doubledragon

I play it as Master Disaster suggests, but some others in my gaming group suggest that it should be played as Ryoken suggests. Which is what made me post the question here to hopefully get an answer

Hey guys, Quick question about Vanessa's heal, "Ley Stone Unleashed" and I guess healing in general. If she casts it on herself when she is at full wounds, would whatever the amount she flipped (2/3/4), still heal other sisters in play? The rulebook states that healing cannot raise a models current wounds total above it's starting wounds stat and that any excess healed wounds are discarded. So my confusion comes in with the discarded part - because she's at full wounds in this instance, whatever she flips becomes discarded right? So therefore other sisters in play don't heal anything? What are your thoughts?

I have to agree with the side that is saying, "Once you have figured out how to deal with the Mech Rider, it's not OP." When I first started bringing it to the table in my meta, my opponents didn't know fully what to expect from it, and it won me a few games. But now that they know what to expect and how to deal with it - I now struggle to get 12 souls stones worth of use out of it in a game. My opponents now either kill it or tie it up before half way through the game. I've had my Mech Rider die quite a few sad deaths before it does anything of use early on in the game when it's so squishy, and then I am on the back foot. Perdita, Hans, Nino, Taelor, Johan, Chompy, Ikiryo are all models (off the top of my head) that have gone through my mech rider like mince meat. Chompy bits swallowed her whole in one go (when she was on full 10 hp). I do only use the rider with Colette (one of my two Arcanist masters, the other is Marcus). I find that her being able to summon mannequins that come in with 1 hit point is not all that useful - something just has to stare at that 1 hp mannequin funny and it falls over dead. Now that my meta knows how to deal with the Mech RIder, it is no longer an auto include for me. I play with the Pale Rider in my Guild lists, and I find him more effective than the Mech Rider. He does 2 things, and he does them well - placing scheme markers and killing stuff. The Mech Rider does a bunch of stuff - summoning, shooting, placing scheme markers but none of them all that well. Take the scheme marker shenanigans for example, with the Pale Rider, I can place 2 (3 if I'm lucky) in one turn, where I want them - just by walking to where I want to be. With the Mech Rider I can place 2 if I'm really lucky - I have to shoot at an opponents model, hit and do damage - and then after all that, who says the opponents model is going to be where I want to place my scheme markers? I wish I could play the Pale Rider with Colette. That would be OP.

    You are correct! I was writing this at work and my memory failed me! It is a positive flip on damage received from Loco. I think it was +2 damage somewhere during the beta. Apologies for the confusion. I have amended my post that caused it

The watcher wouldn't be bad. Most games have a fair amount of scheme running involved and he's pretty good at that.

    He does indeed. Which actually means you should be hitting your target most of the time with him if you have a decent card in hand. He's not the best sniper in the game (that title goes to Hans), but he's a lot better than people give him credit for. Try Papa Loco next to Nino with "hold this", he then has a positive flip for shooting and a positive flip for damage. Give Nino "hair trigger" - discard one card and get 3 shots. In those three shots, you'll be unlucky not to get one or two severe's (5 damage) in there. You'll be doing 9 damage on average with those 3 shots. And 15 damage if you get really lucky. The only problem with this is if Papa Loco dies or gets obeyed into exploding, you could have a dead Papa Loco and a dead Nino. So if I'm using this combo of Loco and Nino, and I suspect there could be an exploding Loco sometime soon, I keep the Nephilim in range to get a shackled on Nino or Loco - keeping Nino out of harms way. Also, Nino is a lot more survivable than his card shows. If he's in melee, obviously 1 action "where'd he go" push him out (4 inches) then walk him (3 inches) then shackle him twice with the Nephilim (11 inches). That's 18 inches back into safety and prime "hair trigger" range.

Thanks Kadeton! Those are some really useful tips. And the malifaux rat suggestion for killjoy is great!

