geistwald

Why would they be? I seem to miss a rules clarification somewhere, because the wording of Shell Game or the head lines of the cards don't suggest anything like that...

Well healing/arcing the golem or giving it extra armor is huge, and he's the best possible rail walking platform, while the cold start disadvantage is virtual. All these things make the golem better, because something is better than nothing, and nothing is exactly what Marcus does for it. On the other hand, you're 100% right that Marcus needs models that work well stand alone, and the golem is possibly one of them.

You have a very nice crew!

In which case, of course, you have more suitable Arcanist masters to go with

I don't think you have to frame your attitude this way or that. There are obvious examples on both: you can one-hit a witchling from 18 inches (0 wild heart: bear+hare+serpent, 1 move, 0 charge and SS/cheat the attack/damage flips, 1 move back in cover -- dead witchling), but you simply don't want to rush in and start to plink an undamaged peacekeeper. The odds are usually clear, so go for the kill if you see the gold opportunity, otherwise stay reactive and bank upon your superior speed and (hopefully) numerous activations. I find that it's a good idea to think in "modules" when composing your crew, because you'll need fast and independent groups with as many attack vectors as you can have. My lists usually begin with Marcus (8SS) and the jackalope, that makes 5 points. From there, I try to form three more groups, each for ~10 pts. Just like: 2 silurids / Kaeris plus raptor or totem / shikome plus raptor or night terror / Ama No Zako plus raptor or night terror / etc. This way you'll have a reasonable SS cache, 8 activations and 4-5 fairly autonomous task forces, of which none are evident priority targets. If you play Marcus with Kaeris, you'll have a fast, hard hitting core that handles most threats on its own. Throw in the mercenary Killjoy if you have a hard nut to crack, because he fits Marcus' style very well, and the jackalope with 1-2 raptors make the cheapest and best Killjoy delivery system in the game. On the other hand, Jack Daw is the perfect tool to add another dimension to Marcus' game: he's an exceptionally costly utility piece, but he perfectly counter-weights the shortcomings of your general Marcus crew. Edit: this post is a bit of a mess, but I hope it reflects your question in some degree

Obviously I don't know your out-of-town guest player, but here Perdita is considered to be a competitive master. The Ortegas are still pretty lethal vs so many opponents, while they lost some edge vs others, mainly because the new releases. That's how all models/crews are supposed to work, and I'm glad that sometimes you feel Nino a bit over-priced

You already have Kaeris, and IMO she's a winner vs the sandman. If she can't get to Lynch, she's pretty effective vs the Hungering Darkness itself. If she can get to him, try to burn him to ashes. One more thing: ignore his baits with brilliance if you can. Those tentacled gimps are annoying, but much better than the HD coming back in your face. I played only two games vs Lynch, one with Mei Feng (25SS) and one the Marcus+Kaeris combo (35SS). I lost both matches, but those were "all right losses", and definitely not because the Arcanists' inability to handle the HD.

sssk: I think Kang is sub-optimal with Mei Feng, given all the options you have. I'd keep Willie and/or Kaeris because they get their job done without relying on the rest of the crew, which gives you more options for model selection. As for the number of Rail Walker targets, I think it's more about reliability than numbers. A Rail Worker and a Fire Gamin provide more vectors than the Rail Golem, but the Golem will likely stay with you until late. In my book the RW spell needs a good solid target or two, enabling safe advance, surprising angles and spectacular retreats. I find it rather restricting to push the combo-jump goodness, considering both model selection and in-game model placement. (Same as with Kang.)

I don't think it's against the rules, it's just the wrong sub-forum, instead of Miniature Matters However: what do you think of this?

I'd probably try something like: Rasputina (6SS) - Essence of Power Snow Storm Silent One Ice Gamin If you limit yourself to the December theme, Snow Storm can't be too expensive

Actually the damage output of Marcus is pretty high, assuming he isn't facing armor. Speaking of Kirai and her spirits, he easily puts 8-9 wounds in anyone from 10 inches, then comes back 8 inches to relative safety. That's not too bad. Spirits ignore armor: don't field anything that relies on armor, job's done. With Marcus, your crew will probably sit on high Wp and with no armor anyways, so your opponent can file his razor sharp fingernails with his spirit touch.

Actually they can be targeted... it's just no-one ignores cover when targeting them.

None of her crucial abilities work reliable enough. Shape change for 9+ :tomes, healing for 8+ :rams, melee expert with Cb4 and the inevitable (0) spell to exceed her pillow-fisted self... Not mentioning Animal Instincts: the one and only (1) spell of Myranda's dedicated master is already on her card. (Now take a look at the possibilities of Cassandra's Understudy, welcome to Book 2...) This game is not terribly deep, so it's always better to field reliable (if somehow limited) specialists. Yes Marcus himself is another versatile toolbox, but he is quite good at most things he is supposed to perform. Imagine Wild Heart with a requisite of, say, 14 :tomes:masks and you get Myranda.

