Uncle

Neverborn are slightly less survivable when compared to Ressers, this is true. This does not, however, make them "glass cannons." The most common Resser masters would seem to be (at least locally) Seamus and Kirai. Neither of them tend to run Nurses or have defense buffs. Likewise, the two most commonly-played Neverborn masters (again, locally) are Pandora and the Dreamer, both of whom have their own methods of being highly survivable. And again, I find myself pointing this out: dead models cannot counterattack. If your "glass cannon" takes out the enemy, the rest doesn't matter at all.

D'oh! Here I am pointing that out about Molly and the Carrion Effigy and I completely overlook it as far as Kaeris goes. I guess it just goes to show you how seriously I'm looking at Kaeris, eh?

Dreamer 8 Alps 3 Daydreams Assuming you don't like the concept of friends, anyways.

I think once you get to the master and expert abilities you have to consider the model themselves. I mean, ranged expert is only useful if the model's going to be doing some shooting, you know? Of course, that's looking at it in a vacuum and for the most part I agree. I assume things like Flurry would be below the Experts?

Yes, they drop faster than, say, Ressers. Not faster than a lot of other stuff, though. And even then, that assumes a game goes on for 6 turns. In timed rounds, being able to hit hard, first, matters far more than being able to take a hit and win the resilience game. Alpha strikes win games in a tournament environment.

It is. For Neverborn. Rasputina already has Arcane Reservoir and as such isn't getting anything out of that part of the Effigy unless she hulks out. Ramos really needs the Toolkit to be able to summon anything. Colette without Doves is just kind of sad. Marcus... Is Marcus.

At 40 stones, I'd be looking at something like this: Som'er 2 Mosquitos Avatar of Indulgence Ophelia Young Lacroix Rami Pere Ravage 2 Malifaux Rats 4 Bayou Gremlins 3 SS in cache Season to taste. Note that this is not an "all comers" list in that it will fail hard when it comes to Hamelin. And WP tests will suck, but that's what happens when you play the little green guys.

Another AP to cast spells or Channel with. It's really quite nice, but I see it being used more often with Neverborn than with Arcanists.

The problem with Ophelia is that she has a lot of offensive power and not a lot of defense. Having numbers can mitigate that, but you'll need to buy more Bayou Gremlins. Like I said, though, I think Gremlins are at their best with Som'er and running Ophelia as a minion. In Book 3, you get Lenny and McTavish (I'm not certain if he's allowed under Ophelia). Both have their uses.

He'd be a heckuva lot better if you could take Molly with him. As it is, I don't think the advantages of the Effigy outweighs the cost of not having Molly around.

I really like the Arcane Effigy. However... 1: Colette really needs her Doves, and her Avatar is of somewhat dubious value (somewhat!). I wouldn't be in a huge hurry to manifest her. But it's a possibility, I admit. 2: Rasputina's Avatar is just odd, and the Effigy doesn't stack well with her at all. I don't see this as happening often. 3: Even with Ramos' Avatar being that good, the Mobile Toolkit is too useful for him to summon things for those first few turns. Here I'm willing to vacillate a little, depending on how things turn out (but I'm not expecting much). 4: Marcus will use the Effigy. Marcus is still Marcus. 5: Kaeris will likely use the Effigy as well, but I don't believe she has "enough" yet to be competitive. She's close, though.

Molly cannot be in the same crew as the Carrion Effigy. She's Special Forces (Horror) and the Effigy is Special Forces (Doll). I honestly do not predict many of the effigies being played outside of Neverborn at all because of this.

McTavish and Myranda eat up a big chunk of your soulstones, though, especially since most beasts are so pricey. You'd be looking at two decent-sized beasts with them, or maybe three or four smaller ones.

There is no reason to balance anything for "casual play." If a game is fun, it does not matter that some things are skewed. People are having fun, right? It is only when people stop being nice and start being competitive that balance matters, unless it's really out of whack. Luckily, Malifaux's not at that point at all. Therefore, if a model is only going to be used when someone is goofing around, for competitive play, it does not exist. I don't even really understand the concept of debating casual play on the boards. If you want to play what you think is fun, you don't really need my input on that, do you? Can I tell you how to have more fun? Nilus, you and I are going to agree extremely rarely. I've come to terms with that. Sonnia replaces the ability to deal reliable damage for the ability to hand out burning tokens. I don't consider that a fair trade. Her one truly useful damaging spell is also a 0 and requires a 10 or higher to cast. Just... Not something I'm terribly frightened of. Likewise, Justice takes a melee beatstick with some minor buffing abilities and turns her into a buffbot with a handful of melee beating ability. But first, she has to get into melee. I don't get it.

