Popular Post zFiend Posted May 13, 2015 Popular Post Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 So this thread keeps popping up, I thought I'd try to write up something to help you getting started with Nicodem. At this point you have probably bought the Open Graves boxset. So you have Nicodem, Mortimer, 3x Punk Zombies and the Vulture. Let's start with that assumption. Good buy, Nicodem is absolutely the boss and you are within the righteous faction of Malifaux, good for you. Nicodem is a toolbox to no end. What you need you get. Nicodem can be played in different ways, the most obvious being the Summoner he is. Do remember though, that you have the option to summon, it's not mandatory for you to summon all the time. Giving out Fast is a superb ability. To heal your models is also amazing. Slow your enemies? That is golden. He recycles cards like no one's business. Gives out to attack, defense and to damage (with an upgrade). So simply put: he's the King for a reason. You are probably wondering where to go next? What to get for him? Well let's start breaking that apart. You might want a big beatstick? That you can support, give flips to, make it even better than it is. Very solid options are: Beatsticks: Izamu (my personal favourite). Very solid Enforcer and a good carrier for Decaying Aura in a Nicodem list. Give him fast and he goes up to 4 attacks a turn with to attack and to damage built in with ml6 that are unpreventable, that will make some seriously dead models. Rogue Necromancy. Has already built in to attack and damage. Nicodem can give even more of those for him. Also Fast for this monstrosity is quite terrifying. Also Nicodem can heal him to keep him with his Three Headed rule so he keeps on getting those flips. The Valedictorian. Our beatstick henchwoman. Sold in the University of Transmortiis boxset, which is a very solid buy for Nicodem because then you can choose to summon the exact weapon you need as all the students are tailored to counter Constructs, Living or Undead threats, so you can wait to see what your opponent brings to the table and then summon a counter, beautiful. Valedictorian hits hard, is very durable, fast on it's own. Just make it worse for your opponent by giving her Fast and keep her even longer on the table with the healing. Everybody loves flips too. These are 3 solid options for a beatstick role. You want and can afford to bring one from the get go. Remember Decaying Aura to make things worse for your opponent. Support: Then the Support models. Nicodem can afford to bring more of these than others, so let's start with a few options on this department. Nurses. I rate these models as one of the best models in the game and my Nicodem always has one. Two? Some people use two, I never use more than one. What they do is make your beaters even worse than they are with +2 to damage, they can paralyze enemies from leaders to peons, everything with a very solid ca6. They also make everyone a scheme runner when in need. Or make your opponents on :-fate on all duels. Just solid gold for 5ss. (Sold separately but they also come in the McMourning boxset, a very good buy as you get a Flesh Construct, two of these, a Canine Remains and Sebastian. Plus one of the most fun masters in the game, McMourning.) Chiaki. Removes conditions, heals, pushes enemies, is durable. Synergizes very well with Nurses as you can Full Heal and Paralyze your own models. Say Nicodem or Izamu is at very low wounds. You full heal it with a Nurse and paralyze it. Then you take Chiaki and remove that Paralyze. Voila. Full wounds. (Sold in the Yan Lo boxset. You also get Ashigarus which are good minions.) Rotten Belles. Depending on schemes and points you have to spare these are solid gold. They cost 5ss so you can hire one from the get go or summon it in game if you see fit. You should get these though, they are another model that is among the very best in the game. (Sold separately but you find these in the Seamus boxset, where you get 3 of these, Sybelle who is a very very good Henchwoman too, as well as Seamus who is one of the most fun masters again in the game). Henchmen: Well you get Mortimer with Nico and he is just solid gold, one of the best movement tricks in the game for you whole crew basically with right positioning! Chatty to prevent and disrupt enemy schemes and Corpses to fuel the Summoning engine. Corpse bloat is a great upgrade for him to get even more out of him. Sybelle is a cheap and a very solid Henchwoman. She has amazing triggers with her upgrade and she becomes even worse with Fast which Nicodem as mentioned gives out like Candy. (sold in the Seamus box set) Toshiro for even more Fast, flips and support for minions. He is quite durable too, he hits quite hard and brings even more support. A solid consideration. (sold separately) Summonable minions: Now we get to where Nicodem shines. He just brings a solid list to the game from the get go and from there he builds it even better. Good go to minions that you will most likely like to summon is: Hanged. Seriously these are absolute monsters on their own, with Fast even worse for your opponent. You won't be making friends with these bad boys but you will be wrecking face. I wouldn't ever hire these with Nicodem, ever, they cost 9ss and you can summon them very easily, solid buy. (sold separately) Punk Zombies. I wouldn't hire these either. They cost 7ss which is a