dancater

Howard has a primary effective role which he always achieves: He will draw an amazing amount of resources almost immediately to destroy him, he's such a threat people lose all perspective against him, the key is that you retain perspective; don't be too timid, he is an exchange piece, you look to trade him for other models and/or opposing resources in positioning and AP, ideally both. But also don't be to aggressive, he can and will drop and you need to maximise the exchange on your terms as much as possible, over extend and he'll just die for inadequate opponent's expenditure. He is solid in position denial, keeping key opponent models away from his threat bubble. He also has a secondary role: He kills stuff and is an opponent removal piece, this is a role he excels at (hence he is justifiably feared) but often does not fully achieve as instead opponents devote resources and/or change strategy around killing/avoiding him, again ideally you achieve this and also achieve both. He has a tertiary role: In strat/scheme achievement, he really should not be placing scheme markers as his AP is much more valuable than this. Even in situations where the scheme/strat requires positioning and not placement Howard is not ideal as he wants to move freely avoiding large threats to him and hunting juicy targets; but he can do these things and in games where 1VP is the crux, he's your man-mech on the mission. Also he is superb for certain kill based and death strat/schemes, notably frame for murder and assassination variations either in a force to fulfill or as a wonderful bluff. So to maximise him.... Don't become obsessed with the "did he kill his value" equation, his strength is more the threat and changes this forces your opponent into (which is always reliable) than his actual killing power (which canny opponents will prevent). Imbued Energies provides a decisive one round boost or useful four card trade-off (ideally though the Fast boost). Save high Rams if you get them. Play for activation control and hold him till late, works if only for the threat. In rounds 1-2 hold him back a little and play his threat, try to position him for the counter-strike more than up front for the strike. In rounds 3-4 he should be in and involved, brawling and dying, I always figure better to get him in even without a certain kill then hold him back to long and waste his power and risk him being CC'd or killed at range. So hiding and then popping out for a charge or even just moving into melee with a model (bad but the best of the terrible situation mid-game) for threat and ranged protection. By round 5 he'll be dead or your opponent essentially will be. Don't try to 'sneak' him in, he's to big, obvious and well known in most meta's for that, he's an instrument of unrestrained violence. Don't get baited out by low value models. Be wary of crews with strong armor bypass or heavy paralyze. Never rely on terrifying or the armor, assume your opponent's nearby models will all be able to attack and hit with all relevant AP and do min damage on there cards, then ask yourself (a) can he survive one round (if so, awesome) or (b) will the AP in attacks be so significant that the lost resource to your opponent makes his death worthwhile (OK cool and if he survives awesome).

What models are needed. If you want the summoner you need the summons. At least one additional box of spiders, maybe two depending. Large Steam Arachnid is an excellent model all round and very good with Ramos. If you don't have the Arcane Effigy it is a must include I think with Ramos, cheap, significant, condition removal and a construct, 11/10 piece. Rail Workers are excellent models from the Mei Feng box, this is a little outside the parameters and expensive but if you were ever thinking of Kung Fu Arcanist then this is another reason, great construct characteristic cheap'ish' minions. The Soulstone Miner is a first teir scheme runner and very good construct model in Ramos crews. The Electrical Creation is another Ramos summon and somewhat useful. Not essential unless you take the upgrade but solid. Likewise the Mobile Toolkit is very cheap and OK, if only as an early turn scrap generator. Those are the collection of models and constructs I'd mark as particularly worth noting. Other very useful models include Angelica who provides great mobility and is very good in many crews. Raptors which are very cheap and irritating to your opponent, although less good with Ramos than other faction masters. December Acolytes are among the best value minions in the game and can always be considered. Silent Ones are solid pieces with healing. The Rail Golem is a construct and can do amazing work (or die easily) he is worth a look but generally Howard is preferred. The Mechanical Rider is superb, the best Rider in many minds and can also summon, it is a piece which is worth consideration if only to use occasionally and simply over summon any opponent with cheap construct waves. Mercenary wise if you do not own Johan/Johanna then I'd probably invest. Lazarus is a very good hard hitting ranged construct.

