Shooting, Mercenaries, and Changelings

[Whut]

So I've had some success using a Convict Gunslinger in Lilith Crews because of her ability to place them perfectly in range for a rapid fire, and her crew's ability to counter charge anything that comes close to stop the Gunslinger. In this way I use it as sort of a bait and switch, throwing him forward on first or second turn to put some significant damage down (and hopefully slow too!).

 

Over time I've come to really like using a shooting element to my list, so I've taken time to think about our options (I don't like Angel Eyes or Hans so I'm not including them in this list):

 

Changeling: 4 (Needs mimic target)

Trapper: 7

Doppelganger: 7 (Needs a mimic target)

Convict: 8

Sue: 9

Envy: 9

Anna Lovelace: 10

McTavish: 11 (10 with Zoraida)

I am most intrigued with Changelings. A 4 stone model that can copy any shooting model's attack, even at only Sh4, is a cheap and effective force multiplier.

Each of the above shooting models add something different both by themselves and with Changelings:

 

Trapper: Built in +flip, Longest Range

Convict: Built in +flip, Sh6, Extra Shots, Slow Trigger

Sue: Built in +flip, 3-4 min damage, LOTS of utility. Changelings can't use triggers so only get 2/3/4 damage.

Envy: Built in +flip, mobile (can move and focus/shoot), 2/5/6 damage, somewhat tanky, arguably the most synergistic with a changeling.

Anna Lovelace: Shoot into Engagement, 3 min damage, pushing and placing denial, some utility, decently tanky.

McTavish: Ignore Cover, Shoot into Engagements, mobile (free push, decent Wk, doesn't need to focus) 2/4/6 damage, some utility, some denial, strong in close combat, somewhat tanky, requires markers and suits in hand for best results 

Anyone have any luck using these, with or without Changelings? I'd love to hear some tips and tricks.

Particularly I want to hear about Sue. He seems so good and he can do so many things but in practice does it work out as well as one would like? 

One more thing, do you guys think that Trapper+Changeling has made McTavish a slightly worse choice generally? For the same cost you get to start shooting and gain board control on turn one and get an extra activation, but lose the damage and board control that McTavish can provide in the midgame. My biggest trouble with McTavish is until he gets near some scrap or corpse markers, you're forced to spend other models' activations leaving him a breadcrumb trail of scheme markers and hoping that you flip the right suit for a push or (1) action. On the bright side, late game McTavish can eat enemy scheme markers, so there's that.

Anyway, just in general, share your experiences and theory with me a little. I like having a shooting attack because it makes me feel like I don't always have to chase down my opponent and can play a more balanced threat game.

Edited November 19, 2015 by Whut

[lusciousmccabe]

I haven't run Sue in Neverborn but in Outcasts he tends to be quite a solid model, but not a constantly outstanding one. His shooting is very good, but the mediocre accuracy prevents it from being amazing and he has enough random abilities that you tend to get to use at least one of them most games, but you can't really predict what's going to be useful. He's a tough-ish model as well and not easily neutralised by engaging him so he's only ever disappointed me when I was up against a shooty Gremlin crew and he had to walk a bit too much to get into shooting range and ended up just sitting on scheme markers most of the game. He still did the job well, but it was a bit boring.

It sounds like you're plan will largely nullify his crap Wk, but I'm not sure he'll perform better than the Gunslinger for a bait-and-switch since it's harder to force shots through with Sh 5 on his gun. He's probably more feasible as a fall back piece that can cause a lot of damage late in the turn and might have a silver bullet for one of your opponent's annoying tricks. 

[Whut]

Oh one more important difference I forgot to mention: Range!

 

Trapper: Up to 28"

Convict 10"

Sue: 12"

Envy: 12"

Anna: 10" ?

McTavish: 14"

 

I think 12" is the sweet spot for not getting charged back, as most things you may want to shoot can very well have a 10" threat range on the charge. Malifaux has taught me never to underestimate those 2" that make the difference between 10 and 12 on a 3x3 foot board.

On the other hand, the Convict has a slow, so although it's harder to get him into shooting range, once he's there, he's incredibly effective with a single high crow.

Thanks for the reply man, I'm intrigued most about Sue's card draw and the ability to lay down the -flips against casting, but with how small the aura is I think the latter isn't as useful as it seems.

 

In my next game with a good set of schemes and strats I might use the Envy-Changeling detachment from my force. For 13ss you get Envy to walk, zero focus, then shoot, followed by the changeling zero moving, focusing, and shooting. Requires a card for focus and potentially a 7 for the changeling's move, but I think it's a very powerful mobile and self sufficient fire base.

Edited November 19, 2015 by Whut

[Nical]

Don't forget Lazarus(11ss / Rng 12). and mercenary enforcers can take Retribution's Eye.

