thewrathchilde

usually it’s a first turn play with me. Occasionally I end up in a situation where I may do it again Turn 4/5 if circumstances are right but more often than not I need Shenlong doing other things. First turn Shenlong often isn’t able to start really getting engaged so unless I need him to deliver the coup de grâce to a critical target that someone else has softened up then transferring his actions over to Fuhatsu give a greater threat range so you can take out a key model first turn and start gaining some advantages. Sometimes in later turns I still end up Wind Blasting Fuhatsu or Four Winds Punching him around with the Students just to extend his threat range or getting him in position to use all his AP on shooting or other actions instead of walking. This frequently occurs late game where you have cleared/control key areas but still need to reach out and kill that scheme runner or wounded mode on the fringes. Beyond first turn if I am using Spiritual Alignment with Shenlong it is to steal conditions from my opponent or move bad conditions onto their models. If I am transferring Fast from a Monk to someone else at that point it is usually to the Lone Swordsman instead of Fuhatsu as I can afford to double transfer to get Focus and Fast on him and a Fast Lone Swordsman with Last Breath up and Adaptive Rams can be a pretty huge threat. Not too much can unless they can spot remove you conditions between Shenlong’s activation and Fuhatsu’s activation. The LRM isn’t really a weak point- with Armor and Hard to Wound he usually isn’t taking much damage from Yu’s attach and Wind Blast (1 pt each) and with Juggernaut he can heal that up without the LRM. Also if you set Shenlong in LRS then the Students can heal also though usually you forgo this first turn with at least one of them to be the battery for Focus and Fast for Fuhatsu. If Shenlong is in WRS then they can Four Wind Punch to move him around.

I use him quite a bit. Every crew can get mileage out of fast Monks and often times you are getting two of them every turn unless Shenlong needs someone to Interact. Early turns he is key to getting that Fast & Focused Fuhatsu…. or some other key model. I have used double Charm Warders but a lot of times I can’t afford it with other needs models in the crew.

if the Rift marker weren't destructible.... even if they were just remove at end phase.

I know this was not directed at me but typically if I am playing Molly in a scheme marker heavy pool or strategy where I need their mobility to port in and interact I run two. As you mentioned one dies easy…. But not as easy as you might think with 5 Wounds and Hard to Wound….. however concentrated attention can take then down pretty quickly and having a second gives you a backup, more flexibility, and counter scheme/strategy capability as well. I do; especially if Manos is is in the crew as well. Hitting models with slow and then having something like Manos with 2” reach and Extended Reach can pretty much effectively neutralize a beater threat. if I have Molly positioned well and don’t need to move then 2 x One More Question to shut down big threats and either a Constructive Criticism or a Lost Knowledge can be a pretty impactful activation for her. Especially if I have a card or two for discarding to Premonition too.

typically with the discard effects in the crew (Archie's flurry, By Your Side, Ambush) you can burn out your trash cards early within a couple of activations and then still go early enough to threaten with Molly and still be able to get decent draw. Sometimes there is the trade-off where you have to activate her too early to get card draw but usually I haven't found I need to. The risk is the later you go the less cards you are usually going to draw unless you are playing keep away where there aren't a lot of opportunities for your opponent to use cards. Even then if you are forcing them to burn cards and are drawing less yourself from The Gorgon's Influence you are still getting some advantages by them not having key resources later. In this game against Ivan you had the normal Gorgon card draw opportunities depending on their hand but also with a couple of those schemes there was the possibility of the opponent dropping scheme markers which you could eat for Lost Knowledge or eating shadow markers denying him resources as well. Sometimes I use the Machine for double marker drops if the opponent has a low Moderate showing on their discard to get out a couple of scheme markers early to give me fodder for Lost Knowledge or early Crooligan activations in early turns while gaining activation control can give some marker fodder to ensure you have options for Lost Knowledge later. Usually though I am not using her for Lost Knowledge more than once per turn as her other actions are so impactful too.

