hydranixx

Agreed, I'd be inclined to lean Anya if you purely want a Master to handle a Scheme Marker heavy pool Ivan's ability to swap Shadow Markers into Scheme Markers or vice versa on the front of his card makes me suspect he can be a reasonable schemer, all the while remaining mobile and pumping out damage and potentially summoning every turn. Mr Mordrake is insanely good with some Schemes in GG1 as well - Vendetta and Hidden Martyrs - as he's essentially unkillable if Ivan plays conservatively. Corvis Rook with Slippery and Wk6 and Eva Havenhand with Don't Mind Me able to cover more generic Interact Action requirements pretty easily. So, although I really want to like Anya, I honestly think Ivan is brilliant even in schemey pools, and is an overall more robust Master and offers a more complete Keyword than Anya.

I'd add that handing out +1 Sz to Cooper when he activates can be pretty useful for him to get better LOS on key targets too. I'm not sure I'd bring him even with all of that tech in lieu of Rex as they fulfil (I think) completely different roles on the table, but good on you for giving it a spin! I hadn't really considered Hidden Agenda on Cooper - I always look at him as a model aiming for 7 damage swings so 1 or 2 chip damage here or there doesn't seem good enough to justify it - but then again cheating face down with such a high impact action does sound really useful. I'd be keen to hear how it goes for you.

Soulstones-wise: I'm inclined to agree that one generally needs fewer Soulstones with Apex than with other crews, and I agree with you in that I don't hire Model 9 either. However, I feel due to the way you can leverage s with Predatory Instinct, a few Soulstones available for Cooper to use purely for flips on attack (which you immediately exchange for a on Damage with Predatory Instinct) can make for an incredibly big pay off. Adversary and Focus can gives you cheaper sources of getting the , but sometimes opponents will also have ways to counter that. Condition removal is the obvious call out, as is losing Focus when you use Reload - but also consider the likes of Concealing Terrain/Serene Countenance/Manipulative etc handing out additional s. In these instances it becomes essential to have access to that additional just to get back to a straight flip. Of course you can choose to use Predatory Instinct on the attack flip rather than the damage flip to get around a modifier, but then you're basically accepting that you're almost definitely getting 3 damage rather than aiming for 5 or 7, and that feels pretty lacklustre when you can only realistically shoot a 2 to 3 times a turn with Cooper, and shooting is almost the only thing Cooper does well. So many things can happen in a game to disrupt your planning, especially against good opponents, so I find that having instant access to a to potentially convert what will normally be a 3 damage shot to a cheeky 5 or mighty 7 damage shot is worth dedicating a couple more Soulstones to the cache. My current preference is somewhere between 3 and 5. Harpooners: First off I think Harpooners are trash in EVS, as there aren't enough good to go around between them, Orville, and the Tidecaller, and the crew is already brimming with movement tricks. But I genuinely think they're great in Apex, depending on the opponent's faction and pool. They offer a healthy mix of having a reasonable attack with three good triggers, the ability to hand out multiple conditions per turn to multiple models, three separate ways to move models, one of which can also move markers, a relevant free action, and they can make fantastic use of any low cards stuck in your hand, especially s, between Reconfigure and Deep Discovery. Not many models in Apex can meaningful use a 1 or 2 that's sitting in your hand halfway through a turn, but a Harpooner can cash it in for that severe sitting on top of your opponents discard pile. Their built-in trigger on their attack is especially useful as you can push enemies out of scoring positions, or into Pit Traps or Strike Markers, and if you use it in melee it's even more versatile as you may place yourself in base afterwards, which can be incredibly efficient to score and/or deny schemes like Take Prisoner or Claim Jump in 1 AP. They should definitely be left on the shelf against WP attacking crews though, especially if you suspect you'll be up against Obeys. WP4 is very rough place to be when you model can deny your own Schemes or push your own models into Pit Traps/into base contact with Cooper to block his LOS.

I think the Bellhop Porter could be worth exploring in EVS. Not only can it turn Tidecaller into Sz 5 when it activates, so that it can still Toss Calypso, but it can also hand out multiple Shielded for Kiya. As a Construct, it can also benefit from healing from Machinists and/or Beebe.

