Misaki vs. Leveticus

[Kirby]

Hey gang,

 

A few of us at the local store are getting into Malifaux.  A buddy of mine picked up the Misaki crew and various Ten Thunders minis to go with her and I picked up Leveticus along with Lazarus and Ashes & Dust.  We've kinda found out the hard way that both Leveticus and A&D aren't exactly the most new player friendly experiences to face.

 

My typical crew is as follows:

Leveticus - From Ash, To the Earth Return, Desolate Soul

2x Hollow Waif

Rusty Alyce - From Aether

Lazarus - Oathkeeper

Ashes & Dust - Scramble

Abomination

 

What are some of your go-to tools whether it's crew, upgrade loadout, or play strategies when seeing something like that across the table?

 

Thanks!

[zFiend]

Something that ignores armor would be good against Lazarus and A&D. But that is a tough match up for Misaki who struggles against armor and is highly melee oriented. While Leveticus can just shoot her crew to bits while she tries to move forward.

[Dirial]

Ironically, I think Misaki would fare better as an Outcast against this list.

[Hateful Darkblack]

That's a great Crew!

[zFiend]

That's a great Crew!

I bet the Misaki player wanted to hear that.

[Math Mathonwy]

Ironically, I think Misaki would fare better as an Outcast against this list.

What makes you think that? I think that TT offers a lot better Upgrades and Misaki doesn't have much synergy to worry about when it comes to the rest of the her crew selection. And I don't see Outcast models as somehow better suited to battling Levi.

Now, I don't have my books at hand and I'm not all that well-versed in TT stuff but don't they have access to that teleport thingy where you arrive at wherever at the end of the turn? Wouldn't that be sorta worrying for the Waifs? And whatabout Archers?

[Insidiously Mad]

I think it is probably due to all the outcasts that can ignore armour (Bishop, Ronin, etc) compared to TT. 

[zFiend]

Yeah you can use the last blossoms to teleport to another last blossom. But that means you already have a model there. So not sure how that changes the threat on the waifs.

[Dirial]

I think it is probably due to all the outcasts that can ignore armour (Bishop, Ronin, etc) compared to TT. 

 

Yeah, this.

[zFiend]

Archers might be good against the waifs though as Math stated? With the new upgrade that is.

[scarlett fever]

Misaki was my first Master and I still really enjoy playing her, but yeah that looks tough.

Misaki is quite a simple Master but she has a lot of tough match-ups and you have to manage her weaknesses.

Yes she is a melee Master but I think of her greatest asset is maneuverability and able to lead the opponent around mainly due to Diving Charge. Her damage is only significant when she has to flips either from Stalk or from Recalled Training.

 

Outside of specific Strats and Schemes if I had to face that list with Misaki I'd be thinking how can I manage the opponent, particularly their movement.

 

I usually expect Misaki and crew to be gone by turn 5, especially vs Levi, so I'd be trying to get all my VP early, something Thunders are generally pretty good at. Load up on fast models and use terrain to your advantage, spread out and bait or avoid the crushers until you've secured points and don't be afraid of swapping Misaki for a dangerous model, good positioning or other VP potential, she's going to die anyway.

 

For Misaki's load-out I'd choose 3 from Stalk, Misdirection, Recalled Training, Wings of Wind and maybe Smoke and Shadows, depending on Strats and Schemes.

 

If Assassinate is in the Schemes I'd rather not take Misaki at all! But if I had to I may even consider Disguise, otherwise keep her from getting swamped by the enemy, target outlying models or draw them away from the action.

 

I would aim for the Waifs, sometimes you can just push them or their babysitter out of the Shackles bubble to cut down Levi's options. I expect Levi to come straight for me, he usually does, but narrow the board area he can unbury into. Misaki, Snipers and Archers are good for this, but make sure you get your stones worth from the Archers (use the 0 upgrade), they're ridiculously fragile for their points.

 

In my experience Levi and Alyce like to discard cards and my Levi opponent likes to Defensive Stance his Waifs. Misaki likes an opponent without cards as then shes gets to threaten insta-kill with her Assassinate trigger. If you're looking at this option take out Aboms as they appear as they are great for card supply. Activate Misaki as late as possible and threaten something important. Models with terrifying help with this (Illuminiated, Yin) as they can make the opponent discard down to get his own stuff through. It would tempting to try Yamaziko and maybe Yin if there are a bunch of schemes that don't get revealed (to really empty your opponents hand with Master Tactician, Levi's going to be coming for you anyway), but his high WP makes that a bit dicey. Yamaziko is a good Scheme runner and Smoke and Shadows carrier though.

