Ophelia Crew!

[wolpertinger_press]

Let's talk Ophelia.

I've been playing with different lists each session for a bit, and wonder if anybody has any amazing (or just fun) Ophelia crews that work well for them.

Here's my entire painted and game-ready Gremlin faction (also have So'Mer and Brewmaster crews, but still on the sprue):

Ophelia
3 Young Lacroix
Francois
Pere Ravage
Raphael
Francois
Ophelia
Rami
3 Bayou gremlins
Hog Whisperer
Whiskey Golem
Pigapult
War Rabbit
War Pig
Old Major
Penelope
5 Piglets
Mah Tucket
Little Lass
Trixiebelle
3 Bayou Bushwhackers

[Clement]

Lenny,

Seriously, get him off the sprue and get him assembled.  You have not *lived* until Ophelia has carted her pet idiot around the table murdering everything.

Activate Lenny, walk a bit, toss ophelia, companion activate.

Ophelia uses "Oooh!  A Girl" to drag Lenny into base contact, then spends 3 AP killing ALL THE THINGS.

 

Based on what's good to go though you have a great base to play around with.

[Brewie]

Yeah I am getting a bunch of gremlin stuff this week and am stoked. Especially for Ophelia and the other LaCroix.  

I am picking up the Ophelia, So,mer, mah and drunken master crews as well as extra bayou Gremlins,  burt Jebsen,  slop haulers and a whisky golum.

I will be keeping my eye on this thread because I am very new to Malifaux and want to see how people are playing Ophelia and with what. Which upgrades Ophelia likes as well as her crew etc.

 

[wolpertinger_press]

On 3/28/2016 at 2:01 PM, Clement said:

Lenny,

Seriously, get him off the sprue and get him assembled.  You have not *lived* until Ophelia has carted her pet idiot around the table murdering everything.

Activate Lenny, walk a bit, toss ophelia, companion activate.

Ophelia uses "Oooh!  A Girl" to drag Lenny into base contact, then spends 3 AP killing ALL THE THINGS.

 

YES. ALL OF THIS.

[Math Mathonwy]

Also, a Young LaCroix standing next to Lenny Focusing his shot is a scary, scary thing.

[Von Woozle]

How do you play against the Dreamer?  

[wolpertinger_press]

13 minutes ago, Googlebot said:

How do you play against the Dreamer?  

Don't let the Nightmares get or stay close to him! 

Personally, I like to break them up with the War Rabbit/Pig, or explode them with boompigs, but that's me.

[Trinitite]

On 3/28/2016 at 2:48 PM, Friendly Neighborhood Ging said:

Yeah I am getting a bunch of gremlin stuff this week and am stoked. Especially for Ophelia and the other LaCroix.  

I am picking up the Ophelia, So,mer, mah and drunken master crews as well as extra bayou Gremlins,  burt Jebsen,  slop haulers and a whisky golum.

I will be keeping my eye on this thread because I am very new to Malifaux and want to see how people are playing Ophelia and with what. Which upgrades Ophelia likes as well as her crew etc.

 

I just started playing Ophelia myself and bought the Mah Tucket box to get a few extra things to play with in her lists. I also snagged a lucky effigy and Sammy, just because I like the model, and also because I was considering using one of Ophelia's upgrades on her for the 0 action, though I'm not really sure how worthwhile it is.Now after seeing this...I know what my next purchase must be. Just wow. 

Taking other Ophelia combinations into consideration. How do you guys feel about using Slop Haulers, do you have issues with keeping them up with the rest of the crew or nearby enough Gremlins for their heals to be worthwhile? Do you hit enough with their Sh for the Appetizing debuff to pay off so you can just murder the target in question with the rest of your crew?

[wolpertinger_press]

1 minute ago, Trinitite said:

I just started playing Ophelia myself and bought the Mah Tucket box to get a few extra things to play with in her lists. I also snagged a lucky effigy and Sammy, just because I like the model, and also because I was considering using one of Ophelia's upgrades on her for the  action, though I'm not really sure how worthwhile it is.Now after seeing this...I know what my next purchase must be. Just wow. 

Taking other Ophelia combinations into consideration. How do you guys feel about using Slop Haulers, do you have issues with keeping them up with the rest of the crew or nearby enough Gremlins for their heals to be worthwhile? Do you hit enough with their Sh for the Appetizing debuff to pay off so you can just murder the target in question with the rest of your crew?