I've played Apex now for 4 games, against 4 different factions, with 3 big wins and one narrow loss to Reva+Kirai+Toshiro nonsense. My crews have been: Cooper 3 Runaways Ullr Artemis 1 Hopeful Prospect 1 Harpooner 0-2 Vatagi Huntsmen (sometimes with Treasure Map, which is especially useful in Corrupted Leylines) 1-2 Crypsis Corps (sometimes with Hidden Agenda) 0-1 Model 9 0-1 Tannenbaum Cache: I've tried 1, 4, 6 and 8 ss. I think ~6ss is ideal Always Bring: Harpooner, Ullr My harpooner has been my MVP in every single game. The Harpooner is a model that always provides you with options; they have multiple ways to rescue Cooper from melee, they can make great use of low with Reconfigure, they can reposition markers, and hand out conditions. I think they're better in Apex, rather than in EVS, since they don't have to compete with other Reconfigure models here. Their big weakness is their awful WP 4 - you might reconsider taking this model if your opponent is likely to bring a few Terrifying models. Ullr is an absolute toolbox, whether he's applying Staggered to key targets, rescuing Cooper, or providing him with free movement and Focus, or helping out on a flank with By Your Side. He can control or tarpit enemies in melee efficiently, but the real gem of this model is his trigger in melee to give Cooper a free shot once per activation. If you can sneak this trigger in a couple times over the course of the game, and keep Cooper free of melee engagement, he'll probably shoot the enemy off the board by himself. Combos: - Crypsis Corps' Beneath The Leaves aura can extend the range of your Pit Traps. - Harpooners & Tannenbaum can pull/push Pit Traps into enemies, reposition Strike Markers, or pull/push enemies into either. - Rex handing out free to for Ullr's free-Cooper-shot trigger, or Model 9's Execution trigger. General musings: I think Model 9 and Tannenbaum are both viable in Apex, but they do very specific things and have very pronounced weaknesses. If your opponent has a few ways to Ignore Armour, Model 9 folds like a deck of cards. Tannenbaum has almost endless utility and can swing a game on his own, but he has a lot of TNs, relatively low range and speed, and he can't benefit from a lot of Crew synergies.

"the best way" This is Malifaux, not 40k. There's more than one way to use models in Malifaux.

I think traditional Retainer Minions are kind of meh, but a humble Rotten Belle is great here. This is the kind of crew that can continually heal it, which is useful in helping overcome its terrible Df and Wp stats. In return it can Lure models around, which helps overcoming the crew's relatively low speed, and the Belle is a great place to store a Reliquary upgrade or two. The Focus that Toshiro can hand out here is perfect for that Lure. But the main reason I like the Belle is that Scarlet Temptation is really abusive in his crew. Come turn 3, Yan Lo hands out 3 or 4 attacks (If he takes Blood Ascendant) at CA7 for 3/4/5 that target WP. When that happens, Scarlet Temptation's to Wp aura is basically is a death sentence to anything without Armour. Almost every Ancestor model also has at least one Attack Action that target Wp, so they appreciate the aura too. Honestly, next time I play Yan Lo, I might even bring 2 Belles

The easiest VP I've ever scored from Hidden Martyrs is putting Effigy of Fate on a Carrion Effigy. Most opponents will do everything in their power to stop it turning into a turkey. I think there's something very distressing about a harmless Size 1 model turning into an enormous winged Size 3 model, so people naturally try to kill it before it can. Of course, if they avoid killing it by turn 3, then you have a discount Emissary, which can yeet into their crew to switch off healing & Soulstone usage and then start to beat face before dying to give you your 1VP anyway. Alternatively, if your other Hidden Martyrs pick was killed, your Emissary can fly away and castle up with Coffins to keep safe. Effigy aside, I second the Crooligan + Archie tag team. The Emissary in general is also pretty strong at isolating models for Take Prisoner. However, my personal favourites for this scheme are including things such as Dead Rider for his attack trigger or Rotten Belles to pull their model in, and to rescue your own models. The best part is you don't even need to go after the actual Take Prisoner target; you can easily throw your opponent off your plan by throwing out speculative Lures at models you haven't even taken this Scheme on. Then, when the opponent thinks they have a read on who you're going for, you can just casually walk to engage the actual target. The same tactic can work well for either scoring or faking Catch and Release, though there's a little less subtlety as you can only gun for Henchmen and Masters. While there are some Catch and Release all stars, I find that this scheme is determined more by the opponent's crew as it does by mine. Should they bring no Henchmen, and a Master that is unlikely to expose itself, it's hard to justify it even with good minions. That said, I do enjoy going for this scheme, and I tend to lean towards Crooligans if I play Forgotten, or Rotten Belles/Necropunks if I play something else. Bringing multiple mobile minions with this Scheme in the pool is a great way to keep your opponents' Henchmen and Masters honest.

