steamboyd

I'm quite happy with the scouts at the minute. pursue is underestimated, particularly as it applies to all of their attack actions. i find taking one makes a good turret for the rocket launcher upgrades (firing at stat 7, ignoring concealment and FF), especially if you deploy within you threat range on the first turn and hit the focus trigger on the load up action. wont one shot anyone but can put pressure on. i think deploying them too far forward is the trap generally, like most FK they work better with support from the crew. its funny i don't take freikorpsmen very often over the scout, horses for courses I guess? I don't see Freikorps being the best at symbols compared to other outcast masters.

I don't play Tara, but have you thought of using a scavenger OOK to get fast and focused on a friendly model? with tools for the job its easy to get the burn out trigger on his weird device tactical action. since I've started learning Levi, I've seen more and more uses of scavengers in other crews.

maybe Tara into corrupted idols? she can summon and is super mobile.

So what is the answer to getting around these aoe mechanics for a hamelin player? 100% genuinely interested in your thoughts.

Hi lexlock, Hyperbole aside, I don't disagree with what you've said, except that saying there are only two reasons to play hamelin is a neat oversimplification. Rats are important to the crew, but id rather my opponent was killing rats than my other stuff. Blasts and other aoe do hose hamelin somewhat but all the more reason to limit how much ap you spend on summoning them I guess? That being said, I'm a fairly new hamelin player (only three games in) so I'm happy to be corrected by more experienced players.

I would argue that if an opponent is even devoting a couple of ap per turn to killing rats, or by 'teching against them' they draw out a suboptimal choice in crew selection or tactics, then the rats are doing their job. Also, even with aoe, pulses, blasts, pyre markers etc you still summon a load of rats incidentally, without devoting too much ap to it. Aoe damage is more of a problem in the way it bypasses your stealth, serene countenance and manipulative. Turn length is a problem however.

Had 2 games with hamelin recently, vs kaeris and a neverborn Marcus crew. Lost both but we're good learning experiences. General thoughts: 1. Deployment is really important if you are going to summon rats with benny. First game against kaeris was corner and I was forced into a zone with little 'floor space' to drop scheme markers for a loyal rats pulse. Also your zone can be congested with stolen etc if you are not careful, blocking movement and Los to scheme markers. 2. Some masters, like kearis, have a combination of hazardous markers, aoe damage and flight that make hamelin an uphill struggle to play. Although rats are still useful for their card draw and activation control, a judgement has to be made on how much you want to commit to summoning them on turn 1 and 2. Spending 4 to 5 ap to summon rats only for them to be blow up by and exploding pyre marker feels bad man. 3. Tangling together can result in some surprising take prisoner vp's, as your opponent watches your insignificant rats turn into a beautiful rat King on the last activation of the turn. 4. Took some ook tech picks on both occasions, ashes and dust for a shot at breakthrough and mad dog to counter the predicted armoured beasts from Marcus. And because he is generally excellent. Although the ashen core can't move, if you can place him on the edge of the opponents deployment zone remember he can still drop a scheme marker for breakthrough. Same applies for search the ruins, if you position carefully. 5. I hired a single rat in the second game to jump start the first tangle together. I also sacced a stolen on the first turn with inevitable fate, after using him to give a rat fast and walking up. Takes pressure off benny and the amount of scheme markers you place in turn one for loyal rats. Once the crew gets rolling the incidental rat summoning ramps up to give you all the rats you need. 6. Have any of you found opponents trying to kill hamelin? From my limited experience once they see how much damage he can do with unclean influence and bleeding disease I found they give him a pretty wide berth. Unclean influencing 3 to 5 focused rats to push towards then charge a single model can really catch people off guard with the amount of cards it drains from their hands, chip damage it does and how much blight it stacks. Then bleeding disease does the rest. 7. Prospectors are great. This crew can anti scheme already with gnaw, life of crime and loyal rats. Appraise ups that. Malifaux mining law is great with the trigger. Mine soulstone when you don't need triggers to go off. 8. I found the Marcus crew to be too mobile to catch, any possible solutions to this? Still love the crew, but getting you head around 11 to 12 activations is the big learning curve I've found with starting out.

I can recommend jaakune. She works brilliantly with the crew and her drowning aura is punishing. She is especially great against high activation models. Attacking 6 times with hinamatsu doesn't seem quite as clever when she is taking 1 damage per action from the aura and a ping of damage from vengeance everytime she damages jaakune. She is also a good target for montresors cursed to watch ability allowing her an extra lure on a key target. She combos nicely with crooked men. Shafted and drowning aura can be one of the most efficient ways to get staggered out, being mostly passive only taking one free action to get up and running.

I tried him in parker but he flipped really badly and did next to nothing. however i still think he has some synergy with parkers stick up action for hand drain, as others have said. theoretically would fit for jack too, as any additiona hand pressure is good.

I take the emissary fairly regularly. I'm actually trying to wean myself off him a bit as he can be a crutch. I love that little donkey. As I main jack, he adds so much to that crew. Regen on Jack or monty, don't mind me on jaakune, bonus to move in a slowish crew, healing on key models, a nice push/scheme free action. Don't forget that he has two decent attacks on his card too. He's killed a spawn mother with his hooves (yay injured) and see how your opponent reacts when you start throwing junk at his beater...

If you can get him close enough to use it on a model from the enemy crew (at a minus 2 stat) then fair play. Seems like a lot of effort for a 3 stone model.

Think your hoping for a loophole that doesn't exist. I think this is a wider problem with the child not having very many good targets for just like you.

That works too!

Exactly this. I think they can take down certain masters but defensive triggers, armor, terrifying and manipulative/serene countenance can cause problems for them. It's not always enough to have min three damage in this edition. What I have found useful is the 'that one counts as mine trigger' to get extra shots in from the other Vic who isn't engaged. three melee attacks and a couple of shots can really pile on pressure. But killing stuff is the best way to keep them alive so it's often better going for a softer target and easy kill rather than getting tar pitted against something chonky.

Too fast for their own good sometimes😳