E.T.A. Hoffman

Thanks alot I appreciate the time you took to read it and add notes. I didn't think to link the rest fo the stories but I will from now on. Cheers!

Yep!! NP! You're talking all about my favorite masters so it's no big.

Thanks!!! Also, something to consider. Levi and friends have high WP. Levi 7, Rusty 7, Ashes and Dust 6, Desolation Engine is (i wanna say 6). Aboms 5 and waifs are 5 or 6. So if you wanan WP attack, then you'll definetly want to support yourself with Daydreams, Widow Weaver, and Insidious Maddness like Staticvortex suggested.

Ha! Dreamer is my first love. Dreamer is good against everything! Except maybe Criid. Downside to Dreamer is all the aura duels that the Levi players generate. Since the Dreamer is only def 4 and doesn't ignore blast/pulse/auras anymore, you have to be careful. But, his summoning potential and range make him a good choice against Levi. When Levi is hidding a waif behind a Ashes and Dust, the Dreamer could through a Stitched or Lelu over (cause he summons within 6") the A&D to get at the waifs. Plus he can bring models in that are not slow. He's summoning is much stronger than Levi's so you shouldn't get out activated. The Dreamer also brings WP based attacks to the game which are the only real way to beat a Rider after turn 3. So if your Levi player brings riders, using the Dreamer and Stitches (they have to focus this attack because Riders have stubborn - neg flip on attacks that resist wp) to bring them down. But, the real thing to consider is what the Stragegy is. Reckoning: Here Lilith Shines! Dreamer is not as good because he is summoner who brings in wounded models, this can make it too easy for your opponent. You have to go with a LCB build here. Reconnoiter: Dreamer excels here! Summong 3 significant models a turn will maket his very hard for anyone who can't summon like he does. Zorida could be fine here too, she has hardy models that don't die too quickly, plus she has board control. Lilith can easily get a 9 model crew together so its not bad, but she won't perform like the Dreamer will. Turf War: Any one of your NB's is good here. Dreamer can throw significant models into the TW marker without sacrificng the safety of his purchased models. Plus his WP debuffing auras will be more useful in these tight quarters. Zorida has obey and pulses that push, so she can be a really good master here. Lilith is good but she has to rely all on her killing power. Squatters Rights: Lilith shines here! Tots can sprint (potentially) 20" and if you take her totem, they can interact with a 0. Lilith's speed is her best tool here. Levi can't touch her ability to get those markes. Get to them fast, then overhelm your Levi player. Destroy waifs if you can, by the time he gets past your models, he shouldn't have enough turns to catch up. Dreamer is also really good here. His day dreams can get your models up the board real fast, and he himself should throw a few signif models 6" up. Zorida is not bad because her models can deploy from the shadows. You can put a few waldghiests on the objectives, get the Hag into position, and on turn 2 obey three of them to take interacts. This way they keep their camo ability longer. Stake Claim: This one is hard for everyone. A 2 ap interract is tough. Lilith is best I think because her totem removes one Ap from the cost. So, you can have at least one model walk and drop the counter. Dreamer is still ok, just because he can drop more models, out activated your opponent, then you should be able to get the last Marker dropped that turn. Zorida has potential in her obey. She can force her own models to move then have them spend their own AP to drop the marker. If you get this strategy then Levi is in trouble. His models have no move shenanigans. So they will have to find the AP to move to the other side of the board and still get a counter down. They best he can do is clog you up so you cant make interracts either.

It's fine to try and find a way to beat certain masters before a game, especially if in your local meta you get beaten a lot by 'em. That being said, I'll just mention that taloring a list to beat a specific master is only ok if you lose to that master often and need a boost. I don't think it's in the spirit of the game. Disclaimer aside, this is the thread to talk strategies so let's do that! Lilith's crew is both really good and really bad at dealing with Levi. The good news is that Lilith and crew are very fast and with tangled shadows and illusionary forest, has a good many ways of finish off waifs or thier ancors. I played Levi verses Lilith yesterday and had a really tight spot turn 2 where all my models were surrounded. The badness is that Lilith is wp 5, so Levi will blast her to pieces and even if you take aether connection she'll not be able to stone away the damage anyway. Now the best tactic to take is to keep Lilith always 8" away and when she finishes her turn drop 2 forest markers in front of her. She can still target models and charge them but Levi won't be able to see her. You might be able to get closed enough to charge Levi before he activates. Even if you don't kill him, you'll take away his turn. Against Levi, you probably want as close to 8 or 9 models as you can. He's going to make alot of Aboms if the game goes his way. Plus activations will matter if you want to get to his waifs and kill them before they run off and hide. Growth is also very good against Levi because he has 2 big enforcers that die alot. His mechanic is all recycling. So the Ashes and Dust will die. The Desolation Engine will die. Keep a young nephilim nearby to finish them off or have your big model with growth do the work with a young nearby and get yourself a Mature. That'll even the odds! The issue I have with your last list idea is you don't really have room for Nekima and Barboros. Both are pretty expensive. You also don't know the scheme/strats and you might really need more models. If you want to grow, I'd always take 4 tots and 2 young if I can. That gives you layers or redundancy. You'd be pretty bummed out if your tots or youngs all died without growing cause you didn't have enough, plus you'd have wasted all those upgrades. Zorida I'm not very experancied with. But I know her crew is pretty fast as well if they want to be. Plus the Swamp Mama and Badjuju are super hard to deal with. All those free gups which are just vehicles for a respawning beast! You can show Levi's own game back in his face that way

