Cyclops vs rougarou

[Joachim]

Hi guys,

I'm trying to focus a bit on titania as I love the new cyclops miniatures, the general aesthetic of the crew and the way they play.

I really like the rougarou in the couple of games i've used them in. Especially one rougarou and tooth can really dish out a lot of attacks for 15ss and be a threat that the opponent has to be aware of.

But now the cyclops is coming, also at 8ss. So I'm wondering how you guys see how they compare. When would you bring a cyclops (or 2), when a rougarou (or 2?) or do they both fit in a crew? The thing with 8ss is that you often can get a really hard hitting model for a couple stones more, or just some cheaper stuff like a waldgeists or even 2 changelings.

 

Thoughts?

[Mutter]

Hmm, they're both so different, that I'm not sure if I ever need to decide between them.

Rougarou I bring if I'll benefit from pounces. And only, when I can afford to stay pretty close together. For the Cyclops, I forsee a completely different application ...

[Joachim]

That is exactly what my question was.

They're both 8ss, when are you bringing a cyclops, when are you bringing a rougarou and are there situations when you fit in both. Obviously each one has their own role.

[Ergonomic Cat]

I'm bringing Rougarou any time I need to move people around or any time I can move 2-3 models as a unit and not sacrifice my scoring ability.  Given that we're Neverborn, that's about 90% of the time.  There are very few pools where "Move people where I want them" is not a path to victory.

I find it *really* hard not to put the 15 point Tooth + Rougarou package in almost every crew.  The amount of devastation those 15 points can dole out is crazy, especially given how tough Tooth is.  

If you haven't done the math, assuming all successful duels:

Tooth uses a 0 challenge to lure an opponent.  Rougarou gets a pounce.  Tooth gets an attack and pushes the opponent .25".  Rougarou gets an attack.

Tooth uses 1 AP to attack, pushes opponent .25".  Rougarou gets an attack.

Tooth uses 1 AP to attack, pushes opponent .25".  Rougarou gets an attack.

Opponent has to flip to avoid slow on activation.  

So 2 AP from Tooth gets you 7 attacks and a slow flip.  And Tooth has 2" melee (right?) armor +1 and hard to kill.

<3.

[whodares]

1 hour ago, Ergonomic Cat said:

I'm bringing Rougarou any time I need to move people around or any time I can move 2-3 models as a unit and not sacrifice my scoring ability.  Given that we're Neverborn, that's about 90% of the time.  There are very few pools where "Move people where I want them" is not a path to victory.

I find it *really* hard not to put the 15 point Tooth + Rougarou package in almost every crew.  The amount of devastation those 15 points can dole out is crazy, especially given how tough Tooth is.  

If you haven't done the math, assuming all successful duels:

Tooth uses a 0 challenge to lure an opponent.  Rougarou gets a pounce.  Tooth gets an attack and pushes the opponent .25".  Rougarou gets an attack.

Tooth uses 1 AP to attack, pushes opponent .25".  Rougarou gets an attack.

Tooth uses 1 AP to attack, pushes opponent .25".  Rougarou gets an attack.

Opponent has to flip to avoid slow on activation.  

So 2 AP from Tooth gets you 7 attacks and a slow flip.  And Tooth has 2" melee (right?) armor +1 and hard to kill.

<3.

I learned this the hard way with a generic Conflux Emissary behind those guys. All those attacks on + flips really killed me there

[Joachim]

10 hours ago, whodares said:

I learned this the hard way with a generic Conflux Emissary behind those guys. All those attacks on + flips really killed me there

Yeah, that was a fun game for me

[Joachim]

12 hours ago, Ergonomic Cat said:

I'm bringing Rougarou any time I need to move people around or any time I can move 2-3 models as a unit and not sacrifice my scoring ability.  Given that we're Neverborn, that's about 90% of the time.  There are very few pools where "Move people where I want them" is not a path to victory.

I find it *really* hard not to put the 15 point Tooth + Rougarou package in almost every crew.  The amount of devastation those 15 points can dole out is crazy, especially given how tough Tooth is.  

If you haven't done the math, assuming all successful duels:

Tooth uses a 0 challenge to lure an opponent.  Rougarou gets a pounce.  Tooth gets an attack and pushes the opponent .25".  Rougarou gets an attack.

Tooth uses 1 AP to attack, pushes opponent .25".  Rougarou gets an attack.

