Allidor

For me it depends on what size game I'm playing. If it's under 30ss, I'll do 2. 30+ I always run 3 for the shuffling capabilities it affords. It's easier to fix your mistakes with 3 Daydreams.

3 Alps is kinda pointless in my opinion. That's a Coppelius, Teddy, Lillitu, Lelu, or almost 2 Stitched Together you're missing out on for minimal plink damage for a turn until your opponent kills them. When it comes to Alps, I have an "all or none" mentality, where you either Alp Bomb (which I feel is cheesy and I don't do) or you don't take Alps. I usually run something along these lines: Dreamer/LCB 3 Daydreams Lelu Lillitu 2 Stitched Together 30ss with a 5 cache from hiring Nightmares or Dreamer/LCB 3 Daydreams Lelu Lillitu Coppelius Stitched Together 35ss with 1 left from hiring and 5 for hiring Nightmares You could also drop Coppelius in the 35ss list and take another Lelu, giving you an 8ss cache even if you take both schemes.

Really great stuff! I'd also like to see him do more of these.

Convict Gunslinger is always good with Zoraida. Gives some nice ranged capability to the crew.

I had similar confusion with Zoraida summoning Wicked Dolls with Create Voodoo Doll at first. I'd imagine it's along the same line of choosing A or B rather than A and B.

Precisely It's one of the things that makes Dreamer/LCB a little difficult to learn at first, but also one of the reasons they're so much fun to play once you get it down. As far as finding a way to get one unburied, you can have a Daydream use Call Nightmare to bring out LCB, or if you've been Pine Boxed, just cheat fate and soulstone to win the WP duel.

You can, but that's assuming you have one out that hasn't activated. If you don't have any Daydreams to activate (or don't have any on the field) and you fail the WP duel at the Start Close Phase, your opponent could essentially have a turn on an empty board. In theory this could go on for the rest of the game if you can't pass the WP duel. However, Dreamer is WP8 to a DM's WP6, not to mention Dreamer can use Soulstones, so it's very unlikely that he'll get Pine Boxed in the first place, and even less likely that he'll stay in the box for very long.

This is incorrect. Here is the text for One Master as written on LCBs card: "This model is included in any Crew hiring The Dreamer and always starts the Encounter Buried. This model may never be in play at the same time as a friendly The Dreamer. When this model is brought into play, this model's Controller must bury a friendly The Dreamer and this model activates immediately. Any time a friendly The Dreamer is brought into play, bury this model and activate the Dreamer immediately. Totems connected to The Dreamer in this Crew are connected to this model as well." As you can see, there is no rule saying that when one is buried, the other comes out. Rather it is the exact opposite (when one comes out, the other is buried). The Dreamer/LCB are subject to Pine Box shenanigans just like everyone else.

How is the model? I'm still waiting for mine in the mail.

As a Dreamer player, I take Teddy when I need staying power. With Hard to Wound 2 and Regeneration 2, he is the closest thing Neverborn has to a tank. The normal Nightmare minion life cycle can best be described with a quote from Blade Runner: "The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long." They go in there, do what they're there to do, and if you do it right, you'll be able to suck them up and escape before your opponent has much of a chance to retaliate. If you happen to leave one out (say a Coppelius that has already activated, for instance), then he's probably a goner. This isn't the case with Teddy. Teddy isn't invincible, but he can take hits better than the rest of the crew. He also has some tricks up his sleeves via Thing of Nightmares and Smell Fears. Flurry is nice, but it will only see use when you play him with Dreamer, or if you play someone who is careless enough to charge Teddy and not kill him. I get the best use out of him as a tarpit unit for Dreamer. I deploy him amidst a cluster of enemies, and they have to deal with being in his melee range at the start of their activation. If they are living models, then Teddy gets the benefit of his Terrifying ->13. If you had Smell Fear up and someone fails their Terryifying check, then you get a free charge

This is incorrect. There is no rule saying that when one leaves, the other comes out. You're thinking of the One Master rule that says when one comes out, the other leaves. Pine boxing the Dreamer does leave you masterless, just as pine boxing a regular master would.

I definitely recommend picking up his boxed set. The two stitched together and coppelius it comes with are extremely useful. Like I said though, you'll definitely want to pick up a pack of Daydreams when you grab the box. After the box and pack of Daydreams, I'd definitely recommend picking up Lelu and Lillitu, as they are useful with all Neverborn masters.

