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Parker Tactics


jphealy

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If it requires a moderate card to gain focus on a model that's already card intensive, I can't see the focus function being worthwhile. Improving Hans's movement? If he's moving then something is wrong. I guess that if it's a zero cost upgrade then you can chuck it on when you're not taking Scout the Field though. 

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2 hours ago, SuperFly TNT said:

Doesn't "No Witnesses" require the upgrade to be discarded or 1ss if the target isn't a Bandit? 

Yes it does. You can 0AP No Witness to get Hans or Trapper (or anyone for that matter) to attack on a 5+ (flip, stone or cheat the :mask for the trigger to take another 0AP). They attack. You discard the upgrade, gaining a soul stone due to Parker's front of card ability, then use Five Finger Discount to either buy Highwayman right back or something else with that Soul Stone you just gained or a nearby enemy scheme marker if there is one.

 

I'm not saying it's something I would do every time, but it's another combo trick up Parker's sleeve when the opportunity calls for it.

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Me and a friend discussed the possibility of hiring a Performer with Parker. The siren call is always nice, it's not that expensive (even as a merc) and it can possibly put a lot of:-fate:-fate on enemies from the scheme markers that the Bandits place. Also, my constant right-hand woman Hannah can copy both their push and the seduction. Could they be another way to utilize the hoard of enemy scheme markers that might cover the board when Parker takes to the field? :) 

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11 hours ago, Erorior said:

Me and a friend discussed the possibility of hiring a Performer with Parker. The siren call is always nice, it's not that expensive (even as a merc) and it can possibly put a lot of:-fate:-fate on enemies from the scheme markers that the Bandits place. Also, my constant right-hand woman Hannah can copy both their push and the seduction. Could they be another way to utilize the hoard of enemy scheme markers that might cover the board when Parker takes to the field? :) 

This is a really nice idea, even without Hannah. The card advantage that this could offer. Burn through control hand, or just suffer the consequences, which in an Outcast crew like this would be painful. 

 

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2 hours ago, Malharath said:

This is a really nice idea, even without Hannah. The card advantage that this could offer. Burn through control hand, or just suffer the consequences, which in an Outcast crew like this would be painful. 

 

Indeed! Add in all the "Hands in the air" flying about and the card-drain will be quite satisfying. :P

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I got a pretty solid first game with Parker last night against Kaeris and her Arcanists. While I won't run through the whole game my main impressions is that he is extremely versatile. While the options at first are a bit overwhelming his combo playstyle is really fun! The main Combo I executed in my game was against a Rail Golem on Turn 2 that was ready to lay into my crew. Parker walks out of cover, uses Hands in the Air on the Golem with the Hail of Bullets trigger to drop an enemy scheme marker. Then uses Highwayman's Action cheating the mask to take another zero to have Envy shoot the rail golem discarding a stone to not discard the upgrade. Envy blasts onto Willie behind the golem dealing some solid damage. Parker then uses his second (0) for Five Finger Discount to attach the upgrade that lets you discard to take a walk action and discards the enemy scheme marker, drawing two and discarding one for Highwayman. Parker then shoots the Rail Golem in the face dropping another scheme and then discarding the recently attached upgrade to take a walk back into cover and away from the Rail Golem. This netted me another Soulstone marker for discarding an upgrade. Hands in the Air was honestly a pretty big play against the Rail Golem as he was fully ready to steamroll through some of my crew. Making him discard two after potentially cheating a tome for Locomotion definitely felt pretty good. After my opponent activated another model Envy went to town on the Rail Golem dropping him by another 6 wounds or so.

 

I really think that Envy is pretty damn close to an auto-include with Parker. His ability to hand out focus on a Zero and discard to himself or another model within 6" helps with getting the straight damage flips you want. Envy easily gets his additional SH and Tome for blasts with Drop It! triggers on Parker, Mad Dog or to a lesser extent Baditos. Also while a bit costly letting Envy take out of action shots is fairly efficient with his (+) to attacks. I am not entirely sold on Banditos as they really really want to always use Run and Gun, otherwise they are just sub-optimal shooters. I ended up taking two in my game and the second Bandito pretty much ran Leave Your Mark for me on the other side of the board. Mad Dog's Blow it to Hell is extremely useful for a shooting heavy crew and can really discourage your opponent from coming to you by using cover.

 

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More I look at Parker and his crew, more I'm sold to this crew.

Big cache on quite versatile master, good choice within his box between good damage dealer (Mad Dog), good scheme running with surprising punch (Bandidos) and cheap, healing support (Doc) makes this crew quite attractive.