Schemes & Stones does a tactics and crew selection podcast on Colette which is excellent. Pullmyfinger has some nuggets of sage advice. There is a pinned Colette thread in this forum which while long has much good advice. Basically Colette is a force multiplying scheme-y master that is hard to kill because she is slippery as all hell but she and her crew struggle with the simple style knock down mid table brawls. She is probably regarded as such a difficult master and crew to play because, particularly as a first master she emphasizes the aspects of Malifaux which are most unlike other war games, namely the scheme/strat aspect, this is a crew which does not need to kill to win and can still win even if wiped out. For a more 'traditional' mini wargamer she feels counter intuitive at first. She and her crew do scheme markers as well as any other crew. She force multiplies several exceptional Arcanist beaters really well, I'd always table any two of... the Coryphee Duet (note you'll initially field each Coryphee separately and then combine them, I'm counting the Duet as one of the two here), Cassandra (in her crew box), Howard Langston, Joss and Mech Rider. She also likes The Captain and the Rail Golem, even some of the beast beaters like the Cerebus work. Always, always, always keep her near some scheme markers and perhaps a Performer or other 5+SS Showgirl (Ice Dancer and Orian), she needs them to stay alive as her wounds total is low and she relies on the trigger (so also always keep one soul stone saved at least for this trigger, she needs a soul stone to cycle once/turn) shenanigans to live. I mean late game you can afford to lose her in a positive exchange but turns 1-3 she needs her safety schemes around her. Several mid range models are great with her and in particular the outside pure theme Frozen Heart models the Silent Ones (who can heal) and December Acolytes are first class. Everyone loves the Arcane Effigy. Play a game (or three) against a friend where you have non-kill schemes and strats and you expressly cannot reduce any model below 1 wound (instead a 'kill' results in either Slow or Paralyze debuff, either works). Force yourself (and your friend depending what crew they take) to practice the non-killing tracks and game winning requirements of Malifaux, it will let you really focus on the thing Colette and crew do really well.

So basically of the masters you've identified. I've placed them in order given that you declared Ironsides as a favorite (otherwise for across faction utility I'd flip Ramos above Irons). Ironsides is a good solid master and crew box. The Captain is a great henchman useful throughout the faction in many crews, the Ox Mages are now a solid viable crew choice and Ironsides, Kaeris and Sandeep in particular all like them. Value, fun, good across faction. Ramos is a top tier master but as a summoner his box needs more purchases (Spiders) in order to be at all viable. Having said that his box is exceptional value with Joss a superb henchman in 95% of crews and Howard possibly one of the best beaters in the game, Spiders are good and useful in Ironsides crews as well. Value, fun, good across faction. Kaeris is a manuverable adn quite durable master and solid but her box is not ideal to play with her, Fire Gamin are an average take and certainly three is probably too many. Her box has reasonable total faction value, Firestarter is very good and Ironsides loves him, Fire Gamin less heavily used and no real synergy with Irons and not much with Ramos, but good with Mei. Mei is a great fast and come at your sideways master and her box is great for her. However as noted be aware that her box is more limited in Arcanists, Kang her henchman is TT and Mei only, the Rail Workers are good 5SS models but while Ramos and Kaeris have a place for them Ironsides has better options as they are Foundary but not M&SU. In the end you slowly find the total collection expanding but even the while Arcanist faction would have less net cost than a good sized army in many games (Warhammer for example) and even the smaller games are usually as or more costly to commit to.

If you're going Ironsides she is damn solid, her box is very good now with the Ox Mage proto buff as well. I can't remember if you had Johan/Johanna mercenary model in your collection but if not then for Irons she is a must buy an amazingly useful piece, even with the +1SS merc tax (which in this case you need to pay) in an Ironsides crew Johan/Johanna feels under priced. Arcane Effigy is still OK here but less so. Large Steam Arachnids are excellent. Gansmiths have a role, Irons may play them best in the Arcanist faction. Union Miners are good. Willie/Miss Fire is excellent. In the longer run the ever reliable Ramos box is a must (essentially in what does an Arcanist player need threads there should be an auto reply "Ramos Box", its so damn good I'd almost advice a person who owns the Ramos box to buy it ).

When considering the fun factor also account for flexibility. Mei is Arcanist and TT and thus has a range of models and options that Irons cannot match. An example I had played the Arcanist brawler (Irons) a little recently and was enjoying her a lot (even before the Ox Mage proto buff) but RoF spun me into Mei consideration because I wants, wants, wants to field the Dragon (Shadow Emissary) and guess what Mei TT can rock and roll with the Wyrm. So 100% support spooky-squirrel and their excellent observations but will also add that Mei is also fun because you could play her multiple times with very, very different crew compositions and still be competitive. Having said that it is an expensive proposition as you need to buy all those damn models. If I was buying a single cheap and useful add on for Mei it would absolutely be the Arcane Effigy. Great for Mei, also happily useful for Ironsides and usable in Collodi as pointed out.

Love the idea of a Firefly themed Barrows gang, love it so damn much you may have cost me money. As to the LE Performer, often Wyrd includes them (as they did with Miss Fire) as a reward for hitting a certain order dollar value. So I usually save a bunch of purchases until Easter-GenCon-Black Friday sale and go kinda nuts. It helps those sales also usually include pre-release items. If push comes to shove I can often find a friend or three who is willing to grab a box and add to my order and that tips me over the threshold. She is a great model and would make an exceptional Inara proxy.

