The Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth: A Pandora Tactica

[Halflingspy]

Hello all!

Again, us at Sprites and Dice have put together a Tactica, this time, going in-depth about Pandora and her skill set.  Dana, our Neverborn player, loves using the 'bubble-bomb' method to destroy teams, but do you play her differently?  Is there another trick to using her besides a massive dose of Misery?   Feel free to check out our article, and tell us what you think!

http://www.spritesanddice.com/2015/07/malifaux-tactics-in-that-place-there.html

[Joel]

A lot of good and accurate stuff there, nice article

On some of the models you haven't used:

Doppleganger combos well with the mood swing condition from incite as it allows you to cheat initiative flips - allowing pandora to set up the activation order of the enemy crew rather well, especially on turns 2 and 3 having already incited on turn 1. Manipulative also causes more Wp tests if someone goes after her which both the sorrows and pandora can enjoy

In addition, her high movement makes her a great waypoint for a jumping sorrow and her mimic ability can copy some wonderful attack forms. One of these is actually coppelius (a combination of models I refer to as Coppy and Paste) - doppleganger can't copy triggers, but ripping out eyeballs isn't a trigger and the doppleganger can improve its own defence up to Df8 in a single activation.

The other is the widow weaver.

The widow's web markers turns every Wp duel the enemy has to take from difficult to near-impossible - and this just builds and builds as turns progress. She's got some nifty movement tricks too.

[-Loki-]

I'll have to give this a read. Pandora is on my painting table and I want to give her a go, but her playstyle has always been a tad confusing.

[Clockwork Top Hat]

Iggy and the Alps are good with Pandora - Iggy as a Woe with ranged options and Throw A Fit and the Alps who can cause more Wp duels for misery (though if you're playing with Copelius you might be summoning these anyway)

[Joel]

yeah, I wouldn't buy alps, but summoning some in with eyeballs works just fine.

[Mach_5]

Anyone else prefer Voices over Box Opens? They say the best defense is a good offense, and I'd rather Pandora be able to target up to 3 different models with Ca 6 or 7 with paralyze than leave it up to my opponent to beat one Terrifying check with a beatstick and have his way with Pandora for a full activation.

[zFiend]

Anyone else prefer Voices over Box Opens? They say the best defense is a good offense, and I'd rather Pandora be able to target up to 3 different models with Ca 6 or 7 with paralyze than leave it up to my opponent to beat one Terrifying check with a beatstick and have his way with Pandora for a full activation.

As a swift thought this does sound like a better idea.

[Philosfr]

I finally got over the "oh, Pandora is too broken and a negative play experience" and put her down on the table last night for the first time. It was my last Neverborn master to play, I felt obligated.

 

I played her with Fears Given Form and the Box, teamed up with a Teddy, Widow Weaver and Coppelius (35 SS game, 3 player Loot strategy).

 

The three player game made it a slightly unusual experience since I was facing Yan Lo and the Vik's. Regardless, Pandora melted face with such a target rich environment. The Widow Weaver and her webs made fighting over the loot super easy... my opponents were both cursing out Widow Weaver more than even Pandora. Teddy didn't do too much since Rusty Alyce red joker'd him to create an abomination, but his noble sacrifice bought Widow Weaver the time to drop plenty of web's and for Coppelius to steal a couple eyeballs, the loot and then make a run for it.

 

With both Izamu and Yan Lo gunning for Pandora though... the push on successful willpower defenses meant even a beat stick wasn't that scary. Chiaki did a nice job of keeping them free from paralysis from the terror checks, but it wasn't enough. Pandora murdered Yan Lo and then skipped out of town when Rusty Alyce tried to mix it and scored me a victory point safe behind a wall with protect territory.

 

The Pandora death ball was a lot of fun... she murdered a lot of things without ever even targeting them.

[Joel]

On voices - it does sound great, but in practice in never works out that well - I tend to prefer 3 dead models to 3 paralysed ones myself.

[Mach_5]

That's also true in theory... but she's probably not going to one-shot three models.

