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So...Dr. Grimwell?


Kapten Vendetta

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First of all, being a mercenary means he can hang out with anyone, but having him as Guild means you get to play around with the taxes a bit and save a SS for a rainy day (of which there are many in Malifaux).

 

What does he bring to the table? At first glance he seems to be a melee-centric beatstick with some movement shenanigans.

 

Is there more to him? He has the Witch Hunter characteristic as well, any way to use this? I suppose you could give him the Disrupt Magic and step right into the mix, forcing :-fate to casters. Not bad. A solid Df. certainly helps his survivability once in there as well.

 

The downright scary Lobotomy (with nible no less!) might prove useful against pesky high wound targets with low df. (hello Flesh Construct!) seeing as the minimum is nothing to sneeze at.

 

Overall, I like.

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He's no Francisco, that is for sure, but he isn't terrible either.

He's very fast for a Guild model with Nimble and Unimpeded and he can boost the mobility of other models too using Doctor's orders. He has no (0) action so he is a decent candidate for carrying Dampening Field or Expert Sleuth. The Witch Hunter keyword also gives him ability to carry and/or benefit from Disrupt magic.

Unfortunately that is pretty much everything that he has going for him. He has pretty much the worst damage out of all Guild henchmen, including captain Dashel. Lobotomy has nice damage track, but since Guild has no real ways of handing out free focus or fast for Witch Hunter henchmen, its usefulness in pretty much limited to killing Ice Golems.

 

His durability is also quite bad. He manages to win against Samael Hopkins in that department, but so does almost everything else.

 

For him to be worth his cost, you really need to get your money's worth from Doctor's orders, which is quite difficult, as Francisco and Judge can do quite similar things with (0) actions if need be.
 

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I imagine his upgrade will be a (0) action. Maybe one linked to interact action ?

He's certainly not broken or overpowered but I think he's interesting and versatile (for beating faces or scheming).

For the "focus" you can use soulstone and/or be near sidir and his promises.

For his durability, "better call Saul" for the impassioned defence of the lawyer => Def 6 + hard to wound!

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He's going to be better in other factions like TT or Outcasts that can easily give him fast or focused. Spending a stone isn't the same as focusing because you don't get the positive on the dmg flip, which is generally the main reason you even bother to focus. Actually Resser Tara might like him as well as a beast bomb.

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I thought about that too, but I still think I would rather have Hold this on Sonnia or Perdita (or one of those other henchmen).

 

Probably true, in general, but just for the sake of argument:

 

Perdita needs comparable resources to to do 10 damage over 14", and doesn't lock someone in melee and give :-fate to Ca actions at the same time.

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Out of the two of them, he is definitely the less exciting, but I'm still pleased. He really is the best delivery system for Disrupt Magic and Dampening Field, which, while they are pretty situational, are still tools that Guild has had trouble utilizing thus far. I really think we're going to find that, while he isn't stellar, all of his tools work a little bit better together than they look on the card.

 

After playing a pile of game against Yamaziko, I can safely say that we are seriously undervaluing Nimble. Being able to position around terrain and blocking models before lining up a charge is super useful, it makes his Lobotomize a more genuine threat, and it gives Guild something with legitimately high movement range. Lobotomize, as well, is really useful because it means that all his damage comes out in one duel, making it much more useful for Guild's notoriously card-intensive masters.

 

I see what Justin was talking about with him and McMourning, though. On uppers, the good doctor covers 14 inches and drops a scheme marker, or 21 if he's just ambling. Considering that his stats are fairly decent, he seems like a great dude to send out hunting flanking models.

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Probably true, in general, but just for the sake of argument:

 

Perdita needs comparable resources to to do 10 damage over 14", and doesn't lock someone in melee and give :-fate to Ca actions at the same time.

You did not just compare Perdita to Dr. Grimwell...

You should also take into account that Perdita has 3 AP to spend during a turn, while Dr. G only has 2, so she will benefit quite a lot more from a buff that boosts the effects of her attacks.

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Who was undervaluing Nimble?

 

No one specifically, really. Just the general reaction of "meh, he's not Francisco or The Judge or Sidir..." that I tend to be hearing from people. I mean, I don't think that, in his current form, he's going to set the world on fire, but he's a cool tool to have with the Mercenary characteristic, and, despite people comparing him unfavorably to the Guild all-stars, I think he's going to see a fair amount of use in-faction. We haven't even seen his upgrade yet, and I would use him.

