Gallery - Hoffman and Mechanical Attendant

So I was suppose to finish Wave 5 Guild and I hope I`ll do it tomorrow but I got a writers block and decided to paint. So here is my first painted master and his totem!

Wave 5 - Sonnia, Lucius

Today I plan on finishing the Wave 5 upgrades for Masters but I`ll split them into 2 posts. First one (this one) will cover Sonnia Criid and Lucius. Lets analyze what they got in Wave 5!



Lets start with:

No More Masks

What the card does:

• Allows using Confiscated Lore on Ml attacks. This also adds a blast to moderate and severe damage
• After damaging with a CC attack you can push 2" and the target gains Burning +1
• Costs 1 Soulstone

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: So one of Sonnia`s biggest drawbacks was that when tied in melee she had no reliable way of going out with Df4, Ml5 and a min damage 2. Since her ranged attacks are very powerful (especially combined with Papa Loco) then it was a valid strategy to just constantly tie her up with chaff and make the Sonnia player waste AP on getting her out. With Ml7 she has a super high chance of hitting almost everything in the game and she only needs 1 hit to get out of most engagement. If she`s in the thick of it the random blasts (remember they still can use Pyrokinesis) can put some unexpected damage.

Cons: If you go Ml7 you`ll be stuck with Df4 and Ca7 so its a big decision of what we want to do. The low Defense can be mitigated by El Mayor but sometimes it hard to keep Frank next to Sonnia the whole game.

Summary:

I like this upgrade. I don`t have 3 upgrades slots filled with Sonnia. Cherufe`s Imprint is the most popular. Counterspell Aura is nice but I stopped using it as an autotake, as for me its mostly there to counter Lures (so most likely Neverborn and Ressers). The auto-burning on melee fits nicely with reincarnation as you can quite easily hit a model with the first attack, push away and then use Flameburst twice and get a high chance of getting a Stalker. You can also hit friendlies to push out of engagement (but its 2 dmg + Burning). If you have Cherufe`s Imprint and Papa Buff you can dish out a great deal of pain in melee that not everybody will expect and blocking stones means they can`t use them to stone for negatives on dmg or prevents. This upgrade in my opinion get a lot better, the better opponent you play as new players tend to be blasted off the board before they realize the threat range

Verdict: 
8/10

Cherufes Parting Gift

What the card does:

• Allows Witch Hunters to Chain Activate if they are within 12" and LoS
• Makes Purifying Flame a Witch Hunter
• Allows summoning Purifying Flame from dead enemies with Burning but only if you didn`t summon a Stalker at the same time.
• Costs 1 Soulstone

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: Chaining Witch Hunters gives you some cool shenanigans to try. It also gives Sonnia a Witch Hunter synergy that she didn`t have as well as giving her totem a slight chance to actually show on the battlefield. Double walking the flame into Dampening Range and then triple shooting with Sonnia into a Henchman/Master seems like something useful.

Cons: I believe its not a top upgrade and it takes a slot. It also makes you adjust your crew to it at least a bit. 

Summary:

So the few things I`ve come up with except the Flame into Sonnia is Sonnia/Handler chaining into Samuel after putting Burning on the enemy to Rapid Fire someone with min 5 with Debt. Nurse Heartsbane can also allow you to push 6" with Convulsions trigger and then Chain into Sonnia with a nice 20" range.

Verdict: 
6/10


Deep Pockets

What the card does:

• Gives Arcane Reservoir
• At the beginning of the activation you can discard to draw. If you draw lower than discarded you can discard it to draw another one.
• Costs 2 Soulstone and is Limited

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: Arcane Reservoir is pretty big. The additional card cycle makes it even better. Lucius never struggled with upgrade slots in Guild so this makes it even better

Cons: 2SS cost is the only drawback I can see

Summary:

This upgrade is pretty straightforward so I don`t think it requires a long summary. Lucius needs moderate-severe cards to do anything and this guarantees he`ll have a high chance of getting them.


Verdict: 
9/10


Condescending

What the card does:

• If you`re up on VP you can discard a scheme marker within 6" with Lucius when he activates
• Killing a living model with Devil`s Deal gives an additional SS
• Gives a Ca6 action with 6" range that prevents the enemy from Cheating Fate until the end of the turn.
• Costs 1 Soulstone

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: Denying the Scheme marker when ahead can put you way more ahead. The killing with Devil`s Deal might be useful in Hunting Party or some other form of denying VP to the enemy. The no cheat condition is solid

Cons: Until you are ahead this upgrade requires you to either kill your own models or activate early since the condition is until the end of the turn. It helps you deny some VP to the enemy but at a cost of your own models.

