Wolfpact

I'll further a recommendation for A Fistful of Scrip

Two of the Bandidos are female, and they are a very solid minion I love more with each game I play with them - and Parker (I'm told) likes Ronin...

Also Sue, and Johan(a) are solid.

I do like having the Outcasts for similar purposes - they provide ranged firepower and scheming potential when dirty tricks and sheer viciousness aren't what I'm needing.

My only regular opponent is a true-green diehard one-faction loyalist with Grems though, so I can see how yeah, they might do similar.

@EnternalVoid He was considering Ophelia as his next Master and to add more elite options, so that's in the future (he in truth has, only partly-joking, suggested his intent to own everything in Gremlins). And he only has the four Bayous so far, yes. And all either of us do currently are friendly games. We're possibly the only players in the area (which is fairly remote), but hey, a scene has to start somewhere and I spread the Gospel of the Breach heavily.

I'll be honest, I kinda consider Candy a bit hit or miss (but love her model, too )

And hey, though I hear she's not the highest-tier, you can always use Zoraida as either Grem or 'Born!

Glad to help!

As a caveat, I'm a newer player, and my 'Born pool is not that deep. But I started as 'Born and play both Jakob Lynch and Pandora,and since no one more-qualified has chimed in yet...

Some might argue,but my view of the 'Born is that they're the thinking player's faction. You can brute-force them, relying on speed, stupefying damage, and shock trooper tactics but they tend to reward going deeper, finding the synergies, and playing the combos.

But, I'll quote a nice forumite who advised me when I was (brand) new.

On 4/27/2016 at 2:34 PM, thebarbalag said:

Neverborn are hardly ever what they seem. While Lilith has a big sword, and can really dole out damage, she is also an amazing control Master, dictating where and when the battle takes place. Pandora is slippery and tricksy, but is also an amazing face-beating murder machine.

Neverborn also rely on layered synergies for maximum effect. Attacks targeting Wp which generate new attacks from Smell Fear, which push the target into a model with Pounce for another attack, all the while punishing the model for failing the Wp duel in the first place (for example, Pandora casts her (0) Incite at an enemy next to Teddy, and succeeds, which gets Teddy an attack from Smell Fear, Teddy hits and triggers (built in, yay!) Peek-a-boo! to push the enemy up to 4", which lands them in Ml range of Baby Kade who gets an attack from Pounce, but wait! Teddy first gets to follow the model he pushed, keeping it in engagement range so that Kade gets +2 damage, all of this happening while within 6" of Pandora and two Sorrows, and so, Misery triggers on all three, so assuming Kade's attack hits, the model is taking a minimum of 9 damage, and Pandora hasn't even spent any AP yet...). Abilities like Barbaros's Challenge, which force your opponent to take a Wp 14 duel to attack someone who isn't him when within 8", again, layered with the Misery ability of Pandora and Sorrows, or made nearly impossible by the presence of the Poltergeist with its Distraction ability. Using Waldgeists to create forests through which Lilith can charge after having used Sudden Darkness for +1 damage, or creating terrain to make hazardous for enemies when tossed about by Lilith's Transfixing Gaze. Using the Brillshaper action of an Illuminated, even when they don't need to heal to fish for Aces to fill up Lynch's hand for 52 Pick-up, or a devastating Final Debt.

Playing just about anything in Malifaux in a straightforward manner is a good way to lose. Neverborn doubly so. We're full of potential, but fraught with weaknesses, so you have to be tricky to cover the distance. Apart from a Dreamer crew, and a few tough models, like Waldgeists and the Depleted (and of course, the Illuminated, which you've got in Lynch's box) Neverborn just can't absorb casualties, and can't really take a hit. Even the very expensive Nekima folds under pressure, so the trick is to use her in such a way that you're the one applying the pressure, and not feeling it. It comes down to proper positioning, choice of target, and threat saturation, all of which you'll learn as you play...while at the same time remembering to play to your Strategy and Schemes...Malifaux is complicated, but like playing Neverborn, really rewarding for those who stick it out.

So, my nephew and I bought into Malifaux, and we've been at it since around May now. We love the game, and we know the basics of suits, flips, etc.; by now I'm comfortable with most of my Masters and while he understands the basics,he struggles a bit. So rather than buying a new Master at Black Friday time, he's decided (with my advice and guidance) to double-down and learn to be a better Som'er.

He loves Grems, and unlike myself (I dabbles and dip into both 'Born and Outcasts, and sometimes ponder other factions) he's a true green loyalist with no interest in picking up any other faction but his greenskinned little lunatics.

So, here's what he owns:

- The Bayou Boss box

- The Sky Pirates box

- McTavish

- Slop Haulers

At Black Friday he's pondering his options, but knows he wants Burt for certain,and is strongly considering Old Cranky and Sparks, but he's open to suggestions there as well.

So, with that in mind.. what are your tips, tricks, crews, and strategies  for making the most out of the Boss for a newer player, my good moonshine aficionados?

Now, two caveats: I'm new, and I'm inarguably a better player than my regular opponent, so some of this may come to outplay. But I play 'Born and he plays Gremlins (exclusively, in his case); its incredibly rare that I'm not wholly out-activated.

