Models that I think are good, but never see talked about anymore

[Whut]

Hoarcat Prides - other factions would kill for these shooting resistant, Manipulative, decent Df, Weak damage 3 (as long as you have more than 2 wounds), self healing, devouring minions. I remember people calling them OP at one point, why don't people talk about using them more? Are metal gamin and Rail Workers just THAT much better? The only weakness these guys have seem to be focused shooting attacks for 6 damage.

SS miner - for 6 ss you get a significant model with 6 wounds, Df 5, armor 1, and the ability for ss prevention that pops up anywhere on the board. It's not a frontline fighter but its nearly unkillable without a moderate commitment. Yet I never hear about this model either. Does Colette's movement power make it obsolete? Or does Practiced Production with a Raptor do the job better?

Willie - he's not tough, but he does have an Armor ignoring, LoS ignoring blast attack, he (almost) practically has Disguise, and he explodes for a hefty bit of damage when he dies. Is 6 stones too much? I feel like he's really good on paper.

Lazarus - this guy seems to have SO much synergy with our faction, between prompt, all the constructs, Brass arachnid, mobile toolkit, doves, you name it. But most people stick to the faction staple which is Howard.

Mobile Toolkit - for anything but Ramos scrap. 3ss for an Armor 2 model, an activation, and bonuses to damage or attack flips, or armor. Plus as an extra, he turns into a TN16, 5 damage bomb. Why don't I see this one more?

Slate ridge mauler - This one I mentioned in another thread recently, and I really really like this guy. If only he had Ml6, or his frenzy gave him +1 Ml. Maybe if he were an enforcer and could take pack leader or Imbued Energies. On the other hand, as a super tough minion he is only worth 1 point in that Bounty strat, he does well at denying Make them Suffer, and (my favorite, though I haven't gotten to use it yet) he is eligible for Colette to teleport to a scheme marker 18" away.

Mechanical Rider - this girl I just never see mentioned ever. And she doesn't seem all that bad, especially when you consider oh come on you know I have to be joking with this one xD. And that's why Mech Rider should be talked about more.

[Dirial]

Mechanical Rider - this girl I just never see mentioned ever. And she doesn't seem all that bad, especially when you consider oh come on you know I have to be joking with this one xD. And that's why Mech Rider should be talked about more.

 

[Whut]

I literally said outright that I'm joking, relax

[Dirial]

I literally said outright that I'm joking, relax

 

You still said you want to talk about her. And I foretell if that is done, the other models aren't going to be talked about very much....

[Whut]

That was just to finish off the paragraph so no one would see the kidding line >.<

[Dirial]

That was just to finish off the paragraph so no one would see the kidding line >.<

 

Well played. Ignore me then.

[dgraz]

The SRM is a miss. With the other options the faction has he doesn't really cut it. It's far too difficult to keep him in the sweet spot where he can actually do stuff. His base damage track isn't scary enough for people to want to kill him, so they usually don't try to plink him down....they only go after him with something that can finish him.

 

Great concept, he just doesn't work.

 

I love Hoarcats. I don't field them enough to be honest, but they are crazy good especially when you have several. Running them along with something like a Waldgeist (with Perfect Camo) is fun. Early in the turn your opponent really doesn't know who to go after....take the multiple Manipulative tests, are deal with the  flips. If you plan your activation order well you can keep it going on through mid-turn at least.

[PolishSausage]

Couple of the models you have listed are not out in plastic and old metals are hard to find. There are also purists out there who only want to use plastic and will hold out until future releases.

[zFiend]

There are also purists out there who only want to use plastic and will hold out until future releases.

 

Also there are people who just can't find the metals even though they are not purists.  

[Sybarite]

I know some people use laz with colette and ramos and i hear people talk abouy ss miners a lot. Ss miners are rather dependant on deployment type though.

I like the miner and hoarcats and use them occasion although not super often.

Want to use Willie more. Gotta paint that guy! He seems pretty good with a lot of masters.

And I wish I had lazarus.

[AllistorPreist]

I can't speak to the others, but I can't ask a question that contains the word Arcanist (or Hoffman) without the answer including the phrase, "and a Soulstone Miner". 

 

But if it makes you feel better, I now have to mod a Showgirl with a flaming hoop so I can add a Hoarcat. 

[decker_cky]

Slate Ridge Mauler is probably among the worst 5 models in the faction. It's not fast, it's not dangerous, and it's surprisingly, not particularly resilient. 

 

Willie has a bit of a timing issue stopping his bombs from being super good, and is quite fragile, but I think he has a lot of potential. I'm planning to try a Kaeris/Steam Arachnid/Willie area denial list sometime (Willie, 3 arachnids and a mannequin should be able to shut down a fairly large area even after Kaeris walks away). Willie is a bit slow too, which is very limiting in Malifaux.

 

Hoarcats suffer a bit from a lack of speed too. Still great buys (particularly against gremlins who won't like the  to Sh actions, the Wp test from manipulative, or the threat of devour) for all the reasons you said. 

 

SS Miners are game winning choices. 

 

The rest of your choices are good choices worth taking a lot of the time. 

[Whut]

This is some great feedback on these models, thanks guys.

About Hoarcats: walk 5 is slow? I mean I know it's not fast like leap or wk7 but I wouldn't call it slow. They can even move through models so they don't get stuck.

SS Miners are game winning choices.

See, that's what I thought, but for some reason no one has mentioned them around here so I was super confused and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with them. Turns out it was nothing.

