Rufess

Seems like I am the minority on the Q2. I have no issue on answer that "open info" question in all games, both causal and tournament. My theory is, if I am winning by incomprehension of my opponent, then I am not actually winning.

No one has prefect knowledge and memory to every single model in the game(at least none in my meta). I believe that providing all info my opponent need, including interactions and shenanigans between my models, is the best way to bring most fair and competitive game to both me and opponent.

Mind digital paint.

What happen if a model is pushed toward a marker that its center point is already covered by the model?

Does the model "go back" to the position that rim-to-center or rim-to-rim? Either of these do not sound like "push forward" to me.

Is theorycrafting here actually means "throws out all imagination and idea on the Apex keyword"? Because I am good at his. Not saying that I could come up with balanced, well designed and characteristic idea, instead I can think of A LOT OF idea.

Apex:

I am not a native English user, but the word Apex (along with the artworks) makes me feel like that Lord Cooper and his crew are Hunter. And before they can start the hunt, they must first have target(s). Considering the current mechanism of the game (other than adding new Token type), the best way I can think of to represent "picking a target to hunt" is the Adversary condition. To distinguish from the Urami crew, Apex in my idea uses Adversary as a resource that can spend for extra benefit. So the common ability would be like:

Hunt of the Apex: When declaring Triggers in an opposed duel, this model may end the Adversary(Apex) Condition on the opposed model to receive any suit to the final duel total.

Also they are hunting for purpose, no matter it is for food, cash or fame:

Reward Hunting: After this model killed an enemy model with Adversary(Apex), it may draw a card.

And they will need a common Trigger to give Adversary to enemy as a crew that rely on that condition:

Mark Target: Models damaged by this Action gains Adversary(Apex).

Lord Cooper:

I do not have much knowledge of the Lord Cooper since I did not read the background story. But to me, Lord Cooper is more a back line commander who pick the target for his follower and order them to do the job. The main abilities of him are:

Search for Prey: During the Start Phase, this model may discard up to 3 cards and/or Pass Tokens. For each discarded card or Pass Token, this model may target an enemy model within LoS. Target models gains Adversary(Apex).

Stalk to Death: After an enemy model with Adversary(Apex) end its Activation within LoS of this model, this model may discard a card to have another friendly Apex model within LoS of that enemy model to move its Mv toward the enemy model. If the friendly model ends its movement within 8" of the enemy model, the friendly model may take an Attack Action targeting the enemy model.

Other than these Cooper may have some range enhancing ability, like ignoring friendly fire/concealment. In the Attack aspect, Cooper should share similar Actions with Von Schill since they have similar equipment. Only Cooper will have Triggers of all 4 suits in his rifle to make use of the Hunt of the Apex ability. His Tactical Action is about setting up for combat:

"Surround it":

Rg 10" | Stat 5 | TN  12

Enemy only. Push any friendly Apex models within 10" of the target up to 3" toward the target. Model pushed this way cannot end its movement within 6" of the target. If the target has the Adversary(Apex), then all models pushed by this Action gains Focus+1.

"Left no exit": Target gains Staggered. If the target has Adversary(Apex), it gains Injured+1.

Ullr & Artemis (Bloodhounds, the totems):

They are weak totem that can only do limited work for the crew. Their stat should be similar or little worse than other hound model. And they have an unique ability to help other Apex model:

Follow Up Attack: When the Adversary(Apex) Condition would end on an enemy model within 2", the enemy model suffer 1 damage.

Henchman:

I am still not yet sure is the word "Model 9" is the name of the henchman, or means there is 9 models inside the box(highly unlikely though). So I now have no idea of what the roles the henchman will fill and what he/she can do for the crew.

Crypsis Crops:

They are minion(2), so should be high cost model and the main combat pieces of the keyword. I agree that They may have Disguised or Stealth according to the name and description. Both would be too overkill if we want them to have fighting power at the same time. I would like to see the Beta version of Adversary come back via an ability on them:

Knowing the Prey: This model receives  to opposed duels with enemy models that have Adversary(Apex).

