N18 Help me decide how to equip my master of shadows for my delaque gang

[Coffster]

I'm considering my options for my delaque gang after playing and not liking my first build and can't decide on what to do with my leader.

Rest of the gang is:

Nacht gul with serpent fangs and mesh armour spring up

Phantom with plasma gun and mesh armour, faceless

Shadow Specialist with webgun (reasoned the template is better in a poorer bs model)

Ghost lasgun

Ghost autogun

Shadow autopistol and hopefully some smoke granades

Shadow stub gun and hopefully some grenades too (I dislike having models equipped the same way to start)


Game plan is nacht gul is a distraction carnifex that should kill anything it touches. Longer to mid range shooting from the ghosts and phantom, and shadows to chuck grenades and coup de gras fallen models.

To that end I can't decide what I want for my leader and have a few builds in mind both close combat and range options (all would have mesh armour, the shotgun option potentially lets me take a cameloine cloak or a psychic power, probably special psychosis)

Web gauntlet and flachette pistol, maybe make him a psyker (feels like the default starting choice)

Web gauntlet and plasma pistol (I have an Escher gang leader with. Plasma pistol so feel this might be too samey)

Web gauntlet and grav pistol (feels a bit more interesting than the plasma route)

Web pistol and gauntlet (Spiderman lol, feels cheesy though)

Shotgun and web gauntlet (adding executioner rounds looks fun too). Mid range threat with counter charge potential

Grav gun (could swap with champ loadout and give this guy the plasma gun instead)

Meltagun (lol why not)

webgun (though I want to avoid the infiltrator builder here as it seems a dick move)

Skills am looking at dodge, evade, overwatch and infiltrate but it depends on weapons.

What do you think works?

 

[HugeSamples]

You need to figure out what role on the battlefield you want your leader to play.

Close combat is pretty risky and he isn't particularly great at it. i.e. you can put that same loadout on a champion and have your leader play much safer.

Phantoms make better psykers due to access to psi-touched. (Perils of the warp hitting your leader is bad news bears).

Can't go wrong with a plasma gun.

A shotgun + execution shells and overwatch is surprisingly potent.

Grav guns/pistols are ok, but essentially a S3 weapon.

I wouldn't recommend infiltrate on your leader, he's too valuable to orphan behind enemy lines.

 

[Coffster]

You need to figure out what role on the battlefield you want your leader to play.

Close combat is pretty risky and he isn't particularly great at it. i.e. you can put that same loadout on a champion and have your leader play much safer.

Phantoms make better psykers due to access to psi-touched. (Perils of the warp hitting your leader is bad news bears).

Can't go wrong with a plasma gun.

A shotgun + execution shells and overwatch is surprisingly potent.

Grav guns/pistols are ok, but essentially a S3 weapon.

I wouldn't recommend infiltrate on your leader, he's too valuable to orphan behind enemy lines.

You are right about figuring out his role, still not sure. I think he might be to fragile for combat so leaning into a shooting build. The shotgun appeals to me in that regard but so does a plasma gun.

 

[Psyan]

I'd do the swap and give him the Plasma Gun, leaving the Champ with the Executioner Shotgun. Why equip your Champs or Leader for only CC when you have access to Nacht Ghuls who do it far better?

You can always go back later and add a Web Gauntlet and a nasty pistol for extra CC support. If you can afford the Cloak, give it to him and treat him as a slippery, sniper-type who leads from the shadows.

 

[Coffster]

That's not a bad idea actually. Thanks

 

[BranBuccarcher]

I've had really Good mileage with meltagun, flechette and web gauntlet, can pretty much nail whoever you aim him at in both shooting and cc, have him and the champ both as infiltrators and you can take control of any board early on or swap the meltagun to phantom and give LD plasma for extra range.

 

[Heart of Storm]

You have access to Shooting as Delaque, so if you want to go Web and avoid Infiltrate you can go Run and Gun, still very effective and scary but it does give your opponent more of a "fair" chance at dealing with the model as it still needs to sprint up the board

 

[HugeSamples]

You have access to Shooting as Delaque, so if you want to go Web and avoid Infiltrate you can go Run and Gun, still very effective and scary but it does give your opponent more of a "fair" chance at dealing with the model as it still needs to sprint up the board

Shooting is secondary skill access. He'd have to level into that.

 

[Coffster]

I've had really Good mileage with meltagun, flechette and web gauntlet, can pretty much nail whoever you aim him at in both shooting and cc, have him and the champ both as infiltrators and you can take control of any board early on or swap the meltagun to phantom and give LD plasma for extra range.

That sounds fun, maybe a bit to pricey to start but definitely something to build too

 

[BranBuccarcher]

Aye it is pricey, but if you do go for infiltration you need to go big I took LD and phantom with meta and Plas who infiltrated up and created a no go zone most opponents spend the game trying to avoid, then bringing on a sword armed Nacht ghoul either as a close support for the pair or more often to target the disorganised back line.
You pretty much just get unarmoured gangers with autoguns for the rest of gang, but that soon changes after a game or twos income.

