Cedar

Daeva seems nice as OOK pick - with saber, latch on and mimic the can deal nice amount of damage. Also, copying Trampling Hooves from Rough Rider grants them attack with autoplace, so they can attack again. Made to kill works fine too with all of the ride with me this crew has.

I actually think Cadmus could benefit from one Cryptologist in crew, so you could resolve good doctor summoning one additional time

For ES, the top keyword in terms of synergy are Cadmus (obviously), followed by DUA

For me it looks like this:

Wastrel - I was never fan of this keyword, and I'm not a fan after ES book. He seems to be better in TT than as Society member, but I'll give him a chance - too bad he's lacking minions that are worth of wearing glowing saber.

Frontier - They were bit lacking without remaining models, but now they have chance to shine. Addition of Sandworm and Riders make them better, though I was hoping for some enforcer/henchman who will summon even more traps.

Apex - pretty straightforward keyword, really god for killy scheme pools. Crypsis Corps are super- for me they are best snipers out there. Vataagi are kinda squishy, but they can set traps in choke points, and 1 dmg and 1 injure is nice bonus.

DUA - my favorite keyword - at least from gameplay perspective. Eva can shutdown even best beaters with her bonus action, and Operatives laugh at those "Enemy only" actions/abilities/triggers. Daeva have Mimic and can steal some nice attacks and Specters are balanced versions of ikyrio. They seem to be the strongest in terms of total power.

Seeker- Great keyword, best in terms of look. Weird combination of scheming potential and subpar mobility. I think that Jedza dealing 2/3/4 dmg without any duel made by opponent will cause many salty reactions, same as Tannenbaum forcing hand discard. Mikhail is Phiona 2.0, and I think he'll fill the same role. I don't get the Lamplighters, as paying 7 for support model isn't something I'm fan of. 

EVS - I really don't know what the master is supposed to be doing - handling 2 fasts/focuses per action? Other than that, Kia looks AMAZING, with her 2/4/6 IRREDUCIBLE damage.

Syndicate - Overall - pretty meh for me. Corvis and Operatives are interesting, but I can take them in DUA without any problems too. 

Cadmus - Archivist is coolest model in keyword IMO. Meredith is must-have, as she seems to be able to throw summons and parasites quite reliable.

2 hours ago, Joachim said:

Why are you taking bloody shears? It seems so underwhelming.

Unfortunately they are. The only good thing that I manage to do from time to time when using this upgrade is summoning Goryo outside of enemy that is engaging Kirai, use Shears to push out of combat and hit said enemy with her attack to apply Adversary and then chain to Goryo who charges and probably kills the target.

2 hours ago, Joachim said:

@cedar what is your best spirit beacon target? Do you typically put it on Kirai? I played it on izamu before, as normally a lot of stuff die around him.

Yes, I put it on Kirai - when you use your df/wp trigger to change target to seishin you may save him by wounding Kirai by only 1. In addition, Spirit Anchor (aura that allows Seishin to be summoned when other models are killed) has same range as Blood and wind.

Usually it comes down to Unforgiven/Bloody shears (always one of those and in 90% of games I'm taking Unforgiven) and Spirit Beacon as staples. Then you have either Absorb Spirit (good upgrade if you're running datsue ba), Swirling Spirits (good upgrade if you want to play entourage on Kirai), Ectoplasm (tricky to use) or Maniacal laugh (for free activations and summoning battery). 

28 minutes ago, DonCheadle said:

I always thought the Outcast Emissary was rather mediocre - what makes him so good for Parker? 

He provides 2-3 cards per activation as well as enemy scheme marker so Parker can discard it for either cards or soulstone (depends on his limited upgrade).

1 hour ago, trikk said:

Assuming S&S are well designed, you will have scenarios where the large crew will be superior (you need to be at various places or you need a lot of AP to complete the objectives) and in other the elite crew will be superior (killy scenarios, where number of actions don`t count but you need to kill models)

I completly agree with this statement. From what we saw (GenCon photos) there is, for instance, strategy where you score VP only if you kill more models in turn than total VP scored from this strategy (i.e. for first VP you need to kill 1 model per turn, for second VP - 2 models, three models for third VP and four models for fourth VP), but we can assume that there will be strategy when high activation number is more important than having more expensive models (remember interference?).

She also suffers against models who deal damage without damage flip (Hamelin, McMourning, Titania, C7).

2 hours ago, CapnBloodbeard said:

Funny, because I'm sure Jack was considered one of the best masters at one stage...

I honestly think he was, but right now there is so much mudels with  to duels which makes his 4 DF simply too low. For instance, he was good against Neverborn until Shifting Loyalties when Changelings were introduced and whole changelings - trapper combo started. Same is true for Shadow Emissary - thanks to his action that pushes a model and gives him fast many guys can simply focus and charge hitting once, maybe twice if they are super lucky. Dragon can also receive double focus for one card. Yasunori doesn't need any help at all if you think about killing Jack. Monster Hunters can obliterate him, same as Sandeep's Oxfordians with  Gamin or most Oathkeeper freikorps when VS charges him and causes his condition to pop up. I have one Jack crew that works in certain scenario/matchup, but I seriously think he is our worst master right now.

