Jordon

I think the emissary is great. It has so much versatility that I think it'll almost always be doing something cool in any given game. It's not as specialized as other models around its point cost, but it makes up for that with having in my opinion the largest toolbox of any other arcanist model. Seriously it has almost everything. With regards to specific master synergies I think there is a few definite winners, a few losers and the rest are somewhere in the middle. Winners: Rasputina: I think she got the best of the bunch. In fact I think this model pretty much completely invalidates the golem now. I see almost no reason to hire the golem when this model is around (not that the golem was really all that necessary anyway). With this model around it almost gives Raspy a free attack since it allows her to efficiently use her (0) mirrored through it. Before this model, I rarely ever used her (0), now I use it almost every turn. Kaeris: Kaeris always felt like she was missing something when I played her and having access to two (0) went a long way in addressing that problem. Being able to flare and read the flame is so powerful and can't be understated. The reason why I wouldn't rank this above Raspy is only because of the careful timing involved in making this work. Also Flame-o-taur is a seriously lame name for an ability... Mei Feng: I don't need to explain why giving a master a free attack, especially since that free attack could then turn into potential other triggered attacks. Also despite it not being a construct, it offsets it with it's super scrap. Losers: Marcus: I know turning off Df triggers can be huge. The problem is that your gambling that it's even going to be relevant at all. Spending 10ss on a non-beast for the off chance it'll tag the one or two enemy models that have Df triggers seems like a bad investment. I know you can make it into a beast, but I hate waisting AP and forcing hiring choices in order to efficiently run this model. I'll take a rogue necro or cerberus over this model any day of the week. Ramos: At least it's a construct, but otherwise thats all it's doing for Ramos. The watered down magnetism doesn't really do a whole lot and I just feel like Ramos can do better with hiring Langston, Mech, Joss or Lazerous. It's not a terrible inclusion, but I just felt like this upgrade is boring and uninspired. Everyone Else: Colette: The abilities are alright but I kind of feel like Colette has a harder time spending the points on this model as she generally likes a more specialized model to prompt. His 4 damage charge is great, but Howard can just do that and while being prompted no less. It does make a good bodyguard for her, but generally I don't usually have problems getting scheme markers where they need to be. However I feel like the teleport is probably the best or the "push" effects that many other upgrades give out. Ironsides: I think it's abilities are excellent, but where I see this model loosing points is the lack of M&SU. 10ss is a fairly large chunk of list that is not going to be benefitting from Ironsides best ability and really the main reason to be taking her. I've seen first hand what a Joss can accomplish when benefitting from hand picked men and it's difficult competing with that. However if your playing her to try and maximize the adrenaline play style (not really her strength IMO), then this model is almost an auto include.

Even if something like this did work. I sort of feel like it's a waste of her talents if you simply use her to clog up enemy models. Not to mention that this sort of thing falls flat as soon as someone targets her WP. Basically anything that can get around her high DF is bad news since she's very frail and probably won't last long given her low Wds. Shape changing also seems like a bit of a waste as you end up loosing out on 3ss worth of upgrades. Myranda is such an important piece of the beast crew and the reason generally no one takes skin walker is because she's just too valuable to keep buried. She wants to be out supporting her crew waiting for the moment if/when she needs to shape change into some scary beast. Obviously you never leave home without imbued energies for the 4 card boost in the process. It's just such a good tactic that I see no reason not to ever the it and I've never regretted it yet. Now I have done a similar thing using Marcus himself. Give him the upgrade with +2 Df and imbued protection for Df8. Then I tend to run him to engage key enemy threats, trying to apply beast to as many models as he's engaged with. Usually any spare AP, I use to go defensive (or have Myranda nearby) to better the chances of getting his Df trigger. From there I sit back and watch as my opponents crew flail wildly to hit Marcus and/or beat themselves to death trying. This again sort of falls apart against WP based attacks, but with Wp6 and regen and 12 Wds, (and hopefully Myranda heals) Marcus can usually ride out the storm until those threats are dealt with.

Absolutely not. On the contrary, those models work very well together. In fact I generally won't even take an Ice Golem unless I have snowstorm in my list because snowstorm fixes one of the biggest issues with the golem - his speed. The blessed is almost always great because she is lightning quick in an otherwise very slow crew. Essence is a great totem, especially with Raspy and Silent ones. However the Wendigo is truly awesome and in my opinion one of the best totems in the game. A 6Wd, 3ss significant minion that can cast one of Raspy's spells is just too good to pass up. Not to mention being able to eat certain models with it's Ml8, and giving Raspy fast in the process. I think you can make either totem work, but I've yet to find a reason not to include the Wendigo in every Raspy list. This will all come down to scheme selection and overall model preference. With certain schemes it may be detrimental to include so many easy to kill minion models so you may want to go more elite with golems and blessed. Other times having more bodies to hold table quarters or deny the opponents schemes may be necessary. The short answer is that there is no hard and fast rule for hiring choices. Just take what you like, see if it works and refine from there. Over time you'll get your own feel for what you think is appropriate. What makes Malifaux great in my opinion is that no two games ever need to be alike and no one list will ever be truly competitive. There are just so many variables that keep this game from getting stale, so it's encouraged to experiment with new and ever evolving lists.

