Arcanist Game: Create Your List 2

[Mxbedlam]

Back by popular demand, this week's create your list is ready!

Rules: Don't like lists, that will determine which one you vote for. Create a list to fit the scheme pool, map and faction that I have selected. You'll have 48 hours before voting starts. Winner is the one with the most likes on their post and they get internet Brownie Points. 

Flank Deployment

Extraction

Claim Jump

Eliminate The Leadership

Dig Their Graves

Covert Breakthrough

Recover Evidence

Your Opponent this week: Ten Thunders

Last week produced some pretty fantastic lists. Lets see what we can come up with this week

[Fictor]

Ok, let's go, I'll pick Colette for deny Eliminate The Leadership

• Colette [Cabaret (2) + Arcane Reservoir(2) + Seize Day (1) + 4ss on pool] = 7ss
• Carlos Vasquez (9) [PP (1) + Stunt Double (0)] = 10ss
• Myranda (8) [IE (1)] = 9ss
• Howard (12) [IE (1)] = 13ss
• Ice Dancer (6)
• Union Miner (5)

Our missions: Claim Jump for the Ice Dancer, and Dig Their Graves or Covert Breakthrough easy with PP on Carlos and summoned Doves from Colette, we have enough scheme markers with the Union Miner.

I know we have a small crew, but can summon Doves to save that and with this configuration have a lot of targets for Prompt.

[Mxbedlam]

4 minutes ago, Fictor said:

Ok, let's go, I'll pick Colette for deny Eliminate The Leadership

• Colette [Cabaret (2) + Arcane Reservoir(2) + Seize Day (1) + 4ss on pool] = 7ss
• Carlos Vasquez (9) [PP (1) + Stunt Double (0)] = 10ss
• Myranda (8) [IE (1)] = 9ss
• Howard (12) [IE (1)] = 13ss
• Ice Dancer (6)
• Union Miner (5)

Our missions: Claim Jump for the Ice Dancer, and Dig Their Graves or Covert Breakthrough easy with PP on Carlos and summoned Doves from Colette, we have enough scheme markers with the Union Miner.

If I were a Ten Thunders player and saw Eliminate the Leadership vs Arcanists I would probably end up taking Bettari as she ignores all Df Triggers and that's what Arcanist masters have to save themselves. I'd be very wary of her if you haven't played against her before. 

[Fictor]

Asami is a strong Master and, yes I know Bettari, last weekend I won 10-0 vs her , with an OP Banasuva killing Master and exploded for 4dmg on 4 miniatures.

But for a little change I don't want post a Sandeep Crew this time, and who knows TT player can play another master...

[Squirrelich]

Kaeris (4)
     - Grab and Drop
     - Arcane Resivor
     - Seize the Day
     - Base SS of 4
Rail Golem (12)
     - Imbued Energies
Eternal Flame (2)
Arcane Effigy (4)
Rail Worker (5)
Large Arachnid (6)
Myranda (9)
     - Imbued Energies
Firestarter (8)
     - Imbued Energies

Starting with the simple things. Firestarter is mostly there to Covert Breakthrough. Effigy, Worker, Large Spider are there to jam bodies next to the strat, hopefully bodies that can take a hit or two (though the spider and worker will most likely have pluses on attack and damage flips as long as they are alive so they can usually hit a little hard as well). All of these can be healed by the Eternal Flame. Since 3 of the 4 deployment zones require you to go over the river I wanted Grab and Drop to give flying so everyone can get there STAT. A bonus will be scheme markers everywhere to do Dig Their Graves. And finally, the piece that shows I'm not right in the head, the Rail Golem. It can pulse to give everyone burning for Turn 1 Grab and Drop. Firestarter can relight it afterwards so it is ready to go later. Firestarter can also relight a few more models after they have moved up so Kaeris can suck the burning off of them to get more cards. The hope, the plan, the idea, the prayer, is that I will have lots of in my hand from the card draw that when my opponent tries to pile in like me to take control of the strat the Rail Golem goes haywire and smashes everyone. I should say that I stayed at base 4 SS because my biggest use will be card cycle for more  Turns 1 and 2, maybe a init reflip the turn when the Golem is ready to go in if I need it on top of Sieze the Day. Firestarter and Karies can hopefully use their speed and mobility to stay alive. Myranda gives 4 more cards to dig for and the BJ as well as will become a model that can leap to help deal with that terrain.