Tooth uses 1 AP to attack, pushes opponent .25".  Rougarou gets an attack.

Opponent has to flip to avoid slow on activation.  

So 2 AP from Tooth gets you 7 attacks and a slow flip.  And Tooth has 2" melee (right?) armor +1 and hard to kill.

<3.

And it's not a game changer, but if you have an emissary behind that, every one of those attacks is at plus flips, and stat 6 with plus flips is generally gonna hit pretty consistently.

Also the emissary can bring in a changeling which has a sort of pseudo-pounce. Ok, this is not really what you're going for, but the changeling(s) will get you an extra attack here at ml4 with plus flips, it's an added bonus when it comes up. And tbh, in malifaux any way of making yourself usefull without spending ap is awesome.

With the emissary, rougarou and tooth, I'm spending 25ss and i'm getting a lot of offensive threat out of them and a lot of utility out of the emissary. So far I'm really liking that 3 man team. Changelings summons will depend on my hand and if I need them, cause the scheme markers should be around in a titania crew. The hazardous terrain again depends on the map but add in a 1/4/5 damage flip when challenging someone through the hazardous and then triggering 7 attacks is usually a dead model. Though a lot of things have to go right for that to work, it is devestating when it does.

I've also been thinking about aeslin aura where people can't move any of your models. As that is something that counters this combo pretty hard. That is a 34/35ss investment though in this group so I'm not convinced on this yet, as you're having 35ss that has to stay grouped to be effective, it is easy to outmanouver.

[esqulax]

Sorry, I know I am going pretty off topic here, but I hope it is ok.

Rougarou are one of the very few Neverborn models that I don't own since I was pretty unimpressed when I first read their rules and reading this thread it really sounds like the main reason you are taking them is due to pounce. Wouldn't Baby Kade be able to fill the same role and maybe even be slightly better? 

[whodares]

I've been thinking about that as well. The thing with Kade is that it NEEDS the model to be engaged with another model. Else his damage spreak becomes pathetic.

Rougarou are also tankier, which makes it harder for the opponent to shut down your murder zone.

Lastly Rougarou are minions, while Kade is an Enforcer. If you have the Emissary, you can take the generic conflux to boost up the minions, which Kade isn't.

 

I'll agree with you that Kade can be better under IDEAL conditions. With is I mean the enemy is always dead after the flurry of attacks and he never has a chance to attack Kade. If the enemy survives and managed to land a counter attack OR he manages to get a model charged up to Kade, he's gonna fold rather fast.

[esqulax]

Yeah, but if the plan is to lure them in with tooth, won't they be engaged to her anyway? It sucks a bit that he has half the melee range of the Rougarou, but if you get him engaged then his attack is a lot better. 

I have also often heard that Kade is a crazy glass cannon, but I have honestly found that df 7 can sometimes get you surprisingly far. He is definitely no rock, but If you have a couple of high cards you can usually keep him alive if you want to. That is my experience at least. 

His lure is also not to be forgotten. It may have a low cast, but it can still be handy at times and he is slightly cheaper than the Rougarou. 

Again, I have never tried the Rougarou so this is all in theory for me. It is just when I read the situation described in this thread where they are used for their pounce I just can't imagine that Kade isn't better. 

[Ergonomic Cat]

6 hours ago, Joachim said:

And it's not a game changer, but if you have an emissary behind that, every one of those attacks is at plus flips, and stat 6 with plus flips is generally gonna hit pretty consistently.

Also the emissary can bring in a changeling which has a sort of pseudo-pounce. Ok, this is not really what you're going for, but the changeling(s) will get you an extra attack here at ml4 with plus flips, it's an added bonus when it comes up. And tbh, in malifaux any way of making yourself usefull without spending ap is awesome.

With the emissary, rougarou and tooth, I'm spending 25ss and i'm getting a lot of offensive threat out of them and a lot of utility out of the emissary. So far I'm really liking that 3 man team. Changelings summons will depend on my hand and if I need them, cause the scheme markers should be around in a titania crew. The hazardous terrain again depends on the map but add in a 1/4/5 damage flip when challenging someone through the hazardous and then triggering 7 attacks is usually a dead model. Though a lot of things have to go right for that to work, it is devestating when it does.