According to the artwork, their weapons are shotgun plus knife (and a spear?). Both of them are common weapons spread around all Factions, so there is no doubt that they are using the same profiles with other models. They should, just like the Lord Cooper, have 2~3 Triggers of different suits under each weapons to make use of the ability.

Vatagi Huntsmen:

According to the artwork, their only weapon is gun so they should be the mid-cost range unit of the crew. The biggest fear of all range units is being engaged by enemy and cannot escape. The Huntsmen, however, are different. They know how to keep distance with their prey just as good as knowing how to hunt down them:

Hunter's Path: During this model's Activation, it is not treated as engaged by enemy models that have Adversary(Apex).

Runaways:

The minions come with the crew box of Cooper. Look at the artwork and the name I do not think they are combat pieces. Instead they probably a cheap schemer of the crew. From their name I had came up with an Action helping them to move and scheme, but require careful positioning.

Run Away from Threat:

Rg 6" | Stat 5 | TN 10

Enemy only. Push this model 5" away the target. If he target has Adversary(Apex), this model may end the Adversary(Apex) on target to take an Interact Action.

Malisaurus Rex:

The dual keywords model that shared by Apex and Fae keyword. I believe it is a enforcer beater that around 10ss,. Who would makes a rex a schemer or supporter? Not sure how many abilities it will keep from the TtB, but I believe the Unimpeded, Ruthless and Terrifying will stay. The Rush and Hard to Wound also have high chance to remain since they fit the characteristic. And then I am not sure if it is suitable to give the common Abilities of the Apex keyword since it already has 5 abilities in the front now.

There is no suitable Attack Action for the Rex currently, so it will receive a brand new one (and Triggers for all suits, again):

Mightful Jaw:

Rg 0" | Stat 6 | Rst Df

Target suffers 3/4/6 damage.

To distinguish from the Killjoy, the Rex needs a unique Tactical Action:

Apex Hunter:

Rg 6" | Stat 5 | TN 14

Enemy models within range must each pass a TN 10 Wp duel or gain Adversary(Apex) or Adversary(Fae). If the enemy model has smaller Sz than this model, reduce its duel total of the Wp duel by the difference between the Sz.

The Law of the Wildlands: 

This model may end Adversary(Apex) or Adversary(Fae) on any enemy models within range. For each enemy model ended Condition this way, this model may take a  Action targeting the enemy model.

Considering the package is ToS with the small M3E icon at the corner, I think it is a ToS product. Hence the models are ToS materials and pre-built.

The Big Hat overview is more a first impressive rather than a tactical. To be a tactical guide line it lacks of accuracy and depth. I am more than happy to start over and write a new article on Big Hat after I have enough experience with them now, but it needs some time. So in the meantime if anyone is willing to do it as well and can finish before me, please feel free to publish it.

With the GG1 just came out, I think it is a good timing to have more tactical discussions. Only this sub-section is not as active as other factions because of low player number. I had written a overview of the Big Hat keyword before but not getting much replies. So you may need more effect to do tactical article here compare to elsewhere.

Also Ulix and his keyword can now "Obey" the First Mate.

A model can only remove the Strategy Marker that is enemy to its current controller. So if Zoraida is Obeying a model, whatever friendly or enemy, she can and only can have that model to remove the opponent's Strategy Marker.

So yes she can Obey enemy model to remove enemy Strategy Marker to score VP. But no Obey enemy model to remove all friendly Strategy Markers in the same turn to prevent opponent scoring.

2 hours ago, farmoar said:

My only complaint is that they didn't try and bring some of the less-played models to the table more. But they started, and that's a good thing.

If Wyrd is still following their old way of errata in M2E, this time is a urgent patch to fix some broken or NPE models only. There would be another errata around July to tune up under-power models, in M3E-era I believe it would be keyword-wise.

Disclaimer: I don't have enough experience on all Bayou masters and new Strategies to make a prefect guide of "How to play GG1 with Bayou" (like you will find that there is no mention of Swampfiend, Tri-Chi and Wizz-Bang). So please feel free to add or correct me if you find something I have missed.

