Some thoughts on the new Sonnia

[NeverEnding]

Ive been playing the Sonnia box set against the Lynch recently, my friend is just getting into Malifaux while I'm an ex-henchman returning from hiatus. I have to say new Sonnia is pretty scary, shes a one man show and Sam does goofy amounts of damage especially with Vengeance Bullet. My last three games I've successfully set up a rapid fire from Sam on Lynch himself and had Sonnia and the Stalkers sweep up the Illuminated and Huggy. The +2 to Ca is nice but the negatives she applies to Ca's has saved me a few times from becoming a druggie for brilliance. Also positive twist for wp 6? The Lynch crew is all WP 6.... Am I doing something wrong or does Sonnia just spank Lynch around?

[Rob Lo]

. Am I doing something wrong or does Sonnia just spank Lynch around?

 

I've come to the conclusion that no matter what the question about Sonnia, 98% of the time, the answer is whichever choice is most in Sonnia's favor. So having never even seen Lynch in play, I'm going to guess, yes, yes she does.

[Gipsy_Danger]

I played a 35 SS game against Lynch with Sonnia not too long ago Neverending, and I have to agree with you.

I brought Sonnia w/Imprint, Reincarnation, and another upgrade I can't remember off the top of my head; Sam w/Witch Hunt, Purifying Flame, a Friekorps Specialist, and an Austringer. He brought Lynch w/a bunch of upgrades, Huggy, and 3 Illuminated. I won't go into a full battle report, but honestly there were times when the game felt like a cake walk (and I noticed the same thing in a game against Pandora). It really feels like when Sonnia goes up against a casting-based army that has a shorter range than her and high WP that the game quickly sways in her favour

[Saracenar]

Just keep in mind that the game is not as well balanced at lower stone levels than 40. 35 might not seem like much, but some crews it means a vital component, that extra upgrade or a couple more soulstones.

While I've found Sonnia and co. to be pretty powerful, especially when you play Reincarnation right and spawn a Witching every turn, I've often lost games to more skilled opponents. The big thing with 2nd Edition (Wave 1 at least), I've found, is that generally models are more killy and the game is more brutal and unforgiving (which is why we dropped from six turns to five).

Once you get used to playing and you understand your crew really well you can do horrible horrible things to your opponent. But they can also do the same to you. Granted, with Sonnia against Lynch, you can definitely make it harder for him and Huggy. Disrupt Magic and Counterspell Aura are very powerful against the crew, and combined with the condition removal of Witchlings it's hard to get Brilliance out. Damage from burning and Sonnia herself ignores Incorporeal, so you're just relying on Terrifying and prevention for defence.

I'd say three Illuminated probably isn't the best choice (I'd take two at most, given their cost). You want a good cost spread of minions, which is where Depleted will come into play soon. Also remember that you can branch out into Neverborn and/or Ten Thunders if you don't mind playing a less themed crew.

The main thing with Sonnia is to kill Witchlings before they can get to you, do what you can to avoid burning, and kill Samael quickly; if you can get something on him, he will go down pretty easily. If you don't kill him though, he'll kill you. Sonnia is good, especially with those + twists against high Wp, but if you can force her to have to come to you to get line of sight then she is both exposing herself and "wasting" AP moving rather than casting.

[Sonova]

Personally I dont feel that Sam is worth his price tag. More often than not his firepower isn't being used efficiently because he will probably kill most things in 2 shots making rapid fire kind of a waste.

[Dracomax]

Personally I dont feel that Sam is worth his price tag. More often than not his firepower isn't being used efficiently because he will probably kill most things in 2 shots making rapid fire kind of a waste.

So... You are complaining that he kills things too efficiently? Not sure how this is a problem. Most things die without rapid fire. Rapid fire gives him the opportunity to kill those things which don't.

[dgraz]

So... You are complaining that he kills things too efficiently? Not sure how this is a problem. Most things die without rapid fire. Rapid fire gives him the opportunity to kill those things which don't.

Yeah, that's pretty damn funny.

[Saracenar]

I always take Sam, and I always take his upgrade. Even if he doesn't kill a lot, he is a constant presence on the board to be feared. You get burning, and he will get you. The opponent has to be mindful of him at all times, because even if you're not burning, he can be pretty devastating. I tend to hang him back a little at maximum range, preferably inside a forest for soft cover. Depending on the game he can be great just sitting back keeping people away from him.

Spamming Burn 'em Out is pretty good for hitting targets in cover or in combat. It's generally a guaranteed 4 damage and allows Sonnia line of sight to the target.

If you don't want to take the upgrade, or he is near a bunch of enemies, he can instead spam Flaming Bullets. It's a great ability to use at the start of the turn, although I generally leave him and Sonnia 'til the end unless they are in a good position to kill something already.

[Sonova]

Just saying that he will almost always be !> 11 stones. He is great if you need the fire power. But Sonnia crews are already bursting at the seams. Plus he doesnt give burning so you have to burn the target first for max effect. I might run him naked to see if it makes a diff but at 9 stones with no defensive abilities he kind of needs the coat. Its hard to fit him and enough burning vectors into 50ss.

[Saracenar]

You've just got to play carefully with him; keep him in cover and away from the action, but close enough to shoot or burn when he needs to. Use Witchlings to tie up threats and distract from him and/or take another heavy hitter to take the heat from him. If you find though that he's just not working for you, you could always swap him out for the Freikorps Specialist, I guess.

[Dracomax]

Remember that he has unimpeded. It isn't too difficult to get him into cover. And if, in a sonnia crew, someone isn't burning by the end of the round, you are probably in trouble already.

[Sonova]

Yeah atm the number of burn vectors isnt great. The best being the specialist who's 9ss by itself. In this age of premeasure its really easy to snipe him down or just avoid him. I find myself leaving him in the case unless I am up against neverborn or thr strat is reckoning.

[LunarSol]

Personally I don't like putting Sam at more than 9 points.  Lead Lined Coat makes him an 11 pointer and all it does is let him survive one more 3-4 damage shot (pretty nifty if you're taking a bunch of 2's I suppose).  He really does need to be out of sight, but generally I find I'm able to just stall his activation until one of my Stalkers dies and punish them for it.  He's very much an artillery piece, which means he relies on a good position (sometimes provided by Sonnia's fire walls) that overlooks an objective your opponent needs to go for (Turf War, etc).