Top 3's

[LordZombie]

Here is a little something for everyone. What would be your top 3 model picks for each faction, or at least your faction? Not counting models in a crew box set. If you bought a crew box, any one, what would be the top 3 models you would go for next?

[Dogmantra]

I asked a similar thread in the Gremlins forum a while back, although it was more "favourites" than "best" models - here's my post:

1. Moon Shinobis, even without poison I love them, and their damage tracks look weedy but hit pretty hard thanks to drunken gremlin kung fu. Most people tend to think of shooty crews when they're facing gremlins too, so a few of these bad boys can throw them for a loop. All that, AND they have a 2" melee range. The only thing not to love is that you have to be careful around...

2. Old Cranky. He's becoming my go-to totem on Mah, and I might have to bring him along on Som'er when I don't need skeeters. Him + Lenny + a slop hauler makes a bubble that is very hard to break. Plus he's a peon that's not insignificant, and has a pretty terrifying shotgun with minimum 4 damage on a crow trigger. Very good, I like him a lot. I just wish someone wouldn't keep trying to put him in a box.

3. Sammy LaCroix. I adore the idea that she can take a master-specific upgrade, although I'm not sure if she'd want any of Mah's, she can do the Som'er summoning thing and free him up to boomer everything. Probably good to stick a Brewie upgrade (maybe binge?) on, or something of Wong's or Ulix but whatever to those guys. Her melee isn't bad (especially if you get lucky for the severe flips), and a non-randomising ranged attack with a guaranteed 2 damage is nice to have even before the conditions, since I like to mob in melee a little too much. A very nice Df and Bayou Two Card round it off.

 

Although my opinion of Wong & Ulix has changed since, unfortunately two out of three still aren't out in plastic yet.

[Vidd]

I love Somer so I'll go with his box.

1. Slop Haulers - He needs these guys in order to make his summoning work. Otherwise you've got a load of 2Wd Gremlins running about.
2. Burt - Burt is a bit like Francois but without so much of the glass cannon aspect. He can use the Bayou Gremlins as pretty cheat Slippery targets so he's got some synergy with a Somer crew.
3. Gracie - Gracie's meant to work with Burt and although I'm wary these days of gluing 21 soulstones together, Lenny loves to be saddled about as well. Somer's crew can have a busy Turn 1, with a lot of models bunched up, so this can help.

 

[daniello_s]

As an Outcasts player I would say:

1. Johana - very good hitter with option for condition removal at 6SS price = bargain

2. Strongarm Suit - really tanky model with good melee and shooting which could be surprisingly mobile thanks to his Augmented Jump ability

3. Lazarus - shooting platform with good resilience and self-healing

[doombladez]

For Ressers (assuming we're talking models that would be good for any or at least most Resser masters) I'd go:

1) Rotten Belles. Lure is great with just about every Resser master, movement manipulation is always great. 

2) Nurses. Similar to the Belles, the Nurses have something to offer just about everyone in the faction. With four vastly different triggers on Take Your Meds you can get exactly the effect you want of out them, and since they can even use the suits on really low cards in hand it's pretty rare that you can't get the trigger you need. 

3) Izamu. This is a completely selfish choice, I just really love Izamu as a beatstick. With Armor +2, a high MI and decent damage track, and the ability to heal, he's my favorite enforcer in the game and I honestly can't imagine playing Ressers without at least considering him. 

[SpiralngCadavr]

Outside of boxed sets is kinda' tricky... Outcasts:

-Hannah- strong; tough; increased hand size; a merc so functions with I pay better

-Johan- condition removal, extremely cheap offense, also a merc

...I'm not sure I have a third. Friekorps work really well with just about everyone, and wretches are nice for their role, etc. but they're all in boxes. And there are some niches. I don't think I have a third must-have that isn't in a box. Maybe I'll think of something.

[BigHammer]

Thunders are tricky. A lot of my favourite models are in the crew boxes!

Based on the models I use the most, though, I'd have to go with:

1) Mr Graves. An excellent mid-price enforcer with decent survivability, good movement tricks and an extremely hard-hitting attack.

2) Toshiro the Daimyo. He's an absolute game-changer in Thunders, who have some really beefy minions for him to buff, and his 1SS summoning upgrade is fantastic to boot.

3) Katanaka Snipers. Some of the best shooting models in the game, who also happen to have a fantastic melee attack and some very useful abilities, and good synergy with a Thunders crew in general.

