Need some advice on how to play Nicodem

[Shimian]

Hey guys,

 

as my Malifaux collection grows, I recently got my hands on a Nicodem crew box, a box of Necropunks and Izamu. Had my first game with him yesterday, and well, I totally got my ass handed. Now I am looking for some advice how to play this crew properly.

I was facing von Schill on 35SS. I fielded Nico (Necrotic King, Undertaker, Love thy Master), Mortimer (My favourite Shovel), Vulture, Izamu and one Zombie Punk. We played Reconnoiter and I chose a line in the sand and murder protege. I basically encountered several problems:

1. I was almost never able to summon stuff without burning a Soulstone from the cache for the extra Crow. Is there any other way to get an additional Crow for this or do I have to get used to the fact that I need to use most of my Soulstones for the extra suit?

2. In general, I had very few corpse tokens. During turn 1 and 2 the only way for me to get corpse tokens was through Mortimer. Just because nothing else died. Can I get corpse tokens from any other source?

3. Is it a good idea to keep Punk Zombies in range of Nicodem to do some beating and to use Necropunks as objective runners? Or should I try to get some objectives with the Punk Zombies as well?

4. I kept Mortimer close to Nico for the corpse tokens he can generate. Is this a waste of him? He couldnt do much besides providing corpse tokens due to lack of ap, even though he had his favourite shovel with him.

Thanks in advance for your help

 

Kind regards from Germany

Sebastian

[MEGAHORSE]

1) To do this, activate mortimer first, dig up a corpse with his 2, then with Corpse Bloat (please get that upgrade from the generalist box!) use the 0 on that for him to suffer 3 damage to plant another corpse. You'll be able to make 2 corpses a turn with this. If your opponent kills him once he gets low on wounds, that's ok too. Then activate Nicodem. Use his 0 on Muahaha to raise mindless zombies up. Summon off of these. Each time you summon off a mindless zombie, due to Undertaker, you draw a card. So even if you burn a high card and a soulstone at times, you're refilling your hand. If you still need more cards or soulstones, take Sebastian and Those are not Ours! To eat excess mindless zombies for a soulstone and a card, Phillip and the Nanny to eat scheme markers to draw cards, but also, you should be always taking a 6-7 cache with nicodem. Summoning is what he does best, and you wont always have crows. So expect to burn stones for them. This strategy I've outlined wasnt clear to me at first as I was getting destroyed as well. But the upgrades are basically required to make Nicodem's machine really work! 

2) See above. You can also use canine remains to Dig up a bone on a 2, but it needs a 9 of crows. I find it's a newbie trap. Mortimer should suffice and if he doesnt, use Crooligans from Molly's box to deploy upfield to distract your opponent. They'll eventually get killed and you'll have forward corpses. 

3) I wouldnt hire punk zombies. Hire what you cant summon. The emissary is great. Toshiro too! Yin makes your Hanged summons much more powerful, Sebastian can put up an anti shooty aura if you need it and eat your mindless zombies, etc. Nicodem only really needs Mortimer, and from there you can go wherever you want to accomplish your schemes. I always try to keep my beaters and support in his bubble as protection, and for the + flip they need to connect. Punk zombies are already pretty accurate, but two positive flips on a flurry is downright insane. They'll drop 10 point models in a hurry. Use belles or doxies to move Nicodem around. His aura is so amazing. I wouldnt ever ever ever use Punks as objective runners unless you have no other choice. You can summon/hire crooligans/necropunks/canine remains to scheme run instead.

4) I keep him in the backfield until the late game, when he moves up. Basically, you want to use the Vulture to ferry corpse tokens up field. In addition, Mortimer's gun can be shot at your own troops (relenting) to get them to walk further up the board. Nicodem is all about saving AP and maximizing it, and there are alot of ways to do it, like Mortimer's gun, his ability to hand out AP, the fact that his summons never suffer from slow, etc. The reason to move mortimer upfield is to get the corpses he makes upfield faster. But he doesnt have to. Late game if he is still alive, i typically run him near the opponent's scheme runners for his chatty aura. He also isnt shabby in a fight with scheme runners either

hope this helps!

[Strangely Brown]

Thought I would add to MEGAHORSE'S excellent post:

 

"1. I was almost never able to summon stuff without burning a Soulstone from the cache for the extra Crow. Is there any other way to get an additional Crow for this or do I have to get used to the fact that I need to use most of my Soulstones for the extra suit?"

I just accept that I will spend my soulstones on suits for summoning.  I also buy extra cards in the draw phase on important turns, to make sure I have the higher cards to hire the minions I need.  I find I rarely need soulstones for damage prevention as there is usually a lot of stuff between Nicodem & any dangers, and he is quite tough on his own.  Later in the game Nicodem might want to support existing models rather than summon new ones, but he does this so efficiently that you won't often need to boost those actions with stones.

