hydranixx

If the theme of Mei's crew is important to you, Kang is likely the best option to pick, especially seeing as your playgroup is open to you starting the campaign with him. If ss cost is important to you, The Firestarter is super affordable at only 7ss, and comes with a 6ss cache, which is obscene. Again, he combos really well with Railworkers and can always provide reliable scheme running and/or hunting enemy scheme runners. I agree with dancater's comments; TFS & Kang are probably a better combo than Joss & Kang, when you eventually tier up and have more ss to spend. An exception might be turf war - in which case Joss & Kang would make quite an immovable pair to hold a section of the board with. As far as crew lists go, since Mei won't be in initially, don't feel tied down to too many constructs. 1-2 Railworkers & Kang himself are probably the only must-haves. You'll be impressed with how tanky the Railworkers can be. If you can find points to spare, a Rail Golem is capable of sometimes winning entire games for you, as well as drawing attention from enemy models, while also being very thematic for your crew. It's a brilliant addition with or without Mei. Healing combo'd with Hard to Kill, can be amazing, so from that perspective, Silent Ones + Railworkers & Kang could be quite cute. December Acolytes are great models, as always, and they're even better in smaller games, so perhaps one of them is a good choice too. I'm not sure if they'd fit your campaign goals though. When Mei is eventually added, Arcane Effigy becomes almost a must-have, especially if there's a hint of conditions about. Steam Arachnids are also good choices with her; they're affordable, have good stats for their price, and whether they live or die they contribute to her Railwalking playstyle. Again, they may or may not suit your campaign purposes.

As katadder points out, Kang isn't an Arcanist. If you wanted to play this campaign and retain Arcanist's as your primary, The Firestarter seems like a solid choice. Mei's Rail crew and tough as nails, but they're slow and they suffer quite a lot in some strategies and schemes. The Firestarter really excels at completing the type of schemes they typically can't, so I think they're a great combo. You can start the campaign with some Rail Workers anyway; they're just solid all round pieces anyway, and with The Firestarter's burning, they have some really powerful synergy from the get go. I play both TFS & Kang with Mei in 35ss no problems!

Yeah, unless you specifically want to sculpt your own wave 2 models, or buy multiple alternative sculpt models, the arsenal decks are of limited use to you. It's nice to have the card rules available if you source your models elsewhere, but otherwise it's no good. Stick with general upgrade pack, imo.

I'm not proficient with Ressers, but I would think that Seamus can simply one-shot her Gamins. If you can limit her Ice Mirrors, she's much weaker. Her Wk is literally 3", so you can easily reduce her avenues of attack and her range. I think his mobility and his gun are enough to work with, honestly. Keep him cheap and cheerful and he'll probably serve you perfectly well. Seamus' .50 damage track is insane, and should be consistently able to kill a Gamin each turn, and then he can re-position to kill the next one in the following turn. If you take Mad Haberdasher, he's going to ignore one big hit at least once per game, which is even more important in low ss games. Especially if your opponent is somewhat new, I bet once you blow away a Gamin in one shot, he's going to desperately want Raspy wants to kill Seamus, while the rest of your list can go about doing their thing. Just food for thought.

They're all generic Neverborn upgrades, and you can use them straight from the rules book or buy them in the generic upgrades pack. Here's the pack itself from Wyrd, so you can see what to look for: Upgrade Pack

I agree. Gamin in general seem like natural choices in a Sandeep crew for objective running, but Wind Gamin could be top. Between his two (0) choices,they can cover a lot of distance and fulfill diverse interaction requirements, and they can steal his (1)'s to supplement damage or healing after completing their main goals. And of course, he can always summon more Gamin with his Gada, if his upgrade descriptions are anything to go by. Since the Gada is Ml, they're probably entering play quite close to enemy models. Summoning them directly into combat actually seems like a really sweet idea considering half of them tend to explode when they die, and if he needs them desperately to get away or interact, 3 of his 4 Ca actions can help immensely in this regard, and all 3 of them can borrowed by other models. With Sandeep about, we may see far more Gamin hit the table, and with Poison & Wind Gamin added to their roster, we'll have more variety to work with. Seems good, for both Mechanical Rider & Sandeep. Gamin are probably my favourite series of models in Malifaux, and turbans are dope, so I'm really looking forward to fielding Mr Desai.

