fauxreigner

Huh I did forget the child is once per turn. So one interact or potentially make two models precise. Still decent. And yes, I should have mentioned the difference between Johan removing all conditions and stalker removing one. Sometimes very good, sometimes a hindrance if you want to unparalyze the doc while leaving him poisoned for mobility. But I find I'm usually paralyze healing Francisco rather than Mcmourning himself.

Awesome! Thanks so much.

Onto another interesting merc... recently I have experimented with the Malifaux Child in my McMourning crew and so far I really like it. Has anyone else played around with this? I tried it because I realized that On The Clock gives the doc 2 very good (1)Ca actions that I rarely make the most of, because he's often too busy poisoning and stabbing people. And both of them can be used effectively by the child: he needs an 8 to get them off, which is reasonable given his plus flip, and he can use them from 10" behind your main line, which is where he probably wants to be. So now you have a 3ss insignificant model who can effectively perform two interact actions per turn, or make a bunch of people ignore armor. Of course, you have to convince yourself this is better than what the Chihuahua does. But its worth trying out at least!

Its an interesting comparison - both are good models that work well in a McMourning crew. Johan costs an extra 2ss, so we need to convince ourselves he's bringing at least 2ss extra utility to the table. The stat-lines are similar, with average Df and Wp and 1 extra Wd compared to their cost, so Johan is not standing out yet. Their condition removal is very similar, but the stalker has slightly longer range and needs a slightly lower card, so a small edge to the stalker there. Their base Ml stat and damage track are also the same once you account for the stalker's burning. So where does Johan win out? First, lets think about durability. Johan has hard to kill, which combined with his 8 wds really messes your opponent's AP efficiency in killing him, compared to the stalker. A min damage 2 model will need 3 hits to kill the stalker, vs 5 to kill Johan, whereas w min dmg 3 model will need 2 hits against the stalker vs 4 hits against Johan. So we could think of Johan as 1.67-2 times more durable than the stalker for 1.4 times the cost. Second, Ml range 3 is amazing. You can use this to further mess with your opponents AP efficiency (i.e. having to walk then hit him back), and tie up multiple models for things like interference. It also means he has a 9" charge range compared to the stalker's 7. Third, flurry is very good in a crew that can provide out-of-activation pushes. A savvy opponent would generally not charge into Johan and give him the opportunity to flurry unless they know they can kill him, so flurry doesn't often come into play. But when the doc can push Johan before he activates, you now have essentially a 7" flurry range (comes at the cost of poison, but sometimes it will be worth it). Finally, while the Ml bonus against constructs won't always come into play, if your opponent has even just one important construct in their crew, then having Johan on the table will force them to use that model slightly different than they ideally would. For me, those advantages just about make up the 2ss difference plus whatever slight advantages the stalker is bringing (mediocre ranged attack, blowing up...). For me the real game changer, which pushed Johan into my regular list, was the appearance of Debt to the Guild. It really is such a good upgrade that it is almost worth bringing models especially to put it on. Obviously this changes Johan's cost to 8 so slightly changes my arguments above. But Johan, when I use him aggressively, will often die around turn 4, so I get the stone back (although this does not make the upgrade "free" as some people like to say, because a stone in cache from the beginning of the game is better than one that shows up on turn 4). But the access to card draw, especially on a model that flurries, and the increase to min Dmg 4 for an all important turn, is just amazing. Wow that was a long answer to short question, but at least you understand my logic now!

Also I believe the Sabertooth Cerberus is missing.

I've been working with this as the core of the crew recently: McMourning - Plastic Surgery (1) - On the clock (1) Francisco (8) - Wade in (1) - Debt (1) Queeg (7) - Proimises (1) Johanna (7) - Debt (1) Nurse (5) Brutal Effigy (4) This leaves 13 stones for support models and scheme runners. For me, that pool includes Austringers, Pathfinder, Watcher, Sebastian, Chihuahua, Lawyer. Reporters are likely to become a staple, but I don't have them yet. The choices depend on strat and schemes, and most importantly the matchup. If I suspect a lot of incoming fire, then Sebastian's aura is too good to pass up. If its going to be a brawl, or I suspect a blaster, the Lawyer becomes a solid choice. Queeg and the Lawyer can make most of your crew Hard to Wound between them. If I just need to drop a bunch of markers, I will take a couple of watchers (likely switch for reporters soon).

I've been playing with the newly updated and am very impressed - its a fantastic resource. One thing my friend and I noticed was that the Oxfordian Mages are missing from the Arcanist lineup. Does anyone know how I can contact the developer to let him/her know? Thanks!

I am interested to hear back from @Hagisman as to whether he is sold on the little fella? Or at least hear some counter arguments against taking him, in order to keep this a balanced conversation. My current feeling is that if there are 4 stones available in a Perdita/LadyJ/Sonnia/McM crew then you take this guy. But I'd be interested to see an example list that is so full of other synergies/clutch models that it can't squeeze him in without losing another linchpin.

