Dark Reaper

Thanks. For some reason, I didn't catch that, even though it seems obvious now that you point it out.

As long as they haven't activated, they seem pretty hard to bring down with manipulative and attacks against them having TN12. I think the best way to use them is to push them into the enemy with Nellie's free action and then making some use out of their aura to guarantee hitting press releases. That being said, mine died in turn 1 when I tried to use him  

Nice catch, but he killed her in turn 4, so he could score the second point in turn 5 had we played it out.  I didn't mention it, but she actually failed to hit her press release turn 3 against a Freikorpsmann as well. Still, that isn't something I can really control, unlike playing better.

I often feel like I am more unlucky when I am behind, as it is so much more important to get good flips, so there is some element of confirmation bias there as well.

https://malifauxtattler.blogspot.com/2019/02/nellie-vs-von-schill.html

Nellie vs Von Schill

Time to try a quick game with the Journalists against Barmution's Freikorps. I decided to stay completely in keyword, just to get a better feel of the crew, having only played with them twice before.

 

My Nellie list:

Nellie Cochrane

The Printing Press

Phiona Gage, Lead Lined Coat - 11

Allison Dade - 8

Undercover Reporter, Lead Lined Coat - 9

Field Reporter - 6

Field Reporter - 6

False Witness - 5

Cache - 5

 

Barmution's Von Schill list:

Von Schill

Steam Trunk

Hannah Lovelace - 10

Lazarus - 10

Arik - 9 (these two's cost were swapped after the game)

Freikorps Librarian - 7

Freikorpsmann - 5

Freikorpsmann - 5

Cache - 4

 

Strategy: Plant Explosives, Deployment: Corner

Schemes: Breakthrough, Harness The Ley Line (both), Power Ritual (Guild), Outflank, Assassinate (Outcasts)

 

 

I am pretty happy with deployment. My plan is to place scheme markers with the False Witness to move the Field Reporters up to the flanks and score Power Ritual early. I completely forgot that I needed a scheme marker in my own corner as well, and had to move Allison back to place one. Noob mistake. I decide that if the Freikorpsmen decide to move against one of the reporters, I will just place my Undercover Reporter on their head and be able to score easily. The False Witness moves up conservatively, but is unfortunately gunned down by a Freikorpsmann outside his activation by a combination of Von Schill's rocket launcher upgrade and a red joker on the damage flip.

 

 

Arik Schoemer uses a pair of Rocket Boots to jump in and kill the printing press, making sure to block LoS to Allison, so he can get off his no armour trigger. Lazarus moves up onto the gallow in the middle and starts lobbing grenades. I decide to put a press release on him, saving a 13 in case I need to cheat. I immediately pull the Black Joker. We also had a weird rules situation where Nellie couldn't force him to place a scheme marker with One More Question as she didn't have line of sight to anywhere he could theoretically place one. I score Power Ritual, and manage to also sneak in a bomb for 2-0.

 

 

This is where I realise that the Strategy I thought favoured me due to Nellies Don't Mind Me, isn't really all that favourable, as there is very few ways for me to actually stop Outcasts from scoring the strategy. Nellie and Allison don't have engagement ranges, and I can't tarpit Von Schill anyway, due to Diving Charge. I manage to stay alive by using Focus for defensive duels and score another point from the strategy, getting me to 3-1.

 

 

 

 I activate a Field Reporter to put a scheme marker on the centre line, planning to score a few points from Harness The Ley Line before the end of the game. Barmution activates a Freikorpsmann, references the Field Guide, Focuses and shoots at Nellie, who is currently sitting at 7 health. He has a 7 of rams, and my hand is horrible, with both a 1 and a 3 of rams, which doesn't help me much, even with Nellie's Scooped, so I cheat with an 11 of crows, he cheats in the Red Joker and flips a severe, doing 7dmg and killing Nellie, netting him two points for assassination.
 

It is too hard to get back into the game due to this, and Barmution manages to move another Freikorpsmann 15" and interact with one of my bombs to deny me an additional point. I score the last point for Power Ritual, while he score one for Harness The Ley Line (which I might have been able to stop with Field Reporters and the Undercover Reporter, but didn't think of at the time), and he also scores another for strategy.
 

 

So, I basically had the game in the bag, with an easy view for a 7-3 or thereabouts, but due to not activating Nellie first, I managed to lose the game 4-5.

 

Thoughts on the Journalist crew:

These guys know how to scheme, but precious little else. I don't really mind that and find them quite fun to play. Nellie is always a treat to bring to the table and I have some of my most eventful and intriguing games with her. I made a major mistake in choosing schemes, as I should obviously have picked Outflank instead of Harness The Ley Line, but I believed that The Field Reporters could move into the centre of the table after a while and do some shenanigans there. The Lead Lined Coat on the Undercover Reporter was quite fun to play with, but I don't think this was the game nor the scheme pool for it.