You can go whichever route you like as there are no "bad models" in this game. I just find that Rasputina likes to play within her own frozen heart models and there isn't much reason to go outside her theme (unless you just want to for fun). Ramos boxed set works extremely well with Ironsides. It also works well with Kaeris, Mei Feng and Colette if you ever decided you wanted to try them out. So if your looking to stretch your money as far as possible, then my recommendation would be Ironsides and Ramos. I find that the Ironsides box is a bit restrictive on it's own and really benefits from having access to models from the Ramos box. However I certainly wouldn't want to discourage you from Raspy because she's a fantastic starting master (much better than Ironsides IMO) and requires very little investment in terms of what you should be buying for her.

Welcome aboard! Rasputina was my first master back in 1.5 and I have barely purchased anything new for her since M2E hit. She just works so well with her little core group of models so I rarely ever feel the need to expand with her. That being said, I did/do find her "thematic" crew to be on the slow side for the most part and it makes running certain schemes difficult. This will all change once the ice dancers come out, but it's something you should be aware of when playing her in theme. Schemes are what separates this game from many others and while she can lay a beating with the best of them, you need to be focusing on schemes in order to win games. I have been running Ironsides a lot recently and I will definitely admit I struggled with her at first. She's not strait forward and her card can lead you to believe she's a melee monster and in reality she's not. Her strength lies in her versatility and knowing when and where to apply her strength will give you the best results. I also find with Ironsides that knowing your opponents crew is also vital in achieving success. She's very good at doing certain things, but she can get herself in trouble if you don't know what your throwing yourself into. Don't let that discourage you though because she's an absolute blast to play, competitively or not. I play with all the Arcanist masters and I would have to say that the absolute best bang for your buck would be the Ramos box set. Not only are get getting a ton of value per point cost (it's one of the highest SS crew box in the game) but the models themselves are some of the most versatile the arcanists have. Ironsides, Kaeris, Colette, Mei Feng, and of coarse Ramos can all run these (and often do) models in their list and synergies quite well with them. The only one's who may not bother would be Marcus and Raspy as they are very tied to their own themes and tend not to venture outside often. Other than those models, I would have to say the mech rider is about the only other model that is universally liked by just about every master. The only downside is that you'll need to buy additional models to act as her summons.

I don't really see gamin as weak. I see them as specialized tools designed for a mostly singular purpose. In that regard, I feel like summoning them will add some extreme utility to Sandeep. Metal can hold points, Fire is an amazing ranged support, Wind is great for running schemes/ killing enemy scheme runners, and Ice is a good all rounder, that runs better in pairs. Knowing when to use them will really come in handy and if it's a Ca action, they can be summoned by any model within beacon range (Gamin summoning other Gamin!), giving it a huge amount of utility. No other summoner has that kind of board presence when it comes to summoning. Also lets not forget that these models will be summoned with "different benefits and drawbacks for the summoned Gamin" depending on the upgrade taken. So there will likely be more to it than just your typical gamin model.

Also if your trying to run Colette thematically, then the Oiran is also a consideration as they are both showgirls and have built in poison on their attacks (they are wave1 ten thunder mercenaries). Some people hate them and consider them one of the worst models (and probably for good reason). However their "No Witnesses" trigger can be hilariously effective in an all showgirl list. I've tagged Lady J with this trigger and watched her twiddle her thumbs when it came time to activate her. It's not something that makes them amazing inclusions, but I do find myself running them from time to time. So they are not a great source of poison, but they are fluffy and have some decent synergy with Colette in general.

Personally, I'd probably take Marcus if I was to try and run a full poison crew. He has access to many other models with access to poison, not to mention he has more direct synergy with beasts than Colette would. Performers are great in just about any list. The mechanic already exists with Mcmourning and I doubt it'll ever function as well as what he can do with it. That being said, I do think we've accumulated enough over the waves to make a list like this work decently enough. Time will tell how the new poison gamin will interact with poison, but I'm fairly certain they will make for good inclusions in this type of list. There are many who don't like scorpius, but I think it's an obvious inclusion. It has some great synergy with poison and the fact that it's both a beast and construct make's it a pretty versatile model in quite a few lists.

