Section 1: Starting Advice
1) Which gang should I play?
Initially you have two choices, house or outlaw / other.
House gangs:
Definitely advised for beginners, simple and balanced. Initially all house gangs are very similar, the main difference being the weapons list used in creation (if you use the HWL). House gangs will diversify as upgrades are rolled as the skills easily available are limited and will help define the house, however it is easy enough to get other skills, and with the right equipment, you can make a house gang very balanced and different from the mould.
There will be never be a great difference in the house gangs, but that is where the fluff and sense of role play comes in when playing and developing the gang. The lack of difference is a good thing and severs to keep the game balanced.
Outlaw / Other:
These vary greatly, some are harder to play and require different tactics, get to grips first with a house gang and then enhance your game play by trying something new.
For example
Pit slaves
Very CC orientated outlanders, initially only 3 members of the gangs are allowed anything longer ranged than a pistol, one is a very expensive (servitor), one is very inaccurate (techno). Use the cover, and try and get into pistol and charge range. Consider hiring some hired guns to make up for the lack of range, for example a sniper. Per member they are more expensive than other gangs, but have access to powerful CC weapons and basic amour.
Ratskins.
Lack the heavy weapons of the house gangs, but have immunity to treacherous conditions, advanced rules which add factors to the game play like darkness or slippy surfaces. Also resilent to wounds so take less injuries and casualties.
2) What is a typical starting roster?
There are many schools of thought on this, I will list a non house specific roster, please note I have kept the variety of weapons down for simplicities sake, and use the best guns in each group. This roster would be deemed boring or cheesey but would be a good balanced begineer roster.
leader- plasma gun, lasgun- 215
heavy- heavy stubber, lasgun, -205
heavy- lasgun- 75
ganger - lasgun -75
ganger- lasgun -75
ganger - shotgun, manstoppper - 75
ganger- shotgun, manstopper- 75
ganger - sword, autopistol, 75
ganger- sword , autopistol, 75
juve- autopistol, 40
Cost = 985
15 spare credits to stash, spend on hired guns or customize the gang
It is a balanced gang with a mix of long range shooting and close combat gangers. The most important roster tip is to have at least 5 gangers, you will need them to work your territories to have an income, its best to have extra ones incase any of your gangers are injured.
Some variants:
The 2nd heavy: You can remove the 2nd heavy and replace him with a ganger and save 10 credits, its good to have him because you can swap the weapons around to match advances, Flamers are a good alternate weapon for heavies.
One less gangers more equipment.
An option but you need gangers to get you income, so scrimp initially you can then buy equipment once you see what you need, but for longevity you need income.
One less ganger a hired gun.
A strong choice, a specialist hired gun can cause a lot of damage early on, for example a sniper hired gun can be devastating with the extended range and marksman skill. I often to this, but it can affect your longevity if you have an unlucky game.
Drop something more stash.
A good idea, it allows you to buy items if you roll them up on the rare table. Personal choice.
Swap heavy weapons for special.
Another strong option, you can have two heavies with special for a lot less than a heavy, plasma guns and flamers are well worth it, plus the mobility of not being move or fire allow a wider choice of tactics. Personal choice.
Which heavy gun.
For me there is only choice for a starting gang, all other weapons are large point sinks, good for making a challenging gang for experiences players.
OPTION B
This is a more varied starting roster for those who are familar with the rules and want to try a more varied choice of weaponry
Leader, Boltgun, Laspistol, Chainsword (195)
Heavy, Heavy Stubber, Autogun (200)
Heavy, Flamer, Boltpistol (120)
Ganger, Lasgun (75)
Ganger, Lasgun (75)
Ganger, Autogun (70)
Ganger, Shotgun, Manstopper shells (75)
Ganger, Laspistol, Sword (75)
Juve, Autopistol, Flail (50)
Juve, Stubgun, Dum-dums, Club (50)
Total: 985
One good tip when making a starting roster is to use a spreadsheet, so you can play with various member and weapon configurations and save time on the maths.
http://easternfringe.com/forum/portal.php?page=15
3) Are back up guns worth it on a starting gang?
