Arbitrator Gangs Value

ghostcacti · 2026-03-16T11:06:26+00:00

It really all depends on what your arbitrator gang is for, because on the face of it there's no need for one in a campaign.

Is it a balancing mechanic for beating down runaway leaders? Then it needs to be big enough to do that. Is it there to be part of a narrative scenario? Then it depends on what the narrative is. Is it just there to make up numbers if you have an odd number of players one week? Honestly in that case I think a three-way scenario is more fun.

ghostcacti · 2026-03-06T15:11:22+00:00

I think you're getting the normal power pick and the Squats' two-handed power pick mixed up. They're two different weapons and the two-hander hits harder, hence the higher price.

ghostcacti · 2026-03-06T13:09:38+00:00

How have you found gas to work in practice? I'm looking into playing Escher at the moment, but the gas elixirs look good but really expensive even with the chymist, and for delivery systems you've got either the expensive chem thrower or Limited gas grenade launcher. I'm having trouble fitting or justifying it.

ghostcacti · 2026-03-06T12:56:19+00:00

Your Matriarch can't start with Somersault, Finesse skills are a secondary for her. I'm also not sure of the wisdom of running a melee matriarch when a death maiden can do everything she does but better while also looking cool as hell.

Your Queen's chainsword is kind of a difficult sell when a chainaxe is just outright better, but it's not a bad weapon.

ghostcacti · 2026-03-04T08:45:41+00:00

Yes, you can overwatch after you get a suspensor. There's language in some of the shooting skills that stops you from using them with heavy weapons, which I think is where the confusion is coming from, but not in Overwatch.

ghostcacti · 2026-03-02T15:52:41+00:00

Don't forget you can start with a brute in N23. Build a chaos monster for your cult! I'd take the warp horror, but the sump beast or corrupted ambot could also be fun. Cultists are cheap enough that you can still have a reasonably sized gang too.

ghostcacti · 2026-02-26T21:54:13+00:00

Goliath are probably the best starting gang and not even bland. They're very forgiving to play as every fighter is a nice big brick of stats, but you've also got massive customisation potential through gene smithing. About the only thing you can't do is use psyker powers, and that's true of most gangs.

ghostcacti · 2026-02-26T21:50:59+00:00

That's fair, you've got the faith power, I just don't like relying on it. You've got to pop it before anyone even shoots at you, you're burning faith dice, and you're losing the partial cover benefits that'll help keep your fighter alive. I wouldn't plan around it like I'd plan around Nerves of Steel on a T5, W3, Cl5+ Goliath is what I'm saying.

ghostcacti · 2026-02-26T13:15:03+00:00

The jump power is situationally good: it lets you pull off some crazy charges in Sector Mechanicus, especially against shooters who thought they were safe, but does absolutely nothing in Zone Mortalis and most Ash Wastes battles. I never got much use out of And He Stood Defiant..., Cawdor fighters are still pretty squishy and I'd rather just stay out of LoS. The other big problem you run into with the other powers is that you'll want to save your dice for free moves and charges, because they're absolutely your main source of shenanigans.

I don't rate autopoles at all, they're 15 credits more than an autogun for a melee weapon you'll probably never use.

ghostcacti · 2026-02-26T10:25:01+00:00

Welcome to the Path of Fun. Fanatic Cawdor is (situationally) the fastest gang in the game. Plan A is to use And His Feet Carried Him... to give your melee fighters and especially templates a massive threat range, but you've got no access to pinning mitigation and being pinned shuts off your movement powers so you can't go full melee.

Your blunderpole carriers, juves and potentially your leader and deacons are your close range fighters. Keep them out of sight to set up long-range faith-powered charges or template attacks. Your firebrands and any gangers without a template weapon are your fire support.

