M2e Kaeris

[incompotent]

I recently picked up the Kaeris box and I am currently tyring to think up  fun crew lists for different things. I was wondering if anyone has tried running her with the emberling?  Just from a theory stand point it seems pretty solid. I don't know if it is better than the SoC but it definatly feels more thematic.

[Bengt]

Emberling is Totem (Mei Feng), so not an option for Kaeris.

[EntrepeNinja]

You're thinking eternal flame, and I think Fox likes running the Malifaux Child, no the SoC.

 

ENinja

[Scorpion0x17]

I recently picked up the Kaeris box and I am currently tyring to think up  fun crew lists for different things. I was wondering if anyone has tried running her with the emberling?  Just from a theory stand point it seems pretty solid. I don't know if it is better than the SoC but it definatly feels more thematic.

I tried it once (assuming you are talking about Eternal Flame, not Emberling).

 

Seemed better on paper than in practice.

 

But I'm quite a noob, so could just have been me.

[incompotent]

I didn't mean Eternal flame I just am terrible at reading cards. As such I am wondering about the upgrade grab and drop and its interaction via wings of fire with the rail golem. When the rail golem activates it gains burning one what I am curious about is when grab and drop checks for burning? Does it check when the models acitvates or before? Can I layer when things happen since it is my activation and have priority? or does wings of flame require the model to already be on fire before it activates?

[Scorpion0x17]

Page 33 of the small rules manual:

Resolve "Activation" Effects

Some game effects state they resolve "at the start of the model's Activation". These effects take place now. A model's controller choose what order these effects resolve on the model if more than one occurs at the beginning of the model's Activation.

(Emphasis mine)

[brdparker]

Just had my first game with the fire angel, and thoroughly enjoyed it! I ran with:

 

Turf War

I took Breakthrough and LiS

 

Kaeris

Purifying Flame

Willie

x3 raptors

Myranda (old habits and all)

x3 fire gamin

 

Against Ophelia and co, a very scary first time play.

 

The idea was to grab LiS with the burning raptors and Grab and Drop, which they did splendidly (I had 3/4 markers end of first turn due to flank deployment. After that, the raptors annoyed the pigapult and Remi in that special way that they do. They distracted the crap out the gunline until Kaeris and Myrand-turned-Cojo came in and mucked everything up themselves.

 

All in all, I know some nasty tricks that Ophelia can pull now (4 weak on a ranged attack? How ridiculous) and I know some models I would have taken instead (The Captain for the extra speed, Bulletproof, and Burning stuff). Kaeris did set a few things on fire, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. Perhaps with future plays, I'll be able to use her to better ends.

 

As we had to pack up, we called it a tie at 6 (which was the points as they sat end of T3), but had it gone on longer... it still would have been a toss-up. It really was anyone's game, and that made it all the more interesting (and harder to quit when time came!)

[prof_bycid]

@Brdparker, I must try this burning raptor plan you speak of. How did Willie work out? He is a very fun character, but everyone I play marks him as 'target #1.'

[brdparker]

@Brdparker, I must try this burning raptor plan you speak of. How did Willie work out? He is a very fun character, but everyone I play marks him as 'target #1.'

 

I highly recommend it. I think I even have the start of a system for when to use them:

 

For a non-Reckoning strat 1 Raptor, +1 if you want to run scheme markers (like LiS), +1 if the enemy declares Grems or Guild (or I know they're going to have a lot of guns) or if there are some pretty tight charge lanes in the board, -1 for Neverborn (as they don't tend to have guns). We'll see how the system works in practice, but I like the idea of it.

 

Willie died to a pigapult before the birds could get there, 6 points dispatched much quicker than anticipated (in dense terrain too!). OTOH, it encouraged me to change tactics and be more aggressive in my advance, which led to a stronger control of the game. I can see a place for the guy, but that definitely wasn't it. Had I taken the captain for a push earlier on, he might have worked a little better, but there was definitely that target that you were talking about.

