hownowbrowncow

I've now finished most of the stories in the crossroads book and to me the most striking thing about them is how good of a writer Matt Farrer (I think is how his name is spelled) is. This guy is just way, way above the curve for game writers. His prose is excellent, his stories have a good pace and he changes his writing style to suit the master he's describing. The stories of his that I have read so far are Dreamer, Hoffman and Jack Daw and I count them as 3 of the very best stories in the book. He can go from chilling to hilarious on a dime for the dreamer. The ending short rhyme in the Jack Daw story just ties the whole thing together perfectly. He actually made me like Montressor who I wrote off based on his Lurch from the Adams Family model and uninspiring rules. Hoffman is refreshingly likeable in a world full of schemers and sociopaths. Please wyrd, keep hiring this man to do your fluff!

New to the game and so far only familiar with using LJ as my Master, but running into problems going up against Rasputina and her ice crew. Playing a 41ss game, first went up against her with LJ, Judge, Executioner, 3 Death Marshalls. Outcome: Stomped (combination of not knowing what I was up against and the crew I had put together). Round Two: LJ (Upgrade Vendetta), Judge, Papa Loco, Santiago Ortega, two Guild Guards, and an Austringer. This game was a lot closer and I was drawing terrible hands. In the end, her ability to paralyze me and my inability to defend against it or use 'Shrug Off' resulted in me losing pretty badly. It seems like the most effective way to avoid getting tackled by Rasputina's attacks, channeled through her ice guys and what not, is to stay very far away and go for objectives, while trying to chip away at and contain her team via ranged attacks (Austringer was pretty effective). I think when I go up against her again (Determined to beat her!) I will drop the guild guards and go for another austringer, and potentially swap out Judge...although his ability to pull models towards him is really useful. Having some really fast objection grabbing models would also make a difference as I need to be able to move around her but stay out of her ridiculous range when she channels spells through her minions. Basically, I'm looking for thoughts on how to beat Rasputina's crew with LJ. How would you do it?