Arcanist on a budget

[Boshea]

Like my Guild thread, the term budget is used lightly here. I guess "efficient first purchases" would be a better choice, but doesn't sound as good. Decided to do one of these for each faction after seeing Morella's suggested starting purchases thread. This would be the macro version of it looking at the best way to enter a faction instead of just a single master. Since I'm not an expert on every faction and master contributions are greatly appreciated. The main guideline for this would be the same as my guild goals. What is the best roster that can be built out of three starter boxes and three blisters. Sometimes the three starters and blisters may not be enough so an alternative cap would be for the final cost to be around $150.

Edit-Updated based on discussion

Avatar Ramos (28)

Alt Ramos (10.50)

SPA blister (9)

EC (7.50)

Mobile Toolkit (8.50)

LSPA (15)

Rail Crew (35)

Kaeris Box (40)

Total: 153.5

Edited December 22, 2012 by Boshea

[rannos]

If you are intent on getting Rasputina i would recommend you simply buy her blister and a blister of ice gaimin rather than her box set. The gamin are fine and can be really irritating to some opponents but I think the golem doesn't bring enough to the field to warrant his nine ss cost. I personally am fond of the mechanical rider but it might put you over your budget.

If you really want that third box you might as well go for Marcus or Colette rather than Rasputina. I don't have Marcus so I can't really recommend you a blister for him, but if you decide to pick up Colette despite her learning curve than you can't go wrong with the coryphee blister.

[Boshea]

Its what I plan to do personally when I trip into Arcansit, but I'm trying to look at this from the basis that I'm just starting out. Its easier to convince someone to pick up a box and a blister than several blisters. Rasputina+Gamin+Silent One with either Snow Storm or a Blessed of December replacing the Ice Golem as your big scary monster would probably be a better route for raspy. Only an $8 difference if you go with the Blessed. While the Ice Golem isn't the most amazing minion he is at least big stupid wall in a fragile crew, and the Master+Body Guard+Minions dynamic of most boxes are good for learning the game.

[dgraz]

I couldn't do it. For Guild sure....there is use out of almost everything in the boxes but there are some big models that I don't use out of the Arcanist boxes (Steamborg / Ice Golem). If I were to do it again I would probably go the blister route for Arcanists.

If this were for you I would give you my list, but if this is for trying to get other people in the game then your list is pretty good. The only thing I might add is an Essence of Power for Raspy. I do like the LSPA for Ramos also.

[Boshea]

Its a problem I'm starting to see in a lot of factions is that the majority of starter boxes are severally lacking. Guild is solid across the board, but every other faction only has 1 or 2 good boxes from book 1 (book 2 is fairly good across every faction, but harder masters). I'd still be interested in seeing your list though for my own benefit. I suppose as long as one box makes it onto these lists its easy enough to teach someone with it. Guess the better foundation for these would be build a faction roster that costs the same price as a 40k battleforce/battalion. So 150ish limit with the best choices possible for 2-3 masters/henchman.

[dgraz]

If I were buying into Arcanists as a faction I would go:

• Avatar Ramos - awesome and comes with a swarm (28)
  
• Alt Ramos 1.50 more but I love the model (10.50)
  
• SPA blister (9)
  
• EC (7.50)
  
• Mobile Toolkit (8.50)
  
• LSPA (15)
  
• Raspy - I prefer the original (9)
  
• Gamin blister (15)
  
• EoP (7)
  
• Silent One (9)
  
• Kaeris Box (40)
  
• 
  

I believe that's $158 pre-tax. Raspy and Ramos could use either Kaeris or Gunsmiths to play at higher points and Kaeris could go a little higher with the LSPA.

This list totally ignores the fact that Marcus is my favorite Arcanist and would gladly dump money into every other faction just to bring any beast I want.

[Boshea]

[*]Avatar Ramos - awesome and comes with a swarm (28)

Never knew it also came with a swarm, makes him probably the best valued avatar out of the bunch. Haven't really been giving avatars a great deal of attention other than Avatar Seamus and Criid. Seamus because its pretty cool model to build a crew around. Criid because holy hell that is one of the coolest models I've ever seen.

