Stalling Someones Revs

[D_acolyte]

This post is about stalling the rev's of an enemy crew. Also you might want to read this post:

 

I spend a fair amount of time debating how to broach this topic. I finally decided to do it as if I where explaining to some one how to beat me, because that is essentially what I am doing.
For starers I am going to get a myth out of the way, if someone has built a crew to get to ideal range and kill there is no way unless you are a very specialized build that you will stop every model in there crew from doing so.  Now that is that, the rest is a mixture of cunning, and knowing what a models life is worth. Through this I will try to do call out to various models that are important to this from various factions.

For the purpose of this post I will be using the fallowing definitions.
Control: an action or ability that can target an enemy.
Support: an action or ability that can ONLY target friendly models.
Yes I am aware that Lure can target your own models and that does have a place in this but I am trying to keep it simple.
About the best thing you can do to stall out an enemy motor is to give that model slow or paralysis, there the post is done....  WAIT you want more, I am on cold meds so this might get funny, weird or entertaining.
So the control of you opponent actions and how they spend them becomes big, even if you are luring Nekima towards you. Yes a crazy thought but often it is the different of who all can jump her. By forcing one or even to models to go into the next round in an unfavorable position can be huge, it is like my father once told me “charge one land raider forward alone and it is easy enough to kill, but two that an other matter.” Next best thing is to artificially lower or make a model pay for doing something, for instance giving them negative flips or having them slowly die as they fight.
Shout out to lawyers: I do not know why I do not see these guys in every Guild list, at least one of them because in a faction so light on many things I will be talking about these guys represent it all and there is not a time when they are not target number 2 at the lowest. These beast... I mean mimics, can give fees +1 at twelve inches which is only 1 point of damage but it is an incremental so it increases the damage each time and this happens when that model does damage. Next they can give hard to wound as a support action. That is 2 good things so far but there is more. The lawyer can also make it harder for them to get hit and has an attack that might give slow or paralysis. Sounds like he was build to cause a stall out on someone engine.
But what if I do not bring control effects, well then look at your cards with support effects because the other option is to rev up faster or better then they are. This is where the ability to take focus or to allow a model a higher then normal output comes into play. I can not think of a faction that can not cheat the game in this way, now some do it better then others.
Shout out to mobile toolkit: Models like the mobile toolkit are particularly a pain as they are nothing but a 3 stone support peace and they do it so well. Try doing any of its things to a railgolem, it really stretches the use, I prefer the +damage flips. This is a great way to cause your opponent that shoots up the field to now feel the error of there ways. I will be surprised if I do not see one of these guys in most arcanist build when the new plastic comes out. If you can spare the activation then do it.
The tug-a-war approach is where 2 abilities are used to move a model up and back again, such as an obey and then a lure. This eats up activation potential though as one model send the model up, that model then activates to attack or do something then finally the model that was pushed up is pulled back with lure. I find it to be more intensive then it is useful but it can be worth it.

Worth of a model, worth of a life.
This can be great philosophical question that could cause you to go back and forth. Here is the truth, there is no simple answer to this. It can and will change moment by moment in a game. Will I sacrifice an insidious madness by moving it up so Nekima can not charge, yes I will but there is so much that he could have done and now will never do. I am paying an opportunity cost in this maneuver to save a model that might not even die. Despite all that it may be a great use of the model, and I will say often is.  The ideal models with this are those with armor, incorporeal or hard to kill. Remember that if your enemy has an engagement range greater then 2 and your over 2 inches away you can fire into the engagement without randomizing.
Shout out to necropunks: this little 5 stone model is fast because of leap, which his only needs a 7, and has hard to kill and wound. For the role of sacrificial lamb you would be hard press to find better. It will take at least 2 attacks from anything non Leveticus to kill him and as far as cheap stone wise few factions have anything better or cheaper for this roll.