however, with the exception of Lady J there aren't many crews that have enough condition removal to hit everything across the crew and while the loss of Poison hurts Doc and some of the other pieces are pretty survivable anyway with their other abilities. I played both Molly or Seamus quite a bit into Turf War in GG0. Usually I was a pretty even split between the two and often it came down to terrain, opposing crew, and whether or not it was a Iron Scorpious type event or not...if so then I save Molly for Plant Explosives usually and ran Seamus in Turf War. He is really good as he can hit the markers, evacuate claimed quarters easily, and get the kills to make flipping markers more efficient. I like Doc for it. Any of the Resser keywords can do it....but few can do it really efficiently as there aren't many models with 3 AP or a Quick Action move ability. Doc's crew is the exception. Kentauroi can potentially kick the marker twice (Interact, Ride With Me, Interact), Flesh Constructs can go Fast and do the same. Even Nurses can potentially Interact, Bottle w/Mask Trigger to Pull Here and There themselves, and then Interact again. Rogue Necro can Interact, Ambush, Interact.....there are just so many options in the crew for efficient marker pushing. He also have enough maneuverability and killing power in the crew you can often quickly isolate some key models of your opponent, eliminate them, and gain an AP advantage to out strat/scheme while still pressuring them with threats. Doc can ignore Armor and Shielded and has a high enough Stat on his attack to be a serious threat. With Poison and Catalyst on multiple models he can also get the ship damage in addition to primary melee, ranged, and shockwave damage to mitigate the smaller continuous healing or Shielded tech. Seamus is a good option too- with generally low WP across a lot of their crews a Terrifying saturation crew can put considerable pressure on their resources. Kirai can bring some good threats too with Vengeance, WP based attacks in her crew, and even WP based pulses (Violent Ghosts), and blasts (Drowned). She can also trick up the numbers pretty quickly with summoning and incidental summoning too...which white they can't Interact with or affect the strategy they can still do it on later turns for the schemes. Seamus just needs to kill other models and let everything else chip way at the Flush with Cash model or go after it with with other things first to potentially force them to burn through the once per turn Bribery or make sure you can get some Hello Love and or charge in with high Crows for some Execute after draining their resources with other attacks and the .50. See above reply to ConfuciuSay but I think that Doc and Kirai has play in there too as does Molly. Reva probably does too just from a shear damage output approach though the wrong Explorer crew etched up will be able to remove a lot of her markers....

I think people are sleeping on Doc in a GG environment where the ability for a single model to interact twice in an activation or having push movements is really important for efficient strategy execution in half the games. If I could only take 3 in the bag for an event it would likely be Molly, Doc, and Seamus...Kirai would be in the mix if I took 4. Molly and Seamus are my go to Resser crews for Turn War and Symbols- the decision between them comes down to terrain and opposing faction. Doc or Molly can do Ley Lines really well and having both gives you options and Doc is an excellent go to for Break the Line....Redchapel can do it well too.

You have several options though obviously it depends on board state and threats which option you take: 1. Activate him earlier for the first 10" then reactivate with Molly. 2. Activate Molly first and Premonition to get him an extra 7" this is enough if you are on the inside of the marker and have a clear direct path to the next Marker (if running the flanks; if going to the center you don't need as much distance). 3. If Molly needs to go earlier then Effigy can Accomplice - don't like to do that though unless I have killed something unactivated and am ahead for activation control. I assume you are doing something similar to get the discard for him (and to benefit Philip)?

yeah, I can see that. I usually am not a fan of Phillip....this is probably one of the occasions I would agree with fielding him. Usually I am running the kind of screen play where the Night Terror is behind my defensive line as he is hitting the second marker and often i have cleared the zone for him to hit the third. Without HTW he is a lot easier to kill but he is also maneuverable enough I can usually hide him pretty well and then move him in that last distance as last activation.

I was not a fan of Night Terrors in GG0 - a Forgotten crew just didn't need them. For the strategies and schemes in GG0 my assessment was I could do everything I needed generally using Crooligans and other models. In GG1 & 2 though I started revising my view of them. Especially in Corrupted Ley Lines I like the Night Terrors. They are outstanding stone carriers for a strategy where pushes are king instead of places....obviously there are some weird dynamics where you have to remember that flying is a place so they have to "walk" (move normally) and suffer terrain penalties when carrying the ball. Even still with their Move 5, Agile, and the push from Fading with a reactivate they can easily make it from Ley Line to Ley Line without much trouble. In most other cases I still prefer Crooligans but a Night Terror can be really useful as a defensive tech pick or a stone carrier.

I agree with @Assdex at the risk of stoking the flames for the next round of cuddles Fuhatsu makes it into most of my Shenlong lists. Even if I only make him focused and fast first round he still does a lot on his own. Especially backed up with some healing he almost always earns his keep. I also run Lone Swordsman in quite a few Shenlong crews as well. Having models that are pretty self sufficient let’s me preserve resources for Shenlong. Concur on Charm Warders.

