MCCabe crew picks

[rvdbarnes]

Just wondering which popular crew members people tend to take with McCabe and with what in mind?

 

[Ludvig]

I mostly play him guildside but Luna and two hounds go into almost all my lists for scheme-running and/or Stake a claim.

 

On the TT side others may be more qualified to answer but I was faster: 

Illuminated for immortal, reactivating beatsticks!

 

[Ludvig]

On the whole I feel that TT are drowning in amazing picks for him. 

The TT Brothers can do really cool stuff with their (0) to get reach 4 on the Saber if I'm not mistaken, they can also get really tricky to take down and are generally good for defending scheme markers. McCabes own wastrels are on the weak side in my opinion but one can be nice just to surprise your opponent with a 4ss minion doing weak damage 4 while ignoring almost every known defensive ability in the game. Rail workers can discard to get + to the attack and damage and the sabre has a really steep damage track so getting to just moderate is amazing with it. I have been up against reactivating dawn serpents and they are horrible. The slow beaters get really fast with him so you can probably take any of those. The fast beaters get even better with him so you can take them too.

I basically have a hard time finding bad picks for him so this might no be so helpful.  

[Eclipse]

McGabe is better in TT in my opinion. Not only can he bring a long line of Guardsmen models, he also gets to apply his most awesome trick on the Thunders - Reactivate a minion/Nimble! And there is a great number of minions to reactivate: The Illuminated, Guild Pathfinders, and most importantly: The Dawn Serpent! Flight 6 with Nimble and Reactivate is just bonkers (this is why I am too embarassed to play it :P) Soon-ish McGabe will be getting to reactivate the Jorogumo, as well.
The other amazing upgrade he can toss around is the Glowing Saber - not only does it bypass a ton of defenses directly, it also gives a melee attack to models that lack one. Fuhatsu (!) and Thunders Archers (!) especially benefit from this (though Fuhatsu can not be pushed) - and the latter finally have a use for that Charge of 8 (like the Illuminated). Other models that could make great use of a strong melee attack are Chiaki the Niece, Guild Pathfinders, Guild Riflemen, hilariously - Guild Hounds and Luna! The swordplay never stops.
The effect of pushing the model that receives an upgrade is very valuable and helps otherwise slow models like Izamu the Armor, or can be useful on engaged shooters. A lot of diverse support in one package.
In addition, McGabe and his Slow shenanigans have a great synergy with a number of models. Chiaki, 10T Archers, Katanaka Snipers (0), Yin the Penangalan (I think?), Sensei Yu can give slow; Sidir and Ototo can too and hit harder against models with Slow.
Overall consider what you aim to achieve and then decide on the crew composition. You can bring many minions to cover different bases, or you can throw in some heavy-weight models and make them even better. Most importantly of all, though: Never, ever leave Luna behind. This is the model that wins the game. Seriously

[Ludvig]

McGabe is better in TT in my opinion. 

I would like the record to note that I like the entire post except this statement. 

I can't find a way to argue against it since I haven't played him in TT but I don't have to like it  

I am also not trying to make this the focus of this thread since I believe we tried to have that discussion a while back. I'd be all for some sort of weird competition about it at a later date but for the better part of next year I will probably be focusing on other masters so please wait for me!

[Eclipse]

McGabe is better in TT in my opinion. 

I would like the record to note that I like the entire post except this statement. 

I can't find a way to argue against it since I haven't played him in TT but I don't have to like it  

I am also not trying to make this the focus of this thread since I believe we tried to have that discussion a while back. I'd be all for some sort of weird competition about it at a later date but for the better part of next year I will probably be focusing on other masters so please wait for me!

I understand, as I said, this is -my- opinion, and not one person will be held accountable if they disagree I also happen to think that he is probably the best master in Guild not counting the sheer blasty bullcraMp that is Sonnia. Once again, my opinion (and some others, but let's not derail the topic :)). Good luck with McGaybe

[RarerMonsters]

I'm very fond of an Oiran with him. You can throw Hidden Agenda for free on something to give them a Promises upgrade, and then give Fast and Focused to an Oiran carrying the sword. Since her only real downside has been not having a good attack, all of the sudden you'll see her slashing up much tougher enemies with her charge of 8, free fast, and free focus.

[Eclipse]

I'm very fond of an Oiran with him. You can throw Hidden Agenda for free on something to give them a Promises upgrade, and then give Fast and Focused to an Oiran carrying the sword. Since her only real downside has been not having a good attack, all of the sudden you'll see her slashing up much tougher enemies with her charge of 8, free fast, and free focus.

