Jinn

Given the number of discards that your crew would like to be using I would recommend swapping out Enlightened Soul for either Arcane Reservoir (and the Silent One for the Arcane Effigy) or Unaligned Sage. You should probably figure out a way to get Warding Runes on Amina Naidu and the Silent One might be almost anti-synergy with Amina's aura to give to attacks against half wound models, if you need healing there is a trigger on Sandeep's push that heals the caster 2. If you put Sandeep and the Oxfordians together you'll have a strong crew no matter what you do with the rest of the points, so just have fun with it.

Are you sure about this? The closest ruling I'm aware of (I don't have an exhaustive knowledge of the FAQ) is the clarification of Sidir's Laugh Off ability in the FAQ which states that he can be obeyed to move, even though it is an enemy action. From that I understood it to be Obey -> Declare walk action -> Move, meaning that Laugh Off doesn't work because it is your own model declaring the action. Would this also mean that if you, for example, obeyed a friendly to leave an enemy's engagement range and they declared a disengaging strike you would no longer be able to declare that enemy as the target of an obey? I hope there is a consensus against it though.

@dancater These are some really awesome ideas! I don't know if Colette can be fixed by releasing new models for her and I doubt they'd release more upgrades any time soon (I could be wrong though, new upgrades are pretty awesome, just not Colette's) so the only hope is more Errata which I don't feel is too likely. I feel like Wyrd nerfed Prompt so that she could do other things, but those things aren't very good and the new upgrades don't really give her anything useful to do either. The only model in Arcanists with Don't Mind Me are performers (which can go with many masters), none of the other Showgirls have it (not even Colette). As far as interacts go, Sandeep's crews are a lot better at them considering that 1/turn any (non-peon) model within 12" of him can interact as a (0) and either push first or do it while engaged depending on suits. As far as getting scheme markers on the board, the nerf of Practiced Production has hindered Colette more than the other Arcanists in using it for non-LYM purposes (which was obviously busted) as she somewhat relied on placing markers near her doves. With changes to condition schemes/strategies so that they apply to your own models I think that Colette will actually get weaker as one of her strengths was the ability to push a friendly model out of engagements and then (1) action to remove the condition. So, you can get Nekima to charge and then attack twice from that and then obey her to attack again (as the original two attacks were due to a Charge Action not the Obey), all for 2AP while a 3SS model does the rest of your voodoo. I've said it before in other places but I wish that the prompt nerf had left it with the same restriction as Obey actions, in that you can't target models who have attacked due to obey that activation. At least it would retain it's versatility for scheming if that was the case and it would resolve the quite common complaint of prompting Langston/Duet into attacking a bunch.

Tanuki can only give fast/reactivate to Tri-Chi models unfortunately.

To answer this question it would be good to know what crews other people in your group have been using. Some masters require a lot of support before they get off the ground and some masters are very complex to start with. Von Schill is more straightforward than some masters considering he has a decent ranged attack. If your opponents bring masters that rely heavily on positioning or scheming then they will take a while to learn. Malifaux is complex and it is possible that you have picked up on some basics before your opponents have. For example, do you find your opponents to focus on killing models when it may be better for them to try and get VP from schemes involving markers? If you want to see whether it is you or your crew winning these games then maybe you should try switching crews with your opponent for a game. This can also help you learn your own crew as you can know what you are afraid of when fighting against it.

Zoraida's obey to charge gives Nekima a 6" move, with flight. That seems far more efficient than prompt ever was. That's the thing though, with the Will O' the Wisp existing Zoraida can have full Voodoo doll and hemming capability while also, for example, placing within 15" then bewitching Langston with the obey trigger and then obeying with the charge trigger. That is a (1) action that draws you two cards when you use it, probably more when Langston activates as bewitch is not removed until the end of his next activation, and then moves a beater far out of position and then makes him attack twice. This has a 27" threat range ignoring terrain completely.

So, after playing a game against Zoraida with the new Powerful Control upgrade I find myself wondering why prompt was nerfed the way it was. I had thought that the problem with Colette that caused the nerf was that she could grant extra attacks and movement to a big beater such as Langston, but if that is the case why did they give Zoraida the ability to obey Nekima to charge? Not only this, but if YOU bring a beater like Langston against Zoraida, she can obey him to charge your models. Unlike Colette, Zoraida can obey a model to walk and then obey a second time to make them charge. And all of this is on top of Zoraida's bewitch and voodoo doll shenanigans. Bringing this back to Colette, I feel that both of the new upgrades she got are very lackluster in the face of her new power level and the general power increase of other masters. I feel that her defences have also weakened considerably with the number of damage reduction ignoring abilities now in the game. I also feel it is unlikely her situation will change with errata soon as she was nerfed relatively recently and had held a dominant position for some time. I know this post is pretty whiny, but I think discussion is one of the best ways to discern the general feeling as to whether or not a master is underpowered, in tandem with tournament reports.