Summary:

I don`t know about NB Lucius but I`m not a big fan. I`d probably go for Surprisingly Loyal, Secret Assets and Deep Pockets most of the time in Guild. I might however swap Suprisingly Loyal to this with a Terracotta so there`s that. I think everything on this upgrade has a bit too much restrictions but I don`t really have a lot of experience with Lucius so I might be wrong


Verdict: 
5/10 

All images are property of Wyrd Miniature (www.wyrd-games.net)

Wave 5 - McMourning

Its time for another solo entry about the good old crazy doc McMourning. Lets look at his two new upgrades as well as his new hiring pool. But first:


Guild Coroner

What the card does:

• Allows placing a scheme marker near an enemy model after you kill a different enemy model with a CC attack. Then you can take one of the two 0s on this upgrade
• Gives a (0) that lets you discard a corpse marker in 2" to draw 2 cards and discard 1
• Gives you a (0) that requires a 6 and discards all corpse markers in 3" and for each 2 you get a Soulstone
• Costs 1 Soulstone

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: Gives Doc a way to replenish Soulstones and cycle cards. The scheme thing is pretty dependant but can be funny in Set Up or to prepare for a Dig Their Graves. Both the (0)s are good but I really wouldn`t use them on my own considering Expunge and Induction exist

Cons: Its not super effective. Bad matchups can screw you (Constructs will choose to drop scrap even if in Plastic Surgery aura) and has a pretty serious competition for upgrade slots. I don`t know how often I would use the (0) from the upgrade normally but I don`t think it would be very often.

Summary:

I personally think its more of a fun upgrade. In Guild you have Plastic Surgery, On The Clock and Badge of Office (Or Tests Subjects) that work better but time will tell as I might be wrong (Wave 5 models might also change something here)

Verdict: 
5/10 (McMourning looks like he could be Chatty)

Test Subjects

What the card does:

• Allows you to hire 4 Beasts (non Gamin so say farewell to Poison Gamin) or Academics
• Gives an 8 inch aura that heals Beasts and Academics when they activate
• Costs 1 Soulstone

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: It gives an insane hiring pool, like, Marcus sized. The amount of combinations that you can do are pretty cool. It allows both thematic/fun and competetive options in my opinion.

Cons: Don`t know if dropping Badge of Office is worth it and how will it affect power level.

Summary:

Holy shit. The list of things you can hire is super big. So first of all, I`m not really sold on the Academic part. Kudra with Debt seems like a fine hire (she has 4 attacks on the charge with low damage and poison). Other thing I consider is Amina Naidu but I need to read her more to make sure she`s worth the stones. I don`t think the Mages are worth it without the Runes/Shielding. The Students and Valedictorian don`t seem that good but I might change my stance on Valedictorian after I have a chance to play her.
Going into Beasts, the first things that come into mind are: Scorpius because he has poison synergies and is awesome. Raptors because they can make stuff Beasts which affects the regen. They also are pretty good induction targets. Rogue Necromancies as we have Domadors (I`ll have a blog post about them soon) to Obey them and shoot more. Silurids because 7" Leap is perfect for Stake a Claim (I already bought 3), Gupps because they are cheaper Silurids and they are pretty ok in Leave Your Mark- like schemes. Canine Remains can debuff Df which also can be nice as we have a lot more min 3-4 attacks than Resurrectionists. Blessed of December also looks like a good mix of mobility with Damage dealing. The Sow with Domadors healing her can also be pretty funny. Another idea is Myranda with Debt that charges something using Debt (so you draw a card) and then Shapeshifts to give you a SS to the pool. Resser side can also look into the Rattler as he gives out poison +2 with his attack. Debt Cerberus can also be pretty crazy with min 4 (and possible Armor ignoring from the Queller). As you can see McMourning became a bit of a solo faction. I can`t wait to see him in action!

Verdict: 
9/10 (What? No reckless Beasts?!)

If you have some nice combos and ideas for Beast/Academic stuff, let me know!

All images are property of Wyrd Miniature (www.wyrd-games.net)

Wave 5 - Hoffman

So since I`m on the roll I decided to do another entry today and its going to be a solo entry (second one will be McMourning). This time we`ll look at Charles Xavi..... Hoffman. As all other masters, he got 2 upgrades. So lets get right to it!


Improved Harness

What the card does:

• Gives Armor +1
• Gives a (0) that is an automatic 6" place called Mechanical Leap
• Gives an aura ability that allows friendly construct to make their Armor always usable (it includes both "Ignore armor" and "cannot be reduced" clauses).
• Costs 1 Soulstone

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: The Armor is great as with the trigger you can quite easily have unreducable Armor +3 vs Df attacks that don`t ignore triggers. The Leap is a very good evacuation plan as it allows you to get out of sticky situations without having to fight with disengaging strikes (with Df3-5 its pretty hard). Now when we go to the aura... Wow, just wow. This makes his crew super hard to take down and fixes one of his major flaws as well as allows him to be played in single master events and not be easily counterable.

