A pool of Arcanists.

[Citywidecrayon]

Hi guys.

 

Recently I got back into playing M2E but have stumbled across a bit of a problem. I've always been fairly eclectic in my approach to collecting which means I always end up with way more to paint than I ever get round to painting and therefore I lose interest in the hobby.

 

To try and avoid this problem (because I really do enjoy malifaux) I was hoping people would be able to pitch in with ideas for a rough 100 SS pool of models from the Arcanists which give me multiple options from a gaming stand point but also helps in keeping the model pool to a smaller total so I don't feel like I still have a mountain of painting to do as I go along.

 

In terms of masters I was thinking of Marcus and Rasputina but I'm happy to listen to any suggestions people might have for me.

 

Thanks :-)

[Iron Nerd]

I don't have anything to add to this, being very new to Malifaux, but this would be incredibly helpful to me as well.  I am told that the game shines at 50ss, but so far I've only played crew boxes and would love to have some insight on where to go from there.

[mythicFOX]

Pool exercises are a great way to focus your hobby and collecting mind onto the task at hand. 

 

You've picked two Arcanist masters I'm relatively unfamiliar with so I'll let experts in those fields chip in.  If anyone is interested I'd be happy to write a mean Ramos/Kaeris (or even Mei Feng) pool.  

[Uktena]

The game was balanced at 50SS. Smaller games exacerbate a master's good and bad matchups, which is why henchmen are recommended for smaller games and required for the smallest games. The best advice to me has been unless you have a strong aversion to a particular style of play, such as melee or summoning, just pick whoever looks most appealing visually.

That said, Blessed of December, Hoarcat Pride, and Sabertooth Cerberus work amazingly well with both Marcus and Raspy, with the STC being my favorite by far.

[Citywidecrayon]

@ Mythic Fox

 

I'm in possession of both Ramos and Mei Feng so I'd be more than happy to hear what you have in mind for those masters. It may well be the case that I move on to them once I finish this current batch of Arcanists.

 

I can't wait for the Kaeris plastic set to come out, if she's anything like the artwork she'll look incredible.

[Sybarite]

Besides the crew boxed sets i would get Blessed, hoarcats, december acolyte, molemen, snowstorm and an extra beast or two

[rover1013]

MythicFox probably has the right idea (at least that I can think of) for a consolidated pool across masters. Ramos, Kaeris & Mei Feng all have great synergy with a lot of the other's "theme" models.

 

Out of the box sets, the spiders tend to be mostly best w/ Ramos but Mei Feng makes good use of them (but generally has better options with metal gamin and rail workers). Rail Workers themselves are just great models that work decently with all 3 masters. Howard and Joss work great in all those crews (and more). Gunsmiths can take obvious advantage of the burning theme in Kaeris & the sub-theme w/ Mei Feng.

 

Union Miners are fairly good schemers that work well with Kaeris and Mei Feng. Mobile Toolkit could find a place in any of the crews if they're construct heavy (which all of them can easily be). Metal Gamin and the Rail Golem work well (though especially in Mei Feng and Kaeris respectively). Mech Rider is a great model in general. Soulstone Miner is also execellent in all of those crews.  Coryphee can get an honorable mention as well.

 

I haven't run the numbers but that's probably getting very close to 100 stones with a decent amount of versatility

 

Just spitballing really.  With Raspi you're going to primarily be looking to run only Frozen Heart and while some of her models are nice in other crews and the occasional non-Frozen Heart model is *so* good that it works w/ Raspi as well, it's not quite as versatile in the mix.  Marcus can be *sort of* the same way with his cross faction beast support and the like, though I admittedly have the least experience with Marcus (and Ironsides) out of all Arcanist Masters.

[valhallan42nd]

Marcus is problematic because he has such a large pool of models to choose from. One thing I would pick up as a Marcus player is a set of Canine Remains. They're resser, but they're beasts, and have a trigger on them that can turn any model (friend or foe) into a beast for the rest of the game (Rabies). So you can have Marcus induced reactivating Rail Golem, Howard Langston, or Ice Golem, which is always fun. You can also use them to do the same to your enemies, and  Canine Remains lower defense of models they're engaged with.

Something to think about.

[decker_cky]

Yeah...in a way, you can easily justify a 100ss pool for Marcus alone when playing 50ss games. 

 

On the other side of that coin, I think you could make for a hugely flexible 100ss pool using Ramos and Mei. Ramos of course needs extra spiders on top of the pool.

 

Rasputina falls closer to to Marcus on that scale and even has some decent overlap. 