lot and they are quite easy for Nicodem to summon. Also they have Hard to Kill so they won't suffer from low wounds all that much. Solid solid summons. They hit hard as well. The Students. I mentioned these already but they are very solid to counter what you see on the other side of the table. Very good. I wouldn't hire them again either, because you never know what you will be facing and they are quite easy summons again. (Sold in University of Transmortiis) Mindless Zombies. These guys will be doing a lot card cycling and activation control. You take Maniacal Laugh and Undertaker upgrade, laugh up the corpses to Zombies and then start summoning out of those Zombies, so while you summon you also draw cards. Yeah. (sold separately in a 5 box.) Flesh Constructs. They have a ton of wounds, they hit quite okay but the best thing here is Devour. Which synergizes very well with Nurses Paralyze trick as they can insta kill models with Paralyze with a Ca6 and a (sold separately, but recommend getting the McMourning boxset) Rotten Belles. Board control. Get the enemy where you want and dispose of it. Just solid minions really. I can't speak highly enough of these. (sold in a 3 pack, recommend getting the Seamus box though) Scheme runners: Now we get to one more section I'd like bring out. You can bring these from the get go if you feel like it or summon them in game. Another good thing with Nicodem. Do note that the runners you summon can not interact the turn they are summoned in. Summoning sickness and all that. Canine remains. These are solid little critters with Nicodem. They can dig up corpses, do schemes, harass the enemy and when they die, you summon something even more worse out of them. Just very solid. (sold in a 3 pack) Necropunks. These are amazing. Among the very best of scheme runners in the game. With leap and 2 AP naturally that go to 3 AP with Nicodem giving them Fast. Well they do schemes like no one's business. (sold in a 3 pack, not available in plastic atm) Crooligans. Very good scheme runners too. (Sold in a 3 pack as well as the Molly boxset, good consideration to get the boxset again) Totems: Here we have 3 options really. Vulture. Nicodem's own little totem who is very solid indeed. I don't use it that much myself actually. But he is solid. Also a fun trick is to use the Vulture as a mobile pod for Undead Crowning to have the to damage where you need it. The Eyes and Ears that the Vulture has is a really potent and cool ability. Also for fun you can use the Vulture to carry around Mindless Zombies and drop them to enemies. Graveyard Spirit. This little bugger is very good with Izamu giving it armor 4. Armor 4 is no joke on a model such as Izamu. Haven't tried this one yet with other beatsticks but I've seen it used with a Rogue Necro and it was pretty annoying to face. (sold separately) Malifaux Child. Even more Fast for your models. (sold separately) There we have it a start of a Nicodem crew what you might want to consider and get. I will be updating this a long the way and I'd appreciate feedback and thoughts how to better this. Nicodem might be a bit expensive to start with as he likes to have a lot of models. But he is an absolute blast and well worth the money and time you put into him. You can always PM me for more info and if you want to talk tactics or ask questions or post them here. Cheers for reading, it was a long read but I hope it helped a bit with your struggle! 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zFiend Posted May 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 To continue after the basics, a bit more in depth on what models might work and be good to get after your initial purchases. Night Terrors. These little things with incorporeal, 4 wounds, hard to kill and minions (oh yes) are an absolute bargain for 3ss. Granted their insignificant won't let them do schemes that require interacting but they do account for strategies and schemes that need you to hold places. They are fast. They do some bit of damage in melee. Reconnoiter coming up? 3 of these with Nicodem and you aren't losing any points in the strategy. Seriously. (Not avalaible in plastic atm) Shikomes. Add in these little bundles of joy with Night Terrors on Reconnoiter and you have such board control capacities it's not even funny anymore. With wk6 and Flight one of these will fly 18" with Fast to where it needs to be. Also these things hit hard, are quite durable, are ridiculous against Poisoned targets (more on that in the next post). Seriously a good consideration to get. (Will be sold in a 2 pack I reckon, not available in plastic atm) But as you start reading into Nicodem and all the things he can summon you will find your own models that you like. If you are up against a shooting crew summon in Crooked Men, if you want durability and lockdown in melee summon in the Drowned. The possibilities with this guy are nigh endless. There are a few more expensive beatsticks you might want to consider that do some nasty things with Nicodem. Dead Rider. This is our factions own horsie. With some serious movement shenanigans and willpower duels late game this thing is a good consideration to have in your arsenal. Within the community this is a bit of a topic that won't reach consensus as some like it and some don't. But the fact that a guy who won UK masters uses this, there's gotta be something there. (Not yet available in