Fenriel

That could take a few cards to pull off. Big point commitment but interesting. 

Fairly sure Hannah can't copy this. It's a WP attack versus a CA? I seem to recall during playtesting it came up and it seemed to be designed to avoid the Hannah situation.

Into the Furnance (WP 6 / Rst:WP / Rng 2)  - (Taken from the APP)

I hadn't thought of Daw, but it's an interesting option considering how many things get past his ghost of malifaux these days. 

Fairly big pt commitment, but that makes Anna even sexier. 

As a fairly new Hamelin player - Question - Do you always play the rat activation game even if something tries to get in your face? Play defensively? I've played about 7 or so games and if I start reacting at all to what the other player is doing, I lose that activation advantage.  

Also any suggestions for when the rat engine goes bad? I had a game with 1 crow in hand (a 13) even after stoning for cards and didn't top deck any crows for tossing rats. 

Lastly do you always go king to catcher at the start to get your two ratchers out and then circle back around on the kings?

I second the VS comment, but he is better with Wave 5 upgrades than before. There are also quite a few models to help against casters. 

Sue (aura with neg flips on casting attacks)

Hannah/Librarian (stip suits if you are close, Hannah has counterspell)

I'm sure there are a few others my sleep deprived brain isn't recalling at the moment. 

Caveat - I haven't played Tara (she's a recent acquisition) yet, but there a number of models that can attack buried models which can be a serious issue for her. Most of her usual crew relies on her having few cards in her hand and being incorporeal. Strong casters can wreck havoc. 

I've seen this with sue a few times, but not the gunslinger....love the idea!

The latest wyrd ezine discusses it and offers clarification but I'm not sure that it is official? 

Midnight stalker has done solid work for me in a couple of games with hamelin. I'd agree he isn't the best obey target, but he runs independent of any other action. 

I really like A&D in several strats with hamelin but since he can't gain conditions, he isn't an autotake for me in GG18. 

On VS upgrade  - Nythera Aftermath - Clockwork arm - Built in trigger - After succeeding place the target within 6" of it's current location, not in terrain

Pere ability - Explosive Demise - All modles within pulse 2 suffer 4 damage when this model is killed (not sacrificed)

Emissary is pretty awesome with wave 5. I've seen several folks recommend anna since she doesn't randomize/min 3 and works well with hands in the air.

I'm always a fan of dead outlaws also. 

Parker can use the bandidos in his box as scheme runners, although I really like dead outlaws. With Wave 5, I'd say the emissary is almost a must have with parker.

Jack is awesome as a beater or deny master with his curses. But his box set needs some extra pieces to make it work best. Montressor even after his changes isn't folks favorite henchman and his totem doesn't seem to get much use. Once you get Daw you usually want to dip into ressers for more tormented (nurse, hanged etc). 

I haven't tried Tara yet, but I know her box set is fairly solid to start. Later you may want the scion, talos or death marshals. 

That said - Parker = shooty bandit with a tool for everything but most folks seem to agree he takes some work to get his rotation down.

Daw - Curses & can help move his folks around in a bubble. I find his worse flaw these days is that some factions have easy access to focus and he gets destroyed.

Tara - Fast/Slow/Bury Sheninigans

Benny should be out this month. Hopefully your local game store carries them, but if not ebay/amazon/miniature market -  plenty of options for crooligans and A&D. Gadzooks sells singles of things which can be a bit more pricey but sometimes you don't really want 3 or just need one model from a box.

Hamelin is my new master and I love him. You probably need 6-8 rats (or proxy) and two rat kings. From what I'm told GG18 is a bit of a nerf to him, but he still does well.

(A&D going up in cost and not being able to gain conditions stings a bit so he isn't the autotake he once was).  That said the list above is similar to what I've used lately. Plague pits is a reliable way to get blight out early versus most crews and benny is proving to solid and good at hunting enforcers or henchmen with upgrades. Just be aware that some pools really make it rough on hamelin.

Punish the weak is less than optimal & as I found out the hard way hold up their forces works on peons...ala rats and is easy to score against him if you aren't careful. 

