Introduction to HOUSE VAN SAAR- Getting started in NECROMUNDA!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ธ.ค. 2024
- It's cyberpunk time as I take a look at some tactics and starting lists for the shootiest gang of wet-suited ruffians in the underhive...the Van Saar!
Lets have a look at how the gang works for new players, if you can really make a roster with something other than plasma guns in it, as well as exploring the mysterious art of the movement phase...
Music:
Exit the Premises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons...
Level 0 - Monplaisir
04:52 Strengths and Weaknesses
16:04 Weapons and Wargear
27:20 Skills!
38:56 Archeo Cyberteknika
48:14 Fighter load out ideas
1:09:33 Brutes, Beasts and Hangers on
1:23:01 Example Starting Gangs
Another banger, I just bought my first Necromunda box and this guide is gold. 💯👏👏👏
Great to hear!
Another great vid. The only problem with these is they're making me want to collect all the gangs 😄
Thanks for the kind words! It's always a struggle not to start a new gang...they're all so cool!
i find Gunfighter plasmapistols champion to be the most efficient fighter in my wardband (i play a lot of zone mortalis tbh). The reason is simple - i can devide shots with my gunfighter, and while i always outnumbered - it is very important.
also love your analytics.
Great point, I didn't consider the value of splitting shots. I am very wary of bad dice so I usually go all in on a target for the overkill rather than splitting fire in a more efficient manner. Perhaps my fear of the Natural One is holding me back lol Thanks for the love!
Do you give them 2 plasma pistols or 1 plasma and 1 las so they have the backup from an ammo check?
@@matthewlaxon828 double plasma. later in campaign i buy this champ a shield cuz this champ is always on the frontline
Only did some skimming to get some key points but going to drop you a like and comment to help show youtube you matter.
Will be going into a campaign in April so getting a Van Saar gang prepped and one thing sticks out: going for Eco is critical for Van Saar as due to their reliance on expensive guns, losses can hurt and needing to recover is important. Certainly a gang that doesn't want to take losses early in any campaign and play to just get them Fixer triggers each game and aim to get Discount buffs rolling quickly. (though with the campaign I am going in having what looks like 3 other Van Saars, territory may be hotly contested in that regard!)
Archeotek seems good to have just as a means to have a special gun on deck for less than 100 credits and have decent boosts. Someone that can effectively cheat Infra-Sights onto any gun I think seems fairly decent, and I think that Smoke-Grenade combo sounds kind of good as the one thing Van Saar doesn't want is to get shot...and having the ability to rob the opponent of the chance to get a shot back on such a high prio target could be critical.
Cheers for the info...even if this vid is a year old it has been a help!
Thanks for the comment! Much appreciated, even if it took me a while to reply.
Agree about VS needing a good economy. For other gangs that have access to Fixer it's nice to have, but VS stuff is all so expensive you really need a good income to cushion you from a bad injury or whatever.
Whole video is GREAT compared to every other I've watched as I'm a newbie and haven't played my first game. Thank you so much for the sample beginner loadouts, this helped immensely in decision making
Glad I could help! Hope your first game goes well!
You're a wiz at parsing out information and slotting in a few humorous lines as you go!
Thank you! I'm very happy you enjoy my stuff!
Spider rig, psi-amp... underdog card to turn your archeotek into an unsactioned (with torsonic gamma ec) means 6a s6 on a charge... then you have shock and force which means power and sever... so 6 to hit is auto wound with 2 damage and if reduced to 0 wounds auto ooa... this is the ultimate archeotek... i choose teleport as a power as it means going through terrain where needed and once per battle an aditional action meaning can charge from being pinned or move then charge...
My starting list had a Neotek with Shield (and mesh) and Photon Flash AKA the Green Goblin, she get's injured every other game, but the 2+ save in combat has helped me against close combat fighters sneaking in from the back and the flash can be quite an annoyance. Not cheap, but I bought a second one in campaing because it's all fun with these. Now let's put some blasting charges on them, and save some XP for extra Toughness ;)
I hope there is appropriate cackling whenever the grenades get thrown!
Hi love the videos! Best house gang review video ever. I think I made all the mistakes in the first campaign with Van Saar. Gave all my Neoteks energy shields 😂😭
Thanks for the kind words!
Expensive, but at least the neoteks will be safe with those shields haha
My Van Saar have been shockingly decent in close combat. They haven't done a ton of damage regularly, but when they hit - they hit hard. The spider rig is +1 to hit and paired, so it turns a 2A WS4+ to 6A at WS3+. Also got lucky on a couple rolls with a shock stave. And some how my shield and armor speed bump guy held up a delaque with the phase claws for 4 turns.
