Patzer Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Background Recently I have had a lot of fun while playing Lilith. She is an all round maniac, who can tailor a crew to do any well in any scheme pool as well as change things up in game. This style of play appeals a lot to me. To have enough tools to think on your feet, react to the flow of the game, and leave the game plan for the better option if it present itself. Granted, nearly all masters (in my experience) can do this to an extent. Whereas the likes of Lilith and McCabe can do it more easily than for instance Rasputina or Lady Justice, who have slightly more carved out roles. Another word for what kind of masters I like might be "generalist", but that might be a bit too general of an answer for my taste. In so many words, I like a free flowing game where the master I play allows me to mix things up a fair bit. One master that I have not tried yet that seem to fit that bid is Jack Daw. The hanged man of Malifaux is a model that has been in my collection for some time. I started playing when 1.5 had one foot in the grave, and I really liked the model so I ended up buying it. The rules of him were not that beginner friendly, but I got to try him out a couple of times against a friend who did not like to be at the reciving end of Jack's misschifs. Some months later when M2E were realsed, some omnious clues about Daw's return were also very appearant. Nurses, Crooked Men, Hanged, and Papa Loco (!), all had the Tormented characteristic, which they had not any use for then. Yet it was not sure if Jack Daw would be promoted all the way from a (not so humble) minion to a master, but I was getting my hopes up. Daw got his well deserved promotion, but I weren't too impressed with his rule set at first glance. A position I can gladly say I have departed from. During this spring I read a fair bit about Daw on the Wyrd boards, Rathnard's incredible blog (...), listened to a very good episode of Before We Beging about him, and two episodes of the shortlived podcast Tyne & Wyrd where he was discussed at great length too. What was appearant throughout all of these sources was three things. Daw's outstanding versitility, everyone seemed to have a blast playing him, and that there were plenty of philosophies of how he should be played. Some seem to prefer Jack in very specific schemes and strategies, while others take him more or less regardless. The sum of all the different opinions appealed a lot to me, and have led me to want to try Jack Daw out for a longer stretch. The project A common theme in the discussions about Daw is his learning curve and depth. To quote Rathnard (keep it pink! My emphasis): I remember a game at Gencon where it was the top of the 5th turn vs Nicodem. It was a game I was likely to lose (only barely) but looking at the board I felt as though the potential was there for Jack to pull some really jammy shit, push a bunch of models around and snatch victory from the Jaws of defeat. Unfortunately I just didn’t know him well enough to pull it off, so instead I stared at the board, utterly overwhelmed with the options available to me! The quote really made the final sale for me on Daw. I mean, who doesn't want to be able to pull some really jammy shit! Another thing that is pressing here is that Daw certainly seems to need some time getting used to. That is why I have decided to stick with Daw for a while and learn to play him properly. Currently I am aiming at only playing Daw until the end of September. Summer will get a bit in the way of the project in terms of getting games in, but hopefully Vassal can sort that out. So the span being June 3rd to September 30th (there is the scouting report for you). In the next post I will give a (lengthy) run down on Jack. The one after that well go through Jack's teammates for the coming months. I will also stress that any feed back is highly appreciated! Until next time / Tom PS. The definite form of "jackdaw" (you know, the silly looking bird) in Swedish is Kajan (indefinite Kaja), so I might just call him that. Come on lets make this a thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patzer Posted June 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Double topic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.