DonQOT

Dang. I missed out last time Wild Ones were available. I could never justify the expense when I already had Wastel models. Figure now might be a good time to indulge and christen the new addition. Plus I bet the Ramones'll look great with V&W. I appreciate the thoughts from you two on Basse he's the last of the Explorer masters I've really looked at. Overall, do you prefer him in one faction of ther other? I know nothing about how the Guild plays anymore.

I haven't tried this, I've never tried double master actually. But I'll add it to the list of things I would like to. I think you are right about Ivan making a good surprise inclusion given how strong and relatively self sufficient he is. What makes you think to pair him with McCabe specifically, though? Just to get the Umbra summons without the tax? Edit: I just realized you said that in your opening paragraph. Dummy, thy name is Don.

I mean, I am a player that really likes to stay in keyword. That's probably why I am so frustrated trying to make her work. I really want to like her. She's a fun permutation on the pulp adventurer theme of the crew. She adds some dementionality by being ostensibly less cut throat than the others. I just wish, even if she wasn't a particularly obviously powerful choice, she had a mechanical identity that I could more easily grasp. But now I am certain I am just whingeing (as if I haven't been from the start) so I'll stop. But if anyone has any other compelling ideas about her, I'm still anxious to be persuaded.

Yes. Dig is still pretty decent, but it is a bonus action, so it competes with Flare, not to mention then also competing with passing and using artifacts, none of which synergize with her kit all that well, if you can call that at all useful. Marker removal is actually a good new utility for Wastrel, I'll grant. And Harpooner just highlights the fact that the faction has the same gun but better on a minion. For one stat less you have multiple useful triggers with one built in that I think eclipses Jessie's own in most any circumstance. I know they are the same cost, but it is still a little sad to see a Hench be outdone at it's own schtick by a minion. She just doesn't seem punchy enough on her own for her cost and actually seems to have negative synergy with a large part of her own keyword's design. I just do not understand her! What are you for Jessie. I must know what you are for! Edit: Oops, did not mean to imply dig was a bonus action. Got my argument all confused there.

I just can't get a handle on the charmly befuddling lass. Her abilities seem halfway built for several different roles but don't seem to add up to anything. Depths is not useless, but she doesn't really have the movement tricks to add a lot of value to it. Evasive is a nice bonus against some attacks. Hard to kill is always nice, but the crews main source of healing doesn't make it super appealing. All in all the front of her card makes it seem like she wants to be on the front lines, but when the back of her card doesn't have anything to really capitalize on it. She only has ranged attacks. Her double push on the harpoon trigger seems like it would be situational on breaking up a bubble, but then the crew kinda likes the enemy to bunch up for all those shockwaves and pulses. You could drag a backline model into the scrum but she doesn't have the mobility herself to get good angles and I feel like almost any other model is a better target for ride with me and your other movement tricks. Soulstone flare isn't bad as another shockwave, but rarely is distracted or interact blocking what I need in any matchups I've tried. The only thing I am really keen on is archeological dig for scrap, stone, and scheme generation. But, again, your other schemers are better for markers and cheaper, you have other scrap generators that add more value elsewhere, and if I feel like I need more soulstones I have flush with cash to slap on a model. I suppose she is cheap, but I am hard pressed to see what she adds for Society McCabe that can't be found much better elsewhere in the faction for a much better value for price point. In a faction with a plethora of henchforcers with too many useful abilities, why is Halliday even here? Anyone manage to crack the code on her? I'd love some insight from more experienced folk on this one. Towards thee I roll, though jack of all z but master of none model. To the last, I ponder thee. From hell's heart I try to list build with thee. For obsessive keyword's sake I have spent too much time thinking about thee. Sink all Henchmen and Enforcers to one common pool, and since none of them are worse than thine, I compromise my crew to pieces trying to work with thee, though not needing thee, thou damned, vague Lara Croft expy. Thus I give up the TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF YOUR BLOODY SPEAR!