Living the CC dream! Hope your shield guy got a promotion after that
I'd rate the Rig a lot higher if it wasn't on a M4 fighter. Getting a Neotek promoted and having a flying rig, now that'd be a terror!
@@digitalwastrel Thats my plan for an upcoming campaign - Neotek to archeotek with some choice stat upgrades.
Is that put on a ganger or archeotek?
@@te9591 Only the Archeoteck gets the spider-rig
Thanks mate, nice video!
I also struggle with the ArcheoTek but wanted to give it a try. Havent used the Spider Rig yet.. but to some extent, it helps me get confy getting close.
Munitioneer, along with a few Juves on Grenade sounds fun though :) (yeah, occular cybernetika...)
trying now the Ash Wastland, which is a different context. we'll see how it gets
Glad you liked the vid! Let me know how Spider Rigs work out for you, when you get to use one. With Ash Wastes I suppose you could put the ArcheoTek on a bike...hmmm, now that might be something to consider!
1:03:18
I'm just looking into Necromunda casually here.
I had an idea for a CC archetek that uses no spider rig.
The Unarmed Archeotek:
3 digis
Mesh
Laspistol
Torsonic alpha (free)
220 credits
The idea is to have the character use 5 attacks (3 from digis) at WS4 to try and land an unarmed blow that can do D3wounds using his alpha torsonic. Avoiding the cost of the spider rig even though it gives +1WS and S.
Give him Fixer, and he can later upgrade to the 2nd torsonic upgrade at half cost and / or simply buy more Digis. The rulebook says you can have up to ten. Even though his WS is average, the sheer amount of possible D3 attacks may win.
I like your thinking! However, Digi lasers are an actual close combat weapon, and only S1, so Torsonic Alpha wouldn't boost them, RAW.
Taking the Rig and fast tracking your way to Torsonic Gamma would give your rig S6 hits, and spend your XP on extra Move and Attacks, would have the potential to turn into something nasty.
@digitalwastrel i feel this is confusing in the Van Saar book. if you look into the digi lasers profile, it says they are "E" in short range, which in the rulebook says that they are treated as the strength of the user. As it is not a ranged attack. They count as "melee, versatile," which will allow them to also benefit from the second torsonic upgrade when used. I believe the strength 1 is only used, when using them in range at 3" in shooting. Which will make you roll a firepower dice and may lead to their 6+ ammo check. So the first variation: laspistol, 3 digis, 2nd torsonic upgrade, would give you 5 attacks, +1 from dual CC, +1 on charge, at strength 5.
The second basic variation, no digis used, also allows a player to instead make two unarmed attacks with the alpha torsonic upgrade, not getting the 3rd attack as it would count as having two weapons. So this variation gives you two dice to try and punch an enemy ganger with each wound doing D3.
Then, the third variation, which may need arbitration. Would be torsonic alpha combined with two unarmed attacks rolled, then possibly your digi attacks (let's say you use 3) at strength of the user. So two unarmed Strength 3 attacks doing D3 and three "melee-versatile", Strength 3 attacks not using using a bonus attack, since they can't be combined with the unarmed rolls.
There's more i want to write here, there's like 5 variations of the Archeoteks that I see. With their own strengths/disadvantages. I'll come back and explain more later.
@Digital Wastrel okay, here is my variantions of Archeotek:
#1 "The Unarmed Tek Monk"
Lasgun
Mesh
Torsonic Alpha (free)
Fixer
150 credits
Intent: uses the rifle at the start of the campaign to help suppress with its good BS. A laspistol won't benefit due to unarmed status. Then, use it to counter charge champions.
Pros: D3 unarmed damage might severely injure a champion early campaign. This is Min/Max to make the Archdotek the most affordable. (Possibly fielding two)
Cons: only two CC attacks due to unarmed descriptor, +1 on the charge, allowed.
#2. "Affordable Unarmed/Digi Tek"
Laspistol
Mesh
Torsonic alpha upgrade
1 Digi
Fixer
170 credits
Intent: min-max for low strength combat. Getting one pistol and one CC digi will grant +1 attack. Making for 4 attacks Strength 3 and +1 on the charge. Also note that if an arbitrator lets you use your two unarmed attacks, you might benefit from the D3 damage if you sacrifice the +1 from the pistol being holstered. Which would make it be 2 unarmed attacks @d3, 1 attack S3 digi.
