Paddywhack

I find few of our minions don't melt like butter. And why in heck are they 7SS? I haven't bothered to use them as I don't play Jack and 8SS OOK seems way too high for what they do. I can grab a OOK Drowned and have had a lot of success with them (as long as you have a way to move them). I can't justify 8ss for a Crooked Man though. Their attack ignoring Resistance Triggers is great, but not worth that much.

Hey, if we don't keep looking forward we stagnate. We disagree. I find it a bit game bending and less fun overall, you don't. Again, not stopping me from playing, just wish they had explored more options before sticking with this way. I like choice, and currently I don't find much choice - Focus is really needed to make sure your models function effectively in this edition. Especially any damage dealing models.

Sure, but that just exacerbates the problem. And they still have ways to add Focus on top of those pseudo-focus. Condition Removal sounds fine, but most is short range and you may have 1-2 models with it vs an entire crew of Focus. And when your condition-removla piece is smashed in one Focused hit, you are kinda out of luck I'm not saying its a huge problem or ruins the game completely, but I do think it is a problem. It was brought up open Beta I believe, but nothing was ever done to try and correct it. At some point you get so used to seeing so much Focus and almost every model having tons of it, you get used to it. It does seem pretty blah though - if models really need Focus to be good, then doesn't that indicate an issue with the model in the first place. I don't think they will make any changes right now or even soon, but its good to have the discussion for future changes.

I don't like them either and if your local meta tends not to use them, I don't see why you can't say no to them. Makes things easier for players that have never faced multiple masters before and can avoid some of those OP combinations that people tend to have trouble with. I don't care much about DMH and haven't seen many, if any, people playing them anymore. I doubt you'd have much negative feedback banning them. It can be difficult for players who maybe never even looked at them before. From Beta, they sounded like they were pretty balanced except maybe for Collodi, so if you allow them it should be fine. Strats and schemes seem fine. A good mix is always what's important so crews that beat face and crews that scheme both have opportunities to shine. Good luck! I've always wanted to run a tourney, but haven't had time or a big enough player base.

That's an interesting idea and stops crazy Focus stacking. Still makes Focus very good and it's doubtful it would change much. The other option, to make it Attack or Dmg flip, is also decent. I think it was floated during beta, but never tried? If really needed for balance of specific models (Riflemen?) you could give them a new ability that does not reduce Focus between turns. I don't think either of these options would really unbalance any crews or models. They would still get to use Focus and could stack during a turn to make their Activation hurt. This is my problem - there are an abundance of ways to get Focus without using Concentrate. This is what allows all the action-efficient stacking and can cause some un-balanced scenarios imo. TT is a very good example, but there are others. Even in Resurrs with Von Schtook and Blasphemous Ritual it's not difficult to have 3+ Focus on most of your models turn 1.

This is one of those cases I wish Crooked Men were Versatile. They deny Resistance Triggers (and I like the models, but never get to use them anymore). Are those lists stuck? You don't seem to have anyway to remove conditions and Colette can give out a lot of conditions. I second going hard after the Silent One if you can. Kirai's Summons or Archie. Lethe's Caress should help ping Coryphee and other beaters. I find Drowned make good roadblocks for beaters - not being able to cheat can really hurt. I also agree that ignoring Colette (as much as possible) is a decent move. She is so hard to pin down that I'm not sure how you ever kill her. I would say that Resurrs is the most 'balanced' faction. We can seem under par when other factions have things that are less balanced.

I like that Baby Kade for a NB Marcus crew

The rule for extra Bonus actions is a Core rule. They are referring mostly to models that get to take a bonus Action after a Trigger. The wording is a bit different I think, but the end result seems to be same. From a play perspective it just seems easier not to have to worry about did I do this first before I can do that, when 'that' ignores the restriction anyway. It's a minor quibble and doesn't break the game to play it that way, just seems to me to be against the intent. Love to have it added to the FAQ for future proofing as well. I'll admit Ikiryo's wording is quite a bit different than the others (Seamus, Bonus).

But even in that case, there is a call for FAQ as it also interacts with Bonus Actions and getting extra Bonus Actions. So I would say there is still some confusion about this type of rule interaction. I feel that the intent is that if you ignore something, you ignore it for all purposes and it shouldn't matter the order. It's seems that more people feel its the other way and I'm fine with that until a FAQ. If that is the decision though, then the argument about Bonus Actions does cause issue. Would you rule the same way for those cases? That a regular Bonus Action has to be taken before you can take a 'free' Bonus Action? Or if you take a 'free' Bonus Action does it negates being able to take another Bonus Action? That is in line with the above argument about Once per Turn, but seems not to be the intent at all.

