Fog

There are several theoretical ways to deal with this issue. December list where EVERYTHING has Sub Zero. A single attack from each model isn't getting the job done. Ramos can use spiders to block charge lanes and limit the potential impact of the bomb. Reactivated Fast Langston threats 28" with two attacks which can kill a Vik. You might be tossing the model away, but it jams up the board and can force them to 'play fair.' If you can position to avoid the alpha, you can take over activation control on turn two. Colette can spend her first activation getting Envy into position. Envy then can focus, hopefully hit the trigger for blast damage, and blow up the rats before they matter. Can also work with a Silent One or Snowstorm. Honestly, I find this particular interaction obnoxious as heck but it bothers me less than things like Glowy McTavish, TurboLoco and Papa-in-a-Box.

Toss in the arcane effigy and you have an extra level of hilarity. CA 7 Ramos firing into melee against potentially lowered defenses dealing 2/3/4, ignoring armor and +2 Burning. Nobody expects Ramos to put out that level of hurt.

Ramos isn't too difficult to play, but it can take some work to really get the most out of him. Positioning spiders to block charge lanes, using them to debuff defense when needed, knowing the right time to voltron into a swarm to cause havoc or eat scheme markers... Easy to learn, hard to master. Your best bet for playing Ramos is to bring in spiders, let your auras (Under Pressure & Arcing Screen) keep you going, and apply Hank with precision, not like a club. You'll do well enough as you're learning. You'll start to unlock the little things that make the difference as you go.

I was thinking "Position to open up turn two with it" but I definitely didn't get that across.

I've been testing these lists against local players, as I was hoping to unleash this absurdity myself, but I couldn't make adepticon so I guess I can't be part of the problem anymore. The biggest issue with this interaction isn't even how powerful or unbeatable the combination is, and it is quite potent. The issue is that this will warp and redefine the meta until the game is no longer recognizable as Malifaux. One of the *key* changes between editions is the removal of endless chain activations and this interaction all but reinstates them, albeit for a single faction.

I just feel like he doesn't fill the beater role as well as other options. I think I'd rather pay the extra points for Bishop or a strongarm almost every time. They don't get the tormented push but that's something you can fix.

Thanks! I'm always missing things like this when I'm not playing my main faction

Starting up tonight!

I think I would probably open with All Together Now to maximize the surprise factor of it all. Afterwards you'd still have full activations on every model to properly capitalize on your gains.

I think wrath is the last of the seven I'd reach for with Jack.

I reach for Greed, Envy and Lust myself. With all the movement tricks in the list it isn't uncommon to get a 1st turn kill with Envy, and as Jack likes to run elite it can really help with activation control. He is a solid damage dealer and his blasts enable some pretty painful situations. Lust brings more movement to a silly movement team. Add in Now Kiss and my opponents are pulling their hair out. Greed helps keep soulstones out of the game. Even if she isn't draining them, the threat she presents makes it less likely that my opponent will stone to prevent damage from Jack, costing me a curse.

Don't send joss after enemy models. Put him where the enemy needs to go and wait for them there. Try using the brass arachnid to give him reactivate. It greatly increases his threat range. If your opponents refuse to go near him the use that to your advantage. Create a no fly zone where you can scheme till your heart's content.

Sadness. Hamelin was the main thing I was looking forward to. My fiancé, however, had a dozen things to buy...

I've been playing a lot of Jack lately and here are my personal observations. If you are smart and careful, Ligeia is a backbreaker. Your opponent will usually be willing to overextend to put her down, and if they aren't then they'll suffer once she can get in. I've found the key is being patient. You'll want to make that 4 point investment do some work but don't rush into a situation where you'll lose her for nothing. Papa Loco is ten times better with Jack than with guild. Give him +2 armor with a nurse, 11" of out of activation movement with Lust and Jack, and oath keeper. Explode twice in their face from downtown and survive so they have to either spend actions to kill you or let you do it again. Just be wary of pushers. Look out for moon shinobi. They have your number. I've found the 3" push to be the number one reason to bring Jack. His insane hiring pool is number two. Though it's not quite as true as it was last year, movement tricks win games.

I recently played Toni into the Viks in headhunter. It did not go well for the Viks. First turn my two fast gunsmiths shot Taelor off the board. With the movement tricks you bring to the fight I find it is usually easy to be up a model early. Turn three, ironsides killed Vanessa and Blood by using her amazing zero to jump from one to the other. Johan and the Captain were keeping the center board locked down with a pair of 3" hammers while my mage picked up heads. I used the various lures and pushes the crew has to keep my opponent from being able to concentrate his forces in any one place and used wind walls to stymie charges. It was a 10-3 win over the top outcast player in the area.

Never, ever underestimate a spider swarm and its ability to counter scheme. I can't tell you how many times they've turned a close game into a blowout victory.

This is super exciting!

Ironsides is the most underrated master in town. i seldom take Frontline leadership as I find it eats too many cards to get much value. I typically run with challenge the crowd and warding runes, with the third based on my potential gameplay. I love Mouse. He can, first turn, get two models moved into position and down that single wound, plus having another heal is always nice. Johan is almost an auto include. The rest of the team changes as I need it.

