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M2E Rasputina


Skyfire

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I'm curious how the Essence of Power made the tranition into M2E? After devouring Marcus with my Wendigo in my first M2E game i admit I'm attached, but I'm curious of the Essence's role now.

It's not quite as broken as it was before...but part of that is because Raspy doesn't need the help now, so they were able to tone it down. It still gives the pluses, but I believe it has to perform an action to do it....so there is a little activation order to it and I believe the range is decreased.

Honestly, I see a lot of people still reaching for the EoP.....I believe the Wendigo has a bad rap from 1.5 and he is still very under-appreciated. Ml 8 on Devour is insane....especially the way Raspy tosses Paralyze around and that the Golem can toss the little guy where you need him.

I like him as a bodyguard for Raspy. She still has a problem with melee, so when enemies can get close she has issues....paralyzing them at mid-range and charging the Wendigo in is really good since you can Devour twice on the Charge. The first time you do that to someone, they're really going to hesitate to approach her in the future.

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It's not quite as broken as it was before...but part of that is because Raspy doesn't need the help now, so they were able to tone it down. It still gives the pluses, but I believe it has to perform an action to do it....so there is a little activation order to it and I believe the range is decreased.

Honestly, I see a lot of people still reaching for the EoP.....I believe the Wendigo has a bad rap from 1.5 and he is still very under-appreciated. Ml 8 on Devour is insane....especially the way Raspy tosses Paralyze around and that the Golem can toss the little guy where you need him.

I like him as a bodyguard for Raspy. She still has a problem with melee, so when enemies can get close she has issues....paralyzing them at mid-range and charging the Wendigo in is really good since you can Devour twice on the Charge. The first time you do that to someone, they're really going to hesitate to approach her in the future.

EoP might be a bit of overkill, but my main opponent is Mei Feng crew, so I need to get around that Armor +2, and for that I need positive flips. Wendigo's usefulness is limited in that situation, as my opponent only has 4 living models in a 50 crew, one of which (Mei Feng) can't be paralyzed or slowed.

I've just gotten used to blowing two models out of the water in one activation, swinging the AP war in my favor. Casting 8 with a positive flip and a guaranteed recast (if successful) is just too nice. It's costly on soulstones, but if it kills things dead, it's worth it.

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I had a silly idea...If you use a Sister of Conflict Merc as a totem, you could have a Fast Rasputina. Could be nasty. Any thoughts? Is +1ap on Rasputina worth it for losing out on Wendigo/Essence of Power?

It's a choice between hitting hard and hitting often. And paying 2 more SS for fast vs the extra flips and +1CA. I'd rather have the EoP at first glance.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey guys! Thought I'd weigh in with my little smidge of what I can classify as 'experience'. I've played a grand total of 5 games of Malifaux (4 of which have been M2E, 3 as 'Tina).

First two games were the new Box plus an Acolyte and Child, Cold, Pawn on Raspy and Subzero on Mm. Ike C. Fiste. Second was Box plus 1 Ice Gamin, Acolyte, Cold and Pawn. Lost all three, with only Raspy alive at the end (which spawned two new Achievements for the next tourney hosted by my friend @CrouchingMoose) of each.

Honestly, I find that the entire crew (sans Raspy) dies waaaaaay too easily. Everyone and their grandmother either ignores armor or does so much damage that my models might as well be blue M&Ms in front of a toddler. Reading through this thread, I've seen a few things I didn't try before (I guess I'm still stuck in my 40K mindset of 'damage, damage, damage!') because December's Curse just looked (and still kind of does) too good to pass up. Especially when you have a grip full of high Masks/Jokers... I got to kill Sonnia twice with 3 casts of December's Curse and triggering Overpower each time, and didn't find out until after the second game that we both had interpreted Sonnias' Counterspell ability all wrong... whoopsie! :D

But yeah, those poor Gamin could do with one or two more Wds IMHO. I understand why the Golem is so damn easy to hit (a walking Iceberg? Sure, I'll shoot that, thankyouverymuch), but why do the Gamin (and the Wendigo and the Acolyte?) have to be so dang easy to squish?

--Blade

PS: On a side note, I've been told I should spend my Cache on stuff besides cards... But the deck filtering seems the best use for them to my ex-MtG mindset. I rarely remember I can use them for other stuff anyhow...