Which Bishop's recent points reduction & scrambles's I found he's far more mobile than previously. Being a melee enforcer with limited defensive tech, you just have to pick and choose your battles. With obeys/lures/pushes to get him out of bad situations it's all good.

Back to parker - Good info. I don't like the fact the donkey seems mandatory now, but he seems far more competitive in wave 5 than he did previously.

Having recently switched to hamelin, I'm looking for advice for gg2018. I'd like to play him for as many strats as possible for the practice. 

Some of the changes make some models (A&D) who used to be autotake not so good for things like ply or public execution. Condition removal also seems to be a weakness unless Johan is often included. 

Do you sacrifice early Rat Kings to become rat catchers since they are easy to replace? 

Plague pits. Thoughts? I really like them but savvy opponents are wise enough to send cheap models up to remove them early on making them not quite as effective as I'd like but solid for 1 SS. It's not the cost but more the upgrade slot that is the challenge since Obey is an autotake.

Bishop (as an armor or other bypass), Anna (versus Lilth or a few others) and Benny all seem to be solid beaters. Obey seems to be excellent for Sue (fixes slow movement and extra min 3 shot). Taelor versus ressers seems viable also. 

So crooligans & rats for runners and tailor beaters to taste/opponent? 

Thoughts? 

Gadzooks gaming usually has CR7 as single's. A tad bit pricey but worth it. When I played daw, lust & envy saw alot of table time. 

They joy of jack is that he can make any model tormented. With guilty at a reduced cost, they make interesting scheme runners but void wretches are still excellent to pad activations.

Dead Outlaws - Love these guys. Tough minions, tormented & they have "bigger" they are, but at ranged. Toss a curse on someone and they become min 3 shooty models and the trigger is built in. They also are fun with parker.

Sue is an allstar and making him tormented fixes some of his slowness (walk 4). Just be careful his man and black aura doesn't mess up your own casting actions. 

This seems a reasonable place to ask. How do you guys feel about Hamelin in Public Execution? He seems suitably tough with survivalist & stolen to make ETL not a threat. With plague pits it seems like killing models by turn 2/3 is fairly doable + 2 big beaters (for show of force). 

I love the Viks but for me they always seem all or nothing in something like this with little room for error. 

Not an expert on the viks, but there is quiet a bit of discussion that soaring isn't worth it. You can bury her & scion and than any minion can use scion's ability to unbury "henchman" while scion is buried. Makes for some crazy mobility. 

Sue with Anti-casting bubble is always welcome. Johan of course. I'd do anna over hannah, since her aura shuts down some neverborn tricks. Besides the strat, what schemes?  Lust is fun for positional nonsense. Pair of dead outlaws are always a good answer. 

It really comes down to Strat/Scheme. VS is great for killing and holding ground. He also tends to take an "elite" crew. More high cost strong models. With non killing strat/schemes and anything that favors more AP & positioning he suffers. That being said, I still love playing him but don't consider him but against more skilled opponents and higher tier masters he quickly looses ground. 

Alot of good ideas I like alot. May have to playtest a few. Ugh when you look at it all together it almost cries out for an new edition.

Alot of these small tweaks wouldn't necessarily break any model but would make them much more compelling to bring. I often find myself with the same list because some models are the best options for their cost without any competition. 

It's interesting how many folks take bigger on Jack. I tend to put it on my "melee" model and have him be more about control and denial.  Johan is fun with it and being tormented makes up for his being slow. Bishop can be bonkers with it. 

Spent some time looking at both his new upgrades and I just can't get excited. I almost wish we'd have gotten another curse and then had to make the choice which ones to take. 

Any of the Freikorps models work well. Hannah & Lazarus in particular. Anna if you look outside outcasts. Johan and Sue are two other models that see alot of table time in any of my crews. StrongArm suit is a mini-vs and very solid as well. 

Unusual Synergies -

Rusty Alyce - Engage at will let's her both drop a scrap marker and summon an abom every turn. But it's card intensive.

Hannah - Copy his Finish the Cur Action.

Emissary - Put your shirt back on..over and over again.

New upgrades are looking fun (throw somebody with the arm, free shot etc) but I haven't had much game time with them yet.