Cadaver_Junkie

One thing - if you're trying to plan around using the Brewmaster's aura, you're probably not using him to his fullest.
The aura is ok, but not his best thing.

The most powerful thing in his deck of tricks is Swill.
You'll notice his casts and ML are all 7's. Makes it pretty easy to pull off targeted strikes.
Hit something (anything!) with three Swill based attacks (Hangover or Swig o 'Shine with crow trigger) and it becomes an easy target to the end of the turn.

Swill is a stackable neg flip to ALL flips and duals. That's everything. Duals, healing flips, everything. A triple negative flip on an enemy master is brutal - I've used it to kill McMourning on turn 2 at a recent tournament. 

Engage the targeted model, and it's not doing anything at all that turn. It won't disengage, it can't cheat, it's probably going to lose every dual you throw at it.

Swill is also fantastic on Moon Shinobi - it means a stackable positive flip for those guys. Hit a target with triple neg flip, then have Wesley juice up your Moon Shinobi with Swill, and send them in for the kill. I once used a juiced up Moon Shinobi to tie up 4 enemy models over two turns. Extra great if that Moon Shinobi is also Framed for Murder.

(If you pair Moon Shinobi with Akaname, they can move crazy fast. Two Akaname, one poisons the other and moves forward, the other poisons two Moon Shinobi. Both Moon Shinobi get their "where'd you get that", move twice, and then Stumble Around Drunk. That's 17" if you do it right)

I really feel like there's also references here to the Elves of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels (which in turn are references to old Faerie tales).

23 hours ago, Ergonomic Cat said:

Yeah, but most of the pools Brewmaster plays involve controlling an area or interacts.  And he shuts both of those down very well.  But on the flipside, I generally only need 4-5 points to win a game against him, because he's not scoring either....

On 7/23/2017 at 2:41 AM, Azkral said:

To kill brewie you have to start killing Wesley, but he is not very tough, his main defenses are Trixie (gremlin only) and misdirection (10T only)

I agree with Sharp. Brewie cannot score on his own (except accusation, he is the best scoring accusation)

I don't really understand this...

I play Brewmaster as my main master (although I'm painting a Titania crew now).

I've only been playing a little while, but I've been to a few tournaments, and I don't have any issue scoring and winning matches with Brewie.

Then again, I almost never use his (0) Aura, it's all about Swill. Swill feels overpowered, especially as all the casts are 7's! Swill will shut down an opposing master much faster and easier than the aura.

Swill Spam! Seriously, this is what you should be concerned about when facing Brewmaster. If your opponent is wasting AP on Obey or Pick Your Poison or anything else that doesn't have Swill in it, they are probably doing things wrong. Best not to correct them, I suppose...

EDIT: Seriously! I mean, in the last few games, I've probably used (0) One for the Road far more often than (0) Drinking Contest. One for the road makes Hangover effectively Ca 9. And then you hit them a second time! Swill is crazy powerful. Stackable negative flip on ALL flips? Yes please!

On 5/17/2017 at 11:21 AM, Omenbringer said:

I would also throw in that Brew Masters stock crew isn't really that great. He runs much better in 10 Thunders than in Gremlins. Moon Shinobi could use some help, they are in almost all cases worse than Fermented River Monks.

I'm not so sure about that.

I run Brewmaster a lot, and have taken him to a couple of large tournaments recently. The Moon Shinobi have been standout models. Great defence (as good as the Fermented River Monks when the monks are buffed by poison), and incredibly potent with a swill or two. Drunken Gremlin Kung Fu is pretty strong.

Also, Running Moon Shinobi alongside Akaname makes the Shinobi crazy agile, the utility provided by Akaname to a Gremlins, themed Tri Chi list is quite reasonable.

Just... if you're running Brewmaster, don't even worry about his aura. It's a waste of time, unless you're lucky. Just concentrate on Swill. Which is a little boring, to be honest. It's good, but changing it up a little might be what I'd aim for, if anything.