I tend to always give characters the flechette/web gauntlet combo as the web/toxin combo can nail even stimmers with just one wounding hit on a charge, although beware of cawdors with the unshakeable conviction skill.
If you want a real all rounder then flechette,web gantlet and long rifle/shotgun with overwatch it's cheap as well compared to most builds.

Are you playing the light level rules (pitch black table, page 193 core rulebook) if so the cheap gun shrouds will give you a good edge.

If you go for a web/grab pistol a shock stave makes a good cc weapon for the versatile after shooting your pistol if you haven't moved.

 

[HugeSamples]

a helpful exercise might be to consider how you would equip you leader as part of a 3 man team.

e.g.
- if you bundle him up with your las/autogunner then a plasma gun is probably the play. (backline firing squad)
- if you bundle him with your juves maybe a webgun, meltagun, grav gun/pistol, or shotgun is the play. (mid/close range)

as your list is now it looks like the juves want to roam around with your webber.
you las/auto gunners and champion want to hang back.

maybe he can operate at range in between your close squad (juves + webber) and backline (gangers + champ) using something like a shotgun or grav weapon (depending on if you are playing vs S4+ opponents). With a skill like dodge, sprint, spring up, overwatch, or evade. or he can swap roles with your champ and your champ can play this role.

how many free credits you have might make decisions for you. e.g. you can't afford a meltagun, but you can afford a plasma gun.

 

[Coffster]

a helpful exercise might be to consider how you would equip you leader as part of a 3 man team.

e.g.
- if you bundle him up with your las/autogunner then a plasma gun is probably the play. (backline firing squad)
- if you bundle him with your juves maybe a webgun, meltagun, grav gun/pistol, or shotgun is the play. (mid/close range)

as your list is now it looks like the juves want to roam around with your webber.
you las/auto gunners and champion want to hang back.

maybe he can operate at range in between your close squad (juves + webber) and backline (gangers + champ) using something like a shotgun or grav weapon (depending on if you are playing vs S4+ opponents). With a skill like dodge, sprint, spring up, overwatch, or evade. or he can swap roles with your champ and your champ can play this role.

how many free credits you have might make decisions for you. e.g. you can't afford a meltagun, but you can afford a plasma gun.

Thanks that's a really good perspective and food for thought. I like the idea of the webber and the juves

 

[Coffster]

Aye it is pricey, but if you do go for infiltration you need to go big I took LD and phantom with meta and Plas who infiltrated up and created a no go zone most opponents spend the game trying to avoid, then bringing on a sword armed Nacht ghoul either as a close support for the pair or more often to target the disorganised back line.
You pretty much just get unarmoured gangers with autoguns for the rest of gang, but that soon changes after a game or twos income.

I tend to always give characters the flechette/web gauntlet combo as the web/toxin combo can nail even stimmers with just one wounding hit on a charge, although beware of cawdors with the unshakeable conviction skill.
If you want a real all rounder then flechette,web gantlet and long rifle/shotgun with overwatch it's cheap as well compared to most builds.

Are you playing the light level rules (pitch black table, page 193 core rulebook) if so the cheap gun shrouds will give you a good edge.

If you go for a web/grab pistol a shock stave makes a good cc weapon for the versatile after shooting your pistol if you haven't moved.

The web gauntlet flachette pistol long rifle sounds interesting. A threat at any range.

 

[BranBuccarcher]

The web gauntlet flachette pistol long rifle sounds interesting. A threat at any range.

Splurge on an IR sight for the long rifle when you get the spare creds.
The flechette comes with a built in suppressor too for any night fights

 

[Psyan]

How often do you need to shoot more than 24" in your matches?

I take snipers mostly for cool/fun factor, because they're only rarely more useful than having another fighter who shoots well at the 12"-24" range.

 

[BranBuccarcher]

How often do you need to shoot more than 24" in your matches?

It's a rare thing and mainly when you play at a gaming store/club that's a bit strapped for terrain, but it is actually on the sprues unlike all the more useful weapons....

 

[HugeSamples]

I'm in the camp of people who aren't super impressed with the long rifle.

Most boards are 3'x3' (at least the ones my group plays on).

Having a 48" max range is super overkill and having to be at 24+ inches to get +1 to hit rarely comes up.

It's not a bad gun for 30 credits: S4, AP-1, D1. But I think I'd rather have something with a bit more teeth on my leader.

 

[BranBuccarcher]

Depends on if you are going for cheap but versatile, and for 30 creds the only other real option is a shotgun. Both give you plenty of room for campaign progression, but the extra range on long rifle over the shotgun can make a big difference. It's a big jump in cost for the more toothy options from there

 

[Psyan]

Sniper weapons on the whole are rather unimpressive. I'm working on some homebrew rules that might make them a little more fun.

 

[HugeSamples]

30 creds the only other real option is a shotgun

This is the way for a cheap option.

It's super versatile and scales with different ammo types. You even have house list access to executioner shells.