N18 How to beat Prospector (dwarfs)

LootNScoot

Juve
Apr 22, 2024
17
9
3
Renton WA
How to beat Prospector (dwarfs)

LGS just started up a Necromunda league. Lots of us really excited, almost none of us have any experience with the game.

Had a late joiner saying he was playing dwarves. Guy clearly has a ton of experience. I think I’ve gotten fairly good with my Goliath gang but this guy has already absolutely demolished his first opponent. Has a list with 10 bodies…

Anyway, I’m hoping to find some tips or advice on how to shut them down or at least make a fight if it. Would really appreciate any pointers.

Thanks!
 
Ten dwarfs are credits expensive. Not likely to have heavy weapons, but a LOT of twelve-inch range rapid fire. Depending on the campaign, and the scenario, that first win though could VERY much change their cash, and thus their equipment.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lunarcruiser
They're very much like Van Saars in many respects. Slow movement and toughness to replace the armor, hard hitting weapons.

Use of cover andyour extra speed where available helps, if he's running 10 from the starts they should have little in the way of scoobie gear so you should be able to out range them or get them into combat as a Goliath. Make sure there are plenty of LOS blockers.

To be honest though, if the Squat player is the only vet, he should really be helping all the new players get going and understand the game. Otherwise he'll have one roflstomp campaign and then never be invited back or just not have any players interested in playing.

This is what's happening at Hammer and Ales, we're helping the new starters and keeping them interested. Hopefully.
 
Out move them, all thier fancy guns jam quicker.
Look at the prospectors stats. They have poor initiative (4+ on digger juves 5+ on everyone else).
Have a grenade launcher fighter with stun rounds and Photon Flash grenades with Fast shot. (Or two grenade launchers fighters). Hit the important targets with the stun rounds (they suffer Concussion, -2 initiative tests, regardless of if you wound them or not) then hit them with the 5" blast from the photons which has Flash that Blinds them if they fail a Initiative test on 6+. The nasty Ironhead gun wielders now lose thier activation so can't shoot you.

Problem solved. If you target well you could immobilise multiple dwarfs freeing you to pummel them long range at your leisure.
Also Concussion and Flash ignore armour for thier effects so you just don't care how much Carapace they buy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Psyan and Aulenback
Thanks guys! And I agree, he seems to not get the whole “foster a community” thing. I hope it sinks in before he ruins everyone’s fun.
 
Concerning their weapons.
All those Power pack weapons are pricey for what they do but are good if they have credits to spare. They have either Engaged range or 4". With 4" move models it should be easy to keep out of range.
Ironhead weapons. All are good. All are expensive. Thier special weapons run the price of ordinary heavy weapons, thier heavy weapons are more expensive. Thier basic weapons jam a lot more (if a rapid fire weapon with Teo dice that fail the gun jams for the while battle. The Ironhead bolter is essentially a Special weapon in all but name it is that punchy. (Like the Storm bolter).

Apart from the Stubgun and bolt pistol you can get in your gang the ordinary version and some armour for the same price so once they go full auto rock and roll you should have the funds to both compete with the firepower and have armour or more guns on top.
Basically they a
 
  • Like
Reactions: Aulenback and Psyan
Thanks guys! And I agree, he seems to not get the whole “foster a community” thing. I hope it sinks in before he ruins everyone’s fun.
Just let your community, not him know about the stun rounds/photon grenade combo.
Having half your gang or more immobilised for most of the game is a good way of dealing with "that guy"

Sadly many groups have one.
 
e honest though, if the Squat player is the only vet, he should really be helping all the new players get going and understand the game. Otherwise he'll have one roflstomp campaign and then never be invited back...

That's where I saw, even as newbie player: a ten man Squats crew tilts things *back* nearer to your favour, but not in the same way that VAN SAAR does. Your dangerous under 24",vicious under 12"... But so what? Your nearly in template range. You don't compete strongly there. In melee your better than passable, but actually securing charges? You're no Deathmaiden!

A seven or six man Dwarf team (Inc. heavy bolter Suit) are thornier prospects. Ten man - even with Clam Jumper - are fundamentally much more manageable: you can (try, reasonably) to run rings around them.
 