[zFiend]

I am really waiting for the Kaeris box set. All I've read from here and the cards are just screaming for my money

[decker_cky]

I've gotten in a few games with her and I'm still getting used to her. Grab and drop is the best thing ever, but you have to really be careful with your movement. Same with purifying fire - you almost have to draw a strict line between turns when Kaeris supports, and turns when you use Kaeris aggressively. You have to be careful with your auras for sure. Accelerant in particular will hurt your own crew, even past the protection from fire her crew gets.

 

In many games, kaeris is amazing just for flying around supporting her crew with whichever limited upgrade you took. You toss out some decent burning or damage occasionally, but compared to other masters, she really doesn't feel like she's doing a ton. But her impact is immense, and with a well timed turn, you can put a hurt on a whole pile of models with flare and accelerant. Because of this, I'm thinking imbued energies is a must take on her, to get her in position and allow for repeated accelerants. Late in a turn when your opponents hand is low, it can be devastating. 

 

I haven't got fire gamin, so that's limited my crew and upgrade selection, which has generally focused on showgirls (cassandra and a performer most often) and large arachnids, with a little bit extra (firestarter, rail workers, joss, howard, willie, etc... - whatever my crew needs that game). 

 

Most of my games haven't focused too much on actual burning - wings of fire made my crew a scheme marker dumping factory, which makes cassandra, the performer, the large arachnids and willie particularly devastating. This is worth it even if you haven't taken scheme marker based schemes, and can hide what your real plan is. I think it's a big advantage being able to take a crew that doesn't depend on conditions as much with a condition based master. You also can switch the build up and make a crew that doesn't depend too much on scheme markers.

 

Overall, she's been incredibly fun, but she really changes the mindset of how you play.

 

One thing I'd like to try is a crew based on a bunch of beasts - hoarcats in particular. They have devour to threaten anything you can get paralyzed by accelerant, and even without that are just solid models. With Myranda nearby, you can give them all [+] to Df flips. With a raptor, you can pass that [+] to anything else (including Kaeris), then you can later fly the raptors around to drop scheme markers far out. 

[brdparker]

It's sad, but Accelerant is a once per turn ability . Otherwise, I agree with your plan, the fast to get another ignite attack or immolate.

[decker_cky]

Yeah....general plan is still there. You have ignite to toast whatever passes flare, then immolate. Glad I hadn't pulled that on anyone yet.  Actually, the main thing making me want fast was to move twice to get into position then to pull stuff off. As a support piece, I haven't found 6" enough to get her into the prime position to nuke a ton of models, so with fast she can cover the distance. 

 

One other thing I was thinking of was taking essence of power with 3 oxfordian mages, so make them into an awesome Ca7 gunline that spreads burn (and all the other awesome things they do).

[Sybarite]

I really haven't clicked with the mages when I've tried them. They just feel a bit clunky and static. Guess I don't like gunlines. I think gunsmiths and acolytes are more my thing. Although I can certainly see mages being effective with Kaeris.

[brdparker]

Same here, but I'll say that I've only used the guys once. I'm picturing using them with an aggressive melee Kaeris and Purifying Flame. If they hit her on randomization, she'd only take 1 damage due to armor and Burning +1 (which will heal her), and if they hit the opponents, burning everywhere, which is wonderful. Better yet, you accidentally hit Kaeris, and push her into whatever position you want.

[EntrepeNinja]

I ran a mage with Colette the other day- No EoP, but I should've. Here was the setup.

 

Mage moves into position turn one. 

Hired dove moves nearby

Summoned dove gets friendly too.

Turn Two

Dove sacs itself to give  ca

Other dove sacs itself for  Damage

 

Colette Prompts it into place, and fires off a shot. Then continues to do that.

Mage activates, ditched Imbued Energies, Casts four times. 

The opponent looked like he was gonna try and kill a performer near Colette, and I was crossing my fingers that he would- reactivate for three more prompts.... :3 Too good.

