Omenbringer

She can also receive another free mindless zombie per turn via the Carrion Emissary (who is also very good with her). I agree that is is very strong, even more so in the hands of a competent player. Unfortunately for us in Cleveland Slapdrone is an extremely competent player with the Resser faction. Yes Sandepp is that bad, he is another that can be everywhere at once, influencing great swathes of the board. The primary difference between Reva and him is that he has a lot more book keeping than she does so has a higher learning curve. When piloted well he is a NPE. I also agree that the Emissaries and the expensive models from this book are significantly above the power curve. That price point is difficult to balance, especially in the case of the Emissaries which are designed to offer the faction and each Master (non-book 4) some benefit. Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, this has resulted in them being "auto-includes" since they out class the majority of their competition. Shield Bearers are really good and an absolute value for the Resser faction. They are an extremely difficult model to dislodge and also punch above their weight. Reva gets a lot of additional use out of them. They should really cost a SS or 2 more.

Only thing I will add is that Reva is not the fragile little Master that a lot of posters make her out to be. Not having Defensive triggers does not make a model fragile, lots of models don't have defensive triggers and they are plenty durable. She has a lot going for her and one of the biggest is her absolutely incredible threat range and offensive might. her defense is distance. If you can get to her you are unlikely to have enough left to take her out, and if you can't take her out you are unlikely to survive for another shot later. She is extremely strong and also largely a NPE for those who play against her (particularly those non-book 4 crews or those that aren't tuned to beat her).

If you click on the Henchmen tab at the top of the page it will take you to another page where you can locate them via the Henchmen list on the right side of the page (you will need to "dial" down to your country/ state). From here you can then PM them on the forum. It might be a little difficult if you don't know their forum name though, especially if you have a large number in a relatively small area. I seem to recall you used to be able to simply click on their name from the Henchmen page and it would generate a message, seems that functionality has gone away (or my memory is playing tricks on me).

That would be 1 attack at a potential 21" away from her that chooses the resisting stat and has some rather nasty triggers accompanying it, so I don't think it is that much of a penalty. She also doesn't hurt for Corpse Markers either. Adding a trigger to let her keep it for another attack would prevent the usage of the other Trigger which really push her over the top, i.e. the healing, the push, the extra damage, or the much maligned reduction-less damage. If it is that much of a hindrance though have them discard at the end of her activation instead of the end of her attack. I do agree we aren't likely to see anything change until she hits general release and the next round of threads lamenting Reva spring up; that is unfortunate as it would be easier to fix it now than later. Wait and see with 1st edition Hamelin did a lot of damage to the communities despite his issues and fixes being discovered in the first few weeks of his release. I really don't want to see that happen again, community building is difficult, community destruction is all to easy. I agree that a lot of the new Masters are likely to cause significant issues and not because they are new and people don't know what they do. While Titania is strong, Sandeep and Reva have her out classed in my opinion (Titania would be third in my list). I also agree that a lot of the Reva issue has to do with the Carrion Emissary, particularly the Shards. Another issue is the Shield Bearers who punch significantly above their cost.

My LGS has several NIB available. Are you in the US? If so send me a PM and I will provide you with their contact info.

While SS may be a limited resource, Reva has a lot of incentive to use her soul stones, Shield Bearers are even better when they get Fast. Also she has a cache of 4 so it isn't like she is exactly hurting in that department. Her Ca with that 0 action is likely a point or two above the resist of most minions as well so success shouldn't be that difficult. In regards to the smaller hand size well you often have a low card that isn't doing much else for the crew anyway. Playing with a smaller hand size isn't really that devastating unless you drew the "god hand." Keep in mind this is not hyperbole, I have seen the ease with which she operates first hand several times. She is an issue and one that simply learning her shtick is unlikely to mitigate, any more than knowing how 1st edition Hamelin or pre-cuddle 2nd edition Levi's shtick did. The probably is precisely that you have "to play against her" to have a chance of accomplishing your objectives, this is counter to one of the main design goals of Malifaux. After the final league game Slapdrone (at least I think it was him) actually suggested one of the best fixes for her, using a corpse marker as an attack node for Ethereal Reaping should force her to discard it. Perhaps add a non-suited trigger that allows her to keep it.

