N18 Van Saar- Rad outfit help

[Lord_Ikka]

I'm looking to build a fun, themed Van Saar list. I know that the "ideal" VS list is plasma plasma plasma, but I don't play Necromunda to be the best, I play it for fun and crazy happenings. So, I want to run a rad phage list- use the weakness of the STC to destroy the House's enemies.

Currently I've got one box of the regular gang and another 5-man sprue of the regular box, plus some stuff incoming- the weapons upgrade 2 kit, the Champion/cyber-spider kit, and the Ash Wastes upgrade (love helmets, not faces).

What would be a decent start to the gang? My original thought was a Prime with a rad cannon and suspensors, but that's around 330 points and seems a bit much to start off with, especially if I want other rad-equipped guys. Thoughts on how I can start off a gang?

 

[Sump Thing]

If you are looking for a fun and crazy rad list, why not just give rad grenades to as many gang members as possible? A ranged weapon with only 9" range which can scatter back to you, is always dicey. This would leave room for other weapons, like a grav gun. It's not rad, but shooting around 3" blasts of difficult terrain is at least as crazy.

As for the list, in addition of the rad cannon boss, you could take a handful of juves with rad grenades and various las weapons, and a specialist with the grav gun. And the rest of the points to a champion with (rad grenades) what ever you can afford.

 

[Lord_Ikka]

Hmm. I like the idea of a grav gun, don't see that often in the gangs I'm up against and its just weird enough to be funny.

Rad grenades are a good idea- I like that a lot. More chaos is always good, and more rad for everyone!

 

[Wi11iamB1ake]

If it's just for fun, how about an Archeotek with a Rad Beamer? No one has ever accused it of being the best weapon, but it is cheaper than a radgun and will spread a lot of rad phage.

 

[Lord_Ikka]

That's one of the models I'm looking at getting, as I don't have that box yet. My initial thought was to do this up for the second round of our league (generally one in spring and one in fall/winter). So get a decent base gang, then save up during the campaign for an Archeoteck with a beamer for some more rad shenanigans.

 

[Psyan]

Rad-phage doesn't generally kill a lot of enemy fighters; however, it can make them easier to kill with other weapons by reducing their Toughness. Lasguns become a lot more dangerous when their targets are T2. For this reason, your best bet is to have multiple ways of inflicting Rad-phage on your foes and to have it happen as soon and at as long a range as possible.

So I'm going to endorse the Rad Cannon for this build, too. If the (usually obligatory with heavy weapons) Suspensor is making it too expensive to start with, skip it at first. With a 2+ BS, a 5" pie plate and good range, you can get away with less maneuvering for a few matches, just pay good attention to where you deploy the fighter and make sure you have other models between him/her and the enemy. Put this weapon on an Augmek.
Give your second Augmek Hip Shooting and a Rad Gun. Hip Shooting greatly increases the utility of template weapons.
Put the Rad Grenades on Neoteks... unlike most other VS, they're quick enough to get close enough to deliver them before getting shot or charged.

Please note that I'm not calling any of this effective or competitive, just offering suggestions on how to get the most mileage out of your Rad-phage.

 

[Lunarcruiser]

I usually have a rad cannon for the 5" pie plate without the suspensors to start. It frees up 60 credits for lasguns. Once you throw down some long range flesh wounds the lasguns suddenly become far nastier. (Most gangs are toughness 3). Unless you hit them multiple times rad weapons may not directly hurt that much but they do make all your lasgun toting teks better. They are team play tools.
I also tend to hold off on the rad grenades to put more bodies on the field. If you let opponents get within 9" for grenade range when starting out with Van Saar you really should be running away from them at that point.
Going for bonkers however and Rad is great. Your body gloves give you a unique option. With your Radgun or Cannon you can target melee combatants pummelling your gang freely. You suffer a S2 hit against your T3 (5+ wound) get pinned but ignore the Rad phages. Your opponent still gets all that but also gets the rad phage.
More importantly they get pinned. If you pin everyone they are not engaged so nasty melee is over. They then must stand up so can't charge. Almost as fun as Cawdor flame throwing thier own bone pickers to clear a hole. Mwahaha!