Symbols of Authority

Tier 1 Keyword: Infamous, Sooey and Pig

Tier 2 Keyword: Tricksy

Special Mention: Zoraida

This Strategy requires mobility that can move ~11" a turn and still can do Interact Action. Both Infamous and Pig and speedy enough to do so. Also Piano combine with terrain should be able to slow down opponent to remove your own markers.

Tricksy is kind of mobility crew too between Bushwhacker and Rooster Rider, but not as fast as the above two. Pit Trap is not as good as Piano to prevent marker removal, but at least you can remove opponent's schemers after they moved in and took out you marker.

Zoraida is mentioned because she can punish opponent who careless positioning his model. Zoraida can, even with the nerf, Obey enemy model to move and remove opponent's marker for her.

Recover Evidence

Tier 1 Keyword: Big Hat

Tier 2 Keyword: Kin

Special Mention: Zoraida

This Strategy is combination of killing and scheming. The best crew goes to Big Hat because they can do enough damage to drop the Strategy Marker, plus can easily remove the marker by Obeying friendly or enemy with Crier. Also if opponent brings elite list to limit you to place Inter Token on tough models, you can out activation him without problem.

Kin is good at both killing and not being killed which are perfect in this Strategy. They, however, tend to be elite and hence would struggle at removing marker to score. If you include cheap minions like the Raiders then they will immediately become the target of Inter Token.

Zoraida again because, like the above Strategy, she can Obey enemy to remove their marker for you.

Corrupted Ley Lines

Tier 1 Keyword: Sooey and Pig

Tier 2 Keyword: Infamous

Special Mention: Lucky Emissary, models with Toss

It is another Strategy requires mobility. Not like the Symbols of Authority, however, model in this Strategy does not need to move and Interact, but instead need to move and stay alive until the end of turn. With the push and heal, Sooey and Pig will be the best choice when playing into this Strategy.

Infamous would be another Tier 1 crew only if the Lodestone Token did not prevent model from placing. Zipp is still a valuable model in this Strategy with the Mv 8, 3 Actions and Pianos. Just be careful that his trigger is useless if he is carrying the token.

Lucky Emissary is our savior. This single model turns every keywords into a competitive crew in this Strategy with its 12" push and staying power. Toss is as well another long distance push to help. A little trick of Big Hat is that Lenny can push a minion into base contact with one of the Strategy Marker to score, and Som'er can blow up that minion next turn to get the Lodestone Token back.

Public Enemies

Tier 1 Keyword: Kin

Tier 2 Keyword: Big Hat, Sooey and Pig

Special Mention: Tricksy

Here comes the pure killy Strategy. And when talking about the killy crew within Bayou, the Kin comes to the top without a doubt. They are killy and tanky, and that all they need in this Strategy.

Big Hat and Pig are other keywords come to mind when talking about killing. The issue of those keywords not being Tier 1 are that Big Hat lacks of quality attack against high profile model, and Sooey is at the risk of using multiple War Pig, a 9ss minion without any real defense tech beside healing.

Tricksy is on the Special Mention because they, while having high killing potential, are too fragile. They need to race with the opponent in this Strategy to score before being tabled. There should be a good reason, like the Scheme pool, when bringing them in to this Strategy, otherwise the above crews are always better option.

I had never think of the other. Basically no opponent's had even took Interaction Action within Zipp's aura.

Zipp is a controlling/disturbing master with high mobility. With Mv 8 and Flight, he easily becomes the fastest master in the game. As a control master, most of Zipp's abilities are to removing opponent's resources. Zipp has 2 aura that consume opponent's hands and cards when they take action, and both his melee and range attacks can move enemy around. And the Pianos, the signature of Zipp, can draw enemy's action to destroy or move around. The 12 Coffee upgrade can add another layer of control aura to Zipp that denial enemy from using bonus action. It is not always useful, but when it does, it does impact seriously.

My typical turn 1 move is to fly Zipp to the face of opponent's crew with the Boring Conversation popped in the 1st activation. If playing in Standard or Wedge Deployment, Zipp then should have spare action to throw out Pianos to block the bottleneck. Zipp will be focused by whole opponent's model and take hit for sure, but with stones and the Df trigger, he has high chance to survive the first turn. By drawing most of the attack into himself, Zipp lets his crew to do anything without being threaten.