[Tigerstyle]

I like Voices as well, being able to reach out and Paralyze a model from 10" away is awesome.  When I'm using Voices instead of Box, I'm usually running Pandora as more of a control master than a damage monster.

[Insidiously Mad]

Used Box Open in all 9 games I've played with Pandora but will definitely need to try Voices in the future. Really like all of her upgrades, sometimes tough to choose which ones to us

[Deluge]

Anyone else prefer Voices over Box Opens? They say the best defense is a good offense, and I'd rather Pandora be able to target up to 3 different models with Ca 6 or 7 with paralyze than leave it up to my opponent to beat one Terrifying check with a beatstick and have his way with Pandora for a full activation.

I have played roughly 5 games with Pandora so far and have ran her with Voices every time, I love Paralysing a model and then Inciting them. I have started to use this combination to allow for models such as Baby Kade more room to manoeuvre and time to engage something to butcher. I really prefer the control orientated Pandora as opposed to Damage Dealer 

[Mach_5]

The best part of Voices is she can still do damage if she wants, but the option to paralyze instead is there. It can be especially helpful when the target doesn't have a good attack to damage itself with.

[Uktena]

I prefer Box (but I also play Beastmen)

[EnternalVoid]

Of the two I have preferred Voices myself.  Mostly because I love being able to paralyze a key model.  I also like that it is 1ss cheaper.  The Box is nice, really nice when you combine it with Fear Given Form, the two of them together are a nasty combo.  But with some of the movement tricks my opponents have pulled out I am not as keen on Fear Given Form right now as I have seen how it can hinder plans.  In a couple Pandora games I have used the her having Fear Given Form against her as well.  It has a time and place but generally not with the Pandora lists I have ran the last couple times.

 

That said I generally keep Pandora light, just Voices and Aether Connection unless I really need one of the other upgrades.

[asrian]

I liked the article. In contrast though I have to say 90% of the time when I run Pandora my core list is:

Pandora + Voices & Depression

2x Insidious Madness

Doppelganger

Then I fill in the rest from there depending on Strats, Schemes, and Terrain.

[AgentRock]

In addition, her high movement makes her a great waypoint for a jumping sorrow and her mimic ability can copy some wonderful attack forms. One of these is actually coppelius (a combination of models I refer to as Coppy and Paste) -

This got me to snort at my desk at work. Well played, Henry.

 

Learned the hard way that Widow Weaver can be a bit fragile, so need to play a game where I keep her further back. However, mauled face in a Headhunter against an opponent and crew style I'd been struggling with, so she'll have to see some more table time. Plus, that push four after the heads pop off is gold. 

[anumberone]

A long time Pandora player here and thought I should say a bit about the Box Opens and why I always take it. I should preface this by saying I can only theorize about Voices since I have never used it. I will certainly try it on for size sometime.

I usually play Pandora as a monkey wrench to my opponent's plan and a terrorist of sorts. People really hate Pandora and I want them to hate her, especially when assassinate is not in the pool. So I dangle her out there and see who takes the bait.

Terrifying 13 is usually a flip from my opponent, which is always great. Sometimes it's a card, even better. Then comes the attack and where I usually drop a higher number for the defense, push just out of range for melee, or maybe out of range, into cover. Or in the direction I wanted to go in the first place.

I've played games without the box and have lost Pandora a lot quicker or more frequently in every game without it. Terrifying 13 makes a player with wp 4 or even 5 model think on whether it's worth attacking her.

The second part of the upgrade, Those that dwell, adds another layer of utility to her. It gives her a viable (if low damaging) attack targeting defense. One that ignores cover and can target a model in an engagement. Sometimes Inflict is the better option to use on a model with no claw or gun symbol attack but it's a static tn that you can't cheat up higher.

Those that dwell has triggers too, one that causes a horror duel and another that strips horror and paralyze immunities. Worth tagging certain obnoxious models with.

I think Voices could be fun to try out, especially with Fugue State, but my Pandora is usually very stone hungry keeping herself alive and I can't guarantee having those crows when I need them. Terrifying 13 remains a useful passive ability through out the game.