Hey there!
My name's Wakefield. I'm a bit new to these forums, but I've been paying a ton of Malifaux. Played a decent amount in 1e (mostly just small games with my friends) and came back into 3e. Glad to be here too! The game's never been more fun to flip cards with and have a good time.
That being said and my annoying intro out of the way, I've gotten plenty of games in for Lucas McCabe. I wanted to make a thread where folks could post and reference ideas for Lucas, thoughts on the released models and tactica, and collate that information into this lead post so we can have an ongoing discussion on my favorite keyword in M3E - Wastrel.
I'm by no means a master, and a lot of this stuff is coming from my application of other's advice for McCabe, as well as various podcasts and information.
To start, lets address the elephant in the room. Wastrel is a skimpy keyword right now. A lot of Versatile talk is going to show up in this thread, and that's fine. The Wastrel keyword models are fine as they are (sans Ruffians, but we'll get to that) but we're going to need to see what Explorer's society has to offer for Versatile and Wastrel. I think that with my preference of Thunder Brothers and the various Vers. Henchman in TT, I'm not going to be going overboard on playing Lucas in Explorers, but we'll see when the figures drop.
-- Keyword Ability/Relics --
Wastrel's united keyword ability is just a start of activation card draw conditional on corpse or scrap. Honestly, it's a little bit lackluster. It's nice when it comes up, but you're probably never going to be in a good position to trigger it consistently as the keyword isn't terribly killy right now. I prefer to view the keyword ability as the Relic engine and the Fast that comes from it, because it really is the defining feature of both the Henchmen and the Minions.
Lucas McCabe is an upgrade master. His relics have 2 primary effects and one 'secondary' effect, in essence, a bonus action. The primary effect is Paid with Trinkets to give out Fast. Super awesome. When a model starts with an upgrade attached they gained this turn, they gain Fast. Super nice. The other primary effect varies on the upgrade. It's usually a potent passive benefit. Usually you're going to be using the Mask or the Timeworn Blade, just because those upgrades are great, but the Mirror can be a great way to cycle your hand if you have it on someone like Sidir or another attacker.
The items all have a bonus action, but I'll be honest, it's rare that I use it. It's usually better to use the printed bonus on most characters (I'm looking at you, Desper and that amazing leap) or toss the relic to pass the Fast along.
The Relics can be passed to minions that are not Wastrel, but no one else. This means you can't give it to Fuhatsu, but you can easily pass it along to a Jorogumo or a Tanuki.
-- MASTER --
I could fill up a whole book with how I feel about Lucas McCabe and his mobility and just sheer action economy, but I won't. When using Lucas, keep mindful of where you want to activate him in the turn. I usually like to activate him middle of the pack, once the coast is clear for him to hit a cluster of models and force his movement duels, but I've heard of him activating early to slow/stagger multiple models with blasts. Lucas generally doesn't benefit from his own relics as much as his crew does, but I really do like having Mask on him if he's going in to give him a bit of healing. It's also cheeky if you drop 'Silent Protector' on McCabe to get the most out of that Hard to Kill. He actually has 3 stop points if your opponent doesn't have a way to ignore demise. First one being at 1, then when he hops off, then at 1 again. I have people who just ignore McCabe entirely for that reason alone.
McCabe's action economy is straight busted. Because Luna can run the upgrade engine for you, it's often a waste to have McCabe toss out a relic, unless you're going to immediately consume it or use the bonus action. (or you don't have the 8 in your hand or Luna's out of position to immediately throw the relic) I like stacking it with 'Careful, it's Cursed' to pulse out some injured, but since it's a simple duel it's far from a sure thing.
McCabe's basic movement tricks and attack duels are impressive, but more impressive still is his ability to just pulse out simple duels. Even if your opponent is flipping well for his incidental stuff, they're still burning decent moderates and sometimes severe cards to keep up with your output. Your goal shouldn't be to force a win on his attack, it should be to force a tie. Just from McCabe alone, you can have min 6 damage on an attack (if they fail both duels coming from his movement and his duel). If you take the Blade for his bonus you can use that to pulse out another hit, or if you have the mask and you're down some hitpoints, Life Leech lets you add on another guaranteed damage AFTER.