She doesn't need particularly good cards to chew through 2-3 minions a turn, especially those that have already been damaged say from summoning. Reva can choose the lower of Defense or Willpower with her attacks. She has an AV of 6 with an in built suit, likely at least a point higher than the targets resist. Ties go to the Attacker. Her minimum damage is 3 with a top end of 6 (if she uses her native auto trigger and discards a Corpse Marker). Her Litany of the Fallen upgrade can make this non-reducible and is another automatic trigger, great for those minion models that trade wounds for Armor. She has base 3 attacks with a very long range (up to 21"). Add in the 0 Attack action and it isn't inconceivable that she can mow down 2-3 minions a turn. Gremlin minions in particular are going to be winnowed before her Ethereal Reaping and are a faction that I just wouldn't play against her at all. I can't think of any single model in the game that has that kind of presence or effect. Malifaux was not intended to be a game where you have to counter your opponents list to have a chance of winning. Reva (much like 1st edition Hamlin and both editions Leveticus) makes you do that, you can not ignore her and work on achieving your Strats and Schemes. Also she does summon and quite well. She has the advantage of being able to do it for the price of a single Control Card. While she may only be able to summon the Corpse Candles, these do a whole lot for her and are essentially free. They also require you opponent to deal with them since they are mobile nodes for her. I would be curious to hear how you would handle her as a resser player honestly? She is fairly well equipped against her own faction.

Those three models do an awful lot of work, though the Reva player chose Archie instead of the Carrion Emissary which he usually brings. Honestly the Carrion Emissary is top tier on its own and just really improves Reva by adding both area denial and another free Mindless Zombie (a Corpse Marker that is only usable by friendly models until it is killed). It is also fairly fast. Massive Damage Out put at long range is a bad thing as it allows her to be everywhere without really having to be placed in danger. While Reva's damage may only be on a single model she doesn't struggle to kill what she wants. It isn't unreasonable to expect her to kill 2-3 minions or a Henchman in a turn. Again she can do this from a long ways away and has the choice to target the weaker of a models defense or willpower. I keep reading how fragile Reva is but have to disagree with it. She is only "fragile" (again she really isn't) if you can reach her and there really isn't a reason to position her in danger. She can do her work from farther than most models can honestly threaten her. And also punish any model that tries in close. While the new crew defense might be valid, keep in mind the Reva player walked the board first game without even really having read the model cards (he was essentially just pushing models around the board and discovering what they did) against a player that is really familiar with Mei Feng. Again I am not saying Reva is absolutely unbeatable, but then again neither was 1st edition Hamelin (even by Gremlins) or the pre-cuddle Leveticus. What I am suggesting is that a crew that can elicit such a huge NPE perhaps needs to be re-looked at before it hits the general release when correcting things becomes more difficult. I honestly doubt that an easy button will be discovered against Reva or Sandeep that makes them less of a NPE. As always your experiences may differ and I am in no way devaluing your opinion.

I was the Henchman on duty and would say his biggest mistake was in taking the third Thunders Archer. This hampered him in terms of Scheme Runners. The other minor mistake was allowing the Samurai to become engaged before it could utilize its gun, which is the primary reason he took it. Slap Drones list was very fast and able to position his forces in a very dominating position turn 1. Once there it was able to tie down a large portion of Bills force with only Vincent, Reva, and Jakuna. The rest was tied down with Archie. This left Reva's crew three unmolested models to accomplish objectives. While I agree somewhat, your list (even though it wasn't optimal since you decided to omit the Carrion Emissary) wouldn't have allowed his schemes runners to do much of anything. Reva had fairly commanding control of nearly 2/3 of the board while Archie and your other two scheme runners were able to dominate the remainder. Exhausting Jakuna instead of removing her would have placed a large portion of his crew in danger in exchange for only a single VP. As for focusing his Archers well there wasn't really anything else he could do, except perhaps try and shoot at Jakuna. Your Scheme runners were on the complete opposite side of his "fire base" and out of range. I would say Toshiro provided some benefit but not enough to really decisively turn the tide to a neutral game. How many of his summons did Reva just chew through? Additionally, had you decided to attack Toshiro instead of a Thunders Archer he likely wouldn't have been a factor at all after turn 2, which would have also neutered the Archers. Toshiro's summoning can not keep up with Reva's corpse marker generation (which is aided by the fact that most of them are only considered corpse markers for her until they are killed). While I don't think Reva is unbeatable, it is a very negative experience for people to play against. You really do have to play against the list as opposed to the objectives. As you stated after the game Slap Drone, Mei Feng is a Minion slayer that has to go to them, Reva is a minion slayer that can just sit back. Truthfully though she isn't just a Minion slayer she is well equipped to endanger virtually any model in the game should she choose to focus her might upon them.

