CapnBloodbeard

heh, I've stuffed myself up way too often - have an awesome beastie bomb planned then kill something from halfway across the board and my beater has to pop up where I really didn't want it to.

So, one of the masters that's left me the most stumped to deal with has been McMourning. His bubble is just too potent - he hits like a brisk, but it just seems that the moment any model of mine gets anywhere near one of his models, they just end up with Poison + 86, and McMourning seems to heal like it's going out of fashion. I was playing Headhunter against him with Tara, I just figured 'to hell with the strategy, I'm staying as far away from all of them as I can!!' I've only dealt with him twice and staying away has worked well - the first time it was a pack of guild hounds that caused the big problem, while the second time I drew, but I just haven't really had much idea how to deal with him - couldn't really pick off the minions being in the bubble, and healing makes it hard to pick off from afar. I have Schill, Tara, Viks, Levi, Misaki.

So, i'm fairly new to Tara, and still getting my head around it all a bit. I get the Beastie bomb, though I'm still figuring out how to use it effectively. I've had a couple of games where Tara tends to stand around twiddling her thumbs (once where she was left guarding a stash marker, another where my entire match strategy was 'stay the bejeezus away from McMourning's bubble' - hey, it worked!). Although, I need to remember that I really don't want to kill enemy models at range with a buried friendly model - twice I've had Bishop or Lazarus be forced to unbury where I really didn't want them to! I've finding that if she has nothing better to do, handing out fast to her crew is great - although we're just swapping one AP for another. I'm a fan of that ability where she hands out fast to everybody in range. But anyway, I can't seem to get the hang of burying enemy models - especially as, unless I have a death marshal, I can only bury one. But it's the matter of actually burying them - I have to first win the opposed duel, then the opponent fails a relatively easy simple duel. I made a stupid high number of attempts against Ironsides once, even giving her fast for the -2WP, still nothing. So, struggling a bit with that. Death Marshals, still getting used to using them - I feel like having them charge is just leaving them well exposed, unless they can pick off an isolated model (Weirdly, one buried Nellie the other week...) Void wretches I struggle with. Offence is too weak to have much chance of landing a hit, let along burying anything. Handing out slow to enemy models seems to be about the only thing I can manage to do with them. Defence is just way too low, even with incorporeal - especially early in the turn. I played a game recently against 3 Jorogumo and McCabe. Doesn't matter what the rest of the crew was. My Voidies ran across the base line, but with Jorogumo's pushes, corner deployment and their movement, one got there in turn 1. Unfortunately, with 3" Ml, he caught all 3. Meant I had no chance of killing the Jora, because Void Wretches were just fodder for Eat Your Fill. Kept healing all game long. What could I have done there - how do you actually make your void wretches useful? I was torn between trying to dump cards pointlessly to build their defence, or keeping them to protect my other models and to boost their killing power. I figured that i didn't want to have fewer cards in my hand than my opponent without my stats being higher...

Just trying to make sure I understand Vantage points and elevation:- 1) The 'edge' rule. within Model's height of the edge of the terrain, the terrain is ignored for LOS. Does that mean that the model on vantage point still has cover? So, if my Ht 2 trapper is within 1" of the edge, he has cover and no LOS obstruction? 2) Given that LOS is drawn from base to base, if my Ht trapper was 2" or more from the edge, does that mean he has no LOS to anything, and nobody has LOS to him? 3) Am I correct in saying that terrain height is considered to be an invisible cylinder, in a manner of speaking, estimated from the highest point of the terrain? So if a piece of terrain has some varying height but we've said it's all Ht 3, we basically imagine is as a solid block, and any of that blocks LOS? 4) If my trapper is on a vantage point, how does it work if that vantage point also has a Ht 1 wall in front of him? I don't think vantage point rules cover this scenario at all - we just usually play it as 'ignore the wall' because that's simplest.