Right now Parker has his niche, as he can provide few cards per turn, as well as free soulstone. In my opinion Jack is bit worse than him and VS is solid master.

It's funny how it's easier to tell which master is our best master but we have major disagreements to tell which one is worst  

Mason (or someone who was playing demo at GenCon) wrote (on Facebook if I remember correctly), that models with keywords can be hired regardless of faction.

On 7/30/2018 at 8:08 PM, lusciousmccabe said:

Has Jacob Lynch gotten any additions to his core crew since v1.5? Don't think so.

Gwynneth Maddox in Broken Promises.

Hamelin vs almost anything, sometimes Victorias. Probably I'll try Von Schill vs Guild since high WP as well as access to counterspells is troublesome for Plague to deal with.

New Master I'm Most Excited For (Including New Dual Factions): Von Schtook - I'm really curious how his summoning mechanic would work (maybe like now Outcasts summon things - by killing enemies?). New Jack Daw and Zipp also seems like fun guys to play with.

Lost Master I'm Most Disappointed In (Including Masters Who Lost Dual Faction): McCabe. I really like McCabe horse list (With Lone Marshall, Mounted Guards and Pale Rider) and I feel bad ir wouldn't be an option anymore.

Master That Should Have Been: I was hoping for any Outcasts mercenary to receive master status - mostly Hans (who wouldn't like master-sniper?) or Sue (because he is coolest Outcasts model). Also, I wanted to Benny to became a master instead of Hamelin - lets face it, Plague has no impact on the story in last 3 books (except brief mention that Piper's Plague returned to the city) and Benny offers new possibilities. It also would be cool if Levi would be replaced with either Marlene or Alyce.

Existing Master Change I'm Most Excited In: First one is Marcus - I have high expectations for his mutations mechanic. Similarly - I want to see new refocused Zoraida and Hamelin - first seems like super control master and second - like ultimate snowball master.

12 minutes ago, Davie said:

 

Also: has anyone mentioned that there is no Cg on the front? Maybe certain attacks will have individual Charge-ranges?

Maybe Wyrd is going to change charges so they'll work in a manner similiar to what we'd seen in TOS video - when you charge a model, you move your model up to twice it's movement and then use  attack?

8 minutes ago, thatlatinspeakingguy said:

So, they're going to implement a mechanic to overcome the importance of activation control - model-specific Pass Tokens. Interesting.

I'm really curious about how it'll work.

Hello,

i would like to invite you to tournament.

Date: 18.08.2018, Vanaheim Game Store at Lubicz 34/6

3 rounds

Start - 10:00

End - 18:00

50 SS Fixed Faction

More info (in Polish) here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2650042305221311

Send me a PM in case if you're interested in participation.

Just like all Bleeding Disease crews this one has major flaw - if you end facing crew that is good against conditions (Lady Justice or Shenlong comes to mind) your damage drops significantly. 

I don't think so - they have damage track of 2/3/4 with possibility of performing additional shot. For 1 Soul,stone less, we can hire Dead Outlaws, who have same, or sometimes better, damage output and who provide utility in form of removing enemy scheme markers or applying curse of covetous to the enemy. For 1 soulstone more, we can hire Sue, who has better damage track, draws cards and has fantastic utility actions. Of course - Convicts are most accurate of the three models mentioned above, but their damage output isn't as reliable as Dead Outlaws or Sue and they bring nothing to the team except mediocre firepower. 

They are also very slow - WK 4 is same as Sue has, but his guns are rg 12"  instead of 10" and are dealing more damage (although are less accurate). I think there are few ways how to improve them - either increase their walk and range as I said before, or - for instance - give them Hard to Kill or increase their defense to 6, or give them built-in slow trigger, or even reduce their cost  by 1-2 soulstones.

The only thing how I'd change Vanessa would be to make her Leyline ability to be active when she is within 2" of the centerline instead of being active when she stands on it.

About Gunslingers - I'd take them if they would be WK 5 and Rg 2"or 12".

I've started with Leveticus, but - at least for me - he is pretty boring and even caused me to stop playing for about a year. When Ripples of Fate were announced, I looked at new masters and three of them caught my eye - Parker (Clint Eastwood vibe), Reva and Titania. I decided to buy Parker and played him for few months but it was very frustrating experience, Then there were Viktorias, but just like levi - they seem pretty damn boring. Then I bought Hamelin, when almost no one in Poland played him and to this day he is my main master.

Probably Journalist, Lost models with Manipulative ability. I wonder about rest of their card.

She is great with him - just put I pay better on her and pair her with two trappers. Parker and Emissary will draw you couple of cards which you can use to shot people. Works great on Ours and Public Executiions. 

8 minutes ago, Corwin said:

I tried this vs Collodi, but his personal puppet is not a DF trigger so even with 13 of crows all I managed to do was kill two marionettes. I should have charged the hooded rider instead and wreaked his day.

Try combining him with condition from Queller