Sweet Tooth

Question for the group (I’m not sure I’ve seen this discussed elsewhere). With Home on the Range extending the area of deployment for Frontier models, how does that affect deployment zones like Flank and Wedge that have sharp points in the deployment area? 

For example, say you can deploy up to 6” from the deployment zone in Flank. From what I sketched out below, would you be able to deploy in the shaded areas? 

2 minutes ago, psychogeek said:

Can you point me to the rulebook page reference please? It’s something I want to be able to show when the issue comes up again locally 

Page 62 of the physical rulebook, third paragraph under 'Friendly, Enemy, & Control':
"Every Ability, Action, and Trigger on a model's Stat Card and Attached Upgrades treats the use of "friendly" and "enemy" from its point of view."

19 minutes ago, Da Git said:

From Gencon. Hopefully it's going to be an Alt Rogue Necromancy. 

I’m at GenCon. Can confirm it’s a rogue necromancy. Will be on the Black Friday sale. 

1 hour ago, Clockwork_Fish said:

Has anyone tried Paul?  Without stronger beasts than Raptors and Hounds, it seems Scent of Blood is kind of wasted.  However, he still has Expert Shot, and his Carbine is a respectable attack for a 6 point model.

I ran my first Basse game tonight and took Paul. He was doing work for me. He’s the only model in the crew that ignores friendly fire (IIRC), so I used him as a finisher. He took out Pere and Francois LaCroix after Jonathan and Basse softened them up.

My crew was Basse, Bernadette, Jonathan + LLC, Paul, Pathfinder, Frontiersman x2. Up against an Ophelia crew directly from the core box plus some upgrades, so we played a 40ss game that was more learning focused for both of us. 

There are certain schemes and ability interactions that look at a model’s cost (Such as Following Orders on Lucius’s keyword models). 

Also, since we can hire second (and third, or fourth!) masters into crews, they need to have a cost associated with them. Most masters cost 15 stones, but some like Lady Justice or Jakob Lynch have a different cost. 

29 minutes ago, monkeyboy30672 said:

Hey, folks,

So, to my understanding, as I've read the rules PDF, Masters now costs soul stones and Totems don't cost anything at all, assuming their specific Master is the Leader of the crew. 

That being true, seems like either crews will have far fewer soul stones to use in a game or crews will be smaller on average, or possibly both. 

If I have Pandora, Poltergeist, Candy, Baby Kade, Teddy, and 2 Sorrows, that's 50 ss right there. Wow. Used to be I could get all that for less than 45 and even get 3 ss in a cache just for having Pandora. But don't get me wrong... I'm fine with it! I guess it's been a while since I played (early M2E,), because it just seems like I had a good bit of ss left over or another model in the crew with an Upgrade or two spread around. It'll be something to get used to. 

From pg 42 of the Rulebook, when hiring crews, your leader’s cost is considered to be 0. So in your example above, you’ve only used 35 stones.

That said, I’ve found most people still bring around 7-9 models in a crew.

Great write up! Lady J is my favorite master (and my main since the start of Open Beta). 

23 minutes ago, Cathaidan said:

When I do take a Dom, I also need to be using her differently.  Her blast attack with the built in trigger to heal friendly models is a decent ability, and it should be used more often.  I need to have more models close the gap with the other player, so that she can either blast the enemy and have my models in the blast, blast my models and have the enemy in the blast, or generally be doing more that merely hitting a single model with her attacks.

It's important to note you can't blast off of friendly models. Domadores can hit the enemy and heal models next to them or you can simply heal another friendly model for 2. (See the 3.22 Rule book, pg 30, last sentence under Blasts)

That was definitely a tough strat/scheme pool for Marshals. They're great in Turf since you do want to kill things. With those schemes I would definitely take Hold Up since DMs are fairly durable 5 cost minions. After that, consider Deliver for an easy first point or Dig for an easy second point (rewards you for killing things, which this crew wants to do). Power ritual is also a solid choice, but i'd consider adding the Pale Rider with the Lone Marshal to make that a much easier two points (Scales can drop the marker in your backfield while the riders head to the opposite corners & gun down anything in their way). Search is doable, but the Marshals don't have any action efficient methods to drop markers, so it feels rougher.

Agent 46 (Lucius' henchman) has analyze weakness for cheaper than bringing in a second master. He's also brutal with inhuman physiology (can't cheat against his attack actions) & mimic. I've just had good luck with the rifleman - his gun has an armor ignore trigger & he ignores friendly fire.

33 minutes ago, Mikes said:

Domadore rules are awesome. It's just a shame their models bear no resemblance whatsoever to the rest of the keyword.