Vanessa+++ Lazarus++ 100% agree with both. SAS and Lazarus are both exceptional and do different things. You rarely take both but frequently can take one over the other to maximize results. You do not need both, Lazarus is probably slightly more flexible simply because of (a) his range and (b) he synergises nicely with Vanessa. But having both him and the SAS certainly won't be redundant as they do different tasks well. The Malifaux Child is a AP saver which is cheaper than the Student. The Student spends 2AP to grant you fast so a flexible +1AP, is a Sister which is great and can also hit pretty hard in a pinch but is 4SS insignificant which is costly. The Child will cast a Vik buff spell thus saving said Vik an AP (so still a +1AP but with narrow fix) and costs 2SS. Honestly I prefer the Student as its thematic but the Child is probably better value. The Child also has uses in other Outcast lists and elsewhere in other factions. Its simply a really cheap and super flexible model you will eventually use somewhere. Hans gets bad press because he costs more than the Trapper and does a similar job about as well, but only mostly. Having some other powers and being able to take upgrades is damn useful sometimes. You want a pure sniper ranger irritating killer then budget in a Freikorps Trapper. But Hans brings other things. Basically like the Student vs Child debate above. He's a solid model. Killjoy is fun and fear inducing. You need a couple of fast expendable(ish) models in the crew to really use him, you want him out and causing mayhem ASAP and you want him to pop out in the middle of your opponents crew to maximise the chaos and carnage. He will usually kill his value or near it if he pops up close, the resources and disruption lost to killing him quickly also are invaluable and make him worth taking sometimes. I'd say 70% of the time you'll get value, 10% it will be a waste, 10% you'll be a little low and 10% of the time he'll get on a cleaver and chain death roll regening his wounds and tearing up everything. He's fun and solid to take but not an auto-include/auto-win machine. You can also save a few spare dollars and see what you feel Parker needs, I've never seen him played nor looked at his crew heavily I'm sure once you have a few games in you'll think, damn me but I could really use model 'x'.... Not to mention some future Parker based releases in the coming months.

Schemes & Stones have good podcasts on Von Schill crew builds and Viks crew builds. They also have a nice series of Malifaux on a $100- budget which looks at most different crews and shows good cheap budget purchase lists with short explanations as to why. Have not got the links but look up Schemes & Stones and you'll find them. Also welcome to the black hole of a want this, and that, and that and ...........

A big question in your original request is... Do you plan to expand a new master to playability or concentrate instead (at least short-medium term) on developing the master you have (Parker) and are going to get (Von Schill and the Viks)? If the later then I'd look at $100- worth of mainly small boxes and thus expand your three master current pool, in particular since with your current and soon to be crew boxes you've got a good range of the in the crew box useful to all Outcast essentials (notably Freikorps mini's and Ronin). If the former then getting another crew box makes sense. So the new crew box first Levi is very good with a huge hire pool yes but he can hammer on a narrower pool. Rusty Alice is a damn good any crew model. This box is solid as a new crew and as a support to your current stuff. Missaki was not mentioned in you post, she is TT/Outcasts and as an Outcast master runs well with a lot of models you have or will get. Sadly her initial crew box is TT so pretty much useless for other Outcast masters. In effect you buy a crew box solely for one Outcast mini, the master itself (you may be able to buy her separately somewhere thus avoiding this). Tara is a time manipulating, order of activation, activation control and bury mechanic master. She is tricky to play well but very damn powerful when she is. The void wretches in her box are excellent all around minions in Outcasts. Her box is a good buy. Hamelin is a justly feared master, good summoner and if the Rat Engine purrs formidable. But he's expensive and since the Rat Engine prevention (to prevent every Outcast master from easily building a Rat Engine) cuddle his box took a hit in cross faction desirability. Good master if you like his schtick and play but expensive. I'd avoid this early. Jack Daw, I have the least knowledge of. He is a upgrade based buff/debuff guy basically. Plays solid, people love him, models look suitably disturbing. Don't hear much about using his box contents in other crews. I'd avoid unless you want to play him, his box is poor-average otherwise. Now other Outcast stuff Hodgepodge Emissary is excellent, solid buy and runs well at least in Von Schill and the Viks crews. I'd buy this. Hans is a useful alternative or addition to the Freikorps Trapper snipers and as an enforcer can upgrade (and has a new 0SS one as well). Killjoy, because the name says it all. One of the justly feared Outcast models, he'll (it?) will die fast but it nearly always also dies hard. You really really need a Malifaux Child, at 2SS he is simply always a viable model. Must buy. The Strongarm Suit is a superb Freikorps boost and runs immensely well with other crews. Lazarus is a superb Freikorps boost and runs immensely well with other crews. And yes this is a repeat of above, one is basically more ranged (Laz) the other faster melee. I like the range so I'd buy this. Convict Gunslingers are solid ranged choices and can be used in many crews. Oiran and Performers are both amazing (Perfomrer Arcanist, Orian is TT) and useful models. Nice purchases. I'd definitely add Lazarus, the Malifaux Child and Hodgepodge Emissary to my collection. That would be around 60-70% of your budget. Then you're more open for choice and based on max stretch budget.

