kalcan

Hmm yeah tbh I really just wrote off the Gokudo. Feels like I'm paying for an ability on his card that I can't use. But I can see merits in his bonus action and having trained ninja as a living minion... I'll have to rethink that.

Got my model from gencon painted up and on the table yesterday. Played against Nexus1, both of us playing these masters for the first time. Yan Lo2 + 8ss Soul Porter Manos Izamu Chiaki Komainu Ashigaru x2 Strat was turf war, schemes were bait and switch, catch and release, research mission, vendetta, hidden martyrs. I took hidden martyrs on an ashigaru and chiaki, and catch and release on the komainu. I scored 3 points on strat, 2 points on hidden martyrs, and 0 on catch and release. Nexus scored 1 on strat. In theory, catch and release should have been easy but I got really careless with the komainu. Yan Lo’s movement is absolutely cracked. On a mv 7 komainu with their pseudo leap bonus action, with obey and yan lo’s bonus action, Chiaki’s flute, this boi is going places. (I cheated and used the soul porters action to move the komainu, but realized later that it’s ancestor only so just a heads up, don’t make that mistake haha.) Yan and friend went to three different corners of the board on turn 1 lol. I hired Chiaki purely for hidden martyrs, but found her card draw and even more reliquary spread really valuable. I like Manos for his mobility and reliquary with all the minions being htk, I can’t see myself dropping him except if I’m up against pacifist crews and I don’t need his extra mobility or anti demise aura. Izamu seems invaluable as a staying piece as well as a min 3 dmg beater, very good obey target. Don’t forget to get a reliquary on him for built in suits for obey. I might consider Toshiro instead of Chiaki in a different scheme pool in order to summon more minions, all three of mine were dead by the end of the game. Or I may just hire another ashigaru or komainu, 8ss were too many, but always having the hole in the world trigger on twist reality is super valuable. Kenshiro seems only useful for Yan1, but would love to hear anyone’s case for him here. Hard to fit Sun Quiang, I feel like all your hires need to be either an ancestor or minion, you run out of stones quickly when hiring. Yan2 definitely feels like a mobile, positioning master, which is a great foil to Yan Lo 1 that is slow and wants to tank until turn 3 then dish out tons of dmg, they definitely compliment each other on the different schemes they’d want to go for. Aside from that twist reality trigger, final wishes, and movement shenanigans, the keyword does feel like it’s lost some identity of the original title yan lo with replacing minions with ancestors gone, but looking forward to playing more games with him. Btw, the model is so cool haha.

Thanks, still learning. Haven't played a crew that required the distinction.

Remember that charging is a push, not a move.

Looks interesting! Some key things I am noting: Yan Lo's reliquary has to go on an in-keyword minion (Ashigaru, Gokudo, Komainu) Yan Lo must be placed within 3" if the reliquary minion ends a move, there is no option to not place him Built in trigger for obey is only for in-keyword models with reliquary attachments, trigger to get focused is only on non-ancestors. Needs a crow for his split reliquary trigger too so he may be SS hungry to get cards/suits to obey key enemy models and to get split reliquary trigger Looks like the bonus action on Yan Lo's reliquary will mostly be used by the minion to obey itself to give it another action, since the minion should always be within 3" of Yan Lo Non-linear movement shenanigans are cool, with his bonus action and obey targeting his reliquary minion to move. Will be a free card draw at the end of his activation too if bonus action is used on reliquary minion Komainu and ashigaru should always be in Take the Hit range for him, so he should be defended easily. 7" Mv komainu seem to be the best target to start out with the reliquary imo Seems not as durable or hard hitting as OG Yan Lo, will be interesting to figure out what strategy and scheme pool he is suited towards. He definitely doesn't look as strong as some of the other new title spoilers we've been seeing, I hope I'm wrong though!

Yeah, I did mention this is my post! I usually take a stealthed rough rider in this strat. If there are enough ranged threats to danger McCabe then I'll put the lodestone on the rough rider. No problem! Others may have different opinions, likely better than mine 😛 I've had a lot of success with McCabe when thoughtfully played into S&S pools instead of forcing him into one that I normally wouldn't play him, but that happens a lot when you just want to play a certain crew regardless of pool haha

I would love to see a new Yan Lo keyword, in that he’s regained enough strength for a more youthful body, but his body slowly degrades as the game gets later. Pretty much the opposite as it is now. I just think the complete 180 in playstyle would be neat!

