iamfanboy

@Viruk, loved how you picked out the rivets - I dismissed it as too much hard work on my Cygnar stuff until I got around to the character jacks, and it makes a huge difference.

@athelu, really great OSL on Pere Ravage.

1 hour ago, spooky_squirrel said:

Not gloating, but I know from experience that my local meta still gets headaches from how Sandeep plays. What you're glossing over is that Sandeep hasn't activated yet and there's a chain activating summoned Gamin going to work. Dreamer and Teddy summoning takes some set up--this delivery can happen the first activation of the first turn.

I was mostly cracking wise - it certainly moved the Arcane Effigy up on my priority list to buy when I get around to Sandeep.

1 hour ago, spooky_squirrel said:

Because it's not enough to make your opponent hate you for getting 2-3 models to act in a single activation, chain activate into a model that didn't exist until this model's activation!

*Neverborn player looks up from painting the Dreamer*

I'm sorry, you were gloating about something special? Because it doesn't look that special to me... Oh, Teddy, you're so much fun to summon with Mr. Tannen's "help"...

41 minutes ago, HydroMog said:

but your able to get multiple uses out of one if you summon daydreams/alps via an action on back of dreamer's card?

The Dreamer can only benefit from one Lucid Condition each activation (because it doesn't stack), but yes, if you summoned another Daydream after using the Lucid condition it could sacrifice itself to give Lucid again to the Dreamer afterwards for his next activation.

At least, I THINK I'm understanding your question clearly.

Okay, so. I don't think I'll be doing anything more this month - so a fair whack of models will be sitting unpainted until we move, or at least find a place and get done putting stuff in storage. It's POSSIBLE that tonight or Thursday will have enough downtime for me to do Von Schill and a few other pieces, but for right now I'm calling it done until further notice.

However, that still means I've finished Freikorpsman x2 (10), Specialist (8), Librarian (7), Trapper (6), Oiran (5), Lust (8), Latigo Pistoleros x3 (15), Silent One (6), Slop Haulers x2 (10), Gluttony (8), Waldgeist (6), Stitched Together x3 (18), Primordial Magic (2), for a total of 109 Soulstones.

Anyway, here's the finished models - the previous pictures had them unbased, and I NEVER feel that a model is done until it's had its base done.

The customer insisted that the bases use little bits of geode to denote soulstones - only problem is that they're slightly water soluble, which I didn't notice until after the glue had set. He doesn't mind, is what he said - and I can't exactly prerinse the pieces because they're so small!

I angled Lust up to get better lighting on her face, and for some reason the light glinted off her eyeshadow instead, looking like a dot of white on her eyelid. Overall, I don't hate it, but I do think she's hardly the sexiest model that Malifaux has.

In lieu of buying expensive swamp grass from the one source I could find, a train terrain maker in Germany, I grabbed yellow paint bristles and used them. It worked here well enough, but not so much...

....here, where the static water convected UP the bristles in a massive clump. Also had to replace one of the bucket strands with a piece of wire, and just realized that I forgot to paint it white. Ugh. Always something.

Ah! Primordial Magic! I did an OSL on the base! Got to take a new picture of that... *sigh*

The main problem with Marcus is that he's his own mini-faction, really. Beasts have a deep pool, but a lot of the best ones aren't necessarily Arcanist - and you'll be buying across faction for things like Silurids, Waldgeists, Canine Remains, Dawn Serpent... He's good, but doesn't have a lot of overlap with the rest of the Arcanist models you have.

I'd recommend Colette - not just for HER, mind you, but Performers are great Minions for luring and scheming, and Cassandra is IMHO one of the best Arcanist Henchmen - much better than Sandeep's.

Alternately, you could reach deeper into models that will help your other two Masters rather than pick up a third, this will help you competitively a lot more than another Master - the two you have cover the primary schemes and strats, really. Silent Ones (so many heals), The Valedictorian (for Sandeep), Wind Gamin (best gamin), Snowstorm, Mechanical Rider (good gods, her teamed up with Sandeep would get RIDICULOUS numbers of Gamin), Angelica, Blessed of December, Ice Dancers... the list goes on. Or really, stops there aside from Metal Gamin.

Both boxes together are probably the classic Neverborn pairing - like I said, Terror Tots are good Scheme Runners, about third best in our faction, which only makes them twice as good as what Guild and Outcasts get. A Nephilim Grow list (that would require young/matures, as well as Nekima and Shaman) is actually weak and gimmicky.

Teddy's a good beater whose only weakness is his Df.