I like that it's introducing some more variation in how you can play Schill. Nythera could be really dangerous with Montressor. I'm excited about the Vik upgrades. I'm seeing more possibility to send her off down the side after scheme runners early in the game, then she can pop up in the thick of it later. I mean, the fact that Vik of Blood could reappear pretty much anywhere on the board isn't a great thing for the opponent Tara's seems to make sense - just slightly counter the whole 'need to get rid of your hand' mechanic. Good move with the void wretches. Hamelin - I've never played with or against Hamelin, but these seem stupidly powerful. Any 2 rats in LOS drop scheme markers? That is really, really powerful. And the whole thing about moving these plague swarm markers really means there's absolutely nothing your opponent can do to NOT get blighted, which seems a little unreasonable.

Not just that, but it means Schill will do really well sticking in theme too! Can't remember anything about the Engineer....

Bishop is good at headhunter. Problem is you don't want to stand back and shoot - but if you can get them to come to you, then that's a positive. At a recent tournament I played Tara, there was headhunter, and my opponent was McMourning. My entire approach was just to stay as far away from his crew as I possibly could. If neither of us scored on Headhunter, that would have been fine by me - because with the Resser Hard to Wound and their general resilience, I could never have outkilled them - and with all the dishing out of poison I didn't even want to get in the middle of them. Fortunately, my other schemes were a marker based one, and frame for murder. So keeping my models well away did not hurt me at all. In fact, it's amazing how little Tara and my Nothing Beast did. And tactically, that was a sound choice. Don't engage opposing models if it won't help you. Instead I tried to stand back and set up a trap. The other thing I did was find an isolated model I could outnumber and kill. Burying can help - bury an opposing model then make them appear where you want them - away from the rest of their crew. Big engagement ranges can hep stop those interactions. Being out activated can sting here - because you don't just need to kill, but you need to have enough AP left to take advantage of it. Long range shooting may not help. Being able to shoot into engagement is great. Because that increases your chance of having a head marker near your model. I ditch the trapper on this strat (because for once, I don't want to kill a model that's still in its own deployment zone), but I might be Hans instead - or anybody who has casting so they can help my engaged models. Oh also, don't forget - it may not be a bad thing if your models die If something is about to get killed and the next AP is yours and you have a nearby model who can pick up the head marker, let it die! Even cheat down to lose if you have to, if the opponent has already cheated (or not), and especially if weak damage would kill the model. It's like having frame for murder on everything.

Ugh, Adran is right. Thanks for pointing that out

This. So handy if you're facing one of those goddamn annoying dirty Neverborn masters who likes to distribute damage around so nobody actually dies. Just blow everybody up EDIT: No, blasts do not ignore incorporeal.

I feel like if you know that the enemy is coming to you, then he'll shine. Especially with something like turf war. And especially if you're facing high numbers of weak models, and/or incorporeal.

Well you can't remove friendly scheme markers as per the rules - but these are evidence markers, not scheme markers. And friendly to my opponent. So I can't see either way in the laws how these work. We played that the crew friendly to the evidence markers cannot pick them up.

2 quick questions:- 1) Recover Evidence. An enemy evidence marker is placed in base contact with chosen models. Given that it's an evidence marker, not a scheme marker, does that mean my opponent can take a (1) interact to remove the marker (it's friendly to my opponent)? 2) Red joker on damage and Crit strike. Is this doing damage once or twice? I mean, with crit strike, am I doing (Strong + 1) + (Weak + 1) damage, or (Strong + Weak) + 1?

I ran him last week - turf war against Neverborn, so I really just wanted his blasts. He's probably in his element if he doesn't have to move much, but he is a seriously overpriced model, and even situationally he's not the 'perfect' model for a scenario - a 2nd librarian would probably do better, to be honest. Ignoring cover may be good in the right match.

My reading is that Furious Casting is an action that takes 3 x Attack Actions. Normally when takings these sorts of actions, if you have to randomise for shooting into engagement, you'd randomise each time, wouldn't you? Thus it follows that each attack is the attack action, not furious casting as a whole. Thus, they get deflected individually. I don't think the Furious Casting requirement of being against a single target causes any problems for redirecting to a legal target

I've been considering this idea as well. Using them to obliterate the scheme runners may not be a bad thing - especially as Vik of Ash does have a decent shoot as well. Depends on the strat/scheme pool though if this would be effective or not. Why are you running a Ronin with them? I suspect this sort of tactic probably lends itself well to using the Malifaux Child for the buffing as he doesn't need to be anywhere near anybody to do so - although LoS can be an issue in this tactic.