Next option is to make a target rich environment of decently strong threatening models. Remember that landraider quote I attributed to my father, well some times it is better to have two or three medium tanks then one heavy one.
I was half way tempted to mention any number of models here but I went with Samurai. Now I love the rules but am one of the few that dislike the giant gatling gun. At 8 points they are capable at range and actually on the better side of non Neverborn Ml capabilities. The various blessings lets you tailor them. Finally you can run 2 of them for about as much as some people run there Nekima at. Lastly I as the aggressor must deal with them because if both come at me with shooting or close attacks on the same model that model will have a bad day. P.S. My pick for best effect for stone model in the game when it comes the Hunting Party.

This is situational relevance. This is the idea of threatening, yes you can charge in your Nekima but you will kill one person then get beaten to death. Trading a model for a model, that not always a trade people want to take.
Shout out to the executioner, why because there metal hands are fantastic. So a model design for hand to hand combat in a faction that has more guns then the NRA, National Riffle Association, this poor guy gets a bad rap. You see there is a beauty to him, he can one shot a model and if the enemy does not like it they can spend stones or cards to avoid it. Guild players may bad mouth me for saying this but when I play a game and see him across the board he shapes how I act more than anything else other than masters. I wait for him to no long be a threat, and then I pounce either to kill him or hit where he is not or can not get to.

Reduce what your foe does to nothing. So there are few things more frustrating then when you knock Kang or a Vic down to 1 wound and the next turn there back up at an impressive number. It makes me want to scream as it usually feels like a fruitless effort and that will stall my crew like little else. This goes into a very mental play of the game.
Shout out to slop hauler, this and another one to come I think are low hanging fruit. Especially if you have Lenny toss him to the support where people will be. So to all those slop haulers, I have a bullet with your name on it.

VS range early rev crews, well this I have a little more experience actually plane vs because of a gemlin player I know. The trick is to utilize cover to control your opponent attack flips and tie up key models with fast models.  if there is only one sniper I tend to force them to need to focus to shot me, that limits there killing potential.
I only feel like this model needs a call out because it is not an illuminated, the waldgeist. It has armor 2, perfect camouflage, can make cover and is unimpeded. His damage and speed is a little underwhelming vs some option but at 6 stones nothing else in the Neverborn is more durable. Luckily the faction has a few good ways to move them along quicker.

Kill then ignore is a variant of early game power list. The goal is key model removal or weakening which is often hard to do at range for that purpose I recommend not aiming at masters or henchmen. Lets look at a list that I played last week: Pandora with wings of darkness, the box opens and aether connection, Nekima with mimic blessing, 2 insidious madness, 2 young nephilim, and a poltergeist and 7 stones. Remember when I said you will not stop them form reaching you, everything moves at least 10 inches or more ignoring terrain but if you can remove a any model and one or two of the young by then end of turn and then switch to playing for points you have a better shot than trying to just outright kill Nekima or Pandora. It would really be great if you can do that to one flank and then have some models that worries me to apply pressure to Pandora and Nekima, who I tend to keep near each other.
So this one goes without saying, Friekorps Trapper. I have not gotten much play with mine, my father always wants to use him. He has armor, the ability to push out of combat and a good gun, all he is missing is a built in ram to his shot. Enough said on him. Note do not put him more than 6 inches outside your deployment zone with from the shadows, that is a good way for him to die.

Final piece of advice is never to loose your head, the death count does not matter what matters is the score and your enjoyment. The moment you falter under pressure is the moment they win, get your self a drink, have a 2 breaths and think. And when you think, unless it is late turn keep your mind in the current turn that is where the game can be won or lost. I find looking into the future is not always helpful.

So I have stated that the next thing I am doing is how I tend to look at masters and there rolls in a crew. There are 39 masters in the game so I might gloss over a few and go in depth on a few others, if you have ones you want me and my strange mind to look at in depth please put “D can you look at this one: ___________”  at the end of your post or PM me. Also a good source for master information is SchemesandStones: http://schemesandstones.podbean.com/
I plan to come back to the topic of control and support as well as what kind there are in about 2 months, though things may change.