Doppelchan is high up there for must-have Neverborn models. She lets you cheat a card into Initiative - important for those 'must move first' turns - can steal enemy attacks, and can do good work Scheming too.

Lelu and Lilitu as a pair do many good things, and Lilitu by herself is a solid controller.

Primordial Magic is the totem that Pandora wants, and can do good things with Lilith too - but a lot of people don't like how it looks, and you don't HAVE to run a totem model.

Other than that, you're free to get what you want - Madnesses are better scheme runners for Pandora because of the Wp effects, Widow Weaver does more Wp tricks and makes Teddy faster, Waldgeists are rare tanky models for NB that do good things with Lilith, Illuminated are tanky beaters that many players have learned to respect. Stitched Together are okay for Pandora, but I wouldn't call them a must buy unless you're planning to get the Dreamer any time soon; Nekima's a great beatstick but you've already got one in Teddy if you don't like the giant succubus model; Angel Eyes finds her way into a lot of my lists but the Starter Box is expensive and really only suitable for giving demos; Mr. Graves does good things, but mostly as a bodyguard for the frailer NB Masters; Mysterious Emissary is a big nasty model that is designed to mesh with any Master, but requires Changelings for its summon and is more a controller than a killer.

On 4/18/2017 at 8:08 AM, Sharp_GT said:

Right you are. I'd say no matter what crew the OP is going for the stitched together should be the first add on. They're amazing on their own, and have synergy with a lot of NB masters.

I think Lelu/Lilitu rate above the Stitched Together (and I LOVE them, btw, Oogie Boogies that they are) for several reasons: Movement tricks, reasonably durable models in a faction filled with frail ones, multiple free APs in Pounces, pushes, sharing Conditions...

Doppelgangers are probably the first model that EVERY Neverborn players should reach for, though. So much win in such a slinky package.

As said in the other thread, in Malifaux you don't really play a Master, you play a Faction - and it sounds like the irrational terrorist/freedom fighter monsters that are the Neverborn appeal to you more.

They do complement each other decently. Pandora is all about plopping down into a zone and pinging enemies to death while controlling their actions and activation order. Lilith makes terrain, moves enemy models around, and slices them apart with her big-ass sword. I think that I'd like Titania in there as well to be a tanky, hard to remove Master (Pandy's okay at that, but not as good as Titania), but not everyone likes every model. 

Lili/Pandy both have a varied playstyle, and I can't think of many games that I wouldn't drop either into. And their boxes do good things together - the Terror Tots are solid scheme runners, Candy is just plain nasty at a lot of different denial schemes, Barbaros knocks things around.

Teddy is... I haven't let myself use him too much, but he is a big scary model that does big scary things and matches very well with Pandora's playstyle - she causes Wp duels, he gets a free attack when a model fails a Wp duel, he causes Wp duels, she pings for damage when an enemy fails a Wp duel... His main problem is that he's tough, but not hard to hit. Concentrated attacks, especially if they have high minimum damage, will turn him to fluff. Apparently some people have great success in taking pairs of Teddies, but that's like half of a list in two models - it had BETTER be good!

Do you want a list of models that you're likely to need or want? There is some overlap between them - they both like Lelu/Lilitu, the Doppelganger is great in all circumstances, and even if you don't like Titania her models do good things for both Lilith and Pandora.

I pretty much covered why the Viks aren't necessarily the best option in that thread.

The one downside to Pandora, I think, is that most of her box isn't that great. Her totem is terrible and her Sorrows are highly situational - they want to be really close, but are super frail and very slow. Baby Kade CAN be useful when paired with a Teddy, but he's a glass cannon made out of spun sugar - I find it hard to take him when I could take Lilitu instead.

I'm going to go against the flow here and recommend against solo playing the Viktorias as the 10s, and instead recommend you go with the rating 7-8 models you like in Neverborn.

As someone else said, in Malifaux you play a faction, not a Master - with rare exceptions, most Masters are designed to be good at some things and bad at others, to encourage variety of play. Eventually, the people you play against will know what you have when you belly up to a table and always takes what hard counters you, which will lead to lopsided games that frustrate you even if you win - right now at my local there's a Tara fanboy who's going through the same thing, and Tara is more versatile as a sole Master than the Viks are.

I love the Viks too. I discounted my commission rate for a friend just to get the chance to paint them. But to have a solid model pool for playing into a game you'll want them with something super durable or good at scheming, like Tara or Von Schill, with an eclectic mix of models that don't adhere to any theme:

1) Librarian

2) Freikorps Trapper

3) Johan

4) Void Wretches

5) Hans

6) Convict Gunslingers

7) Hodgepodge Effigy

And Parker Burrows' box is looking pretty good too.