I can't rate a model I don't own. On the to-buy list.

If you're looking for a summoner specifically, sure, I would suggest Toshiro or Kirai too. I don't consider The Forgotten Marshal as a dedicated summoner, so I don't purposefully hire him to summon. I hire him for his solid ranged attack where I can sink any surplus into, his situationally useful melee attack (last game I Boxed a Dead Rider for two turns lol) - and to occasionally summon. At 9ss with The Whisper, he doesn't break the budget. He's been my MVP for enough games that he's always considered. Definitely suggest that you give him a spin before you dismiss him I wouldn't get Mortimer just for Molly either; I converted a Mortimer out of the fat Guild Autopsy model and Kang's shovel.

I double down on this - 1, 2 or 3 Soulstones are plenty in most pools for Molly, but sometimes reaching for more can make sense. I've been taking 5-6 in pools with Assassinate or Detonate The Charges or Harness The Leyline - and sometimes even more in pools with multiple of these. With a few Soulstones at hand for the trigger on her One Last Question, she's extremely consistent at securing Detonate and Harness as she can pop a couple Scheme Markers down near the end of turn 2 without much prior 'set up' at all, for an easy VP. As long as Molly survives, it's also fairly easy to force the 2nd VP on turn 5 too. Another quick note: if you're taking Harness The Leyline, Archie's a great target if he's on the centreline as he'll ignore the Slow that Molly hands out as part of One Last Question. Now that I've had a few dozen more games under my belt, I figured I'd voice some more of my thoughts. Generally my core remains: Necrotic Machine, Archie, Dead Rider, and at least one Crooligan (often two, and sometimes three). Here's my thoughts on some of our available choices we have with Molly: Minions: Crooligans will always show up. Triple Crooligans are completely viable (and a complete nightmare to face) in Scheme Marker heavy pools. They're just brutal for destroying Scheme Markers and the hopes and dreams of your opponent. Night Terrors can be superb in some pools. I think that they have a higher skill ceiling than Crooligans; they are harder to use, they are less forgiving if you make a mistake, and they are obviously 1ss costlier, but they have huge potential when you play them well. Abusing their free pushes is the key to making their 5ss cost worthwhile. They're good enough to summon when I bring the Marshal along. They remain prime candidates for Molly's Constructive Criticism. Punk Zombies are summons only in my books. They just don't do enough to justify 6ss. Outside of Forgotten keyword, the only other minion I typically bother with is a single Rotten Belle, which I feel is a great inclusion in Reckoning. Yes, Lure is nowhere near as good as it was in 2nd, and 6ss feels bad for just one Action... But Lure is still an incredible tool to have available in Reckoning. Molly's not normally the first master you'd think of for Reckoning, but I've found Lethe's Caress has the potential to be brutal enough in Reckoning that she's sometimes the right pick - and when I do pick her for Reckoning, a Rotten Belle is starting to become a staple. Enforcers: Archie may as well be Molly's second totem for how much of an auto-include he is. Always hire him. Always. The Forgotten Marshall remains a high priority pick for me. He always brings The Whisper upgrade; not only does it increase the chances of finding a to summon with, but it also helps enable his attack triggers. As an added bonus, the card draw reward for killing models synergises with his self-heal reward for killing models, which itself synergises with his Hard To Kill - in my mind all of this further streamlines his role as a damage dealer. If he's a couple inches shy of shooting the right target, or if he gets stuck in combat, I won't hesitate to use Molly's Free Action to give him that a 2" push and Focus. Rogue Necromancy is a sometimes bring. He's good enough to bring frequently, but has some big weaknesses and shouldn't be the first go-to. If I do take him and the opponent clumps up, I like to reach out with Projective Vomit rather than commit him early; because once he's committed, he dies fast! Dead Rider, I hire as often as I can, and when I