Vorschlag

If this is the case hopefully the issue will show in international results and an errata will occur.

Copied and pasted from zoraida new and improved. 2 models with fgf, one is the Weaver, summon a doll it hems, if hem fails it may need to be obeyed to hem again. Once hemed it activates fails fears given form twice and drops a scrap marker for a wicked doll or save for teddy, while causing 6 damage to the hem target. Repeat with a wisp for two scrap a turn. You can still paralyze etc before it activates and dies but this isn't the set up I'd be going for if I wanted conditions spammed on the doll. With vasilisa having 2 obey options for the doll and the recent reduction in cost she may become a go to for this. So you are looking at approximately 1/2 your pool for 2 fgf +Weaver, handbag, second enforcer or henchman and 2 wisps - 6 activations. From there I'd be looking at stitched etc to benefit from Weaver and Vasilisa. Plus when you really need something damaged obeyed stitched or banraku with wicked dolls condition can be nasty and gamble your life is abhorrent against a voodoo doll if you lose a fgf or need something finished immediately. Alternatively if you are going for raw activation control run this with a third wisp and the spawn mother then hope for crows. You may need to use the spawn mother as the second fgf holder and drop vasilisa for something like juju but I'd be weary of feeling like a mixed bag doing this if I went with anything outside of bayou and dolls.

If your assertion was accurate, objective and factual it would be more visable on the international level. There are stirrings against nicodem but he isnt attracting the same level of attention as some of the problem masters....yet (as far as my limited interest in international metas are concerned.) Since this isn't warmachine or hordes I hope we don't get to the level where kill the master in the first two turns or lose is an accurate portrayal of the game. If however you are simply suggesting that it is harder to force a good player to burn their summoning assets out then I whole heartedly agree. So that simply returns us to the problem of look for ways to make every action a threat to his economy and resources. Alternatively if indeed you simply believe that summoners in general and the capacity to out activate your opponent are the issue then we do have a few options which we can attempt to match activation with. My preference is ussually Zoraida. Zoraida, wisps spawn mother build is 3 extra actvations a turn, add weaver to make it 4-5 but that is a limiting build.

I think Joachim hit the nail on the head, you dont need to "necessarily" target Nicodem at least early turns. "If" you can more easily target important assets in his list. This is the approach I take against elite crews more the summoners but taking out key parts of someones machine will either burn their handers or hamper their engine. So taking out his important henchmen, enforcers and even purpose hired/summoned minions "may" get a similar result.

I would not take her outside of Lucius/Pandora and find it difficult to then not take the weaver. Didnt like her with Hamelin either.

For your first strategy game/war game you've picked one with a hell of a learning curve but one which is probably the best and most replayable. Malifaux is a wonderful game with some great depth in fluff especially if you ignore Collodis retcon. As others have said asking for feedback will help especially if you have someone in your group who understands basic adult learning principles. I'd also suggest asking another neverborn player if available to watch your game and provide feedback. Worst case, record the session and do either a written or video battle report so people can give you advice on specific things like activation orders, ap usage, approach to strats and schemes and thoughts on timing and card usage. Sticking to 1-2 masters will help as others have said as will sticking to simple beat stick masters with dedicated models for each task. Eventually the aim is to be adaptable enough to be able to turn your approach on a dime if your opponent throws a curve ball.

I wouldn't have considered him as a true beat stick but maybe with debt to the guild?

Vs ressurs my go to has become Zoraida swamp fiends with Mctavish. Mctavish provides extra protection to fiends vs casting and I go for paralyze or rare models so they can't simply resummon them. Also the wisps with spawn mother means 2 dolls and a gupps each turn ideally to even out the activations. Swamp fiends also offer the flexibility of armour, leap and from the shadows.

Sorry running very very late with this- this month has been a write off for me with a heavy work schedule of new inductees. Will try to rush job some stuff over the next two days.....not the best start to a year.

I get that, I just find the way it was addressed amusing.

Love it, completely dismissive of the players skill level, it's immediately the master or the list.

Guild hounds are obnoxious with Lucius in general because if the hound has already charged you can order it to push out and charge again likely on positive flips from Lucius. When that 1ap isn't better spent of course but this makes them a great 3 stone hire for Lucius

Lucius' secret objectives -hidden weapons -discard scheme markers with 3 to generate 1 free attack per scheme marker. Litter the field with scheme markers with aeslin and Knights soaking activations with other models that benefit from scheme markers (I suggest guild hounds). Keep the emissary alive so you don't lose backstab and try to summon changelings to further sponge activations. Then Lucius charges key activated targets with back stab generating an additional 3-4 attacks if set up well (ideally against clustered models -Knights lures etc). If you need to you you can always 1pt charge the hounds instead but it allows Lucius to be a little more hands on.

Aeslin is great "if" you are going for Lucius emissary build and focusing on the multiple free attacks with backstab. She "can" also be great with set ups for hound charges. Other than that it's just the benefit of having the Fae queen as an alternative leader who will enjoy the company of all the Fae Lucius already likes.

