Haagrum

Depression plus a low Mask, or burning a Soulstone for a suit, effectively quadruples the number of cards which can summon a Sorrow. Add in On Wings of Darkness and other ways to cycle cards, and it's expensive but feasible. These are resource-intensive options, but they are available if summoning is your priority. I'm guessing it's only a viable option if you're not using your hand or Soulstones for other purposes, just like any other summoning master.

You're welcome, but I'm not sure there was actual agreement on the correct interpretation. It seems there's a few on offer: 1. Only one Crier within range of a model that's discarded a card to trigger the Over Excited ability may take damage to draw a card. 2. Any one Crier may take damage once to draw a card if at least one Crier is within range to trigger Over Excited. 3. All Criers on the table may each use Over Excited once when any model within range of any number of them discards a card in circumstances that would trigger that ability. I prefer #3 based on what appears to me to be the plain wording of the ability. Plus, it's hugely thematic. Others prefer other interpretations, for the reasons they have set out. Obviously, I have a horse in this race, but I think you should put the matter to your playing group, and to any TO, to settle the matter between yourselves first. It's always better to avoid mid-game arguments.

Candy really needs activation control options (specifically, Mood Swing and a model with the Depression upgrade for Nobody Likes Me) to be optimal. Handing out unavoidable paralysis and 3-damage chunks through Sweets and Sours is what makes her worth 9 SS, but she can't do it alone. As others have noted, most of the models in this list (Barbaros being an exception, in my opinion) are supporting models that need something else to really shine. All of them have a role, which they're good at performing, and none of them are beaters or obvious scheme runners. It's just a matter of building the right synergies into the crew... and a little luck.

No reason except that the words which would make that clear are not on the cards. A TO can rule it however they please, but it's not a necessary or inevitable interpretation (as evidenced by this discussion). I think a FAQ entry is needed to settle this more permanently.

The double-Induction scenario would be possible only if Catalyst didn't take effect when another model with Poison activates within range of "one or more models with this Ability". Compare the wording of Catalyst to something like Fears Given Form or Misery, which clearly take effect multiple times if you're in multiple areas of effect. On a side note, Sebastian's Induction aura only takes effect when you take the damage from Poison. Usually, that's the end of the turn. Catalyst (from either source) means that it happens when you activate as well. However, Induction can't work except when you take Poison damage. The 6-damage-on-activation scenario clearly doesn't happen from the rules as written - although a model could take 6 damage over a turn from being near Sebastian if it had Poison and was within Catalyst and Induction range both when it activated and during the upkeep step when Poison damage normally happens. As for the Guild Sergeant comparison - the first and second copies of a model on the table clearly are not the same model. If each has an aura effect that works for "other models" in that range, and no other restrictions, there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to affect each other with their own auras. The words "other models within X range" or similar really only mean that the model generating the aura can't benefit from their own instance of the aura. Compare that wording to Captain Dashel's "Ready! Aim!" aura, which explicitly prevents Guild Austringers from taking Focus as a 0 action, and his "Fire!" aura, which does not. If the designers wanted to exclude Guild Sergeants from benefiting from another Guild Sergeant aura, the wording would be just as explicit. For Gremlin Criers, the effect you're arguing for could be achieved if Over-Excited said "one model with this Ability within (Aura) 3 may take 1 damage to draw a card." It doesn't say anything as restrictive as that. We're getting a little off-topic, but in the absence of clear wording to support a particular interpretation, a different interpretation which gives effect to the rule, effect or ability as written and which does not produce an absurd outcome (for example, infinite Alp-summoning from Never Wake Up or Schrödinger's Huggy from Death Contract and The Rising Sun) should be preferred. That includes giving effect to all of the words in the rule, effect or ability if possible - I think it's dangerous to assume that words are needlessly inserted or left in by mistake. Developers' intentions and concepts of fairness are far more subjective matters than the plain meaning of words, particularly when players have an advantage to gain from invoking them.

With the fluff behind the Gautreaux Bokor, I can see a Gremlin shaman becoming a vessel for part of the Grave Spirit's essence as a dual-faction model. With Gremlins apparently being vital to Malifaux's future, and less entwined in the Tyrants' manipulations, it might want a less conspicuous and more malleable pawn than Seamus or Titania. An Arcanist/Neverborn master would probably fit the concept of the leader of the Court of Two - a Neverborn seeking to understand and influence how humans draw upon the aether (as distinct from the more primordial magics of the Neverborn). Alternately, they could be using the primordialist methods to create a sub-faction within the Arcanists, and possibly to split some away as Neverborn allies.

