hydranixx

You're correct, many people hire Necropunks now and will continue to hire them, partially because only one master can summon them and partially because they're just overall great models. I'm not talking about only one of our minions though - an independent scheme running model that everyone agrees is fast, equally capable of doing strats and schemes, and that is already happily hired even out of faction minion, at that. I'm talking about our genuinely awkard, not-so-great to hire models, for example The Drowned. The Drowned is a 6ss model with Wk4 with stat5 attacks. 6ss for Wk4! It has no abilities to help it accomplish schemes or do strategies outside of Finish the Job, and it's attacks are not accurate so it isn't doing anything helpful there. This is a model that is never worth hiring since it is prohibitively slow and their niche in Ressers is so small it's forgettable. They see occasional play with Jack Daw, but that's another story completely. No other master would pay so much for so little, but it is priced the way it is due to what it can sometimes provide in summoning. It is summoned generally for two reasons in Ressers - summoning in with Molly to instantly die if you want an expensive, long ranged Scheme Marker. Or summoning directly into a group of models (where it's sole defensive ability actually does something) to try contest objectives. These cover 95% of reasons why you'd ever bother with this model; the other 5% belonging to people who somehow convinced themselves that their synergy with Hazardous Terrain is worth something. The proposed change to summoning would render this model obsolete outside of Molly's scheme marker option. At that point, should I even bother owning this model, or is it ok if I just announce that I'm summoning The Drowned, use a 30mm place holder within 6" to check where my Corpse and Scheme Markers can go and then move on? My concern is that a change like this would make a hired Necropunk even more common than it already is, while making a model like The Drowned see even less play than they already do since they wouldn't be able to contest at all. Yes. But surprisingly, you can actually cater your beaters to the schemes and strategies just as much as your scheme runners or support models. There's no reason your model can't earn VP just because their attack is good at bashing other models. However, when you take a beater exclusively to beat up models when the pool cares only about raw Interacts and Scheme Markers, then yes, you're handicapping yourself. And you sound like you play Guild For instance, Izamu is a beater or a beater/tank hybrid, but he also excels at Headhunter and Accusation, and by the sounds of it this new Hold Them Up scheme. If these schemes are present, he becomes very useful so I will consider him a reasonable option even if the rest of the pool is Interact and Scheme Marker VP. If there's only Interact or Scheme Marker based VP available in the pool, I will never hire Izamu.

I don't think things are quite as simple as that. Our minion roster is littered with specialised and awkward models, overpriced to hire but excellent to summon... excellent provided they can earn us VP, that is. If we can score most strategy based-VP only with hired models, this substantially weakens the value of our summons, which lie at the core of our faction.

He could already hire Performers since they're mercenaries though... without using up an upgrade slot. I've merc'd them in before when I've felt I needed them. Oiran too, for that matter. Not that you'd ever hire those.

I have heard of no changes to playtested models, but I have heard some tantalising clues about some of our new upgrades: McMourning: - His new hiring pool that this entire thread is about + an aura to heal them - Two (0) for turning corpses in either soulstones or cards Nicodem: - Summon vulture to a corpse (maybe it means, place it there or something) and can discard cards after initiative flip to place corpse for each one discarded - One-time lifesaver for any living ressurectionist in LoS Reva - Can now also hit from spirits in 8" aura (presumably some kind of Strength of the Fallen parallel) - Explode every corpse on the table (Unforgiving Stench for everyone?) - Conflux allows the Emissary to teleport to Corpses with 10" and it considered a Corpse Marker itself (presumably only for friendlies lol). Molly (only seen 1): - Before the game starts, your opponent shows you both schemes he picked. Tara: - Gains + to all flips when no cards are in hand, void wretches can make their (2) attack as (1), gains ca that deals damage equal to turn number - Can take any number of upgrades, at the start of activation gives condition to one enemy that damages them when they become buried Yan Lo - Gains Instinctual and buffs Lightning Dance - One that takes after Asami's VP theme but with Chi and also has a passive that lets you trade in Ascendant upgrades for other Ascendant upgrades. - Blood Ascendant: Casting Expert, new melee casting attack that heals Ancestors if it kills the target. I have heard nothing for Seamus or Kirai :/

That was one of my first thoughts too. I usually prep a turn 1 Truth in Flame and this makes it quite a bit easier as she doesn't have to have someone else spend AP applying Burning now.

