Sonnia Crew Expansion

[asrian]

I have a friend starting Sonnia (just bought starter box) and he was curious what else to get or start looking at for future expansions/options for the crew. I don't play Guild and have no idea what works/doesn't work really so wanted to ask what a solid investment would be. Main players around here are Neverborn, Outcast (Viks), Rasputina (3 people play her), and Ressers (Seamus and McMourning). 

[Shephammer]

I'm eager to hear what some of the more experienced players will chime in with.  But I can get you started.

 

A witchling handler speeds up the stalkers, which is something that I find that they need.

 

If you take the summoning upgrade and a witchling handler, you might want another box of stalkers as well.

[Sevorin]

 Francisco, Austringers.

[NoHero]

The Latigo Posse (Francisco, Santiago, Nino, and Papa Loco are fantastic!), The Guild's Judgement (The Judge and Death Marshalls), Guild Pathfinders, Guild Austringers, Hunters, and Freikorps Specialist.

[Thaarup]

Honestly, almost any model works with Sonnia. In my opinion she is one of, if not THE most versatile Master in the game. Some models will add to one of her strengths so it all depends on what kind of game you are going for. 

 

Always good model choices are models that add mobility choices like Guild Austringer, Judge or an Ortega model with the Hermanos De Armas.

 

Witchhunter models adds boosted utility in form of the Disrupt Magic upgrade.

 

Models with burning helps in both damage boost for Samael Hopkin, LoS trouble for Sonnia and Hopkins and maybe the biggest thing...creating new Witchlings with the correct upgrade. Witchling Handler, Witchling Stalkers, Sue, Freikorps Specialist are some of those models. A special notice on the Witchling Handler; If you include one you have a lot more freedom of choice when it comes to crew creation. The adding of burning to friendly models suddenly makes a lot of other models a lot more effective with Sonnia. Ryle will suddenly have a lot of shooting potential with his Raking Fire trigger as will Riflemen, Pathfinders and so on. 

 

For strictly LoS help a Watcher could be a very good choice (and it is a good scheme runner as well).

 

Corpse/scrap removal could also be an issue and The Freikorps specialist is quite good in that departement too.

 

Condition removing should be taken care of by the Witchling Stalkers.

 

Wp 6 makes it a   for Sonnias Ca actions so if attacking your own models is not a problem, then the Pathfinders Trap will work wonders in a Sonnia crew and even consider adding a Oiran for the boosted friendly Wp (making Witchling Stalkers Wp 6).

 

Totem wise Sonnia have a good primary choice in the Purifying Flame but also a very tempting secondary choice in the Malifaux Child, which allows for a second Firewall per turn, as well as a little healing.

For a Master boost consider the Brutal Effigy for a lot of extra healing, and extra cards as it (0) Action works really well with Sonnia. 

 

Just a few things to consider when considering Sonnia...

 

Well I better finish my rambling now

[asrian]

Thanks to everyone who posted. I'll link this topic to him, and if I can get him off his butt to make an account maybe he can ask more specific questions then I can about Guild models.

[Sklertic]

Been playing Sonnia for a couple of years now, and I recommend getting the Latigo posse box and some cheap minions on the side. Or just buy whatever you think looks cool, as synergy isn't really needed in her crew. At all.

[The Godlyness]

Brutal effigy. Does wonders for her.

[underdog6750]

The handler will make any models you get synergise with her being able to give friendly models +1 burning to there attacks

[Wence]

As many have mentioned, Sonnia does just fine with most of the models available to her.  She definitely synergizes very well with her themed crew though, and having Witchling Handlers in wave 2 makes such crews much quicker and more dangerous.  Using a pair of them (while enforcers, they are not rare x) can give Witchling Stalkers within 4" of both a 10" charge (there is no stipulation these models can only benefit from 1 Goad Witchling aura at the moment), for an 11" threat range, or a 6" walk (12" double walk).  This can be extended to 15" on the charge threat range or 16" on a walk if you have a friendly model in a forward position they can push the Witchling Stalker toward with Follow the Flock.  The Purifying Flame is a great model to get ahead of them to set things up as well with its high Wk stat and incorporeal, but just remember to keep LoS and not push the Stalker out of the 4" bubble they need to be in at the start of their activation for the Wk/Cg boosts.

 

The other big benefit of the Handlers, especially in a pair, is they can give friendly models within a 4" aura Burning +1 to models' attacks against models within 10" and LoS of the attacking model with Burn Them, Burn Them All!, meaning Sonnia can potentially add Burning +3 if she benefits from 2 Handler buffs and a tome in her duel total.  That's at least 5 damage to everything one of her blast templates touches by turn's end (barring condition removal antics that aren't widespread)... even Kaeris would be jealous.

 

Witchling Stalkers are great Guild models, especially for Sonnia.  Their Explosive Demise handing out a damage and Burning +1 when they die to most models is a nifty one finger salute to whatever put them down, and makes that model extremely vulnerable to Sonnia and Sam's ability to ignore LoS and Cover to models afflicted by Burning.  Moreover, they add Burning +1 anytime they deal damage, and while their ranged attack's base 4 isn't anything to write home about (at least they have one... and it does have a good range), the base 6 stat of their melee attack is very respectable.  Even better, Sonnia can summon more Stalkers if a model dies to burning within 10" for a small hit to your available resources.

 

The Purifying Flame is a great totem and does a specific job very well, which was especially true before the advent of the Handler in Wave 2.  It is much faster than most of Sonnia's themed gang, and it can put out the burning condition.  Its Explosive Demise upon death can get that early burning on models that Sonnia and Sam can often take good advantage of.

 

Sam is an interesting model with very good damage potential, but very poor defense.  His unique upgrade can be interesting with Everburning, but one trick I like is to use Vengeance Bullet if Assassinate or Murder Protege comes up (or if you want to be able to absolutely destroy an important enemy model), because if the target is burning, he's ignoring cover and LoS with a truly frightening damage profile (if it's the latter, make sure he doesn't become an easy target himself).

 

Terrain is often a very important consideration for a Sonnia crew.  If you think you might need to rely on something other than the Purifying Flame to hit the enemy early because of board setup, consider a Watcher that can allow you to ignore LoS for a mere 4 points.  

 

The Friekorps Specialist is another model I've seen people use.  My opinion is he's too expensive as a mercenary hire, and suffers from being very slow despite the potential synergy and power of the model.

 

Sonnia herself has a lot of neat tricks that allow her benefits against Wp 6+ models, increase some of her stats, threaten anything that wants to get close to her, and even a heal trigger in melee (even if it sounds cool, you should really be avoiding letting anything get near her if possible).  As for upgrades, the Flame Pillars can be a great tactical too to help protect her and control the opposing crew's positioning, and she's the only Guild master that can do anything resembling summoning too.  Finally the blast templates put her in an exclusive category as a master with Rasputina and Wong, and allow her to get around a lot of stuff with indirect targeting.  

[NoHero]

While the Freikorp Specialist is expensive I would state he is definitely a good consideration considering he ignores terrain. He can put burning on a model and then Sonnia can ignore the terrain when drawing LOS and they get no cover bonus. He also helps her a lot in getting reincarnation. I would say it depends on the point level, at 50 pts I would definitely say he is a viable option.

[Dead Dingo]

My shopping list... not in any order.

 

Francisco Ortega, Guild Austringers, Death Marshals, Freikorps Specialist, Executioner, The Judge, Witchling Handlers, Guardian, Sidir Alchibal, Peacekeeper.

 

Now I'm poor but happy. 

 

D.D.