Edited by bladebaka
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Ice gamin are actually not bad for only 4 stones IMHO. They have five wounds and Armor +1 while also being Significant and thus able to Interact. They do not hit very hard, but I have the Ice Golum Throw them into position, so at least two or three are set up as ice mirrors, so even though they do not hit very hard, opponents will often give them a respectful amount of space to prevent getting a December's Curse. Any better, and i think they would tip Raspy towards OP.

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Ice gamin are actually not bad for only 4 stones IMHO. They have five wounds and Armor +1 while also being Significant and thus able to Interact. They do not hit very hard, but I have the Ice Golum Throw them into position, so at least two or three are set up as ice mirrors, so even though they do not hit very hard, opponents will often give them a respectful amount of space to prevent getting a December's Curse. Any better, and i think they would tip Raspy towards OP.

I agree with this on paper, but in most of my games they just get melted or perforated practically before I can do anything. Maybe I'm just playing her versus the wrong opponents? (Sonnia and Schill)

And yes, for the cost I definitely see them as being super cost-effective. Its just the high Ml and Sh or Ca I've seen thus far that just makes their armor insignificant, or Friekorps just laugh at it and poke you with high velocity metal bits.

I've been considering taking a Razorspine or something though, what do you think? (wait, is that even legal? Here, rulebook, rulebook, rulebook...)

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You can take the Rattler, but the model itself is quite a bit more expensive, and, of course, does not have the frozen heart ability, so does not support Raspy the way her themed models do via ice mirror.

If you find you ice gamin are dying too quickly consider a different approach towards you objective and utilize cover, and, if you already have them in position for Ice Mirror, throw away a low card and put them in Defensive stance. When you opponent is on double negative flips from the cover and the DS, even the lowly ice gamin's survivability goes up.

Edited by Fenton Crack
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Alright, so its just one game, but Raspy works the way I always expected her to. Slinging spells through the Frozen Heart models is a real threat now and there's a significant deterrent to getting too close to Raspy if you keep the Ice Golem nearby.

The December Acolyte is a great model for adding a bit of shenanigans, either by forcing a crew to deal with him early due to a deep deployment in enemy territory, or by dragging models out of cover and into a field of fire for Raspy to blow into smithereens.

In the opening game, the Ice Golem is great for tossing your Gamin out to set up the 'Raspy Mirror-line'. You can effectively give Raspy the ability to fire out December's Curse on turn 1 for any (un)fortunate models that move quickly up field or are deployed from the shadows.

With the Wave 2, I think the Frozen Heart models give some serious melee threat to other crews. I'm very excited to see how the new models play.

Raspy was my first master in 1.5 but she never really gained any traction as she just didn't seem to have the 'juice' to make her crew really sing. I think 2e has her nailed and I'm going to have a lot of fun with this group for some time. :)

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Thanks Fenton, I'll try that out next time. I keep trying to blob squad the gamin and golem about the field together and displace the gamin for objective grabbing endgame, but that plan usually falls apart late turn 1/early turn 2.

I'm honestly not looking forward to anything else of hers besides Snowy; I've had his model since he debuted and he looks beast on paper so far. However, the Silent One looks subpar now. I mean, the only reason previously to take her (iirc, I've never played 1.5 Raspy, but I read the PMF articles) was for the Perfect Mirror ability, which is now replaceable at base...

Blessed might be interesting.

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I tried raspy and M2E out for the first time last friday (oct 11th) vs the guild. Standard small build of raspy, eop, golem, 3 gamin and the +1 card upgrade. Raspy is nasty. I find her much better than 1/1.5 where I found that I would move her and then she'd die easily as well as her powers not being as good as I expected. M2E raspy is the bomb. She mirrored lots of stuff and got a nuke recast on some death marshals which was tasty.

However I did find that lady J ate my golem and it was only the subsequent chain reaction suidicde bombing ice gamin that actually took her down!

I have another smallish game tomorrow and am just afraid that the golem isn't worth taking - something more hitty might be better - cerebus, blessed, silent one(s)? (though I think they're not as good as they used to be) Any ideas?

---------- Post added at 12:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:45 AM ----------

Thanks Fenton, I'll try that out next time. I keep trying to blob squad the gamin and golem about the field together and displace the gamin for objective grabbing endgame, but that plan usually falls apart late turn 1/early turn 2.

I'm honestly not looking forward to anything else of hers besides Snowy; I've had his model since he debuted and he looks beast on paper so far. However, the Silent One looks subpar now. I mean, the only reason previously to take her (iirc, I've never played 1.5 Raspy, but I read the PMF articles) was for the Perfect Mirror ability, which is now replaceable at base...