I've also been thinking about aeslin aura where people can't move any of your models. As that is something that counters this combo pretty hard. That is a 34/35ss investment though in this group so I'm not convinced on this yet, as you're having 35ss that has to stay grouped to be effective, it is easy to outmanouver.

Interesting. I've been taking a Changeling with the package a lot of the time too, since they're a nice little 4ss package.  I'm so desperate to use the Emissary *somewhere* that I like the idea of dropping it in here.  Thanks!  Both Lilith and Titania seem like they'd really like this, for different reasons.  

[Ergonomic Cat]

23 minutes ago, esqulax said:

Yeah, but if the plan is to lure them in with tooth, won't they be engaged to her anyway? It sucks a bit that he has half the melee range of the Rougarou, but if you get him engaged then his attack is a lot better. 

I have also often heard that Kate is a crazy glass cannon, but I have honestly found that df 7 can sometimes get you surprisingly far. He is definitely no rock, but If you have a couple of high cards you can usually keep him alive if you want to. That is my experience at least. 

His lure is also not to be forgotten. It may have a low cast, but it can still be handy at times and he is slightly cheaper than the Rougarou. 

Again, I have never tried the Rougarou so this is all in theory for me. It is just when I read the situation described in this thread where they are used for their pounce I just can't imagine that Kate isn't better. 

Realistically, Kade is the same cost, because 99% of the time, you're going to put Depression on him so he can get his triggers.  

For me, the key differences are that 1. The Rougarou has so much more range.  Kade is a 30mm base with a 1" range, which works out to a bubble about 80mm/3.2" (15mm from center + 1" radius).  Rougarou is 50mm base with a 2" range, which works out to a bubble about 200m/6.2" (25mm from center + 2" radius).  That's a lot of increase.  Rougarou has 50% more health, but 5 vs 7 def *probably* makes that a wash?  However, Rougarou can heal 2 or push for free (assuming a scheme marker, which is pretty likely give The Tooth).  He also has Hard to Kill.  So if he's not taken out, he's likely going to activate, heal for 2, and take another 2 AP to kill at least.  And while Kade has a Lure, which is fantastic for triggering his own ability, Rougarou's 0 is pretty useful (and kind of hilarious).  Kade gets a slow on his attacks, which is huge if you don't get the kill.  But I think the reach of the Rougarou (he can even attack over Tooth's head, at 2"+HT3) can't be discounted in how much easier he makes it to get the combo off.

For me, it's mostly down to the fact that Kade feels small and fragile, while Rougarou feels big and tough.  Combine with Titania's ability to pass out Armor now....

That being said, I think Kade is still a model that gets unfairly dismissed in a lot of cases.  

[Joachim]

15 minutes ago, Ergonomic Cat said:

For me, the key differences are that 1. The Rougarou has so much more range.  Kade is a 30mm base with a 1" range, which works out to a bubble about 80mm/3.2" (15mm from center + 1" radius).  Rougarou is 50mm base with a 2" range, which works out to a bubble about 200m/6.2" (25mm from center + 2" radius).  That's a lot of increase.  Rougarou has 50% more health, but 5 vs 7 def *probably* makes that a wash?  However, Rougarou can heal 2 or push for free (assuming a scheme marker, which is pretty likely give The Tooth).  He also has Hard to Kill.  So if he's not taken out, he's likely going to activate, heal for 2, and take another 2 AP to kill at least.  And while Kade has a Lure, which is fantastic for triggering his own ability, Rougarou's 0 is pretty useful (and kind of hilarious).  Kade gets a slow on his attacks, which is huge if you don't get the kill.  But I think the reach of the Rougarou (he can even attack over Tooth's head, at 2"+HT3) can't be discounted in how much easier he makes it to get the combo off.

You made a great point here, for the combo with tooth I find rougarou to simply be superior to kade. The 50mm base and melee range 2" is a pretty decent area.

But I think what makes the difference in a titania crew is his ability to eat a scheme marker when he activates to heal 2 combined with hard to kill. Yes he has df5 in stead of 7 but next to tooth there should be scheme markers around, if not from other sources and you can get that heal off. And if you don't need the heal you can get a 3" punch. Which can get you to safety, or set up a charge. 

Kade has a lure but rougarou has a short range lure pulse, which also has his place. 