I'm completely new when it comes to Ten Thunders. So I must ask, are there any ways to generate these markers within faction using just the crew itself? I imagine that in the worst case, you can simply buy a cheap minion of your own and kill it on turn 1 to access its scrap or corpse marker, not unlike some of the more common turn 1 Ramos plays? If you're only spending 4 ss for a cheap minion and half an activation from another model to kill it, in order to potential unlock a 9ss model that lives for 3 turns, that seems like a big deal. If you see tonnes of condition removal, you simply keep your cheap minion alive to contribute to the game in other ways. Ultimately, from turn 2 onwards, you have the choice of getting what you need, where you need, and if you want to spend extra resources, then it comes in with extra borrowed time to work with. It seems strong, no doubt. I think time will tell where on the power curve Asami goes.

Well said, I hear he is quite a consistent (and persistent) source of 3 damage, even if only on the charge. You're also right that indeed I have never seen him on the table, so that's why he didn't jump to mind. I guess I should have said we now have a totem that appears like it might provide some damage & debuffs. The text seems to imply it could hamper an opponent, "threat" was the word they used. His base size is big so even if it's just a nice engagement range, that's a great start and something we don't have elsewhere in the summon-able totem department. I'm hoping he has aura(s) that just hurt or handout debuffs to nearby enemies. @dancater Well, as Hungering Darkness goes, he's 0ss base anyway. I could see Banasuva being quite costly, but as long as Huggy is around, we could also get a relatively cheap, recyclable totem too. I guess it heavily depends on if he's built for raw damage or disruption or buffing nearby allies or what have you. And yeah, being in the wrong Hemisphere for these events does suck, I agree with you there. There's nothing in Oceania

Well said, I hear he is quite a consistent (and persistent) source of 3 damage, even if only on the charge. You're also right that indeed I have never seen him on the table, so that's why he didn't jump to mind. I guess I should have said we now have a totem that appears like it might provide some damage & debuffs. The text seems to imply it could hamper an opponent, "threat" was the word they used. His base size is big so even if it's just a nice engagement range, that's a great start and something we don't have elsewhere in the summon-able totem department. I'm hoping he has aura(s) that just hurt or handout debuffs to nearby enemies.

You have your answer now, good sir! Looks like there's quite a few choices, too, as he has 2 1ap spells and 2 0ap spells to work with - and they can all be copied by nearby mages and minions. Included in the kit are 2 separate pushes, one of which can heal, a method to take free interact actions, and a 6" placement spell. This guy is nuts!

"Sandeep can summon his Totem, Banasuva, to present a large, flaming threat for his opponent." Seems we have our answer ladies and gentleman. The wording in particular indicates it might even be like Hungering Darkness - able to be summoned mid game, potentially multiple times. The fact it says "threat for his opponent." is awesome. Arcanists might finally have a totem that actually presents viable damage for once!

I've been led to believe it's the tall genie-looking guy. There's been relatively big totems before - such as the Poltergeist - so it is possible for a totem to be as big as he is. Then again, he might well be a totem enforcer / totem henchman hybrid, similar to Hungering Darkness. Or even just a straight enforcer at that rate. Either way, I'd be stoked because I'd love to see what upgrades he can buy.

Yeah, I think 'someone' should have an affect like this, and who better than the most wizardly wizard in a faction full of wizards I think Oxfordians would become even more synergistic with Sandeep. They have access to handing out either Burning +2 or Slow with 2 of their 4 triggers, if I recall correctly; they'd become a toolbox for applying whatever condition you need to your target, and/or pushing the target into a place you them to to be. Then Sandeep and/or his henchman can amplify the condition and change it into something far more meaningful. Mutating conditions on your own models into something more favourable could also be pretty clutch. McMourning is gearing up to Expunge your Rail Golem for tonnes of poison damage? Just turn it all into burning. I'm also really interested in the totem. It looks very odd, in a really awesome way. Perhaps, given the chaotic, weird nature of its aethetics, it's card could focus on meddling enemy models capabilities; perhaps it could: - Swap a model's stats for a time; a cast action that gives a condition that makes your opponent's model use its Df stat for all Wp duels and its Wp stat for all Df duels until the end of turn/it's next activation. - An 3-6"? aura that makes all enemy models that do not have Insignificant, gain Insignificant while within aura range. All models that naturally have Insignificant on their cards, lose Insignificant while within aura range. - Influence cover somehow, with an action that lasts until he next activates, degrading/upgrading nearby severe/hard cover to soft cover, or vice versa.

