Newb trying to find a leader for a campaign

[Nekromos]

Hey there!

I am a new player with one demo game so far and we are starting a Malifaux campaign this month.

I think I am set to play Ten Thunders and once the campaign is rolling I will expand to a Yan Lo crew even though he seems to be an awful Ten Thunders Campaign Master to buy right away since i won't be able to use any models in his box except for chiaki. 

But my main problem is deciding on a leader and picking a synergizing crew that doesnt require spending a fortune.  

 

I narrowed the Henchmen down to these:

• Toshiro (standard with Yan Lo I guess, imho the ugliest model in malifaux)
• Ama no zako (rules read well, love her look and i'd like to hire her in any crew)
• Ototo (aesthetic wise my fav model)

 

Besides the leader i would like to take these models :

• Tengu, cheap and fast scheme runners 
• Izamu. Beautiful Model, rules read Well too 
• Sniper, some ranged unit, not too shabby in melee either
• Ama no zako

right now i am looking at the following crews:

 

A:

Leader: Toshiro

-Izamu

-Chiaki

-Punk Zombie 

-Sniper

-Tengu 

 

 

B.

Leader: Ama no Zako

-Yin  

-Izamu

-Chiaki 

-Sniper 

-Tengu

 

 

 

I hope that you can give me some fresh ideas for a crew, maybe even one where i can use a master's box

Gameplay wise I like to have a well rounded group. Resilence, some hard hitter and a mobile crew. Def no stand & shoot army. 

open for any ideas 

 

Thanks a lot!

[Shintoninja]

So I quickly read the campaign rules before responding to your post. 

 

First I don't understand what you mean by demo game. I assuming you have a small set of minis  from a demo you played?

So your trying to decide what TT crew box to buy for a campaign that will cover all bases and not require alot of additional purchases. 

Keep in mind I don't know what models,if any, you already have; I will try to use  model you suggested you liked; if you want to keep the cost down I'm going to focus on box crews. 

A good box crew requires a stand out Henchmen to lead your crew for the first half of the campaign. A leader with good syengry to other crew models and decent minions in the box.

Personally I think Yan Lo is the furthered to from that mark.  Especially considering his crew requires out of crew box purchases to improve all points mentioned. IE Toshiro, punk zombies and Isamu.   Also I don't see Chiaki as a suitable leading henchmen.

I don't own or play Yan Lo yet but he in next on my masters crew box list  and I play against him quite regularly. 

I am going to make suggestions based on crews I own. I know you suggested Yan Lo but let me give you some food for thought. 

Shenlong's Crew isn't the greatest choice even  though his Henchmen Sensei Yu and their shared upgrades are outstanding. Also a quality  totem  , the peasant, for later in the campaign. The High River Monks offer no real synergy to Shenlong or Sensei Yu. Hence I would pass.

 

Masaki's crew box is not  a good choice either. Shang her totem is ok for Rush of Magic but very little else. The Torakage are great generalist minions.  Mi and Sh attack actions; A situational + to flip when alone and a other neat tricks.   Where Misaki's crew box lacks is the henchmen Ototo. This brute just doesn't cut the mustard when compared to other henchmen.  He offers no synergy to other models. He is moderately slow, weak willed, becomes slightly more of a threat when only 6 or less wounds remain but as no defences  to  keep damage to a minimum. In regular games  Ototo is a very situational choice so as a model you will use in half of the campaign as a leader he is a flop.

 

My suggestion would be Mei Feng crew box.  She is a  mobile brawler that has good synergy with her box minions , Railworkers.  Railworkers are first and foremost Cheap. 5 SS and they  are no slouchs. Damage reduction as armour and Defensive ability. Hard to Kill.  Attacks are average  but the 0 action that discards a card to give + to attack and damage is how these guys will excel.  Her totem is ok if you are handing out burning but her truly Henchman Rocks!  

Kang is a beast in combat! A 7Mi with a 3/4/6 track and push trigger. A 5Sh Rg 6 with blast possibilities and a burning trigger. He has 9 WD, hard to wound, hard to kill and 0 Tactical that will heal him for the cost of a soul stones. 

Not only does he whoop ass but he is the champ that brings the support! Workers Champion gives + to attack and damage against undead or construct to friendly models within 6".  Rousing speech makes friendly models within 6" immune to horror duels. His presence alone with these two abilities will piss off at least a third of your opponents. 

So the Rail Crew to me is the crew to beat for cost effective campaign play. Money and play wise.   A 40ss starting crew list I would consider with suggested models would be: 

Kang with recalled training and the peoples challenge upgrade  

3 Railworkers 

2 Katanaka Snipers

2 Tengu

 

As a side note even for campaign games Ten Thunder Brothers are the backs Ten Thunders are carried on. They are one of the best SS cost cheapest minion TT has to offer. If you are going to pick up an extra box of minis these are the guys. 

 

I'm so jealous you have a campaign to play in. Have fun and take care. 

 

 

[Carecalmo]

I've played half a campaign with Toshiro the Daimyo to great effect. I'm not an expert by any means, but if you want an Ancestor campaign crew, I think he's a good place to start.
I'm not a big fan of his model either, so I proxied him with a less gory dead nobleman from the Bushido line. Maybe you can ask/discuss with your group if it's okay to proxy him?

Are you playing with Shifting Loyalties campaign rules? If so, remember that you have to pay the SS cost of your leader as well.

If you want to end up with Yan, I would recommend a starting crew like:

Toshiro (maybe with his summoning upgrade - it allows him to summon Komainu from scrap markers and Ashigaru from corpse markers)

2 Komainu (these have great synergy with ancestors, and are minions, so benefit from Toshiro's Daimyo aura - and with his upgrade, he can summon them back if they die)

A Katanaka Sniper (for ranged support)

A Tengu (scheme runner, a little bit of situational healing for the Hard to Kill Komainu, Shadow Effigy and Katanaka Sniper)

A Shadow Effigy (scheme runner, can buff Toshiro's survivability, it's weak attack is extremely accurate when within Toshiro's aura)

That comes out at 6 activations for 34 SS, 35 with Toshiro's summoning upgrade and gives him a bunch of minions to play around with. My experience with Shifting Loyalties is that durable, reasonably fast minions are better in the beginning than a large beater. You need VP to earn scrip to buy shiny upgrades and new crewmembers, and if you start out with only a few high-cost models, they simply don't have enough AP to fight, scheme and move, especially not the relatively slow ancestors like Izamu and Yin. Those are great additions a week or two in, when your many schemers (hopefully!) have earned you a bunch of scrip.

Purchase-wise it is five boxes with two of them (Toshiro and Komainu) having direct synergy with Yan Lo. Tengu have a little, and I've found the sniper and the effigy just plain useful to have around in so many situations.

Another option would be to remove the sniper and one of either the Tengu or the Effigy. That would give you 11 SS to play around with - you can add Izamu and go down to 5 activations, or you can add Chiaki and a 5 SS minion like the Ten Thunder Brother. If you do that, you'll end up at 4 small boxes and the Yan Lo crew box, which I'm assuming you'll be getting for the master. Toshiro can also summon the Ashigaru, so there's some use for them as well.

Good luck with your campaign - I'm looking forwards to hearing what you come up with!