I agree entirely. My biggest gripe with Ramos was that you do your best to ensure you get your 2 or 3 spiders for 1 AP, which is very powerful make no mistake, but then the remaining 2 AP feels super lackluster. Both these new upgrades seem like they'll make his non-spider generating AP more valuable and more interesting, either increasing his ability to control the board or dish out some damage of his own. I also like that they're each only 1ss, as currently he often gets bulked down under a full cache and three 2ss upgrades. A viable way of reducing Ramos' price tag under 9ss-10ss is greatly appreciated! I would never have expected yet another limited upgrade, let alone one that has yet another (0) for our lady of fire. That said, reducing duel totals sounds quite potent. Is it worth skipping Grab and Drop for? Well, maybe, especially in strategies or schemes that cluster everyone together. The other upgrade gives her a Lampad's (0) for a (1) for 2ss. Obviously, such an Action is many times more valuable for Kaeris, and in tandem with this new limited upgrade it could be impressive, but it still feels quite expensive. What I do really like about this upgrade is that it offers two ways of putting Burning on models without those models even taking duels. Maybe that makes it well worth it's price. I for one am excited to give both new upgrades a spin. Thanks for the information!

Waldgiests are very useful to Lilith, so perhaps having more of those is something to consider. Johan also appears a lot Neverborn since they don't have very good ways to remove conditions without him. It also helps that he can squish things with his hammer remarkably well. I like the aesthetic choice you've made. I have something vaguely similar for my tiny collection of Neverborn so far; feathered hats on Zoraida, her doll and her Silurids. I would love to see how you go about converting your models as you go for inspiration.

I'm dying to see what Mei Feng and Kaeris have gotten; really hoping they bring them up to compete with the other big guns of the faction in one way or another!

You'll find Malifaux demands this question be answered multiple times every single turn. It's a thinking person's game, not unlike chess in some ways. You'll get plenty of practise with this kind of decision making if you stick with the Viktorias for a good long while. For the cheating and Soulstone example, each high card you have can ensure an attack lands, and each Soulstone you have can transform that attack into many with the Whirlwind trigger (which potentially blends the entire enemy crew into paste). However, high cards and Soulstone usage might be the only things that keeps a Viktoria alive since they're both incredibly flimsy. While you're still getting the gist of activating models, taking duels, and learning when you can cheat cards etc you can get away with just Turf War. This isn't going to teach you about Interact actions and Scheme Markers which are at the heart of Malifaux, but it is (hopefully) going to get you and your wife comfortable with making tonnes of opposed duels, figuring out your models Actions and Abilities and the importance of positioning (relative to other models and relative to the centre of the board). You each score by having multiple models (2) near the centre of the board; forcing them in the same place encourages you to perform lots of opposed duels and learn about cheating etc. If you do this, veer the Arcanists away from Performers and Mannequins etc as they'll feel very lackluster here. Turf War is a strategy (an objective always shared by both players), and I would suggest adding schemes (objectives players choose for themselves) as soon as you feel comfortable. There's plenty of simple schemes, so don't worry yourself. There's some that just want you to kill other models, for example. Protect Territory is straightforward as you just need to place a Scheme Marker and stand near it, but it's good since it further teaches the importance of positioning and introduces Scheme Marker placing via an Interact Action. Close Deployment is just how you set up your models - a particularly aggressive deployment type in most games. We usually suggest this deployment type since it cuts down on Walk actions and makes opposed duels start earlier.

Ototo seems kind of interesting for more casual lists. Usually he just gets ignored by the opponent, but with Assassinate in the pool, they probably will feel obliged to go after him, which just makes him go apeshit if they fall short of the mark. Recalled Training, Misdirection and two cheap healers, then dare your opponent to attack him? More muscle from Lone Swordsman with Recalled Training rounds out the 20ss.

I hope to never see this list see the light of day, or any variations thereof. All the same, in the name of theorycrafting... I introduce this cancer: Ohaguro Bettari + RT+PW Yasunori + RT Wastrel or Monk of Low River (leaning towards Monk for cheap removal of conditions) Clockwork Trap Kang is amazing, but I think Bettari's ability to negate defensive triggers and convert any 11+ card in your hand to 6 damage as long as you hit is downright gross. She is sort of fragile, but on her big RT turn, she has a very real chance of deleting anything that could hurt her, plus the boost to her Df flips coupled with ss consumption might suffice to keep her alive long enough to hit a second time (which is probably enough to close the game out, to be honest). Meanwhile Yasunori himself can rely on his s to get the job done regardless of your control hand. His RT turn can be enough to demolish an entire crew outright, especially since Ohaguri's presence gets around any trigger that had a chance to stop him. The biggest downside to this crew is that the trap can't soak an activation, and admittedly this is a big deal on turn 1 when you're jostling for positions for turn 2. But, given the insane charge range coupled with either Flight or Bettari's ability to go through literally everything, you should easily be capable of unleashing wholesale slaughter with one or both of them all the same.