 

Levi likes Constructs and Undead. Undead and Constructs hate Kang, turn 1 have a Sniper or two in Kang's bubble and aim for Waifs, Aboms or even Alyce/Levi.

The Smoke Grenade helps Kang or other important models whether the Levi/Alyce/Lazarus storm as they then get a to their ranged attacks, making them uncheatable.

 

I've had really good use from Sensei Yu against Levi. Sensei Yu is pretty damn solid against a lot of opponents. Use his Airburst or Mighty Gust to get your crew into positions early for VP or to keep Lazarus (and others) out of the game. I once held Lazarus out of a whole game with well positioned Airbursts, he's great at controlling the positioning of you and your opponent. I would give him either the Wandering River upgrade for more positioning control, handing out Fast/Slow and if the Scheme pool is Scheme Marker heavy moving yours and your opponents Scheme Markers around or the Low River Upgrade for targeted healing.

 

Ashes and Dust is tough, but there is also a lot of points locked up there (15 with Scramble!), my impulse would be to keep him occupied with smaller annoying models like Low River Monks or Thunder Brothers in Defensive Stance. Defensive Stance helps with all those annoying small Df Duels from Caustic Aura/Industrial Age etc.

Models I do tend to leave out when my opponent declares Outcasts are Armor dependent models like Samurai, Izamu and Fuhatsu.

 

Using Smoke and Shadows to teleport Torakage can be really fun if the schemes and terrain are good for it. Misaki can be on the other side of the board and you can place them within 6" without LoS into really hard to get to places. My favourite abiltity of theirs is Agile, being immune to disengaging strikes is great for board control.

 

Overall I'd be thinking control and avoidance, but it is a tough match-up, sorry for the epic post, better stop now, but hope some of that helps and gives you some ideas!

[Kirby]

That was great, thank you!  Feel free to continue the epic post any time you feel like it

[Dirial]

The Smoke Grenade helps Kang or other important models whether the Levi/Alyce/Lazarus storm as they then get a to their ranged attacks, making them uncheatable.

 

 

 

All of this was very solid advice, apart from the last thing I quoted. Remember that Levi usually doesn't care one tiny bit about to his ranged attack. It only gets interesting if you pile those up, so keep out of 6" and in cover if you want to weather his ranged attacks.

[zFiend]

Leveticus gets double flips when he likes so that won't do much for him.

[scarlett fever]

All of this was very solid advice, apart from the last thing I quoted. Remember that Levi usually doesn't care one tiny bit about to his ranged attack. It only gets interesting if you pile those up, so keep out of 6" and in cover if you want to weather his ranged attacks.

 

Whoops, true, good catch, in Levi's case you can't make it uncheatable. The most you can hope for is to put pressure on him if you already have him targeted by your own ranged attacks. Still good against Alyce and Lazarus.

[DeleteAccount]

Leveticus gets double flips when he likes so that won't do much for him.

Double +? HE CAN PILE IT ON?!

[PraetorDragoon]

Double +? HE CAN PILE IT ON?!

 

Models can still use focus, you know. So, he would get from Focus and from Channel making for :+fate

 

You can have Channel only trigger once per action, though.

[DeleteAccount]

Oh, ok, , thought it was from taking wounds... Well, at least it cost him 2 AP this time and a 2/3/4 in that scenario is more bearable even if it ignores everything.

[zFiend]

Double +? HE CAN PILE IT ON?!

Haha sorry to scare you there.

[Felix]

I have to echo Dirial on this one, since Misaki taken as Outcast has become my preferred flavour. I want to make mention of the Outcasts upgrades on Misaki, specifically Survivalist. If you are making her just a little bit slippery (in addition to her usual glistening sheen) then you can access a very different playstyle.

 

Before I tried it, I thought that Hard to Kill and Shang with  healing flips was a useless detail, now I know it brings much to an otherwise fragile master.

 

You won't be using her like a scalpel, but rather using her as a great way to soak up the attention of models that you would otherwise have trouble dealing with. It takes quite a bit of getting used to but there is nothing more frustrating to opponents than a leader who won't die.

 

... Leveticus being the best example of that.

 

It's my opinion that you should be focused on your schemes rather than managing your opponent in most matches anyways, and the Last Blossom models are cheapish and surprisingly rewarding infiltration choices when you're focusing them on getting VPs.

