Wolfpact

My 'meta' is too tiny to be worth calling it that - three players.

FWIW, one plays Guild (Perdita), one is Gremlins (Som'er and Zipp, with designs on Ophelia), and I myself am Neverborn-and-sorta-10T/Outcasts (Lynch, Pandora, Parker, definite plans for VS).

That said,I have designs on a couple new converts in my extended gaming family (one of whom was fancying Arcanists on first impression).

Despite Lynch's dual-status, none of us has any designs on 10T, so anyone under that label would be likely to remain the 'rarest'?

Lynch all the way.

I can't speak for him via 10T, but he was my literal first master as Neverborn.

If you're already planning on Beckoners and you already have Graves?  You nearly have the entirety of Lynch's thematic buddies already. Plus with a Doppelganger, you're set with not only 50ss (with Upgrades and a full cache), you can trade out Beckoners and Illuminated to match whether you need more brute force or more guile, with a stone to use on various Upgrades.

Heh, another thing is yeah, 'Born and Outcasts seem(to my uneducated inexperience) to actually cover each others' weak spots a bit - when I need range and schemes, Outcasts; when I need melee brutality and control, put on the mask.

I really like Levi's aesthetic but am holding off n him for now, to let his errata have a chance to get updated - and as said, I have a fine collection of killers at the time.

Hamelin does intrigue me, heard he's a really great controller, but he and Levi I hear are both remarkably cost-intensive to get started up, and I moved to Outcasts in part to go with less-vicious, less NPE masters - I have two regular opponents (the nephews) who all started with me, and both were not having a great time playing Pan or Lynch, so sheer nastiness is not a high priority for me.

(And if I'm being perfectly honest, the biggest love I have for the Outcasts is their aesthetic. Weird West Body Horror Dieselpunk Samurai Cowboys with shades of both Poe and Barker? )

Oops! Corrected that. Having your teeth out will leave a soul a mite prone to mistypes

And yeah, I've heard VS and the 'Korps are the kings of take and hold due to healing and durability.

So, I am officially in love with playing Parker, and though my black heart still has fondness for the Neverborn I find I'm in a pretty good place with them collection-wise (for the record: Pandora's box, Lynch's Box, Beckoners, Teddy, Doppelganger) with no Masters or figures really calling out to me, and have begun to plot what to pick up when the Black Friday sale hits. 

* * *

My Current Outcast Roster

- Parker Barrows

- Doc Mitchell

- Mad Dog Brackett

- Sue

- Johan

- Big Jake

- Bandido (x3)

* * *

I know for a fact I'll be ordering Von Schill's Hired Guns box set, both for flavor and the fact I see nothing but praise for both the Trapper and the Librarian - and though I see their reception less universally warm, I really do like Von Schill himself and the look of the Specialist.  On that angle, I'm also strongly considering Lazarus - because he seems immensely fun and useful, looks like a great deal of entertainment to build and pose, and again I love his flavor.

And let it be said, if by some fortune the Dead Outlaws are available, I'm definitely snatching them up; I've also had the HodgepodgeEffigy come highly recommended for Parker.

Moving onto the less-certain things, for one I'd like thoughts and feedback on the Viktorias' Hired Swords. I already have a good few melee scrappers and killers - Teddy, the Illuminated, Brawler Pandora herself, Lynch with his nuking potential; that said Ronin look like they'd be really useful for Parker, and the Student of Conflict can be a Merc totem for other Masters; not sure if the box itself is really what I need right now or if just picking up a box of Ronin separately might be better?

And here's the interesting one - Tara and her Herald of Obliteration box and thematic additions. I've seen it said that Tara is a bit on the weak side,and that she's overly complicated - but the fact I started Outcasts with Parker probably makes it plain that I have a slight complexity addiction and love a lot of sideways options and shenanigans. Still, is she weak? I confess I might actually run her more in Resurrectionist than Outcast so as to use The Forgotten Marshal, and that honestly a part of the draw to her is that I'm a huge lover of all things Weird West and thus love the look and feel of the Death Marshals but otherwise have little to no real interest in playing Guild; I've heard it said that Void Wretches are some of the premiere scheme-runners for us as Outcasts?

Though only sort of partly Outcasts, I've always been interested in the Crossroads Seven - and since they play well with Jack Daw and his Guilty as Charged set and I hear Envy in particular is really great with Parker both those intrigue me as well.

Plus I'm sure I probably overlooked something or someone else highly notable; after putting aside for all four of the books and shipping I'm probably looking a ta budget somewhere in the $150 USD range, so.. advise me please, more experienced Outcasts!

Glad to hear the Outlaws are so nice.  Really looking forward to them...