Trixiebelle is also excellent for Brewmaster because of Ill Omens. Brewmaster likes going early in the turn, so being able to cheat initiative is particularly good for keeping the Drinking Contest up, reapplying Swill, and getting cards out of the opponent's hand with Binge.

I second JoeCL's opinion. In general, any Ancestor model works well with Yan Lo, and they can be taken regardless of faction. Izamu, Yin and particularly Toshiro are all pretty decent models in their own right and synergise well with Yan Lo's starter box.

That's really the question. A complicating point is that Ours asks about Soulstone costs specifically, whereas Ply and Public Execution refer to the number of models. Given the different wording, I can't see why you'd double-count the Soulstone cost for Big Jake. His rules pre-date GG2018, so it's understandable why they wouldn't expressly refer to counting his cost twice. That said, there's no reason to "read in" that you should count him (or Tanuki, or a Bone Pile) twice for Ours, because that strategy specifically refers to Soulstone cost and not to model count.

No, that's there so that you can't trigger the damage-and-draw effect multiple times per Crier off one discard if there are multiple overlapping Crier auras. The words actually have something to do for explaining the effect in this interpretation.

The Alps' summoning ability is worded very similarly to the Banjonistas' draw ability. I don't read that as permitting multiple summoning. I'd happily play Criers as limited to one draw per discard. On the wording as written, though, I think it's susceptible to multiple valid interpretations.

On the wording of the ability, "one or more models with this Ability" has nothing to do if only the Crier whose aura covers the model discarding a card may take damage to draw a card. Otherwise, it'd say "If a model within (Aura) 3 discards one or more cards". Of course, if that's the case, why could only one Crier use their damage-and-discard effect if the event which allows it takes place? If it were intended to be limited to only one Crier, the wording should be "one model with this Ability may suffer 1 damage to draw a card." It just says "this model". In that case, the "one or more models with this Ability" text stops the Gremlin Criers taking damage and drawing for each separate model with Over-Excited within range of a model that discards a card in that manner. Compare that with Banjonistas, whose card-draw ability is clearly worded to only let you draw one card, no matter how many Banjonistas are within range. I don't have the cards in front of me, as I don't own any Criers. However, absent an express limit on the number of Criers who can use this ability each time it becomes available, the words as written would seem to suggest that every Crier on the table can use it once each.

It's quite decent with Titania if there are schemes which require going after a Master. Particularly with Royal Indignation, very few models can reliably bring her down in one activation. Buying yourself space from a beater probably gives you an activation to drop scheme markers to heal her, counter-strike, or just get her out of danger. Outside of protecting Titania, it can go off to run schemes. It's tough for its cost and Titania seldom has to worry about having enough markers on the table. If they're going after the Effigy, they'll probably need to waste at least 3 AP to kill it. Fair trade, if if means your other models can get on with their jobs. All the more if it's your FFM target, although I think it's not the best scheme choice for this crew. I think Mysterious Effigy would be worth it, in the circumstances you've described.

They're both useful to Brewmaster, if you can get the Drinking Contest bubble going. It's hard to escape the bubble anyway, but it's even worse when Tannen makes cheating hurt, and when Graves can shove you straight back into the bubble.

A Som'er crew with Slop Haulers, Sammy + Git Yer Bro, Banjonistas and Show Off can be brutal against elite crews. Df and Wp doesn't matter much if you're just copping a shedload of pulse damage. Well, unless you're Freikorps...

No argument there. Terracotta Warriors are not auto-includes for Lucius, by any means. However, they offer a lot to a Neverborn Lucius which no other model can provide. In a pinch, they can also do extra damage with their self-damaging trigger, and they are surprisingly durable with damage reduction, decent Df, and Issue Command's heal trigger. The thread was about good options for Lucius from Waves 4 and 5. Terracotta Warriors are definitely worth considering, if you're after a 6 SS toolkit rather than a beatstick.