 

"2. In general, I had very few corpse tokens. During turn 1 and 2 the only way for me to get corpse tokens was through Mortimer. Just because nothing else died. Can I get corpse tokens from any other source?"

+1 for the use of Corpse Bloat upgrade on Mortimer.  This means that for 3 wds (not 4!) on Mortimer I can get a corpse counter for a (0) action, and for a 9 of anything I can get another one.  By the beginning of turn 3 (I always activate Mortimer early in the turn) I have 6 corpse counters to work with.  I only take My Favourite Shovel if I have spare stones, because it means I can keep one of my general AP to move Mortimer up with the Nico bubble.  Oh, and don't forget Mortimer's regenerate - he will heal back 1 of those 3 wds each time he activates.

 

"3. Is it a good idea to keep Punk Zombies in range of Nicodem to do some beating and to use Necropunks as objective runners? Or should I try to get some objectives with the Punk Zombies as well?"

I do this, it seems to work OK.  As always, there will be games where models end up doing things that need to be done based on the situation that they find themselves in, but punk zombies for hittin' and necropunks for schemin' is a good basic strategy.

 

"4. I kept Mortimer close to Nico for the corpse tokens he can generate. Is this a waste of him? He couldnt do much besides providing corpse tokens due to lack of ap, even though he had his favourite shovel with him."

See answer to 2 above.  Replacing the shovel with Corpse bloat doubles the corpse counter output from Mortimer; an 11ss investment can deliver 10 corpse counters through the game (subject to cards and your opponent) - each of which can be turned into a 5-9ss cost minion.  That feels like enough for me, so I don't try and overextend him.  One other advantage of keeping him near Nicodem is that he has a 'Chatty' bubble - no interactions within 6".  I find this useful in squatters rights and if deliver the message/distract etc. is in the scheme pool.

 

It's also worth noting that Maniacal laugh is considered a very effective upgrade for Nicodem; for a 7 of anything on a (0) action you can convert all the nearby corpse counters into mindless zombies.  They are awful, but they give activation advantage, they block LoS, they engage, they move (quite quickly if kept near Nico) and they can be used as corpse counters to summon new minions from (and the icing on the cake is that if you sacrifice them to summon in minions you get to draw another card because of Undertaker).  I always take this upgrade and Undertaker, and then (if I have the stones spare) consider Love Thy Master (or Reaper Grin if facing shooty Guild)

As noted by MEGAHORSE above, I very rarely hire undead minions as I can summon what I need after the game begins.  My starting crew is either living, a peon, enforcer or henchman.  I always seem to run Chiaki the Niece and a nurse - nurse heals to full (and paralyses), Chiaki activates as an accomplice to the Nurse and removes the paralysed condition.  It's also worth noting that the Hanged's 'Glimpse the inevitable' condition (model cannot be healed) from their attack works well with nurses - her heal & paralyse action just paralyses enemy models hit with 'Glimpse the inevitable'...

[MEGAHORSE]

3 hours ago, Strangely Brown said:

Thought I would add to MEGAHORSE'S excellent post:

 

"1. I was almost never able to summon stuff without burning a Soulstone from the cache for the extra Crow. Is there any other way to get an additional Crow for this or do I have to get used to the fact that I need to use most of my Soulstones for the extra suit?"

I just accept that I will spend my soulstones on suits for summoning.  I also buy extra cards in the draw phase on important turns, to make sure I have the higher cards to hire the minions I need.  I find I rarely need soulstones for damage prevention as there is usually a lot of stuff between Nicodem & any dangers, and he is quite tough on his own.  Later in the game Nicodem might want to support existing models rather than summon new ones, but he does this so efficiently that you won't often need to boost those actions with stones.

 

"2. In general, I had very few corpse tokens. During turn 1 and 2 the only way for me to get corpse tokens was through Mortimer. Just because nothing else died. Can I get corpse tokens from any other source?"

+1 for the use of Corpse Bloat upgrade on Mortimer.  This means that for 3 wds (not 4!) on Mortimer I can get a corpse counter for a (0) action, and for a 9 of anything I can get another one.  By the beginning of turn 3 (I always activate Mortimer early in the turn) I have 6 corpse counters to work with.  I only take My Favourite Shovel if I have spare stones, because it means I can keep one of my general AP to move Mortimer up with the Nico bubble.  Oh, and don't forget Mortimer's regenerate - he will heal back 1 of those 3 wds each time he activates.

 

"3. Is it a good idea to keep Punk Zombies in range of Nicodem to do some beating and to use Necropunks as objective runners? Or should I try to get some objectives with the Punk Zombies as well?"