It would be really cool if Sandeep & co could mutate existing conditions on models into other conditions. Say, converting all Burning on a model into Poison, converting 3 Poison into Slow, converting 1 Burning & 1 Poison into Paralysed. Seems about time Arcanists could do that, and would give some more value to the new poison theme as well.

Unless something's been errata'd out or changed, my total seems to be 20 on the dot: The Captain w/ Patron's Blessing - 2 Union Miner - 5 Blessed of December w/Imbued Energies - 7 Angelica - 6 I hope nothing was Cuddled so hard it is 4 ss more expensive?

In the Arcanists board, there's a thread of lists for the Henchman Hardcore format that I find quite interesting. I figured I'd commence one here, because as much as I was excited for what Kang could do in this format, he isn't a true Arcanist. I wondered if anyone here in Ten Thunders might like to share HH lists?

A pity that Kang is not a 'true' Arcanist. Still, I felt like he's worth a mention, because he seems insane in this format. He has access to a push, multiple short range buffs, and the HtW + HtK + 0 tactical action combo, is superb for surviving assassinate. I wonder how some kind of 'Push' spam list would fare in the format. Get in the Turf War bubble, and push everything that isn't mine, outside of it. I'd include Angelica. She could end up with a very accurate attack (up to Ml 7) that pushes enemies outside the Turf War section, and she can't be charged in response, which in this crowded game type makes her a pretty safe choice. She also gets a free walk at the start of the game and can either walk twice more, or push up to two of your models into the Turf war section for that 1VP in the first turn. This would be my list: - The Captain w/ Patron's Blessing - Union Miner - Blessed of December w/Imbued Energies - Angelica

These boxes both add a lot of value to aspiring Arcanist players, and work well together, arguably better than any two other single box combinations in the faction. Railworkers in particular are very good as a 1-of or 2-of to include in many Arcanist lists (Ramos' vanilla box crew is no exception) as they can happily find a use for your worst card every turn with their discard outlet and their love of Tomes for their Df trigger. They're flexible as you can choose to place either a corpse marker or scrap marker if they die, catering to your needs or countering your opponent's needs. As for model/upgrade specific synergy, to name a few: - 'Hard Worker' allows you to ignore Howards AoE cover while still reaping the benefits. - Joss makes more scrap for Mei to work with as he gets stuck in and the game goes on. - Emberling has multiple ways of creating mobile scrap markers which Large Arachnids can use. They're another great 1-of pick up, like the Railworkers, in many games.

Hey, thanks for that. I had a feeling it might be that way. I don't have much in the way of shooting anyway. After some thought, I don't really see myself needing Hard Worker. Kang already buffs his crew with + to attack & damage vs constructs and undead. Seeing that I can't use two 0 actions in a turn, I think the Railworkers are better off casting Implacable Assault anyway, since both actions cost a discard. As for Vapormancy, I think simply casting Vent Steam in the early game til I reach combat, and in general being less reliant on getting tomes (which I desperately want for Railworkers) is the cheaper and safer call. I considered it, but my crew has surprisingly little need of ss during the game. I think I could probably get away with lowering my cache considerably. My mobility (or lack thereof) is my biggest weakness. I'm cutting the Fire Gamin and replacing him with The Firestarter. Holding IE, he can single-handedly complete at least one scheme per round, provided I can pressure my opponent with the other 27SS remainder of the crew. So, my new list goes as follows: 4 - Mei w/ Seismic Claws, Arcane Reservoir and 1 ss added to her Cache (4ss Cache total) 10 - Kang w/ Imbued Energies 8 - The Firestarter w/ Imbued Energies 5 - Railworker 5 - Railworker 3 - Emberling I feel much better with the added speed The Firestarter provides. Deliver a Message & Breakthrough in particular, one of which is featured in each game, are such easy VP for him. He also contributes more to the fire synergy than the Gamin does if I choose to go that route; he can stack up to 8 burning between 4 targets in a single activation if necessary, and earn VP for any of those targets that die to burning too. The 4ss Cache will be used almost exclusively to keep Kang alive in the first two rounds, because I can use him quite easily for scoring both Bodyguard & Entourage. In round 3, I will simply use it to crack some skulls and ensure I get my Reckoning quota at least twice in the course of the game.