In many games I dislike cuddles to much of anything, because of the exact sort of thing discussed - one happens and then every person with a pet grievance thinks now it's their time to shine and have their hated archenemy model/power/class/etc. punished for offending them.

I'm way too new to state any real crunchy thoughts on the game's balance, but seeing a company take a slow, measured approach to balance and only cuddle when things make it seem an absolute necessity is one more of the reasons I've become so fond of this game and company.

No. Henchmen and masters only.

As the Mate is a Swampfiend, he has some minor synergy with McTavish I'd think, holding targets in melee while McT snipes.

...I'm confused... I thought as a general rule the Neverborn opposed the Tyrants?

And honestly, though they do some awful things, from my (limited) lore understanding the Neverborn aren't exactly unjustified in taking umbrage with humanity invading, after what they've suffered through.

(That could be my bias as a lover of the faction, but that sad history was a draw in the first place. Unless the lore shifted from the 1E stories, Vik and the Doppelganger, etc.?)

That'd be my angle to push - that the 'Born are inhuman but definitely (with a few exceptions) are not thinking of themselves as evil or doing awful things for no point but 'the evulz'. A band of dark heroes, nobly fighting to repel the invasive thieves and tyrants from another dimension who have set out to steal away a home they've suffered dearly to free from the tyranny of mad demon-god-kings...

His style says 'Lilith' for me, but really I'd love to have Pandora or Lynch just as much. Tara also looks like a good fit, to his style.

A lot of Jakob's power is in his upgrades. Woke Up With A Hand and Wanna See A Trick are almost mandatory to my opinion, then attach Addict to Huggy. That would be four Stones used... but thenyou might want to consider a bigger cache (Lynch's is puny to start) and fit at least one Beckoner; here's how I'd rig things personally while letting you keep as much of the models chosen as possible:

Neverborn
50ss Crew

Jakob Lynch -- 6ss
 +Wanna See A Trick - 1ss
 +Woke Up With A Hand - 2ss
 +The Rising Sun - 2ss

Hungering Darkness - 0ss
 +Addict - 1ss

Beckoner - 7ss

Bloodwretch - 5ss

Bloodwretch - 5ss

The Depleted - 4ss

The Depleted - 4ss

The Illuminated - 7ss

The Illuminated - 7ss

Battle Report - Outcasts (The Barrows Gang) versus Gremlins (The Sky Pirates)
Standard Encounter
Strategy: Turf War
Schemes: Assassinate, Bodyguard
Deployment: Corner
Pool:  48 Soulstones

The Barrows Gang
Cache:  4ss
* Parker Barrows
- Coordinated Heist [2ss]
* Mad Dog Brackett [9ss] (Bodyguard)
* Doc Mitchell [3ss]
* Sue [8ss]
* Johan [6ss]
* Big Jake [5ss]
* "Fan the Hammer Fillion" (Bandido) [5ss]
* "Scarface Sally" Torres (Bandido) [5ss]
* "Bushwhacker Bonnie" Clyde (Bandido) [5ss]

The Sky Pirates
Cache: 7ss
* Zipp
- The Gift of Gab [1ss]
- Hovering Airship [1ss]
- Rambling Diatribe [1ss]
* The First Mate [9ss] (Bodyguard)
- Where the Captain Can't See [1ss]
* Earl Burns [3ss]
* Iron Skeeter 1[6ss]
-  Poorly Handed Explosives [0ss]
* Iron Skeeter 2 [6ss]
- Treasure Map [0ss]
* Iron Skeeter 3 [6ss]
- Airship Spotlight [0ss]
* Stumpy (Bayou Gremlin) [3ss]
* El Kabong (Bayou Gremlin) [3ss]
* Beauregard Buckets (Slop Hauler) [5ss]

---

Lured by promise of treasure, two crews of roguish ruffians drew down in the North Hills outside Malifaux City. At stake, a small graveyard, long abandoned  and haunted by a solemn statue at its heart - and buried in one of those graves? A small fortune of soulstones hidden awayin the time of the First Breach.

Someone cue the dramatic music on the Aethervox....

---

At home in the North Hills, the Barrows Gang moved to claim the cemetery for themselves, seizing the Initiative and Scouting the Field to take up advanced positions in the wooded rubble surrounding the small burial ground. The wandering balladeer named Sue moved forward, hat  tipped low....

MEANWHILE ABOARD THE AIRSHIP INFAMY!

