Commisarp

Yes, there are two different crews. Pandora with "The Box Opens" and all her thematic stuff aims to get most of it's damage by forcing willpower duels and pinging of Misery. The list I posted above. Or, you can take Pandora with voice and depression; and then just take the strongest stuff from Neverborn. Pandora paralyzes stuff while the rest of the crew goes to work. Nekima Mr Graves Doppleganger Primordial Magic etc They are both very different crews, and they are both very strong. But if you try and mix them up, then you will have problems. Rasputina is a hard counter to both crews though :'(

I like: Pandora with: The Box Opens, Fears Given Form & Aether Connection 2x Sorrows Insidious Madness Widow Weaver Lust Candy Leaves you with five points which you can spend depending on schemes and strats, good options are: Another Madness if you need a second scheme runner Fugue State instead of Aether connection if you nee to shut down interaction Best Behaviour and or Fears Given form on candy if you have body guard or simmilar. Primordial Magic

My swag arrived today via Royal Mail. FedEx Tracker still says it is in Milton Keynes. So for international deliveries it looks like your waiting for Domestic Post.

Yeah, the "hand off to Domestic Post at point of entry" is a thing which happens, depending on the level of service the merchant has actually opted for. (and often results in the tracking number change). One of the things which really annoys me about the world; and this is not me having a go at Wyrd, all internet shops are like this. But it aggravates me that the merchant is the customer of the delivery firm, and gets to decide what options to take up. A lot of these carriers have very granular options that they offer, and are very clear what is included in a given service, timescales, weekend delivery, hand off to domestic post for final leg... that sort of thing. A menu of options for different prices, but 99% of online business keep you in the dark about exactly what the deal is. I have just checked mine, apparently it has landed in the UK after spending about a week in Newark NJ.

Mine is also stuck in Newark NJ. Google tells me that Newark Airport is were FedEx have a massive transport hub. So it makes sense our stuff would get stuck there for a while. I'ts the likely exit point from the USA so it's where customs checks and stuff will take place. Also, I don't know if I have had this with FedEx, but I have had orders from other parcel companies were your packet actually gets a new tracking number when it goes overseas, often the only way to get this number is to contact the carrier's customer services.

Oh, absolutely, Illuminated are rules wise one of the best minions in Malifaux. But they are also are some of the worst plastic models, as they were the earliest made and they only come in a big crew box with another master. But yeah, if your focus is winning games chrys gives good advice. I'll admit to being mostly a painter (though not very good at it) and I like to have a good looking thematic crew, and I tend to think new players like to use the stuff that seems like it goes with the master they have picked. I would say to try things out, like the grow list, and not just rely on received wisdom myself. Young Nephalim arn't terrible. I mean, they can fly, which is still kind of nice, depending on the table.

Assuming you have the crew box, you can go a couple of ways. Waldgeist are excellent, especially if you take the Beckon Malifaux upgrade on Lilith (and you probably should) The Nephilim box is a solid addition also. They are good models in there own right, and also let you try a grow list (using the rapid growth list to evolve your terror tots into bigger Nephilim) to see if that is something you would like. A Budget list for Lilith might be something like: Lilith with Bekon Malifaux Cherub Barbaros with Nephilim Gladiatus 2x Waldgeists 2x Young Nephilim 2x Terror Tot If you have a bit more cash money, I think the starter box is a very good investment (especially if you can split it with a Guild playing friend) because I really like Angel Eyes with lilith, and the Bloodwreches are good. And it's a really good way to learn the game if you are just starting out. You'll eventually want to pick up Primordial Magic. You can't use him in the same crew as your Cherub but most people agree he's far better. Nekima is probably the best beater in Malifaux. A list I like to bring, is: Lilith with Beckon Malifaux and On Wings of Darkness. Primordial Magic Nekima with The True Mother Angel Eyes with Rapid Growth 2x Waldgeist 2x Terror Tot But, if you try that list your going to need the two young nephalim and single mature nephalim on the side of the table so you can grow them. The spare soulstone you can keep in the Cache, you can put Aether Connection on Lilith if assassination is in the pool Or you can buy strange Alliances for Angel Eyes if you have bodyguard. Of course, lots of people think grow list's arn't that good and would encourage you to do something else, it's one of those... when it works, it's hellerious, and when it doesn't work you can sort of get tunnel vision and spend the entire game trying to grow your dudes instead of scoring other points. Oh, one other model you want to branch out into when you start adapting your crew to fit the schemes and strategies would be the Doppleganger. Shes gold in things with scheme markers, (and pretty good without) So, if you don't want to try your luck with the grow list, you might try: Lilith with Beckon Malifaux and On Wings of Darkness. Primordial Magic Nekima Doppleganger Young Nephilim 2x Waldgeist 2x Terror Tot Edit: A good thing about this list is you can tweak exact numbers of Young Nephilim and Waldgeists depending on the scenario because they have the same cost, and you will have some spare.

My suggestion for twisted alternatives: Mr Graves and Sgt Dashel as Tweedledum and Tweedledee. They kind of look the same. I always wondered if this was vaguely intended because Graves is a Mimic after all. Bonus: You could actually use both models together in Lucius crews. On Vaping: I don't vape myself but I see it as a good thing. It's a cleaner alternative to smoking for people who want a nicotine hit. I think people can be afraid of a 'techno fix', because they are suspicious of anything that solves a problem (ie, the life destroying impact of tobacco smoking) which is easy. Humans tend to be programmed to think that doing the right thing should be hard and involve suffering. You see a lot of these same arguments when you talk about things like climate change too...

