N18 New Player- building minis- Which options?

[jeffmessina]

Hello folks!
So I have the Hive War starter set that comes with It comes with Escher and Delaque. Working on building minis- built a few just how they are listed in the build guide.
However, I realized I might be making some poor choices since I don't know what is what yet.

Any suggestions on which bits I should glue on from that starter kit?
Hate to make a bad semi-permanent choice before I know which shooty or stabby bits to use

I see there are a billion of gangs build people recommend- a bit overwhelming and I just need to get some models on the table to play...but don't want to have to waste money on another kit because I glued the wrong thing

Thanks!

 

[Vonvilkee]

For gangers (escher applies a little differently to Delaque due to cost differences)
lasguns are cheap and upgradable you'll want multiple
shotguns do good damage and are upper middling cost a couple are a good idea
autoguns are lower middling cost build one MAYBE (cuz it isn't cheap and doesn't do good damage)
Any pistol or melee there are better (or more expendable) fighters to carry these

For juves:
Stiletto knives, special rules and carrier stats make them worthwhile (escher)
Fighting knives spend credits to barely be better than a fist? Leave them out
Stub guns cheap and allow for more versatility in fighter use good option
Las or auto pistols gun version is better and they struggle to be much better than a stub, auto can luck into a spike of hits through rapid fire in combat but meh.

For Champs it gets trickier, synergies are the name of the game skills with guns or combat dictate more of what is good or not.

Escher avoid the "flame" thrower it is a gas weapon end up being expensive and doesn't pin so can open the carrier up to danger.

Delaque I have no real suggestions other than take web stuff maybe avoid grav

 

[daveh]

whatever you use will be right for some games and wrong for others , dont stress.
lasguns for gangers , p[stol and stabber for juves , after that plasma for a champion and the rest as you fancy it.
good luck and welcome to the sump.

 

[Lunarcruiser]

Consider using 2mm magnets for the arms. Its possible to magnetise every gangs arm options, altough Cawdor are a real pain. You need to be very delicate with esher arms but the Delaque coats and shoulder pads hide everything well.
Mostly agree with @Vonvilkee.
However a few points to add and/or dispute. Don't do Crystal for Las guns. Unstable is bad.
Auto guns have interesting upgrade options but can't really compete with a 5 credit Lasgun.
Fighting Knives are cheap for melee and give you some AP They are good for cheap fighters.

Normally i would dial back on most other Gangs Toxin and Gas options but with Esher Chem alchemy and the death maiden they can be really great even if the Chem thrower does not Pin it can be upgraded to all sorts of nasties.

For delaque Web is still strong. They have many of the "normal" weapons of esher and the same basic guidelines apply. I would steer away from Toxin weapons as you have other options and no Alchemy.
The Grav Gun and Pistol are awesome. They hinge around a opposed Strength check akin to toxin and gas Toughness checks but opponents only have a possible strength upgrade via spending XP to defend against it and most players avoid spending XP on Strength, Toughness upgrades being more useful and rely on better weapons to boost strength hits. Gas weapons can be aided by Hazard suits and respirators there is no defensive item against the Strength test of a Grav weapon (Servo Harnesses provide a modifier to Strength they don't actually change the Statistic and it spercifically says they are not a permanent increase). They bypass armour are Damage 2 so will make a dent. The Concussion is just a bonus (good synergy with a Flash Grenade, You hurt them with the Grav Gun first shot and if they survive a following Flash grenade practically guarantees them failing thier I test in most cases so they can't act next round.
Even if you fail to wound the opponent with that first Grav shot you leave a Blast template in place which halves any movement through it for a round so it makes it harder to run away.

 

[Heart of Storm]

The Delaque kit is probably the hardest to work with since they seem to want to sling their main armament on their backs, GW did not do a helpful job there.

For Escher, you want a good couple of lasguns (3 is a good number in my mind), a shotgun or two and a pistol/knife juve or two.

Champions/leader are a bit more of a challenge, the whip/combi bolter leader looks cool as hell, but maybe isn't an optimal load out, if you're handy with the clippers you can replace the whip with a sword which is more useful. Other than that plasma pistol/sword isn't a bad shout, you can use the sword as a power sword or stiletto sword provided you aren't in a group of absolute rule Nazis

 

[Lunarcruiser]

, you can use the sword as a power sword or stiletto sword provided you aren't in a group of absolute rule Nazis

I just tint the power weapons with Tesseract Glow so they Glow under my little UV torch. At some point I may bother to shade my toxin weapons with another uniform colour. Maybe a blue or a purple.