Cedar

Mad Dog has a problem that he competes for the same spot (ranged damage dealer) with Rusty Alyce and McTavish and both of these models better than him - they have greater range, are more mobile and survivable. Plus, when you lock Alyce or Tavish in melee, they can deliver solid punch, while Mad Dog relies on his triggers, none of which are built-in.

Hamelin definitely got most from wave 5 - Plague Pits are in top 3 Broken Promises upgrades, Benny Wolcomb is nice damage dealing henchman with supporting abilities, Midnight Stalker was made for Hamelin and maybe even Freikorps Engineer has its place in Plague crew (probably together with Desolation Engine). Great news for me, as Hamelin is my favorite master. Second winner is VS. Engineer can bump his damage track to respectable 3/4/7 (ignoring armor), give him armor and draw few cards. Nythera aftermath is nice upgrade, although Oath of the Freikorps outshines it, as VS can now give free AP to other models. Third master who got most is Tara. She received enormous boost in form of Emptiness and Out of Time. Both upgrades are powerful and are auto-include with her. Talos is good model, especially since it has damage track of 3/4/5, and 3 on weak was something that Tara's thematic crew was missing. Fourth are probably Viktorias - now you can delete one model, then bury Vik and unbury her with Scion next turn! Parker is fifth, mostly because his Conflux helps his resource management. Hidden Steel Plate and High Noon are nice additions to his toolbox, but let's face it - he still is Parker, with all downsides he had before wave 5. Leveticus mediocre upgrades, but you can change Pariah of Iron into them, which is ok. His biggest boost are Kentakouri (free movement) and Obsidian Statue (more damage). Jack Daw is nearly at the bottom due to simple reason - he doesn't have free slots for any of this upgrades. Misaki is last because Viks are still better than her. It would be nice if she could take Terracottas with her.

* * * * I finished few stories and I have mixed feelings about this book. In case of content (new models and upgrades) I think this is best book since Crossroads, but fluff (and recycled artwork) is bit disappointing. Guild story was completely pointless, although I like the idea of showing our heroes in normal situations. Ressers, Arcanists and Outcasts stories were fun and advanced plot in new directions and I can't wait to know what happens next.

I suggest starting McM first, as he is very good master in my opinion, plus you have most of things he takes with him. I suggest buying third, and maybe even fourth Flesh Construct, as he can easily create one per turn. Rafkin is auto-include with him, and now Scorpius (from the Arcanists). Sooner or later you'll buy Emissary and he is in top three models in the faction. If you buy him, please make sure you have Mindless Zombies. Asura is good Ressers model, although she isn't available right now.

Because Poison Gamin has Kariat's Blessing, which works in a similar way to Induction, and stacking Gamin with Sebastian and putting Poison +2 on enemy model would result in 6 irreducible damage at start of their activation.

Sorry, I must misunderstood you. Looking at your list, it seems that you would miss only Wisps, as they are essential for Zoraida. Iron Skeeters are great in combination with Francois or Burt as these little Sky Pirates work as taxi for any ht 1 model. Speaking of Broken Promises - it has some nice stuff for these masters - Guild received four 6 Soulstone cost Minions, and while they are not available right now, you should definitely buy Guild Investigators and Monster Hunter when they will be released. Investigators can discard scheme markers from distance (which draws you a card) and have irresistible push. Monster Hunters have great ranged attack with built-in and damage track of 3/4/5 against models with Soulstone cost 7 or more. They are also very mobile due to their Stalk. In Neverborn, you have Bulgultin, who can perform powerful melee attack if they were pushed - and you can do that with Issue Command. In addition to Talos, Outcasts received Midnight Stalker - very solid scheme and anti-scheme runner. Extremely mobile and hard to kill if enemy has no access to attacks with . Ressurectionist have this book best model in form of Asura Rotten, who works like Sandeep for Undeads - they can borrow her attacks! What is more, she can create one Mindless Zombie per turn even easier than Carrion Emissary. Zoraida received great tool in form of Adze - it gives great tactical action for Wisps to copy, has an ability to count as scheme marker and it's very tanky model - despite having only 6 wounds, it can heal with each attack. Mei Feng can use Obsidian Statue, as it drops scraps whenever it suffers damage, and Charm Warders who can give her Disguised or Vanishing (if this model has activated, if it is a target of enemy action, the enemy must pass WP duel or the action immediately fails).