Well the mask is also pretty obvious, I think. You'll want it on McCabe at the end of your pass chain, or any other model who wants (or has) to be up close and tank. Life Leech is great, any damage transfer like that is, really. I think those sorts of abilities get undervalued by design teams pretty often as it really represents more than just a 2 health value, but I digress. It's value is compounded on any model with good defensive abilitites, natch. Consider the Samurai. One point of healing on Armor +2 is functionally 3 health against anything that can't ignore armor. Consider it with Silent Protector as well. Hard to Kill means that anything that wants to kill the model either has to be able to put damage through twice for the finishing blow, or risk it healing up one and needing two more hits if the healing procs again. I get less use out of protective spirits, but if you are passing it around and the model it's landing on doesn't need it's bonus action, throwing extra shielding on your newly masked model is just gravy. It does have some additional value in it's trigger being another heal and wiping conditions for "free" to counteract oppoents who rely on those to get damage in or neuter the model. Danny's suggestions for who gets the mirror are good. I think the mirror is less obviously impactful overall. But remember what I said about McCabe being a war of inches. Any card draw further compounds your hand advantage and keeps you from getting jammed up without a guaranteed trigger or high card you need. Equality of Fate would be better on a crew that wasn't already almost certain to have more cards than the opponent. But it does allow you to burn cards early and then get the balance back in your favor to keep that fast pace pressure on. Again, hope this helps. I am a half-decent player on the table, but I do think about mcCabe a lot...as I wistfully stare at the ceiling at night...dreaming of those terrible sideburns.

*Jedza leans in* What's that you said, dear? Regeneration? Oh aren't you just the cutest little thing. Though, natch, you would never take those against her. Not much else to contribute. I only ever played the Lo-down master of funk in 10T back in 2e, so I can't say much, but having looked back into him I concur with the above. Thunders has some of the best options for versatiles, but ressers seem to have more focused support for some of his kit. Definitely agree about Toshiro. He seems really lackluster without the summoning support. Manos and Yin seem good out of faction, though more situational.

Man, I want to dive into this Keyword so bad now. But I gotta pace myself. I already overspent on getting my McCabe house in order and have set aside some money for Seeker when it comes. Looks like it's just back to proxies and digital for this one for now. Curious to see how people are doing with her st the moment though. Any good after action reports for my perusal?

MC always here with the prompt and friendly rules discussion. Those keyword restrictions always trip me up. I've been playing a lot of McCabe again, think I am getting pretty good with him, yet half my games I find myself licking my chops ready to put that Timeworn Blade on some tasty ook beater and look up to see one of my usual opponents glaring at me and saying, "for the last time, Don, you can't give the Mech a magic sword!"

I tend to be a pretty aggressive player with McCabe, when I can. Wherever the enemy is congregating, I want my horsie kicking about. The value of all of all the simple duels he can force on an opponent cannot be overstated. The enemy either drains their hand into cheating or takes a lot of chip damage. The name of the game isn't necessarily to kill enemies, just to put the pressure on early. Getting the Mask on him enhances this further and makes a real nuisance of McCabe, making the enemy waste further resources trying to deal with him. Plus leaving the enemy bloodied tends to be a great distraction as they now have to worry about the threat of Sidir or Samurai, whose guns tend to be in kill range on most anything that's been kicked in the face by McCabe, especially if you've got the blade on them cancelling most any defensive tech they might rely on. Something like Izamu or Archie is sweating if it is looking at a trio of gatling/machine gun shots from someone who was just handed the Blade after taking a few nicks from McCabe. Throw in some other lovely distractions like Wanyudo or the Dawn Serpent and you can occupy the majority of the enemies attention with a handle of models. Meanwhile your speedy little schemers are winning the actual game. Or you can sit back and shoot the enemy with McCabe and his shooty boys if the matchup looks better that way. Or try to avoid the enemy altogether and go with play the points game elsewhere. Et cetera. Et cetera. The other name for McCabe's game is versatility. I have had good success diving in, bunkering up, running like hell, McCabe can do anything well, if not best in class. The key is capitalizing on that flexibility to hamper your opponent. Art of war that business. Avoid where your enemy is strong, hit them where they're weak. I like getting greedy with the artifacts and just out actioning my oppoent with all that Fast, but where that's not possible or useful you can focus on card draw with Looted Supplies, which I see as more an alternative option with your token placement available when you need it. The point of this long ramble is that McCabe doesn't really have a set turn 1 to my mind, Wastrel just isn't that kind of crew. Like I said, I prefer to dive deep when I can, but if I try to do that all the time I'm going to see my crew get blended against a beater crew. The only thing you should 'always' be doing with McCabe is controlling the board flow, he excels when he can dictate how your opponent wants to go about their activations and where they have to use their resources, hitting them where they are weak from half a dozen angles, and winning the war by inches, figuratively and literally in this game. Hope this was more helpful than confusing.