Oh yeah, excellent! You totally could do this, giving Hidden Agenda to, say, Fuhatsu or Sidir with their reliable Sh scores.
And while we are on the topic of (0) upgrades... We have the Samurai (great with any master in 10T in my experience) with their solid melee and absolutely hilarious ranged potential - included with three (0) upgrades to choose from! Now, you might not run all three, or even a pair of them, but Samurai are customizable all-rounders at a reasonable cost. Think of them as mini-Izamu + mini-Fuhatsu - not at specialized as either one, but almost as durable (minus the heal/prevention).

[Yvarre]

I love turn 1 kills with infiltrated Austringers.  That's just about the easiest way to score vendetta that I've found.  I wait til later in the turn to activate and start knocking smaller models off with them (barring vendetta) and getting that all important activation control early.  As Luna and 2 hounds are 10 stones for 3 models, it's pretty easy to pack 8-10 models into a McCabe crew at 50ss, and usually my opponent will want to advance some models into Austringer range...

The shadow effigy makes the scheme running hounds just absurd.  6 Scheme markers for ALITs turn 1 is pretty hard to prevent except with Nino or models like rat king and performers that eat scheme markers, and there are other scheme-based schemes that are less AP intensive on turn 1...

Then there is Ototo for any schemes that force clumps like turf war and extraction or even close deployment.  Every time an opponent attacks him when he's at full, I want them to hit and am slightly confused why they're attacking if they can't kill him then and there.  Once he's at 6 or less wounds, pop that recalled training and flurry the biggest thing dead.  Just a Flesh wound.  Burn stones when needed.  Toss him an elixir of life or just use it on him.  Wastrels can help heal him in a pinch.  I've had him go toe to toe with all the AP of a reactivating Joss and a rail golem to beat Joss's face in and take most of the golem's wounds down.in 3 turns before dying.  At which point. McCabe hit the golem once to finish it off.  My opponent got lucky...

I also like bringing the samurai out if there's a nice clear board.  Pushing him with McCabe or, another model I enjoy in many crews, Graves really lets you focus on just shooting everything in sight.

Also, a little support for Yin can go a long way.  An extra 8 inches of mobility from a push and a nimble will easily get her into range for Look and be afraid.

I've yet to try out hidden agenda with Oiran, though I rarely take the saber.  I've also been shying away from Sidir, and McCabe never has room for Promises the way I play him.  These are all things I want to try out, though.

[Ludvig]

Something about austringers for vendetta.

 Which 6+ soulstone models can your austringers usually oneshot? The only one I've found you can do it relatively easy with is Nino Ortega since he only has 5wounds and is 7ss. Even for him you need to have a high enough ram to guarantee a critical hit and an 11+ left in your hand to cheat in severe damage. I got an opportunity to try and oneshot him several times last week but it was hard.

[Yvarre]

TT Archers (I've killed in 1 attack), Gunsmiths, Oxfordian Mages, maybe Blessed of December are models I can remember doing it against.  There's others but I am blanking.  The Sh 7 makes missing pretty hard if that's what I'm doing with my cards turn 1, and, with reactivate if needed, they can get any combination of 4 normal shots, a focus shot and 2 normal shots or 2 focus shots.  Even 2 mid damages is 6 wounds.  Anything with 5 wounds you can focus and cheat in a face card for 4 then one of the other 2 should hit for 1.  The combination all depends on the target's wounds and defensive abilities.
When it has come up in scheme pools, I just haven't found a problem finding a target and taking it out.

[Ludvig]

I must say I forgot this was a McCabe-specific discussion so I was thinking from a single activation perspective. That should be relatively easy VP indeed.

[Eclipse]

You could also take Dashel with two or three Riflemen and a Guild Pathfinder or two (dual faction). This might very well surprise your opponent with a very shooty, Guild-styled list. Still, remember that this is a lot of Soulstones for a pretty static list (though McGabe himself fixes this, especially with the help of Luna). Then go either with another scheme runner or two (just don't take the Wastrels, they are unnecessary for this kind of list), or a tank. Something like this:
Lucas McGabe - 3 SS
+ Glowing Sabre (1)
+ Badge of Speed (2)
+ Elixir ... (1)
Captain Dashel (9)
Guild Pathfinder (6)
Guild Rifleman x3 (15)
Izamu the Armor (10)
+ Recalled Training (1)
Luna (4)

[Ludvig]