While Dreamer does have a slightly difficult playstyle, I personally feel that it is a very rewarding one. Dreamer was my first boxed set, and remains my favorite master. His playstyle can best be described as a highly mobile glass cannon. Essentially Dreamer flies around the board, burrying and unburrying his minions. While burried, his minions cannot be targeted, and thus can provide Dreamer with the ability to decide when, where, and how combat will occur. He is the second master in the game to consist of two models, but unlike the Viktorias, only one model can be on the board at a time. His counterpart Lord Chompy Bits is a melee powerhouse and is the only model in the game that has Terrifying->14 naturally. When LCB comes onto the field, Dreamer leaves, and LCB activates immediately. This is huge, as it can be used in many different tactics. Hurdles to overcome: -Understanding the LCB/Dreamer ineraction. They have 3 AP between them, but each can only use 2 general AP. Only one on the field at a time. One comes in, the other leaves, new one activates immediately. -Necessity of totem. You'll need at the bare minimum of 2 Day Dreams (I usually prefer 3). The Day Dreams are your primary method of switching between the two masters as well as adding much mobility to your crew via shuffling tactics. I would recommend getting them at the same time you get the boxed set. -Understand what burrying a model entails. A buried model does not go through the start close phase since it is not considered to be in play. This is huge, because this means you can prep them (IE, have Stitched cast Creepy Fog turn one then bury him) and then release them later in the game with the effect still going. All in all, the Dreamer crew is one of the most versatile crews in the game, capable of killing, holding, and mobilizing. It may take longer to learn than Lilith or Lady J, but it's really worth it in the end. For more info, check out the Dreamer tactica at the Malifaux wiki: pullmyfinger.wikispaces.com

This is correct. The only rule Dreamer has relating to what he can/can't hire is a hiring restriction on Mercs in a scrap. I'd recommend the following for starting off: Dreamer/LCB 3 x Daydreams 6ss Coppelius 9ss 2 x Stitched Together 10ss Teddy 9ss Total: 34ss This gives you a half melee, half ranged list with a good number of tricks up your sleeve without being too difficult to learn. From there if you want to expand, I'd recommend picking up Lelu and Lillitu (at least one of each to start), an Insidious Madness, and a few Alps. I'm not a fan of the Alp bomb, but picking up a pack is a good idea so that at the very least if you ever summon one with Coppelius, you'll have the model to put down.

Also worth remembering is the little bit from "One Master" that specifies that they activate immediately when one is brought onto the field.

Yeah I always run Primordial Magic with my Lilith. The extra card alone is worth it, and it's always nice to be able to transfigure Lilith. The Nephilim are so mobile as it is, that I personally don't find much of a need for ranged attacks, as I'm usually upon my opponent within the first turn or so, doing the melee damage that Nephilim do so well.

One thing you'll want to make sure you have a firm understanding of is the effects of having something burried before and during the start close phase. Essentially, most effects in Malifaux expire during the start close phase of each turn. Dreamer has the ability to bury his models, so that they technically don't go through the start close phase (since they aren't in play). What this means is that you can "prep" stuff like Stitched Together's Creepy Fog, Teddy's (1) Spell (I forget what it's called), Dreamer giving eveyone Terrifying ->13,etc. All of these would normally expire at the end of the turn, but since they're burried, they keep the effects and can come into play with their effects without having spent the AP on them that turn. You can come up with many strategies from this concept alone. I'd recommend looking at Stitched Together, Insidious Madness, Teddy, Alps, and of course Dreamer's abilty to grant Terrifying. Of course this concept brings drawbacks as well. If nothing is around during the start close phase: Lelu doesn't do any dmg during the start close phase, Lillitu doesn't heal anyone during the start close phase, any negative effects on your models (Poison, Paralysis, etc.) will still be on them when you bring them back out.

Personally, I feel that Malifaux's tournament structure is fine. Warmahordes makes you bring 2 lists with different warcasters, whereas Malifaux just requires you to play the same faction. That allows you the full range of masters and minions of your faction to choose from to accomplish your goals. What would you like to see done differently in Malifaux's tournament scene?