I find that games can easily be over 3 hours in casual play. How do you get faster? Well, the chit chat does need to cut out a bit in tournaments. Just a little. But my advice? - learn the rules as much as you can. Flipping through the rulebook and holding up play wastes a lot of time. If you need to check something, try to do it when you're not holding up play - learn your cards. You don't want to be sitting there reading your cards trying to figure out what to do next. Know what your models can do - Make a decision. We can waste a LOT of time umming and ahhing over whether the model should be 1/4" this way or that way, or whether to cheat or not, or who to activate, or whether to run up or stand and go defensive. If after a few seconds no choice is apparent, then they're both as probably good as another. After all, if one path was that much better, you'd know this already. Make a decision, take the risk and see what hapens. - Following from that, know your strategy. Your models should have jobs - and follow this through (remain adaptable though). If you know the job of your convict gunslinger is to shoot the master, then you already have a good idea of what they're doing on a turn - but check anyway, just in case there's something better. But having a job helps you figure out what you want them to do - have some crew lists beforehand. Here, we always know the scheme/strat pool first. So I'll take a rough crew list, but keep a couple of options open depending on board and opposing faction. But this saves a lot of time of choosing a crew at the start of the game. Don't forget you can choose your schemes after the crews are revealed.

When you say 'getting some utility' - what do you mean? You said that Viks don't need another beatstick - well, Lazarus is a powerful shooter, as is Convict Gunslinger (which you promoted) - but at 7SS, gunslinger fits into a different space in a list. You then said that any of the outcast enforcers should be good - so, I'm confused as to exactly what you didn't like about Lazarus of A&D if you think think any enforcer is fine. I'm not trying to say 'must have Lazarus', just trying to understand your thought processes here. A&D actually does have a lot of utility in being a tarpit, and can also score schemes/strats - in fact, splitting into 2 models can actually work really, really well for this. But is expensive. I prefer Malifaux Child over student simply because is 2SS cheaper, and I run Student with Vanessa for constant healing on the Viks - and I don't tend to play Slingshot Viks. And by doing master casting, it provides more utility for the other Viks by allowing Ash to do other stuff while ensuring Blood is still fully buffed. And my Child once killed Ototo. So nerr Ha, in all seriousness both are solid and the Student actually hits reasonably hard for a 4SS model. This really comes down to personal preference - but unless youre want to use the Student's positioning tricks, I'd consider saving 2 SS and going for the Child. IMO you still need something capable of killing on the table in case the Viks die. In the issue of beatstick vs Utility, Killjoy is an example of that. Another primary melee beatstick, but he's a sort of insurance policy. Throw Blood into the middle of things and it almost doesn't matter if she dies because something scary pops out. Lazarus offers ranged support and blasts, which might be important. Strongarm Suit offers mixed utility. Bishop is a beater, but with extra AP and the chance to slow down the enemy. They all overlap with the Viks but offer something else as well.

You're doing pretty well so far. I only consider using Taelor if I'm facing a summoner or a crew likely to be construct or tyrant heavy. But I have other models for the same SS cost Scion can introduce some interesting things to the game - an unconventional addition, but certainly worth exploring!! Killjoy is good, but expensive. I only use him on schemes like Eliminate the Leadership. Works well with Ronins Ronins aren't bad, but you're really utilising their defensive capabilities. Don't even bother shooting. They can be handy to block charge lanes against other beatsticks. Student of conflict synergises well, especially if you want the movement tricks. I prefer Malifaux Child though - he has a heal, and he can use the leader's cast actions, so he can help buff Vik of Blood. The main thing desperately missing from your list is healing. Vanessa is a sister so synergises with the sister buffs , has blasts, and healing - but it's a 2AP heal. I prefer to keep the Child next to her, heal her and all the others heal off that. So I don't really use Vanessa's healing. Librarian has a 1AP heal and is a handy model. You could do with some shooting support. Trapper is a good model (von Schill's crew box is a good addition for any Outcast player). Hans has the advantage of not randomising when shooting into combat, which may be handy for the Viks. Convict gunslinger is a great 7SS model with up to 6 shots against a single target in an activation (trigger depending). Hannah and A&D are both solid models, Hannah being cheaper in SS cost but be aware that you're still lacking shooting support. consider Lazarus - he works well with Vanessa too.