Before any re-balancing occurs there are some holes in the core rules which need to be addressed. The primary ones are the Elevation and LOS rules, which while somewhat playable are a source of constant frustration (so much so that they are often ignored). The terrain recommendation section also needs to solidify the amount (no discrepancy between books and Starter) and provide a few illustrations so players can visualize what the expectation is. And yet he still won his games because the Always Available option can always be built to. This is an issue because most Strats/ schemes encourage action around the same area as Convict Labor. It aids in making his quick damaging list fairly effective without regard to what the Strat and Scheme pool is. I think the easiest solution is to just carry on the restricted scheme pool concept to its next logical conclusion, i.e. Strat specific Scheme Pools. The big reason for this is that there are Schemes which are extremely low probability when coupled with certain Strats (i.e. rarely going to be taken) and extremely high probability when coupled with others (i.e. almost always taken over other options). Take for example Squatter's Rights which is center line focused, would Breakthrough (requiring you to get your your opponents deployment zone to score) be a viable option over the Always Available A Line in the Sand (which has the same center line focus)? What about Reckoning with Vendetta, Make Them Suffer, or Murder Protege (all of which are compliments to the primary Objective, I might even consider Frame For Murder in this category since you know your opponent is also going to be killing your stuff to score points) in the mix against Breakthrough? These are not equally viable options and yet they are worth the exact same max points values regardless of which Strat they accompany. While it could be argued that some Strats encourage play deeper into an opponents deployment zone, even these don't require a substantial deviation from the center focused crew. Reconnoiter for example only requires 6" from the center. It is very possible that a crew could be in all four quarters and yet still able to support one another. Stake a Claim only requires your opponents half of the board which could be as close as the other side of the center line. I agree the issue is much more complex than it would appear. I also agree that the problem really isn't "Netlisting" so much, but the small "Static Core" which comprise most of the competitively viewed lists regardless of selected Master, available Strats or Schemes. It is rare to see a competitive Guild list without Francisco and/or Guild Austringers. Playing against Ressers? Better expect at least one Rotten Belle. The same exists in each faction. While perfect balance is likely impossible (doesn't mean we should just except it), the goal should be to make everything as viable as possible. Currently that can't really be said even in casual environs. The goal of Re-balancing should be to improve this by making the present "auto-includes" and "never takes" much less so, expanding the hiring pool up substantially to more options. I would even go so far as to really bind to the "key words" making some things fluctuate based upon the selected Master. Why should Rotten Belles work just as well outside of a Seamus list as they do with him? Tie one of those suits in their Lure to Seamus (perhaps Sybelle as well) and now they do what they should for him (the Master ambush predator) without given every Master that can hire them the same access. What I am saying is, while I accept that there will always be options that are better than others it shouldn't be either faction wide, only a small select pool, or 100% obvious in every situation. Things should work best with their themed Master/ crews and there should actually be a decision point for hiring one model over another (not simply takes this and don't worry about Strat, Schemes, or opponents crew choice).

The inquisitive child is my vote. He is about the same height as your typical Gremlin and what "inquisitive child" wouldn't be irresistibly drawn to the faction that loves guns, explosions, acting a fool, fart jokes, playing in the mud, and daring each other to do reckless things. Add in the potential allure of also getting a jet pack and riding with pirates and it is pretty clear that he would be a natural fit. Would absolutely love if his name also happened to be Tom or Finn.