I really don't buy this line of thought as I feel it goes against the intent of the rule. Even if the wording on Ikiryo makes this the correct interpretation, the wording on Seamus is not the same and we still have the same argument. It's an easy enough work around most of the time, so whatever. But I would prefer to have a FAQ about ignoring restrictions and timing as I still disagree that it should matter. Though the weird wording on Ikiryo does lend weight to that, though still leaves Seamus who is worded differently. I disagree. It was not a 'Once per Activation' action when you took it the first time, but I've been wrong lots of times and it's not worth arguing about.

Once per Turn - A model can only take an Action or Ability that is once per Turn once on any given Turn. Kirai's Soul: "... and the Action ignores its Once per Turn restriction." I read that as when you use Blood and Wind to summon Ikiryo the italics that say Once per Turn aren't there. It shouldn't matter when you use it. Nor should it stop you from summoning something else after summoning Ikiryo as when you used it then it was not a Once per Turn Action. You haven't used your Once per Turn yet. When you summon Ikiryo you simply read the action as if that restriction wasn't there. That seems to be the intent of the rule to me - Kirai can always try and summon Ikiryo and it doesn't interfere with her other summon for the turn. Does Seamus care if he has already fired his gun or Charged or Concentrated in order to use Cause for Celebration?

I enjoy the Pyre marker game with her, but it can be difficult to get going. Draugr are OK and can hit above their weight once they have Burning on them. Add in Focus and they can hit hard. However, they are not immune to Burning, so it's a tricky balance about how much you can keep on them. Getting them to have Shielded helps and there are tricks to get more than +1, but it takes more setup than is useful sometimes. I have had 10+ pyres on the table a couple of times though Reva really likes to have Burning nearby too to make her better. Sadly she can only pull from Friendlies and not enemies. She can steal enemies burning to help heal her models though. That is part of the balance act with a Burning focus - stacking and using Burning and using Reva and other healers to keep her crew from burning to death. I like lampads as they can serve as batteries for Reva, but being one of the mobile models in the crew it can be hard to keep them close. They are also way over priced for their stats. Most people say forget them and I'd be hard pressed to take one in a competitive setting until they get buffed. In fun games, they are fine and the models are actually pretty nice. Asura can be good in just about any crew, or at least hold her own. I think she's slightly better with Molly as Rabble Riser's are Zombies and she can 'obey' them too. Heck, with Seamus she has a ton of possible obey targets. With Reva it's pretty much going to be just any Mindless Zombies she summons. For a low crow she can heal a friendly 2 within 8". Useful if need be. If you can hit an enemy and still have the trigger, you might be able to heal multiple friendlies. Not something to rely on though. I prefer making sure I have Masks so Reva can use Embrace the Flame twice (unless you don't have any burning built up...). She's been fun for me so far, but definitely a trickier one to master. Also not considered a really competitive master generally.

I find every crew card hungry 😄. I also don't play double masters, so not really a question. If you are playing double masters then Kirai is always a good pick honestly.

I've liked him with Reva as a shield bearer can ping him 6" and his regen takes care of it. But yes, he is slow. Manipulative is nice, but you want him activating early if you intend to hand out Injured. He's an interesting choice and I'm not 100% he's worth his points. If he had a better way to heal, like his trigger built in on Fresh Meat he'd see more play. Chatty can be nice, but in GG1 I honestly almost never see the scheme marker schemes as they tend to be more difficult than others. Maybe it's just luck of the draw on schemes for me though.

Against a melee mode/crew I really like a Drowned, even OOK. That Combat Finesse can really ruin a beater's day and help the Drowned stick around a lot longer than you'd think. Add in Vengeance, Proj Vomit, and Startle and the model can dish out a lot of annoying conditions. Even has a trigger for Stunned. Torment gives a small possible card draw as well. Their only downside is how slow they are, but most crews have a way around that. Goryo are also a fun semi-beater model I like OOK. They are expensive, but can put out a good amount of damage. Mark of Vengeance can really hurt some crews that rely on healing. If that is all you want, you can always go with just an Onryo instead. Grave Digger is one of my go-to 6SS models especially if I might need corpses. They offer some healing and some Focus. If you can get the Accidental Rollover trigger, you can actually get a decent amount of damage. I've taken Mortimer a few times now and I did find him useful. Fresh Meat can be difficult to get the best results, but extra movement is almost always good. His shovel has Dismember built in so can create some unexpected corpses if you need em. Decay with a Blast on Weak can be very useful if facing any crew that like to bunch up a bit. Add in Chatty, HtK, Regen, and Manipulative and he can be pretty tanky.