Overall I agree with most to what you wrote and concur that Crooligans are amazing and the key to winning with Molly in many games. However, I disagree with this interpretation of the timing for By Your Side and Fading (Footprints). The Rulebook (P. 34 in the Digital Non-Fluff Version) states: "SEQUENTIAL EFFECTS Sometimes, an effect will create additional effects as it resolves. In these cases, fully resolve the initial effect before moving onto any additional effect. Additional effects are then resolved in the order they were generated, after any effects which had been previously generated have resolved." The Crooligan's By Your Side ability reads: "At the start of this models activation, it may discard a card to Place itself within 2" of a friendly non-Minion that shares a keyword with it." Fading (Footprints) reads: "After this model discards any cards, it may remove an enemy Scheme Marker within 2" and LOS." This is a sequential interaction. The use of "After" in the Fading text reinforces this and it occurs after resolution of the BYS ability. There is no pause in timing between the discard of a card for By Your Side and the Place for anything else to occur or trigger and there is no pause in the way it is written. The Forgotten player discards a card and the place is resolved with the discard. After this initial effect (the place) is resolved then the Fading triggered by the discard as part of the BYS will be resolved. By Your Side triggers the Fading and the BYS resolves according to the sequential timing, then the Fading resolves. You pitch the card and place the model, then you can resolve the Fading and remove an enemy Scheme Marker within 2" of the new location.

Yeah, I use both pretty frequently. Usually I will have Yu Wind Blast him up the board - best if you have a Tome for the extra movement- then charge him and punch him for the card draw. Usually with HtW and Armor, Fuhatsu only ends up taking 1 damage from each which are easy to heal up with a LRM or Juggernaut. Yu usually makes a Student fast too for Shenlong to transfer to Fuhatsu. The Wind Blast helps position Fuhatsu so he doesn’t have to spend AP walking and gets some card draw plus helps Yu move up the board some without just wasting AP walking too.

I would recommend Seamus as the next master. He can run a crew effectively with a lot of OOK models or versatile picks so you can pretty much player him out of the gate with him & the CCK and whatever extra you have. Bonus if you can just get him and the CCK as singles and then pick up Dead Doxies in the M2E box to just get them. That would get you a real low entry into another keyword. I agree Molly is a great pick too but IMO she is a better pairing with McMourning for a "first two" masters pick. There is crossover between them with the Rogue Necromancy and they both work well with each other if you want to play double master.

something else to consider is overall faction aesthetic you like. As you mentioned, it is hard to choose and typically first master is a gateway into a larger selection of the faction. There are some players that main one master regardless and there are a few masters flexible enough to play every combination of pools....however, most players end up with a selection of masters from within a factions to enable them to choose which is best suited for a particular game. With Nekima and Dreamer you don't get too much crossover where their models are really good in/with other keywords in the faction. IMO this is pretty common for Neverborn as a whole. You end up with a lot of individual crews that share a faction and don't really use models across crews (except Rider/Serena/Emissary (maybe)). With the Explorers option there are common models (Emissary/Effigy) that you will us win almost every crew and models like Mikhail that you will use sometimes out of keyword in the other crews. Similarly in Ten Thunders there are some common versatile models that work great with Lynch that are also good in other crews as well so you can get a small core of models that will play effectively with Lynch and then also make it easy to add additional crews with minimal investment. With Lynch you can start with his boxes (core, Friendly Faces, Dark Dealings) and get quite a few games in....I would almost say skip the Dark Dealings box and get Silent Strike (Lone Swordsman & Samurai) and you can have a pretty good crew and the Samurai and Lone Swordsman are good in a number of other crews too. Ideally if you can find the M2E Lone Swordsman who was packaged by himself get that and the separate M2E Fuhatsu box. Those two single models plus the Lynch core and Friendly Faces will give you a really good and strong start....especially if you can get a couple of depleted or go ahead and get Dark Dealings if you can get the separate Lone Swordsman and Fuhatsu.

Yeah, for sure. I was thinking on their other attack. When not tanking something it is more important to me and can clear chaff a lot better....

Lynch: Pros- Not Explorer’s Society, Card Draw/Real Good Card Manipulation, movement tricks, flexibility, access to great versatile models, often underestimated Cons- Questionable survivability (Lynch- this can be somewhat mitigated with play), Lack of good cheap scheme runners, questionable mid-range keyword models Jedza: Pros- resilient crew, great threat projection, good scheme running & denial, card draw, marker removal, lots of unimpeded or similar abilities, access to good versatiles, great models throughout the keyword, movement tricks/healing tricks/some healing denial & auto damage Cons- lots of ES hate right now, most of the models are not currently available.... Jedza in the top 3 receiving hate based on people’s knee jerk reactions and theory-faux...

