asrian

 

Indeed.

Unless I play an Arcanist list with Johan, Taelor, and the Captain for all the relic hammer goodness.

Probably led by Mr Cooper for the lulz.

I read this combination and suddenly Alice Cooper's "No More Mr. Nice Guy" popped into my head. 

Don't get me wrong, I like the concept of Kirai, but she's one of those masters with too many strengths and not enough balancing weaknesses, and what few weaknesses she might have, she's able to mitigate with Seishen/Spirits around her and Card Draw mechanics from various models (Philip & Nanny, Sebatian, etc).

Again, just like the NB board response, I will highly recommend Lynch. Just like there with Lilith's Tots, Lynch will couple nicely with things like your Archers and especially your 10T Brothers. Lynch, and every 10T master for that matter, love Sensei Yu. Snipers are always solid models for any crew.

Long store short, Buy Lynch!

I like the concept of Hamelin, but typically I and my opponent's find playing him an NPE, not for being over powered but just for general boredom. Going for a rat engine build or a blight build is about the most NPE to me in that respect, where as going for more of a Lure/Obey style build that uses blight/rats as a bonus (if it happens it happens but I don't actively hire rats or try to stack blight) is far more enjoyable of a game.

It comes down to personal preference and play style though.

Things I like with Pandora:

Doppelganger
Insidious Madness
Primordial Magic
Mr Graves (for pushes)

I rarely, if ever, use Poltergeist or Sorrows, but when I do I use only 1 Sorrow typically as they just aren't resilient enough for me for their points.\

If you can get Titania, then yes, she would work nicely with those models. That said, and the fact she's sold out and not due for release until next year I believe barring a hopeful Black Friday sale, I would suggest Lynch. Illuminated are some of the strongest 7SS minions in Neverborn (and the game to me) so would work well with Lilith or if you just wanted more beaters in Pandora's crew. Lynch also loves Terror Tots because his Ace trick can make them into speedsters (Terror Tot's need a mask to sprint. If Lynch has an Ace of Masks you can cheat it in for their sprint, then pick it right back up again to do over...and over and over and over each activation). 

I want to move there also, @daniello_s. @Kadeton I have nightmares, and start twitching like a junky going through withdrawals at the mere possibility of facing Kirai. She, to me anyway, is the most broken master. I never had a problem facing Levi pre or post cuddle, but Kirai makes me want a security blanket, a bottle, and my mother. *shudders*

And to be honest, @daniello_s, if I was playing any Outcast crew (or Neverborn for that matter) and my opponent declared Ressers, I'd likely hire Johan straight off just to deal with condition removal.  

That's just nature of the beast though for any crew. Parker is a wonderful example. Ranged attack crew, can hit up close...and then he comes up against Kirai and Incorporeal (1/2 damage) or Mei Feng and her Vent Steam  of Doom.

A lot of Outcast players I see tend to go more for Viks or Levi for sheer brutality, or Hamelin for activation/scheme control, but I like Von Schill. True he won't murder everything or easily drop/deny scheme scenarios, but I'm comfortable taking him in any strat/scheme and at least knowing he has a chance to succeed due to he and his crew's versatility.

Glad you're enjoying Parker. One correction for the above, Mysterious Effigy is Neverborn. Hodgepodge is Outcast.

If I were you and wanted to expand with the above, I'd go with Viks Box, Von Schill box, Hannah, and Hodgepodge. That should meet your budget, give you two crews and plenty of mercs to hire into your Neverborn crews if needed. 
 

Von Schill is another generalist master like Parker, but more defense oriented. He lacks Parker's scheme tricks, but gains more armor, healing in the crew as well as a bubble like hard to kill and wp boost to those around him.

Viks are a very in your face killy crew. The sisters are basically whirling dervishes of destruction. They tend to die fast (glass cannons), but usually not before they take most of the opponent's crew down with them, or at the least key models. Taelor, who comes with the crew box, is a very solid, if slow, beater and an absolute nightmare against summoners due to gaining free charges on a 0AP action. The Ronin are solid minions who I'd hire in just about any crew, but who work very well in Parker's for extra SS gain if needed.