I would say not on the majority of gangers, but most probably on your leader and your heavy weapon as they are more likely to run out of ammo, plus with your heavy weapon it allows to them advance and fire so turns aren't wasted.
4) Which weapon is best?
Mostly are fairly balanced but the best weapon per class is sword (CC), autopistol (PISTOL), and lasgun (BASIC).
Swords are the only items which give parries make them the best CC weapon by far.
Autopistol has no long range to hit penalties and seems to be the preferred pistol for many.
Las pistol more reliable but penalty to hit at long range..
Remember most pistols are +2 to hit at close range, for a basic ganger thats hitting on a 2+ at times...[/i]
Handflamers are much underrated, great for back up for expensive characters, for preventing or countering charges by cc enemy gangers. Also useful in the shootout scenario. very useful for juves without BS upgrades.
The lasgun is very similar to the autogun, and for 5 credits more you get far better ammo roll and an armour save- can pierce armour better.
This is a link to a more indepth weapon discussion article.
http://easternfringe.com/forum/portal.php?page=4 Remember you don’t have to have the best weapon to have fun.
5) Are juves worth it?
Yes they are worth it not only if they live they end up with an extra upgrade over a ganger equivalent. Primarily they are meat shields and prevent your more expensive units being shot at and hence allow you do more damage to the enemy. Remember with pistols +2 at short range they do stand a good chance of doing some damage.
The death rate is quite low is 1-6 IF they go down, and remember if they are down at the end of the game, its only a 50% chance of them getting injured, so the odds of people dieing are quite low.
Also remember hired guns can be used as meat shields.
6) How should I arm my juves?
I always try and arm my juves with pistols, so they would be able to shoot plus they would get 2 attacks in cc, giving them a good chance against non cc ganger enemy. I almost never have a non armed juve except for comedy value, for the sake of the cost of an autopistol 15? You get the chance to do some damage, earn some xp, and end up with a decent fighter or medic. Without weapons they will find it hard to advance.
7) How should I arm my heavy?
For starting gangs a heavy stubber is normally best, cheapest so leaves points avaliable for other things, and effectiveness is worth its value, good rate of fire, not too unreliable, and likely to do a lot of damage early on it the campaign. As you gain money you could get a 2nd heavy weapon or upgrade. OR if you want a challenge you could start with different weapon. Heavy bolters are they next cheapest but they are alot more unreliable and the extra strength is normally not warranted that early on.
This is a link to a more indepth weapon discussion article.
http://easternfringe.com/forum/portal.php?page=4 Remember you don’t have to have the best weapon to have fun.
8 How should I arm my leader?
Personally I make use of his higher bs and almost always give him a plasma gun and las gun. but its personal preference, look at his stats he stands a far great chance of damaging in what ever he does, the enemy so give him the tools to do so. Yes he is a point sink, but protect him well and he will serve you well. A good CC set up would be chain sword and bolt pistol, it depends on his role and your gang set up,. I keep my leader safe and its works for me.
9) How accurate do the models have to be?
This is a widely debated point and it is up to your and your gaming group to decide. Some groups like 100% accuracy, some expect like for like modeling, so pretending a lasgun is an autogun is fine, where as claiming a stub gun is a flamer wouldn’t be. The main thing is to discuss it and have fun playing the game.
10) What’s the deal with hired guns?
Hired guns are generally well worth it for unbalanced gang, getting the advantage early on or in specific scenarios.
You pay them when you hire them, and after every game they take part in, but if they get wounded or the stats are poor you don't rehire them, and can hire a different one next time.
There is a wide variety of hired guns, there are very economical to hire in the short term, but not cost effective in the long run.
They are very good at covering for weak areas in your gang. For example hiring a sniper early on will give you long range dominance and allow you to target key fighters like heavies.
Or if you a weak shooty vansaar gang, hire a ratskin or pitslave to take the brunt of the close damage.