--WASTREL HENCHMAN --
Desper LaRaux is my favorite henchman in Ten Thunders. Minako Rei is pretty great for spawning little Katashiro but, my goodness. Desper is just slicker than greased lightning and schemes like a madman. His attack isn't shabby with built in Crit-strike, but only a stat 5 is kinda lacking. He will murder scheme-runners though if you stone for the Ram or have one in your hand. Min 3 with two attacks (probably with fast) is aces. Plus you get the stone back if you kill. Expert Thief is cute, but mostly a waste unless you can get the Stun off or desperately need the Scrap. I like giving him the Mirror. He's not going to be giving it back to anyone likely anyway, and if he focuses turn one before going anywhere, you can easily refill your hand after cheating in Masks to try to get away.
Sidir Alchibal is a a preference piece. There's arguments for and against him depending on who you're talking to. On one hand, I like having him as a firebase. On the other hand, Fuhatsu exists. Sidir is really difficult to bring down with DF 6 and WP 5, but sometimes he just doesn't do anything. He will get engaged immediately by an opponent to stop him from machinegunning, but he should be generating (or getting focus from Tanuki) and laying down fire as many times as possible fishing for that severe with Focus. I've upgraded him from my initial assessment just because I've gotten more time to love and learn him. The FAST from the relics is the key selling point here. Know the Warrior is astonishingly useful and there's very few times I have been disappointed with him recently. Once he gets set up, he's hard to bring down. Juggernaut is clinically underlooked at on his card. Yes, it's hard to justify the card expenditure sometimes, but between that and Mask he can heal a staggering amount. A truly STAGGERING amount. If you want to run him as a fire-base who can't be moved and has decent stats that ALSO can be a valid Ride with Me target, then I'd go for it. If not? I'd suggest strongly that you consider Fuhatsu or Shadow Emissary for where you may slide him into the list.
--WASTREL MINIONS --
Ruffians? Uh, yeah, those exist. They're...slightly less expensive and drastically less good Thunder Brothers. Chain gang is okay, but you're probably taking these guys to run schemes and you have access to a much better schemerunner.
That being said, these guys are really cute against terrifying spam. Walk and shoot each turn and gain fast if you can to throw out decent shots that are almost always focused. Blasts can be real clutch too, especially on severe flips. Anyone have other thoughts for 'em?
Hucksters are probably one of the best scheme runners in TT for what they do. They're point efficient and can move all over the place. I like running them paired with Desper as they can keep up with him, but they can't sneak away as well as he can. A key tip if they've gotten a relic bonus is to drop an interact THEN drop False Claim if possible. That way you're not using someone else's action to effectively 'drop' that scheme marker. They make certain schemes playable or downright dead-easy.
-- VERSATILE --
I like the Shadow Emissary. Lucas can't really fix his hand. Save a decent Mask and the Emissary can quickly give you a full hand of cards and build up a new basis to work with. Also fixes bad hands too. I can't tell you the amount of times I've stared at a bunch of minimums and tucked them at the bottom of the deck. Because Lucas rides or dies by his triggers, and he wants them to get off every time in the order he needs, I usually find myself trying to save for No Future But Our Own.
Tanuki are cute, and you can sub one in for a Huckster. I like the ability to hand out lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of focus. Four in a turn with Fast from a relic. Sober Up is a great tech tool and Foul Mouthed's heal is clutch.
Ten Thunder Brothers are basically better Ruffians. They can't chaingang, but they can sit near Sidir or move up pretty quick while gaining Focus. Delay on melee is clutch and Mirror makes it less painful to cheat in because you're getting cards back whenever you cheat.
Fuhatsu has been coming up a lot lately in discussions with my usual group. He's kind of an MVP in a lot of scenarios, but I just don't like how he's size 3. Sidir has one advantage over Fuhatsu, McCabe can bring him along on adventures. He can soak a lot of damage, but I think the weak part of him is his abysmal defensive stats. WP3? Who hired this guy into the Ten Thunders in the first place? WP 3? Yeah he's hard to wound with armor 1, that's fine, and Laugh Off means that he won't be suffering from Lure spam, but seriously? WP 3? I could see some uses for him, but without having access to mobility from McCabe I would probably field...
Samurai who can get access to Know the Warrior from the Mirror, can be thrown up the field by McCabe or Trained Ninja. Better utility too in my opinion. RUSH helps to make them just as fast. Plus, if they toss relics, the end up getting three shots a turn as opposed to two. They're also pretty nice in melee with that wonderful Daito that ignores armor, so they pull double duty. They suffer against Armor Piercing, but they're liable to make their points back just fine. I guess in a way they're less overtly 'schemey' then Fuhatsu, but that's also because that little 'GET AWAY FROM ME' that Fuhatsu can rock could theoretically be used to set up for certain schemes or certain scenarios.
