N18 Goliath on a budget

Vurmyn

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Aug 26, 2024
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I've recently been sucked into the world of Necromunda and I'm having a blast reading about it! With limited time and budget, I want to make sure I'm making smart choices from the start. After doing some research, I found that the Goliath gang is a great choice for beginners because of their straightforward gameplay and tactics. So, I picked up the starter gang box and came across a fantastic YouTube video by Commander Cheapskate, who breaks down the gang and shares some solid starter lists. One of these lists uses only the models from the starter box, which seemed perfect for me.

I recreated the list in the gang creator and was all set to start gluing my models together, but then I had a thought: Is this list still the best option, or could I make it even better?

My main goal is to get a gang ready for the tabletop as quickly as possible so I can start playing. But I also want to make sure I'm not spending more money on models or weapons that won't be useful in the game.

Any advice or insights would be super appreciated!

Forge Tyrant (135) = 230
Nerves of Steel, Combo-Pistol (Stubgun and Plasma) (40), Dumdum rounds (5), Power Hammer
(45), Furnace Plates (5)

Forge Boss (100) =\180
Nerves of Steel, Renderizer (40), Furnace Plate (5), Stubgun (5), Dumdum Round (5), Stimm-Slug
Stash (25)

Forge Boss (100) = 185
Nerves of Steel, Grenade Launcher (55), Smoke Grenades (15), Stubgun (5), Dumdum Rounds (5),
Furnace Plate (5)

Bruiser (55) = 140 pts.
Specialist, Grenade Launcher (55), Smoke Grenades(15), Stubgun (5), Dumdum Rounds (5), Furnace
Plate (5)

Bruiser (55) 5,90 pts.
Stub Cannon (20), Furnace Plate (5), Axe (10)

Bruiser (55) = 90 pts.
Stub Cannon (20), Furnace Plate (5), Axe (10)

Bully (35) = 40 pts.
Stubgun (5)

Bully (35) = 40 pts.
Stubgun (5)
 
Starting with the stuff from the one box is fine. I'd suggest swapping the axes from the ranged bruisers on to the melee bullies though. Gives them a bit for melee punch. The stubcannon guys don't really need the axes.

Another option would be to drop axes completely, plus all the dumdums, and upgrade one of the bruisers to have a combat shotgun. You get some in the box and they are worth every cred despite the very short range.
 
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Your Stub cannon bruisers really do not need axes. Give them to the bullies (they ones in the box are Brute cleavers anyway not axes).
The combi stub plasma pistol can not have Dum Dum bullets. It is a different weapon to the Stubgun and there is no profile for Combi Stubgun/plasma pistol with Dum Dum bullets. You can have them on normal Stubguns but not the combi version.
Personally I avoid Combi anything unless you have ways of mitigating checks. First off rules as written you need to roll twice for every ammo check (in theory 1/6 shots) and "apply the worst result". Not the worst result for the profile just the "worst result". Rules as written the worse result would be the weapon as a whole running out of ammo for both profiles. (And the plasma being Scarce now cannot be reloaded).
The next, long run on, sentence says the two ammo types are then tracked separately but this contradicts the first part.
It's just lazy grammar from GW which could all be avoided if they just put "worst result for that profile" instead.
If you do play combi weapons just play the rule as intended.
Also Combi weapons need to roll twice on ammo tests which includes Reloading. This is not a problem on the stub component but should you mitigate Scarce, like having a ammo cache nearby you still need to roll twice.

Anyway moving on. There is no need for stub guns (or Dum Dums) on your Forgebosses and Specialist. The Renderiser one can not use it in melee as a side arm and it you don't really need such a minor pistol shot as backup if you get caught in the open not combat. A melee champion needs to spend both their actions moving into combat, charging or fighting.
Your Grenade boss has a good punchy weapon that is just better than the stub gun (the smoke grenades are great as tactical cover and you can use the 4+ ammo roll to reload the entire launcher when you go out of ammo on the Frag and Kraks).