Pros: a more affordable low strength build that may focus on being good enough for enemy gangers. Not needing strength upgrades ASAP. Buys one Digi to get the second close combat bonus as well as an extra attack (2 attacks for 25 credits, yes, please)
Cons: needs more strength for CC specialists like Goliath at T4, etc.
#3 "Min Goliath Killer Tek"
Laspistol
Mesh
Torsonic Gamma upgrade
(15 credits)
Power knife
Fixer
185 credits +50 credits (2 Digis) variant.
Intent: Most minimum high strength "melee-versatile" attacks at an affordable rate.
Pros: 3 attacks, +1 on the charge, at Strength 6. Affordability beats out Spider Rig? Could add two more digis for 2 more attacks over Spider Rig, making 5 attacks @ S6, AP -2.
Cons: Spider Rig would be a superior big picture.
#4. "Strength Spider Rig"
Laspistol
Mesh
Spider Rig
Torsonic Gamma
(15 credits)
Fixer
240 credits +(25 credits for power knife)
Intent: Min purchases to get the power of the spider rig.
Pros: the spider rig makes WS +1, S +1, making the attacks be 6 attacks on the charge @ Strength 6 from "paired" descriptor. Consider an early stat buff to the attack profile if possible as it will double the attack profile from 4 to 6 with paired.
Cons: need to get the charge from a 4" move unit
Note: Could go from a high strength build, but the 15 credit upgrades are so cheap. Could also add the Power Knife instead of pistol for half of your CC attacks to get AP -2.
Note: Could add a cyberarachnid for 75 credits for a "Fearsome" trait to help prevent charges, but mightbget costly early on.
#5. "Tekno God"
Laspistol
Mesh
Spider Rig
Torsonic Gamma
(15 credits)
10 Digis
Fixer
465 credits +25 credits for power knife variant
-80 credits for no spider rig min variant
Intent: Max attacks, Max Strength.
Pros: 16 attacks on the charge! @ Strength 6! (14 attacks, S5 if no rig on charge) so many potential wounds will kill gangers outright.
Cons: expensive unit best for late campaign. Spider Rig may not be needed at max digis probability.
Note: Consider choosing more cyber technika or field armor if even more disposable income is earned, making the unit even larger.
I'm standing by my reading of Digi Lasers being S1 both at 3" and in base to base. Other weapons with differing "melee" profiles and a "ranged" profiles separate the two modes clearly (I'm thinking of the Cawdor blunderpoles for example). Even if they did use their user's Strength they're still a melee weapon, so I don't think that would trigger Torsonic Alpha either. Of course how you play is between you and your group, but that's my take. I agree that the way digi lasers work is kind of unclear though!
If you're going to get under the hood and tweak some rules, changing both Torsonic levels to work with both unarmed and melee weapons seems like the easiest change to open up some options. Getting the Rig up to D3 would make it a lot more viable!
@@digitalwastrel im lightly discussing it on YakTribes, i respect your opinion. And I wouldn't use digis with torsonic alpha's d3 benefit directly because they are melee/versatile and would be compatible with the torsonic gamma +2 strength.
I've been running a radbeamer on an archeotek and it's working pretty well. The extra chance to put flesh wounds on enemies feels real powerful and sometimes even works. The longest range gun the archeotek has at start, at 24". I also have a cc neotek, but they haven't done anything in cc. I've been using their fast-learner to level up their WS as fast as I can tho, so they should be stomping juves and gangers soon.
Yeah, I can definitely see them working. They feel like a bonus support type gun to me; if you have enough regular guns to threaten the enemy they can be a nice extra threat especially for wearing down bigger boys but at gang creation I feel like I'd rather buy weapons that can (potentially) take the enemy out in 1 shot. Great to hear you're having success with the radbeamer though!
@@digitalwastrel the rad gun at least doubles your chances to get a flea wound (with some very rough math) or better. Rolling on the rapid fire profile isn't likely to do any damage until you start stacking those flesh wounds which you can start doing with each hit... potentially.
Love to see Delaque or Nomads next~
They're coming up for sure!
Haha, great vid, really useful tips and advice. Very entertaining and very useful! Thanks a lot
Glad you liked it! Van Saar are one of my big favourite factions
With the melee archeotech, sindextrous alpha and torsonic gamma cyberteknika are absolute musts, not just to make him immune to WS and S stat reductions but also to make him immune to being disarmed, with nothing to say of the +2 S when using a melee/versatile weapon. This, stacked on top of a paired and versatile 3" melee weapon that gives you +1 to hit and normally strikes at S+1, makes for a potent combination.
