Maniacal_cackle

All great points, and I'm sure will be critical if I eventually face Cadmus. One random thought - how do you like Manos in this matchup? His gun means he can safely spam attacks from a distance, staggered nests are hilarious, and his aura negates the Eyes and Ears that do end up dying in awkward places. And in general it seems like you've taken a gunline approach to defeating Cadmus when I've seen you play, is that correct? Although I suppose I missed the Von Schtook game.

@Pergli epic and that red joker explanation makes sense. I caught the last 10 minutes of the game and was surprised at the board state, but it all makes sense now xD Agree that planning is super valuable against crews like Cadmus. Cadmus doesn't seem very flexible, so generally there'll be a bit of a planning advantage because you know exactly what to expect.

My current pairing is against TT, but there's so many games left I don't think it'll last.

That's what we like to hear! Leylines is such a good one for cheeky lists. I've come up with several variants of "your model gets pushed off the leylines." So watch me get paired against someone with each access to tech that stops that xD

I think Viks make a lot of sense, yeah. I assume you're playing Kirai with Rider to carry? I think I'll be taking Rider as a backup for the lodestone.

I've always played it that you can reduce any value for each model (so 0,2,1 is fine spread over three models).

Although I just checked the rankings and it is no longer possible for Davos and I to play each other. Still, I'll wait until my opponent has made their list 😜

I'm bringing double masters, Molly & Kirai. (For the others, the joke is Davos and I have identical scores so may play each other. So for once, no spoilers ;p).

Makes sense about the Creeper! I find the spiders insanely good in neverborn, and Cadmus is better at throwing out more webs (although maybe not the same distance). For Round 2, I just played a practice game with Seamus, and he is just so devastatingly powerful on that scenario. Very, very good at denying. BUT it only works on turns you can secure activation control which makes it really tricky/intense to play xD

Yeah, I think this is critical (and also suits Molly's gameplay really well). Sure you can come kill me, but it will take you an extra walk action. Or you can score that point, but it'll take 3 extra actions. Etc. For some reason on defensive stuff, I just prioritise reliability over the extra hurdle. Probably a mindset I need to break by experimenting more. It also doesn't hurt that even if they DO hit the necropunks or shieldbearers, they will likely survive and then regenerate. For a shieldbearer in particular, they can heal back up to 5 in a single activation xD I've tried GST on crooligans but didn't like it, except on Corrupted Idols, or specialised shenanigans (like removing the marker on Recover Evidence).

xD I don't think too many people would debate that (other than me). Certainly in terms of the traditional scheme runner (low-cost, independent model that can run off and score a bunch), Necropunk is arguably the best in the game. For me, I don't even quite rank Crooligans as the best. I reckon Archie, Seamus, and Reva are the best in our faction, but I know that's a skewed view xD I also always underestimate terrifying because initially I had Ruthless Archie so just am used to the idea that terrifying models splatter easily. I still haven't quite adjusted to how difficult it is to get through like terrifying 11 with WP4 xD

Yeah, pretty expected Cadmus list, although that Creeper is a bit funky. I personally rate the teleport quite highly in Neverborn, but I usually have two models with it so I'm not sure. Yours looks pretty fab for scoring points! Do you always take GST on necropunks, or did it here as all the low willpower models are particularly bad at hitting it? Also how do you find Necropunks against Cadmus? On the one hand all the ping damage will eat them alive, but on the other hand maybe you can just dodge the enemy?