[nogoatsnoglory]

I've got the Ramos M2E box set, an old brass arachnid, an extra box of spiders.

 

Planning on using the M2E BA as a proxy for a Large Arachnid.  

 

Where should I expand from here?  I think my next master for Arch's would be Kaeris, but no idea when she is coming out.

 

From what's been said Mei would probably been my next purchase, but would a Rail Golem or Metal Gamins play well with Ramos? 

[Citywidecrayon]

I can see what you mean about Marcus justifying a pool that large by himself. I found it to be the same sort of issue with Nicodem. While it means both masters are wonderfully versatile it does mean that the models needed to capitalise on this versaitility leads to a quite sizeable collection.

 

Having just crunched some numbers in terms of models I already own I'm currently looking at nearly 80ss already.

 

2 December Acolytes - 14ss

3 Ice Gamin - 12ss

Ice Golem - 10ss

Blessed of December - 9ss

Sabertooth Cerberus - 9ss

Razorspine - 7ss

Myranda - 7ss

Cojo - 8ss

 

I'm thinking a pair of Molemen would perhaps be a good idea but to me it lacks a reliable beatstick such as Joss, Howard or The Mech Rider/Rail Golem. But then again they don't feel like they'd belong in this pool of models. (Although Joss is just so nice to have as a bodyguard.)

 

I'm also not sold on Cojo, in the handful of games I've had with Marcus Cojo has been very underwhelming in comparison to the rest of the set. So there's potentially 8ss which could be better allocated elsewhere.

 

 

I plan after having got Marcus and Rapsy out of the way to start working on a Ramos and Mei pool so thanks to the folks who've made suggestions for those two masters as well.

 

Tis all very much appreciate :-)

[Uktena]

I can see what you mean about Marcus justifying a pool that large by himself. I found it to be the same sort of issue with Nicodem. While it means both masters are wonderfully versatile it does mean that the models needed to capitalise on this versaitility leads to a quite sizeable collection.

 

Having just crunched some numbers in terms of models I already own I'm currently looking at nearly 80ss already.

 

2 December Acolytes - 14ss

3 Ice Gamin - 12ss

Ice Golem - 10ss

Blessed of December - 9ss

Sabertooth Cerberus - 9ss

Razorspine - 7ss

Myranda - 7ss

Cojo - 8ss

 

I'm thinking a pair of Molemen would perhaps be a good idea but to me it lacks a reliable beatstick such as Joss, Howard or The Mech Rider/Rail Golem. But then again they don't feel like they'd belong in this pool of models. (Although Joss is just so nice to have as a bodyguard.)

 

I'm also not sold on Cojo, in the handful of games I've had with Marcus Cojo has been very underwhelming in comparison to the rest of the set. So there's potentially 8ss which could be better allocated elsewhere.

 

 

I plan after having got Marcus and Rapsy out of the way to start working on a Ramos and Mei pool so thanks to the folks who've made suggestions for those two masters as well.

 

Tis all very much appreciate :-)

 

Don't forget totems, and also - you're gonna have 3 Acolytes because that's how you get them these days.

[mythicFOX]

Following discussion above I'd go the following way for Ramos and Mei. I'm assuming you have to include every model you want to use in the pool here, so you can't summon it if it's not on the list. 

 

The below is probably what I'd take. I'd feel weak in Reckoning and Stake a Claim without Myranda but can't fit her and her summoning options into the list as is. You could actually swap the Emberling for Malifaux Child and that would be enough to make this a vialbe list to play Kaeris from as well.

 

Combat (30)

Joss (10)

Kang (9)

Freikorps Trapper (6)

Rail Worker (5)

 

Objectives (28)

Cassandra (8)

Soulstone Miner (6)

Large Arachnid (6)

Performer (5)

Emberling (3)

 

Utility (18)

Johan (6)

Arcane Effigy (4)

Metal Gamin (4)

Electric Creation (4)

 

Summoning (24)

Steam Arachnid (4)

Steam Arachnid (4)

Steam Arachnid (4)

Steam Arachnid (4)

Steam Arachnid (4)

Steam Arachnid (4)

[Citywidecrayon]

I'll definitely keep the above pool in mind for when I inevitably move on to Mei and Ramos, though from what I can see there's enough their to suggest Kaeris could easily benefit from a not to similar pool of models.

I'm interested in the inclusion of some of the showgirls in the above list. Haven't had any experience with them in the current addition. I'm guessing they're in their to fulfil a role similar to that of the belle's for Ressurectionists?