Yeah, A question when looking at what is good for Mei is... In what context. I assume as we're in Arcanist forum that you're talking Arcanist build because the TT build options are very different. Then while you're talking Arcanist do you say what is great for her AND has later utility in other Arcanist crews (so Arcane Effigy, Arcane Emissary, Mech Rider, maybe Metal Gamin, Rail Golem and also Ramos box [I mean I'd buy Ramos box first 100%]). Alternatively some nice models are now available through Foundry to Mei but useless in future Arcanist alternate crews, Kang in her box is an example which is baked in. So Sparks and the Mech Porkchop are totally legit but they are also unavailable options to other Arcanist masters. In Arcanist's if I wanted to primary Mei the first purchase I'd make is Ramos box it has superb synergy and gives you a second master the second purchase (or first on a tight budget) is as hydranixx (whose posts this morning I am following in both timing and wisdom) identified the Arcane Effigy which is good in any Arcanist crew, almost essential against certain opponents and particularly useful to Mei.

Worth mentioning that nearly everyone loves Johan as a merc and Arcanist crews have often more synergy with him (or her as Johanna) than most. But Ramos and Ironsides in particular might as well auto-pack him/her onto any bag before leaving home for a tournament, The model is simply that good for both of them.

Ramos and Ironsides work very well together. Irons loves M&SU and is a bubble tank, she can do OK ranged and solid melee, loves Johan as a merc. Ramos does the summoning like no other really (for number not variety), his spiders are good M&SU as is Joss so Irons likes them both as does Ramos, he can cover the spread out and scheme-y type combos Irons struggles with just as she can get up close and nasty where Ramos is a little hesitant to tread, also loves Johan as a merc. Marcus is so flexible as a master (with his beater or support limited upgrades) and his crew selection he works nicely with everyone as the master who will do whatever to cover whoever. Colette is an excellent master and her crews excel at scheme-y and bloodbath but not grinding so she works nicely with Ironsides, Sandeep, Marcus I think in particular. Mei Feng and Kaeris are both solid fast master options, Mei is more up close and a crew killer and Kaeris more ranged and durable. Both are good off sets to slower masters or sit back type play styles so Raspy and Ramos spring to mind. Sandeep is pretty new and needs to be developed some, I've not seen him played let alone played him. Seems like good ranged, some melee, some summon, quite quick. I'd say he will run well as a I'll do whatever your other master can't at least adequately. So a Marcus type flex master with ranged higher and the raw aggression lower in standard crew builds. Rasputina is the ranged, stand back blaster and she'll nicely off set your crew which wants to get in close quickly and really mix it. I'd say Kaeris adn Colette spring to mind as crews she will compliment in particular. But really especially with RoF the spread and crew selection is amazingly flexible. I'd say its easier to find and identify the masters which really don't run well together as they cannot main strength compensate for the others major weaknesses. Even then I'd say you could trick out a certain builds to make any two Arcanist masters viable for 95% of opponent/game combos and have a punchers chance to eke out a win. Speaks to the solid range, strength and flexibility of our faction. Also says a lot for Wyrd's current game balance which is delicate and good. I'd love to see opinions on master & master combos which people simply avoid as they do not work together, I couldn't think of any that I'd simply go no, not possible, fatally flawed. Although certainly some 2 up combos are stronger, usually with the stronger general masters anyway, so as hydranixx pointed out Colettte, Ramos and Marcus, who happen to be fairly well recognised as among the top tier Arcanist masters anyway, so strength and flexibility individually naturally translates into the same contribution in partnership.