Hearing that Cooper isn't just played as a gunline is encouraging to me, as he was looking to be my least favorite Explorer master for that worry. I am going to try and get in a couple of Apex games this weekend to try them out myself, I'll report any interesting finds as I stumble about shooting at everything and anything (or at least amusing cockups on my part).

They are posed more or less like their card art, so I can't say I was surprised. I actually like the pose on Maxine specifically. Just a casual lean as she's staring down the field at a Rogue Necromancy, Lord Chompy Bits, or whatever other silly nonsense she has to deal with that day. Personally, I think it fits, both in personality and still being a good looking model. That said, given that the personality in question has been criticized on this thread as not being interesting to some, I can see why not everyone would take a shine to that kind of blitheness in the models as well.

No. I still have a big bug up my butt about taking ook without a specific plan in mind. But B&C seem great in just about everything. Their synergy with Wastrel seems even better than most with all your extra card draw and scrap for Calypso recursion. I definitely agree. Goodness and you could trade artifacts between them, couldn't you...disgusting, I love it (and hate it). Calypso with precise is just mean.

Hmm. I figured it wouldn't stop working until the move was complete but I see why that would be wrong. Los wouldn't be lost until its base was already in the terrain, right? What would the rules do with a model losing the ability halfway through moving through impassable terrain? Abject horror from the rest of the crew as that Vasagi screamed, his body merged partway through a brick wall by the terrible, maddening power of the boilergoat?

So having Swaggered down the table some more. I think McCabe is overall more effective in 10T, but I like a lot of what Explorers have. Their upgrades are aces, of course, and they've a good selection of versatiles (I particularly think I like Bellhop here), though there are no real replacements for some of what Thunders brings, I feel. I think I overestimated how many tokens the crew needs to be effective before, you generate plenty for looting purposes and still can chow down with Botanists and the like. I think I had greedy tunnel vision with my previous concerns. I'm still no good with them yet, but I am finally getting on Mccabes wavelength, I think.

Can you help me understand what you mean here? So you mean that the climbing gear doesn't do anything for sloped ground? Because if it is climbable then the alpinist at least eliminates the vertical distance, yes? Also, doesn't climbing gear allow you to cross impassable terrain? It's basically like no terrain exists for movement purposes within that aura, yeah? So you could hop over that ice pillar or what have you.

Well his lore states that he is neither English, nor named Ivan, so I'd wager his country of origin is no where near either Britain or the Slavic countries. I got my money on Sweden, if only because I want them to someday reveal his origin and have him slip out of his impeccable received pronunciation and straight into Swedish chef.

I see that, kinda feel like this is maybe a good trap for Ivan though, if he commits to getting Intercision off of the Warder, he has to hit into that potential effective 8 stat Wp and burn his crows (or, admittedly, his way too easily acquired +flips), all to end up with a 6 health specter which can die to an average crow from the warder. This doesn't stop Ivan, but I feel like it can help, and if he goes after anything else in the bubble to get an easier summon off, he still risks the Exorcism and anything he can summon is still in easy striking distance from Last Blossom damage tracks. This makes his summons less good at screening the rest of his crew from engagement which is where Blossom wants to be and DUA definitely doesnt or gumming up the scheme game if Misaki is going for that That said, yeah 8s ook isn't great for what is at best a soft counter.

