angyi

Only if you field multiple Wind Gamin, their Leap action becomes highly inefficient, especially with Sandeep. So in numbers, they are still perfect to counter killy schemes, with the occasional post-mortem push of course, and this is something I gladly pay 4SS for. But far from absurd.

Also, if you're prepared to buy additional small boxes, it's worth considering Angelica with Practiced Production. Your Large Arachnids can use the push, and PP with the Raptor and the Firestarter is easy VPs.

+1

Based on this roster, and without any knowledge of strategies/schemes, I'd probably go with: Kaeris +3 - Blinding Flame 1 - G&D or P.Flame 1 Eternal Flame 2 The Firestarter 7 - Imbued Energies 1 Mechanical Rider 12 - Well Rehearsed 1 Gunsmith 7 Large Arachnid 6 Large Arachnid 6 Malifaux Raptor 3 ----- 50

In my experience the biggest mistake Sandeep players can make is pushing anything Sandeep offers. Academics in crew building, copying spells, summoning Banasuva etc. Those are all possibilities that you have to be aware of, and use at the right time.

@drakeman : He can. And he's getting Smell Fear from the Pack Leader upgrade, he hits the opponent, chooses to attack its Wp, then Smell Fear tiggers.

@R3n3 The Shikome ignores armor and luckily you can field it in pairs, to make sure that you always get +1 damage via Adversary, not mentioning the extra attack via Long Memory & Pack Leader. While Joss is a solid piece, he isn't able to go out and hunt down whatever needs to be hunted down. He's the ultimate anvil but less useful as your dedicated hammer.

Many good advice here, only 90% of that isn't exactly Ironsides-specific. The Captain is good if you need pushes, Howard is a melee beatstick, Cassandra+PP is a scheming machine etc. But the same applies if you field the said models with any Arcanist master. Basically Ironsides can draw enemies in her 5' diameter tarpit, with the occasional benefits of HPM, then I'm really struggling to see what else she can do. I'm sure she's perfectly legit because many of you say so. I just can't get past the feeling that any given crew I field with Ironsides would run better with Kaeris, Mei, Ramos, Colette and now Sandeep.

@hydranixx I only tried Killswitch with Snow Storm, and only a few times. To be honest, I don't remember who I put Decoys on, I sort of wanted my opponent to know that Snow Storm will deal 4+2 damage in the area if killed. I think it's a good tool on a fast, bulletproof, 3' Ml range model that you can send in the middle of a group of enemy models if need be. Go kill me and 2-3 of your own minions too, or wait until I kill my own Snow Storm with the same effect. Can be a situational thing, but generally I like to pose threats to my opponent that he can't afford to ignore, and this is one of the kind for sure. On Snow Storm, at least. Otherwise I don't value Killswitch too high, either.

I don't think this ranking list has much sense. Eg. Sub Zero is next to useless if your only minion is the mighty Wendigo, but if you have 4-5 minions, it can jam melee lists pretty well. Similarly, I don't think it's always worth to up the already respectable Df6 of an expensive SS user to Df7. To each his own. Another upgrade I'd consider from time to time is Killswitch, because the post-mortem 4+2 wounds is something even Papa Loco would approve.

If you take Blade&Claw, it's good to be able to summon 2in1 beast-construct jumping points. On the other hand, Sandeep doesn't seem to be the right master to experiment with poison centric crews.

If you want to ignore horror duels, it's frozen heart or Kang. If you want to up your chances, it's Arcane Reservoir, Wp6+ and Wp buffs like The Hunger Cry. On the other hand, horror duels and Wp duels are just partially the same. Rasputina and her cult aren't too resilient versus Wp-based attacks in general.

+1 Blade & Claw is a bit like Imbued Energies, most likely you will use it once per game with real effect, only B&C is a bit of the feast-or-famine kind if you're not dead sure which master you'll face. I personally like upgrades with passive effects or additional actions that I'm sure I'll use excessively. I think B&C can be useful if you buy it to speed up your slow models (eg. the rogue necro), or give your lines more resilience (eg. you can send in the bear to tank the hell out of your opponent), but I don't think I'd ever take the Assassination scheme based on a B&G combo. Not versus an experienced opponent, at least. There are too many excellent upgrades in this faction.

@Nikodemus So does mine He was a minion during the playtest, and PMF still lists him as a minion. I haven't checked the card carefully enough. Thanks!

@spooky_squirrel I think the Mech Rider (or the Emissary) and a Raptor (or Gamin) can be traded for two Guards if you want something more hardy, less schemy. I'm still a bit dubious about them, they seem to be a bit too expensive for something that I'm not sure my crew needs at all.