N18 Orlock rooster

L

LordDarq

Juve
Oct 3, 2024
18
6
3
Hi there,

I'm newbie in Necromunda world, but friend of mine keeps asking me to start a campaign with him (he played older version). I checked couple of YT channels, and I chosen Orlock as I'm more like a shooting guy and to learn the game I lean towards all-rounder gang than Van Saar. Before I'll paint the figures I wanted to select at least the starting rooster to get the right gear on minis, so I've prepared something like this - https://yaktribe.games/underhive/gang/wild_hogs.582371 - and post this thread hoping for your comments, as I would like to come prepared :)

Many thanks in advance for your opinion and suggestion about the starting rooster, as well as what should be my next steps in expanding the gang (hangers-on, brutes, new gangers, equipment)?
 
I quite like your list. Not the way I’d go with some of the choices but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad. Some things that stood out for me:

Lucky is a pretty controversial Legendary Name, because the downside is a pretty big one. I wouldn’t give this name to my Leader, or anyone with decent wargear really.

Your list is pretty nasty at 12 inch range, but not much more than that. I would get at least one Bolter, either for your Gunner or Sergeant.
 
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Makes sense - I've added Boltgun on my Gunner, I think it is better to leave the Combat Shotgun and Shotgun Savant combo on my Sergeant.

For 'Lucky' - what would you suggest instead? Maybe 'Too Pretty for Primus' to keep the credits going, and / or replace that one name on my Arms Master with 'Blade Breaker'? Other names that I consider worth thinking about would be 'Iron Stare', 'One Shot', 'One punch' (with that - maybe drop Plasma pistol and think about Rogue Doc Hanger or Juve with two Autoguns / Stub guns)?
 
7 models is on the low side to start with. I'd get at least 8, the closer to 10 the better.

Your leader seems to be suffering from "role confusion". Is he long or close range? Answer that question, then drop either the plasma pistol or grenade launcher and get another gunner with those credits. Personally I like boltguns on my leader.

I'd consider heavy weapons on your Road Sergeant as that model is the platform for that. That said the "big guns" can come later.

I think you can lighten up the equipment on your Gunners too and get more of them. While a boltgun on a Gunner is nice, you need to remember that the Gunners are your pawns.

The way I approach list building is everyone gets one weapon for one role until I'm at 8+ models, then you can start doubling up/getting backup weapons.
 
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Many thanks! With latest updates I have now 8 gangers, details below.

Still considering few options, i.e.
- One Punch on Captain?
- Blade Breaker on Arms Master?
- two stub guns on Wrecker and/or one of the Gunner? In general, Flail on Wreckers (WS 5+)?
- Boltgun on Gunner Specialist instead of Grenade Launcher?

Captain:
- gear: Grenade Launcher, Mesh Armor
- skills: Munitioneer, One Punch

Road sergeant:
- gear: Combat Shotgun, Mesh Armor
- skills: Shotgun Savant, Too Pretty for Primus

Arms Master:
- gear: Arc Hammer, Stub Gun, Armored undersuit, Mesh Armor
- skills: Nerves of Steel, Too Pretty for Primus

Wrecker #1:
- gear: Flail, Stub Gun,, Hazard Suit

Wrecker #2:
- gear: Flail, Stub Gun,, Hazard Suit

Gunner Specialist:
- gear: Grenade Launcher, Mesh Armor

Gunner #1:
- gear: Autogun, Mesh Armor

Gunner #2:
- gear: Autogun, Mesh Armor
 
The list is improving.

Next optimization, getting rid of the mesh armor on the gunners, armor undersuit on the arms master, and hazard suits on the wreckers would net you 90 credits.

If you drop the combat shotgun on the road sergeant, change the leader's weapon to a boltgun, and drop the stubgun on the arms master that will net you 160 credits. That is enough to pick up a heavy bolter on your road sergeant if you were so inclined. This set of changes would add some much needed weapon variety in your list as well.

If you're not so inclined, then use that 90 credits on another gunner.

Depending on your play group, I'd be careful spamming Too Pretty for Primus as it can snowball the campaign out of control with the number of credits it generates.

Legendary names wise I like Iron Stare on my leader. Bullet Lord could be nice with his boltgun for when you want something dead, and since you have munitioneer you have 4 chances to reload it per activation.

Iron Stare is also quite good on a melee arms master.
 