I expect that trick would only work against a Misaki player once, as she has an inbuilt trigger to push 4". I'm very excited to try out the Medical Automaton though, especially in an Ironsides crew. Most models don't have a way to get around it like Misaki and as long as you have the Automaton slightly back then they should just get one attack. On another note, Getting Red Jokered? Modern engineering and science (with the support of the M&SU) has found a solution to bad luck in Malifaux, the Union Steamfitter! Reinforced Sheet Armor is the only piece of metal welded to your skin that is guaranteed to stop even the worst of Fate's tricks! Get yours today from your local M&SU branch for a low price of 6SS. (conditions (specifically, the Reinforced Sheet Armor condition) apply)

So, I've been thinking about the synergy that Anna Lovelace brings to Sandeep crews. She has a great Ca that ignores engagements and does 3/3/4 damage that becomes truly amazing if you can give her to get around cover, which Sandeep has two ways of doing now ( to attacks within 3 gamin and the tutelage upgrade) and is also a great attack for Sandeep to copy. She has Rush of Magic which is great for a summoner, and stacked on top of Arcane Reservoir which you probably have on Sandeep means that your cards should be quite good. The big synergy I think she offers though, is the ability to get around Sandeep's summon restriction of 3 upgrades on Gamin at a time. The trigger on her Ml attack buries the target (glimpse the void, so the usual TN13 Wp duel and only if nothing else is buried) which, conveniently, leaves them out of play. As the wording on Sandeep's summoning upgrade only mentions models in play this means that you can summon another gamin with the same upgrade as the buried model. I propose summoning the Banasuva using Student of All (using Kandara for the Jealous fire lord ability). You would then activate the Banasuva, copy Armour +1 from a Gamin (or more explosive demises if you think it likely he'll unbury and die this turn), throw a Ht1 model 10" up the board and then have Anna hit Banasuva with the trigger to bury. Then Sandeep is free to summon whatever models he wants, hopefully having drawn at least one 12+ and three 8+ cards with Arcane Res. and Rush of Magic (no guarantee, but this is just an ideal situation). Next turn if you manage to get a kill on a model in their crew (which Sandeep should be able to do if he invests resources) a Banasuva will pop out right where you want him, hopefully with a 3" engage and a nice Flaming Demise if he should die. Now, because of the wording on Sandeep's summoning, you can effectively summon a second model for each Gamin upgrade as long as the original is buried when you do it, as it says that you attach an upgrade that isn't on a model in play. Another obscene thing you can do with this is bury the gamin with the flip aura, summon another one, and then kill something (mobile toolkit? with Joss for scrap + Steamfitter synergy...) and have effectively a to attacks bubble. Preemptively, I'll just leave this FAQ here in case someone brings up the Rare 1 limit: 38) Some Actions/Abilities allow models to attach Upgrades during the game. Do these Actions/Abilities need to adhere to the restrictions listed on the Upgrade, or can they be attached to any model? Upgrade restrictions only affect the hiring process, and have no in game effect, so these Upgrades may be attached to any model. If there are any restrictions they will be noted in the Action or Ability’s description. It is worth noting some such Actions and Abilities bother noting “ignoring restrictions” but this is simply reminder text which was put on when there was space available.

9.

If Sandeep takes the Unaligned Sage upgrade you can hire sanctioned spell casters who have the (0) action gravity well to block enemies from moving your models.

I think The Storm upgrade on Misaki needs a nerf. It seems nearly unstoppable for your opponent in my opinion. Overall for Misaki, I think increasing the min damage on Bisento to 3 and reducing the range of the blasts from the storm to somewhere between 4" to 6", down from 12", would be a good idea. I know it's early for a nerf, and it should probably be left to see if it warrants a midyear emergency errata, but I think it is simply way too strong as it stands.