Idk, if I'd play that list. Just cause I dont see a point to baby cade and teddy. With tots, young, neph, and nekima, there is enough speed to get to waifs without fear. But, in all honesty, as Levi and Lilith player, I wouldn't worry about taking Levi down as much as playing the strats and schemes. A good Levi player is going to keep those waifs hidden and behind large and scary models. Which means you'll pretty much have to go through them to get to the waifs. You're best asset is speed, use that and keep Lilith away from Levi! Ca 7 vs Wp 5 is not going to be your friend! If he brings the Ashes and Dust, you'll need at least three models to kill it for sure.

Got to play some games and tried a few things. Spiders and Stitched are fun and as you would expect, knocking a model down 2 points on def is a good way to make Gamble Your Life work. Not sure it's super competitive but its a fun alternative. I was looking at spamming big models and who worked as suitable replacements for the Ashes and Dust or the Desolation Engine. Teddy and the Rogue Necromancy don't really do that much more than the A&D. RN is slightly more killy but they are all Ml 7, 2" 3/4/6 (except RN whose 3/5/6) but they can't touch A&D's respawn powers. So unless points are tight, you'd always be better off with A&D. I see no point to Teddy cause at least RN gives you almost an abomination back in points. Peacekeaper or Howard would be fine replacements for A&D. They dont have his survivability but they're plenty hardy enough and have a much higher damage output. This of course ignores riders. I think, competitively, the Hooded or Undead are great choices and the Mechanical Rider being basically an autoinclude. Still you could take the Mech Rider and RN and use the Mech to make an Metal gamin and have him make RN Def 6. Just some thoughts I had.

I flipped through some books today because of this thread and come up with some awesome ideas! 1) Spiders spam plus stitched togethers: Spiders tangle up models, lowering their def so Stitches can gamble them. Replace dead models with abominations. 2) Metal Gamin + Mobile Toolkit + teddy = Def 6 with positive def flips 3) Rusty Alice + Joss + Large Arachnids = Scrap spam and thus abominations!!! (Should get +2 spiders a turn) I'll keep positing if I find more. Also, if you haven't tried it yet. Take Ashes and Dust and 4 abominations. Each Abom pokes the ashes and dust and then Levi sacks him with his 0. End turn remake ashes and dust. You'll draw 6 cards turn 1. With 12 cards you should be able to cull a nice PHAT hand for turn two and a lean deck. Or, if you plan well, do this turn 2 so that turn 3 (THE GO TURN!) you'll really be able to smash face.