 

Thoughts on the Freikorps:

They know how to shoot and their upgrades are quite good. I am not a massive fan of the simple duel spam that Lazarus brings to the table and weren't really impressed by him. I think swapping the cost of him and Arik was the correct choice to make. I would like to play them again to get a better understanding of their strenghts and weaknesses.

16 minutes ago, Sweet Tooth said:

Placing the scheme marker is an interact action. Pg 25 of the rulebook,

 "Interact
Cannot be declared while engaged or if this model
took the Disengage Action this Activation. Do one
 of the following: 1) Place a Scheme Marker in
base contact with this model and not within 4"
of another friendly Scheme Marker, 2) remove
all Scheme Markers in base contact with this
model, or 3) resolve a specific rule that refers to
an Interact Action."

 Having Focus stack multiple times will happen in a scheme marker heavy pool, which is where Journalists shine. It might seem OP at first, but this crew isn't wiping any models off the table with their damage. 

This is wrong. An interact action can be used to place a scheme marker, but that doesn't necessarily mean that placing a scheme marker is an interact action. In the same vein, you would call a kitten a cat, but a cat doesn't necessarily need to be a kitten.

You are playing "Chasing a Story" wrong. It only triggers when the enemy interacts, not when placing scheme markers. Nellie can, however, draw a card if someone places a scheme marker within 10" of her.

Expert Marksman doesn't do anything on the Domador. He doesn't have a projectile attack, so none of the bonuses really matter.

1 minute ago, Qracy said:

Maybe I am blind, but nothing changed on the stat card for the printing press? I think this is a mistake?

You are right. It did say it lost a point of min dmg in the release notes though.

I am a bit surprised to see the Press losing a point of damage. It was insanely good for a totem, but there is so little dmg in the keyword that every bit helped.

I am surprised he didn't get Intimidating Authority, as that is the crew ability, I mean, it was obvious he didn't have it with how Inhuman Physiology used to work, but he could get it now.

I think you may be correct. The Risk of Reason is simply amazing.

I have used him more as a piece to remove irritating models from a distance, something the Marshal keyword sorely lacks. He isn't fantastic, but I don't think he is as bad as you make him out to be. He can shoot twice at someone from 21" away now and ignores concealment with a stat7 shot.

2 minutes ago, trikk said:

That's a very nice upgrade but a 9SS model getting stuck in melee with 1" engage chaff isn't that fascinating 😜 

Yeah, but you have so many other models to get rid of anyone who gets stuck with him. I am not too worried.

Got a significant buff in this update with him ignoring concealment.

15 minutes ago, Zebo said:

Indeed the Enslaved Nephilim could obey friendly family more easily.

 

Yeah, this is my problem with him as well. He can hit them, but he still needs a mask on the attack AND an 8 on the obey, in addition to actually damaging them.

16 minutes ago, Zebo said:

And the Monster Hunters are not really sure what is their role.

It's not hunting monsters, but they are quite effective at running schemes with all their movement shenanigans, albeit a bit expensive. Ruthless would do so much for them.

17 minutes ago, Zebo said:

I would equip Francisco with Balanced Sword, I think.

That's 2/4/5? I actually think Frank is in an ok spot now. His stat 7 sword makes sure he hits a lot and his triggers combined with Flurry makes him deceptively vicious.

On 2/4/2019 at 4:05 PM, Atoli said:

Did you won? Did you have fun with them? They feel compeptitve?

Here you go: https://malifauxtattler.blogspot.com/2019/02/perdita-vs-seamus.html

https://malifauxtattler.blogspot.com/2019/02/perdita-vs-seamus.html

Perdita vs Seamus

 

I played another game against Morbius, who played Molly in the first game on this blog. I bought another Family list so I could try out their new rule.

 

My Perdita list:

 

Perdita

Enslaved Nephilim

Frank, Lead Lined Coat - 12

Santiago - 8

Papa Loco - 7

Nino - 7

Monster Hunter - 6

Monster Hunter - 6

Cache - 4

 

 

Morbius' Resser list:

Seamus

Copycat Killer

Madame Sybelle

Mortimer

Bete Noire

Mourner

Belle

Dead Doxy

 

DISCLAIMER: We were playing this game in another location than we usually do, so we only had my 2d-terrain from Warmachine. The table turned out to be to open in the middle and Family profited a lot from this.