[chris_havoc]

I have been running a shooty Misaki list for a bit now and it's treated me really well. I have personally loved running her with her minimum Soulstone cache so that if you have Stalking Bisento or Recalled Training you can burn your last Soulstone for a Crow and auto-Trigger Assassination. From then on you are always threatinging the Trigger thanks to the Craw gained from Risky Ventures and you get Positives on Df so Misdirection has a pretty good chance of going off without needing to cheat in cards. Because of that it's not a bad idea to get engaged (though not necessarily target) Levi as he can't unmake things then and you can redirect his Death Touch under the right circumstances. But Msaki is so quick and impossible to tie down that she is well suited to chase the Waifs. Rusty, Lazarus, and Ashes and Dust are all really tough to take down but it helps to remove the anchors for Waifs but given that crew I am not sure they are the primary target.

Waifs have an annoyingly high Df 6, but they are essentially Levi's defense so focussing them is great. If you can keep your model count up and his down you should be able to cause a real threat because he won't be able to activate Levi last and use his (0) to Summon Waifs to bounce back. Katanaka Snipers are great early game as they out-range most things. They are also resilient with Hard to Kill against not-Levi and can Engage in melee late game to dish out some decent damage. In a Misaki crew they are great too because she has a tendency to go down meaning these guys will get Reactivate. Archers are great later in the game when things are Engaged and they can shoot into combat regardless. As has been said, Blot the Sky is great. It means that hiding Waifs behind terrain is not all that safe. The Jigoku Samurai is also a great addition as he has a massive 14" Range, triple Positives, and a potentially endless Trigger to Target multiple models which, thanks to his range, could be miles apart. His damage potential is massive despite its seemingly average 2/3/4. Yamaziko would not be too bad an idea with her Wp 7 and Positives vs. Masters. She will also deny Rusty's hail-mary Burn Out to some degree by denying the Reactivating model a charge with Brace. Though I like to use Fuhatsu with Blot the Sky in my shooty crew, Kang would definitely not be a bad idea with it and Smoke and Shadows if you are playing Levi.

[Patzer]

Sorry, late to the party, but I will chime in. To echo what Dirial said, I also think Outcast Misaki would have had little better tech against that list. The reasons are cheaper Strongarm suit, as well as Scout the Field for the SaS and Misaki. StF will make the SaS and Misaki real threats to the Waifs, since they can speed to them and charge them without needing LoS. On the other hand, Augmented Jump and Diving Charge alone can pose enough of a threat to Leve's gang in order for quite cagey placement of the Waifs. In addition, models like the Samurai, Katanaka Snipers, Archers, and Path Finders can be a real treat to have against that crew. They all can shoot at great length, and or stay hidden.

 

As usually while facing Leveticus, be prepared to loose models, but don't let your opponent choose freely which one. Set up really hard decisions for the up coming turn which Leveticus have to account for. Another important thing is that only by hurting Leveticus you will slow him down immensely. Chipping away 2-3 wounds really hampers his onslaught.

 

One finial thing, Ten Thunders usually run with eight to nine model crews, with few ways of replenishing those ranks. Leveticus' crews usually contains a lot of fire power, which enables it to kill the opposing side early in order to scavenge for VP later. Leveticus will sometime have quite a hard time to reach those lofty 9-10 levels of VP, this is mainly due to the limiting crew composition. What this implies is twofold. First, don't take schemes which requires you to have a lot of models end game. Try to lock up as many VPs as fast as possible. That is, play it safe, the Leve player might have luck on his side and be able to shoot you to death in an instant. Secondly, which overlaps the first point too, play an offensive game. Both in terms of what schemes you choose and how you go about them, and you will need to try and match (preferably out match) Leveticus' fire power in some sense. Be it a Samurai fire base, Katanaka Snipers way out of Levetiucs range which needs to be dealt with, or a stalking Misaki getting into position for the next turn. Be aggressive, but don't be reckless. Set up traps, and or hard decisions for Leveticus; you will need to capitalize on those to sneak away with the win. 

[MrDeathTrout]

I'm a TT Misaki player and just played my first game with Levi as my master last night.  I've never played Misaki vs. Levi, but I have used this list in the past and can be very effective.  Its what I would try against him.

 

Misaki - Stalking Bisento, Recalled Training

Sensie Yu - Blot the Sky, Wandering River Style

2x Thunder Archers

Misc. others to taste.

 

Put you archers somewhere where they can hide with no LoS, but still within 12" of some important part of the board.  Keep Sensie Yu nearby so they benefit from Blot the Sky.  Keep Misiki near them as well. 