Except Soulbound upgrades have "This Upgrade may not be discarded or removed." clause.

For Tara, Talos looks like good model - he is only Void model so far with 3 weak damage, plus he is really tough, with his terrifying, armor and healing when he buries enemy model. I prefer to summon Guild Autopsies with Karina, as they cheapest model to be summoned. For Lucius both Austringers and Witchling Thralls are nice option. He can now use his Issue Command on Austringers and Thralls always pass horror duels regardless of final duel total. Also, they are really tough and have great attack. Doppelganger and Trapper are also valid options.

No, you're drawing cards until you reveal a non-ace card. So if first card is an ace, you reveal second card. If it's also an ace, reveal third card. If it's, for instance, 9 you draw it you don't reveal next cards.

In scheme marker heavy pool Hamelin is still better option, as Infectious Melodies can give fast to your free minions which can double walk and place a marker. What s more, Rat Kings have very good (0) action (place base-to-base with scheme marker then remove it) and denying claim jump is easier with rat than with Drop it! trigger.

In Extraction/Guard the Stash place them around center area so enemies will gain Blight if they want to score strategy. In other strategies I usually place 1-2 markers close to the center so I can move them without problem close to enemy models and third marker usually ends in a position which guarantees spreading Blight on enemy Master or big beater on tun one.

Fortunately, the guy who lost his head is one of the Banditos and not Parker.

Obsidian Statue for damage buff to respectable 3/4/5. Kentaori as expensive taxi for Levi. Don't forget that now Iron Levi can swap Pariah of Iron for new limited upgrade to remove scheme markers. I think that his two new upgrades are more important now than his new hiring options.

He requires 4+ Masks to do both of his (0). Attaching upgrades requires enemy scheme markers or soulstones. His push needs 8+ to work. He generates soulstones, but only from enemy scheme markers. Until now, he had to be close to them to get "free" upgrades, but Emissary fixes few problems for him.

1. As for now, Marlene being a Lost is only for fluff purposes. Maybe in the future we will see model who has special interactions with this characteristic (like Benny has with Vermin). 2 and 3. She offers another defensive option for Hamelin - combining her with Stolen, Piper and Survivalist makes Eliminate the leadership maximum 2 VP scheme for the opponent. Wicked Dolls are nice against crews that use scrap markers (like Ramos, Collodi and Hoffman), but without Creative Salvage, they are just nice addition that can screw up enemy plans. She has accurate Ml attack with decent damage track and good Ca action against Ressers (who usually have low Wp but are Hard to Wound or Kill). About Hamelin in general - We can't talk about Hamelin in GG18 as new Gaining Grounds are not even close to being final version. However, even with reducing summoning power, Hamelin will be one of the top masters in the game, especially since now his free models can deal about 4-6 damage with some lucky flips. Stolen's Ca 4 versus Master's usual WP of 6 or 7 doesn't mean that it won't hit eventually, especially since Hamelin has access to 3 of them at the same time. We will probably see more condition removal across the tables and maybe few players will pick the Plague as Hamelin's third upgrade (along Piper and Plague Pits - two auto-include upgrades for now).

I seriously doubt that rat engine will be Cuddled as it is one of his core mechanics and changing it without complete overhaul of his theme crew would either not hit hard enough or make him useless.

I agree with @Seadhna. Plague pits are amazing, as it turns even stolen into very powerful model. Benny offers many abilities, like turning enemy scheme markers into your own, casting Bleeding Disease and summoning hordes of rats. I don't like Useful Verimin - of course, it is powerful in certain scheme pools, but Hamelin already has many ways to complete schemes that require markers.