I can second the recommendations for the Autumn Knights (particularly The Claw, since his ranged attack benefits from Elite Training). If you get them, Master Queeg can be a good choice if you don't already have him, as he can give them extra 0-actions and is available with Surprisingly Loyal. Terracotta Warriors are still worthwhile. You can switch in corner-case upgrades like Legalese as necessary, and they're excellent as protectors. The card cost involved is minimal if you take Deep Pockets (his new 2 SS upgrade). Rougarou can work very well with Lucius and Queeg, but you really want to have scheme markers and models with pushes or Lures to make the most of them. For those reasons, they go very well with the Autumn Knights, all of whom can drag models in and put out scheme markers with particular attacks. If you had to pick between them, I'd get the Knights first. In my view, Lucius doesn't really need Will-o-the-Wisps (peons), the Bandersnatch (buried most of the time), Cyclops (enforcers) or Hinamatsu (not that it's out yet). Serena Bowman might be interesting, but I don't think she's worth taking in Lucius over something like a Doppelganger. He might be good with Bultungin (when they're released), since he can push them with Issue Command and switch places with What Lackeys Are For. I don't really know enough about Grootslang and Ferdinand Vogel to comment.

Well spotted! As I said, never used them before. I'll fix that misleading comment now... I suppose there's also the double Crow trigger when they kill something to summon a Stuffed Piglet, but that's hardly reliable.

I'm not exactly an old hand, but I'm happy to help where I can. Sonnia is unusual in that she can punish you more than most opponents for grouping up. Slop Haulers are a bit less useful when being close enough for heals means you're very likely to get blasted and taking Burning. This match-up isn't as good at showcasing their true value. Extra condition removal options other than Gremlin-see include McTavish or Mancha Roja (with Mud Toss upgrade) and Johan (mercenary, Rebel Yell action). McTavish is good enough to be worth taking anyway. Johan's decent, especially against constructs. Mancha Roja isn't really doing his job if he's assigned to condition removal. Also, remember that models can take a 1AP interact to reduce Burning by 1 point for any one friendly model within 2" - which can include the model taking the action. Your deployment and spacing really depends on your opponent's crew and the strategies and schemes involved. No easy answers there, sorry. As I said earlier, Sonnia is particularly good at punishing models which are near one another, so take that as a worst-case scenario. I've never used Taxidermists. However, my read of them is that you'll either need to accept a few crew losses early on to have ready access to corpse markers nearby (one Young LaCroix totem is cheap and expendable enough that it's not a great loss for a Stuffed Piglet), or just try to get in close and use his triggers to summon directly when it kills an enemy model.

They could always take the same approach used for the Oxfordian Mages' second set of upgrades, which explicitly state that they don't count towards the upgrade limit for that model.

Moon Shinobi have a defensive trigger that allows them to push away, regardless of whether they succeed. As long as they aren't swallowed whole, and you can flip or cheat for the trigger, they shouldn't get squashed too easily. If they can't kill their target, you can push them away reasonably readily. Their Drunken Gremlin Kung Fu ability converts Hard To Wound and any other [-] modifiers into [+] modifiers, so hitting their Severe damage becomes much easier. They can also play a decent game of hit and run against a McMourning crew - charge in, attack, then use their 0 action to push towards a model with Poison to escape retribution.

True, but that was also part of a bigger overhaul of Tara and her crew. Brewmaster doesn't need much more than he already has on his card to be effective. Binge is the only auto-include for my lists, and even then, I think I use it with Wesley more often than with Brewmaster. Nevertheless, it'd be nice if The Good Stuff and Hold Their Hair Back were ever worth taking.

Moon Shinobi were completely suboptimal at 6 SS - particularly when the Terracotta Warrior option for Brewmaster was so much better than playing him as Gremlins. Sure, they're zippy if plenty of models have Poison, but unless you were up against Resurrectionists, they were pretty corner-case. They couldn't compete with Reactivating Fermented River Monks that were a stone cheaper and could hit harder with their built-in triggers. I agree that Raphael's price drop was a welcome surprise, though.

Very happy with the Brewmaster changes. I finally have a good reason - other than "Woohoo, drunk Gremlin ninjas!" - to take Moon Shinobi over Fermented River Monks. With Running Tab being cheaper (and Terracotta Warriors going up), there's much less reason to run 10T Brewmaster. Between the errata, Wave 5 and the 0-cost upgrade, my beloved Whiskey Golem is going to spend much more time on the tabletop. The increases aren't unexpected - Francois is superb, and Burt was always undercosted for what he could do. They're still worth bringing, just not auto-includes. On the Merc side of things, Johan getting a price increase probably means less generic condition removal floating around. Happy with Hans and Taelor getting a price drop.