 

Also a little surprised by the freikorps trapper in there. I guessed Kang and Joss would make an appearance. As Rover said earlier, Joss seems to me to make a good fit in most crews.

 

 

@ Uktena - You're quite right I completely forgot about totems. The reason for having only two acolytes is down to the fact that I can't see me running 3 at any one time.

 

 

 

In terms of ideas for a joint Marcus and Raspy pool one idea I find myself tempted with is to remove the Ice Golem in favour of perhaps a second Cerberus. While the Golem is much more durable and has the added synergistic bonuses, I think that a Cerberus alongside a Blessed of December gives me enough in the combat department while also giving the crew a significant boost in over all speed.

 

Thoughts?

[AnythingBut]

In terms of ideas for a joint Marcus and Raspy pool one idea I find myself tempted with is to remove the Ice Golem in favour of perhaps a second Cerberus. While the Golem is much more durable and has the added synergistic bonuses, I think that a Cerberus alongside a Blessed of December gives me enough in the combat department while also giving the crew a significant boost in over all speed.

Thoughts?

I'm still a learning player too and 100% of my games this far are with Raspy (although I also own Marcus and Ramos).

Shared pool that play well in both crews have all pretty much been mentioned

-Blessed of December

-December acolytes (not beasts for Marcus but adding some ranged attacks to his crew who also hand out slow like it's going out of fashion is great)

-Molemen (durable, cheap objective runners)

-Hoarcat prides work well against shooty crews with their manipulative and also against gremlins or other height 1 models.

- Cerberus (although I go with the BoD with raspy for the obvious synergy)

To add my opinion about the ice golem. I LOVE it, never played a game without it. It's also never died (although imbued protection is a gimme making him a hefty 12ss to hire).He has also got at least one 3AP smash attack off for weak damage 9 off every game as he usually survives the first round of combat (using his armour and discarding his upgrade for he damage prevention if necessary). Which if you play rezzers a lot like me, will kill most things while not giving a damn about hard to wound.

And if it's speed your after (which the raspy crew admittedly lacks) he can also throw your gamin or wendigo 10" before they activate letting them run off Into the corners to drop markers or claim objectives/table quarters.

If the Killy schemes and strats are up I take the golem and BoD and not the BoD and Cerberus but I'm sure it can work effectively if not in the same way.

[mythicFOX]

I'm interested in the inclusion of some of the showgirls in the above list. Haven't had any experience with them in the current addition. I'm guessing they're in their to fulfil a role similar to that of the belle's for Ressurectionists?

 

Also a little surprised by the freikorps trapper in there. I guessed Kang and Joss would make an appearance. As Rover said earlier, Joss seems to me to make a good fit in most crews.

 

Yes and no.  The Performer's Siren Call can work like a lure, and gives you access to paralyse. Mainly though she's there to interact in melee and blow up enemy scheme markers, this gives her some great utility for scoring and preventing your opponent scoring.  Cassandra is one of the most mobile models in the game, so she's great for objective running. Plus the Practised Production upgrade gives you amazing scheme marker manipulation with her, that thing is amazing.

 

The Trapper is great for controlling space, picking off pesky minions, and softening up enforcers. There are games where it's a disadvantage for either player to be the attacker, Reconnoitre and Reckoning are prone to this. In these games the player with the longer threat range has the advantage. The Trapper gives you the most threat range for a good cost in what would otherwise be short ranged crews.

[Ishikar]

I've played a lot with Rasputina and I'd have to say as far as "theme" crews go for Arcanists she has the smallest pool (Arcanists themselves are a little odd in how isolated their crews are, this improved from 1.5 to 2E though).  I don't have SS values in front of me but there are a few models which really stand out to me for each master:

 

Rasputina:

Ice Gamin

Ice Golem

Mech Rider (summons gamin and Raspy helps her survive early turns until her Df trigger ramps up)

December's Acolyte

Wendigo (much better totem in 2e than 1.5, also raspy isn't stuck on the Essence like she was before)

Silent One (non ranged attack and a heal spell?  Statue Trigger to avoid locking out ice mirror when she's attacked? Awesome)

Blessed of December (more a scheme/scenario piece but still decent in a fight)

 

Marcus:

Waldgeists

Silurids

Canine Remains

Dawn Serpent (iffy on this one, I like the conditions it brings and it's 0 + hard to wound and marcus' Alpha make it hard to kill)

Molemen

Sabertooth Cerberus

 

I'd also recommend Cassandra since she is AMAZING and can basically escape any enemy model with a built in move after attacking trigger.  I personally find that while Snowstorm can really speed up a rasputina crew I really have a hard time seriously considering him for his points cost.  The movement is hampered by cover/area terrain and is card intensive because you can't "choose" to fail without a :-fate flip on damage which prevents cheating for the blast to move multiple models otherwise you're better off with Cassandra or a more mobile individual model and his melee is fair but he lacks something in the survivability department for me and doesn't fit into my playstyle well.

