Getting started with Necromunda

First off, a big thanks to everyone involved in the demo games that myself and GodlessMimicry ran on Monday. I was asked to give a brief overview of the different gang types, so I thought I'd keep the Necromunda stuff all in the one place.

The Noble Houses
The main gangs in Necromunda represent the six noble houses of the hive city. The gangs are all human, so they have the same initial stats. Where they differ is in the skill selection.

Orlock - the all rounders. access to shooting and combat skills makes them very versatile
Goliath - angry musclemen types
Delaque - sneaky, shooty bald guys in trenchcoats
Escher - nimble all girl gang that are designed for close combat
Van Saar - nasty techno skilled gang that, under the old rules, could become very overpowered
Cawdor - Devout religious guys with cool masks and hoods. Access to combat, agility and ferocity skills.

The house gangs are the standard choice for games of Necromunda. Players have access to a wide variety of weapon types and skills, making gangs highly customisable. They can recruit up to two 'heavies' in a gang and the leader has access to special weapons as well as almost all the skill tables. For anyone new to the game, they are the number one choice, as you can arm the gang to suit your play style.

Outlander gangs
Originally introduced in the Outlanders supplement, these gangs each play differently to a house list, and have their own advantages and disadvantages. Most of the gangs are outlaws, which makes it much harder to earn income, so aren't necessarily the best idea for beginners.

Ratskin Renegades
The sci-fi equivalent of American Indians. These guys are more in touch with the spirits of the hive, and have some unique rules to represent this. When using a Ratskin gang, you can always choose to use the treacherous conditions rules, which can seriously hamper long-range shooting. Best of all, your own gang will be immune to their effects. Also, when recruiting gang members, you have the option to purchase blindsnake pouches for some of them. these handy items give models a 6+ save against enemy overwatch shots. It's not all good though. As an outlaw gang, Ratskins will always struggle to earn as much money as house gangs, so its important to recruit a decent sized gang from the outset. This means you can't afford to give everyone fancy lasguns and laspistols, at least not initially. In addition, Ratskin gangs, like most of the outlanders, don't have access to heavy weapons. With the clan rules, however, they do have access to Shamans, who can provide some useful psychic powers to boost the gang.

Redemptionists
Crazy religious fanatics who think everyone should burn! As with Ratskins, they don't have access to heavy weapons, but they do have special weapons, such as plasma guns, melta guns and flamers. Also, they have access to Zealots - raving nutters with over sized close combat weapons. Some players have a tendency to go a bit too far with buying flame weapons, so a level of restraint is required for anyone who chooses to use this gang.

Scaavies
This gang consists of mutants, freaks of nature and other such nastiness. Overall, the gang is poor at shooting, but basic gang members are cheaper, and have access to mutations when first purchased. Nothing game-breaking, but some useful abilities such as wings, an extra arm or head or spikes. Instead of Heavies, Scaavy gangs can recruit powerful mutants called Scalies, who can use some nasty guns and have good stats.

Spire Hunters
Rich kids with the best toys come to pick on the poor people. Spire Hunter teams are by far the smallest gang in the game, usually consisting of a max of 5 members, each outfitted with one of four possible hunting rigs. They have an almost Eldar-ish feel to them, as each of the rigs operates differently.
Yeld - wings and laser gauntlet. useful as a highly mobile sniper
Orrus - slow, well armoured and equipped with bolt launchers.
Malcadon - good movement and equipped with web spinners which can bind enemy gangers. useful for taking out important heavies or leaders
Jakara - mono sword and mirror shield. great in close combat and can reflect energy weapons back at their firers. best used in pairs

Pit Slaves
Escaped cyber gladiators. One of the last gangs developed for Necromunda, Pit Slaves are tricky to run successfully. Every model is armed with some sort of bionic limb, which is pretty brutal in close combat, but the gang is expensive points wise, and doesn't really have any long to medium range shooting. Having said that, potentially one of the best looking gangs if well converted.
(there are two different sets of rules available for this gang. One allows you to recruit a Servitor with Heavy weapon, but the pit slave Techno's (repair guys) are pretty poor. The other ditches the Servitors, improves Technos and also gives you access to gladiator pit slaves with two bionic limbs - very characterful

Enforcers
The Law. These are perhaps best used by a campaign Arbitrator(GM) to deal with any gangs that get a little too big for their boots. Enforcers are a 10 man gang that operates in teams of 5 unless circumstances are particularly dire. The gang can also have one Cyber Mastiff Enforcers are typically armed with shotguns or power mauls and suppression shields and each model can ignore their first failed ammo roll. Coupled with a 4+ save, this makes them a powerful, but very small gang. As with Redemptionists, they have a tendency to attract 'win at all costs' players, who want to '40k it up' in the Underhive. But, as the campaign progresses, players may suddenly find themselves horribly overpowered as other gangs increase in number and get better equipment.