Yeah, to be honest I've never felt compelled to include my Forgotten Marshal in a crew, let alone put paint on him. This pool of schemes and strategy makes him seem more interesting though. Sadly, he can't score Entourage as he's not a henchman or master, so he's not as amazing as I initially thought he'd be... but I still think he's a nice package for the round. I would have him activate early, walk to pick up a head, then disappear with his (0) before he loses his own head, then position to pick up a head early next round again. Failing that, his melee can debuff something that you desperately want to kill. That's probably not worth 7ss in and of itself, but because he is also able to teleport to the centre of the board for Show of Force (take MLH unless you already have 2 copies in the list) purposes that's kind of nice too. He's also a good target for Frame for Murder (which oddly enough is in all 3 rounds this event, wow!) if you make him annoying with jumping around picking up heads and contesting Show of Force. It would be kind of hilarious with MLH if he does die in Headhunter - one model dies, and two models get summoned for free to go stand on his head.

Welcome aboard to the both of you. This is a difficult game to learn without the guidance of an experienced player to help you, but it is very rewarding when things start clicking into place. I share the same opinions of the other players who posted here - don't start with masters, keep the model count low, play one simple scheme and a simple strategy to start. Only when you're comfortable with your models and used them a few times (as in, when you know more or less what their stats, abilities actions are without needing to stop and read them), then add more. Only when you're comfortable with simple schemes, move onto more complex schemes, or have more of them, and eventually generate an entire 5-scheme pool. Personally I had success in the following set up, both when my henchman taught me the game, and when I'm teaching newer players: Henchman-led, somewhere between 25 and 30ss, no upgrades, no soulstone use. Turf War & Protect Territory, Close Deployment. A few rounds of that teaches the basics well enough, then you can expand wherever you see fit. That's a good way of looking at it, actually. A lot of new players constantly beat themselves up for not knowing enough, to the point they aren't enjoying the game! I like your approach. Then, once you've figured out the answers to your "can I cheat?" and "can I soulstone?" questions, you'll join the rest of us in the eternal conundrum of "should I cheat?" and "should I soulstone?" lol.

Game three looks like a 6 model Yan Lo crew to me :L

The tournament you're playing in is rather unique if it's actually the same strategy for round 2 and round 3. Double Headhunter seems tailor made for Ressers lol. If you are legitimately playing Headhunter twice, you could confidently start both lists for these rounds with 3x Rotten Belle, Carrion Emissary + Carrion Conflux. This core fits handles Headhunter superbly and is useful in most of the other available schemes. It fits relatively well with most of our masters too. Izamu is also nice in Headhunter due to Melee Expert and his ability to sacrifice himself when he's killed. For Round 2 I would consider some weird build with Anna Lovelace to control the middle, make Show of Force a pain, and making pushing into pick up Heads impossible. This could also be a chance for The Forgotten Marshall to actually see play since he can bounce around the board picking up Heads and/or give you the edge to deny SoF, and at the last moment teleport to score Entourage. Round 3... There's a few ways to do this. The Belle + Emissary core can handle Set Up/Frame for Murder/Accusation easily enough. Anna again shuts down easy pushing/placing for Head retrieval, as does Phillip and the Nanny or Mortimer's Chatty.

