Math Mathonwy

The Joker conversation is funny in that in M1.5 a Red Joker on Damage was Severe and another unmodified flip (so you could get double Severe). There were giant threads about it and toning it down to its current version was seen by many as getting rid of all that was fun in Malifaux and Bad Things could no longer happen and the end of the world I do agree that Jokers serve an important function. I wouldn't be averse to toning it down a tiny bit on damage (making it just do Severe or Severe+1) but I won't be sad if it isn't changed, either.

Don't have the cards on hand but can't Tara do it as well? She just very rarely does. Nothing official that I know of. But it seems unlikely that Malifaux could get a new book every Gencon forever so a new edition is likely to hit somewhere along the line. Now, whether that is 2018, 2019, or 2020 is up for speculation.

I agree with daniello_s that the number of models in Malifaux is getting difficult to grasp. But that said, I'd like drunked Piglets (Marinated Pork) because they would be hilarious. I'd also like an Upgrade for a Teddy that makes hiring one a competitive choice. As Teddy is so iconic of Malifaux.

Though if both the Voodoo Dolls decide to Hem one another hilarity ensues? Put a single point of Burning/Poison/Armor/other stackable condition and it multiplies to infinity, right?

Including a never-before-seen mini of a giant head in a flaming wheel for scale is a tad... wyrd. But seriously, I do like the look of that building. IMO buildings that you buy should be the sort that one couldn't build and this one fits the bill. The only reservation I have is that it is so glorious that one should probably have a table's worth of terrain in this style to fully appreciate it

To quote the band County Medical Examiners, "The thoracoabdominal incision is the name of this turgidly morbid game." Coronering can get boring so butchering makes for a nice change of pace every once in a while. So with that in mind, I brought the following. McMourning (On the Clock, Test Subjects, Guild's Coroner) (7 Pool) Zombie Chihuahua Sebastian Guardian Lawyer Hog Whisperer Piglet Piglet Piglet Piglet Arrayed against me was Lynch, Huggy, Fuhatsu, Izamu, Illuminated, and a Katanaka Sniper. All loaded up to the gills with Upgrades and 7SS Pool. I had FFM on Sebastian and Tail 'Em while my opponent had FFM on the Sniper and Show of Force. Standard Deployment and Stash-stash was the other name of the game (besides The thoracoabdominal incision, that is). I went with a sort of two-pronged apporach with the Piglets and the Whisperer on the left, Sebastian and Guardian in the center and the rest on the right. Huggy and Illuminated came to challenge the Piggies, the Sniper deployed on top of a tall rock formation right in my face, Fuhats and Izamy were central while Lynch was opposite McM. First turn I moved Piglets into position for a climbing Charge on turn two and Lawyer put some fees on the Sniper who missed both shots aimed at Piglets. My hand was pretty funny - three Aces and the Black Joker with a nine and a thirteen completing it. Stuff moved forward but nothing all that exciting happened except for Fuhatsu shooting at Sebastian. Red Joker on the Attack, Black Joker on the damage. (The random Flesh Hound is Huggy as my opponent forgot him at home; the explosion markers are Stashes) "Draw the blade down over the body of the sternum and breastplate Past the manubrium and xiphoid process and costoxiphoid ligament group" Second turn things started happening. I won initiative and The Guardian gave McM Defensive +2 and moved to take a hold of the Stash on the right going Defensive himself as well. Sniper shot a Piggie but didn't manage to kill it. A Piglet Charged the Sniper, got Rams and my opponent cheated low with a mystery card due to Lynch's Expert Cheater, the Piglet Charged Sebastian, Pushed him around and did a bit of damage and with his final AP Charged Fuhatsu to minimal effect. Pinball Piglet! Izamu skewered the little guy. And then came to the Stash Engaging The Guardian. Fuhatsu healed to full and shot at something but to netted a Black Joker again. McM Charged Lynch but managed only two damage and two Poison. Sebastian loitered to the scene to put some Poison pressure on. Huggy burnt Recalled Training and Charged Sebastian. I top decked a thirteen for defense against the first attack and Red Joker against the second. That Recalled Training was a dud! Lynch attacked McM three times but McM was flipping three cards for Defense and I consistently flipped stuff like 1,3,13 or 2,2,12. It was ridiculous. One shot got through for four damage but I prevented with, you guessed it, a Severe. Illuminated seized the other Stash and got Charged by a Piglet who did very little. Lawyer had come around to help the Piggies with their Horror Duels. One Piglet Charged the Sniper and grabbed on with his first attack so that was that. Final Piglet Tailed Fuhatsu. Little Stinky (Chihuahua) gave some Poison to Izamu and Huggy and then Poison ticked with Lynch getting a Black Joker on prevention (my opponent's deck had turned). We both scored Stash and I scored Tail Em while my opponent got Show of Force. 2-2 "Costal cartilage snaps from each of the ribs so we may look inside The inner organs sit on display-glistening-with nothing to hide..." Third turn. My opponent won Initiative and Huggy ate Sebastian with Red Joker damage. Full three for FFM. McM butchered Lynch with Red Joker damage in return. Izamu tried to murder the Guardian and did some damage but the Guardian is very resilient since he had Def Stance and I kept flipping super low and super high. A Piglet Charged Fuhatsu to minimal effect. Madman with a Gun is difficult to resist with a Piglet (requiring a Red Joker...) so Fuhatsu Pushed the Piggie away and took a shot at McM doing a bit of damage. Guardian hit Izamu back and managed to go through Armor and with the Poison damage and such Izamu was at one wound left. Chihuahua Poisoned him and Huggy again sealing both their Fates. Sniper hit the Piglet who killed the Sniper in return giving my opponent two for FFM. Illuminated took double Df Stance making him pretty indestructable but Lawyer managed to Slow him. A Piglet Tailed Fuhatsu again. Poison killed Izamu and Huggy and the former missed the Guardian with his final blow. We both got FFM, Stash and our other Schemes but I got more from FFM so the tally was 7-6. "...You've earned your degree... ...In the art of necropsy... ...The stiff is ripe and putrefied..." Fourth turn saw McM gutting Fuhatsu and with just an Illuminated left, my opponent called it. Thoughts: Piglets are silly. Guild's Coroner is legit - on the second turn I drew cards from Sebastian's Corpse and killed Lynch with those cards and then drew more cards from Lynch's Corpse. My list, incredibly silly though it was, was at a pretty decisive advantage over my opponent's due to massive outactivation and ability to ignore Armor. I also had pretty amazing luck in some decisive moment, chief among them Recalled Training Huggy trying to hit Sebastian.

