brdparker

Simplest answer I've found in most of the crews I run (arcanist and Zoraida) are malifaux raptors. I consider at least one an auto against gremlins. Though to be honest I find a use for one against any crew; I've just seen it really shine against the 'pult.

There are definitely masters that are harder to play against and it becomes tempting to say OP (or conversely hard to play as, tempting to say "UP"), but there are often several different playstyles, each one fitting a different cluster of strats/schemes and crew configuration. In other words, you might get destroyed the first few games (and probably will) and begin to see counters or synergies that weren't so obvious at first.

Which one? I mean, any scheme's going to be more focused on one particular playstyle or other. The goal is to have somewhat of a balance so all playstyles are represented to a similar level. Eh, people are gonna do that anyway. They could be unsuited triggers, the secondary effect of course being no other trigger could be used for the attack (with one exception, of course). For that specific one, the rational was that a model attacked would give up an AP (receives slow) to apply the condition, and the fact they'd have to be the killer would make it difficult if they'd already activated. A slow reactivation turn was the solution I came up with off the top of my head, but there could be others, and it'd have to be tested, of course.

Oh man, I scowered the pdf trying to figure out what you meant. I thought you meant that the hench/master has to kill the model with a particular suited attack, and didn't notice that it was a suited scheme now. Very cool! That said, that gives me an idea for a scheme that gives all NP's a trigger. Something like "Show Off: (Tome): After killing a non-peon model, if the killed model was within 3" of another friendly master or henchman, score 1 VP, and this trigger cannot be used again this turn" or "Revenge: (ram) after suffering at least 1 wound from an attack, this model receives the slow condition, and the attacking model receives the targeted condition until the end of the turn: "if this model is killed this turn by the model that applied it, the applying model's controller gains 1 VP and removes this condition from all friendly models in play and cannot be applied for the rest of the turn." If this model has already activated, it receives reactivate." Oh man... things for the future hopefully.

My girlfriend doesn't play, but loves the characters and the fluff, and came up with the idea that the FM is a dirty old bastard who says incredibly sexist remarks with no context or provocation. One of our favorites is, "Gr... that Zoraida... she's been hit with the age stick a few too many times, but get me drunk enough, and I'd probably... he he he, y'know what I mean? I mean, when fate calls you to your encounter, you gotta obey, y'know? He he he..." Strange we hadn't made the connection with the Spawn Mother, but that's a great (terrible) new level.

Played my first game with the Mate with NB Zoraida last night, and he shone well. Ultimately, his demise brought about Bad Juju, but because of his leap, it was right in the middle of the opponent's batch of models, but the first three turns were spent getting to where he needed, pushing enemies away (and giving them slow as needed) and ended up getting the "final" blow on mounted McCabe, which was handy. Against snipers (my opponent was running TT Sniper and an Austringer), it was very helpful to be able to push them out of range and give them slow, effectively eating up 2 AP for them to walk back in place and set up again. I never effectively used the slow/paralyze/eat chain, but I could see that being good in the future, especially with Zoraida's obey. I ended up using Obey more on McTavish. That said, for 2 SS's more than the basic Silurid, you get: - A better Ml attack - SS Use and two upgrades - an even MORE reliable leap, if that was possible, with the same Ch - better stats (more Df, Wp, Wd's) - an auto-kill potential with a heal (might be cool to have a Gupp escort and have him spend an AP to devour it to bring about Juju just where you want. - a push Ca action (when coupled with Leap, is more reliable than it looks, given the range) - card cycling on destroyed SM's (NB's new upgrade Malifaux provides helps with this, as does his Grem upgrade) - Pounce - Abilities to give slow or paralyzed, which even in a vacuum is very useful. He's gonna be a staple in my crew, for sure.

Pure theory-faux (haven't had a chance to proxy yet, but I will!) that's how I view using the First Mate, denial, and a damn good one. I think the slow/paralyze/devour chain will be nice for times when you get the stars aligned or combo with another model to dole out slow/paralyze, but more of a thing to keep in mind, rather than a strategy in itself. But for scheming/scheme denial/schemer defending, dude looks awesome!

- Sewn Fate: Whenever an enemy Voodoo Doll suffers damage, this model suffers the same amount of damage (damage suffered in this way may not exceed the Voodoo Doll's current remaining Wounds). Whenever an enemy Voodoo Doll gains a Condition, this model gains the same Condition. - Black Blood: All models without Black Blood within (1" pulse) suffer 1 damage when this model suffers damage. Huh, bit of a corner-case, but man that sounds vicious. Could be a solid counter to Molly or any of the nephilim (or Killjoy ). As far as rules as intended... I dunno, wyrd doesn't tend to have too many infinite combos or superlative wordings, but unless there's an errata, that's how I would play it with rules as written.

I'll have to proxy for a while, but I'd like to try this crew out. Did you field the First Mate in the first game? I'm very interested in trying out his versatility.

No, but it's swampfiend, so with the upgrade, it's available. Go for it! PMF's rather in need of an update. I sadly am not able to play enough to get a cohesive enough set of information to contribute (I'm lucky if I get 2 games a month in), but it'll get there.

I'm looking at the new toys she's gotten. My Zoraida background is almost entirely played in neverborn with a swampfiend list, coming from the Marcus side of things (though I have an as-yet unused Weaver). Might start playing her as a grem soon with the new toys. There's been a lot of talk about the Wisp (and I'm excited to get it to the table), but I'm really digging the versatility of the First Mate. First glance has him leaping around and just picking off anyone that's dying, but I feel like he's most effective as a scheme runner eater. He can push them away/swallow them whole (many schemers are Ht 1), and then eat the SM giving you even more card control (and armor if played in Grem's with the upgrade). Because I enjoy running Sue in my Z lists (Finish the Job goes rather well with Gupps, and Hurt gives me extra card control), the trigger on FtJ can have the Mate discard 2 or 3 SM's in a shot for a few cards drawn and discarded in a shot (depending on scheme pool). Not to mention, an extra Slow/Paralyze Henchman in the crew is a serious boon. Anyone else see anything good with the guy?

Yeah, I just got the book in earlier tonight. I was also kind of let down (though not really surprised) it was only tactical actions, and it wasn't a beast. I REALLY wanted it to cast Marcus's alpha and save him 2 AP, but I was a little greedy It's a well-worded ability in the book at least. In practice, we shall see!

That sounds like a particularly solid use for them (and I have yet to find an excuse to field them in M2E, so this is good news!)

Whatever it is, it will surely be very welcome. Great news, Wyrd!

Oh man... I smell some smell fear abuse in my future.