Hodgepodge is good for cover saves plus he hands out, on a 0AP, a condition to the crew leader that if they kill someone they can discard to gain a SS. This is good for any master really and I've used him with Viks, Von Schill, and Parker to good effect. He's also just an all around solid little minion.

Hannah is an ace henchman. She allows you to draw an extra card per turn (7 cards in hand instead of 6), can do blasts in close combat, can copy cast actions (such as Librarian heals, or Vik of Blood buffs). Best of all she's a Merc, so can again be hired in any crew. I enjoy giving her the I Pay Better upgrade which allows her or any other merc within 10 to discard a card to gain Focus. You won't use it every turn, nor probably on multiple models a turn, but it does come in handy for key mercs to gain needed  when called for without using AP to gain focus.

 

I finally got him on the table last week and had a low scoring victory with him (5-3) and he was as fun to play as expected. I started with Highwayman, Hail of Bullets, and Oathkeeper on Parker. The rest of the crew was Mad Dog, 2 Bandidos, Big Jake, Doc, Strongarm Suit, and Johanna. 

Parker used OK on round 1 and cycled in Crate of Dynamite. I kept Highwayman for most of the game (discarded in round 4 or 5 when I had Johanna attack with it). The zero attack action is the primary value on this card and makes having bandits in the group more valuable. Dynamite is a huge card drain if you can get 3+ in the blast. Parker has so many options during his turn with these upgrades in hard (Dynamite, Hail of Bullets) that I very rarely used him to do any direct attacks. Usually he did a hands in the air, dynamite, hail of bullets, zero attack, and zero upgrade cycle. I do need to work on remembering all of Parker's card and soulstone cycling mechanics. I forgot to draw cards for Highwayman twice. 

Mad Dog does a ton of damage and my opponent targeted him hard. I think Lucky Poncho is likely an autotake. Mad Dog lived in rounds 3 & 4 with one wound and finally died in the fifth. I ran him with Oathkeeper as well and he can erase almost anything in turn two by discarding that to get into position, blowing it to hell as a zero, then discarding for rapid shot. 

Bandidos worked really well. Nothing spectacular, but their run and gun is a nice thing to be able to do on their way to run schemes. 

This, overall, is pretty much my experiences with Parker & Mad Dog. I rarely use his gun except maybe once every other turn to set up a scheme marker where needed or late game to just discard upgrades and put as much damage into a key model if all else as failed (or if something just HAS to die to ensure scoring VP) but even that is rare.

For my play, Lucky Poncho (which is an auto-include for me) and Oath Keeper are the two primary upgrades I take on Mad Dog, but those games where I'm strapped for points due to trying out models, I will drop Oath Keeper and just use Parker's push to help get Mad Dog in position.

The Bandidos are nice enough. Simple, but effective at what they do, and the pushes have saved their butts, or surprised the opponents by getting into positions they weren't expecting, quite a few times now. I do suggest giving the Dead Outlaws a go if you get the chance. I miss the pushes from Bandidos when playing them, but they compensate nicely with a bit more durability and their plethora of triggers.

Just getting around to reading this. That sounds like it was an absolutely fun as hell game. What did you think of Parker and crew overall? Other than the loss, how did your opponent like Zip? 

@SJW

I used Envy in a game tonight, and found him to be a great addition to the Parker crew. It was very easy and effective to have Parker or his crew to drop scheme markers within 3" of an enemy via their attack triggers and then to have Envy use his attacks (or have Parker 0AP to make him attack) and gain the +1 SH for the Blast trigger. His ability to hand out, or gain, focus for a discard was nice, as was using Mad Dog's Blast Area (no cover vs SH attacks to anyone within 3" of the marker) to help him beat down his targets. I highly enjoyed him in the crew and plan to take him more.

Sonnia and Marcus I actually see a lot for Guild and Arcanist (see all Arcanist a lot though). Lady J on the other hand I rarely see. I do agree on Mah Tucket. She's a strong master with movement tricks, but is less straight forward brutal than the other Gremlin masters can be I guess, so gets less play time it seems. Brewmaster in 10T I rarely see, but I think that's mainly for the fact that he just works so much better in Gremlins due to having access to Trixiebelle. 

