MuMantai

I have played two of them with Ramos. First drops a scrap marker, Ramos summones, chain activates into the second to get the summon card back. Niche, but fun, and as was said: These are no bad models. The card cycle is good, the discard for a scheme marker is great!

The triggers would not work against Zipp either way, because he attacks Height. Also, there are still soulstones. But yeah, Colette is a poor choice against gremlins these days.

What the squirrel said. I would rate Ironsides one of the better matchups in Arcanists against the Vics, especially with the new upgrades (see above). If you are lucky, you can pull one Vic out of formation, killing the whole slingshot (but that banks on mistakes on opponents side), and she has an ok chance to tank the whole blood first strike, with getting more adrenaline and saving her crew in the process. Also, every hit on Ironsides does damage on Blood. It still is dependant on luck, but I think we have far worse matchups to drop into this.

Only Models that are Minions and Showgirls, sadly

I find the Steamfitter to be an incredible model and a huge boost to especially Ironsides and Sandeep (for armor) and (less so) Ramos and Rasputina (for scrap). He is the reason why I still value Sandeep as No. 1. Yes, getting the armor on the model is resource intensive, but Arm +1 on Sandeep boosts his survivability a lot and fixes what I see as his only weakness. Also, the card cycle in later turns in very powerful. I have more than once cheated a defense with a high card I would not have invested otherwise, only to get it back directly afterwards. And (usually only works in turn 1), winning initiative with Seize The Day, letting your opponent go first, and then getting that high card back is very rewarding

There are quite a few models that are usable with many masters, and many master that can use their models quite interchangable. Rasputina is not one of those. She can use some models out of her theme, and other masters can use her theme models quite effectively, but she is better off mostly sticking to theme. With her box and the acolytes, she is playable, but a bit inflexible. Good additions are Snow Storm, Silent Ones and Ice Dancers, in that order, IMHO. Later you can add the Arcane Emissary, Blessed, and the Arcane Effigy. Also, now that she has a summon upgrade, some scrap marker generation (Mobile Toolkit + Joss/Large Arachnid or a Union Steamfitter) may be a direction to go. It is possible to go out of theme with Raspi, but I would recommend sticking to it for the first time, and branching out once you get the hang of it.

The trigger is after resolving, not after damaging, and with Unser Pressure, you have two cards on attack to fish for the tomes before cheating. I don't know about you, but my spiders have a tendency to explode when I want them to

I love to play both Emissary and Effigy with him. Mages, as was said, and Gamin to have something to summon (Wind Gamin, mainly, sometimes Ice or Metal) Other than that, he has the ability to make almost any model shine, so you can play him with anything you want, really. Kandara will be very good with him, I am sure, haven't played with Amina yet. I would toss the Soulstone Miner in the mix, but he is just my favourite scheme runner with all masters.

Alt Rasputina is available in the Guilder Store I would like to have an alt Howard (I know, we have Miss Step, but I really dislike her), as the model right now is just lackluster compared to models like the Emissaries and Yasunori and does not really transport the raw power he represents.

I was surprised that he got a cache of 4. I could see him at less. That said, he does need his stones. He is very suit dependant, his teleport needs a suit that is not baked in, as does his summon (both ) and if you want the trigger for Arcane Storm, you better have or buy a . He also is vulnerable once you have a beater at him, he has no defense trigger, ItW does not help against high weak damage and Arcane Shield is not always available. As to prevention, see above. He is very good, especially because he has that great flexibility, but he is by no means unbeatable.

Take the Emissary and get an additional attack Still not better

It's another form of usage, but I plan to make Howard or Joss Academic for them to be able to use The Path To Salvation

The fieldtest is over, so the respective forum is no longer available. In the latest update on kickstarter they talked about 418.000, so no Thrace/Binh yet.