You can't go wrong with Nicodem in Interference. Competitively speaking, many share the opinion that he and Kirai are by far the best choices for Interference. The core list is solid, each model serves an important function. Phillip and the Nanny in particular are extremely good with this pool; reveal them and you'll warp their scheme selection if they're any good, and if you can protect them, you can deny your opponent most of his schemes. That said, there are some things to consider in your list. There's no definitive right or wrong answer, but this is how I'd tweak it: 6 - Nicodem + Undertaker + Maniacal Laugh + full cache of 712 - Mortimer + Corpse Bloat + My Little Helper8 - Philip and the Nanny + Haunting Cries10 - Carrion Emissary + Carrion Conflux5 - Rotten Belle5 - Necropunk4 - Crooligan Here are my reasons for doing it how I describe: Bring the full 7ss with Nicodem. The extra ss will always see use - at the very least it's an extra turn you can cycle cards or an extra attack you can afford to ss damage away on Phillip and the Nanny. Most often it's going to be for summoning. It could equally be saved to secure the trigger on Phillips (0) to steal the game away; given the pool. Buy MLH on Mortimer. I think it should be stapled to his card if he's taking Corpse Bloat. He's doing one of two things in games with Nicodem (you'll know which based on your opponent's list, your control hands and the board state); 1) he's a sacrificial, corpse-generating god, capable of giving you anywhere between 2 and 6 corpses on one important mid game turn by ripping his spleen twice and charging for potential triggers (and if he dies, add 1 more corpse and 1 more Mindless Zombie to the tally) 2) Chatty will be extremely annoying to the enemy, so you make 1 or 2 Corpses early on and then let him stick around purely to keep up Chatty and occasionally whack people. This type of Mortimer LOVES the Dark Protection buff as on the right turn it can shut down the enemy's plan to get rid of him to enable them to score again. Swap MLH on Emissary for Carrion Conflux. Our minions tend to have good Ca (Rotten Belles in particular) so the to all Attack Actions is great here. Even Necropunks near him and Nicodem become scary in Melee since their Flurry is now on to attacks. I have played the Emissary both ways, and he's good both ways, but I think with Nicodem I prefer Carrion Conflux for 4 main reasons - its free, he becomes another mini Nicodem for your team (and most importantly, his affects Ca too), it frees MLH for someone else to buy since it's only rare 2, and finally you only get 1 MZ from a turn in which you cast 2x Shards due to an FAQ. Philip and the Nanny is superb in this pool. You could consider doubling up on her potency and adding some resilience by adding MLH to them instead of on Mortimer. It could even be correct to put MLH on both of them if you free up an extra ss somehow. Swap 1 Necropunk for 1 Crooligan. This saves the 1ss to run a full 7ss cache, and it also opens up early game options with Fresh Meat with Mortimer for getting 3+ models an extra Wk. You can also place him somewhere awkward to distract your opponent. You're already going to summon Necropunks since they're cheap, suit the schemes pretty well, and because automatically heal. Further, you will still have 1 in the list to provide scheme markers for Phillip and the Nanny to consume, so the 2nd Necropunk will not be sorely missed on turn 1.

Datsue Ba is Undead, so works well with Nicodem. She likes all the flips and especially appreciates receiving Fast from him since her Ch range is enormous and her attacks can trigger additional attacks, as noted above. She also makes up for his relative lack of ways around Armour (without access to summoning Shikome/Students). Nurses have very little 'synergy' with anyone who isn't McMourning and still routinely make their way into crews lead by all 10 masters that can hire them. Their toolbox is just so broad that every master can benefit from their inclusion. With Seamus, I'm pretty much bringing a Nurse every game. With Nicodem, usually about a third of the time, when I'm worried about the opponent being hyper aggressive.

Nurses show up all the time, even across factions with Jack Daw or Zoraida. I'm certain you'll find players who would be happy to trade or buy one. I bought a set of two and traded one off the sprue on the same day. I would rate Datsue Ba higher on your priority list for Seamus, as high as Yin and much higher than Emissary. Reva and Nicodem are both good master choices. My bias says Nicodem is the better pick, since you already have a damage-based master so Reva would add less value to your collection that he would from a competitive perspective. However, it's also possible that Reva is the right choice for you since you were drawn to her originally; presumably you like her aesthetic/theme etc and that makes her a fine choice too. Also, she needs fewer additional purchases (shikome, mindless zombies etc) further down the track. If you're taking Nicodem, pick Hanged. If you're taking Reva, ignore the Hanged for now. Try squeeze Datsue Ba in there

As mentioned, she oozes WP duels (up to 4 if you use MLH for Denial of Sanzu, and even more if the enemy target her since she is Terrifying), plus any Seishin WP attacks. All these WP duels get really difficult to handle if Seamus takes Sinister Rep. The Seishin's best feature is that they can automatically teleport to Seamus when he activates, making Back Alley really easy, and that they can emergency heal him above Hard to Kill if he takes a big hit. Datsue Ba's own damage is good if you're targeting the right enemies, and when she finally dies, she forces 2 discards, which is great when your crew has lots of Terrifying effects in it.

I found Yan's beard easy enough to do. Not sure why everyone gets upset about assembling it lol. Unfortunately, the Ashigaru have almost no synergy with Seamus or McMourning. They're fun models, but a little lacklustre as hires unless you have a plan for them specifically. I've found them really useful when I bring Anna Lovelace into Turf War/Extraction. Otherwise they're also good summons with Toshiro and situationally good summons with Nicodem. Speaking of Nicodem, he would be the master I'd suggest next - he synergises with almost our entire faction. With what you already have, Nicodem+Emissary would be a good pick, with or without McMourning. You would have a reasonably good summoning stable already - Necropunks, Belles, Doxies, Punk Zombies. If you go with Nicodem, consider Hanged too. They're filthy summon options, especially when Emissary is nearby boosting their attacks. Some players bring 1 with Seamus too, to make the Terrifying a problem for your opponent that they can never get away from.

