Patzer

It seems to be quite good with Daw, since its curse is rather grim. Over all, it is a model that brings scheme marker manipulation, in droves, which the faction currently lacks. Trinkets open up a whole lot of untapt synergy.

Hamelin simply needs some time geting used to. While learning him you want to put some extra focus and effort on planning those extra activations. Just don't over think stuff and Hamelin games will not take any longer than any other game.

I think that might be an overlooked way to play him. Malifaux Child is hands down the key to that build. Another obey, that is (will need a ten to cast). Survivalist will be needed if you want to go without stolen. Pipes are in as always. Then I think there is a toss up between I pay better and the plauge. The former for buffing mercs like a double trapper build, and the latter for draging stuff in. Ala headhunter.

It's certainly viable to only specialize in one master without committing to the faction as a whole. With that said though, Outcast is a pretty neat faction to jump into. The masters play very differently and brings a lot of different themes and mechanics. Then there is a bunch of individual models who does one thing very good. Hans shoots, Johan gets rid of conditions and beats stuff, Big Jake is great for holding quarters, etc. Applying each of those a role which sole purpose is to do a specific task is very rewarding (fun if you like to tinker with lists too) and very strong once you get the hang of it.

It ain't easy when it's hammer time...

Hello, for months I have kept you waiting for this post (lol), but here it is... The model run down for Jack Daw. Actually I will write a couple of posts about the crew and lessen scoop. Simply because it is easier to read and to write. The entries will be divided as follows: henchmen & totems, enforcers part 1 & 2, and last but not least minions. Henchmen Rusty Alyce Trusty Rusty Alyce is hands down one of my favourite models to bring with Daw. She is a generalist beater, who can bring the pain from a multiple of angles. Clockwork Seeker is a really good gun, with a solid damage track. A nice kicker is that it ignores Hard to Wound. Hence, it is a good anti-resser tool. What really makes her stand out is her incredible melee damage. With a trigger she can discard cards and get + to damage for each card discarded. Throw that together with the fact that she's got a severe damage of 8. She packs some crew synergy with her anti-charge aura, but it's of limited for other models than herself. Daw can speed Rusty up a fair bit. She isn't slow to begin with either. The 3" push she can get from Writhing Torment is mint though, since she's got Rapid Fire. Daw can set her up with her having to use any ap or burn a trusty Oathkeeper (which is often the case if you want her to function as a gun turret). The 3" push also increases her charge's threat range to a total of 11" (3"push, 6" charge, 2" ml rng), which is nothing to sneeze at. Rusty is really strong against willpower attacks, as well as Shooting, while significantly weaker against physical melee damage. Her aura will help with that some, but once enemies are engaged be certain to have some extra Soulstone for prevention. She isn't in need of back up that much, since if she gets a chance to retaliate; she will! Upgrades to take with her: Scout the Field, Oathkeeper, Tally Sheet. There might be some reasoning to bring her summoning upgrades too, but I think there are better options. And she can still summon by killing stuff in melee. Models to bring along: Librarian, Nurse. Taelor A very hard hitting melee monster, with great resiliency. She wields her trusty Relic Hammer with high precision, and can attack single targets as well as groups of enemies with damaging pulses. With a trigger she can hinder Soulstone prevention, which makes her quite a threat to masters and henchmen. What really makes her stand out is the (0) action "Welcome to Malifaux", which gives her a condition that lets her charge any summoned model in range. This makes her great against Ressers in particular, but all summoners have to think twice when Taelor is around. Taelor is very slow, but Jack Daw fixes that for her. Nurses can speed her up on turn 1, while Jack can push her if she is becomes Tormented and obey her to take extra walk actions. By turn 2, Taelor is always in place in a Jack Daw crew. Jack himself doesn't mind copying her Ml 7 Relic Hammer either. Upgrades to take with her: Tally Sheet, Oathkeeper, I Pay Better (great tech to get with her (2) action). Models to bring along: (the usual suspect): Librarian, Nurse. We will flip over to the first batch of Enforcers next time. See you then!

Non-randomizing trappers seem pretty good in theory. If the Emissary could take I Pay Better, it would be even better.