And indeed don't underestimate the fact that I combo it with the emissary, and i can't stress enough how huge plus flips on that amount of attacks are. I've ran it once with a teddy. If teddy use his built in push to get the target into the rougarou that's probably a dead model.

 

About the changeling: I'm not sure but I think i forgot to mention, that what I plan to do is, the changeling gets a sort of pounce once a turn, but he can copy tooth's attack, which has a push in it (not from a trigger!), which then again triggers rougarou's pounce. It's at ml4 but if it hits, that's again 2 attacks. So if tooth lures, thats 1 attack from rougarou and changeling, changeling's pounce attack if it hits is another push, so a second attack from rougarou and then tooths attack from the lure and can spend 2 more ap attacking, if everything hits that is 3 more pounce attacks from rougarou. You can then even attack it with the changeling during your next activation and maybe get some more pounce attacks, but that would just be an added bonus. So assuming tooth doesn't miss, with the plus flips and cheating thats not automatic but at least probable, then you get 8 attacks. If the changeling hits his pounce you get a 9th one. It is minimum damage 2 on all of these attacks, but if even just half of these hits thats 9 wounds and that kills a lot of models in just tooths activation.

 

There's a lot of hypothetical stuff going on here, but I also believe a lot in threats in malifaux. The sheer threat of that 25ss trio when it does lure something in is simply something you can not ignore. So the opponent has to stay outside of the lure range, or invest some of his offense into breaking it up, etc. And then I'm a big fan of putting a second threat out there, say nekima, or teddy, or maybe a cyclops if you want to spend less, and than you make the opponents make decisions real quick and then he can also make mistakes.

 

I'm throwing another question in here, if you're investing in this tooth/rougarou combo, is there a place for the gorar? I've read a lot that he's not very good, and I agree that he actually doesn't do anything, he's an insignificant peon, so he can't score anything, and he has to be in the middle of the board and wait till something dies. But then again, the opponent can't really break up the combo untill they take down the gorar, which isn't that hard to do, but he still has to spend (at the very least 1) ap on it.  So maybe in some situations he can come out and be a sort of extra distraction?

 

 

[Ergonomic Cat]

2 hours ago, Joachim said:

About the changeling: I'm not sure but I think i forgot to mention, that what I plan to do is, the changeling gets a sort of pounce once a turn, but he can copy tooth's attack, which has a push in it (not from a trigger!), which then again triggers rougarou's pounce. It's at ml4 but if it hits, that's again 2 attacks. So if tooth lures, thats 1 attack from rougarou and changeling, changeling's pounce attack if it hits is another push, so a second attack from rougarou and then tooths attack from the lure and can spend 2 more ap attacking, if everything hits that is 3 more pounce attacks from rougarou. You can then even attack it with the changeling during your next activation and maybe get some more pounce attacks, but that would just be an added bonus. So assuming tooth doesn't miss, with the plus flips and cheating thats not automatic but at least probable, then you get 8 attacks. If the changeling hits his pounce you get a 9th one. It is minimum damage 2 on all of these attacks, but if even just half of these hits thats 9 wounds and that kills a lot of models in just tooths activation.

 

There's a lot of hypothetical stuff going on here, but I also believe a lot in threats in malifaux. The sheer threat of that 25ss trio when it does lure something in is simply something you can not ignore. So the opponent has to stay outside of the lure range, or invest some of his offense into breaking it up, etc. And then I'm a big fan of putting a second threat out there, say nekima, or teddy, or maybe a cyclops if you want to spend less, and than you make the opponents make decisions real quick and then he can also make mistakes.

 

I'm throwing another question in here, if you're investing in this tooth/rougarou combo, is there a place for the gorar? I've read a lot that he's not very good, and I agree that he actually doesn't do anything, he's an insignificant peon, so he can't score anything, and he has to be in the middle of the board and wait till something dies. But then again, the opponent can't really break up the combo untill they take down the gorar, which isn't that hard to do, but he still has to spend (at the very least 1) ap on it.  So maybe in some situations he can come out and be a sort of extra distraction?

 

 

Changeling gets the plus flips too, right?  Ml4 with plus flips is not at all bad.  And yeah, the look on your opponent's face when you pull off 9+ attacks on a single turn has to be amazing.

And yeah, I think you're right about the threat.  Just knowing that any model that gets in the range of that awful bubble could very well get destroyed with minimal AP investment is worth a lot!  

