Necromunday: Outcast Review - Gunslinger Archetype

Bullets are life on Necromunda, if you run out, you die. Gunslingers abound and deal hot leaden death in all corners of the world, and the Underhive is no different. Today we look at the John Wicks, the John Waynes, and the Annie Oakleys of Necromunda with the Outcast Gunslinger Archetype! Boom… Headshot.

The Outcast Gunslinger Archetype is the ideal choice for the snipers, sharpshooters, trick shooters, 360 no-scopers, and pistoleros of your local gaming group. As with any of the Archetype choices, you have your ideal choices and options to choose from for your leader, their characteristic profile, weapons, and Skill choices. To aid you in understanding this better, we will look over these choices, and give you our general thoughts and opinions of what you should do.

Chaos reigns in the Underhive. Credit: Ezekyle Catbaddon

Is That You, John Wayne? Is This Me?

As we covered extensively in the initial Outcasts article, the Leader of your gang is the most important person, and the most influential to the way your gang performs. Thus, choosing your leader is one of the most foundational parts of your campaign. For the different Archetypes, this choice will vary, and thus you will need to weigh your options differently. First, let’s begin by picking a profile to use!

Characteristic/Profile

The characteristics to look for in a Gunslinger are kinda obvious, someone who has a good Ballistic Skill (2-3+) and secondarily, is quick with a good Initiative. The BS is very obvious, the Movement and Initiative is because most Gunslingers want to be on the move. Movement will be critical to the Gunslinger, as most builds want to ambush the enemy, coming around the corner in Zone Mortalis and laying down a hail of fire that makes the enemies dive to cover.

Sniper. Credit: Rockfish

For the generic Outcast profiles, two are really the ideal for a ‘Slinger. The first profile is really quick, 7” Movement! Coupled with a 2+ BS and a 3+ Initiative, they are an ideal candidate for running around with several pistols and unloading on the chosen foe. The other moves 6”, which is still faster than your average Necromundan, but has both WS/BS at 3+. The second one is better for ensuring you are at least a little bit prepared to be charged due to the WS, but otherwise is like a Champion grade to the first option mentioned.

For standard profiles, really any gang Leader from the House lists, or really any that aren’t Corpse Grinders or Slave-Ogryn, would fit the bill. Most Leaders have a 3+ WS/BS and standard Movement, it really just comes down to your choice for what you want to model, as well as considering their Movement and Initiative. The Van Saar Prime, for example, is slow but has a 2+ BS, and would be an excellent choice for a heavy gunner Leader. Escher Queens and Delaque Masters of Shadow are good considerations as well, due to their quick movement and ability to run and gun. I also want to mention the Genestealer Cult Alpha as well, because he’s got basically the same benefits as the other gang Leaders, but has an Extra Arm for even more shooting! A great time to use the Kellermorph for conversion!

If you want a fancy, named lad for your gang, there’s honestly too many to mention. Necromunda has just so many named special characters that it’s nigh impossible to remember all of them. Therefore my best suggestion is honestly to just go onto a gang builder website, I often use Munda Manager, and just start pulling all the profiles for these guys. Munda Manager will also tell you what book the person is in, in case they have unique Special Rules. Aside from telling you to just do the research your fucking self, which is kinda antithetical to what I’m attempting to do here, the Ashwood Stranger is a really good choice for named character, as he is the epitome of a Gunslinger.

The Sumptown Kid. Credit: Ezekyle Catbaddon

Loadout Options

Weapons

There are three weapon types you will want for your Gunslinger, depending on a few of their stats. Pistols, Special, and Heavy weapons. Pistols are ideal for your quick moving Gunslinger, the one who is going to be running circles around the enemy and spraying death in their faces. Special weapons tend to be double-sided, either for the same reason as pistols (with stuff like Meltaguns, Flamers or Webbers), or for shooting from range (with things like Long Rifles, Plasma Guns, or even Grenade Launchers). Heavy weapons are for the leader who will sit in the back and rain death like an artillery strike.

Pistols are always in abundance on Necromunda, and the cheapest ones are often the most reliable. I highly recommend either staying cheap or going all in on the Gunslinger, no in-between. If you’re going to have a dumbass blasting away at enemies, you’ll probably wanna go cheap on armament, and I’ll mention why later. For now, I recommend either to load up this asshole with Plasma Pistols, Combi-Stub/Plasma’s, or keep it simple with Autopistols. As much as it pains me to say, the Gunslinger type of fighter is the one time I’ll prefer Autopistols to Laspistols. To put it simply, Autopistols have Rapid Fire, so you can, if you hit with both and get the maximum number of shots, hit up to 6 separate targets at once (9 potentially if you’re using the GSC Alpha). Pair the Autopistols with Rad-Rounds too, they’re only Scarce (so you don’t run out for good as soon as you fail an ammo check) and are Rarity 9, so you can absolutely saturate the Underhive with radiation right out the gate!