Blessed might be interesting.

She can heal a bit though again I don't know if she's worth it... I'd be more tempted by an acolyte to be honest!

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However I did find that lady J ate my golem and it was only the subsequent chain reaction suidicde bombing ice gamin that actually took her down!

You are talking about one of the greatest killers in the game here. Everything goes down before Lady J's righteous blade!

Seriously, I wouldn't give up on the golem just because of that. He is outstanding at soaking up damage (from anything other than Lady J)....but he is phenomenal if you give him the Upgrade that gives Sub-Zero. Hold on to your low tomes and one hit ends the attackers activation. You need to identify what is the greatest threat to your crew (Lady J) and shut them down....feed her a Gamin instead and (with that upgrade on the table) Sub-Zero her. Or use Raspy's Paralyze tricks to stop her.

If you're bound and determined to try something else, the Acolyte is pretty great now...just don't make the mistake of using From the Shadows to deploy to far forward where he can't be supported.

The Cerberus is boss for a melee beatstick, but doesn't particularly synergise with Raspy. The Blessed is decent, but still in flux right now with the Beta. I'm afraid of I have no experience with the new Snowstorm or Silent Ones just yet.

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Unfortunately, your opinion of the Silent One stacks well with mine. Snowstorm is an excellent piece, though.

Of the core pieces you get in the box, dgraz is right- don't give up on the Golem just because Lady J killed him. Lady J is the premier killer in Malifaux, with few rivals for that title. The Golem is great for other reasons.

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Silent one might be interesting though I haven't tried her yet. Use Snow Storm to move her around, and activate her Statue condition at the same time. Then as long as nothing hits her that "cannot be reduced", she won't take more than 1 damage from anything and Raspy is free to cast through her even if she's engaged in combat.

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You are talking about one of the greatest killers in the game here. Everything goes down before Lady J's righteous blade!

Seriously, I wouldn't give up on the golem just because of that. He is outstanding at soaking up damage (from anything other than Lady J)....but he is phenomenal if you give him the Upgrade that gives Sub-Zero. Hold on to your low tomes and one hit ends the attackers activation. You need to identify what is the greatest threat to your crew (Lady J) and shut them down....feed her a Gamin instead and (with that upgrade on the table) Sub-Zero her. Or use Raspy's Paralyze tricks to stop her.

If you're bound and determined to try something else, the Acolyte is pretty great now...just don't make the mistake of using From the Shadows to deploy to far forward where he can't be supported.

The Cerberus is boss for a melee beatstick, but doesn't particularly synergise with Raspy. The Blessed is decent, but still in flux right now with the Beta. I'm afraid of I have no experience with the new Snowstorm or Silent Ones just yet.

The Gamin have tomes built into their defense, so all you need to do is lose the challenge. It is unfortunate that only Minions benefit from the Sub Zero Aura. I initially thought it affected all Frozen Heart Models. :(

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Ok so I've been thinking about it. Eating with the wendigo or kitties. It seems clunky and activation heavy to me. Could someone spell it out for me?

I see problems.

1. It takes 3 activations to do. Golem to throw, Rasp to freeze, wendigo to bite. For one kill.

2. Wendigo isn't hard to kill and everyone sees it coming. If they don't, they fall for it once then never again. Between the wendigo being thrown and rasp activating, the wendigo can easily be killed.

3. 6" range. So what does rasp's turn look like? Move move cast? That brings her awfully close for my liking. Cast through the golem? That means that the wendigo/cats and golem had to be sticking in formation all the way up to 6" away from the target. Or is there a fourth activation of getting a good ice mirror minion into position?

I love the idea it just seems impractical and highly situational. When is it better than just spamming december's curse? I'm not being glib, I seriously want to know if someone can walk me through it and gives me the benefits coz I don't see many.

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Ok so I've been thinking about it. Eating with the wendigo or kitties. It seems clunky and activation heavy to me. Could someone spell it out for me?

I see problems.

I don't think it's really meant as an attack. It's a defense. If you're facing a melee crew or something fast....you go with the Armor of December Upgrade to allow you to get out of combat right? So....perfect situation there. Someone either engages Raspy or gets close enough to threaten her and she pushes out if needed....and bam....Paralyze...then do something else (cast Dec Curse elsewhere perhaps)......then Raspy is safe and you can use the Wendigo later in the turn to finish off the Paralyzed model, or if you need to finish them right away, the Wendigo can Companion Activate.