[tomjoad]

For 10T, my first two are easy:

1) 10 Thunders Brothers - I've written and spoken a lot about how much I love these guys. Basically, I think they are good at everything and are the best.

2) Yin the Penangalan - She's very difficult to kill, or escape, or do anything about, and she can brutal hose a master who relies on Ca abilities for effectiveness. With Shenlong or Yan Lo as her Master, you can heal her up every turn and she's nigh unstoppable.

3) There's a lot of models I could pick here, but I think Toshiro is it. I tend to run minion heavy crews, so his buffs are very welcome, and he's one of the very few summoners in the faction (the only one, really, outside of Shenlong's and Yan Lo's VERY limited summoning options).

[Breng77]

For arcanists

1.) Mechanical rider: not counting models in crew boxes (and possibly even then) this is easily one of the games most powerful models.  Decently powerful attack, summoning, high survivability.  No brianer #1 here.

2.) Malifaux raptor: great utility model, super cheap, very versatile.  With a showgirl with priacticed production it becomes one of the games best scheme runners especially in headhunter or collect the bounty.  Good for tying up shooting models, denying make them suffer.  Borderline broken in interference.  

3.) I find this to be the tough choice, I have not used some of the newer models, and most of my other top models are from crew boxes or mercs.  So to me this slot is likely crew dependent.  But I'll go with the December acolyte.

[Slapdrone]

Yeah, for Ressers, outside of the crew boxes is tough.  Belles, Nurses, Punk Zombies, and all the Henchies come in the crews.

1.) Necropunks:  The leap is good for so much, has won me many a game.

2.) The Hanged:  Expensive, but I didn't know what I was missing with Molly until I started playing Kiria.  Being able to summon one of these tar pits into a group of enemies is fantastic.

3.) Guild Autopsies:  Cheap, okay shooters, embalmed, ceaseless advance and can ever summon a zombie off a corpse marker.  Amazing for four points.  Always a great little roadblock to summon in with Karina or Horror Molly.

[Bengt]

Arcanists, this list would be different for most actual crew boxes, e.g. M&SU boxes would have Johan; Rasputina would have Snow Storm; Marcus would have beasts.

1. December Acolytes
2. Mechanical Rider
3. Angelica

Resurrectionists

1. Nurses
2. Necropunks
3. Izamu the Armour

[Tayne]

For Neverborn: 
1.    Doppleganger – So versatile thanks to her copying ability she features in every list I build
2.    Primordial Magic – So damn effective it’s not true. Also, I don’t play Lynch so the Pukeworm is normally the best choice for me.
3.    Candy – I just love disrupting peoples plans. Having Candy with Fears Given Form and Best Behaviour in a Lillith crew is a fun bomb to drop into their midst while snagging a target to kill. 

 

[Patzer]

Fun question. Pretty hard one to answer since there isn't a lot of model to pick from. 

Neverborn 

1. Doppelganger
2.  Nekima 
3. Waldegeists 

Kicker. Primordial Magic. The PM is great, but not for all master. Hence, it is out.  

Outcast 
1. Johan
2. Hannah
3. Hodgepodge Effigy

[Kogan Style]

As a Resurr only player:

1. Rotten Belles

2. Nurses

3. Necropunks

And to stir it up some - Shikome are more effective than Izamu.

 

[bertmac]

1. December acolytes

2. Sabertooth Cerberus

3. Used to be metal Gamin but will say Willie just because the model is awesome and armour ignoring blasts with the chance to add burning are great!

Having said all that most Arcanist players that don't play Ramos will be directed to the ramos box before anything else due to Howard and Joss!

[PanzerHarris]

As a Guild lunatic...

1. Guild Austringers. This should surprise nobody.

2. Brutal Effigy. 6 from 7 Guild Masters are all about bringing pain and any time you get benefits from doing that, plus another cheap scheme runner, is great. Plus the model might just be my favourite plastic at the moment.

3. Peacekeeper. Lord Stompy Bits is a mainstay in my case and sees a lot of use. He tanks. He hits. He drags. He controls scheme markers. He scares the bejeezus out of living models. I have to confess I detest the plastic model as I find the metal just so much more characterful, but whatever your personal preference Peacekeeper is a beast.

[Chumbalaya]

1) Austringers.  You'll hear it a lot from us Guildies, but I love these bastards.  Sh7, up to 18" range ignoring LoS, decent damage track, forcing discards and the greatness of Deliver Orders for a push and (1) Interact.  Plus, they're Guardsmen so they can follow Lucius whichever faction he plays for.