Again this is a tricky question as different metas (areas/regions/groups) have very different outlooks. For example I know a group where Gremlins are renowned as being a total nightmare to play, in particular Brewmaster and Ulix. Ironically travel a few hundred kilometers south of there and Gremlins are regarded as useless. I know a group where a Tara crew combo a player runs is considered unbeatable, I've heard other folks say she is not worth much. Pandora I've been told by some is a horrible struggle to win against, I have crushed her in the games I've played. Many, many players say Lucius in Guild is useless, he is one of my favorite non-Arcanist masters and I rate him. I wish we could help Teddy and I commiserate with English as a second language and the problems that causes, this is not that problem. The key element here is you are asking a question of such complexity and (as Golden noted) subjectivity that it is impossible to answer. There is an old adage from the silly game Rock-Paper-Scissors that goes "Paper is balanced but Rock is overpowered, signed Scissors". But here the combinations of rock-paper-scissors is not a factor of three options but in masters alone of something like 35+ and then with crew and other game variations for all intents and purposes infinite. Different tournaments have slight local rules variations, different players and such. A consistently strong, simple master will win a lot but a well played unusual master will dominate many people more so because most folks rarely see it and understand the tricks. Sometimes a meta will have a strong core which plays certain masters and those masters become very dominant but head somewhere else and the strong players have a different spin, so different masters rule. There are a bunch of podcasts and such which provide advice, I'd go find the Pullmyfinger webpage and the Schemes & Stones podcast and blog page for a start. Both provide solid advice. As for the strong masters looking worldwide is pointless, yeah master "x" is strong in Texas and master "y" strong in Birmingham, while in the Loire Valley region master "t" is the top tier, really doesn't help you much. What you need to know is in your area who plays what and well, even then it will change very fluidly.

I think Mei Feng box is worth getting eventually in full. Mei is a fun master and Kang is great in her crew, the Rail Workers as acknowledged on this thread are very solid minions. Additionally Mei and Ramos have great synergy in models so you'll be able to make great use of many models in either crew (Howard, Joss, Spiders, Large Arachnid, Soulstone Miner, Mech Rider, Arcane Effigy..., its a long list). Mei gives you a nice change of pace from Ramos without having to really buy any additional models in her Arcanist build (I mean you can but don't need to). Less so with Ironsides. But yeah better budget and variety options for Ramos build would be Soulstone Miner, Arcane Effigy, Large Arachnids. For Ironsides I'd instantly go out and get Johan/Johanna (also very good in Ramos list and solid in honestly any Arcanist build) its a 11/10 model for Irons. After that M&SU mainly, I like Gunsmiths. Large Arachnids and Soulstone Miners both are very good.

This is an incredibly complicated perhaps nigh on impossible question as it is so dependent on master, the upgrades, crew selection, opponent and strat/scheme pool. In addition terrain and set-up plays another factor. With that many variables the question quickly becomes moot. I primarily play Arcanist's and I will say this much: Given no idea of strat/schemes and opponent the most flexible and always useful Arcanist master is Marcus, depending on upgrades he can smash face or support, his pool of hires is massive and very, very flexible. The best block enemy and beginner play master is Rasputina. She has her weaknesses but largely her crew is immune to horror duels which are a real killer in certain games and her stand back and blast schtick is pretty simple to learn. The other Arcanist masters are all very, very good but they all have real strength's and weaknesses and tricks you need to know to really maximize them. Crew wise its even worse as synergy and other variables really complicate everything. Henchman wise Arcanist have an amazing pool with Cassandra, Joss, The Captain all easily first tier and Firestarter excellent for points. The other Henchmen are also all very good but more master/crew/game dependent. We also have an amazing array of Enforcers and Minions again all depending on crew and game dynamics. But Howard Langston, Performers, Large Arachnids, Malifaux Raptors, December Acolytes, Silent Ones are all particularly noteworthy. The Mechanical Rider is a truly amazing piece and renowned for verging on broken. Arcane Effigy with Burning and condition removal as a 4SS construct is also first tier. In addition to this you have excellent mercenaries available to everyone and in some cases Arcanist's have special synergy with certain hired guns. Of note with Hannah and Arcane Reservoir we can 8 card hand its expensive but nasty. Johan/Johanna is superb in any crew but their M&SU buffs make the model really shine with certain Arcanist builds. We have several ways to gain real advantage from the already superb Freikorps Trapper and Librarian models. Finally there are Beasts and Foundry models available out of Faction to Marcus and Mei Feng. So as you can see the question scope is functionally impossible. If you are restricting your question to only the base crew boxes... that is realistic. In Arcanist's I'd rate as follows, regarding utility in building the faction, the raw box crew power is in brackets next to the master. Ramos (8 ironically because as a summoner this box is nearly unplayable without additions) has Joss and Howard which are superb and the Mechanical Spiders which are good, critical for Ramos and useful in many other master builds. Colette (2 solid box but needs more punch) you get Cassandra and the Performers both excellent in any crew. Ironsides (1 ironically as The Captain and Ox Mages make box alone very good) box gives you the excellent The Captain henchman and the Ox Mages got a buff recently which makes them very useful and also they are Academics for Sandeep. Kaeris (6 really not the strongest build out of the box, Kaeris wants different models) as her box includes the Firestarter and in addition, less useful but still OK (as summons in particular) the Fire Gamin. Mei Feng (3 a great box), sadly her henchman Kang is TT and Mei only but the Railworkers are great models and constructs Rasputina (4 its a OK box and can work but Raspy really, really wants multiple other outside the box models) as her box includes Ice Gamin which are a useful summon and maybe the Ice Golem, these are constructs and Frozen Heart so can be interesting in certain builds. Sandeep (7 needs summons, Kudra is limited, Poison Gamin weak in Gamin power curve, minimal Academics) is OK Kudra has potential in certain builds and the Poison Gamin can work in poison builds and as beasts and constructs. Marcus (5 its a strong box but really needs some variety, Marcus can crew so many things his box simply is very limiting for the beastmaster) simply put his box is a collection of big nasty beast options which is great for him but has minimal utility elsewhere in Arcanist builds.