11 hours ago, Math Mathonwy said:

Well, that's a pretty hardcore approach to Malifaux!

But good stuff, thanks for sharing!

I think that the limitations of the bubble is something that becomes apparent to everyone once they play a while. I do enjoy Binge, still, though.

Do you find Akaname good models?

9 hours ago, daniello_s said:

Same question here

Cheers guys!

I like the Akaname. They're cheap, and can provide some reasonable utility to the crew, situational anyway.
"Filth Eater" has saved a few models from a McMourning expunge, that's for sure.

The biggest downside I find on these guys is a lack of mobility. Surprisingly, most of the Tri Chi models are crazy mobile - loudest squeals, poison pushes, "where'd you get that?", Nimble.
When I'm not doubling down on the Brewmaster's bubble and turtling (which means most games), these guys have trouble keeping up with the rest of the crew.

That's ok though, they're also best when they are just behind your lines anyway, once you get stuck in.

My thoughts:

• They take poison and give up free scheme markers for it.
  This is great, because when you no longer care about Brewmaster's bubble, there's poison EVERYWHERE that you can put to good alternative use
• Their "Spray Filth" isn't about hurting enemy models, it's about providing free pushes for the Moon Shinobi's "Where'd you get that?"
  I'll often ignore the "With Great Enthusiasm" trigger, because I prefer the free scheme marker
• They make poison very mobile. You can start slinging it everywhere, remove it from any model if required, and concentrate it where you might need it.

I don't expect much from them overall, but they tend to do their jobs. Plus, I think the models are cool.

On 4/26/2017 at 3:12 AM, codingCaptor said:

Incredibly nice and useful as always.    It's always useful to see the finished product from various angles (And see what problems you've had putting them together) when assembling my own.

 

Honestly, with the exceptions of the tongues, I didn't have any problems with these guys.   They were really nice and easy to put together... For gremlins models.

Yeah, I found them pretty easy to put together. Although, the apple is now missing...

I'm pretty new overall to Malifaux, and I chose Brewmaster and Tri Chi as my first crew.

It's been a steep learning curve, especially as I've been wanting to use pretty much only tri-chi models 'cos I like the style.

I've been to two tournaments with Brewmaster now (including Twatifaux in Melbourne recently), and I think I've worked out some basics.
Started getting a lot more wins with this crew.

Things that are important (for me):

• Brewmaster's aura is only a bonus. I don't plan with it, and certainly don't try to make it work at the expense of any other options. Swill is just too strong.
  People often don't realise Swill causes a negative flip on ALL flips and duals. That means healing flips, everything. It will lock down an opposing master far more surely than the aura, and make them much easier to kill. And it stacks. Swill +2 on a target, then lured towards your crew with a Performer? Brutal.

• I now take close to no upgrades for Brewmaster. He exists purely to spam Swill, and the occasional Obey.

• Moon Shinobi can be launched massively on their first turn with the help of Akaname.
• Two Akaname, two Moon Shinobi. Akaname poison both Shinobi and one of themselves, which moves up the field. Each Moon Shinobi get's it's 0 push towards poison. Then moves 5" twice. Then gets the poison push at end of turn. 17" total.

• A Moon Shinobi with a double positive flip (Swill + 2) launched into the enemy lines, engaging 3 or more models is brutal. Extra bonus if the model is your Framed for Murder choice.

• Fast moving Fingers, Moon Shinobi, and Whiskey Golem can really lead to board control against some masters.
  I also rarely take upgrades on Fingers. The double to healing flips is nice, but if he's off running schemes it's not worth it. If you turtle down, sure.

I try and include most of the below in 50SS games:

Brewmaster, stilts.
Fingers, no upgrades
Whiskey Golem, zero stone upgrade
Apprentice Wesley (helps spam Swill, targeting Moon Shinobi)
Two or three Moon Shinobi
One or Two Akaname
Performer
Maybe a Rooster Rider. Maybe.

Admittedly, this is limiting my choices deliberately, but I enjoy it this way.