Still on stub guns, this is specific to Goliaths, if you are picking them to use the Sidearm rule for a extra attack in Melee. They are only Strength 3. (Dum Dums are 4 but Limited so will run out and you will need to buy more) All your fighters are S4 so punch harder than the Stubgun with bare fists. A second cheap Melee weapon would be a better fit as they key on your fighters Strength which can increase with experience. There are Brute cleavers, spudjackers and a couple of Fighting Knives in the main box all of which are decent picks for cheap melee fighters.

With your Good Cool Nerves of Steel is a good solid choice. I prefer not spam skills but to each thier own (not really a model constraint issue anyway).

Fear the Wall of Text!!!
 
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On your model efficiency point.
A lot of the time as you refine your play and play more you start to learn which weapons work best for you, often after you make your first ones and glue them together.
Eventually you will want more options than the base box provides like some of the options in the various upgrade boxes they make. Normally this would require you buying more base models to put the new weapons on (meltaguns flamers and other fun goodies).
You can use magnets (I use 2mm wide 1mm thick neodymium disk magnets) to give your models interchangable arms. (I did it on Goliaths with hand and wrist Joints but you can do it with arm and shoulder joints).
You hand drill a 2mm bit hole into the two sides of the join and carefully super gs ue a magnet in making sure all the body side magnets have the same polarity and the arm sides have the opposite ones so they stick. I would drill all your holes first (get sore fingers) stick one magnet in a body then once dry stick a column of magnets on that and use the opposite end of the drill bit to pick them up from the column that way they all have the same polarity going in. Make sure you do the same on the arm weapon side with the opposite polarity and repeat.

You will then be able to swap out any arms and attached weapons as needed. It used almost all the kit in the box so you don't have dozens of wasted arms hanging around.
Some of the two handed grips, stubcannons Rivet cannons etc might use the same arms, that might be why I chose hand and wrist. (The heavy weapons from the Horus heresy weapon upgrade box also fit in place of the Goliath Stubgun, Renderiser arm set up near perfectly and you get a ton of weapons in that box)
Instead of eventually getting 40 gangers or more to get all the weapon fits you want you can make do with a single box of ten gangers.

You can do it with every necromunda gang (I have not done it with Corpse Grinders though) including most of the special boxes like the Stimmer and Firge born, although my hand and wrist jobs also work. (Cawdor were a real pain though).

If you don't feel up to it from a modeling point right now you can always assemble your models with super glue to start and avoid plastic glue. (Plastic glue actually melts the plastic parts together)
Super glue becomes brittle when Frozen and if you put your models in a sealed Tupper were box in the freezer overnight the glue bonds should be brittle and just snap off easily so you can rework the parts after the get to room temperature.
 
Same advise as others, you can free up some cash dropping stub guns and dum dums, you can move some dums and dums and axes to your bullies who'll make use of them.

Lunars advice on combi weapons is good general advice, however I think the stub/plasma pistol is an exception. It's 40 credits for a plasma pistol, which is a steal, and what's better is it's on a model who wants to spend every activation either double moving or charging, it's therefore 40 creds for an extra S5 D2 attack in melee, for as long as that lasts.

Its not the peak meta optimised choice, but it looks cool and it's halfway decent and that's as good enough reason for anything in Necromunda.
 
Thank you all so much for the fantastic advice—it’s been incredibly helpful!

I totally get the appeal of magnetizing arms; it’s a lot of fun! I also love kitbashing and converting, but sometimes I get so caught up in the process that I end up putting off the actual playing part of the hobby. That’s why, for this project, I wanted to build a 1000-cred gang straight out of the box without any conversions or extra work, get them painted, and start playing as soon as possible.

I chose a straightforward gang to keep things simple and get it done quickly. The main reason I asked for advice on list building is that I want to avoid having to buy a second box after just one game because of poor initial choices. I want to play at least 10ish games without feeling the need to change models.

I think sharing this process could be really helpful for new players, making it easier for them to dive into the game. I know I’m already hooked and will probably end up buying lots more models in the future (I’ve got another gang on the way already🫠)!

I will change the list in the next days and take all your advices into consideration. But if anyone has suggestions for lists I'm curious to see what you have

Thanks again for all the support! (Long live the wall of text💪)