Not only the first turn, I always consider if I can activate Zipp first in every turn. Boring Conversation is a great control aura that I always want to activate before most of enemy models activation. The Wp 10 duel may seems weak on the paper, but it has distributed a lot in every single game I played Zipp. Dropping Pianos is another main action of Zipp to me which I always takes in every Zipp's activation. Other than these 2, Zipp is quite free to do anythings in his activation. Half of his power comes from his passive aura, so he can just double walked are still impacting the board. I personally prefer his melee over range due to longer threat range and higher accuracy, but it is just the issue of favor.

Just like their master, Infamous is a keyword that full of movement tricks and anti-scheming. The First Mate is the auto include. He is the best beater and the best schemer within the keyword at this point. Beside him, other models are situational bases on the opponent and S&S. Mancha and Johan are the beater if you want to kill something. Gracie is a tank that if you need to stay alive until the end of game like Claim Jump or Vendetta. Iron Skeeter and Flying Piglet are the schemer. Wrastler is a tech piece to bring against marker-placing crew.

Also let not forget the Showboating ability. A good trick is to cheat small card to an already failed attack, such that you can recycle that card to another new one. Be aware that the ability says "cheat from hand" so the aura of effigy and emissary do not count.

So the keyword will have advantage in all S&S that requires movement: Explosive, Idols, Breakthrough, Ritual and etc. Also with the common action Free Loot, you can pressure opponent in a marker-heavy pool like Ley Lines, Dig Graves or Detonate Charge. My favorite scheme with Zipp is Take Prisoner. With Up We Go and the Pianos he can easily isolate any one of the enemy model, which makes Take Prisoner way more easy.

Talking about master that Zipp hates to see, my vote goes to Nekima. As mentioned above, Zipp relies on his Df trigger to stay alive, while Nekima can keep up with Zipp with Flight and multiple charging. Plus she ignores the Pianos and is immune to Zipp's melee, all make Nekima become the most counter to Zipp in the game. Other than her you may also need to be careful about models that can attack Zipp's Wp.

On the other hand, Zipp and his crew preform very well when facing shooting crew. With the concealment from Zipp and Iron Skeeter plus the cover from Pianos, projectile attack hardly hit your model. Also models with extra action and/or low Wp, like Arachnid Swarm, would never want to stay near Zipp. 

If the keyword is about enslaving mech-ghost, then this guy should be the hench or totem rather than the master. Too bad, I thought we would have the first master in the game that is not humanoid(at least without feet).

That's mine.

I use AV Vallejo 70.835 Salmon Rose for base color, mixed with 70.928 Light Flesh for highlight and mixed with 70.958 Pink for shadow.

I do agree and share same feeling to most of your point, but I would like to add on some thought:

On 2/8/2020 at 3:37 AM, ShinChan said:

Even if BBB is a really must pick, calculate the possibilities is not as good as in other crews, since with Big Hat you'll be going through your whole deck almost every turn from turn 2, due to all the activations and the ability to cheat from the top of the deck. So take advantage of his Sharp Wit and Sober Up in enemy models, specially if they're close to Gremlin Crier (you'll put them in a  to Wp).

Don't forget we have good amount of obey. Crier can always obey BBB with a 7+ to calculate the possibilities outside his activation if needed. This and the following point are the reasons I found that Big Hat is the best keyword to make use (or abuse of) BBB.

On 2/8/2020 at 3:37 AM, ShinChan said:

Sometimes I feel like I don't want to even activate the Bayou Gremlins, so they won't get the high cards in their flips that could be used for the models that actually need them.

I believe cycling the deck is a hidden trick of the game. With BBB, the number of Bayou Gremlins and Bayou 2 Cards you can easily go through the whole deck, and maybe even twice. Thus your flip should be closer to the average than the opponent. Which means you can worry less about the luck and more smoothly to execute your plan.

Wyrd had mentioned they would like to make a thing namely alt master, the same character with totally different stat card and play style, as a replacement for the 2E master upgrades. This topic came up again between friends and me recently. We have made some fun and crazy idea of alt some of our favorite master and would like to share with you. Also we want to read if someone has any good idea too.

