N18 mesh armour usefulness?

[davide.imbriaco]

hi everyone,

Im building my first escher gang, and I'm thinking if mesh armour is actually worth the cost... even for leadership most of the time you'll face AP hits, so maybe it is better to go either mesh+under armour or nothing at all, and spend credits on more gals and more guns (and armour up later on when I have the credits to skip plain mesh and go directly to mesh+underarmour)

is this feasible, or fielding unarmoured champions is madness?

 

[SirFrog]

"Most of the time"? I'd argue that the standard ranged weapons you'll face early-to-mid game: autoguns, autopistols, lasguns, laspistols, stub cannons, stub guns, blunderbusses, shotguns, frag grenades, all have AP -. As for melee weapons, servo claw, axe, Cawdor polearms, flails, unarmed and several others are all AP - too.
Sure, you only have a 5+ with mesh but... that's still one in three that you're fine. It's never fun to get plinked twice by two lasguns and eat dirt, then regret saving those measly fifteen credits. And, with AP -1 being common among more powerful weapons, you still get a 6+. And those 6+ are frustratingly rare... until they aren't. Any chance is better than no chance.

Mesh can be upgraded with an undersuit later in the game. Until then, it's something. I'd never skimp out on mesh for the important pieces of my gang, myself. Can you go without? Probably. Is it wise? I'd argue no.

 

[Lord_Ikka]

I mean, it's your gang, but spending the extra credits to protect a Champion from potentially taking wounds is usually a good idea. Especially with gangs like the Eschers who are T3, you'll be looking at getting wounded by regular basic weapons (auto/lasguns) on a 4+. That means a 50/50 chance of getting wounded from the weakest of your foes' weapons on one of your most expensive and important gangers. The boys or toys argument is always a personal one, but I'd rather spend the last 75 or so credits I have at gang creation on keeping my important gangers alive rather than getting another warm body.

 

[davide.imbriaco]

yep, my thought was that my champions will probably face the enemy AP heavy guns (which would reduce or negate mesh armour)... but dying from light guns for skipping on mesh would be annoying, yes

maybe I'll run a test game, just to see how bad it is

thank you all for the tips!

 

[Psyan]

Mesh Armor is definitely worth the low cost (possibly too low, IMO), particularly on champions and leaders.

 

[Gdolkin]

Shotguns are fairly common and S4 Ap-0 D2, so will be rolling Injury Dice against a T3 W2 Champion on a single 3+ roll to wound, or you could get a 1 in 3 chance to be unharmed for 15 creds of lovely Mesh, price of half a shotgun

 

[Lunarcruiser]

For 15 credits it is just too cheap to pick up mesh. As @SirFrog said the majority of early weapons has no AP which a 5+ save gives a fair chance. The cheapest champion killer the basic ganger can get is the 30 credit shotgun (S4 D2 AP-) with a 15 credit mesh it is a decent screen to the bulk of most small arms fire. See @Gdolkin above.

You are correct that heavier weapons (including bolters and Special weapons not just Heavy) can often target bosses but canny players will not necessarily target them first off. With the extra wounds and likely better armour bosses have,bit can often be more efficient to target the weaker gangers and juves. For most scenario triggering Bottle tests automatically looses Reputation and once bottled the opposing gang will keep having to test to see if individuals stick around.
Take out a few juves easily and your opponent will be in an attrition war. Bottle checks key around the number of bodies not the quality of them.

Especially in campaign play the game keys around long term play. You need your champions making Trade actions or medical escorts post battle, you need fighters to not be in recovery, you need to not rack up loads of lasting injuries. A 15 credit armour at the early game greatly reduces you being stuck in a death spiral early on.
I would recommend all champions, leader and specialists start with at least mesh. You can get mesh for everyone else later and Undersuits as you progress when more AP is around.
My group plays a lot of long campaigns and I aim to have at least mesh and Undersuits for everyone. In the last four campaigns I have lost or retired only six fighters because I armoured up and defended against small arms fire.