Palatine Justicar Bailiff with Shotgun. Credit: 40khamslam.

Special weapons are nice because you get a lot of versatility and options for what to take at the start of a campaign. If you’re going to get up close and personal with it, take a Webber or a Flamer, and the Run and Gun skill will let you jump the enemy when they least expect it! If you want to stay safe at range, a Longlas, Long Rifle, or Needle Rifle will do the trick. I do, however, think it best to keep your Leader near the front lines, as they can gain the maximum benefit from their good BS, and can bring a Plasma Gun to bear on the enemy! After a few games give the guy a Meltagun and see just how funny it gets!

Heavy Weapons, now if you want your leader to stay back and snipe, these are the implements of destruction to do so with! You don’t get many options straight out the gate, most of the awesome Heavy Weapons are at R10, but you do get options. Heavy Stubbers aren’t the best thing in the world, but they get the job done and are great for pinning enemies. Plus, after a few games of saving you can upgrade it to either a Heavy Bolter or an Autocannon, AC for the win! Harpoon Launchers are just funny, they’re best used if your campaign is on the Sump Seas, just for the joke of pulling your opponents really good fighters into the ‘water’ and drowning them. Finally, there’s the Mining Laser. It doesn’t hit as hard as a Lascannon, but it’s definitely a good starting option. After a game or two of saving money, you absolutely should upgrade it to a Lascannon though, the extra range (and chance to hit at long range) as well as Knockback is just wonderful and well worth the cost. (Death comes not, like a thief in the night, but like an army at your door)

General Loadout

For your armor, Mesh Armor and an Armored Undersuit, it can’t get easier than that. I was mistaken in the Brawler article, thinking that Light Carapace was available, but it’s not, it’s R10. Side note, but so are Hazard Suits?? Anyway, take Mesh Armor and the Undersuit, it’ll put you to a 4+ save which is always good to have in Necromunda.

Max 'the Hound' hunting for his next target. Credit: Ezekyle Catbaddon

Aside from the armor and armament, Photo-Goggles are always a good choice. Again, I’ll discuss why in a moment, but suffice to say that Photo-Goggles are always good to have. The only time I really think any ganger worth his salt shouldn’t have Photo-Goggles is if they’re 1: not going to be in the thick of the fight (so snipers and so forth) and 2: if they can put an Infra-Sight on their gun, it provides a good shooting bonus. If you have the right loadout, probably for the Pistol-wielding Gunslinger, go for both the Photo-Goggles and Infra-Sight, as while they do overlap in terms of what they generally do, the extra flavor from each is very helpful.

Skills

The Gunslinger Archetype has three Primary Skill sets: Agility, Shooting, and Leadership. You also get access to Cunning and Savant as Secondaries. The two Primary sets that you have (because Leadership is always primary on the gang leader) are pivotal to making a surefire ‘Slinger and your choice of skill is really determined by the loadout they have. So, let’s get into which skills you should have, and what they’re good for with this gang:

Credit: Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms

Agility (Primary)

Catfall, Clamber, and Mighty Leap are very niche use skills in the Agility set. Mind you, they are useful, especially to a Pistolero trying to take odd paths to the enemy, or a Sniper finding strange angles to shoot from, but otherwise it’s definitely not something that should be taken straight off.

The Pistol-wielding Gunslinger is trying to get up close and personal anyway, so why not take Sprint? It’ll definitely get you where you’re going, and if you time it right with Smoke Grenades (or Smoke Pills from a Grenade Launcher) and/or Photon Flash Grenades you can ensure you get as close as possible. Spring Up is just as good too, letting you get up for free so you can keep running and gunning, or so you can blast off your Heavy weapon without needing to worry about Unwieldy preventing you from doing so.

Boy howdy, Dodge sure is one of the Skills of all time.

Leadership (Primary)

The only Leadership Skill that I’d consider not good for the Gunslinger is Overseer, because you’re wasting your turn to give some other guy the ability to take a second turn. He doesn’t need it, you do, you’re the Gunslinger, slinging guns, whipping them at people. I’m in yo BM crib slinging guns at yo kid head full speed.