Ok, lets have some fun. Normally, I would consider Ramos heavily for Extraction, and I think he's very good here, but with this marker heavy schemes, I would propose Sandeep: Sandeep (Commands, Arcane Reservoir, Seize the Day) The Captain (Casting Expert) Arcane Emissary (Imbued Energies) Oxfordian Mage (Temp. Shielding, Ward) Oxfordian Mage (Temp. Shielding, Ward) Oxfordian Mage (Temp. Shielding, Ward) Soulstone Miner With this scheme pool, Visions in Theorie gives more benefits, but I play three mages with commands for one single reason: to be able to furious cast on something in cover. My gameplan is simple: with this crew, I am able to reliably play any scheme in the pool. Summoned gamins (or anything, really) for claim jump, the miner for covert breakthrough, gamins (or copied (0)) for dig their graves, killing provided by anything but gamin, Sandeep plus Banasuva and mages for eliminate, again gamin or... anything for recover evidence, helped by Sandeeps (0) actions. For the strategy, Banasuva and the Emissary are the main focus for the strategy, with the captain helping out in later turns. The gunline should be enough to keep everything out of the center, ensuring that the marker keeps getting to my side and out of enemy scoring range. I would consider which schemes to pick when seeing the enemy crew, but to rate them for this crew: Claim Jump: Most likely, as I tech to outactivate. Eliminate: Most likely not, depends on the crew, but takes too much time and effort against most masters. I want to kill the crew, to keep him from scoring Strategy. Dig their graves: Not likely, as I have mostly ranged combat. Hard to score full three with this, even with the ability to drop markers as (0). Also, I don't like the scheme. Covert Breakthrough: Maybe, depends on the enemy crew. Does he have the ability to outspread me? can I fit something through without it being catched or followed? Then yes, otherwise not. Recover Evidence: The other possibility, also depending on the enemy crew. If he has a maximum of seven models, without summon, and most of them want in my face, this is my scheme. If he can deny two or more markers by dropping them deep in his half, then not so much. To break it down: Sandeep has to be played a bit more defensive than I would normally. His Job is to ensure the Gamin with the plus-aura is alive and well, pick off scheme runners when possible and be in range for models to use his stuff. Banasuva has two jobs: Eat AP and tie things up, and when possible do as much damage as possible. The usual stuff. Sandeeps (0) place action is usually reserved for him. The Captain has the job of getting the mages where they have to be. Also, in mid- to lategame he can attack things, or keep enemies from where I don't want them to be (e.g. the extraction marker) The mages keep to cover and kill stuff where possible. They work with the captain to be in position for furious casting or get out of the way whenever needed. They also hamper the enemy by slow and pushes. The Soulstone Miner is there for Covert Breakthrough, but he also can do other Schemes. Or to produce Soulstones. For the enemy, Eliminate against Sandeep is possible, but less so for Ten Thunders. Especially Impossible to Wound deletes a lot of plays around Focus, and Sandeep can also heal when needed. So, my opponent has to either avoid me and go Breakthrough and Claim Jump, which I can deny with Sandeep and Gamin, or Dig and Recover Evedence, which would mean killing my crew, which I am very confident about.

There will be five of each token in one set. In most cases, those will be enough, I guess. Tactics token could be a bit short, an I would guess that the Cult will be using a lot more shaken token than that. I that means that you will want to buy another set is up to you

No, its intentional. Just the only way for it to work in the backer kit, I assume. The dual commander pledge is set up at255$ with one book, with an optional second book. Just choose that you want the second book, then you are at 300$ and have it the way you want.

The eel is not a champion. So no secret eel service

I usually use him as a flanker first... he is great attacking and clearing a flank on his own. That way, he has not enough opposition to outright kill him, and a following model (Spider, Soulstone Miner, something...) can roam there free and scheme. Also, Howard can usually by turn two to four return to the center and attack there, or attack the backfield and in sum kill things above his soulstone costs. The other way to use him is as a counter attacker. Hold him safe at first, activate him late and charge whatever was foolish enough to attack your front line. That way you usually don't lose him in a counterattack and he can strike again before he dies. But, just to be clear: He will die, eventually. He has a gigantic "Hit me"-Sign with him, at all times, and he will die when you use him. You just have to make sure he does enough damage bofore that happens.

Because I know you own Johan, at first just the Ramos box is fine. Ramos with his upgrades, Brass Arachnid, Joss, Howard, Johan, a Steam Arachnid... sprinkled with Bleeding Edge Tech and a large dose of Imbued Energies, and you have a list. The single Arachnid is only there to die and be replaced with more arachnids. For later you can think about more stuff... Soulstone miners, Mobile Toolkit, Electrical Creation, Large Arachnids, Arcane Emissary, Mechanical Rider (order is random) are all things that I have played with him. More Arachnids are advised at some point, because maybe you also want to have swarms. If you want more advice, we actually see each other in November, I think, at the Evolution tournament in Bremen