Cons: I can`t think of anything else except "It takes an upgrade slot and costs 1 Soulstone".

Summary:

This upgrade allows Hoffman to not be pretty screwed when he is separated from his crew (for example he gets Tangled Shadowed by Lilith into a very bad position). When that happens you can survive the initial hits (due to Armor + Soulstones) and then just use Mechanical Leap and get back to safety. The aura will make him super tanky in extraction/Guard the Stash and the first thing that came to my mind is hiring a Sanctioned Spellcaster that you can either O.S.A (but how you ask? Answer below) or just activate and use the (0) to block those damn lures. I think this upgrade won`t be an autotake like Swordfighter but versus Arcanists (Oxfordian mages are pretty common with Sandeep and he`s super popular) and Outcasts you will start with it. From what I see in the wording, the aura doesn`t work on Poison (as its not an enemy model`s effect) so you still have to kill Sebastian but that`s a minor drawback (although I`d recommend remembering it)

Verdict: 
10/10 (Where`s your Thinkin` Luck aura, Genius?!
)

Pneumatic Upgrades

What the card does:

• Gives an ability to drop Power Loop from any amount of models to get +2" range to a name action per Power Loop dropped.
• Gives a tactical action that allows giving Guild non-Constructs the "Cyborg" upgrade that makes you a Construct, makes you end power loop after you use someones stat and gives a (0) requiring an 8 to attach a modification noone else has.
• Costs 2 Soulstone

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: First of all, it greatly expands Hoffmans hiring pool. While you still will have mostly constructs the 2-3 choices of non-constructs make a huge difference in what you can take. The second ability isn`t super important but sometimes can save you an AP which isn`t that bad and you can always take it off the Attendant to expand your bubble a bit.

Cons: Hoffman is pretty starved for upgrade slots so you have to really think what you want to take as Field Mechanic is still kind of crucial and Improved Harness is an autotake in some matchups so you`re left with one slot and you have to choose between O.S.A., Arcanist Assets and this.

Summary:

So I found out that there are some models that are pretty fun when combined with this one. First pick is Samael Hopkins. His main two weaknesses (he`s slow and squishy) are mitigated by giving him the Armor Modification (and various heals) and Machine Puppeting/Nimbling him around. His gun has a very good damage track that is not based on Crit Strike. He`s melee attack is trigger dependent but if you can put Burning on someone, they will be in a lot of pain even without that Crit strike. My second pick is Nino. He`s super squishy (but again, Armor and heals) and with Debt/Hair Trigger and the ram upgrade he can dish out 4 min 3 shots or 3 min 4 at 18" with a positive twist to attack. Add the Mobile Toolkit`s positive to damage and it starts to become savage. Santiago with positives from the Emissary can also be pretty good. Another cool option is Abuela as she`s a very good Power Loop target (she can currently only get Ml7 which is a waste to use and she gives out Df6 and Sh7 which is definitely worth it). It also allows you to use Death Marshal`s Pinebox with Ca6-8 and if you have O.S.A you can play Go-go-Gadget Hands, Copy O.S.A, drop 3 power Loops (himself, Attendant, start of activation) and do a 7" Pinebox :D. Robocutionier also might be good. Nimble gives him a very good threat range. He can get the rams for min 5 and with Fast deal 4 min 5 damage attacks (with possible positives to Ml/damage) and no Df triggers.

I know people would probably like the "Guild only" restriction taken and I don`t think the Mecha-Tavish would be a problem, but O.S.A Gracie`s Reactivate on Hoffman would probably be a bit over the top ;)

Verdict: 
8/10 (Where is my Mecha-Gracie and Mecha-Tavish?!)

If you have some nice combos and ideas for the Cyborg stuff, let me know!

All images are property of Wyrd Miniature (www.wyrd-games.net)

Wave 5: Ashwood Coffin and Perditas upgrades

So Wave 5 is finally out! The Upgrade packs sold out the first day. In this post I will sum up the second Lady Justice  upgrade as well as Perdita`s upgrades. I will continue with the rest of Guild Wave 5 this week.

Lets start with:

Ashwood Coffin

What the card does:

• Gives a (1) Ashwood Coffin that is basically a non-master Ca7 Pinebox
• Gives a (1) Punishment  that allows you to damage buried models.
• Costs 2 Soulstone and is Limited

What it allows to do in game:

Lets analyze Ashwood Coffin.