hire The Forgotten Marshal, I always bring Dead Rider. He offers much needed mobility through Ride With Me, which is especially important if the Marshall becomes locked in combat; he can try to use Pine Box as a last resort, but I'd much prefer him to reach out with his Peacebringer. I try save my Fate Tokens for a big ol' whack with Revel In Death, looking to trigger Spinning Scythe, or occasionally Soulfire. Henchmen: Phillip and the Nanny is a sometimes bring. They're very painful for your opponent if they declare a master that hands the Focus condition around, like Shenlong with their He's Starting To Make Sense aura. If they also had the same trigger as Molly has on One Last Question to place a free Scheme Marker they'd be terrific, though admittedly they'd probably be too good. With Chatty and the anti-Scheme Marker trigger on One Last Question, they're pretty good in denying options for your opponent in a Scheme Marker heavy pool, but are they worth as much as two Crooligans, who already do an amazing job? Maybe. Phillip and the Nanny has a lot of moving parts and a lot of layered rules, and you need to remember each and every one to get the most out of them and ensure they were worth hiring. Vincent St Clair is another sometimes bring, for one reason: he's terrific against summoners. Abuse Rapid Fire with his Sanctified Crossbow, which features two fantastic triggers (including one that auto-kills a Summoned models), coupled with the ability to ignore Friendly Fire, Incorporeal, and Hard To Wound, and he becomes an absolute machine gun against summons. He's very hard to shut down with Agile, and a trigger on his melee attack to shoot with his Sanctified Crossbow even if engaged. He can blow up Corpse Markers at range, which can be situationally great against summoners like Asami or Nicodem. Rapid Fire also slightly synergises with Molly's The Gorgon's Influence redraw mechanic. Being card hungry, suit reliant and very killy, he would definitely benefit from The Whisper. Mortimer is yet another sometimes bring. Specifically, you would pick him to abuse Fresh Meat and promote the movement of your crew, especially in the early game; pop a Crooligan into play half way up the broad with From The Shadow, and Fresh Meat it. If you do this, make sure you're exclusively hiring Undead to get maximum value. Mortimer's Grave Robber can be used to provide Corpse Marker ammunition for Archie to throw. Bonus points if you get a free Mindless Zombie, and use it as ammunition for Archie to throw instead. Everyone appreciates a Zombie being flung in their face. Anna Lovelace, who is admittedly a pretty rare pick for Molly, does shows up occasionally. Basically she's just taken as anti placement trick tech. In particular she's nice against Asami. One of Asami's key attributes is that she lets Oni place themselves whenever they charge, and much of her crew hand out healing and Focus to one another (or at least, the Asami players I play against do). She also uses Scrap and Corpse Markers to fuel her summons. Anna can shut down all of this very efficiently in a bubble around through her auras and Grade Assignment.

I recently took Molly for a spin against Asami in Corrupted Idols, with this crew: Molly, Necrotic Machine, Archie with GST, Dead Rider with GST, The Forgotten Marshall with Whisper, 2x Crooligan. Asami had Amanjuka, Ama-No-Zako, a Dawn Serpent and 2x Jorogumo both with the From The Shadows equivalent upgrade. I figured having plenty Soulstones (9) and GST on my big boys would be important in Idols, but post game I think that was a mistake. Given the way Fading and Gorgon's Influence works, and how she isn't hugely dependent on suits, Molly just doesn't seem Soulstone hungry imo. Personally I quite like The Forgotten Marshal, especially with Whisper. Despite not being able to Stone for suits, he can happily dig for a decent to summon with, or otherwise put a on top to threaten Critical Strike on his gun, with Whisper's free look. I especially like how frustrating he is to kill, because not only does he have HtW, and HtK and two different ways to heal himself, but Forgotten usually offer other healing options too. As an added bonus, he offers great utility with the Box to snatch up and abduct problem models that you don't want to deal with.