[decker_cky]

Since Kaeris is really being brought in as support, would it make sense to just get Kaeris and a gunsmith rather than the box set? Fire gamins are nice when she's the focus of the list, but for supporting other arcanist masters, you want her as a standalone support piece don't you?

[Azmyak]

Since Kaeris is really being brought in as support, would it make sense to just get Kaeris and a gunsmith rather than the box set? Fire gamins are nice when she's the focus of the list, but for supporting other arcanist masters, you want her as a standalone support piece don't you?

As someone that started with Raspy, I would suggest buy the Kaeris box, use the fire gamin as ice gamin, forgo the Raspy boxset lol

[Boshea]

So not bothering to gear this towards completely new players anymore. Morella's thread does a better job of that. So it really comes down to if Collette would be a better choice for this project than one of the other masters. While Marcus is a cool guy he has the same problem as Kirai and Nicodem in that he needs a lot of models (as far as I know) which kind of hurts budgetting. Personally I'm a big fan of dgraz's list since I like those masters, but depending how models go there may different combinations depending on who you want to play. The only master I feel should be in every list is Kaeris since I see her as Von Schill for 2 less stones, and Gunsmiths are a good alternative to Convinct Gunslinger. Just some random thoughts since don't have a whole lot of practical experience with arcanists.

Since Kaeris is really being brought in as support, would it make sense to just get Kaeris and a gunsmith rather than the box set? Fire gamins are nice when she's the focus of the list, but for supporting other arcanist masters, you want her as a standalone support piece don't you?

I look at fire gamin in the same way as nurses in the mcmourning box. While not great in your initial purchase you'll probably want them down the line at some point (ACriid likes them).

[Boshea]

So with the release of book 4, I'm thinking Mei may be a better choice than Raspy for this. As far as I can tell Ramos, Kaeris, and Mei all like their constructs so there may be a little better model overlap. Also I believe Mei can dish out a few burn counters so she has a little more offensive potential than Raspy with Kaeris.

Swapping Raspy, the Gamin, and the silent one out of dgraz's list for the Railcrew box also works out to roughly the same price.

[dgraz]

Swapping Raspy, the Gamin, and the silent one out of dgraz's list for the Railcrew box also works out to roughly the same price.

My name is dgraz and I approve this message.

Upon the first expansion I would choose a box of Metal Gamin and a Rail Golem.....they will work well with Mei, Ramos, and Kaeris.

[decker_cky]

So with the release of book 4, I'm thinking Mei may be a better choice than Raspy for this. As far as I can tell Ramos, Kaeris, and Mei all like their constructs so there may be a little better model overlap. Also I believe Mei can dish out a few burn counters so she has a little more offensive potential than Raspy with Kaeris.

Swapping Raspy, the Gamin, and the silent one out of dgraz's list for the Railcrew box also works out to roughly the same price.

You could probably drop the EoP too, since although it's useful for Kaeris, it's not the most important thing overall.

• Avatar Ramos (28)
  
• Alt Ramos (10.50)
  
• SPA blister (9)
  
• EC (7.50)
  
• Mobile Toolkit (8.50)
  
• LSPA (15)
  
• Rail Crew (35)
  
• Kaeris Box (40)
  

Total: 153.5

[dgraz]

You could probably drop the EoP too, since although it's useful for Kaeris, it's not the most important thing overall.

True, and if she is leading your crew she can't hire it anyway.

[Haganedragon]

Metal Gamin sadly cannot be used by Kaeris, unless take henchman of course, since they are neither M&SU members or assets :Sad_Puppet2:. The Metal Golem is M&SU asset.

Willie and Union minors would also be good first expansion point. Both are M&SU members and the Minors are M&SU assets

[011121]

I got the Kaeris box as my first Arcanist purchase just recently and plan to add the rail crew once they actually come out.

[dgraz]

Metal Gamin sadly cannot be used by Kaeris, unless take henchman of course, since they are neither M&SU members or assets

:facepalm: thats what i get for not double checking

[Boshea]

Oh Kaeris, your friends always have to bring the toys you want.

