Sholto

There is an active Malifaux group at the G3 Club in Glasgow (every Tuesday pm at Woodside Halls, Glenfarg Street - 2 mins from St George's Cross Subway). I'll be playing Malifaux there on Tuesday next week - pm me. We used to have a Glasgow Henchthingy but he had a baby or some such nonsense, so I'd be happy to give you a demo or whatever. There is also an active Scottish FB Group called Society of Scottish Malifools - https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/304633606238585/ David McGuire

It sounds like Ulix is using Call Forth the Pork to summon War Pigs. This requires 3 friendly scheme markers (easy enough), but also costs Ulix 4 Wds every time he does it and he also needs to burn a 12 or higher from his hand. Ulix can (should) stone to reduce that to, on average, 2 Wds. Still, he only has 10 Wds to start with. He is probably using Corn Husks to generate the Scheme Markers as (0) Actions. If he doesn't take Corn Husks on Ulix consider taking Hans to shoot Corn Husks off whoever has it. Hans can then plink away at Ulix. A Peacekeeper will hoover up Scheme Markers and the pigs will find it hard to do much to him through his Armor and H2W. A Performer can target them from range - wait until he has two down and then try and pop them both, forcing him to start again. As above, Taelor is a nasty counter to summoning-heavy lists. Since the summoning is a Cast action, Witchling Stalkers with Disrupt Magic can be a nuisance, forcing Ulix to Focus or stone for a positive. None of the Casting is suit-dependant, so eg. Hannah is not much use.

That was cool, nice little twist at the end

Simple Cassandra Commentary Template v1:- "Cassandra can [iNSERT X]. It's crazy good."

I have tried the Steam Arachnid Swarm on Ml7, and it was brutal. It charged and killed Francisco, and he was on full health with quite a few soulstones. Nasty little piece of work that not many people are used to seeing from Hoffman.

Are we sure that's a Mannequin? Because it is dancing, like a Coryphee does, and it has blade hands, like a Coryphee does.

Agreed. Although not specifically relevant to Arcanists, I played Headhunter with a shooty Lucius crew, using the Riflemen to whittle models down to 1 Wd and the others to finish them off and grab their heads. If you are playing against a melee crew, they are coming to you anyway so they might as well arrive badly injured/ with their heads nearly hanging off

Very interesting crew, and a very useful write-up, thanks. I might have to try this (having just finished painting a Snow Storm proxy!) As a Snow Storm replacement Cassandra is always worth considering, esp with Plant Evidence and ALITS in the Scheme Pool (use the Raptor with Trap Doors off the Practised Production Upgrade to place 1 Scheme Marker anywhere on the board once a Turn from Turn 2 onwards). She would not be available to help generate SS, however. She can tank (Smoke and Mirrors and/or Imbued Protection) if you need her to, and with S&M and her pushes could tank and place Scheme Markers at the same time. She can also borrow Rebel Yell from Johanna and stone for the suit needed. I would also consider Mech Rider, because she can tank from Turn 3 onwards, when IS might be flagging. The Rail Golem is worth a look, as well. Very survivable but incredibly hitty. He would directly compete for Tomes, though, and frankly having used him in a Hoffman crew I prefer him there.

Agree with all of the above. Having used the RG with Hoffman the limit on his Locomotion is Tomes in hand, not Ca. Card draw is probably better, so Sue or the Pathfinder could be useful there. Neither has any real synergy with the Hoff but both are still very useful in their own right. Worth noting that if you really want to Rambo him, Ryle can give him Reactivate as early as Turn 3. In practice this is not so good, as it takes a 1 SS Upgrade, it takes up a Ryle (0) Action every Turn and he has two excellent (0) Actions already, and it takes up 3 scrap counters which Hoffman probably wants to use for something else.

I played it on Tuesday. You Power Loop in the Metal Gamin when Hoffman activates and that makes everything else he does that Activation super easy It also benefits Protect on the Guardian, which you would be casting on a 4 instead of a 7. And it makes Hunter's Pounce on Chest really, really good.

Also bear in mind that while Sidir can buy a positive flip with a soulstone, Ryle cannot buy +2 to his Sh stat.

I used wood textured plasticard from Wills Models. You can make your own. The best way to score the grain is to take your smallest saw (eg. a modeller's saw, not a full size one) and drag the teeth along your plasticard 'planks'

Power Loop in a Metal Gamin and everything is base Ca 8. Then with two friendly Constructs around Hoffman goes to 10. It makes Locomotion on the Rail Golem silly fun

You could also Bury him with a Death Marshall which would produce the same effect, I think?