As I was tinkering around this crew it surprised me how many nice, additional support models can fit there. I think I'll add Parker to my small, Outcast family after all ;)

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@asrian

For the Bandidos it's kinda a hard thing to look at but when I remember they only cost 5 stone it's a bit difficult to give them too bad of a rap. Finish the Job is definitely always a solid ability and I can see their ability to turn enemy scheme markers at the end of a game potentially useful. I did take the hodgepodge effigy in my game but found that he wasn't particularly helpful other than giving me another activation. Doc seems pretty solid as a totem although the crow trigger to get HTW is kinda meh. I agree that Sue is an auto take with Parker for his draw and defensive abilities alone.

The list I ran was:

50 SS Outcasts Crew
Parker Barrows + 4 Pool
 - Highwayman (1)
 - Oath Keeper (1)
 - Hail of Bullets (1)
Doc Mitchell (3)
Mad Dog Brackett (9)
 - Lucky Poncho (1)
 - Oath Keeper (1)
Envy (9)
 - Oath Keeper (1)
Sue (8)
 - Return Fire (1)
Bandido (5)
Bandido (5)
Hodgepodge Effigy (4)

 (exported from CrewFaux)

I think I am going to drop a Bandido and the Effigy for Johan and a max cache next game. I want to experiment with utilizing his cache to play an obey style via Highwayman.

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I agree that leaning too hard into shooting can be a bit of a trap, but Mad Dog's ability to remove an opponents cover is extremely strong. I definitely want to bring in Johana my next game for some melee threat as well as condition removal. I have tried working round bringing in a Librarian for more effective healing and Magic blasts but then you really want to take Survivalist on Parker which feels suboptimal. Hannah is not great as she doesn't get much too potentially to copy save for Sue's actions.

There's definitely some potential with Aionus and Parker as well which I intend to explore over time.

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@SJW That's identical to the list I've run the past few games, only substititing Envy out for various other models. 

 

I like Bandidos, don't get me wrong, for the exact reasons you listed (5SS scheme runner who has finish the job and can Run & Gun.

 

@daniello_s I don't feel that, as barring fighting against incorporeal opponent models, most all the main models I use can work up close and at range so are versatile enough for me. I am slowly trying other models and tactics though. Thus far, the only model I've come across that just isn't worth it's points to me is the Wokou Raider. 3 games now, and in every one, on retrospect, I wish I'd just taken Johan or a Ronin, or anything else instead really.

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Armor is a factor for 95% of the models, so that I don't mind. Incorporeal I try to take into account as best I can as well. Both are solved through some different crew selection (Ronin and or Librarians for me). And while not a cure all, Mad Dog mitigates cover potentially for key models.

 

The one thing that truly scares me with Parker & Co. is a Mei Feng crew with Vent Steam to be honest.

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I'm going to go out on a limb here but if my opponent announced Ten Thunders I probably wouldn't play Parker into them at all. Sensei Yu can most assuredly ruin your day by pushing scheme markers away alone and he's not master dependent. As you mentioned Mei Feng would also be a nightmare although potentially playable. 

Armor can be a problem but Parker has some control options through hands in the Air or just focused, overwhelming firepower. Another potentially nasty avenue is taking Scout the Field on a few big shooters.

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10 hours ago, asrian said:

Thus far, the only model I've come across that just isn't worth it's points to me is the Wokou Raider. 3 games now, and in every one, on retrospect, I wish I'd just taken Johan or a Ronin, or anything else instead really.

Still no luck with him asrain? Hmmm..

I'm just about ready to give my overall thoughts on the Wokou Raider in particular.

Anyone else used one?

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4 hours ago, Pip said:

Still no luck with him asrain? Hmmm..

I'm just about ready to give my overall thoughts on the Wokou Raider in particular.

Anyone else used one?

No luck for me, but that could be just me and using him the way I have (in your face beater/tar pit). It seems the right call for him, and likely is, but it could just be poor match ups or (un)lucky flips for one side or the other in those duels. Either way, I still would rather just take a Ronin and save 2SS.

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So, the Wokou Raider. I really want to make this guy work. Although the game I've used one in, they just haven't cut the mustard. So, after a few games here's what I see are the three main issues with this guy. Just curious as to what you guys think. Yay? Or Nay?