Here's the thing, Ratty: look at those models and tell me how many will actually see competitive play? Kaeris still doesn't have what it takes in my eyes. She's received a major boost, but that just brings her from having 2 minions to being somewhat playable. Marcus is still Marcus, unfortunately, and a very weak Avatar doesn't help him see play more often. You'll likely be seeing more Sillurids with him than with the Neverborn, but you're unlikely to be seeing Sillurids, period. Sonnia's avatar doesn't strike me as worth the cost--although I may be wrong here. I don't see people scrambling to pick up Fire Gamin for her. Likewise with Leveticus--the Four Horsemen is kind of a neat gimmick for a game or two, but it will likely wear thin. It's a possibility that the Pale Rider will show up, of course, but not much of one. Whereas you have Collodi, who was already considered a fairly competitive model (and certainly one of the top-tier Henchmen). And it just got a major boost with the Effigies, none of whom will likely see much play with their supposed faction.

A very valid point. As I think I've mentioned repeatedly, I am not a fan of Marcus, so I'm not the person to really speak about him authoritatively. However, if I were to use him, I would probably lean more towards utilizing the Spawn Mother to offset losses.

Going off on a tangent, and after having looked at them all several times... Guild: Hoffman (although I do not believe it makes Hoffman competitive). I think Perdita's triggers are a little off, and she doesn't really need to manifest, and Sonnia just doesn't seem to be all that useful. Casting Master, really? Justice doesn't work. Ressers: Seamus is by far the best. Nicodem would be completely busted if I ever expected a game to go for the full length. McMorning's avatar isn't enough to push McMourning up to great status, and Kira's avatar isn't worth 2 stones. Arcanists: Ramos' is great. Colette's is wonky, but will see use, maybe, Rasputina's is less useful, and Marcus is still Marcus. I agree on Neverborn. Zoraida's avatar is likely to see play, the rest not so much. Minions: Hamelin and Vickies' avatars are great, the rest either aren't as good or don't make Gremlins competitive. Basically, out of 20 Avatars, I would expect to see, perhaps, 7 being used competitively. I don't think Neverborn got it bad, I just don't think they made out like bandits as far as Avatars go. Of course, then they get Effigies...

I was going to comment on him (and the Sillurids), but I wanted to wait just a little bit. Oh well, I've waited long enough. Iggy: He'll be used with Kaeris, of course, and provides some more firepower (get it?) to her crew. For half again the cost of a Gamin, you get one that's a little faster, a little more accurate in combat, and who likes to toss around fireballs. Thing is, he's an oddly mixed model, with Ranged Expert combining with a primarily melee-based ability and trigger list. Playing with Matches is a very useful spell for him, though. Spawn Mother: For an effective 5 stones, she's a really useful model for Marcus. She's got decent Defense and Wounds, and Rain Dance is just plain nice. I can't help but think her best use will be to sit on an objective (or between two dynamite tokens, for example) and help Sillurids make hit and run attacks. And, of course, spawning Gupps. Gupps: They're slow, they're little, they don't do much damage. But they get to companion all Sillurids around them, which make them absolutely amazing if you're taking a Marcus Leapfrog list (see what I did there?). Juvenile's Wail is even more amazing, since it can let you set up for multiple leaps in a turn. I have mentioned how much I love leap, haven't I?

Got my book in and decided I'd post my opinions. Heck, why not? Colette: Has a lot of potential, although I'm a bit confused about how she works. I suspect I will get some things figured out as time goes on. Do the revealed Decoys become "unrevealed" at the beginning of each turn? (I believe so.) If a Colette receives Reactivate, does she get 3 AP to do so? (I believe so.) She can really cause a lot of havoc on an opponent and becomes on of those models that cannot be ignored. Plus, she finds a use for those Rams you had laying around. Still, I'm not certain how much more useful she is compared to normal Colette and her doves. All in all, she changes the game, but I'm not sure I'd take her every time. Marcus: Okay, um... I fully admit, I am biased here. I do not like Marcus. That said, I can say safely that I believe the Avatar of Instinct to be one of the worst Avatars. That doesn't mean he's bad per se, but just that I was expecting more. Chimeric Assault is both fairly powerful and a wonderful way to lose cards from your hand. If you're looking to kill something, you're honestly probably better off sacrificing a soulstone and a 9 of Tomes to cast Evolutionary Confluence. That said, if you're playing Marcus, you could do worse. It's not a bad buy for 2 stones, but the Avatar just isn't that impressive. Ramos: Holy cow, talk about a huge change. This takes Ramos and makes him fairly competitive, in my book. Where before he was too slow, now Ramos can actually take part in a battle (and can summon Large Arachnids, far more useful than the normal variety). A 2 of Masks or higher gives him Leap, which I've mentioned before I absolutely love, and if he has two Scrap Counters, he can make 5 strikes, although he can't Leap and do that. Oh, and Override? Absolutely amazing. Always, always worth the stones. Rasputina: Another huge change, although this one doesn't wow me like the last one did. She becomes a bit of a combat beatstick, although not a particularly accurate one, and is very, very tough to kill if she's doing her thing in close combat. Interestingly, she has Casting Expert, but her spells require rather high numbers to be successful. Both Hungry Winds and December's Maw are really useful, though, and if you can cast them both in a turn, you're doing very well. Being able to summon Gamin is likewise nice. If you're worried about people closing with Rasputina, take the Avatar. It does, however, really change her playstyle, and not so much for the better. All in all, I would say we received one amazing Avatar (Ramos), 2 that have a lot of potential, and Marcus.