 

Thankfully Arcanists aren't as closed off as they were before (barring mei feng/ramos/kaeris there was pretty much no overlap) but you picked a kind of awkward pairing for synergy on masters.  I have a pool of models that runs across 3 (soon to be 4) factions where a lot of them are usable only by Marcus (really wish the new gators were beasts too but it saves me money this way) and a fairly core rasputina list which I'll play with from time to time  For example I ran a list like the following for a 35 point game recently that worked fairly well:

 

Strategy: Turf War

Schemes: Entourage*, Breakthrough*, ALitS, Distract, and one I forget

Rasputina

2 Ice Gamin

Rail Golem

Cassandra

 

Gamin were mirrors and the rail golem isn't as hampered by Raspy's blessing as he was before.  Cassandra got me 6 VP on schemes and I scored turf war once, opponent declared oucast and ran vics with Taelor and a oiran, Taelor ensured no minon/enforcer survivors but raspy managed to blase a sizeable chunk of the forces and Vic of Blood (the henchman one, i think that's right) ran out of cover after Cassandra and ate a RJ raspy shot to bite it.  Game was a 7-7 draw after I helped the other player by pointing out a way to pull 3 for entourage instead of another 1 for Turf war (it was a beginner tourney, the tie actually bumped him to 3rd over me due to tiebreakers though ><).

 

Basic point there is what's in your toolbox isn't as limited to masters as you'd think, some tools work better with certain masters but they can all fit.  I hadn't even considered Cassandra or the Malifaux Child for list building until I watched Mythic's 15-minute Malifaux videos.  I had the Collette metals for completion sake but hadn't opened/assembled them until after those videos and now I've got a good scheme piece for any of my crews and a way to make grab and drop or card draw for Kaeris that much less of an activation burden.

[paradoxstorm]

I should not have read this thread!  

 

I am doing well at building my Raspy/Marcus model collection, but it looks like I missed a few.  <sigh>

 

Once my latest order of models arrives I'll put together ANOTHER shopping list and get busy.  

[Citywidecrayon]

Looks like I may well be ordering me a Cassandra then. 

 

In some respects the reason I picked this pairing however @@odd they might be is because I'd seen several variations of the Ramos and Mei/Kaeris pools and thought it'd be interesting to see what ideas people had and how difficult/easy it might be to work with Marcus and Raspy.

It is true there's far more overlap between the other three most commonly seen masters in the faction and part of me likes the idea of trying to build a pool of models which could be used in any potential Arcanist crew but I feel that in order to do that properly as such you'd need approaching 200ss worth of models.

 

 

 

@Paradox - I know exactly what you mean. In some respects its a small blessing that elemant games don't have access to certain things, although I am disappointed that they don't have a snowstorm.

[Ishikar]

I'm a bit of a completionist when it comes to model lines like these (I'm missing maybe 5-6 models from having an entire collection of arcanists) but if I was going to recommend a good batch of things to buy for a "starter" collection for Marcus/Rasputina it'd probably be as follows now that I've had a bit more time to think about it:

 

Crew Boxes

Cassandra

December Acolyte

Silurids

Molemen

Blessed of December

Silent one

 

That gives you a way to cover down on crew slots and gives lists like the following:

 

Rasputina

- Shattered Heart

- Cold Nights (or child of december)

- Arcane Resevoir

Ice Golem

- Imbued Energies

Cassandra

2x Ice Gamin

December's Acolyte

Silent One

 

Or

 

Rasputina

- Shattered Heart

- Cold Nights (or child of december)

- Arcane Resevoir

Ice Golem

- Imbued Energies

December Acolyte

Blessed of December

Sabertooth Cerberus

Ice Gamin

 

The former is better for things like reconnoiter, turf war and such and the latter is better for Reckoning.  Each of the models in the list are pretty much interchangeable between crews (silurids are Marcus only but MAN their leap having the built in is VERY handy for objective running) and give good bang for their buck.  I'm actually really happy with what the Acolyte brings to the table with his aura he can turn on to ignore armor/hard to wound which makes killing some things (peacekeeper) or factions (Rezzers) much easier to clear away if you need to.