Hateful Darkblack

Getting sucked into the Brewmaster bubble.

Last tournament I was in, a Union Miner (supported by a few Spiders to reduce Df and a good cardset) was able to kill Mechanical Rider on Turn Four with two rounds of effort. You can't use Df triggers against a Union Miner's Ml attack! I was stunned how effective that relatively inexpensive model was.

Promising Whispers makes the model you target friendly to Ama No Zako for the action, but not any others. You can't have Ama No Zako trigger an enemy model to attack Ama and fail the Horror Check. You could have Ama No Zako trigger an enemy Vasilisa to Obey an enemy (for example) Silurid to attack Ama No Zako and fail the Horror Check, though! Or you could have Ama No Zako trigger an enemy model to attack a friendly Hanged and fail the Horror Check. This trick is too nasty to be allowed to work on its own, but you can still do it with combos.

Great topics! I’ve been thinking lately about statements about a model being “really good” or “amazing.” I think those statements are only helpful when you’re talking about a particular use. Every model in Malifaux is really good. (Maybe there a very few exceptions) It’s just that they’re good in different situations! When you’re talking about how good a model is, think about when and how that model is good. Some further thoughts (based on models the OP mentioned): Jaakuna is an incredible tarpit, especially when supported. She can lure models in, make terrain dangerous, and freeze models. Her melee attack isn’t high, but it’s great for disengaging strikes. Ama No Zako is a high-power counter-flanker with very flexible board control. She’s a fast-moving and can spring some surprising tricks. She’s got a really high-damage attack, several ways to heal herself, model-eating, Obey effects, terrain danger effects, and some good durability. She can eat enemy objective grabbers and grab her own, but she’ll die pretty quickly if used in the front lines. The Drowned are cheap and incredibly durable in close range. Their melee attacks are good. They’re great at holding and keeping objective points, and they boost Jaakuna and Ama No Zako’s territory abilities. They’ll die fast from spells or ranged attacks, though, so they work well hiding behind terrain and supported by luring models. Sue is the Man in Black, and does a lot of support and quality ranged attacks. He’s got reliable ranged attacks, great anti-magic, can spread to burning. He can help other models hold territory and shoot bad guys to death. Even better, he gets you more cards. Papa Loco is walking time bomb: a fragile but high-damage AOE model. If you can get him into position (movement effects help), he can do a lot of damage to clumped up enemy models. He’s also got a very good crew buffer if you risk keeping him near friendly models. If your opponent controls him, though, he can be disastrous. The Guilty are decent high-defense objective-runners with massive Tormented synergy. They’re great in Tormented Crews, but not much use outside, and they'll usually do best when they're hanging out with Jack Daw or Montresor specifically. They’ve also got decent melee and defenses, especially for their cost. The Nurse is an amazing mid-range healer, buffer, and debuffer with Poison synergy. Her abilities are all a buff and a debuff, depending on the situation. She benefits from models that can clear Conditions, but she’s handy with anything. She's great if a Crew needs Poison, but actually really good with just about any Crew that wants model support. For her to work well, though, she needs other models to support - on her own, she's a mediocre model. So, when thinking about what to hire, you can start asking questions like: How much do you need to tarpit enemies? Protect territory? Run objectives? Blow up the other guy? Support your models? You're right about starting with a crew and switching out. It's a lot easier to make decisions when you've prepped beforehand and you've got a "decision tree". It's all well and good to say "Your best Crew choice depends on Strats and Schemes" but it's valuable to go into more detail. You may want to start with a core like: Jack Daw Lady Ligeia 2 Guilty Nurse Sue Then you can (for instance) switch in Jaakuna + 2 Drowned when you want to tarpit, or Papa + Ama No Zako when you want to eat flankers and blow up little models. I don't know if those are the best combinations. I suspect they're pretty good and they've worked for me. But it's worth experimenting and improving. Hope this is helpful!

Pine Box? The Judge's Command ability?

Illusions of Madness 0ss, Pandora Friendly Woes within 6" of a friendly Poltergeist gain Hard to Kill and Armor +1.

Maybe they just wanted to give people a choice?

Next up is going to be Hamelin.

Yeah, no markers are placed when a Final Repose model does the killing. There's nothing about who places it. Just about the number of Markers that placed: Zero. Headhunter Markers are Markers. So there it is.

How do you play it? What do you Summon? What else do you put in the Crew?

Many Minions is not a bad plan in Reconnoiter. (Or Interference.)