2) Pale Rider.  He's expensive, but incredibly mobile, can drop scheme markers with ease and, like all the Riders, gets better as the game goes on.  Starting turn 3 (2 if you have the ) he's doing min damage 4 on an attack at range or up close and the one time you pull off his super attack you'll be laughing maniacally in no time.  Bonus points for giving him the Glowing Saber or Critical Strike from campaign skills.

3) Brutal Emissary.  I adore this model.  He's durable as hell, pretty zippy, can do a surprising amount of damage, can heal, slow enemies, and his bury trick alone is worth the price of admission.  On top of that, his conflux upgrades open up a lot of options with the various masters and basically give you 7 models in 1.  Boxaporting Lady J is a hoot, Hoffman bury/loop shenanigans are legendary, McCabe gets another upgrade tossed around, Sonnia gets the burning machine going more easily, McMourning can get a bit more poison spread around, Lucius gets heals on his minions and a potentially devastating melee attack, and Perdita can pretend she's Zoraida with a gun.  Oh, and if that don't beat all I can just give my Austringers to their attack flips.

[Yvarre]

Barring infiltrating Beckoners, Depleted, Austringers, and Guild Hounds:

1. Mr. Graves- Yes, I'd like a 6 inch push for 2 models.  Now go break some bones!  Just gotta be careful of not bunching that black blood on my own crew.  Oh, need to take my opponent out of position and engage another model or 2 to boot?  Got it!  Then there's the trick of shooting Graves for a couple 1 damage attacks myself, splashing black blood all over my opponent's crew.  This works nicely with my number 2 pick randomizing shooting into an engagement cause Graves will relent to the walking fire trigger.

2. Samurai w/ Favor of Jigoku- 14 inch Sh range!  They can pour on alot of hurt often without any need for cheating, ripping through crews with smaller models or newly summoned things.  And (2) Run Through can be exceptionally handy for unexpected positioning shenanigans.

3. Katanaka Sniper- They can put some serious pressure on weaker models in a crew's backfield early, and they can save you 2-5 AP of not needing to walk to key places.  I've found opponents either want to run them down ASAP (Frame for Murder anyone?) or just avoid and ignore them- ideal for ALITS or schemes on opponent's half of the table- Plant evidence, breakthrough, power ritual.  And if they're sending models after them, it's costing AP that's hopefully not going into schemes and strat- and blow dart slow.

[Postmortem]

Not in a crew box?

1. Waldgeist

2. Johan

3. December acolyte

[Hagisman]

1. Hunters - These guys just control the board and because of their against models that haven't activated yet and their push at the end of turn they are auto includes for me. They are really strong melee models as well that can give out slow at range.
2. Guardians - Mini-Francisco and I use the term mini loosely. He is an auto include for me in Make them Suffer due to his High armor Df trigger. Also putting Defensive +2 on a model like Perdita increases the chance of her getting her defensive trigger. As well as a heal 2 if I am lucky.
3. Pathfinder - Unless Make them Suffer is on the table. Only summons that I can bring to any Guild crew in faction. Also the reset trap to 6 inches has fouled up my opponents a lot.

[Khoregard]

As an outcast, I would have to throw my two cents in with the following models.

1) Convict Gunslingers

2) Vanessa

3) Sue

[Myyrä]

The situation presented here seems kind of forced. If I started a new faction and had bought a crew box, most of the time I would not be looking at models sold individually but another crew box. I think no one should be looking at this thread for advice on what to buy next.

Guild: Austringers, Brutal Effigy, Pathfinder

Arcanists: This would really depend on what the crew box would be. The ones that would be useful with most of them would probably be: Angelica, Mechanical Rider, Metal Gamin

Ressers: Izamu, Yin, Necropunks

Neverborn: Once again very dependent on which crewbox you are getting. Waldgeist, Widow Weaver and Teddy are useful with most crew boxes, but I think they wouldn't all make it into top three with any single crewbox. Stitched Together will also be up there once they are released in plastic.

Outcasts: Johan, Hannah, Strongarm

Gremlins: Slop Haulers, Merris, Gracie

10T: Izamu, Katanaka Snipers, Pathfinder

[Keeblerpowell]

How is Ashes and Dust not making the lists for the outcasts? It's 3 models all alone! lol

 

[Tayne]

How is Ashes and Dust not making the lists for the outcasts? It's 3 models all alone! lol

 

Make a list, pop him in then?