Pros: Allows burying (with a high chance of not getting out) a non-leader enemy. Its an option to play around Frame for Murder as well as getting rid of double threats in the perfect situation (kill one and bury another). It can also be funny just to block 1 Sandeep summon (preferably Banasuva or the + gamin). It also reduced AP cost of getting rid of Hard to Kill models (as you will need a minimum of 2 hits)

Cons: With Swordfighter Lady Justice has such hitting power that sometimes its pretty easy to kill something instead of risking the Coffin and dying (which puts you at a big disadvantage).

Now lets move to Punishment

Pros: It synergizes with Death Marshal`s Pinebox, the Emissary and model with Glimpse the Void (Recruiters and Aionus). The damage track is solid but worse than the sword. It also shuts down Malifaux Raptors and Killjoy/Tara Bomb strategies.

Cons: In most games it won`t see play that often. Death Marshals and Emissary aren`t really top competitive picks (although I think a lot of Guild players undervalue a Death Marshal). Glimpse the Void on Recruiters blocks the built in Crit Strike and Aionus is pretty expensive. But your opponent picks KJ it will probably autowin you the game. "But hey, you can attack something buried with the Coffin itself" you say. I doubt I`d use it on a model buried by myself unless I`m about to die and have no other targets.

Summary:

So the main issue with the upgrade is that it is Limited which makes you choose between this one, Badge of Office and Vendetta. Now before Swordfighter came out, I found Vendetta to be shit but now with all the + from the new (0) it actually becomes viable (and even more with Jury nearby to get some Onslaught attacks) so you have to make a choice and I found Justice with Badge of Office a real pain to take down. On the other hand if you bury the main damage threat it suddenly becomes pretty easy to avoid damage.

Verdict: 
7/10

Fastest Draw in Malifaux

What the card does:

• Gives a +2 initiative bonus. If you lose initiative, you can draw a card.
• Costs 1 Soulstone

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: This upgrade is pretty straightforward. The initiative bonus is nice and you get something when you lose initiative. It works really well as a lot of Perdita models have Companion so that Initiative in some turns can be crucial

Cons: All I see is that it takes up an upgrade slot and a SS. There are no real drawbacks except you might want to lose initiative sometimes to get a card and end up winning it but that`s just me being super picky :D

Summary:

Its a pretty simple upgrade. Its bonuses are good enough to make it almost an autoinclude.

Verdict: 
9/10 (Why doesn`t it give reckless?!)



Shooting Cans

What the card does:

• Gives a (1) Shooting Cans that lets you discard Scheme Markers. Its a Sh7 Action and the TN is 5+ distance to the scheme marker rounded up. It has a trigger on tomes to do it again (but the second scheme marker must be further than the original one) that can be declared once per turn
• Costs 1 Soulstone

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: Shooting a scheme marker 10" away requires an 8. Thats big. Most of the time enemies will have to have 1-2 extra markers at least to score VP. The action doesn`t have the projectile icon so you can even do it while engaged which is also huge as your damage output is far greater in melee due to the extra ram. Whats important is the action doesn`t specify "enemy" so when someones moves your marker and makes you drop one that will block you from scoring you can remove it (as you normally can`t remove friendly scheme markers)

Cons: Its pretty dependent on the scheme pool and what schemes your opponent picks but since in GG17 more schemes require markers, you`ll get to use it pretty often. With Fastest Draw and Trick Shooting being pretty obvious choices with no drawbacks you will have to decide if you want this, Aura Ancestral, Badge or Vengence Bullet.

Summary:

I think Wyrd is hinting they`d like Perdita to be less of a push-push-shoot-shoot-shoot Master and they start upgrading her with non-damage stuff. First the Emissary gave her the masks for Obey. Now she gets a scheme marker denying action (and it looks like Jury also can give the mask for the Obey but I`ll talk about it soon). Initially I wasn`t a fan of this upgrade but the more I think about it the more I realize that the fact you have it changes how your opponent will pick schemes and play the game as they will most likely need to anticipate losing 1-2 markers.

Verdict: 
8/10 (It should also have Latigo Two Cards ;))

All images are property of Wyrd Miniature (www.wyrd-games.net)

Gallery: Samael Hopkins and Purifying Flame

After some time off, I`m back. I managed to paint both Samael and Sonnia`s totem. Comments and criticism are very welcome!

I`m not super happy with Samael`s pants but it will have to do

Gallery: Witchling Stalkers and Handlers

So recently I got to paint some Witchling Stuff and... here it is! I hope one day I`ll have a reason to field them :P

Comments and criticm welcome (Hair on Handlers has been fixed)

Battle Report - Hoffman versus Zipp

Another battle report. This time I face off against Bober (ranked number 2 in polish Rankings) and his dreaded Gremlins.