[Whut]

Oh yea of course! I completely forgot about practically the most infamous one xD

I really like Retribution's Eye on the Convict Gunslinger because armor can completely neuter his 2/3/4 damage profile, and also his accuracy and volume of shots can see him assassinating things with defensive triggers like Riders, Dreamer, Pandora, Gremlins, etc

[Ludvig]

Changelings gain a lot from attacks with baked in bonuses. Both Sue and the trappers rely on plusflips to hit and McTavish has the +1 to sh for each swampfiend (I believe it's baked into the actual attack and not a trigger?)

The extra range from the trappers is reliant on focus but can be very powerful depending on the board. On some boards it could matter a lot less. 

Comparing sh 5 with a plusflip and sh 7 without it, I'd say it's pretty clear cut which attack the changeling would prefer to copy. Enough plusflips will make you flip high card so you can force high cards from the opponents hand or just make them give up and let you hit.

[Ryin]

I personally think that Envy was tailor made for Neverborn. Copying him with a changeling or a doppelganger alone is worth price of admission. I've only run him in a Lucius list so far though, but I liked the results. The flip helps the changelings and dops, but even more so is that his moderate dmg is 4. You can get your 4 point changelings wrecking low def model, or potentially harassing higher cost models, out of activation even. I had Envy, two changelings and a dop in a crew and with a lil bit of help you can potentially get off 11 2/4/5 shots with and 1 with dmg from Envy's free focus.

Lucius was good for positioning in the crew I used. I went up against a Collodi crew that was using him as well. I imagine he'd be pretty nice in a Zoraida crew as well. I haven't tried any of the other models presented, but I've thought about it. I'm also interested to know how it might work.

[cursingbulldog]

Envy, trapper and 3 changelings in a fated collodi list is just brutal. Envy can have Collodi focus off activation passing it out to the changelings and trapper. Throw in the arcane bonus for burning or the brutal bonus for card draw depending on if you think you can kill that round or not. Three 28 in pounces 3 additional focused shots on their turns and 3 shots from the trapper with spending Collodi's actual AP isn't bad.

[Whut]

Just played a game yesterday with Dreamer. Stake a Claim and I took protect territory and deliver a message against Colette who took the same. 

I decided to try out the trapper/changeling combo, and it worked... pretry well. First turn they killed a performer (though that gave Colette reactivate) and third turn the Trapper was able to walk up and (with a lucky Critical trigger and moderate) one-shot the metal gamin that Mech Rider had just summoned without focusing. The changeling then went along and placed two scheme markers on turns 4 and 5, scoring me protect territory. Most turns the sniper shot (being at Sh 4 or 5) managed only to drain a high card or two from my opponent, and really only did super significant damage when I got the critical strike trigger (which I got lucky with this game). Interestingly enough, the Trapper is a better mid-range shooter than a sniper. With a 14" range and a built in +flip on the attack, spamming two shots seems to be better at placing chip damage and/or draining your opponent's hand, plus it gives the Trapper a really nice push after every non-crit attack, which the changeling can easily follow up on.

Overall, for 11 points, I'd say the pair is a solid investment. The only thing they lack is the fact that you don't get anything for that 11 pointd that can really supplement the front line. Halfway through the game I made a really bad play that let Cassandra breathe fire on a ton of fresh summons, killing all of them and effectively making it so my Lelu and Silurid had no incoming backup and were overextended, so I quickly lost them too. Now that all I had was Dreamer, teddy, the pair, and a second Silurid all packed into the right side of the board, I really wished I had something that could walk up and plug the giant hole that Cassandra, Mech Rider, and Howard could all easily slip through on the left. At this point I really needed a Waldgeist or something similar, but all I had was a sniper team that could barely ping 2-4 damage on my opponent. Just something to keep in mind.

However there is something that the pair wad really good at: getting my opponent  (a friend of mine) into a really bad mood. From 1st Turn all the way to about 3rd he felt like there was nothing he could do about the snipers and taking those "free" shots each turn resulted in a not so good NPE. I don't know how much I like that, considering despite always aiming to win, I also like to have high-tension games with strong opponents who are having fun and never feel like their efforts are futile and they would rather just pack up and leave. Not sure if this is an isolated case and others might react differently, but it just left a bad taste cause I want my opponent to have as much fun as I do.

[tunagami]

If he was rocking Cassandra, Mech Rider, and Howard, I don't know how he could cry.  It is not like he was taking poo models to play with either.  It sounds like it didn't crush his game at all.  Some people just get sour for you giving them a challenge.  I say, bring it baby! :-D

[Bodiless]

Have to agree with tunagami - I can't see where someone has a lot of grounds to grouch about your 11pt combo when they are running something like that. 

[Ludvig]

If he was rocking Cassandra, Mech Rider, and Howard, I don't know how he could cry.  It is not like he was taking poo models to play with either.  It sounds like it didn't crush his game at all.  Some people just get sour for you giving them a challenge.  I say, bring it baby! :-D

Your opponents list screams NPE. It deserves whatever combo you can think of!