I find the amount that Perdita gets hit depends on (a) how aggressively she is played, (b) whether she has El Mayor on her. So instead of being pointless because she doesn't get hit, you can think of the healing as something that allows you to play her a little more aggressively, and occasionally put El Mayor on something else (Ryle is my favorite). Putting a wounded Perdita in "Finger on the Trigger" mode while she has "Fear not the sword" is a huge disincentive to your opponents trying to finish her off, because they are just as likely to help her heal. And, even if you do find you never need the healing, I'd argue that the card draw and having a durable scheme runner are worth the points anyway. Card draw is so rare for us, and Perdita's crew has to continually toss them away for effect. Also, you missed McMourning from the list of likely candidates, and I think he stands to benefit most of all from the Effigy, given that he slots into the Melee tank role, and has a way to splash out damage. Get yourself surrounded, then heal 3+ wounds with each cast of rancid transplant. Its pretty filthy.

For me, the Nino decision mostly comes down to the terrain - is there a perch with clear firing lanes for him? If not, an Austringer is usually better. In a family crew, he is also favored by a strat-scheme combo that forces interacts to happen in a given space (e.g. exhaust in Extraction). In terms of models specifically for strats: definitely agree with the Judge in anything that involves holding points. He is very AP-inefficient to kill, and his push can either get your models into position, or theirs out. And interference always has me reaching for the hunters. Being able to end turn on the centerline and then choose which quadrant to score in is very powerful. Guard the stash makes me more likely to take a pathfinder, as he has a nice piece of blocking cover to hide behind, while scoring and laying traps to annoy my opponent's advance.

I usually deploy the pathfinder directly behind one of the stash markers, out of site. Then he'll either double focus and summon next to this stash, or pop out and summon a little nearer the other stash marker, then pop back behind the first. This is because I'm usually playing Perdita, and having the pathfinder and trap separated provides two different "nodes" for the Nephelim to push crew towards, allowing me to better respond to what my opponent is doing. In Turf war, he's usually looking for some cover, set back a little from the marker, and then summon as far into my opponent's side of the 6" circle as possible, to box them away from the trap. I usually find that my opponents don't "deal" with the traps - there always seems to be something more critical to use AP on once Perdita or McMourning get in their face. Instead, the traps act to eat their hand as they cheat to avoid slow. McCabe is an interesting case with Pathfinders. On the one hand, he can reactivate them, meaning that you get two traps on turn 1 if you happen to be lucky enough to draw two summon cards. On the other hand, McCabe also wants the medium-numbered tomes to double his upgrade toss, so there is competition for the summon cards, which I really don't like. I guess you could hire a trap or two and just use the pathfinder to reposition them, but I'm not a fan of hiring them. Plus its hard to argue that reactivating a pathfinder in turn 1 is better than reactivating an austringer and giving them nimble - usually the difference between getting 2 focused shots turn 1, and using turn 1 just to reposition the austringer.

For guild... Francisco. It's hard to convince myself not to use him, and when I don't it's purely for variety's sake rather than a legitimate strategic reason. The combination of massive damage output plus buffing is just too good, and debt to the guild has only served to make him more autotake.

PM sent re Sandeep.

Or an ability: once per turn this model can spend a stone to add a suit to a duel. That might make him a little too powerful though. I already find him useful enough to bring in good number of games, so its hard to argue that he needs a buff (even though I wouldn't turn one down ).

Agreed, multiple pathfinders will generally be a waste. You could always take Queeg. Then, when you do get two summon cards in hand, you can get two traps. And when you don't you still have Queeg (+Promises).

Was it using rulebook schemes? I think there was a lot more utility for evidence tampering before GG2016. As far as I'm aware, now its just Search the Ruins.

I would strongly consider dropping Evidence Tampering and saving yourself some stones. In the trap build, you are going to use your zero action to move traps around, so scalpel slingin' will be wasted. I often get confused when I see people paying 2ss for that upgrade, just because I love the injection so much, and theres usually something to expunge in a pinch, even if its just to heal an extra point of damage through the effigy. I get that scalpel slingin' is good, but I won't pay 2ss for a zero that competes with two other good ones. The one exception is when Search the Ruins is in the pool, which is basically the only new scheme where the marker ability comes into play.