Regroup and Inspirational help greatly when your Hive Scum enters the fray, presumably after the Gunslinger has already softened up the enemy, and will help keep them from breaking (or recover from breaking). Iron Will just keeps your cohesion and prevents the gang breaking down, cutting and running from the field of battle, worthwhile if you’re worried about Bottling Out. Finally, Commanding Presence and Mentor give you good bonuses. Having more guys activate at once helps spell your enemies doom, especially when the leader can activate 2 Champions with Grenade Launchers and a Hive Scum, all of which have Photon Flash Grenades of some sort. Extra XP is also good for improving your other guys while you fight, because let’s face it, your Leader is already really good so giving the shitheads some help to get close to his level is just a common courtesy at this point.

A Rogue Skitarii plying the Underhive for Archaeotech. Credit: Ezekyle Catbaddon

Shooting (Primary)

Ah, Shooting, one of the best Skill sets in all Necromunda. Depending on the type of Gunslinger you’re playing, you have free rain to basically the best Skills for you. Fast Shot enables the Plasma Gun ‘Slinger to unload on several enemies at a time and decimate them. Gunfighter and Hip Shooting let the Pistolero ‘Slinger soar across the board and blast even more accurately with their pistols. Both of these skills on a GSC Alpha with Rad-Round Autopistols will just melt half of your targets.

For the snipers, take Marksman and/or Precision Shot, and send the poor bastard you hit straight to the God-Emperor. This also works if you give them the Plasma Gun, so long as you don’t use the Grenade Launcher, since these two Skills don’t work with Blast weapons. Trick Shot is the one Skill here that benefits the Heavy weapons, funnily enough. Lowering the penalty for shooting Engaged or In Cover targets by 1 is crazy, especially when they call it a trick shot. Imagine 360 No-Scoping people with a fucking Lascannon.

Edit: While RAW, you can't use Gunfighter and Hip Shooting together, your Arbitrator may rule otherwise. If you are going to try this, check with them first.

Cunning (Secondary)

Cunning is a pretty damn good set to have Secondary. There’s plenty of good Skills to choose from, with great benefits for the Gunslinger. Infiltrate, for example, gives a Sniper or Pistolero a lot of room to get an unexpected angle, or get much closer, to the enemy. For that Sniper (or the one with the Heavy weapon), Overwatch is definitely a good consideration. Sitting in a perfect spot and absolutely blasting on fools who happen to step out of cover is always a good skill to have, and with the kind of characters you’ll be taking, you’re basically ensuring at least a hit, if not a kill. Evade can also be good if you are in a Zone Mortalis segment that happens to be very low on cover.

The other skills don’t really give too terribly much of a benefit to the ‘Slinger. Backstab means you would have to get into close combat, and you are trying to stay out of that while gunning down the foe. I guess Escape Artist would be ok if you find yourself in a jam, or are prone to getting captured by your opponents. I guess Lie Low is ok, but best used on the approach, coupled with Spring Up so you can do the whole ‘I’m up, he sees me, I’m down’.

Savant (Secondary)

Savant actually has some ok Skills for use with the Gunslinger. Fixer is good, especially because you can flavor it by doing cool Gunslinging tricks to impress the crowds! Even better, Munitioneer gives you the ability to have a better chance of keeping your ammo in weapons that are Scarce or have bad Ammo characteristics, such as your Plasma Pistols. Ballistics Expert combines well with it too, making your Snipers and Heavy weapons guys (at least if they have a Suspensor) that much more deadly and likely to hit your enemies and kill them!

The other three are… niche cases, to say the least. Medicae is good if you find yourself assisting Recovering fighters a lot, and Connected and Savvy Trader give you better chances to procure all the exotic ranged death-dealing equipment your Gunslinger could ever want.

Van Saar Ganger. Credit: Ricardo. @Rick.ars on Instagram

Champions and Gangers

The support for your ever important Gunslinger. They’re the worst of the worst, the stupidest of the stupid, and so on.

Champion Armament

Your Champions get 2 options, either to join the Pistolero in rushing the enemy with pistols, or to snipe from the backline. With R/I8 you can afford Bolt Pistols, Combi Plasma/Stubs, and even Hand Flamers (if you are sadistic enough). You can fully furnish your regular champions for short range blasting. As mentioned, they can also be fitted to snipe, as the two best Special weapons you can take are the Longlas and Long Rifle. Sure, you also have the availability for the Champion to have the Flamer or an Autogun with a Frag Launcher on it, and the Autogun is ok because it’s cheap, but I’ll be damned if I endorse taking a Flamer when you don’t get it at a severe discount or something.

For other equipment, just give them Mesh Armor, an Armored Undersuit if you really need the extra protection and have the spare credits. I think, if they’re gonna be following the leader, that they should also be given Blasting Charges. Taking Incendiary Charges would also be a good idea, as both they and the Blasting Charges will be devastating to the enemy once you close range.

