Gang Selection
There are a few pointers I have to anyone starting a gang.
- Think of (decent!) names. A Gang without a name is nothing, and in
my campaign, I don't allow no-name gangs. I find it best to base gangers
names around a theme, e.g. Names like Smash, Crush and Skull for Goliath
gangs. Another good Idea is to give a ganger a normal name, and then a
Nick name, e.g. I had a juve called Harry 'The Fool'. These nicknames should
represent the gang members role (Harries was to stand in front of my Heavy)
and can change as their roles do, e.g. Harry got the Specialist skill,
and I bought him a Flamer, so his nickname changed to Harry 'The Pyscho'.
- Start with at least 5 gangers, (6 is better), or you won't be
able to collect all your terrain.
- You always need a leader, and if he dies your in deep, so get him well
equipped. Leaders can use special weapons, so take advantage of this, by
giving him(her) one. A Meltagun is deadly up close, but give him a chainsword
aswell to fend off enemies who get through. A Plasma Gun is also good,
but group him with a moving shooter (see below) so he can maximise his
shooting oportunities.
- Have pre-determined roles for your fighters, and arm them accordingly:
- Stationary Shooters armed with a Lasgun or Autogun. These sit in a
covered area and snipe off anyone they can see.
- Moving Shooters armed with Lasgun or Autogun, and a Sword. These walk
forward, getting into favourable positions to shoot.
- Shotgun Cowboys armed with Shotgun (Man stopper rounds are also cool,
with strength of solid slug, no to-hit modifiers, and a -2 armour modifier),
and a sword or chainsword (frag grenades are also pretty good if you have
the money).
- Hand-to-Hand experts armed with a sword (or chainsword) and another
h-t-h weapon, like a sword, plasma pistol, hand flamer or Stub gun with
Dum-dums.
- Grenadiers armed with Frag Grenades and a Sword.
- Heavy's should be armed with Heavy Stubbers at the start, and upgrade
to something shootier when (if?) you get the money. A Heavy Bolter is alright,
but only has a 6+ ammo roll, which can stuff you around a bit. The Other
option is to by two Heavies with Flamers. These can be unbelievably deadly
if used well together. (You could also give your leader a Flamer, and have
a 3-way crossfire! Survive that if you can!)
- I Find it best to always have at least one Shooter (Movers incl.) for
each other type if your a shooting House (Van Saar, Orlock, or Delaque),
and only one shooter for every two of other types for Hand-to-Hand Houses
(Goliath, Escher or, Cawdor.
- Always pick your gang with a number of 'teams' of fighters in mind.
e.g. I group my Heavy(s) with my Stationary shooters, and a Juve with a
chain (no parries) to defend them in h-t-h. My Leader is grouped with a
Shotgun Cowboy (or two), and the rest of the juves and h-t-h experts are
split up as equally as possible.
- The number of members in your gang should be kept to either 9,12,15,18
or 21 members. This means that you gain the most money based on the number
of Gangers you have.
Try to keep to the Background according to houses, as it often seems
to work better, e.g. its no good having heaps of h-t-h troops in a Van
Saar gang.
I Also like to make themes for my gangs, e.g. the Plasma Pirates were
a fledgling gang I made (got beat!) which consisted of a Leader with a
Plasma Gun, Heavy with heavy Plasma Gun, and Gangers and Juves with plasma
pistols wherever possible.