I have to agree with @Azrrael. In gg18 and with new upgrades he probably will be better than now, but still he'll be probably slightly less powerful than Levi or Hamelin. He requires too much resources to work while his "free" AP are not as good as two free Levi's activations or crazy number of activations, Obeys and Pipes that Hamelin has. Also, he is not as tough as either of these two masters.

I really like new upgrades, especially for Hamelin, as he is my main master. Plague Pits allows him to stack significant amount of Blight, especially on extraction/guard the stash scenario - I tried this upgrade in full blight crew against Yan Lo. Old man died to single Bleeding Disease, as rats, pits, kings and Benny increased his Blight to 12 during the game. Aura from The Plague helps a lot against crews with condition removal (like Chiaki).

You can always say "imagine how broken this is for Burt/Tavish" I really hope for some serious love for Ulix, as he is my favorite Gremlin Master. Maybe an upgrade to give friendly pigs within companion, or ability to summon Wild Boars (maybe from enemy scheme markers)?

I take the Plague only when I want to play as Blight Hamelin, with Nix and (after wave 5) Benny Wolcomb. The Plague gives you a reliable way of putting Blight on enemy models (with 14" range and SH6) and, after luring your opponent, you may Obey Rat King (or Nix with Hollow) to charge that enemy model for (1) AP. In few particular scenarios Blight Hamelin is better than Obey Hamelin (at least in my opinion), but it's usually during fixed master tournaments, when you would know what master you would be against.

Trappers with their to attack flips are good counter against Jack, same as Wokou riders, although you must remember about his guillotine injustice. Edit: In case of Hamelin, rat kings are free units that simply wrecks him.

I thought about something like this: Small Obsidian Mirror 1 SS upgrade This model gains following ability: Piercing the Veil: Whenever this model declares Soulstone Sword action it may discard a card to target buried models regardless of LOS and Range. This model gains following trigger to his Soulstone Sword action: Breach in Reality: Whenever this model kills enemy buried model, summon Void Wretch within 3" and LOS of this model.

I agree with @Vorschlag about Blight Hamelin. He can deal MASSIVE amount of damage to elite crews, especially since many big guys have low DF so even rats can hit them. Guild Hounds are nice addition to the crew, although some people find Hollow as too expensive to be viable. I really like it, not because it gives protection from blasters (although it helps against them) or that you can field other dogs, but for (1) AP charge against Blighted models, If you manage to perform two charges then it is like you would use two Oathkeepers on him.

I really enjoy playing Blight Hamelin, but without Benny he is not so great. I hope that new upgrades for him will provide additional source of this amazing condition Plague (the Tyrant, not the upgrade) works with almost any crew, however if you bring Desolation Engine and Ashes and Dust as your main beaters you will still have activation control over your enemies. Here are few tricks that I like: 1. Killjoy rat taxi - take Killjoy, standard rat engine pieces (Stolen, Wretch, 1-2 rats), put Infectous Melodies on Hamelin. Use summoned Rat Catcher to apply reactivate to one rat. walk with rat during first activation, during second- use fast from melodies, then walk additional three times. Rat dies and Killjoy unburies close to enemies, ready to charge. 2. Industrial Age spam - activate A&D, walk close to enemies to use Industrial age, then sacrifice it with Sewer King/ Desolation Engine. Obey Core three times for additional Industrial age, then use Industrial age two more times during Core activation. This is risky strategy, however certain masters (eg. Pandora. Jack Daw, Dreamer) will probably suffer few points of damage. 3. Using Emissary with Nix and Taelor- just give Regeneration to one of them and companion to other one - both these abilities are amazing on them, as they are resilient models which can deal significant amount of damage and with pseudo-lures granted by Emissary and Hamelin they usually will have something to charge. 4. Using Lazarus with Abominations- just draw some cards and heal Lazarus with his (0) action and probably moderate card from your hand.