scatter cannon downing a ganger. 

Meanwhile on the other side of the board only Shift 36 are still standing and the scalies are closing in. A Cretin and the gangs leader go down holding off the scalies allowing the ratling sniper time to shoot rapid fire.

The resulting combats as the horde of young scalies and mama scalie fight the Cawdor lead the final three members of their gang to flee only to find that they ran into a dead end.

Shift 36 get a very lucky and narrow win! With only two gang members left standing the cost was high.

Gangs are able to sell the hides they collected to the guilders for the following amounts

1-10 scalies killed = 25 credits

up to 20 scalies = 35 credits up to 40 scalies = 45 credits up to 70 scalies = 55 credits up to 110 scalies = 65 credits more than 110 scalies = 75 credits

Any loot items found can either be used, given to members of your gang or auctioned off as gangs see fit.

After the other gangs had fled the area Shift 36 crept through the darkness and noticed a pulsing stone shard on a table with restraining straps. Blood covering the area, a foul stench hung in the air.

Looking at the shard they felt a bad feeling brewing deep inside each of them.

Dewitt Hyden the Ratling sniper picked up the shard and felt a flash of power run through him, he saw an eye, a great eye watching. It was his fellow gang member Arden's, magnified and distorted through the shard.

"To hell with it" he thought and tossed it down a vent shaft... 

As they walked away towards home an adult scaly approached, but with no sign of violent intent on its mind.

It garbled something that as difficult to make out but sounded like "tanks"

It followed after them, why not they thought. We could do with some muscle in the gang!

(The winning gang was allowed a choice, loot the scalies lair for cash or have a scaly as a hired gun.)