25SS Ironsides

[blomkaal]

Yes, I know Masters aren't allowed to lead 25SS crews. This is for doubles, however, so all bets are off

I'm taking Ironsides to a casual doubles tournament, most likely partnered with Colette, and am looking into som potential builds. No strange rules, other than the 25SS limit, and spare stones are lost (not added to cache).

My main problem is that the beaters she usually likes to bring, along with her upgrades, take a huge chunk out of a rather small amount of stones. I've looked into two builds so far, a tarpit and a gunline, and I'm looking for critique, and possibly suggestions for alternative builds.

Tarpit:

• Toni (Arcane Reservoir, Frontline Leadership, Warding Runes)
• Johan (Imbued Energies)
• Oxfordian Mage (Blood Ward)
• Oxfordian Mage (Doom Ward)

Idea is Toni ties up models and, along with Johan, brings a bit of pain. Hopefully, this will allow my partner's crew to run schemes relatively uncontested. Mages are mainly to keep Toni alive, but also provide a bit of ranged support. Reservoir might not be optimal in this build, and Toni will probably die.

Gunline:

• Toni (Arcane Reservoir, Message from the Union)
• Gunsmith
• Gunsmith
• Willie

Toni hangs back to buff Gunsmiths (HPM) while setting things on fire (Message). Willie blasts Gunsmiths to trigger HPM, and, hopefully, takes down a couple of enemy models in a Blaze of Glory ^TM. This build has two stones left over, though. Reservoir slightly safer in the build, as Toni isn't looking for trouble as much, but crew is lower on healing than other build. Could be dropped, though, to bring in Effigy, or another 4 Stone model. Not too familiar with Arcanist upgrades to know if any 2 Stone ones are worth taking.

 

There. Feel free to tear me a new one, or suggest other potential other ways to run her in small pools 

[JoeJones]

For the tarpit list, I would most likely switch out Arcane Reservoir for Challenge the Crowd, which would give her a bit more resilience as a tarpit. I'm not exactly sure what to do with the leftover stone, however.

i'm not sure about the gunline list, since I've never used Willie or the Gunsmiths.

[blomkaal]

2 minutes ago, JoeJones said:

For the tarpit list, I would most likely switch out Arcane Reservoir for Challenge the Crowd, which would give her a bit more resilience as a tarpit. I'm not exactly sure what to do with the leftover stone, however.

i'm not sure about the gunline list, since I've never used Willie or the Gunsmiths.

Nice one with the Challenge. I'm just so used to running Reservoir on Arcanists, it's usually my first SS spend  I wouldn't mind wasting the one stone, though, but maybe there's a 2SS upgrade worth considering on Johan instead of Energies?

The gunline list is mostly just a fun thought I had. I'll most likely be running the tarpit one. But basically, Willie takes a walk, which causes a blast to damage the Gunsmiths. Being damaged, they gain pseudo-Focus from Hand Picked Men. Ironsides sets their targets on fire, which gives them another 2 psuedo-Focus, if I'm not mistaken.

[JoeJones]

For 2ss, you can get Imbued Protection, but I generally prefer Imbued Energies. I'm not sure if there are any other 2 ss Arcanist upgrades which would be useful for Johan - especially not compared to the almost game-breaking goodness of Imbued Energies.

HPM + the Hard Way sounds like it would be very painful, assuming you can get burning on the intended target. I've had mixed results with Message from the Union so far, but then I've only really used it a couple times. The (much more experienced) Arcanist player in my group has sworn by Ironsides with Gunsmiths.

[blomkaal]

People definitely seem to think Gunsmiths and Ironsides are a match made in heaven. I guess it's due to HPM. An alternative to Message would be to find a way to fit in the Effigy, and have Toni hand out Burning with her fists... Dropping Message would get me to 3 stones, perhaps changing Reservoir for Challenge could be the way to get that last one?

Also, as my partner said, including Howard may be half of this crew, but in total only a quarter of the entire crew, so any suggestion on a 25SS build using a big beater like Howard or Joss (hell, even the Rail Golem, which I've had lying around for ~2 years, and never used) would be appreciated

[JoeJones]

Howard Langston with HPM is outstanding. Let's see if I can come up with a decent combination:

Ironsides (Challenge the Crowd, Iron Determination, Warding Runes)

Howard Langston (Imbued Energies)

Johan (Imbued Energies)

=24 ss

Challenge the Crowd & Iron Determination are there to keep Ironsides alive and buffing for as long as possible, and Warding Runes is there to Counterspell Lures, for the most part. Hank is there to kill stuff, of course, and Johan provides condition removal, healing, and a tertiary beatstick. No scheme running to speak of in this crew, but if you're paired with Colette, she should have that covered. No ranged attacks, either, unless you count Hank's potential 18" threat range on a Fast, Nimble Charge (walk 5", walk 5", charge 6", 2" melee range).

[blomkaal]

Seems like an awesome list for Reckoning. Cheers

[Trample]

On 2/4/2016 at 1:51 AM, blomkaal said:

Gunline:

• Toni (Arcane Reservoir, Message from the Union)
• Gunsmith
• Gunsmith
• Willie

Toni hangs back to buff Gunsmiths (HPM) while setting things on fire (Message). Willie blasts Gunsmiths to trigger HPM, and, hopefully, takes down a couple of enemy models in a Blaze of Glory ^TM. This build has two stones left over, though. Reservoir slightly safer in the build, as Toni isn't looking for trouble as much, but crew is lower on healing than other build. Could be dropped, though, to bring in Effigy, or another 4 Stone model. Not too familiar with Arcanist upgrades to know if any 2 Stone ones are worth taking.

What about using The Firestarter instead of Willie? He can get the party started by burning your gunsmiths round 1 just like Willie, but then he can actually start running schemes for you, keep piling on the burning, or even twirl the can and take the credit at the end of a turn for models dying from burning. The reckless and flight gives him a lot of options. 

[blomkaal]

2 hours ago, Trample said:

What about using The Firestarter instead of Willie? He can get the party started by burning your gunsmiths round 1 just like Willie, but then he can actually start running schemes for you, keep piling on the burning, or even twirl the can and take the credit at the end of a turn for models dying from burning. The reckless and flight gives him a lot of options. 

Not a bad idea, actually. My completionist OCD also likes that this makes me get another M&SU Master