I do this, it seems to work OK.  As always, there will be games where models end up doing things that need to be done based on the situation that they find themselves in, but punk zombies for hittin' and necropunks for schemin' is a good basic strategy.

 

"4. I kept Mortimer close to Nico for the corpse tokens he can generate. Is this a waste of him? He couldnt do much besides providing corpse tokens due to lack of ap, even though he had his favourite shovel with him."

See answer to 2 above.  Replacing the shovel with Corpse bloat doubles the corpse counter output from Mortimer; an 11ss investment can deliver 10 corpse counters through the game (subject to cards and your opponent) - each of which can be turned into a 5-9ss cost minion.  That feels like enough for me, so I don't try and overextend him.  One other advantage of keeping him near Nicodem is that he has a 'Chatty' bubble - no interactions within 6".  I find this useful in squatters rights and if deliver the message/distract etc. is in the scheme pool.

 

It's also worth noting that Maniacal laugh is considered a very effective upgrade for Nicodem; for a 7 of anything on a (0) action you can convert all the nearby corpse counters into mindless zombies.  They are awful, but they give activation advantage, they block LoS, they engage, they move (quite quickly if kept near Nico) and they can be used as corpse counters to summon new minions from (and the icing on the cake is that if you sacrifice them to summon in minions you get to draw another card because of Undertaker).  I always take this upgrade and Undertaker, and then (if I have the stones spare) consider Love Thy Master (or Reaper Grin if facing shooty Guild)

As noted by MEGAHORSE above, I very rarely hire undead minions as I can summon what I need after the game begins.  My starting crew is either living, a peon, enforcer or henchman.  I always seem to run Chiaki the Niece and a nurse - nurse heals to full (and paralyses), Chiaki activates as an accomplice to the Nurse and removes the paralysed condition.  It's also worth noting that the Hanged's 'Glimpse the inevitable' condition (model cannot be healed) from their attack works well with nurses - her heal & paralyse action just paralyses enemy models hit with 'Glimpse the inevitable'...

Thanks for the clarification on Corpse Bloat, it's the "You cannot use this if the model has less than 4 wounds remaining" that makes my brain just wanna say it's 4 wounds to use as well! 

[Jonathan Pickles]

In addition to the previous good advice:-

1) Yes & so have a big cache & try for some card draw from Mwa Ha ha & Undertaker (these are the key upgrades I would drop the others for now if you are having issues).

2) Corpse Bloat & maybe taking 3-4 cheap models instead of Izamu & the Punk zombie so they will die & leave bodies

3) Often Nicodem is far back not moving forwards with his beaters (so getting less use from his aura but more from his AP). Necropunks are great scheme runners for him as they heal after being summoned & are great scheme runners anyway.

4) Chatty can be huge & after turn 2 or so I am usually recycling corpse counters rather than creating more so I often move him up then. ML7 is nice too. 

[Mikey_C]

I would say this is worth a listen to get a grasp on Nicodem.

http://schemesandstones.podbean.com/e/episode-17-master-spotlight-nicodem/

[doombladez]

Also I highly recommend Nurses for Nico, having one in your crew is really useful for a variety of situations, and since they can't be summoned they're worth hiring in. 

[Kogan Style]

1) High Cache is essential, but the following tips can also help:

Philip and the Nanny - for a 1 action Philip can destroy a friendly scheme marker to draw two cards, and then discard 1. This will start to lessen the need for a stone or top-decking a crow when summoning. For a 0 action he can also turn an Enemy scheme marker into a Corpse marker as well, with a trigger to do it again

Sebastian + Those are not Ours! - For a 5 of any suit, Seb can sacrifice a friendly undead model to draw a soulstone and a card. Combine this with Nicodem's Undertaker and a Mindless Zombie and you have just turned a free peon (well, needing a 7 for Muhahaha and either Corpse Bloat/Found a new bone from Morty) into 2 cards and a soulstone. Not bad going

Philip can only be acquired in Molly's box and Seb in McM's. Both boxes are good for Nico so you won't go wrong buying either/both. I have run both Philip and Seb in one list but I wouldn't recommend it, just pick whichever you think is more useful for the strategy/schemes

Don't think of Nicodem as only a Summoner, he is a very good 'buffer' of his own troops, and if you don't have the cards to get summoning going, look to improve the troops you have (Decay to heal, Rigour Mortis to make fast) a speedy Izamu can be scary!

2) Mortimer with Corpse Bloat (even better than Shovel upgrade IMO), Canine Remains digging up corpse markers (not very likely), don't forget the Vulture can be killed for an easy marker if it can't do anything worthwhile.

