Yvarre

I've been really enjoying playing Foundry into pools with Load 'em Up because you can score the first point just from moving your models, and it's easy to find a place to deposit three scraps to have Mei go to at the end of the game. Their Mobility and durability make them decent choices for all of the strats, and they can nail sabotage and breakthrough pretty easily too. I've been playing some Ancestors recently too, and they're just a generally good quality crew. They're nice into Cursed Objects and Covert especially, but mobility and obeys make them pretty good at Carve a path and Guard the stash as well. Yan Lo 2 can especially handle just about any pool you throw at him, but Yan 1 is also viable because he has movement shenanigans too and can bring models back to eek out attrition battles. I've seen folks having some great success with Youko 2, but I still don't have Qi and Gong myself. I still have yet to play Honeypot into GG3, but their action economy doesn't feel as good as some of the other crews. They can make up for it by removing models with their better card quality and hand manipulation from Rig, but I hesitate to bring my favorite keyword into GG3 for some reason. Lynch 2 at least can support with OoA movement and has the extra AP for Hugs, but Lynch 1 in isolation is probably one of the weakest masters in the game. He can't hand out brilliance as efficiently as, say, Hamelin can hand out blight, and Lynch has a damage cap as opposed to the Unrestricted blight damage on both Hamelin and the Wretch. In 40+ games with Honeypot, I've summoned an illuminated twice, as compared to, say, the Brockens I've seen Ivan get out just about every game. All through GG1 and 2 I still had some great success with Honeypot, but these more modern crews with better action economies are making me go in different directions within Thunders than playing my old standby.

Does Jacob Lynch benefit from his own heal on the inner glow trigger? It states that all friendly models within range heal 1 and gain a brilliance (none for Lynch). However, the range is being determined, I think, from a pulse which ignores the model generating the pulse. Therefor, I don't think Lynch can heal himself. I think I may have been misplaying this; so I am asking to clarify before Adepticon...

One key swing factor in matchups of Lynch versus either Criid or Perdita is the density of the terrain. If there are enough staggered places to hide completely out of LoS (as Criid gets + against high WP to negate cover and Perdita often brings the upgrade to ignore cover) Lynch's crew has a much better shot of surviving, and Lynch himself has a better chance to do what he does best, skulk in the shadows like a coward waiting to unleash holy hell on targets of opportunity. The Guild's Badge of Office upgrade can put a serious kink in this plan for him of offing masters, as it can nullify his highest damage attack, Final Debt, allowing the master to survive and retaliate. Lynch dies easily. If he can get his summoning engine rolling, throwing Depleted models in the way can also take the brunt off of ranged crews, though it requires him to get fairly close to kill things. So, my advice would be: try not to have too many wide open kill zones on your board by really evenly spacing the full 1/3 of terrain pieces, and, if you want to be really sporting, leave the Badge at home. For Lynch, The Rising Sun can be great in these matchups, as the Hungering Darkness falls really easily to both Sonnia and Perdita; though Cheating Bastard can really help with his Brilliance output, giving him extra damage potential, and always cheating last is really strong. I avoid taking Endless Darkness against the Guild specifically because of Sonnia and Perdita, and I try to kill Francisco quickly (he is found in many competitive Guild lists).

Thinking about it all some more, I'm pretty excited for some new sculpts. Malifaux is my first and only minis game, and I was learning to paint on some of my favorite masters' boxes. Also, many of my models were painted in huge waves in preparation for events such as Captaincon, The Nova Open, and Bragging Rights (131, baby). Naturally, while functional on the table, I'm not winning any painting contests. In fact, even though I kept us in the win column for games, my team took 3rd at Bragging Rights 2016 by only 3/4 of a point below 2nd because of some of my rushed models not looking so hot and getting me the bare minimum for painting score. Like my second strongest 2E master, McCabe, I want redemption. Enter the opportunity to start again on new sculpts! I also have a sneaking suspicion that we are going to get the McCabe, Lynch, and Yan Lo sculpts from Broken Promises, and I find Lynch and Yan Lo's new art to be more dynamic than the old sculpts and the new McCabe art is super fun and fits his character a bit more for what I want that the Indiana Jones version, though I got a really nice effect of being a little bloodied and scuffed up from falling off of his horse. So now, after painting over 100 models, I feel like I might just start being able to do this wonderful art some justice, and I really want a nicer looking Lynch. As my resources of money and time are also tight at the moment, I still have an entirely functional collection to play the game with, and I can take my time painting any new models that strike my fancy. Whereas before most of my efforts of building and painting were geared towards having crews ready for competitive play; now I can take my time and focus on the hobby aspect of the game. That's cool.

