Von Schill tactica - is there one?

[graeme27uk]

Anyone know if there is a Von Schill tactica anywhere?

 

My mate has him and looking for hints and tips for him to use. He is new to Malifaux and the whole system.

[The Zinc Lich]

I'm actually working on one right now, but I don't really feel right putting it up without a few more games under my belt. I've only played six or seven games with him, and there are some non-standard builds I'm currently checking out to see how valuable they are (namely crews focused on abusing Paid in Blood, instead of his normal, supportive playstyle).

 

The quick answer is that Von Schill is a problem solver. There is no situation in the entire game that proper application of Von Schill can't solve. His stats are above average across the board, he can charge into and out of combat ignoring terrain, and he ignores Armor and Hard to Wound. Of particular note is the fact that he has access to the most sources of healing in the game (The Shirt Comes Off, Emergency Syrette, The Freikorps Librarian, Malifaux Child, his Avatar manifest event...), as well as easy access to Hard to Kill through Survivalist. Not only that, but he gives Hard to Kill to everyone around him, allowing the rest of his crew to benefit from all the healing flying around, too.

 

That being said, Von Schill's biggest problem is that he can do everything well, but he can't do anything perfectly. He isn't going to outshoot Perdita, and he certainly isn't going to out melee Lady J. He can't support like Hoffman, summon like Ramos, or move like Lillith. The key to making him work is to identify what the opponent wants to do the least, and make them do that. Neverborn aren't going to like being shot at by Von Schill's huge hand cannon when there is no way to tie him down, and the Guild is going to be sad when their gunline is engaged with Df 7, WP 7, Armor 1, Hard to kill Freikorpsmen.

 

Speaking of which, Von Schill's Freikorps mirror his jack-of-all-trades nature. They are universally well rounded; decently tough, decently fast, decently killy. If you are looking for a true specialist, you will want to hire out-of-theme models like Taylor for melee or Hans for shooting.

[Simbrian]

One of his most useful features (in my opinion) is the Can Opener trigger on his knife. If you have the cards to do it, hit an enemy master with that. -1 Df for the rest of the game will have a profound effect on your opponent. I don't have the card on hand at the moment but I believe that it can stack as well.

 

Also The Shirt Comes Off can be devastating against low Wp crews near the end of a turn when most of your opponent's cards are gone.

[Drool_bucket]

Cracked most certainly stacks (it has a numeric value in the name) and when I tell people what VS does I start with "he's extremely well-rounded," then mention the toughness in both armor and healing but the largest "offensive" threat I mention is his ability to hand out the cracked condition.

 

It's so nice to get a high Df model down to where your minions are hitting with ease.

[Falconrider]

A non-standard build that works very well is Rusty with From the Aether combined with Engage at Will.  Let's you summon Abominations 1 per turn with Rusty's 2 x different 0 actions.  If you hire 2 x Aboms you can essentially summon the Desolation Engine turn 2.