You have Lynch? Lynch is who I started with, and he's made life miserable for aforementioned opponents' greenskins.

Now, my usual answer for being out-activated? Kill the weak activations. If you have Lynch, I assume you have Illuminated and I know you have Huggy. Get them in range to threaten, then watch the Horror duels commence - just beware of Lenny, obviously.

Aiming for the healers is also important, always but especially against the Grems.

I confess, the idea of the Gremlins getting the Man this round amuses me to no end...

Your Lady J is just spectacular.

I love him as a model, and for his cost he's just remarkably good.

Big Jake is becoming a great favorite of mine.

Best story: Zipp airhooked him into the sky (i.e., to death) earlier in the game; on turn five Parker was pinned down escaping a building when Jake returned and one-shotted his boss' assailant with a Red Joker for damage.

"Geronimo!" seemed.. oddly appropriate.

I supplemented Parker's box with Sue, Johan, and Big Jake.

Mind you neither I nor my regular opponent are very great or even very prolific players, but from experience so far:

- Gun duels. Mad Dog busts cover wide open. Bandidos are surprisingly quick and Run'n'Gun can do wonderful things. Parker himself can hit pretty hard.

- Trash mobs. Drop a scheme marker at their feet, apply Crate of Dynamite liberally. Comedy ensues.

- SCHEMES! The Barrows Gang drops scheme markers all over the place.

- Move-the-Master. Parker is capable of a lot of travel in a turn.

As for Masters, I can't offer much. I've only played him into Zipp and Som'er, and being honest said opponent really doesn't use Som'er that well (but he is learning). Zipp/Parker matches to my experience are comically chaotic affairs due to the speed and mobility of both crews.

It seems like the Trickster can end up Tormented this week, for what that's worth.

It was at the start of the story with the Tot.

I love all of this pard, but your command of blood and liquid effects is truly stunning.... eye-popping, really.

That Hooded Rider and the Dreamer crew gives me warm 80s Saturday Morning nostalgia, and the roses on the cloaks and dusters of the Barrows Gang really sing and add flavor!

Being honest, it's a factor of budget and backbone more than anything. I love the look and feel of all three of them, but they tend to be off in their own little bubbles, especially Hamelin from what I've seen?

Its safe to say that I have future designs on all of them. Another reason to go Outcasts? Unlike the other factions I find a desire in at least some way to have all their Masters *chuckle*. 

That said, I love Levi's entire aesthetic and feel; picking up the Viks is for their box more than themselves (though I love their design).

Got to get the bases covered, right?

So, barring any surprise pre-releases or similar, I think this is my finalized list!

Quote

Hired Guns
Hired Swords
Salvage & Logistics
Ashes & Dust
Desolation Engine
Hannah
Hodgepodge Effigy
Lazarus
Vanessa
Generalist Upgrade Deck

Yes, I didn't have the Generalist deck yet, I know that it was long overdue.

I also know it's foolishly low on bodies, but the vision of a Levi/Alyce/A&D/Lazarus/Vanessa list, adding in Abominations summoned for conjuring up the 'Engine and to pad out activations gives me warm, fuzzy heavy metal feelings; sometime after the sale I suspect I'd do well to pick up an extra box of Abominations...

So, good, bad, ugly?

The look isn't there, but the mysterious past, general role in a crew, and level of badassery fits

2 hours ago, apes-ma said:

That sounds extraordinarily cool! Kind of like the Construct Council in Perdido Street Station or something!

My thoughts were something like a radical academic character who had become disillusioned with the corruption of the M&SU and the Guild and leads a ragtag group of rebels (probably with a cool freedom-fighter henchman) with no affiliation other than their own ideology. Inciting opponents minions to rebel against their master through powerful rhetoric, and inspiring their followers to fight for liberty and overthrow opressors. Or something...

Ooh, Wolfy likes this.

I'd favor Outcast/Neverborn, if only because those aremy two Factions.

And I think there is some definite room for overlap, thematically. And also precedent, what with Killjoy and with the Viks.And to an extent, even Jack Daw and his ties to the 'old magics'.

Yeah, that's my plan. Beens aving everything I can up for Black Friday, and pushing the game on my gamer relatives with a promise of assembling and painting (to my sad standard thereof).  

And it's easier than you think!

Parker is Mal, Mad Dog is Jayne, Doc is Simon, the Bandidos play in for Kaylee, Zoe, and Wash, Sue for Book. Get myself a Performer for Inara and add a Ronin for River.

I did get a Miss Fire off Black Friday but she's not assembled or unbagged- that model scares me.  If they do pre-releases beyond the Master boxes, I'd snatch up Dead Outlaws in an instant...

13 hours ago, dancater said:

Vanessa+++

Lazarus++

100% agree with both.

SAS and Lazarus are both exceptional and do different things.  You rarely take both but frequently can take one over the other to maximize results.  You do not need both, Lazarus is probably slightly more flexible simply because of (a) his range and (b) he synergises nicely with Vanessa.  But having both him and the SAS certainly won't be redundant as they do different tasks well.