Would a Charm Warder be a gold tech piece here? Seems like her gubbins would be perfect for knocking the legs out of Ivan, what with the demise countering, summon eating, and attacks being able to ignore -flips. Or am I overselling their potential here? Edit: Oh wait, Umbra's not incorporeal. Still, the position stands.

Just wanted to say thanks for this post. I normally don't take too close a look at guides and such (I prefer to stumble my way into understanding for fun and pride) but these thoughts helped me get a handle on 3e McCabe. Particularly your thoughts on strats and schemes, I am still getting a handle on that part when building my lists. You also helped me nail down why I wasn't liking Jesse as well, I play into the artifact theme heavily and you're right, she doesn't mesh all that well with any of them. That's just a shame. I wonder about your caution on planning your activations around artifact tossing being a trap though. I see that tunnel vision on that is never a good thing, but McCabe seems conducive to a more proactive plan and handing out Fast to most of your crew is awful tasty with just a little forethought.

I'd have figured a thunder minion would be used to split loyalties. I served the Oyabun for a long time before the dilettantes showed up and I still intend to do so, in favorable weather at least. But in truth my doggo loyalties are only to belly scratches, treats, and walkies. Whoever provides the best of these, I am there loyal lapdog.

I feel like the white guy proxy/patsy is a pretty big trope in hong kong gangster flicks and the like, so I never thought they were that out of the core theme. Plus making Thunder just 'the asian faction' wouldn't sit right with me. There is also the holdover from when TT's core gimmick was infiltrating all the other factions, it would be pretty hard to do that if their agents could be screened out by something like the Chinese Exclusion Act. I always rather liked the tangential connection of their masters, the shadowy web of influence willing to use any and every resource from weaponization of their own ancestal practices to squeezing Occidental debtors to do their bidding. Though perhaps we digress too much from the topic. McCabe and Yan Lo are still some of my favorite Masters and get the dubious distinction of my affection.

The book just makes a point that they were purebred gifts hand reared to be hunting companions. So I suppose that represents their pedigree and training, whereas guild hounds are just raised with less care and attention individually, so...quality over quantity? *shrug* My magnificant mass of mangled genes and scar tissue Luna will always be the bestest girl of them all of course. I imagine them being Enforcers rather than totems or minions is the real reason though. Oh. Yes. Well. The Society would never take such a 'unique'...animal?....out of its home. You may keep it far, far away from our estate, thank you. If you see Doctor McMourning or that ornery Nephilim woman about you can express our disinterest in their mongrels as well. Mortimer, call the fire brigade and the contractor, I want our vestibule burned and rebuilt as soon as that horrid thing leaves.

Hopping back into McCabe after my Jedza binge, and am pleasantly surprised. I thought I would really hate actually playing with him in 3e MC, but the looted supplies ability is more potent to generate than I'd worried it would be and his new enforcers are pretty fun. Also Hucksters might be my favorite model in all the games. Love that snake oil sleaze. I feel like people might be overloading marker removal with those builds they listed. Does anyone have experience in proper matches? Have any McCabe's you've seen burnt their card draw out by striping too many scrap/corpse counters off the board?

Your application is still waiting to be vetted, Mr. Pinch, and I must say, these little outbursts of yours are not doing your case any benefit. Any formal complaints will be addressed by the Grievance Alleviation Arbitrator. *whispers* Mortimer, we did engrave Lord Coopers new brush gun before he received it, yes?...yes, very good. Thank you for your interest, Mr. Lunch. ----- Another great thing about Explorers, doggos. Explorers gave us double the named doggos and how has a majority share in the goodest boy and gals. I will miss my mangy McCabe mutt menagerie in Guild, but Art and Ul more than make up for it. Now if we can only acquire that horrible little pig farmers beast.