For strats, he's my go to in Symbols. Desper and hucksters along with mobility from McCabe makes it very easy to score points. He's not bad in lay lines, but you can't place (secret passage/leap/target of ride with me) the lode stone model so it can be tricky. I like to put it on McCabe since he is so fast, and he can bring a model with rwm to interact with strategy markers, get in place so a fast huckster can secret passage (x2 if needed) to interact with strategy markers, or just do it himself. Stealthed rough riders are also a good choice to put the marker on. McCabe can do turf war but I think Yan Lo or Misaki do it better. If good strats for hucksters are available then I consider McCabe. I like tankier crews and fightier schemes for Break the Line, typically Yan Lo. Desper can be great with don't mind me though. For schemes, breakthrough (secret passage [x2 if needed] and false claim at end of turn), detonate charges (false claim at end of turn), outflank (secret passage and false claim + Desper leap + McCabe mobility can get you to the edges), spread them out (2x hucksters and Desper), and catch and release (secret passage onto a henchmen/leader w/o ruthless at end of turn. If you don't get initiative to run away, you are manipulative on the Huckster so hard to kill) are what I look for. Note that you can remove any one (per use) of your scheme markers for false claim, it does not have to be one of the scheme markers dropped from false claim. I'll often have a few scheme markers placed in my backfield on turn one so I can remove them later once Hucksters false claim some scheme markers in key positions in later turns. Not sure what he would struggle into... Maybe super fast killy crews like Nikima? Any crew that can't just be easily ignored, as I play a very avoid style with McCabe. Would love to hear other opinions too!

Yeah perhaps you’re right in that that was too hot a take haha. I think I just relied too heavily and pre errata trained ninja to keep him safe. My regular opponents now just kill him. 5df/5wp 8hp with his only defensive tech being leap aside trigger, maybe I just play him too aggressively. Two fast husksters is usually all I need for scheming, and there are better damage dealers in faction so I guess he just feels redundant.

After finally getting in some games, I can finally give some opinions on the rework. The amount of damage and simple duels that McCabe could do pre-change was just absurd, and I like that his playstyle is defined a bit more with adventure awaits. The biggest change I feel is how adventure awaits affects Hucksters. 6's instead of 8's for secret passage feels soo much better, and 4's for false claim is great. Those are abilities that need to go off when used, and I feel like I don't need to cheat nearly as often now to get them to go off. When I have the scheme pool to choose McCabe, it's usually because I know that 2 Hucksters can score me 4 points on schemes, they are just so good. I definitely spend the stones to give them stealth upgrade if I suspect my opponent will have heavy ranged damage or abilities that will mess with their actions. If the strat necessitates Desper, his leap going off on 5 is very helpful as well. I still feel like Desper is overcosted, worth 7ss rather than 8ss. McCabe's early activations (turn 2-3) usually look more like move up, shoot and apply slow, and move back, rather than charge in like a madman and make your opponent pass 8+ simple duels or take 2 dmg per fail, while also doing 2+dmg on each attack. I still have not used "careful it's cursed", I wish it was a bonus action? (but then I wouldn't be able to pass the relic after... hm...) His AP just seems like it could be used on something better. I can't figure out if using a non-mask 7+ on a cryptologist for card draw (antique timepiece > looted supplies) is worth it, but I know using a 9 without adventure awaits is definitely not worth it. I wish the trigger on antique timepiece did not have the stipulation that you can't use an ability to attach upgrades, as I feel it would be a good ability to use on McCabe turn 1 to not use up one of his AP to dish out a relic. I'm not sure where the cryptologist's place is right now, but I have a feeling it's on the bench. Rough riders are ok... 5's instead of 7's on ride with me is definitely awesome. Any cost 7 mounted minion I just can't help but compare to rooster riders (which is unfair as they are probably one of the best models in the game for their cost), and it makes me wish they had either more defense (5df/4wp is pretty bad for 7stone model), or more dmg (maybe a built in ram for crit?) Ruffians remain some of the worst minions in the game, with the changes to McCabe not helping them at all since they have no abilities with TN. Sadir still does what he did before. Jessie feels weird, idk what she does in a McCabe list honestly, I don't feel like I have the SS to justify her in any list I put together. Hucksters and Desper seem to handle the scheming and marker placement, she feels redundent. Overall, he seems more like a fast scheming support master which I feel like was the intent from the beginning. At least I always play some in keyword models now in Hucksters, rather than only sometimes before the change, but still probably mostly OKK or versatile. Rest of the keyword still feels kind of bad... but McCabe is definitely fun and capable of taking games. Oh and I still hit black joker on a pass the artifact in two different games despite only needing a 2+ now... lame haha

I'm considering selling one of my torakage, one of my archers, and one of my samurai. But I'm a little hesitant… are there situations where I actually need three of something? What about the monks of low river or oiran? or any minion from TT?

Awesome, you guys have been really helpful, thanks! I'll probably start with Misaki and some archers. The monks of low river are pretty cool, so I'll probably pick those up to paint eventually. Their lack of offense is kind of a turnoff as far as fielding them. How do they preform? Do you really ever need 3 monks or 3 archers?

Hey guys! I'm a wargaming veteran but brand new to malifaux. I've gotten a few demo games under my belt and have read most of the fluff, and am ready to start getting some models. I really like the eastern theme of TT, and really want to play Shenlong when he comes out. Keeping that in mind, I'm wondering what you guys would suggest my first purchases to be. I would like to have a master thats pretty easy to learn the game with, as well as have some starting models that would synergies with both my starting master and Senlong. Thanks!