My first problem, 8SS. IMO, when you've got minions that cost the same as enforcers, I expect something pretty darn good. Cases in point, Hanged, Jorogumo, Sow ect.. Those minions scare opponents because of what they're capable of and generally have a specific role. After reading the WR's card I must admit, for the price I was like "um, he's good. But I'm not sure 8 SS worth of good." If he/she were 7SS, I'd be more inclined to consider them. So, cost is my first hurdle.

Second Problem: So with a :+fate Ml 6, :melee2 and a 2/4/5 damage track I'd assume he'd/she'd be a beater. Especially when you add in the combat finesse ability. That encourages you to throw the WR in. So throw the WR into stuff so they can't cheat flips with :melee attack actions that target the WR's Df. Hey, it's handy and a really nice ability. But, if you're hunting other enforcers, of which a lot have a decent Ml stat to start with, then IMO this guy is potentially out of his league already. "But why don't you use him to hunt scheme runners?" I hear you say. Well, I think there's simply cheaper options that can fulfill that role as well. Ronin spring to mind there. "He can potentially tar pit". Which he has a chance if they target the WR df in Ml. But what about Wp based attacks? Granted, the WR is Wp 6, which is very good. But there's things like Bishop that would wreck the WR straight up. I know Bishop is a high cost enforcer, but the are the type of models you want the WR engaging yeah?

I really think they perhaps should've added the :ram in for built in crit strike. Sure, with ml 6 with a :+fate, there's a decent chance that a double crit is possible. But, in my mind, you want this guy taking on your opponents heavy beaters. So, he needs to do more than min 2 damage if he/she hits. I know if you flip the :ram you get the crit which is nice, but since a lot of beaters have armour and the like, I'm not sure min 2 damage is enough. Especially when you don't flip/cheat in the ram. You've got a better chance of doing more damage from a run and gun Bandito potentially. And that is a HUGE problem for something so expensive.

Third Problem: This kinda ties in with his "beater role". I think there's enough "drop it" in Parker's crew. Sure, the extra push from enemy scheme markers is good, and the WR (0) action does also provide you with extra movement which is also nice, provided there's scheme markers around which, in a Parker crew, is highly likely, but I feel they've potentially mixed up what trigger should've been built in. The built in :tome is not needed on the WR IMO. Between Parker, Bandito's and Dead Outlaws (which granted, the last two minions :tome "drop it" is not built in) there's enough chances to drop those enemy scheme markers for pushes with the WR.

I don't want to come across as unappreciative. But overall, I think Wyrd missed the mark with the Wokou Raider. Is he/she a beater? Well, more like a semi-beater IMO. And for 8 SS, I'm most likely not gonna pay that. Especially when I can get a Convict Gunsliger, with Return Fire for the same cost. It's a shame. Cause I really love the artwork for them.

HOWEVER, I have used the Wokou Raider in henchman hardcore and he/she's been actually pretty darn good. In that format, the WR shines. Which confuses me even more.. So, after undermining my own argument somewhat, what are your thoughts guys?

Cheers,

Pip.

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As I've said, they are good, but not worth the points to me. If they were cheaper or had hard to kill or something else to either add resilience or hitting power to help justify the cost then I'd take them. The more I use them though the more I don't want to hire them over something else that is more effective for the points, which is to me a shame really.

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Another factor in viewing the raider vs. the ronin (or Rusty vs. Mad Dog for that matter) is the Bandit characteristic. It comes up in Parker's card draw mechanic, both zero actions on his limited upgrades, and in the coordinated heist upgrade. Probably the zero action attack from Highwayman is the most significant of these. The Bandit characteristic isn't worth a lot, but it does have some value. I would guess you're going to be trying to hold a low mask to enable you to do both zero actions every round (easier to do if you don't have to discard on Go Through Their Pockets) so you'll want to have a Bandit nearby to perform the interact or the attack. 

I'm not saying that leads you to a Wokou Raider over a Ronin, but a few Bandits (2-3) are almost a necessity. 

 

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Maybe, but I find myself typically doing that extra attack with Sue, or Strong Arm Suit, or the Emissary (heavier hitters) than most Bandits, though I'll also use it on Mad Dog. 

 

The interacts, however, from Black Market I tend to use on whatever is beneficial at the moment, which typically are the bandidos or the wokou raiders.

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I haven't given the Raider a go yet as I'm just not a huge fan of proxying but I also am not sold on them at all. They are counter intuitive for Hunting Party which is a pretty common Scheme in the current environment. The bandit characteristic is their real saving grace so maybe, maybe if you want to take Coordinated Heist and get the first turn additional walk they could be alright.

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