I find the models to be gorgeous. Since fluff-wise they’re Spanish resurrectionists that dance to make their necromancy work, the sculpts match that idea completely. And honestly, another sword/gun wielding person in a duster coat would be boring. Domadores (and Jury) add some much needed flair to the Keyword. 

Game 3 of our grow league this week. We're at 50ss now!

This week saw Lucius get shooty with Parker Barrows. Flank Deployment, with Plant Explosives. Schemes were Breakthrough (Parker), Power Ritual (Lucius), Vendetta (Lucius), Assassinate (Parker), & Dig their Graves.

I brought:
Lucius + 2ss
The Scribe (0)
Agent 46 + LLC (9+2)
Pale Rider + LLC (11+2)
Doppelganger (8)
Changeling (4)
Watcher (4+1)
Rifleman (6+1)

My opponent brought:
Parker + 0ss
Doc (0)
Mad Dog (9)
Sue (8)
Midnight Stalker (8)
Convict Gunslinger (8)
Bandido x2 (10)
Freikorps Scout (6+1)

This was an epic bloodbath of a game. Was a ton of fun but did take 3.5-4 hours. There was a lot of learning going on for my opponent (only his 3rd game of M3E i think) and his deck was flipping rather poorly most of the night.

Quick Rundown - After last week's murderfest v Nekima, I knew those s on Parker's crew would be painful, so I didn't bring Investigators or Alan. I also knew I needed some ranged options to ping the enemy as they drew closer to me. The Rifleman was a solid pick and having 46 copy his gun for a no-cheat shot is nasty. I also tried the Watcher OOK here for his Mv 7. It was great until he was shot off the board at range by a gunslinger before he could drop his bomb. The Changeling was the other schemer here. Stealth + Disguised shutting down Run and Gun is hilarious, but eventually the demon child was killed too. This was also my first time using Pale Rider. I think he definitely has his place when movement is needed. Doppel was able to mimic his gun for some early shots and then he rode off to the backfield to drop bombs/markers for scoring.

To tally the kills:
I lost the Changeling, the Watcher, Doppel, The Scribe, & Lucius
My Opponent lost a Bandido (One-shot'd by 46), Sue (executed by the Rifleman), the Midnight Stalker (Killed by 46 and then again by the Scribe in a series of ridiculous flips), and the Gunslinger (second kill for 46)

I ended up winning 7-6 at the end of 5 turns. Full points for Explosives, 2 for Power Ritual, 1 for Vendetta (Rifleman v Sue). My opponent had full point for Explosives, 1 for Breakthrough, & 1 for Assassinate (a hot deck turn 5 wiped out Lucius).

Our group is super pumped for release next week!!

He’s definitely situational given the very different actions available to him. I’ve mostly given up on his gun and am trying to get use out of the Garrote and One More Question. 

Also, really happy to see other folks have opposite experiences with Lucius v Nekima than I had. I played my first game against Nekima last week and the Young Nephilim chewed through Alan and the investigators. The built in  to their attack shut down the Elite models’ only defense and I was quickly out of models to retaliate with. 

Playing in a growth type league this month (folks are free to change crews or not week to week, but mostly it's to get new folks familiar with the game). This week we were at 35ss.

I ran Guild Lucius -
Lucius + 2 stones
The Scribe (0)
Agent 46 (9)
Alan Reid (8)
Investigator (7)
False Witness (5)
Changeling (4)

Up against Neverborn-
Nekima + 2 stones
Blood Hunter (0)
Hayridden (9)
Lilitu (7)
Young Nephilim (7)
BBS (6)
Tot (4)

Was corner deployment Turf War. I went for Harness the Leyline & Outflank, my opponent took Take Prisoner on False Witness & Search the Ruins.

Had an early victory when Nekima turn 1 charged into my bubble of Scribe, Alan, & Lucius only to have 46 charge in and get 4 attacks on her between end of turn 1 and beginning of turn 2 (1 attack turn 1, 2 during his activation T2, 1 from Lucius commanding him), which killed Nekima. In the end it didn't matter much though since multiple nephilim grew up and I had 2 matures and another young curbstomp me. By end of turn 3 we called it for time. I had lost 46, the scribe, and the investigator by then and Alan was about to die. 

Talking through turns 4 & 5, we would have ended the game with Nekima winning 7 to 4. Definitely not a great matchup as the nephilim had multiple focus on most models by the end of T1, then the  on the Young's attacks bypass Intimidating Authority on Alan & the Investigator. So the beating plus lack of any other defensive tech saw my crew bite the dust (After killing Nekima my hand was in sad shape). Then the mobility let my opponent go on to score all his schemes after removing my models from the table. 

