hippodruid

I'm pretty sure for official Gaining Grounds stuff, you need a card for each model you intend to use (maybe that's just policy for some tournaments?). But you can also photocopy them or from the book once you own them, so even if you don't have enough shiny, pretty cards, you can still have enough cards with just the arsenal deck and a few card sleeves (or just use a pencil). For casual play, though, what Ferossa said.

Well, it really depends on what you're trying to do with her. Those upgrades are pretty similar to what I usually take, so I'll work from just those. I choose Mei Feng as a leader when I want to be able to provide support over a long area (Squatter's Rights, Reconnoiter/Interference, or mobility-dependent schemes in Turf War). I will not take her if Deliver the Message is a scheme, and you can't make me. Her 3" engagement range makes it way too easy for full VPs on that. Railwalker is possibly the most efficient movement ability in the game. I'll often use Mei as a counter-flanker and redirect her back to the middle of the action once my primary targets are mopped up. If you're engaged with weaker models, use an AP to Focus before a Scalding Breath attack to land blast markers across multiple enemies. One of the major problems I've seen in her play is committing her into the middle of a gigantic scrum or against a few elite hitters. Mei wants to hit a target (including a group) hard and then jump back out to safety. She has decent Df and Wp, but it will not hold against big hitters (Lilith, Teddy, Lady Justice, Howard Langston, etc.), so try to plan for an escape route. If you can't or have a high priority target that you need to commit to, save a high card (ideally a ) to leap away if you're taking too much heat. Take enough attacks, and eventually you will be hit. If you have any specific examples of what appears to not be working for you, I know the forums can offer you a lot more focused information that can help improve specific aspects of your play, too, so if you can think of anything, let us know.

I'd be happy to run a game, too, if you're still looking for volunteers.

I know it's not the official deal, but http://wyrd-games.net/community/files/file/16-kings-of-artifice-rules/ should give you what you need. And then if it vanishes again, you can just reprint it.

The Drowned. I hate Resilience so much. Back them up with Ashigaru at the maximum range for Brace Yari and then just hide everyone else behind them.

I haven't wanted to say anything because, you know.... ....zFiend.

I was actually just checking to see if I'd posted here before. It turns out, I haven't! I thought I did two-thousand-something pages ago.

Honestly, any model is a scheme runner, especially for Arcanists. I've completed Power Ritual with a crew where Howard Langston scored full points for the scheme by himself in Standard Deployment without even swinging at a model. If you have a Rail Golem for Mei Feng, Locomotion can move it into position to drop markers or to just be in place for Mei to Railwalk to. Oxfordian Mages can push models around, and the Captain pretty much makes anyone a scheme runner, even Rail Workers. Arcanists have enough general mobility than any model can serve the role (possible exception for the Rail Crew box (exception Captain)). What schemes do you find you're having difficulty with?

I'd definitely second the Ramos box (The M&SU) for the above reasons. Johan is a great pick for a mercenary for the crew, and I am perennially fond of Gunsmiths with Ironsides if you can find them. Soulstone Miners are good, and Union Miners should be effective. Also, the crowd favorite Metal Gamin have good synergy opportunities, especially if you pack Bleeding Edge Tech.

No, no, it's (0) Welcome to Malifaux. Because, you know. Resser.

Yep. Hard to Wound states that damage flips against the model receive , and Ricochet causes a damage flip.

The toolbox is great, but Marcus is nowhere near as reliant on out-of-faction hiring as he was in 1.5. I fairly routinely play Marcus with just Arcanist beasts. I think it's still possible to have fun and be competitive without piling in out-of-faction models if you don't want to. That said, I'm still going to play my Marcus grow list some day (Marcus + Spawn Mother + Gupps) because playing with out-of-faction beasts is also fun and competitive (or silly, as that may well be).

Yeah, this book can't come out fast enough. Dammit, Aaron, must you torment us (me) so?!

Large engagement + Ironsides = great randomization target. If I tag IS for two damage, that's fine. I'll just push her out of engagement with the primary model I'm targeting and go to town with the rest of the mages. The mage swarm is one of the good uses for the Essence. I also bring it with Raspy, because she's not really moving, anyway, and Ca 8 December's Curses with to the attack flip if you stone for a trigger from 22" + Ice Mirror base size are just a bit ridiculous. It helps Silent Ones if you don't move them too far, too (who am I kidding? Silent Ones don't move far). Ca 8 Freeze Over is pretty tempting, too, which can line you up for an extraordinarily evil Shatter. I've never really tried it with Ramos, but it seems like it could be helpful once he's set up a summoning platform (stone for a , get while looking for a 10+ for 3 spiders, or just a 7+ for 2). Also, Ca 9 Magnetism is funny, especially if there are any Metal Gamin on the table. I definitely don't know if you're getting your value in exchange for a reactivating Joss or Howard, though. It may contend simply because (in my experience), the Brass Arachnid only seems to Stoke once per game before my opponent devotes triple its SS value to destroying it, and the Essence is a lot more resource-friendly (it never needs a card for anything). Other masters are generally too mobile to gain much benefit from it outside of when using stones. Snowstorm gets a little bump in that it is a caster, and Myranda would, if the totem could keep up (spoilers: it can't). The Captain takes a good bit from it and can actually keep it moving along with him provided you have no one better to push around (spoilers: you do, generally). Leap becomes infinitesimally easier. A showgirl crew could technically push it around enough to be useful, although that's a lot of AP invested in +1 Ca (it might be worth it; I always flip one card too low for Prompt).

