Would you kindly advise me?

[Phinn]

I have decided that it's time to expand my small collection of miniatures and I wanted to ask you for help.

I am a very slow painter and thus buy probably only a single box set once a year which means that I have to think my purchases through very carefuly. I spend more time painting the models than playing them so the visual aspect of models is very important to me, but since I invest my time and energy into them I do not want them sitting on a shelf collecting dust once they are painted.

 

Models that I already own:

• Zoraida and Voodoo Doll
• Bad Juju
• Silurids (3)
• Will o' the Wisps (3)
• Waldgeists (3)
• Iggy
• Nurse
• Stitched Together (3) - Only played them once so far, though. I like their models (both rules and sculpts) but wouldn't mind selling them.
• And once it is available, Adze.

I feel like theese models, minus Stitched Together, are enough to play a competetive game, but I kind of feel like I could use another Henchman or an Enforcer and with Zoraida's new upgrade, Powerful Control, I think that an expensive melee beatstick would be nice.

 

Models that I am interested in:

Mr. Graves
Do you think that Mr. Graves is a model I could use? I really like his sculpt and it would be a nice break from painting all those trees, frogs and bugs.
Is it worth to purchase Mr. Tannen as well?

Teddy
Played him few times and really liked him.
You can trigger his Smell Fear ability with Zoraida's Obey or Bewitch, Voodoo Doll's Hem etc., newly, with 7 or higher, you can make him Charge with a single Zoraida's AP once per Turn and it's nice to have an expensive model to Obey in general.
It is either drybrush or spend a lot of time on his fur which puts me off, though.

Another Neverborn Master Box Set
I feel like Lilith could use the models I already own.
Jakob Lynch, maybe?

Doppleganger
The sculpt is nice, the Don't Mind Me Ability is nice, but... I do not think that I have a good Action to copy yet and don't want to rely on my opponent to bring one.

Lelu & Lilitu
They seem like fun models, especially in conjunction with Zoraida's Obey, and, once again, it would be a nice change to paint them.

Mysterious Effigy
One of my most favorite models but don't see myself ever hiring it, sadly.

 

Models that I am not very interested in, but I also have Wp 2 so can be easily persuaded that I am wrong:

McTavish
Both Adrian Scott (Starting Malifaux on a Budget - The Neverborn, Wyrd Chronicles vol. 28) and Khyodee (Building on a Budget (Neverborn)) recommend McTavish.
I tried him twice and he was good, but I still haven't got over the fact that he is standing next to the Gator, not riding it.
Am I shooting myself in the foot by not purchasing him?

Nekima
I just prefer different style of models aesthetics-wise.

Hooded Rider
Long story short, 35 USD.

Amphibious Assault
It would be nice to own another Swampfiend Henchman, but Is Spawn Mother worth it? I also feel that I do not need Gupps since I already own Silurids, which I actually prefer over Gupps, and would rather spend my money, time and energy on a model/models that bring something new to the Crew.

Bayou Gators
Tried them few times, mainly as a Bad Juju delivery system where I didn't mind that they are so fragile and Insignificant and they also, usually, killed their Soulstone cost worth of models, but I would rather buy Neverborn models in case that I decide to purchase another Neverborn Master in the future.

 

Is there a model that i didn't list but you feel like he is worth mention? A Mercenary maybe. Johan?
 

Thank you for reading and if you would take your time and post a reply I would appreciate it immensely

[Philosfr]

With Zoraida specifically, I'd say the Spawn Mother is a good choice. The gupps come along for free if she's laying eggs, and can be useful for things like bringing Bad Juju back with his Eternal upgrade. Doppleganger is an all around great model, even if you're not copying attack actions. Don't mind me and her defensive stuff alone can be intimidating. Plus occassionally cheating initiative. For Teddy, you could go with Miss Ery instead of the typical teddy, then you have the option to paint differently since the fur is not as sculpted in. Not sure I'd use Teddy with Zoraida, but I can see it.

Final option I might recommend not on your list is Mysterious Emissary. You'd want to pick up some changelings to go with it, but the Emissary provides some really fun tactics, especially with wisps.

Only one I'd recommend against is Hooded Rider. Too expensive for what he does, probably my least favorite rider. Which is sad, I received a beautifully painted hooded rider in my color palette, but he's never been worth the points I've spent on him. 

 

[Joachim]

+1 on the emissary and changelings. They're both great models to paint and work well with all masters imo. 

 

Mctavish is great on the board. But if the model doesn't work for you there are other options. Also less of a use with other masters

[emiba]

For crew boxes, Lilith could play all day with what you have, someone even suggested a Swamp Fiend Lilith list somewhere. I'm not sure if Lilith's box bring much to your Zoraida crew though. That said, another master to alternate with can always be nice.

