Firestarter crew

[wadesauce]

Shifting loyalties 

Firestarter  (7)

Rail golem (11)

Gunsmith  (7)

Fire gamin (4)

Metal gamin (4)

And 2 scrip left over for a possible upgrade or to save...

 

What do you all think? I'm thinking change of station on gunsmith. A gunsmith with campaign upgrades could get pretty awesome. 

Not sure if I'm heading to kaeris or mei with this list. 

[angyi]

Since the Firestarter himself is your only scheme runner, the rest of the crew should be able to deal with the most common problems you're about to face. And they don't seem to be terribly good at it.

I'd surely get rid of the golem, if nothing else, but it's not clear what's your general plan with this build, so I may be wrong.

[wadesauce]

Hmm. My general plan is to fill rail golem with burning and force my opponent to deal with that, the gunsmith supported by the gamin are in charge of taking out people who are running up the flank or dropping scheme markers. 

Also, I'm trying to establish models that are going to work well with kaeris or mei. 

 

What do you suggest? 

I'm afraid if I drop the golem I wouldn't have a good enough damage dealer, as the gunsmith is good, but not good enough to take out henchmen or dedicated combat enforcers. 

[angyi]

The Firestarter is a formidable scheme runner who excels at hunting down annoying flankers like terror tots and the like. Check.

You need beater(s), but the golem is more than unreliable w/o support. I'd change him for Langston for effect, or any similarly independent and reliable piece(s).

Again, the gunsmith is so-so w/o the support he requires, How about an Acolyte if you want ranged, or Johan for more staying power and useful abilities?

All in all, you can't build terribly effective lists for this format and point level, but you can prepare for things you surely will face. In this list of yours, you have 2-3 shooters, but can't do a thing with cover and LoS effects. You have an expensive beater who can't handle Df6. You will stand up against Terrifying and Wp-based attacks with Wp4-5, and you don't even have a tool to remove conditions. Etc.

edit: Just my thoughts based on my own meta. If you feel comfortable with a setup like yours, do not take me too seriously

 

Edited October 9, 2015 by angyi

[wadesauce]

Some really decent suggestions, I do want to get Johan in there, but I was considering him as my week 1 purchase. Langston for rail golem is a pretty good suggestion. 

 

I do however feel that the gunsmith has plenty support in the gamin. The fire gamin puts burning on the enemy so that the gunsmith can benifit from the hard way, and he is sh6 so he can compete with d6. And the metal gamin boosts him to df6 or runs his own scheme markers. . 

I agree I could get a little more efficient early game then two gamin supporting a gunsmith, and it's probably the weakness of my list... but if the heart tells you to run a gunsmith and inefficiently try to pump upgrades into him to make him good, you gotta listen to the heart. Lol

 

Jokes aside, a big reason I'm running the gamin and Smith is they will synergies with kaeris or mei. 

Is it bad to build with your future master in mind over some early effectiveness? 

[angyi]

Probably it's a good idea to think ahead. I just don't think that synergies always work that way. E.g. you have a model that can do with burning, and you plan to buy a master who sets things on fire, boom, synergy. Sure it's synergistic, but there are synergies like "my master isn't terribly damaging, so I buy a heavy weight beater". It's not rules synergy, it's simply a good reason to hire a model because it completes your crew.

That said, I don't rate the gamin-gunsmith synergy too high. If I want to boost my Sh6 gunsmith, I surely don't hire Sh5 models to hit his future targets so he can hit them easier.

But, as always, it's just my opinion, and I'm not the world's best Malifaux tactician by far

[wadesauce]

I was taking what you said into consideration. What do you think of this list? 

Joss (10) 

 -- bleeding edge tech (2)

Firestarter  (7)

Gunsmith  (7)

Rail worker (5)

Metal gamin (4)

 

Now with this I have to decide who's the leader between firestarter and joss, but joss replaces rail golem, as I feel like he's more efficient and resilient. 

The rail worker still has synergy with burning, but is all around better than the gamin. 

Now to the gunslinger and metal gamin.. at this point, I kinda just want it in the build, but even without burning he can take care of himself. His (0) switch chambers is pretty good. And the metal gamin can protect him or help accomplish schemes. 

 

Thoughts? 

(And thanks)

[angyi]

IMO this roster is way better. You have a decent (if a bit slow) front line to keep the enemy busy, and one of the best schemers of the game to gather VPs. Of course you'll have the usual nightmare match-ups, e.g. ordinary Pandora players will eat you alive, but you look okay as far as all-comer lists go.

edit: Bleeding edge tech costs only 1SS, so you can buy another upgrade if you wish

Edited October 10, 2015 by angyi

[wadesauce]

Yay, 1 extra soup stone! 

Fortunately I won't have to deal with Pandora until halfway through. (Plus I generally know my meta, I doubt I'll see a will power crew with maybe the exception of brew.) 

Thanks for your help. Besides johan, who else do you think would support this crew well for future additions? 

also if anyone else wants to chime in I'd appreciate it. I know your out there I see the views.

[bertmac]

I went earlier with firestarter arcane resevoir.

Howard langston

December acolyte

Rail worker.

2xss

 

Hank takes a lot of killing and the railworker backs him up nicely. Acolytes are horrible in low stone games. The spare stones got used for cards as firestarter was safely out of the way!