Are you using cover and Los blocking terrain effectively? For this particular aspect I would suggest a game like gears of War set to insane which will force you to use line of sight and cover. .................. Card usage, are you using her high cards at the right time? Decide on 1-2 things you hope to achieve each turn that will either score vp or deny your opponent (this includes kills for activation control). As hydromog suggested tcg's can teach you about timing and when to spring your cards. ................. Activations, are you wasting ap on things which have already activating when eliminating them doesn't score or deny? Are you activating important models too early or too late? Activating key models early for the sake of it will lead to errors and will leave you spending high cards when your opponent still has a full hand. Activating models too late will sorely tempt you to spend your high cards. Think of chess and other tight strategy games for this maneuvering your pieces carefully and don't over extend will always be beneficial. ........... Do you conceal your intentions and read other intentions well? Can your opponents pick your scheme selection and plans, can you return the favour. Think of everything in the game like poker, don't give away your intentions until it's too late or you are feinting. ............. Calculating risk and return, do you know when to pounce to deny vp or put your opponent in a position where they can no longer deny you? Think risk, as much as Malifaux is strategy base luck can always blow you out of the water. Don't commit resources to high risk moves you can't control if there are better options for scoring or denying regardless of how juicy a target might seem. Hope some of that helps. The rest is faction/master specific and we need more details about your crews and games.

I run juju in swamp fiend only or swamp fiend dominant list I will appreciate the cost reduction.

I hate auto correct etc... I dislike mercs with neverborn but can imagine them being impressive. With the ram trigger handing out focus I personally prefer explosions, love Pathfinders for that especially with Queeg. I was going suggest the specialist for blasts if you must hire mercs and remembered he's an enforcer. I also enjoy running swamp fiends with Lucius for his expeditions -one conversion I want to do will be a bayou Lucius holding a handkerchief to his mask in repulsion. Minion wise this "can" be interesting with silurids continous attack, waldgiests range and an additional way of throwing Juju etc round the board.

Lucius is better with Fae than mimics a lot of the time as they often benefit more from his + flips. There are exceptions like Graves, doppelganger and Candy who "can" benefit from his buff but for the most part mimics are missing a 6-8 stone minion "beater". This leads to his crew being largely reliant on either Lynchs addicts, Titanias Fae gaurdsmen or lilith/Neimas Nephilim for hitting power. The strongest combinations I've found with him in neverborn make use of rougarou, Knights, Queeg and then a mix of hounds, Pathfinders, mounted guard and occasionally the emissary. I look forward to bultingin and vogels release.

In which case I'd ask what you want out of a new master. You have two masters who while they have significantly different approaches perform the same roll as hands on damage dealers. If you are happy with another variation of this then the doctor is the correct answer. If you want some variation in what you want the master to do I'd look at a control or support master. Rather than leaving yourself open to abuse by only having one master in a faction I'd suggest staying in guild and looking towards McCabe, Lucius, Nellie or if you want a challenge Hoffman.

As you've started out in guild and two of the crews you are looking at are neverborn I'd suggest Lucius. He can bring his own trio of creepy kids, likes Graves and Tannen, plus has more class than the rest of the masters combined. I wouldn't suggest McMourning if ressurs don't appeal to you, he is very fun but part of what makes him fun is the cross faction play.

I'd say if you are starting with both Mctavish and Juju then what you are wanting is numbers. Both henchmen benefit from larger crews of swamp fiends. Juju as he has more resurrection opportunities and Mctavish due to his shooting getting keener. Cheap activations also give Mctavish someone to drop scheme markers for gator snack when he's not buffing survivability. So in this case yes look at whisps and gupps. Alternatively if you led with spawn mother you could also bring in gators and/or boars.

He adds terrifying which can allow for paralyze via obey, plus "dirty cheater" and "hide in the mud" seem very fitting.

She's a combo piece "in my opinion". You run her for the summoning and potential of her suicide charge. However the summon needs to be beneficial beyond simple out activation which means comboing with a whisp to get it rolling and then a second henchman that benefits from swamp fiends. So you will wind up summoning the gupps to set Mctavish up who ideally also protects a swamp fiend list a little. Or you summon them as a renewable sources of juju cycling, this becomes more significant if you start with swamp fiends from the shadows for an early Muk dump where he will likely die and you want to maintain activation count. Also when Lucius makes excursions into the bayou for whatever liason he requires he may bring Queeg who can make gupps and silurids even more mobile for scheming.

Fgf (fears given form) only affects models which activate within their ml range. When the doll is summoned it immediately casts hem but isn't "activating". If you activate the doll it will take the tests so don't do so if the hem failed (where avoidable) unless you just spounge the activation for scrap. Otherwise you can paralyze the doll etc and then activate, if this is done in the right order -with vasilisa she can then obey the doll to hem to a new target and as paralyzed is removed when the doll activates you can re paralyze it. Otherwise activating within 2 fgf ranges "should" passively cause 6 damage to the hem target and provide 1 scrap for summons via Weaver.

She also has a spam build that "can" paralyze upto 4 models a turn via doll abuse but will only win games if that helps. Paralyze is so easy with Zoraida making Mancha Roja b/s with her, I refuse to run it because I would abuse it and npe players...not a good look for a henchman. Her main paralyzes are neverborn but there are always a few options.