Schemes:

Deployment: Flank
Strategy: Headhunter
Schemes: Claim Jump, Hunting Party, Frame for Murder, Leave Your Mark, Covert Breakthrough

Guild:

Hoffman (Cache 4)
- Field Mechanic (Allows attaching modifications)
- Arcanists Assets (Allows hiring some Arcanist models)

Mechanical Attendant

Ryle
- A Debt to the Guild (Once per game deal more damage in an activation and draw a card.)

Joss
- A Debt to the Guild

Watcher

Watcher

Steam Arachnid

Mobile Toolkit

Guardian


Note: I forgot to put Mechanical Attendant in the box so he is being proxied by Luna.

Why this:

Headhunter means its good to have extra AP/pushes. Its Flank so we will be more or less close to each other. I didn`t want a ranged crew. I wanted AP manipulation. Nellie would be pretty cool here but since I`m on a Nellie ban I went for Hoffman (as I thought Glowy Tavish isn`t pretty effective in Wong Crews and I can quite easily kill Swinecursed and Burt).


Ryle: Quite mobile. Benefits from Power Loop quite well. Good antiswarmer in shooting and good damage dealer in melee. Can also heal. Benefits quite nicely from the +Ram modification.

Joss: He is my favorite beater for Hoffman. Doesn`t have triggers so using Machine Puppet doesn`t make his attack less useful. Armor 2. Hard to kill combined with reactivate combined with a lot of healing means he is very hard to take down. He ignores Hard to Kill (hi Burt!) and Defensive triggers (hi gremlin faction!). He can also get focus from Machine Puppet and Paralyze some key models. Hoffman likes big beaters because they benefit from Machine Puppet. Since Hunting Party is in the pool I decided I need at least 2 enforcers.

Watcher: Flight, Walk 6, perfect for getting those heads or dropping those markers. Best scheme runner in Guild.

Mobile Toolkit: Buffing damage for Ryle is pretty good as he gets an average of 5 damage with his fist and 3 with his gun and you can most likely cheat even when you declare the extra shots triggers. Cheap activation that can become significant if I really needed via the interact modification. also helps to move Hoffman along

Steam Arachnid: Immune to pulses so versus Wong and Stuffed Piglets it should do ok. High Df makes it a good power loop substitute and the Df debuff should also be fun.

Guardian: He gives excellent Loop shenanigans (Ml7, Df6) as well as 3" engage to block heads. 3" engage is also very good against Gremlins as they have a lot of 1" engage models.

Mechanical Attendant: In case of Somer or Wong, protects me from blast damage. Can easily push Hoffman and makes me safer from Stuffed Piglet explosions

What other units I was considering:

Austringer: Not a construct so no synergies, but its great for Headhunter

Brutal Emissary: Very good for looping, 3" engagement but I thought I like Ryle more because he can one shot some Gremlin models.

Field Reporters: I like the marker swapping since its LYM and Covert Breakthrough

Phiona Gage: Transparency is a very good and quite consistent way of getting Markers while dealing damage. The fact she`s not a construct meant I can`t really support her so I left her out.

Gremlins:

Zipp (5SS)
- Gift of the Gab (Removing Conditions for Stones)
- Dirty Cheater (cheating heals)

First Mate
- Treasure Map (bonuses from discarding markers)
- When the Captain Can`t See (leaping allows discarding markers and eating markers gives armor)

Burt Jebsen
- Dirty Cheater

Merris Lacroix

Lightning Bug

Fingers

Stuffed Piglet

Stuffed Piglet

Stuffed Piglet

Stuffed Piglet

Schemes:

Guild Schemes: Hunting Party, Frame for Murder (Joss)

Gremlins Schemes: Leave Your Mark, Claim Jump

Since he had 4 Stuffed Piglets and Lightning Bug I figured out that Hunting Party is quite a good choice. Since he had First Mate and Fingers I thought that marker schemes aren`t really good so I went for Frame on Joss as he has Armor 2 which meant only Zipp or the Lightning Bug could hurt him enough (and could heal him from burning/Poison if necessary).

Deployment:

I win deployment and make him deploy first

Zipp Deployment

Hoffman Deployment

Summary:

Me being optimistic pre-game

Turn 1:

Start of the game

This turn was mostly positioning. Hoffman gave Joss the Nimble Upgrade and one Watcher got the Interact one. I looped Ryle and the Guardian. Stuffed Piglets moved forward. Burt shot at Zipp. Zipp placed and walked 2 times and hit Joss for 4 damage (moderate on negative) which was 3 after prevents. Lightning Bug hits an Arachnid I put too much forward.

Turn 2:

I lose initiative. I have a horrible hand except a RJ from turn one (I stoned for cards). Zipp attacks Joss and brings him down to 2 wds (I used another stone). Ryle shoots a Stuffed Piglet. Lightning Bug kills the Steam Arachnid. Watcher with upgrade double walks and picks up head and is then killed. First Mate picks up his head. Hoffman puts 2 damage on Joss giving him Reactivate and then healing him from scrap and making him walk towards Zipp. Joss walks up to Zipp and has 5 attacks. Uses Debt. I do 2 damage in total (hit once, for 3, 1 prevented).... Merris goes off to scheme.