I own Lilith and I'm definitely getting Zoraida at some point, probably as my next master.

[Vorschlag]

Spawn mother will capitalise on your wisps.

She can also carry fears given form for auto kill when voodoo doll activates (if you have 2 models with it).

Example zoraida summons voodoo doll and her bags it after it hems, obey for condition spam, then it activates fails both fears given form and dies.

This is of course if your not going with paralyze spam on dolls.

The same set up works very nicely with widow weaver as your wisps summoning  a second doll and do it all again, giving you two scrap markers a turn for wicked dolls or teddy.

Stitched will also love the company of widow weaver and wicked dolls and are nasty obey targets especially if wicked doll has stitched them up.

Stitched gamble your life on voodoo doll is also obnoxious for damage doll spam.

McTavish is great if your running an in your face swampfiend crew of waldgiest, gupps, gators and boars(which got so much better with Zoraidas obey trigger).

-------   --------   --------   -------

As for additional masters

Force of nature Lilith will love your swampfiends but would mean getting more Nephilim if you want to go with her tribal affiliation.

Collodi will love weaver and stitched and give you wicked dolls but will need effigies.

Titania will like your walgiest and may actually do well with leaping scheme runners but it might be a little wasteful unless schemes etc would suggest them over her Knights.

Pandora might like your wisps for her now summonable totems paranormal activity and will like the company of teddy, weaver and Iggy.

Dreamer will like your stitched but may not add much in return.

Lucius means guild cross overs or worse (referring to illuminated).

Lynch see above enough said.

[Phinn]

The Wp 2 strikes again!
No, not really

Thank you, guys, for your advices, they were very helpful and I will definitely keep them in mind in the future

The thing is that I attended a tournament yeasterday and I won. The first prize was Herald of Obliteration, Nightmare Edition
Tara seems very complex, which I like, and I like her models so I will probably focus on her in the next league and tournaments.

[Natsugawa]

If you're thinking of expanding to other Neverborn masters you can't go wrong with the Doppelganger. Spawn mother and McTavish are also great choices for Zoraida

[feagaur]

I reckon Widow Weaver should definitely be on your list. She's great for lowering willpower making Zoraidas attacks even easier to get off.

Spawn mother is great with her too, especially if you bring along McTavish too it can be awesome.

If youre looking to expand into another crew box I reckon Pandora would be a good shout. With the models you have and her box you don't really need that much more (apart from maybe the widow weaver). Plus Pandora plays very differently so can really expand your game play.

[Sharp_GT]

absolutely pick up graves, I get tons of mileage out of him. He's offensive, he's tanky, and he can act as troop transport. Gold star. also, don't bother with tannen, he's just terrible.

Doppleganger is another insanely solid model. She's pretty easy to paint up too, so it shouldn't interupt your painting schedule.

Nekima should absolutely be in your bag. I get the aesthetic is pretty polarizing, but her stats are just so good. The addition of powerful control to zoraida makes her that much more dangerous of an obey target for mama z. Definitely a better choice than teddy for this role

Also, keep the stitched. They're crazy good, and in a dreamer or collodi crew they're legit disgusting.

[Philosfr]

I wouldn't say Tannen is "terrible". His Cooler aura is pretty phenomenal in the right situation, such as a very interact heavy pool that also focuses most of the action on a single area or too. He's not going to be much help in combat, but he can force opponents to deal with him before they can get interacts done.

[Sharp_GT]

the problem with tannen is that he only has that aura to offer, whenever I would activate him I struggle to figure out what to do with his AP, which is generally a sign of a bad model.

[santaclaws01]

2 hours ago, Sharp_GT said:

the problem with tannen is that he only has that aura to offer, whenever I would activate him I struggle to figure out what to do with his AP, which is generally a sign of a bad model.

That's because you take Tannen for things that don't involve his AP. Both his Anti-cheat and anti-interact aura cause your opponent to spend additional resources to do what they want to do. Or you take him for easier summons on dreamer.

[Philosfr]

5 hours ago, santaclaws01 said:

That's because you take Tannen for things that don't involve his AP. Both his Anti-cheat and anti-interact aura cause your opponent to spend additional resources to do what they want to do. Or you take him for easier summons on dreamer.

Yep. And if you can't think of what to do with him, have him drop a scheme marker, even if you don't need them to throw off the opponent. Or move into position and go defensive to make him harder for the enemy to remove.

[Trixter]

Try to purchase and bring together in one game McTavish AND Doppel. You can fill the field with lead until silurids make schemes