3) Punk Zombies are slow, and once you expand your model collection you won't be hiring them, but they make for great summons. Make your Necropunks fast (via Rigour Mortis) to watch them fly around the table completing schemes!

 4) I use Morty as a bodyguard for Nicodem, that Ml 7 is quite strong, and a lucky Crow's trigger will pop out another corpse marker for Nicodem to summon from. By turn 3 Morty should have popped out 6 markers which is more than enough for summoning. He can then get stuck in/die to provide a final corpse.

[HtUnliving]

Agree with the idea to listen to the Schemes and Stones-episode. Makes figuring out Nico wo much easier.

Also,the Emissary and its Shards. Blocking terrain on demand and more Corpses. Nuff said.

[qoob]

As already pointed out the Schemes and Stones Podcast regarding Nicodem is a great Information source.

1) Your soulstones are primarily used for Crows. Nicodem is very resilient on his own (14 wounds, impossible to wound) but you have to play him as a back line master. If you have really really have to move him, spend that AP for a Rigor Mortis on a Rotten Belle to give her fast and lure Nicodem.
You have a good card draw mechanic with the Maniacal laugh and the Undertaker upgrade (which are both a must have imho). With his 0 Action (Muahahaha) you summon Mindless Zombies out of your corpse markers. Undertaker makes you draw a Card for each undead model killed or sacrificed. So when you summon undead models out of your Mindless Zombies - Draw a Card (because the mindless zombie is sacrificed).

2) Mortimer is the model to go. With Corpse Bloat and his Found a Bone ability, he can generate up to two corpse markers a turn.

3) As pointed out above. I wouldn't hire anything that is summonable besides a Belle and Scheme Runners. But to your question: I would give the Punk Zombie fast with Rigor Mortis and then let them discover the world. If you really want to buff them, let them go with Toshiro but keeping them in the background with Nico is a waste of ressources.

4) Mortimer is good staying with Nico until the beginning of Turn 3 maybe? Up to this turn you will need the corpse markers but the field should be full of markers later on in the game.

[Daysleeper]

I have found that a horror with the "Take back the Night" Upgrade can give you some extra cards. 
Upgrade carriers are basicly Rogue Necro/Phillip and Nanny/Valedictorian, so they themself would trigger the draw as well as all Punk Zombies, Drowned, Shikome, Guild Autopsies and so on ...

[Spooney85]

another tip with mortimer using corpse bloat is to give nicodem shadow embrace to allow models near him to heal frompoison rather than take damage, then get a nurse to inject him with 4 poison. he can then cut his spleen out to his hearts content healing two a turn instead of just his 1.also a nurse is such a great model full stop. you're always going to need a sizeable cache with any summoner, sure you may lose out hiring a model to get a large cache but you'll soon make it up with all your summons

[benjoewoo]

Play for the turn 2 explosion. I'm not sure if you're new to the game, but Turns 2 and 3 usually decide the match. At least in my games, turn 2 is when action goes into full swing, and halfway through turn 3 it's pretty clear who's going to have board control, leaving turns 4 and 5 as clean up/scheme running. 

IMO, for heavy duty summoners like Nico, your turn 1 set up is very important. Having the SS and cards for summoning is important for standard Nico play, and I recommend trying different things to enable that, which roughly translates into find ways to generate cards. 

I've been tinkering with ways to incorporate Philip & the Nanny into my builds. I'm more limited though by playing Seamus, a terrible summoner by Resser standards. With Nico, your pool and your hand is your true fighting list while everything else is your set up, with maybe a beater you can't normally summon. This should allow you to experiment with some tricks. Not only will they give you a "surprise" edge against an opponent, barring you've shown it before, but it'll be a lot of fun too.

[Fireuser]

Be careful not to fall into the Nicodem must summon all the time trap.

He is a support master first.  The + to Df flips can make it more resource intensive for the enemy to take your existing models out, and the heal can help multiple models (do not target hard to wound things), and that corpse could be used to full heal one of them without needing a SS for the crow.

His ability to slow the enemy while dealing 3 damage (with a crow) is also not to be forgotten, as you only need to tie to get the full effect.

Summoning in the right model at the right time is of course huge, but always summoning is not the way to go if it limits the usefulness of the master.

Someone once advised that players pretend that Lilith didn't have a Greatsword at all, try pretending Nicodem can't summon and really focus on learning the other abilities.  Then when you throw the summoning back in, he is all the more powerful.

Edit - Mortimer + Corpse Bloat is usually not worth the investment.

[benjoewoo]

I want to echo the above. One of my local Nico players usually summons each turn, but he after turn 1 doesn't spend all 3AP summoning, and some turns all he does is cast decay. Very little destroys morale faster than you putting all his punk zombies low for clean up kills only to see them go up to basically full health and then table you.