Middle of Turn 2

End of Turn 2

Score: 2:2 (Gremlins score Claim Jump and Headhunter, Guild scores Headhunter and Hunting Party)

Turn 3:

I lose initiative. Zipp tries to kill Joss but fails. Joss is left at 1 Wd.
Ryle charges a stuffed piglets and does 3 damage.
Stuffed Piglets walks to Joss and Attendant (2" within of Joss) and blows up with 3 damage in 2" (note: I noticed this wouldn`t work as the Attendant was nearby). Joss uses last stone to prevent. Hoffman machine Puppets Ryle to attack Stuffed Piglets, succeeds but Ryle fails to hit. Does it again and Ryle kills the Stuffed Piglet (which does 4 damage to Ryle). Then Puppets the Guardian to attack Burt (who has 1 wound taken). Burt is hit for 2. Joss charges Zipp and does 3 damage. Guardian kills Burt (RJ damage on first attack). Fingers picks up his head. Merris does Claim Jump and LYM. First Mate charges Guardian

Sneaky Merris is waiting to do 6 VP...

Joss getting attacks 6 and 7 into Zipp

Start of turn 4

Score: 3:5 (Gremlins score everything, Guild scores Hunting Party)

Turn 4:

I lose initiative. Zipp kills Joss (scoring Frame). Ryle kills a stuffed Piglet (which explodes 3 damage in 2 inches hitting Fingers, Guardian and Ryle). Merris does schemes. First Mate Leaps and walks to prevent me picking up heads. Nobody picks up a head (a 2 Wound First Mate survives 3 hits from Hoffman with positives to attack). Merris does LYM and puts a marker for Claim Jump. Zipp kills the Guardian

Turn 4

Score: 6:6 (Gremlins LYM, Guild scores Hunting Party and Frame for Murder)

Turn 5:

End of turn 5

I win initiative and kill First Mate and pick up a head. Fingers picks up a Head. Ryle kills the Lightning Bug. Zipp kills the Guardian. Merris does CJ and LYM

Score: 7:9 (Guild scores Headhunter and Gremlins do all three. )


I flip a 12 and we go to turn 6....

Turn 6:

I win initiative and Ryle picks up a head and gets Merris down to 1 Wd. Zipp tries to kill Ryle but fails. Fingers triple walks to give chatty in case of turn 7. Game ends in a Gremlin Victory.

End of Game

Score: 8:9 (Guild scores Headhunter)

Crew Summary: So the crew wasn`t that bad. I was missing O.S.A definitely. Joss under performed heavily but it was to several moderates on negative flips from Zipp and hitting 2 out of 7 attacks. I should probably go for Fingers (#fuckfingers) and leave Zipp alone. I`m still inexperienced with Hoffman and I have to play some more games with him. I also probably should have killed Merris off earlier but I was tied down with the rest of his crew and since Joss had went after Zipp, Ryle had to do all the Hunting Party.

Gremlin Crew Summary: I told Bober to play competitive but he doesn`t have to be 100% standard (this is why he chose Zipp over Somer). The Crew performed very well. Fingers and Merris are pretty fucked up models and I would give them a nerf faster than Burt :D

MVP: Merris for scoring 5 points by herself...

   

Battle Report - Lady Justice versus Hamelin

First batrep. With my opponents (Bartek) approval I am testing Swordfighter, the new lady Justice upgrade (you can read a review here).


Quick Note: I will not be playing Nellie as I played her almost exclusively for the last 5 months or so

Schemes:

Deployment: Standard
Strategy: Headhunter
Schemes: Claim Jump, Dig Their Graves, Accusation, Inspection, Recover Evidence

Guild:

Lady Justice (Cache 4)
- Badge of Office (once per game reduces damage to 1)
- Swordfighter (Place, attack, place (2) action and recalled training-like buff against a specific model)

Francisco Ortega
- Wade In (Hard to Kill and a (0) with healing)
- Hermanos De Armas ( (0) push to base contact)

Guard Sergeant

Guild Austringer

Phiona Gage
- Transparency (lets you place markers when you hit something)

Brutal Effigy

Guild Hound

Guild Hound

Guild Hound

Guild Hound

Why this:

Looking at the scheme pool I automatically remove Accusation from my potential choices.
This leave me with 4 schemes left and I want to prepare for most of them.

