Colette, Performers and Mannequins

[Maogrim]

Greetings, Arcanists from all nations!

I have been invisibly stalking these forums for quite some time now, with a hiatus of several months when my gaming groups' interest evaporated, and I have finally decided to create an account. Yay me! Well, some of us are interested in getting back into the game, second edition of course, and I decided to give it a roll with the 2 crews I already got before the editions shifted, namely the Showgirls (Lovely Ms Du Bois was what got me into the game) and the Plagued.

I've decided to start on with Hamelin, since he's not that broken anymore, and I never had the chance to play him when we were still in the game... But that's obviously not the topic of this thread, is it? Well, I'm obviously not going to stick to just one crew, so here's my actual concern: ME2 Colette puzzles me a bit, but not as much as the other thematic models of her crew. I've been reading quite a lot about her performing best with a small set of elite heavy hitters, like the Duet, Big H Langston and the Mechanical Rider. What about the other models from her crew box? Back in the days I never managed to use Performers with any kind of noticeable success apart from derirnger shots. Mannequins took on the shapes of mere anchors for Illusionist, at least in my mind.

So, what are Mannequins and especially Performers useful for? Any kind of advise or maybe even some sort of tactica article would be greatly appreciated.

[Dracomax]

I'm going to assume you downloaded the V2 arsenal cards.

 

Mannequins are not free any more. You want at least one, but if you bring the Mech rider, He can make them.

 

Performers are actually fairly decent this time around, and with mannequins or Colette will put tons of scheme markers down.

Mannequins act as scheme markers for abilities and actions which reference scheme markers. Most showgirls have access to at least one of these. In addition, They have this:

(1) Magician's Assistant: Until the end of the Turn, friendly models within 2 which place a Scheme Marker with an Interact Action may place the Scheme Marker within 6" and LoS of themselves (rather than base contact)

 

Which is huge for putting out scheme markers. They are also fairly hard to kill for their cost.

 

Performers Really do most of the same things as last edition, only better, more consistantly, and with style. They still seduce, paralyze, and poison, Only they do it with an attacking stat of 6, and Decent damage. They mostly act as control/debuff models, except where they interact with Colette's abilities.

[Gorbad]

I'd dispute you needing at least one Mannequin. I never bring any, at 4 SS for a insignificant peon I find I got better stuff to spend my soulstones on. They are useful, bit to me they are not that useful that I'll give up other models for them.

Its a utility model that's really there to make other models in your crew slightly better.

As for the Performers, now those I really like. They got a good, if short ranged, lure ability, but with really good triggers. They are Manipulative so have a little bit of passive defence. But most importantly they have two very useful scheme marker abilities. They can discard scheme markers at range and they got Don't Mind Me so they can interact while engages.

In fact, Performers can be useful in a wide range of crews, both arcaniats and others depending on the scheme pool.

[Dracomax]

As for the Performers, now those I really like. They got a good, if short ranged, lure ability, but with really good triggers. They are Manipulative so have a little bit of passive defence. But most importantly they have two very useful scheme marker abilities. They can discard scheme markers at range and they got Don't Mind Me so they can interact while engages.

How? I see nothing on the performer itself that lets her discard markers at range.

[Malal]

How? I see nothing on the performer itself that lets her discard markers at range.

 

1) Seduction (Ca 5t / TN: 12t / Rg: 8): Target a Scheme Marker. All enemy

models within p3 of the target must pass a TN 13 Wp duel or gain the following

Condition for the rest of the Turn: "Seduced: This model suffers -- to Df and Wp

duels." Discard the target Marker.

[Dracomax]

You know, Somehow, It hadn't occurred to me it wasn't target friendly scheme marker? I honestly thought they were good before, but that makes them even better.

[Gorbad]

It doesn't always come up, in fact I've only done it once or twice, but having the ability is pretty good. It can be crucial in the right game.

[Maogrim]

Thanks for all the kind replies so far, but I'm honestly worried that all those scheme marker tricks won't really get me far. I understand that Colette, Performers and Mannequins will be a great team when it comes to literally flooding the board with markers, as 'Rehearsed' will allow me to place markers without using AP and 'Magician's Assistant' lets me place them in greater distance. But is that really going to help me winning, if my opponent puts up a fairly strong and aggressive crew that simply kills my girls in two turns and focusses on strategy and schemes once the opposition (or distraction) is gone?
Fun fact: A friend of mine plays Nicodem and did excactly that. He killed my lured Showgirls with Punk Zombies, created Rogue Necromancies from their corpses who took on the Duett and, later on, referred to Colette as a negative playing experience because he found it relatively hard to catch her. He won that game with me scoring about 2 points, while he got 8.

[Dracomax]

Thanks for all the kind replies so far, but I'm honestly worried that all those scheme marker tricks won't really get me far. I understand that Colette, Performers and Mannequins will be a great team when it comes to literally flooding the board with markers, as 'Rehearsed' will allow me to place markers without using AP and 'Magician's Assistant' lets me place them in greater distance. But is that really going to help me winning, if my opponent puts up a fairly strong and aggressive crew that simply kills my girls in two turns and focusses on strategy and schemes once the opposition (or distraction) is gone?

Fun fact: A friend of mine plays Nicodem and did excactly that. He killed my lured Showgirls with Punk Zombies, created Rogue Necromancies from their corpses who took on the Duett and, later on, referred to Colette as a negative playing experience because he found it relatively hard to catch her. He won that game with me scoring about 2 points, while he got 8.