Can McCabe still hire his doggies!? They like him better than the stupid, stuffy Guild anyways. I've had a dream of starting to dip into Neverborn cause I love Lynch so much; I guess that's one of the things that drew me into the Thunders in the first place- having a toe in to all the other factions already, so branching out was an open option. It turns out that I haven't really ended up having the extra time or money; so maybe it's a small mercy that that's being scaled back some as one of the defining aspects of the Thunders. I do really appreciate doubling down on thematic crews, though- having to sacrifice for faction allstars outside of a crew's theme makes sense. I was getting kind of annoyed with seeing the same faction auto-includes in every crew. Why is Francisco away from Latigo again? Why is he helping this cooky reporter who just wrote a really scathing story about him? I'm apprehensive about change, but I trust the design experience of Wyrd as well as Wyrd's continued respect for its community.

Ototo's main function is to tarpit like a champ and hit back super hard. I hire him in pools where I want to tie up lots of models in a certain area. If my opponent wastes the resources trying to take Ototo out and fails, which frequently happens, he can hit back at Ml 8 with a built in crit. At half wounds with a recalled training popped, a flurry from Ototo can often kill almost anything, and then he can heal himself back up. He is much less effective if my opponent ignores him, but I try to make that difficult. I also don't generally take him when I think I might be going up against a crew that attacks willpower alot, like Pandora, who can easily nullify Ototo. I am buying his new sculpt because I feel it is more flavorful in regards to his playstyle, and I look forward to pounding many more masters into the ground with a model that people often underestimate. As a devout Lynch player, I'm keeping Tannen and Graves in their human forms so they can stay in their rightful place on the floor of The Honeypot.

Strat: Supply Wagons Schemes: Setup, Inescapable trap, Undercover Entourage, Guarded Treasure, Take One for the Team Round 1: Asami (Inescapable trap, UE: Yamaziko) vs. Pandora (Guarded Treasure, Take One for the Team: Baby Kade "I've got this," Yamaziko called to Asami as she eyed the Monk of Low River and Ten Thunders Brother with the barest hint of approval in her eyes, "These strapping young men surely won't let an old woman do all of the work. heh." With that, she set off to push the wagon, eyeing Coppelius, Lilitu, and Baby Kade in the distance, and brandishing her glaive. Asami set off to hunt down Pandora and the Mysterious Effigy and Emissary as well as a Doppelganger with Yasunori and her own Emissary in reserve. The words the old woman had said to her were ringing in her ears, "Cool, calm, collected- we move as lightning; we strike from the shadows like a thunderclap." "Push that cart, ya dumb tree; I wanna play with that girl with the bad hair!" Pandora squealed eyeing up this new human whose brain would be so fun to pick apart; "like a gramlin eatin' froglegs," she muttered to herself, as she let the energies from the box begin to wrap around her, reaching out into Asami's mind and the mind of the monk lagging behind Yamaziko. "Fun, Fun, FFFFUUUUUNNNNN, but what's a T-bird anyways?" That was when Pandora heard the whisper of soft scratching of strange pointed feet skittering towards her at unholy speed, as a large Spider Demon brought an equally ginormous Glaive slashing down across her face, and was that... blood? "NO! That is not how you play with me!" she screamed, reflexively crushing soulstones and floating away on the box's aetheric currents as the cretin took another swing. A green monkey demon wearing some kind of crude armor brought 2 sickles down at her, and she gasped reeling backwards. Then a man in a Kabuki mask wielding two katanas atop a beast that looked half dragon and half horse bore down on her in a flurry of swinging swords, and she floated away. "I don't think I can take much more of this," Pandora thought as she tugged on the aetheric thread she had on Asami and noticed that the demons were actually spewing out of the girl's head and coming towards her, two spiders boxing her in. She stumbled, and the man with the Kabuki mask was there, she reached into the soulstone pouch Zoraida had given her. "Oh crap," she thought, and things became a frantic blur as pain siezed her body and she noticed her left arm wasn't quite working right, and her dress was most decidely not green anymore; it was- red. Yamaziko heard Pandora's final wail from over the abandoned house she was pushing the cart past. "The girl has promise," she thought to herself, "Young Misaki did well in finding that one. Ha, even the oni must serve the thunder," so distracted in her thoughts, she did not see the first pass of the bladed whip as it began to curve around her neck, but in one fluid motion, she dropped straight down, crushing a soulstone to fortify the skin on her face from getting cut, and, slipping below the whip as it snaked in space where it might otherwise have cut her head off, she thrust her Glaive right through Litlitu's chest. Somewhere in the bushes there was screaming as Baby Kade savaged the monk, and in the distance the sound of steel hacking into wood. "Stall Coppelius," Yamaziko ordered the Brother, motioning to the far corner of the building. She lit the charges in the wagon and ran. Score: Asami 7 (4 Strat, 3 UE) Pandora 4 (3 Strat, 1 Guarded Treasure) Round 2: Lynch (Setup: Howard Langston, UE:Yamaziko) vs. Marcus (Take One for the Team: Hoarcat Pride 1, UE:Marcus) C'mon, you lot, get that cart movin'. We got a deadline to keep with that Brillianced shine," Lynch drawled, not quite looking Yamaziko in the eyes; the woman unnerved him somehow. "I'll take the girl who spits demons out of her head over this guy any day," Yamaziko muttered to her comrades, a Monk of Low River and a Ten Thunders Brother, breaking her usual composure to give a nasty glare at the Beckoner standing nearby in the woods. Suddenly, Hoarcat Prides burst out of the surrounding ruins as a feral roar emanated from behind a cart that was barreling towards the cart of brillianced liquor. "The hell," Lynch muttered as a heavily muscled man with very dark skin and a large shillelagh appeared from behind the cart with an equally massive three-headed sabertooth tiger. "Marcus, what are you doing here!? "You will take your abominable taint from my lands this instant or face my wrath!" Marcus roared. "Suit y'self," Lynch said. "Gun 'em down." With that a burst of fire spat from an oversized gattling gun atop the shoulders of a man dressed in full samurai regalia. Through all the bullets, however, Marcus kept his resolve, seeming to amp up more and more with each shot, many swinging wide and hitting a hoarcat pride." Then Lynch's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he felt Sensei Yu push him forward towards the carts and the Hungering Darkness burst forth, willing the sabertooth to take a swing on Marcus. "Huh, can't control your own pets, beastmaster?" Lynch said, watching Miranda sneak up to the mess of carts through the Hungering Darkness's sight. "Oh, no you don't touch my merchandise, Honey." Lynch said to himself, reaching into Miranda's soul with his darkness while simultaneously lining up shots on a hoarcat pride with his Derringers, felling the beasts. Then three aces shot from his sleeves, disappearing through the cart and puncturing through Miranda's lungs. "Dang, missed the heart," Lynch spat right as Miranda's dying body shifted into a second Sabertooth Cerberus. As Lynch and company made short work of the second Cerberus, a giant man on mechanical spider legs burst forth, cutting the Hungering Darkness, who Marcus quickly finished off, then Yamaziko and the Ten Thunders Brother in half. "That's gonna cost you, Professor," Lynch said to Marcus, as he gathered the darkness back in and let it spill into Howard Langston. "Millie, finish this one off, Lynch called to the Beckoner, as he started to stroll in the direction Marcus was running. "I am going to have some words with the professor over there." With Sensei Yu's help, Lynch caught up to Marcus, cornering him behind a rundown, abandoned shack. "I'll have you know," Lynch began, "that-" "You will not corrupt this land," Marcus interrupted, growling through clenched teeth as blood loss began to cloud his vision. "On Contrare," Lynch retorted. "You've no say in this matter. Now, as I was trying to say, you just killed the new Oyabun's master. She ain't gonna like that. In fact, she might get very cross with me. Now I'm tellin' you this cause I'm gonna bring your head to try and appease her, and you ain't gonna tell another soul." And with that, darkness swallowed Marcus. Lynch 6 (4 Strat, 2 Setup) Marcus 5(3 Strat, 2 Take One for the Team)