I don't know Jack Daw too well, but as others have said - take advantage of the fact that your opponent is using cards and SS to summon, rather than in duels. Try to keep a few models from being engaged and let them run your schemes. Try to choose schemes that don't depend on AP control, but consider that your opponent may choose those. You may, for instance, find it easier to hold your side of the board and wait for them to come to you. You may want to try alpha strike the summoner to stop the AP, but that may be difficult. Shooting them may be easier. Otherwise, blasts can help. Lazarus can also shoot multiple targets. Strongarm suit allows you to leapfrog from engagement to engagement.

I've never really considered 'henchman' status in determining whether to bring a model. Although I guess using SS and an additional upgrade is nice, I tend to look at the model's utility for the game at hand. We're spoilt for choice around the 10SS mark which is why I probably don't bring a henchman more often than do when I'm running von Schill - but Hannah and Taelor are excellent models. I wouldn't agree that they don't do enough to be worth their points - I've never thought of them as overpriced models.

I think it's that he doesn't specialise in anything - and he misses too many things to even be considered a generalist; others even do 'generalist' better than he does. He doesn't do AP control, hand control, opponent manipulation, pushes + other movement tricks, scheme marker manipulation, nothing like that - and without doing even just movement and/or scheme marker manipulation I struggle to consider him generalist. And he and his crew hits too weakly to be considered killy. Even getting extra attacks for friekorps would start to push him towards 'killy generalist'

I'm just excited at the propect of von Schill getting good While there are things I don't like about how to access new upgrades and I think there's room for improvement around print on demand cards, I also appreciate the fact that all we need to buy is a deck of cards rather than a codex costing several times that amount. I mean yes, there's the new book which costs close to the amount a WH40K codex does, but it's completely optional. And the digital edition is a lot cheaper.

so I guess all the upgrades will come out in a new general upgrade deck then? Pity they weren't 'faction specific' upgrade decks to save money... anyway, I'm keen. Seems a fair deviation from how the updates were done in the past but I'm excited!

Black text on a black background is completely illegible on some monitors. anyway, My problem with vS? I don't think he does what he's supposed to do. He's supposed to be a super tough model but to be honest, I just don't see that. There's the upgrade to give him H2K which helps. He's fairly durable, but not overly difficult to take down. Especially when there are more and more models with Ml7 and/or min dmg 3. He's not a hard hitter - and he doesn't have to be, that's fine, but I feel he's actually on the weaker side. Put him up against Misaki, for instance, who seems to be both tougher and harder. And he has no pushes, no movement tricks, and more importantly - no scheme marker manipulation. So he isn't that good at killing anything (can't take the approach of 'dead models don't drop scheme markers), and with no manipulation it means that rather than being sort of good at all strats and schemes, as an all rounder should be, he's actually quite terrible at the vast majority of them. And he doesn't really enable his crew to do much with them either - a 'H2k but not H2k' bubble is kinda nice but not hugely exciting, especially given how mediocre the freikorpsmenn are. So personally, I think he fails at being a generalist. I wonder if even something like a (0)AP obey for friekorps models might be the way to go, or something enabling some scheme marker manipulation. Or allowing friekorps models within X" to charge while engaged would really boost the denial game. It just seems that he doesn't really do enough to make life difficult for the other crew or to be able to complete strats/schemes in a number of ways. Even after that, more SS still wouldn't go astray, especially when you look at the cache of other leaders which are more effective in every possible way.

I would think that void wretches and desperate mercs have quite different uses. Void wretch seems better at just running, maybe using its incorporeal to good use to run through terrain to hide. At least a void wretch can bury a thing too. Compared to a desperate merc which is lucky to hit the broad side of a barn. Even without doing wild firing.