It's good to see some Malifaux stirrings in Christchurch. Hopefully you are able to grow the scene there. McMourning's a good choice due to being dual faction. You can boost your own collection with him (his Nurses are exceptional with Seamus, and good with other masters too), or let someone else try him as Guild when demoing. For Seamus himself, he loves Datsue Ba and Yin. I usually aim for 3-4 other Terrifying models to go alongside Seamus, and these 2 are pretty consistently in that list. The Emissary is fantastic for Seamus, but I am loathe to recommend such an expensive model when you're on a budget since I've heard it's not particularly good with McMourning. Perhaps a veteran McMourning player can chime in whether or not its worth taking with him. Yan Lo is worth considering if you're already keen on any of Datsue Ba, Izamu or Yin. He's another dual faction master, brings Chiaki to fulfil your condition removal needs, and synergises well with Ancestors and moderately with Spirits (hence the Datsue Ba mention). He's also very, very fond of the Emissary. I would discourage a Reva pick if you're trying to grow a community simply because of how aggressive and oppressive she can seem when someone's new. If you're sold on taking her though, then Yin and the Emissary should find their way into your budget since they work really well with Reva.

I agree, to a certain extent. I have core crews for specific tasks saved on crewfaux as well, but since the actual boards I play on, opponent and deployment type influence my choices so much, it's rarely more than 30-35ss. I think it's because some of the boards in my meta are absolutely drenched in severe terrain while others are full of enormous buildings, so even my most flexible lists wouldn't cope with all board types. Different metas (and literally different boards) yield a different approach to list creation.

Lists are typically a bad idea in this game because you will only know your board and schemes a few minutes before the game begins. Those will drastically change what is worth taking and what should be considered. That said, Ressers can 'prebuild' more than most factions, since some of our deficiencies can be mitigated through summoning and because a summoning engine usually revolves around a core set of models anyway Lately I've been practising Nicodem, and working on a control/poison list (when boards and schemes deem it appropriate). The idea is to maximise movement with Fresh Meat+Crooligan and Lures to position my team early, then control enemy movement with additional Lures and Shards. Anything exposed to me will be hosed in poison then beaten up by Shikome. Carrion Conflux makes Lures and Corrupted Peacekeeper harder to deal with. Nicodem + Undertaker + Maniacal Laugh + 7ss Cache Mortimer + My Little Helper + Corpse Bloat Carrion Emissary + Carrion Conflux Crooligan Rotten Belle Rotten Belle Guild Autopsy Guild Autopsy or Graveyard Spirit, depending on whether I think I'm likely to get to play aggressively or have to play defensively.

They're both good, and it often boils down to the schemes and board layout. Your choice of master can influence the choice too. For heavy scheming, Necropunks are gold. There will be games where 3 or more of the available schemes only care about scheme markers or interacting, and in those games I'll hire and/or summon multiple Necropunks. They're reliable and durable enough to be worth the the 5ss to hire or card and ap to summon early when you want them exclusively for VP. They're particularly nasty summons for Nicodem because they can heal back to full for free, and with Leap + his immunity to slow aura they can go to where they need to be to score VP after being summoned on turn 1. They like it when there's lots of small terrain pieces all over the place that they can hide behind or Leap over. Crooligans offer more of a mix of moderate scheming and debuffing and situationally, some tarpitting. Df 6 with Defensive Stance +1 or +2 makes them very durable for their cost unless your opponent uses quality cards.You can use this to make them either very tough to get rid of if you need them, or to help engage shooters and dodge attacks. They also lower nearby WP by 1 which is a big deal if you're playing something like Reva or you're summoning Hanged. They're particularly good if you deploy second, since you can use From the Shadows to counter enemy models with From the Shadows, either hiding your Crooligans or engaging the enemy snipers. If there's lots of big buildings/ruins/mountains, or some really hard-to-reach places, From the Shadows and Always on the Move make them exceptional choices. In most cases, it's worth spending the extra ss to take a Necropunk instead of a Crooligan, but there are definitely scheme pools and boards where Crooligans are absolutely filthy and worth it.

This ain't 40k, GW will probably file a lawsuit if you copy their named abilities/actions.