You could also take Dashel with two or three Riflemen and a Guild Pathfinder or two (dual faction). This might very well surprise your opponent with a very shooty, Guild-styled list. Still, remember that this is a lot of Soulstones for a pretty static list (though McGabe himself fixes this, especially with the help of Luna). Then go either with another scheme runner or two (just don't take the Wastrels, they are unnecessary for this kind of list), or a tank. Something like this:
Lucas McGabe - 3 SS
+ Glowing Sabre (1)
+ Badge of Speed (2)
+ Elixir ... (1)
Captain Dashel (9)
Guild Pathfinder (6)
Guild Rifleman x3 (15)
Izamu the Armor (10)
+ Recalled Training (1)
Luna (4)

the elixir of life is 2ss so it would be one less SS cache.

You could also benefit from some more scheming models, maybe just switchinga single rifleman out.

[Tapdancer]

Just wondering which popular crew members people tend to take with McCabe and with what in mind?

 

McCabe + promises, glowy sabre, badge of speed

Luna

Guild Hounds 2-3 

Shadow Effigy 

Shadow Emissary  or Sensi Yu

Dawn Serpent

Guild Rifleman  (1), Guild Austringer (1)

Ten Thunder Brother

Wandering River Monk

mix and match of the above.

Luna and Hounds are a must if there are any interact/scheme marker schemes in the pool, hounds are still worth taking for activation control and sabre shenanigans even without luna. 

Shadow Effigy is always worth  considering solid 4pt scheme runner with abilities that can achieve loads.

the emissary and  Yu both work spectacularly well with McCabe, running both can get a bit demanding on your hand.

Dawn Serpent with reactivate and nimble with positives to ML can be crazy good.

Austringer s are almost always good.  One rifleman can be very powerful as a method of deleting  mid-value models your opponent thought was safe.

Wandering River monk reactivate = 24" walking and 14" leaping 

The dash + 3 rifleman crew doesn't work against  anybody that is competent.  The whole point of McCabe is fluidity, speed and the ability to catch an opponent off guard with an unexpected change of attack vector, stationery fire bases don't play to that strength.

 

 

 

 

[Eclipse]

You could also take Dashel with two or three Riflemen and a Guild Pathfinder or two (dual faction). This might very well surprise your opponent with a very shooty, Guild-styled list. Still, remember that this is a lot of Soulstones for a pretty static list (though McGabe himself fixes this, especially with the help of Luna). Then go either with another scheme runner or two (just don't take the Wastrels, they are unnecessary for this kind of list), or a tank. Something like this:
Lucas McGabe - 3 SS
+ Glowing Sabre (1)
+ Badge of Speed (2)
+ Elixir ... (1)
Captain Dashel (9)
Guild Pathfinder (6)
Guild Rifleman x3 (15)
Izamu the Armor (10)
+ Recalled Training (1)
Luna (4)

the elixir of life is 2ss so it would be one less SS cache.

You could also benefit from some more scheming models, maybe just switchinga single rifleman out.

Yeah, copy that. A Ten Thunders Bro ideally, otherwise Shadow Effigy, or an Oiran (at least they can use the saber now, AND Dashel can take Hidden Agenda (0)). Besides, just the cache is how I run my masters anyway. Fill up with goodies all the way

[Rurouni Benshin]

Something about austringers for vendetta.

 Which 6+ soulstone models can your austringers usually oneshot? The only one I've found you can do it relatively easy with is Nino Ortega since he only has 5wounds and is 7ss. Even for him you need to have a high enough ram to guarantee a critical hit and an 11+ left in your hand to cheat in severe damage. I got an opportunity to try and oneshot him several times last week but it was hard.

I played in a tournament this past weekend where my Austringer 1st turn killed Tuco.  Granted, I didn't use McCabe to do it (therefore no "Reactivate"), but with the help of Abuela Ortega's pseudo-"Obey", it earned me full VP for Vendetta on Turn 1 with him. 

On the flip side of that, I faced a McCabe player last month in a tournament that one shotted my Thunder Archer.  He was fortunate on his flips though (Severe twice on a to damage), but it happens from time to time.

[MrDeathTrout]

*** Nevermind Brain Fart ***

Edited December 17, 2015 by MrDeathTrout

[Rathnard]

Models I've used and loved with TT-McCabe;

Warden: Great minion on the whole but loves the Glowing Sabre in particular!

Dawn Serpent: I mention the Serpent because he's the one I've specifically used, but basically any high cost minion for McCabe to reactivate is great.

