Mechanical rider- what to summon?

[Anung Un Rama]

If I add a Mechanical rider to my Ramos crew should I buy some metal gamin as well to summon or just summon the spiders? What about the fire gamin?

[RustAndTheCity]

I just summoned arachnids for a long time. It works well. They are mostly there to score area strategy points or to do schemes. Metal gamin are a bit more durable and have the useful magnetize for against constructs. 

[Anung Un Rama]

Might buy a box of metal gamin anyway then....better to have them and not need them I guess

[hydranixx]

If you are committing Ramos to one of his openings where he summons 2-3 Spiders on turn 1, you'll probably run out of Spider models very quickly if you also choose to summon them in with the Rider.

That said, the abilities and stats on each basic Spider are very good, especially if paired with Ramos' upgrade that gives them a + to their Df duels. If you've bought multiple extra boxes of Steam Arachnids, then absolutely, you could exclusively summon them (3-4 extra Arachnids per turn, on average).

The other two options you've mentioned are good in their own right as well though. 

Fire Gamin have a 10" ranged attack so they can contribute as soon as they show up. With a consistent damage track + automatic burning, they're reliable against things with Hard to Wound and the like, and if you summon them point blank into melee with enemies, then when they die they're also hurting them and putting Burning on them. It's quite fun paired with Ramos' Controlled Detonation spell to make a very potent grenade that at minimum deals 1 damage + Burning, but at maximum deals 5 damage + Burning.

Metal Gamin are tough to remove. Naturally, being able to plant one down for free on an objective and then give him Defensive Stance without discarding is outstanding. They also can buff a nearby ally to Df6 until either of them is moved away, which works wonders for Ramos since he is usually only has Df4. We're likely playing one or two of our other great construct choices (Langston, Joss and the Rider itself) who are normally only Df5 so it adds value there as well. If you're up against any constructs, their magnetism ability becomes very powerful, and that's where they shine as tier 1 summons.

I think Metal Gamin are slightly better than Fire Gamin in most instances, as they have 1 extra Df and Armour and can either buff an ally or go Df stance for free, but having both in your summoning pool is a very good idea.

[Jordon]

It sort of depends on the situation. Obviously if you need to hold objectives try the metal or spiders, something for melee, try ice. Most of the time though I find myself summoning fire gamin as they are a great ranged threat. Usually I play mech mid-field and so the fire gamin allow me to stay safely away from the enemy, but still be effective with it's summon.

On it's own, I feel like fire gets a bad wrap, but honestly I can't really think of a better ranged model for it's cost. A Sh5 is above average for it's cost and effective min damage 3 is way above average for a 4ss model. Once you summon a few of these guys, they get some real work done, allowing for some great damage over a large distance. 

[Sybarite]

Yeah fire gamin are pretty nice. Wk5 is cool as well, gamin-wise. Make sure to not have your rider stand beside the fire and ice gamins though  I accidentally did that once.

[Mxbedlam]

I like using ice and fire gamin as missles too. Tie up an enemy and if they take htem out, they blow up. Free damage and activation control? I'll take it

 

[spooky_squirrel]

Also: if running Colette's crew or Cassandra alone (because they use them for many things) or wanting to do something to enhance scheme marker placement (because throwing schemes with Magician's Assistant might be useful for you), mannequins might have a place. [edit: removed armor sales pitch, armor doesn't help with a single wound]

 

In a Ramos crew it depends on what you need. It's not a bad idea to have a mix of gamin on hand so that you can summon in the one(s) that will shore up an observed weakness against the crew you're facing. Fire and Ice do stuff when they die, so summoning them and flinging somewhere that you can use Ramos' (or the Emissary's, or a Metal Gamin's) (0) Magnetism to set them off (Fire Gamin immediately, but Ice Gamin being marginally tougher might require a little more set up) in the middle of your opponent's crew and get a scrap marker for the next batch of summoning.

[angyi]

15 hours ago, spooky_squirrel said:

...because they're Armor +3; they come in wounded but will still take a hard hit, conditions, or two AP to remove...

Correct me but mannequins come in with a single wound... How does any armor count in this regard?

[spooky_squirrel]

5 hours ago, angyi said:

Correct me but mannequins come in with a single wound... How does any armor count in this regard?

You're right, they do. For some reason I thought they had an extra wound. I'll remove that from the sales pitch above--mainly because if the crew is putting any effort into healing them, that's not helping.