Enki

You flip one uncheatable card and that's how much damage it does to everyone (+1 for every burning counter). The resist is to see if you take this damage or nothing. This is not effected by hard to wound, duel totels, or anything that gives plus or minus flips.

1. Round 1 - Gaining Grounds Land Grab - your main list 2. Round 2 - Gaining Grounds Line in the Sand - might want to switch out Izamu for 2 Night Terrors and 2 Doggies or some Necropunks 3. Round 3 - Contain Power - your main list I think your main list should be fairly strong for Land Grab and Contain Power. For Line in the Sand you want to keep the cluster guarding 2 markers and some mobile minions to get the rest. As far as schemes you could always bring along chiaki instead of an ashigaru in your list and do his master specific for one game. With 3 ancestors on the board it should be quite easy. He excels in anything Killy and loves stake a claim & breakthrough. If going against a non mobile mele master you can always try steal relic.

I don't think Misaki would have more problems against a Lynch crew than anyone else. I was just suggesting for (both players') learning purposes to hold back on crews that play significantly different from the pack. Alot of new players find these overly confusing and get frustrated trying to remember everything. However, I would suggest both of you to play whoever you are most excited about since I think this will make for a more enjoyable game.

I would probably stay away from the Dark Debts box set since the mechanics of that crew is pretty different and could be really confusing to a beginner. Both the LJ and Lilith sets are about as straight forward as you can get and are excellent to start out on. Lady Justice is probably your lowest $$ investment option to start playing as her box set is pretty good from the get go. She may cause groans when attacking with an 11-13 cb but is still way less likely to evoke a rage quit than Misaki. LJ follows a point click kill type of play with minimal tricks. Lilith is a good blend of mele beatstick and mobility. To play her you really want to pick up a blister of young nephilim and probably the primordial magic totem. She is usually leading a crew of very mobile glass cannon nephilim. She has a few simple tricks and is a blast to play. Hopefully some of this helps and I hope you enjoy the game. Welcome to Malifaux! There are more resources at the pull my finger tactica wiki http://pullmyfinger.wikispaces.com/

Some random thoughts: Dead Doxies IMO aren't quite as useful as another Rotten Belle and 1ss. For this reason I never start out with them but summon them if I need/feel like playing them. The copycat killer isn't as bad as people would make you believe but still the grave spirit is a rockstar for 1 ss. If running Molly you could always take both and see what ends up doing more for you. One of the best things for Molly to copy is The Hanged's spell (I forget what it is called but it halves wounds and prevents them from being healed) Pop this on one of the twins to ruin their day. However this is an expensive combo at 17 stones to field both. Seamus needs a good amount of stones. I wouldn't run him with less than 6 myself or he becomes really squishy. Bette is a beast, just remember to save that 10+ card for her because she will be targeted with everything once people see what she can do. I will usually opt for bette over the hanged since he can really be gimped against high wp/ITI models. Seamus' Avatar is a beast! if you look at expanding in the future you can't go wrong with it. Crooked men are awesome with belles and generally good all around, just don't use up bette's 10 to cast their cave in.

These lists look alot more versatile, but remember you would have to run Yan Lo as resser to have access to the night terrors. Night Terrors = Liquid Awesome in mobile lists I for one have always ran Yan Lo as a Resser just because they have a BUNCH of awesome low cost minions. Ten Thunders has some good models but you seem to have to pay alot more in TT for what you get for super cheap with Ressers (unless you run some clockwork traps which are amazing). I play ressers alot so I might be biased though.

I usually deal with ranged crews with a swarm of canine remains keeping them in mele until my hitty stuff can advance. I love to take 4-6 doggies and walk or charge them into mele with any shooters picking up any corpses to bring back. The -2 df for having 2 in mele is huge, add bolster(cb6 df7) and you have something way better than a 2 point minion. Add Mortimer or Sebastien for an alpha dog strike and you will see those models you brought for cheap corpse counters wrecking and tying up the best minions. Against living crews they get even better as they can charge 9" against wounded living models for 1AP. Above all the best part about dogs is you don't care if they die.

That is definitely a scary crew to play against! You may have to adjust it a bit for more spread out or mobile strats like line in the sand but you should be able to kill about anything (except Pandora of course) I wouldn't be afraid to switch out a punk zombie with chiaki or a torekage based on the strategy.

You may want to increase your pool a bit Yan Lo really wants to spend 3 of your 5 before the game starts for df 7 and regen 1. This would leave him with 2 left over or he's a wet napkin with 5 stones. I would suggest trading out one of your archers for (trying to think of 3 point TT minions) 2 clockwork traps if you have them. This would leave you with 4 after the chi upgrade of the max 5 and make Yan Lo alot more durable.

+1 to Claymore Kirai hates fighting Viktorias, Sonnia, and Misaki..... well at least they can actually scare her a bit with their abundance of magic damage. Seamus is an excellent starter crew and I think you are on the right track with match ups. IMO playing 2 simple crews for the first couple games is more important than balance as you can handicap yourself with difficult schemes and not use tourney lists if you need to keep it interesting while they are learning. I would't play Kirai or Dreamer like you said until they have a firm grasp of their crew and want to learn about the tricks. As for starter lists what you mentioned should work fine, after a game or two give her a grave spirit to learn about totems or possibly some models to branch out to. Remember to fully explain companion and understand it yourself since his can be really confusing compared to others.