Captain Zipp and his crew came in for a landing, not yet aware they were not alone. Rocketing downward to the cemetery, he was caught in an ambush by 'Bushwhacker Bonnie" Clyde, the ruthless robber diving out of concealment in the woods and taking a practiced shot at the green menace before diving back into cover; as one of the Iron Skeeters flew in to support their Captain, "Scarface Sally" Torres joined her sister-in-arms, rolling out of the treeline and pausing only to fire a skillful shot at Zipp. As another Skeeter swooped down from the sky, "Fan the Hammer" Fillion focused and fired on it, and Parker Barrows decided enough was enough - twirling his Colliers he unleashed a hail of bullets into the air to cover his people  from any attacks by these sky pirates. The rest of the two now-warring gangs pushed forward, the First Mate leaping and scurrying to croak menacingly but fruitlessly at the lurking bandits and the far-less-mobile gremlins and outcasts loping forward at a slower pace.

The small graveyard soon became a warzone. Zipp seized Bonnie and rocketed her up into the sky, throwing her out of the cemetery's walls to land with a vicious thud, then opened fire wildly to no avail; Sue took aim and fired a telling shot that wounded the Sky Pirate captain and made him realize that he may have let his ego overwhelm his common sense - but by then he was hemmed in. Parker Barrows grinned and took aim at the scrap between Zipp, Bonnie, and one of the three Skeeters, Bonnie ducking as her boss's bullets struck home , before quickly sliding out of the knot of opponents at the graveyards' center. Parker fired again, only grazing one of the Skeeters but severing a satchel strap and causing a very dangerous bit of payload to fall to the ground... right in time for Parker to improvise as only he could and take aim at the crate of explosives... a loud, thunderous explosion rocked the cemetery,  wounding Zipp yet again but causing two of his Skeeters to go up in explosions of fire and scrap. The Bandidos and the Bayou Gremlins traded volleys and increasingly-serious injuries and the First Mate dove in to duel with both Johan and Big Jake; the surviving Skeeter dueled in close-quarters with Mad Dog Brackett on the outskirts; Sue focused and fired at Zipp but the canny Captain evaded and rocketed away to seek the solace of slung slop.

Healed and rallying, Zipp seized the initiative and flew back into battle, commanding the crew to Drop the Pianos in a  bombastic barrage  - but lacking pianos, they instead hurled a great chest of scrip overboard to the Captain's horror - and soon to Parker's as the heavy payroll chest crashed crushingly down upon him with the force of furious, bloody-red Fate. Groaning and taking only small solace in the fistful of scrip he shoved into his pockets as he rose to pursue, Parker brought another dropped charge of dynamite to a ballistic climax  - but this time for naught. The First Mate was severely struck by Johan's hammer and soon leapt away to safety . Drunk and despondent, Doc Mitchell pulled a flintlock to shoot at the fleeing, nearly-dead Zipp.. but Parker gunned the old man down for his temerity. With Mad Dog still struggling, Johan charged forward and sunders the last Skeeter with a severe strike of his hammer, the machine falling to earth and erupting, leaving both the Barrows Gang members smoldering as they walked away with no care for the explosion behind them. Unfortunately for Zipp, he finds out the Man has Come Around, and Sue cuts him down. Earl lashes out at Parker and bashes at the outlawbrusingly with his wrench before being gunned down for his trouble, and soon the stump-legged sharpshooter loses a duel to a badly-battered Bonnie Clyde and the First Mate becomes material for a new pair of boots at the buckshot of Mad Dog's shotgun. Scarface Sally shoots down the banjo-bashing lunatic El Kabong, and as the smoke clears it leaves only one green soul left standing. Some are born to greatness, some achieve greatness...and some have greatness forced upon them.... some, such as the humble slop-hauler Beauregard Buckets.

As the Bandits drew in, Buckets steeled his resolve in the face of a battle already plainly lost. The bandits shot at him, hemmed in his escape and threw dynamite at his feet with the demand to put his hands in the air! Facing the end, Beauregard Buckets did the only thing he could as the charges exploded athis feet and he deftly dodged death: He hurled scalding, noxious slop at his tormenters' leader... and the heat and fumes and filth laid low not only the battered Parker Barrows but Bonnie Clyde behind him. Cursing as their Boss fell to flung foulness, the Bandits opened fire with all they had - but Fate favored Beauregard Buckets - the Gremlin Who Survived.

He may have lost the battle, and his new employer, and a pound or two of flesh besides... but he had a story to tell, and though swift use of Stones would save Parker Barrows and Bonnie Clyde, neither they nor any of the other Barrows Gang would ever forget that day , the day the Boss was bested by Beauregard Buckets!

