Brief overview of Nico vs lady J (50SS)

[Paddywhack]

Had my first game in a long time and it was a lot of fun. Made a few major mistakes and forgot a few rules that would have helped, but I don't think it would have mattered much for the outcome.
 
Standard Deployment
Strategy: Reconnoiter
Schemes: Breakthrough, Assassinate, Power Ritual and Plant Evidence
 
I chose Breakthrough and revealed Power Ritual. Opponent revealed Power Ritual and hid Assassinate.
 
Crew: 6 SS Pool
Nicodem - upgrade were the ones that gave him the extra buff area, and I can't remember the others. They didn’t' help much honestly this time.
Rogue Necromancy - Pack upgrade
Flesh Construct
Crooligans x2
Sebastian (I do not have Mortimer, but he's on my list for next purchase)
Canine Remains
Crooked Man
(think that was it)
 
Guild (from memory)
Lady J
Judge
Santiago
Papa Loco
Death Marshall x 2
Austringer (who doesn't bring one...)
 
I made an immediate mistake with deployment and had to waste a move to make sure to place scheme marker in my corners. Next time I think I will have a crooligan on each corner with Nico just in range to give them Fast first turn. This should (if the distances work) allow them to place a scheme marker, place within 5" and then still walk twice to get down field. First turn Nico doesn't do much anyway. The Crooligans were pretty nice and with the 6DF survived longer than I thought, but I still wonder if Necro Punks might have fared better.
 
Next huge mistake was after Lady J rocketed up on the first turn (thanks to the Judge) I lost Initiative and should have used a Stone to reflip. She went after Nico and a flurry of cards and stones later left him with 1WD! I managed to hurt her with my other models and almost killed her. I managed to inflict poison on her and Sebastian was close enough for his poison shenanigans, but I made a huge mistake and thought that poison was during the models activation. As it is in Upkeep phase and with the extra damage from Sebastian, Lady J should have died at the end of the turn.... I also forgot the extra for my Punk Zombie (summoned by a desperate Nico) who missed two attacks and was riposted to death my Lady J. My flips were pretty bad but those 2 extra cards might have helped. If he could have taken Lady J out I would have been in a much better setting.
 
Highlights include Nico lasting to Turn 5! After the Judge pulled Lady J out of combat on Turn 3 he even was able to blast her with Decay and finish her off in retaliation!  Then Papa Loco blew up near him and killed several models (including Sebastian - didn't have the cards to save him and Nico). Surprisingly the Flesh Construct with a lowly DF3 flipped a 13 and took no damage... I was able to keep Nico alive long enough to have 3 Corpses nearby and Chimed of sorrow to bring him back to 7WD.
 
I thought I could pull it all back, but then the Judge Red Jokered the Rogue Necromancy for 10WDs and killed him with 1 shot.
 
I still had a slight chance after Nico healed with Chime and was able to just get within range of a corpse on the far side. I had no cards in hand that would help and decided to try for another Flesh Construct needing a flip of a 10 ... and I flip a 10 . Priceless, though in the end not enough to help much as he was slow and unable to interact that turn. He dropped a scheme in the last turn, but even with that once a Death marshal was able to finish off Nico and score for Assassinate, it was over. I also lost points for the Strategy a couple of turns as my models bunched up to take out Lady J.
 
Great game and I really thought I'd be toast after Lady J got to Nico turn 2. Managed to keep fighting, but couldn't get my Crooligans down field soon enough without getting them killed. I may have been too cautious with them though. I misused the Crooked man as well as he should have hoofed it as far up field and if he died he still drops a Scheme. Oh well.
 
I will definitely remember Poison next time, especially when using Sebastian. If I had Lady J would have died at the end of turn 2 from the poison she had and freed up my other models for more important tasks (schemes) as well as giving me time to spread out a bit so Papa Loco couldn't hit quite so many.
 
I chose poorly with my schemes as I thought it would be harder to kill Lady J. I rested too much hope on the 2 crooligans being able to get up field and drop enough scheme markers to get me points. I also lost models very quickly and was only able to summon twice (in part due to Lady J and the judge kills not dropping markers).
 
In the end it was a measly 4VP for me with 9VP for Lady J (ouch). However I won't make those same mistakes again next game and hopefully will get more use out of the Rogue Necromancy next game. I really liked his stats and the little he did for me. If he could have survived longer I think He would have been hugely beneficial. Should have thrown him right in their face from turn one. I tend to be overly cautious sometimes.
 
Anyone in the Salem area that wants to play we are going to try and get games there on Wednesday nights in the future. Just let me or Canaria0 know you want to come down.

[zFiend]

Had my first game in a long time and it was a lot of fun. Made a few major mistakes and forgot a few rules that would have helped, but I don't think it would have mattered much for the outcome.

 

Strategy: Reccoinoter

 

Wow. That was brief!

[Paddywhack]

Wow. That was brief!

Stupid browser submitted when I hit return.... Updated.

[Fetid Strumpet]

Couple notes:

 

Crooligans are certainly great models, but your plan to deploy them in the corners, give them fast, and then drop markers on the first turn doesn't work. Crooligans are 100% incapable of taking an interact action on the first turn due to From the Shadows. It doesn't matter where you deploy them, because of that rule you can't interact and drop markers 1st turn, ever.

 

From a pure scheme runner standpoint, yes, Necropunks are better. They can drop 2 markers a turn if you get leap off, and they are as hard or harder to kill than Crooligans. Crooligans synergies well with other models, and are no slouches themselves, but if you are looking for a pure objective runner, especially with Nico, I'd go with the Punks.

 

I also tend to, personally, not favor the Rogue Necromancy. He's very good, but I personally tend to find he's a tiny bit fragile, and I never seem to go rampaging fully through even one model before he goes down. He only needs to take 5 wounds before he goes from slightly too good for his points to slightly too weak for his points, is what I've found. Other might have better luck.

 

I'd possibly recommend swapping the Rogue Necro for the Dead Rider. With Nico's ability to heal and hand out Fast the Rider can easily become your best friend in the world if you are looking for a beater.

 

Glad you had fun, and yes Lady J can be a beast if she gets near you. Congrats managing to weather her storm.

[Paddywhack]

Ah. Missed that part. I thought they only couldn't if they used the extra deployment. Good to know. Ah well. A similar plan to try and heal Nico up to full during the game fizzled because I forgot that he is no longer Undead....

 

I used Necro punks once before and they didn't fully impress me, but I think that game was still in the beta and they didn't have the suit built in (or somethign was different). Definitely going to try them some more.

 

Don't have the Dead Rider yet, though he is nice. I would also really liketo give Guild Autopsies a try now that they are a bit better.

[DeleteAccount]

 

I also tend to, personally, not favor the Rogue Necromancy. He's very good, but I personally tend to find he's a tiny bit fragile, and I never seem to go rampaging fully through even one model before he goes down. He only needs to take 5 wounds before he goes from slightly too good for his points to slightly too weak for his points, is what I've found. Other might have better luck.

 

6 Wounds actually since Multiple Heads is active as long as you have 5 or more wounds, but yeah, I also feel the rogue is on the fragile side of the park. They are golden with Tara though and with Nico, you have decent odds of getting him back up to snuff and if you take the "poison heals" trigger it can be a bit better, hell, add sebastian and you get halfassed regen 2.

[kross1]

I put the graveyard spirit behind it, and keep them both in cover, this combined with impossible to wound, generally keep them both pretty healthy. Add in a couple of belles to lure in victims equals good times.