I like the slop haulers. They're kind of the only really reliable healers in the Gremlin faction, but their Df-reducing abilities make them good killers, too. I tend to keep them close to non-peons and utilize them as best I can as band-aids.

[wolpertinger_press]

...while remembering that any opponent who'd done their homework will want to murder them first. 

[Dogmantra]

Don't worry about Slop Haulers being too slow. They can heal themselves so reckless for 1 walk + a heal is a usual activation for me, but if they get too far away, they can always triple walk, which normally gets them right back in the action. Or walk and charge... that 8" charge range!!!

[PanzerHarris]

The Ophelia 'ball of death' is something I've been running a fair bit, and these days it's actually a threat I use to keep my clubmates in line. "Behave yourselves or Ophelia next game!" Even won me a tournament the other day.

Activation control is important but not essential. You want to see where something important is going to be. To that end I normally have 8 models in the crew, minimum 7 and on occasion 9 or 10 (that's mostly stuffed piglets standing next to the pigapult, activating, wiggling and passing).

Lenny will then activate, and Toss Ophelia to a spot where she can see her target. He'll then Toss Old Cranky so Ophelia is within 3" of him but Lenny can still push up to Ophelia. If you want to strike immediately then keep Ophelia within 6" for Companion, but if she's safe then 8" is fine (that's the range of Ooo A Girl).

When Ophelia activates, she 0-actions Ooo A Girl to bring Lenny up for built-in Thinkin' Luck, then opens fire with a damage track of 4/6/8. If you've timed it right then she should be able to use all 3AP shooting at Sh6 on a + flip. If you've got a couple of good cards in hand then you can go for a target in cover on straight flips, but personally I like to be sure I can hit what I'm aiming at. And for the first kill you make, Old Cranky will give you a Soulstone back. If the opposing crew is able to hit back at Ophelia, she's on +1WP and Defensive 1 for Old Cranky, reducing all damage by 1 for standing near Lenny.

Consistently being able to do 12 damage at range every turn is amazing. There's not a lot out there that can suck that up, and even less that can match it. In terms of stopping it, Cranky can be taken down if focussed on, but dislodging Lenny takes effort. Anyone trying to engage Ophelia just gets shot at point blank range or hit over the head by Lenny.

The rest of your crew needs to be able to accomplish your schemes, so look at Merris, Bayous (they may need Pigapulting) or Rooster Riders to back her up. Particularly in Gaining Grounds 2016, unless she's doing Neutralise the Leader or A Quick Murder, Ophelia will almost certainly be scheme denial by killing things rather than scoring you points. For that reason your crew needs to be getting those points. An easy trap to fall into is taking all the killing models with her and not having enough AP left on the table to score.

[Math Mathonwy]

1 hour ago, Trinitite said:

I also snagged a lucky effigy and Sammy, just because I like the model, and also because I was considering using one of Ophelia's upgrades on her for the 0 action, though I'm not really sure how worthwhile it is.

Very worthwhile! Give Sammy My Threatening Gun and you can order Ophelia around. Even the negative to Actions doesn't hamper her much since she has a positive to her guns anyway.

[Math Mathonwy]

1 hour ago, Googlebot said:

How do you play against the Dreamer?  

Kill the Daydreams.

[Brewie]

When playing an Ophelia crew what upgrades tend to be popular on her. And what about the young LaCroix?  How many are usually taken?  I can see 1-2 being good, but 3 a little much.

 

Are there any must have models that you will see in almost every crew? Anything she almost never takes?

[Freman]

Well with three Young LaCroix I'm pretty sure you can start Ophelia with zero upgrades, then just have the three Young give them to her as the first actions in the first turn.

[Math Mathonwy]

18 hours ago, Friendly Neighborhood Ging said:

When playing an Ophelia crew what upgrades tend to be popular on her. And what about the young LaCroix?  How many are usually taken?  I can see 1-2 being good, but 3 a little much.

I take Liquid Courage if facing Neverborn or Ressers or otherwise thinking that I might need it (Jack Daw, Marcus, etc). If I don't take Youngs, I might also take My Threatening Gun and/or Dirty Cheater but usually I use Youngs.

Youngs Focusing are really powerful. And loading guns means that they are really cheap. And if they Focus next to Lenny... And they give cheap activations. I really like them but I might be the only one of the forums as it seems that everyone else prefers Old Cranky (who is certainly extremely good).

18 hours ago, Friendly Neighborhood Ging said:

Are there any must have models that you will see in almost every crew? Anything she almost never takes?

