Spiku

Taelor is worth getting, as she is strong, but if you have von schill you are likely to just use him; depends on your ss use. Student, nah. Desperate Merc; yes, because it's 2ss =)

I find the multiple tiers = huge imbalances a rather curious. Just because there are divisions between each, and each can be placed separately, does not make bottom tier (not including Molly) completely useless.

Pigcharge can be moved in any direction at all; you can go around corners and come back, and if you're flying you're free to do pretty much anything you want with 10" of movement, with an interrupted strike. If you eat your fill however, you'll have to stop where you are as the interrupt action has just en

Someone failed their Wp > Logic flip. You kill HAMELIN'S cards to get them to 1Wd, and then LEAVE them on 1Wd. Hamelin only draws cards on cheated flips by you. You'll make fresh ones rather than rehealing, and when nix gets to you it's over anyway.

Von Schill can only run Freikorps SPECIAL FORCES. He can still take normal outcasts. So choose Von Schill or Viktorias

Consider me auto available for any Ratty Format games you run. I can sub-contract anything that comes up

testers were even multinational =3

Given the cost of the riders, you're happy to use those activations ;D

I do disagree with Omenbringer; McTavish's utility is severely limited; it adds a second mask suited (7+) support requirement in a risky position on the field due to the 8" range of his Obey, especially if you want to get something other than a Sooey! off. He has no innate survivale past the fact his base is large enough to ensure he is likely in cover, no heal option outside of Som'er using actions (god no), and takes Wds to himself for the fast. His damage output of 2/3/4 does not match up to your other options for 6ss. He is a 5ss model with so many extras that you have to pay 6ss~ What he does have going for him is protecting models from Swinedash given his size and height; a way to move a mosquito after it has sooey!'d up field to ensure all your Swinedash's hit the right target. Equally, he makes for a juicy target to give your mozzies more fun times, and makes for some bait for you to utilise on with a 3" radius melee blocker after he activates as well. You can also deploy your team in severe terrain if you have to, activate the 0 Guide to give your crew scout, and get to your job depending on the strat/scheme/terrain. There are places where he is good, which is why I said to get him. But he's no Hog Whisperer, he's no Rami, he certainly ain't a slop hauler and he sadly cannot use his Wrangle Critter to obey Avatar Som'er. Play him and make your own decisions. I find that without the specific match ups where I need him, you will do better taking the specialists for roles required, or taking 2 more pigs if you were considering tavish ;D Re: having Ophelia already, find a Zoraida player. Zoraida players often take Rami and Ophelia as options due to them providing a nice obey long range shooty, and someone to spend their soulstones. Trade them Ophelia for something you need, then grab the LaCroix set ;D

Good catch Headcase; I was of course referring to master hiring restrictions being added on

F.Trapper also saves you having to move to position and can stay safe while there

Gremlins: Ophelia advice: shake hands and play your next game of the day if you haven't taken McTavish =D. If you -know- you are facing Hamelin, rather than just being vs Outcast, you're probably okay, but I wouldn't recommend Ophelia. Rami LaCroix can kill nix in 3 hits at most if you have Ooh! A Girl!'d him into range and given him rams with Ophelia. Som'er: McTavish can (0)Shrug Off insignificant. Mosquitoes kill cards; keep them on 1Wd so Hamelin doesn't obey it on to you. You can't pull my finger kill nix due to magic resistant 2. You have 4 Mosquitoes that can all kill The Stolen with Pull my Finger. Manifesting Avatar Som'er will remove insignificant on him. Piglets will just end up healing Nix if you unload them on him, careful how you play. Piglets can take an (all) to remove insignificant until the draw phase; combined with reactivate you can still get some VPs in. When you manifest Som'er, your mosquitoes do 2Wd's in a 6" pulse. You can now kill nix with a companion chain. General: You can walk through rats without disengaging strikes. Lets your Bayou Gremlins shoot with blasts. Yay. Shoot your own guys if you want to hurt Hamelin. If Hamelin is on the other side of a wall, use Y'all Watch This! To do 2dg to him whilst you shoot something. If you are going to kill Nix, you want to do it in one activation, or after he has activated. Make sure you can do it. Then you can start playing.

Freikorps trappers, if that's where you're going. 7ss Or Von Schill, as he can just fly in and shoot things from on top of terrain.

Kirai is quite simple really, and is a lot of fun, though not too much bleedover between her and Seamus. Kirai excels at VPs due to her huge movement options, and spirits being generally survivable, as well as having some strong killers. Seamus falls over a bit in this regard; Viks is 50/50. You will get the most mileage out of Kirai. But I don't like her, so get Viks.

The list is based on completion of all objectives with consideration to the actual match up itself. Dreamer being able to disable nico entirely just means that no matter the scenario he has the advantage. Equally, he is very killy and can be anywhere on the table with his entire crew. This is much why Kirai is considered the best resser master; she has options for every scenario (though you'll hate shared escape and survive)

Your last sentence is a strange one to use in this scenario, given that most of the players here have played half of the rest in tournaments =3 Edit: Except in regard to gremlins, where most people just regurgitate what they were told

Viks have access to Sue, for rather impressive anti-magic options, and the ability to spread some burning tokens/magic damage about