 

Yu can copy the (0) action of his master.  So between Misaki and Yu they can have two opponents stalked simultaneously.  This gives Misaki two target and two opportunities to take an extra walk each round.

 

Yu can use Air Burst and Mighty Gust on the same target each round.  This can push Misaki up to 10 inches as give her fast.  As long as she can last one activation exposed you can get her very close to her victim.  This is a great time to burn stones to keep her healthy and get closer to Assaniate (see below).

 

Next activate Misaki.  She should be in charge range.  Pop recalled training.  Against a stalked target Misaki gets 5 attacks with    on attack and damage.  That should usually be enough to take the target.  Often I can kill a target with 3 or 4 AP.  With her 4" push from Next Target and 1 to 2 AP I can often get her back to safety and within range of Yu for another attack run next turn against the other stalked target or Yu might be able to stalk a new target for her.  I usually run Misaki with just a couple of stones to take advantage of Risky Ventures.  If you have only 1 stone you can discard it to add a  to your fist attack, Risky Ventures then kicks in giving  so you auto-get the Assassinate trigger.  If you have only 2 stones left you can also spend one to get a  to the attack.  So your first attack is       attack,     damage with auto-Assassinate.  And a crow on your next four attacks give Assassinate.  When you flip sever damage (6) and assassinate on that first attack, it can be a very tough choice for your opponent.  They know that model is going to die, is it worth the stones/cards to use up more of Misaki's actions?  You can't stalk A&D since it's immune to conditions, but you will still probably kill it with 5 attacks with  to attack and damage.  With Yu's pushes and fast you should be able to get to a some of those Waifs hiding places.  Waifs can be very hard to hit with Df 6 if they taken defensive stance.  But a lot of the baby-sitters people like to use are hard to kill, but easy to hit.  If the Waif is within  range use Misaki's Thunder attack against the baby-sitter and kill the Waif with splash damage.

 

Also remember Recalled Training works for EVERY dual for the entire turn.  That includes Df/Wp duals if you leave her exposed.  I've got her killed several times by forgetting that when I decide to go all out attack instead of returning to Yu.

 

Using this yo-yo effect in one game Misaki shot out and killed Barbados, moved all the way back to Yu (getting out of Nekima's range) in one turn.  The next turn Yu gave Misaki fast and pushed her though dense terrain close enough to charge Nekima.  Killed her and Next Targeted into Lucius and killed him. 

 

 

Next are the archers.  On their turn they Focus which give them +2 Focus.  If they don't have anything else to do they focus again for +3 focus.  At the end of the turn each takes one Blot the Sky shot, and if within 3" of Yu they get +1 to the dual total for using a focus.  That's gives you 2 shots (one for each archer) at Sh 8,       to attack and damage, at anything within 12" ignoring LoS and engagements.  Note: you do NOT ignore cover.  If Misaki was able to kill A&D and then soften the Ashen Core up a bit these guys can probably finish it off, even with     for Hard to Wound +2 you are still at a   on the damage flip.  If the Ashen Core is in hard cover you at a neutral flip which is still cheatable  .  With the +7 advantage you'll have on the attack flip (Df 1 vs. Sh 8) you'll probably have an 11+ differential on the attack for another   to the damage flip.  If they have already moved the Dust Devil into position (base contact with the Ashen Core) you can damage it with   with Mod or Sev damage.  You have a decent chance of taking out A&D and the Ashen Core in one turn with this combo, or anything else that gets with 12".  If A&D is softened up before you run this combo it has a great chance of taking them out.  With the ability to shoot w/o LoS, ignoring engagements and shooting at the end of the round no matter what these guys are absolutely fantastic for finishing off Hard to Kill models.

 

This is my base strategy when running this combo, but its pretty flexible.  Yu can push/fast himself or archers if need be.  Pushing an archer 10 inches with fast, can be big surprise to a Waif that thought they were safe, when they get shot at 4 times.  Remember Thunder Archers ignore intervening models when drawing LoS (even baby-sitters  )

 

Kang - You can't ignore Kang when going up against constructs.    to attack and damage for everyone within 6".  Brutal.  The only thing I don't like about taking Kang with this combo is he needs stones to heal and to Assassinate you need to get rid of them.

[Rurouni Benshin]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Misaki's "Diving Charge" only ignored terrain and intervening models. Does this also imply that she doesn't need LOS? I've always thought she still needed LOS.

[Patzer]

She needs LoS, but there is a Outcast upgrade which lets her ignore LoS for an action.