Hey guys, I'm relatively new to the Viks, so I'm here looking for some advice What are the best combinations of upgrades to equip Ash, Blood and Vanessa with? Including the obvious upgrades such as survivalist, scramble, oathbreaker, sisters in spirit, synchronised slaying, mark of shezuul and any others that are worthwhile that I might have missed out. Also, I wanna put together a kick ass crew that includes Killjoy (cos he's just so damn cool). I was thinking along the lines of: Viktoria Blood Vik Vanessa Ronin Ronin Ronin/Trapper Desperate Merc Killjoy Thanks guys!

I like this new Teddy sculpt. And I like his moobs.

I would say option 2. That makes more sense with what the rulebook says about order of modifiers and with what incorporeal says. So, divide everything in half first, then add them together.

    @ Dgraz, you mean doubledragondyl? Hehe, it's a confusing profile name, I know. I'm not a lady, at least I wasn't last time I checked I have to agree with Entrepeninja, I've been having a lot of success with Abuela. I didn't like the look of her on paper, but when I started playing her, she really impressed me. Been using her to a similar fashion as to what Entrepeninja mentioned with great results. Her auto slug trigger on her shotgun can be devastating if you get lucky, 8 damage from one shot! Ouch!

Regardless of whether this is an intermediate guide or beginner guide, people have different play styles and different ways of using different models. That's one of the many reasons as to what makes Malifaux such a great game. With that said, I don't see why "intermediate" players would use less Family models? I've been playing Perdita for close to 3 years now and I still play predominantly Family crews with her. If it works for you, great! Personally, as said before, I prefer to run Perdita with a crew consisting largely of Family. For fluff reasons and gameplay reasons. Here are the gameplay reasons: Perdita's "Relocate" only works with friendly Family models. So more friendly Family models gives you more options as to where to move her with that very important free move. Mix this up with the Nephilim's shackled and the Hermanos de Armas upgrade, you'll rarely need to spend one of Perdita's actions on a walk. Nino's "Spotter" only works with friendly Family models. I know there's not much love on this thread for Nino, but his "Spotter" ability is very powerful if the strategy or schemes call for it. Santiago's "Covering fire" only works with friendly Family models engaged in melee. Combine this with Perdita in melee, not much will survive, especially if Santiago has hair trigger. Perdita's "Ortega Presence" +2WP within 8 inches aura from her Aura Ancestral upgrade, only works on friendly Family models. An all WP 7-8 crew versus Pandora/Zoraida/Dreamer? Santiago, Nino, Loco and Pistolero's all with a (0) action to rid themselves of conditions? #Winning!

    He is expensive for scheme running, yes. But technically he is doing it for "free". As dropping his scheme marker and pushing 4 inches is a zero action, which leaves his other two actions to shoot stuff and deal decent damage. Or, zero action and push 4 inches drop scheme marker, then move again and drop another scheme marker. That's 2 scheme markers a turn. There aren't many models in the game that can do that. This kind of scheme marker shenanigans makes Colette jealous. Even if you're using him just for schemes, he is going to attract a lot of attention from your opponent and your opponent is going to have a hard time bringing him down, especially in later turns. One model, can achieve half your schemes or potentially all of them. I'd say that's worth 12 soul stones.

Great write up! Well done! I agree with almost everything, except for a few minor things, which of course is just my opinion. So here goes my 2 cent opinion I would move Francisco up to mandatory, his +2DF +2WP goes a long way in keeping Perdita alive and the mandatory (in my opinion) diestro upgrade is amazing on him. He is also a great ML beatstick (something the crew lacks, other than Perdita herself), with flurry and finesse, your opponent is going to hate him up in their face. I'd move Santiago up to recommended, I know you're not a big fan of him, but being able to not randomise into melee with your shooting is really powerful and if you stick the hair trigger upgrade on this guy, or tormento de plomo, he'll be putting out just as much (if not more) hurt as a convict gunslinger, especially when his "is that all you've got" kicks in. Having Santiago in your crew is almost like having two diestros. I'd move Nino to decent. Yes, his shooting is not that great. But if the situation is right, he will really shine. A board with a lot of cover? No problem with Nino's positive flip to attack. Cursed object or any other interact based schemes on the cards? Then he becomes an auto include for me with his spotter ability. And then lastly, I have to agree with Dgraz on the fact that, I don't think Austringers are mandatory in an Ortega list - they already shoot so damn well. My standard Ortega crew is the same as Dgraz's: Perdita, Francisco, Santiago, Nephilim, 2x Pistoleros. Then whatever else is best suited for the task at hand.