NPE = Negative Play Experience. As in, models that just make the game unenjoyable for the opponent.

I've found her to be pretty good in GG2018 so far. Solo'd her in an event a fortnight ago Horror, Spirit, Spirit. I find Shikome to be incredibly appealing so I usually lean Spirit with Molly, at 7ss even hiring one is fine if you set things up correctly (Reactivating Shikome hitting minces anything). I also have a lot of love for big aggressive Kentauroi+Kentauroi+Rogue Necromancy+Mortimer for Fresh Meat style crews. The variety she brings means that it's hard to grow tired of her. In my opinion Back On The Job basically breaks the game, and there lots of scheme pools where this upgrade alone means I go for Molly. I think it might be too strong, but as long as I can take it for 2ss I will every game.

There's also a lot of boxes out there that have 3 copies of the same model that you will never need more than 1 or 2 of. For example, I would never want a 3rd Railworker in an Arcanist or Thunders list. Even 2 Railworkers is pushing it. So, with some minor conversion work, that third unused Railworker became a Mindless Zombie. A little bit of gore, pale coloured skin and dirty clothing and he was perfect. I traded for 3 Mindless Zombie models then added a few from existing Malifaux models that would otherwise sit on the shelf doing literally nothing.

Yes, it was off the Shield Press trigger. No biggie, I haven't been misplaying this little interaction; since Nurses are 6ss now I've stopped hiring them altogether. It is slightly discouraging to know I'd 'only' have to work my way through the first 71 FAQs to find out... I wonder how many people are unknowingly playing with less than the full rule set since neither they nor their opponent have read every FAQ or Errata.

I think you're spot on with your analysis; CCK and Porter are always worth their 3ss, but other than them I think only the Chihuahua is auto take as far as our totems go. But I did want to add that Necrotic Engine sometimes has a place to be hired, especially in Horror lists. It's main use is early game. It can really help get a heavy crew get moving turn 1 with it's (0) - a 4" move for almost your whole crew (provided you hired smartly) is legit for a 7+ card. Also, since basically any 2ss activation is worth considering just to help with activation control early on it's not awful just to take for that reason. In fact I think it might very well be the only 2ss Minion in the game - so he's a really cute hire in Interference/Reconnoiter.

It's possible, but of the last 10 or so lists I've read and heard about by Kirai players I've never seen Lost Love show up even once. I can't speculate on why that is too much, maybe she just has ridiculously competitive choices to make in hiring - maybe neither LL nor GYS can find a place. More malevolence coverage can only be good but the question is: is it 4ss good? The best opponents will still find a way to work around Malevolence with placement or pushing effect or even make it work against the Kirai player - Ikiryo suddenly arrives in my lap, well I guess I may as well farm her for Ply For Information or have an easier time with Public Demonstration etc.

Yeah, me too. Our Ressur forum is often the most stagnant of the 7 faction forums. One fun thing with Datsue Ba I did was pairing her with her Graveyard Spirit. 6 wounds is not many, but when she's guarded by both Armour+2 and Incorporeal, then she becomes a lot harder to get rid of. From non Ca sources she needs a hit of 7+damage just to deal more than 1 damage - and you can always use Soulstones too. This was with Spirit Molly nearby too so every swing she took there was just as much returned Black Blood damage. A nice big Goryo standing there hugging the GYS let him stay safe from incoming attention. Next time I'd be keen to try it with Jaakuna instead/aswell. Packing so tightly makes s scary but Datsue Ba can use a sacrificial Seishin to give your models immunity to & for a round entirely. It's also a nice little bonus that Graveyard Spirit's (0) helps Datsue in draining even more cards from the opponent. GYS is generally more useful than Spirit Molly and Kirai's totems, and I take it with Nicodem sometimes too. I prefer Copycat Killer for Seamus, but basically, for the other 3 masters I'd even start to consider hiring Datsue Ba for, I would also consider Graveyard Spirit. Overall I'd like to see more from Datsue Ba but I think she's still a decent pick against some factions. Guild and Arcanists often have a lot of reliance on Armour that she can get around. Arcanists in particular have tonnes of Hard to Kill models that she can counter and convert into Onryo with her chained attacks. Still, it can be risky since Arcanists do have access to lots of Ca models. Guild and Arcanist's two masters that typically threaten our Spirits the most (Raspy+Sonia) are neutered pretty heavily if you are prepared to sacrifice a Seishin to ignore those blasts too.