Necromunda Orlocks. Credit: The Sex Cannon

After you’ve had a few good games and the time to save up, investing either a Grenade Launcher and buying Photon Flash Flares, or just buying the Flash Flares outright for throwing, is the best investment. That, or Smokes. Giving your Leader Photo-Goggles will allow him to already be in the thick of it, and have a pretty good chance of not succumbing to Flash when you start shooting Flashbangs into the middle of combat. The Goggles (or Infra-Sight) you gave your leader will also allow them to see through the plumes of smoke and keep firing. (The Infra-Sight just gives you better hit numbers when shooting people in cover, still worthwhile)

Champion Skills

Gunslinger Champions get access to the Shooting skill as Primary, and, ultimately, the same choices for Skills apply as do to the Leaders. Give them Gunfighter or Hip Shooting if they’ll be up close and personal, Trickshot, Precision Shot, or Marksman if they’ll be sniping, and you’re good to go.

Hive Scum Armament

Hive Scum are Hive Scum, the answer to this question is gonna be the same no matter what Archetype we are looking at, but I will more or less repeat it for posterity.

Credit: Dylan Gould

Give your Hive Scum an Autogun or a Lasgun (or something just as good and cheap from your Affiliation list), Flak or Mesh Armor, and Smoke Grenades. Call it a day, that’s all he’ll need, the rest of your money should be invested into your leader and champions.

Gunslinger Outcast Lists

Gunslingers are always fun to build; let’s look at some example lists that portray our different builds.

Love the Smell of Plasma in the Morning

The main idea here is to have your leader running fast and catching opponents by surprise with a sudden close-range application of hot plasma. Supported by a Rapid Fire Sling Gun and Blasting Charges, it's a good core that is helped along by the liberal use of Smoke Grenades by the Scum.

Generic Outcast Champion 7” (Hip Shooting) (Cold Trade Affiliation) - Plasma Gun, Stub Gun x2, Armored Undersuit, Mesh Armor, Photo-Goggles
Outcast Champion (Fast Shot) - Sling Gun, Stub Gun, Mesh Armor
Outcast Champion (Gunfighter) - 2x Autopistols, Smoke Grenades, Blasting Charges, Mesh Armor
Hive Scum - Shotgun, Smoke Grenades, Blasting Charges, Mesh Armor
Hive Scum - Stub Gun, Chainsword, Smoke Grenades, Blasting Charges, Mesh Armor
Hive Scum - Blasting Charges, Lasgun, Smoke Grenades, Mesh Armor
Hive Scum - Reclaimed Autogun, Mesh Armor
Hive Scum x2 - Stub Gun x2, Mesh Armor

Cowboys and Aliens

Screw the rest of the gang, I just think this is a good reason to convert the Kellermorph model.

GSC Cult Alpha (Gunfighter) (Clanless Affiliation) - 3x Autopistols, 3x Rad-Rounds, Armored Undersuit, Hazard Suit, Photo-Goggles.
Outcast Champion (Trick Shot) - Grenade Launcher, Smoke Ammo, Mesh Armor
Outcast Champion (Marksmn) - Long Rifle, Infra-Sight
Hive Scum - Autogun, Smoke Grenades, Mesh Armor
Hive Scum - Sawn-Off Shotgun, Smoke Grenades, Mesh Armor
Hive Scum x2 - Fighting Knife, Stub Gun, Mesh Armor
Hive Scum - Reclaimed Autogun, Smoke Grenades, Mesh Armor
Hive Scum - Stub Gun x2, Flak Armor

Fuck Yer Armor, My Shoulder, and Anything In-Between

Van Saar gets to start with the best of the best, so why not spend half your money on one guy and say ‘yeah my Leader is slow and ill-equipped for the Underhive, but when he vaporizes the enemy gang leader with one shot, who’ll be laughing?’

Van Saar Prime (Trick Shot) (Van Saar Affiliation) - Lascannon, Armored Bodyglove, Mesh Armor, Photo-Goggles, Suspensor Harness
Outcast Champion (Hip Shooting) - 2x Las-SubCarbine, Mesh Armor, Photo-Goggles
Hive Scum - Lasgun, Smoke Grenades, Mesh Armor
Hive Scum - Suppression Laser, Smoke Grenades, Mesh Armor
Hive Scum - Las Carbine, Smoke Grenades, Mesh Armor
Hive Scum - Hystrar-Pattern Energy Shield, Power Knife, Smoke Grenades, Mesh Armor
Hive Scum- Shotgun, Smoke Grenades, Mesh Armor

Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don't forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website, and subscriber-only content covering competitive Warhammer 40K!

Tags: necromunda | Necromunday | Book of the Outcast | Outcasts