Seadhna

Absolutely. Either you don't hire any and summon some with Levi/Alyce/A&D on lucky high crows, or you hire two and use them as a card engine, then summon some. Summoning Aboms is usually a resource-intensive endeavour, so you won't be spamming them like Nicodem spams Punk Zombies anyway.

Never summoned more than two, never hired more than two, so the box is probably enough. Then again, I don't run Deso Engine or gimmicky Alyce summoning.

You are correct sir, my mistake. Still, Tara is extremely slow when not charging, it will take her some time to get into Echoes range.

I have once made an Abomination out of Von Schill with A&D, that doesn't mean A&D is a good counter to VS. Theoretically yes, Levi with Desolate Soul will make a fast and eventful trip from Rat-town to Abom-town, but why would you keep your rat engine anywhere near him? He still may be the best counter to Hamelin, but without Desolate Soul he's no threat. Same with Tara: if you summon two Stolen in base contact with Hamelin, you can easily place them so Sympathetic echoes won't AoE the second one; otherwise, why would you keep all your Stolen in a 2" bubble against possible AoE's?

I think Hamelin is probably the safest. He dominates most of GG2017 scheme pools, and I can't think of a hard counter to him in Outcasts.

Hamelin laughs at Tara's beast-bombs (Irresistible Dance anyone?) Bury doesn't affect Levi at all (not like Tara can attack buried models) Parker isn't about shooting (she's actually really vulnerable to Hands in the Air) Daw has Wp 7 (lots of Tormented do have low Wp, but Daw himself will tear most of her thematic crew apart and doesn't really afraid of anything she might bring herself) See, same argument works both ways!

Example: you Wild Firing with a Desperate Merc twice, on each attack you flip a 13 and an ace. Now you have no 13's in the deck until you shuffle it, so this turn your significant models can't flip 13's. Across multiple games - sure, but that lowers your chances of winning duels when they actually matter. For that same reason shooting into engagements is in most cases a really bad thing to do.

Unlike in dice games, volume of attacks with low acting value is actually a bad thing in Malifaux: you need those kings and queens in your deck for your high-value shots. Wasting a 13 on a Desperate Merc shot is... questionable.

Don't buy a second box of Abominations unless you intend to go summoning-heavy to the exclusion of everything else. There are better models to hire and better ways to spend Levi's AP. Desolation Engine is alright, but far from a staple model.

He makes a fantastic FfM target!

@DXXXVIII For one, Misaki won't be obliterated by a couple of Katanaka Snipers, so maybe a substitute for Daw versus TT? Ml 7 makes her one of the most reliable hitters in the faction, so maybe play her like a less-mobile, more sturdy Leveticus? Prey on the weak, then assassinate a key target, then get angrily murdered. I do believe the common consensus is that there is no Misdirection in Outcasts to keep her alive, so maybe Survivalist then?

Bete only unburies off killed models, so Levi's (0) won't trigger her ability.

His gun is legitimately scary. The few times I've used him, he burninated the living hell out of the enemy before inevitably exploding right into my face.

Gonna try a fun list with Effigies 50 SS Outcasts Crew Leveticus + 5 Pool - Pariah of Iron (1) - Oath Keeper (1) - Desolate Soul (2) Hollow Waif (0) Hollow Waif (0) Mechanical Rider (12) Howard Langston (12) - The Bigger They Are (1) Flesh Construct (6) Hodgepodge Effigy (4) Arcane Effigy (4) Mobile Toolkit (3) Langston+Bigger They Are+Toolkit seems dirty, Levi with double buffs seems also dirty. Maybe I should swap the Construct for Brutal for maximum annoyance?

Do the hat last. The little pip on his heel goes into the slot on the top of the item pile. The real tricky part is getting his little arms align between each other and also make the reins reach the donkey's bridle I'm not sure there's a good way to do this way I did it was attach the legs/body to the pile, then put the cloak on, then swear my ass off while putting the hands/reins into place. then i gave it a really bad basecoat and had to wash it off and the reins broke into tiny little pieces anyway, and the paint wouldn't hold to the new primer and I basically need a new Emissary because mine looks like a piece of crap(

Sue works perfectly, especially if you can squeeze out another SS for Return Fire

I'll second Scout the Field on Nothing Beast. There's a recurring theme of fielding multiple mercs with I pay Better (or just a Killjoy bomb) on Tara. There's also Survivalist, but it's for people like Hamelin and Jack Daw. Oath Keeper and Bigger They Are go really well on most models. Return Fire is really good on Sue, not too useful on most others. I think these six are the most taken.

Had moderate success today with Aionus+Survivalist Librarian Sue Effigy They just plain refused to die, especially with all the heals. Aionus kept tanking a Dawn Serpent, Kang and an Oiran whole game. Also had a lucky RJ on healing.

Except VS's blade does nothing against Arcane Shield or their discardable upgrade since it's not Armor and he's no Levi. If his knife was "May not be reduced" it would rack up his utility real high.

Making a new Entry for the Field Guide looks grossly suboptimal to me (you basically waste 2 cards to get a suit that you could use a Soulstone for), but might work in a fringe situation.

Just a (0) upgrade for +1 Wk/+1 Df would make him perfect, it's not like you're slapping anything else on him (unlike Hans whose new upgrade is useless)

Personal opinion: don't get Von Schill, he's the most boring master in the game. Theme-wise, Outcasts fall into two broad categories: Mercenaries and bandits - Viks, Schill, Parker, Misaki and thematic models Unique magical stuff that are too cool fit into Arcanists/Ressers - that would be Tara, JD, Leveticus and Hamelin For first group, any steampunk/wild wild west theme would go. For the second group, all are too unique to have a unified theme (maybe Levi and JD for Fate shenanigans, Tara and Hamelin for Tyranny).

I think I heard about Wretch spam on the Max Value podcast. Basically, it utilizes six Wretches, Malifaux Child, Scion and Nothing Beast to heavily outactivate the opponent and then do schemes like crazy while denying important ones. There's also a Resser version with double Belles instead of the Beast, I think. While seemingly suboptimal, it's something that can shine in the right scheme pool (think Tail'Em and accusation). The amount of Slow this crew generates is preposterous, not to mention generally favouring a low card hand. If you know what you're doing, this crew will wreck face.

Leveticus is usually enough, but I also like bringing Aionus to murder stuff.

I would strive to have a good spread of different-costed models. The ones from the list @Freman suggested are all solid choices, but you won't be able to field more than 1-2 of them in a given situation. i.e. Lazarus and Strongarm, Hannah and Anna serve similar roles. I'd look into Sue, Johan, Effigy, Winged Plague and Vanessa first, they work well in most crews and setups. Malifaux Child is also believed to be a good Viks totem. TL;DR: start with lower-cost models, then fill your collection with 10-cost models, otherwise your list-building will be extremely limited.