Terrain does play a huge role though it definitely doesn't affect all crews equally. Many of the most competitive builds mitigate terrain disadvantages (through speed, extra actions, Pushes, ignoring of LOS, etc) and exacerbate them for the enemy (the walls are a good example of this though there are others that could fall into this category). A good net list isn't bothered much by terrain. As for Wyrd introducing some official type of rule where players flipped for a global effect on the board, this has already been tried and was largely ignored (1st edition had rules for indoors and out, as well as global effects such as heatwaves, snow storms, forested boards, and dim lighting). Worth noting is you could also declare terrain items breakable last addition offering a method of curtailing terrain disadvantages. While I agree that it does add an interesting layer to the game, often times the effects were forgotten about during games making their impact negligible at best. It would be wonderful if Wyrd showed a couple examples of what they consider a featured board (historically the boards they use at GenCon have been really bad at meeting even the minimum recommended levels though this years were much, much better than in the past). The question comes up often enough that it could really help, one reason the community has created a couple of threads to achieve that exact request (these are of course unofficial). One obstacle to this though is the difference between the recommended amount in the M2e Book (both big, small, and free download version) and the higher amount in the 2 player starter book. Another is, as you hit on, that not a lot of stores much less players have enough terrain to really kit out more than a board or two. This is beginning to change though as more and more games are featuring higher terrain densities (Infinity in particular though it is a different genre so there isn't a lot of cross over) instead of the lone tree on the otherwise open plain that our armies happen to be fighting by that was popular in the past (even Privateer Press upped their terrain recommendations slightly this edition).

Thank you!

@Dogmantra While I agree with a lot you have stated in your posts I don't know if I would agree that Wyrd has done a great job of balancing the Strats/ Schemes and models. As I stated in my previous post, many have recognized (particularly the competitive environs) that the symmetric Strats and extremely limited variety in win conditions of both Strats and Schemes (kill this or control that, usually around the center line) are easily exploitable (A Line in the Sand or Convict Labor are always available to choose). This is one reason why net lists are so popular, most of them (at least the most lauded ones) don't care about the generated Strat or available Schemes since they are tooled to both kill quickly and dominate the center line. Also as LunarSol points out, the existence of the Netlists really shows that a lot of the range is just not viewed as a competitive option, even by players that don't consider themselves competitive caliber. It is a common mantra in the Guild forums that you start with Francisco and 2 Guild Austringers then add a Master. For the most part every Faction has something similar that they state when asked about a list. The biggest issues occur with models that have Acting Values in the 7-8 range. In my opinion the best method of combating netlists is to increase the pool of models that are considered worthwhile options, make the Strats more asymmetric, and focus on really balancing the Schemes (I would even be in favor of restricting available Schemes to the specific Strat a player generated). This requires both stepping down the obviously over the top and pushing up the slugs (and I would say that doing it via upgrades is a really poor method). I think a lot of us could agree on what would be included in the over the top list. To do all of this though requires a breather for the game. I am hopeful that The Otherside will allow this to happen.

I would say even Headhunter falls into the Kill Something group, though has the added caveat that you must have either enough models or AP to capitalize on the killing of the model to score.

Question 1: I would say there are a few reasons for this. First, fixed lists have an advantage in competitive circles because it limits the amount of interactions one has to learn while playing their crew. This usually leads to better performance, particularly if the interactions strongly favor a few key factors, i.e. efficiency, speed, versatility, durability, control, and/or denial. The models that possess more of these key factors will generally win out over other choices regardless of the Strats/ Schemes generated. While the "build to the strategies/ schemes" folks are correct that focusing on them during crew building can afford a player better opportunity to complete them, constantly changing crews has often been more of a detriment than a boon. I am far more competent with Somer (a crew I have played for many, many years) even when the Strat/ Scheme doesn't favor him, than I am with any of the other crews I can purpose build for Strats/ Schemes (and I have access to a great amount of crews in all factions) simply because I rarely forget the interactions of Som'er and his staples. Even restricting yourself to a single faction doesn't really ease the difficulty of consistently recalling the key abilities that make one model better in specific Strats/ Schemes than others. Second, many Masters really need specific models to be effective with their shtick. The models that tend to be hired (or summoned) are also generally influenced by how well they can contribute to the key factors mentioned above. Thirdly, though there seem to be a lot of Strategies and Schemes to draw from, they all generally equate to "kill something" or "control space" near the middle of the table (though middle line is probably a better descriptor). Again these strongly favor the handful of models that can do these things well. While there are schemes that invite players to venture deeper into their opponents half of the board, those are usually ignored in competitive environs because they are much more difficult to achieve than the ones that occur very near the center area of the board, where an awful lot of the Strategies tend to score. Lastly, I would say that some of the more devastating "fixed lists" (the Papa in a Box and pre-errata Ratjoy) are working to exploit design flaws with the game. If you can kill a large portion of your opponents crew early in the game and/ or restrict them to their deployment zone (or very near it), then there is often little they can do to score VP's. The simple fact is that focusing on killing models is still a consistent path to victory in most cases. Restricted time limits in competitive events really exacerbate the issue further. Question 2: No it is not good for the game. While some people love net listing and don't mind taking un-fluffy crews, I would argue that most players just want to play the crew that is most visually appealing to them. One of the big draws to Malifaux (at least for me and the majority of players that I have talked to about it) is the "character" aspect of the game. The game feels more like playing an RPG than a traditional TTG, especially because of the card mechanic (more control over what happens), though the old Asymmetric Strategies and chosen Schemes from 1st edition assisted that quite a bit (if you haven't played the game that way I would strongly encourage a run through of the story encounter version of M2e). Net listing runs counter to this appeal, and really just show cases that there are large imbalances in the game. This is not good for Wyrd who I am sure would really prefer to sell across their entire line instead of just the handful of models that are better than everything else. Question 3: Though you can surely try and steer players toward other choices it is unlikely to have an effect unless the alternative is at least very near par with the optimized choice. An Ice Golem is not equal to Snow Storm or an Arcane Emissary, regardless of how much we try to dress it up. I can not agree more. I really wish the "character" aspect of the game was re-emphasized. This is very true, though I would argue that many models from the newer books fall into this group. Many of the "problem" models are just head and shoulders above anything else that you would even think of hiring (or summoning) in a game.

