admiralvorkraft

Since the others have covered the basics I'll just throw this on in; have fun. This is my favorite match-up in the game, two dedicated combat casters with deceptively similar tool kits and enough firepower to wipe whole crews off the board. The MAD dynamic makes the opening turns incredibly tense because you know if the other woman gets an angle on you you're going down. Both crews are pretty slow so you have time to watch the conflict build and explode.

Ironsides, at least the way I run her, usually draws from those crews as well. Gunsmiths, Joss, Railworkers, etc. Railworkers might be the safest thing in the game to make use of Hand Picked Men.

Sonnia's counterspell aura is a godsend against belles, anchor your fire base against lures with a passive aura? Yes please.

His off-hand is perfect if you want to model somebody strangling a gremlin Simpson's style... I used to run Graves all the time with Lucius and he still makes it to the field pretty regularly. He's a surprisingly mobile beater and Show Ya the Door is simply my favorite push in the game.

I'm in. Love the curveball!

Because I'm poor in money, time, and talent I use cardstock terrain pretty much exclusively. I've got a huge collection of great buildings thanks to the hours I've poured into finding them and the great state of Illinois for some reason (https://www.illinois.gov/ihpa/Preserve/Pages/construct_mainstreet.aspx). What I don't have is any large area severe/hazardous terrain. Does anyone know where to find 2d printable lakes/marshy ground/broken cobblestone textures? I'm at a loss. Thanks in advance!

...shut up and take my money.

Congratulations!

This is a neat idea for non-story three player games. I think I'll steal it. That is, if you don't mind.

Here's my theoryfaux answer. The beast itself isn't bad, Df/Wp 6 is good, but it doesn't really have any defensive tech that we care about. And yes, it's fast, but it really doesn't wreck up the place any more than other 13 stone models - less I would argue than Howard Langston who's only 12. Then the trick is making it stay dead. You know where the Ashen Core is going to drop so that's the natural target. With Df 1 you're going to be hitting it, you may even get a straight flip if you focus. If you have armor ignoring attacks then save them for the core, two AP should drop it if you're ignoring armor. That being said, we don't have much armor negating tech so... Conditions won't work on it, so rate of fire is the best solution I would normally have on the table to solve the ashen core problem. Two Guild Guard can probably kill it in a single activation apiece. Of course a smart player will keep it from getting too far from a valid placement for the Dust Storm, so that's something to watch for. If it dies near a table edge have a lawyer ready to charge the Dust Storm. Minimum damage 2 on a Ca attack targeting its weaker stat? That'll do. TLDR: Figure out where the thing is going, meet it there, shoot the big guy dead - 2 rifleman should do - and then put any 4 AP worth of attacks into the Core. It may not be worth the effort.

Dakroll, maybe it's just my luck but if I kit up on anti-armor tech to deal with Arcanists they drop Marcus. That being said, I almost always take a Guild Lawyer against Ressers or Neverborn because he's useful no matter what I'm up against and the + on willpower duels is amazing when it comes to mitigating the terrifying on everything. I think looking at what models you take to hedge your bets against certain factions might be a more productive approach than looking at master selection. Just my two cents.

Angelica's pushes are gold and either the Snow Storm or The Captain can help a lot.

Agreed.

I just played against a Hamelin list that was all dogs (courtesy of Nix and Hollow) with Kaeris and we played to a draw 6-6, it was a dopey game. Fun though. I would say horde lists are workable, but they will never give you the "big win" other crews can deliver.

I don't know Raspy from her side of the table, but I've faced her a number of times. The best use of the Golem in early turns is to throw the Gamin in the direction they need to go. Look for areas of heavy cover to park them in and they'll become way more survivable. Or as a Bodyguard target. You'll need to figure out where you actually need to apply pressure. Raspy's crew is, well, glacially slow so you need to pick where combat happens rather than trying to spread out and react to your opponent. More importantly you need to look at how you're going to accomplish your strategy and schemes, and plan out how you're going to use your hand and soulstone cache. With the right use of cheating and Soulstones Raspy can put out more damage than any other master in the game, or paralyze a huge swathe of enemy models. If you aren't focusing Raspy you should probably start, otherwise you'll rarely get a cheatable damage flip, and she can readily hit the Overpower trigger so it's not like you're sacrificing much firepower by doing it. All that being said, she'll be much stronger once you expand beyond her box. Silent Ones, Blessed of December, Acolytes... Expanding Rasputina is fun.