Last edited:
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Honestly I find the better combo for Bullet Lord to be with a Combat Shotgun and Shotgun Savant. Mostly the same stats as a boltgun with the exception of range and penetration; plus you have a template weapon that can really mess up a corridor if you really want it to. plus the ammo roll on a combat shotgun is a 4+, not a 6+, meaning you're much more likely to get that reload than with the boltgun.
That said, if you want a decent reload chance with munitioneer pair it with steady hands. Suddenly that's six reload attempts in an activation, greatly increasing your odds of getting that reload.

This is going to sound a little goofy but going melee with the wreckers is a small misstep - With WS5+ and one attack the odds aren't in their favour even with the charge and flail bonus. Don't treat them like an Assault Marine, treat them like Jango Fett. With their movement you can afford to fly in close and blast a lone fighter with a shotgun, or twin pistols (stub if you're playing safe, autopistols if you want to fill a fighter full of holes), or, my personal favourite for causing mayhem, Blasting and Demo Charges with the grenade bouquet tactic (Always arm your juves with blasting charges, it completely mitigates their God-Emperor awful aim while keeping weapon slots free for when they promote).
 
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HugeSamples said:
The list is improving.

Next optimization, getting rid of the mesh armor on the gunners, armor undersuit on the arms master, and hazard suits on the wreckers would net you 90 credits.

If you drop the combat shotgun on the road sergeant, change the leader's weapon to a boltgun, and drop the stubgun on the arms master that will net you 160 credits. That is enough to pick up a heavy bolter on your road sergeant if you were so inclined. This set of changes would add some much needed weapon variety in your list as well.

If you're not so inclined, then use that 90 credits on another gunner.

Depending on your play group, I'd be careful spamming too pretty for primus as it can snowball the campaign out of control with the number of credits it generates.

Legendary names wise I like Iron Stare on my leader. Bullet Lord could be nice with his boltgun for when you want something dead, and since you have munitioneer you have 4 chances to reload it per activation.

Iron Stare is also quite good on a melee arms master.
Click to expand...
I'm not going for Heavy Bolter without Suspensor, that is definitely in my plans for future as I think now is just too expensive. Dropping some armours may be an idea, need to think about it.
 
Technic Al said:
Honestly I find the better combo for Bullet Lord to be with a Combat Shotgun and Shotgun Savant. Mostly the same stats as a boltgun with the exception of range and penetration; plus you have a template weapon that can really mess up a corridor if you really want it to. plus the ammo roll on a combat shotgun is a 4+, not a 6+, meaning you're much more likely to get that reload than with the boltgun.
That said, if you want a decent reload chance with munitioneer pair it with steady hands. Suddenly that's six reload attempts in an activation, greatly increasing your odds of getting that reload.

This is going to sound a little goofy but going melee with the wreckers is a small misstep - With WS5+ and one attack the odds aren't in their favour even with the charge and flail bonus. Don't treat them like an Assault Marine, treat them like Jango Fett. With their movement you can afford to fly in close and blast a lone fighter with a shotgun, or twin pistols (stub if you're playing safe, autopistols if you want to fill a fighter full of holes), or, my personal favourite for causing mayhem, Blasting and Demo Charges with the grenade bouquet tactic (Always arm your juves with blasting charges, it completely mitigates their God-Emperor awful aim while keeping weapon slots free for when they promote).
Click to expand...
I like the idea of Bullet Lord on 'Shotgun combo'. Steady hands may be indeed a nice idea as a next skill, definitely going to put that on my list.

For Wreckers, I have the same doubts. I think I like twin pistol combo the most, but that would require Gunfighter skill and I'm not sure how much time consuming that may be. Shotgun to start with may be indeed an option, will explore that in the 'next improvement' :).
 
LordDarq said:
For Wreckers, I have the same doubts. I think I like twin pistol combo the most, but that would require Gunfighter skill and I'm not sure how much time consuming that may be. Shotgun to start with may be indeed an option, will explore that in the 'next improvement' :).
Click to expand...

To be frank, Skills were not even a factor I was thinking of. In my previous campaign run, my Wrecker got along fine with characteristic upgrades, but now that I'm looking at it, and I see a nice PRIMARY on the wrecker's skill table, I think you're onto a winner.