Haven't played with Lucius cos I am still painting him up so this is all based on theory. Lot of competition for those four guild models though. I feel like you need to take a lawyer so you can more easily pass AP to Illuminated. So then you have three slots, obvious options to me seem to be Riflemen, Pathfinder (so you can summon traps for Devils Deal) and Wardens. Or a second lawyer. All of those things seem really useful, and yet you can only ever bring four. Not a big fan of Dashel (or Queeg for that matter) since it seems like you want as many Minions as you can bring. Even though both of those do have synergy. In terms of things to take from Neverborn. Illuminated are an absolute must have. No models yet, but I think both corrupted hounds and changeling's should be good with Lucius.

What's the issue with Angel Eyes? She seems really good to me :/

I have been wondering lately about what Mercs are useful to have in your bag if you are playing neverborn. I'm looking at this from more a 'models it is usefull to buy to slot into Neverborn Crews' angle, rather then coming up with specific lists. These are my thoughts so far... Johan/Johanna Everyone goes on about how useful Johan is in any crew all the time forever. I get it, condition removal is good. McTavish Good synergy with other Swamp-fiends, can carry Hexed Among you. Good shooting, and Zorida can hire him without merc tax. Performers These seem quite handy, and if you play Collodi, you can use the Mannequins as well. Hans I read a lot of folks saying 'take hans for shooting as we lack shooting' but I don't know if that information pre-dates Angel Eyes. Angel Eyes is already very good. A good friend of mine keeps trying to convince me to Run Angel Eyes AND Hans AND McTavish with Zorida for fun times. Taelor She pops up as a suggestion quite a lot. Strong model against summoners. Bishop Looks like he could see some play with Pandora. Convict Gunslinger If you needed to add yet more ranged? I have a Friend who swears by these. Sue Again, looks like he could be usefull. Also literally Johnny Cash. Lazarus I hear this guy could be good with Collodi. Crossroads Seven Loads of really good options, in a really cool box. But, I'm quite new to Malifaux. Are there any of these you reckon I will buy and then never ever play in anger with because they are just not that good. Are there any mercs that you think are awesome in neverborn, and that I have definately missed a trick?

Hmm, I would have taught that was a big difference between competitive and casual play though. In that, if you play in a casual setting you probably play against the same players who you know well so you want to have a big pool of models, so when you declare your faction your buddy doesn't know what you tend to bring, and can't therefore tailor his list to beat you. Weras in a tournament setting your opponent wont know which is 'your' neverborn master.

Yeah, I get the feeling that I have sort of zeroed in on some quite good (or perhaps just easy to understand) pieces. I'll look into using Mr Graves. Also into picking up a Johanna. Hard model to find, and regular plastic Johan is just a bit.... dumb looking to my tastes. My main issue is my opportunity and apatite for building and painting far outstrips my opportunities for playing. So i'm going to end up owing lots of stuff before I really know what to do with it - but options are good.

So, I just got back into Malifaux after a few years away, having previously played in M1E. I have about 5 games of M2E under my belt now. I'm also steadily filling in the gaps in the Neverborn range, I had quite a lot of the old metals - and the ones I didn't like in metal seem to have good plastics. My first master was Lilith, who is very good. (Or I think so) and my issue is, even though I enjoy collecting and painting the other models (and masters!), I seem to always fall back on a core few when it comes to playing the game. I find it hard to run a list that doesn't look something like this: Lilith Beckon Malifaux On Wings of Darkness. Primordial Magic Nikima Angel Eyes and then a few other things usually chosen from a very small subset of models: Terror Tot (if I need scheme runners or I fancy doing grow shennagins with Rapid Growth on Angel Eyes and True Mother on Nekima) Doppleganger (With the ignore armour upgrade) Mysterious Effegy Waldgiest's (If It's reckoning and I just need stuff that wont die) Bloodwreaches (If I have 5SS) Sometimes I'll take cherub instead of Primordial if Distract is in the pool. But that's about it.... so my question to you good people is, what strategies and schemes would occasion you to look at other masters and other models? And, how do you get over the (what I imagine must be a common frustration) problem of knowing what stuff does so feeling like you will do better with, even if some stuff you are more familiar with might be more optimal. Oh, and for what it's worth, my most common opponent is my Arcanist playing wife, who also has or is collecting the entire faction, and we play the standard scenarios. I have looked at Gaining Grounds, is it much better? Getting the deck shipped over from America seems like a hassle.

Wyrd have always had a lot of limited edition and hard to get miniatures compared to other companies. Whether it's the stickered boxes with bonus models in, or the models only available for the Black Friday/Easter/Gencon sales or the mystery boxes. I don't understand how, if you're happy with how they distributed say, Johanna, you can be particularly depressed at how they are distributing the vintage range. For a lot of people it's going to boil down to the same thing, spending over the odds on Ebay. Some people can't get to tournaments, some people can't justify buying a box they don't need to get a limited edition miniature inside, some people don't have $1/2/300 to drop during a sale, ebay is the great leveler. I don't like it when goods have false scarcity, because it brings out the worst in some people, who will find ways to get mystery boxes, and flip them on ebay. Ebay is a thing which exists, and any decision to produce limited edition models has to be mindful of that context. - But my point is, this is not new ground for Wyrd. This is obviously something they are comfortable with. All that said, I don't get the hubbub. The metal versions of most of these sculpt's can still be picked up on the secondary market for non-outrageous sums of money. I don't think being plastic adds much of value to an otherwise similar sculpt. I mean, some models it inevitably would make a difference to. Give me a plastic version of classic metal Nikima, I think you probably have yourself a licence to print money.