N18 New player, Van Saar starting gang

[Snowdrift]

Hi. I just recently picked up Necromunda (still waiting for rulebook to arrive). I have a box of Van Saar, the forgeworld upgrade sets and the gangs book here now though and want to start building my Gang ready to start playing.

Having never actually played the game yet (this edition anyway) i have no frame of reference to what works and what doesn't. At first glance it seems that Van Saar are very expensive and obviously shooty. I want to make a fun list with toys (the idea of hiding my leader with overseer seems effective but not very "fun") but that leaves me with only a gang of 6 decently tooled up or 7 with some compromise. Can you manage with a gang of 6 bodies or is it an uphill battle?

the 2 lists I can't decide on are as follows;

Lots of plasma, mesh armour, but not many bodies and Iron will to help offset the small model count.
https://yaktribe.games/underhive/gang/vs1.43196/

or,

go the overseer route with an extra body , slightly less plasma and less mesh armour
https://yaktribe.games/underhive/gang/vs2.43199/

I've decided to stick with lasguns over carbines because they're cheap and i'll be aiming for hot shot packs later.

Any advice on the above builds would be appreciated, hard to decide when i haven't seen anything in action.

thanks in advance

 

[Martini Henrie]

Las pistols are a waste of space, at least for leaders and champions. I would also drop the heavy weapon for a special and free up more creds for more gangers. Buy the minimum you need to be effective, and have a plan for what weapons and wargear that you want as your gang progresses.

Have a look at some of the other VS threads, or gang lists that are available. They'll give you a good steer.

 

[Snowdrift]

Thanks for the reply and advice.

My thoughts on the las pistol leader were that he would be hiding out of sight near the plasma gunner using overseer most of the time so the only time he’ll have to engage will likely be at short range when the enemy get to him. Double las pistol was just a cheap way to outfit him, it’s either that or a lasgun.

The double pistol gunslinger champion was just so I had some short range punch as I can’t imagine I’ll get the luxury of killing everything at long range.

I’m the main issue I have is not having the experience to know how much of a disadvantage having only 6 bodies is.

 

[MrAndersson]

I am still undecided on the issue of heavy weapons (if they are worth the huge cost or not). But if you are going to take one, Suspensors is an absolutely mandatory piece of equipment.

Also, the Gunfighter champion you have is really expensive for what he does. A combi Lasgun/Plasma gun and Fast shot would give you better firepower at better range for less credits.

 

[Snowdrift]

yeah by the time you buy the suspensors it gets very expensive. if it is the case that "heavies" are not worth it int his edition then that's really disappointing, they add some variation and character to a gang.

I did initially go with a combi plasma but then i read a lot of people saying that they really suffer from running out of ammo. maybe give the combi champ Munitioneer? maybe save my dual pistol John Woo dreams for some Juves down the line.

 

[Snowdrift]

also considering this list. its basically just spamming plasma. the gunfighter pistol is mainly there for the cool factor.

https://yaktribe.games/underhive/gang/plasma_spam_(6.43239/

 

[TabulaRasa]

In sector mechanicus heavy weapons are definitely worth it.

In regards to laspistols - do you have an idea as to what your leader is going to do if the plasma cannon goes down or if you're forced to deploy so that Overseer doesn't have a valid target? I think the skill works best when it offers tactical flexibility. If then your leader is also a threat that makes it better and can easily be worth it. Overseer is also pretty limited now with the nerf to its range (6" now instead of 12").

 

[Snowdrift]

I haven't even tried a demo game of this version of Necromunda so i'm finding it really hard to make plans. I probably need to just try something and change it up as i learn the game. the main thing i need advice on though is having 6 or 7 bodies. id like to try the geared up 6 man team but not much point if its generally considered terrible.

 

[TabulaRasa]

Then I'd recommend that you and your friends do a couple of test runs before starting a campaign. A lot of decisions might also come down to how you want to play. For instance a Dominion campaign means that you'll see a lot more of a either sabotage or border dispute which both seriously deviate from the normal rules for deployment and as such can seriously mess up your regular plans. In these cases it might be good to still have a leader that can perform by themselves. A lot also comes down to how much and what sort of terrain you have. If you have too little it might be good to play it in 2d before you scrounged up enough tp make it work. So, yes, test runs is probably a great idea!

Seven bodies is great if you can afford it. With six only one needs to lose their nerves or go down for you to start rolling for bottle tests, Iron will remedies this a bit, but you might want something a bit cooler.

 

[MorthosKinslayer]

i ran VS for 2 campaigns and the combi weapons did some serious work, my leader had a combi plasma/las and main champ had combi melta and hip shooting. He abused leader's overseer constantly and was an absolute terror. No one wanted to infiltrate anywhere near. Thats my main piece of advice.

 

[MorthosKinslayer]

in regards to my starting list, i had leader with combi plas Overseer, champ with combi plasma and Munitioneer, and champ with Hipshooting who i saved up for the combi melta. That trio stuck together and the rest of my gangers got hot shot lasguns(eventually). First cycle was a bit rough, but once it got going.... I pick all my opponents apart and I ran away with the campaign and couldn't be beat. good luck sir

 

[MorthosKinslayer]

sorry to keep adding, I started with 6: a leader, 2 champ, 3 ganger