Archiotek, take Gama Torsonic upgrade on top of the freebe Alpha for 13 added credits, a partial servo harness for 130 (buy on a leader and dump in the stash to re-equip this guy), snag a chain lance off the BM / TP for 60 creds, and a grav-cutter for 50. Enjoy being able to easily murder drivers in the Ash wastes. (melee uses two location dice and picks on a hit.) Str 9 ap-2 dmg 2 with two swings at 4+ WS and a 4T. Pump movement speed with xp to make'em nasty as grav-cutter only gives +2"move and the PSH is a -1"move. (toss on a pistol if you feel frisky, or a shield via the stash later on if you want more armor)
Ash Wastes adding in Grav Cutters for other gang members really opens things up!
Wouldn't the extra 30 credit for a full harness be worth it?
Also an ash wastes grav cutter is 65 Credits.
It would appear that the chain is not up for purchase on the trading post anymore, it's an ash waste nomads gang exclusive.
It would appear that the chain is not up for purchase on the trading post anymore, it's an ash waste nomads gang exclusive.
How do you get the Torsonic cybertek for cheaper than the regular suspensors? I like the omega torsonic for my plasma canon guy as a defensive measure. He can move and shoot, and if someone gets too close he has a 3D punch. With a 4+ws he's still not great in combat but if he hits that's likely multiple injury dice to roll. It's quite pricy tho. Also, think about putting sprint on a neotek and then getting them hip shooting later - moving 3 times then shooting on a hoverboard.
If I'm reading it right, you pay the difference in credits between the level you're on and the level you're upgrading to. Archeotechs get the first level for free and a discount on any other pieces so iirc it comes out at slightly cheaper than straight up buying suspensors. A lot more surgery required though.
Sprint is a good call! I hadn't thought of that
@@digitalwastrel Oh right! I was forgetting the major discount on the archeotech. You have to wait and pick up the heavy weapon later for them too. Seems like an interesting build up - start them without weapons, but with torsonic alpha and maybe munitioned or fixer... maybe some grenades. Then work their way up to a heavy weapon and omega torsonic.
Meltas use a tiny nuclear explosion to fire a super heated blast wave I believe. Like a super simple heat ray.
just a tiny nuclear explosion, as a treat
@Digital Wastrel I would expect in a real situation the air propelled by said nuclear explosion would be super compressed, any noise over 200 decibels is a wall of solidified air, I believe. Super hair dryer is what a melta is...
It'll dry your hair...and pretty much every cell in your body as well
Great video! this helped me alot to start van saar
any chance for a genestealer cult necro guide?
Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, Genestealer Cults are definitely on the cards!
I see Neotek with 2x laspistols suggested a lot, do you think that's the way to go? I'm going to be cracking open that box soon and had planned to make one of those. Also how would you go about modelling the "I can see through time" Archeotek?
Lasguns are probably a better bet in most cases but 2 pistols are super cool so I like it for style reasons. Keeps them cheap and you can get close for the bonus to hit.
For my heavy weapon archeotek I'm probably going to try mounting the gun on the "non-tentacle" side but I've seen a few people cut down the tentacle or modify the rad gun and mount a different gun on that side.
The truth is there are not many left hands in the box. Also I like the idea archeotek with ocular cybertechnika, suspensor, plasma cannon and weaponsmith. Very expensive, but also very reliable.
spider rig is paired so on the charge would be 6 attacks hitting on a 3+ because of the accuracy modified correct? plus entangle, parry, shock, versatile, I dunno seems like there's potential
Yup, all of those things you mentioned are great. The killer (for me anyway) is being stuck on a M4 fighter, and also being D1. Combined with the cost, it's just not enough to feel like a worthwhile threat, imo
@@digitalwastrel Torsonic rank 2? :D
Why not give the ocular cybernetica to an augmek? Like am I missing something here that states that he can't get that?
Is the torsonic melee viable?
Viable as in "you will consistently dominate your foes in close combat"?
Probably not.
Viable as in "when the dice go your way and you destroy someone in CC it'll be hilarious"?
Yeah I believe so!
not bad I found this interesting and yummy you know a good way to pimp out your weapon skill and make them excellent melee fighters is to boos them with there cyberneticka you wont have like cawdors numbers but you can hold your own
There's definitely some fun things you can do with cybertecknica for sure!