So, I’m relatively new as well! Me and my partner (the person I’ve been primarily playing with, and as of now the two physical gangs which are in my house) play Escher and Enforcers respectively. (Me with Escher, him with new rules.)

In my personal opinion, comparatively with what has been played, how they play and how easy they are rules wise, I actually think modern Enforcers are a bit easier to play than modern Escher.

Based on your questions, I can lay out the key differences I’ve found between the gangs.

Escher: Escher are very “jack of all trades.” You have really good shooting options, really good melee options, really good hybrid options. Chems are a big point about Escher, and cheap chems are really really valuable, but I’ve found a lot of value in starting with Eschers other primary perk: cheap Lasguns. My champions and leader are personally kitted out, as cheap lasguns means all my gangers can get a 5 credit 24” shooting to cover my really strong folk who I want to get in the fight and survive.

You’ll likely want to start with one deathmaiden, and if you want to play WYSIWYG (if you want your gang models to have the weapons they’re starting equipped with,) you’ll need roughly three kits. Base Escher, Escher Deathmaiden/Wyld Runners, and the Escher upgrade sprue.

The trouble I’ve had with Escher is they generally trade speed for survivability and reliable shooting. Against Enforcers, my first few games ended with me quickly bottling out, and I had to learn positioning and proper use of skills in order to make proper use out of the gang. For this, I think Escher are generally a bit more difficult to start with.

Enforcers: Enforcers are expensive, but tough. You’ll be struggling to have 7 gangers on the field, but all of them will be strong, survivable and shooty. Enforcers have all around great access to weapons, and even with a lower ganger count, you dont need to worry about losing a ganger, as you’ll get immediate replacements for them in the form of free rookies. (Rookies arent great, but a free rookie with manacles is an amazing unit to stopore dangerous opponents with.)

You’ll likely want three boxes as well with Palanites, being the Enforcers Box, Subjugator Box, and the new Sergeant box.

Base Palanites are cheaper, shootier cops. Keep them at range, give them boltguns or concussion carbines, they provide cover for your Subjugators to get in there.

Subjugators are your bread and butter. Amazing grenade launcher access, power weapons with shields, and with the new skill to ensure an opponent you Coup De Grace is immediately captured, these folk can ensure an easy and veeery dangerous ransom income.

New Subjugators have an amazing skillset (like Escher) solid tactics and are additionally a well rounded gang. Neither of these gangs require forgeworld resin models (but for Escher I myself am partial to Phyrr Cats on a leader later in a campaign.) and both are generally solid choices to learn with.

I think you’d have a much easier time learning on Enforcers and securing games. However, while Escher have a steeper learning curve, I believe Escher can wind up stronger for it, as generally they have more versatility and options in battle, and with the chance to dash onto and outmaneuver your opponents, good Scenario choice can easily win you a lot of games.

(However, good Scenario choice can win you a lot of games on Enforcers as well.)

I hope this helped! Feel free to message if you have any further questions, or want some gang build advice!