8 hours ago, Adran said:

FAQ question 26

26. If a Henchman is leading a Crew, can a totem be hired?
Yes. There is some fluff description about masters beckoning totems, but the totem rules are in the second
paragraph of the entry. A Henchman leading a Crew may hire a totem. However, keep in mind that most
totems can only be hired by a specific Master, so Henchmen will need to look at the generic totems.

I like that. It opens up a lot of options and makes the generic totems even more versatile.

My only real problem is that if you're hiring a Totem, the other three models had better be paragons of durability. I'm a belt-and-suspenders kind of guy, and having one of my models being a non-scorer when I only get four feels... iffy to me. On the other hand, it's solid activation control in a list that depends on Manipulative to keep your Leader safe.

I do so hate to urinate in one's cornflakes, but Totems can only be hired if there is a Master on the field. Page 54, M2e. Unless there is an errata to change that?

Personally, I'm fond of Angel Eyes as the Leader with Candy as a frontwoman - Candy locks them down, Angel Eyes pegs shots off into them, and much unhappiness is had by all.

I think what I'd LIKE to do is add Iggy for Incite and a Will-O-Wisp to get enemy models out of the scoring range very cheaply, because that allows for more upgrades than just Thousand Faces into Fears Given Form on Candy. Or maybe an Illuminated and a Will-O-Wisp. Brawling, no randomized shooting, and cheap enemy luring. Yeah, that has potential...

Angel Eyes

Candy w/ Thousand Faces

Illuminated

Will-O-Wisp

Or

Angel Eyes w/ Strange Alliances

Candy w/ Best Behavior, Thousand Faces

Iggy w/ Enraged Tantrum

Will-o-Wisp

23 minutes ago, MetaphoricDragn said:

Snow Storm, Ice Dancers, Silent Ones would fit your limits and work quite well for Tina.

You basically need these three to use Raspy as a solo master - there's no settling for just two here.

1) Ice Dancers are fast moving Scheme runners that can get across the board in a matter of a turn or two, and dodge attacks very well - which covers a gaping hole in Raspy's basic crew box.

2) Snowstorm moves your own crew around faster - especially Rasputina, saving her AP for things more important than a lousy 3" Walk. You could replace this with Arcane Emissary, who never counts as being engaged for purposes of Raspy's Ice Mirror ability, but I think Snowstorm is overall better.

3) Silent Ones are famous for being the only real source of heals for Arcanists, and in Frozen Heart crews can lay out heals even while attacking thanks to a trigger on their attack.

A lot of people also like Angelica and Blessed of December, and those two are also very good adds, but the three that MetaphoricDragn mentioned are the key adds for Rasputina.

7 hours ago, Freman said:

One weakness I see in the Malifaux campaign format is that you really just start with characters you play the game with anyway. There isn't the thrill that you got with Mordheim or Necromunda of taking a complete unknown, given shape only by yourself, and then leveling and training them to reach their full potential. If there was a way of creating your own characters in Malifaux campaigns that would make it better in my opinion.

Yeah, I feel that too. It's not like it'd be TOO hard to make a system for whipping up your own Henchman who eventually ascends to Master - start with a certain base for all the stats, and have each bonus (Nimble? Hard to Kill? Def6? Ml6 with +1/+1/+2 for an attack?) cost a certain amount of Soulstones, up to a maximum of 13. On second thought, it might be pretty hard.

On 4/5/2017 at 3:22 AM, Math Mathonwy said:

I dislike campaigns since some additions to models make them completely broken on such a fundamental level that they are essentially impossible to value on the SS (or scrip) scale. And I dislike the way these models distort the game in really weird ways. Now, I suppose that this could be helped by simply everyone in the campaign being on same page either aiming for the most broken stuff ever possible or alternatively avoiding the craziest things but this can be a bit difficult to arrange in practice.

That isn't to say that other people are somehow wrong in liking campaigns, mind! Just that I don't enjoy all that much.

Campaigns aren't about balanced or fair.

It's about creating a story with your friends and enemies - more than just, "Remember the time I took Pandora and totally whooped your ass 10-3 because you said she was no good at Scheme Marker pools?" but, "Remember that time I threw my Oxfordian Mage with two Injuries into the Pit Fight because I didn't want to lose anyone I actually cared about and then won?"

