So many spiders!

[LupusFerreus]

Based on the average of Ramos making two spiders a turn, would it be a safe assumption to make that I'll need ten spiders, plus a swarm? Somehow I don't think the six I got in the crew box will be enough.

[Mister Shine]

Never enough spiders.

VVVVMagnets are the sign of a sick mind

Edited January 31, 2014 by Mister Shine

[Tiaden]

I'm definitly a Ramos newbie. And although those little spiders also die like hell I would have needed 7 Spiders the last game. I plan to buy another blister so I do have 9. That should be enough. But also consider the Swarm option. You need 3 more spiders for a swarm. Well of course you could magnetize them.

[zFiend]

I have also been wondering how many spiders I should get. I remember some recommendation being 9. But not sure if that was with the assumption you would magnetize them.

[LupusFerreus]

I've heard mixed things about the swarm. Is it really worth making? I'm not going to magnetise my arachnids so I'd just be buying another one. Still at only £6 a box, it's not going to break the bank.

[mythicFOX]

I'm going fairly summoning heavy with Dr Ramos and I'm averaging two SPA's per turn. In practice though I'm only very rarely going above six in play at any one time.

I find that once you've got that many in play you can probably be doing better things than summoning. Plus I tend to recycle mine for scrap and I use them to tar-pit my opponent so they have a high rate of attrition.

Six and a swarm should be enough. Nine and two swarms should mean you'll never run out.

[Mister Shine]

Nein! Drown zem in arachnid bodies! For mein arachnid frauleins!

[mythicFOX]

On the swarm;

I don't swarm every game but there are times when it's devastating. Their pulse is fairly epic in the right place at the right time, and if you're ahead on cards against a mid to low Df opponent their attack again trigger can put some real hurt on your opponents.

[Fenton Crack]

There are games when I try to summon every turn, and even then I have never gotten to nine, even though I often get to seven or eight, if I recall correctly. I even start with a spider on the table often times.

Even if I have the high tomes for the triple, with two wounds, one or two are generally going to get picked off either by my opponent or Ramos magging off one for the movement and scrap.

Thinking back on it though, many of the games I have eight or so, I was often wasting AP or cards, as I probably did not need the extra one or two spiders, I often just feel compelled to make them, even if I am wasting a decent tome and an AP.

I feel I should being using the swarm more often, especially when I have low health spiders and am already up in activations, but have not even painted my second swarm yet, since I've not needed it yet.

Late game their marker eating is awesome, and the late turn, the "Carry Away" trigger can be great for Turf War, where you push a model out of range.

[AndyP.]

When I play Ramos I summon every turn i can 2 or 3 spiders.

To do that i magnetize my 15 spiders and I have also a swarm assembled.

My advice is to magnetize every spider of the crew

Magnet is the way

Instead of that I usually Hire up a swarm from the begin and a single spider as sacrifical scrap creator with Joss

After that I can summon a lot of spider each turn and have a scrap counter as reserve if I have problem to create them.

Also Large arachnid is really good scrap creator and Soulstone miner help you with hyper summoning to gain more soulstones to use

[Gorbad]

Their pulse is fairly epic in the right place at the right time

It certainly did a number on my Colette crew. Being able to eat all my scheme markers was pretty devastating. Especially with Spring the Trap in play as well.

[Math Mathonwy]

When magnetizing, it can be a good idea to magnetize small pieces of scenery with the spider on top as that's often a lot easier (at least if you build your own bases).

As for the swarms, I still have nightmares about their trigger. In the correct circumstances it's absolutely horrid. Oftentimes big beatsticks have lots of wounds but low def and that's something that the swarm likes to eat for breakfast.

[Dracomax]

If, like me, magnets have not done you good, I'd recommend starting out with an extra pack of spiders, so you have 6 spiders and one swarm. Maybe pick one more up for 9 spiders and one swarm.

For more advanced players, It is possible to build a summon army crew, however, and you might actually need more in that situation:

Mech rider can create 3-4 spiders per game.

Reactivate gives up to one extra summon per turn per summoning model

Malifaux Child can copy Ramos summon for 1 extra spider per turn.

Ramos can summon one Electric creation/turn(2 with reactivate), Joss and/or Large arachnid can create extra scrap from it.

So, if my math is right, and disregarding models lost through swarming and/or death, and assuming maximum SS and maximum luck, you can theoretically create up to 31 spiders in a game.

Even without perfect luck, given halfway decent luck, it wouldn't be unreasonable to get 18-20 spiders in a game.

[AndyP.]

Sorry guys, but how can you give reactivate to Ramos?

Brass Arachnid limit that ability to Non-Master. Which model do you use?

[mythicFOX]

Draco means reactivate the Mech Rider, not Ramos.

[Dracomax]

I could have sworn I saw a way to do it, but I could be wrong. Can't recall off the top of my head. even without any way to get reactivate on any model, you can get up to 24 Spiders in a game, with a more likely number of 13-16.

[Halflingspy]

I find that once you've got that many in play you can probably be doing better things than summoning. Plus I tend to recycle mine for scrap and I use them to tar-pit my opponent so they have a high rate of attrition.

Six and a swarm should be enough. Nine and two swarms should mean you'll never run out.

 

 

I'm right with mythicFOX on this one.  I usually use my spiders as a way to just make a wall of unhappy, and lower defense as I zap them to hell with Ramos or close in with a big model if I'm playing a big game.  I'm finding six and one swarm is enough for me, and what I would recommend.  That would be a box set, plus one extra.

[Gorbad]

I could have sworn I saw a way to do it, but I could be wrong. Can't recall off the top of my head. even without any way to get reactivate on any model, you can get up to 24 Spiders in a game, with a more likely number of 13-16.

Can the Performer reactivate Ramos by dying? Can't remember her wording.

[r4st4f4n]

And Brass Arachnid and Malifaux Child cannot go together

[Mason]

I'm right with mythicFOX on this one.  I usually use my spiders as a way to just make a wall of unhappy, and lower defense as I zap them to hell with Ramos or close in with a big model if I'm playing a big game.  I'm finding six and one swarm is enough for me, and what I would recommend.  That would be a box set, plus one extra.

 

Minions or Showgirls only. 

[Matney X]

For models, there are the new spiders, and then regular and alt sculpts from 1.5, right? What is that, 9 unique-ish models?

[Fenton Crack]

I think there are only five unique sculpts.  The new plastics have three unique scuplts, there were the original 3-piece metals that were all the same (although I guess you could argue two scuplts out of these, for the left front leg raised or the front right leg raised) and the one-piece metals all the same unless you cutomized.  So, five to six "unique" sculpts I would say, depending on your accounting.  Usually the spiders are differntiated by the basing in many crews, rather than the sculpt.

[mythicFOX]

That's right although you could pose the legs on the first sculpt and bend them on the second so it neve looked too uniform.

[Matney X]

Still, that's quite a bit more than if I got three sets of the new ones.

[HalcyonSeraph]

The spiders are kinda of small, I don't really know that you get any real life benefit out of having 9 sculpts over 3. They're still close to identical robot spiders, its not like humans or even gamin where the poses really make that much of a difference.