N18 All Psychic Delaque Gang

[OrderForm]

I’m putting together an all Psyker Delaque gang. I've played a few other gangs and wanted a challenge! They take advantage of the House Ty Alliance.

I’ll outline my plan here and add a detailed list below. Because of the House Ty alliance, my leader can take Unbreakable Will from the get go. This way he can run a 9" bubble wherein all fighters can use his will power. This gets around the issue of the Psy-Gheist's low will power.

I've kept some credits in reserve. Whenever you have a lower gang rating than the opponent, you have to bring the House Ty allies into battle. The Null will give me some extra muscle, and the Telepath allows me to cast another Unbreakable Will bubble so that I can expand that willpower bubble.

Basically my gang are a bunch of psychic creeps who send everyone around them crazy, hence the heavy focus on Existential Barrage as a starting skill. By spamming it, I hope to create a lot of chaotic situations where enemies break and hopefully trigger more cool checks. Psy-Gheist 2 has two worms and Craven Howl, which should allow him to follow key broken fighters around and keep them from rallying.

The aim is to gather XP relatively quicky for everyone, so they can either level up their WIllpower or start specking into the Outcast Wyrd powers. I've got my eye on: Cause Pain, Force Field and Hallucinations. But I think I'll experiment with a few others too.

The Champion has Rumour Monger, so I can recruite a Spyker early on with the money I held in reserve. Then hopefully, I'll get a second one soon after

Leader
Wargear: Mesh Armor, Shock Stave, Throwing Knives,
Skills: Commanding Presence
Wyrd Powers: Existential Barrage, Unbreakable WIll

Champion
Wargear: Autopistol, Mesh Armor, Web Gauntlet
Skills: Rumour-monger
Wyrd Power: Existential Barrage

Psy-Gheist 1
Wargear: Mesh Armor, Psychomancer's Harness,
Wyd Power: A Perfect Void

Psy-Gheist 2
Wargear: Stub Gun, Mesh Armor, Psychoteric Worm x2
Wyrd Powers: Craven Howl, Existential Barrage

Psy-Gheist 3
Wargear: Stub Gun, Mesh Armor,
Wyrd Power: Existential Barrage

Psycoteric Thrall
Wargear: Fighting Knife, Shotgun - Solid/Scatter,

 

[Paroni]

I like the idea you're going for, and I hope you do well with this gang setup.
To me it looks like you have approximately 0 killing power, and many gangs will just shoot you to death before you even get the chance to try a single Existential Barrage.

 

[HugeSamples]

Unfortunately the Delaque whispers aren't strong enough to carry a gang . I wish they were because I really like the idea of psykers. Generally the goal with psykers is to get them outcast powers asap. This requires you to funnel xp into them. You don't have many ways to get xp with this list and even if you did it'd be too dispersed to make a threatening psyker.

You're going to feed the opposing gangs a large number of credits (they get d3x10 credits for each unsanctioned psyker they take OOA).

That said some critiques:
- you have 2 wyrms on a single psy-gheist, give one of those wyrms to the other psy-gheist (psy-gheist #3 is a complete waste of space as he is now).
- psychomancer's harness, while cool, is just too expensive to get at the start. It's a mid/late game buy.
- Delaque leaders and champions really need to be getting the killing done. They way you have them equipped they aren't a threat to anyone.
- you only have 6 fighters, you're going to bottle really quickly.
- you don't have an effective way to get your psykers experience to level them up.
- you should consider having a nacht-ghul.
- of the whispers you seem to be going all in on existential barrage, this is going to feed the opposing gang a lot of xp when they rally (assuming you get the power to land at all).
- psychoteric thralls are expensive and will leave your gang if they take any injury that edits their fighter card.

Psychoteric whispers are a support tool, treat them as such.

As others have pointed out, this list has no teeth. You're going to get rolled most of the time .

 

[Psyan]

Very cool concept, but you're really going to struggle when it comes to any scenario that involves actually killing the enemy. You'll never even get close to any gang that isn't Corpse Grinders or Ogryns.
I'd suggest reworking the list with only about half the crew being psykers; a Plasma Gun on one of your Leader types, a Long Rifle on a Specialist, a Nacht Ghul and one or two Autogun or Shotgun gangers would help a lot. You'd still have a strong psyker-focused theme, but this would give you a chance to avoid getting shot off the table before getting to use your psyker powers.