The Malifaux Child is a AP saver which is cheaper than the Student.  The Student spends 2AP to grant you fast so a flexible +1AP, is a Sister which is great and can also hit pretty hard in a pinch but is 4SS insignificant which is costly.  The Child will cast a Vik buff spell thus saving said Vik an AP (so still a +1AP but with narrow fix) and costs 2SS.  Honestly I prefer the Student as its thematic but the Child is probably better value.  The Child also has uses in other Outcast lists and elsewhere in other factions.  Its simply a really cheap and super flexible model you will eventually use somewhere.

Hans gets bad press because he costs more than the Trapper and does a similar job about as well, but only mostly.  Having some other powers and being able to take upgrades is damn useful sometimes.  You want a pure sniper ranger irritating killer then budget in a Freikorps Trapper.  But Hans brings other things.  Basically like the Student vs Child debate above.  He's a solid model.

Killjoy is fun and fear inducing.  You need a couple of fast expendable(ish) models in the crew to really use him, you want him out and causing mayhem ASAP and you want him to pop out in the middle of your opponents crew to maximise the chaos and carnage.  He will usually kill his value or near it if he pops up close, the resources and disruption lost to killing him quickly also are invaluable and make him worth taking sometimes.  I'd say 70% of the time you'll get value, 10% it will be a waste, 10% you'll be a little low and 10% of the time he'll get on a cleaver and chain death roll regening his wounds and tearing up everything. He's fun and solid to take but not an auto-include/auto-win machine.

You can also save a few spare dollars and see what you feel Parker needs, I've never seen him played nor looked at his crew heavily I'm sure once you have a few games in you'll think, damn me but I could really use model 'x'....  Not to mention some future Parker based releases in the coming months.

Parker's a total blast to play, with his flexibility and pretty good speed. I'd not use him to take-and-hold much, at least not in the traditional dig-in mode - the shenanigans with Crate of Dynamite and Hail of Bullets. But while the Child's action copying could be useful there, it's hard to give up Doc for only 1 more SS given how well he can heal and the fact that his gun, while innacurate and needing clever positioning (or a doomed-anyway Doc) has actually surprised me. And Run and Gun on Bandidos is the best use I've found for crap cards when not playing Lynch.. I'll probably go down to two of them when I have more options but they've never failed to hit well above their point-cost for me. The main things I want for Parker are the Dead Outlaws; if they make that LE Performer available I will probably snag her if she's reasonable, to further my dreams of a Firefly-themed Barrows Gang....

I may get Hans even if he's redundant - my main opponent plays Gremlins, frequently Zipp, and those goggles seem useful there. Plus being honest, I like his smug look and overall design. Plus Cover is a dubious proposition with the 'Dog off his chain....

So, if I were to focus on just the Hired boxes (which I'm coming to think is indeed a good idea)....

- Hired Swords

- Hired Guns

- Hannah

- Hodgepodge Effigy

So that'd leave us, currently, at adding for certain:

- Lazarus

- Vanessa

(Both of whom I've always loved the look of as models and who work well together)

Some follow-ups, if I may?

* Is it worth having a SAS and Lazarus? At leastin the immediate timeframe?

* As for the Malifaux Child.. I may be missing somewhere here? I know he can copy Master cast actions about like a Doppelganger (which asI started 'Born I have and know how to use; I mainly switched to Outcasts because of emragerddieselpunkcowboybanditsandsue! and the fact that while I was having a grand time none of my opponents were), but I currently can't see not taking Doc with Parker, and I've heard that the Student works stupidly well with both VS and the Viks (and honestly, making Parker or Mad Dog gain Fast just feels dirty), and that VS' Junk Trunk can really put the 'Korps already stupidly-good survivability through the roof properly used (I gave the S&S podcast a listen a while back and that was called out)?

* Hans.. I hear Hans get bad press? I know he can shoot off upgrades, and I've seen Unto the Breach video bat-reps use him well? Plus he's a character and honestly, it maysound stupid but part of why I love the Outcasts is how they're so full of personality and unique characters.  I've heard a Trapper makes him redundant? Of course I've also heard how great it is to have two Trappers but given they're not sold separately...

* Killjoy, He looks fun (and the synergy with Ronin is blatant).. but 12ss is a big whack off a crew budget. Does he earn his keep?

Yeah, that's the downside.

And that's just looking at Outcasts!

Maybe hold off on Levi for now instead. Out-of-Faction, I've kinda been eyeing McMourning as he does the Horde playstyle well while backing it up with some strong beef-walls (plus thecharacter amuses me) and that'd get Nurses for Jack in the bargain. Dunno.

Damn you Wyrd, for making so much that seems so damned good!

I'm a fan of using Dora as a nasty melee assassin, backed up with Sorrows.

That said? As far as her box goes I find Candy just.. doesn't do enough to justify her cost, and her healing about requires Depression to be remotely reliable - and I'd rather put that Depression on Baby Kade.

I only have the 'Geist for a totem, but I do not generally find much use for him either.