Ramos - The Wrecking ball Crew

[Acefisher1]

Wanted to run this list by you guys and see what you think. I really think this could put the hurtin' on some folks and have great survivability.

35 SS

Ramos + Brass Arachnid 4ss

Johann (purchase cost reduced by 1 for having Ramos)

Joss

Guardian

Gunsmith

Steampunk Arachnid (optional for more stones)

For 25 points, just drop Joss

The thought behind this list is pretty simple. Ramos does great with a bodyguard (guardian), however he lacks the mobility to deal with mid-range threats. The Gunsmith gives him some mid-range firepower and allows for even more versatility. This also allows him to spend more actions creating spiders and elec. creations.

Johann, well he's a discovery I had reading through the outcasts in my rules this morning. He is a melee powerhouse with range 4 melee. His attacks also have the chance to knock back anyone in combat with him allowing for more ranged death.

Combine these two with the Brass arachnid's ability to reactivate and I have an incredibly flexible crew that I can adapt to fit whatever situation and allow for better chances in poor Strats for this master (ie plant evidence).

The play style I envision is a slow, forward moving group centered on the master with the gunsmith flanking close and joss staying nearby as well. Move towards objectives and force the opponent to avoid you or try to deal with you head on. The Guardian will soak enough damage to allow Joss and the Gunsmith, Johann and if needed, Ramos to kill whatever threats are thrown his way.

Hopefully with all the "firepower" around Ramos he's able to focus on creating spiders and electrical creations and I can add 1 or 2 arachnid swarms by the end of the game, or cover the area in individual arachnids to tarpit if needed.

[Toonook]

Well, here's a few points:

Johan only has range 3 Melee

The Brass Arachnid can only reactivate Constructs, which rules out the Gunsmith and Johan

Your pool would be 3. Yes, Johan does cost 1 less for the M&SU membership, but you still have to pay the +1 cost for him being a mercenary. He only costs 5 for Colette because she can specifically hire M&SU members from any faction at no extra cost.

Joss suffers from being a high SS cost model with no action modifiers (Nimble, melee expert, etc). His walk of 4 means he takes an age to get anywhere and is easily kited by your opponent. Of course he can be reactivated by the arachnid but this risks him moving faster than your guardian ball and getting isolated and killed. The low WP on the Gunsmith would make it an easy target to lure away from the guardian to be isolated, or just get you to burn away wounds using smoldering heart since his isolation would make life very difficult for you.

Sorry if this all sounded a bit negative, it could be a fun list to use, just be wary of high movement oppositions leaving you stranded. I would maybe only bust out this list initially for a slaughter type strategy, combined with something like holdout where you don't need to leave home or worry about your opponents superior speed.

[Acefisher1]

Hey, thank you for the feedback. It wasn't harsh, unless you tried to mean it that way, then of course it's just fact said in a certain tone of voice... on the internet.....

Anyway, all very good points. I didn't realize that the brass arachnid wasn't able to Stoke the Gunsmith or Johann. That indeed changes the usefulness of those models. As well as them not being constructs, which would negate the lure issue. Perhaps Johann needs to be replaced with a Steamborg, and the gunsmith with .... something constructed. Any ideas/suggestions?

Thanks for the food for thought.

[Alex]

So as always, I would suggest dropping Brass Arachnid for Mobile Toolkit and attach aRamos. I understand he brings the beats as well.

[Poltron]

If you only want a melee model instead of Johan, grab a Large Spider Arachnid. For 5SS, you'll have more attacks, ignoring armor and giving you 3 scrap counters when it dies. Johan would still be wonderful against enemies weak to magical attacks though.

Joss could be replaced by another Large Spider, and with the SS you save, you could grab a mechanical rider instead of the gunsmith, who is one of the rare construct that can shoot. You could also put 2 gamins instead, Ice gamin with Ramos can be particulary durable for 4SS.

If you plan on summoning a lot, I strongly suggests taking a look at the Mobile Toolkit, he can make sure you summon a spider and creation each turn. Else with your current setup, you'll need a lot of Tomes in your hand each turn to Reactivate + summon twice.

Hope it helps!

Poltron

[LoboStele]

The Brass Arachnid looks awesome on the surface, but your crew becomes a VERY tome heavy build, because you need tomes cards for Stoke, Create Spider, AND Electrical Creation. So the likelihood of getting all 3 of those in any single turn is incredibly low. That said...I LIKE the Brass Arachnid, but it has to be in a build where you're already starting with a lot of stuff on the table for it to work with. Normally, if I'm hoping to use Stoke a lot, I'm usually planning to have Ramos do more with Electrical Fire, as opposed to summoning stuff. Then the Brass Arachnid can stoke stuff like the Steamborg or Spider Swarms. A Steamborg which charges in, then does Melee Expert, THEN Reactivates for another Melee Expert and Flurry...yeah, scary stuff. Tough to pull off, but VERY scary.