Bedside Manner on the medical automaton allows you to discard a card when a friendly model with 3 suffers damage to place them in base contact with you. So as long as the medical automaton is 2" or so (for 3 attacks) away from the charging or flurrying model you can potentially move the target out of range after the first attack. It isn't a guarantee but with some clever positioning you can make it work.

From a non-Gremlin player, pigapult looks pretty good with the Tanuki in brewmaster crews. 24"place, you drop a scheme marker when you activate and then count as two models for the strategy (which seems more effective in old pools, but ours still should work I think). I'm not very experienced with gremlins, but I saw this combo and it seemed pretty neat.

Asami is actually Cache 3.

Another potentially tanky strategy: Get scrap markers with either Joss, Steamfitters, Arachnids or The Beast Within and use them to give multiple Slate Ridge Maulers Armor +1 and Reinforced Sheet Armor. You now have Armored, Impossible to Wound, 10Wd, H2K, immune to damage from and effects models that can heal themselves and block severes/RJ that come their way. Add in a Medical Automaton that can heal them up, especially from H2K, while also moving them away from damaging charges/flurries with Bedside Manner and you've got some fun times. These strategies may not win you the game, but you get to have frustratingly unkillable models so who's the real winner? Also, it seems like the above snow storm strategy works in Henchman Hardcore, where having your leader survive is very useful. Especially when you prevent 4 damage from Sh attacks and explode for a bunch of damage if killed in melee, good luck getting assassinate unless you brought some relatively specific models (Ana Lovelace would do pretty well against it for example).

Imbued would up him to Df7 I believe. Edit: you could add killswitch for an extra 2 damage on death, although that would probably never happen. Edit 2: Okay, this probably won't be very effective, but you could hire a malifaux Raptor to make SnowStorm a beast and then put Myranda next to him to give to Df, and give Myranda Imbued Protection for Df8 as well.

For Mei Feng specifically, you should consider buying the Mechanized Porkchop. It's a gremlin model with the Foundry tag so unfortunately only Mei Feng can use it in Arcanists. It has a lot of synergy with Mei Feng.

I'd be very cautious about bringing Kaeris into Outcasts, considering her reliance on putting conditions on enemies. In a competitive setting your opponent has a pretty high chance of bringing Hamelin and A&D, who are immune to conditions. Having your master's damage output crippled against your opponent's two most important models is difficult to get around.

The absolutely tragic thing about this is that if you manage to counter the list perfectly somehow (you would have to bring pure anti blast) your opponent can use the Terracotta to switch to Stalking Bisento.

You should put A Debt to the Guild on Myranda. You get to draw a card, get +1 damage and then gain the stone back when you transform.

Both of the games I brought The Storm my list was the following: Misaki + 6SS pool - The Storm (1) - Risk & Reward (1) - Recalled Training (1) Sensei Yu (9) - Wandering River Style (2) - The Peaceful Waters (0) Chiaki (6) - Smoke Grenades (1) Katanaka Sniper (7) Charm Warder (5) Terracotta Warrior (5) Monk of Low River (4) Monk of Low River (4) It isn't a refined list and it could probably use the Kamaitachi in place of one of those Monk of Low River. Misaki works a lot better with Sensei Yu than the Shadow Emissary in my opinion, although that may change with The Storm, I don't know. Both games my opponents conceded after turn 1 (and after Misaki deleted 15SS or 16SS worth of models while seriously wounding more) so I didn't really get a chance to play schemes. The fact that you can target a low Df model means that your opponent can't really hope to stop you from blasting their crew to death. Against a Nellie crew I was able to charge Burt Jebsen with a fast Misaki at the end of T1 after popping recalled training, dealing 5+5 damage and killing him (he had recklessed) and then blast 6 damage onto Sue, 6 damage onto the Jury and then charge Sue and kill him. I actually had a slightly mediocre hand, so I missed an attack against Sue, otherwise I could have likely killed the Jury as well. My opponent conceded after I won the initiative on the next turn.

Also, if the Beast Within kills the mobile toolkit with a trigger he will drop 3 scrap markers, which is better than Joss.

I think making December Acolyte's slow an after damaging effect would tweak their strength down ever so slightly and also make them feel a bit fairer to fight against for the opponent, who could stone to block it potentially.

Going to agree with others on Misaki with The Storm; I've run it twice and both times I was able to decimate my opponents crew on turn 1 with very little risk. I don't see how an opponent could play around a fast Misaki, pushed 10" up the board with this upgrade without bringing one of the few models that block blasts. Add on the vanished condition from the charm warder and this just seems busted.