Part 3 of the Molly Guide is here! This time I'll be talking about list-making. Part 1 can be seen here, and part 2 can be seen here. Perhaps one of the strongest things about Molly is that she is so darn good at list-building. Her keyword is incredibly efficient, which leads to opportunities for redundancy. She is very flexible when it comes to building lists, and can take models for a variety of roles. Let's examine these ideas more in-depth! Efficiency Molly just packs so much efficiency into the stones for her keyword, it opens up a lot of doors. When I'm playing Reva with Bone Piles or Bete Noire, I need to put stones in to support them to teleport around the board. When I play Seamus, I need stones to support him to get off his 8 damage shots. Molly needs no such support (in fact, she supports her crew, super-charging them with cards, activation control, and support abilities). Similarly, Molly's crew packs a lot of action into stones. Crooligans can teleport to their allies - and the allies don't have to do anything, they just have to move. Philip and the Nanny alongside a Night Terror can move 24 inches in a turn, just getting to where you need to be. Molly's crew gets around the board efficiently. Since Molly draws so many cards, she typically doesn't need many stones. The crew also doesn't require upgrades (although Whisper is nice on Molly), so you can just fill the crew with awesome models. Finally, since Molly supercharges her crew by providing support and drawing so many cards, she can afford to take a crew full of beaters. There'll be enough cards to support at least 2-3 (and even 4 can be the right call for redundancy purposes). With a Molly crew, the main thing I take every time is Archie + Crooligan, leaving a whopping 37 stones to play with most games. And even this is negotiable! In theory, even Archie is optional... There is only one rule... Always hire at least one Forgotten Minion so you can use Constructive Criticism in the early game. Consider hiring two if you need one alive for Constructive Criticism in the late game for activation control. Flexibility The insane efficiency of Molly's keyword means that she can make enormous changes to her list to adapt to the situation. This is one of the greatest strengths of the crew - and one of the most difficult things about playing it. Molly is overall a denial master - since she can remove scheme markers so easily and has amazing activation control, she specialises in cutting away scoring options for the enemy. This means you have to carefully adapt your approach to what the enemy's gameplan is - so you have to be able to predict it! The payoff is enormous when it happens. Here are some examples: In a recent matchup on Corrupted Leylines, I would normally take Philip and the Nanny to help run the lodestone. But I didn't want a model that was so vulnerable to English Ivan, so I teched in a Student of Viscera instead. It did the same job, but was less vulnerable to the enemy crew. I also teched in Anna Lovelace because her aura is brutal for Ivan, which also helped to destroy the matchup. Even with those choices, there was tons of space to take everything else I wanted into the matchup. In another matchup, I was against Tara on Symbols of Authority, where I normally wouldn't take Philip and the Nanny. But my pre-game planning led me to believe that most of the winning strategies involved letting Archie die - which would leave me with no one to teleport Crooligans to! Since my game plan involved teleporting Crooligans around, I included Philip and the Nanny in the list, and didn't even have to cut anything important to make room. You can just fit so much action into Molly lists, and you can fit whatever tech you need! Roles & Synergies When hiring (and playing) your crew, you want to consider the roles each model has. Every (significant) model is a scheme runner. Points are what matter, and every model always has the role of scheme-running (even if it is bottom priority for them). Some models are also beaters, or tar-pits, or support. There's also synergies to consider. For example: Dead Rider's Ride With Me means Molly can spend less time walking, one of the only bits of support that really boosts her. Archie or Philip and the Nanny are extremely mobile targets for Crooligans to teleport to. Philip and the Nanny next to a Night Terror gets insane movement from fading & concealment. Very potent combo for running around the board! Having the night terror around also gives Philip a target to hit with a mask trigger for extra movement for Philip in an emergency. Gravedigger + Grave Golem + Toshiro usually has enough corpses to go around (but I haven't done this since GG0 now that I own more models). Manos can stagger models with his gun making it easy for Rogue Necromancy to land Projectile Vomit. Often you'll want to build your list into overlapping teams. For example, consider this list from my recent Tara game mentioned above: Molly - Support, beater, scheme denier, scheme runner & Crooligan beacon. Machine - support, anti-soulstone tech, scheme runner & Crooligan beacon Dead Rider - beater, scheme runner. Manos, The Risen - beater, stagger-giver, scheme runner In fact, Manos secured two of the symbols. Archie - beater, scheme runner & crooligan beacon Philip & The Nanny - scheme runner & crooligan beacon, slow-giver, scheme-denier Night Terror - support for P&N, scheme runner Crooligan - scheme runner, scheme-denier, assassin 3 stones Every model is available to score points if necessary, but the order of priority is different. If this game is going well, I want Archie, Manos, and Dead Rider to just be killing things all game. But if things get off track, I want all of them available to run off and pick up a symbol. This flexibility of roles is what won me the game - every single symbol on the board was accessible to me, but I also knew that to stop him from winning I needed to kill his Tara with a Don't Mind Me upgrade. So all my beaters focused on Tara while also being available to score. In this way, I had several teams (philip + night terror, philip + crooligan, archie + crooligan, Manos + Dead Rider, etc). Each model can be part of a few teams, and their role at any particular time is dictated by the flow of battle. As I said above, Molly crews are super flexible! Redundancy One big danger of Molly crews is being TOO efficient. You can literally score 8 points and deny several points just hiring Archie and a Crooligan. But what happens if they kill Archie? I've had games where MOLLY had to spend 3 actions walking across the board so I could get a crooligan into position. That's always a sure sign of trouble (although is worth doing it if you get the points). You have to plan for what happens if they kill critical models. Consider the Tara list above - one of the critical reasons I took Philip and the Nanny was to free up Archie. He is the best crooligan beacon, but part of my plans involved his death. So what do I then? I added Philip and the Nanny for redundancy. Or consider one of my favourite Recover Evidence lists: Molly & Machine Dead Rider Rogue Necromancy Manos Archie Crooligan The Crooligan does not have redundancy here, so my plan cannot involve having a crooligan at the end of the game (unless I specifically keep it out of danger all game, which is an option). However, for my beaters, I have TONS of redundancy. Molly's card draw allows me to support 2-3 beaters, but I've taken 4. This is because I want to have room for a beater to die and for someone else to swap in. But importantly, redundancy models should still have something to do while they're not performing the role they're a backup for. For example... Archie can scheme run with the crooligan while he isn't being a beater. Dead Rider can reposition models or just power up with focus and fate tokens when he isn't being a beater. Manos can stagger enemies and Rogue Necromancy can Projectile Vomit on them for when they're not yet ready to charge into melee. In this way, all models are useful, but no model is absolutely necessary to the game plan and can die without worries. Closing Thoughts Well, that's enough writing for now! I hope this is helpful. I had hoped to do more sample lists, but I think I've written enough. If people want more examples, give me a pool and an enemy master and I'll build a list for it

