Tactica: Ramos

[Nutcase168]

I'm looking forward to trying the guardian out, he's pretty decent for the 8 SS (+1 for out of faction)

The hunter will be another piece worth trying as well.

[mylastnerv]

Hey guys,

I haven't picked up my copy of book 2 yet, (I know, shame on me, but I've been outta work and such and just got a new job) . . . but what is his deal with the Special Forces? Can he hire any of them, as I love what I've seen so far on their henchmen. Can anyone explain what kinda lists they are built for and if they can be used with Ramos?

[Nutcase168]

The short answer is that Ramos can hire any number of M&SU Assets (special force name) without having to hire the henchman.

I haven't found a theme yet but there are some sweet models in the SPecial forces IMO.

[mythicFOX]

To add to what Nutcase168 was saying, and with Ramos in mind.

From a theme perspective; the Large Steampunk Arachnid, and Soulstone Miner (a mechanical worm/drill) are constructs and the Gunsmiths are MSU employees. So from a theme perspective they all make sense for a Ramos crew.

From a game perspective;

With the RP strategies and schemes there is more of an emphasis on needing multiple significant models on the table. This has forced me to start the game with a lot less spiders than before, and construct them with the help of mobile toolkit.

This makes these special forces more viable in my Ramos builds. I've been testing the Miner recently, it performs a similar role to the Sabretooth Cerberus, claiming objectives and attacking isolated targets.

I’ll be testing the Gunsmith and Arachnids in more detail shortly.

[Dragthar]

Well i have a question why does Arcing field not work for Ramos when it says in rulebook one that he is a construct. and perfect machine says that he "may" ignore effects that effect constructs? I'm just trying to get my head around this guy cause im gonna buy him next week.

[HopelessHeretic]

Because arcing screen is an aura and auras don't effect the model they originate from. Now if you cast it from the totem it could effect ramos.

-Heretic

[Dragthar]

Question i was thinking of building a AOE heavy list with swarms ice gamins and a ice golem instead of a steam borg and i wanted to see if any other Ramos players have tried this with any sucess?

[Werecat]

Question i was thinking of building a AOE heavy list with swarms ice gamins and a ice golem instead of a steam borg and i wanted to see if any other Ramos players have tried this with any sucess?

I don't recommend it. Gamin are great because of bite of winter and as an ice mirror target. Neither of those have anything to do with Ramos.

Ice Golems, in my personal opinion, are one of the worst archaist choices.

[mythicFOX]

The gamin aren't that bad in Ramos.

I've used them against Melee crews as handy road blocks to keep them from getting to Ramos. Position them so the enemy has to engage them, use sub Zero to close down their attacks. Then make a couple of strikes and have Ramos controlled detonate them for 4 dg.

They're also cheap and significant, which is very useful in book 2. That said they aren't ever going to be in my default Ramos crew.

I've never got on with the Golem. Ramos' low mobility is a big problem, adding a 9ss low mobility model to his crew is going to make it very slow. The book two strategies require mobility. If you want to try an off the wall construct have a go with a Coryphée, those are ace for objective grabbing and sabotage.

I have a problem running a lot of the 9+ stone models as I tend to think "but I could just have another spider swarm".

[Lictor]

If you are up against Pandora and all you got is Ramos then Arachnids and Gamins/Golem become your best friend.

Detonate everyone around Pandora til she is dead then hope to Jeebus you got what it takes to finish your objectives lol.

*mostly joking tactic*

[Dragthar]

Now i am curious what would a ramos player take to a table to go againt a lady j team? Cause i have this guy talking smack and i would love to take the smile from his face. He says ramos sucks againts her( He seems to be using a moded starter for her.) Any tips would really help

[Werecat]

Your average Lady J crew has a decent am out of shooting, with melée to back it up. I'm thinking either coryphee or a Cerberus to run up and engage, and hopefully munch some death marshals.

That's all Theoryfaux, though. We don't have a Lady J player locally.

[Lictor]

Now i am curious what would a ramos player take to a table to go againt a lady j team? Cause i have this guy talking smack and i would love to take the smile from his face. He says ramos sucks againts her( He seems to be using a moded starter for her.) Any tips would really help

How many points are you playing?

Things to consider in strategy -

Ramos and Alyce both have a longer range than Marhsalls (12 vs. 10), and they can both fire three times with decent damage. Keep Alyce close to Ramos and you will get to play 8 Control Cards which is pretty freaking awesome.

