Malexin

So far through two games with Marcus he's playing quite like I'd imagined him playing and that makes playing him quite enjoyable. I won both of my games on strength of victory points thanks to the amount of movement available to Marcus. The schemes I won were claim jump and deliver a message.

I should get 2-3 more games in this weekend and I'll take good notes so I can post detailed reports.

I've now played a couple of games with the following 35pt list

Marcus

Shikome

December Acolyte

Waldgeist

Silurid

Silurid

Silurid

I have a feeling that the Acolyte will likely get replaced soon with something else. The other models perform very well (even the Waldgeist in non-forest scenarios) but the December Acolyte is very hit or miss in my list.

I'd love some cheap, high movement models to go in place of the Acolyte, probably going to grab another Silurid and the Jackalope to replace the acolyte with.

The Cerberus may suit you better than the Waldgeist in that case. He's only 2 more stones, is even faster with Leap, and has dramatically more damage potential. Certainly not as tough, though, and you would lose your bodyguard.

And I agree with you on the Moleman, though for different reasons. The flip for Tunneling really isn't that hard to get off - sure you need an 11, but you only need it once. I think that's relatively easy to make happen in the first few turns. The biggest problem he has is keeping up, though, and if you're playing Marcus that mobile then it's certainly going to be a problem.

BTW, if you really wanted to make it happen, Marcus' threat range is 26"... You'd almost certainly hang him out to dry if you weren't careful with it, but ability to cover terrain is certainly not one of his shortcomings

I looked at Cerebrus at the 8 slot, however the Shikome looks like it will just perform better than the Cerebrus.

The moleman's speed is definitley the biggest issue that model needs to overcome. The flip is secondary. I think he'd be better deployed acting as a screen for Rasputina.

I like Marcus better than most, due to his flexibility. I'm playing my Rezzers in our current league, but we rolled Rubble for our last game - I would have killed to have Marcus then Plus I was facing Pandora - the slow movement kept her bubble of emo from being too big a problem, but Howl makes Pandy players cry.

The Shikome is brutal with Marcus. I like pairing her with a Cerberus against a high-value target - there's not much that can absorb those two slamming into it together. Don't forget that Marcus is a beast for Hunting Partner, too - giving him Fast solves the constant "I can't Howl and Alpha" gripe.

I've got the Waldgeist as well, but he's very dependent on forests. I'd have another option for backup in case there aren't any woods on the table.

While his speed certainly doesn't fit your hit and run approach, the Lawyer is another option. Even though he's slow, he can bring a ton of funky denial effects to the table. And since everything he throws has a Wp resist... <glances meaninfully at Howl>

IMO, the relevant text for the Waldgeist is Walk 5/ Charge 8 with Scout, Beast and Armor 2.

With Marcus effectively having a 10" threat range, the Waldgeist is golden in that he's a damage sponge that can actually keep up. Sure, they're devastating in a scenario with a bunch of forest terrain, but for a body guard, I think they're superior to molemen in that they don't require solid flips to activate their higher armor and they have have the speed to be right there in the thick of things to better facilitate an alpha strike mentality that I think is played up by Marcus and the rest of the beasts.

Got my first game in with Marcus over this weekend.

At 35 points my list looked like this

Marcus

Shikome

December Acolyte

Waldgeist

Silurid

Silurid

Silurid

Knowing when to activate en masse was key. The Waldgeist performed beautifully in its intended role, that of a Defend Me target that actually keeps pace with Marcus.

I realized that to be successful Marcus needs to do the following

1.) Use your higher movement rates (aside from the acolyte everything is 5/8 or better and has most have some form of movement trick) to make the terrain work for you. You get to pick the engagements.

2.) Tag Team and kill your targets while moving away to prevent charges in return.

Marcus, Shikome and Silurids are all capable of these hit and run tactics. For me it worked very well.

Several of my friends play Malifaux and I'm strongly considering jumping in. I've done a bit of research and have had their help in sorting my way towards a Master that would be enjoyable for me to play, while not stepping on anyone's toes. The two factions that I find visually appealing are The Arcanists and The Guild. One friend already has Rasputina, so I'd kind of like to not consider her. When considering the Guild, two of my friends own Lady Justice and another owns the Ortega Master (Perdita?). That leaves Ramos, Marcus, Lucius and Sonia as potential Masters for my first crew.

The Wild West feel of The Guild is nice, but I think I'd rather land in the Arcanist realm. To that end, I'm leaning Marcus (based on Visual cues), but having read the Tacticia and several other threads on Marcus I see that many players don't really like him.

So my initial thoughts with Marcus were to pick up Him, 2 Razorspine Rattlers, 2 December Acolytes, Molemen, Silurids and Waldgeists.

This should give me a dedicated Defender for Marcus in the 1 moleman I'd field. And the rest would be a highly mobile strike force. A bit of Guerilla Warfare.

At 25 points I was considering

Razorspine Rattler, 2 x December Acolytes and a Waldgeist.

At 35 points I was considering

2 x Razorspine Rattler, 2 x December Acolytes, Waldgeist and a Moleman

At 50 points I was considering the 35 point list + 3 x Silurids

So, if one or several of you would advise me on the viability of my plan and direction I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,

Malexin