 

Strategy: Reckoning

Schemes: Search the Ruins (Guild, Ressers), Dig Their Graves, Take Prisoner, Assassinate (Guild, Ressers), Vendetta

 

 

 

Deployment sees Nino threaten the Copycat Killer and the Monster Hunters moving to each flank to try and score Search the Ruins. I plan to move up as soon as possible to try and clear the board somewhat and give me some breathing space. I catch a lucky break as the Nephilim top decks an 11 of masks and has Santiago moving forward. The most irritating model in the world, Bete Noire decides to pop by.  Papa tries to throw his dynamite at her, but fails to hit the TN twice. She buries after Nino tries to shoot at her. Perdita somehow manages to hit Madame Sybelle twice and kill her with a little help from a bonus shot from Santiago. The Belle lures the MH into combat with her and Seamus kills him. Frank shoots at the Belle after bravadoing forward and Santiago finishes her off. The new rule is paying off.

 

 

The Family starts wiping stuff. The Doxy and Mourner goes down and I decide to wait one turn before I start scoring Search the Ruins, concentrating on removing models. Seamus shoots his flintlock at Perdita, but I cheat in a 13 and he misses.

 

Seamus hits Perdita for 8dmg, which I stone down to 6, and Morbius scores assassinate. Bete Noire continues to irritate me, but I manage to do 4dmg to her with Nino after he decides to stay in combat with Santiago and Perdita instead of burying. He had so few models left at this point that tying up my combat pieces was important. Perdita pulls the Red Joker on a dmg flip versus Seamus and does 7dmg. My pulls this game were on fire.
 

Perdita finishes Seamus off, Bete kills both Santiago and Perdita, but is killed by Papa's dynamite. I score 8, but he manages to pull off 3pts due to the assassination of Perdita.

The new Family rule is actually really cool. I got very lucky with my flips this game, but I still didn't really feel I had a lot of cards to spare. In practice, it does often result in extra shots from Santiago, but I also used it a few times to move my Monster Hunter on the right flank. In the most hectic turns, I seldom had more than one card to spare though. The end score was 8-3

The family feels more like a cohesive unit than it used to, but I am still puzzled by the nerfs they received after Closed Beta. Was Nino and the Enslaved Nephilim really too good? The Nephilim feels like the worst totem in Guild after it lost its mask on Obey. There are so few cards he can actually use that top nets you roughly a 9% shot of getting it off. He is often left pushing someone around and hoping for a tome. Nino's gun is still long ranged, but it isn't anything special anymore. I will admit this isn't a major source of frustration though.

The Monster Hunters still wants to fire at units who are not monsters and leaving the monsters to the wp6 guys, but they are good scheme runners, albeit a bit expensive for the role.

Frank is in a good place now. The stat7 on his sword really helps him shine.

The Family feels more fun than it did before the update, something I am very happy to report!

I am not even sure what we are arguing anymore. Your attacks are obviously going to be more universally applicable than your other abilities. Does that mean that none of our models should have anything but attacks on their character card?

2 minutes ago, trikk said:

Isn't that the definition of "situational"?

Then everything is situational. I can only use her sword if I am engaged. Or I suppose gunfighters are an exception. 

7 minutes ago, trikk said:

a) if you want to negative conditions from your guys, a Stalker can do it

If you think that is enough, then bring a Stalker. He will only remove one condition from one model though, and he is easily killed.

8 minutes ago, trikk said:

Justice isn't really that big of a threat to Sonnia IMHO. With Burning 4 on her (not that hard) RNO has a rnage 0", so you have to have a bunch of people Assisting her first.

Fair point. If this is really a big problem, I think the problem is that you need more condition removal though, not less.

Maybe, I don't see that as an extreme example though. When I played against Sonnia, I removed shielded+6, focused+1 and burning+11 with a single use of Restore the Natural Order, which is ultimately a game-winning move. I am just not sure I agree with the premise that something is situational just because you can't use it all the time. I played against Bete Noire today and couldn't really hurt her at all, but attacks aren't situational just because of that.

However, if you seldom see conditions in your meta, I could see why you would find Restore the Natural Order to be less crucial than what I have found. I do however think that conditions might be a defining factor in competitive play and having a way to remove it so effectively may prove to be very handy.

Yes, if you have your Master on the other side of the table from all of your other models, then I agree, we play in very different ways. 😉

I am not saying you should spend an action to remove injured from your Emissary, but if you can remove injured+3 from him and slow from The Judge with a single action, then it might well be worth it.

Mei Feng and her crew can put out some burning. Lynch can slow with his pistol, and Graves can injure, just from a very quick look at their cards. If you can remove a few of these conditions, even without your opponent spamming them out, it may be worth it to use Restore the Natural Order. With Leap you should be able to get Lady J into a decent position to both wreak havoc and remove some conditions.

I played Ladu J against Sonnia and am convinced that Restore The Natural Order is so good against her that you can't ever use her in a Guild Mirror match. This is probably true for at least one master in each faction, which means that she will constantly control which masters your opponent can bring. Is it still too situational?

Same. I am glad we got a ruling on this.

35 minutes ago, Atoli said:

Did you won? Did you have fun with them? They feel compeptitve?

I won 8-3 against Seamus. I think the crew is pretty fun. Will post a BR.