They do make amazing diorama models. I saw one on the Wyrd Place with the "hushing" Orderly next to the Bed struck Guilty. It was amazing. This implies you have got yourself a FB-account. I am quite amazed.

They do a lot for him. Plus, they are hands down one of the best 5ss models in the game.

Jd cannot declare triggers with his obey actions. Thus, no healing from the Nurse. We are pretty good at melting stuff with Leve.

I really like that you get a notification if your are being quoted. Makes for a nice "scholarly" feel. All and all, really like the new forums. Great decision, great execution.

Second game recap, here goes. 40ss against Sonnia. Hard times, to say the least. I often perform poorly against Sonnia, she often gets the better off me. The pool were Squatter's Rights, Distract, Outflank, Breakthrough, Frame For Murder. My crew: Jack, Writhing Torment, Curses x3, Twist and Turn; Hodgepodge; Nurse; Johan; Guilty; Convict Gunslinger; Desperate Mercenary x2. Cache 3. My opponent took Sonnia, Imprint; Malifaux Child; Brutal; Witchling x3; Fran, Wade in; Austringer. Cache 5. I took Breakthrough (unannounced) and Frame For Murder (Convict Gunslinger). While my opponent opted for Frame For Murder (Witchling 2) and Outflank, unannounced. Since I lacked a killy master/henchman I felt ok with Frame For Murder around. Didn't think my opponent would go for Breakthrough since his crew lacked a bit of speed. Would have to watch out for it though, as well as not letting a late game Outflank slip through. I deployed first. Fairly scattered. Desperate Mercs took a flank each while the rest of the crew were increasingly deployed towards the centre of the table. My opponent deployed nearly all of his crew to the middle while the Malifaux Child and a Stalker 1 took on the right flank. Turn 1 Guild wins initiative. Outcast gets to activate first. I draw a rubbish hand. Both mostly moved their respective forces. Daw made the Gunslinger Tormented, and the Guilty made Johan Tormented (hit the trigger to draw yet another crap card). Guilty were still almost at the centerline thanks to its own and Daw's pushes. Sonnia blocked off the middle marker with Flame Wall, while the Malifaux Child made on of its own just in front of the one on the right flank. Nurse made Johan +2 walk, and the former were also near the centreline behind some cover. Turn 2 I discarded my whole rubbish hand, and draw yet another one! Only got one severe card. So I stoned for yet two other low value cards. At this point, it didn't matter too much since my deck were pretty set to be in my favour. At least that was I telling myself. Guild won initiative and made Outcast go first. Gunslinger pushed 3" thanks to Jack's aura and fire away at Stalker 3, hit for 3 damaged, triggered Trigger Happy and got 3 more in. Stalker triggered Drawn to Pain twice and blew up in Gunslinger's face. Making it burn. Second AP resulted in 2 damage on Stalker 2, who triggered Drawn to Pain. Austringer made Stalker 2 flip the middle left marker. Guilty walked and flipped the middle right marker. Sonnia activated, went to CA 9, blasted the Gunslinger twice. Getting severe on the second hit, killing it. Netting me 3vp. Daw and the Nurse were both hit by blast damage for 3 damage each. Last AP Sonnia took up the Flame Wall again. Desperate Merc 2 on the left flank made it to the out most left flank and flip the marker. Witchling 1 flipped the right most marker. Franc charged the Guilty, hit on the second swing for 3 damage. Nurse walked once, and Paralysed Franc. Red Joker on the attack flip. Malifaux Child walked once. Cast Flame Wall again near the marker. Desperate Merc 1 walked towards the middle. Stalker 2 charged Daw. Missed both swings. Kind of suspected that was the Frame target then. Johan walked once and hit Franc for 3 damage. Brutal Effigy activated, flipped the middle marker. Daw walked twice, got away from Witchling, hit Sonnia with Firing Squad Injustice and 1 damage. Completely left in the open. Hodgepodge lurked toward Desperate Merc 2. Guild 1, Outcast 4. Turn 3 I threw my hand again. Luckily I draw a quite strong hand at last. Guild won initiative. Brutal Activated. Casted Don't Fear the Sword on Sonnia, and went double defensive. Accomplice to Sonnia. Who discarded some cards, went to Ca 9, and fired away at Daw. She connected for 5 (prevented 3), 2. 