Hateful Darkblack

I have six dolls and never needed more than two.

Rooster Riders are really good in games where you want to earn VP. They move fast and break things. They're must-takes for Stake a Claim - they drop a Claim Marker a Turn, faster than anything but Tara (who drops about 1.5 a turn). They're good with Zoraida since she can Obey a Roostercharge. Likewise Brewmaster. They're fragile. They'll die when the opponent focuses on them, which is usually immediately after you kill an enemy model or otherwise lead the enemy to realize how badass they are. Of course, this also means they're natural patsies for Frame For Murder.

Killjoy can synergize nicely, but is expensive. The Transmortis box is great for Karina summoning.

8 models seems around average. Maybe 6-7 for reckoning, maybe 9-10 for Reconnoiter. Summoners like Ramos & sometimes Colette can worry less about getting out-Activated.

I often play Levy with three big models and then maybe a pair of Abominations for cards and activations. Sometimes (especially if Murder Protege is on the table, or the Strat is Recon) I'll substitute two medium models instead. A Belle and a Doxy work wonders together. Or two Soulstone Miners. The thing you need for sure is three 6+ ss models. Making them durable is better. Making them durable summoners (like A+D or Mech Rider) is totally golden.

I know, right? So hateful!

Great question! The answer is no, only Scheme Markers count as Scheme Markers. Other things that seem Scheme Marker-like (such as Head Markers and as Michaud mentioned Claim Markers) don't count as Scheme Markers.

Both are plenty fun. I think Jack Daw is a little cooler, with more tricks to learn. But I really like both.

Oooh! Earthside!

Oh yeah. Taelor makes short work of Ashes and Dust.

Thanks as always for running this! Congrats to our well-deserved winner and second placer!

Ashes and Dust is a scary model! Really fast-moving, lots of damage, immune to many conditions and burial tricks, and he gets better when killed or sacrificed. He seems like a superfast indestructible superkiller. And he is, with some limitations. There are two things an Ashes and Dust player is doing that an opponent might not notice to keep A+D alive. First, the A+D is staying close to the edge, so that the Dust Storm can get back to the Ashen Core quickly. He's like me in the swimming pool when I was first learning to swim: he clings to the edge for safety. If the A + D moves away from the edge he's really vulnerable. Second, A+D does way better when out-activating opponents. A + D really likes to do his cycle stuff when the opponent is out of models. Outcasts have a lot of tricks for winning activation (Rats, free Viktorias and Waifs, reactivating Tara, summons, etc.) so there's a lot of ways to do it, but it's important. So, to beat an Ashes and Dust, you want to try to catch it closer to the middle if possible, and you want to kill the big A+D model early in the turn so you have more chances to kill the Ashen Core or the Dust Storm afterward. Last thing to remember - the Ashes and Dust is immune to many tricks. Conditions won't work, bury won't work, and you can't charge it. It's only got Df 5 and 9 Wd, so it's not too hard to kill, but kill it early in the turn or else it will just reform and erase your efforts. Hope that helps!

I love the iambic heptameter. It's just such a great sing-song quality to it, I can almost hear like an Irish folk song tune when I read it. (Especially since the content is bloody and tragic like a bunch of those.) One of my favorite weird rock bands, the Residents, would always compose their songs in iambic heptameter too. Good stuff!

So many great stories! I will vote tomorrow.

The puzzle is super fun! It took me about ten minutes and close reading of all the models to solve, but it's possible and a fun solution.

I guess there's one way that scouting can make a difference. There's a huge advantage to knowing and understanding how an enemy's Crew works. If you have enough advance notice, you can probably help your play a lot by running a practice game against the same Master if you aren't familiar with them. (Or at very least reading up on them on tacticas and discussion groups.) Knowing which Crew you're facing while hiring isn't a big advantage. Being familiar with how your opponent's Crew works (and how to take it apart) is a huge advantage during play.

Personally, I don't play with a lot of secrets. I usually declare the declarable schemes. Most people who read the forums or the AWP Facebook group or listen to the AWP podcast know what I'm likely to play in tournaments. (Hint: It's Leveticus.) Usually with most local players, I know what Masters they're likely to play because I've played against them before. But every time I've tried to use this knowledge during Crew Creation, I've ended up making dumb decisions. Sometimes I misguess and backfire. Sometimes I overestimate the importance of "counter" models and forget to hire models that can get me VP. Sometimes I just end up playing models I don't know as well. One of the strongest players in my local meta recently played a game against me in a tournament. Knowing that I was playing Leveticus, he played McCabe without any Hounds (since he didn't want Levy to melt his Hounds.) I think it lost him a lot of VP, because McCabe is amazing with his Hounds. The next time we played he brought his Hounds and did much better -- I was barely able to squeak out a victory and he was ahead most of the game. Most of all, though, I'm throwing a lot of confusion onto myself by trying to second-guess. Too much information spoils the Crew hiring, especially under time pressure. (In Vassal, I'll play a wide variety of things, but mostly Gremlins. I have picked Crews specifically to surprise people who I suspected were scouting me there. It didn't work very well -- surprise Crews are less advantageous than solid Crews. Putting all your points into enemy-countering models is less advantageous than putting your points into solid models you know well that synergize.) So, I suspect that too much scouting will actually be less advantageous than it seems, since it can lead to bad hiring decisions. It's definitely wrong to touch peoples' things without asking and to destroy other peoples' property intentionally, of course. Before tournaments, I'll often ask to see peoples' models, without knowing whether I'll be playing against them, because Malifaux models are beautiful and I love looking at what other people have done with them. I assume others will do the same, though my models aren't nearly so gorgeous. I've sometimes had people ask pointed questions that seem more like scouting, and I'll generally try to be respectful about it. "Well, I don't know until I've hired, of course. But I'm declaring Outcasts this tournament." Maybe someday I'll switch up and play Jack Daw or the Viks or something during hiring. I certainly reserve the right to do so. But I suspect it'll be disadvantageous to me -- because playing a solid Crew I know well is worth more than surprising an opponent during hiring.

You can't end your movement on impassable terrain ever.

I've taught new players using Hardcore Henchman and it's been a pretty good intro to a simple fast game.

Split off topic from discussion of Salvage and Logistics box.

<MOD HAT> Yep. So I split off the tangent to a new topic. </MOD HAT>

<MOD HAT> Guys, please keep this conversation civil. </MOD HAT>

Is that a rhetorical question?

This one's coming up in AWP Facebook Group and I thought I'd bring it up here. Sonnia Criid uses Confiscated Lore to raise her Ca by +2. Malifaux Child uses Just Like You to copy Sonnia's Ca action. Does Malifaux Child also benefit from that +2?

They're a blast to play. A little complex, but one of my first tournaments, I played against an opponent who started with Colette and trounced everyone. I suggest you check out the PullMyFinger wiki to get a sense of playstyle, but they're a lot of fun.