Samurai: No other reason than I love Samurai, plus McCabe can push them into position and they can really tear holes in Reconnoiter crews full of cheap minions

Shadow Emissary: Free Upgrade for McCabe, and push & fast for any model with an upgrade. Not to mention that his attack is just boss! 

Wastrel: Cheap and not amazing at anything in particular, but VERY flexible in what they can do. Like the Warden, he loves wielding the Glowing Sabre. 

Queeg: Surprisingly mobile and actually a great support piece who helps you with your schemes. Don't forget to (0) Interact after using "Welcome to Hell...".

Kamataichi: I've yet to play one but oh man, at least on paper they're AMAZING for McCabe!

 

Models I think are overrated with TT-McCabe:

Sensei Yu:  Ordinarily a stable for most 10-T crews, McCabe really doesn't need his tricks.

Sidir: Eh, I've tried him but he just doesn't seem to do enough for his cost. 

Austringers: People like the Raptor attack and it can be good for guarding your deployment zone from scheme runners, But McCabe's crew is mobile enough that everything the Austringer offers just isn't needed. 

Riflemen: They can put out the damage, but it's a high investment for something that will fall over and die the moment they get into melee. With Lucius they're good, but I'd honestly rather the TT's other shooters to the Riflemen. 

Luna and the Guild Hounds: Okay, they're not a bad choice with McCabe but they're still very vulnerable to getting killed. In Reconnoiter then yes - take them and go nuts. But otherwise I'd prefer a scheme runner who's a little less likely to get flattened by anyone half decent who can catch them.

[BigHammer]

I do like the idea of the Kamaitachi with McCabe, but Luna is just so good for the same stones that I can never justify it. I might try it at some point, for the kicks, but I can't see it being a better investment than a Wk7 significant companion model at the same cost (it is at least a minion, IIRC, but insignificant).

Yu, unsurprisingly, works well with McCabe. Throwing him the badge of speed for the push and Nimble, then having Yu activate, do his thing (with a free 7" walk) and then use Disciple to also use Take This to pass the badge on again (for another push and a second Nimble model) is so blisteringly AP efficient it hurts.

[Ibexto]

Just wondering which popular crew members people tend to take with McCabe and with what in mind?

 

McCabe + promises, glowy sabre, badge of speed

Luna

Guild Hounds 2-3 

Shadow Effigy 

Shadow Emissary  or Sensi Yu

Dawn Serpent

Guild Rifleman  (1), Guild Austringer (1)

Ten Thunder Brother

Wandering River Monk

mix and match of the above.

Luna and Hounds are a must if there are any interact/scheme marker schemes in the pool, hounds are still worth taking for activation control and sabre shenanigans even without luna. 

Shadow Effigy is always worth  considering solid 4pt scheme runner with abilities that can achieve loads.

the emissary and  Yu both work spectacularly well with McCabe, running both can get a bit demanding on your hand.

Dawn Serpent with reactivate and nimble with positives to ML can be crazy good.

Austringer s are almost always good.  One rifleman can be very powerful as a method of deleting  mid-value models your opponent thought was safe.

Wandering River monk reactivate = 24" walking and 14" leaping 

The dash + 3 rifleman crew doesn't work against  anybody that is competent.  The whole point of McCabe is fluidity, speed and the ability to catch an opponent off guard with an unexpected change of attack vector, stationery fire bases don't play to that strength.

 

 

 

 

That looks like a good list, I will have to give that a try next time McCabe hits the board...

 

[Abbazabba1920]

Shadow Effigee can make a line in the sand a 1 turn deal. With nimble, it is even better. He can give himself remember the mission and get reactivate then walking to the centerline drop a marker, then drop another  with remember the mission.  Then he can do the same thing for the next activation. That is four markers within 4 inches of each other, so he can do it in a really compact area that you can defend with  cheap 10 thunder brothers.

[MrDeathTrout]

My absolute favorite model with McCabe is the Dawn Serpent for obvious reasons.  Next is the Wandering River Monk if the scheme pool is right.

Wandering River Monk - You can Leap, place a scheme marker, walk (Nimble) and place a scheme marker. Reactivate and repeat, to place 4 scheme markers with one model in one turn. Nasty surprise on turn 5. With the 4" push from McCabe transferring BoS and Reactivate this model could move 38" and Deliver a Message: (4" (push) +7" (Leap) +15" (3x5" Walk with Nible), Reactivate +7" (Leap) +5 (Walk from Nimble)) and Deliver a Message (last two actions). Two of those moves are 7" and ignore intervening models and terrain.