Dawn Serpent is another amazing little gem in Ten Thunders and is considered one of the best models in my local store games. Well, mostly by one Outcast player who hates its guts. Legit though, this other, lesser noodle is a great Enforcer. He operates entirely on his own, but I like using him as a second to McCabe. They're both equally fast and he can drop burning on a large pack of folks. I actually usually save him until after McCabe has gone and my opponent has been softened up to send him in for the Rising Dawn trigger. If they've already cheated in to avoid the splash from McCabe, then the really can't afford to discard again for Dawn, can they? It adds onto the 'death by a thousand cuts' part that I like for McCabe. Super fun. Plus he's agile. So he can scheme deep and dash past things.
Minako Rei is quite the excellent little scheme-processor. Thanks to False Claim and Luna, you can get Katashiro out reliably. She won't go in every list that I have, mostly because I just..don't think that she's quite as useful as Dawn Serpent with a crew that's as fast and as 'little cut' deadly. She can be an excellent guard dog or aggressive scheme runner. People don't want to focus her down. The Mirror Match or anyone with ignoring resistance triggers turns me off to her, but I think I need to experiment more with dropping Katashiro out there instead of Hucksters. I still generally prefer Hucksters or Desper I think to her in keyword, just because Desper with Fast can be a bit more mobile depending on terrain and model setup, but she's probably an excellent option for GG0 Strategies and Schemes.
Wanyudo is...uh. So, this is pure theory, but, I actually think the headwheel is a good investment based off what I've heard from other players and I will be throwing this into practical action soon.
MV7 is great, but it also has unimpeded and trample. While it lacks Make Way, Burning Path is the true draw here. You trample an enemy with this guy, he takes 1 damage and 1 burning on a MV12 duel. McCabe can penalize move with his net gun. You get his attack, which targets move, on a net-gunn'd target and now, all the sudden, you're running over them again and stacking three more burning and another point of damage if they fumble the MV12 duel. Then you can attack again and stack on ANOTHER three burning with an MV12 duel. Ultimately, it passes out 7 burning, three incidental damage that isn't attacks, and 2 min 2 hits. So, that means its damage potential, on minimum, if everything goes through on a single model is 9. And you can run over multiple models with its movements and attacks too. Which means you can also incidentally catch other things on fire. Its very soft, so I'd suggest running McCabe with Silent Protector to have Challenge on demand for things it gets stuck in with that might be a little hard on the attacks, but Wanyudo gets a pass from me.
--OUT OF KEYWORD--
Disclaimer here. Out of Keyword hiring is really weird for McCabe. Generally you are taking one rather than a whole slew. I've put my usual suspects below, but there's a large number of 'em that we can really use. The two obvious candidates are the Min 3 minions since we can get armor penetration. There's a few other sneaky little options that I like however. These haven't been tried extensively, so if you have any updates, let the crowd of Wastrels know!
Jorogumo are the prime partner for McCabe. Though they're soft and squishy without any defensive tech, Extended Reach is a nice way to keep them safe from melee heavy lists. They suffer into Gunlines. Giving them Fast with the Timeworn Blade is my usual suggestion, but Life Leech is also good from the Mask or even the Mirror since it lets them cheat a little more consistently. They're all around strong, but they're 10 stones in Lucas' hands and I'm not sure if they're worth it all the time. If there's something that absolutely needs to die, though, and you have a good way to get them in, go for it.
Kabuki Warriors are something I'm thinking of running a bit more. Lure is always good, and a Greatsword with the Timeworn is another answer to bigger threats. Combat Finesse keeps them safe, but they're, again, 9 stones, which is hard to part with. It's basically going to come down to if you need the min 3 Precise or not. Interestingly enough, they do pair well with McCabe's 'Careful, it's Cursed!' to all but guarantee some injuries and 2 damage to anyone around them thanks to Distraction Aura. If running, I would take Trained Ninja and also use them to lure Sidir up the board a bit.
Oni other than Jorogumo are, in my opinion, overcosted for what they offer to a McCabe crew. If Obsidian Oni had something a little longer than Exotic Weapons, or had a sliiiightly better damage track I'd go for it, but if you're taking them they're 8 stones when Lucas is at the helm, and Asami makes better use of them. Yokai could be good, cheap and plentiful chargers that can scheme well, but they suffer from having few ways to abuse the Flicker mechanic which is their key element. Tengu and Akaname are probably the other solid options, but they're just Hucksters with slightly different ways of dropping schemes.