After having received my copy of Twisting Fate and gone over the minions several times, I think I can actually speak up as to their uses. So, here goes! Angelica: If 40 SS tournaments become the norm, she will be a must-take. However, Colette's crews are rather inflexible and as such I don't see her getting a lot of use before that. She provides a lot of buffs to non-construct Showgirls, and her Showstopper trigger is just plain BEAUTIFUL, as is her 0 Spell (effectively an 18" companion, requires a 6 of any suit). But she's a moderate-cost buffer in a crew of moderate-to-high cost models already. I still love her, though. Blessed of December: If you were taking a Cerebus for some mobile close combat nastiness with Rasputina and wanted something a little bit more themed, she's your gal. Fairly nasty claws and bite, particularly if you have high Ravens. Leap and Prowler can easily make her one of the fastest models in the game, particularly on turn 1 (where it'd be easy to stay out of LoS). I really cannot tell you how much I like Leap on this model. Fire Gamin: It's cheap, and it can give out Burning tokens. That's really about it, but what do you expect for 4 stones? They do their best tying things up in melee, since they are very unlikely to hit anything at range. Slate Ridge Mauler: Hard to Wound and Bearskin Armor (heh) is nice. It's got some scary damage potential for its cost, particularly when it's been wounded (or if you have high Ravens in hand). But, seeing as how it's meant to be a buff to Marcus, I wonder if he's not too slow to be truly worthwhile. Union Miner: He costs 4 SS and is an M&SU Asset. You're not getting a horrible model for the cost, but you're not getting anything amazing either. You'll also be wanting multiple of them, which rapidly becomes a problem unless you're taking Kaeris or Ramos. Kind of interesting damage potential for his cost, though. Arcane Effigy: Oh, look, Neverborn got another boost. Marcus might take it, too: I don't know, I don't see any of the other Masters as being willing to give up their totems, even if they plan on Hulking Out, erm, Manifesting, early. All in all, I'm digging on the Blessed and Angelica, think the Mauler might be too little too late (and that it's overshadowed by the Sillurid stuff anyways), don't much care for the Miner or Gamin, and am irritated at the Effigy. But that's my views on it.

Sorry for taking my time... I live in Houston, so it was an in-country delivery. Still, not a bad turnaround for a flat-rate parcel. And Nilus, the Belle is more or less draped around Seamus' leg. That's a bit more cutting than either of us feel comfortable with, and the legs don't seem to be "close" enough to make a legswap worth doing either.

In fairness, it's going to be a tough game, because LCB is just a very, very good Master and Ophelia isn't. That said, you'd likely be better off using some kind of combination of Som'er, Ophelia, Rami, and lots and lots of Bayou Gremlins (and 2 Mosquitos and a Young Lacroix or whatever). The Kin are good, but they're awfully expensive, and if you can keep Som'er and Ophelia largely screened from the Dreamer with a small swarm of Gremlins, you should be able to blast through them. Yes, shoot the Daydreams at every opportunity. Things like that. Use all the triggers for extra damage that you can. And with Book 3, well, you get a few tricks that might help.

For what it's worth, my order shipped last... Wednesday or Thursday. Think it was Thursday. Got it in yesterday. I did not realize just how big the book would be. Nothing seems to be missing, although the Alternate Seamus' gun was extremely bent, and it was somewhat disappointing that the whole thing is a single part. My brother was hoping to attach the prone Belle to the original model. Aside from that, though, great quality, good stuff, really digging the book.