Lady Justice, the Blade of Shadow

The lost of the Judge has severely impact Lady Justice's mind and hence she was corroded by the necro magic. She lost part of her physical strength in return of more control of her necro magic.

• Incorporeal
• The Sword of Other World: Lady Justice may draw LoS and range for her  actions from friendly Undeads within 12". Lady Justice must deal 1 damage to that Undead in order to declare trigger
• Life Leech
• Shadow Blade
  • Rg 2" / Stat 7 / Rst Wp / Deals 2/4/5 damage. This attack ignores Hard to Wound, Armor and Incorporeal.
  • Critical Strike
  • Glimpse the Void
  • Relife: After killed a Living/Undead, summons a Undead Marshal/Zombie minion with equal or lower cost of the target in base contact of the target.

Colette, the Phantom

Colette is tired to be ignore because of her resistance trigger. So she learnt the illusion magic and decide to fight at the front line.

• Colette has a new totem call Illusion, which is basically share same abilities and actions with Colette, but with Wp 0 and 1 wound only. Illusion cannot be hired.
• Df/Wp()Smoke and Mirror: Summon an Illusion into base contact, place Colette anywhere within 6".
• Agile
• Diving Charge
• Balance Blade
  • stat 6
  • Coordinate Attack
• Illusion Strike
  • Rg 6" / Stat 6 / TN 10 / Increase the TN of the Shockwave by +1 for every Illusion within 3 of the Shockwave maker (max +5). Shockwave 2, Wp 10, damage 2 and Distracted +1.
• Mirror Image
  • Rg 6" / Stat 6 / TN 12
  • Summon an Illusion within range.

Ulix, Ravage Rider

Ulix found that he cannot grow any pigs suddenly. So he rides on a War Pig and start a travel founding and solving the problem.

• Stampede
• Frenzied Charge
• Trample
• Make Way
• Giant Tusks
  • Rg 1" / Stat 6 / Rst Df / This action must declare trigger if able. Deal 3/5/6 damage
  • Puncture
  • Rampage
  • Armor Piercing
  • Reposition
• Emergency Food
  • Rg 3 / Stat 6 / TN 10
  • Kill any friendly Pigs within range, for each killed model, resolve one of the following effect: (each effect can be chosen once)
    • Gains one suit until the end phase
    • Gains  to all duels until the end phase
    • Heals 1/2/3
    • Push up to 5" in any direction

2 hours ago, Morgan Vening said:

But how does that square with "Who Runs GremlinTown"? Does it make it more situational, do you just never use it, or do you need to pump resources into keeping him alive (Spit Hog?)? 

Try to use Lenny to block the LoS between Somer and George. Which require prefect positioning, so you can only do it on turn 1 and 2, and afterward you should have a Spit Hog sitting on the center of your crew.

The Big Hat keyword cannot deal serious damage. They can output a LARGE NUMBER of attack, but mostly are qualityless. Good when facing Augment while bad when facing Nephilim. George is the only model can project notable damage to some important target across the board.

Lenny's Gremlin General is a great ability, however, most models inside the crew can be throw away so bonus to resistant duel is really just a bonus. The main value of the ability to me is boosting PEG's shot, and which involves George. This is the reason why I rate George over Lenny. Both of them are must-take to me though.

Justice started Beta with a build-in  in the Leap, and then removed at the same week (or at least in a very short period) when her Ml had tuned down to 6. So I believe those 2 changes were because of the same reason. And I see no reason that Justice is getting any one back in close future since there is no big changed between Beta's meta and current's. Maybe after GG 1 and wave 2, if it shows that Justice has been fall behind to much.

Anyway the thread remind me some idea has been raised during the Beta after Justice has been tuned down. Not saying any of this is balance or necessary, just want to share about some interesting idea which may inspire others.

• Adds a build-in in the Leap
• Removes Sudden Strike trigger
• Adds a new trigger to Leap: Phantom - Until the End Phase, add a  to this model's final duel totals.
• Adds a new trigger to Leap: Justice Unleash  - Enemy models within 2 must each pass a TN14 Df duel or suffer 1 damage and gain Injuried +1.

