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M2e Kaeris


mythicFOX

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Bertmac beat me to the punch, so I'll broadly echo his points.

1) Blinding Flame is certainly the way out of combat.  Although where possible though it's best not to get Kaeris into a situation where she needs to escape. She's a master who really needs to pick her fights.

2) Similar to point one, Kaeris should avoid being in the kind of position where she needs Imbued Protection. If you are in that sort of position then Blinding Flame gives you more flexibility. You certainly need a tank to anchor your line in a Kaeris crew, and as Bertmac says Joss fits the role perfectly.  I've also had success with a Rail Worker & Large Arachnid tag-team.

3)  Johan, condition removal is something everyone should have.

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If nobody has said it already, Welcome to Malifaux!

To your questions, though, playing around with terrain with height can give you some success with Grab and Drop.  If Kaeris can end up on top of Ht 3 terrain, she'll be able to escape unless you drop both them and her in base contact with the terrain (engagement range is measured both horizontally and vertically from the model's base).  You also have no requirement to drop them in LOS to you, so that's another thing you can try.  Aside from that, Blinding Flame is definitely your best bet as it's both reliable and prevents further charges.

I generally advise against generic lists, and your model pool appears deep enough that it shouldn't be an issue.  I also usually advise against the Langston crutch, because once he's in your lists, it's hard to get him back out.:D I will usually include Imbued Protection on Kaeris because I like to run her as a tank, but I will also end up with a Limited upgrade and Blinding Flame more than anything else.  I use the Eternal Flame to block the enemy, and it usually ends up healing ltself as a result, but you're putting a lot of Constructs in, so it might not be a bad play.  Like bertmac, I'd probably ditch Bleeding Edge Tech in favor of Imbued Energies on Howard (BET will only heal the Metal Gamin).  Powered by Flame on the Firestarter is probably not the best pick, either, because it means he will need to be closer to the enemy models to have an effect on them, and that can often end poorly for our dear madman.  Also, one of his main jobs is accomplishing schemes, but this will pigeonhole him into being around friendly Constructs.  Joss or Johan are better carriers for the upgrade.  The Union Miner also seems a little out of place, especially if he's just there to light a friendly model on fire (the Firestarter is offended, sir, and deeply so).  You'll probably see more mileage out of a Rail Worker or Large Arachnid.

That said, I think Johan is probably a good near-future pick for you.  December's Acolytes and Silent Ones are pretty universally good, and the Ironsides box can add some good tricks to Kaeris crews with both the Captain and Oxfordian Mages.  The Arcane Effigy is also never a waste of 4SS in a game, or at least not that I've ever seen.  Cassandra is also another good pick up.

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Thank you all for the advice. Exactly what I was after.

Will be trying out what you all said, especially swapping in blinding flame, Joss and imbued energies.

Johan and December Acolytes will be my next buys, though I'll have to wait a while.

Looking forward to testing it out this week. 
Pete

Edited by Pete Zero
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Has anyone used Kaeris in Reconnoiter at all?

 

I've been thinking I'll focus on setting everything in range on fire each turn and casting accelerant to put down 2 damage or paralyzed. The result should be 3-6 damage on a significant part of the opposing crew by turn 3 or 4 so that they can then be picked off, hopefully giving me a leg up in the reconnoiter score balance.

 

That would require Kaeris to acctivate early, so I'm thinking I'll give her imbued energies, and give the same to the fire starter. Between the two of them I should have burning on 4-6 models each turn before doing two damage to each, or paralyzing them.

Late game I could either try to kill off everything with accelerant or try to summon some fire gamin after killing things with immolate to take away scoring and get myself another scoring model

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When I take her in Reconnoiter, I do take her with Born of Fire, although half-wound Fire Gamin aren't the most survivable creatures.  I've also only ever had extraordinarily limited use of Accelerant, as I usually want Kaeris to activate last so she can affect as many models as possible (unless you're just bringing the Firestarter and Kaeris).  It does cover over a quarter of the board in the pulse, so positioning isn't super-important.