 

[OrderForm]

Thanks for the comments folks. Some good points about not having enough punch. And I will probably reallocate the worms.

I'm not sure if I explained this very well, but in most cases, the gang will include the house Ty Null and Telepath which should make them somewhat more competitive.

I think I see some ways that I can strengthen the gang without abandoning the theme... I'll update you after some skirmish play tests!

 

[HugeSamples]

Thanks for the comments folks. Some good points about not having enough punch. And I will probably reallocate the worms.

I'm not sure if I explained this very well, but in most cases, the gang will include the house Ty Null and Telepath which should make them somewhat more competitive.

I think I see some ways that I can strengthen the gang without abandoning the theme... I'll update you after some skirmish play tests!

I haven't played with those models before, but a quick glance at their rules and I don't think they will stop you from being rolled off the table by gangs with a normal level of punch .

I assume you plan to use Hallucinations with the Ty psyker?

The null, while well equipped, still only has WS/BS of 4+.

Both models are only T3 and W1.

Their collar mechanic only allows one of them to be active at a time.

Your opponent will quickly take them out and once again you will be left with no threats.

It also sounds like you only get them if you have the lower rating (based on what models are in the battle, your opponent might not get their full crew and your models are very expensive).

Don't get me wrong I love the psyker flavor of Delaque and have had this same kind of idea. It unfortunately just doesn't work well--especially feeding your opponents d3x10 credits every time one of your models goes OOA. You will quickly fall behind and never recover.

You need your champions at the very least to provide some teeth.

Your leader can be used in a supporting role, but I generally prefer a more active leader.

You need chaff models--gangers/juves--to force activations out of your opponent, otherwise they will force you to move your "good pieces" before theirs and have free rein to do whatever they want.

That said, don't let your memes be dreams .

 

[OrderForm]

Have redistriubted the worms, given my champ a plasma pistol and switched out some of the existential barrages for more relevant stuff.

Re: the Thrall. I realise he's pretty fragile. I want to use my juiced Rep to get a Spyker asap. I think the thrall synergises well with him.

That said, I'm play testing the new list soon. May drop the thrall for a Spyker if he ends up sucking... May use that second Brute slot for another Spyker

Will report back!

 

[HugeSamples]

Spyker's are hanger-on's not brutes.

If they take an injury that edits their card they leave your gang.

The Delaque brute is the Piscean Spektor. aka the murder squid. It is psyker, so it would fit the theme of your gang and give you a much needed threat.

 

[OrderForm]

Okay, I've had another crack at this, being a bit more realistic... Keep in mind that I will get the House Ty delegation at the start because I'm spending less than 1000 creds, and that my Master of Shadows has Unbreakable Will due to the alliance.

The Stygian Coven

Delaque (HoS) gang with a rating of 995 by OrderForm

yaktribe.games

 

[Lunarcruiser]

For your plan I think it could work with a lot of effort and nerve. There is lots of disruption and hindering opponents action.
Your murder squid provides a lot of melee punch And the spread of hand flamers adds a bunch of blaze which helps. I would add heavy hitting phantom or Naght ghul later to inflict some major damage on the hindered foes.
Spacial Psychosis seems a odd choice for the brute it only pins foes. Unless you chose it to give it some ranged effect.

 

[OrderForm]

For your plan I think it could work with a lot of effort and nerve. There is lots of disruption and hindering opponents action.
Your murder squid provides a lot of melee punch And the spread of hand flamers adds a bunch of blaze which helps. I would add heavy hitting phantom or Naght ghul later to inflict some major damage on the hindered foes.
Spacial Psychosis seems a odd choice for the brute it only pins foes. Unless you chose it to give it some ranged effect.

Thanks I'm glad you see the plan hehe. Ideally the enemy will be broken/on fire. I chose the Unrememberable Utterance power because it plays well with template weapons' autopin. If you can get a fighter with that power within three inches of the pinned fighters then all they can do on their next turn is stand up.

Yeah it would be great to have another Champ. Hopefully the delegation can hold that spot until I can afford it.