This is all theoryfaux, since I'm the only player my at LGS that playes Dreamer, but if I were to come across another player, in addition to all of the paralysis shenannigans mentioned, these are some things I'd do: - Take down his Daydreams fast. This prevents a lot of his shuffling, and limits LCBs ability to turn back into the Dreamer. -Take out isolated models. If he has a lone model that's further out than the others, take it out with LCB and then suck LCB up with a Daydream when you're done. If you have the time, you can even get a Lillitu and a Lelu and have Lillitu create an isolated model for you by luring a model, then send in a heavy hitter like Lelu to kill it. -Be wary of nightmare sneezing, as your opponent can do it too! Nightmare sneezing is what I like to call it when Dreamer drops a ton of nightmares all over your opponent. Works great on other people, especially if you've been slowly whittling down his force by killing loners with LCB. If it's with another Dreamer player though, he can do the exact same thing to you, so be wary of leaving yourself defenseless. -With the Dreamer vs Dreamer, it could turn into a game of chicken, where each side gets closer without dropping their payload. I would bring models that can simultaneously activate (Lelus and Lillitus) to go for more of an alpha strike when you finally do make contact.

Sounds good to me! Only problem is, if she fails she has the potential to kill herself without the game changing "Does Not Die".

This assumes that you're wanting to run a grow list. I've had great success with taking Lilith, Primordial, BBS, Young and Terror Tots. If you know that you'll be playing a list that doesn't drop counters, either make it a more elite based list (more Young/Mature) or bring them yourself (Terror Tots) without wasting SS. By bringing more Terror Tots, you have your own counters, tarpit models of sorts, and people who can use said counters. It's all personal preference, but I've had much success with Lilith without rushing to grow everything with her. And if you really need a blood counter early on, bring a BBS and make a Blood Offering! Also, if you need to play a grow list with Lilith when you play a book 1 Resser AND bring BBS, you're doing something wrong

Neverborn is full of speed, tricks, and glass jaws. Overall we're not the sturdiest or the most direct, but there's something quite satisfying about pulling off a tricky move with a Neverborn master. Enjoy the faction!

One thing I love about Malifaux is that it's cheap compared to other games. I know! This is the first thing people bring up about the game, but allow me to put it into perspective and show the implications of the price difference: In Malifaux, it's about $50 to get completely up and running with the Wyrd specific things you need to play (Boxed set, Rules Manual, Fate Deck). Tape measure and soulstone counters you probably have lying around the house, if not, $1-$2 for a tape measure, use the change from that purchase to count your soulstones After your initial crew purchase, you generally want to add in a few more models, so you're typically looking to spend another $20-$50. Now, at ~$100, you can have a master with close to the full range of models he/she can run, giving you plenty of adaptability and wiggle room for building crews at tournaments. After that, you just field what you need, when you need it.

All 3 of the masters I use that are getting Avatars (Lilith, Pandora, and Zoraida) are scantly clad to pretty much naked (looking at Lilith). People are going to see others using the Sonia Criid and Rasputina avatars and look at me and say: "You just had to play the naked women, huh?" All kidding aside, we (Neverborn) already have two scantly clad to naked master Avatars. Why did Zoraida need to be made younger and provocative? The only thing that happened to her during "The Event" in Rising Powers was all of the animals coming to her (which I think is aptly represented by the Juju and the crows). I would have loved to have seen her become more swamp-like, maybe growing in size and sprouting branches from her that the crows come and land on (looking a little bit like Juju). She's always doing divination, so maybe have a table with her cards, or a table with her scrying mirror. My point is, I feel they could have done much more with her than another scantly clad master. Not to mention they're breaking the whole Maiden-Mother-Crone concept they used in book 1. **EDIT** I guess Rasputina is technically naked too

Aside from the basing issues everyone has adressed, I would personally say that this would not work well as an army. Not because of the 3 teddies, but because of only 1 Daydream. Dreamer/LCB loves his Daydreams, as they allow him and his minions to pop in and out of reality ( in game terms they switch between burried and unburried). They also fill the crucial role of giving LCB a much more stable way of changing back into the Dreamer after he's done eating face. If you're going to do a 35ss game with 3 Teddies, I'd recommend the following: Dreamer/LCB 3 Teddies - 27ss 3 Daydreams - 6ss That leaves you 2ss after hiring, 5ss from hiring Nightmares, meaning you can take 2 schemes and still bring 7ss to the game. The idea will be to drop Teddies+LCB off to wreck stuff as needed, then suck them back up and fly away when you're done. While it may not be as versatile as lists with Lelu/Lillitu and the likes, it's always fun to field a little kid and huge evil teddy bears