Depends on budget. Ironsides wants M&SU, likes durable models and some healing and needs scheme runners. For other crew boxes Ramos is absolute gold Joss is superb, Howard is a monster and the spiders are great cheap M&SU scheme runners and all around useful. Kaeris box is solid as the Firestarter is very good and M&SU. Colette box contain Cassandra and Performers both useful though not M&SU. The other boxes are less immediately and obviously useful (Raspy, Sandeep, Mei Feng, Marcus). For non-box crew models... I'd go first group: Gunsmiths ranged M&SU can scheme/anti scheme some intereting tricks with Ironsides Steam Arachnids M&SU, tough, nasty in melee and can scheme/anti scheme in a pinch Arcane Effigy is cheap and simply damn useful (Merc) Johan is amazing in Ironsides crew and you won't regret the merc tax, M&SU, buffs, condition removal, healing what is not to love. Oh and hits hard to Soulstone Miner is probably Ironsides best pure scheme runner Willie, love the bomb-barrow but I honestly thing there are several better choices at this cost in Ironsides, may be tier 1.5 Second tier Arcane Emissary is solid Silent Ones are great healers December Acolytes may be one of the best minions for cost in the game Raptors because they are 3SS fly and are as aggravating as hell (but they cannot run schemes in Ironsides crew) Union Miners are a solid M&SU model and scheme runner Mech Rider is the best rider and can summon spiders or metal gamin Metal Gamin tough little buggers (Still despite the infamous cuddle) and M&SU, but slow Wind Gamin can be brought in for tricks, but not terribly synergistic and quite expensive for what they bring Ironsides Also consider the Crossroads 7 as Envy is very, very good. There is a number of mercenary models who can support Ironsides, notably Anna Lovelace is a great movement tricks model and can really lockdown the Ironsides bubble, Hannah is also very good and provides solid tricks but expensive, Freikorps Trapper because the sniper is good in near any crew, Hans because he is also a great sniper and Ironsides crew really benefits from a stand back ranged killer.

Ramos box is excellent with anything Howard and Joss are 1st tier and the spiders are good. Ironsides is also a strong contender. Kaeris synergises well with The Captain and his abilities. In addition the Ox Mages are interesting for Kaeris and can hand out Burning at range, in particular with the option to take three for 15SS this is potentially workable. Mei Feng and her crew of rail workers. You can't use Kang but the Rail workers themselves are solid tough models and can have Burning interaction. Those are the three crew boxes I'd consider, any of them are good, I think Ramos box is the best universal Arcanist model value but with Kaeris all three are equally valid. The others are Colette (no synergy although Performers are good and Cassandra excellent), Rasputina (no synergy at all), Sandeep (no synergy) and Marcus (again no synergy). Outside of crew boxes I'd look at... Mechanical Rider is simply so good that some people consider it unfair. It can summon Fire Gamin, Spiders and Metal Gamin, scheme run and is durable and reasonably kill-y. Raptors as they are cheap and excellent in every build. No real synergy but a 3SS and as fast and aggravating as they are including them in a crew is not a chore. Rail Golem as it hits a ton, is durable and loves Burning. Most folks prefer Howard but in particular in Kaeris crew the Rail Golem can shine. Gunsmiths really benefit from Burning and are a solid all around model. The Arcane Emissary provides Kaeris with a extremely useful buff and it also is fast moving and hits pretty hard. The Arcane Effigy because its small, cheap, removes conditions and helps Burning so what's not to love. Auto include for me. Union Miners are scheme-y and can work with Burning. Metal Gamin are borderline useful, they have some Burning interact and are tough but to be honest since the Mech Rider induced cuddle there are better choices for what they bring available to Kaeris, most notably both Fire Gamin and Rail Workers bring tough and more flexibility/synergy. Borderline include. Those are the main Arcanist boxes I'd look at with Kaeris (the new Showgirl[man] Carlos is also intriguing but his model is not out so obviously you can't get him). Multiple mercenaries are good potential inclusions and I'll leave that list for another person and time. In short I think the above Arcanist models are all really useful with Kaeris.