To be honest I have trouble remembering, two decades later, any specific Warhammer 40k or Battletech or VOIDS or Star Trek game. What I do remember is the first game of Mordheim I played, where my vampire whiffed every roll in the game and got rolled over by filthy witch hunters - then sold to a fighting pit, where I then proceeded to whiff every roll AGAIN except for the regeneration so I kept standing up... and standing up... and standing up... a friend bent some wires into a little set of glasses for him at next week's meeting, and vision corrected he rose to being the monster he should have been. Or the Juve in my Necromunda gang who survived a fatal wound with a head injury that gave her frenzy and made her a melee MONSTER - along with rolling bonus attack, wound, and WS for her upgrades.

As a veteran wargamer, I can answer the arguments about campaign modes diluting competitive edge, or how they get unbalanced, or that it gets weird getting used to models that have new different rules with this:

They remind us that it's a game, and we're playing to have fun with people we have something in common with.

In case you don't know, the buffs are as follows:

Union Miners: Improvised Weapon gained +1 Range. Modified Welder increased to Burning +2. False Claim only discards a Scheme Marker if both are still in play, instead of one Marker no matter what; restriction on only being able to be used when they can Interact changed to only being able to be used when unengaged.

So that means Improvised Weapons, with an M&SU model nearby, is a 2" melee that ignores Triggers and has a Critical Strike Trigger with a + to Damage flips. On a 5ss model. That's pretty good, especially on a model that you're probably taking because of its ability to spew Scheme Markers.

I think I might convert one of mine into a high-kicking model that got dragged onto the stage, just like they describe in the fiction of the Star Theater. It's just too good with Colette. Ironsides with Hand-Picked Men also makes his attack hit WAAAAYYY hard as well.

On 4/15/2017 at 4:45 AM, Fictor said:

Why it's good option pay high ss cost for a model that does a lot of mediocre things when we can pick more models for do that things, separated and better?

Well, because then you can have backup and won't lose an angle if you lose a model: Angelica AND the Captain together mean that you'll have plenty of pushes available, Cujo and the Captain together means that you'll DEFINITELY control multiple areas of the board, Johan and the Captain do a massive amount of melee together (and reinforce each other!), and so on.

But what you're asking is, "Is it better to pay 12ss for Joss and 7ss for Angelica, or 13ss for the Captain who can do the job of either depending on what you need during the game?" I mean, my heart will always belong to Cass and Carlos, but sometimes you need flexibility, not focus.

Joss has a razor-sharp focus on cutting down tanks, but he is predictable, a known quantity... and his main defense is the one that everyone expects when you declare Arcanists.

9 hours ago, Ludvig said:

Do the categories need to have checklists? It's hard to define the roles so rigidly.

Huh. Looks like one of my drafts somehow lost the words that the checklists are 'meant to be a guideline, and there exist models which don't explicitly fit a category yet are definitely in it." *edit edit edit*

However....

Remember the target audience: beginning players, either coming to Malifaux from wargames where a model is a special snowflake if it has even TWO rules unique to it or completely new to wargaming altogether, and existing players who struggle to eke out wins because they pick Ophelia over Zipp in a Squatter's Rights game (sorry Brian). If he had looked at the two Masters and understood that one is a Beater/Tank and the other is a Buffer/Controller with a bent towards preventing Interacts, then he would have done better.

Establish the baseline, then the deviation from the baseline. Or if you prefer, KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

I can look at every role (aside from summoner) and see models that don't fit in the guidelines yet are that role. However, each role's exception is only like what, 1-5 models out of 300ish? 80-90% coverage is within acceptable deviation in a game as complicated as Malifaux.

Not like the Alpha Strike system where a simple program with fewer than 20 lines can easily establish a model's role (and Role is an actual, important game aspect!) yet the designers went with "What feels right in universe." Feh.

3 hours ago, Angelshard said:

You're probably right that lynchpin isn't a role in itself. I just seem to always have that one model that my crew really wants (weaver for collodi, lawyer for lucius), but you're right that they themselves are just buffer/controller and not a separate role.

Regarding lucius I've just gotten him so I might be playing him wrong, burly I find his walk really helps me get my models up the table on turn one and two.

Also I have to agree with the definitions not being too constrained.

Lucius is a Buffer, which states in its text: "Oftentimes they're the linchpin of a list, the combo piece that other models rely upon - and since few of them are Tanks, it means that special care should be taken in identifying and removing Buffer models." Emphasis added. He adds soulstones, generates AP, redistributes AP, gives negatives to flips, and allows Minions to break the Interact rule.