I feel like the wretch is more corner case than the plague. Having incorporeal, varying defence and a Ca action will often make or break the wretch. Sometimes it's incredible, especially with it's above average damage, solid trigger and amazing (0). Other times a Ca action will blow it away at the start of a turn. Personally I love wretches and they've won me games in the past but I've also had very bad matchup's that made me regret taking them.

I feel like the problem with him is how much competition he has with Tara. Without even seeing the rest of wave 4, she already has an abundance of high cost models that she "wants" to hire. Hannah, Scion, Bishop, NB, Killjoy, Hodgepodge Emissary, and of course Aionus. Fortunately what this does allow is more focus on whatever style of play you want. In a beast bomb focused list perhaps you wouldn't want Aionus. However with the proper schemes, I think Aionus would make a fantastic choice. I do think he's the type of model that you'd probably want to build your entire list around.

Yeah it will definitely be interesting for Colette once the new masters hit the meta. Parker, Asami and Titania can all use (0) to blow away scheme markers, which can be extremely scary for Colette. Luckily she does have a backup Df trigger she can rely on. It may just be that people run her a little more thematically to ensure plenty of showgirls are around to keep Colette safe. Colette also has the advantage of being insanely mobile so it's not too difficult to teleport if you suspect those masters closing in. If all else fails just insert prompted Langston/Joss/Duet. That usually solves most threats

I don't think you could really ask for a better master as an "all comer". She can be a real pain to put down but there are a few things that make her nervous such as pushes. Once you remove Colette from the safety of her scheme markers, she can become very easy to put down (harder if your running her in a thematic crew). It also helps that her box set comes with what most people tend to agree as the best Henchmen the arcanists have. The only thing her box is really lacking is a heavy hitter. You can go thematic with the Coryphee/Duet or venture off and try something like Langston or Joss. Once you have a beater or two, you've pretty much covered all your bases.

The sanctioned spell casters are Ca6 on a 5ss model with a 2/3/4 with 4 different triggers. I don't even need to read anymore to know that is a lot of value for a 5ss model. I know a lot of people tend to compare them to the Oxfordian mages but I think they fill different enough roles that having both wouldn't feel redundant. They don't pack as much of a punch as the Oxfordian mages, but they have basically the same survivability. I'd say they are probably more versatile than an Ox Mage typically as they offer some support utility (shutting down pushes) as well as some decent shutdown triggers (turning off (0) and charge actions). They are also better in combat (excluding the melee upgrade for the Ox mage). They can also explode - which can be good or bad depending where and when it happens. I think the real problem comes when you have to decide between the 5ss Sanctioned Spellcaster, the 6ss Ox Mage, or the 7ss Librarian. I don't think one choice is outright superior than the other so to me it's just flavour and so makes Sandeep a deep master with many options.

It's especially good when you consider your 4ss minions will be casting it too.

Zombies and Yoga?.... Makes total sense

I always thought the students made better summons than hire's but gaining access to the valedictorian is pretty sweet. Also the increased amount of academics means you won't need to run the oxfordian mages in a group. I can see the mages really being able to stretch their legs and act more independently.

Willie is quite awesome. He has a decent ranged attack (that is just as effective in melee) which ignores armour which is pretty unique. He's also all but immune to charges with his (0) unless the opponent REALLY wants him to die (or gets a lucky initiative flip). Even his ability to ignore LOS can really mess up an enemy crew and put pressure where the opponent thought he may have been safe. With Ironsides, he goes from great to amazing as he can reliably drop those blast markers.

Well I remember from the fluff that Marcus had issues trying to control Cojo due to the fact that he was so intelligent. So maybe the gator's are just being of such high intelligence that Marcus has trouble taming them.... ? Or perhaps it was simply a matter of game mechanics over fluff

For those who take Mouse regularly, how do you generally play him? I've tried to make him work time and time again, but it never ever seems to be a worthy investment so I stopped taking him entirely. Well I'm looking at him again and I'd like to give him yet another try, but I thought I'd ask here if there were any particular ways people have gotten success from him? My big issue is that he's very expensive for a insignificant peon. His rope lash is decent but he lacks any sort of melee. So if you drag something into combat with him, he then becomes useless. Sure he has a heal but so does the Malifaux child who is cheaper, can copy "You looking at me" to lure friendly models and for what it's worth, actually has a melee attack (I also don't hire the child because I don't see it bringing a whole lot of utility either, I just think I'd probably take it over mouse). Love the model, but hate the rules. Can someone enlighten me?