I think that it is always worth remembering that Collodi and the original version of Lucius came out from the same book for the same faction. And that book was a lot less wobbly power-wise than the first book.

Wrastlers and Taxidermists are good in melee, Merris rocks as a Schemer as do the humble Bayou Gremlins and Slop Haulers are seriously solid support. I'd start with some of those.

You can kinda combat it somewhat by introducing more and more factions. Eden and Guild Ball seem to be taking this route. It doesn't solve the problem completely and does mean that a given faction gets few releases each year but it is one possible design direction.

She's pretty amazing with the TT but her niche gets really small in the Arcanist side of the fence. TT Emissary and Toshiro alone are complete game changers for her and nothing on the Arcanist side quite compares. Arcanists have models that are better at what they do compared to the TT equivalents but not all that much and the ones on the TT side that are amazing are truly remarkable.

I've been using (for the longest time) Skeeters to Summon more Skeeters from Bayou Gremlins... Lenny allows you to fine tune the Wound value and a Focusing Skeeter is pretty good in killing a Bayou Gremlin. As for minis, I use Otherworld Miniatures' Stirges as Skeeters in general.

Frank being OP or not is certainly debatable. He tends to overshadow most of the others in his price bracket. Or at least used to until the power creep of Waves four and five which was kinda brought on by him as it was argued that the new models need to be relevant choices when weighed against Frank which resulted in them being what they now are. But my main argument was that the way you framed being OP or not in the original post would make the concept kinda useless as it would be practically non-existent. I suppose Confrontation's Storm of Light Meliador and Arakan the Duellist 2nd Incarnation might qualify if anyone remembers those. (The first one was rather boring in that it simply allowed you to keep going throwing dice and killing everything in sight and unless you rolled extremely badly, everything just died. The second one was more interesting in that it allowed you to shunt all damage that your models suffered to a cheap model who died only at the end of the round thus meaning that your opponent could kill only one cheap model per turn. Borth were errataed pretty fast after discovery.)

Huh? I'm the first to admit that, e.g., Burt is OP. I don't think I've ever claimed otherwise. I used Francisco as an example only because that's who Ludvig used. Could've been Francois just as easily.

Imagine that everything was the same except Francisco's SS was 4SS. You could still win without him and you could still lose with him (he is, after all, just one model). But are you saying that he wouldn't be laughably OP and broken if his cost was 4SS? Being OP usually means being OP in relation to other choices of the same cost not that they are an automatic "win button" which are ridiculously rare (as playtesting usually catches them).

Naturally. But speculation is fun!

McTavish has Gator Snack: (0) Gator Snack: Discard a Corpse, Scrap, or Scheme Marker within 3" to push this model into base contact with the Marker before discarding it and then flip a card which may be cheated. Apply one of the following depending on the suit... (snip) What happens if the Push can't get McTavish into base contact with the Marker due to there being something in the way? Also, does he need LOS to the Marker?

I feel that that is a very cogent analysis.

...I just wanted to say that I love the topic title.

Piglets are pretty phenomenal in the original Distract Scheme as their long Charge for 1 AP and their Df make them very nice at it. And those qualities transfer to Ply for Information nicely.

Bokor is only 6SS, though. I think that Gremlins got Wrastlers, Bokor, and Criers that all seem fine and will probably make their way into various lists. I'm not sure that they raise the power level of the faction as such (like many of the things that other factions got such as the utterly bonkers Stemfitters). Bayou Smuggler, Big Brain Brin, and Flying Piglets are quite disappointing, though.

Depending a bit on terrain and opponent, Stilts can be very valid for Brewmaster as well. Unless you use it for Frank, that is.

Wait, are you saying that you don't consider yourself an outlier?

If you wish to discuss the subject, I suggest going here:

No clarification on what is a flip (re:Lucky Effigy's Condition)

Not that is invalidates your point or anything but Zoraida's Crystal Ball allows you to simply draw a card and Mah has a chore which allows one to draw a card when a Gremlin dies. I don't have my cards but doesn't one of the Sky Pirate Upgrades also give card draw? But that's nitpicking - it's true that Gremlins have way less "pure" card draw than other factions. But OTOH Criers and some other things have helped Gremlin card draw a lot so I'm not sure that it is such an acute problem anymore. As for the idea itself, I suppose it could work but it wouldn't affect Somer much as he extremely seldom has all three Upgrades so the net effect for weakening him would be that he'd take an extra 1SS Upgrade all the time. It being available for all other Masters would even out the power curve but I dunno. It seems like a very powerful effect.