Edit: did an edit to switch in Myranda for more card draw. She normally doesn't come to mind because I don't own her. That has been fixed

[so_diogenes]

Toni (5)

• frontline leadership
• challenge the crowd
• warding runes

Carlos

• stunt double
• warding runes

Angelica

• PP

Oxfordian Mage

• Temporary Shielding
• Blood Ward

Johan(na)

Silent One

Soulstone Miner

Malifaux Raptor

 

Based on my common opponents I'm strongly expecting Lynch, so I'm using a blood mage/warding runes to reduce the chance of getting put under the influence by keeping Toni and Carlos as close to the marker as possible, with the silent one and Johanna there for heal/condition support and killing. I'm picking dig their graves (just too simple with PP) and covert breakthrough. Movement on this map is really tough and I'm hoping to get either bottom right or top left for my deployment zone.

 

I thought a lot about Kaeris to try to get around all the difficult terrain as well as Ramos for unimpeded spiders, it's also really hard for me to not just say "Sandeep" for every single game, but I really like Toni and wanted to get her involved.

[retnab]

Kaeris - Blinding Flame, Grab & Drop

Carlos Vasquez - Practiced Productions, Stunt Double

The Firestarter

Arcane Effigy

Large Arachnid

Large Arachnid

Performer

Willie

Malifaux Child

4ss cache

Extraction, G&D, and Dig Their Graves should pair nicely to make that very easy. The Effigy and PP can do Claim Jump, and Firestarter or Kaeris could do Breakthrough. The Performer can grab Evidence Markers without worrying about engagement ranges. 9 activations means I can keep several Evidence Markers away from the opponent, and Kaeris should be able to keep herself safe at the back. Carlos and the Performer can remove any enemy scheme markers that are placed aggressively as well. The Large Arachnids can use the spare Scheme Markers and are tanky models for Extraction, Carlos is the main beater, and Malifaux Child is support with Burning and heals

[Franchute]

Hello,

Just because I have been playing Ramos these days, I feel like going for him.

There are some advantages with Ramos:

• The large number of models helps with extraction
• Steam arachnids are unimpeded. This is a huge advantage given the map @Mrbedlam proposes.
• Ramos is tough. If eliminate the leadership is in the pool, Ramos has an advantage there. I think this last point has become more powerful with the availability of Sandeep nowadays: Constructs are now less common in arcanists because it is very likely that the arcanist player would drop Sandeep without any (or less) construct. Hence, it is less likely that the opponent would bring an anti-armor crew since he anticipates Sandeep. Does this make sense? 

I would take claim jump and recover evidence given the large number of arachnids we can create to do interact actions. However, Recover evidence and Extraction may suggest that I would have to interact while engaged. In this case, steam arachnids are not enough. That's why I would add a performer to the list:

- Ramos with full cache, arcane reservoir, under pressure, field generator
- Joss, with bleeding edge tech and powered by flame
- Johan
- Performer (helps for recover evidence)
- Metal gamin (def push for Ramos because eliminate the leadership is in the pool)
- Arcane effigy
- Electric creation (scrap engine)
- Malifaux raptor (here to bother a possible sniper)

I'm not sure about Johan and Arcane effigy. Johan is a good model, but the map makes him even more slow. May I should consider a second performer with something else or simply replace Johan + effigy with a beatstick (maybe McTavish who can shoot into engagement). 

Anyway, if you have comments, I would be interested because I'm relatively new to arcanists.

[PanzerHarris]

I'm going to go slightly left field and opt for Marcus. There's a lot of terrain that could slow down and block off other Masters and their crews, but the Beastmaster isn't phased by such trivial matters!

Marcus (Trail of the Gods, Feral Instincts, Hunger Cry) 

Jackalope 

Myranda (Imbued Energies) 

Sabretooth Cerberus (Imbued Energies)

Sabretooth Cerberus (Imbued Energies)

Angelica (Practised Production)

Night Terror 

Night Terror

Malifaux Raptor

9 models, cache of 4

This crew is possibly the least subtle one I've put together in a long time. The reach of the Cerberus is enough to cause sleepless nights - 5" push from Angelica, 5" Imbued Energies walk, 7" Leap, 7" charge, 1" melee range. 25" threat range. Unimpeded. And there's two of them. Three if needs be. I'm confident that whoever the opposing Master is, they're going to end up in a big cat's stomach. 