You may want to pick up some clockwork traps as McCabe kinda comes with 2 even though they are not in his box. Additionally you may want some guild hounds for Luna to run around with as well as for Sonnia to blow up. If you would like some sonnia summoning shenanigans you could bring 1 or 2 desperate mercs. The bonus is that this is a good 2 point model and a round 1 inferno will leave them on 1 wound which is good for them and sonnia. I always like death marshals and of possibly more stalkers. If it is a larger stone tourney you may want to look into Lucius. Plenty of synergy with McCabe's guardsman models or allow sonnia to blast into other deplayment zone in turn one. Though it usually has to be 35+ SS game for me to bring him as he's 10ss and really needs some of his own models(those riflemen work) to get the most out of him.

+100 on the lost love for me all Kirai lists start with Lost Love and 5 Seishin after that I highly recommend Shikome (hiring one in play means the one your about to summon has a fun hunting buddy) Shikome's IMO are the best do it all minions in the game. I haven't had much luck with datsu, it seems like she makes me want to kill my own minions (wasting turn one and messing with kirai's control hand) or she just doesn't do much. I love Gaki and would find it hilarious running 5 in a list, that and I find them as not as painful to sac spirits when you NEED reactivate or a crucial summon. They tend to do more for me than Onryo despite their price especially when playing against alot of living models (corpse counters = YUM) I would be hesitant to run 3ss with Kirai but could maybe see 4ss. I usually bring 5ss but I really like my stones, I think I may have a bit of a problem (is their a rehab for this)

Because they are both totems you will not be able to take the Drill Sergeant and Luna at the same time unless you bring a henchman(like Lucius) to attach the second totem to. That said you may not want to run Luna unless you have a few guild hounds as well and you probably don't want to run Lucius in smaller games. As far as guild goes witchling stalkers and death marshals are really good and work with almost every guild crew. If you would like to go the guardsman route, Lucius and his entire box set would go very well with McCabe as well as Guild Hounds and Austringers giving lots of guardsmen synergy. Also if your ok with foregoing a totem, the Brutal Effigy is an awesome addition to any guild crew as well. Oh yeah and Sidir is a beast!

Wow I can't believe I forgot Kaeris. I'm giving myself a 50 dkp minus now.

It may be fun to run Molly and 3 crooked men to spam paralyze all over the place at least once Yan Lo gets far enough into his path to get Rigor Mortis. You could also send a Shikome after Colette, crazy mobility, immunity to slow, and poison could cause her fits. Come to think of it, can Colette trigger blinding flash off of WP?

One thing about Sammy vs. Santiago is that Sammy actually can do something in mele so he can't be shut down by a cheap mobile model simply walking up to him. just food for thought

Some great additions to a Ramos crew for a more ranged options would be: Lazarus - the most fluffy choice and a big fun robot with a grenade launcher although he is a mercenary outcast. Ramos' totem can give him reactivate and he has an ability which allows him to copy abilities from constructs allowing him to fill many different roles. Gunsmiths - definitely one of the best ranged minions in the game and arcanists to boot. They can give themselves a ridiculous amount of plus flips and are golden against hard to wound minions/masters. Convict Gunslinger - another mercenary. You have to spend an extra stone (6) to hire this guy but in my opinion this model has no business being only 5 stones anyway. Paired cb6 with trigger happy and rapid fire. Especially worked into a crew that doesn't need masks for anything else, this is a very powerful model. Von Schill - The fix all and crutch henchmen for o so many players. This guy is just awesome in a hulk-like package that does it all. Can be taken by almost any master and is seen in most douchey competative lists. With crazy mobility, a 12" range high damage gun, use soulstone, and slow to die he makes opponents cry. Unfortunately you will not find too many ranged specialized minions in the arcanist faction, but still these options may work for you if you want to add some ranged threat to the mostly mele based Ramos crews. Good luck and welcome!

If I remember right the hungering darkness can give something permenent brilliance on a trigger and if a beckoner is close enough to a model at the end of the round brilliance doesn't end. In most cases brilliance (and anything else that doesn't specify when it will end) will end in the resolve effects stage at the end of the round. With cheating remember this order and it should help For attacks: 1. Whoever loses the starting duel cheats first (except Jacob Lynch) Starting with playing cards from your hand and then may use a soulstone if they have use soulstone. At this time the "loser's" final total is determined. Note: you must cheat from hand before using soulstone if you want to do both. 2. The winner of the duel may cheat first from their hand and then may use a soulstone if they have use soulstone. At this point the "winner's" final total is determined and you move on to a damage flip. For casting: 1. Whoever is casting the spell needs to do all cheating before the defender flips a single card. At this time the final casting total is determined. 2. The resisting model flips and may cheat. About Reckless Reckless is an ability mostly gremlins have which allows them to take a wound to themselves to gain fast (this can only be done once per activation and can't be performed if it would kill the model) Basically this gives them one extra general AP any round they wish to sacrifice a wound to get it. Welcome to Malifaux and happy gaming!