Brittle, unidentifiable desert plants crumbled to dust as Nell stepped on them. The game was to crush each one. Days of the same tedium under the desiccating sun had left her with little other amusement. Her company wasn’t good for much either. The cat, she loathingly called Bingles, was ahead a few yards, keeping perfectly silent. Nell frequently could not sleep at night from the idea it might try and kill her. As she walked behind it, she was forced to ponder the potential consequences of trapping an ancient malevolence to her service. Bingles sat and waited for her to catch up. “Town ahead,” it said. Nell stopped. Out in the distance she could see nothing but a heat blurred horizon. “I don’t see anything,” she said. “Over the dune. I smell life,” it said. It walked away. “Do you think it’ll be safe?” asked Nell. The creature did not respond. It was a frontier town, with maybe twenty buildings by Nell’s guess. She could see a water tower and prayed it was full. It had been four days since she had left her home town. She sold all her families possessions. It was enough to get her proper clothes, a duster, a hat, a shabby old six shooter, and enough water to last only three days. She was very thirsty. The sun was lowering when they reached the first building. The streets were quiet; no doubt the citizens had finished the day’s work and were relaxing. Nell figured if she could find the inn or the saloon she would be alright. Under the long shadow of the water tower Nell stopped. There was something different about this one. In her old home town she had played near the water reserve a lot. This one was like nothing she had ever seen. Several thick copper wires ran along the side of it and into the ground. Funny shaped nobs where sticking out the top. They moved on and Nell found more oddities. One building had a gold lettered sign that read, “The Wire” and another “Ticker Box”. She wanted to stop and inspect them but the thirst was getting to her. A siren was going off in her head and her vision kept blurring. It was simple enough to find the saloon. It was the noisiest place around. Soft, golden light shown through the windows and Nell found it so inviting. She pushed past the double hinged doors. Fifteen men of various ages and dispositions turned and looked at her. Some of them smiled and others scowled. She tugged her hat lower on her head. The bar tender was a middle age man, with a kind face and a large bald spot. Nell sat down on the stool and placed her bag in front of her. Push back your coat, Bingles said. Only Nell could hear the cat, it spoke directly to her mind. Yet another reason she had trouble sleeping. Nell did as she was told. The pistol was out for all to see. “We don’t get travelers her often,” said the bartender. “What brings you out this way, young man?” Nell dropped her voice low; so far her disguise was working. “Got nothing else to do. Just walking till I find a place to stop,” she said. The bartender nodded as if she had said something sagely. “Well I’d be happy to put you up for the night. We don’t really have any extra rooms here in town, but I have a spare spot for lumber. If you don’t mind sleeping on dry reeds.” “That would be wonderful,” she replied than quickly added, “I mean it’ll do.” “Can I get you something?” “Water, lots of it.” “Meaning no offense, but do you have anything to barter with?” “I have some guild script—“ The bartender ruefully rubbed his neck. “Like I said, do you have anything to barter? We don’t use script out here.” Nell thought for a moment, but she really didn’t have anything extra she could part with. In fact, she barely had enough as it was. “No,” she said slowly, “but maybe I can work it off?” She pulled her violin from her bag but instantly she knew she had made a mistake. Bingles hissed in Nell’s mind. Fool! The bartender’s eyes widened. Every voice in the bar dropped to silence at the sight of Nell’s soul stone violin. Faint green light shimmered off its neck from the inlaid stones. It was her one true possession of value and it had cost far too much. “My word, how did a lad so young come across something so… beautiful?” asked the Bartender. Nell did not like the way he said the word beautiful. She crammed it right back in her bag. But, it was too late. “I… um… it was an heirloom. Of my family.” She blinked away the tears of that memory. One of the men in the back stood up. His suit was a riot of color. He wore a thick set of spectacles and carried himself very properly. “I’m Mayor Dockman,” he said, bowing to Nell. Nell nodded back then pulled her bag closer. “Might I see that item again? Such a wonder shouldn’t be hid,” said Dockman with a massive, kindly smile. “I’d prefer not, actually,” said Nell. “My young lad, do you know where you happen to be? This is Tomorrow Town!” he exclaimed. Nell couldn’t recall such a place. “We have amongst us the best and very brightest minds in all of Malifaux. It’s partly why we live so far out of the city limits. What you have there is not some rusted banjo. How’d you like to stay with us for a while?” he said. “No, I’d like to push off in the morning. I have to be somewhere.” “Now didn’t I hear you say that you’re just walking where your feet take you? Well, why not stop here! We’re advancing, breaking through the barriers of science! That gem you have could be put to some good use here. The gems I mean, of course. You’d be doing something really profound, you know that?” Nell stood, pulling her bag on her shoulder. “I couldn’t never part with it.” We should leave, said Bingles. “Right,” said Nell. “Now hold on,” said Dockman. The bartender stood before the door, there was something very hostile in his unthreatening posture. “Young man, do know what you saw when you walked into town? That water tower? It’s one of a kind. It can draw water out of the very air! How about that?” Dockman waved his arms about like a showman. “We have a network of wired communication that doesn’t mess about with that nasty vox. How remarkable is that? Come, stay and help us.” “No! I want to leave now. Please step out of the way,” Nell said to the Bartender. “I wish you would reconsider,” said Dockman. The fourteen other men stood with hands full of guns and blades. Nell pulled her pistol but the bent sight caught on the hostler and the whole thing tumbled from her hands. Bingles leapt onto the bar and sat down. Good luck, he said. Nell looked at the cat in horror. Dockman lunged for bag. Nell drove her boot into his shin and back away. The bartender reached for her neck but she rolled out of his grip. Nell pulled out her violin and bow. She put the bow to the strings but didn’t play. “Please, we don’t have to fight.” “We don’t, just leave that trinket on the floor and you can go. We’ll even give you a horse, water, and all the supplies you can carry. But, there is no way you can leave this town with those stones,” said Dockman, his voice was like a wolf’s growl. “Please,” said Nell. The town’s folk and their assortment of deadly items continued toward her. She ran the bow across the high string; a piercing tone and emerald light filled the room. The patrons fell to their knees. She grabbed for her bag but as soon as the tone stopped the patrons started shooting. Nell screamed as something hot struck her leg. Without thinking she played another melody, something hard and visceral, and then a bolt of searing light erupted from the stones. It blasted at least five of the men into bloody pieces before exploding out the side of the bar. Timber and fire rained down from the hole and the arrow of light pierced into the next building and the next. Shocked and enraged the remaining patrons charged. Someone grabbed Nell’s arm, another grabbed her violin, and yet another struck her face. Her hat fell off and all could see she was a girl with her hair pulled up tight. They did not care. Blood and tears ran down Nell’s face. There was a throbbing pain in her leg. But, nothing was worse than the moment her violin was taken. In the sea of hands, she had no idea who had it. Someone else struck her head. Nell collapsed to the floor. Boots collided with every inch of her as the patrons beat her. In the glowing firelight, Bingles looked down at Nell from the bar. She could see the humor in his eyes. He had betrayed her after all; she wasn’t surprised. Then something changed in the cat’s face. It seemed twisted and in pain. The cat slowly started to move towards her as if it was fighting itself to stop. It leapt into the fray. As Bingles landed it transformed from the cute white cat into something terrible and massive; a beast the size of a bear, with a devouring, tooth filled smile and two front limbs that split at the elbow into three separate clawed arms. It tore a bloody swath through the men, leaping from one to the next, six sets of claws rending flesh and bone. One man’s head was crushed between its teeth. Dockman and the bartender ran in terror but Bingles’s tail lashed out, the razor fur opened them up for their guts to spill out. In mere moments there was only one person left alive in the bar. Nell struggled to her feet. She limped to her violin and pulled it from a severed arm. “So, you cannot betray me after all,” she said. “It would seem not. One cannot be accused of not trying,” said Bingles. The fire was spreading, in few moments it would catch the liquor. Nell and her cat left the massacre. Outside was a circus. Dozens of people were madly trying to put out of the fires. Not just the bar, but the whole town. Nell stared in awe at what her magic had caused. The entire length of the eastern side of the town was ablaze. The arrow had pierced though each building. Nell was forced to wonder who else she might have killed this night. There was a groaning of iron. Fire was licking the legs of the water tower. Then there was the colossal scream of metal and the tower collapsed. It fell towards the west, smashing through a building and unleashing torrents of water in all directions. Nell’s destruction of Tomorrow Town was complete. We should leave, said Bingles. “Yes,” said Nell, “but I think I need to rest for a bit.” She felt cold. There was something hollow in her she hadn’t noticed before. Theme: Absence Location: Saloon Item(Sort of ;P): Rusted Banjo