When I run her, I tend to try to claim half of the board and then whittle down enemy opposition in another quarter with ranged attacks (usually a combination of Gunsmiths and Kaeris/the Firestarter), while going for Fire Gamin summoning if the opponent gets too pushy.

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When I take her in Reconnoiter, I do take her with Born of Fire, although half-wound Fire Gamin aren't the most survivable creatures.  I've also only ever had extraordinarily limited use of Accelerant, as I usually want Kaeris to activate last so she can affect as many models as possible (unless you're just bringing the Firestarter and Kaeris).  It does cover over a quarter of the board in the pulse, so positioning isn't super-important.

When I run her, I tend to try to claim half of the board and then whittle down enemy opposition in another quarter with ranged attacks (usually a combination of Gunsmiths and Kaeris/the Firestarter), while going for Fire Gamin summoning if the opponent gets too pushy.

The following is just theory-faux (because I haven't played her properly yet). But as far as I'm concerned it doesn't really matter if a fire gamin is survivable or not. I've also got a Mechanical rider, so there will be lots of summoning. Which means that the opponent really has to decide if it's worth their AP to take out fire gamin that explode and set everyone else on fire when they die or try to kill more important models.

 

I'm a bit torn between wanting Kaeris to go first or last, but the way I figure, if I have a fast reckless fire starter and the cards/soul stones to use Kaeris' flaming halo trigger to do it again, that will give me a turn of potentially handing out two damage or paralysed to seven models on the second activation of my turn.

Given that seven models is most likely 80% of the opposing crew, it will probably be more like 4-5 models that get set on fire and then suffer two damage or get paralysed. So all in all, I reckon I'll have at least two or three turns handing out anywhere between 10 and 15 damage on top of the burning damage things will suffer at the end of each turn. So say I get it off once in turn 3, with lots of things on fire and already down 3-4 wounds from fire damage and other sources by then, that will effectively paralyse half my opponent's crew because the alternative is to have the model die and not score for reconnoiter. 

That, at the very least, hands me activation control to achieve my schemes and will throw a significant wrench in my opponents plans to do theirs, so if I can prevent a few VP that way and at the end of the game have prevented 1 or 2 reconnoiter VP by killing stuff, I'm a few points ahead already because I had so much time to do my schemes unmolested.

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In Malifaux damaging a number of models is nowhere near as effective as killing one.  Almost all models are as effective on one health as they are on full. This plan really just gives your opponent free reign for a few turns before your actions actually start effecting them. 

If you're putting ~5AP a turn into dealing damage with a henchman and a master then you need to be taking models off the board, especially in reconnoitre.

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In Malifaux damaging a number of models is nowhere near as effective as killing one.  Almost all models are as effective on one health as they are on full. This plan really just gives your opponent free reign for a few turns before your actions actually start effecting them. 

If you're putting ~5AP a turn into dealing damage with a henchman and a master then you need to be taking models off the board, especially in reconnoitre.

Good point, I had't thought of it that way. How would you use accelerant?

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In Malifaux damaging a number of models is nowhere near as effective as killing one.  Almost all models are as effective on one health as they are on full. This plan really just gives your opponent free reign for a few turns before your actions actually start effecting them. 

If you're putting ~5AP a turn into dealing damage with a henchman and a master then you need to be taking models off the board, especially in reconnoitre.

Good point, I had't thought of it that way. How would you use accelerant?

Honestly; very rarely. It's impact on the board state is way too low for the amount of work using it involves. 

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Hey all, 

Sorry if this isn't the right place to post this, but I'm just getting into Malifaux and Kaeris was my choice for first Master... With that said I've been doing a bunch of research to try to figure out some good synergies with her and such. I have no idea how much of that game works, since I haven't played, but I'm interested in some feedback for the models I've thought to start with. After the research I've done, these *seem* to be the best models available to Kaeris' squad, but I've seen people use some other names on here too. 