2, damage. Leaving Daw at 4 wounds. Sonnia took 6 damage herself thanks to the Curse, but she healed 1 wound for each attack thanks to the Effigy's very potent condition; leaving her at 8. Daw's negatives to damage flips really kept him alive here. Nurse walked once, Paralysed and healed Daw. Accomplice Johan. Johan walked once. Cast Rebel Yell on Daw, reliving him of the Paralyze. Stalker 2 walked once, got rid of Franc's paralyze. Desperate Merc 2 walked once, took defensive stance. Franc flurried on the Guilty. Killing it. Healed 1 wound. Daw charged Sonnia. Pinned her for 3 damage (prevented 3), and took Firing Squad back for another 2 (prevented 1) damage. Daw missed the second strike after a Red Joker flip from Sonnia. Third hit landed for 2 damage, and attached Firing Squad again. Daw then used his (0) to make Sonnia take 2 damage from making an attack action. Leaving Sonnia at 3 wounds. Austringer shot Desperate Merc 2 twice. Missing the second attack. Leaving it on 1 wound. Desperate Merc 1 walked behind some cover near the middle. Malifaux Child double walked towards my opponents deployment zone. Witchling 1 walked towards my deployment zone. Hodgepodge walked once past the centreline. Defensive stance. Guild 2 - Outcast 5 Turn 4 Initiative would be crucial for this turn. Unfortunately it went to Guild. Brutal did its usual bit of giving Sonnia Don't Fear the Sword, then it Focused shot Daw for 1 damage. Accomplice to Sonnia. Sonnia cast Inferno. Focused and Swung at Daw. Red Joker on the Damage flip for a whooping 7 damage. Daw had 5 wounds remaining at this point. Sonnia took 1 wound. This meant that she couldn't make the final strike. She instead went defensive. Johan charged Franc. Leaving him on 1 wound. Franc healed 2 wounds. Walked and swung at Johan for 4 damage. Nurse double walked towards Witchling 1. Austringer hit Hodgepodge once for 1 damage. Hodgepodge walked once. Dropped a marker. Malifaux Child cast Flame Wall in front of the Desperate Merc. Daw activated. Shot Brutal Effigy, 1 damage, triggered Ghost of Malifaux. Attached Drowning Injustice, and 1 more damage on the second swing. Made the Brutal take a walk action and it perished. Flipped the middle marker with last AP. Witchling 2 double walked towards the left flank. Desperate Merc walked past the flame wall. Guild 3 - Outcast 6 Turn 5 I drew a crap hand again, but won initiative. Johan flurried on Franc. Killing him. Stalker 1 walked twice towards to the centreline-edge for Outflank. Hodgepodge walked once, dropped a second marker. Austringer made Sonnia push 2" towards left flank. Daw walked once flipped the remaining Guild marker. Sonnia walked towards the edge-centreline for Outflank. Desperate Merc walked once. Dropped a marker. Game was pretty much over here. Outcast 10 - Guild 5. Impressions. The speed of Daw's gang continue to impress. Even those seemingly measly 3" pushes does a lot. My opponent hadn't played for quite a while, so he did a lot of mistakes he usually wouldn't do. Especially regarding what to do with Confiscated Lore, and the interaction between Franc and Sonnia. Also, this was the first time he faced Daw, which can be pretty though. MVP of the game. I guess it have to go to Daw himself. He did a little bit of everything for the crew. His own speed and the might of the Curses hampered the opposing crew a lot. I quite liked having the Desperate Mercs around. Sure, they die like flies, but Disguised is freaking awesome on them. It is also nice to simply bump activations. Another model that I felt worked with Daw is the Gunslingers. With the additional movement shenanigans Daw can provide, they are pretty stellar gun turrets. Will try to bring two at some point. The Johan and Nurse combo continue to kick ass and take names...

Because they have lower Willpower than average, and the Hanged can exploit that to bits. The Hang is also nice to have in Collect the Bounty (expensive minions), and when Make them Suffer is around (hard to get rid of for being minions).

Jaakuna, Nurses, are the most common out of faction Tormented I sport. Hanged if I am up against Gremlins. Drowned are in at times when I feel I need some additional resilience in melee. One Guilty is always in. I have started to take two in my last couple of games. They are very good. Other than that, I usually take other Outcast models and make them Tormented. Lazarus, Rusty, Taelor, Sue, are all good picks.