My current favorite Guild McMourning list is: McMourning, On the Clock, Plastic Surgery (2ss) Francisco, Wade In, Debt to the Guild (10ss) Sebastian (7ss) Brutal Effigy (4ss) Chihuahua (2ss) Austringer (6ss) Pathfinder (6ss) That leaves 13ss left to play with, which is spent on one of the following: Hunter + second austringer Nurse + Johan + Debt to the Guild (I often drop the Chihuahua here. I mostly just use him to poison up the doc, and the Nurse does it better) The pale rider

Yeah, i think two nurses is not necessary. And... yes Frank is such a cliche, but I find that he re-defines how Guild McMourning plays. At Df/Wp 7, the doc can essentially stand in the middle of your opponents crew acting as a massive AP drain while spreading poison with his knife (Sebastian is skulking 6" away). If you add the brutal effigy, then you'll usually find that your opponent cannot damage him faster than he heals up, and it can be incredibly frustrating. You can easily have him heal 8-10 wounds per turn with the Effigy on hand, if you get yourself surrounded (the synergy of Rancid Transplant, Plastic Surgery and Don't Fear the Sword is filthy). At Df/Wp 5, I 'd be nervous to play him so aggressively. Nevertheless, if you are specifically trying to leave Frank at home, more power to you! I'm also not sure that two pathfinders is useful, unless you are going to bring some traps in your base list. How often do you expect two 6+ of tomes in hand?

I agree he doesn't really have a place in Perdita or Sonnia crews. Perdita is my main master and I can count the number of times I've run him with her on one hand. And the number of times that it was a good decision on less hands than that. Her crew is just too tight for points once you've packed her upgrades and a hefty SS stash. But I have a little more room in my McMourning crews, and love the utility that PR provides.

I hold the minority opinion that Pale Rider is a good model even outside of McCabe crews. In fact, i tend to use him in around 75% of my Guild McMourning crews. It comes down to what you value, which in turn depends on your playstyle and how the remainder of the crew works. The core of my McMourning crew (Doc, Franc, Seb, Effigy) is built around synergy and bubbles, and tends to cluster near the table center. In spending my remaining stones, I highly value the ability to function solo with no input from the rest of the crew, which is where PR excels. I usually find him trotting round scoring schemes while picking off weak backfield models, before charging in to mop up in the last turn. Nevertheless, I do completely understand other peoples animosity towards him - for 12 stones you feel like you should be getting someone who can mix it up with the toughest models out there, rather than a glorified scheme runner. I do think that there are two factors that lead to PR being perceived as more over-costed than he actually is: 1. Tournament games rarely see a turn 5, and sometimes not even turn 4. In games like that, you can guarantee PR is going to seem over-costed. The riders were designed and costed with 5 (possibly 6) full turns in mind, and only in those later turns do they start to pay you back for a slow turn 1 and 2. If you are going to play with him competitively, you need to be very efficient with your own activations and sometimes even "encourage" your opponent to play efficiently too. 2. The fact that Mech Rider exists. Given that all the riders have the same front of card and same cost, it is natural to consider their cost relative to one another. The fact that Mech Rider's back of card is objectively better (a lot better) than the other three therefore makes them feel horribly over-costed. You will naturally compare what PR achieves in a turn to what MR does, and its no contest. Try to forget that MR exists, and PR will suddenly seem a lot better . I do think he ranks as the second best rider, simply because of his survivability. The ability to heal a model that is already such a nightmare to wound is pretty demoralizing for your opponent, and it gets even worse now that Numb to the World exists, given that conditions are often seen as the most effective way to deal with riders. Sorry for derailing this into a Pale Rider thread - just wanted to defend my boy! Maybe I will write up a separate topic about him soon. For now I'd just say, if you are thinking about buying him for McCabe, don't assume that he's useless elsewhere.

Hounds are definitely a must. Also love the pale rider with him if you are looking for a significant model to add. All those rams for the glowing Sabre!

Yeah focus works on all duels, not just opposed duels as far as I'm aware. If you really really want a trap on turn 1, then between your starting hand, stoning for cards, and a double focused summon (assuming you activate pathfinder first) you can see the top 11 cards, and the probability of not finding a 6+ of tomes is extremely low.

I love them in a Guild McMourning list. Traps are the only things he can use his injection on without any downsides, as they are immune to poison (all conditions). I'll mostly take a pathfinder when the strat is extraction or guard the stash, and have him drop traps near table center where they will be most annoying. McMourning then repositions them with the injection, to ensure they are tying up as many models as possible, and dropping markers for plant explosives, or search the ruins, or whatever. Also McMourning can use them to push himself around with Rancid Transplant if he needs to disengage or get a few more inches of movement, again without the downside of poisoning a model. Pro tip, if you have already positioned the pathfinder well with From the Shadows, and it looks like theres not much for him to do in his activation, then double focus and try to summon a trap - sometimes it works!

Yeah, Plastic Surgery is indispensable the way I play him - I get two 5" pushes out of it per turn because of Sebastian, and often huge heals from the Brutal Effigy, by splashing out Rancid Transplant damage onto 3-4 undead models.