She doesn't take Taxidermists much  

[Brewie]

Does Ophelia have to buy a certain gun upgrade for the Young LaCroix to be able to use and/or reload it? Or do they just have access to all of the Ophelia specific gun upgrades? 

[Adran]

The Young can "reload" any of her gun upgrades, regardless of if you hired the upgrade in the first place and take any attack actions on the upgards attached to her. 

[PanzerHarris]

I've never used the Young, and to be honest that's because I find Ophelia's best attack is her Rough Riders with Thinking Luck. That means I don't need any of the others thrown in. 

I'll experiment with Young though. Maybe they have a future as secondary damage dealers. Their big problem though is Cranky helps no end with keeping Ophelia upright, and his shotgun hurts if used right too!

[Trinitite]

13 minutes ago, PanzerHarris said:

I've never used the Young, and to be honest that's because I find Ophelia's best attack is her Rough Riders with Thinking Luck. That means I don't need any of the others thrown in. 

I'll experiment with Young though. Maybe they have a future as secondary damage dealers. Their big problem though is Cranky helps no end with keeping Ophelia upright, and his shotgun hurts if used right too!

I'm not certain its so much the attacks that make the upgrades shine but the utility that they offer. The movement that Jug brings could be a big boon, threatening gun's ability to boss someone around, and the hooch igniter's ability to burn off effects like paralyze. Threatenin' gun seems to shine more when its in the hands of one of the Youngins rather than Ophelia necessarily taking the shot in my limited experience. 

[wolpertinger_press]

1 hour ago, Friendly Neighborhood Ging said:

Does Ophelia have to buy a certain gun upgrade for the Young LaCroix to be able to use and/or reload it? Or do they just have access to all of the Ophelia specific gun upgrades? 

I use the Young almost always. They're just too useful to leave out.

[Trinitite]

So one thing I'm curious about is how well other parts of the Kin box work with Ophelia. There's definitely some good models in there, though the focus in general is on putting the hurt on your opponent pretty hard, which Ophelia herself is magnificent at. Francois seems like a definite include just due to the power that little guy packs, but what about some of the others? Is mostly running a crew out of the Kin box going to focus too much on killing and not have enough out there to make the Schemes happen?

I haven't seen Raphael and Pere mentioned very often for example, when it comes to the Gremlins in the box itself...

Rami: He seems like a potentially magnificent sniper and a means to soften up a target for Ophelia or to end up confirming the kill. The 36" range on Focus could certainly be a boon very early in the game I'd imagine. Does he find his way into Ophelia crews often, is there any special synergy between the two or dirty tricks that come to mind?

Pere: What might be some ways to take advantage of this guy with Ophelia? One thing that immediately comes to mind is using the Threatenin' Gun to either move Pere into position so that on his activation you can cast two Oopsies, or using the gun to get another cast off of his activation and potentially a detonation following that. Another thought I had was if you happen to have Burt in your crew, using his Cracker Jack Timing ability to set up a group of enemies for Pere's blasts and his eventual self-detonation. The Jug rocket also seems like a natural choice for Ophelia and Pere to take advantage of. Any other bits of synergy between the two?

Raphael: Other than him just being a thug that can get real nasty when he's in his damage sweet-spot, I'm not really sure what else he brings or if there's really much more to this guy and how he can work with Ophelia and the rest of her team. Threatenin' Gun once more seems like it could be solid for the extra attack, especially if you're also running Lenny and he's in range to give him the for dumb luck to get a bit of extra damage in or push him towards the sweet-spot faster. 

Any other ways Ophelia makes her boys shine?

[Brewie]

Yeah I am really curious about the Kin box as well. 

ALSO what are the definite or almost definite models that you will want to take with Ophelia?

Definite- Lenny? Francois? and either young LaCroix or Cranky?

 

Almost definite? Trixie?  Rami? Bayou Gremlins? Burt Jebsen? Slop Haulers? Sammy?

What else? What would you add or change or disagree with?

I am new so will pry as much info as I can out of other players 

[Math Mathonwy]

3 hours ago, Friendly Neighborhood Ging said:

ALSO what are the definite or almost definite models that you will want to take with Ophelia?

It's difficult to say since it depends so much on Strat, Schemes, and opposing Faction. Slop Haulers and Francois are the only ones I think I'd always take with Ophelia. The rest are kinda up in the air. Ophelia is fairly self-sufficient and doesn't do all that much for her crew so her hiring options are pretty open. Things like Moon Shinobis and Taxidermists and Bushwhackers are some of the very few models that I doubt Ophelia would take almost ever.