plastic) Kill Joy. The big bad man of the game. Mercenary monstrosity. This little thing costs a lot, brings a lot of offensive capabilities, can begin the game buried so once something in your crew dies the opponent gets this fine gentleman to deal with. It is also Undead so Nicodem can give it Fast again to make things even worse for your opponent with this guy. (Sold separately) Strategies: Now that those are cleared up a bit more in depth talk in the form of Strategies. I will run through the basic ones as they are quite similiar with the new Gaining Grounds strategies with a bit of a twist but I think the principle stays quite the same. Turf War: This a strategy Nicodem likes and is a force to be reckoned with. When his Aura's come into play with a bigger impact as you don't have to spread around the board. At this strategy his Necrotic King upgrade might be a good offensive play. Or to keep him alive longer Reaper Grin is always good when you are up close with the enemy. Good models to look into: Izamu + Graveyard Spirit, Nurse are good to have in the starting roster. Reconnoiter: Now we are talking! This is the strategy Nicodem does like no one's business. You can move the Nicodem death bubble of doom to cover 2 board quarters and have Night Terrors fly around taking one. Summon in Shikomes to fly them around the quarters and your opponent is close to crying when there are no points to spare for the Strategy. Good models to look into: 3x Night Terrors work wonders, Shikomes for summons. Squatter's Rights: This is another strategy where Nicodem shines with his abilities to hand out Fast for your models. You can easily get near the markers you need for the game to start scoring and you can hold those easily or move on to threaten your opponents markers. Good models again to look into: Shikomes are very good here again, Izamu is good to hold down markers. Reckoning: Well you need to kill stuff dead. That shouldn't be a problem really with all the offensive options you have with your disposal with the possibility to make things even worse for your opponent by giving out Fast, summoning in the Hanged to utterly wreck enemies, etc. Good models here: Izamu, Kill Joy, Valedictorian to have in your starting crew and season with some summoned Hanged's and Punk Zombies. This might not be the best strategy to summon in easy to kill to models. Thankfully Punk Zombies have Hard To Kill and you always have the option to heal them up. Stake a Claim: Here again Nicodem shines with his Fast sharing capabilities to such a high range that he does. So you can have and summon in Necropunks to Leap around with their 3 AP dropping markers. They aren't the most durable models, but with Hard to Kill they are quite enough. You could have something like a Dead Rider running on your own side of the board dragging models around and killing them. Funny thing is, we haven't really ever played this strategy so I'm just theoryfauxing here. Well as you can see Nicodem should stand his ground in whatever is thrown at him fairly well. Schemes: Distract: Should be quite doable with all the outactivation you'll most likely be having around. It's a solid pick. Breakthrough: Again this should be quite doable with all the fast you'll be handing out to things like Necropunks or Crooligans. Good to announce. Assassinate: Well I like killing, so I usually opt for this, when you have something in the form of an Izamu with Decaying Aura with Fast.. Well that means dead models. Protect Territory: Easy and should be announced. Bodyguard: I have done this too on Mortimer, no one suspects it when you have Mortimer rocking around with Corpse Bloat ripping out his own wounds and suddenly you announce bodyguard and slap a full heal on him with a Nurse. It's a risky play though. Cursed Object: Always a good pick with a crew that can outactivate. Outflank: For some reason I never ever pick this. Should be doable though. Plant Evidence: Can be done quite easily with all the models you will probably have at your disposal and with all the Fast you'll share. Good to announce. Entourage: Wouldn't really go for this in a Nicodem crew. Vendetta: This should be quite doable as well. Good picks are models with Hard to Kill, just wail on them with another and once they are in hard to kill slap it once with your Vendetta model and claim full 3vp. Plant Explosives: Should be doable as well. Watch out for this scheme though as you will be bundling up majority of the time, Mortimer helps here! Make them Suffer: Probably wouldn't go for this because Nicodem won't be doing much, Mortimer only does so much and it's a heavy burden for Valedictorian alone, not impossible but might be a risky play. Watch out for this one though as your summons will be in bad shape unless you heal them. Deliver a Message: This should be fairly easy for you to achieve and good scheme to announce. Keep Mortimer close to Nicodem to deny this from your opponent. Take Prisoner: In a Faction with models like Rotten Belles this is always an option. Spring the Trap: I never ever take this either. Murder Protege: Doable but be wary that this should be announced to get full 3 and it can become an annoying hunt to get the model. Then again, you have Fast models and a lot of tools to hunt as well and your opponent might start playing too safely which is their biggest model away from the action that you can just start hunting down later. Frame