You're really selling me on the Emissary.  + flips to Tooth, Rougarou and Changelings is just fantastic.

I think this is probably one of the exceptionally few situations where the Gorar might actually be worth it.  Because taking down either Tooth or the Rougarou turns this from a doom ball to "oh, you have a good minion."  Being able to laugh maniacally and say "BUT WAIT!" is pretty amusing.  Is it worth more than +1 card draw from Pukesnake?  Maybe, maybe not.

[esqulax]

You make some good points, I might have to try out the Rougarou. Self heal and hard to kill is definitely nice. 

You talk about it being good that it gets plus flip from the emissary's base conflux in a Titania crew, but aren't you going to run the new upgrade when it comes out instead of mysterious? 

And sorry for hijacking the thread away from Cyclops. I am going to stop talking about Kade now

[Joachim]

44 minutes ago, esqulax said:

You talk about it being good that it gets plus flip from the emissary's base conflux in a Titania crew, but aren't you going to run the new upgrade when it comes out instead of mysterious? 

I'm definetely going to play the new conflux when it comes out, I haven't tried it but it seems stronger. I do believe that tooth + rougarou will be very strong, offensively they might be a little less consistent, but then again the emissary can give rougarou armor, which combined with hard to kill and healing makes him pretty resilient imo. I'll probably run a slightly different list though.

 

2 hours ago, Ergonomic Cat said:

I think this is probably one of the exceptionally few situations where the Gorar might actually be worth it.  Because taking down either Tooth or the Rougarou turns this from a doom ball to "oh, you have a good minion."  Being able to laugh maniacally and say "BUT WAIT!" is pretty amusing.  Is it worth more than +1 card draw from Pukesnake?  Maybe, maybe not.

I'm currently thinking the pukesnake is just better than the gorar for one simple reason, rush of magic will always give you a strong effect, you can even hide it in the back and it will be worth the 2 stones for an extra activation and at least a couple of turns of card cycling. The gorar has just too many conditions, it has to be in the middle of the board, a minion has to die while it is in that position, it is very squishy, it can't really do anything else, or at least not consistently. When you're really trying to be competitive why take a risk on the gorar while you can spend one stone less and have a model thats always gonna do work for you, and if it can help you score thats a huge bonus.

I am bringing the gorar out in friendly games though, I love the model, I love playing thematic crew. And who knows, I might get convinced. One game asami lured my tooth out of position, which normally would suck pretty bad, she got her assassinate trigger off, but since I was able to hide gorar behind some crates and the emissary it was sitting there and summoned tooth back, he actually got a 3rd ap that turn. The game after that he did nothing though, my emissary and teddy got focussed, and tooth and rougarou were left alone. Right now I'm seeing him as a backup for if they do get to tooth or rougarou and if they target it directly than that is at least some ap gone. Though I believe it's not too hard to get rid of it pretty efficiently.

2 hours ago, Ergonomic Cat said:

You're really selling me on the Emissary.  + flips to Tooth, Rougarou and Changelings is just fantastic.

I have read some mixed opinions on the emissary, but he's been the mvp in some of my guys, I especially love how flexible he is. The only thing he lacks is consistent damage output, ml6 and min damage isn't great for a 10ss model, though the flex range can be nice and it's a cast, though titania and aeslin provide that as well. You can remove marker, conditions, summon a damn good minion for a 7 of masks, control the board with hazardous terrain, and buff all your minions. 

 

I'm writing pretty long posts here, but to wrap it up. I'm playing a game with titania tomorrow against my regular opponent. I'm bringing the usual tooth + rougarou + emissary and also the gorar. I'll let you guys know how that turns out.

[-Loki-]

Titanias conflux is great if you're in a Fae heavy crew, which is going to be if you're running a thematic crew or Royal Indignation. Having a lot of models to use its 0 on is really handy as it can do so much, and its bonus for being near its own Hungry Lands marker is really handy.

If you're running Pact with the Grave Spirit and not a whole lot of Fae but still want the Emissary? Mysterious Conflux is a good alternative, especially since as said already the Tooth/Rougarou combo is so easy to insert into most lists.

[Joachim]

So tried the following crew last friday:

 

Titania

- behold my glory

- aether connection

- fears given form

Mysterious emissary

Thorn

Tooth

Rougarou

Waldgeist

Waldgeist

gorar

 

Strat: Interference

Schemes: claim jump, ffm, lym, quick murder and undercover entourage

 

I wanted to try the tooth rougarou combo as I could then stay back and hold my quarters untill the opponent either engages me or I can "lure" something in.