First, a very humorous story. Nice job I'd say go back and check for some grammatical mistakes. I also think some of your sentanes don't flow as well as they could. Great work, keep it up.

I agree with Sharps assessment. It does seem like models indeed a buffs get the buffs much faster and easier than cuddles. I can imagine this scenario being true: Wyrds has two models needing attention. One is selling very well cause it’s too good. The other is not selling at all cause its not very good. The weak one gets first notice to fix it. That’s just business. Though in these cases the models are not actually for sale yet, really. So instead, we have one model that won't actually get any play testing. I also think it’s an easier think to fix. If everyone says, "nah this model sucks. Why would I hire it?" Then there is no way people will test it out to see if actually sucks. The biggest issue I have with this Buff/cuddle debate is the idea that errata's should be held on high like some rare element. I mean, do we really need more than a year of real world testing to prove a model is too good or too bad? In the case of Bells, is Ca8 ruining the game? Are players unable to play a satisfying game with a reasonably equal chance of winning? No, but is it clearly too high a stat for a model with that cost? Yes, I believe. How long are we expected to wait? Two years? Three years? One errata every equinox? I appreciate the need to wait and make sure we know what the right change is for a model, if it needs one, but I feel like there is this irreproachable attitude floating around. Or at least that's how I feel. I think the community and Wyrd, and the Mods especially, need to have an open mind when a model is called out for being too [anything].