Kaeris 
Gunsmiths (2) 
Firestarter 
Metal Gamins (3)
Rail Golem
Fire Gamins (3)
Rail Workers (3) 
Union Miners (3) 
Malifaux Child

After looking at the Gunsmiths abilities, I feel like not including one in a list would be silly. They work so well against burning things and can be healed...etc... 

Same goes for the Firestarter. I like the idea of setting my things on fire without using AP, and then getting to buff them or heal them. His flight and dmg potential is pretty awesome from my completely noob stance. 

After those 2, I'm not really sure what avenue to go. It sounds like for Tournament play, I'd like to have tanky guys ready for combat (Golem, Metal Gamins), but that I might need some utility in Miners or Workers. It seems like everyone dislikes Fire Gamins for obvious reasons of not veing able to be healed with their low stats. 

Any insight would be appreciated. I'm just looking for a well balanced list to get used to the game a bit, and then I'll venture off and buy more stuff. I'm super excited to play this game!

Edited by Spike0738
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In Malifaux damaging a number of models is nowhere near as effective as killing one.  Almost all models are as effective on one health as they are on full. This plan really just gives your opponent free reign for a few turns before your actions actually start effecting them. 

If you're putting ~5AP a turn into dealing damage with a henchman and a master then you need to be taking models off the board, especially in reconnoitre.

Good point, I had't thought of it that way. How would you use accelerant?

Honestly; very rarely. It's impact on the board state is way too low for the amount of work using it involves. 

The more I think about it, the more it seems like a corner case ability. More to very efficiently shut down a few models at once that are so low on wounds they'd otherwise die, or knock over something on H2K.

Although if you set a lot of gribblies with 6 wounds or less on fire, plink them with accellerant and then use their being on fire to reduce them to one wound with gun smiths (assuming you'll hit at least moderate damage), it can be pretty efficient.

Probably too situational to rely on as main damage dealer. But if you keep it in mind, I can see situations come up every other game at least where it can be very useful.

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Hey all, 

Sorry if this isn't the right place to post this, but I'm just getting into Malifaux and Kaeris was my choice for first Master... With that said I've been doing a bunch of research to try to figure out some good synergies with her and such. I have no idea how much of that game works, since I haven't played, but I'm interested in some feedback for the models I've thought to start with. After the research I've done, these *seem* to be the best models available to Kaeris' squad, but I've seen people use some other names on here too. 

Kaeris 
Gunsmiths (2) 
Firestarter 
Metal Gamins (3)
Rail Golem
Fire Gamins (3)
Rail Workers (3) 
Union Miners (3) 
Malifaux Child

After looking at the Gunsmiths abilities, I feel like not including one in a list would be silly. They work so well against burning things and can be healed...etc... 

Same goes for the Firestarter. I like the idea of setting my things on fire without using AP, and then getting to buff them or heal them. His flight and dmg potential is pretty awesome from my completely noob stance. 

After those 2, I'm not really sure what avenue to go. It sounds like for Tournament play, I'd like to have tanky guys ready for combat (Golem, Metal Gamins), but that I might need some utility in Miners or Workers. It seems like everyone dislikes Fire Gamins for obvious reasons of not veing able to be healed with their low stats. 

Any insight would be appreciated. I'm just looking for a well balanced list to get used to the game a bit, and then I'll venture off and buy more stuff. I'm super excited to play this game!

I actually really like Fire Gamin.  They pack a decently large (once accounting for the burning they apply), fairly reliable punch, and they're a decent way to spread burning in a cheap package.  They're also pretty quick as Gamin go, and they're constructs, so the Eternal Flame can heal them.  Also also, they're summonable by Kaeris.  I'm not really sure what more people are looking for in a 4-stone minion, although it's probably Metal Gamin.

Aside from that, you seem to have a pretty good collection of models to choose from.  There's a lot of diversity here while still leaving a lot of room to grow.  You might add a Large Arachnid to the list, but I don't think it's specifically needed, just a fun alternative.

Welcome to Malifaux!

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I was under the assumption that since Fire Gamin don't take dmg from fire that they cannot be healed by Kaeris?