A lot of it has to do with crew composition. I certainly wouldn't bring a crew entirely of Mannequins and showgirls, but a couple would be good, especially if you have schemes that require scheme markers. It should be relatively easy to get Line in the Sand, for instance.

 

Bringing models that give buffs to Wp, or to enemy Ca(Sue might be worth looking at) could help with the luring issues, too.

 

I'd suggest not going Duet until one of the Coryphee is in danger, and maybe not then. It certainly isn't the auto-combine it used to be.

[Gorbad]

I'd say that if you get killed in two turns something have gone very, very badly wrong. The only time I've had that happen was in a beta game where something was clearly not right. The showgirls don't automatically hit as hard as some other crews, bit they are not pushovers either.

But one of the nice things about Colette this edition is that she is not restricted to showgirls, she works well with almost anything. My basic crew looks something like this.

Colette

Cassandra

Angelica

Performer

December Acolyte

Howard Langston

I often take a second Performer, but have used anything from Rail Workers and Molemen to the Captain and Friekorps Specialists and Librarians with that.

[Sholto]

I like to keep a Performer within 2" of Colette. While the Manipulative 13 is a decent defence, risking giving Colette reactivate is a much better one, especially if you have a hitter in the crew that Colette can Prompt to smack the enemy around when she reactivates - "If I kill the Performer Hank will hit me three more times. I will not kill the Performer..."

 

Bear in mind that you should always consider killing the Performer yourself late-game for just this reason.

 

Having her around gives Cassandra access to Siren Call and Seduction (the former is great when you can SS in a Crow for the paralyse trigger and the latter helps with hoovering up enemy Scheme Markers if that is a thing you want to do).

 

The Mannequin has two very useful abilities. One is Mechanical Adorations that should mean you never need to spend AP on walking, which means it can stab people with Pins and give them Slow. The other is Magician's Assistant. Until you have tried it it is easy to underestimate how useful this is - you can place Scheme Markers without having to spend AP to walk all the way over there, thus saving AP (and efficient AP use is the name of the game). It also lets you put Scheme Markers next to enemy models, which usually non-Performers cannot do. With Colette letting her models interact for a (0) it becomes very hard for the opposing crew to stop you putting Scheme Markers pretty much wherever you like.

 

I would never hire more than 1, and sometimes hire 0, but the Mech Rider gives me the option to summon them in from Turn 2 onwards.

[Gorbad]

I don't know, I find keeping them within 2" of Colette too limiting. Colette for me is usually in the back of the crew, I want the Performers out there and doing stuff for me. If they die, they die. At 5 points I'm not really fussed as long as they accomplished something. If they give reactivate to someone even better.

Cassandra to me is more of an artillery platform. Between nimble and her push trigger she can be in cover, deliver a focused Breath Fire out to a good range and get back into cover if need be.

[Jordon]

Cassandra is a fantastic model. She generally preforms well in any situation I have presented her with. She has to be one of the most flexible henchmen in the game allowing her to "borrow" powers from other models and being both resilient and mobile. She can harass models and zip away to safety, and I usually send her out to accomplish the more difficult schemes. 

 

Performers are in a similar boat. They provide a lot for their points and even when they die they are still giving a benefit to my crew. I try taking two in my lists, but they don't necessarily "have" to be taken. Colette is a master who plays nice with a whole variety of models, so you can play around and find out what feels best for your play style. 

[Maogrim]

Well, I'm certainly the kind of person that likes to make things more complicated than they really should be (and cry about it later on ). I'd like to stay in theme as much as possible, which is why I'd shy away from things like December-y stuff or the whole range of Arcanist beasts. I did get the female Gunsmith, and I'm also contemplating on the Mechanical Rider and Oxfordian Mages, once the latter have actual models to represent them (Here's keeping fingers crossed for a female Mage). I guess Miss Step could be a thing too, but I live in Germany and I don't think I'll be able to get my hands on her without spending lots of €.

I'd like to thank all of you, by the way, for providing me with useful ideas as well as motivation, both of which are needed and appreciated.

[Sholto]

It just doesn't feel like I'm playing Showgirls if I don't bring Cassandra, as she is so superbly annoying. I usually use her for Minion hunting, because she is very good at taking on several by herself, especially back-field Minion hunting. She likes nothing more than a gun-line to shut down, or a few flanking models to hold up, with Doves in range to fly over and buff her Ca and/or Dg and Colette within 10" to Prompt her. The great thing is that with her specific upgrade I am hoping the opposing crew tries to hit her since she gets to drop Scheme Markers for free (great Seduction targets), and Southern Hospitality usually keeps her safe.

[Aramoro]

You know, Somehow, It hadn't occurred to me it wasn't target friendly scheme marker? I honestly thought they were good before, but that makes them even better.

 

That's the ability that really makes them for me. They can be prompted to discard Scheme markers which is really powerful in the right situations. I've never had great mileage out of the pulse effect but the discarding markers I use all the time. 

 

Killing your own performers for reactivate is something to keep in the bag I think. It's mostly not going to be useful but you should just be aware it's something you can do if push comes to shove. 

[Mister Shine]

I always, and I mean ALWAYS, bring a Boris the Dancing Circus Bear. It is often me bringing Myranda, who transforms into a SRM, then gets dropped on an opponent. It is so wonderful, I will do it every game.

 

Unless I drop Cojo instead. Myranda is a real pal to the Showgirls.