The question isn't Base to Base though. It's Towards. It states that an object must move toward the 'center' of the other object. Moving around the base means you are no longer moving 'toward the center' of the object, but off to the side of the object. I'm fine if it were ruled this way, but you can't physically move 'toward the center' and be moving around something. It doesn't matter if you are still the same distance if you are moving away. The only time moving away is allowed is to go around the things that would impede movement and then only if gets you as close as possible. Yes, moving around doesn't change the distance, but also is not moving towards the center of the object. I would argue once you are in BtB you are as close as possible to the object. Any further movement would be away from the center of the object.

Could we just avoid the itty bitty bitty crazy small bits? Just put together the Order Initiates. Great models, but Rhino had another 'Yan Lo's Beard's and bird lady had nothing good to work to the base - to toes and a thin bird foot that is a separate piece! If you're going to create thin little feet, at least model on a small pin of plastic so I can drill it into the base.

Yeah, I love the Flesh Constructs. Reckless alone makes them great. I don't think I'd ever take them out of Keyword (no easy way to stack Poison), but with McMourning I like 1-2 if I can squeeze them in. I also hope to summon at least 1 per game.

It is, but my Kentauroi are always blasted away before I can try and use it on them. They can easily get too far away from support and Df4 and a 50MM base with an impressive model means they are fire magnets. At least in my games. I'll have to try them again, but they tend to be priority target #1 around here and I can't get them to last more than a turn or two.

I love the Kentauroi models, but have never had much luck with them on the table. They die quite easy I find. Maybe I'm playing them wrong. Others claim to get good use of them though. I'm not sure you'd want two all the time. It might be more of a sometimes thing. If you can, proxy them for a bit and see how they go first. Little gassers are OK, but mainly to give your crew poison. I've found that they fly under the radar a lot and the other crew goes after more important things first. So sometimes they can survive long enough to do some scheming too. For what they do, I can't see ever taking two myself (shame, as another great model).

So I pulled my Marcus out of the box and was playing around with him. I just want to be sure I'm understanding some of the abilities. For Primal Domain, I assume that when Marcus activates and uses Guided Evolution it will trigger PD and he draws a card (other than the first turn, where he doesn't have one to discard)? Can Marcus, and the Order Initiates using Aspects of the Wild, Discard a mutation and then immediately re-attach it? I'm guessing yes and that it will still trigger PD for a card draw? If so, the Initiates, as long as they have a Mutation Upgrade and stay with 6" of Marcus (no easy feat), give him a free and easy way to draw cards?

It really depends on what you are facing. I really like the Drowned if I know I'm facing a melee-centric crew. So much so I'll even bring one OOK if I feel the need. Their ability to not allow a model to cheat during Melee can really throw an opponent off. Can help shut down a big beater and create a roadblock that other models can't. Add in the Stagger and the 'potential' for good return hits (needs triggers to really get good) and they've always served me well. They are very, very slow though. If you can't help them up the field or its something like Corner deployment, it may not be worth taking them. I've never takes Dead Outlaws, but they seem much more mobile. More like flank attackers that can hit and run and try and dance away while scheming. Totally different strengths.

Did you bring Vincent assuming Dashel would summon a lot? Seems like an odd pick, but he can pull his weight against summoners.

I have always wondered about that. The first sentence implies that if it's created by an Action or Ability, it counts. The second references Hazardous, but not the source. It feels like they may have been referencing just general Hazardous terrain there. The old ruling may or may not apply. I've been playing that it doesn't count, as that seems to be most people's read. I am however as confused as you by the rules quoted.

The scheme does say 'enemy models' so yours don't matter. I love this scheme once I realized there isn't the fear of accidentally killing your targets. It's a turn-by-turn look. If I need to really kill a big model I can do it and then focus on the next highest cost model. To get the 2nd VP you want to spread the hurt around anyway. For your models, GST on at least one of you highest cost models is a good defense. As noted by Trample, using McMourning vs. Lady J can lead to some less than ideal situations. She can really shut down the Poison Condition. It's not impossible to play against, but you really have to be careful. Don't stack too high and don't waste too many actions trying to stack as it can all be undone by one action from LJ. She and the Judge can deny Corpse markers too, so don't count on summoning unless you bring some extra help like GraveDiggers. Lady J is one of the reasons I wish Crooked Men were Versatile. Their Mining Tools do not allow Resistance Triggers so can actually try and hit her without worry. Drowned are decent too as they don't allow cheating if hit with a . Can create an unexpected road block if the opponent hasn't faced it before. LJ can now just leap away, but anything that can throw her off can be worth it imo.