Having in mind that I don't know the opponents faction, here are some suggestions: First of, I have run Sandeep with Arcane Reservoir and Seize the day. The positive flip on initiative often screws with your opponent, even more so when they have the Doppleganger or Trixie with them, as it heavily favors you in initiative (or has the chance of pulling a realy high card from their hand). That said, I have recently figured out Enlightened soul, and while it means that Sandeep cannot teleport, Incorporeal on Howard or Joss or the duett is mean. Another one to think about, especially in this scenario, is Unaligned sage. Having Oxfordian mages not randomize is great, and kills things really dead really fast. Just imagine: some whatnot activates, pulls Sandeep to him, has a tomes as card for that, Sandeep gets an action and casts The Sight beyond. Then all mages can just kill it. Everything that wants to kill Sandeep has to go in his aura, and killing him through Arcane Shield and ItW is not easy. The second suggestion is the Emissary. With Sandeep, he can have a 1-cost Upgrade, which counts for Show of Force, and may or may not be Imbued Energies (which is my staple when I run him with Sandeep). Also, you could think about Cassandra or Angelica. Cassandra especially can copy both the cast actions from Sandeep and the Emissary, for double cover ignoring fun And, on top of that, Practised production plus a summoned gamin or a hired Raptor or whatnot can easily score you Leave your mark. I have run three mages with Sandeep, and they are a lot of fun. But they tend to struggle against a lot of fast melee (in close deployment, almost all melee models can be considered fast), as you can't consistently hold them out of engagements, and only one of them wants to be there. Hope this helps

I have played against Paralyse-Pandora a fair share of times, although mostly with Arcanists. The gameplan there was to paralyse my master (Ramos, mostly) most of the time, as this really hurts my crew. If he does that to Shen Long, I would just say "Fine, do it, I don't care" and go on with my turn, as he has just given up his best activation plus a lot of resources to take my masters activation. That said, it is important to know the limitations of that tactic. He needs the paralyse (1)(Ca6, Rng 10P or Ca7, Rng 3M) on the model, he needs a high enough crow and ideally he needs incite on the model as well. Incite is a (0)(Wp7, Rng 12) with a trigger on Tomes to do it again. First thing to realize ist that your enemy has only one try to get incite on the target (plus Iggy, but lets stay at Pandora here). Deny that, and you deny almost the whole thing, as your model may be paralysed, but you can remove it, and Pandora may not be in range to paralyse anyway as there is no push. Second, the range paralyse is Ca6, and has a projectile, so cover counts. So, against Pandora, always have your important models in cover! That way, Pandora has either to focus, or to invest a soulstone to have even a chance to paralyse almost anything, and that is before the potential soulstone for the crow. Having a model in melee with Pandora means she can't paralyse in range and having the target in melee means she has to randomize. When Pandora get in melee, her only way out is either incite or getting attacked. She has a lot easier time paralysing targets that way, but she is vulnerable. One trick is to surround her before attacking her, so she can't get away, and then focussing her down. Do this once or twice, to keep your opponent on their toes, but usually it is too recource intensive to do. I have gotten better results with ignoring her altogether and focussing her crew. Keeping that limitations in mind, she should never paralyse more than one or two models, and most of the time, that is fine. I really like the High River Style trick, preventing the incite or the one to two attempts to paralyse completely. Keep in mind, paralysed activations are activations, so you should still outactivate the elite neverborn crew. Using this to your advantage is the tricky part

I've tried them with Sandeep and found them quite good. With Imbued Energies and the (0) place effect, they have some crazy thread ranges and angles, and with the free focus and triggers they can dish out some good damage. They are not as sturdy as some of our other options, but they are reasonably hard to kill (haha). I liked them. I'm looking forward to trying them with Ironsides, I think they will be beastly with her. Don't give too much emphasis on the (0) in my oppinion, it is a nice bonus, but no reason to field them.

Yep, ran that too, Sandeep with Emissary is awesome. Having your Emissary put out essentially 4 AP plus one of his great (0) Actions (2 AP of his own, 1 for another model, one of those being Sandeeps Action, and then 1 AP for Sandeep), all without Sandeep losing his Arcane Shield, is a sight to behold. Even better when Sandeeps Action is summoning Banasuve tying up some of the opponents models in the process.

I played it once with reasonable success and had the upgrade on Sensei Yu, a model I didn't have to commit anyway. He usually has one upgrade slot free...

An Audience with the queen is non-Leader. I don't know if I misinterpreted, but as I read it, you used it on Asami, which is not allowed. But good to read that she can work, and seems quite fun