Ramos Help

[incompotent]

Hi Everyone,

My friend has been slowly wearing me down and now I am super excited to start playing Malifaux however it turns out have no idea what I am doing. I am trying to put together a fun Ramos crew to just have some pub stomp type games. I am just trying to find a few minis to round out my crew to 35 ss and I am wondering can I buy individual steam punk arachnids not the large ones or the swarms? If not I am just going to try running a soul stone miner to fill the six cost hole. Thanks guys for any answers.

The list I was planning on running was

Ramos

Steam Punk Executioner

Steam Punk Arachnid Swarm

Rusty Alyce

Soul Stone Miner ( 2 Steam Punk Arachnids)

any suggestions for helping me make a balanced fun team would be great too.

[Tograth]

With Ramos, the easiest way to get off the ground is to use his box set. It includes him, the executioner, and 2 swarms (6 spiders total).

after that, you would need a totem, either the toolkit or the arachnid. The arachnid is good, but tricky to get much use out of (and card intensive) while the toolkit is basically tailormade to make ramos' spells easier to cast. like, all of them.

Next, you need an electrical creation. Its a big part of Ramos' damage output. Just the one though - its unique.

Alyce can be very nice, but it takes quite a bit of work to get much use out of her from what I've found. Perhaps swapping her for the mechanical rider would work out better ? the rider is much faster, and gives you a really good objective grabber and hard hitter throughout.

finally, another thing to consider is Ramos' avatar. its released this month, and really makes him much more maneuverable, and just plain hard It also comes with a free spider swarm, the new sculpt, so you may want to pick that up if you are planning on expanding further.

One thing to consider is that Ramos and his SS use varies hugely between his normal methods and when he avatars. Normally, he doesnt use all that many, so a cache of 3 - 5 is perfectly alright. When he avatars though, he eats soulstones like candy.

if you are building a normal list, build to have about 32-33 soulstones worth of models. An avatar list, well, aim for about 29 soulstones worth of models, or plan on including the miner to go for more during the game.

Edited December 15, 2011 by Tograth

[Fetid Strumpet]

I second the recommendation for getting Ramos' Avatar. Like some other people I feel that overall Avatars are sometimes good, sometimes not, and overall not with a few exceptions, Ramos is most definitely one of those exceptions. I can't see a reason, really ever, to not bring his avatar along. It is that good for him.

I also second the recommendation for the mobile tool kit. You also might want to consider picking up the Coryphee Duet at some point in the future. It is an especially awesome Arcanist minion, which will work better for Colette, but could still be very solid for Ramos depending on strategy or scheme. Overall Tograth's advice is the same as mine. Good Luck.

[Adran]

When you get the steam punk arachnids you can either assemble them as individual spiders or as a swarm.

Your list sounds reasonable, btu bear in mind that you don't know what your objectives are goign to be each game. So for example, you might find the list you've written a little slow if for some reason you've got to get into your opponents board, but its good at not dieing.

Ramos can summon the electrical creation so its worth owning one, and he can alo make further spiders during the game.

Personal recomendation is to start small, and expand to fill in the hoiles you see with your list.

[incompotent]

Thanks guys I wasnt expecting so many responses so soon. I am wondering if maybe I should swap Alyce for a mechanical rider. I am just trying to get a basic all purprose type of crew. I am Going to start ordering some pieces soon,does this forum have a match making subspace I don't know anyone that plays around me besides my one friend.

[Ozz]

If you get the bases, and pin the spiders 1 swarm happily splits into 3 individual spiders, or magnetise them, just a side note.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I glued my spiders to small crates and barrells. Then I magnetized the bottom of each piece so they can swap between swarm and individual. I found pinning to be too hard and you could see the rod.

You need about 6 individual spiders and two swarms for Ramos so magentizing one set of three will give you the options you need.

[incompotent]

Sorry I have never done war gaming before you glue the spider to a background piece ,crate cogwheel ect and then magnetize the piece and a 30mm base for when it is single and a 50mm base for when it is conjoined, do all the spiders fit nicely?

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Depends on the piece you use. Find three pieces see if you can for them on the swarm base. I can post a pic later.

[Ratty]

Sorry I have never done war gaming before you glue the spider to a background piece ,crate cogwheel ect and then magnetize the piece and a 30mm base for when it is single and a 50mm base for when it is conjoined, do all the spiders fit nicely?

I think you will find it's a 40mm base.. yeah they fit fine as long as you check while making it.

[Backno]

Spider swarms are 40mm bases. I was told at Gen Con they where 50mm so I bought a bunch of 50mm bases...now they are basically gathering dust until I get more big guys.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Spiders come with 30 and 40 bases. Also 50s are good for blast and a lot of different markers.

[incompotent]

oh cool. So paints ... can I use acrylics or is there a special thing i should use. Also lore question how did Ramos become a construct?

[Backno]

oh cool. So paints ... can I use acrylics or is there a special thing i should use. Also lore question how did Ramos become a construct?

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stick to hobby acrylics. That means buy your paints from a hobby store (online or physical). They will have better colors, give better coverage, and will be easier then the "cheaper" ones you can get else where.

The Apple Barrel acrylics you buy at Hobby Lobby/Walmart/etc are ok for terrain because of the amounts of paint you will need, but absolute garbage for standard minis.

Edited December 21, 2011 by Backno

[Zephir]

Ramos grafted himself a mechanical arm. Not 100% sure if he has any other machine parts.

I really like the Mechanical Rider with Ramos. I've only used her in 2 games, but she tends to be a speedy death maching. and Can usually keep herself alive by using mounted combat to run away.

Also the Large Steam Punk Arachnid is really cool. Its cheap, hits pretty hard, and leaves 3 scrap counters when it dies, so Ramos can make it into smaller spiders.

[Guild Monkee]

I'd swap out Alice for either the rider or Kaeris, both have benefits depending on the strategy (plus you wouldn't have to buy SA minis too).