Practiced Production makes Dig Their Graves ridiculously easy, particularly with this much hitting power and this much speed. Add Marcus with his 8" walk and charge. Pain time. 

Covert Breakthrough or Claim Jump can be accomplished via the Raptor and Practiced Production, or the Cerberus and Marcus if they end up with AP to spare. If Myranda went for the Blessed of December option then that model can easily accomplish Claim Jump by itself (marker, unsuited Leap, marker). 

Recover Evidence probably isn't a great take. Ten Thunders can make it very difficult for you to interact in a certain place if they want you to. 10T Brothers in particular are sods. For that reason I'm not exactly heartbroken that this crew doesn't like it. 

For Extraction, I'm relying on Angelica and the Night Terrors making use of cover to keep contesting, plus the hunting beasts. The Night Terrors are, believe it or not, Minions. They also take at least 2, possibly 3, AP to get rid of. In this crew there are much more pressing threats for the opponent to be dealing with!

10 Thunders in general have all the positive flips available to them. They have good stats and will probably have good cards. That's why 3-headed Cerberus are good choices to hunt them down because they also have good stats and positive flips, and high minimum damage to help with defensive abilities. Using Marcus' combo of make the enemy a Beast / Domesticate can lock down a model per turn or at least nullify its bonuses. Plus with a 4/4/6 damage track courtesy of Trail of the Gods, he's also quite happy knocking lumps off things. 

The crew does rely on getting the first hits in, as it isn't particularly resilient. However, having used it a lot, that's generally not a problem with the enormous threat ranges, Leaps and Unimpeded that it has. That plays even more into its hands with Extraction as the opponent has to come forward and contest the Informant marker. 

Anyway. I've rambled on enough!

[Trixter]

I expect fast MI crew or maybe condition-heavy crew (Lynch / Brewmaster). I'm afraid Sh a bit (McCabe), and FFM not in the pool, so I choose:

Rasputina + 3 Pool
 - Shattered Heart (3)
 - Cold Nights (1)
Wendigo (3) -- table control, Claim Jump
Snow Storm (11) -- movement tricks, Extraction, Bullet proof
 - Imbued Protection (2)
Arcane Emissary (10) -- movement tricks, Extraction, scheme denying.
 - Elemental Conflux (0)
Silent One (6) -- heal
Ice Dancer (6) -- Dig their Graves, Claim Jump
Ice Gamin (4) -- buff, 7th activation
Arcane Effigy (4) -- condition removal, Radiance buff, 8th activation

I'm going to place 2-3 markers within 3" of the center via Dancer and Emissary on 1st turn (for DtG setup) and send Wendigo on far corner (for CJ).
After that I'll just sit with fishing rod and wait =)

[Frollo the Wordbearer]

So, just because Sandeep is the only one left behind.

Sandeep Desai: commands, arcane reservoire, enlightened soul. 6ss

McTavish

Carlos: stunt double, PP

Johan: well rehearsed

Union miner

Large arachnid

Malifaux raptor

 

7 to 10 models, 3 models with a 3" engage. (4 with bonasuva) McTavish has a good gun to counter-sniper enemies and his aura should be quite good against TT (no focus or defensive).

Union miner provides schemes for johan's mobility, arachnid's [+], PP and McTavish's gun.

Arachnid, Miner and johan (and summoned metal gamjn) are all M&SU for their buffs and johan's heal.

All schemes should be quite easy, depending on the opponent. Cover br.. and Dig their.. easyier than others.

 

[bertmac]

Kaeris. Purifying Fire, Arcane resevoir, seize the day.

Eternal Flame

Sabertooth Cerberus, imbued energies.

Howard Langston, imbued energies.

Mech Rider

Arcane effigy.

Railworker.

 

Lots of options here. Mech rider can setup for dig their graves and summons in reinforcements. Kaeris does breakthrough very easily due to how big deployment zones are and can fly off turn 4 to get it done. Langston and Cerberus kill everything near the extraction marker and get healed by Kaeris and the rail worker provides able backup. Depending on Who you are up against eliminate the leadership is quite doable and recover evidence can be a good pick depending on how aggresive your opponents crew looks.