If you are avoiding plasma throw in a grav gun somewhere. It's another blast template to throw down, it hits fairly hard for when you really need it and it is nice and esoteric so leans into your exclusive hidden STC knowledge angle.
You might try going to the Trade Post later for a seismic cannon just to add to the unusual weapon angle. Plus Rad phages make the S3 profile in particular hit all the harder.

 

[Lord_Ikka]

Raddick's Radders

Van Saar (HoA) gang with a rating of 940 by Lord_Ikka

yaktribe.games

This is my proto gang, so far. 60 creds in the stash gives me the option of putting suspensors on the rad cannon, giving the specialist a rad gun, or if I get really lucky buying another Augmek/Archeotek to increase my champion count. So- rad cannon leader and grav gun champion, a solid core of las-wielding teks, and a couple of subteks with rad grenades to both be a distraction and help spread the rad love.

 

[Psyan]

I usually have a rad cannon for the 5" pie plate without the suspensors to start. It frees up 60 credits for lasguns. Once you throw down some long range flesh wounds the lasguns suddenly become far nastier. (Most gangs are toughness 3). Unless you hit them multiple times rad weapons may not directly hurt that much but they do make all your lasgun toting teks better. They are team play tools.
I also tend to hold off on the rad grenades to put more bodies on the field. If you let opponents get within 9" for grenade range when starting out with Van Saar you really should be running away from them at that point.
Going for bonkers however and Rad is great. Your body gloves give you a unique option. With your Radgun or Cannon you can target melee combatants pummelling your gang freely. You suffer a S2 hit against your T3 (5+ wound) get pinned but ignore the Rad phages. Your opponent still gets all that but also gets the rad phage.
More importantly they get pinned. If you pin everyone they are not engaged so nasty melee is over. They then must stand up so can't charge. Almost as fun as Cawdor flame throwing thier own bone pickers to clear a hole. Mwahaha!

If you are avoiding plasma throw in a grav gun somewhere. It's another blast template to throw down, it hits fairly hard for when you really need it and it is nice and esoteric so leans into your exclusive hidden STC knowledge angle.
You might try going to the Trade Post later for a seismic cannon just to add to the unusual weapon angle. Plus Rad phages make the S3 profile in particular hit all the harder.

It hadn't yet occurred to me to use a rad-phage template/pie plate to break up a melee... and I've played VS for years. It's kinda dirty... I like it!

 

[Lunarcruiser]

It hadn't yet occurred to me to use a rad-phage template/pie plate to break up a melee... and I've played VS for years. It's kinda dirty... I like it!

To be honest I haven't performed that tactic before a ran a Cawdor gang.

Many the callous disregard for ablative armour (otherwise known as bone pickers) has coloured my normal gangs survival tactics...

 

[SirWalterManny]

Have only played Van Saar once, a long time past.

But this thread made me revisit and think about a Rad-focussed gang for kicks.

Two initial options was thinking of; 1 with rad cannon, 1 with radgun.

OPTION 1a
Prime (Hotshot Lasgun) [Iron will]
Augmek (Rad Cannon) [Trickshot]
Archeotek (Rad Beamer + Laspistol) [Gadgeteer]
Tek Specialist (Hotshot Lasgun)
Neotek (Las pistol + Rad Grenades)
Neotek (Las pistol + Rad Grenades)
Subtek (Lasgun)

OPTION 1b
Prime (Hotshot Lasgun + Infrasight) [Iron will]
Augmek (Radgun) [Hip shooting]
Archeotek (Rad Beamer) [Munitioneer]
Tek Specialist (Hotshot Lasgun)
Neotek (Lasgun + Rad Grenades)
Neotek (Lasgun + Rad Grenades)
Subtek (Lasgun)

Not sure which i prefer.

 

[OmniCritic]

It hadn't yet occurred to me to use a rad-phage template/pie plate to break up a melee... and I've played VS for years. It's kinda dirty... I like it!

Sadly, it doesn't work. Standing and Engaged fighters aren't pinned by shooting hits, only Standing and Active ones are (Core Rulebook, p.117).

 

[Lunarcruiser]

Sadly, it doesn't work. Standing and Engaged fighters aren't pinned by shooting hits, only Standing and Active ones are (Core Rulebook, p.117).

I missed that
My group must have house rules that blast weapons do that so long ago that it baked into my brain.
Still handing out a Flesh Wound to your opponent makes it easier for your and my puny Van Saar to actually wound folk in melee.