I'm gonna try to get coverage at work and make it to this. I need some serious practice before Nova. We just had a Rapid Grow League, which was fun, but does not often encourage strategic play choices, and I want to see some of the newer stuff in action I haven't faced yet. Y'all got some strateegery for me?

If focusing on Lynch, I'd recommend also picking up some Depleted, who work as great place holding tarpits for him. Beckoners can also be useful in making things come to Lynch for easier and safer kills, though only in very select strat and scheme mixups. I also find myself rarely playing Lynch without Sensei Yu because fast on either Lynch or the Hungering Darkness easily = death. One last consideration is the favor of Jigoku Samurai for fishing for aces for Lynch's Final Debt attack and Wanna See a Trick. It's annoying, but I've easily gone through most of or the entire deck with one samurai, picking up 4 aces and then obliterating with Lynch. After one activation of the samurai doing that, people also tend to try to overextend to kill it, making for more easy pickings for Lynch. I've killed McMourning and other masters. at the top of turn 2 before because they came gunning for my samurai only to meet Lynch with a full hand.

I love this bad ass new Ototo! Ototo is my favorite murder tarpit as well as one of my favorite models, and this alt art Ototo is just amazing! I'm also super pumped for new master upgrades. Yan Lo is gonna get a super awesome beast mode! I wonder also about emissary upgrades for our new masters. Asami needs cards... num num num I'm also curious about the legality of the new master upgrades, especially for Nova Open. And what new murder toys will my main man Lynch get!?