True both but still worth thinking about I believe. Single master tournaments for one. Experimentation. Also Kudra is potentially cheap enough to be a useful addition and scheme runner in any crew. She is an alternative to Ice Dancer for speed and points in a Raspy crew for instance.

So was listening to the ever interesting Schemes & Stones podcast and they were discussing Pandora and her vulnerabilities. It occurred to me that Kudra may be an exceptional anti-Pandora piece. Reasonable Df (6) and OK Wp (5) but importantly both with a baked in on failure card cycle trigger. When targeted by non-melee attacks can discard to butterfly jump push. Her wounds are a respectable (for a 7SS model) 8. Her base damage track on ranged is average 2/3/4. Her base damage track on melee is poor 1/2/3. Minor Illusion creating terrain which is severe and cover always helps and its a (0). This means that Pandora cannot really smash her, she has a chance to resist and she can cycle cards when she fails (once/turn). The butterfly jump also lets her discard a card to avoid a ranged attack by jumping out away (say also out of aura so only taking damage for attack and not also Wp fails) OR discard to jump forwards towards Pandora and into charge range. Overall fairly cheap and durable against Pandora's attack block. She has respectable speed Wk 6 and Ch 7. Her ranged attack is useful (although only Ca 5 so hard to hit Pandora herself) against Pandora and is a Ca action so really hurts her incorporeal minion/enforcer support should she bring any (Sorrows, Poltergeist etc). Can blast so hit Pandora with non avoidable blasts and she can cheat and regen the stone to get the trigger. Her melee attack is 1/2/3 and Poison +1 with MI 6. This is great against Pandora, once you lock her in melee you have a respectable chance of hitting (MI 6 v Wp 7) and can thousand cut and poison her to death. In addition on a charge you get 4 attacks which at the least will drain her hand to avoid some damage hopefully. In addition upgrades wise. Her personal upgrade with a Wind Gamin or two (which are nice cheap models anyway) can add +1 to her MI so now MI 7 which against Pandora is golden. The other Gamin buffs (Fire and Ice) are more situational in my scenario vs Pandora. Imbued Energies is fast and card cycle so always useful. Warding Runes could be OK depending on Pandora crew build. The other upgrades (Powered by Flame, Imbued Protection, Blade & Claw, Recharge Soulstone) are very situational. In short I think Kudra is a pretty fast moving model who against Pandora builds has surprising durability and she can deliver the type of attacks Pandora and her crew really hate. Depending on build she will be either a respectable 7SS or a more mid-range 8-9SS I'd expect and she can also adequately run schemes. This is pure theory-crafting but I am throwing it out there, I think the magical Indian dancer has real merit in crews vs Pandora and is solid in any anti Neverborn build. Thoughts?

For me Old mustachioed gent (English Ivan) The cunning looking dame The bespectacled lad Here's hoping, I'm guessing the Union will perform pretty well. I'd be damn curious to see what Wyrd would do in background story if Gremlin's get in the top three, particularly for the dame, that would be an interesting tale.

The one shot homing missile also has a dual purpose in exactly that role. Boost the Executioner up ready for unleashing all fury on a picked target. The target you are looking for is something with value of at least 6-7SS, preferably 8+, but also something which is somewhat isolated and at least slightly removed from the scheme/strat nexus locations. Unleash the fury and kill the target. Now you opponent has a devil's deal. They use significant resources in order to kill the Executioner threatening to fold up their battle line, this will both drain AP and also hopefully pull critical dangerous models away from where they want/need to be and in towards the Executioner. Alternatively they ignore him and you simply get to repeat the process. This won't always work but killing then losing a model can be more than simply an exchange of pieces if you press your opponent to adjust their plans in a negative way to effect the exchange. You can also set up a cascade of exchange. Executioner kills (a) then (b) kills Executioner and then your follow up model kills (b). So the fact that the Executioner is likely to die horribly after delivering his attacks is only a negative from a certain perspective and can in many games be twisted to a potential additional advantage. Simply put he's fast and deadly enough that he must be accounted for but cheap enough that losing him is not necessarily momentum shifting. His role is not to kill, it is to die in a glorious bloodbath of mayhem. The trick is to make his death both memorable and devastating. This is where his buff is so good, it means he can now at least once per game likely zoom in from outside most crews ranged kill bubble. Previously he moved up and opponents would zerg him because of how deadly he could be so he achieved his "death with resource expenditure" task but it usually happened before he actually got to mix it up, he missed the kill before the death. Now he has a realistic chance of getting into your opponents crew and maiming something before his inevitable Valhallan style death.