I have had a good deal of success using a swarm of tots and using the PM to transposition Lillith around. You should be mobile enough to not be an easy gunline target, and once you're in mele your golden. Don't underestimate the value of many black blood models against gremlins who need their wounds to bolster themselves. Make sure to put lillith on ophelia right away (within 1") and eat through her stones and wounds before she can retaliate. The plus flip on the great sword really helps as well for doing decent damage when you hit and making it a hard decision for ophelia to eat the black blood to retaliate or use an ap to back off an inch. Also try to sprint a tot into mele with Rami and Raphael. It's amazing how many problems these tots can cause these two. Keep in mind (though it's not in his list) that a slop hauler can ruin Lillith's day reducing her df to 4 with no resist. Keep her away or kill immediately if you see it. At least that's what I do, if you win the positioning battle is always key against kin.

+1 to what Tigerstyle said So for further clarification..... remember when sacrificed (like from stimulant) it bypasses slow to die as you are not killed. Leaving absolutely no way for bette to come back after being hopped up from stimulant. Also Back to original post: IMO I would ditch Rafkin for Sebastian or something else. I have often used a very fun and competative McM list that includes 6 doggies and Sebastian. If you want to stay away from the box set I would suggest Mortimer, the Hanged, Convict Gunslinger, or a Shikome. The nice thing about the good doctor is that he doesn't care much what you bring so just bring whatever you are the most enthused about. Welcome to Malifaux!

Looks like a real solid list. I would suggest The Drowned or Crooked Men for Pandora, Shikome I find more useful than Datsu (just because they are so damn good and you don't have to worry about armor as much when you have poison 2) I haven't got Ashigaru to pull their weight and am waiting on Toshiro to make them more worthwile. I would suggest trading these out for drowned, crooked men, more doggies, or good ole' belles. That is what would fit my playstile, though yours already looks plenty competative. Just don't let them kill Yan Lo early and he will massacre the whole board! I have found taking def 7 and regen 1 at the beginning invaluble.

+1 to Necro's list for a starter The basic "always there" list for me is going to be 5 seishin and the lost love (12ss) then fill out the rest depending on strat. for kill based strats I like to bring 1-2 Insidious Madness, 1 shikome hired, and flesh out rest with gaki/drowned (cheap significant spirits) I then summon a second shikome to hunting partner along with and Ikyrio. All 3 of these models can attack WP and with good placement/foresight with insidious madness, this is an extremely lethal group. for mobility based strats and pretty much everything else I will hire a multitude of cheapo minions, the most expensive being an Onryo in case somone wants to take KP or grudge. Just sack the minion and summon a shikome. I love night terrors (two are good, 4 are rediculous), insidious madness, and the drowned can keep people away from objectives and explode on people. Summon Shikomes and drag spirits around with Ikyrio. So my suggestions on an expanded crew would be Necro's list + 1 more shikome (rare 2) an extra blister of gaki (2 are nice, but a pack of 3 can devour ht 2 models, that and you can summon them) Insidious Madness (you might not need 2 of these, but they seem to be targeted fiercely after people find out what they can do, but still 4 point model with an 8 walk, whats not to love) Night Terrors(once again something that gets better the more you take, this seems to be a common theme in the resser faction, just try proxying 4 and see how mobile they are) The Drowned(These guys are almost always underlooked but I think are well worth 4 points, unfortionately no swirling or calling these spirits though) Izamu(I feel Izamu to be a mean thing to bring against non experienced players, but if you get that 11+ crow early, he can be insane) You can mess around with the "kill your own models" trick to get a couple stones of "free" minions at the cost of your hand and a turn. I find this not to be worth it as I can usually advance and kill as many stones worth of my opponents models as I would have gained killing my own or more and then it leaves me set up for turn two instead of hanging back. If you would like to try this method (described on Pull My Finger wiki) you would also need 1 desperate mercenary 1 canine remains Hope this helps

I would suggest considering Johan if you have him. When run beside Kang and a linked emberling you can have a cb 8, 3/4/6 damage, 3" range hammer who advances in obscuring cover for 6 ss (6 +1 merc -1 MS&U) He seems to be able to lay down quite a beating in kill type strats for his price. Also I would strongly consider trying to max out Mei at 8 SS rather than taking her with 5, maybe it's my playstyle/luck but she burns them as fast as Sonnia for me. If you have them clockwork traps could help activations and railwalking targets for so so cheap. Good luck in your tourney!

I love the traps, my only gripe is they are all the same sculpt. After a couple hours frankenstining my traps to make them more unique, I think they will be among my favorite new models.

Note: I am not an expert by any means and have no right expressing my opinions on painting..... but I'm going to anyway. Nice layering work on ASeamus, the skin is really looking good! Overall both models look great. You may want to try lightening up the jacket a couple shades with maybe a heavy dry brush to keep it from looking too mud like and differentiate it more from the color of the boots. Just picky stuff. After posting I realized the boots likely weren't done yet....