I decided on Justice mostly for the Swordfighter thing. I was thinking about McCabe but I dislike him and since I don`t play Nellie I didn`t really want a lot of shooting as its mostly counterproductive in Headhunter. This leaves us with Lucius who I didn`t play for a lot (and had 0 games after the errata), Justice and McMourning but Outcasts have high chances of condition immunity/poison removal so the latter didn`t seem like a great option. No scheme requires me to go beyond the center line so its also quite good with Justice.


Francisco Ortega: is a bad motherf****r and has min damage 3, Flurry. We all know he costs 9 and has 1 upgrade slot because Wade In is an auto-take. He also got Hermanos to push Justice up the field. I also need someone to get those heads rolling if Justice fails and potentially dig some graves in the process. Defense 7 Justice is a lot scarier than Defense 5 Justice because Riposte doesn`t only trigger on potshots.

Guard Sergeant: is there to do Claim Jump with his (0) as he can put 2 scheme markers and push one of them so they both count for the scheme. He can also push a marker towards an enemy to ease scoring Dig their Graves. Apart from that he`s shit with Df4 but with the armor he can at least take some hits. He does speed up the dogs though.

Guild Austringer: is pretty good in Headhunter due to Deliver Orders. Plain and simple

Brutal Effigy: solid pick for Justice. She gets attacked by a lot of shit and she can get 2-3 Wounds back without using Juggernaut. She can also quite easily get 1 or 2 cards back which is the cost of Swordfighter. He`s also a solid 4SS minion with very good defenses.

4 Guild Hounds: They give me some activation control. I can also pick up heads with them and more importantly I can try to score Inspection or pick up Recover Evidence markers as they aren`t peons.

Phiona Gage: I was actually thinking about Queeg but 2 schemes that I have most chances of taking require scheme markers so Transparency seemed like a nice option. I wanted A Debt to the Guild but couldn`t afford it.

What other units I was considering:

Pathfinder: he really helps with Inspection and trap summons can be annoying.

Master Queeg: I really like him in Headhunter as he can pick up a head from 8" and has 3" engagement which is pretty annoying. Promises works wonders with Justice and Francisco.

Scales of Justice: I think its a bit underrated. Its pretty decent for its cost. It has a nice Wp boost aura and if you combine it with 2 card discard from Swordfighter your chances of card draw are significantly increased.

Outcasts:

Fucking Hamelin (5SS)
- Piper (Obey and 6" no charge aura)
- Infectious Melodies (Minions and Peons can get fast and die at the end of their activation)

Ashes and Dust
-Bigger They Are (Increases damage versus non-Master models with upgrades)

Bishop
- Oathkeeper (Discard for fast)

Freikorps Trapper

Obedient Wretch

Stolen

Winged Plague (Abomination model)

Malifaux Rat

He only has 8 activations. Easy-peasy!

Schemes:

Guild Schemes: Dig their Graves, Inspection

Outcasts Schemes: Dig their Graves, Recover Evidence

I immediately removed Recover Evidence when I saw Hamelin. He can have so many models back its not worth the fuss. I went with Dig Their Graves and was hesitating between Inspection and Claim Jump but I took Inspection because it seemed less AP intensive. Bartek chose Dig Their Graves and Recover Evidence (he wanted to try it).

Deployment:

I win deployment flip and let him deploy first.  

Deployment

Turn 1:

This turn was mostly positioning. Francisco used El Mayor and Cover me on Justice. Bishop double walked and put a scheme marker. Trapper shot a dog and hit moderate with crit strike on negative (he focused, I was in cover). Lady Justice went up the field. Hamelin does his rat shenanigans and ends up with a Rat Catcher and a rat. Austringer Delivers Orders to Francisco to place a scheme marker.

End of Turn one

Score: 0:0

Turn 2:

Bishop`s dead, Baby. Bishop`s dead.

I lose initiative. He forgot Lady Justice has Blindfighter so he activated Stolen and turned into 2 rats. Justice uses Justice at the End of a Blade and charges Bishop. After 3 hits and 5 13s and 12s from the both of us he is dead.

Trapper shoots a dog and misses Guild Sergeant picks up the head of the dog killed in round 1. 2 dogs walk out after trapper misses and put 1 scheme marker. Last dog engages AnD near Inspection and so does Brutal Effigy. Rat Catcher hits Effigy twice and brings him to 2 Wds. Ashes uses Industrial Age on the Effigy which I fail (just on Effigy) and then manages to kill him and then hit moderate on a negative flip for the Hound and creates an Abomination and scores Dig Their Graves.  Plague double walks to engage a dog and block my faked Claim Jump. Bartek creates 2 Rat Kings and one turns into a Rat Catcher. One of the Rat Kings slowly moves towards my Hounds.