Let's count the schemes that could be automatically succeeded if you get one attack off on turn 5 (assuming that there is an enemy model in the correct position for the drop to be valuable). Protect Territory, needs only 2 scheme markers, and 6" away from your DPZ, that's pretty easy. Break Through, needs only 2 scheme markers but harder to use if your opponent didn't stick around in his zone. Planet Explosives and Spring the Trap, honestly this is super easy. Late activation, charge and drop them schemes. Planet Evidence, just gotta be on the enemies half of the table and one strike would give you three VP. Without my book I can't make anymore up at the moment. But, it's obvious how amazing it is to drop 2 scheme markers onto of each other with a single attack ap.

ummm... not really. My argument is that the rider, on top of summoning very effectively, draws cards and drops schemes without cost. I'm agreeing with the OP.

Yeah ask the Dreamer's opponents how much it helps to have models come in mostly dead. ;D

The Mechanical Rider def needs some kind of cuddle. Let's consider this: Spare Parts - summon a 4 stone, significant model. It costs a corpse counter, plus a 8 of crows. Mech Rider - summons a 4 stone, significant model, as a 0 action, using no counters, and needs a 6 of nothing after turn 2. On turn 2 it needs a 6 of tome. Before anyone says it, yes I know that you cannot directly compare an upgrade to a 12 stone enforcer. Yes yes yes, bla bla bla. Look, at how efficiency the rider does it. And it's not just this that is the issue. Its the free cards, its the free scheme counters, on top of the fact that unless you have some kind of WP attack, there is not much of a way to get through this models damage reduction. She definitely does more work any of the other riders. The only two games I lost at Adepticon were against lists that had the mechanical rider. I was powerless to stop the model spamming. I was always against better a better hand thanks to the draw. And no matter how much I worked around my opponents scheme markers, I was not able to stop the rider from doing a single attack turn 5 and dropping two counters in the same spot which is enough to easily score a full 3 vp on most schemes where counters matter. Up to this point, i have not seen this model in action. But, wow, every arcanist list and Levi list should consider this model for competitive play.

The owner and alignment do not change. So the models you make would be the Dreamers. You'd be doing him a favor to summon nightmares with your own stones!

not sure where you guys are pulling your stats. I'm looking at the card here for pigapult. sh 6 min 2 unless you shoot a stuffed pig and then it goes to 3 min. No where does it say sh5.

Right with Tara that is what I planned. However, the pigpult is sh6, just an FYI. It's a really nutty model. You have to engage as soon as possibly but by then it shoudl have already wiped out at least one or two high stone models. At least most gremlins are easy to kill.

Hey yall, So I played against the pigg tosser for the first time. Turn 1: Dead Rogue Necromancy Turn 2: Dead Rogue Necromancy Turn 3: Dead Mortimer Turn 4: Dead Tara (Ok, Tara died from a RJ attack ) Anywho, I'm miffed at the power of this thing. Sometimes... just sometimes... I feel like, "where was the beta test" for some of the Gremlin stuff! Oh well, I'm not here to attack the Gremlins, I need many more games before I really start freaking out. My post is about combating this Beast! What suggestions do you all have for defending and fighting against Gremlin pigapult? Go ahead and be master or model specific as you like. Thanks

Thanks for comment! I really appreciate it and am glad you liked it. I agree about the ending. I feel like it ended... idk a little weakluly. Buy I couldn't decide what to do with it. And yeah, I did enjoy the cat speech. Lol favorite part!

Well, the best formula is 1 part Lilith with aether connection and 1 part Nekima. The rest, don't even bother. Seriously, you don't even need more models after that. But, I would go a full 7 stones with Lilith and the upgrade that prevents an addition wound. I think Living blade is awesome, but not necessary really. ;D Okok, maybe you'll want more. I don't recommend Lelu or Lilitu, they are IMO stat'ed for summoning not for hiring. The question is, do you want to grow? Do you want to wall up behind trees and waldghiests? I mean, there's almost no way you cannot run Lilith that wouldn't be somewhat effective. Her crew doesn't depend on a specific mechanic or anything.

Well, then never mind lol

Not sure how you come to this conclusion. Synergies that make models better are factors. Consider the new generic upgrades. Samurai is fine models, so far nothing of real note coming down the pipeline about them. Yet, if you take the generic that gives them REACTIVATE and a condition that doesn't allow them to take damage that turn, well now you got something to talk about. Synergies are not to be excluded. Tots can grow into Young Nephilum, they are excellent vehicles for blood pustule, these are factors when considering the model.

Oh yeah! That game! I still feel bad. Though you should sit down with Sharpobjects (brett) and have him give you a little pointers about Lady J. I'm still having nightmares! That game though, perfect example of what I'm talking about with Bells. So what if I can't kill Fransico turn 1 cause you properly hid him, I"ll get me a few Witchling Stalkers. No body likes being down two or three models turn 2!

lol I know right!