Loki even bending panels didn't fully solve the issue, the rubber bands (and I had to use quite a few) did a lot more to aid construction.

Dogmantra are you using a Foil card?

While the Plastcraft stuff is nice it can be a pain to put together because they love to curve their walls. Rubber bands help during assembly. Also they don't print on both sides so one side will be just the base color. A bit surprising as I found the opposite actually, the Plastcraft stuff is quite a bit larger than other terrain makers ranges so the models (on their bases) look correctly proportioned to the structures. It does look odd though when you have an assortment of buildings from different manufacturers (4 ground is quite a bit smaller than Plastcraft). I would like them to produce more sets though would love if they would start printing on both sides and stop including curved wall connections. The Wild West Exodus set is nice though again a bit small compared to the Plastcraft stuff. It is a bit of a value though and if you get multiple sets it is easy enough to kit bash more complex structures. For game mats it is difficult to beat just producing your own. A cheap drop cloth (washed and dried first is a good idea), couple tubes of paintable caulking, and some crumpled tin foil (to texture the caulking) makes very nice mats (depending upon the size of your drop cloth it could make quite a few). It doesn't take that long either most of the time is spent letting it dry. If purchasing though I like the vinyl ones as opposed to the mouse pad ones.

I would use more light in your next photo. Ophelia looks very nicely done though.

They are quite a bit smaller than I thought they would be, but they do look nice.

As of last night when I emailed them about the Terraclips sets, they had Sewers (lots of places still have these) and Prison of the Forsaken. These two actually compliment each other very well and if you have a suitable mat to base them on (so you dont have to use the floor tiles for your lowest level) can easily provide enough terrain for an engaging table with many different layouts. Given the OP is in the UK 4Ground is likely your best option.

I would strongly recommend you use a custom blend of products to keep your paints coherent and fluid. Like you I also go long periods between painting stints, however since using the the following mix I have had virtually no issues with paints drying out or losing coherency (some paints, usually Metallics, are just a pain to keep coherent for long periods of time). Here is the mix I recommend with ratios: 1 Part Liquitex Gloss Medium 1 Part Liquitex Matte Medium 1 Part Liquitex Flow Aid 2-3 Parts Distilled Water (with as few "taste" additives as possible to find). I add this to my paints before using them and after. Some thing else you can add since you are planning on using an air brush is Liquitex Air Brush Medium. This I would likely add to the above mixture in the following ratios; 2 parts Gloss, 2 parts Matte, 1 part Flow Aid, 1 part Air Brush, and 2 -3 parts Distilled Water (as a Start, adjusting as necessary). One last thing is to periodically "jostle" your paints (without opening them) when storing them for a long period of time. An electric massager is great for doing this quickly and easily.

Huh? Which option on Photobucket are you using, Direct, HTML, or IMG? I usually use the IMG and dont have any issues. Failing that you might have to delete some stuff in your Wyrd Attachment folder to get below the max threshold so it will allow posting.

Little mistakes like this are one of the reasons I would like to see Wyrd gain more control over the content posted on Pullmyfinger.