A bit late to,the discussion, but here's my two script. I am a font of contrary opinions. I think Ramos is tops, with Rasputina at the bottom. Raspy is fantastic, don't get me wrong, but I find her to,have a very one dimensional play style. She brings one thing to the table (though it's an amazing thing). Ironsides gets a bad rap for not being Mei Feng when she's not supposed to be. Kaeris gets a ton of love but I don't think she's all that hot. Colette and Marcus are fantastic tool boxes but are very skill dependent. That all said, every master we have wins games. We're better off than many in that we have no duds.

Keep an eye on terrain too. I'm finding it further impossible to find a convention tournament where a full 50% of tables are shooting galleries. Glowy McTavish with clear line of sight across the entire board is pretty broken. Make sure something somewhere actually blocks line of sight.

Did somebody say Ramos? I agree with running the elecrical creation as your scrap marker. I like being able to have the option of magnetism to help reposition Ramos first turn if I want. I usually still kill it with Joss, but that option has made a difference in several games, mostly against skilled players. My typical first turn with Ramos is walk, summon, arcing screen. Future turns tend to be Summon, screen, shoot. Sometimes I'll summon, shoot, shoot. I've had games where Ramos has scooted around the backfield taking out scheme runners before. Yeah, he's probably at his most efficient when he's directly behind his crew and handing out buffs but that's not always what wins you the game. Locking yourself into the viewpoint of "Ramos does this and that's all" is going to lead towards some losses that should have been wins. Totem Time: If you're bringing Hank or Joss (or maybe the rider) the Brass Arachnid is the way to go. Turn two reactivating Hank wins games all by himself. Reactivated Joss removes a model from play. If you pull it off on both, your opponent is going to have a bad time. Essence of power is what you bring if you don't have a crazy beater to reactivate. Even one extra activation out of hank is worth the soulstones for the arachnid though. Don't worry about Ramos being too close to the fight. He's a tough bastard and won't die without extreme amounts of effort. Last time I played him was in close deployment against gremlins. He took Francois to the face, healed some, took Ophelia to the face. He was down to 3 wounds, then healed back up to 9 by the end of turn 2. If something out there ignores armor, though, be careful. Don't forget how good his defensive trigger is. Strategies: Everyone says don't bring Ramos to Reckoning. They're wrong. Ramos is the king of reckoning. Feed your opponent spiders. They kill spiders for Reckoning. You kill enforcers or henchmen instead. Your opponent runs out of worthwhile models while you only lose spiders, IF the spiders die. Def 6, WP 6, Armor 1 with positive twists can live a long time. Any attack directed at a spider is an attack that doesn't go towards a model you care about. Oh, look at the time. I've got to run to work. I could honestly just keep talking about Ramos all day, so I guess this is a good thing.

I prefer then to the toolkit because I get the option to use magnetism if I absolutely need the extra movement over a second scrap marker. I also tend to play Ramos more aggressively than most. Electrical fire is a solid use of AP

1. Rider. She wins games herself. She does things Toni needs and is self sufficient. 2. Johan. He's the bee's knees. I might put him first. 3. M&SU. The box itself is pure gold. Spiders are criminally underrated. A swarm with HPM is absurd. Joss and Hank need no pitch. 4. Gunsmiths. They're amazing with Toni. 5. Burning Revelations. Fire gamin are good summons, the Fire starter is a great schemer with some gunsmith synergy. Another master in Kaeris doesn't hurt. At this point you've got yourself enough to handle a tournament. You own a nice selection and can branch out into several different masters with little to no additional purchases. You have built up your Ironsides list and accumulated a team they're ready to expand further if you need to. If not, you're still competitive.

Ironsides. I was incredibly disappointed with her rules and bought her for completion sake. After my first few games with her I became her most vocal supporter.

Hope I'm not butting in, but here's how I feel... 1. I agree that you don't need these models to compete (though Barbaros... hum..), but not everything is about competition. I'm truly disappointed that I won't be able to get Dr Dufresne as I really like that model and McMourning not too much. I was even contemplating being unfaithful to Arcanists and go "dark"... So you're right, I won't spend my money, but it's a shame for myself and the company... Perhaps, I'll find her at a reasonable price on the secondary market, but that eventuality has no garanties The tournament situation in Europe is not even comparable to the USA, not even a little... The rules have not yet come out in the different languages (but the will soon!!!) thus fewer players, much more difficult to get people into the game because of the language barrier, consequently, not many tournaments... Add to that the fact that not a lot of stores carry Malifaux and the few that do, don't always carry a lot of choice (in my case I have bought from 2 French stores, 1 Spanish and 2 English just to get 2 crew boxes, 2 decks, the rulebook). The secondary market isn't that great either for Europeans, because most of the Malifaux products come from the States, and seeing some charge over $30 for shipping a miniature is just ridiculous (and I have seen this on too many occasions for it to be a rarity) Now, I am very hopeful that the situation in Europe will change in 2016 and everyone will be playing Malifaux. And this is not at all a critique on Wyrd, heck they are giving out free stuff. But, I am a bit sad about Dr Dufresne; I found she had a certain "je ne sais quoi", but not a "quoi" worth $300. Oh well, perhaps another time... I honestly didn't realize the European situation was so rough. I'd seen the strong U.K. Following, plus the seemingly large amount of Scandinavian posters, and assumed that things were in a better way.