The Seishin wall was always appreciated by Seamus, but I always thought the main attraction was the fact Datsue Ba can supply 3-4 WP tests per activation (MLH dependent) for enemy models just by attacking, plus extra WP tests if she's targeted, which makes Seamus very happy. With Sinister Rep up, all her WP attacks become much harder to avoid. Nonetheless, I agree that she feels underwhelming compared with recent additions, especially with all the Ca sources that have been added lately. Emissary, Asura & Phillip are competing with all our support options and often just outright better. For 8ss, she could really go up to WP6, 7 wounds, and have Spirit Whispers built-in to her card - that way she could take some cute combination of My Little Helper, Admiration, Spirit Anchor in addition to her summoning. She still would not be the best choice all the time, but the times you do decide to hire her would feel better.

Well, that's true, you miss out on Pull of the Grave... which is a good upgrade. Basically gives her a Belle's (1) Undress... But for me the biggest issue is spending a copy of MLH on Chiaki in the first place. I want 2 copies of MLH pretty much every game, and I want it on models that have good/great (0)s, or could abuse the Dark Protection buff since they hit like trucks, or both. So, even if Chiaki could take two upgrades, using one of my MLHs on Chiaki seems like a waste of an otherwise phenomenal upgrade.

Well, it sounds like it works every bit as well as I hoped! Executioners definitely appeal to me; anything that ignores Df triggers is welcome in my Arcanist/Thunders drenched meta. If I ever pick up Guild, I look forward to a few 'oops there goes your master' moments, myself.

Has anyone tried the Austringer/Jury combo to murder their hand, but then followed that up with Executioner(s) threatening their Assassination trigger? That seems like it'd decimate anyone's hand and soulstones in speedy fashion. Summoners need their stones too, not just cards. If they choose to summon anyway, they're risking outright losing actual models to Assassination triggers too. The other thing I'm interested in is partnering the Jury with Convict Gunslinger(s). If Jury's aura work for non-Guild models that is? Assuming it does: Gunslingers don't have to pay for Rapid Fire like Santiago so they're free to take DTTG instead, and they can also shoot in melee so are more reliable at getting that one 'god turn' in. Doubtless someone has already thought of it / tried it.... but Rapid Firing 3/4/5 attacks on a platform that has access to 'free' s to trigger more attacks has a certain appeal to me. I think that automatic Sh 6 with built in makes it very scary towards the end of a turn once hands are depleted (Austringer+Jury+Executioner, maybe?); you might need a couple cards to discard but it's not unrealistic to expect 4 or 5 or even 6 hits from Rapid Firing once. The only issue is helping him get into position, perhaps Nimble from McCabe or extra AP from Nelly would be helpful here. Any thoughts on Gunslingers+Jury?

Being neither a Spirit nor an Undead model you're taking her purely for her kit, that to be fair is amazing for 6ss. I also played her very extensively while new to Ressurs but nowadays play her far less. I agree with OP that she often doesn't make the cut at 6ss or 7ss if I don't 100% need her Condition removal. There's so many good options like our Emissary, Phillip and the Nanny and by the sounds, Asura, and cheap scheme runners that a 6ss or 7ss cost can be awkward sometimes in the crew composition. Looking at Condition Removal there's also the Johan question for us to answer. I can't see him replacing Chiaki unless we're desperate for some more hitting power (especially since his ss cost increase). There might be some weird scheme pool and opponent that makes us reach for both Chiaki AND Johan but that'd be rare. My meta doesn't generally make Condition Removal a must-have for me but Chiaki will still be high on the priority list for games of Public Executions and Ply For Info.

Tournament on the 25th of February 2018, run out of Hobbymaster Ellerslie. $20 entry buys 3 rounds of 50ss Fixed Faction GG2018 goodness and an entry into a random raffle draw. Prizes included for top 3 and Best painted. Further details are available here.