Its outstanding within Daw. As Zfiend said, The Guilty can make him Tormented. And as you pointed out, it brings some serious hitting power to a crew that is a bit lackning in that department. Taelor is a nice option too.

Defence 4 is much more convincing then.

That would be pretty funny. How about six Wastrels and six Guild Guards, for balance sake?

Mine is Rusty Alyce. With Leveticus, she often feels like the Master while the former is just a hitter. Her summoning, ability to drop scrap for Ashes and Dust to fly around, and giving things Reactivate are all outstanding abilities. In her native crew, she often gets the role of balancing the attack. Keeping back first, in order to secure the Waifs. Then, if needed, she can either shoot or charge an important target; often obliterating it, no matter what model it is. In other Outcast crews, I run her with Oath keeper and Scout the Field. That set up makes her incredibly fast, and a constant threat to the enemy. Even though she is a good gun fighter, she shines in melee. It's so easy to drop a whooping 16 damage in a charge. She is a beast.

In my experience, Lone Marshal doesn't accomplish a lot. Easy to get rid of. He has a spot in the McCabe, Mounted Guard, Pale Rider, Luna and Dogs lists though. When are you getting back to the green filth Zfiend?

1) They work nice in tandems, but they work very well alone too. 2) Same as the Trappers, but they form a very solid pairing with Hannah; for ridiculous amounts of casting and heals. As you are also a JD enthusiast, making them Tormented and having Creeping Terror is quite good. A lot of things will loose their suits. 3) Must have may be a bit stern, but I don't think any master in the faction is a must have. He is very good to have against Neverborn, Ressers, and in Turf War/Extraction. 4) In Turf War/Extraction, its a very neat toolbox. With a Librarian or two to company it, your crew will have ridiculous levels of healing and anti-condition tech. I have gotten a lot of milage out of the Trunk. To me, one of Von Schill's staples. 5) 3, maybe. If you like the model and can get them to work with all of their triggers. As well as having Hannah being able to constantly copy Reference the Field Guide for additional Tomes. I liked them more in Wave 1. Now with things like the Guilty around, the have lost some steam. Then again, on a board swamped with Severe Terrain, they will be very handy. 6) If you feel that you need a lot of scheme marker removal, will face plenty of ways of becoming Paralyzed, ignore cover, and dish out some Blasts, then yes, I guess. Although, any of those situations might be outliers. 7) Second Trapper and Steam Trunk is worth a lot in my book, then the extra Librarian is pretty mint too. You will most likely be able to sell the Specialist at a fair price, but you might be stuck with a couple of extra Freikorpsmenn too much for your liking.

