N18 Escher hotshot/projectors from campaign start

megasaxon

Juve
Sep 24, 2020
38
5
18
Hi,

I play a lot of campaigns that last around six games, then end. We meet up, play for a couple of days, then all go home with the intention of continuining the campaign, but life gets in the way.

With that in mind, I have made a starting list that maxes out Escher gangers' shooting capacity. The list was built around having three gangers with hotshot lasguns with las projectors. Everything else was built around that. The idea would be to hit on 2s up to 18", then wound most enemies on 3s with these suped up lasguns (plus -1 AP!), while the rest of the gang closes in for some close combat action. It was jotted down quite quickly so I'd probably change out one of those stiletto knives for photon flash + stub gun.

It's silly, but since we never get to the late-campaign, I thought it might give me an unexpected edge from the start. What do you think?

slicers.png
 
It's reasonable, you have a calculation issue where one of your stiletto knife little sisters (Orla) is incorrectly coated at 20 creds rather than 40 so may need to run the gang through the calculator again.

My question is, why not just give them shotguns? You lose the extra +1 to hit at 18" range (you get it at 9" instead) but you gain D2, can add in specialist ammo and it saves you 30 creds a model.
 
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Seconded on the Shotguns. Alternately, if you still want some fancy Lasguns, take only one or two and put the Shotgun (maybe with some of that cool Acid ammo?) on the remaining fighters.
 
I like these suggestions, thanks.

It's the -1 AP from the hotshot lasguns that I like, and the +2 to hit up to 18" - that's big!! Both for hitting and wounding targets, and for the fear factor.
 
Those are nice things to have, but they increase the price of your super cheap Lasguns to Boltgun level. The Las Projectors are seriously overcosted, especially when you're taking three of them.
Another thing you might want to look at is re-equipping your Queen. She has a 3+ BS, so IMO, she needs a Boltgun or Grenade Launcher. I tend to give the Queen a good gun like that and a Shock Whip, so she can also still do close combat from the relative security of Versatile range.
I also notice that you don't have Specialist... which means that you're missing out on another Grenade Launcher.
Lastly... those Little Sisters need Stub Guns. Stiletto Knives are nice, but they're the (optional) second weapon for Little Sisters, not the first.
 
For 1000 pts you could have:
Queen w/ Mesh, GL & Shock Whip
Death Maiden w/ Mesh, Stiletto Sword, Needle Pistol & Chem Synth.
Matriarch w/ Mesh & Boltgun
Matriarch w/ Mesh and Shotgun
Specialist w/ Mesh & GL
x2 Sisters w/ Lasguns
X2 Little Sisters w/ Stubguns

That's 9 fighters, including 3 Champions. Your short term advancement plan would be to add 1-2 Little Sisters, give the Matriarchs close combat weapons and Acid Rounds for the Shotgun, Stiletto Knives and Dum dum Rounds for the Little Sisters, Hot Shots for Lasguns and then maybe a Plasma Pistol for the Queen.
 
Back to your point of life getting in the way of campaigns and scuppering long term play. You might try running your campaigns more like a tournament day with the Skirmish Play rules. A larger budget but no advancement and focuses around more rapid play rather than long haul campaigns. You can get a few more cool toys than a normal starting gang but not too much to lead to massive overpowered power games
I forget where it is in the rule books I think it is in the campaigns section somewhere.
 
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For 1000 pts you could have:
Queen w/ Mesh, GL & Shock Whip
Death Maiden w/ Mesh, Stiletto Sword, Needle Pistol & Chem Synth.
Matriarch w/ Mesh & Boltgun
Matriarch w/ Mesh and Shotgun
Specialist w/ Mesh & GL
x2 Sisters w/ Lasguns
X2 Little Sisters w/ Stubguns

That's 9 fighters, including 3 Champions. Your short term advancement plan would be to add 1-2 Little Sisters, give the Matriarchs close combat weapons and Acid Rounds for the Shotgun, Stiletto Knives and Dum dum Rounds for the Little Sisters, Hot Shots for Lasguns and then maybe a Plasma Pistol for the Queen.
That's a great list. Packs a lot of ranged punch.

What is the general verdict around having three champions at campaign start? I did it during my last campaign and I think others were surprised and thought it a bit gamey, but from what I'd read it was a legit move.
 
It *is* a bit gamey, but how that's taken depends on your gaming group. I personally feel like it's a little more acceptable with Escher, since they're not as powerful as some other gangs.
 
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Back to your point of life getting in the way of campaigns and scuppering long term play. You might try running your campaigns more like a tournament day with the Skirmish Play rules. A larger budget but no advancement and focuses around more rapid play rather than long haul campaigns. You can get a few more cool toys than a normal starting gang but not too much to lead to massive overpowered power games
I forget where it is in the rule books I think it is in the campaigns section somewhere.
It's a great shout. We do get bogged down in post-campaign actions, territories, trading post, etc., which probably means we play fewer games than we could.

I'd happily lose all of the above, but it'd be a shame to lose the XP system. Could that still be worked in, d'you think?
 
Keep the XP and by the end of your short run have a climatic battle where you can spend it on say a fancy skill and maybe throw in some brutes or giant movie style threats like a collapsing hive race to the last stratoplane etc.
 
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