 

As Trample also said, I think that the Strongarm Suit might be a nice companion for Parker in a lot of cases. If the enemy uses a lot of powerful ranged attacks then you can get an early Human Shield and pass some on to the Suit, and if it manages to charge a bunch of models you can fire away with abandon into the fray without hurting it much. The Doc can join them too and try to patch up the small, bullet-sized leaks in the poor fellow.  
Add the new "The Bigger They Are" to the Suit and then you can have weak damage of 4 against some enforcers or henchmen.  

I used Strongarm the past couple games with Bigger They Are. He works wonderfully as a front line beater holding up the opponent, or key models, while Parker and crew deal with others from range. The Bigger They Are upgrade turns him into a monster able to beat down big and small models alike with equal effectiveness. I highly recommend that upgrade for him, no matter which Outcast crew you hire him.

Welcome to Malifaux! Always glad to have new players.

Barring Sim 29, you could always use the large Mindless Zombie by putting him on a 50mm base (I use him as an additional Flesh Construct for my McMourning crew). You could add in the above suggested green stuffed tentacles and ice cream as well just to have it stand out a bit more. Here's a pic of mine (Middle one) on a 40mm base next to the Flesh Constructs. Alternatively, if you don't want to buy an entire box of Mindless Zombies you could also do a conversion of KillJoy. He's an impressive enough model that, with just a bit of green stuff, would work nicely as well.

Even though I don't play either (nor ever plan to play Gremlins) I'd like to see a Nightmare Gremlin or 10T crew. Technically 10T got one this year via Guild McCabe crew box, but I would enjoy seeing a full on Nightmare Shen Long crew or anything from Gremlins. Now, if my primary faction (Neverborn) were to win, I'd kill to have a Nightmare Lynch crew, if only to get an alternative Hungering Darkness. 

Vassal game anyone? First day of my vacation and I'm eager to be lazy. ?

Upgrades I typically use with Lilith: Beckon Malifaux (always auto-include Terrain creation), Wicked Mistress (Lure), and Wings of Darkness (flight + card draw).

Personal play style -

I don't use Lilith as a beater. Hell, I think I've charged with her MAYBE about 5 or 6 times in the 50+ games I've used her. I use her as a hit and run model. Wicked Vines models from range, and out of LoS to keep them from moving, Lure models out of position (or lure Wicked Vines targets so they take +3 extra damage). I use my forest (Beckon Malifaux) like another crew member. I'll drop it in front of my own guys to block LoS to protect them, in front of the Opponent to block their LoS, or to screw up bonuses from  & . I use it to create or block up choke points, etc. I use Tangle Shadows (model positioning swapping) to get my big guys near their models, to pull their big guys or scheme runners out of position (game/situation dependent on what I need at that particular moment), or just to through a sacrificial model/tot into combat to tie something up for a turn (such as trying to place someone in combat with Seamus so he can't teleport early or just to eat up his AP). Hell, I'll even use her to drop scheme markers.

She's the tool box and I build my crew to do the heavy lifting of accomplishing schemes or killing the opponent. 

Not sure about every so often as I can't really pin down a dedicate schedule, but if you ever just want to get a game in sometime you can always try me for vassal. I'm in Central US time zone (so 7 hours behind your current time). I'm off for the next week from work for vacation and typically off on Mondays and Tuesdays every week.

Yes, the first couple of games I felt your pain (still do) on Analysis Paralysis. Next couple of games got a bit easier as I made it a point to limit myself to only 4 of his upgrades (both limited, crate of dynamite, and Stick Up) plus the initial Oath Keeper that I purchased. After those next couple games I have expanded to include a couple more upgrades, which made it a lot easier to learn instead of trying to read all of them each time I wanted to swap in a new one to decide which one to use. I am tackling his upgrades the same way I tackle a new crew in a new fact...limit my options and learn them, then expand. It's make it a lot easier and giving me more time to really put some upgrades through their paces before I move on to include others.

Yeah I do. About to go to sleep.  Amending it now though for clarity's sake.

Need to add in Akaname (Tri Chi) to 10T Brewmaster on that list.