[Backno]

So with the release of book 4, I'm thinking Mei may be a better choice than Raspy for this. As far as I can tell Ramos, Kaeris, and Mei all like their constructs so there may be a little better model overlap. Also I believe Mei can dish out a few burn counters so she has a little more offensive potential than Raspy with Kaeris.

Swapping Raspy, the Gamin, and the silent one out of dgraz's list for the Railcrew box also works out to roughly the same price.

I will add another vote for this. I actually bought Kaeris and Mei at Gen Con this year to team up with my Ramos crew that already had. It's an even better idea after you read the Rail Crew rules/abilities and how well it matches up with Kaeris.

So the final list of things to buy:

Avatar Ramos

Alt. Ramos

SPA swarm

LSPA

Mobile Tool Kit

Electrical Creation

Kaeris Box

Mei Feng Box

If you have the spare cash I will also HIGHLY recommend getting the Rail Golem. Awesome model + a high SS beat stick that is actually somewhat hard to kill.

Edit: Total from my favorite retailer would be $160 for all of that, including the Rail Golem.

Edited September 4, 2012 by Backno

[011121]

I'm really surprised the rail golem wasn't a bigger cost model. After seeing it I thought we were looking at a 10-14ss model to give the arcanists something on par with Nekima or Killjoy. Was a bit disappointed to find out it was another 8-9ss model, which the arcanists already have.

I guess the arcanists do have Snowstorm but can you really see using him/them with anyone but rasputina? It's pretty heavily themed, like so many of her troops.

[ttsgosadow]

I am going to start Arcanists, and am looking to this list as a guide. Was wondering why you'd skip the Ramos box. It includes spiders that you use a lot, and the Steamborg which looks pretty neat. Is the box bad value?

[decker_cky]

In general, all you need is 2 steampunk arachnid swarms/6 steampunk arachnids if you can magnetize them to be usable as both. Avatar of ramos comes with a pack of alternate steampunk arachnids, so you only need one more. As to the steamborg, some like it, but some of the newer heavy hitters are a little better value. For some, being able to start with alternate ramos is another big advantage.

However, if you like the original Ramos and you like the look of the steamborg, by all means pick up the boxset as it is good value.

[Boshea]

decker pretty much covered anything I would add. Alt Ramos was picked from a combination of budgeting (goal is best selection for 150 or less), and dgraz preferring the model more. The box isn't a bad buy, and I personally prefer electric fire Ramos over tentacle Ramos. The Steamborg may not be the most impressive model these days compared to other things in its price range, but its still an extremely nasty melee model. The Steamborg is far simpler to play and requires less support than similarly priced models. Owning three swarms also isn't a bad thing if you pick up the box and his avatar, since nothing sucks more than wanting to summon models that you don't own more of.

[decker_cky]

I must say though...I was looking at the Steamborg executioner recently, and I think it'd work as a secondary beatstick for Mei better than it works for Ramos. Seismic punch for a little extra speed to get him where he needs, ideally in position for flurry + melee master. Those paired Cb 7 attacks with weak damage 4 are nothing to sniff at and compare well with anything out there. Even masters have to be wary of ending activations within 5" of a steamborg that can be punched into range.

It also opens the option for either a second hard hitter along with a rail golem, or to take 2 other M&SU assets (2 LSPA or or 1 and a gunsmith seem like good options).

[Sybarite]

I must say though...I was looking at the Steamborg executioner recently, and I think it'd work as a secondary beatstick for Mei better than it works for Ramos. Seismic punch for a little extra speed to get him where he needs, ideally in position for flurry + melee master. Those paired Cb 7 attacks with weak damage 4 are nothing to sniff at and compare well with anything out there. Even masters have to be wary of ending activations within 5" of a steamborg that can be punched into range.

It also opens the option for either a second hard hitter along with a rail golem, or to take 2 other M&SU assets (2 LSPA or or 1 and a gunsmith seem like good options).

Interesting thought Maybe it could work. With Mei and the Emberling you can also try and protect it a bit vent steam.