For Murder: Well you have the models to spare, you are the King of the Undead anyway. Good pick. Power Ritual: In corner deployement, this is just too easy to achieve. It's not impossible in the others either. Worth to consider. Upgrades: Nicodem is pretty spoiled with upgrades really and they are all good in a certain situation. I find myself always taking Maniacal Laugh and Undertaker first, like an auto-include, the fact that you Laugh up the corpse markers first and then summon out of them to get Cards is just too good. As your crew will be Undead anyway for the major part you will be pulling cards in a manner that leaves Lynch to cry in his Casino. Then it's a pick of either Reaper Grin or Necrotic King. I usually go for Reaper Grin to keep Nicodem safe and sound but I might be playing him way too safely as Necrotic King is really brutal. Mortimer I usually have rocking around with Corpse Bloat and nothing else. Some people prefer My Favourite Shovel or both, but I have found it to be enough that he just packs Corpse Bloat to get the engine running. Two corpses a turn is just too nice to pass on and the offensive options Corpse Bloat offers, well that is just gravy. Decaying Aura is really good to have on your chosen beatstick if you decide to hunt down Masters of Henchmen. It's just solid and you have to points to spare as you can summon in the model you leave out to spend on upgrades. Unnerving Auras can stack up to be really brutal if you have multiple models with them, again you can afford it, with the price of Decaying Aura you can have two of these and oh boy do they hurt as they stack. That's it for now, will update later. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zFiend Posted May 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 (edited) So I had a while back an epiphany about a whole new Nicodem build. Stealing the thunder of McMourning and focusing around Poison Shenanigans. It worked really well, I liked it a lot. But then I got on my Guild run and had to leave my beloved Rezzers in the shelves. Anyway here it goes, the basic core is this, season to schemes and strategy with the 8ss that you have left, 2 Night Terrors for Activation control is a nice touch and also you need to pick up one more upgrade. Reaper Grin, Necrotic King is always good:Nicodem -- 6 Pool +Maniacal Laugh [1] +Undertaker [1] Malifaux Child [3]Guild Autopsy [4]Guild Autopsy [4]Mortimer [9] +Corpse Bloat [2]Rafkin [7]Sebastian [7] +Transfusion [1] Idea is to abuse poison with Nicodem and take advantage of the (1) action charges with Rafkin and Shikomes (Canine Remains have it too) that you will be summoning. I got in a full wounded Shikome on turn 1 and turn 2 thanks to Patchwork trigger. Guild Autopsies were there to dish out Poison at range, Sebastian would give out Poison with either his ml or by Transfusion and hurt people with his auras and Mortimer also was there to give out Poison if needed, move models around and dig up corpses (Also don't forget to use Corpse Bloat offensively if you don't need the corpse markers!). I summoned: Two Shikomes on turn 1 and turn 2. Mortimer drops a Corpse with You Don't Need a Spleen Right? and digs up another one. Nicodem Manical laughs them up, summons from one of them and declares Patch Work sacs the other one and gets card from both, first full health Shikome right there, repeat turn 2 and if you happen to lose either one of them. Mainly Nicodem was there to give out Fast to either the Autopsies or Shikomes and Malifaux Child was there to help with that, share the Fast to those winged gods of death. It actually works quite well. A Fast Shikome with a (1) Charge to Poisoned models and still having 2 AP after that is brutal! With their triggers they really tear models to shreds. On top of Shikomes being really fast with wk 6 they really are the key models to this. Guild Autopsies with sh5 and Infect can really put the Poison in quite reliably with Fast as well as you can move, focus shoot, shoot 3 times or double focus and shoot. This was in my mind one of the funniest ways of playing Nicodem. You get the engine rolling with his buffs and debuffs and Nicodem is actually running across the board instead of just standing and summoning. I encourage you to try it and please, leave me feedback how it went. Once I get back to Rezzers I will start experimenting more with this list! Edited September 21, 2015 by zFiend A little late, but finally.. Poison Nicodem build. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirial Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 Nod of approval. Might need a little bit of formatting. Wait! Constructive, serious, by ZFiend? Something doesn't add up.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zFiend Posted May 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 Might need a little bit of formatting. Yeah it could be a bit more clear visually. What do you suggest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirial Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 Yeah it could be a bit more clear visually. What do you suggest? Bigger headlines, to make thematic shifts more obvious? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zFiend Posted May 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 Bigger headlines, to make thematic shifts more obvious? Yeah thought about that too. I'll fix that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hateful Darkblack Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 Great tactica! