Blood in the Orchestra Pit: Colette and Envy

[Clockwork_Fish]

So I just played a 50 SS game using Colette against Ulix.  The strategy was Squatter's Rights and I had Power Ritual and Protect Territory for schemes.  I won the match 8 - 9 on the fifth turn, and Envy was definitely the MVP.  He killed a Taxidermist, Penelope and a Slop Hauler and crippled Burt and Old Major (Angelica finished Major off).  My opponent was not thrilled; his attempts to kill or contain him didn't work, as Colette kept prompting him out of melee, and his own built in defenses (Armor +1 and Manipulative 12) kept him alive through the entire game.

Even though the game ended up pretty close, my opponent was so put off that he has declared Colette + Envy to be a 'negative play experience.'  What are other peoples' experiences with Envy?  Is my friend right?  Does anyone have any advice on how to counter him, so that I can field this awesome looking model again without the table getting flipped? 

[admiralvorkraft]

No one running Ulix should be throwing around the term npe. 

As for Colette+ Envy? It's no worse than Colette+ anyone else as far as I can tell from looking at the cards.

[Clockwork_Fish]

No one running Ulix should be throwing around the term npe. 

As for Colette+ Envy? It's no worse than Colette+ anyone else as far as I can tell from looking at the cards.

It was my friend's first time using Ulix, but watching the Mechanical Rider get swarmed with piglets and eaten alive was pretty disturbing, I have to admit.

His argument for Envy was that his baked in to attack, 0-action focus, and 2/5/6 damage track, combined with Prompt to make a model that could dish out a ton of damage at range and was, ironically, as slippery as a greased pig if you tried to shut it down.  Yes, you can do the same with Howard Langston, but not at range, and not with the same card efficiency as Envy's .  He's also a steal at only 8 points.

[admiralvorkraft]

You may not be able to attack with Howard at range, but 4/5/7 is a whole different ball game from 2/5/6. Also, projectile attacks are the easiest thing in the game to mitigate, just use cover. Even with a built-in  Envy's only at Sh 5, correct?

[santaclaws01]

You may not be able to attack with Howard at range, but 4/5/7 is a whole different ball game from 2/5/6. Also, projectile attacks are the easiest thing in the game to mitigate, just use cover. Even with a built-in  Envy's only at Sh 5, correct?

You also have to take into account "If I can't have it..." which gives Envy a +1  to his Sh giving him Sh 6 and makes his trigger to get + on moderate and severe as long as the target is within 3" of a scheme marker, which isn't all that hard in a Colette crew. If Colette were to prompt him all 3 times, Envy could get 3 focused shots a turn. Give him reactivate on Turn 5 if he's still around for another focused shot or two more shots. It's a pretty strong combo. Thought about suggesting it to one of our local arcanist players before but didn't get around to it.

[admiralvorkraft]

Sure, it's strong. It's not pigcharging-across-the-board-with-cascading-rampage-triggers strong, but it's strong.

I'll grant that it is even better than I had initially thought, but unless models are tightly clustered that one blast isn't going to do much so realistically that's 1-2 dead models between Envy and Colette. Assuming you don't use cover, and assuming Envy hits/cheats moderate or severe damage every time. Plus the minor setup involved in getting a scheme down.

If I were playing Colette I would probably spend the AP prompting a Coryphee Duet into position to murder everything, or Howie/Joss, or the Mechanical Rider for card draw/utility. 

[Sybarite]

How do you get 3 focused shots with Envy?

 

Oh and howard is 456 not 457

[hippodruid]

How do you get 3 focused shots with Envy?

Prompt 1, focus; prompt 2, shoot; prompt 3, focus; 1AP shoot; 0AP, focus; 1AP shoot.

This really doesn't seem that much worse than anything else Colette can do with any other threatening model.  Sure, it's a bad time for Ulix, who tends to want to be more clumped up than some masters, but that piglet swarm could just as easily have taken down or surrounded Envy to keep him engaged (only three models are required to block any other model from moving, ever).  I can understand the frustration, though.

[admiralvorkraft]

Oh and howard is 456 not 457

Sorry, didn't have the card in front of me. I don't know that I've ever hit severe damage with him, mostly because it's not worth the effort - I charged or flurried anyway, the thing will die.

Envy, on the other hand... I feel like you would end up cheating that damage flip at least a third of the time.

[Fog]

Yeah, weak of 2 means it's taking multiple cards AND your masters activation plus the scheme maker set up-to-date otherwise important models can just cheat higher than you.

Or I could do as much damage more reliably with Howard Langston, leaving a terrifying model with 11 wounds and armor in the middle of your crew.