I'm pretty sure CO is an interact action to take a walk duel...

I've found Lucius to be tier 1 against assassin style masters or willpower shenanigans (Seamus springs to mind) because he has no keystone models and comes kitted out to deal with his own horror duels. But I've found him to be tier 3 against masters that excel at mook hunting (Wong, damn you Wong!) because losing 2-3 minions in an early turn can really cripple him. That being said, the only bad match-up for Sonnia is a pool full of movement schemes, and even then she can summon in a horde of Witchlings... So I guess I agree with Chumbalaya's assessment.

The other option for getting scrap going is to take electrical summoning and spend Ramos' first (0) bringing a creation in, and his first action blowing it up. It's less efficient than Joss killing a mobile toolkit for you, but it is an option.

I'm not a great player by any stretch of the imagination, but Levi has never really troubled me. I don't mind assassin-style masters and other than the man himself (and to a lesser extent A&D) his crew isn't mobile or particularly hard to kill. I've never played against an "optimized Pariah list" but frankly I can't see how it's that much worse than his standard build. Then again, I've played against him with Lucius and a Doppelganger and Austringers make the old man a lot less scary. Plus not having any linchpin models takes the sting out of Levi's eventual, lethal, activation. I'm sure Icemyn would roll me if we took to the field, but I don't think it would be Levi's fault.

It's a strong list for Reckoning if the scheme pool has, say, Murder Protege and Vendetta in it, though even Vendetta is dicey considering how expensive your models are. In Reconnoiter you're going to run into trouble, especially if you're playing on a board with adequate terrain.

Side note - this is a good thread and a reminder of how good this game is. If we were to make the same list for Warcasters or Warhammer factions I guarantee you we wouldn't see the same variation. Alright, carry on.

Here's where I'm at. This is by far the best mini's game I've ever played, but at the time that I got into the game the only master that had been released in plastic that I was interested in was Sonnia Criid. I picked her crew up on eBay. The only other purchase I've made is a copy of the TTB Multi-Pose Models because money absolutely IS a concern for me, at least until I graduate and get a real job (again). If you're interested in playing Colette and the Viks you could probably make good proxies for all the models you need in one copy of the female kit. The models may be more generic than the official release, but they still look damn good.

Side-backtrack - I find one big turn from my common opponents (Rasputina, Von Schill, Wong, or even Mei Feng) can shred my minions even if they're at the extreme edge of their mutual support bubbles, and in cover. DF 4 and 5 WDs is pretty much a death sentence if someone draws a bead on you. I do think I need to start looking at Issue Command as a secondary ability for a few games and see how much I can do just by walking and using That's What Lackey's Are For. Back on topic - I had an opportunity to use Hidden Weapons today, long story short it cost me 2 VP. I just think it may be the sort of thing that is never optimal, even if it is sometimes fun.

I agree with everything you said, except that in my experience the incremental gains you make can be easily wiped out in one "Big Turn." I've gotten much better at avoiding them, but when I start to lose activation control things snowball really fast. If Lucius himself offered your opponent any really compelling reason to not target your minions he could make a stand in the late game, but generally if things go south he simply doesn't have anything to back up his durability. I love Lucius, I enjoy playing him, and I think he gives really good games. He does put you in the position of fighting against his card to get him to do things rather than using his card directly against your opponent. While that does make him one of the most consistent masters in the game I wouldn't say that it places him consistently ahead of any other of the other masters in the game.

Well, I wouldn't take Make Them Suffer unless I'm packing Ryle or Sidir (or maybe Francisco). Note, I don't run Lucius when I know my opponent is a competitive player unless it's Squatters Rights/Reconnoiter and non-killy schemes My core Lucius list is; Lucius Secret Assets Secret Objectives (it's so corner case it's basically a wasted stone, but it worked for me once and it was so cool that I just can't resist) The Scribe (My primary Devil's Deal target, he pays his stones back, pads activation for 2-3 turns, and buffs Lucius) Austringer Rifleman (You can sub in another Austringer if that's what you have, or maybe a Witchling Stalker) Guild Lawyer (Auto include for his WP buff, all around one of my favorite minions in the game) That's 22 stones, 23 if you're using 2 Austringers. For the strat/schemes/matchup I'd add in: Ryle (for bodyguard and/or MTS) Witchling Stalker x2 (For condition removal) Which brings us to 42/43 I'd round it with a Pistolero for the Df buff, or 2 Guild Guard.