It depends.... FRM can tank pretty well for their cost. My issue is more their Stat 5 and 0” engagement range. I do like their survivability but don’t like the idea of investing in a Tanuki anymore since they lost the ability to help stack focus. I would rather have other things for the points. I also don’t like the lack of maneuverability of the FRM. Sure the push can help get them in/out of engagement but the WRM or HRM are a lot more maneuverable for scheme running. if I was going more monk pure then the 2 x FRM aren’t a bad choice but usually I need the stones for other choices and find that other models can rank effectively enough.

really depends and varies based on how you build the crew. The probably two main variants are 1. minimal monk/mainly versatile and 2. some, but not all, monk.... there are probably a few standards regardless but for me a lot of it really depends on the pool and board. Usually first turn my first activation (or two) are going to be the Students unless I am going to be attaching Wandering River Style to Shenlong first turn. If I am planning on going WRS then the Students will activate after Shenlong in order to help with movement by Four Winds Punching other models up the board. If I am going Low River Style with Shenlong to guarantee Masks for some Wandering River Monks then the Students will go early build up some Chi and/or Focus and position to enable the WRMs to pitch Chi for suits to get in position for schemes or strategy running. If I am not going with WRM for scheming then they are build Chi/Focus to enable the other pieces of the crew later in the turn. Usually first turn for me Yu is Wind Blasting a Versatile up the board, making something fast, and then charging it to get some card draw. The LRM is healing up whatever I bashed with Yu. Shenlong and my versatile are really acting based on what I am facing....Shen could be playing support master to build the versatile, allow another Yu bonus action fast, or letting something interact to get a first turn head start on a strategy.....or if the opponent over extends he could be going aggro first turn.

I mentioned this on the previous page- they are pretty good into GG2. The main strengths of the crew are resiliency and movement- in GG2 the resiliency helps with Turf War so you aren't giving back markers easily and the movement is good in all the strategies. Specifically in Ley Lines the movement is great because it is pushes not places so can help get the Stone into position better than the crews that rely on places (teleports, leaps) for their movement since stone warriors can't be placed. The push movement is also really useful in Break the Line because it gives you models that can double interact in an activation to enable you to move the marker, Ride With Me/Ambush back up to the marker, and place it again. The crew is also fast enough to do Symbols that it doesn't have the same types of maneuverability and tools to really excel there more than some fo the other crews. Break, Turf, and Ley Lines are probably their best 3 of the current 4 strategies. When you add in versatile models or even one OOK choice then they also a pretty wide range of schemes pretty effectively as well.

I think so....he isn't doing as much in terms of damage output and duels but he is still enabling another minion heavy crew and running schemes, etc. You still get the Luna Scrap/Artifact machine and Luna is doing it more cost effectively with lower cards. This is really powerful in a Youko crew where most of her keyword models are minions and the bulk of your crew is likely able to benefit from the additional AP to make up on scheme runners and increase their output in other areas. McCabe himself can still taxi Youko or another model first turn, add to the control with Slow & Staggered from his gun which in tandem with Youko handing out distracted....

That is the same approach I take. He fuels the machine 1st turn to stack the survivability of the crew and then converts to a scheme runner(ash) in later turns. No, generally I haven't found that they need it. About the only place I take an upgrade in the crew is Killer Instinct on Doc. With a stack of poison on the Kentauroi first turn from the Chihuahua, Gasser, Doc's Field Testing ability, etc in conjunction with Catalysm on Doc and Sebby to heal them 1 on activation and then more at end phase they are pretty resilient even without the upgrades. First turn if you don't have somewhere to be then Sebby can drop some shockwaves also.....usually he has somewhere to be instead.

typically though the best Wastrels with Youko are probably just McCabe and Luna. Being able to cycle upgrades across the Qi and Gong crew which are mostly minions anyway significantly helps make up for the movement/action deficit in the crew.... fast Kunoichi and Bunraku or Geisha actually make decent scheme runners and fast Charm Warders or Kabuki Warriors are something to fear. Where I disagree with @Jinn is on the Hucksters. I love Hucksters in McCabe and will take them OOK if I have to in order to get a specific set of schemes done but my limited experience is just taking McCabe lets the crew scheme run more efficiently and he brings a lot of good tools to the crew. Either way probably works- I just have gotten good mileage out of McCabe himself. Obviously if you are in an area where you can't take second masters then taking scheme runners is the option available....Bunraku do pretty good as scheme runners too especially if you have any healing to top them off periodically.