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Ok so I've been thinking about it. Eating with the wendigo or kitties. It seems clunky and activation heavy to me. Could someone spell it out for me?

I see problems.

1. It takes 3 activations to do. Golem to throw, Rasp to freeze, wendigo to bite. For one kill.

2. Wendigo isn't hard to kill and everyone sees it coming. If they don't, they fall for it once then never again. Between the wendigo being thrown and rasp activating, the wendigo can easily be killed.

3. 6" range. So what does rasp's turn look like? Move move cast? That brings her awfully close for my liking. Cast through the golem? That means that the wendigo/cats and golem had to be sticking in formation all the way up to 6" away from the target. Or is there a fourth activation of getting a good ice mirror minion into position?

I love the idea it just seems impractical and highly situational. When is it better than just spamming december's curse? I'm not being glib, I seriously want to know if someone can walk me through it and gives me the benefits coz I don't see many.

I would agree that Freeze Over can be a great defensive tool used direct without the mirrors, but there are set ups that make it useful in the way you have described.

It can take place over three activations, especially if fastballing via the Ice Golem, but it does not necessarily take all three of those activations, even then.

On the IG's turn he can throw the ice Gamin into contact of an already activated high value target, and them he can still move and attack something else or attack twice, etc via Melee master. Raspy then spends at least 1 AP freezing the model, the spnd the test of her AP on other tasks. Wendigo the spends his activation for a move then Devour. The Ice Gamin that was thrown still has both AP intact and is yet to so anything that turn. In this instance, as noted, the sequence takes place over three activations, but does not usually take three complete activations worth of AP. It could take as few as three.

Alernatively, to do it with fwer models, remember that the Wendigo himself can be used for both the Easy Freezy and the Devour. So, Golum can toss the Wendigo into base contact, Raspy goes for the Easy Freezy hopefully targeting the Wendigo on the flip. Wendigo concedes to the hit, Raspy uses her other two AP on whatever and Wendigo then focuses his Devour.

The main benefit to the multiple models used in the set up, is the way it can get rid of a high value, hard to kill, non-leader without relying on awesome cards. If you were going after the Judge (Hard to Wound and Hard to Kill) if you have the Ice Golum throw both a Gamin and the Wendigo into base contact with him, you have a very good chance of flipping one of your own models when you target them in engagement, and therefore good chance of winning the duel for the Freeze Over uncontested. If the Wendigo then pulls off the Devour (decent chance with focus) you've taken out the Judge even if he had full wounds. Total AP used is 5, which is a lot granted, but may certainly be worthwhile depending on your schemes.

In practice, the scenario may be much less AP intensive and less set up, and no Golem necessary in the actual Freeze over sequence. If you are running a theme crew, the Gamin will likely be thrown forward by the Golem or pushed by Snow Storm early on to get them down field to lay some markers or make your "mirror array" for Raspy. When your opponent moves forward to either contest the marker, or even to just try to reduce Raspy's ice mirrors by one, they will put themselves into engagement with the Gamin for the Freeze Over. With Wendigo's walk 5 (fast for a Raspy crew member) he may be already up in the action as well ready for a Devour set up.

The last game I played with Raspy I had this very set up on a Desolation Engine and was excited after the Freeze Over, since my Wendigo was in position for the Devour, and the thought of taking out the model while preventing the the two Abominations that were to take his place seemed inevitable (which would also have prevented points for Turf War that turn). Of course, I could not, because Devour only works on Living models, which I had forgotten about, and this can be its biggest weakness depending on what crew you are playing against.

---------- Post added at 03:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:44 PM ----------

Sorry, that was a longer post than I intended.

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Yeah good feedback. I'm still a little uncertain about using it offensively, more of a situational, "oh hey, I think I might be able to pull off something magnificent with devour here..." rather than a solid attacking tactic. Sort of something to keep in the back of your mind. Defensively though, its a gem. Push out, para, eat. Works especially well with Rasp's defensive trigger. Against especially high targets, (Lady J) you might even consider taking the hit, ending her activation then going chow time on her. That'll give her something to consider next time...

So what about shatter? Don't often see that getting used. It often gets overlooked in favour of other upgrades. I'm a compulsory shattered mirror kind of guy myself. I... find it hard to live without overpower. I'm addicted. I play against ressers mostly so it's not about going BOOM and spreading the love around because of hard to wound, its more about repetitively getting 3...3...3...3 damage at a time with a winter's bite. Occasionally you get lucky and get a moderate. I do miss that essence of power...

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  • 3 weeks later...

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