The emissary can stand behind them and buff them and that way also make it difficult for the opponent to kill for quick murder. Summoning changelings is a bonus and would provide extra bodies for interference and also extra semi-pounce. The waldgeists where there to tie stuff up, prevent it from scoring interference, run off for leave your mark, and charging my backline.

I would run titania to disrupt their flank initially, in this case it was an ama no zako who turned out to be going for leave your mark and undercover entourage in my backline. Titania was able to charge a low river monk and terracotta warrior in the opponents backline turn 3, tying up their support.

Finally, I wanted to try the gorar again, since my list is very minion heavy. The center of the board was open except for a small patch of forest. The plan was to run up the gorar and to make the opponent commit to killing it, buying tooth/rougarou some more time to murder stuff. I'm still not convinced of the gorar as I feel that any movement tricks that push him outside of 6" just renders him almost useless. Apart from that he's sitting at the center with 4 wounds and df6. I considered it as at least extra ap the opponent had to spend before getting to the rougarou.

It turned out to be a fast win in turn 3 for me. Though the most important swing was that the opponent forgot that yasunori had plus flips, I was able to invest all my resources in keeping tooth/rougarou alive and cheated high to defend rougarou, he was brought to hard to kill twice and was able to heal after that. I also cheated a red joker for gorar to keep him alive longer. It's a lot of investment, but I feel titania is pretty easy on your hand and she was able to hold up ama no zako turn 1 and 2, burning 2 stones and receiving a total of 1 or 2 damage, so the opponent had thrown bettari and yasunori in my face, which hurt (and should have hurt a bit more with plus flips, but the amount of attacks coming back from rougarou tooth and changelings is brutal, cause it all gets plus flips). 

In the end, the gorar did great work this game as it kept rougarou alive (though he shouldn't have survived that amount of attacks). Though I'm still struggling with the fact that you can get primordial magic and an extra stone for something that will consistently do work for you. I made some mistakes this game, I put rougarou too far forward, maybe trusting a bit too much on the distraction that gorar. I also chose to push titania back at the end of turn 2 so we could both score for interference, but my emissary would get destiny, I completely forgot about equality on yasunori, healing him 2. Also yasunori has armor and 12 wounds, but I mostly rely on tons of min damage 2 attacks, so pinging 1 damage a time kinda hurts.

Next game I'm trying out a different kind of crew and see if I can keep on improving my titania play.

 

 

[Somnicide]

Thanks for the writeup. I just ran Rougarou and Tooth combo last night after reading it here. It worked pretty well, and was quite a surprise. Even more humorous with "deal with him" on the Tooth, because the push isn't a trigger, it just happens.

I've also started trying out the Gorar again, and I think he is worth the extra point if you are also running a cyclops. The paralyze threat is much more real when the slow just happens from the runes, and the pillars can help block LOS to whatever death zone you have to move it into. 

I look forward to your next one.

[Joachim]

Good point, haven't thought about that! Yeah, I was discussing it with my opponent, the paralyse thing is there so if it comes up it can be huge. 

[Philosfr]

Not that I've had him on the table yet, but after reading this thread I had to post my first finished Cyclops  

[Treehouse]

"Pay attention to meeeeeee"

                                    Cyclops

[Joel]

they gave neverborn access to ice pillars. In multiples.  this is.......rather handy

[-Loki-]

5 hours ago, Joel said:

they gave neverborn access to ice pillars. In multiples.  this is.......rather handy

No, gave them Ice Walls. There’s a big difference - Walls are placed in base contact with the Cyclops while Pillars have (IIRC) a 12” range.

The limitation of base contact while not touching models or markers means they have a much smaller impact on the game than Pillars since they’re harder to position well.

[santaclaws01]

31 minutes ago, -Loki- said:

No, gave them Ice Walls. There’s a big difference - Walls are placed in base contact with the Cyclops while Pillars have (IIRC) a 12” range.

The limitation of base contact while not touching models or markers means they have a much smaller impact on the game than Pillars since they’re harder to position well.

Realistically you'd only be putting up the walls before engaging the enemy crew, then switching to using Frozen Runes while actually fighting.