---

Scorecard!
Turn 1 : Outcasts 0 - Gremlins 0
Turn 2: Outcasts 1 - Gremlins 1 (+1 Strategy / +1 Strategy)
Turn 3 : Outcasts 2 - Gremlins 2 (+1 Strategy / +1 Strategy)
Turn 4: Outcasts 7 - Gremlins 3 (+1 Strategy, +3 Assassinate, +1 Bodyguard  / +1 Bodyguard)
Turn 5: Outcasts 10 - Gremlins 3 (+1Strategy, +2 Bodyguard / +0)
Turn 6: Outcasts 10 - Gremlins 5 (+0 / +2 Assassinate)

Final Score:

OUTCASTS:  10

GREMLINS: 5

4 hours ago, Bazlord_Prime said:

Choosing the coolest or whatever Master is one way to go, but I think that - if you're a cheap bugger like me - once you find the Master that makes you think "Awesome!", check out the rest of her/his faction to see whether there's anything else in there that you like.  The tournament structure in Malifaux (as I'm sure you know), is that you turn up with your chosen Faction and then you pick which crew to take once you've seen your opponent's Faction, and the Strat & Schemes.  This means that you'll want to have a couple of Masters to choose from within that Faction, as well as a decent pool of models.

Now, maybe you never intend to play tournaments, and that's fine, but the take-away idea is that there are lots of synergies between models within a given Faction, and one particular model may work awesomely and in a different way, with a different Master.  There's also lots of synergies that cut across Factions as well, but don't fret that one right now.

The real problem, is knowing where to stop...  ;-)  I've got the Gremlin Master, Som'er Teeth Jones, and I also want Wong, Zoraida and The Brewmaster.  I'll probably end up getting the Ophelia and Mah Tucket crew boxes just for a couple of the models they contain (Rami and Trixiebell), and by that stage the only Masters I WON'T have bought will be Ulix!! (Oh - and now also Zipp).  Nuts.  Then there's the fact that Zoraida is also Neverborn, and Brewie is also Ten Thunders, and all of a sudden you have footholds inside those Factions as well!  It's insidious madness...  ;-)

Oh I know. I started 'Born. Had to diversify a bit because my regular opponents were about to rage over Pandora and Lynch. (My Born setup is those two's boxes plus a Ganger, a Teddy, and Beckoners; I intend to expand after a bit).

Being honest, that's why I didn't end up starting with Seamus-loved him since I first looked into the game, but was mostly lukewarm on the other Ressers overall, whereas I've got interest in almsot all of the 'Born. Ditto 'Tina and the Arcanists.

Only faction-hopped to get a good shooter and because I'm a total sucker for Westerns, and Parker fed that combination handily.

But tournaments.. eh, less a lack of desire more a lack of any available.

Interestingly enough, I found the Iron Skeeters less a pain than Som's pair.

I posed them onto the base and glued their legs to the edges. They work that way too, but again, the Irons were less frustrating.

And I'll second a recommendation for McTavish.

My only thought might be to apply some grime or blood at her feet and legs, to balance torso and arm.

Beyond that, I got nuthin'. This is gorgeous, especially those wings.

My first Master was Lynch - though admittedly, as 'Born.

A lot of his potency is in his personal upgrades, and he has a lot of subtleties.

..or he just flat-out erases things with damage that ignores threshold of success - tie or better and things die.

And Illuminated are just absurdly good bruisers.

Order #9355 shipped, received, and partially assembled!

4 hours ago, Omenbringer said:

I might also throw the man with the biggest hat in to the ring. Som'er can be a very tricksy Master/ crew given his versatility. While a "go ahead and destroy everything you find" approach can work with him you are generally better served by playing a bit more cerebrally. He brings a lot of options and can be played in a staggering number of ways. I would argue that only a very small handful of Masters (perhaps 3 or 4) are as versatile as he is; and win or lose he has always been fun and engaging to play (this is why I have stuck with him for close to 7 years now).

My primary opponent plays Som'er. I can vouch he's a lot of fun and can do quite a lot competently. You just have to be ready to roll with the chaos, as there will be a lot of it - if you like an ordered, disciplined, predictable performance.. you ought not play Grems. If you're in it for seatof-your-pants trickery and memorable moments - so many memorable stories happen when Som'er and Crew get involved - then yes, he'sa great choice.

Noooooot fun to assemble,however. At all.

Honestly, do what I did - review all of the Masters until you find one that just screams 'damn, that's cool.'

Pick that one.

30 minutes ago, drafterman said:

Where did they get the info on the other models' abilities and upgrades? All I've seen is Sandeep's card.

The book is in the wild, for GenCon attendees at least.

6 hours ago, Mason said:

When I was writing Parker, the theme music was "Bury Me With My Guns On" by Bobaflex.

From what(admittedly little) I know of his story, I do hear a lot of lyrical resonance!

I'd be all over a Russian allegiance. The current two are nice but neither really speaks to me, but possibilities like Rasputin or Baba Yaga amidst other bits of Tsarist era Russia really seem fertile as a source.

No one mentioning Pandora?

So much tricksy.