Kaeris vs. Sonnia is an all right match. It's actually one of the few times that Kaeris can use Truth in Flame effectively, and a themed Sonnia list (Witch Hunters) is actually reasonably vulnerable against Kaeris herself, although Counterspell Aura and Disrupt Magic can be a pain. That said, the Guild rarely runs in a single theme, and Sonnia herself is difficult for Kaeris to target effectively (both of her primary attacks are suited). There are definitely better picks if your opponent declares Guild and you sniff Sonnia in the offing.

Raspy does not cry. Unless you count blast markers as tears.

A really fun thing to try is to have Marcus activate later, then walk up toward an already activated enemy, Feral and Alpha, and have that enemy drop a claim marker on turn one on their half of the table. If their list is at all optimized for Stake a Claim, someone should be in range, but remember that this doesn't work on enemy models that have From the Shadows. This also doesn't work so well in Corner Deployment or Close Deployment due to the ranges involved. Also, I would dump the Union Miners and Cojo for Myranda and the Blessed of December. Establishing early dominance (2-4 claim markers on turn 2) on the strategy will give your crew more room to complete the schemes, especially if you announce both.

Joss and Howard Langston, while terrifying in their own right, become even worse/better with Hand-Picked Men. I don't think I've played a game with Ironsides that didn't include Johan or Gunsmiths. Interestingly, I don't usually take the Captain. The mages are all right, but I'm generally building for counterspell/anti-condition if I bring them, and I'll slap Warding Runes on IS and whatever henchman I bring along solely for the Blood Ward. I like Mouse solely for his heal, even in a -hungry crew. Silent Ones are a viable alternative for healing, but I almost always go overboard on synergy when I build lists (exception Colette, although she synergizes with just about everything, anyway), so I generally leave them behind. I agree that the Essence is remarkably good for a Mage-heavy list, though, so it's a strong competition.

To answer your question about the Firestarter, I don't consider him an auto-include, either, but he makes the crew good for kill-based schemes and strategies because he can count kills from Burning, which can give you more opportunity for a Burning-based crew. I also like him with Purifying Flame as a healer for Kaeris (who is affected by her own aura), but I tend to leave him behind for Grab and Drop lists despite his alarming mobility, although I will field him in Stake a Claim. The best use I've found for the Eternal Flame is as a roadblock. The massive armor makes it a tough nut to crack, it can heal itself, and it can shove Pyres around with Born of Fire or Purifying Flame. It's also cheap, like "I'm full on upgrades and I have a few stones left over" cheap. That said, I haven't used it a whole lot because I hate proxies. And I think I'm actually more fond of Purifying Flame than Grab and Drop these days, but that's because I tend to run tankier lists for Kaeris. (Rail Workers, Rail Golem, Joss, etc.)

ohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboy :D Now I just have to cut into my grocery bill in order to afford it. But I can survive on plastic alone.

You could do that, although the friendly target can also relent to the Lure, which means that it would automatically be a tie, meaning you would just flip for the Lure. You would still need to hit the TN, but it does save you a card. It also counts as failing a Wp duel, though, so be careful with it.

They're not particularly bad against each other. Ramos tends to ignore armor and other defenses, which is bad for the Rail Crew, but Mei Feng can deal with swarms of weaker minions, which is bad for Ramos. Kang is also brutal against Constructs (the entire Ramos box), while Howard Langston and Joss are brutal against almost everything (the Rail Crew box is included in the subset "everything").

The standing version is super-awesome. Lunge-hug Kaeris looks really awkward and off-balance to me. Like others, I'm not certain why this deviates so much from the crouching art in Crossroads, but I'm glad the one I like is the regular variant.

Important to note: Howard can't use a (0) Interact action with Colette as he is neither a Minion nor a Showgirl (although I want to see someone make the latter without using Miss Step). Blah, ninja'd. Unimpressively ninja'd, no less. That's what I get for posting at work!

Just so you know, Whut, you can relent against the attack to consider it a tie. Neither Magnetism nor Joss's attacks have TNs, so a tie will kill a moved Creation (which is also a Construct, so Joss will drop 2 scrap off it). The Toolkit will take an Arc Axe attack to kill, whereas Joss can shoot the Creation after it's activated. I also do it because I find the Toolkit to be a better model due to its buffs, and it can be repositioned by enemy actions fairly easily. The EC will just drift around and explode, probably before you want it to, but is MUCH harder to move via lure and other movement abilities based on Wp.