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Ramos M3E tactics discussion


Caver Ramos

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Hello, my name is Caver and I'm a Ramos player(Both literally and figuratively). My surname is Ramos and building models out of scrap has always been something I love doing.

 

So when I saw a guy at my local area selling a fully painted Ramos crew+ extra arachnid+ metal gamin + meta golem+ tokens for 30 quid I couldn't resist.

 

After that I've had half a dozen games with Ramos, I even went to a tournament and finished second. This are the lessons I have learned from my experience playing my family man.

 

1.  Ramos loves metal gamin

Metal gamin might be generally associated with Mei Feng, but it is Ramos who really turns them into something. Why? Scrap markers.

This little buggers generate all the resources Ramos needs to run his factory of robots show. I always put 2 in my list at least. 

 

Admittedly using the markers for summoning does neuter a little their awesome ride the rails ability, but my advice is to fine tune model activation. Always activate the gaming first and have them move using ride the rails before Ramos starts his show. Also by turn 2 I do think the gamin have provide Ramos with all the markers he really needs and can focus on construction of a railway for.scheme running.

One last thing, this buggers are super though so they are the premiere candidate for magical training upgrade, that extra card really helps.

 

2. Howard who? Run a Golem

Seriously Howard Langston doesn't have that much sinergy with Ramos in this edition. The Golem does, why?

Because he generates scrap markers and can take advantage of the gamins rails. So if you need to pick up a beatstick go for the Golem not for Howard.

Tecnospiderman us better in unionised lists nowadays.

3. Joss is underwhelming

Joss is Ramos henchmen, we love him for that. But he.jyst doesn't work to well supporting Ramos creations. Why?

Because his awesome "Command Construct" ability, the reason you take this guy, requires a tome suit, which Joss doesn't have built in. So getting that action off requires you to burn a valuable soulstone in order to have it guaranteed which is NOT ok, since Ramos needs to use all the soulstones he can get.

Unluckily Joss just doesn't offer Ramos much more mileage either, please prove me wrong in this.

4. Ramos LOVES soulstones

Ramos main mechanic this edition is summoning, which requieres a 9+ of tomes to get off in almost any circumstances(in which you summon important models eg not steam arachnids)

Hence having soulstones to add suits is a must in order to reliably summon mechs. As such if you need to choose between spending soulstones in a non vital model or giving Ramos more stones always give Ramos the stones and summon the model in the game via tactical action.

Personally I like to start summoning a metal gamin(which requires a reasonable 9 of tomes). And then on subsequent turns start summoning more violent creatures such as steam arachnid swarms or mecharachnids which requires a 12 and an 11 respectively.

 

But always have at least 7 soulstones with Ramos in 50 points games and 5 in 35 points games. Is much better to have control over summoning than to have extra models.

 

5. Steam arachnids

Steam arachnids are cool with Ramos, he can summon 3 of them with a 13+ of tomes and have them place scheme markers fairly quickly, also you can detonate them at will for 2 automatic damages and an electrical creation.

But don't take them, summon them by turn 2 or similar. Spending points on them instead of in getting soulstones is not good business when you can summon many of them on a single turn.

 

6. Beware of the strategy and summon accordingly

Essentially if you are playing turf war or reckoning with Ramos only use.your summoning for big and though models. Arachnids would be to much of a hindrance to get summoned due to.their frailty, which translates to easy points for the enemy, and unluckily exploding them still means points for your oponent. Overall I don't love Ramos in either of those scenarios.

 

Those are the things that I have learned playing everybody's favourite political prisoner. Please comment and give me more advice on how to run my favourite family member.

 

 

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I have not played a lot of Ramos this edition, but he did not change a lot, so here is my take.

1. Yes! Metal Gamin are awesome with Ramos... that is, one is. If you are not trying to build a rail network, one is enough for summoning, and they are not good enough in my opinion to justify more.

2. I find both of them not quite worth their points. If you run a rail network, the rail golem could be ok, but they both pale in comparison to the true beater in this crew... the swarm.

3. Yes, he is ok at best, but still our only source of irreducable damage in the faction, so he has a niche use. But no longer in any Ramos list, unfortunately.

4. Ramos needs a stone per turn for summoning. A soulstone miner gives hin exactly that, and, other than any other master in the faction, he can summon those. So spend the stones, take a miner, summon a second turn one, and have more stones than you ever could have wanted.

Also, you cannot summon Metal Gamin. They are not Machina.

5. Arachnids are awesome, always were, still are. Single Arachnids are still the annoying, cheap scheme runners they were before (but a tad easier to kill), steam arachnid swarms are beasts! And you can summon them directly now! One tip here: Take the effigy. Summoned models come with stunned, and while most models don't care, swarms do, so take it off. Also, fast swarms are even more nasty, which is something the totem can do on an eight.

6. Sadly, a summon master will never be good in a killing strat, so Reckoning (and to a lesser extend, Turf War) will be hard times with him. Fortunately, as long as you kill as much as get killed of your models, you are fine. Ramos' play style always was that of an attrition master, at least as I played him. Shove your forces into the opponents face, kill as much as possible, and giggle gleefully as yours get replenished while his do not. Use a spider or three to scheme.

 

All in all, I don't think Ramos has changed all that much. He still needs a source of scrap, which he has much easier access to in ths edition. Take your pick between Metal Gamin, Metal Golem, Mechanical Rider, Steam Arachnid to blow up turn 1. He still wants a number of good beaters with him, to start the attrition, which he then keeps going by summoning models to either fuel the conflict, or do scheme and strategy around it.

I would always recommend taking a miner (with any master, really), Ramos is the one that can easiest skip it and summon one turn one, but that depends on how aggressive you want to be. But you need a model to take the Magical Training, and he is the easiest choice. YMMV

I would always take at least one Steam Arachnid Swarm at the start, either with Soulstone Cache or with Diesel Engine. I would summon the second. At that note, take the Effigy, upgrade recommended.

After that, at least one more beater is nice, and then whatever helps with schemes and strategy.

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I've played a lot of Ramos in M3E, and I really enjoy him. I think I play him a bit differently that most people though. While he can still be a pretty awesome summoner, that is no longer really my focus with him. In my eyes, Ramos is now an area damage master, and damn good at it. He has some awesome summons, but he can do some pretty insane damage by blowing them up. I usually kill my own summons before my opponent can touch them (my record is 30+ damage in a single activation, basically halving a Hamelin crew). 

My favorite thing to do is bring Mech Rider with SS Cache. She can hand out tomes to Ramos and Joss, relieving a lot of your soulstone pressure. With SS cache she can stone to protect herself while standing next to things that are blowing up, gaining you stones. Between this and Ramos' card draw, it is an incredibly efficient engine. I've played games with this where I am gaining stones faster than I can spend them, and ended the game with 5 or 6 left. 

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