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrflamme Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 Weird question, but have you (or anyone reading this topic) explored Spirit Nicodem? (Onryo, Shikome, Night Terror, etc - gain the benefits of Adversary as well as presenting a different defense mechanism in the form of incorporeal). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clement Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 His buffs are for undead, so you'd want to limit yourself to the undead spirits. That's still a pretty interesting group though. Izamu, Datsueba, Hanged, Shikome, and Drowned. Maybe more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zFiend Posted May 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 No but I will write tomorrow about Poison Nicodem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonahmaul Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 No room for Killjoy? Or will you do a separate section for mercs? As Unded he can be horrible with Nicodem (though I've yet to try this myself!). Might want to clarify the Graveyard Spirit thing as it just says 'with the beatstick giving it armour 4' but that's obviously just Izamu. Also, Necroumpunks get Leap and 3AP if Nico gives them Fast as Leap is a (0) Liking the work tough. An interesting read and some good ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zFiend Posted May 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 Yeah Jonah I will correct those tomorrow. I meant they have 2 AP and leap and Nicodem makes it even worse with a 3rd. Graveyard Spirit yeah.. Thinking about Izamu there but it doesn't come clear. Fixing it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patzer Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Good start! I am a bit disappointed with the title, I would have gone for: "A Dirty Old Man Talks About A Dirty Old (Resser) Man" "Cheers for heading, it was a long read but I hope it helped a bit with your struggle!". I guess you meant reading. Your passion for the resurrectionist are really coming across, and I really enjoyed that. Throughout the text there are alludes to more or less the whole faction in the sense of: "This thing is great, and you are going to want to play with that thing too, very soon, so why don't you just buy that, that, and that too while you are at it. Come on its Ressers, get in the boat!" 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strangely Brown Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Thankyou so much for this zFiend, This is the tactica I would have asked someone to write, in the way I would have asked them to write it! I'm off to by the University of Transmortis box set right now! 'Brown 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirial Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Well, I'm just waiting for you to finish it, and then I'll post it into the Wiki and take all the credit for it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonahmaul Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Well, I'm just waiting for you to finish it, and then I'll post it into the Wiki and take all the credit for it! Typical Guild shenanigans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zFiend Posted May 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Fixed the errors and wrote some more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirial Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Fixed the errors and wrote some more. Like it. You could add some blurb about the risks of summoning in Reckoning, and something about the auras stacking, and the possibility to carry the aura with the Vulture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zFiend Posted May 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Like it. You could add some blurb about the risks of summoning in Reckoning, and something about the auras stacking, and the possibility to carry the aura with the Vulture. Done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adran Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Nice work Might be worth mentioning not able to interact on the turn you are summoned when you talk about summonign scheme runners. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zFiend Posted May 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Might be worth mentioning not able to interact on the turn you are summoned when you talk about summonign scheme runners. Done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daysleeper Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 (edited) Can we plz have this pinned? Edit: must be blind ... or it realy JUST got pinned ^^ Edited May 15, 2015 by Daysleeper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gremlin guy Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 Great guide Z. Nicodem is my favorite Rezzer Master (though I'm sad at some of the things he lost, like the second vulture), and I'm finding that, unlike my other game, I can't stick to one faction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zFiend Posted May 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 Cheers. I will update it a bit more after the con this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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