You're new to the game, don't let that determine your overall view. It is very hard to say what the playstyle of the game is, as it changes based on strategies and scenarios. You should always be looking at how to make Victory Points, and how to intercept your opponent. If you were playing warmachine for the first time by picking up models available to your faction, and fought against people who knew how to combine things, you wouldn't expect to come out with a fresh and fruity view of the game ;3 Hell even if someone was just playing a Satyxi fluff list and killed your master through luring a jack, that doesn't say how it plays. Nico has a massively hard time against the Dreamer mind you, it was just a bad match up. That is not to say you should auto fold every time you see him, and more importantly your mileage will vary from player to player. 1) It's a wargame. 2) It is not a bad idea, I only play Gremlins, I do well at tournaments. I accept the bad match ups because I play what I want, instead of playing Malifaux properly. Learning all the masters give you more options, and yes Kirai has the most answers to more scenarios, she is rather good at what she does. 3) Everyone has different tricks, and until you see them, unless you are a good study, you will have to deal with them as they come. Ask your opponent what his master does, and what tricks to expect, before you pick schemes. Get them to explain what they do as they do it. Ressers have different tricks, the most amusing ones being on McMourning, Kirai and Avatar Seamus (not normal Seamus). Leveticus, from the Outcast faction, also uses undead amusingly. 4) There is no such thing as a fair fight, someone will always have an advantage. Just play your best; you should not anticipate having to fold instantly, especially with the nature of the cards, but Nico vs Dreamer is very, very hard. finally, you do NOT have a Nico list. There is no such thing. You change your list based on the strategies and schemes and masters you expect to face so it is always in flux. Welcome to the game ;3

Basically: Rami gives you a 16" shot cb7 potentially double damage gremlin, who combined with Ophelia can stay in cover, then be thrown out and fire 2 shots, or a focus shot, then escape with reckless, or fire a last shot if you are safe. With Rami you might consider a slop hauler, but Som'er can heal him up anyway if you are just summoning with him. Raphael gives you potentially 20" of movement if you attack him down to 4wds, combined with hard to kill bulletproof and reckless being for free when you are on 4wds. If you add in pigs using truffles, and a mosquito Sooey!ing piglets, you can easily have Raph at the centre of the board without activating him. Get Avatar Som'er ;D read my thread for why.

You may as well just pick up the Ophelia box some time if you like Francois; it saves you the cost of one model and lets you play about with them. I consider Francois the weakest of the crew, but he does have options. He can Dumb Luck the Supply Wagon, so he can actually reliably damage it unlike some of the others in the crew. Also if Ophelia gives him Rams on his pistol with a (0) action, Francois can take 1Wd to take another shot after hitting someone with his pistol, so he becomes a gatling gun of sorts

Who on earth would say that the boxes are balanced against each other? Just look at McMourning's

Gremlins: A.Som'er can be: Truffled by a piglet to walk 4" Sooey!'d by Hog Whisperer's, Mosquitoes and Slop Haulers Given reactivate and fly by Hog Whisperer's Ooh! A girl!'d by Ophelia 8" +1" for base contact or +2" for A.Somer 4x7" mozzies, + 8"+2"base size Ophelia without support models or piglets + 6ap worth of movement on Som'er, followed by support models Sooey!ing him back toward your deployment/behind cover with flight. Intersperse with Piglets using truffles, maybe with reactivate.

Play whatever you want. Tournament scenes are largely friendly games anyway. Certain masters are considered to have these "anti-fun" mechanics that some people just don't like facing: Hamelin disables your crew from being able to take objectives, and forces bad flips on you (just imagine roll two dice take lowest). Dreamer has the ability to attack you in your deployment zone with a melee heavy character, and return to his own deployment zone, in one model's activation as well as the ability to drop his entire crew from his deployment zone into yours. Pandora can move across the whole board forcing you to roll off and make you take damage each time you fail, and can cast repeatedly. Som'er can make you discard your entire hand then attack for double damage where he can cheat in high cards and you have no option. Some find this "anti-fun". What you shouldn't do is not play them because of it. Equally, nothing stops you from building a "friendly" crew for playing people locally; no one says you have to take the best of the best every time. Viks are hugely melee, entirely. The one with the pistol will still be getting into melee, it's not that good. Your ronin will be melee too ;3 And Hans is a bit too expensive to field for what he grants, you will probably use the freikorps trapper if you want shooty shoots. Seamus isn't very survivable due to the way the mechanics work, if you wanted him because of how he looks, play him. If you thought he'd be a meaty tank, don't touch him. Assassination playstyle would suit: Lady J + Lucius (can teleport her into the fight), The Dreamer, Ophelia LaCroix, Leveticus, Zoraida (likely you would enjoy her with Ophelia), Pandora, Von Schill. I think Von Schill is where you want to be right now.

Q'iq'el: He was mentioning it to cover any bases re: Nico's max base threatrange being 16".

There isn't really a debate on Som'er/Ophelia, that was a long time ago. You pick based on the strategy, and you also play who you want. McTavish is nothing like Fracois, you are probably thinking of Rami. Basically he is a weaker one, and he is not that strong in a pig crew unless you require him for specific match ups (say wp heavy or beast users). If you use pigs, you take the whisperer for flight control, it also lets you take Avatar Som'er easier. Som'er can be played in a few ways, though I consider the best to be sitting at the back, summoning. I tend to Avatar with him due to his synergy with the hog whisperer and mosquitoes. You absolutely need mosquitoes ;3 More Sooey!'s with 10 inch movement to cast in, and then later on can be converted into card killing/pull my finger damage. You want around 6-7 piglets, as you get bigger games you take more, and Som'er can make more anyway. You will want another pack of Bayou's, McTavish, Ophelia, Rami LaCroix and Raphael LaCroix and another pack of piglets. This gives you everything you need for summoning high, fighting neverborn, times you want Raphael's 20" movement for objective grabbing combined with pigs casting truffles, and the secnarios where you want som'er summoning and Ophelia pulling rami about to make surgical strikes/explode things with soulstones. A pigapult wouldn't hurt. Sorry to turn it into the shopping list, but you change your build based on each game's strategies