How'd you go in round 1, @Pergli?

I think it is pretty rare to see 3 of ANY minion in a game, but Low River Monks are popular both for their healing and the preparation trigger. A 4 or higher gives you a focus on your ally, which is a pretty awesome thing. Many factions struggle to get that good a deal for having a model pump out focus to others.

Who's excited for Round 2? Molly as always can do this pool, but I'm not sure the schemes are actually optimal. Reva and Seamus both have some really good shenanigans into this pool. What are other people thinking?

But it is still a worthwhile comparison in a discussion about Neverborn Zoraida vs. Bayou Zoraida because Bayou Zoraida can snag the sow.

Oh right xD

It has TN12. They would all get picked more, but also all of them are generally considered bad (although I think Juju and McTavish are okay). Good point!

Yeah, the seven is a bit of a high price, but I find I can get the Ride With Me if I'm desperate for it by saving a card for it. But the flexibility really makes it. Once I used it just hoping to rip a tomes off the top of the deck and I did xD

Huckster with a mask

Ahahhaha, what the hell, that is so messed up xD

Yeah, my favourite trick with them is to run in to danger, then Ride With Me on an ally and run away again. You can get the trigger for the heal and heal an ally. I consider them expendable, though, so don't expect them to live past turn 3, as long as they produce some value in the first 3 turns.

Also, I have to reiterate how much I love Rough Riders. They took Ride With Me, one of the best bonus actions in the game, AND STAPLED AN AFTER RESOLVING HEAL TRIGGER TO IT??? SO GOOD!!!

Yeah, it's real awkward xD If we're lucky, Hucksters will do it, but that is hardly a given. There's also Jessie, Daeva, Beebe & Calypso, and Eyes and Ears, but they're all a bit awkward.