Well it sort of depends on if your trying to build up a thematic list or something leaning more towards highly competitive (even though she's still exceptional even within the showgirl package). Personally the fluff gamer in me cringes at the thought of an acolyte with Colette. However there is no doubting their power. Thematically you'd be looking at Angelica, Coryphee, and Ice Dancers (not yet released). Competitively you'll want some big resilient hitter such as Howard or Joss. Mech rider is also a great include for all of it's scheme related abilities (which Colette can utilize) as well as solid summoning

I sort of feel like the emissary is mediocre simply based on it's own merits - especially when compared to the other emissaries. However I do find the the hodgepodge has some excellent upgrades associated with it. Even though I haven't tried it with the Vik's, I think it gets a very powerful (0) and it's passive buff is also quite good, however it does seem to promote a more ranged oriented list. Also being able to give blood Vik the reactive condition it pretty bonkers. It also works amazing on the one time sister minion, as does it work awesome with ronin, who can reactivate and commit seppuku Tara also seems like a good fit for more burry options. Also I imagine the regen will go a long way with the scion, as would re-activating Karina's summons so they don't clog up the burry pipe and prevent further summoning/glimpse on the following turn. I actually play the 4 horsemen build all the time with Levi. In fact it's the only version of Levi I have ever played, or own for that matter. It's extremely challenging, but extremely rewarding once you figure out how to run it. Giving companion, regen, or reactivate to one of the rider's can be a big deal, especially late game. Even with the recent errata, I still think it's totally viable in the proper schemes. Lastly is probably the best in my opinion as Jack Daw loves this model. The extra curse is so amazing and not having to waste Jack's AP to use it makes it even better. The emissary itself has nifty discard trigger that synergies well with many of the other discard effects Jack lists are capable of. Slow is another hidden killer in jack lists as it prevent's models from being able to remove curses. Just an all round great inclusion. I'm not familiar with Hamelin or Schill, but it looks like good inclusions for those masters as well.

Glad to see some success with Ironsides, however your braver than I with taking Ironsides in a scheme pool with neutralize the leader. I'm sure if you play her more from a support role, she may survive to the end of the game. I just find Toni often lends herself to getting killed in a good many of my games (which is fine). I do also find I struggle in schemes that involve models moving across the board such as occupy their turf or leave your mark. Firestarter is a blessing in just about any scheme based mission, but I do find the M&SU are not as well equipped for scheme markers and instead focus on curb stomping enemy models. Spiders are decent scheme runners but I think wind gamin do it better, as do metal gamin in the right setups. I just dislike union miners in general, even though they can be great for very specific schemes.

So of the Henchmen we currently have, I believe Snowstorm, the Captain, Cassandra and Joss are the best candidates. I'm hesitant to include The Firestarter, as I think he make's a better scheme runner, which doesn't really fit with the hench hardcore format. There might be a list that he'd be decent in, but I just can't see it currently. Also I think Myranda is just out of the question given how she plays. Again, I might be wrong, but I just don't see her winning over the other henchmen in this format. So which list looks best for each henchmen, or the best overall? I'd love some feedback or maybe some hidden gem's I may have overlooked. My Snowstorm lists look like this: List 1 -December Acolyte -December Acolyte -Silent one List 2 -Blessed of December -December Acolyte -Ice gamin I'd look at dropping one of these lists against guild and gremlins due to the bullet proof from snowstorm. My Joss lists look like this: List 1 -Large Arachnid -Large Arachnid -Steam Arachnid Swarm List 2 -Bleeding Edge Tech -Powered by Flame -Rail Worker -Rail Worker -Coryphee I'd probably drop one of these lists against neverborn and ressers due it it's melee prowess and overall tankiness. My Cassandra lists look like: List 1 -Imbued Protection -Coryphee -Coryphee -Manequin List 2 -Arcane Emissary -Performer -Performer I'd probably drop one of these lists against gremlins and guild due to it's speed and ability to attack WP (gremlins). My Captain lists look like: List 1 -Warding Runes -Imbued Energies -Ox Mage + upgrade -Ox Mage + upgrade -Ox Mage + upgrade List 2 -Gunsmith -Johan -Willie I'd probably drop one of these lists against any faction. The Mage spam is a little more gimmicky, but I think it would be amazing at board control. The other list is just full of M&SU all stars that can deal with just about any situation. Thoughts?

I think it just means you'll want to employ smarter targets with Levi now. Utilizing his amazing mobility, you find the path of least resistance. Maybe that means he's not a master killer anymore, but he's still damn good at finishing off those models with 1-3 wounds remaining. Personally I still believe his ability to summon off of the death of enemy models is his highest strength and even if I spend all my AP walking and focusing to only make one attack, I feel it would be worth it if i'm able to kill one of my opponents models and summon one of my own. His lowered cashe I assume is due to the fact that he's a summoner (who normally get penalized with their cashe) and the fact that he's getting two free models - which no other master can boast.

If you can get your hands on last edition's sculpt of Joss, I think it would make a decent proxy since he's both native looking as well as carrying axes (just cut off the wires)