Hi all, This (these, maybe) post(s) are going to be in the fashion of "throw back Thursday". I played the two of them a while back and haven't had the time to give them a proper write up. I probably won't remember half of what I should, but hopefully it will be worth your time. Here goes... Game 1 Outcast vs Arcanists. 50 Soulstone game. Standard Deployment. Turf War: Vendetta, Breakthrough, Distract, Plant Evidence. My opponents very interesting Ramos crew: Ramos -- 4 Pool +Powered by Flame [2] +Under Pressure [2] +Combat Mechanic [2] Brass Arachnid [4] Arcane Effigy [4] Coryphee [7] Coryphee [7] Mechanical Rider [12] Rail Worker [5] Rail Worker [5] Jack's crew Jack Daw -- 5 Pool +Drowing Injustice [0] +Firing Squad Injustice [0] +Guillotine Injustice [0] +Twist and Turn [2] +Writhing Torment [2] Jaakuna Ubume [6] Freikorps Trapper [6] Hodgepodge Effigy [4] Johan [6] Nurse [5] Strongarm Suit [10] +Scout the Field [1] The Guilty [5] I took Vendetta (Strongarm VS Mech), and Plant Evidence. My opponent took Vendetta (Rail Worker 2* VS The Guilty) and Plant Evidence. *My opponent did not favour this at all. He had expected to easily take a bit out of something with a Coryphee, but Daw's strong 6-5 Soulstone range once again provide useful. The board. A lot of trees and forest areas near both deployment zones. In the middle there were a large graveyard area with plenty of hard cover. The walls to the graveyard where shifting between height 1" and 2", so some shooting lanes where available. My opponent deployed first. Bunched up mostly in the middle in order to get to the graveyard. Mech were place slightly to the right flank, and the Effigy and Ramos were at the groups far left. I bunched up in the middle too, directly opposite of my opponent. SaS were deployed to the far left of my crew. The Trapper sneaked into a small forest slightly a head of the crew to the right. Thanks to Scout the Field I got to push the SaS 5" a head before we begun the game. Turn 1 I got a fairly ok hand, but I stoned for more anyway. I wanted to use the SaS, and/-or Trapper to full effect from the get go. It was the right thing to do. I got 11 (rams) which I were really happy to get. Both players pushed onwards for position. Nurse made Johan walk a little faster with Take Your Meds. My Trapper got to a clean shot at Rail Worker 1, taking a wound of it. Then the Magic happened. My opponent had already moved his Mech further down its flank. Keeping it well in cover, and fairly protected in a grove of trees. My last two activations were Jack and the SaS. The Guilty had made SaS Tormented (and netted me another card in the process thanks to their lovely trigger), so Jack could make it walk with his (0), and when it activated it got to push 3" more. The SaS were now 19" up the field. It did its (0) for +1 damage, discarded its upgrade, and could then charge the Mech. I had gotten fairly lucky with my cards so I felt that if nothing went completely wrong, the SaS should be able to get the job done. The first attack through after both had cheated, I won the duel with a difference of 1, but I got the double ram trigger for an extra + to damage. Flipped a moderate, but cheated the flip with a severe for a whooping 7. On the next attack my opponent won the flip, I cheated in my highest card of 12 (of crows). He also throw down a twelve (of tomes). Damage flip resulted in weak damage, but with the crow trigger the damage could not be reduced. Mech went down. End of turn. Turn 2 My opponent weren't too happy with the loss of the Mech. However, the SaS didn't have LoS to any new targets and would have to walk in order to do anything. Instead my opponent pushed through the meandering graveyard with his Coryphee. My Trapper tried to snipe it subsequently without any luck. We then took some activations of just pushing stuff onwards without much happening, the terrain were quite hard to get through. Stupidly enough I placed Jaakuna quite far a head in the middle of the battle field. Without her Manipulative ability she doesn't have much in order to defend herself. My opponent then made the Coryphees Dance to get some hitting power back. This frightened me, so I moved Jack and attached Firing Squad Injustice to the Duet, Daw then hit Rail Worker 2 with Guillotine Injustice. Daw were quite safe behind a ht 1 fence. The Brass Archnid then showed its worth, pinning the Duet with Reactivate. Johan tried to whack the Duet, but failed. The Duet then activated, got rid of the Curse, and stroke at Johan, who took 4 damage in the face. Strongarm placed a scheme marker in the forest and moved closer towards the battle. Coryphee then activated again and turned Johan into mush. The Nurse then tried to Paralyze the Duet, a discarded a card for the suit. My opponent won the flip, I threw down a 12, which he couldn't beat. Duet were once again on full wounds, but the danger were far from over. The Brass could give it reactivate next turn in order to get rid of the Paralyze, and so could the Effigy who were in range. Ramos finally sneaked up the field in order to get into position with all of his nasty auras. We both scored for the strategy. 