Personally I think the entire shooting table is good for a wrecker with two pistols, not just the gunfighter skill (which honestly a -1 to hit with twin-guns blazing isn't the end of the world when you have the movement to get into close range with your pistols) and you could probably get along fine with random primary skill picks at 6xp a pop, and increasing Ballistic Skill to 3+ (again at 6xp a pop) is also a recommendation.

Getting that xp isn't an incredible feat, but short of your wrecker cleaning house in a single skirmish, I suspect you'll be picking it up around 3-4xp at a time. If you want to really up your xp gain, then using weapons with rapid-fire and blast and shooting at bunched up enemies is a good start, to net a lot of Serious Injuries/ Out-of-Actions. Using your movement to get within an inch of a downed fighter is also a good tactic, as you get 1xp per assistance, success or no success.
 
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Thanks all!

With latest changes, I have the following squad. Now, I have 35 credits to work with.

Therefore few questions:
1. Should I drop Mesh Armor from one Gunner to get Rogue Doc? or:
2. Should I drop Mesh Armor from two Gunners to get another Gunner (with Autogun, or...)? or:
3. Should I drop Grenade Launcher from Gunner Spec and get Plasma Gun?
4. If Gunner Spec keeps Grenade Launcher - should I replace it with Boltgun?

Captain:
- gear: Grenade Launcher, Mesh Armor
- skills: Munitioneer, Too Pretty for Primus

Road sergeant:
- gear: Combat Shotgun, Mesh Armor
- skills: Shotgun Savant, Bullet Lord

Arms Master:
- gear: Arc Hammer, Stub Gun, Armored undersuit, Mesh Armor
- skills: Nerves of Steel, Blade Breaker

Wrecker #1:
- gear: Stub Gun x2

Wrecker #2:
- gear: Sawn-off Shotgun + Solid Shot

Gunner Specialist:
- gear: Grenade Launcher, Mesh Armor

Gunner #1:
- gear: Autogun, Mesh Armor

Gunner #2:
- gear: Autogun, Mesh Armor
 
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Personally, I wouldn't drop mesh for the world, let alone a Rogue Doc. As a hanger on they're very useful, especially in the late campaign stage, but for when you're opening a campaign, they're just a touch too expensive. If one of your gunners gets critically injured and the price is higher than a new gunner, just let him die. Right now you only really care if your Captain or Specialist gets badly hurt, everyone else is replaceable until they get some experience and upgrades.

In terms of your 35 credits, I'd like to offer two potential uses. The first is to simply save them. After your first game you're going to get a payout regardless of how you do, and adding 35 credits to the bank balance may be the difference in between a new mediocre ganger and a flash road sergeant.

The second is in the Bullet Merchant Hanger-on. We've talked about how one of the Orlock's great strengths are in their legendary names, but another subtle but equally powerful strength is the wargear discounts and a favour toward weapons with quite good ammo types. At 25 credits (50 credits cheaper than other gangs) the bullet merchant makes all ammo in the trading post common (meaning you don't need to roll to see if you can purchase them) and changes the Limited Trait to Scarce (meaning that when you run out of ammo it's just for the battle, you don't delete the ammo from the roster). You then use the remaining ten credits on Dum-Dum rounds.
After your first game your options for ammo widens immeasurably. There are three extra types of combat shotgun ammo, seven extra types of grenade launcher ammo, and two extra types of autogun ammo. While your competing gangs are struggling to get their mechanics off of the ground, you will be sitting pretty with gas shells and static rounds, giving you a very impressive edge over them.
 
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I think a bullet merchant is a good purchase.

Personally, I don't think gangers are worth armoring up until they get a worthwhile stat upgrade--such as BS. If they die simple replace them--you keep weapons after death, but not armor.

If you lose the mesh on your non-specialist gunners and the armor undersuit on your arms master (undersuits are a luxury item for later) that's another 55 credits, combine that with the 35 you have banked and you have 90 credits. That's another whole gunner with a decent gun.

e.g.
a shotgun gunner is 75 credits with 15 banked.
an autogun gunner is 60 credits + a bullet merchant is 25 credits = 85 credits with 5 banked.

Granted another autogun gunner does make your list a bit dull...2x autogunners is already pushing my dull button, and to be honest 2x grenade launchers is as well. Remember this isn't a unit from 40k with all the same gear. Each model should really tell their own story.

That said, gunners are your pawns.
 
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