I kinda think that the Outcasts have two overlapping themes: mercenaries outside the system (Viks, Freikorps, Misaki, kinda Tara and Leveticus), and corrupt magical entities (Hamelin, Jack Daw, Leveticus, Tara). Thematically, they have activation control, high levels of Crew synergy, lots of Mercenaries, and a good number of gunners. Neverborn seem to have a few tactical themes too: mobility, melee attacks, and Wp-based attacks. Note also that there are plenty of exceptions in every Faction. Lady Justice, the iconic Guild master, doesn't even have a Sh attack in M2E. (Just a Sh-based defensive tactical action.)

Great topic! I think the major themes of Arcanists are constructs, and control of elemental forces. Each master has a "theme" of some elemental force they control. Most (but not all) have a bunch of constructs related to that. Ramos: Force is electricity, constructs are spiders. Marcus: Force is beasts (yeah, kind of a stretch), but no constructs. Rasputina: Force is ice, constructs are ice golems/gamin. Mei Feng: Force is fire, constructs are rail golem/metal gamin. Kaeris: Force is fire, constructs are fire gamin. Ironsides: Force is wind (on Captain & Oxford Mages), but no constructs. Colette: Force is music (also a stretch), constructs are coryphee/mannequins.

Nice! Brilliant! Would you still bother with Obliteration Symbiote if you took that? Also, is it always better to summon a Punk Zombie, or would you ever want to summon an appropriate Student instead? (with a trigger-intensive enemy model or something?)

Has anyone played with Tara using a summoning build? I'm assuming this means Karina and probably Obliteration Symbiote. What tactics work? The most immediate thing I can think of is "Flurrying Student to Your Face" which seems nicely effective for a (0) action from a 5ss model. What else is good?

Sorrows are great if you can get your opponent to promise not to kill them.

I think the summoning costs are: Guild Autopsy 9 Crooligan 9 Drowned 11 Punk Zombie 12 Student of Sinew 12 Student of Steel 12 Student of Viscera 13

Is there a summoning card for Karina's summons, similar to the ones for Kirai and Nicodem and The Dreamer? It seems like that'd be handy, but I haven't seen one.

Yeah, Levy would love that. Except for the poor Lucky Effigy. And Collodi would love it a lot. Everyone else would have to do some kind of team bulk-buy pool for their Factions.

Cover is the universal anti-gun tech. Jack Daw really loves terrain, since it protects them from guns and doesn't slow down a lot of his Crew.

I'm hoping that maybe there's a quick speech I can give to other players beforehand that will make it a better game. If it's just surprise, maybe I can say "Hey, so Brewmaster generally drags you into the aura and puts you at -4 Wp and negative flips and you can't get out, so use ranged, avoid Poison, and pull models out of that tarpit." Last night was my first game so I was surprised I managed to make it work.

I'll update PMF to make that clearer. But you don't have to unbury it. If you like, you can leave it buried all game, at which point it will count as dead.

I am still very new to Brewmaster, but I suspect that a lot of it is surprise factor. Once you know how the trap works, you can just start shooting the right models before they can grab you. But I don't know!

Every faction seems to have models that are good for Stake a Claim, but you kinda have to hire the right Crew to do it well. Guild: C Hoffman with mechanical upgrades is amazing here, more so with Watchers. Perdita helps with Obeying models into position. Resurrectionists: The Necropunks are very good for this. Dead Doxy helps move models into position. Arcanists: Soulstone Miners can pop up all over the enemy's half. Performers can Interact while Engaged, and can move friendly models off turn to set up the 2 AP action. Neverborn: Silurid are perfect for this. Lilith can put models into position, and Cupid makes that (2) Action a much more attainable (1) Action. Outcast: Tara is great at this with her 6 AP a Turn. Ashes and Dust is fast enough to do this, and can split up to get even more of these out (but can't Interact the turn it Splits, of course). Gremlins: Rooster Riders breeze through this! Fingers blocks opponent actions and can act while engaged, which helps a lot. Ten Thunders: McCabe (by which I mostly mean Luna) can do this with Badge of Speed Nimble on Hounds. Sensei Yu and Mr. Graves both move friendly models into position well.

I think you've nailed it there, and I kinda see that as a problem. If you have to bring an anti-Brewmaster Crew to win, you're not really bringing your own Crew as much. I'd be a little sad if you just had to hire Johan, a Performer, and two of your faction's snipers every time you're playing against Gremlins, just in case your opponent hires Brewmaster. That Emberling was brutal! He took down the Whiskey Golem fast! And left Scrap everywhere! Nice work with that.