1-4 to Outcasts. Turn 3 My opponent won the flip convincingly enough for me not to throw a Soulstone. Arcane Effigy walked and got rid of the Paralyze of the duet, and gave Ramos some additional fire power (see what I did there?). Daw then activated, and pinned the Duet with Firing Squad and Ramos with Drowning Injustice. Jack made the Duet strike the Effigy for 4 damage, taking it down to its Hard to Kill. The Duet also took 2 damage from the Curse, ignoring armor! Daw then moved through some fences, behind ht 2 cover, still in the scoring zone. Duet activated, of the Curse, walked into the middle, took a damage from Jaakuna, but healed it. Guilty made the Duet Tormented (making the SaS loose the condition), hit the trigger for another card (I draw the Red Joker!), and moved into the safe heaven of Jaakuna's aura. Ramos shot at the Guilty twice, making it take 4 damage, burning +4, and walked further away from Jack, closer to the center (taking 2 damage). Nurse healed the Guilty, and tried to Paralyze the Coryphee. My RJ beat my opponents 13. Once again, I was out of danger (for now). Rail Worker 1 threw some coal on the Guilty and charged it. Taking it down to 1 wound. Rail Worker took 2 damage from Jaakuna, leaving it on 1 wound. Trapper got out of the woods and paced towards my opponents half of the table. Rail Worker 2, did the Assault (0), and then Charged the Guilty, with a flurry of ++ to attack and + to damage. Guilty went down. 3 VP netted. Rail Worker 2 took 3 damage from Jaakuna. The latter then activated and managed to kill both Rail Workers, that Ml 7 can be vicious. Brass Arachnid tried to Rewire and Stoke the Duet, but failed. My opponent didn't have any cards left, thanks to Guillotine Injustice. SaS made it down the flank into the graveyard. We both scored for strategy, all tied up at 5-5. Turn 4 I won initiative. Daw activated, sneaked out from the shadows, made the Duet snipe the Effigy with Writhing Torment (it took 2 damage as well). I didn't have an all too convincing hand in order to take it down even though it only had 3 wounds left at this point. Then he shot the Brass Arachnid for a single damage, triggered and attached Guillotine Injustice. Daw then returned to safety. Ramos activated, and healed the Duet to full wounds, taking (2 damage, down to 6wounds), he tried to shoot Jaakuna, hit her once for 2 damage, and then he summoned three Spiders from one of the scrap markers the Rail Workers left (down to 4 wounds). Coryphee activated thanks to Accomplice and Charged Jaakuna (taking 1 damage from her aura), and made short work of her. With its last AP it tied up my Nurse. Nurse then activated and tried to hit the Duet with Meds, failed twice, damn +wp flips. Spider 1 activated and went past the centreline. Trapper walked and threw down a third marker for plant evidence. Spider 2 took cover in the graveyard behind a ht 1 fence. Strongarm Suit activated and charged Spider 1. SaS just got a small glimpse of LoS to it. My opponent hadn't paid to much attention to it, since it hadn't taken part in the action for a turn. It made short work of the little spider. The last spider made a run for my half of the table too. Both players scored for strategy. Still tied at 6-6. Turn 5 My opponent won initiative again. Activating Ramos who walked once, prevented the damage from Drowning, and shot the SaS twice. Leaving it on 5 wounds. He then Accomplice the Duet who hit the Nurse for 4 damage, pushed 4", and swung at the SaS. First swing did a humble 2, second a RJ on a negative flip. Killing the SaS. Duet took 6 damage from the Curse, but healed 3 of them. I activated Jack, went through the fence once again, charged and killed the Brass Arachnid. The remaining Spider walked once and threw down a marker. Nurse Paralyzed Ramos. Hodgepodge threw down a fourth marker. Trapper a fifth. Both scored for strategy, leaving the score at 7-7. We flip for another turn. Since I had the game sealed at this point,I didn't want any extra faux. Bad things happen, I guess. Turn 6 I won the initiative. I activated the Nurse who Paralyzed one of the Spiders and made the other only being able to take Ml actions. The remaining spider walked once and dropped a second marker. Since the Coryphee is quick enough to place the third a final one, I had to try and get it. I activated Daw. Took back Drowning from the Paralyzed Ramos, walked once, and attached it to the Duet. Daw then tried to make it take a walk action, but failed. Once again, darn +flips. Duet, on 4 wounds, did its heal (took 2 damage but healed 3) to get to 5 wounds, it could then walk once and drop the third marker, taking 4 damage. Leaving it on 1 wound. I tried to hit it once with the Hodgepodge, but failed miserably. No turn 7, and the game ended in a tie 10-10. Outstanding game, I had loads of fun. Could have won if three flips went differently, or if my opponent wouldn't have had that severe for healing the Duet at the end of the game. Ramos with Coryphee was disgustingly good. So much healing, and plus flips. Wish I brought a Hanged to set the healing straight. Powered by Flame was pretty cool. With Ramos and the Effigy its even better. Getting +2 Burning on a Ca 7 really boosts Ramos hitting power from afar. Paying 6ss for upgrades is a lot, but Ramos worked really well with that set up. MVP of the game, hands down, The Nurse. She single-handedly hold down the enemy forces at times and setted up a bunch of scenarios where I could have won. Outstanding effort from a 5ss model. Strongarm Suit get an honourable mention too. Without it taking out the Mech Rider so early I would have lost the game. With that said though, my opponent thought that bringing the Mech Rider were the biggest reason why he didn't run away with the game. If he had brought Howard, and hired a Electrical Creation instead of one of the Brass Arachnid, he could have dominated the middle while sending of Spiders to each flank from turn 1.