I don't have personal experience with them all, but I've scoured countless wiki's & forums for information on our 7 masters. They're almost all specialists - very focused at doing one or two things really well, to the exclusion of everything else. I started with Kaeris, and I think she's actually quite a good master to begin with; flexible, mobile, capable at both melee and range. She's got loads of synergy with fire (burning) , but isn't completely reliant on burning either. Ramos is also a good choice. He can do a little bit of everything, and Joss & Howard (come in his box) are such strong models in their own right that they end up finding their way into many Arcanist lists. His spiders are pretty good for their price too. If you're going to play Arcanists in any meaningful way, Ramos' box is almost must-buy material.

After some play testing with both masters and looking at the pool of strats and schemes, I think I've decided that I'm going with Mei Feng. The event setup is using the old school ones, and here they are: Game one:Deployment:Standard deployment / Strategy:Squatters rightsSchemes:A line in the sand / Break through / Bodyguard / Make them suffer / Power ritual. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Game two: Deployment:Corner deployment / Strategy: Reconnoiter Schemes: A line in the sand / Break through / Protect territory / Plant evidence / Entourage ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Game three: Deployment: Flank deployment / Strategy:Reckoning Schemes: A line in the sand / Assassinate / Deliver the message / Distract / Cursed object As for writing up a crew list itself, it needs to be a set list, somewhat capable in all 3 games. I've fallen in love with Kang, and he's going in without a doubt. I believe Imbued Energies is worth taking on almost everyone, and he's no exception; it could be pivotal with things like Deliver the Message about. I also think I'm going to take Hard Worker. A pair of Railworkers will make for some sturdy, hard hitting minions, while Fire Gamin(s) and/or Emberling will be on scheme marker, scrap marker and fire starting duty. I think Arcane Reservoir is even more valuable to Mei here because there's so many discard outlets in the crew. So that's almost certainly in, as is Seismic Claws. From here I'm debating either Vapormancy or Imbued Energies. Does Hard Workers first ability negate Vent Steam when I'm using Sh or Ca of my own? This will heavily influence whether I take Vapormancy or Imbued Energies. Here's my crew list; would appreciate feedback and suggestions: 4ss - Mei Feng; Seismic Claws, Arcane Reservoir, Vapormancy/Imbued Energies. 3ss - Added to Cache 11ss -Kang; Hard Worker, Imbued Energies. 5ss - Railworker 5ss - Railworker 4ss - Fire Gamin* 3ss - Emberling * I would love to fit another Fire Gamin in to assist with activation order, but I don't know what to drop to afford him. Perhaps an upgrade or two, and lower the ss Cache?

Ah, yes, Austringers. They really have a habit of finding their way into every crew somehow, don't they? I don't think I'd go for Trappers; I like Katanaka Snipers specifically because they're snipers who happen to also be no joke in melee. I'll have to call curtains on spamming in Malifaux; it seems like all the fun options to spam are excluded from doing just that.

Having played almost exclusively so far with short ranged crews, I'd really like to change things up and play with long ranged models. Or more accurately, base a crew around a bunch of snipers*. I'm interested in stacking 3-4 Katanaka Snipers with Shenlong, Yu & his Peasants for long ranged cheesy synergies. My (admittedly naive) opinion is that Shen & Yu are both flexible in their own right with their various stances. They also seem capable of nullifying condition-based and movement based-synergies that my opponent opts for, which is great for holding the fort while the snipers plink away at scheme runners etc. Can anyone recommend other supporting enforcers or minions that can help out? *I am well aware this type of crew is spending a lot of its stones on raw firepower, and would lack mobility. I know that it would be on the back foot for many schemes; I don't intend to play such a crew unless the strategy & schemes on offer make it a vaguely viable choice.

What about the bump from 8 or 9 models to somewhere in the realms of 11 - 12 models? I ask because I could see myself playing Marcus lists that focus on swamping the enemy in guild hounds and other assorted cheap beasts. Just want to see if that's somewhat viable.

Yeah, I gather that he's not very popular. The card doesn't really seem to do any justice to his story... A pity, cause the model is so cool. In your experience, is it ever worth paying for really cheap models for the extra activation order control, in Arcanists at least? Thanks for that, I await with bated breath.