Middle of turn 2

Winged Abomination Plague blocks my fake marker

Score: 1:1 (Outcasts score Dig Their Graves, Guild scores Headhunter)

Turn 3:

I lose initiative for the third time. Bartek declares Recover Evidence. I put markers near Francisco, Justice, Austringer and 2 dogs. After moving a rat, Austringer Delivers Orders to Francisco to pick up a head. Abomination engages Guild Sergeant. Phiona charges Rat Catcher, kills a rat from rams and places a marker and leaves him at one Wd.

Francisco gets hit by a Trapper twice and prevents one shot. Frank pushes Justice towards Ashes and Hamelin. Rat Catcher removes my Scheme Marker and places his own. Bartek attacks a Hound with the Winged Plague but misses and goes Defensive. Two dogs bite at him for 3 damage. Second Hound can`t hit because Bartek cheats my 13 with a RJ. Guard Sergeant walks away from the Abomination and pushes a marker towards the Rat Catcher. Justice uses Acrobatic Assault but can`t hit the Rat Catcher, she finishes him off with third AP scoring Dig Their Graves. Ashes charges Francisco and kills him scoring Dig Their Graves. Second Rat Catcher picks up a head.

Turn 3

Score: 3:3 (we both score Headhunter and Dig Their Graves)

Turn 4:

Ashes bring Phiona down to 1 Wd. Austringer makes her pick up Rat Catchers Head. Plague tries to kill Dog but fails and goes Defensive.

Phiona walks and hits Ashes for 5 damage. Trapper falls down the building for 5 damage (4 after Armor) and walks towards a Evidence Marker. Both dogs finish the Winged Plague and score Dig Their Graves. Justice kills Ashes and Dust with her attack and places behind Dust Storm and a Rat Catcher (attacking the Rat Catcher for 5 damage) to prevent them from going towards Heads/Core respectively. I pass all Industrial Ages (except 1 on the Sergeant). Hamelin Pipers my Justice after randomizing twice but only manages to hit once. Ashes Reforms and Rat Catcher picks up head and sacrifices himself from Infectious Melodies while reactivating the Rat King. Rat King picks up an Evidence Marker. Reactivated Rat King kills Phiona for Dig Their Graves.

Turn 4 and the Jumping Justice

Turn 4

Turn 4

Score: 6:6 (Outcasts score all 3. Guild scores all 3)

Turn 5:

I lose initiative fifth time in a row. Trapper picks up an Evidence Marker and shoots dog for 2 and pushes towards second marker. Dog walks and picks up head. Companions into another Hound which charges the Rat King and stays within 4" of the edge.

Rat King hits dog twice but BJ the second attack. (Bartek should have activated Hamelin first and go within LOS to allow him to Infectious Melodies) Justice uses Acrobatic Assault, hits Ashes for 8 and places so she`s within Inspection range. She attacks and fails the second attack. Hamelin walks and Obeys the trapper to pick up the second evidence marker. Guard Sergeant kills Ashes and Dust and score 3rd point from Dig Their Graves and walks towards the edge. Dust Storm attacks the Sergeant, hits the trigger to push, kills her on a straight flip and rearranges into Ashes. Hamelin walks and picks up a head. Game ends

Turn 5

Third Ashes and Dust assembles

More end of game

Score: 9:9 (Outcasts score 2 from Recover Evidence and 1 from Headhunter. I score all three)

Summary:

I had some bad luck with Initiative flips which could have swung the game in my favor at least a bit but overall we didn`t have any insane flips. I definitely need to use Scales of Justice with Swordfighter. I would probably had 8-10 more cards in this game. Inspection was a bad choice as it forced me to lose some models (lucky moderate from Ashes on the Hound lost me a VP). Overall Bartek is a pretty new player but he`s improving rapidly and he`s grasp on Hamelin is getting better and better each week.

Swordfighter: its an autotake. I used Acrobatic Assault way more than I thought I would but it was due to Hamelin no-charge aura and Ashes no-charge ability. Its still great but I definitely need more card draw in this crew to make up for the (0).

Crew Summary: so basically mostly everything worked out the way it should. Guard Sergeant is nice for moving scheme markers and accomplicing before you score Dig Their Graves. Austringer is a very good. Hounds were hounds. At least he activated anything important before I was done. Brutal Effigy is ok. Apart from Scheme selection I think the crew was pretty decent.

Hamelin Crew Summary:  The crew wasn`t really anything special in terms of innovation. Ashes is obviously insanely good although if I could charge it I think it wouldn`t be that abusive. Bishop died pretty quickly so from this game we can say he puts makers quite well ;). I recommended Bigger They Are on AnD to Bartek and its pretty awesome. Rat Kings and Rat Catchers were annoying as always. Winged Plague is a nice scheme runner and Df5 with Armor +1 makes it pretty good for its cost.

MVP: Trapper that shoots a dog, wounds Francisco, falls of a HT5 Building and picks up 2 Evidence markers