Pure filth, I love it! A model can target itself with a tactical action, as long as it doesn't state other. For instance, Von Schill can target himself with the tactical action Finish the Cur. Envy's action work in the same manner.

So, still working on a battle report from a game I played some time ago. It will show up shortly. I have got another game in though. This time against Resser Tara (played by Pejay) in Guard the Stash. Schemes were Bodyguard, Distract, Take Prisoner, Frame For Murder. I took Bodyguard (Lazarus) and Frame (Hodgepodge), my opponent went with Distract and Frame (Karina). Our crews were approximately: Tara, three upgrades; Karina, summoning upgrade; Nothing Beast, Void Sheild; Crooligan x2; Void Wretch; Hanged; Bete Noir; 5ss cache. Jack Daw, Curses x3, Twist, Writhing; Hodgepodge; Lazarus, Scout the Field; Guilty x2; Rusty Alyce, Scout the Field, Oathkeeper; Johan. I managed to flip a Red Joker on the initiative flip on turn 3, which led up to that Rusty Alyce could smoke the Nothing Beast in two blows (Void Shield burnt after first severe). This really hampered my opponents hitting power and he couldn't really retaliate. Meanwhile Jack Daw and Lazarus controlled my right flank with little opposition. Game ended 9-3 to Daw. Both got 2 from Frame, and Pejay got 1 strategy point too. Important to note is that this were Pejay's third or fourth game with Tara, and he is still learning the ropes with her (which can be quite challenging). Question about a thing that came up: Do Tara get +flips to initiative flips even when she burns a Soulstone for a reflip? The game's MVP went undoubtedly to Rusty Alyce. She butchered the opposition in style, and I were extremely impressed with the amount of movement tricks she could get out of those upgrades. Jack didn't push her a single time, so she did outstandingly on her own. I am really looking forward to play her more with that set up in any Outcast crew, but especially with Daw who can throw her about a bit. I think there are heaps of potential there, since she can get pushed 3" by Daw to find better angles to Rapid Fire, get into melee, or burn her Fast for an additional 9" threat range. That severe of 8 is so darn easy to get. The no charge aura didn't save her from getting whacked a couple of times from the Nothing Beast, but it clogged the flank for a bunch of other models. All and all, Rusty impressed in heaps. Even though they didn't accomplish much (besides netting me vps of the strategy) I have to say that the Guilty is really starting to grow on me. These guys are surprisingly mobile, as survivable as the come against physical attacks (will not be too eager to hire two against the likes of Neverborn), their card drawing abilities are a neat addition, and they make the crew's synergy go thanks to being able to make friendlies Tormented. They are so tricky that I almost felt that I played Neverborn for a while.

Its great, period. However, since so many players are constantly hiring it its nearly always useful to bring something that can take it out early. Like the Strongarm Suit who everyone can hire. Outcasts got Scout the Field which can really make the hunt easier too. In other words, there is a small crack in the crutch so to say.

My take for "Leve on a budget". Leveticus box, Lazarus/Ryle, Necropunks/Void Wretches, Ashes and Dust, Johan, and Hodgepodge Effigy. You will rarely need more than 4 Aboms at the time, and unless you either dedicate a lot of effort to make, or hire, a Desolation Engine, you will rarely see it in game. If you want another Master while still complementing Leveticus, my suggestion would be 1) Von Schill 2) Viktorias 3) Tara. With VS you will get Librarian, Trapper, and Specialist which are all outstanding. Viks will give you the Jack of all trade Ronin, as well as the monster Taelor. Tara will mainly give you Void Wretches which are nice filler models, if you want to keep in faction.