I'd be very excited about a Malifaux video game. Maybe do it like Dragon Age/Mass Effect? Gameplay wise? You control your master and give orders to your crew to do different things/activate their abilities. You design your master, then depending on how you play the game story wise and the abilities you choose for your master, that unlocks other characters to add to your crew who help you a long your epic quest. Dragon Age reference:

I played a game against McCabe and Sadir on the weekend. Sadir was more of a pain than McCabe. Sadir is a complete pain in the ass against crews that tend to clump up. His "empty magazine" ability is amazing for dishing out slow.

I usually leave the Scales out, unless I suspect that I may be going up against the likes of Pandora. Then that extra WP goes a long long way.

Thanks for the correction Dgraz - on Cojo's rude sign language push. Although, I think Cojo is actually pretty decent at rushing front lines - if you use him correctly. I usually use him with the Slate Ridge Mauler (a serious tank, that gets better when wounded) and Myranda. The 3 of them can really disrupt your opponents front lines and have some serious board control. As mentioned before, Cojo is deceivingly survivable. Especially if you're destroying enemy scheme markers. Double positive defence flip with Myranda around - yes please! His push really throws your opponents positioning out the window, combine that with the Slate Ridge Maulers bear hug, you can bounce your opponents models up to 8 inches. So, if you're using him to rush the frontlines for disruption, good! To kill things, not so good! Never thought of the metal gamin combo! Sounds good! Going to give that a go!

Also, if I'm not mistaken, Cojo's Rude Sign Language says models within 3 inches get pushed up to 4 inches away. So you can push models with shorter ml ranges engaged with Cojo just out of their melee range, but keep them in his melee range. This means they then have to waste one action moving back into melee range with him, because being engaged with Cojo, they aren't allowed to charge.

What Nickienogger said. I use Cojo and Myranda in a similar fashion. I find that Cojo is deceivingly durable. 8 wounds and df5 doesn't seem like much, but when you give him imbued protection to put that df up to 6 and sit him close to Myranda for positive defence flips, your opponent is going to have a hard time hitting him. Myranda's heal goes a long way, when you've got those two camping in a good spot. You can get two heals on Cojo a turn - if you're desperate, 4 heals with alpha from Marcus. And obviously his Hard to Kill helps a lot with keeping him in the game. I played a game last week, where McCabe got Cojo down to 1 wound (hard to kill) then Marcus went, alpha'd Myranda healed - him twice. Then opponent activated. Then I activated Myranda, healed him two more times back to full health. Also, if you're having trouble getting Cojo quickly to where you want him - just alpha him with Marcus. That will essentially give him a 16 inch move in one turn.

Noice! I like the librarian. Are they defending the laptop stand in the background?

+1 for The Pale Rider. 0 action to push 4" and drop a scheme marker is the best you're going to get when it comes to schemes.

Awesome, thanks!

Yeah, I was referencing the beta cards (thanks zfiend). At work right now, so I don't have my cards on me Apologies for the inaccurate suggestion! I do take vendetta all the time though for onslaught. The possibility for an extra attack with Lady J's sword is just too good to pass on. I've had Lady J kill a full hit point Teddy in one activation thanks to onslaught.

If you took Lady J with her "Vendetta Style" upgrade, along with Sadir, she would get double positive flips on attack and a single positive on damage (if she isn't charging). Also, "Vendetta Style" gives her unimpeded, which is amazing on a model that doesn't need LOS for charges.