I agree 100%, except for the Rail Workers: If they're not already in melee, they seldom make more than 1 attacks if any, which sets a lower value on their outstanding melee weapon. Theoretically they can give Von Schill a coup de grace, but more likely they'll never get close enough to try, and often times they get neutralized before they could have their moments. I think one RW is okay to fuel the golem and stay in reserve if need be, but for the same SS cost you have the Large Arachnid and the opportunity to play more aggressive. (Something you probably want to do with Mei Feng.)

You had a handful of games with Perdita and her family... Now imagine all the terrible things they could do with the cat list. Them, or 90% of other crews

Kaeris doesn't need the EoP, but it's very handy to cast the Flame Wall without using up her AP respources, and the Essence is a cheap way to gain an additional activation. It's a matter of taste, but I hate the Student, and I always run the EoP if I hire a totem for Kaeris at all. She doesn't have to have a totem to shine, but in this theme it's fancy to cast both Ice Pillars and Flame Wall each turn. The LSA is the mobile bodyguard/Ice Mirror target for Rasputina, that you can detonate for burning counters. I find it much more useful than the Ice Gamin – again, it's a matter of personal preference. If you need a big melee hitter beyond Kaeris, you still can hire one. As for the Ice Mirror ability: I think it's all about extra angles, not extra range, so the LSA just fits as well as anyone with Frozen Heart. As for the OP: in my opinion the answer is "definitely not to gamin", but I also recommend to try and proxy the little constructs.

In my experience this is a solid base for the Fire&Ice theme: Rasputina - Essence Kaeris - Essence Silent One LSA You'll want a big fat pool of 7-8 SS, which leaves you with 8-9 more SS to spend: you can buy two models for 4-5 SS each (e.g. Gamin or LSA), or something more serious (e.g. the Rail Golem or Taelor). You can even trade the Silent One for a SS Miner and cheat in Jack Daw if need be (read: you face Hamelin).

You're right, but my point is that a single one-shooter gun doesn't change anything vs Seamus. (One that probably won't trigger the blast because of all those HtW, so your 10pts model puts 3 wounds in a Rotten Belle each turn, not that scary.) Of course the RN has a nice ranged weapon, but it's more like a little extra, nothing like a selling point.

How does any crew worry about a single shot per turn, that prevents your RN from charging, which is far more dangerous with almost the same threat range? (Okay I never have fielded RN with Marcus, so I'm no real judge here...) As for the True Form spell... It's obviously great, but if you want to use it as an offensive tool, you have no choice but hire the avatar or McTavish to move your RN in position. Another downside is that it's quite situational because it affects your own models too, and many times its difficult to stay away from that 14' diameter circle. Else you'll have to resist your own spell boosted with a 13 or the RJ, that's no fun at all.

No doubt you'll have a very nice crew.

The student locks you in place and forces an overly reactive manner on its host. That's okay if you want to harass the opposition from behind a big chunk of rock, but in my experience Mei Feng plays an aggressive game with frequent re-positioning, and that's something the student doesn't support at all. In my book the emberling is no.1 (linked Vent Steam source for a heavy hitter), the arcane effigy is an interesting option worth trying (you don't always run the golem and LSA's), but the student just seems to be wrong in this crew. Or any crew, by the way, save the Viktorias and Kaeris by herself, sadly the latter is not possible to field:)

Well Kaeris poses a direct threat to Pandora, which is a good thing. But as others stated, it's more rewarding to target the Sorrows or the Doppelganger or any other members of her freakshow, because 1. it's easier to do 2. it's important to reduce the number of the activations 3. it's her crew that fuels her disgusting tricks. One should play super-aggressive in this regard, and Kaeris excels at annihilating low to medium costed support pieces, let alone she's your best bet vs the Stitched...

The student is useful with her, but not at the expense of your high SS cache. Besides, giving up Kaeris' high mobility can be really restrictive. Nowadays I field her all by herself (without totems), and rarely regret those 2-4 pts spent elsewhere.

Kaeris is pretty good with arcanist masters in general, so you're far from crazy But I wouldn't run a crew of two SS users with an initial cache of 3SS... Especially not with Kaeris, who'll need her fair share of stones to be really effective.

That's a nice list CannonFodder, one I feel like trying. Only in my limited experience, Mei Feng needs as many soulstones as possible. You still have five constructs to rail walk, do you think that single arachnid is better than, say, a desperate mercenary for 2SS?