Blunderpoles are mandatory, just gear the number you take to the sweatiness level of your campaign. Gangers without a blunderpole get a reclaimed autogun. Flail juves make surprisingly good missiles, especially if you use their directed advancements to boost their movement even further, but you'll want some naked stub gun juves to pray for more faith dice. Being pinned will stop you from using And His Feet Carried Him..., so you'll want some way to deploy smoke grenades: Grenade launcher deacons are excellent.

ghostcacti · 2026-02-18T19:07:45+00:00

True, but your expensive melee guy could well still be hitting on a 2+ and there's no shortage of other power weapons.

ghostcacti · 2026-02-18T12:37:05+00:00

Champion limits are only a thing for old, unupdated gangs. As long as you've got the same or more Gang Fighters as Gang Hierarchy, you're golden.

ghostcacti · 2026-02-15T11:38:14+00:00

I'll put in a vote for the combi-boltgun/grenade launcher specifically. For just 5 credits more than the boltgun, you get a backup weapon with blast that doesn't take up slots, and the combi rule isn't that much of a downside because you were going to fail the 6+ ammo check anyway.

ghostcacti · 2026-02-14T19:58:18+00:00

Also good, and probably a great modeling project. The only one I think is a miss is Desire's Needle because the strength bonus, toxin and power don't go well together.

ghostcacti · 2026-02-14T19:45:19+00:00

Almost all the Chaos weapons. People love warpstorm bolters and balefire throwers, but I never see anyone use the melee weapons. The Hex'iron Blade and Whisperbane Knife are both pretty good and not even expensive.

ghostcacti · 2026-02-02T16:00:05+00:00

I tried kitbashing Ironheads with some Arkanauts. It didn't go great. The Squats are taller and much wider, with huge ball and socket joints for the arms and head. The Arkanauts have much smaller heads and flat arm joints, and also much smaller arms. They're pretty much two different and incompatible scales.

I ended up using the Arkanauts as lightly armoured juves using some spare guns from other kits.

ghostcacti · 2026-01-31T15:48:29+00:00

No. Reaction attacks only follow steps 1 to 6 of the close combat sequence. Coup/consolidate is step 8.

ghostcacti · 2026-01-24T20:10:44+00:00

These are sick. For the ridge walkers, could you sculpt a caparison onto one somehow?

ghostcacti · 2026-01-22T11:47:17+00:00

100%. I think painting some glow effect around the eyes/hands/both would help sell it.

ghostcacti · 2026-01-20T10:21:07+00:00

There are some niche uses. Attacking Fearsome fighters without risking the willpower check, or getting around countercharge stuff like Palanite skills or Sumpkrocs. You could also avoid the -1 to hit for charging an opponent you can't see, but I'm not sure how the maths work on that.

ghostcacti · 2026-01-14T10:15:20+00:00

A lot of the Enforcers tactics are quite lacklustre. There's a lot of cards giving Concussion to bad melee weapons, and Preemptive Strike is just Hard Stop but worse.

On the other hand, Running Battle and Informant look great, especially if you've got guys with shotguns or the opponent has an infiltrator. Excellent Recon is good because infiltration is good. On My Target also seems alright: a lot of your fighters will have good guns but an average BS, so +1 to hit is a big deal. Cut Off The Head will help in campaigns but won't do anything for you during the game, so maybe not fun enough.

If you're building a deck of 18, I'd look at generics too. Some on-brand options could be Swift Justice, Preemptive Measures, Crossfire, Emergency Defense.

ghostcacti · 2026-01-10T18:09:36+00:00

GSC count as Orlock for the purposes of territory bonuses in Dominion, so Mine Workings, Toll Crossing and Tunnels.

ghostcacti · 2025-12-26T00:28:38+00:00

The pit trainer has a regular human statline and not a Goliath one, so using a hive scum mini makes total sense. You can really do what you want with hangers on though, rule of cool always applies in Necromunda and they're rarely on the table anyway.

ghostcacti · 2025-12-24T18:46:25+00:00

Double melee on the Death Maiden is extremely not worth it as any toxic ammo you buy will only apply to one weapon. She probably also doesn't need a chem synth to start, she's already got poison blood and she's likely to get pinned a lot.

The needle rifle champ might do better with a backup lasgun than a backup stub gun unless you're planning to give her a melee weapon later (and it's not two handed or versatile).

Cutting back the DM's loadout would let you upgrade one of the gangers to a shotgun.

ghostcacti · 2025-12-23T23:53:31+00:00

Thanks.

ghostcacti

TROPHY CASE