Wong's totem is a showgirl but as an exclusive totem it is not hireable by anyone but Wong anyway. I can't think of any specific showgirl related actions which the characteristic may fire up. Basically for Colette and crew the showgirl is the Star Theater troupe +/- the Ice Dancer as it is unclear whether Raspy's figure skaters turn up to the stage. Orians are mercenary companions in every sense of the word, they are solid models in TT but for Colette and with the merc tax, yeah it'd be a stretch especially as you don't have access to the Orian TT 0SS upgrade buff. The less said about the Lovely Assistant's role as a showgirl the better. Her leotard has spangles and you have to admit I guess that if Wong does anything he surely puts on a show. And I think that wraps up the showgirls (also note that as of wave 4 showgirl is no longer gender restricted, way to represent Carlos). I wonder if this means they/we should open the Showgirl advanced pursuit in the TTB book Into the Steam to the lads as well as the lasses?

Depends where you place the model on the base obviously but yeah there is some overlap inevitable. The horns while not overlapping the base certainly add to its height and awkward packing dimensions. The blades and horns (although the horn tips are a little delicate) seem fairly solid on the whole and will survive normal handling I imagine but a solid drop will be problematic. Overall its a pretty solid bodied model (I'd say the size and bulk in body approximate to the plastic Ice Golem). The horns are about 2cm long total and extend its overall height by around 1 cm above the model (the head being lower than the shoulders). The blades are a good 4cm long and the have notable extension behind the model, I'd say expect around 2cm base over shoot. These measurements are based on approximation and memory, I assembled it last night and am currently at work. I'll try and take a photo of mine next to some figures to provide scale reference later this evening my time but no promises. Overall it is large with some protruding blades and horns but these look relatively durable, it is going to be a bugger to transport though in particular because the blade and horn points are very pointy and will insist on catching and hooking foam, fabric and anything else they can. This is also worth noting on the table top, this model will easily 'catch' on clothing and be lifted to take short unaided table top flights if you and other folks are not careful. Looks lovely though.

Its also tough because it depends on your play style and preferences. Summoning masters are an obvious choice because even with a largely preset master and crew selection you can potentially summon in what you need, particularly if you get a variety summon master like Nico. Then there is the killing/speed/durable factor, most masters do one well, another adequately but struggle with the third. The crew you select (fixed, variable or a bit of both) will naturally attempt to help maximize the strength and patch the weaknesses. Most factions have masters which dominate each particular ability and masters with different weaknesses. It depends on what you want to play. So if you don't like getting your master in the midst of the swirling melee then you'll need to avoid that concept if you love the precision strike assassin run then somethings else. So Arcanist (my main) Best tricky scheme master, maneuverable and hard to kill I'd say Colette (Kaeris kills better herself but does not scheme as well). Your crew will need to supply the 'kill' but Colette can buff to magnify this also. She'd be among the top Arcanist all comer masters. Summoner Ramos, its an exclusive summon (Spiders only) but they are damn good and you can get a lot. His lists need constructs and scrap and are vulnerable to scrap marker denial and heavy anti armor/constructs. But he's a great all rounder. Marcus is the best kill/durable choice I think for an Arcanist all rounder. Rasputina does kill the best but is very slow herself and fragile, she really relies on the crew for things and can be neutralized by opponents and scheme pool more easily than Marcus. Ironsides is an solid durable master with buffing but her M&SU requirement limit her model pool and she is bubble dominant meaning spreading out for certain games is really tough. Mei Feng is a great speed lower level model buzzsaw but she really needs constructs in her crew and is vulnerable to being killed especially if she bogs down in a tarpit. Marcus himself can be a beatstick or durable depending on upgrades, he's got OK speed and his crew selection is perhaps the biggest in the game (him or Levi) and certainly the widest in Arcanists and his beast choices can largely work autonomously. Now however there is a wildcard and I suspect genuine contender for best all rounder in Sandeep. He is reasonably durable with defenses (Arc Shield) and solid wounds. Depending on upgrade he can hit pretty hard (min 3 melee) or run some control (paralyze on mod/sev melee dam). He has a solid ranged attack and can summon in his nasty as combat totem. He summons and not only that but he has the best variety summon in faction (any Gamin) so can bring in ranged, defense, speed, damage depending on need (although they are largely little 4-5SS models so they support but don't do their own heavy lifting). He can work with any Arcanist model, mercs and with an upgrade get Academics which are a small but useful additional pool. In addition he buffs models (especially Academics) when they can use his Ca actions. So he appears to be a solid all rounder. Designed or set crew I'd say Arcanist current best all comer master any scheme/strat pool and competitive would be Sandeep.