I mean... was I too wordy? Did I somehow lose the focus of the reader?

1 hour ago, Bengt said:

I think the Tank and Beater requirements are stated a bit categorical with their minimums. E.g. the Rail Golem would not qualify as a Beater as its main attack is skill 5 (with ), and it doesn't ignore any defensive abilities. On the Tank side Joss only fulfil point 1 and 5 (disqualifying him from Tanking), Howard meets points 1, 3, 5, yet I find that Joss generally last longer than Howard.

Oh, darnit. I forgot to write that I count each type of damage reduction. Should Soulstone use be counted as well? Because that can make some models mighty tanky with damage reduction or buying on Defense flips.

And you're right about the Rail Golem and some other models, like Sue, don't count either... Should it be all the way down to 5 with a ? Or just 5? Because 4 is unreliable, but 5 by itself I feel is borderline at best. 5 would be acceptable.

What you might do is go over the Masters and their backstories on the Malifaux Masters web page and see which ones grab her - I know my fiance didn't want to play Malifaux at all until I talked about the Dreamer...

That said, Rasputina has several different advantages:

1) She herself is very easy to pilot as a ranged beater that can use any unengaged Frozen Heart model within 10" as an arc node (to use a WM/H term).

2) Her theme is VERY strong - with Ice Dancers to move around the table, a player can accomplish almost any set of scheme and strategy with just Frozen Heart models, and Frozen Heart straight ignores Horror which a lot of models rely on for defense.

3) Her storyline is that she came to Malifaux as a prisoner, made a deal with a god of winter for power, and has since given that god the middle finger and told him who's boss - and it's HER. Who WOULDN'T like that story?

4) A lot of her theme models (Silent Ones, Acolytes, Ice Dancer, Snow Storm) are really strong for Arcanists generally, making her a good starting place.

Downsides:

1) The Ice Golem in the box is a "toss in the bits bin, don't bother putting it together" piece... one of the very few like that in Malifaux. He's just too slow and dies too fast.

2) She's very predictable and her crew in general is very slow - if you kill the Ice Dancers she struggles to do any serious Interact or Scheme Marker based Schemes.

3) Models with high WP or that have strong anti-Ca stuff (such as Sonnia) can be a hard counter.

Generally speaking, the soundest way to start Malifaux is to pick two Masters that balance each other well and add the vital pieces from there.

5 minutes ago, Franchute said:

Thanks a lot for the tutorial. Have tried to change the color of the black line you leave around the eyes? Maybe something like a dark brown?

I usually don't do it myself, but I tried it the Oiran I painted above. I used a dark metallic green instead of black and...

It doesn't pop very well. It's THERE, I can zoom in on the unshrunk image and see it, but at a tabletop level it's not as effective as black. Ah well, failed experiments and all that.

On 4/15/2017 at 11:18 AM, Gnomezilla said:

What the bollocks, they told me that Stake a Claim, move 6", and Stake a Claim again would remove my first claim marker?! And I was right and it wouldn't?!?!?! That is extra sauce upon the soft-serve sundae of that particular game, for sure.

Bloody hell, sorry, I meant "Line in the Sand" and "Claim Jump" - somehow the two got conflated in my head into one name that already existed. I blame the pneumonia on top of allergies.

I made changes. Seven roles, obviously, but I switched "Killing" to "Removing" - and let's face it, that would deserve ANOTHER article, and I'm sure it exists somewhere - and expanded a bit on the Buffer section. I forgot about removing Conditions, can you believe that? Changed the criteria for Schemer, and added a notation about burying models... not that a whole lot of models can actually DO that (mostly Tara's stuff?) but still, needs to be noted.

I wish I could find an '-er' word for the Chaff, just to fit with the aesthetic of the other categories. Fodder!  It also gives us a category to place "After dying, x" models; it's hard to think of Pere Ravage as anything other than a mobile bomb.

I think the criteria for the Fodder category is:

1) Is it 4 Soulstones or under?

2) Is it Significant?

3) Can it be Summoned?

4) When it is removed from the table, does it have any special effects?

