good review, yeah a lot of this book really focuses on cawdor and enforcers yeah underdog cards really works really well for that 2000 versus 6000 point battle as well as making alliances with a house agent and dramatis persona a lot easier, also I would give out a bonus to the marketplace roll
About Shanks the saint of Knives - his +1S on Backstab weapons would work very well with Delaque Web gauntlets (especially since they have a fixed S value to their attacks): S4 web hits in melee - if anyone of those wound rolls is successful the target has no armor save against it and they're automatically considered Seriously injured (while in melee) = free Coup-de-grace. In addition you could stack it with the Back stab skill (cunning) so that the Web gauntlet would become S6 when Backstab is triggered (S3 base +1 Backstab weapon trait +1 Backstab skill +1 Shanks bonus). Cheers! :)
That's interesting - I didn't realize the web gauntlets had the backstab rule, but they do, and that would stack! Excellent combo there, and another reason Shanks goes great with Delaque.
Escher and Delaque definitely seem like the prime picks for Shanks. Escher with all the knives and skills to make them better and Delaque with cunning and web gauntlets as you mentioned. Also they both get throwing knives which is fun for the conduit. But I think Ash Waste Nomads and Orlocks are also interesting choices. Nomads get cunning, stalking knives, and high movement (you’ll never have to worry about the proctologist again after you’ve been backstabbed with a chain lance). But Orlocks, hear me out, wreckers with dual fighting knives. Is it good? No idea. Is it funny? Yes, yea it is.
Regarding XP bonuses for Underdogs, the concept is solid. That is, extra experience just for showing up was the Underdog bonus in N'95 edition, and in N'03 edition, and it worked, so adding it (finally) into these new editions is a good choice. It worked because unlike a few tactics cards as a bonus, experience helps a gang to actually catch up in gang rating and capabilities. BUT... only one experience, even with the flattened XP system in the new editions, won't do much, when it requires a 400 rating difference between Gangs, because that is an insanely high threshold for what is at that point a small award. Better to try to mirror the old Underdog system, by including a sliding scale. What about instead, Crew Rating Difference, and reward: 100-249 -- 1xp ea 250-499 -- 2xp ea 500-999 -- 3xp ea 1000+ -- 4xp.
Random fact: the thing you call a “pacifier” in the US, we call a dummy over here. British rules writers obviously didn’t think about it sounding silly in the states.
The Ironcrawler can take trailers as it is added to the ‘Ridgehauler’ section meaning it can get silly!!!
Also, the weapon hardpoint with all around fire arc is basically half of a munitorum armoured container. Which gets 2 hardpoints with all around.
good review, yeah a lot of this book really focuses on cawdor and enforcers yeah underdog cards really works really well for that 2000 versus 6000 point battle as well as making alliances with a house agent and dramatis persona a lot easier, also I would give out a bonus to the marketplace roll
About Shanks the saint of Knives - his +1S on Backstab weapons would work very well with Delaque Web gauntlets (especially since they have a fixed S value to their attacks): S4 web hits in melee - if anyone of those wound rolls is successful the target has no armor save against it and they're automatically considered Seriously injured (while in melee) = free Coup-de-grace. In addition you could stack it with the Back stab skill (cunning) so that the Web gauntlet would become S6 when Backstab is triggered (S3 base +1 Backstab weapon trait +1 Backstab skill +1 Shanks bonus).
Cheers! :)
That's interesting - I didn't realize the web gauntlets had the backstab rule, but they do, and that would stack! Excellent combo there, and another reason Shanks goes great with Delaque.
Escher and Delaque definitely seem like the prime picks for Shanks. Escher with all the knives and skills to make them better and Delaque with cunning and web gauntlets as you mentioned. Also they both get throwing knives which is fun for the conduit.
But I think Ash Waste Nomads and Orlocks are also interesting choices.
Nomads get cunning, stalking knives, and high movement (you’ll never have to worry about the proctologist again after you’ve been backstabbed with a chain lance).
But Orlocks, hear me out, wreckers with dual fighting knives. Is it good? No idea. Is it funny? Yes, yea it is.
Oh also the whisperbane knife has backstab. So that’s fun.
That's not a knife shanks disapproves
For the transition from the Pt. 1 campaign to Pt. 2, you could try the Splinter Gangs rules from the base Rulebook, with the 1000+400 Cr budget.
Regarding XP bonuses for Underdogs, the concept is solid. That is, extra experience just for showing up was the Underdog bonus in N'95 edition, and in N'03 edition, and it worked, so adding it (finally) into these new editions is a good choice.
It worked because unlike a few tactics cards as a bonus, experience helps a gang to actually catch up in gang rating and capabilities.
BUT... only one experience, even with the flattened XP system in the new editions, won't do much, when it requires a 400 rating difference between Gangs, because that is an insanely high threshold for what is at that point a small award.
Better to try to mirror the old Underdog system, by including a sliding scale.
What about instead, Crew Rating Difference, and reward:
100-249 -- 1xp ea
250-499 -- 2xp ea
500-999 -- 3xp ea
1000+ -- 4xp.
Random fact: the thing you call a “pacifier” in the US, we call a dummy over here. British rules writers obviously didn’t think about it sounding silly in the states.
MAKE IT LOUDER!!! No, seriously, you are so quiet that we can choose to either hear you and kill our hearing when an add starts or not hear you.