Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Hobby Retrospective - Necromunda, Spyre Hunters

As many folks are contributing to the "Old Stuff Day" theme, I figured it would be a good time for another Hobby Retrospective (that, and I haven't got much done that's picture-worthy recently), this time around is a look at the last of my Necromunda gangs - The Spyre Hunters. Necromunda is arguably the cheapest way to game in the 40k tabletop universe, and no gang is more economical than the Spyre Hunters. Where most gangs consist of 8-12 models at initial creation, Spyre Hunters are commonly found hunting in groups of 4-5 (or even fewer)!


These are some of the oldest, and most-repainted models I still own. Over the years these four models have been stripped and repainted three times, and were purchased new when they were first released back in 1996-ish. I usually run a team with one each of the 4 Spire Houses - (from left to right) Jakara, Yeld, Orrus, and Malcadon. Unlike any other gang, any points not spent purchasing models is spent on additional starting experience, so usually I could rely on each of the Spyrers to begin their careers with an upgrade or two.

Of course, it wasn't uncommon to have a hunt team of ONE just for the opportunity to roll up an absolute monster for a one-off game. A fully tuned up Jakara or Malcadon can be pretty scary!
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11 comments:

  1. Tristan MMarch 2, 2011 at 8:58 PM

    Highly recommend Anthony Cases spyrer rules. Been using it with my spyrers for a while now and it makes for fun tense games.

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  2. Tristan MMarch 2, 2011 at 8:59 PM

    You're malcadon and yeld are both really reminiscent of the 'eavy metal paint job and it brings back memories :)

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  3. myincublissMarch 3, 2011 at 2:02 AM

    Great stuff, I just bought some of these since I didn't have them the first time round!

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  4. Warhammer39999March 3, 2011 at 12:04 PM

    It's been a LONG time since I played Necromunda, but Spryers were pretty spiffy. I seem to recall Malcadons being super powerful, but not liking the others so much. Yelds could fly (how can you go wrong with that), and Orrus had good armor, so they weren't bad. Were Jakara actually that good? Was there something I'm forgetting?

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  5. Mordian7thMarch 3, 2011 at 12:43 PM

    Thanks folks!

    @Tristan - indeed, I liked the color scheme on the old 'eavy metal models and tried to mimic it on those two.

    @Warhammer39999 - A fully ranked-up Malcadon is my personal favorite as well, but all the Spyre Hunters get nasty at 'higher levels'. The Jakara's potential 18+" charge and high WS and A makes her nigh-unstoppable in hand to hand. Not to mention the fact that her upgraded shield allows her to reflect nearly all types of incoming fire. Scary stuff!

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  6. warhammer39999March 3, 2011 at 6:26 PM

    Oh yeah... there were some nifty upgrades on some of the other Spryers, I'd forgotten about it. I think Malcadons started off good and just got better from there, so that must've been why I preferred them. The others had chances to get good, but they were kind of "meh" to begin with.

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  7. Tristan MMarch 9, 2011 at 9:54 AM

    A big key to the Jakara is (and this is us using the armour save to avoid pinning "rule") is being able to charge someone on overwatch fairly reliably.

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  8. Mordian7thMarch 9, 2011 at 10:22 AM

    Indeed! We play armor similarly - even if the shot doesn't wound, if you make your armor save you avoid being pinned. Definitely make the Arbites and Spyrers more survivable with their small numbers on the table, and means that flak and mesh armor for your gangers is much more useful.

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  9. Tristan MJuly 16, 2011 at 12:16 PM

    I just remembered you were the winner of the jakara from my 200th post giveaway. Any chance you plan to add it to this gang?

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  10. Mordian7thJuly 16, 2011 at 7:12 PM

    Indeed - Thanks again! It's been based and primered and is now awaiting a touch o' the brush. We haven't played any Necromunda in quite some time, so unfortunately it's just been lurking in the queue...

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  11. Tristan MJuly 28, 2011 at 12:18 PM

    cool, we've been getting back into it again. I'll try to keep posting batreps to try to pique your interest ;)

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