 

It might also be because I have seen a lot of good play with Montressor and Yamaziko by players who have been let down by their gaping defensive holes (df 4 on Yamaziko, wp 4 on Monty). While Grimwell isn't quite Howard Langston, being the second best Nimble model in the game isn't a terrible title to have.

 

I'm more excited to have him in Outcasts, honestly, because he is the model that gets the single best use out of I Pay Better, and he can carry it himself. In faction, however, the upcoming book is going to bring us Envy, so every faction will have access to a survivable shooting model with Focus on a stick. There's also Abuela Ortega, Perdita, and the Enslaved Neph to Obey him into Focusing, so it isn't impossible.

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While Grimwell isn't quite Howard Langston, being the second best Nimble model in the game isn't a terrible title to have.

It isn't. Unfortunately Dr.G. doesn't really have a chance at that title unless that personal upgrade is utterly ridiculous.
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I meant that Dr.G. doesn't even have a chance at being the second best with Cassandra around.

 

While I agree that, in the right crews, Cassandra is definitely better than Grimwell would be in the same slot, she does really suffer if she doesn't have a great target for Understudy. As well, Understudy necessitates keeping her within eight inches of the model she is casting off of. If she doesn't have a good Understudy target, then it is a question of whether Breath Fire or Lobotomize is the more advantageous attack. The line between them isn't *that* far.

 

She does have access to way better upgrades, but if we bring upgrades into the conversation, Guild loses out against literally every faction.

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I like Grimwell. I personally like Unimpeded, as I make sure every board I play on has some severe terrain. I think that coupled with Nimble gives him a lot of options.

 

I feel like a lot of people run Coppelius as sort of a strong solo, and I think the Grimwell fits into that exact same space with Nimble and Unimpeded. I saw someone already mention him as a flank chaser, and I think that's dead on.

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I strongly disagree that he is a good carrier for Disrupt Magic. Simply because he only wants to be in melee. The Witchling Handler is still the absolute best to carry it. Her 6 WP, DF, and Wk make her plenty defensible even without SS use and she has an excellent gun....she doesn't need to be anywhere near melee. You want Disrupt Magic to stay on the table as long as possible.....considering that all Witch Hunters get the ability as long as the upgrade is on the table, I'd much rather leave it somewhere in the back.

 

Now, a Handler carrying it and Grimwell in your face IS an excellent idea. Considering his speed and okay resilience, he can get in there faster than a Stalker to start shutting casters down.

 

I'm not thrilled that his movement trick is a (1), but I think it could be useful early game. If he is close to Sonnia it would be excellent to get her out of combat...but he will probably be engaged further than 6" away (based solely on what he looks like on paper).

 

I'm certainly looking forward to swapping him out with Sam in a Sonnia crew to see how he does there.

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I like Grimwell. I personally like Unimpeded, as I make sure every board I play on has some severe terrain. I think that coupled with Nimble gives him a lot of options.

 

I feel like a lot of people run Coppelius as sort of a strong solo, and I think the Grimwell fits into that exact same space with Nimble and Unimpeded. I saw someone already mention him as a flank chaser, and I think that's dead on.

 

This. This right here.

 

Dr Grimwell isn't as outright smashy as other Guild Henchmen, but what he does have on them is some fully sick mobility. Nimble and Unimpeded make him great for running up flanks, dropping scheme markers and carving up any cheeky Crooligans, Void Wretches or Silurid trying to do the same. 

 

Speaking of which, this guy actually compares really well with a Silurid - a model I consider almost an auto-include when I want a fast flanker. He's 2" slower and 2SS more expensive, but much tougher and far more dangerous in melee (especially if you decide to burn SS on him). Like the Silurid he can also get himself out of melee if needed, since he can use Dr's Orders on himself. Throw in Expert Sleuth and he just becomes crazy-awesome for scheme-marker shenanigans (or winning initiative on that critical turn, of course).

 

Guild doesn't need another beatstick. What they need more is another solid scheme runner, and this guy fits the bill pretty well. Sure you can fill a similar role with a pair of Watchers or three Guild Hounds. But unlike Dr Grimwell, those minions will go down to a stiff breeze if your opponent starts hunting them.

 

To be frank, you Guild players are sitting on Solid Gold and you don't even realise it. ;)

 

 

I've got good news for you...

 

JokeUpgrade.jpg

 

...and saved for future shenanigans. ;)

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