Brass Arachnid can Stoke allowing any construct in 6" to reactivate without penalty. Also pretty freaking awesome.

Coryphee are Bulletproof and can't be charged, which negate both Marshalls and Judge/J's primary impact.

Take Spiders!! Latch On will drop J's defense, and an Arachnid Swarm has Melee Master, so charge, and then hit 3 more time for funzies!!

There is a lot of debate on whether Joss or Steamborg is better, they both have obvious advantages offensively and defensively, so read thoroughly, read again, make a decision, doubt yourself, read again and post more questions for our opinions, disregard our opinions, take either one and spend the whole match wishing you had the other.

My last Ramos game I took both Joss, SBE and Alyce and the BA against a Lady J, Judge, 2 GG and 2 DM. My opponent had Slaughter and I had Treasure Hunt. No Schemes.

I wiped him from the board end of turn 5 (Sadly, I stuffed up and Alyce fell 2 inches short of my DZ, but I judged I would of fallen short and had the BA within range. I then forgot I burnt my 12 of Tome to destroy the last player so couldn't cheat the failed Stoke, but thankfully drew a 13 for a 7th turn). To be fair Alyce 2 turns in a row drew Red joker for damage against 2 Marshalls eliminating both. I used Soulstone with Ramos to rid both GG. Joss took out Judge faily easily because of Power tokens that added to damage and I had a better hand to cheat with than my opponent.

Lady J sucks lol, it took 3 turns with SBE and AS to get rid of her, and again I was lucky that a Black Joker was flipped when J should of decimated my AS but it took both large constucts to keep her steady and deal with her.

[Dragthar]

well i will only have the starter crew for ramos to go against him so I dont really know if he will use his starter crew but i am hopin that even though this will be my first game that i can get good advice and tips for using Ramos. I have done war games before so if you can help me it would really help.

(games i play Warhammer fantasy high elves & vampires and 40k black templars, warmachine Kador, hordes trollbloods)

My Thoughts on the tactics were:

hold back in cover ,With the swarms use cover for flanking

then with steamborg have him bodyguard and fire with ramos from cove

like a anvil and pincer combo for the army buffs here. then when they come in have the swarms go behind scatter and blow up causing as much dam as possible the have the borg charge whatever is left then Ramos does cover fire/build new spiders. But as i have never played Mailfuax at all i dont know if this would be a good tatic. Please help me out if i am thinking of this faction all wrong.

[mythicFOX]

Not very experienced against Lady J, however I'd aim to expose Lady J to Ramos' Electrical Fire and exploding models.

Your plan for the 'borg looks solid, remember to use cloud of steam to help cover Ramos. I'd try and keep the swarm together and use its awesome melee power to engage the marshalls.

Constructed spiders should be used to blow up and hurt nearby enemy. See if he'll let you proxy the Electriacl Creation as it's important.

Be prepared to lose your first few games, Ramos is a bit tricky. I'd also recommend picking up one the Ramos totems asap, ideally a proxy for the Mobile Toolkit. He really need his totem.

[oozeboss]

There is a lot of debate on whether Joss or Steamborg is better, they both have obvious advantages offensively and defensively, so read thoroughly, read again, make a decision, doubt yourself, read again and post more questions for our opinions, disregard our opinions, take either one and spend the whole match wishing you had the other.

:worship::worship::worship::worship::worship:

This has to be the single greatest line of advice I have seen for any army in any forum in any gaming system in my 34 years of playing with toy soldiers & the vagaries of chance.

You, sir, are a genius, and your blood's worth bottling.

As a fellow inhabitant of the Emerald City, I hope that you'll be playing in the one day event at Gosford on 21st of this month so that I may have a (faint) chance to enjoy a game (and probably, a barrage of puns and one-liners) with you.

[Dragthar]

Well the idea i had got shot when a friend of mine showed me the new errata on the arachnid swarm and how each spider needs to now be in base contact with the original swarm which in my opinion cuddles ramos a little hard core cause that is not much of a scatter i think at least able to go 3" away for the orignial swarm would be nice and fair considering how some of these models work.

[Werecat]

:worship::worship::worship::worship::worship:

This has to be the single greatest line of advice I have seen for any army in any forum in any gaming system in my 34 years of playing with toy soldiers & the vagaries of chance.

You, sir, are a genius, and your blood's worth bottling.