I'm trying to learn from this game though since I want to get better with Lucius and against a threat like Nekima. Initial thoughts are to use more ranged attacks and have armor/more durable models to go up against all the beaters.

Would love any other advice you all have to offer.  

1 hour ago, Humphrey said:

And copying her shooting 7 with Doppelgaenger/Agent 46 sounds nice too.

Remember Mimic cannot target Masters. 

Great write up as always! 

Definitely agree more terrain will cut down on the brutalness of a gun line, or at least create more interactive play from them. 

Here’s the table I set up for my game today. It’ll be Lucius v someone. 

22 minutes ago, Davos said:

To my knowledge, she's the only auto (non trigger or conditional) min 3 ranged model in the game.

Cornelius Basse (Guild, Master) & Mad Dog Brackett (Outcast, Hench) both have min 3 shotguns w/ built in blasts. Not sure if there are others..

2 hours ago, Chris Garstan said:

Btw follow the lead and “force to interact” opponent can just declare removing scheme markers as well - so no markers for  the bonus action - as it might be a 40 or 50 mm base - no LÓS. Is it working as intended? 

So this happened in my game vs @muraki actually. Nellie made one of my Marshals interact but there was no one with Exclusive Interview beside them, so I placed a scheme marker out of Nellie’s LOS (knowing she might make me repeatedly interact). But Nellie still drew a card and gained Focus. So that feels like it’s working when you compare to what happens when your model is covered by Exlusive Interview - Nellie makes you interact and then controls that interact, so can place the marker in LOS to use those pushes/moves and draw a card and gain Focused.

Based on my few games against the new Nellie, the strats and schemes here aren’t really a great pool for Journalist since there’s very little incentive for the opponent to take the interact action. Or rather, it’s not a scheme heavy pool.  

Journalists just aren’t good at Dig or Claim Jump, and can’t do Hold Up at all. So being limited to outflank and deliver isn’t the worst (except this was wedge), but it forces you to spread your journalists out away from the enemies planting the bombs, which denies you the focus + card draw. 

I am curious why the 2 false witnesses over 2 field reporters. Their Follow a lead and Serene Countenace makes them a solid pick for the Outflank on wedge. 

Definitley agree that the Undercover Reporter will fold quickly against an enemy that decides to attack him. He seems to perform best for me/my opponent when he pops up and does scheming in the enemy deployment or sides of the board. 

Check the pics out here.

Personally I've been really happy with Scale's contribution when I run Marshals. Yeah he's a 4ss totem, so i don't expect him to live long when I send him into the fighting. However, with the misery (newly named something else) aura & his Df trigger he should be pinging an enemy for 4ish damage before dying and giving me a card. He's also significant, so can be a wasted activation to claim a turf marker and counts for Hold Up Their Forces (which he usually does well at). 

As for summoning, I really don't think Lady J needs that. It would be one more thing to have to balance her around and it's pretty late in the process to fine tune something like that. I think Lady J & Marshals are in a great spot. 

1 minute ago, Gnomezilla said:

You aren’t missing anything. I am having a bit of a day myself (and I would like it to stop please, it has been two days now and I miss thinking clearly). Despite having the book open to the page where it says base contact, I added ‘within 1 inch’ instead of ‘base-to-base’ for the interact. And I have no idea where it came from.

No Worries. Hopefully your day gets better soon!

The point about engagement ranges is a good one. There are only two significant Journalists with engagement ranges now (Phiona & Undercover). Forget trying to score Hold Up with them.

4 minutes ago, Gnomezilla said:

Is the aura2 long enough to defend an idol that a journalist is standing base-to-base with? It is not.

I'm a little confused by this and maybe i'm missing something (suuuper long day at work). The strategy marker is 30mm, so a 2" aura will cover that if a journalist is in base contact with it, thus preventing the enemy from interacting with it to move it.

@Flippin' Wyrd Matt what was your crew? 

Ill be trying a game tomorrow with her.

37 minutes ago, Boomstick said:

Following Orders is once per activation though, so all that chaining should still only net you one card since it was all done in Lucius' activation. Unless I'm missing something...?

If Lucius Issues Command to three different models with Following Orders in his activation you still draw 3 cards, since the ability is once per activation per model with the ability. 

Since all the cool kids are doing it...

On a thread in the Rezzer section, Kyle clarified they're more specifically looking for what individual models currently won't see table time. 

What models do we think those are, and why?

1 minute ago, Fetid Strumpet said:

There is already a Miss Demeanor, alt convict gunslinger.

Didn’t realize that. Course now I need to go find her. 

Ill stand by the alt lawyer idea though. Need a third lawyer and more diversification in Lucius’ legal team.