I think you have misunderstood what I was saying. Gaining Grounds says:- I was suggesting ways to comply with that that are also practical, helpful and expedient. By all means stand there while I read out everything SpiralingCadaver lists about Tannen, or we can agree to engage in a more pointed and useful exercise.

While I like the distinction between Deception of Intent and Deception of Fact, as SpiralingCadaver has pointed out, sometimes in this game the potentially relevant "facts" can be quite extensive, and it is not fair to put the onus on the player being questioned to discern his opponent's intent and work out which of these potentially relevant facts are actually relevant and which are not. Even if the player being questioned acts entirely in good faith he does not know what his opponent intends to do, and erring on the side of caution (as SD demonstrates) will bring some games grinding to a halt. If the questioning player asks pointed questions, eg, "What is that model's Df?", then the situation seems fairly straightforward and in most cases all the other player should do is reply with the number. However in some cases, eg Colette, the model's Df stat is so wholly unrelated to how the model protects itself that the player really should add, "...but she has amazing triggers that can avoid all damage. Do you want to know more?" The questioning player can ask more open-ended questions, eg. "What kind of defensive tricks does that model have?", but this should not result in the onus of full disclosure being placed wholly on the other player. In that case I think it is only fair for the other player to answer with an equally open-ended response, eg. "Some very good ones. She can avoid all damage in most cases," but should always add, "Do you want to see her card? I can explain it for you if you like." In brief, it is up to both players to ensure they are being fair to the other in asking and responding in good faith and without turning the game into a lecture by one player on the abilities of his/ her crew. If you ask specific questions, you run the risk of missing important information. You should respond to specific questions with specific information, but embellish if there is something very significant any opponent would want to know (eg. "I can choose to defend with Wp 7"). If you need to ask open-ended questions, be prepared to either (1) engage with your opponent in a brief discussion of what you intend to do or (2) read the cards for yourself and take your chances. Don't spend so long on it that you take you and your opponent out of the game. Press on, try it anyway and see what you learn!

Not sure it was cleared up. I have no doubt Wyrd's intentions were good, but that does not always mean the outcome was good and, while the acknowledgement in Chronicles 5 was welcome, recognising something is problematic does not stop it being problematic. The fact that people, on seeing a pig named after a female lead, wonder at Wyrd's intentions shows this could have been handled better. (although Wyrd's track record on representation puts them in the top tier as far as miniature games companies go - probably worth making that caveat in case anyone thinks I am accusing Wyrd of anything )

Don't forget to consider starting her on the table against ranged crews. That Tenebrous Aura is very handy, esp if you can also get cover.

I like to use one with my Riflemen, letting the Pathfinder activate first and then Companion into the first Rifleman, who gains his +Rams from Firing Line. I've never tried using more, but with (0) Focus from Dashel Pathfinders are much more likely to hit the blasts on their Muskets, as well as one of those juicy triggers.

Why pick between them? The first time I played Hoffman in M2E I took the Peacekeeper and Langston

It is pricey, but if you take the Captain or Angelica you can get Pushes on the Ice Golem (and on Raspy) to get them into position before they activate. In the games I have played with him that extra movement has been vital to ensure he gets engaged on Turn 2.

Brilliant reports yet again - I was waiting for this to be posted

Odd question, but it does give rise to LOS issues. Are Liliths two Forest Markers treated as a single piece of terrain or two separate but touching pieces of terrain?

Bodyguard is a good one against Brewmaster. March your b/g model into his aura and leave him there, enjoying all the free healing

Against Viks, all the Arcanist heavy hitters are going to die in short order, either to the Viks themselves ignoring Armor etc or to their Relic Hammer-wielding pals. Your only solution to that is to rely on winning Initiative, which is not a solution at all. Instead, why not Ramos with 6 Spiders and 3 Electrical Creations? Gum up all their charge lanes, drown them in 4pt models that can be exploded or explode when they die, while Ramos shoots into melee with Electrical Fire, Summons more of everything and cackles like a maniac. You could also take Silent Ones who can shoot into Melee, safe behind the spider screen. Maybe a Mech Rider summoning Ice Gamin to do more exploding - the Spiders will ignore the pulses. Everything else can get Schemes, so Soulstone Miners would be good.