Philosfr

Seems like a simple question, but I wanted to ask anyway after it game up in a game Mysterious Emissary with the Primeval Conflux upgrade uses "The Seasons of Change" on Titania, giving her the Armor +1 Condition until the end of the turn. Titania herself already has Royal Indignation. She's attacked by a minion that would normally do 3 damage. Does she take 1, because the Royal Indignation would come into play first, then she takes 1 because armor can't reduce it to 0? Or does she take 0, because the Armor would reduce it to 2, and then Royal Indignation would reduce it to 0 because it can? The rationale would be useful. Is it a matter of an attackers activation deciding what order simultaneous things happen, or the models owner, or what?

I've tried it, but agree with the 'third scheme' comment. It takes too much work to get much value out of it. I find it is much more successful to hire in different things and skip the grow. That said, back blood shaman and nekima are important ones. I also say Barbaros. Good attack is designed to feed things to grow

Love the Rasputina sculpt!

I've also been trying Summoning Pandora lately. The biggest issue I've run into is lack of killing ability if Pandora dies. Sorrows are still as fragile as a porcelain tea cup dropped from the empire states building, so counting on them to do Misery damage after Pandora's demise has failed. I've always been a fan of paralyzing with Pandora and then letting the rest of my crew do scheming and killing, and I think I need to make Summoning Pandora crews a little similar. One thing to keep in mind is enemy conditions count! Play against someone giving out Fast, Defensive, Focus, and you don't need to apply that many conditions yourself. Especially since the opponent won't want to end Fast on their model because you summon a Sorrow off from it, so you can use it multiple times. I've had good luck with the crew, but I have spent too many resources on the conditions, which haven't been the concern.

Yep. And if you can't think of what to do with him, have him drop a scheme marker, even if you don't need them to throw off the opponent. Or move into position and go defensive to make him harder for the enemy to remove.

I wouldn't say Tannen is "terrible". His Cooler aura is pretty phenomenal in the right situation, such as a very interact heavy pool that also focuses most of the action on a single area or too. He's not going to be much help in combat, but he can force opponents to deal with him before they can get interacts done.

I'm not sure where you're going with that. It explicitly lists Obey as something that changes the controller. If I understand what you're arguing for, you're saying that I can Obey your model to charge, but then you get to decide what to do about the attacks? That would be pointless then, why would I ever Obey a charge? Considering Zoraida just got an upgrade specifically allowing to Obey a Charge, it takes some odd mental gymnastics to say that the ability is more beneficial to the opponent. Or what do you think the results would be if interpreted your way?

Obey controls an action (the entire action) Focus gives a positive flip to a duel when declaring an action. You don't flip any cards when you declare a charge, so you aren't really using the Focus on the charge. You're using the Focus on the first declared attack generated by the charge.

Having just painted it... it's sort of hard to decide how to paint it too. The range of textures and skin features left me baffled!

Rather than risking mangling my answer again, from the rules: Actions Causing Actions Some Actions will force or allow a model to take another Action. If an Action calls for another Action to be taken (such as Charge or “Make A New Entry”) then the additional Action or Actions do not cost any AP. The original Action is not considered resolved until the new Actions are also resolved.

Sorry. I mangled the second half of my answer, you're 100% correct.

Black Blood is only 1 damage in most cases. Hitting your own model will likely do more than this, so it's a net loss. Yeah, it's a nice consolation prize if you inadvertently hit your own, but I certainly wouldn't make it part of my tactics.

The Obey'd action isn't complete when you move as part of the charge, it's not complete until the two ML attacks are also resolved. The Obeyed model would still be under control of the Obey for these attacks during that time.

Brutal, Arcane and Hodgepodge are definitely the best three for most uses, though I often will limit to just the first two. Coryphee aren't bad, but remember they can't dance together in Neverborn, so no Duet. Definitely limits their usefulness. Bunraku are interesting. I've had bad luck when testing them (Misaki killed both before they did anything but walk last game), but on paper they are solid. Stitched Together are pretty amazing. New Wave 5 puppet henchmen will be good, but she's not released yet (even at GenCon, so it'll likely be a while)

Yeah, the debuff is really his best option, but it's not very reliable. Some games it will be decisive, other games he'll feel like a flop. It's like playing Gremlins relying on luck rather than a reliable ability

Bandersnatch? Paint it in blues and blacks and purples with glowing red eyes? Grootslang, they are camouflaged hunters that live underground?

Do you already have Bad Juju? It looks like the old metal Bad Juju, and since he hangs out with Zoraida, I think that was intentional

Hooded Rider is definitely one that could use a little love. Never see him except in the Four Horseman lists. I want to use him, but just isn't worth the points on the table. I think the Doppleganger is good, but not OP. Lots of games go by where she's barely worth her points, but then she makes a huge splash by borrowing Nekima's sword for three big swings or something and everyone remembers that. I see a lot of competitive NB players leave her home.

Ace in the Hole is often played incorrectly. The Ace only returns to your hands if it is played on "another friendly activation". As Myyra said, discarding them to avoid decapitation and they are discarded for good. Flip it on initiative and it doesn't go back to your hand. Use it on defense for a suit trigger, it doesn't go back to your hand.

Not that I've had him on the table yet, but after reading this thread I had to post my first finished Cyclops

With Zoraida specifically, I'd say the Spawn Mother is a good choice. The gupps come along for free if she's laying eggs, and can be useful for things like bringing Bad Juju back with his Eternal upgrade. Doppleganger is an all around great model, even if you're not copying attack actions. Don't mind me and her defensive stuff alone can be intimidating. Plus occassionally cheating initiative. For Teddy, you could go with Miss Ery instead of the typical teddy, then you have the option to paint differently since the fur is not as sculpted in. Not sure I'd use Teddy with Zoraida, but I can see it. Final option I might recommend not on your list is Mysterious Emissary. You'd want to pick up some changelings to go with it, but the Emissary provides some really fun tactics, especially with wisps. Only one I'd recommend against is Hooded Rider. Too expensive for what he does, probably my least favorite rider. Which is sad, I received a beautifully painted hooded rider in my color palette, but he's never been worth the points I've spent on him.