[decker_cky]

40mm base without unimpeded makes them a bit tough to get where they need sometimes. And they have a tiny charge plus melee range, so pass through is rare to get to take advantage of.

[Whut]

Fair enough. However they are only 5ss so I don't blame them Rail workers and Metal gamin share a similar fate.

[Math Mathonwy]

Mobile Toolkit - for anything but Ramos scrap. 3ss for an Armor 2 model, an activation, and bonuses to damage or attack flips, or armor. Plus as an extra, he turns into a TN16, 5 damage bomb. Why don't I see this one more?

Utterly ridiculous with Lazarus, btw. to damage for Laz is broken good. Just add Prompt/Reactivate.

[Whut]

Speaking of Laz, what are the best constructs to run with him? Joss springs to mind for a really nice melee attack and okay ranged attack. Coryphee allow him to teleport to showgirls but that requires a suit as usual.

[Hunt.er]

SS miners are good "Suckers" and great for some work in the opponents half of the table. If you have enough models in play not being outnumbered/-activated he can sit long times under the earth until the Enemy Down Below is unleashed on the world.

 

Toolkit is a great additon for an activation with some nice bonusses for your crew.

 

And the Kittys, well, i have to wait until i get some expericence with them, but you already named their adavantages.

[Lancer]

I keep giving the SRM a new chance to prove herself but she always falls short of what an 8ss model should get you. For one stone more you can get a blessed december. The SRM really exists for Myranda to transform into.

 

 

Speaking of Laz, what are the best constructs to run with him? Joss springs to mind for a really nice melee attack and okay ranged attack. Coryphee allow him to teleport to showgirls but that requires a suit as usual.

 

Lazarus with the arcane effigy gives a Condition Removal. I know its not the most powerful thing but adds a lot of utility which is what you need since he has great weapon already. I heard somewhere that condition removal will become a more prominent part to strong crew building.   

[decker_cky]

I keep giving the SRM a new chance to prove herself but she always falls short of what an 8ss model should get you. For one stone more you can get a blessed december. The SRM really exists for Myranda to transform into.

 

Why would Myranda transform into one rather than the Blessed, a Cerberus, or Cojo? The mauler's advantages compared to those models are really tiny. The slate ridge mauler exists for one reason....to handicap yourself in demo games and give your opponent something big and scary to kill.

[madaxeman]

Willie exists for Frame for Murder.

I've deployed him maybe 4 times now, he's never gotten to the end of turn 3....

[prof_bycid]

Same here. The thought of Willi throwing bombs around puts a target on him every time. But I mean look at him! He makes me laugh every time I put him on the board. I still field him because I enjoy the game more, win or lose.

[katadder]

I have had fun with SRM. yes his damage track isnt massive (unless hes at half wounds) but he is quite tough to take down, especially if putting slow on the thing doing the take down.

have had one hold up mccabe, luna and francisco for a whole game (and he was going to eat franc if time hadnt been called)

[Bengt]

Hoarcats. They are good but not great in my opinion. And when I have a model that is "only" good I'll want some synergies to bring it and it only has beast so it I wouldn't really consider it with the other 6 Masters. I don't consider their Devour a synergy with Rasputina because Ml 4 is absolute shit and I wouldn't spend any AP setting up something with so low chance of success.

 

SS Miner. I see them mentioned now and then so I don't agree that they are ignored.

 

Willie. I think he kind of suffers in the explody department when compared to Papa and Pere, sure he doesn't damage himself either, but I guess I appreciate the spectacle of those guys. Also, his "disguise" is until the end of turn so you have to activate him early if you want it up, which can be a liability. That said I think he is fairly solid. Aesthetically he is terrible though, I hate the cartoony caricature that is his head.

 

Lazarus. I think he is solid but I don't actually think he has a lot synergies with Arcanists in general. He is mainly a ranged model and there aren't a lot of good ranged stuff to assimilate and some of what there is is on expensive models (e.g. Chain Spear) or is Master specific (e.g. Electrical Fire, Stoke). Still, even he never uses assimilate he is a solid ranged beater if that is what you want.

 

Toolkit. I think it suffers from The Right Tool being the only useful think it can do. Timed explosion only does noticeable damage late game and the TN 11 duel is a bit easy. And while you can't really expect more than Ml 4 from a SS 3 model, Ml 4 is still shit. And of course it can't help with schemes. So it turns into a 3 SS upgrade for whoever it is tagging along with.

 

I don't want to talk about Slate Ridge Mauler.

[Adran]

Hmm, I would like to buck the trend and praise the Slate ridge maulers, but its hard to do so. If you want to hold a bit of Ground, then they are a solid choice for doing it. They use a different defesive power than most of the Arcanist range (Impossible to wound, Hard to kill and healing), so counter the convetional wisdom of" I'm facing Arcanists, take Armor ignoring attacks".

 

But they are slow, and they aren't that threatening until you make them angry. A lot of the time they don't get targetted because they don't need to be targetted.

 

In the right situation (prehaps protecting a couple of squat markers and protect Territory markers) they can do well, but they are specialised, and if you're not using them for the right task, then they are very underwelming.

I've had a little sucess with them in Reckoning and Turf war, where they have taken a lot off effort to be killed, or just not killed (handy when facing Ramos with Joss and Taelor). They weren't amazing, but at least worth the points. (close deployment in the turf war certainly helped)