[mythicFOX]

1) Scenario Analysis

Right out of the gate Eliminate the Leadership is a factor here; Bettari with Recall Training can make butter of the wrong master.  For me this rules out; Colette, Marcus, and Rasputina, without their defensive triggers they're too vulnerable for me.  Thunders broadly struggle with armor, which makes me think this has Dr Ramos written all over it.

The board has a lot of sever terrain, good for the spiders.  There are limited sight lines around the extraction point, which will be initially positioned so models can contest it without necessarily having LOS or charge lanes to each other. This will make denying extraction difficult for either side. That said Thunders can struggle on activation count so we should have an advantage moving the marker.  Flank deployment makes Covert Breakthrough fairly trivial.

So my take is the game is going to be won or lost on the second scheme. 

 

2) Crew Choice

• Ramos [Arcane Reservoir, Under Pressure, Bleeding Edge Tech, 7ss cache] (9)
• Myranda [Imbued Energies] (9)
• Miss Step (12)
• Large Arachnid (6)
• Soulstone Miner (6)
• Electric Creation (4)
• Brass Arachnid (4)

 

3) Crew choice and play

If we win the deployment flip, deploy first and take the bottom right, or at least aim not to end up in the top left as it looks like a pig to get out of. Most of our crew is unimpeded (Cerberus, Miner, Large and Small Arachnids) or can push (Ramos) to mitigate the terrain.

Large Arachnid eats the creation for our turn one double scrap drop, then sets about eating the opponent's Dig Their Graves markers.  If they've taken Asami we need to think about having Ramos kill the creation and summon in the same activation to avoid her hoovering his scrap.   Ramos, Miss Step and the Spiders do extraction.  Soulstone Miner goes wide and makes our opponent pay way over the odds for even thinking about disrupting our Breakthrough. Myranda-berus will give support in the center or hunt objective runners (especially Tengu) as needed. 

If our opponent plays McCabe and Bettari then she's a huge threat to Ramos and becomes the priority one target, we kill her at all costs. If we expect McCabe we should consider swapping the Brass for a Metal Gamin to help protect Ramos.

We're aiming to summon a full swarm at some point here to help deny schemes with its (0) pulse. We're especially looking to have one hail Mary their Breakthrough late in the game, and need to beware Tengu trying the same.  We should consider not playing Breakthrough vs Asami for this reason.

Second scheme can be Claim Jump or Dig Their Graves depending on their crew.

[H4ml3t]

I really enjoy getting insight into how others approach the game. Keep em coming.

[Franchute]

@mythicFOX Thanks for your insights. I have a couple of questions on your list if you wouldn't mind as I'm trying to learn how to play Ramos.

1. Why dont you consider Joss? Is this because of this specific scenario and would you consider him in other contexts? Or is he a model you generally dont value much?

2. You put under pressure on Ramos. What is your opinion about field generator? Why do you prefer under pressure over it?

[Gladrocks]

I would assume because under pressure is always on. Meaning Ramos AP is free to be used summoning spiders, making electrical fires and relocating his auras.

[Frollo the Wordbearer]

I'd add also:

In his crew the only model who will be virtually for the majority of the turns into 6" of Ramos are Large Arachnid and some steam arachnids (hank, cerberus and miner will be usually not near enought probably), so FG would not be used at its maximum.

I like FG, but use it when play more "swarmy" ramos list: no big beater and lots of lesser models (played in a bubble around Ramos).

The reason why not take joss could be his price and relative slowliness. The list is quite aggressive and taking joss would have meant not to have Soulstone miner. LA is a good substitute for starting the spider factory on T1.

Well, i'm not mythicFOX nor really a good player, so.. that's just IMHO. 

 

[Mxbedlam]

Ok sorry guys. WOrk got in the way! Go ahead an vote for a favorite!

[mythicFOX]

On 4/22/2017 at 6:45 PM, Franchute said:

@mythicFOX Thanks for your insights. I have a couple of questions on your list if you wouldn't mind as I'm trying to learn how to play Ramos.