Try charging some Gangers at key squats using a combination of the stim spur, tactics cards and the overseer ability. Ideally ones with template/blast weapons, or ones who will one hit kill whatever they're aimed at. The challenge that Goliath's will have is that they can't outrun squats like other gangs, and they also can't out shoot them. But if you can bypass the range issue, you should be able to tear into them. The tactics card Not Done Yet is another good way of getting someone close before they can be killed.

You could also try something like an Ambot with infiltrate to get close to them.

The other option is human waves. If you have a smaller gang, try and max out how many bodies you have via Juves or temporary Hive scum hires. Once you've done that you can actually also push your number of bodies beyond what the rules usually allow. The tactics card Named and shamed allows you to add to extra Juves. You can also petition house agents - often quite cheaply if you have low rep. The idea is to charge all the cheap bodies at the squats to force them to use up their activations, to not take damage. Then you follow up with your elite units and attack.

The Narco Lords alliance can help you with both of these approaches. It makes chems more available, and it also grants you D3 + 2 Hive scum.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lunarcruiser
I should add, you don't necessarily need to totally table the squat player with any of these tactics. Forcing a failed bottle check is enough. After that you can hang back. He won't have the movement to bring the fight to you and will eventually fully bottle.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Aulenback
There are a scattering of good Tactics Cards to help with this as well.

Anything that gives a third action to an activating fighter extends their charge range by their full movement, effectively.

Bait and Switch extends your activating ("play instead of activating a fighter" means that you end up with an additional activation this round), and takes a ready token from some back-line Juve, and gives it to a front-line brawler who has already moved twice this round during her own activation.

Blood Surge gives two extra inches of movement, plus some toughness until the end of the turn, to throw yourself that unexpected last distance into melee. Get 'Em! similarly. Stimm Surge as well (only 1", but lasts multiple rounds).

Desperate Effort gets a whole second activation for a close-in Brawler, and remembering that someone who is Engaged doesn't get pinned, so if you don't take their opponent OOA and remain Engaged, there is no penalty.

Named and Shamed is a Goliath-only card that gets a couple of free Frenzon Collar Equipped Juves to get you some additional activations to out action-economy the elite stunties and their crew of ten.

Preemptive Measures gets two of your brawlers a free move closer.

Underhive Gloom can mess with their shooting, while you advance. Blackout similarly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OrderForm
That's a hard one. Squats were first and foremost an ash waste gang. So, from their skills (1) to their equipment they were conceived around that theme. A squat gang on wheel doesn't have the limitation it will have on foot.

What works against any gang with low M and / or bad initiative will work on the squats. So, way to counter this weakness are almost the same.

Terrain: You are small so you get cover easily, but it can work against you.

However, the biggest mistakes are to treat squat like any gang that was built for the hive and occasionally go outside. With them it's the opposite. It's also a gang where the juves are so interesting and neglecting them is fatal.

Squats have access to a brute, but they don't have their own pets, so they need to go to the market to get generic ones. That means unlike a Phelinx which is built for an Escher gang there is no synergy between the handler and his pet.

A gang that has heavy access to pets like Escher, Delaque and to a lesser degree Van Saar can without breaking limit on the number of ganger you can deploy outnumber the Squats.

Any gang with easy acces to skill like fixer is a problem for the squat

Delaque are the nightmare of Squats:

  • They have easy access to a fixer skill spam making them richer than the squats that have no chance of keeping up.
  • Have access to psycker. The squats have none (at the moment) unless they hire a hanger on.
  • Squats suffer from ambush more than gang with high M and low I like Goliath and Van Saar. They do have a brute to counter this, but they can have only two. So, against Delaque it’s a fatal flaw.
  • Delaque have access to a lot of pets.



(1) WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS 1. WHERE THERE’S SCRAP, THERE’S CREDS!

In the Receive Rewards step of the post-battle sequence, as long as this fighter is not Captured or In Recovery, their gang earns an additional D6x10 credits for each vehicle belonging to an opposing gang they wrecked. Note that this fighter does not need to have taken part in the battle to gain this bonus.
 
Last edited: