Jordon

I agree with the idea of just sticking to schemes and not getting too invested in killing hoards of undead. However I had some decent results using Mei and more specifically Kang in a strait up fist fight. Kang himself gives a to attack and damage to friendlies against undead and the foundry generic "hard worker" upgrade allows you to ignore H2W and armour. Combine all of that with Mei's ability to chain combos against clumped up enemies, she can very effectively deal with the mass of undead with the help of Kang while the rest of the crew accomplishes schemes. Also her vent steam is one of the better ways of dealing with lure in our faction.

I'd certainly consider Willy as the on damage with his dynamite is quite effective. Also he's an easy way to damage your own models using wheelbarrow of doom for Hand Picked Men if you wan't to benefit from it early on. I'd give a nod to the Large Arachnid as it's severe damage is quite impressive, also the soulstone miner can help keep the stones flowing for Ironsides who can be stone intensive at times. Oh and don't forget the arcane effigy as the arcane radiance can put out a lot of burning when Ironsides starts into her combos.

I sort of feel like the strong-arm suit is more generalized than the rest of the 10ss options. It seems like some of what your paying for is mobility and durability, not that there is anything wrong with that. I think I'd prefer to apply a swift death to whatever my target is rather then try to hold them up. The strong arm can definitely hit hard, but compared to Bishop or KJ, he sort of falls short. The DE could also be interesting as a big tarpit. Although it doesn't do as much direct damage as the others, it can do quite a bit of area damage or at the very least eat a bunch of cards. However I feel like DE works best against clumped up models, and that might not always happen.

I have to agree in that I think this model and it's rules are extremely interesting and he really breaths some fresh air into a very niche facet of the arcanists. I feel like Raethford has more depth than is given credit. He is a brawler no doubt, but I feel like his real game is summoning gamin and bombing them for blast and pulse damage. The fact that he is also M&SU is interesting, giving him access to BET and powered by flame, both of which function well in a gamin heavy list. I for one would be thrilled if Raethford would someday become a legal master to the arcanist roster, however I won't hold my breath.

I am a new Tara player looking at the vast options she has available to her and I am stumped as to what I should include next. I read lots of articles on what works well with her and I would like some opinions/experiences on some of her better beast bomb options. I've sort of narrowed it down to three. Nothing Beast - She comes with this guy and he can certainly dish out the damage with the added benefit of resisting against WP with Tara's ability to debuff WP. He has a huge reach and neat (0). Unfortunately the NB really needs to be focusing to get any real impressive damage and its resilience can be un-reliable. Killjoy - Begins the game buried, which is an AP saved from another model. He can be a real pain to remove due to his high WDs and multitude of healing tricks. His damage is absurd and between getting fast and charging as a (1) he can swing a whole bunch of times. There is also some potential synergy with his terrifying 13 and Tara's WP debuff to fast models. The downside to KJ is that he is the most expensive option and can sometimes require some babysitting. Bishop - He has a ton of flexibility. He can resist against WP which works with Tara's WP debuff and while he is fast he can flurry twice, haymaker twice or charge twice with a built in trigger for armour ignoring, slow or extra damage. He has an answer for just about any situation and his only real drawbacks being his short range and lack of defensive tricks. So which option would get your vote?

There will be a tournament on Saturday May 23, 2015 at All Star Sports at the Bonnie Doon Mall. The tournament will be 50 soulstones with fixed faction. We will be following the 2015 gaining grounds for scoring, deployment and strategies. Schemes will be revealed on the day of the event. There will be three rounds, each consisting of 2 hours in length. Crews must be fully painted and based (exceptions for day glow and translucent crews) and must have physical copies of cards and rules. Prizes will be awarded to best painted, best sport and best overall. Space is potentially limited so we are including a player cap of 14 players so RSVP early to guarantee your spot. Entry fee will be $20 and a sign up sheet will be at All Star starting on the 29th. Hope to see everyone there! All Star Sports and Collectables 82nd Ave and 83rd Street, Bonnie Doon Shopping Center, AB T6C 4E3 780-465-3771

Hey all, So my local meta has been buzzing a lot about brewmaster lately and seeing how his release is upcoming, I figured we should discuss methods on dealing with him. I haven't personally had the chance to face him yet, but it's only a matter of time. He seems extremely good at effectively locking down models to the point of uselessness. He will hit you with a modifier to your actions and then use his (0) drinking game to force you into taking his "on the house" ability. Going first is obviously a huge deal and so I would expect to see trixy in almost every brewmaster list. Spreading out, going first and ranged threats seem to be the most effective way to combat him, but are there any specific examples of arcanists trickery that can help deal with him if you manage to get your master or other key models stuck in his drunken bubble? Seize the day seems like an obvious include, however the ability to cheat initiative still has better odds of going first so i'm not sure how reliable this will actually be. Condition removal via Johan or the effigy is also a solid include however the range of the effigy is rather short. I'm sure both will be high priority threats and so keeping them safe may be difficult. Condition immunity via blood ward seems to be the best method we have at our disposal but again places a huge bounty on the ox mage carrying it. If I knew I were playing brewmaster then I believe Ironsides to be the best master to deal with him. Again the blood mage is absolutely key in her success and she can even benefit from "on the house" without the penalty of gaining poison. Just apply uppercuts until the job is finished. Does anyone else have any tricks in dealing with brewmaster?

I think they have a place in any M&SU heavy list. Both BET and PBF work great in relation to the swarm and given it's built in trigger, it has the potential to really set something a blaze. Another mention would have to be Colette. One particular nasty combo is to seduce something with a performer and that makes the swarms trigger hit much more effectively. Also prompting it can get extra duty via it's trigger if your lucky enough with your flips.

Hey all, As most season marcus players know already, the canine remains is one of the best non-arcanist options available to him. The only problem I have with the current model however is it's undead theme and how it doesn't really fit with his core box models. I know there are guild hound models, but they look too domesticated for my liking and don't have that "wild" feel about them. What I would like to find is a good looking wolf model as that would keep it closer to the wild look of his current models but being fairly obvious as to what the model counts as. I tried looking myself but most of the better looking wolves such as the fenrisian wolves are simply too big for a height 1 model. Other options are available but they tend to look pretty terrible compared to wyrd sculpts. Does anyone know of any good looking, but appropriately sized wolf models?

Is killing the waifs really worth risking your 9ss beast models? In general my sabertooth and BOD tend to go after the stragglers and exposed models and die very quickly if I throw them into the thick of the enemy force. Speaking of beasts. How would Marcus fair against Levi? His DF trigger can get around Levi's damage at the sacrifice of other beast models. Also if you can manage to get beast on the right model followed by a successful Alpha, it may waif hunting a lot easier. Marcus himself with "strength of the bear" can take out a waif with a single shot, although it may be risking devoting Marcus to waif hunting.

I normally run Colette but his Unmaking even ignores her impressive "now you see me" DF trigger since its damage cannot be reduced. Also given that she only has 8Wds, she could go down pretty fast to Levi. Kaeris and Ironsides have access to some decent healing and may be able to weather the storm but the abominations ability to shut down (0) actions can be crippling to both these masters. I like the idea of Raspy actually. Ice pillars are nice since they don't expire at the end of the turn enabling her and key models to stay safely out of LOS. Also it would appear that Levi doesn't like being Paralyzed and has little to prevent it from happening with his Df5 versus Raspy's Ca7.

I have been fortunate in that I have never had to face Levi so far in M2E, but eventually my day will come. I've looked at him a few times now and I have a difficult time seeing how to effectively deal with him. So ignoring the scheme and strat for a minute as i'm simply looking for decent master/crew counters. I understand that sticking to the strategy and accomplishing schemes is probably the best way to dealing with Levi, but I would still like to know what master would stand the best shot at going head to head with him. So who would you drop against Levi and why?

Yeah I agree with metal gamin. They are great inclusions for Ramos especially when running bleeding edge tech and powered by flame.

I generally try to focus more on utilizing "hand picked men" than I do adrenaline. I find that adrenaline just got me in trouble most of the time.

What upgrades do people generally take with her? I find she has a lot of great options available and the choice is not obvious like on other masters. Even the generic upgrades provide some very interesting options for her. Recharge Soulstone: Probably not something you'd take facing ressers but Ironsides can be a massive drain on stones and the fact that it's rare2 means you can likely get double duty from this upgrade as Ironsides loves to bunch up with her crew. Arcane Reservoir: Great for frontline leadership and the fact that Toni has uses for every suit so every card can go a long way. Its also good if your running the mages for their furious casting. Seize the day: I don't know of any master in which going first is more important. Adrenaline can be heavily influenced by going first and tossing out Slow from her uppercut or strait up killing models can really help keep mer alive. Imbued Protection: This can be paired up nicely with challenge the crowd. The damage reduction can also save her in a pinch. The rest are not bad choices but I don't think they will take up a spot over all the other great options she has available.

I think Ironsides is deceptively complex in how she wants to be played. I like to think of her as more of an opportunist than a strait up brawler. I've played her a few times and the only I can say is that she requires patience to work correctly. Other than the fact that she has H2K, she really doesn't have anything else to keep her alive in combat. Unlike Mei, who can jump into a large group of enemy models and remain relatively fine due to armour, higher Df and a Df trigger to get her out of trouble. Attempting the same thing with Ironsides is a great way to get her killed in a hurry. Even her attacks are relatively weak when comparing it to other "combat" masters. She has the capability of putting out large amounts of damage, but it is very reliant on adrenaline and cards. Again when comparing her to Mei, she simply can't put out the same levels of damage. Fortunately thats not really reason you should be taking Ironsides though. The best results I had using her was as more of a support model. Sure you can punch things to death, but the real weight of her list is with hand picked men. This ability can take relatively average models and turn them into monsters capable of hitting well above their point cost. This usually presents enough of a threat that opponents will often ignore Ironsides as she is not the one doing all the damage. I get a lot more use staying back in a group of M&SU models and luring enemy models with her "you looking at me" ability and letting the rest of my list tear it apart. I will often store up adrenaline from a safe distance waiting until my opponents crew has been softened up significantly then I go all out. It's usually around turn 4 or 5 that the rest of my crew will break apart and accomplish schemes and Toni goes wild taking on the remaining enemy's. I'm not going to lie, I often get her killed, but most times it's totally worth it. Overall I think she will take a great deal of finesse to get great results. Knowing your opponents crew also seems to benefit her more so than other masters too. She's probably the toughest arcanist master to use correctly, but once you unlock her secrets, she's a real blast to play.

IMO the healing you gain from either model is not worth the trade for other available options. For 6ss you are competing the ox mages for silent ones and I value M&SU much more than a (0) heal ability. The mages also bring a ton more that Ironsides would favour over the silent one. You can make an argument that giving out slow will offset the need for a heal as things will generally be hitting less. Also the auto trigger for a push is another huge deal for ironsides, not to mentions all the warding rune goodness. At 7ss the Librarian is competing with Gunsmiths and again M&SU I feel is so much more potent then a single heal ability. Even more so on the gunsmiths than the ox mages as the smiths can actually keep pace with ironsides and not loose out on effectiveness. They bring a ton of utility and under hand picked men, they can get pretty bonkers. I just don't see the value a librarian brings vs the sheer versatility and brutality of a gunsmith. There are just too many great M&SU options available to really justify anything else IMO. Why take librarians/silent ones when you could instead be taking Willy, Johan or the Firestarter as these models are just insanely good running with Ironsides and the opponent will be too busy dealing with the bigger threats other than ironsides too even focus on her.

I'm stoked about Ironsides coming out next month. I'm not sold on running Mouse though. I find he's too expensive for what he does and the heal is easier to get from another model. People should really try out firestarter with ironsides. With reckless he can benefit from HPM right away but with the added benefit of 3AP. Toni herself has some decent fire synergy if you plan around it and run constructs with powered by flame. Also the firestarter makes a great target for "You looking at me" as he doesn't have a Ml action to attack Toni with.

I love the firestarter. Its out cheapest henchmen that has flight and access to 3ap. I almost always get my points worth out of the firestarter just based on those abilities alone. Everything beyond that point is just gravy. He's also M&SU and so it unlocks some really fantastic upgrades, which he can make great use from and supporting the crew is easier given his high mobility. I wouldn't call him an auto include, but I think he's great and people should run him in other lists because he's worth it, especially with ironsides. I also like the eternal flame if i'm running Kaeris as a healer primarily. Kaeris can be a great healer, however the only problem is that it only kicks in at the end of the turn. The EF power "resolves" the burning right away and thus giving you that healing effect right away. It's also dirt cheap and as mentioned, even as a big roadblock, it'll probably earn its 2ss back. I'm curious if anyone has run the freikorps specialist with Kaeris? I haven't personally, but the synergy seems pretty obvious.

I usually run with imbued protection for Df7 as I tend to throw her in the thick of it turn 1.

Has anyone tried using them in combination with Willy? It seems like both false claim and set charge were designed to work together.

When and why do you take these models? I've been looking at both of these models and seeing a lot of similarities between them and i've been trying to see which one holds higher sway in the crews I run. What role do you have these models play in any given list. What tactics and tricks make them valuable includes? How does one perform better than the other in a particular list? Overall my preference seems to fall towards the rail worker as it's purpose seems more focused. It's all about damage and being able to take a good punch. Also being a construct seems to open up more opportunities. I don't really use the union miner much so I'd love to hear why and where people hire this model and how useful it is. It seems like it can do a variety of things in a multitude of lists, but my inexperience with them has me questioning their purpose.

Hey all, I would like to invite anyone in the Edmonton area for our Wyrd Wednesday weekly malifaux hobby night. Gaming starts around 6:00pm and ends at 9:00pm. The space is clean, the people are friendly and the games are always fun. Come swing by, demo games are always available for new players. All Star Sports and Collectables 82nd Ave and 83rd Street, Bonnie Doon Shopping Center, AB T6C 4E3 780-465-3771 6:00pm 9:00pm Cya there!

I'd love to see a new arcanist master who utilizes the "gamin" characteristic. Basically I'd love to run a gremlin style list with 12ish gamin running wild. Oh and also we need a fire/wind golem to complete the set

This will be Edmonton's first annual Perdita Cup tournament! We will be hosting a 50ss gaining grounds 2015 event. All levels of experience are encouraged to show up. Fully painted crews are recommended but leniency will be granted to new players to the hobby. Registration starts at 8:30 and the first game will start at 9:00. Entry fee is $20 and can be paid upon signup or during registration. Spots are limited so pre-register to guarantee your spot. When: Saturday Feb. 21 at 8:30am Where: All Star Sports and Collectables, Edmonton, AB Having fun is a requirement and harassment will not be tolerated in any capacity. We hope to see you there!