Vandoth the fallen

[Blindhamster]

So I love this model, it’s amazing, so I bought it.

 

i want to make a gang centered around the guy. I did some research and seems it’s actually possible to do exactly that using outcasts?

 

what are people’s thoughts on that? 
 

im sure there will be plenty saying “no place for a space marine” etc, but, blood angels are the thing that got me into 40k 30 years ago. They’re the faction I always come back to where I can and the idea of it here interests me a lot (and again, his model is one of my favourite models, just in general, let alone specifically for necromunda)

 

so yeah, im more interested in best way to use “him”, seems with outcasts I could literally just make him my leader, the only ambiguity there is if he gets the free skill (google results are mixed, I pasted the various rules into ChatGPT and it thought yes, my own reading would be raw also yes). outcasts otherwise seem… kind of terrible though but maybe I’m missing something?

 

another option I thought was maybe venators and using the beastman leader stats for him?

 

any other suggestions? 
 

im not worried about the power overall (but would like vandoth to feel like vandoth or as close to it as possible) but would like something where the gang is satisfying in campaign play (which doesn’t seem overly likely for outcasts as they get such limited skills?)

 

[Arikel]

I’m not really a player, just follow necromunda a bit cuz it’s super interesting to me.

 

if you haven’t checked it out already, table top battles(prev: goonhammer) has a pretty good overview of the outcasts and how they might be gotten to work.

 

https://www.goonhammer.com/necromunday-outcast-overview-2026

[Blindhamster]

hey, thanks :) I'd not read that but had come to fairly similar conclusions on outcasts themselves...

 

- leader is going to be decent (vandoth is almost certainly NOT the best option for a leader, but i believe he'll be pretty solid all the same, seems likely to be credits-efficient). 

- champions are kind of meh base.

- hive scum are fine, but boring with basically zero progression opportunities. 

 

for an outcast gang i'd been thinking:

 

vandoth - survivor archetype, depending on arbitrator view on the leader special rules extra skill, nerves of steel as the extra. Gang affiliation with Orlocks (because they give some vaguely marine weapon options and I could narratively say its some old stash from whatever scenario resulted in vandoth being stuck there in the first place). 

champion with grenade launcher and smoke, armour, knife... not sure on the first free skill

champion with long rifle, armour, knife... not sure on the first free skill

fill up with hive scum

 

essentially.

 

Gut feeling is vandoth will be fun, the gang will be a little "sad" in a campaign though. Total lack of room to grow for anyone else is a little unexciting. That said because scum are cheap you presumably keep them very lightly equipped and just dont stress replacing them as needed.

For venators:

 

Venator seems like it could get fairly close feeling, beastman leader as vandoth counts as, 1 lower move and will, totally lacks all the skills and would be more expensive once roughly equivalent gear is purchased (which i suppose, shows how good the outcast ability to pick anything as a leader is, and without a doubt other characters are likely even better than vandoth). 

 

Trade off for the above is that you get a gang that feels like it can progress and be interesting. It'll lack bodies though obviously and I believe bodies can be important due to how activations work. 

 

 

[Doghouse]

Sounds good to me mate.  One thing to be aware of though is there are rumours of a complete reboot coming for the game.

[Blindhamster]

I did see that, sort of sad to hear as the current rules look pretty polished.

[Doghouse]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this guy though. I expect it will look amazing.

[Blindhamster]

22 minutes ago, Doghouse said:

Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this guy though. I expect it will look amazing.

honestly I mostly plan to use the model “as is” hes awesome, that said my first copy that arrived was missing a finger and they have sent me a replacement, so I might look at doing something more interesting with that

[Irongert]

If you have trouble with the outcasts as a gang you can always go the Goliath route and use the genesmithing rules to turn a Goliath Forge Tyrant into what you think Vandoth should be. It won't be the actual rules for him from the book but if that isn't a problem for you then you'll have a "proper House of" gang to back him up with. They do have access to bolters in their house list aswell iirc. Maybe the Goliath specific close combat weapons might not be the most flavourfull but then again, a massive chain axe fits pretty well with marines