If the answer to ANY of these is 'yes', then it's Fodder - but the more yeses, the better the model is. Fodder is vital for activation control; if you have 10 models and your opponent has 7, that lets you stack 3 models in a row after theirs. Most of the time, Fodder dies quickly, but if activated quickly it can still do its job - especially if that job is dropping a Scheme Marker or two. Fodder also usually have few options and are obvious in what they're doing, meaning that little information is revealed if you activate Fodder early in the turn, compared to models with lots of options that you may wish to hold back and respond to the opponent's moves. Sometimes, fodder even WANTS to die, and can thus serve as further activation control: Your opponent has to target this 2ss model before it Bacon Bombs all over his face, or your opponent doesn't want to target the Performer because Colette just finished activating and is within 2".

Does that seem all right for an entry? I kind of like seven anyway, it has a pleasant asymmetry and matches the Malifaux faction number.

First off, thank you guys. The last couple of days I've posted on some other forums and been completely ignored. Paranoid delusions and all that, now cured thanks to you.

@Nikodemus and @Angelshard, I agree with you, after looking at it on the table. 4" is enough even for Stake a Claim, because a 30mm base is more than wide enough to drop Scheme Marker - move 4" - drop Scheme Marker directly opposite the first. 6" is a safety margin, and I was looking at the Necropunk specifically when I created that metric, but doing so also excludes other good models.

Schemer also needs another metric: Can it ignore any part of the Interact rules? Specifically Don't Mind Me, but also placing Scheme Markers closer together than 4", or being able to place Scheme Markers in places other than base contact. Sigh, nothing is ever perfect in a first draft...

Angelshard, Schemes like Bodyguard and Undercover Entourage are considered Killing VPs because Killing VPs are all about removing and keeping models on the table - if one player wants them gone, the other player wants them to stay. The only difference is which side of the table wants what, and whether it's about denying or earning VPs thereby. They're two sides of the same coin.

I need to clarify that point, maybe rename the category to Removing VPs. A while ago I thought that there should be two separate categories, like you, but then I realized that they were the same thing, only flipped backwards.

@Dogmantra... *looks at Bayou Gremlin* It can move 10" and generate 1 AP for Interacts with Drunk & Reckless, which is one of the reasons I picked that specific number - along with Terror Tots and Crooligans (albeit the latter moves 5", Interacts, and then teleports 5"). Where my metric DOES fail is on Insidious Madnesses. 4" with 2 AP and 7" with 1 AP are, I think, the new numbers when I revise the document.

Chaff is definitely a solid idea, but what else should be in there? What should the defining criteria be? Extremely cheap models (4ss and under)? Influences the boardstate through sacrificing itself? Controls activation order through extra bodies?

Yes, this has potential.

There are other rare excluded models as well - Rooster Riders fall through the cracks of the system (though I suppose they could Beak, Beak + Stampede into Beak, Beak for Beater, and 7" Walk + 1 AP makes them Scheme well), Void Wretches...

Ah! Controller should also have a notation about "Removing models from the game," that would put Void Wretches in the proper category, I think - and give Death Marshals the dual category of Beater and Controller, which is what they do. Frigging thing, boxing The Captain for three turns of Henchman Hardcore...

I also really want to split Healer into another category. Removing Conditions or recovering Wounds is rare, but important enough that it should be taken special note of... and then I keep deciding against it. And thinking it should have its own category. And deciding against it. And then...

However, I  EMPHATICALLY disagree that Summoner and Buffer are the same thing, and any MMO player would agree - and that was one of the main reasons I disagreed with @Rathnard's original article in the first place. If newly created models are counted as an extension of the Summoner and it's a Tank thing because it means more Wounds the opponent has to get through (as was his original point), then it's also a Beater thing because the new models can deal damage... and a Schemer thing because of additional AP... and a Control thing because of influencing the boardstate through placement... and a Buff thing because of additional AP and activation control... while being none of those exactly, because the new model is not the Summoner. Does the Mechanical Rider hold a table quarter for Interference, or does the Metal Gamin she dropped? Does the Dreamer Lure a model in for Pounces, or does Lilitu? Does Colette give the + to flips, or the Mechanical Dove?

...And so on.

Today I'm off to visit my mom in the hospital (nothing serious, they're keeping her there for observation), and then it's my weekly Malifaux day, so I may not get back to this until 12 hours from now.

Another advantage of the Captain: in a highly mixed Scheme Pool, it's really hard to predict WHAT he's doing for you. Joss just does two things: be hard to kill, and kill things. The Captain kills things. Or moves things. Or burns things. Or creates terrain. He's as much a controller as he is a beater.

On top of that, in this current "FFM is on Rams" environment, a simple "This model gets Burning" with no risky damage track attached is helpful. The Firestarter does that, but he also has "I Did It!" which negates the whole REASON to stack Burning on a model for FFM.