Had written something about Big Hat before.

which was my first impression right after the first two game of the crew so was not accurate enough. Some thought had been changed after I have more experience with the keyword.

• George has much more value in the crew to me than I had rated. He is the main damage dealer inside the keyword. You want him to shoot in every single PEG chance. 
• Lenny is still an important piece of the crew. After he was focused and been took out early in the game several times, however, I found that the crew surprisingly had not turned into some fragile glasses as I would imagined. His abilities is excellent when facing Blasting(mostly from shooting) and Shockwave heavy crew, otherwise I would rank him below George.
• Good Ol'Boy is good. They are more a melee tarpit and beater than a range power, which we don't have much within the faction. So Rooster Rider can hardly replace their role.
• Spit Hog is important as well. Just you do not need heal in the early game, and given the Mv 4 and 50mm base of the Spit Hog, they need some work to catch up with the whole crew. So normally I just summon one when I need healing, usually turn 3.
• Banjonista is the only model that I still have no idea to use. On paper they have the movement and shielding abilities plus the condition removal, which seems good enough. In actual game, however, I always found that I do not have the hand for the shielding and/or removal. I think they would be better if the Pluck the Strings action is a direct attack action instead of a pulse.

1 hour ago, Adran said:

Someone did the numbers, it might have been in the beta forums as I can't find it at the moment, but  it took into account the likely hood of hitting and the likely damage of each hit. I don't think it considered Triggers, or cheating damage flips.

Not sure are you talking about mine work, I did have done a simulation between the damage output of Justice, Nekima and single Viktoria during the Beta. I had not save down the number neither, but afair the conclusion is, in short, Justice deals more damage than the other 2 competitors when facing a target with Df 5 or lower.

What had I done is to calculate the actual damage following the below condition:

• Both Attacking and Resisting model draw 2 random cards.
• The Resisting model always cheats the highest card, on the other hand the Attacking model will try to keep the highest card for damage flip if it cheats second
• Ignores suit and trigger because of complexity
• Ignores abilities like Hard to Wound and Armor

Then repeat the above step about 500,000 times to come up with an average damage output.

The result is that Justice, with the  from not charging, is actually dealing more damage than Nekima and Viktoria when facing a target with Df 5 or lower. In the case of Df 6 or higher, however, Justice is worse than the other two.

So my view at that time was: Justice is not a duelist who fight in face with other master, instead she is more an assassin who leap into opponent backline to hunt down the supporter and/or range power. It was clear that Justice could distribute just as good and had equal value in competitive view comparing with other melee master. I was, however, just not into the fact that Justice cannot win the face to face fighting with other melee master.

Had left Guild on the early state during beta (when Following Orders not yet have restriction and Agent stops cheating in all opposite duel), and this episode actually makes me want to come back just for Lucius.

Surprised that they have not mentioned any OoK hiring. So Lucius no longer need Executioner nor Guardian to handle the front line? 

The trigger is currently shared by only Rasp and Euripides so using the "instead version" is good enough for now. And if a new model in the future that can create ice pillar in its non-ice pillar creating action's trigger, then just give the model a brand new trigger to do so. Yes this way would create redundancy, but instead we saved a FAQ. Player can see an altered trigger directly in the apps, but not a FAQ.

On 1/18/2020 at 6:39 PM, Adran said:

it is altering the initial action. So at the time you should drop a scheme marker, you instead summon a dove. 

So it is the word "instead" makes the different. Then change the trigger to "create 2 Ice Pillar instead of 1" can solve the action and have no impact to Rasp.

But then the trigger cannot be reused in an action that does not create ice pillar.

1.) Yes you can, unless the Action specified.

2.) Yes you can, unless the Action specified.

3.) Yes you can. It is however meaningless to do so since a model would only affected by one shockwave marker within an Action.

4.) Action in this edition is counting up. In your example, the model has taken 1 Action against its limit of 2 + 1(Fast) Actions per Activation. After gained Slow which cancelled out with the Fast, it is now 1 Action taken / 2 Action per Act. Hence it can still take 1 Action. If you can manage to give that model Fast again within the Activation(like Hard Knock Life) then it can take the 3rd Action.