I did chose spatial psychosis to give the Piscean a bit of range. It feels a bit underpowered on such a monster though so if you have any better suggestions please share. I'd also considered a perfect void for a little bit of extra cover ...

 

[Covenant]

I've tried a perfect void and did not find a good use for it. It has always been better for me to aim and shoot/move out of line of sight, whatever than to get cover that could be reduced/they just aim themself and that's it...

 

[Lunarcruiser]

I did chose spatial psychosis to give the Piscean a bit of range. It feels a bit underpowered on such a monster though so if you have any better suggestions please share. I'd also considered a perfect void for a little bit of extra cover ...

I've used penumbral mirror on a Piscean to reposition friendly fighters (nasty with a nacht ghul into combat). I like to think it is just the piscean picking up Thier fighter with it's tentacles and chucking them at the foe.
Ok it may be better to charge yourself but it is fun. (Also nasty when you throw a pair of Naght ghuls into combat hehe).
Suicidal Embrace is also amusing when the fighter that somehow managed to survive your piscean onslaught suddenly decides to smash thier head in with their own power hammer.

 

[OrderForm]

I've used penumbral mirror on a Piscean to reposition friendly fighters (nasty with a nacht ghul into combat). I like to think it is just the piscean picking up Thier fighter with it's tentacles and chucking them at the foe.
Ok it may be better to charge yourself but it is fun. (Also nasty when you throw a pair of Naght ghuls into combat hehe).
Suicidal Embrace is also amusing when the fighter that somehow managed to survive your piscean onslaught suddenly decides to smash thier head in with their own power hammer.

Nice! I'm going to test a few options in some skirmish games.

 

[OrderForm]

For those paying attention, I've once again changed my list lol.

I've dropped the flamer in favour of some extra juves and armour. This is the final iterration of the list as I've now actually assembled all the minis!

Starting a campaign in a few weeks and will report back on how it plays.

The Stygian Coven

Delaque (HoS) gang with a rating of 995 by OrderForm

yaktribe.games

 

[HugeSamples]

You probably want psy-touched on your phantom over fixer. Usually with penumbral mirror you really want it not to miss.

However, having penumbral mirror on your gheists with the wyrms would be safer and easier to set up.

Existential barrage has been more trouble than it's worth in my experience. i.e. you need to have at least one choir member--2 inch range--to cast it at all. Remember you cannot be within one inch of an enemy model, and the wyrms cannot be nodes while engaged.

Phantoms use spatial psychosis better since they usually have a scarce weapon (same with leaders). i.e. it's a nice backup when their gun runs out of ammo.

I haven't used a spektor yet, but if I did I would consider eternal slumber and charging multiple models. That said if it's doing it's job it will very rarely cast a wyrd power.

You also want to be careful about feeding the opposing gang credits, they get d3x10 credits every time they take one of your psykers out of action. If they capture one they get to sell them for full value...immediately (no chance at rescue).

You seem to have gone all in on penumbral mirror, but you only have one model worth flicking around, the spektor. Other than that you don't have any threating models.

I'd ask this question for your current list, "if your leader or champ is within 5 inches of an enemy model, why isn't that enemy model dead"?

 

[OrderForm]

Great advice, thanks. I tend to take fixer when I have a bit of a weird build, just to shore up my income. But maybe I will switch to psy-touched.

 

[Reroll121]

For those paying attention, I've once again changed my list lol.

I've dropped the flamer in favour of some extra juves and armour. This is the final iterration of the list as I've now actually assembled all the minis!

Starting a campaign in a few weeks and will report back on how it plays.

The Stygian Coven

Delaque (HoS) gang with a rating of 995 by OrderForm

yaktribe.games

How did the campaign go? Very Interested in how it played out with such an off meta list against conventional wisdom.

 

[Xisor_of_Karak_Izor]

I've been daydreaming about this again - I think having a specialist with a decent gun (sniper rifle?) and maybe two gangers with autoguns would enable the rest of the idea.

Call them "psychic thralls", model them maybe a bit differently, but that sort of thing feels vaguely necessary for functionally playing the Necromunda game, you know?

But, going "all psychic *after that*", sure. It's a fun gimmick, and with how swingy N23 remains, no reason to think it wouldn't be fun to play too!

Accordingly I'm very interested to hear how the gang as shown actually unfolded and got on!