That's a little excessive... Make sure your blinds are closed at night Lictor.

[pharaoh]

I'm also struggling a little with Ramos against high speed, close combat crews. Actually, not even the crews, rather the masters themselves. Having McMourning or Lady Justice runnings straight towards you leaves you a little vulnerable. In both cases I'm rather reduced to using whatever I have to intercept them, which usually results in them being dead (and of course McMourning then back to full wounds) but maybe have soaked up enough soul-stones in defensive flips to enable ramos to take them down with electrical fire, or spider bombs, but then I'm left with pretty much only the old man against my opponant's entire crew. Which means I rarely get my schemes/strategy, and lose badly. I do pretty well against less directly aggressive masters, so any tips would be helpful...

[HopelessHeretic]

Balls out close combat masters are one of the most difficult things for ramos to deal with. Personally, I struggle against lilith especially if she has nekima in tow.

Against mcmorning play defensively keep ramos at least 7" away from him at all times because scalpel slingin' can ruin your day. Remember that mcmorning doesn't have alot of defensive capabilities he relies on being able to hit you back to heal. In light of this I recommend that you activate your bruisers as late as possible incase mcmorning goes earlier and if mcmorning is damaged activate them early. Also you electrical creation is very useful just plop it down close to mcmorning if he decideds to kill it he heals before the pulse goes off since they go off at the same time and he is the active model so his goes off first.

Lady J is a bit tougher. I never had issue with her until book 2. If she takes the guardian she is really tough. I am still experimenting with how to beat her. When in doubt try to set up situations that force your opponent to make difficult decisions. One thing I have been meaning to try is the guardian protecting joss. If you set this up right you can have the guardian protecting joss with his 3 armor forcefield up while they are both in combat with Lady J. This is a tough call cause if she hits the guardian you can drop any tome to put shieldwall up giving the guardian 4 armor and joss 7 or she can hit joss who essentially has 17 wounds. This is tough to set up but i find that ramos players are really good at things like this.

Hope this helps

-Heretic

[Dragthar]

@Hopless

Well i am looking forward to your experiment and hope you will tell us about it.

[Lictor]

:worship::worship::worship::worship::worship:

This has to be the single greatest line of advice I have seen for any army in any forum in any gaming system in my 34 years of playing with toy soldiers & the vagaries of chance.

You, sir, are a genius, and your blood's worth bottling.

As a fellow inhabitant of the Emerald City, I hope that you'll be playing in the one day event at Gosford on 21st of this month so that I may have a (faint) chance to enjoy a game (and probably, a barrage of puns and one-liners) with you.

I just moved this weekend to Newcastle but it is something I am definitely aiming to attend. I have two possible date clashes that I must first deal with. I don't play as regularly as I should but I think I have recently ensared two new players from around the block to start Malifaux. Playing with newbies won't make me competition ready but I know most people who go to Gosford Good Games and they are mostly new still from what I have heard.

If nothing else I would like to go just to see the likes of Mitchell, Vimes (Geoff) and Damian (store operator and Comp organiser) because it has been more months than I care to count

[slayeriv]

i got the combo off the other day with the guardian absorbing the poision and wounds meant for Joss thanks to the red joker and some luck i was able to kill Teddy in one turn

[Jonas Albrecht]

I'm puzzled. Why is this stickied?

We need a new Ramos tactica.

[cotillion989]

So, I just bought book 1 yesterday, and haven't seen book 2 yet. I've watched some battle reports, and skimmed the book, and read a few threads, just to give you background on how little I know.

Anyhow, after seeing Ramus, and getting the images in my head of tons of little spiders jumping on faces, I knew he was the guy for me. After a little bit of brainstorming I was thinking of a list something like the following:

35 pts

Ramos

Desolation Engine

Toolkit (not sure on pt value from previous discussion here but assuming same as other totems)

Arachnid Swarm

Arachnid x 3

4 Soulstones

Basic idea is to sit back having Ramos be an arachnid factory and if possible turtle my force behind some buildings. Make them come to me as I pump out spiders. That way I don't have to keep wounding DE running him around.

I do see the issue of the scenarios that force me to run up to engage, but I am wondering how many of them percentage wise require this? I also haven't seen too much about how DE runs w/ Ramus. I'm sure there are things that I'm not seeing.

I plan on getting the other Ramus regulars as well, I was just curious about how people think this list might play, and what potential problems would come from bringing a DE.