Ramos buying guide

[Vermicious Knid]

Hey folks - new guy here.

I've decided to start off with Arcanists as my faction. My plan is to buy two, or possibly three Masters. My secondary Masters will most likely be either Rasputina and/or Marcus, though I honestly haven't narrowed down which one. My definite purchase will be Ramos for certain. No real reason, except that I like his story, and steampunk stuff is cool. If he's tricky to learn with, that's no big deal, as I am a veteran or other game systems, and steep learning curves aren't a bit problem for me

So with that in mind, what should be my first purchases for you average Ramos crew? Any must-haves? How many Spider packs should I buy, keeping in mind that I will not be magnetising anything (as I dislike magnets, for basing and transportation reasons)?

[SpiralngCadavr]

Marcus is probably not the direction you want to go if limiting purchases, since he so regularly draws from out of faction (meaning, if you're not planning on playing said other factions, you're getting a lot of minis exclusively for him).

[Durza]

Lots of spiders, I have 12 individual spiders and 2 swarms, but I don't think I've used them all.

The Mech rider is a good purchase, it can summon any 4ss arcanist non totem non effigy construct.

A couple of electrical creations, for either Ramos or the Mech Rider to summon.

Metal gamin are tough little bastards and can give Ramos effectively df 8 combined with his df trigger, and more magnetism spells going off is great if the enemy crew is construct heavy.

[Vermicious Knid]

Thanks for the ideas folks - how is the Rail Golem with him? Decent at all?

[LunarSol]

Most people seem to prefer Howard Langstrom,  but both are occasionally useful when you need a pair of heavy hitters.

[osoi]

Honestly if you buy the Ramos box plus Mei Feng you have the Railworkers as well which are also constructs plus you get another Arcanist master who has a lot of overlap in models with Ramos. Getting an electrical creation and an additional box of spiders gives a lot of constructs too and I would never go past a box of Metal Gamin, good for both masters.

 

Personally I prefer Howard Langstom (who comes in the Ramos box) over the Rail Golem if I am only fielding one of the big guys but sometimes I do field both of them together in one crew.

[William Dickey]

Purchasing a Rasputina box set would also benefit your Ramos playing. Having that ice golem chucking electrical creations and spiders up field is remarkably satisfying. From there, adding Colette would be good as the heavy hitters from the other crews synergize well with her ability to just make them better

[Vermicious Knid]

Honestly if you buy the Ramos box plus Mei Feng you have the Railworkers as well which are also constructs plus you get another Arcanist master who has a lot of overlap in models with Ramos. Getting an electrical creation and an additional box of spiders gives a lot of constructs too and I would never go past a box of Metal Gamin, good for both masters.

Never thought about the Mei Feng box - that's not a bad idea. She is pretty cool and I hadn't even thought of using the Rail Workers with Ramos.

Metal Gamin = good to know. I've heard they are nice and tough

[mythicFOX]

Welcome to Malifaux!

 

I've had a lot of success with Ramos.  After the box set I'd add the Electric Creation and then more spiders. I'd look to get up to six Steam Arachnids and one swarm (so 9 spider models total). You'll want more eventually but that should do for now.

 
I'd probably add a Soul Stone Miner and then ask; How important is theme to you?  Some of my next choices wouldn't be M&SU themed.
 
On the Rail Golem, while he's a good model I tend to find he competes with Ramos for your   cards which can be a problem. Howard Langston does a similar role more effectively for Ramos.

[Wessex]

Having just started Ramos, I think your next immediate purchases should be a set of Arachnid Swarms (check the box to make sure it comes with two swarms/six spiders and not one swarm/three spiders) and an Electric Creation. This buffers your summoning options, and the 9 Spider 1 Swarm split touted earlier is what I'm going with as well.

After that, it comes down to preference of aesthetics and model material. Coryphee and Soulstone aren't available in plastic yet but work really well with Ramos, as does Johan/a. Some ranged assistance from December Acolytes can also be useful for some schemes, especially with their deployment rules. And the Mechanical Rider is very interesting, but again only available as metal right now.

My current purchases have been as such:

Ramos Crew

Mei Feng Crew (was cheap on ebay and Ten thunders is my other faction, plus Rail Worker synergy)

Electric Creation

My next immediate purchases:

Arachnid Swarms (the M2E box with two swarms/six spiders) x2 (total of 12 spiders 2 swarms, really need to work out how good swarms are above 2 in play even in synergistic schemes)

Acolytes of December (one box of 3, few more ranged options, good for you if you also fancy Rasputina)

Johana

Electric Creation (so that I can start with one in the crew and summon another with Ramos if activation order necessitates it)

Metal Gamin (one box of 3)

[Dead Dingo]

Hello and Welcome,

 

After the Ramos Box Crew...not in any order.

 

Metal Gamin, Electric Construct, Rail Golem, Essence of Power, Malifaux Child, Student of Conflict, Convict Gunslinger, Johan, Killjoy, Ice Golem.

 

But before all that lots of Arachnids...  You will be broke but happy.

 

D.D.

[hiredgun]

I do Ramos, Joss, 2 swarms , Brass Arachnid, and Lazarus. Ramos has the chain activation upgrade, so Laz  can shoot as soon as Ramos is done, keep the BA close too for his chain as well. Joss makes scrap markers for Ramos to make more spiders,of course....