 

Hard to do with multiple mages...

[Sybarite]

Haha that's an angry mage!

[decker_cky]

With Colette, you can also position them to throw down a marker each turn on the (0) if they're unengaged, and use them for the various things showgirl crews use scheme markers for. With Colette and a mannequin, you can actually blanket a wide area pretty effectively. 

[LupusFerreus]

So how do people pick totems for Kaeris? I'd like to try eternal flame when it comes out but Malifaux Child is just so good (can't believe I'd ever say that from M1E) for handing out extra burning.

[mythicFOX]

Only just seen this.

 

I started out playing the Malifaux Child and have recently been trying the Eternal Flame a bit. 

 

The Child comes out ahead if you want to hand out Burning to your own toys, and it’s certainly the cheapest way to do this in your crew.  The Eternal Flame is a more efficient healer (if you’re your construct heavy) and slightly more resilient to opportunistic attacks in a cheaper package.

 

Think it comes down to the extent to which you want to set your own crew on fire, and if you’re prepared to use The Firestarter for this rather than the Student.

[Sybarite]

So I want to learn Kaeris and haee so far only played her once. I have most arcanist models and am currently working on a malifaux child, but I am curious about what you think are the must have models for her, if there are any. Just to get some discussion going.

[decker_cky]

-Fire Gaming: I don't use them a ton, but they're necessary on one of her upgrades, and they provide some cheap worthwhile shooting.

-Large Arachnids: Very potent when there's scrap or scheme markers to munch on, and Wings of Fire means there'll be lots floating around for them. They also hand out a bit of burning, and work with powered by flame.

-Performers:  Similar to large arachnids, they do lots of fun stuff with scheme markers. Not essential, but they're great at schemes and strats, and a well placed seduction can be devastating. 

-Firestarter: Burns your own stuff without hurting it. Useful for both limited upgrades.

-Malifaux child: See Firestarter.

-Rail Golem: Loves having extra burning. Can be made to have all the burning it will ever need on a locomotion, or you can pump up it's fire with Kaeris and the Firestarter to make it a bomb for vent boiler. 

-Gunsmiths: Good shooting and good fire synergy. Lots of things in the kaeris crew can cause resists on it to let it hit the fast trigger.

-Willie: Tons of scheme markers + exploding scheme markers can be fun.

-Malifaux raptor: 8" walk means it can drop scheme markers using wings of fire up the table turn 1 for only 3ss, and after that, they're a fairly annoying target to deal with. 

 

Beyond those, there's lots of others. I haven't used the captain, but he ticks all the boxes. Sue too. But overall...Kaeris just likes good models, regardless of specific fire synergies. Any construct is great if you have powered by flame for example, but solid models like Cassandra are great with Kaeris.

 

Depending on the models you take from the above list, there's other things that may make sense. For example, if you take Willie and plan to cover the table with explosive scheme markers, then steam arachnids may be worthwhile since they're relatively fast, and are immune to  . 

[mythicFOX]

So I want to learn Kaeris and haee so far only played her once. I have most arcanist models and am currently working on a malifaux child, but I am curious about what you think are the must have models for her, if there are any. Just to get some discussion going.

 

From my POV the must have is The Firestarter.  After that it's really open, but you do need a combat blockers to anchor your centre. A Large Arachnid & Rail Worker pair do well for me in this regard.

[Sybarite]

Ok cool thanks for the tips I've got all the models mentioned except for the Large Arachnid, which seems really good. Maybe I should give the Brass Arachnid I've got a circular saw and put it on a 50mm base. hmm...

Got a slightly converted Malifaux Child built now, and have counts as models for Firestarter and the Captain. So I guess Malifaux Child and Firestarter are the next ones to paint and then I'll start playing Kaeris

[Math Mathonwy]

Also note that once you start playing Kaeris, you can start pronouncing 'Arcanists' as 'Arsonists' which neatly sidesteps the issue of how it is supposed to be pronounced.