I have played several games with McMourning and even used him one round in a big tournament pre-Pandemic and don't think I have lost a game with him. A few observations and opinions- I DO like Sebastian- I take him over Rafkin every time. You lose the start of activation pulse of Poison but getting another Stat 7 model is pretty awesome and he does have all the other things (Catalyst, Perverse) that you take him for. Additionally he is Ruthless so gives you a ready made answer to the things you need Ruthless to deal with. I like the Rogue Necro as well. He is a baller and with a little gas in the tank at the beginning he will stick around for a while. I also dig the Nurse and 1 x Little Gasser and usually field one of each in my McMourning lists as well. The only problem with them is they usually get left behind after their activation on turn 1. They work best for me in games like Turf and Ley Lines where their is something productive they can do in the back the first couple of turns while the rest of the crew is applying pressure. Typically the Gasser will spam poison first turn, the Nurse will give Painkillers to Doc, and then carry the Stone or Flip the marker. I do like the Kentauroi and usually field 2 in my crews. 2 x Kentauroi with the Rogue and Doc can make a seriously maneuverable crew that can apply pressure from turn I and quickly position or reposition to attack where you want enabling them to inflict a lot of damage while minimizing what the opponent can do to respond. The downside to Doc for me is a feel seriously card pressured every time I play him. I want a card for Doc's Orders, Rams for Critical Strike on Doc, high Masks for the Rogue, sometimes a card for Ambush, and more Rams for Rear Up and always hurt for the lack of card draw in the crew. The Tools help's from the Nurse to get a key card back but it dictates your activation with her and you have to have the card to discard. I still like Doc- he just doesn't get a lot of press but is a pretty good Master into Turf, Break the Line, Symbols, and Ley Lines.....he has pushes, resiliency in his crew, maneuverability, etc.

so at the risk of sounding cliche..... building her crew depends on what you are trying to accomplish which is dictated by your overall strategy and the type of game you are playing her into. In her box you get her, Bill and the Geisha. Then if you are trying to stay in keyword initially you are choosing between Deadly Performance (Kabuki & Bunraku), Charm Warders, Kunoichi, and Hinamatsu. If you order direct you can get Kabuki Warriors without the Bunraku but eventually you might want them too so might be better getting the whole box or waiting. If I look at the above options I second the opinion of @Jinn and think the Charm Warders would be my first pick. They bring the greatest utility/flexibility for a range of games. They are one of the few boxes I would field all of in a game too- I like the Kunoichi but would probably never field 3 at a time. Most of the time 1 x Kunoichi makes my Youko lists but I think I MAY have fielded two only once. After that I would probably go with Hinamatsu....I don't like him unless I have a little healing in the crew as well. If you are taking him in tandem with Bill then go for it. If it is one or the other I would prioritize him differently. I am a true believer of Fuhatsu and have fielded him in almost every Ten Thunders crew at some point but would only recommend him if you can get the alt or pick him up as an M2E single....the Lords of War box is not worth it because you will rarely field even 1 x Brother and never use more than that. I would prioritize the Kabuki & Bunraku lower as well. They would be my last pick....sure you can do stuff with them- (-) flips to WP duels, etc.....but for their cost it is really hard for me to fit them into a crew- often times I am picking between one of them and Bill, or Fuhatsu, or a Lone Swordsman- and most of the time they don't make the cut at that cost. Something else to consider is the Silent Strike box- I get mileage out of the Lone Swordsman and a Samurai with her too. There is some risk in diluting your composition where you aren't getting many pass tokens but typically 2-3 is all you need to ensure you can get the last activation if needed. Both Samurai and the Lone Swordsman are pretty self sufficient and don't require a lot of resources or support (maybe a little healing on the Lone Swordsman once or twice) which Youko likes cause it preserves your resources for other models. Typically all my Youko lists have at least 1 x Charm Warder and 2 x Geisha.....those really the only constants which gives you a lot of room to play. Then there are two different directions I go....either 3 x big models to fight and stall the opponent trying to capitalize off Youko's ability to create advantages (Bill/Hinamatsu/Fuhatsu/Lone Swordsman) and then a Tanuki (previous to errata) or Low River Monk for more healing. The other direction is more spammy where I take pretty much all small models 2 x Charm Warders, 2-3 Geisha, Kunoichi, etc where I just try to avoid, out position the opponent. I have also run that version with McCabe and Luna in the crew and it worked pretty well in a scheme heavy game. My biggest problem with Youko (even still) is when I play her it is because I WANT to play her; it is never because I need to play her. Theoretically I like her in Turf War (pull models to where you want to kill them) and Ley Lines (pull models away from the Ley Lines) but in both of them I like some of our other masters even better.