1. Why dont you consider Joss? Is this because of this specific scenario and would you consider him in other contexts? Or is he a model you generally dont value much?

2. You put under pressure on Ramos. What is your opinion about field generator? Why do you prefer under pressure over it?

I think others have covered most of the key points.  Joss wise this is almost entirely scenario, given the terrain I don't see us getting a lot of work out of him, he's slow and unlikely to really connect with anything meaningful vs a wily opponent.  Plus that axe is less useful vs Thunders than other factions.  Generally Joss is good and I do take him, although I think his value has dropped a little over the last few books.

There isn't really a wrong 2ss upgrade choice for Ramos. I went with Under Pressure as [+] for Miss Step can be devastating, and significantly improves the effectiveness of the Swarm I was planning to get at some point. I could make a strong case for Combat Mechanic or Field Generator in it's place.

Broadly I do think FG is of slightly lower value as it's fairly resource intensive to keep up, and I find extra protection on the Arachnids is slightly missing their ablative nature.

 

PS: Thanks for the votes guys.  

[MuMantai]

Ok, lets have some fun.

Normally, I would consider Ramos heavily for Extraction, and I think he's very good here, but with this marker heavy schemes, I would propose Sandeep:

Sandeep (Commands, Arcane Reservoir, Seize the Day)

The Captain (Casting Expert)

Arcane Emissary (Imbued Energies)

Oxfordian Mage (Temp. Shielding, Ward)

Oxfordian Mage (Temp. Shielding, Ward)

Oxfordian Mage (Temp. Shielding, Ward)

Soulstone Miner

 

With this scheme pool, Visions in Theorie gives more benefits, but I play three mages with commands for one single reason: to be able to furious cast on something in cover.

My gameplan is simple: with this crew, I am able to reliably play any scheme in the pool. Summoned gamins (or anything, really) for claim jump, the miner for covert breakthrough, gamins (or copied (0)) for dig their graves, killing provided by anything but gamin, Sandeep plus Banasuva and mages for eliminate, again gamin or... anything for recover evidence, helped by Sandeeps (0) actions. For the strategy, Banasuva and the Emissary are the main focus for the strategy, with the captain helping out in later turns. The gunline should be enough to keep everything out of the center, ensuring that the marker keeps getting to my side and out of enemy scoring range.

 

I would consider which schemes to pick when seeing the enemy crew, but to rate them for this crew:

Claim Jump: Most likely, as I tech to outactivate.

Eliminate: Most likely not, depends on the crew, but takes too much time and effort against most masters. I want to kill the crew, to keep him from scoring Strategy.

Dig their graves: Not likely, as I have mostly ranged combat. Hard to score full three with this, even with the ability to drop markers as (0). Also, I don't like the scheme.

Covert Breakthrough: Maybe, depends on the enemy crew. Does he have the ability to outspread me? can I fit something through without it being catched or followed? Then yes, otherwise not.

Recover Evidence: The other possibility, also depending on the enemy crew. If he has a maximum of seven models, without summon, and most of them want in my face, this is my scheme. If he can deny two or more markers by dropping them deep in his half, then not so much.

 

To break it down:

Sandeep has to be played a bit more defensive than I would normally. His Job is to ensure the Gamin with the plus-aura is alive and well, pick off scheme runners when possible and be in range for models to use his stuff.

Banasuva has two jobs: Eat AP and tie things up, and when possible do as much damage as possible. The usual stuff. Sandeeps (0) place action is usually reserved for him.

The Captain has the job of getting the mages where they have to be. Also, in mid- to lategame he can attack things, or keep enemies from where I don't want them to be (e.g. the extraction marker)

The mages keep to cover and kill stuff where possible. They work with the captain to be in position for furious casting or get out of the way whenever needed. They also hamper the enemy by slow and pushes.

The Soulstone Miner is there for Covert Breakthrough, but he also can do other Schemes. Or to produce Soulstones.

 

For the enemy, Eliminate against Sandeep is possible, but less so for Ten Thunders. Especially Impossible to Wound deletes a lot of plays around Focus, and Sandeep can also heal when needed.

So, my opponent has to either avoid me and go Breakthrough and Claim Jump, which I can deny with Sandeep and Gamin, or Dig and Recover Evedence, which would mean killing my crew, which I am very confident about.