Last Blossom has Torakage and Snipers, both of which are a pass from me. I could see utilizing a Wokou raider as a solid melee piece, but they're Outcast primarily, so no access here. All in all, you're not going to find too much that Lucas wants to work with under Miss Katanaka. Yamaziko could be a good option if you can keep her safe, but that's an awfully big expenditure to make your minions function better and she herself isn't doing anyone any favors, likely needing McCabe to haul her around instead of Sidir.
Foundry hahahahahahahaha. Hard pass. You get half the minions in Mei Feng's group available and they pretty much all work together. They're also abysmally slow, so they can't keep up with the rest of the crew without the rail network. While it can be an interesting gimmick to get scrap out, you'd have to buy into Mei Feng and Forgeling to even do it. 19 stones for one scrap per turn? Eh. Rail Workers could be good to move Sidir or other slower models, but at 6 stones...I'd rather take a Ten Thunders Brother rather than a taxi.
Ancestor is going to also be a pass along with Retainer I could see Sun Quiang. He's always good in almost any list. Bedside manner is great to pay for and we all like adding more focus. But most of this is all synergistic things. Komianu could be cute because they're very efficient as defenders. Plus adding burning is almost always a plus with McCabe when you're already whittling people down consistently.
Monk has Charm Warders. Everyone loves Charm Warders. I would hard-pass on most of the Monk keyword except for them and Low River. Low River are efficient healers and can help you play into Idols and Charm Warders screw over your opponent's hand and deck. They just mill tons of cards for their bonus, counter summoners, turn off demise...all for 8 points. If you're facing a summoner or a ton of demise, take one, you won't regret it.
Qi and Gong other than Kabuki and Charm Warders. Geisha are an interesting 5 point lure. Can be nice if you're trying to play McCabe into reckoning. Other than that, I'd stay away. Bill is an interesting choice here, but mostly because he runs pretty much on his own and acts as a support piece with a decent Min 3 with a ton of repositioning options. Stoic Nod is always appreciated. Leverage is not going to be super helpful on one model, but Heroic Intervention can keep your Hucksters safe.
Honeypot Yeah, nah. Not happening. I don't see it working well with Lucas in charge. Tannen could be interesting. Illuminated are also a nice Shockwave model, but I don't see a good reason to sub these guys in. Sorry. Kitty Dumont is the only exception. This is honestly because she fits into the scheming super well and Unassuming Demeanor has a really good way to get cards back in your hand if you can get the trigger off. She's also a great source of simple duels that will continue to drain your opponent's hand.
GAINING GROUND
-- Deployments --
Standard - Eh. Could be better. I'm a huge fan of flank warfare and since Lucas is so fast, I don't see an issue with Standard except in Symbols. Lucas likes to be forwards and diving deep for markers while disrupting along the way. Standard can cause a ton of issues with defending your own stuff since it's all spread out on your back line.
Wedge - Now we're talking. Kind of Standard but with a bit more room on the sides to let Desper or McCabe ride up unharassed for the first turn. I also like it more in Symbols since it forces your opponent to come deep to your territory for at least two markers if you place 'em far to the side.
Flank - Oh yeah. Ideal McCabe. You can spread out nice and early, use Luna in the middle and keep a few of your key pieces getting those relics out fast. Symbols also is ideal for this since it forces your opponent to move far afield to sides.
Corner - I don't think McCabe is outpaced by anyone else in Thunders for Corner. He's amazing. He's just ideal. He doesn't suffer from the usual penalties of corner since everyone is so damn fast. Symbols is also a dream in corner.
-- Strategies --
Corrupted Ley Lines: IMHO, this is a pretty good one for McCabe. Boss man can carry the football because he's pretty durable and can still bring others along to help toss it for him. He is size 3 so he blocks LOS for others tossing the ball from him, but still pretty darn good. Hucksters can also get set up for the pass because the markers are Blocking.
Symbols of Authority: The best McCabe Scheme. Accept no substitutions. McCabe, Desper and a Dawn Serpent together become an unstoppable force of removing schemes. Since they're blocking, concealing, you can't really prevent someone from just leaping directly behind a token to actually, y'know, just score it. You've got one of the most mobile and fast crews in the game. Leverage it.
Recover Evidence: Lucas' Weakest strat, but even that's not saying much. Desper has the all important 'don't mind me' that lets you just scoop up markers even if you're getting covered by 2 inch reach and Lucas can deny marks really well with his 2 inch reach if he needs to cover where a bunch have dropped.