Edit: Also-- Thank you for the welcome! I am excited to get into this game!

Eternal Flame (Kaeris' totem) can heal target leader or construct (not related to burning). Fire Gamin are constructs, so they can be healed by it.

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I was under the assumption that since Fire Gamin don't take dmg from fire that they cannot be healed by Kaeris?

Edit: Also-- Thank you for the welcome! I am excited to get into this game!

Eternal Flame (Kaeris' totem) can heal target leader or construct (not related to burning). Fire Gamin are constructs, so they can be healed by it.

Is it popular to use the Eternal Flame with Kaeris? 

I've seen mostly Johan, Firestarter, Rail Golem, Metal Gamins and Gunsmiths used. Is it more advantageous to use Eternal Flame and Fire Gamin at certain points? Heck, I've even seen some lists with Rail Workers lately for the flaming stuff.

 

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I personally don't really see the use of eternal flame when for one stone more you can have the Malifaux Child which essentially gives you a free cast of flaming halo. I don't have the card with me, but I think he's allowed to declare triggers on it and the cast has an inbuilt tome, so with the :+fate to the attack duel, he may well get the trigger that lets  him do the action again and set two models on fire.

The reason that's good is because it sets you up for Kaeris' (0) action card draw, or wings of fire (or healing) without using the fire starter or having to activate Kaeris early and remain stationary so the models around her can benefit from her upgrade.

The healing ability it has is so limited, it's not worth much when compared to Johan because he has a huge amount of synergy with most Kaeris crews (being M&SU).

Eternal flame might be more viable if it didn't compete for the totem slot with the Malifaux Child and even the Essence of Power.

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The Malifaux Child is highly useful, I have found time for the Eternal Flame before though.  Healing high armour constructs makes them much more effective tanks. It normally take at least four damage to do two wounds to an armour two construct, so healing two wounds on them is almost the same as healing four wounds. 

Fire Gamin are, as was said above, as good as you can expect a 4ss hitter to be. My view though is that low cost hitting generally isn't quite efficient enough to warrant hiring. To hit you more or less have to be in harms way, and low cost hitters tend to fold too easily to insure a decent return on investment.

It doesn't help we have excellent 4ss models competing for space; Metal Gamin & Arcane Effigy. If I'm looking for lower cost hitting power it's hard to go past Rail Workers at 5ss, with [+] to attack and damage they threaten a lot of enemy models, and can take a hit in return.

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To be fair, Eternal Flame may be highly useful when you have another source of setting fire to things (Cassandra's understudy if you bring the Fire Starter) and a big scary construct to heal like the Rail Golem. I have neither, so I prefer the Malifaux Child.

I have been theory-fauxing a crew with the grab & drop upgrade (automatic scheme markers everywhere) and things that play with scheme markers like Coryphees and Performers and I think there's quite a lot of fun to be had with that approach. Once my Colette crew is all painted, I'll definitely have to give that combination a shot. It seems delightfully devious.

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I have played quite few games with Kaeris now, maybe I can write up my impressions. 

Kaeris maybe one of the all comer list. She is very flexible in almost any S&S with usually standard crew box + moleman / gunsmith and sometimes cerberus. 

I almost always use , Arcane Reservoir / G&D . these both gives amazing flexibility and positioning. For the last upgrade i have tried Born of Fire / Blinding Flame. At this point I love Blinding flame and hate BoF. to summon a gamin BoF has conditions make you spend ton of AP which is usually not worth it. Although I had a game where i summoned a gamin with 2 wounds then blasted him giving everyone around burning and dmg :) but every game I played with blinding flame I had so much fun. I want to share my last game vs misaki. Misaki charged 2 gamins instantly killing one. I targetted melee with flaming halo,  unfortunately gamin had lower value. but it turned out it was actually better:) gamin didnt have any dmg from burning but it got pushed from Blinding flame and misaki was left alone with burning from the gamin exploded. then killed her in gunsmith / immolate / firestarter :) 

 

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