I would like to see, at some point, enforcers that are based on the three storms from Big Trouble in Little China, Yan Lo being Lo Pan and all... It would also be really cool to have dudes on motorcycles with guandaos, the Chinese cavalry spears. Tanukis were on my wishlist, and it looks like they are coming! It'd also be really cool to have a shaolin shapeshifter. The trope of a magic sword that grants its user psuedo-flight-like abilities ala Crounching Tiger Hidden Dragon is cool. I also wonder about incorporating more southern Asian myth into the TT. I think that the bulk of the inspiration comes from Japan, Korea, and China, and it also seems that the Arcanists are delving into India with Sandeep and co. That still leaves Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Viet Nam, the Phillipines, and Indonesia as other cultures that could cross pollinate a bit more into the Thunders. Then there is also Siberia that can give us some icy cool stuff too. The fiendish Guild won't stop their cultural genocide, and no doubt our neighbors are feeling the heat.

Misaki's crew box would definitely be a good investment. That plus to the sabre attacks for Torakage can be clutch, and Ototo... Ototo can tarpit and lay down some hurt like a champ. I've taken more models down from full wounds to dead with Ototo than any other model in the game, and I can't stress enough how powerful a piece he can be. Then there is also Dark Debts, my personal favorite crew box with Jakob Lynch. Lynch's box has Illuminated, arguably stone for stone one of the best minions in the game, and Lynch himself is a bit more adept at some of the killier strategies than McCabe. I feel, though, that I do need to make the argument that one of our biggest themes as a faction is that we have agents embedded in influential positions in each other faction. As such, they are able to "infiltrate" the resources of those factions into our hiring pools. McCabe's totem is specifically designed to make Guild Hounds some of the most absurdly good scheme runners in the game, and they are especially great for activation control and dominating at Strategies like Stake a Claim and Squatter's Rights. While not hire-able in any other TT Master's crew, Guild Hounds are completely in theme with McCabe himself, as he has the best control of them out of anyone else in Malifaux due to his bond with Luna, and the faction's tactics as a whole. As an agent of the Ten Thunders, McCabe will use the most effective resources he can to get the job done, less he displease the Oyuban, and if some of the Guild's resources die in this process, especially their rapidly dwindling supply of hunting dogs, well that's two birds with one stone.

My preferences have changed slightly since the last time we had a similar topic. My new crew is as follows: Ototo (leader) with 1ss Recalled Training and 1ss Servant of 5 Dragons Kang (9ss) with 1ss Recalled Training and 0ss The Peaceful Waters Tengu (4ss) Monk of Low River (4ss) Kang's aura helps Ototo not just lose to horror duels, and Servant giving him WP 5 makes him a little better too. The Monk can handle conditions and hand out some healing, which is great on two HtK models. The Tengu can also give a little support with Regen, fly somewhere to hide and hold a point, or occasionally finish off models. The main caution is not to over-commit Ototo. He wants to take a beating to maximize his hurt potential, but too much focus fire will drop him.

Ototo is in Misaki's box too. He's my go to Henchman Hardcore leader and one of my personal favorites in close deployment and headhunter or Collect the Bounty. He's an extremely durable tarpit that makes things dead if the opponent puts a little hurt on him. Torakage on pure stat lines alone, besides their Ml 5 and min damage of 1, are still pretty good. Having all sixes means they'll have a defensive edge on most other scheme runners, and walk 6 makes them comparably pretty fast. I think they're exceptionally good for shifting loyalties campaigns, especially in the first couple weeks, because they can just nonchalantly score points and hunt down scheme runners with + flips to attack while the harder hitters cull the opponent's crew. Izamu is one that I typically only take with a reliquary Yan Lo, favoring Ototo, Kang, or the Emissary (popularly voted neck in neck with Carrion as the best emissary) a bit more. I don't have the model yet, but Yasunori is definitely absurd; I can just picture a rite of strength into recalled training not ending well for anything within 22 inches. The Emissary is actually the only wave 3/4 model I have table ready, and I do alright at most competitive events, usually top 3 in local tournaments and in the top 1/4 of the pack at half of my bigger events (well, everything but Nova and the TFL league last year); so I would recommend picking up an emissary. I've heard good things about Lust and have definitely made it a point to take her out quickly when I see her, and the whole Crossroads 7 concept is just really cool. Asami and Wandering River Monks are my next two buys, but Asami requires some other onis like Jorogumo, which I have already but haven't assembled. Depending on what direction you're going, there are still some older staples that I'd recommend. Illuminated are still some of the best minions in the game, and Jakob Lynch posts some great competitive results worldwide, making the Dark Debts box a great buy. Then there's also the ubiquitous Temple of the Dawn with Shen Long, regarded as possibly our best competitive master, and more importantly his sidekick Sensei Yu. While High River Monks just suck, Shen Long is one of the most versatile masters in the game, and Sensei Yu is a great support piece especially for Misaki, copying her stalk as a (0) then pushing her 10" and giving her fast. Silliness ensues... well, corpses.