Public Enemies: So, this is going to go one of two ways. 1, they run super elite and you score points by killing late in the turn with a model like Sidir who walks for focus to shoot, or a Samurai. 2, they run low-cost spam and you trample them into the dust and play 'cover the boss' the whole game. Either way, win win.
-- Schemes --
-The Good-
Breakthrough - Classic McCabe. Solid choice in most setups. I would be wary in setups that are Corner unless you have some blocking nearby for a huckster. It's awkward to get all three.
Take Prisoner - Easy for Lucas with his Net Gun. I usually like picking an enforcer and keeping it net-gunned the whole game for maximum annoyance. Basically, just use Ride with Me and Net Gun, then Charge back in if you need to knock it low, but...you can also do the Drag trigger on the Net Gun to pull things out of position.
Sabotage - See Breakthrough. Ridiculously easy with a Huckster.
Let Them Bleed - Damage ALL enemy models you say? You'll often get this incidentally in most McCabe setups. The initial can be hard, but with enough trampling it's more than doable. It also forces your opponent to cheat out to beat your duels late game to avoid you gaining your second point.
Leave Your Mark - I don't really like Claimjump Lite as I call it, since it's almost entirely terrain based, but I can't deny that McCabe favors it over other schemes. The End Game is dead simple for a huckster or two, just make sure you drop your interact schemes before False Claiming.
Research Mission - Huckster and Sidir do this effortlessly. Have Sidir toss a Blown Apart on your opponent's side of the board and a Huckster can False Claim with trigger to score immediately. Then the markers are there for you to move another two models near by later on. Very easy mission.
Spread Them Out - Harness Hardcore is also super easy for McCabe, just because of the mobility that you have. See Symbols of Authority and just...just make your opponent cry as you easily get the first. The second can be a problem because Desper or Dawn may be going for strategy late game, but keep someone in reserve and you should have no problems.
Runic Binding - Amazing scheme. Hucksters are key here. Interact to False Claim to set up three within 3 inches of you and 'cast the net.' Then have one other model drop a scheme. McCabe has no problems with this scheme getting done most of the time, and the end game is easier Detonate for McCabe with access to the Schemequeens.
-The Bad-
Vendetta - So, the thing is, McCabe doesn't have a lot of cheap models that like to attack in keyword. Against certain lineups it can work, like if using Desper or Dawn Serpent perhaps against a high-cost Hench, but...it's just too risky in my opinion.
Hidden Martyrs - No. Just no. It's easy to get the first point, sure, but I don't like taking the 'well, at least if my model dies I'll have a point!' mindset. The second point is also kind of weird to get...? I just don't enjoy this one for McCabe, there are other Masters in TT who do it better.
Catch And Release - Look at your minion list. Look at your opponent's Master. Cry. Not impossible to do, but why would you do it with McCabe? There's no minion that he really optimizes for this, unless like it's a Torakage or a Tanuki, but...I don't think it's going to survive unless it acts super late. Just skip it. Deliver was way too easy, but this one is almost way too hard.
-The Wyrd-
Assassinate - It's not IMPOSSIBLE, but it's really matchup dependent. I usually skip it unless my opponent's master needs to die for me to win the game. Von Schtook, for instance, or Viktorias, I'll usually take it, but I wouldn't against Parker, since it's probably a waste of time to try to put 14 on Parker with Doc hanging around. I like playing scheme heavy, and so I tend to avoid. Your Mileage May Vary.
Claim Jump - I can see it, but who the hell're you putting it on? Probably Fuhatsu, Sidir, or a Samurai. And honestly, they may not do much if the terrain doesn't favor it. Leave Your Mark is a much better version of this for McCabe, but you can make it work.
-- Total Thoughts on Gaining Ground --
It's a great time to play McCabe. All the strategies and most of the schemes are doable, and even the few exceptions aren't really a negative for him to go out of his way to go for. He can work in almost any scheme pool or Strategy Pool. His list is functional and effective at most scenarios and isn't going to be really hindered by any caster in particular, and he shines against bubble crews with his high mobility to get around them and his trampling abilities to splash damage to many nearby models. Von Schtook is probably his biggest direct counter just because of the armor and hard to wound and the upgrade removal, but I still find him my most reliable and all-comers Master. If I'm ever unsure what I'm playing against, I'm going to go for him.
Last Update: 04/21 Gaining Ground Updaaaate? WHAAAA?!
